Tag: Carry the Load Just Believe

Does Someone Have to Die For Others to Live?

Does someone have to die for someone else to live?  Think of it this way; if you are an organ donor, then someone on the donor list can live from your death.  At first, I was afraid to be an organ donor.  The young and immature me thought, what if I am not really dead and they take my organs, but I realized that we all die, unless Jesus comes back first.  And the insecure me was afraid of dying, but the mature, older and more secure me is not afraid of dying.  We should look forward to being with Jesus in Heaven.  The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 5:8 “So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, 7 for we walk by faith, not by sight. 8 Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord.” (Bible Gateway ESV 2025) And Ecclesiastes says 12:7 “and the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it.” (Bible Gateway ESV 2025)

Therefore, I would say yes, many times someone does have to die for others to live.  Think about Jesus, He willingly gave his own blood on the cross for us to live, and we will live forever in Heaven with Him, if we believe in Jesus and repent of our sins.  And when I say believe, I mean have a relationship with Him, even Satan knows of Jesus.  I’m talking about making Jesus the Lord of our lives and submitting to Him.

What if you are an organ donor and your life-saving organ saved someone’s life that didn’t know Jesus Christ yet?  What if the time that your organ extended someone’s life was enough time for them to make Jesus Christ their Lord and they accepted Him into their life and got saved from God’s wrath.  I’ll add Jesus doesn’t reject us; we are the ones that reject Him.  And maybe, just maybe your generosity of giving someone a second chance and extending their life was enough time for them to except Jesus into their lives and instead of dying, living in Heaven for eternity. WOW, what a thought!

So, give blood when you can, people that possibly don’t know God, could get another chance of finding God, or be an organ donor, maybe that buys them more time to find God.  What a thought, not only could you extend someone’s life, but you could possibly help someone get more time to find Jesus!        

Brotherhood Covenant

Who knows what a Covenant is?

A covenant is a relationship between two partners who make binding promises to each other and work together to reach a common goal. They’re often accompanied by oaths, signs, and ceremonies. Covenants define obligations and commitments, but they are different from a contract because they are relational and personal. Think of a marriage—a husband and wife choose to enter into a formal relationship, binding themselves to one another in lifelong faithfulness and devotion. They then work as partners to reach a common goal, like building a life or raising children together.

There are some men in this room that have been married a long time.  Who has been married the longest?  Who has been married the least amount of time?  Maybe we can learn from each other the importance of a marriage covenant.  And maybe I just needed to hear this and research this.  Maybe this is for me?

A few weeks ago, I was away for a class for three nights.  I wasn’t gone long, but it reminded me how important a covenant is with God, and I was able to be still and reflect how important the covenant is between me and my Manuela.  And how important it is to not break that covenant.    

Jason Soroski writes “For better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish… We have heard these words repeated in many wedding ceremonies, and if you are married you have likely said them yourself! What does it mean to be in a covenant marriage, and how does it enrich our lives and fulfill God’s purpose?

At the heart of biblical marriage is a covenant before God to cherish one another and continue to grow as one. At the heart of a covenant marriage is a desire to not just ‘get through’ life together but to thrive together. It means to love, encourage, and cherish one another while constantly seeking Christ in our relationship.

That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh.” Covenant Marriage as presented in Scripture is not something to be taken lightly, but makes up the foundation for the family, the community, and the bedrock of a strong and healthy society.

The Bible declares marriage as the most important relationship one can enter into aside from their relationship with God, and Ephesians 5 gives us perhaps the most detailed explanation of how this plays out.

There is a full, beautiful meaning in the full context of these verses that reveals the beauty of what covenant marriage truly is: “Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior”.

”Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her. In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself.” In this passage, it is reiterated that in a covenant marriage the husband is to love his wife as Christ loved the Church and gave himself up for her.

This is a picture of two people in mutual submission to Christ, and a wife submitting to a godly man who leads the home spiritually and who loves his wife more than he loves himself. As Christ was crucified for the sake of his ‘bride’ the Church, the covenant husband is willing to endure the same for his wife he has given himself to in marriage. This is the most beautiful of love stories. A story of mutual love and submission, of two individuals ever-growing more and more into one, entwined within the love of Christ and for one another.

