When it comes to spiritual things the Bible is very clear about spiritual leadership. The responsibility for spiritual decisions and direction in the home lay squarely upon the shoulders of the husband and father.

This does not mean that the wife should have no input.  It should mean that once the wife has had input, the matter is the husband’s to decide.

I say all that to say this to the wife.  Do not give the husband permission to make a bad decision.  Some husbands will badger their wives until they just give up and say: OK, go ahead and do it.  This is giving him permission to make a bad decision and it makes the wife party to it.

When scenarios like this occur, the wife should keep the responsibility for the decision squarely on her husband’s shoulders.  Here is how that is done.  The wife should say: I understand that this is what you want to do.  I disagree, and I think proceeding will be a mistake, but this is your decision to make.  Don’t argue, plead or manipulate.  Try to keep the emotion out of it and resume normal conversation.

This conversation should always follow the same pattern when the husband wants to make a bad or wrong decision.  Spirit led submission does not mean that the wife should agree to do wrong or use bad judgment.  If the husband proceeds, his decision will affect the home, but the wife needs to be patient and trust the Lord with her husband.   After making a couple of bad decisions, it should dawn on the husband that there is wisdom in the wife’s input.  Only a fool would continue to ignore sound advice.

If the husband realizes his decision is wrong, this is not the time to say: I told you so, or to blow it off by saying: It’s OK, no big deal.  It is a big deal.  Just let it sink in and reassure him of your love.

(Of course I am not talking about illegal activity on the part of the husband.  Some felonies, if not reported before the fact, make the wife an accomplice.)

(Lest someone think this is misogynistic, this counsel also applies to Christian men who find themselves under another person’s authority.)

Note: Ultimately the wife will learn to trust the Lord with her husband,…….even when he is wrong.

…let the word of Christ dwell in you richly…

Open my eyes, that I may see
Glimpses of truth Thou hast for me;
Place in my hands the wonderful key
That shall unclasp and set me free.

Refrain:
Silently now I wait for Thee,
Ready my God, Thy will to see,
Open my eyes, illumine me,
Spirit divine!

Open my ears, that I may hear
Voices of truth Thou sendest clear;
And while the wave notes fall on my ear,
Everything false will disappear.         

Open my mind, that I may read
More of Thy love in word and deed;
What shall I fear while yet Thou dost lead?
Only for light from Thee I plead.

Open my mouth, and let me bear,
Gladly the warm truth everywhere;
Open my heart and let me prepare
Love with Thy children thus to share.

Clara H. Scott, pub. 1895

Copyright status is public domain.

…let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly…

Job Chapter 42:5&6

I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee.  Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes.

The Hebrew word for abhor means to reject, despise, or refuse.*

The Greek word for abhor means to turn oneself away from as  one would turn away from a bad smell or stench.  This meaning includes the idea of detesting or hating the offensive object.

After an encounter, The Old Testament character Job concluded; Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes.  The result of Job’s encounter was to turn away as he would from a stench.  Such a turning away would be done quickly until distanced from the despised and repulsive object.  Job was turning away from himself.  He stated that he abhored (despised) himself.

What was the encounter that produced such a hasty and repulsing reaction to his own self?   Job’s encounter was with God.  He had just said this about God; I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee.  When Job saw God as He is, he saw himself as he truly was and the result was a biblical view of himself.

Self-esteem permeates our culture.  You are worthy is a slogan adopted by our culture and educational systems.  This slogan is an attempt to build the self-esteem of those to whom it is directed.  In his book, The Vanishing Conscience, John MacArthur gives an example of how self esteem works.  Math students from several countries were tested for their mathematical abilities.  Along with the test, students were asked to answer the simple question; Are you good at math?  The group of students who scored the highest answered “no” to this question, while the lowest scoring group, the Americans, answered “yes”. [1]

You’ve heard the old adage concerning good news and bad news?  The good news is that we are making good time.  The bad news?  We are headed in the wrong direction!  We, the Americans, scored the lowest,…..but we felt good about it.

Our culture is trying to lift the self image in an effort to give hope.  When individuals have no hope they often turn to self destructive activities.  When an individual comes to the place where they hate or despise themselves, they are unable to receive the required remedy, because the real answer has been excluded from our educational systems.  The individual who despises himself needs to see Jesus Christ, God’s Son, as The Redeemer of his/her lost, sinful soul.

Although living several hundred years before Christ, Job declared; For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: (Job 19:25).

