Ezra 2:21-70; Nehemiah 7:26-73
This past week has been a pretty tough week. I had a really big quarterly report due to the people that fund my research (urgent and important). I have a weekly responsibility to prepare for teaching and discussion at Bible study (semi-urgent and important). I had to prepare lectures for the chemistry class that I'm teaching (urgent and important). I helped a friend move on Labor day because it was pretty much the only day he could move (urgent and important). The weekly visitation and evangelism program at our church started this Wednesday (important). We have small group prayer breakfast on Tuesdays, and church-wide prayer breakfast on the first Thursday of every month (important).
Even more important that all of that stuff is my daily pursuit of God (Scripture, meditation, prayer, etc.) and my wife. The truth is, I need to be a better husband. I need to make sure that I am loving God with all of my heart, mind, soul, and strength and that I'm loving my wife as myself. I need to maintain a steady investment into my relationship with God and my wife. The incredible opportunity of a marriage with two Believers is that we can experience the "where two or three are gathered in my name, there I am also" promise. I want to be a better spiritual leader of me and my wife. I want to invest into her and make sure that she experiences Gods love through me.
Even though today's reading was mostly a bunch of names and places, the big picture truth is so profound: God restored the nation of Israel after allowing them to suffer the consequences of their idolatry and rebellion against Him. Similarly, I believe that God is not only able to restore a marriage from any tragedy, He WANTS to restore a marriage because marriage is intended to be a picture of Christ and the Church. I want to be faithful to that parallelism and allow Christ to live through me so that the love He shows my wife is a picture of how He loves the Church.
As an adopted child of God, I want to love Him with everything that I am. As a husband, I want to invest in my wife an build her up - to empower her to pursue God and realize the full purpose that God is calling her to. And as a teacher in the Church, I want to allow God to use the spiritual gifts that He has given me to build up the body of Christ, and I want to strike down anything of my self that will damage the Church.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, I praise you for your faithfulness, and I praise you for your kindness. You are just, and you allow us to experience the consequences of our mistakes. But you are also loving, merciful, and kind, and you are so gracious to restore us to an instrument that you can use. Father, would you make me an instrument that you can use? I pray that you will make me a man that pursues you with all my heart, mind, soul, and strength. Please make me a husband that demonstrates the person and love of Jesus Christ to my wife. And please make me a constructive and humble member of your living Body so that I may be used by you to build your Kingdom. I pray this in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
This past week has been a pretty tough week. I had a really big quarterly report due to the people that fund my research (urgent and important). I have a weekly responsibility to prepare for teaching and discussion at Bible study (semi-urgent and important). I had to prepare lectures for the chemistry class that I'm teaching (urgent and important). I helped a friend move on Labor day because it was pretty much the only day he could move (urgent and important). The weekly visitation and evangelism program at our church started this Wednesday (important). We have small group prayer breakfast on Tuesdays, and church-wide prayer breakfast on the first Thursday of every month (important).
Even more important that all of that stuff is my daily pursuit of God (Scripture, meditation, prayer, etc.) and my wife. The truth is, I need to be a better husband. I need to make sure that I am loving God with all of my heart, mind, soul, and strength and that I'm loving my wife as myself. I need to maintain a steady investment into my relationship with God and my wife. The incredible opportunity of a marriage with two Believers is that we can experience the "where two or three are gathered in my name, there I am also" promise. I want to be a better spiritual leader of me and my wife. I want to invest into her and make sure that she experiences Gods love through me.
Even though today's reading was mostly a bunch of names and places, the big picture truth is so profound: God restored the nation of Israel after allowing them to suffer the consequences of their idolatry and rebellion against Him. Similarly, I believe that God is not only able to restore a marriage from any tragedy, He WANTS to restore a marriage because marriage is intended to be a picture of Christ and the Church. I want to be faithful to that parallelism and allow Christ to live through me so that the love He shows my wife is a picture of how He loves the Church.
As an adopted child of God, I want to love Him with everything that I am. As a husband, I want to invest in my wife an build her up - to empower her to pursue God and realize the full purpose that God is calling her to. And as a teacher in the Church, I want to allow God to use the spiritual gifts that He has given me to build up the body of Christ, and I want to strike down anything of my self that will damage the Church.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, I praise you for your faithfulness, and I praise you for your kindness. You are just, and you allow us to experience the consequences of our mistakes. But you are also loving, merciful, and kind, and you are so gracious to restore us to an instrument that you can use. Father, would you make me an instrument that you can use? I pray that you will make me a man that pursues you with all my heart, mind, soul, and strength. Please make me a husband that demonstrates the person and love of Jesus Christ to my wife. And please make me a constructive and humble member of your living Body so that I may be used by you to build your Kingdom. I pray this in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
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