The Bible is our only rule for faith and practice. If it is not reliable, then on what do we base our beliefs? Jesus asks for our trust, and that includes trust in what He says in His Word.
Faith.
Belief.
Trust.
Don’t those words demand some sort of unknown, unknowable?
Of course there are difficult passages in the Bible. Of course sincere men disagree over interpretations of the Bible.
These are the faults of man, not of God. Man is finite, and in his limited scope, tries to understand the Infinite and begins guessing and making up stuff, when he’d be better off simply trusting a bit.
God is complicated enough to make the entire universe with words. We should approach His words reverently and prayerfully, and when we find something we don’t understand, we should get over it.
Pray more, and study more.
Then if the mystery remains we humbly acknowledge our own limitations in the face of the perfect Word of God.
The Bible is an immeasurable source of authority. Taking 1500 years to write, yet consistent throughout, it is a library of books with 30 vastly different authors. Seers, vagabonds, kings, poets, slaves, fishermen, doctors, extremely wealthy and extremely poor–many never met or even heard of the others. Yet their words jive in ways no one could ever contrive. Their foretelling comes true and after centuries, later contributors are able to say, “THIS is what was spoken of by the prophets!” (Acts 2:16, among others)
This work IS the final interpretation of the truth. To consider the Bible apart from its one supreme purpose (the TRUTH) is to have a book and nothing more.
. . . the father said to his servants,”Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fatted calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found. So they began to celebrate. –Luke 15:22-24
We grope for the wall like the blind, and we grope as if we had no eyes; we stumble at noonday as at twilight; we are as dead men in desolate places.
We all growl like bears, and moan sadly like doves; we look for justice, but there is none; for salvation, but it is far from us .
For our transgressions are multiplied before You, and our sins testify against us; for our transgressions are with us, and as for our iniquities, we know them: in transgressing and lying against the Lord, and departing from our God, speaking oppression and revolt, conceiving and uttering from the heart words of falsehood.
Justice is turned back, and righteousness stands afar off; for truth is fallen in the street, and equity cannot enter.
So truth fails, and he who departs from evil makes himself a prey.
Then the Lord saw it, and it displeased Him that there was no justice.
He saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor; therefore His own arm brought salvation for Him; and His own righteousness, it sustained Him.
For He put on righteousness as a breastplate, and a helmet of salvation on His head; He put on the garments of vengeance for clothing, and was clad with zeal as a cloak.
According to their deeds, accordingly He will repay, fury to His adversaries, recompense to His enemies; the coastlands He will fully repay.
So shall they fear the name of the Lord from the west, and His glory from the rising of the sun; when the enemy comes in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord will lift up a standard against him.
“The Redeemer will come to Zion, and to those who turn from transgression in Jacob,” says the Lord.
“As for Me,” says the Lord, “This is My covenant with them: My Spirit who is upon you, and My words which I have put in your mouth, shall not depart from your mouth, nor from the mouth of your descendants, nor from the mouth of your descendants’ descendants,” says the Lord, “from this time and forevermore.”
Mind – God most definitely has a mind. He has thoughts, for sure, and says His thoughts are higher than our thoughts. After all, anyone who could think up this whole universe CAN think.
Will – God also surely has a will. Why else would Jesus tell us to pray, “Thy will be done.”? His Word tells us He is not willing that anyone be lost, for instance. Always good, He is.
Emotions – Yes, He has those, too. His Word expresses anger, pity, and joy, among several others.
So, He loves His creation, including us, and He hates sinners for messing it up.
Kinda puts Him in a bind — both loving and hating people.
But He sent a solution to the whole thing, a Way to reconcile His hatred and love.
Pretty great thinking. Awesome, in fact. He tells us: His Son co-signed on our debt.
We defaulted.
So He paid.
And that is the kind of personality He has, the kind of soul He has.
The kind of soul we join our souls to when we go His way.
Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. Colossians 3:1-3
The man living to please his wife is afraid. He won’t measure up. He’ll make a mistake. He’s sure of it.
Candle in the Window (Photo credit: Chris Campbell)
How did he get this way? Probably, he suffered at the hands of his parents.
However, he gets no relief from kicking himself unless he knows you’re happy, and convincing him of your happiness can be hard. His service to you goes beyond Christian charity. Face it: You are an idol in his life. He’ll likely fail to do much for the Lord unless he takes his eyes off you, turns around, and looks to Jesus.
Solution #6: How do you dance with a man who won’t lead? How tempting simply to express your opinion, let him fulfill your will, and live it up!
Yes, it is.
Is that Godly?
No, it is not.
God wants you to be a helper, fit for him, but he is afraid. He fears losing you, failing you, displeasing you…he fears YOU!
The fear of man (or woman) is a snare. God wants him to stand, throw off this fear, know the voice of Jesus, and walk in the light.
The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom.
It’s not your fault. Someone has done this to him, but you suffer, too. Someone has broken, squashed, or grated on your man, when he was a little boy. To him, anything would be worse than your displeasure. Somehow, someone has to undo this wrong.
The hard part is dying to yourself. If your husband had a physical handicap, you’d never think of tripping him when he walked. You’d gladly fetch his cane, rub liniment, or whatever, to help him heal.
Instead, his affliction is emotional. The things that trip him are the everyday nuances of personality that anyone else can bear. A pout, a sigh, or a frown make you appear to be unhappy. He is alarmed. He quizzes you. You resent it. He feels shut out. You feel helpless. It never ends.
