Genesis 18:18-20 "Since Abraham will surely become a great and mighty nation, and in him all the nations of the earth will be blessed? For I have chosen him, ..."So that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing righteousness and justice, so that the LORD may bring upon Abraham what He has spoken about him.A MAN MUST BE THE PRIEST AND HEAD OF HIS HOME, TO MAINTAIN THE GRACE AND PROMISES OF GOD! This the 40th year of my walk. Time, or age in itself is meaningless. There are old fools as well as young ones, and elderly Pastors that or but babies in my book..[ if that. ], ..and young men full of fruit and love that shame me. That said; I am musing about all of the people who have fell away from Christ, or, after a few years in Him, have such awful devastation in their lives. I wanted to focus on the family; THE CORNERSTONE of all Civilization.I have seen this one....A LOT; Men who have forfeited there God given ministry as Priest and Head of there home. It amazes me, how the utter devastation of entire families occur from this one sin, and how children are affected throughout their lives from wounds derived from it.Parents are the first representation of God Himself that a child ever sees. If the home could be defiled, and God misrepresented, then the Head is defiled, and the deed is done. True Faith is sullied, de-facto, by the deeds of life, and the bad fruit it displays.Much of this is derived from permissive spirits, that slightly twist the Word, and remember today, in our Feminist mind set; Our days are not the root. The temptation has been here since the fall; the ENMITY God placed upon Eve...and the eternal struggle of the sexes.This is more than mere doctrine, A Husband being the head and Priest of his home. When a co-head is established, it will fall.[ wives and husbands in a co-chair ] In name, it may be portrayed as functioning, but in the end, this will always be the woman in the seat...with the idea that this is Peace, and the reality that if momma aint happy, nobody is.When this occurs, and I have seen it over and over, then Grace disappears, and you cannot live without grace. God will not give it either, until true repentance comes. What usually occurs, is a worldly, "bless me" life, with extreme selfishness as the standard to walk with God. The family life..[ or church life..] becomes 100% related to User friendly benefits, and the offender families see another Jesus....and are confused, or disillusioned.I encourage the married men here to take the reins that God has given you, and to stand, and not let go, and as important, the married women here, to take courage and trust God that your submission to your husband will be blessed, and;"Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies. The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her, so that he shall have no need of spoil. She will do him good and not evil all the days of her life. She seeketh wool, and flax, and worketh willingly with her hands. She is like the merchants' ships; she bringeth her food from afar. She riseth also while it is yet night, and giveth meat to her household, and a portion to her maidens. She considereth a field, and buyeth it: with the fruit of her hands she planteth a vineyard. She girdeth her loins with strength, and strengtheneth her arms. She perceiveth that her merchandise is good: her candle goeth not out by night. She layeth her hands to the spindle, and her hands hold the distaff. She stretcheth out her hand to the poor; yea, she reacheth forth her hands to the needy. She is not afraid of the snow for her household: for all her household are clothed with scarlet. She maketh herself coverings of tapestry; her clothing is silk and purple. Her husband is known in the gates, when he sitteth among the elders of the land. She maketh fine linen, and selleth it; and delivereth girdles unto the merchant. Strength and honour are her clothing; and she shall rejoice in time to come. She openeth her mouth with wisdom; and in her tongue is the law of kindness. She looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness. Her children arise up, and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praiseth her. Many daughters have done virtuously, but thou excellest them all. Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the LORD, she shall be praised. Give her of the fruit of her hands; and let her own works praise her in the gates.None of this will happen in the family if the woman decides to be her own man, so to speak, as well as if the Husband refuses the responsibility of being head and priest of his home. Blessing will depart along with the graces of Godly order.
Great post brother. Thank you.
_________________Christiaan
Very good and true article.