Marriage continues to be the most beautiful ceremony we engage in. This is because within marriage we find deep and wonderful meaning. We see the beginning of a new life and an adventure of two people joining their lives together, entwining their hearts as one in the presence of God, friends, and family. It is the highest of vows. Near the end of a traditional marriage ceremony, we often hear the phrase, “Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.” This phrase, drawn from the words of Jesus in Matthew 19:6, reminds us that marriage is a covenant initiated by God, which we agree to join into. When we commit to a covenant marriage, we are joining our hearts together in a supernatural way that only God can orchestrate.” (Jason Soroski 2021)

I came home to a couple that we know where the husband broke that covenant with his wife and with God.  He cheated on his wife, and I got to hear about that and how it tears a family apart and how sad it is.  They’ve got three kids together.  I got to reflect on that when I got home. 

I said all of this to remind us how important our covenant is not only between our wives, but how important it is to God.  And to remind us men, that our wives are special and our marriages are special and that we should cherish our wives.  We should strive to love our wives like Jesus loves us.  Do we take that covenant serious enough?   

We just had Valentines Day, so I got a good deal on these cards, grab a card and write your wife a special note, telling how much she means to you and your family.  Or maybe you want to write your sister, or Mom or that certain special woman in your life a card.  

So go home, give your wife a hug and a kiss and tell her you love her.        

I Wonder

Our church recently upgraded from old-timey bench style pews to more comfortable chairs with cushions and gave the old pews away. 

My wife and I were fortune it enough to get one of the pews and we placed it on our back deck.  We occasionally sit in it and marvel at God’s beautiful creation. 

I sometimes wonder how many people gave their life to Jesus sitting in that very same pew that we use to gaze upon God’s creation, with a command of His voice, that I am in awe of.  I wonder how many people sat there and cried during a sermon that pricked their hearts.  I wonder how many couples, male and female, sat there holding hands being preached to about God’s design in marriage covenant between man and wife.  Or how many young men and women sat in the very same pew and marveled at how God, Himself, took on flesh and died on the Cross for our sins, defeating sin and death through His descension into hell and resurrection and ascension into heaven for you and me.  

Paul writes in Ephesians 4:6 “One God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. 7 But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift. 8 Therefore it says, “When he ascended on high he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men.”[a] 9 (In saying, “He ascended,” what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower regions, the earth?[b] 10 He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.)

I wonder how many sermons have been preached in that church with that old church pew.  And how many people sat on that old-fashioned church pew. And now my wife and I and children get to sit on the same pew that saw people give their lives to Jesus, the most important decision you will ever make, to spend eternity with Jesus. 

But there is still something about sitting in an old uncomfortable traditional pew that can’t be replaced.  I wouldn’t trade that memory for anything.   

Do Something (Devotion)

Have you heard the song by Matthew West called Do Something?  I just happen to have the words to the song, let me read them to you:

“I woke up this morning
Saw a world full of trouble now
Thought, how’d we ever get so far down
How’s it ever gonna turn around
So I turned my eyes to heaven

I thought, God, why don’t You do something?
Well, I just couldn’t bear the thought of
People living in poverty
Children sold into slavery
The thought disgusted me

So, I shook my fist at heaven
Said, God, why don’t You do something?
He said, I did, I created you
Now listen

If not us, then who
If not me and you
Right now
It’s time for us to do something

If not now, then when
Will we see an end
To all this pain
Oh, it’s not enough to do nothing
It’s time for us to do something

Na-na, na
Na-na, na
Na-na, na
Na-na, na

I’m so tired of talking
About how we are God’s hands and feet
But it’s easier to say than to be
Live like angels of apathy who tell ourselves
It’s alright, somebody else will do something

Well, I don’t know about you
But I’m sick and tired of life with no desire
I don’t want a flame, I want a fire
I wanna be the one who stands up and says
I’m gonna do something

If not us, then who
If not me and you
Right now
It’s time for us to do something
Yes, it is, c’mon

If not now, then when
Will we see an end
To all this pain
It’s not enough to do nothing
It’s time for us to do something

We are the salt of the earth
We are a city on a hill
We’re never gonna change the world
By standing still
No we won’t stand still
No we won’t stand still
No we won’t stand still

If not us, then who
If not me and you
Right now
It’s time for us to do something

If not now, then when
Will we see an end
To all this pain
It’s not enough to do nothing
It’s time for us to do something (na-na, na)

It’s time for us to do something
It’s time for us to do something (na-na, na)”

Songwriters: Matthew West. For non-commercial use only.

