B.U.S.Y Being Under Satan s Yoke 1 Corinthians 6: 12 All things are lawful for me, but all things are not helpful. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any. 13 Foods for the stomach and the stomach for foods, but God will destroy both it and them. Now the body is not for sexual immorality but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. 14 And God both raised up the Lord and will also raise us up by His power. 15 Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a harlot? Certainly not! 16 Or do you not know that he who is joined to a harlot is one body with her? For the two, He says, shall become one flesh. 17 But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him. 18 Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body. 19 Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? 20 For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God s. Paul tells us that our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, and as such we are to take care of our bodies and keep them as healthy as we can. Since excessive amounts of food or drink and lack of exercise can lead to multiple health risks, we need to realize that it is ultimately up to us to choose the amount of food, drink, we put in our body and how much exercise, we should strive for to avoid becoming overweight or anorexic for all that matter. Our happiness and peace depends on it. The bottom line is that the Lord wants us to take excellent care of our bodies since we are the Temple of the Holy Spirit. The Lord wants us to keep our focus on Him and not fall into obsessing about weight gain, weight loss, or food or drink, any of which can become an idol or a graven image of oneself in our own lives. Jesus tells us time and time again to go out into the world and be a witness for him. If you do not take care of yourself and become a burden to yourself you can bet that the people around you are being affected to by your own self neglect. These days in the hustle and bustle of life people are running to and fro and busier than they have ever been trying to make ends meet. To busy for their spouse, to busy for their friends, to busy for God, to busy for their children etc etc.. As a result of all of this most people don t realize that they are playing right into the hands of satan. The Busier you are in worldly affairs, the less likely you are to be lining up with the Word of God. Being Under Satan s Yoke.. BUSY! But rest assured there is a price to pay.
This is a Universal Law of God. Paul tells us in Galatians 6: 7 Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. 8 Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. (This is a Universal Law of God.) There is no way out once you have done something whether it be good or bad. There will always be consequences for whatever we do. Eating Healthy or Over Eating, working or not working, Exercising, or Sitting on the couch watching TV, Loving or Hating, Forgiving or Not Forgiving, Avoiding Sin and Sinning, Smoking and not smoking, Drinking and not drinking, doing Drugs and not doing drugs.. doing Ministry work and not doing Ministry work..all have positive or negative effects. So in short sow good things and reap good things. Sow bad things and reap the bad. Do not cause yourself unnecessary strife by over working or putting your own desires first all the time.. Remember. The middle letter of Sin is *I*.. I have to do this, I have to do that I don t have time for this, or I don t have time for that.. sound familiar? We must strive to seek an even balance so that we will meet Gods expectations. Equally so in the way we treat our bodies. Our time and what we put in our bodies must be managed with God in mind, always, if we are going to be the best that we can be not only for ourselves but for God. After all.. we are not our own.. we have responsibilities to God and to others around us. A strong healthy body helps us stay in shape so we can better serve God each day; and thus bring glory and honor to Him in our testimony and witness to others which is one of our principal reasons for living. The Bible can be summed up by three basic principles. God wants us to Worship Him and Love Him, He wants us to Love one another and He wants us to tell somebody about Jesus. In order to do that we must be in shape mentally and physically and most of all spiritually. What are our Biblical Priorities? Scriptural order of priorities in the Bible are as follows: God, spouse, children, parents, extended family, brothers and sisters in Christ, and then the rest of the world including ministries. While sometimes decisions must be made to focus on one person over another, the goal is to not be neglecting any of our relationships. The biblical balance is allowing God to empower us to meet all of our relationship priorities, inside and outside our families with limited or strife. When we start doing things *our own way* that is when life becomes out of control and out of balance and strife will rise up.. Strife has to rise up because if our behavior is not Righteous then how can we expect our lives to be Righteous? *Sowing and Reaping* Matthew 6:33"But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
Righteousness: To Walk Uprightly; To Follow Closely Gods Principles and Commands: For God to be able to give you all He has in store for you, you must line up with His Word. If you are not lining up with His Word then the measure that you use that is outside of His Word will be measured back to you void of blessings that would have normally been yours if you were walking fully in His Word, or Covenant. To get the maximum God has for you and your spouse it is imperative that both you and your spouse adjust your lives accordingly. You sow strife your reap strife, you sow the Word of God you reap the Word of God and all He has to offer. Psalm 18:20 The LORD has dealt with me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands he has rewarded me. 21 For I have kept the ways of the LORD; I am not guilty of turning from my God. 22 All his laws are before me; I have not turned away from his decrees. 23 I have been blameless before him and have kept myself from sin. 24 The LORD has rewarded me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands in his sight. 25 To the faithful you show yourself faithful, to the blameless you show yourself blameless, 26 to the pure you show yourself pure, but to the devious you show yourself shrewd. 27 You save the humble but bring low those whose eyes are haughty.. What does all of this have to do with marriage? I m glad you asked. All of this plays a roll in your marriage. What you eat and what you drink and put inside your body, the ( Temple of The Holy Spirit) and what you do in regards to regular exercise and striving to stay healthy not only affects you it also affects your spouse your children and everyone around you. If you neglect yourself and abuse your body you and your family and the Kingdom suffer for it. If you strive to keep yourself healthy you and your family and the Kingdom benefit from it. Don t Be So Heavenly Minded That You Are No Earthly Good We have a responsibility to one another.. When a believing husband and wife institute Godly principles, a biblical marriage results. A biblically based marriage is one that is in balance, with Christ as the head of the man and the man head of the wife as Christ is head of the Church. The biblical concept of marriage is a oneness between two individuals that pictures the oneness of Christ with His church. God Formed Man First.. Not Woman: 1 Timothy 2:13 Genesis 2: 7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being. 8 The LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there He put the man whom He had formed. 9 And out of the ground the LORD God made every tree grow that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
