ephesians 5:22-33

Posted by christin joy | | 5/27/2008 02:10:00 AM
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Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands. Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. In the same way husbands should love their 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 Christ does the church, because we are members of his body. Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.
ephesians 5:22-33

i've always understood this scripture. i've always knew the depths of this scripture. but today i have felt what its like to have to put this into action with regards to something you desire so greatly. praise the Lord for pruning but man, it sure does hurt. i have had probably one of the hardest days ever. i've wanted to be mad at bud, i've wanted to say that he was wrong about everything and i wanted to throw it in his face. my flesh was all sorts of riled up today. but fortunately, God is gracious, slow to anger and He is extremely patient with me. submitting to Him doesn't just mean going with what he says when i feel like it, i am to crucify my flesh and follow my husbands words even when i don't like the heading he says is ours. i have to trust that He has been prayerfully going through his days and that the LORD will be gracious to keep him from error.

Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.
john 12:24-26

i have to give up all of those things that i'm holding on to. i guess in the same sense as a dear friend of mine wrote in a blog, i have to give up that which is closest to my heart and that is hong kong and the ministry i feel called to do there. if i can let it go, give it up to God, trust that my husband is speaking in truth and not emotion, trust that i have only been speaking in emotion and not in absolute truth and trust that God will make it happen if He wants it to, then i am better off. i know this and i need to ask God to crucify that which is me and replace it with Himself. i want nothing of me, i want everything i do, every breath i take, every move i make and every bit of ministry i'm involved with to add to God's Glory. nothing that i could do on my own power would be even CLOSE to being worthy of our Lord and Savior. now, if He were to do it through me, miraculously, practically and perfectly - then all the glory could be added unto Him. i need this to happen in my life. i need to give over things that don't matter in the long run and give in to the things that do.

family. i have a family now. i have to remind myself that bud and i are not dating anymore, we are one flesh, one mind. we are in this together for the rest of our lives. and i'm SO happy about that, but sometimes its as if we're still just dating. i know we're married, but sometimes when life gets crazy busy and we don't see each other as much as we'd like, its as if we're back to being betrothed. but we're married. :) we're one. and as such, i should remember - family comes first. sometimes, (i'm not making excuses) i feel as though i'm on the back burner to all the things bud is involved with and so that "justifies" why i can just tell him whats going on rather than involve him. i really want him to be involved in the things i'm doing and that i am passionate about. but he really doesn't have the opportunity to be, if i'm not putting Him first before all that which i'm involved with. i pray that both he and i will do that in the future.

i've learned a lot today. i need to be content with whats going on and not long for the future. i need to live in the now. i pray that the Lord will help me to be patient and trust in Him and trust that my husband is walking in His footsteps for our lives. agape.

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jeremiah 5

Posted by christin joy | | 5/19/2008 02:16:00 PM
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i think its so interesting how far away our minds have strayed from understanding that God is a God of righteous wrath. we do things that are stupid and deserve to feel the heat of his wrath come on us. but God shows mercy time and time again, but when there are times He allows bad things to happen or it feels like He is against us, we want to cry out "why oh why is God letting this happen to us!?" or "why do bad things happen to good people?!" think about it, we are all inherently wicked. we can do no good outside of the grace and leading of the Holy Spirit. (this is in comparison to what God deems good, not what humans deem good.) i mean, just read through the book of jeremiah! the jews are supposed to be God's chosen people, right? so if God can show wrath on them, why should we expect anything different.

well, we may say "oh well i'm not sleeping with my friends wife." or "oh well i didn't steel or lie about anything, that bad." but to God sin is sin and one sin is worthy of God showing us His wrath. lets go through parts of jeremiah so i can explain what i'm thinking at this very moment:

