Crossroad Online
Shepherds, Angels and a Manger
Hi this is pastor Ken and these are my thoughts on a Thursday. Actually, this Thursday I will not be sharing with you my own thoughts. Fort the past three years on the Thursday before Christmas I have shared someone else’s thoughts with you. I have read a poem or essay someone wrote that I find to convey important truths about the greatest gift ever given at Christmas…Jesus! Today I want to share the thoughts of Dr. Wilson concerning the night that Jesus was born. I came across this account he had written from the perspective of the shepherds and I felt it especially worthy of sharing with you today.
Shepherds, Angels and a Manger
The hundreds of sheep were quiet now, except for an occasional bleat. Night had fallen, stars were sharp in the nippy sky, and shepherds reclined on a steep hillside above Bethlehem, watching their flocks.
The men talked quietly, their low voices soothing to the animals. Old Elias had spent his lifetime on these sheep fields. Then there was Judah ben-Ozzri, twenty years old and cynical. His uncle had been imprisoned by Roman occupation troops for some minor offense. When he could, Judah plotted secretly with a unit of Zealot guerrillas. David, Israel’s greatest king, had been a shepherd on Bethlehem’s hills a millennium before. As a teenager, David had defeated the giant Goliath and thrown off the yoke of Philistine tyranny. Judah ben-Ozzri longed to do the same. If only a Leader, a Deliver, would come
and drive the cursed Romans from their land!
“The lambs will all die before long,” he muttered darkly. “Only the ewes will survive.”
“Eh?” said Elias, a bit too loudly. His hearing had faded over the years.
Judah spoke a bit louder, “The ewes will be sheared next summer, and bear more lambs, but the lambs themselves….”
“What?” asked Elias, leaning closer.
“The lambs,” said Judah loudly into his ear, “won’t live beyond Passover. In the Jerusalem temple, they’ll be sacrificed.”
“Ah, Passover in the temple,” returned Elias. “On the Holy Day they’ll sacrifice a lamb for each family.”
Jerusalem and its temple were just six miles north of Bethlehem, and supplying lambs for the Passover sacrifice was these shepherds’ livelihood.
“Passover…” reflected the old man. “I wish I could have seen the first Passover!”
Elias would rather talk than listen, since it was hard for him to catch the words when others spoke.
“Moses was our Deliverer on that first Passover night when God’s judgment fell upon Egypt.” As he spoke, his listeners could picture the destroying angel that had passed through Egypt. “The Egyptian firstborn were killed,” said Elias, “but each Israelite slave family had sacrificed a precious lamb, and put its blood across the top and on both sides of their doorways. Their sins were atoned for, the lamb’s life for theirs. And God’s terrible judgment passed over them.”
“The ewes will live on,” repeated Judah, “but the lambs will be sacrificed.”
“What?” said Elias, but Judah didn’t say it again.
“I don’t think I’d like to be a lamb,” the youngest shepherd said solemnly.
The shepherds now fell silent, and tugged their heavy cloaks about them to shelter them from the whistling wind. Their eyes were accustomed to the blackness. Every few moments they would look up to scan the hills for wolves or thieves. They weren’t about to lose sheep by carelessness.
All of a sudden their hillside was flooded by the light of a thousand arc lamps, blinding them with its intensity. When they could finally see, a man in shining apparel stood before them. “Do not be afraid,” he declared in the ringing voice of a herald.
“I bring you good news of great joy
that will be for all the people.
Today in the town of David
a Deliverer has been born to you.
He is the Lord’s Messiah.”
“The Messiah! The Deliverer!” breathed Judah ben-Ozzri. “He is come at last to set our people free.”
They could scarcely comprehend. Good news! Great joy! In the town of David, the Son of David is born this night. The Lord’s Messiah! The shining man, glowing with the very Shekinah glory of God, had declared it. It must be so!
The angel continued: “This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.”
What a strange sign. But there was no time to think.
Now the shining angel drew himself to full height, and as he opened out his arms, the radiance and glory upon him began to spread until it covered rank after rank of angels, the heavenly host, the army of God himself — more and more, company after company, battalion after battalion, began to fill the sky. And now they began to chant, to shout in unison.
“Glory to God in highest.”