Men, we can’t sit on our hands, we need to be the leaders of the church.  Let’s see what the Bible says about Men in the church:

As leaders of the church, men have a great responsibility.  Paul told the elders at Ephesus “Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which he purchased with His own blood” (Acts 20:28 Bible Gateway NKJV 2024)

And elder must hold “fast the faithful word as he has been taught, that he may be able, by sound doctrine, both to exhort and convict those who contradict: (Titus 1:9 Bible Gateway NKJV 2024)

Peter said, “Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers, not by constraint but willingly, not for dishonest gain but eagerly; not as being lords over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock” (1 Peter 5:2, 3 Bible Gateway NKJV 2024)  

“Younger Christians are to submit to their elders: “Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders.  Yes, all of you submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble” (1 Peter 5:5 Bible Gateway NKJV 2024)

Can we change the world?  We may not be able to singlehandedly change the world, but we can change someone’s world.

The floor is open to any suggestions on how we can serve the church and the community?

The Woman Who Fears The Lord (Devotion)

You may know that Manuela and the girls are out of town visiting family in Germany.  And I already knew how much she did for the family but, you really do realize how much of a contribution your wife makes when she is gone. 

Yesterday, I ate a peanut butter and jelly sandwich with the heels of the bread.  And I normally go around the heels of the bread.  That is where I am at right now. 

Men cherish your wives.  They are a gift from God.  They certainly do a lot for us and others.

 Proverbs 12:4: “An excellent wife is the crown of her husband, but she who brings shame is like rottenness in his bones.” (Bible Gateway ESV 2024)

Psalm 128:3: “Your wife will be like a fruitful vine flourishing within your house, your sons like olive shoots sitting around your table.” (Bible Gateway ESV 2024)

Proverbs 31 The Woman Who Fears the Lord 10-31 21 virtues of a God-Fearing Woman. I am not going to read that one to you.  When you have time read Proverbs 31 10-31.   

And there may be some men in here that the Lord has gifted with singleness.  You can use that to your advantage by having more time to serve.  

Proverbs 31 10-31 The Woman Who Fears the Lord

10 [d] “An excellent wife who can find?
    She is far more precious than jewels.
11 The heart of her husband trusts in her,
    and he will have no lack of gain.
12 She does him good, and not harm,
    all the days of her life.
13 She seeks wool and flax,
    and works with willing hands.
14 She is like the ships of the merchant;
    she brings her food from afar.
15 She rises while it is yet night
    and provides food for her household
    and portions for her maidens.
16 She considers a field and buys it;
    with the fruit of her hands she plants a vineyard.
17 She dresses herself[e] with strength
    and makes her arms strong.
18 She perceives that her merchandise is profitable.
    Her lamp does not go out at night.
19 She puts her hands to the distaff,
    and her hands hold the spindle.
20 She opens her hand to the poor
    and reaches out her hands to the needy.
21 She is not afraid of snow for her household,
    for all her household are clothed in scarlet.[f]
22 She makes bed coverings for herself;
    her clothing is fine linen and purple.
23 Her husband is known in the gates
    when he sits among the elders of the land.
24 She makes linen garments and sells them;
    she delivers sashes to the merchant.
25 Strength and dignity are her clothing,
    and she laughs at the time to come.
26 She opens her mouth with wisdom,
    and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.
27 She looks well to the ways of her household
    and does not eat the bread of idleness.
28 Her children rise up and call her blessed;
    her husband also, and he praises her:
29 “Many women have done excellently,
    but you surpass them all.”
30 Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain,
    but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.
31 Give her of the fruit of her hands,
    and let her works praise her in the gates.” (Bible Gateway ESV 2024)