jeremiah 5
1 Run to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem,look and take note! Search her squares to see if you can find a man, one who does justice and seeks truth, that I may pardon her. 2 Though they say, As the Lord lives,yet they swear falsely. 3 O Lord, do not your eyes look for truth? You have struck them down, but they felt no anguish; you have consumed them, but they refused to take correction. They have made their faces harder than rock; they have refused to repent. 4 Then I said, These are only the poor; they have no sense; for they do not know the way of the Lord, the justice of their God. 5 I will go to the great and will speak to them, for they know the way of the Lord, the justice of their God. But they all alike had broken the yoke; they had burst the bonds. 6 Therefore a lion from the forest shall strike them down; a wolf from the desert shall devastate them. A leopard is watching their cities;everyone who goes out of them shall be torn in pieces, because their transgressions are many, their apostasies are great. 7 How can I pardon you? Your children have forsaken me and have sworn by those who are no gods. When I fed them to the full,they committed adultery and trooped to the houses of whores. 8 They were well-fed, lusty stallions, each neighing for his neighbor's wife. 9 Shall I not punish them for these things? declares the Lord; and shall I not avenge myself on a nation such as this?

10 Go up through her vine rows and destroy, but make not a full end; strip away her branches, for they are not the Lord's. 11 For the house of Israel and the house of Judah have been utterly treacherous to me, declares the Lord. 12 They have spoken falsely of the Lord and have said, He will do nothing; no disaster will come upon us, nor shall we see sword or famine. 13 The prophets will become wind; the word is not in them. Thus shall it be done to them! 14 Therefore thus says the Lord, the God of hosts: Because you have spoken this word, behold, I am making my words in your mouth a fire, and this people wood, and the fire shall consume them. 15 Behold, I am bringing against you a nation from afar, O house of Israel, declares the Lord. It is an enduring nation; it is an ancient nation, a nation whose language you do not know, nor can you understand what they say. 16 Their quiver is like an open tomb; they are all mighty warriors. 17 They shall eat up your harvest and your food; they shall eat up your sons and your daughters; they shall eat up your flocks and your herd; they shall eat up your vines and your fig trees; your fortified cities in which you trust they shall beat down with the sword. 18 But even in those days, declares the Lord, I will not make a full end of you. 19 And when your people say, Why has the Lord our God done all these things to us? you shall say to them, As you have forsaken me and served foreign gods in your land, so you shall serve foreigners in a land that is not yours.

20 Declare this in the house of Jacob; proclaim it in Judah: 21 Hear this, O foolish and senseless people, who have eyes, but see not, who have ears, but hear not. 22 Do you not fear me? declares the Lord. Do you not tremble before me? I placed the sand as the boundary for the sea, a perpetual barrier that it cannot pass; though the waves toss, they cannot prevail; though they roar, they cannot pass over it. 23 But this people has a stubborn and rebellious heart; they have turned aside and gone away. 24 They do not say in their hearts, Let us fear the Lord our God,who gives the rain in its season, the autumn rain and the spring rain,and keeps for us the weeks appointed for the harvest.

25 Your iniquities have turned these away, and your sins have kept good from you. 26 For wicked men are found among my people; they lurk like fowlers lying in wait. They set a trap; they catch men. 27 Like a cage full of birds, their houses are full of deceit; therefore they have become great and rich; 28 they have grown fat and sleek. They know no bounds in deeds of evil; they judge not with justice the cause of the fatherless, to make it prosper, and they do not defend the rights of the needy. 29 Shall I not punish them for these things? declares the Lord, and shall I not avenge myself on a nation such as this? 30 An appalling and horrible thing has happened in the land: 31 the prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule at their direction; my people love to have it so, but what will you do when the end comes?

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jeremiah 5:1 "Run to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, look and take note! Search her squares to see if you can find a man, one who does justice and seeks truth,that I may pardon her" this to me almost seems like, well lets give them the benefit of a doubt, lets try and be gracious and see if there are ANY, even one who will seek to do the good of the Father. but i also know that He knew the result would be an astounding NOT ONE! they were unrepentant.

jeremiah 5:3 "O Lord, do not your eyes look for truth? You have struck them down, but they felt no anguish; you have consumed them, but they refused to take correction. They have made their faces harder than rock; they have refused to repent." they have no anguish for their sins, they lie or swear falsely. how could he find a repentant heart in a land that has no remorse for what they are doing?

