Jesus Gave Up Everything For His Bride.

Here is a familiar story…

I just wanted to be heard.  Is that really too much to ask?  For once in my life, I just wanted to have to share what I have been through and all of my junk… and she wanted nothing to do with it.

It’s not too much to ask for, is it?  What about all my problems?

My bad day…

Job going bad…

Friends being weird…

This is not what I planned for…

My past…

Oh sure, I HAD to listen to her, but why wouldn’t she listen to me?

Classic story, right men?  Often times it seems as if we have to listen, a lot, and our wives, not so much.

Here is the truth, our marriages are supposed to reflect the relationship that Jesus has with his bride.  Some would even say that they DO reflect it.  Now I know, I know – how can we truly reflect something that is impossible to reach?  After all, we are not Jesus.  We are not perfect.  We can’t truly love and cherish our wives like He does the church.

That command is not an excuse.  Nor a crutch.  We are not exempt from attempting at what the gospel declares. 

Picture this:  Jesus came to court his bride and did so by washing her with His Word.

He gave up His glory for us.

He had to remove His crown for us.

He couldn’t talk to His Father face to face.

He didn’t have the fellowship of the Trinity.

He was not in Heaven.

He was living among sin.

He was being tempted to sin.  Continually.

He was not being worshiped like He should.

He had the pressure of the world on Him.

He knew the physical pain that His life was leading to.

He knew the emotional pain that His life was leading to.

He knew the spiritual pain that His life was leading to.

And not once did he complain to His bride.

In fact, he did the opposite. 

John 13:4-10 “He laid aside His outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around His waist. Then He poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around Him. He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, do you wash my feet?” Jesus answered him, “What I am doing you do not understand now, but afterward you will understand.” Peter said to Him, “You shall never wash my feet.” Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no share with me.” Simon Peter said to Him, “Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!” Jesus said to him, “The one who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet, but is completely clean. And you are clean…”

I know that our first thought is to share our _________ (fill in the blank here) with our wives and tell them how hard our life is, but what our wives really need is for us to just wash their feet.

That’s all, just wash their feet.

For in Him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through Him to reconcile to Himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of His cross (Col. 1:19–20).

Don't Waste Your Cancer

From Between Two Worlds:


The Story of Zac Smith from NewSpring Media on Vimeo.

I Want to Believe God.

I don’t want to just believe in God anymore.

I want to believe God.

What I mean by that is that I don’t want to be identified with just the same belief that the demons have.  In the book of James we read that the demons believe in God.  I don’t want to settle for the same as that of a demon.

I don’t want to stop at believing in God.  I want to make sure that I am believing God.  Period.

For anyone can believe in God, but not everyone believes God.  Here is a list of promises from God for those who are His:

For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."  -- Romans 8:38-39

"For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world- our faith. Who is the one who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God." -- 1 John 5:4-5

"The Lord remembers us and will bless us... he will bless those who fear the Lord - small and great alike. May the Lord make you increase, both you and your children. May you be blessed by the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth." -- Psalm 115:12-15

"God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.  Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging." -- Psalm 46:1-3

"The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge. He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold." -- Psalm 18:2

"Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve my life; you stretch out your hand against the anger of my foes, with your right hand you save me." -- Psalm 138:7

"Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine." -- Isaiah 43:1

"He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak." -- Isaiah 40:29

What other promises are you believing today?

My Wife and I Argued And Neither of Us Won

I am not sure what happened or even how it happened, but it did.  The Saturday was like most other Saturdays – sleep in a bit, extended breakfast with the kids, some Saturday morning TV… Then *break* let’s get the day going.  Let’s clean up and start to work.  In the afternoon we can play.

Our Saturdays are typically like that.  We work a bit and try to play a bunch.