The sound bounced off the hills and echoed from the valleys, like the rumble of thunder, like the roar of a great waterfall, the shout of triumph reverberated. The shout of worship, the shout of honor, the shout of glorious praise.
“Glory to God in the highest,” they shouted together with one enormous voice of worship.
“Glory to God in the highest,” they chanted in unison, the overwhelming resonance blotting out everything else and infecting shepherds with its utter joy. The host of God, overcome with awe at the archangel words, now shouted again, “Glory to God in the highest! And on earth Shalom — peace — to those whom God has favored.”
Again and again the waves of praise rolled over the hillsides, until finally the voices began to fade, and only in the distance could the shepherds still hear shouts of “Glory, glory, glory,” that finally diminished to silence at last. The brilliant light, too, was fading, like the final streaks of sunlight dipping below the horizon and painting the clouds red and pink in departing splendor.
Old Elias was first to speak, “Praise the Lord, dear friends. We have witnessed what the prophets only dreamed of.”
“Angels,” breathed the youngest.
“The hosts of God’s army,” said Judah.
“Something greater still,” Elias said. “The chance to see the Lord’s Messiah with our own eyes. You heard the angel. He’s here, yonder in Bethlehem, and we must find him. The angel told us how — a baby, wrapped in the swaddling bands of a newborn, lying in a manger…. A manger,” repeated the old man.
You could find dozens of cattle troughs if you searched all the outlying farms, but a manger with a newborn lying in it — that was the sign! In Bethlehem itself, Elias could think of just one — inside a cave at the very edge of town where travelers’ animals were quartered. The old man careened down the hillside at a pace that left the younger shepherds breathless. He was ahead of them now, almost running to the cave behind the inn.
When they finally caught up, the old man was standing at the doorway to the cave, tears running down his cheeks.
“The Son of David,” he was saying, “The Lord’s Messiah. The Deliverer has come.”
The shepherds moved inside and knelt at the manger, peering at the sleeping baby boy, all tightly wrapped in swaddling bands.
The youngest explained to the mother, “An angel told us,” he stammered, “and then thousands, millions of angels filled the sky, lit up with God’s light. ‘Glory to God,’ they shouted, and we joined them until we were hoarse, until they were gone.”
Then Elias addressed her. “Young woman, mother of this blessed Child. You are one of the favored ones of whom the angels spoke, upon whom God’s glory and grace is resting tonight.”
You could see her lips form the words, “Yes, I know,” but no voice came.
The old shepherd went on, “The angel told us that your Child is God’s promised Messiah, our Deliverer.”
Then the old man was silent. He just knelt there for a few more moments. Finally he rose up, took the mother’s hand, and pressed it with his own. “God has entrusted you to raise his own Son, my dear. Our prayers are with you.”
He motioned his compatriots towards the door, and they got up, leaving the cave and its manger and its Christ-Child. Nor were the shepherds silent about what they had seen. They spread the good news far and wide.
Then they went back to their flocks, and carefully tended lambs that were destined for sacrifice on Passover. And though they could not know or understand it, the baby Deliverer in the manger would not challenge the Roman oppressors, but instead deliver us from the sin and death that oppress us all. For these lamb-herders had seen God’s Lamb, born to be a Passover sacrifice for the sins of the entire world.
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, Shalom, for us all.
So now, Living in the Shalom that only Jesus can provide, celebrate Him this Christmas…and go be Awesome!
Eph. 5:21-33 Vol. 1
Hi, Pastor Ken here with the Monday Marriage Message, thanks for joining me.
As I mentioned last week we are going to begin looking at an entire selection of scripture having to do with marriage and will continue for as many episodes as necessary to inspect it and glean from it what we can. I am more than sure that I will be unable to pick any branch clean and note every truth contained therein, but I look forward to the process of doing the best I am able. I am cognizant that God’s word says that His ways and thoughts are immeasurably higher than mine, but I am equally aware that 2 Timothy 3:16-17 tells me that all scripture is useful for teaching us how to live…and that certainly includes our marriages.
