2019-08-02
Good Morning Dear Ones,
As commanded by the Holy Spirit, this devotion continues examining our relationships with God and with other people. It also supplies supporting Scriptures to the book of Colossians. To meet these goals, we will also see what it is like to live in God’s light as His children. COL 3: 18-22, much like EPH 5 and 6: 1-9, contains instructions on various relationships that please God when followed. COL 3: 18-22, “Wives, submit yourselves to your husbands, for that is what you should do as Christians. Husbands love your wives and do not be harsh with them. Children, it is your Christian duty to obey your parents, for that is what pleases God. Parents do not irritate your children, or they will become discouraged. Slaves obey your human masters in all things as though you were working for the Lord and not for people.”
EPH 5: 21-25, in a wonderful way, helps us to define and discuss the roles of each partner in a marriage, even with a modern approach today. It’s not enough to say, “Wives submit yourselves to your husbands, as they are the head of your household.” Instead, the wording is “Submit yourselves to one another.” While each partner has a different role than the other, there is the suggestion that one partner is not the lesser one in the relationship. An ideal wife and woman is already clearly defined in PR 31: 10-31. With that as a foundation, this kind of submission being commanded of wives is to have the devotion, honor, completeness, and loyalty as with our ideal relationship with the Lord. As for the husband, he is to devote himself to his wife as he does ideally to the Lord-- as the Lord demonstrates His authority over the church. While the Lord would never do evil, neither should the husband to his wife. Husbands are to love their wives, just as Christ loves the church and gave His life for it. Such a marriage should never include abuse, sexual immorality, or any other kind of evil, so often seen these days. Under the ideal conditions given to us in the Scriptures, there would be no need for long, painful divorce cases.
In modern times, we have the problem of many unwanted children being born. This is because of fornication and other forms of uncommitted relationships. Blended families also have built-in issues with stepchildren and children born of the new marriage struggling to get along with each other. Efforts to deal with the issues brought on in these children as they mature, cause all sorts of problems and can lead to clogging the courts, due to bad behavior. Nowadays, raising children is the hardest job any adult will ever do with all the pressures pulling at them. EPH 5: 8b-11, “…But since you have become the Lord’s people who belong to the light, for it is the light that brings a rich harvest of every kind of goodness, righteousness, and truth. Try to learn what pleases the Lord. Have nothing to do with the worthless things that people do, things that belong to the darkness. Instead, bring them out to the light.” Tall order? Yes, it is, but the Lord has given us the ability to go against our sinful natures and do it. It won’t be easy for us, but it will invite the Lord’s blessings.
In today’s world, it is unacceptable to own, buy or sell a human being. And thank God that is now true. It took us changing the economy of the southern United States over time to enable this change regarding slavery in this country. Granting former- slaves the right to be free and to be considered equal citizens with equal rights came about shamefully slowly. Slavery is had been a well-worn practice in certain parts of the world due to inbred sinfulness throughout mankind’s history. Slaves were encouraged to be obedient to their human masters and to show loyalty, willingness to work hard, and acceptance of only sub-standard living conditions than their human masters. It took the Lord too many years to bring us to the point where such horrific conditions were considered intolerable; that’s how stubborn humans can be! From the references to slavery in the Scriptures, as in EPH 6: 5-9 and COL 3: 21-22, we know it was practiced in ancient times. We are told, in COL 3: 23, that we are to work as if God Himself were our Boss/Master. And the truth is, He is!
PRAYER: O Most Heavenly Father, You bring all goodness and kindness into our lives. You expose us to Your values and teach us to treat our fellow mankind demonstrating the gifts of the Holy Spirit. We are grateful that people with formerly enslaved ancestors, those who first came to the American and Canadian plains, those with ancestors forcibly brought by slave ships from Africa to this country, and those who immigrated from persecution in Europe and the Middle East can live in our country, knowing they will be given equal rights and treatment. You teach us to honor our customs and forefathers, to eschew laziness, to treat other people with respect, and to make You the very Center of our lives. When we obey Your commands, we experience joy, inner peace, and a desire to lead loving, productive lives. None of us know the future, except that You will keep Your promise, found in JER 29: 11-13, and that Your Son, Jesus Christ, will come again. “I alone know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you not to bring disaster, plans to give you the future for which you hope. Then, you will call to Me and come and pray to Me, and I will answer you. You will seek Me, and you will find Me, because you will seek Me with all your heart.” Lord, we can turn to You at any time and never feel abandoned. We thank and praise You for that unconditional love You have for us and light You shine on us. In the holy/mighty name of Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen.
NEXT WEEK: 1 JN 3: 1-10 is about the difference between children of the devil and children of God. This and other parts of 1 JN are special gifts to us, just as RO 8 is. Next week in response to the prompting of the Holy Spirit, I will supply these supporting Scriptures to the book of Colossians and further examine our relationship vertically with God and horizontally with other people. God is truly the Center of our lives; His gifts of the Holy Spirit are guiding principles upon which our lives should be driven. We have extraordinary blessings given to us by Him every day, blessings which we need to be in the habit of counting. It’s the number of them that makes these blessings special, but it is also how they improve the quality of our lives that also matters. Our Triune Deity occupies our lives, interacts with us, and leads us toward that “narrow gate to the hard path that leads to eternal life” [MT 7: 13-14]. He communicates to us through the Holy Spirit, Who inhabits our souls. He works hard to civilize us and improve our thoughts and behavior. And when we are troubled, He makes Himself always available to listen to our prayers. He cares about us and teaches us to deal with both simple and complicated situations in a way which pleases Him. And pleasing Him is the most important thing we can do. He creates in us a hunger for His word, and we are made much the better for it. Thanks and praise be to Him!
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn
JS 24: 15
© Lynn Johnson 2019. All rights Reserved.
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