What Does The Book Of Jeremiah Teach
His book is intended as a message to the Jews in exile in Babylon, explaining the disaster of exile as God’s response to Israel’s pagan worship: the people, says Jeremiah, are like an unfaithful wife and rebellious children, their infidelity and rebelliousness made judgment inevitable, although restoration and a new …
Sharing Your Faith With Grace And Purpose
You can confidently and lovingly share your faithyou just need to learn some new tactics to do so! In this Focus on the Family Daily Broadcast, apologist Greg Koukl outlines the Columbo tactic of asking questions, the self-defeating argument tactic to find holes in your opponents arguments, and other specific methods for engaging in faith-building conversations with others. Greg pulls from his over 30 years of experience debating atheists and agnostics to help you share your faith with grace and truth.
Lesson : The Truth About Submission
Lana was a starry-eyed newlywed, passionately in love with her new husband. Not two years before, she had been through a painful divorce. This time it’s going to work, no matter what it takes, she told herself time and again. The failure of her first marriage haunted her. This time I’ll do everything his way, and nothing will go wrong.
She and Jeff were both Christians. Although they attended a small fellowship, they had no close Christian friends. They had been married just six weeks when Lana began to feel sick. Her breasts were painfully sore, and she was constantly nauseous and sleepy.
I wonder if I’m pregnant . . .
The thought brought horror to Lana’s heart. Jeff had made it very clear that he wanted no children for at least five years. Even after that, he wasn’t so sure. “You’re all I need,” he’d told Lana. “I don’t need any other friends, and I sure don’t need kids.”
But the pregnancy test she’d secretly purchased at the pharmacy confirmed her worst fears. Yes, Lana was pregnant. And she was terrified. What would Jeff say?
“Well, we’ll just have to see about an abortion,” he told her matter-of-factly when she finally found the courage to break the news to him.
“Some people think abortion is, well, murder,” she remarked tentatively.
“Well, that’s their problem. This is my life, you’re my wife, and I’m saying that you’re going to have an abortion. We’ve got a good thing going here and we don’t need to mess it up with a baby.” He gave her a hug and a kiss.
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Why Was Jeremiah Called The Weeping Prophet
The difficulties he encountered, as described in the books of Jeremiah and Lamentations, have prompted scholars to refer to him as “the weeping prophet“. … Jeremiah was guided by God to proclaim that the nation of Judah would suffer famine, foreign conquest, plunder, and captivity in a land of strangers.
Women And Men Are Also Inherently Different
To deny there are significant and consequential differences in male and female is to deny the basic nature of humanity and how we fashion our common life together. This is true in both the family and the larger community. ~ Is There a Universal Male and Female Nature?
Here, too, much more could be said. Still, when it comes to submission, generally speaking, the sexes have different needs for love and respect: Men need to feel respected by their wives, and women need to feel loved by their husbands.
This explains why Paul specifically tells husbands to love their wives and wives to respect their husbands . A lot simply has to do with the unique natures of male and female.
Of course, God wants both husbands and wives to treat their spouses with love and respect. When the Bible says that wives should respect their husbands, it assumes such respect will be based on love. When it tells husbands to love their wives, it takes for granted that a disrespectful love isnt love at all.
Scripture is clear about Gods design for marriage in the fact that men and women have different roles. Yet it never suggests that one spouse is more important than the other.
Instead, when a Christian husband and wife learn how God has wired them to complement each other in mutual submission, they reflect the love that exists between Christ and His Bride.
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We Must Not Compromise Our Convictions To Follow The Law
There are many times throughout Scripture, and throughout history, where we find examples of Christians who refused to obey the evil commands of the law, compromising their religious beliefs. This is known as civil disobedience.
The Bible clearly states throughout numerous passages that we are not to compromise our convictions in order to follow the law of an evil leader. While this is not something that we experience often in America, there may come a time where it becomes more frequent. We must be prepared to boldly follow the example of Christians before us, standing firm in our beliefs and convictions.
