A couple of weeks ago we did that word study, discussing that confrontation is a sin and obviously wrong if it is motivated by jealousy,envy, and/or strife which becomes false accusation, that is spread with gossip. This can ultimately become malicious, dissentious, behavior that transforms into a lynch mob, unfounded. James 3:14, 15 and 16 reads, "but if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, do not be arrogant and so lie against the truth. This wisdom is not that which comes down from above but is earthly, natural, demonic. For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every evil thing". Kinda like what happened to Jesus on the cross. :((( As we did this word study on jealousy, together in church, I thought it was interesting that every reference we looked up about God's divine jealousy, had a noble purpose or positive point... His jealousy was protective and had the expectation of accountability, the effects of which, in some cases, extended for multiple generations. His jealousy is perfect, of course (Exodus 20:5; Exodus 34:14). Human jealousy on the other hand, had more negative effects in relationships... was more sin-nature oriented, as in something that causes problems (I Cor.3:3 says envy/jealousy is carnal). As we work together in our Christian lives, it is important that, as His servants we try to focus on the divine example of productive, appropriate use of jealousy, not the destructive use. It is interesting to note that the productive, protective jealousy of my wife, has helped me several times to avoid some situations that as a man I would have missed, and I am thankful for that.
On the other hand, the improper use of jealousy has caused a lot of dissension and malicious sin throughout history with Christians.
:((( Dissension brings chaos/disorder/ failure and most often comes from jealousy...harmony brings order/unity/success and usually comes from a genuine concern for others' best interest, Holy Spirit directed. If someone tells me I shouldn't memorize scripture so much, share the Gospel so much, pray so much, it is usually motivated by jealousy of a malicious, dissentious nature. It is usually the devil using carnal Christian sin-nature to disrupt salvations, life-changing decisions, discussions and undeniable spiritual growth. Where God is active, the devil is there, where Christians are dormant, he usually does not need to waste his time there. If God is moving, "be on guard" for sure (Acts 20:28-30). "Now I urge you, brethren, keep your eye on those who cause dissensions and hindrances contrary to the teaching which you learned, and turn away from them. For such men are slaves not of our Lord Christ but of their own appetites; and by their smooth and flattering speech they deceive the hearts of the unsuspecting. For the report of your obedience has reached to all; therefore I am rejoicing over you, but I want you to be wise in what is good, and innocent in what is evil. And the God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet" (Romans 16:17, 18, 19 and 20; I Timothy 6:3-5, "avoid false doctrine"). NSB says, "a devisive and dissentious man should be admonished, and after two times have nothing to do with that man (Titus 3:10). KJV says "MARK THEM", "AVOID THEM" that cause divisions. Wow, that sounds kind-of mean and offensive! Christ's disciples accused Him of being offensive (matt. 15:12). :))) I say, "it's protective" We must all watch our jealousy. It will take us down that dissentious road and can definitely destroy things if we are not careful. I believe some get so envious/jealous that their intention is to stir the pot and destroy. If you are competitive/jealous, what better way to win than to destroy what is defeating you, or showing you up, making you angry with jealousy some how? :((( Jealousy that destroys an awesome work of God is not from the Holy Spirit, I promise. We recently watched a church go from thriving, unified 300+, with great discipleship, incredible "above reproach pastor"(hard to find these days), to just under 60 in two months, just because of dissentious jealousy. Restoration is happening but caused quite a hick-up. Happens a lot...Holy Spirit help Your churches and leadership with protection power. :)))
Nice song New Year Sunday, Grace, about your future spouse... need to post it on YouTube soon :))). Thanks for the feedback, those of you that had some, about the upcoming new year and past. Add Becky to the prayer list, she requests our vigilance along with praying for each other and those just starting out, listed previously.
The following is Molly's News year hope (By Molly Frazier):
"I have had the same New Year’s Resolution every year since 1985. I do believe it has had an extremely significant effect on what I am in control of in my marriage and family, so much so, that I have never changed it!