The scripture I have chosen to begin with today is a very familiar passage. I have utilized it often in my own teaching on the subject of marriage and it is probably the most used by others for that purpose as well. In fact, Ephesians chapter 5 is highlighted in many bibles as the marriage chapter. We usually look at verses 22-33 of that chapter for instruction on marriage, but for the purposes of our study of this passage, I want to begin with verse 21. In this first episode dedicated to this particular passage, I will read the passage in its entirety, and then we will begin to digest it from the beginning. In subsequent editions, I will simply pick up where we left off the week before.
Ephesians 5:21-33 as read from the New King James Version.
21 submitting to one another in the fear of God. 22 Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. 23 For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body. 24 Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything. 25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, 26 that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, 27 that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish. 28 So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies; he who loves his wife loves himself. 29 For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as the Lord does the church. 30 For we are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones. 31 “For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” 32 This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church. 33 Nevertheless let each one of you in particular so love his own wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.
Beginning with verse 21 submitting to one another in the fear of God. I think it highly important to start here rather than with the ensuing verse. When people read this passage of scripture beginning with verse 22 the erroneous understanding that can emerge is that wives alone are required to submit. Nothing could be further from the truth. No wonder wives throughout history have resisted this scripture! When taken out of context it appears to make her and her alone responsible to live subject to another. I have heard it taught that the pushback that wives exhibit to verse 22 is a manifestation of the curse resulting from the original sin of humankind. This idea comes from what God said to Eve recorded in Genesis 3:16 To the woman He (God) said: I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception; In pain you shall bring forth children; Your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you. I believe that we often look at the “curse” that we read of in Genesis chapter 3 incorrectly. I think it is perceived by many as God essentially saying to Adam and Eve, “You have broken my rules so now I am angry with you and am going to curse you as a punishment for your disobedience”. This is not at all the spirit of the passage. Chapter 3 begins with a description of the serpent (Satan) deceiving Eve, and Adam deciding to go against the instruction God had given him, as he joined her in rebellion against God. Surprisingly, we do not see as we might expect, an angry God. The scripture tells us that God (who by the way is omniscient) came that evening seeking to spend time with Adam and Eve, as He did every day. After Adam who was hiding with Eve, disclosed what transpired, God acted in love. He did not kill Adam out of anger, instead, out of love He killed another of His creation, an animal, shed its blood to make a covering for Adam and Eve and the recognition of their nakedness and vulnerability that sin had exposed. God then cursed the serpent…and explained to Adam and Eve how the consequences of their selfishness and distrust of Him would now impact their lives. After this description of life going forward, His mercy on them was further exemplified. Genesis 3:22 tells us that because God knew that Adam and Eve had now experienced evil, He was concerned that if they ate from the tree of life, they would be trapped forever in their sinful condition. To guard them from this irreparable danger, God lovingly put them outside the garden where they would be unable to access potential eternal life separated from Himself.
I mention all of this because sometimes people get the idea that God was mad at Adam and Eve for ruining His perfect plan and in anger, He cursed them by making theirs and every subsequent marriage a contentious relationship. It can be deduced (though I believe incorrectly) that marriage has to be problematic and inherently difficult because of ‘paradise lost’. Yes it is true that while in the Garden of Eden Adam and Eve enjoyed perfect unity, perfect equality, together perfectly reflecting the character and qualities of their Creator God. There they acted, spoke, and lived in perfect harmony under the leadership of God. In that place, all was in perfect order, man and woman together on equal footing under the authority of God. As a result of their sin and their understanding of good and evil they did have to be placed outside of the Garden for their own protection as I explained a moment ago. One of the consequences of living outside the Garden was they could no longer walk daily with God, looking to Him for their collective leadership. With a continued need for order, for all things operate correctly under the constraint of order, God chose the first created, Adam to have responsibility for the wellbeing of his wife Eve. This less-than-perfect order of Husband, lord over wife, and wife, subservient to her husband was necessary because the perfectly designed order had been broken by Adam and Eve’s selfishness and distrust in God’s direction. It remained so until Jesus came as the perfect sacrifice for their and our sin and made a way for the relationship between mankind and God to be restored.