Reconciling Faith And Science In A Medical Crisis
Dr. Lee Warren is a neurosurgeon who has faced many heavy challenges in his life from serving in the Iraq War to removing deadly brain tumors to experiencing the loss of a teenage son. Hell share about his difficult quest to find answers to some of lifes toughest questions, while holding onto his faith in God and the sure hope of heaven
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God Places Leaders In Positions Of Authority
Romans 13 provides us with a comprehensive and clear perspective regarding how Christians should view obedience to the government.
Romans 13:1-4 reads as follows, Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad.
The passage continues, Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, for he is Gods servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out Gods wrath on the wrongdoer.
From this passage, we learn that God institutes those who are in authority above us. This is important to remember in todays political climate, when it may feel as if many government officials are in direct opposition to Gods will. From local leaders to our president, God appoints each individual to serve in a position of authority for a specific purpose, even if that purpose remains a mystery.
The Human Problem With Submission
Lutheran reformer Philip Melanchthon wrote in The Apology of the Augsburg Confession, We neither obey the law, nor can obey it, before we have been reconciled to God, justified, and then reborn . Left to his own devices, sinful man will always be lawless. This disregard for Gods law explains his need for a Savior.
Only the Savior can transform disobedient, lawless creatures into obedient, submissive citizens of heaven and earth. A sinner desires to satisfy the corrupt nature by indulging lawlessness. He relishes rebellion against God and his commandments.
Christians struggle with submitting to authority, including teachers, bosses, and government officials, that reflect our recalcitrant attitude toward Gods laws and his kingdom. However, through the regeneration of the Holy Spirit, Christians possess a renewed mind and conscience which guides them to obey. And when they dont obey the Holy Spirit pricks the conscience and prompts them to repent. Repentance brings awareness of our need to submit.
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What Does This Mean
Submission may be a lot of things, but it is not what the world makes it out to be. It is becoming a team. A team that has different talents, perspectives, and gifts.
It is a relationship of one lifting up the other and one bending to the other in the fluid everyday marital moments.
It means working together in the blending beauty and grace of submission to create a unified front and presenting that to the world.
Heather Riggleman is a believer, wife, mom, author, social media consultant, and full-time writer. She lives in Minden, Nebraska with her kids, high school sweetheart, and three cats who are her entourage around the homestead. She is a former award-winning journalist with over 2,000 articles published. She is full of grace and grit, raw honesty, and truly believes tacos can solve just about any situation. You can find her on GodUpdates, iBelieve, Crosswalk, Hello Darling, Focus On The Family, and in Brio Magazine. Connect with her at www.HeatherRiggleman.com or on .
Humility Is The Key To Progress
God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble. Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up. James 4:6-8, 10. God works according to laws. It is a natural law that if we humble ourselves under Gods mighty hand, surrendering our own will and honor, then He will give us the grace that we need to live a Christian life in truth, as well as exalt us in His time.
To be humble is to have the same mindset as Jesus Christ. He existed in the form of God, but did not consider equality with God a thing to be grasped, or held onto. Instead, He took on the form of a servant, and came in the likeness of men. And, being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Philippians 2:7-8.
Jesus is the ultimate example of humility. He did not value His own self-importance or honor, but freely gave it up in every situation so that Gods will could be carried out and God could be glorified through His life.
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What Submission Is Not
The word submission makes many Christians uncomfortable. They squirm or murmur against the apparent injustice of it. Somewhere along the line, Christians have come to a false notion about what submission means in the Bible.
Thanks to attacks on the Biblical idea of submission, Christians have come to think of submission as oppressive. When the topic comes up, the worldly point to Pauls passage in Ephesians, Wives submit to your own husbands and cry foul. They brand the verse as sexist or even rant about the passage as justification for husbands mistreating or abusing their wives. They insist that these words prove the Church expects women to stay married to them. This is NOT the Biblical understanding of submission.
The biggest problem with this view: the verse has been stripped of its context to promote the idea that the Bible is sexist. In fact, taken in context, the passage depicts the perfect relationship between husband and wife. Paul writes in Ephesians 5:24, Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.
The Biblical Meaning Of Submission In Marriage For Wives
Submission in marriage has a bad rap in todays world. When society hears wives submit to your husband, they raise up their hands with the belief that submission to a man is demeaning. I will shed light on the true biblical meaning of submission and change that perception.