You are in a powerful position, though, to minister healing in the name of Jesus.
You can convince him that it would please you most for him to ask God’s will instead of seeking yours. He will not be easy to convince.
You can encourage him to go ahead and risk making a mistake. He will despair over it, even in his sleep.
You can accept him, blunders, and all. He will be awaiting your rejection, instead.
He wants you to be his Light that shows him the way each day. God wants you to be the light in the window to draw him back home each night.
You can assure him that you will love him for a lifetime, no matter what. If it takes a lifetime, it truly does not matter. It is do-able. Minister acceptance to your husband and you will be an instrument in God’s hand to help him stand tall in the acceptance that is his in Jesus Christ. You will become the helper he needs, a helper that is fit for him, his helpmeet.
If he were a missionary, he would need a missionary helpmeet. If he were a lawyer, he would need a helpmeet who could maneuver in society. If he were poor, he would need a helpmeet who could follow a budget. If he were lame, he would need a helpmeet who could endure the smell of liniment.
Instead of these requirements, your husband needs mending. He needs time. He needs smiles. He needs space. Above all, he needs to know of your love on a daily, or even hourly basis. Tell him, show him, and prove to him, many times over, that you love him. Never think that now, finally, you have convinced him.
The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her, so that he shall have no need of spoil. (Proverbs 31:11) So says Scripture of the good wife. It then lists the benefits the good wife provides for her husband so that he need not venture out for them. You can provide cheer, comfort, love, and acceptance for him. He need not look beyond your lovely face for hope. You can show him, even be for him the love of Jesus manifested into his life. You can help him see the hope that lies in Jesus.
Listen to this conversation between a married couple from Scripture: “We are doomed to die!” he said to his wife. “We have seen God!” But his wife answered, “If the LORD had meant to kill us, he would not have accepted a burnt offering and grain offering from our hands, nor shown us all these things or now told us this.” Can you see the way Samson’s mother tried to instill hope and joy into the heart of her husband, who was relating to good tidings from a basis of fear?
You can do the same. You can help your husband love God and look to Him for guidance. You can help him learn to trust in the love of God. You can help him relax in the presence of God. You can be good tidings, in his life. He will begin to trust you. He will join your children in rising up to call you blessed. He will begin to praise you. He will feel safe.
If this concept is new to you, it will be hard. Nevertheless, it is truth. You want the truth, I know. You want your husband to overcome. Reality is very important. If you are practicing witchcraft, you are opening the door to all the demons of hell to have their way with you and your family. You may not have heard of this before, but it’s in your Bible. You need to question why you’ve never heard of it.
Solution #4: Of course, the answer is to stop, confess, repent, renounce, and never look back. Let’s begin with the obvious, and this is not a complete list:
If you are now, or ever have done horoscopes, D&D, Ouija, etc., then you must stop.
Read occult fiction? Stop.
Watch occult movies? Stop.
Demonic computer games? Stop.
“Into” Indian religions? Stop.
TM, yoga, ninja, jujitsu, karate, etc., all have to go.
Own pagan statuary? It is an offense to God.
Throw all this, and any similar trash, into a big pile and burn it. Yes, burn it. Find people to pray with you. Find friends who believe God about what He said on these matters to explain to you: How much he meant what He said!
It’s an emergency. There is no time or room for arguing about this. You are in danger. Get help. You’ll love being free.
If you are thinking how good you are to be so free, you are the primary target of this post, because you do understand. So, look at one verse of Scripture, 1 Samuel 15:23: “For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry.” Is the Lord already speaking to your heart?
Dear Sister, if you are rebelling against your husband’s leading, you are opening the door to witchcraft in your home. I know this is a heart-breaking Word, if you’re taking it seriously. Please, take it seriously. You are playing with fire.
When your husband expresses his will and your thoughts turn rebellious, you’re rebelling against God, similar to Saul. Your excuses are sounding like Saul’s. It doesn’t matter if your husband seems mistaken. It doesn’t matter if you are expert at the subject about which he reserves judgment. It doesn’t matter if his decisions are untimely, or even waste time. Nothing else matters if witchcraft is in the home. How unfair to expect good decisions from a man living alongside witchcraft!
The first move is up to you, no matter what your husband has done. Go to God and repent. Weep and wail for the misery that has and will overcome you. Then apologize to your husband. After that, you must commit the rest of your life to walk in submission to God, through your husband.
If you see you’ve caused the problem, do whatever you must to stop. How can anyone survive, spiritually, living within an invitation to witchcraft? Close the door to the enemy and watch your husband begin to walk freer. Watch your children begin to walk freer. Watch them begin to understand submission and submit more freely to you.
The enemy will hate this move. He’ll batter the windows of your soul with storms you never dreamed of. Don’t be afraid: fear is another storm to make you give up. Don’t give up. Close the windows. Walk in love for your Savior and for your husband. Love will give you bravery. Ask God to perfect your love for Him, and your family. His love will tame the raging rebellion lion. Then you’ll experience one of my favorite Scriptures: Ps 85:10 Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other.
It sounds so good, doesn’t it? It is good. It is the peace that passes all understanding, dwelling in your heart, your home, and your life—worth any price. Invite the Prince of Peace into your existence. You will never be sorry you did.
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