Under the new covenant, human beings are again able to walk daily with God. Husbands and wives can once again operate in equality, together looking to God for the headship of their marriages. We still reside in a profoundly fallen world and perfection will not be possible until God creates the “New Heaven and the New Earth” described for us in Revelation chapter 21. However, God once again desires husbands and wives to act as completely equal partners following His lead and reflecting Him as they were originally created to do. The Apostle Paul speaks of this restored equality in Christ in Galatians 3:28, and yet the order outside of Eden remains in effect. Paul is not saying in that scripture that we are no longer men or women, or that there are no longer those who are in authority over and under the authority of others, He is simply making the point that in Christ we all have equal status. It is the same Paul who wrote what we are studying here in Ephesians 5:21-33. What this means is that the order God set in place after the fall remains, but the restored equality we have in Christ should also impact our marriages.
This understanding is actually clarified for us if we begin reading this portion of scripture from Ephesians 5 starting with verse 21 as I suggest we should. 21 submitting to one another in the fear of God. When we begin here we see clearly that in Christ, submission in marriage is a two way street. The husband and wife’s equality are exemplified in that they are both required to submit to one another. The phrase “in the fear of God” suggests this state of marital equality to operate under the headship of God, as originally designed. As we continue next time, we will discover practical ways Paul suggests that we can submit to one another best. I hope that this new format is as much a blessing to you as it is to me. I am thoroughly enjoying the process of the Holy Spirit connecting the dots as we work our way through this passage offered to us to develop marital oneness.
Questions to answer:
- What are your thoughts about the loss of perfect equality between Adam and Eve being one of the casualties of their sin?
- In light of that, when you consider Jesus being the perfect Lamb who came to take away the sin of the world, what effect should a personal relationship with Him have on restoring marital equality and unity?
- What difficulties do you recognize sin has caused you and your spouse to have operating in perfect equality, unity and harmony?
Actions to take:
- Commit to reading Ephesians 5:21-33 at least 3-5 times per week during the course of our study and ask God to reveal even further truths to you that can impact the way you and your spouse interact with each other and with Him.
So now, in awe of God, and as an act of renewed equality and unity found in Christ, submit to one another…and Go Be Awesome!
Allow me to wish all of you a very Merry Christmas! In light of the holidays, which are no doubt offering many of us opportunities to be busy spending time with friends and family, I will not be podcasting next week. I will look forward to continuing our study of Ephesians chapter 5 in the New Year, see you then.
Do It Again…Do It Again! – December 15th, 2022
Hi this is Pastor Ken and these are my thoughts on a Thursday…”Do It Again, Do It Again”
For over a decade now I have been affectionately known as Papa to my grandchildren. Over the years, the number of little voices referring to me that way has grown to be more than the number of years that I have held the title. When my grandchildren were little I would do fun things with them like hold them in my arms and twirl around as fast as I could allowing the centrifugal force to carry them outward. Sometimes I would toss them up into the air (just inches from my grasp of course) and then “catch them” on their way down. On occasion I would bounce them on my knee or reach out and tickle them as they went by my chair. Regardless of the game we were playing, one thing remained a constant. When I would tire of the game, often because it had actually become physically taxing for me to continue, their response was the same. Invariably they would come back to me just moments…or even seconds after I stopped, and plead with me…Do it again Papa, do it again”. Whatever we had just been engaged in, they were having fun, they were enjoying it, and they wanted it to continue. Out of that desire came their pleading for me to “Do it again Papa…do it again.
Our heavenly Papa has times when He looks at us and says, “Do it again…do it again”. So what is it that God wants us to “Do again”? And why does He want us to do certain things with repetition?