The key text concerning submission of wives to their husbands is taken from the Apostle Pauls letter to the church at Ephesus, found in Ephesians 5:22-33 Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Saviour. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.
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Understanding The Root Of Your Child’s Misbehavior
Often, children act out because they are used to getting attention through bad behavior. Dr. Kevin Leman offers advice to help parents transform their childs behavior. He discusses the benefits of allowing your kids to learn from real-life consequences and describes the importance of understanding your childs temperament based on his birth order.
The Husbands Appreciation Of Biblical Submission
For a husband, when his wife demonstrates a heart of submission in marriage, she is a pleasure to be around. The husband finds as appreciation and admiration for her because she is one whom he can trust. As a result he can feel at peace and contented. He can trust her with his deepest desires and fears because he is not afraid of her scorning him, competing with him or rejecting him. He can relax with her because he knows that even when he makes mistakes, she will be working with him to help him put them right. The husband can feel secure in himself that she will be working to minimize the consequences of his mistake rather than trying to prove a point or reject him in some way.
A man whose wife truly understands and practices biblical submission acquires a greater sense of self respect. He knows she respects him as a husband who accepts his responsibility as a leader in the home. He has confidence that she respects him and she is not in any way trying to belittle him.
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Raising A Strong Daughter In A Toxic Culture: 11 Steps To Keep Her Happy Healthy And Safe
Meg Meeker has been a pediatrician for more than thirty years, is a mother and a grandmother, and has seen it all. She knows what makes for strong, happy, healthy young womenand what puts our daughters at risk. Combining that experience with her famous common sense, she explains the eleven steps that will help your daughterwhether shes a toddler or a troubled teento achieve her full human potential.
Women Are To Think For Themselves
God gave women intellectual capacities and gifts. We all have free will to think and believe as we choose. We have the ability to use our thoughts and ideas for Gods glory.
Your husbands role as leader is not to dictate what you should do or think. His responsibility is to take the initiative in your relationship. This does not mean he can micromanage you, or make you ask permission at every turn. There is no room for controlling or abusive behavior in a marriage.
Submission looks like respecting your husbands point of view. It means humbly sharing your opinion with him. It means not invalidating him, especially in front of others. It means trusting his decision as a leader, while feeling empowered to give your own point of view.
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Our Ultimate Allegiance Is To God Not Man
While we are commanded to obey the law, we must remember that our ultimate allegiance is to God, not to man. When confronted with a similar dilemma in Acts 5:29, Peter and the apostles boldly stated We must obey God rather than men. This statement was true in the time of the apostles and it is just as true today.
Biblical Submission Is A Response To Biblical Headship
Biblical submission allows a wife to confidently follow her husbands lead. And Ephesians 5:23 makes it clear that a man does have responsibility for leadership in his home. But again, its only as a leader that his wife submits to him not as a tyrant or her superior.
Unfortunately, male bashing in our culture makes it too easy to forget about the importance of masculine leadership altogether. We cant swing so far one way trying to avoid male domination that we go to the other extreme and strip husbands of their authority.
That said, leadership doesnt give a husband the right to rob his wife of being a unique individual. He doesnt get to disregard or mock her opinions and feelings. And he should never misuse leadership to get his own way.
A husband must love and cherish his wife to die for her if necessary even as Christ loved the Church. He should include her in important decisions and consider her perspectives carefully and respectfully. Day by day, he should become increasingly sensitive to leading with love because hell ultimately answer to God for the way he treats his wife.
Sadly, we know thats not always the case.
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Moms Raising Sons To Be Men
Mothers of boys have the special calling to shape future men of God. Popular speaker Rhonda Stoppe, mom to two sons, knows this opportunity is a challenge, a joy, and probably the most important work of a womans life. Drawing from years of experience, this inspirational resource will revive the faithfulness and fortitude a woman needs to partner with God as they shape the character and heart of a future godly man.
We Are Called To Submit To The Law
The passage above also addresses how we are to interact with governing authorities. As Christians, we are called to submit to governing authorities with the realization that they have been selected by God for our good. We are to honor them as if honoring God. This, of course, is assuming that they are not commanding us to act in a way that is in opposition to Gods word.
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