The answer is to see God as Job did.  When Job saw God as He is (sinless) and he saw himself (a sinner),  he was so repulsed by his sinful condition that he repented in dust and ashes.  He changed his mind and humbled himself before the Lord and worshiped.  Job’s repentance, humility, and trust in His Redeemer brought change and blessing from God.

God’s wrath was kindled against Job’s friends (ye have not spoken of me the thing that is right, as my servant Job hath).  Job’s friends were commanded to bring sacrifices and offer them up as a burnt offering for their sin (and my servant Job shall pray for you: for him will I accept:)….And the LORD turned the captivity of Job.

Have you seen God?   Much like Job, Isaiah saw God and his response was the cry of the leper……Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts    (Isaiah 6:5).

Do you have a biblical view of yourself?  When you see God as He is (in the pages of Scripture) [2], you will have an opportunity to obtain a biblical view of yourself.  It will no longer be I am worthy………………it will be He is worthy!

For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.  For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die.  But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.  Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him (Romans 5:6-9).

…let the word of Christ dwell in you richly…

[1] The Vanishing Conscience by John MacArthur – pg. 80; published in Nashville, Tennessee, by Thomas Nelson.  [2] Scripture – Do not use a paraphrase.  Use a reliable translation.  I would recommend the KJV, the NKJV, the NASV, & the ESV.

Note:  Perhaps you have made the statement; I hate myself.  Is it because you have failed to live up to a certain standard?  Maybe it is the world’s standard or even your own standards you have failed to live up to.  God has a standard that certainly no one can live up to because we are all under the curse of sin.  God’s standard is perfection.

  Fortunately, for you and I, God is offering us a substitute who can fulfill His standard on our behalf.  His name is Jesus Christ.  He is God’s Son and He alone has fulfilled God’s Standard of Righteousness.

Messiah Jesus took the penalty of our sin upon Himself when He died upon the cross of Calvary.  He was buried and rose again from the dead.  His perfect righteousness is applied to all who accept Him as God’s provision of righteousness on our behalf.  If you hate yourself,  lift your eyes off of yourself and onto the perfect Lamb of God.  Repent (change your mind) and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.  Accept Him as your Saviour and Lord.  Harden not your heart.  Let today be the day of your salvation!

If you claim to be a Christian and you hate yourself to the point of despair, perhaps you have unconfessed sin that is burdening your conscience.  I John 1:8-10 says;  If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.  If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.  If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

How are we to confess our sins?  We confess them directly to the Lord.  For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; (I Timothy 2:5).  We are to confess our sins as soon as we are aware of them.  Name the sin and agree with God about it.  Wrong thoughts are sin.  Follow the Psalmist’s direction; Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee (Psalm 119:11).

Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need (Hebrews 4:16).

…let the word of Christ dwell in you richly…

What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?  God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?

Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized* into Jesus Christ were baptized* into his death?  Therefore we are buried with him by baptism* into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:  Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.

For he that is dead is freed from sin.  Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him: Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him.

For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God.  Likewise reckon (consider) ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.  Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.  For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.

What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid.  Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?

But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you.  Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.

I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness.  For when ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness.

What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? for the end of those things is death.  But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.

For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord (Romans 6:1-23).

*Then remembered I the word of the Lord, how that he said, John indeed baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost      (Acts 11:16).

*For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit (I Corinthians 12:13).

…let the word of Christ dwell in you richly…

Note:  Salvation delivers one from the penalty of sin, from the power of sin, and one day from the very presence of sin.

And it came to pass in the fourth year of king Darius, that the word of the LORD came unto Zechariah in the fourth day of the ninth month, even in Chisleu;

When they had sent unto the house of God Sherezer and Regemmelech, and their men, to pray before the LORD,

And to speak unto the priests which were in the house of the LORD of hosts, and to the prophets, saying, Should I weep in the fifth month, separating myself, as I have done these so many years?

Then came the word of the LORD of hosts unto me, saying,

Speak unto all the people of the land, and to the priests, saying, When ye fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh month, even those seventy years, did ye at all fast unto me, even to me?

And when ye did eat, and when ye did drink, did not ye eat for yourselves, and drink for yourselves?

Should ye not hear the words which the LORD hath cried by the former prophets, when Jerusalem was inhabited and in prosperity, and the cities thereof round about her, when men inhabited the south and the plain?

And the word of the LORD came unto Zechariah, saying,

Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, Execute true judgment, and shew mercy and compassions every man to his brother:

And oppress not the widow, nor the fatherless, the stranger, nor the poor; and let none of you imagine evil against his brother in your heart.