Some where in there, is usually a “honey-do-list.”  You know what those are.  The list of jobs hat our wives draw up for us men to tackle on each weekend.  Mine is typically not that hard – mainly because I don’t know how to do much stuff and I think Mary would prefer that I don’t wreck anything.  Often times, either on Friday night or early Saturday morning, I will add a few items that I would like to get done as well.  Sure, it makes the list a little longer, but it’s never overwhelming.

This Saturday was different though.  She had a list, as usual.  I had a list, as usual, except I didn’t share everything on my list with her.  My first thought was that “This won’t be a big deal.  She has some stuff to do outside the home and I can get my personal list done without her catching on.”  Well, like a typical Saturday it didn’t go as well as I planned.

Mary left to run her errand.  I put a few kids in charge of landscaping (yes, I did just type landscaping) our hedge area in the front of our house.  Then I left to do manly stuff… actually it was my stuff.  I justified it by taking some of my kids with me.  “See honey, I was spending quality time with our children.”  If I make her feel guilty enough, I will look good.

The problem was not that I was doing my thing, on my own.  I do stuff like that all the time.  I am not a toddler and I don’t need my wife “controlling” my every move.  I go to work on my own and I don’t have my wife help me, etc.  You get the idea here.  The problem was that I did not consider at any moment that the two of us were one.  It started in my mind.  She had her list and I had mine.  Jesus said in Mark 10:8 in teaching about marriage, “The two shall become one flesh.”  Paul furthers that in Eph 5:31, “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.”  That is where all of this was going wrong.

There was her agenda (which she thought was ours) and then there was my agenda.  How wrong I was.

It ended up blowing into World War III. 

I had to repent.  I had to step forward and say that I was sorry.  I was in the wrong.  Jesus has never done this to His bride.  He came to serve His bride.  Was I serving mine by treating her this way?  Not at all.  I was selfishly thinking of myself.  Paul continues to Eph 5:33, “Let each one of you love his wife as himself.”  That concept was the furthest thing from me.

But then…  The grace of God came.  He is changing me.  He is changing us.  H is changing  me to see the joy of what marriage is all about.  That, honestly, when I am serving my wife, I am the happiest.  That sanctification is a process.  He who started a good work in us if faithful to bring it to completion.   

So, I didn't win here. 

In truth Mary didn't win either.

Christ did.  The Faithful One.  The cord that ties our marriage together.

What Do You Want to Be Known For?

Earlier in 2010, there was a mass gathering of people in Vancouver BC, Canada for the Winter Olympic Games. All for the purpose of celebrating diversity in sports and the spirit of human ability. Hundreds of people entered to be the best in their sport category. Many played, few won. Medals were handed out and records were broken.

In November of 2009, the team from Guinness World Records organization decided it would be good to hold a "World Records Day," encouraging people all over the world to set their own records. You can see some of them by clicking here (viewer discretion is advised).

This one in particular, I thought was a little funny.

Joel Waul, 27, stands on top of his rubber band ball on the driveway of his home in Lauderhill, Fla., Friday, Oct. 23, 2009. Waul, a 27-year-old who works nights restocking a Gap clothing store, has spent the last six years carefully wrapping and linking and stretching rubber bands of various sizes into the ball shape. The Guinness Book of World Records declared it the world's largest rubber band ball in 2008. (AP Photo/Alan Diaz)

Now, I don't want you to hear me saying that celebrating great feats of mankind should not be celebrated. I most definitely think we should. My family, like many others sat glued to our TV sets watching many of the past winter games. It was thrilling.

Even some of the recent Guinness World Records are creative, fun, exciting and thrilling - and need to be celebrated as well.

But my question or rather the reason for this post is what about you? What do you want to be known for?
Ski jumping?
Largest ball of yarn?
A messy home?
The husband of a frazzled wife?
The father of a family that is disconnected from the Word?

Men, I want to challenge you to step up and be the man that God has created you to be. No more slacking off. Today is the day. God has created us as federal heads of our homes. Let's take that label with gusto.
For our wives.
For our children.
For the church.
For the glory of Christ.

1 Corinthians 9:24 "Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it.”