Some thoughts on marriage from Elisabeth Elliot

From Elisabeth Elliot's 'Let Me Be A Woman'.

If you are married, marriage is the gift God has given you in which you are allowed to serve Him. Be thankful!

Let not our longing slay the appetite of our living. Accept and thank God for what is given, not allowing the not-given to spoil it.

When you make a choice, you accept the limitations of that choice... saying Yes to happiness often means saying No to yourself.

Marriage is a responsibly undertaken life-union which is lasting, complete and exclusive.

Know that your true happiness lies in the will of God.

You forsake all others.

Appreciate what you have.

Marriage is dynamic. The possibility of growing apart need not be allowed.

The vows are staggeringly serious. But you did not take them trusting in your own strength to perform. The grace that enabled you to take those vows will be there to draw on when performance seems impossible.

Judges: worth reading?

Judges has to be one of the most violent, gory and shocking books of the Old Testament. It gives us the famous stories of Gideon and Samson, and yet even these heroic stories are blotted by the flaws of these figures. Gideon is a man who repeatedly doubts God's promises, and his fleece experiments are definitely not an example for us to follow! Samson is meant to be delivering Israel from the Philistines, and yet lets his sexual desires over-rule his calling as he marries a Philistine woman, and later tells Delilah the secret of his strength.

So what is the value of Judges for Christians today? Well, it DOES have value- it is part of the Word of God for starters, and 2 Timothy 3:16 tells us that all Scripture is God-breathed and useful for teaching, rebuking and training in righteousness. Judges probably tells us more what NOT to do than provide positive examples, but it is no less worthy of our attention because of this.

Judges also testifies to the extraordinary faithfulness of God. To put it into context, God has led the Israelites out of slavery to Egypt, and into the promised land. Joshua, their leader after Moses, dies, and not long after this the people begin to do exactly what they were told NOT to do. They do not drive out the other nations completely or break down their pagan altars. God's angel tells them that these nations will be 'thorns in your sides, and their gods will be a snare to you' (3). The people weep and offer sacrifices, but it is a sad fact that 'another generation grew up, who knew neither the Lord nor what He had done for Israel.' (10) Despite the Exodus and establishment of Israel in the promised land, the covenant and the law, they STILL forget God.

As soon as the Israelites worship other gods, they lose their security and are plundered by raiders. But in His mercy, God raises up judges who save them from these raiders (16). The cycle of disobedience and grace, establishing way back in Genesis 3, continues... And yet God is still loving, caring and involved in the lives of His people.

For us as Christians, we perhaps need reminding of why we need the cross of Jesus so much, and why it was such an amazing act of grace for God to send His Son into a world that had rejected Him from its very creation. Judges gives us a horrifying picture of life without God, and motivates us to cling to Jesus, a Saviour who (unlike the flawed judges) brings us perfect relationship with God.

Why is it important to love Jesus more? (Col 2)

Ever felt taken for granted? Like when the first light-headed months of romance are over, and your boyfriend stops buying you flowers?

We all need to keep our relationships going (whether romantic or just friendship), because we know from experience that as soon as we stop bothering to phone someone up, or do something special for them, that the relationship will suffer. As people, we are constantly moving and changing, and if we don't make the effort to counteract this, our relationships will soon drift apart.

'A successful marriage is an edifice that must be rebuilt every day' -Andre Maurois.

This quote speaks truth! When things start going wrong in a relationship, it's often not because anything is wrong with the people involved, just that they have stopped communicating effectively.

Why should it be any different with Jesus?

He is perfect, He is faithful... but we are imperfect and faithless. We easily drift away from Him, being distracted by other things. It is one thing to come to know Jesus as your Saviour. It is quite another to keep on growing in love for Him and staying faithful to Him all your days. That's the test of true faith- it's not about conversion, it's about finishing the race still wearing the banner!

In Colossians 2, Paul says that 'just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in Him, rooted and built up in Him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness' (6-7). When you first come to know and love Jesus, this should not become a static or detached emotion, or a remote part of your life. You must CONTINUE to live in Him, growing in faith and love for Him, and growing in thankfulness as you grow in understanding what He has done for you.

'See to it that no-one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ' (8). It is very easy to get a distorted view of Jesus from the messages and opinions that the world gives. If we don't continue to read the Bible and pray and know Jesus for ourselves, wrong ideas can easily get a foothold in our thinking, such as 'Jesus would never condemn anyone', or 'It's not that important that He rose from the dead' or subtle teachings that we can earn our own salvation by being good. But the gospels show a Jesus who is passionate and truthful, uncompromising in telling men that if they do not accept Him they will be condemned (Jn 3:18). The New Testament writers emphasise that if Christ is not risen, then our faith is futile and we are fools (1 Cor 15). And any teaching that says we can earn favour in God's sight through our own endeavours undermines the sacrifice Jesus Christ made for us as a nice but pointless gesture.

'You have been given fulness in Christ' (10) It's all in Him! Our sinful nature was cut off (circumcised) through His death, and we were raised with Him through faith to a new life (11-12). We were dead in sins (13)- there was no way we could please God ourselves- but God made us alive with Christ, forgiving us all our sins (13). The OT law, which condemns all for no one can completely obey it, was nailed to the cross of Jesus, the One who DID completely obey it (14). God silenced the claim of justice against us, all through His Son's willing sacrifice. That helps us love Jesus more, to know that the voice in court demanding our death penalty, has been silenced and satisfied for ever if we appeal to Jesus.

Jesus triumphed over all demonic powers on the cross (15)- we too can triumph over hell by clinging to Him.