One of the activities He asks us to do again and again comes from Matthew 16:24-25. It reads as follows from the Amplified Bible. 24 Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wishes to follow Me [as My disciple], he must deny himself [set aside selfish interests], and take up his cross [expressing a willingness to endure whatever may come] and follow Me [believing in Me, conforming to My example in living and, if need be, suffering or perhaps dying because of faith in Me]. 25 For whoever wishes to save his life [in this world] will [eventually] lose it [through death], but whoever loses his life [in this world] for My sake will find it [that is, life with Me for all eternity]. While it is true that Accepting Jesus as our Lord and Savior is a onetime event in our lives, Jesus made the point here that as a result of that decision there are things that we will need to do again and again until the day we find ourselves safely with Him in heaven. We will have to deny ourselves repeatedly. A walk with Christ does not make us devoid of desires, some of those desires are selfish. To respond correctly Jesus said we will need to deny them, and willingly accept whatever may be come as a result. If we ‘do it again’ each day He promises to give us the necessary grace to face the resulting situations, but we still have to make the daily choice (sometimes moment by moment) to deny ourselves, accept whatever comes…and follow Him. That means that no matter the consequences…we choose to look and act like Jesus. And the consequences may end up being severe. In a recent trip overseas I was privileged to meet Christians who had been born into the Muslim faith. For some of them, their decision to follow Jesus had regrettably severed ties with their own families. They were treated as outcasts, ostracized by their own mothers and fathers. What a blessing to get to meet Christians who know what it means to lose their lives (their own identity) to follow Jesus and accept the identity they have in Him! Jesus went on to say that it might even mean a physical death to follow Him, but He reminds us in this scripture that anything we lose for Him in this life will be well worth it when we have eternal life with Him. Our heavenly father loves it when He sees us deny ourselves and take up our cross and follow His Son, Jesus. And His response to seeing that take place? “Do it again child…do it again”.
In Romans 12:10 Paul wrote about another ‘Do it again’ request that comes from God. There it tells us to Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another. This is practical instruction that helps us know how to follow the directive above. It gives specific instruction as to one way we can be like Christ. When Jesus submitted to God the Father and came to earth in the form of His own creation He did not do so because He had a need to come, He did it because we had need of Him to come and make the ultimate sacrifice paying the penalty for the sin of humankind…once and for all! He came giving preference to us and our need, out of His great love for us. So if we want to look like Jesus, if we want to take on His character, then we must learn to honor others give preference to one another. Why does he ask us to do this again and again? I believe it is because He knows that as human beings we learn best through repetition. There is going to come a day when those of us who know and love Jesus will go to be with Him in glory. There we will be asked to return the favor He showed to us. There we are asked for eternity to prefer Him, to give Him all of the honor and love he is deserving of. Recently I had a conversation with some men where I asked a legitimate question. How many years is it appropriate for us to spend on our faces thanking Jesus for what He has done for us once we get to heaven? A hundred? A thousand? Ten thousand years? A million? A billion? You get the idea. I am not sure if eternity is going to be long enough! If we are going to prefer Him alone for that length of time, then acts of selflessness are probably something we can all use as much practice at as we can get now. I am convinced that when God sees us selflessly loving one another by preferring other’s needs above our own, He says, “Do it again daughter… Do it again son”.
While I am on the subject of a loving God who was willing to give His one and only Son to die in our place so that we can live, if we are going to be like Him in that way, we definitely need to learn to become givers. Givers of our time, givers of our talents, givers of His love. How do we become givers? Through repetition. Through doing it again and again. I believe this is the idea behind the tithe. God’s word says that he doesn’t need our money. Psalm 50:10-12 in the New Living Translation reads as follows; 10 For all the animals of the forest are mine, and I own the cattle on a thousand hills. 11 I know every bird on the mountains, and all the animals of the field are mine. 12 If I were hungry, I would not tell you, for all the world is mine and everything in it. Here God is clearly saying, He owns it all and if He physically had need of anything (which He doesn’t) He certainly wouldn’t come to us to meet His need, He would take it from His own infinite wealth. So, if God doesn’t need our money why ask for it? In the book of Malachi, He quite clearly says that we should bring our first fruits into His storehouse, which represents the local church in our society. Moreover He says that if we fail to do so we are robbing Him! So why does He ask for our tithe? I believe whole heartedly it is because the ultimate giver wants to make us awesome givers as well. As a part of the lesson He uses repetition and asks us to tithe again and again and again. So when God sees us tithing with a joyful heart and becoming happy givers I think He looks at us and says, “Do it again loved ones of mine…do it again”.
So now, in response to your heavenly Papa, Do it again…Do it again, so that His joy and yours may be full…and go be awesome!
Exposing the Truth – December 12, 2022
Hi, this is Pastor Ken, thanks for joining me once again for the Monday Marriage Message.
