Holy Submission

HOLY SUBMISSION

It all started with the beginning of time….God created man…….

Then He created woman from man’s rib…..to keep man company.

Then she betrayed him…you know the apple and the Garden of Eden.

The God appointed man head of the household……..

large and in charge……she must submit to our demands. We’re the boss!

Doe’s everyone agree with that?

Maybe we’ve got the story wrong………..

Let’s take it in prayer before we go any further.

PRAYER

By the way this is marriage seminar 101, a very condensed version of the essentials of the marriage retreat that started Friday.

I really love it when people search and search for solutions to life’s problems,

It’s like the person who is looking all over the house for their glasses, only to find out they were wearing them the whole time. A problem that was only a problem because they forgot where the answer was. On their face, right before their eyes. Like so many people who forget about their relationship with Christ and look right past Him when they have a problem to solve. Let’s look to Him now for the answers to having a Christ like marriage. And it’s really not that hard to find. Remember that that person you married was an angel in your eyes before you married. Before you married, life was heavenly.

But now many of you will say…..your’re right. It really was. It really was like that.

Until that so and so did this and that.

But it’s not all that. Just like that person who couldn’t see there glasses on their nose. You’ve forgotten how to see the angel, how to see the love in that person you married.

Mat. 19: 1-9: (Power Point)

And before we proceed, take just a moment and read the last verse of Mathew 18, silently to yourself. Digest that verse with all that we’ve just read.

Let’s take a step back into more recent history. Those of you that are married, let’s go back to that wonderful day at the altar. The minister might have said something like this.

Do you promise to honor and cherish til death do you part.

That was a vow between you and your spouse before God, family and friends.

WM. Shakespeare in one of his many plays said:

“God, the best maker of marriages, combine your hearts as one!”

During an English wedding of Princess Elizabeth, the Archbishop of Canterbury

added to their vows of matrimony:

“The ever living Christ is here to bless you. The nearer you keep him,

the nearer you will be to one another.”

The minister probably threw in:

And what God has joined together, let no man put asunder.

That was a warning straight from Christ Himself.

What man is He referring to…..your best friend, your next door neighbor?

Men, brothers, gentlemen……it’s you. You who gave that vow of protection, of

love and to cherish at the altar in front of God himself.

It’s you the Scriptures speak of……….but wait you say!

God put me in charge of my household. I’m not going to argue with that.

He did in deed. But He also gave you an instruction book to go by.

So unless you are using that book to lead your household…unless you yourself is abiding

by that book, in your daily life, in and out of your home. You can’t be in charge.

It’s called having the answers before you and not paying attention.

If you can’t follow the basics, then you haven’t earned your stripes and you haven’t

stepped up to the plate.

Let’s flash out to Dodger Stadium:

Bases are loaded, your up to bat, the weight of the game and the world are up on

your shoulders. Are you going to bunt(I don’t have to do all of this, man I’m already busting my but…my families going to respect me or else!) or give it your all and try for a home run by trying to become that model Father that the Bible talks about.

Step up to the plate! Score a home run with your family!

Now let’s get out of Dodger stadium before we get to far out in left field!

Let’s take a moment and digest some food for thought.

Webster’s Dictionary describes:

Submission: The act of submitting to the power of another.

We began that act of submission when we stood at the altar and stated our vows.

We agreed to what? Love, honor and cherish each other.

I recently heard of a psychologist who was working with an Algebra professor who had worked out a perfect mathematical equation that would tell you which direction your marriage was going to take and even how long it would last.

God left us a bunch of numbers to deal with. There are none that are more important. It’s those Scripture reference points contained in the Bible.