What We Must Do

Ephesians 5 (1599 Geneva Bible)

19 Speaking unto yourselves in Psalms, and hymns, and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord in your hearts,

20 Giving thanks always for all things unto God even the Father, in the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ,

21 Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.

22 ¶Wives, submit yourselves unto your husbands, as unto the Lord.

23 For the husband is the wife’s head, even as Christ is the head of the Church, and the same is the Savior of his body.

24 Therefore as the Church is in subjection to Christ, even so let the wives be to their husbands in everything.

25 ¶ Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ loved the Church, and gave himself for it,

26 That he might sanctify it, and cleanse it by the washing of water through the word,

27 That he might make it unto himself a glorious Church, not having spot or wrinkle, or any such thing: but that it should be holy and without blame.

28 So ought men to love their wives, as their own bodies: he that loveth his wife, loveth himself.

29 For no man ever yet hated his own flesh, but nourished and cherisheth it, even as the Lord doth the Church.

30 For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.

31 For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife, and they twain shall be one flesh.

32 This is a great secret, but I speak concerning Christ, and concerning the Church.

33 Therefore everyone of you, do ye so: let everyone love his wife, even as himself, andlet the wife see that she fear her husband.

Trinity

Victims, Survivors, and Neglect

I listened to a lady speak at the sentencing of a well publicized trial.  As she walked up to the front of the court she made a grand detour, walking out of the way to go an publicly (on camera) hug a line of women.  As she spoke her bitterness was clear, understandable given the heinousness of the crimes that the man was convicted.   She made one statement that struck me as interesting.  She said they were not "victims" but "survivors."  That statement was insightful as it seems to explain some things that have been occurring in our society.

Before discussing the main topic, first consider the definitions of victim and survivor.
Victim: A person who suffers from some adverse circumstance.

Survivor: A person who suffers from some adverse circumstance yet continues to exist.

But the way the term is used seems to be a rally call for female victims, who through there unity do not just survive but thrive. This attitude is prevalent in our society.

When this lady said her statement, her demeanor was strong and competitive.  Her walk by the row of women hugging each was a clear spiking of the football in the end-zone.  As I watched her I could not help but feel she was over acting.  But then it dawned on me the seriousness of the crimes that had been the focus of the trial.  I began to put this in the context of some other things.  But why did the support of this lady seem to be sought only from women? A horrible crime that all should easily be supportive.  This clear division of the sexes, and the demonstration of victory over their foe.

So why did there seem to be solidarity among women? Women have not been fairly treated by the court system in the past.  This left the women with few options.  They formed their own network in secret.  The secrecy coupled with fear and some devious leaders have lead the group astray,  as they do not seek solutions but division and retaliation.  The actions of a few divisive leaders have not sought justice but protection through division and isolation.  But as it says in the Bible a house divided must fall.

So the root of the issue is a lack of communication, understanding, respect, support, trust, truthfulness; basically a complete lack of love among both men and women.  I once felt the women were out of control.  But now I see neglect is abuse.  When we (men) did not give women their needs, they began to solve their own issues.  But God gave men the ability to satisfy women's need of security from the unknown, and to women the ability to satisfy men's needs.  So why don't we?

Freedom in God's Love

God has given me a special sense. I can feel (or lets say I am aware of) the human heart. I can see what heaven could be if we can all stop everything but love. Love is misunderstood, but as it is misused I will follow that and allow it to be the cover word for all things positive. 

In John 3:16 "God so Loved ... He Gave... His only Son" This passage tells us that Love is to Give. Give what? His son, something he cared deeply about. So He is making a grand offer to us as when a man asks a woman to marry. So He shows us He cares deeply. This offering of all you have also implies faith, trust, and hope, that it will be accepted. 

English is often very low context, but this verse has a lot of context that should be considered. God knows we are not able to meed the requirements of the first covenant, so this offer expresses concern, understanding, empathy, and acceptance of us as we are. All in exchange for just giving the same treatment back to Him, and your fellow man. 

Further this is a demonstration of perfect communication, as He is patient, He has listened, He has spoken from the heart, made an offer, and conveyed the full Truth. A truly amazing verse. So recapping what Love means, based on this verse Love is to Give and Express, Truth, Trust, Concern, Empathy, Understanding, Acceptance, Humility, Hope, Patience, To Listen, To Care.  The meaning of "Love your neighbor" it is almost the same as that of open communication. 

So anything that opposes those thoughts I believe to be sin. So to not Love is to Hate = Deceptive / Secrets / Witholding, Fear, Disinterested, Misunderstanding, Rejection, Arrogance, Despair, Hurried, Ignore, not Care. But if you can achieve this I feel you will have found one of the keys to heaven. Another way to think of this is Freedom is achieved in true Love which means all of the positive and none of the negative. 

Even though this is not in the Bible I feel it is a fundamental truth that positive thinking and energy makes us and everyone around us happy, and brings a sense of peace. Once there you fear nothing, no concerns, true freedom. But getting there is the trick as you cannot be concerned with others thoughts or actions, you have to accept.  We will not discuss it here but tapping into the subconscious is important as it relates to the future, love, and heaven.  Remember that when Jesus died the inner curtain ripped.  Symbolic of the taking off of Rebekah's veil she kept on in front of Isaac.  So it is symbolic of women letting men see them spiritually naked.  Freedom can only be achieved in this way.  Transparency and Truth are critical for Freedom.