To Die For?

   This blog is specifically for the husband's mission in a marriage. With that said, it goes for young single men who are seeking to marry. I've said this a million times, the most important model  of Christ's love for the church is that of a marriage. In today's society this is all too many times looked over. 

    Jesus roamed this earth many years ago. We all know this story so I won't go into depth too far. He was a fisher of men who would follow and live for Him. Those of us who turned to Him, we were, at that moment, considered His bridegroom. We were married, so to speak, to Jesus. He sacrificed His life for us so that we could have abundant life. He supplies our every need, and He will not fail us. 

    Since we were young boys, we sought to have a girlfriend and when we are older we longed to have a wife. Similar to the way Jesus sought out men to follow Him, we are after a woman who will join us by our side through the storms of this world. This is something to be cherished, NOT taken advantage of. When we think of the relationship Jesus has with His children, we should mimic this as close as we can to our marriage. His children are His everything. Our wives should be our everything. Jesus went to the cross to die for our sins to save us. Now, when we look at our wives, are we willing to do that? Look at your wives this week and think this, "Am I willing to die for the sake of her?" If she was sick and you were able, would you trade places? If she was taken away and you could go in her place, would you? We should. Just as Christ hung upon that cross for the sins of His children, we should be willing to die for the sake of our wives. For the single men, every perspective date should be looked at as a perspective mate. And if you can't picture yourself dying for her, maybe she isn't the one. Husbands, evaluate yourselves this week and see where you stand. Are you embracing and willing to do this for your wives, or are you just playing the game?

Man Up!

I do prayer counseling at a local Christian theater for people who want to come the alter after a pray. Lately I've noticed a terrible epidemic, 99.5% of the people who come are women. That's great, don't get me wrong. Where are the men? Why is there not more men of God coming to the alter? Where are the leaders of the home and husbands who want to be Christ-like in the leadership of their wives? Virtually absent by the numbers at the alter.... I don't know if it's pride or ego, but it's not because we don't have models to go by. There are plenty of Godly men in the Bible. Barnabas, Daniel, Paul, Moses, Abraham, plenty of men to see how we are suppose to be in our faith. Guys, let go of the pride and ego. Go to the foot of the Cross, go to the alter and lay down whatever holds you back. Seek His leadership so that you can be a better man, a better husband, a better dad, or a better friend. We can't do it on our own, God doesn't want us to try either. MAN UP and CALL ON JESUS!

The Gift

When I was a kid, I remember wanting a toy rifle. It was just a little model rifle, nothing spectacular. But I wanted it so bad. Christmas was coming soon and I made sure it was on my list. As that day approached and gifts were placed under the tree, I was certain it would be there. I was utterly devastated on Christmas Eve when we had opened our gifts early and it wasn't there. There was a mistake at the store and my parents went back and picked it up. I was so happy. I remember playing in the yard with it, carrying it around all the time. I loved it. I made sure I took good care of it too. Not leaving it outside or throwing it down.
As adults and followers of Christ, husbands have received a gift similar to this. But too many times it is looked over. Too many times it is abused and taken advantage of. Men, wake up. Our wives are the best and most important gift we will ever receive. Love them for what they are worth. A good wife is worth far more than precious jewels, so we must love them with all that we possibly can. They are precious and fragile, don't close them out or talk down to them. Hold them tight and lift them up when needed. She is entrusted to us by Jesus. She is vulnerable to our leadership. So lead her in the right direction. The most precious and important gift to a man is his wife. Take good care of her.

Baptism

On June 15,2012,i had the amazing privilege of marrying the most wonderful woman I've ever known. We began our relationship with a common goal, to base our marriage completely around God. Marriage being the most important relationship God created, He used His Son, Jesus, and the Church as a model. At our wedding ceremony, just as Jesus humbled Himself to serve the church, I humbled myself, knelt down, and washed my wife's feet. A public display of humility and servitude towards the woman that I declared my love to. Over the course of our marriage, we have loved each other, praised God through thick and thin, and strived to learn and live as biblically as possible. With all that, we decided to be baptized together. A very special moment. I went first, and went to stand to the side as my wife went. Little did I know the pastor would ask me to join her in the water, to assist in the baptism. He simply said could do that now. At that moment, this special moment just exploded with symbolism and was a moment to be cherished deeply. To have my wife, the woman I lift to God in my prayers, in my arms as she was being baptized was..... indescribable. I was honored to do this for her. In doing so, the pastor "had a moment" before we got out of the water, as well as many in the congregation. I knew we had something special, and with the amount of people who approached us afterwards, others do too. I am blessed to have her as my wife. And we are blessed to be backed by an making God.