But they refused to hearken, and pulled away the shoulder, and stopped their ears, that they should not hear.

Yea, they made their hearts as an adamant stone, lest they should hear the law, and the words which the LORD of hosts hath sent in his spirit by the former prophets: therefore came a great wrath from the LORD of hosts.

Therefore it is come to pass, that as he cried, and they would not hear; so they cried, and I would not hear, saith the LORD of hosts:

But I scattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations whom they knew not. Thus the land was desolate after them, that no man passed through nor returned: for they laid the pleasant land desolate.

Zachariah Chapter Seven

…let the word of Christ dwell in you richly…

Whenever we think something is impossible,……we should remember who God is, we should remember that He is in control, and we should pray (talk to Him about it).

But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.  Hebrews 11:6

Faith is a firm persuasion or conviction brought about by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.*

 *W.E. Vines Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words – Copyright 1984, 1996, Thomas Nelson, Inc., Nashville, TN

…let the word of Christ dwell in you richly…

The burden which Habakkuk the prophet did see.

O LORD, how long shall I cry, and thou wilt not hear! even cry out unto thee of violence, and thou wilt not save!

Why dost thou shew me iniquity, and cause me to behold grievance?  for spoiling and violence are before me: and there are that raise up strife and contention.

Therefore the law is slacked, and judgment doth never go forth: for the wicked doth compass about the righteous; therefore wrong judgment proceedeth.

Behold ye among the heathen, and regard, and wonder marvellously: for I will work a work in your days, which ye will not believe, though it be told you.

For, lo, I raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation, which shall march through the breadth of the land, to possess the dwelling places that are not theirs.

They are terrible and dreadful: their judgment and their dignity shall proceed of themselves.  Their horses also are swifter than the leopards, and are more fierce than the evening wolves: and their horsemen shall spread themselves, and their horsemen shall come from far; they shall fly as the eagle that hasteth to eat.

They shall come all for violence: their faces shall sup up as the east wind, and they shall gather the captivity as the sand.  And they shall scoff at the kings, and the princes shall be a scorn unto them: they shall deride every strong hold; for they shall heap dust, and take it.

Then shall his mind change, and he shall pass over, and offend, imputing this his power unto his god.

Art thou not from everlasting, O LORD my God, mine Holy One?  we shall not die. O LORD, thou hast ordained them for judgment; and, O mighty God, thou hast established them for correction.

Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity: wherefore lookest thou upon them that deal treacherously, and holdest thy tongue when the wicked devoureth the man that is more righteous than he?  And makest men as the fishes of the sea, as the creeping things, that have no ruler over them?

They take up all of them with the angle, they catch them in their net, and gather them in their drag: therefore they rejoice and are glad.  

Therefore they sacrifice unto their net, and burn incense unto their drag; because by them their portion is fat, and their meat plenteous.  Shall they therefore empty their net, and not spare continually to slay the nations?

I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the tower, and will watch to see what he (God) will say unto me, and what I shall answer when I am reproved.

And the LORD answered me, and said, Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it.  For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry.

Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him: but the just shall live by his faith.

Habakkuk 1 – 2:4

God’s judgment is sometimes as simple as turning people over to their own desires.  You don’t want God in your life?  You want to do it your way?………..Ok.

Ephraim is joined to idols: let him alone. Hosea 4:17

An idol is anything that takes the place of God.

Turn you at my reproof: behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you, I will make known my words unto you.

Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded; But ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof:

I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh; When your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you.  Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me:

For that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the LORD: They would none of my counsel: they despised all my reproof.  Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices.

For the turning away of the simple shall slay them, and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them.  But whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet from fear of evil. 

Proverbs 1:23-33

Are you confused and troubled by all the messages put out in the name of Christianity? 

I would like to invite you to view the film documentary American Gospel: Christ Alone.  It is available on Netflex.  American Gospel: Christ Alone is a two hour and nineteen minute film that is well worth the investment of your time.  Don’t wait, watch it today.

Heresy is from the Greek word hairesis which denotes (a) “a choosing, choice” (from haireomai, “to choose“); then, “that which is chosen,” and hence, “an opinion,” especially a self-willed opinion, which is substituted for submission to the power of truth, and leads to division and the formation of sects, Galatians 5:20 (marg., “parties“); such erroneous opinions are frequently the outcome of personal preference or the prospect of advantage; see II Peter 2:1.*

 *W.E. Vines Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words – Copyright 1984, 1996, Thomas Nelson, Inc., Nashville, TN