As those of you who have been joining me for this marriage podcast know, I always attach scripture to the marital concepts I share. The reason for this is obvious. As a pastoral counselor, I believe that there is undoubtedly a single source for all wisdom. Human beings can, and do, from time to time settle on a wise conclusion, but even blind squirrels find nuts once in a while. Any wisdom we quote-unquote “discover” is exactly that, a discovery. It is not our knowledge, it is God’s truth and we have simply had it revealed to us. Gravity is not Sir Isaac Newton’s concept; he simply recognized that it existed. Apples fell from trees long before one reportedly hit him on the head. God does allow for us to access some of His wisdom concerning marriage (among other things) through sources other than His written word. I have spoken before of the fact that Malachi 2:15 indicates that God endows every marriage (even ones that do not acknowledge Him) with a portion of His Holy Spirit. With this gift, there have been certain quote-unquote “rules” pertaining to marriage regardless of historical, societal, or religious context. This continuity is only possible with the presence of the Holy Spirit and the wisdom He attempts to unveil in every marital union. Additionally, In Romans 2:14-15 Paul writes that God has written His law upon the hearts of those who are His people and even those who are not. Paul says that without this knowledge of right and wrong given to us directly from God, we could not even possess a conscience. Again, these are examples of our limited ability to know truth aside from the Word, but they were never intended to be substitutions for the Word, nor should they ever be construed to be remotely equivalent. The Psalmist wrote, Your Word have I hidden in my heart that I might not sin against you. (Psalm 119:11) This verse indicates notable truths about the truth. First, it is all His truth, His word. Second, it is our responsibility to seek out and discover His truth so that we can possess it. Finally, once it is in our possession, it is our responsibility to employ His truth so that we are able to live as we ought to and in the way that will be most profitable for us.
It is for all of the reasons mentioned above that I am unwilling to offer any episode of this podcast without scriptural basis and reference. My hope is that as I offer these truths to you from God’s Word, and make you aware of where I obtained them, that you will go and search them out yourselves. I pray that you will be induced to spend time for yourselves in God’s word giving His Holy Spirit the opportunity to reveal some of these same…and additional truths to you, concerning your life and your marriage. There is an old saying that “Knowledge is power”, but that is a lie…Knowledge employed is power. It is only when we seek out, discover what God’s word has to say to us…and employ it…put it to use, that we begin to see real change and lasting improvement in our marriages and other facets of our walk with God.
Every week for the last 16 months I have offered biblical concepts that are intended to show you how to employ God’s wisdom and power to strengthen your marriage. Sometimes I have stayed with a concept for a number of weeks and developed a series surrounding that particular truth. Most of the time the concepts have varied from week to week. It has been comfortable and rewarding to present this podcast that way, but now I want to try something new. Sometimes when a person speaks topically as I have been doing since I began this ministry, there is some question if the scriptures are always being used correctly. What I mean is that it is possible for someone to choose a topic and then find scripture that seemingly reinforces the speaker’s premise. I commit to you that I have done my very best to keep from doing just that. I spend hours researching and studying the scriptures I intend to use each week to make sure that the concept or idea I am purporting is in line with the original intent of the Word and not the other way around. Even though I work tirelessly to do that, I have decided for a season to bring this podcast to you in an expository manner. Beginning next week, I will take as many episodes as necessary to expose all of the truths that I am personally aware of concerning a particular scriptural reference. This may be a single verse, a portion of or an entire chapter, or may cover even more ground than that. I will not be moving away from a chosen text until it has been completely looked over. I do not pretend to have a totality of understanding of any of these passages but will offer to you all that I have come to know and understand as they pertain to marriage.
I am looking forward to this new endeavor. I will undoubtedly learn even more as I undertake it and I invite each and every one of you to join me on the journey. I am expecting what I have come to expect as I study any portion of God’s Word…continued revelation. I fully anticipate there will be times where the scriptural context surrounding the quote-unquote “Marriage scriptures” I’ve chosen will only serve to deepen our understanding of those passages and guide husbands and wives into greater relationship with each other and with their Lord.
Thank you for walking along with me over these past 16 months. I have enjoyed our time together, and I look forward to what God is going to do in all of our lives and marriages as we continue to follow Him.
So now, continuing to search out the scriptures so that you can develop your marital oneness into all that God wants it to be…Go Be Awesome!