Just curious, BrotherTom, How would you guide and encourage single mothers? There are many around, even in the church. They are trying to care for children, discipline, hold down a job, manage a home, and deal with loneliness and emotional fatigue. They don't have an opportunity to obey God regarding authority. They must be the authorities in their homes, or their homes will unravel. In fact, to fail to do so would be negligence. What scriptures would guide them in the role in which they find themselves? Diane
_________________Diane
"Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world." roadsign writes: Just curious, BrotherTom,How would you guide and encourage single mothers? There are many around, even in the church. They are trying to care for children, discipline, hold down a job, manage a home, and deal with loneliness and emotional fatigue. They don't have an opportunity to obey God regarding authority. They must be the authorities in their homes, or their homes will unravel. In fact, to fail to do so would be negligence. What scriptures would guide them in the role in which they find themselves? Diane [roadsign] Thank-you, Thank you Roadsign so much. With your permission roadsign, I am going to post a new thread with this theme. I do not know what to say, except this is monumental in God's heart, that this be addressed, and dealt with in the Church. I visited Brother Alan Martin, [ Makrothemia] who pastors a group in Missouri once, and they had taken in a sister and provided for her in a wonderful way as a church, in a rural setting community. This gave her some foundation, a free-rent home, covered her utilities and food.This also with genuine shared parenting from Godly mothers and fathers, and the single too, that ministered to her beyond the greeting; "Be blessed!", to her several fatherless children.This I respect. But HOW? do we, in our dysfunctional Pulpit/Pew system, actually transcend the religious rhetoric and dive into real Spirit led suppliant, effective ministry to our rejected single mothers. It is a tsunami today, and the numbers are mind boggling. In the black communities, the number runs OVER 50%.Considering that many Christian families with children are struggling to make it.....and often the mother must also work with the husband, and the commute, and sports and bills, and church-life??? And TWO struggle not to stress out, and in the midst of this...actually reach out and pull up a single mother???.Another solution, is one that David Wilkerson began, that I deeply admire, and that is Hannah house...mostly though for the homeless women and children....and other facilities across America..http://www.hannahhouse.org/I believe that any effective ministry to single mothers must be a commitment of the local Church, and must be guided by God on an individual church basis. It is heartbreaking, and to be honest, I have failed to find a resolution, though I have seen the need.This must be a commitment decided by local shepherds to care for these sisters, and children, as they would for their own, and then, there will be an answer and a solution.
Me or you.
Amen, great post and very relevant.On a personal note, I am in a marriage where my leadership was/is challenged on a consistant basis by my wife, while she persues her passion (Art).Over the years(15), my involvement in my church, family and work has steadily digressed from very keen, dedicated involvement, to abdicating completely. It then develloped into full on relational warfare, and me falling into the sin men fall into when the do not have an intimate relationship with their wives.When our youngest (5)year old daughter was diagonised with stage 2 pelvic cancer, I snapped out of the cycle of forgiving, becoming bitter, sinning, repenting, forgiving, becoming bitter .... and seriously started looking for answers. Most of the answers I got was here @ SI. Listening to the sermons on SI helped me through some terrible days of being completely drained (emotionally) while trying to work behind my computer.I found the pain of being dishonoured by my wife to be much greater than the pain of seeing my daughter receiving chemotherapy, her pretty hair falling out, her enduring the constant invation of needles, drips, catheters, stetoscopes etc.Made me understand how much we grieve God when we rebell against Him.Today, our daughter is completely healed, and I left all judgement in God's Hand, as He is slowly showing my wife the error of her ways, as I do my part - Loving her with a love that covers a multitude of sins.So, yes there is disaster that follows when a man is not the head, or Priest of his home.BlessingsJoch
_________________J Kruger
It takes a lot of guts and humility to say what you said, Joch. Thanks for sharing that.