End Times

I watched a YouTube video today that was very interesting, calling out Barack Obama as the antichrist. Using two verses in particular, Luke 10:18 and Isaiah 14:14,and translating the president's name to come to this conclusion. The pronunciation of Barack is similar to the Hebrew or Aramaic word for the term lightening, while O is combining the word with heights. Translation to old language is pronounced close to Bama. End result of translation, Barack Obama equals lightening from the heights. We associate the heavens with being above the clouds which is what satan said he was ascending to in Isaiah. Makes sense, and while I can't debunk this, I can't really disagree either. During his presidency, Obama has manage to deteriorate and demoralize our nation as a whole. He has made us look weak and foolish to our peers and our enemies. If we look at recent events in the world, and watch John Hagee's Blood Moon sermon, this is definitely looking more and more like the end times than ever. It is not going to get better, I'm afraid. But I am thankful for the forgiveness and salvation that Jesus has gifted me with. When worse turns into worst, we will have ascending to our eternal home with Jesus Christ.

Our Wife is the Church

Many men in today's society do not understand the task they had taken on when they joined their wife in marriage. Many men do not understand how we are suppose to treat our wives. See, a model was created a long, long time ago. That model simulates Jesus and the church. Our wives are in the position of the church. Men, we have the role of Jesus. When we look at how we are doing, passing or failing, well, we are failing and doing it miserably. We are suppose to love and cherish our wives above and beyond anything on this earth. We, as men, we're designed as superior, so that we could be inferior. So that we could take ourselves and put our wives in front of us, take care of her, massage her feet, play with her hair, whatever it is that she may need. See, while our wives are in the role of the church, we are in the role as Jesus. Many people think, "Wait a minute, wait a minute!" Look. We look at our wives daily but think not of putting them first. We don't think to ask her what we could do for her. I said earlier we were failing. Yes. But we don't even know why. Fear is why we fail. We are too afraid to be the men God is calling us to be as husbands. We are too afraid to kneel down and become inferior to our wives to serve her needs. It's OK. We can fix this. See, Adam was given a mate and her name was Eve. Adam didn't get it right back then either and allowed Eve to be fooled by the devil. The devil is sneaky and convinced Eve to pull Adam into the same trap. All because Adam wasn't the man he needed to be at the right moments. That's the short story. There was another man that was brought unto this earth later. His name was Jesus. He lived a life of service to His people and still serves His children today. He is King, yet He bows down to serve us. He, in His power, could bring havoc when we do wrong and be bitter towards us. But, see, He is a perfect gentlemen. When we fall, He falls at our side to pick us up. He dusts us off and He always listens when we pray. So look at your wife and ask yourself whether you want serve her like Adam served Eve, or do you want to love cherish and serve her the way Jesus does His church?

Appreciate Her

Appreciate her. Commonly misconcieved by the men of today's time. Our wives have a tough task on their hands. Housework is tough, managing finances is tough, and putting up with us is probably even tougher. In many aspects, our wives have it tougher than we do. I mean, most of us get up, go to work, come home and go to sleep. Completely overlooking the things our wives had done for the day, not to mention the mental battles she may have faced. Men have tendency to be consumed with the rest of the world of working and sports and so forth that we neglect our wives. Appreciate her. Think about all the things she does for the sake of us and the relationship. Compare that to what we do and you will see we are a little behind in that category. Show your appreciation to her for the things she does. It will make her day. When she has a bad day, let her lean on you. If she needs to cry, give her a tissue and an embrace so she feels safe. The little things she does, lipstick, makeup, hair, notice them. And complement her. All these things I say because if we as husbands do not appreciate our wives for the great people they are, they begin to feel empty. Then emptiness needs to be filled. That's our job men. We made that vow to our wives. Stop slacking.