Hello friends and readers! I hope this finds you well. For the married friends out there.... So I can't speak for y'all but for us and probably the vast majority of you life is a blur of busy. Shabbat is our weekly blessing of rest... But, we do need dedicated time together. My husband and I try to set aside a few hours every Sunday evening to unwind together after the kids are in bed and watch a sermon, talk, and hang out. But we also aim to schedule "regular dates" I put that in quotes because we don't have any set schedule like, once a month, or anything but we are mindful of having dates together. Now prior to the lockdowns and such we would do the typical dinner and a movie (if we could find a movie that was remotely acceptable) or bowling....weather permitting dinner and a walk downtown on the canal etc. We are rather simple people and the simple thing keep us relatively happy. For us it is not so much the activity as the opportunity to spend time together and talk. When everything got locked down and for various reasons stress increased. These "date nights" became more important, except there was nowhere to go.... so my husband one evening ordered Outback food for dinner car side pick- up, brought it home, and we had a "date" in the living room after the kids were in bed. We really had a lot of fun and enjoyed ourselves. Ever since then "date nights @ home" has been in regular rotation for us. Picking up dinner, maybe dessert too, hanging out, playing a game, watching a movie or several episodes of something (appropriate) and just enjoying each other's company. These things don't require a lot of money. As you can see, you don't even have to leave your house. But make sure that you and your spouse do have some 1x1 time, just the two of you. However you do it for you. Just be intentional; stay connected, have fun, make memories, cuddle, laugh, talk, vent..... and just be. Slow down and just be together. Until next time: May Adonai bless and keep you as you: press on pursuing the goal for the reward of the upward calling of God in Messiah Yeshua. Phil 4:13
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"Therefore encourage one another and build each other up......" 1 Thess. 5: 11 TLV "Bear one another's burdens, and in this way you fulfill the Torah of Messiah" Gal. 6:2 TLV Hello everyone, friends, readers and scattered family in Messiah! I hope this finds you all well. Well, one of those things that I often return to battle with is anxiety. But recently my husband has taken a new approach in how he leads me in confronting this issue. Just before my alarm goes off in the morning.... He comes over, kneels on my side of the bed, kisses my forehead, lays a hand on my shoulder or head and prays over me and the day before me. Something so simple. Yet so incredibly powerful and transformative. Whatever issues I have communicated to him in days preceding if relevant he brings to the throne of Adonai in prayer. If he knows I am struggling with anxiety he speaks verses of the Word of Truth over me, "Husbands, love your wives just as Messiah also loved His community and gave Himself up for her to make her holy, having cleansed her by immersion in the word. Messiah did this so that He might present to Himself His glorious community—not having stain or wrinkle or any such thing, but in order that she might be holy and blameless." Ephes. 5:25-27 TLV This made such an incredible impact today, during my day, it is a testimony! We have had this wonderful experience of adversity, and trial, that brought us closer together because in my weakness....he held me up, he sought Adonai on my behalf and this new habit has been created and what a blessing it has become. We are now daily praying over each other and laying hands on one another. (Instead of just praying for each other, as we had been) The past 2 months or so we have seen incredible growth! With that growth came growing pains to match! But wow, was it worth it. My husband first and foremost pursuing Yah. He is my best friend. He is the head of our house and marriage. He is the provider of our family. I am so blessed by all that he contributes to our family and marriage. Why share? Well a few reasons... this is part of the testimony from this week and well our culture is absolutely toxic towards Biblically balanced marriages, families, and healthy roles/relationships. The encouragement I received happened to be from him. But as a body of believers we should encourage one another. "Therefore encourage one another and build each other up......" 1 Thess. 5: 11 TLV As believers in Messiah these healthy Biblical family models should be the norm. They should not be quietly hidden in our homes where we are afraid to mention that *gasp* my husband leads my family and marriage. But should be on display as a light on a hilltop as part of our testimony to a broken world. People of Messiah need to RISE UP, come out from among them, be separate, and SHINE! Nothing is too difficult for Yah. He is able. Love Y'all!!