jeremiah 5:4-5 "Then I said, These are only the poor; they have no sense; for they do not know the way of the Lord, the justice of their God. I will go to the great and will speak to them, for they know the way of the Lord, the justice of their God. But they all alike had broken the yoke; they had burst the bonds." basically what i see here is the hope that since they are looking among a select people group that they know do have hardened hearts and do not know of the Lord's will, maybe they will find a group of people in the depths of this land, somewhere far off that will seek purity and holiness. but again, to no avail, all were grimy and had no sense of repentance or need of it.

jeremiah 5:7-9 "How can I pardon you? Your children have forsaken me and have sworn by those who are no gods. When I fed them to the full,they committed adultery and trooped to the houses of whores. They were well-fed, lusty stallions, each neighing for his neighbor's wife. Shall I not punish them for these things? declares the Lord; and shall I not avenge myself on a nation such as this?" how can God pardon those who are revilers and enjoy what they are doing and have no incline to stop. feel no reason to stop. and you look at our world today. those who have no intention of stopping what they are doing, those who do not think they need to fall before our God in humility crying out for mercy. its everywhere. we are all evil and its only by God's grace and faith that we can fall to our faces and ask for God's heart to be our heart. how could He pardon us if we do not have the ability to seek for God's heart on our own? He'd have to do it on his own accord, He has to choose us. because even God's "chosen race" is not seeking the Lord, why would we? Jerusalem in this passage is shown to "swear by those who are not gods.", to have all that they needed but still lust and covet their neighbors wives and go to the whore houses, having a greedy heart. its a wonder God did not destroy them like sodom and gomorrah. they deserve it, God deserves to avenge Himself.

jeremiah 5:14-15 "Therefore thus says the Lord, the God of hosts: Because you have spoken this word, behold, I am making my words in your mouth a fire, and this people wood, and the fire shall consume them. Behold, I am bringing against you a nation from afar, O house of Israel, declares the Lord. It is an enduring nation; it is an ancient nation, a nation whose language you do not know, nor can you understand what they say." God is giving them over to their lusts and lies and deceit and allowing it to consume them. they will suffer due to their own wickedness. its like the scripture that says "therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen." romans 1:24-25

jeremiah 5:18-19 "But even in those days, declares the Lord, I will not make a full end of you. And when your people say, Why has the Lord our God done all these things to us? you shall say to them, As you have forsaken me and served foreign gods in your land, so you shall serve foreigners in a land that is not yours." so He's saying even though you're doing these things, and even though I'm a God of wrath, I am also a God of mercy and I will show you mercy. but isn't it funny that He is not fully destroying them and they say "why would you do this to me?" that is the fleshly heart to a tee! God is granting mercy but they hold on to the things they brought on themselves. how many times have we done that? have i done that? oh man, life is sucky but God saved me from such and such. but WHY DID HE PUT ME THROUGH IT IN THE FIRST PLACE! we want to place the blame on God but really we have done this to ourselves. we deserve the worst, yet He bids us come to Him, receive His grace and mercy.

jeremiah 5:24 "They do not say in their hearts, Let us fear the Lord our God,who gives the rain in its season, the autumn rain and the spring rain,and keeps for us the weeks appointed for the harvest." they do not fear the God who has provided all that they have ever needed. we as a wicked generation do not fear God as we ought to.

jeremeiah 5:28-29 "they have grown fat and sleek. They know no bounds in deeds of evil; they judge not with justice the cause of the fatherless, to make it prosper, and they do not defend the rights of the needy. Shall I not punish them for these things? declares the Lord, and shall I not avenge myself on a nation such as this?" jerusalem is running a muck. God put limits on the sea so that it does not come to far, that although it waves and roars, its still within His control. yet His people (we His creation), are running a muck with no limits to the sin and evil, no boundaries. they judge outside of justice. in the long run they deserve His judgment. as do we!

so as this has already turned into a longer post then i had expected, i look at this chapter as a reflection of what we all have done and what we all do. God save us from ourselves. let us not lash out when you cover us in your mercy, but Lord we ask that you let us soak up your mercy and goodness and become more like you. amen. agape.

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