"Today, our daughter is completely healed, and I left all judgement in God's Hand, as He is slowly showing my wife the error of her ways, as I do my part - Loving her with a love that covers a multitude of sins.So, yes there is disaster that follows when a man is not the head, or Priest of his home."..JochI don't know if I have ever read a more honest and naked testimony here on SI, as yours, Joch. Yours are the cries of terror from a desperate man that is lying outside the gate bleeding from his boils, without any hope except God has mercies on him and lifts him up.....too weak to stand.This is the other side of leaving the Priesthood of your home; the rebellion of Jezebel. How can you combat it? How can you justify it? You cannot, because it is concealed betrayal; hidden in the wicked heart of our mate...[ male and female ].Job found it. "Curse God and die, fool!" Believe this or not, brother, so did I. My wife chose this path..[ and it is a choice..] and it cost her...her life. For me, it was a spirit....a demon that entered her, through unbelief of course, and bitterness....wanting more than she had, and hating because she did not have. She began to curse me in the ugliest ways...pursuing me screaming the most ungodly things over me..and this went on for years, building steam...cutting me to the core.The Lord spoke to me about her twice, in audible visitations. Once, He said, ever so clearly, "IF DEBBIE DOESN'T REPENT, I'M GOING TO BRING HER INTO JUDGMENT."....so, I told her what the Lord said. She mocked me.About six months later, with her cursing building up more-so, He spoke to me again..."IF DEBBIE DOESN'T REPENT, I'M GOING TO CUT HER OFF.!"...This is the worst of all judgment...Eternal Fire......and I told her. She mocked.Eventually, I had to leave my home. My son was grown, 18, and I decided to take a job on the east coast, and send money home to her. I did, and continued to support her. After a stint of homelessness,[ no car...no money...sick..] and complete abandonment by every friend and every family member I once had...I returned.I "dated" her, I guess, and began to just love her...like you did. Five years passed and I had money once again, and supported her...and did everything I could to be good to her. Eventually, her heart softened, and we began to reconcile. We were yet married.She began to confess her sin to me, with humility, and sorrow for her rebellion. I never realized the depth of her sin until much later...but it didn't matter.We lived in separate houses near each other, and saw each other every day. One day, she began to weep uncontrollably, and sobbed for 48 hours straight. Two days later, she died in the night from a massive stroke. I was the last person she talked to, and that held her.Guilt and condemnation plagued me, as I recalled my wicked selfishness and retaliation I had committed against her, over the years, Too many to count .Had I contributed to her Eternal Hell ? I did not know for sure...if it was judgment, or if she had been "CUT OFF".. as Judas...Hades.That Spring, I was driving with my two year-old granddaughter in the rural countryside where I live. She was locked into her car seat in the back seat..and as I drove, She became very, very excited, and began to shout.She patted the top of her head, her chest, her knees, and the soles of her feet...joyfully screaming..."MAW-MAW DEBBIE! SHE HAS A BRAND NEW HEAD, BRAND NEW TUMMY, BRAND NEW LEGS, BRAND NEW FEET!!!!" over and over .She was glowing, and all of my hairs stood on end, as I shivered with awe. God was in my car.I pulled my car over, took off mt belt, and turned around to give her my complete attention. I said;" Paw-Paw Tom didn't hear you honey. Say it again!" Of course I did hear her clearly...and then, she went into an encore ...and began, with much enthusiasm the same shouts....MAW_MAW DEBBIE HAS A BRAND NEW HEAD,BRAND NEW FEET!"...and so on.I shook with Holy Ghost realization as she prophesied about my dear wife's resurrected body, and I knew she had not been cut off, but judged.At that moment, every bit of guilt and shame over my failure towards her was blotted out; forever cleansed...until even today. My wife was forgiven, as I was...and that by Jesus. That was over 7 years ago.Yet, there remains judgment, and it can be severe...and the key is WE MUST FEAR GOD!...as Husbands and Wives..and obey Him in our sacred marriage covenant. There will be consequences that will occur, if we refuse to repent of our rebellion. Judgment must first begin in the House of God.
Brothers... Thank you for your testimonys. They both sent shivers down my back. The best postings that I have read in a long, long time.Thank you Lord.