Until next time: May Adonai bless and keep you as you: press on pursuing the goal for the reward of the upward calling of God in Messiah Yeshua. Phil 4:13 Hello readers and scattered family in Messiah! Welcome back. My last post was on 1 Pet 3:3-4 the character of a godly wife and a little bit about marriage. As with "unlearning the lies" we had been taught for years about Torah.... Feminism has done a lot of damage to family structure in this country and the healthy development of our children and marriages. Our view of everything is through a Biblical lense. Not an "American," "Western," "currently cool," lense etc. We are His people. Hebrew. We are called to be seperate: Therefore, come out from among them, and be separate, says Adonai. Touch no unclean thing. Then I will take you in. I will be a father to you, and you shall be My sons and daughters, says Adonai-Tzva’ot.” 2 Cor 6: 17-18 TLV But as Messiah’s community is submitted(G5293 see Strong's Concordance definition in the picture above ^ ) to Messiah, so also the wives to their husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives just as Messiah also loved His community and gave Himself up for her to make her holy, having cleansed her by immersion in the word. Messiah did this so that He might present to Himself His glorious community—not having stain or wrinkle or any such thing, but in order that she might be holy and blameless. In the same way, husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it—just as Messiah also does His community, because we are members of His body. “For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” This mystery is great—but I am talking about Messiah and His community. In any case, let each of you love his own wife as himself, and let the wife respect her husband. Ephes. 5: 24-33 TLV There is a lot to unpack here. Let's start with the head of the house the husband: Scripture denotes a heavy responsibility on the husband to, "love your wives just as Messiah also loved His community and gave Himself up for her"
So what is love according to scripture? 1) God is love 1 JN 4: 16 2) Love is patient, love is kind, it does not envy, it does not brag, it is not puffed up, it does not behave inappropriately, it does not seek its own way, it is not provoked, it keeps no account of wrong, it does not rejoice over injustice but rejoices in the truth; it bears all things, it believes all things, it hopes all things, it endures all things. Love never fails— 1 Cor 13: 4-8 TLV
As for the wife:
* This give and take....ebb and flow, of love and respect --humility and kindness flowing back and forth shows forth the character of Messiah between husband and wife. The husband shows the strength and protection of Messiah in how gently he can: love, forgive, teach, instruct, or re-direct his wife when correction or growth is needed. He provides for his household and manages major issues as they arise to help carry the weight or remove some of the weight off of her. He also disciplines his children and makes sure that they are respectful and obedient to the Word but is not too harsh with them. The wife shows the character of Messiah in nurturing and loving her family be it just her and her husband or also if they have children. And by respecting her husband in relationship and in character. He can trust her with anything. He knows she will manage their: money, time, and resources well. She seeks to bless him. He knows that their personal business, stays personal. If they have children, she is able to manage them well, teach, and train them in the Word. She is able to assist other women in the Word and help with their children if needed. She is a blessing to those around her. This is counter cultural to the western-American-feminist mind set. As it should be. We are not called to blend in, but to stand out. No household will balance all of this perfectly. That being said, again, this is not a model for any type of abuse. It is a model for a household led by Messiah. If you have read abuse somewhere in these scriptures by a wife submitting to her: God-led, loving husband.... I suggest you re-read and study it in depth again. God is love. Abuse is not a part of love. I'll stand on my soap box briefly as someone who has been in an abusive relationship previously. Our western culture has taught women that it is valuable to leave your children in the care of strangers, go to work, and submit to someone (a boss) who doesn't love or care for you for 8-10 hours a day a minimum of 5 days a week..... to the point that the majority of people have to ask to go to the bathroom and some are even timed for bathroom breaks! THAT IS APPLAUDED because you are a working mom. However, the same woman, who chooses to stay home and care for her children, homeschool, cook for her husband, and maybe make some money doing a hobby/or work from home, or something on the side is given some odd ball side-eyes...... *crickets* Submitting to a boss at a job is applauded while submitting to one's own husband out of love and obedience to Yah often is not even within the church. (If you are a wife who works outside the home this post is not a condemnation of that. But that is not my point.- My point is a woman choosing to submit to her husband, out of obedience and love, should never be a point of contention and yet it is. There is a vast double standard between conforming to the prominent culture of the world vs "coming out from among them" and re-prioritizing. Can you work and still re-prioritize your: husband, home, and children? YES, I am a living example. The Proverbs 31 woman still made money for her household : see Prov 31: 13, 16, 18, 24, 27 However, pursuing a career to the forsaking of the home and family and allowing someone else to raise your children is not a Biblical model of obedience or living.) Closing out: Do nothing out of selfishness or conceit, but with humility consider others as more important than yourselves, looking out not only for your own interests but also for the interests of others. Phil 2:3-4 TLV God created humankind in His image, in the image of God He created him, male and female He created them. Gen 1:27 TLV Make every effort to present yourself before God as tried and true, as an unashamed worker cutting a straight path with the word of truth. 2 Tim 2:15 TLV HalleluYah! Until next time: May Adonai bless and keep you as you: press on pursuing the goal for the reward of the upward calling of God in Messiah Yeshua. Phil 4:13 |
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