When I married my man, I was 18 and quite full of myself. My parents raised me that way on purpose, I guess. The good side to that was that I could "do no wrong", and that there was nothing that would stop me from getting my way. So when Ron and I made plans for the future, and they included any and all principals of God’s design from His Word that we could find, I absolutely knew that I could apply these plans to my personal achievement system and would be successful!
The problem was that I had come into the marriage with 18 years of bad habits. I rarely read the Bible, so I had very few references for good personal and relational practices. But Ron had started a daily devotion with me when we got engaged and by January 1, 1985, I had 4 awesome passages of scripture to guide me. If I was going to ever be a productive part of the Frazier Duo for Christ, I WOULD implement the principals of these verses, and I would do this EVERY DAY FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE!
The first passage is in Philippians 2:2-4 (NASB), “make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose. Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind let each of you regard one another as more important than himself; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.” My paraphrase, “MOLLY, STOP BEING SELFISH!” Believe it or not, this was crazy-hard to apply and still takes a lot of work, to this day. One of my new habits, as simple as it seems, was to start the day with deliberately being in a good mood no matter how I felt early in the morning. I hate mornings. Another one was that I would try to remain flexible when somebody else’s personal interest came before mine and I didn’t accomplish whatever it was I thought was important. I still stress, but there was a time when I cried and threw tantrums until I got my way (I know, hard to believe :P ). There are so many other ways this verse applied and still applies to my daily life, and as I grow in my relationship with Jesus and with Ron, I continue to mature.
The second passage is Ephesians 5:22-24, “Wives, be subject to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church, He Himself being the Savior of the body. But as the church is subject to Christ, so also the wives ought to be to their husbands in everything.” My paraphrase, “TRUST RON TO TAKE CARE OF YOU!” This seems so self-explanatory right? NOOO… I was raised to trust my own judgment implicitly. In this new team mentality (there’s no ‘I’ in ‘TEAM’) I understood through this wonderful passage that the leader of our team was my adorable new hubby and I deliberately decided to daily turn to him as the final decision-maker. VERY HARD. But what I knew, and had come to understand on every level, was that as Christ carries our burdens, empowers us, protects us, comforts us, gives us the desires of our hearts….. that this was the very way Ron was going to lead me. Instead of believing the world and my own mom, that women should be in charge because we are just better at it, I made it my daily determination to give in, let go, and rest in the love and wisdom and compassion and leadership of this good man God gave me!
The third passage is II Corinthians 12:9, “And He has said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.’ Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may dwell in me”. My paraphrase, “IF I ACKNOWLEDGE MY WEAKNESSES, GOD CAN BE GLORIFIED IN THEM!” I am a work in progress. By the power of the Holy Spirit alone am I able to grow. Without Christ in my life, these innate imperfections I came into this marriage with would have snowballed! But because of daily time in God’s Word and praying a prayer list daily with my husband, fasting weekly, and decidedly making changes that are in line with scripture, THE HOLY SPIRIT’S POWER IS AT WORK IN US AND CHANGING OUR LIVES!!!!! Our weaknesses bring God glory! How significant is that??? It is what this is all about!!!
The fourth and final passage of my 28th Annual New Year’s Resolution is, II Corinthians 9:6-8, “Now this I say, he who sows sparingly shall also reap sparingly; and he who sows bountifully shall also reap bountifully, let each one do just as he has purposed in his heart; not grudgingly or under compulsion; for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed”. My paraphrase, “GO GO GO GO GO!!!!!” I want to have all God’s grace abound to me, I want to have everything I need, and I want abundance for every good deed! Don’t you? Then SOW BOUNTIFULLY so you can REAP BOUNTIFULLY!!! BE CHEERFUL, DON’T BE A STINKER! God wants us to be successful on every level. He has designed us physically and has created us for success! He gives us the perfect point by point manual for it! So, as we follow His Word as our plan for success let’s do it 150% and with a big, fat cheesy grin on our faces! Let’s be cheerleaders for the TEAM! We want our marriages to last, we want our children to grow up in happy, harmonious families that make a difference, right?
