Marriage and Family Meditations XVI
Psalms 104:34 May my meditation be sweet to Him; I will be glad in the LORD.
Cornerstone Ministries Napa Valley
Family Church II
Hi Family, and Friends,
Hope that you all found time to read the last “Family Meditation” that was sent out over a week ago now. Several of you have responded back in the past and it has been really helpful, your comments and suggestions are appreciated any time. Your thoughts are encouraging to me and they help me understand whether or not what I am sending out is helping and ministering to your families.
What are you struggling with what do you see today in your marriage that you need encouragement with. God’s word has the answers and “His divine power has given to us all things that [pertain] to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue,…” It is my prayer that the passages of scripture that you receive will touch your hearts and help draw you closer to Jesus as a family.
Last time we looked at ourselves, “The Church” Christ’s Body, and we were encouraged to meditate on how submitted and responsive we are to the Lordship of Jesus in our lives and families.
Ephesians 5: 30 “For we are members of His body, of His flesh, and of His bones”.
Something to Meditate on:
Ask yourself, is it important to Jesus Christ that I submit to His word, to His leadership, to His purposes. Am I allowing Him to wash me with His word, to cleanse me, to sanctify me, to be holy and pure in the conduct of this life? Is my life His or my own? Is my body His or my own? Is my marriage His or my own? Am I serving and ministering, responding as an active member of the church, His body…or not?
I pray that as we ask ourselves these questions we will see clearly the truth of our lives and rededicate ourselves to the Lordship of Jesus Christ and to the cleansing of His word, and to obedience and submission to His sanctifying work in us day by day.
Today as we consider what it truly means to be under His Lordship, to be submitted to Him, and to be properly called His bond slave, (a common identification among the disciples) we must begin to recognize that this calls for a radical change in the way we conduct our lives. Any believer (bond slave) who is being an apathetic, lazy, selfish, or prideful servant, neglecting to read God’s word, pray, and fellowship needs to change! (To some degree this includes us all doesn’t it!!)
We need to begin earnestly, and radically, loving God through His Son Jesus our Lord, by obeying Him. We need to begin loving one another, through obeying Him. All of our decisions need to come under the scrutiny of His word, and the direction of the Holy Spirit. Our responses to the relationships at home, at work, at school, in the church (the body of Christ) all need to be according to the teaching, the guidance, and the direction of the Lord Jesus our Head!
So what shall we say to all of this, how do we proceed, how do we do this? The answer is of course in God’s word. Here are some scriptures that speak directly to this challenge.
The answer lays in the act of learning (discipleship), submitting to, and choosing to obeying, God’s word. I lays in the choice we must make daily to; “present ourselves a living sacrifice holy, acceptable to God, which is our reasonable service and to not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of our minds, that we may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” Romans 12:1
Mathew 7:24; 12:50; 16:24; 10:28; John 14:23; 1John 2:17; Luke 18:29 – 30;
Romans 6:6; 8:13; 13:14; Galatians 5:16 – 24; Colossians 3:5; 1 Peter 4:2
I hope and pray that you are experiencing the joys and blessings of a godly home, marriage, and family. May you avoid the many pit falls that come from sinful disobedience to the Lord. May you be renewed in your love for Jesus and may your loving obedience to Him produce a bounty of the fruits of His Spirit in your homes.
Love in Jesus Vince