Tuesday, November 13, 2012

It's Just...Sex!

'It's just sex!' seems to be the rallying cry of our culture. We hear it all the time, and for that reason, sex has become an act--who can do it faster, harder, longer, better--rather than the precious gift of 'oneness' between two human beings.  And I have been as guilty as the next person of this kind of thinking. But I'm learning through the Scriptures that this point of view limits the fullness of joy that God intended when He instituted marriage.
"There is one body...one Spirit...one hope...one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God...according to...Christ." [Ephesians 4:4-8] So as believers, our 'personal oneness' is with God through faith in Jesus Christ our Lord. So as much as we may desire it, it's not possible for us to be one with another human being on that level--our personalities are too different; our upbringing, our expectations--our genes. We can only be 'one body and one Spirit' with God through Christ. And that's a good thing, because it makes each of us complete and whole in Him, lacking nothing. [Colossians 2:10] (And that's probably why trying to find wholeness in others makes us so utterly miserable.)
But God is a Spirit. We cannot see Him or touch Him in the flesh. And He knows we need human touch. So in His infinite wisdom, kindness and grace, He instituted marriage so we can be 'one flesh' with another human being--male and female--two parts of the same puzzle--able to join together and be one. "Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh." (Matthew 19:4-6)
So, 'No', it's not ... just sex. Sex is the awesome, God-given opportunity to be connected in the flesh with one other human being, who, like you, is connected to God in every other measure. No wonder so many people are so unfulfilled when sex becomes an act, rather than a fabulously intimate relationship between two people who are connected in every other way to God. This is intended to be the sugar in the coffee; the icing on the cake; the cat's meow! WOW!! Isn't it amazing what we miss when we do things our own way? Blessings! :jb

Sunday, November 11, 2012

Re-Gifting the Spirit??

The Lord woke me up this morning with these words: 'Do not operate out of how you've been treated; operate out of the love of Jesus for you.' And with this scripture in mind: 'For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.' 2 Timothy 1:7. (I always wondered why 'power' came first.)
You know, sometimes as wives, we think it is our role to turn ourselves over to our husbands. The world would have us think that that's what 'submission' means. But God gives to each of his children the Spirit . . . of power, of love and of a sound mind. It is a gift to each of us who believe in Jesus Christ, and we cannot re-gift our power to another; not even our husbands. If our husband is a child of God, he doesn't need it (he's got his own). And if he's not, he can't receive it from us (for the gift of the Spirit is given by God alone, and not by us).
On the contrary, we are intended to walk alongside our husbands with the Spirit that God has given us--in tact. For if we try to give ourselves over to our husbands (give our power away), fear will creep in. And fear will cause us to operate out of how we're being treated, rather than operating out of the Spirit of love we've been given by Jesus Christ. And fear will erode our sound mind. [1 Peter 3:5]
Our precious gift from God is a packaged deal--'power, love and a sound mind'. If in our zeal to achieve the worldly standard of 'soulmate', we try to turn ourselves over--our power over--to our husbands, we will lose sight of the love of Jesus. And in the process, we will lose our sound mind. We cannot attempt to re-gift the Spirit of God to another without destroying our own souls.
Blessings! :jb