15 Then the LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it. 16 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die. 18 And the LORD God said, It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him. 19 Out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to Adam to see what he would call them. And whatever Adam called each living creature, that was its name. 20 So Adam gave names to all cattle, to the birds of the air, and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper comparable to him. 21 And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place. 22 Then the rib which the LORD God had taken from man He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man. 23 And Adam said: This is now bone of my bones And flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman, Because she was taken out of Man. 24 Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. What About Sex? 1 Corinthians 7:1 It is good for a man not to touch a woman. 2 Nevertheless, because of sexual immorality, let each man have his own wife, and let each woman have her own husband. 3 Let the husband render to his wife the affection due her, and likewise also the wife to her husband. 4 The wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does. And likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does. 5 Do not deprive one another except with consent for a time, that you may give yourselves to fasting and prayer; and come together again so that Satan does not tempt you because of your lack of self-control. 6 But I say this as a concession, not as a commandment. 7 For I wish that all men were even as I myself. But each one has his own gift from God, one in this manner and another in that. 8 But I say to the unmarried and to the widows: It is good for them if they remain even as I am; 9 but if they cannot exercise self-control, let them marry. For it is better to marry than to burn with passion. Keep Your Marriage Vows 10 Now to the married I command, yet not I but the Lord: A wife is not to depart from her husband. 11 But even if she does depart, let her remain unmarried or be reconciled to her husband. And a husband is not to divorce his wife. 12 But to the rest I, not the Lord, say: If any brother has a wife who does not believe, and she is willing to live with him, let him not divorce her. 13 And a woman who has a husband who does not believe, if he is willing to live with her, let her not divorce him. 14 For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband; otherwise your children would be unclean, but now they are holy. 15 But if the unbeliever departs, let him depart; a brother or a sister is not under bondage in such cases. But God has called us to peace. 16 For how do you know, O wife, whether you will save your husband? Or how do you know, O husband, whether you will save your wife?
But it is better to not be unequally yoked: To Avoid Strife 2 Corinthians 6: 14 Do not be joined together with those who do not belong to Christ. How can that which is good get along with that which is bad? How can light be in the same place with darkness? 15 How can Christ get along with the devil? How can one who has put his trust in Christ get along with one who has not put his trust in Christ? 16 How can the house of God get along with false gods? We are the house of the living God. God has said, I will live in them and will walk among them. I will be their God and they will be My people. 17 The Lord has said, So come out from among them. Do not be joined to them. Touch nothing that is sinful. And I will receive you. 18 I will be a Father to you. You will be My sons and daughters, says the Allpowerful God. What About Honor and Obedience? Ephesians 5: 15 So be careful how you live. Live as men who are wise and not foolish. 16 Make the best use of your time. These are sinful days. 17 Do not be foolish. Understand what the Lord wants you to do. 18 Do not get drunk with wine. That leads to wild living. Instead, be filled with the Holy Spirit. 19 Tell of your joy to each other by singing the Songs of David and church songs. Sing in your heart to the Lord. 20 Always give thanks for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. How Wives Must Live 21 Be willing to help and care for each other because of Christ. By doing this, you honor Christ. 22 Wives, obey your own husbands. In doing this, you obey the Lord. 23 For a husband is the head of his wife as Christ is the head of the church. It is His body (the church) that He saves. 24 As the church is to obey Christ, wives are to obey their own husbands in everything. How Husbands Must Live 25 Husbands, love your wives. You must love them as Christ loved the church. He gave His life for it. 26 Christ did this so He could set the church apart for Himself. He made it clean by the washing of water with the Word. 27 Christ did this so the church might stand before Him in shining-greatness. There is to be no sin of any kind in it. It is to be holy and without blame. 28 So men should love their wives as they love their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29 No man hates himself. He takes care of his own body. That is the way Christ does. He cares for His body which is the church. 30 We are all a part of His body, the church. 31 For this reason, a man must leave his father and mother when he gets married and be joined to his wife. The two become one. 32 This is hard to understand, but it shows that the church is the body of Christ. 33 So every man must love his wife as he loves himself. Every wife must respect her husband. 1 Peter 3:1 Wives, likewise, be submissive to your own husbands, that even if some do not obey the word, they, without a word, may be won by the conduct of their wives, 2 when they
observe your chaste conduct accompanied by fear. 3 Do not let your adornment be merely outward arranging the hair, wearing gold, or putting on fine apparel 4 rather let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God. 5 For in this manner, in former times, the holy women who trusted in God also adorned themselves, being submissive to their own husbands, 6 as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord, whose daughters you are if you do good and are not afraid with any terror. A Word to Husbands 7 Husbands, likewise, dwell with them with understanding, giving honor to the wife, as to the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life, that your prayers may not be hindered. Called to Blessing 8 Finally, all of you be of one mind, having compassion for one another; love as brothers, be tenderhearted, be courteous; 9 not returning evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary blessing, knowing that you were called to this, that you may inherit a blessing. 10 For He who would love life And see good days, Let him refrain his tongue from evil, And his lips from speaking deceit. 11 Let him turn away from evil and do good; Let him seek peace and pursue it. 12 For the eyes of the LORD are on the righteous, And His ears are open to their prayers; But the face of the LORD is against those who do evil. In Closing So what we see from these scriptures is this. We must always put God and His Word First. Proverbs 3: 5-6 tells us.. Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not to your own understanding, but in all your ways submit to Him and He will direct your path.. Amen~Amen