My New Year’s Resolution every year for 28 years has been to be the best I can be at everything I have any power over. I LOVE my husband, I LOVE my family, I LOVE activities that bring glory to God and fulfill His purposes, so I WILL WORK HARD EVERY DAY TO: 1. Stop Being Selfish, 2. Trust Ron to take care of me, 3. Acknowledge my weaknesses so God can be glorified in them, and 4. GO GO GO GO GO!!!!!!
Nuf sed. :D
PMolly
PMolly
I love my wife, she is a great example for me, I would die for her surely without a thought. I am her greatest fan and follow her example as much and maybe even more than she follows mine. We compete with each other on that "in love". That is what a good leader should do with the most important people (spouse, mentors, etc.) in their lives. As I always say to her whom I implicitly trust... "two minds in harmony are always better than one, or two, in dissention". We are a team, but I will never shirk my God-appointed role as "head of the home" and pass the responsibility He commissioned me to carry. Molly, Zach and Grace, are my responsibility "til death do us part", and God help me to sacrifice just a little bit of what you did on the cross to successfully fulfill that obligation every minute, hour, day, week, month and year of the rest of my life. Help me to be jealously protective of my God-appointed place as the "male hero" in OUR HOME. :P This is my annual prayer, so help me Father God. :))) "Nuf sed" :D ...just copying "my most favorite person in the world's example".... that is my "wifey" of course... :)))
END TIMES?
Zach had a few words at church about the state of the world today and the complete possibility of globally tracking each individual via 666, chips, and technology. I was reminded of a meeting when I was about 10... some 40 years back, at church (pre-computer... yes I am that old) :))). We laughed at the thought of everyone having a minicomputer the size of a phone... let alone a world-wireless phone. And being able to track and listen to people anywhere on earth. It was a long time coming as to how this could even happen. Guess what I have? "a smart phone!" As we all know technology is such that the 666 chip or invisible bar code on the wrist/forehead
Loved having you, Nickersons, at the Wells' house, last church. Thanks Carlene and Russ and Evan. Thanks to all for the support and prayers with Molly's back, Zach and Gracie's flu and all the other things that so many of you have given this first 3 weeks of 2013. We have 30 awesome Bibles for distribution, our book is nearly edited for the next printing, and I believe we are real close to our budget goal, as well (If you would like to contribute to this Bible/'Imagine' [our book] fund, go to Paypal, our account is molly@fdcministries.com, THANK YOU!). Loving the conversations, on and off the web, as we read 'through the Bible in a year' together (same schedule-"Moody Bible Institute of Chicago/1976, 1978"). Our daily account of this practice is posted at http://thrutheBibleinayearpronpmolly.blogspot.com/. This is year 29 for us... going since our engagement... our gift to each other for our wedding was a Bible and a commitment to read it together daily 'til death do us part. :))) Pretty idealistic huh? But possible, absolutely... we are proof it can be done. We are posting each day on Facebook and collecting the posts for later review on the blogspot previously italicized in this paragraph. We have always journaled, we love those of you who are joining us.
Starting "Cage Fitness" (licensed under Matt Hughes) at our dojang. So far everyone is loving the addition to our hapkido, taekwondo, and cardio curriculums. Demo team is good, Elite competition team is 11, about 30 on the whole team. Practicing for recording of our next CD. Lots happening and we love it. Thanks, thanks, and thanks again.
Love you all and praying for harmony that multiplies the Kingdom in immeasurable ways until the day of His return. I pray for 'pre-mid-tribulation' rapture and prepare for the other. :)))
The prayer list is pretty much the same as last time. If you need it let me know...will resend.
Love you all much.
Serving Him so we can KNOW HIM BETTER, YEH! (Isaiah 43:10)
PRon (Chief Master Frazier) for the Fraziers, FGF, the dojang and FDC Ministries... to the praise of His glorious grace!! :)))
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