Questions~

     Several things have come together to create this post.
     This morning in my study time I had a praise CD by Misty Edwards playing (I almost always have praise music playing, either a CD or the radio or streaming online). The lyrics that stood out to me were "people get ready He's coming".
     This last weekend was the Shekinah Glory conference at our church in KC, we weren't able to attend, but we did watch all that was available online. The last days message was that the glory will usher in the return of Jesus.
     Our Pastor was teaching that we, as the church, are the Bride that Jesus is returning for. And that as the church we are to be spending this time of waiting to prepare ourselves for His return! We shouldn't be waiting for Him to return and then expect Him to prepare us for heaven, but I believe that many people are waiting for just that.
     Many American believers have bought into the idea that there will be a rapture and that everyone that ever said the "sinner's prayer" will be zapped into heaven. But there are several verses that have over the years caused me to worry and now seem to be congealing with the last conference's teachings. There is the parable told of the men that had lived doing things like healing and casting out of evil spirits in Jesus's name, but at the end when they approached Jesus He told them to leave and that He had never known them. What a horrible shock that would be! And there's the parable of the 10 virgins waiting for the bridegroom, 5 have oil and 5 have run out of oil. When the bridegroom shows up the virgins without oil miss it because they had to go back and get the oil! Another horrible shock! All 10 of the virgins were waiting for the same event and believed and had faith, but 5 ran out of oil and missed it.
     Is it possible that everyone that has said the sinner's prayer is waiting for the bridegroom? What percent of  "sinner prayer" repeaters even know the bridegroom is returning? And how many people know who the Bridegroom is returning for? *Hint, His bride!* Okay, who is His bride? And then who are the virgins that run out of oil? So many questions! (In my life everyone says I'm the person with the most questions and I often find that nobody else has even considered half of the things I have questions about! Even my granddaughter told me that I have "a lot of questions!". (It's rare for a child to tell an adult that! I feel honored!!)).
     I have mostly focused on how to live after recognizing that Jesus is the Son of God and Lord of my life, so I have many areas of the future days that I have not spent time studying. I do believe that if I live each day as Jesus wants me to, that He will take care of me and my future. However with all of that said I've recently developed a concern that a lot of people are living in a false sense of security just waiting for that day they get to cash in the "Rapture" ticket. So I'm tackling the part of the message that I've learned so far~
     Okay, back to the basics of what I have begun to understand ~ Jesus is the Bridegroom, He has promised to return for His bride, the church is His bride, the church is supposed to be growing more beautiful with it's growth as it waits for the return of the Bridegroom, and the bride should be waiting for the return of her groom with great love and expectation! Now the part that will probably shock a few people~ the church that is the bride is holy, set apart from the sins of the world, it is a corporate body, it should be growing in loveliness. If a person is not living a life dedicated to being the bride are they one of the virgins that runs out of oil? or are they one of the ones that Jesus said "leave Me, I never knew you"?  See, more questions to be prayed about~

Why Do So Many Marriages End in Divorce? IMHO

     Just a thought about marriage. With so many marriages ending in divorce a person has to wonder what has happened to cause this?  A lot of time while I'm doing things like washing dishes, making the bed or cooking, my mind wanders to various subjects like, "why would our leaders want to give amnesty to a large group of law breakers?" or "why would our president and his advisers give orders to ""make life difficult"" for the citizens during the budget squabble?" or "why do homosexuals want the right to be married when so many marriages end in divorce?" or "why do so many marriages end in divorce?"
     Today my answer for the divorce question was that so many people are not prepared for the reality of marriage. Women think it will be a great romantic adventure and don't consider that they will be picking up this man's dirty socks for the rest of their lives, and not only picking them up, but washing them, matching them and putting them back in his drawer to start the cycle all over again! Yikes! And the woman is probably not prepared for the fact that she will need to feed this man that she is promising to "love, honor and cherish" "until death do you part"! And surprise, he will want to eat everyday! and in order to do this daily feeding, and another surprise, it's usually 3 times a day that he will want to eat...but in order to do this, she will need to go to the grocery store to buy something to cook, bring it home, put it up and at the appropriate time pull it off of the shelf to prepare and serve, then clean up the mess that she made preparing it. This may not sound too challenging, but if she does do the cooking for every meal in the first month of wedded bliss she will have been responsible for 90 meals and all of the planning, fixing and cleaning up that is included with that. Multiply that out and it is 1,080 the first year. Yes they will go out to eat, so if you want you can divide it by half and she's only had to take care of 540 meals in the first year, while at the same time picking up the dirty socks and washing them, matching them and putting them back up. I guess the point is that there is a lot of drudgery that people are not expecting in the married life. If the husband is not extremely loving, appreciative and supportive the wife can easily turn bitter about her chores and blame someone or everyone and most likely it will be the wearer of the dirty socks!
     I know a lot of people think we're supposed to be in a "new age" where the man takes care of his own socks, but realistically the woman needs to face the fact that in marriage she is the dedicated nurturer, and that includes feeding and caring for the family that she has, even if that's just a husband in the beginning. To fight this stereo type is a quick trip to divorce. If you want to argue this idea there's really no point in it, I'm only stating my opinion and you are free to have your own.
     There is another side for the men too. You may think you're marrying a playmate, but you'll be surprised that she will go through cycles where playing is the last thing on her mind. After taking care of your laundry and cooking, sometimes she might want some "conversation". Your life may not be the same free agent life you used to live, your friends may have to take a backseat to your new life with your wife. Or you may have to turn the video game off. With a wife the usual progression is that you add a pet to your twosome, then along comes a baby and you need a house for the growing family. You have stepped into the world of a responsible man but many of you are not ready to be a responsible man. Many of you have married someone thinking they will make your life easier or they'll take care of you, but surprise! You are the one that is supposed to be responsible and support your wife and they are to fall under the umbrella of your care! That's a shockeroonie isn't it?! You are the one to shelter and support your wife not the other way around.
     When all of the truths of real life hit these couples that have not been taught or prepared in any way by parents or grandparents to meet them, they are overwhelmed, they blame each other and then start looking for the next person that can live up to their expectations and make their fantasy world come true. They are not going to face the fact that real life is not a fantasy and if they don't want to deal with the drudgery part of marriage then they need to stay single and just take care of themselves. I keep thinking that until a woman is willing to take care of herself, she is in no way prepared to take care of a spouse. And until a man is willing to accept responsibility for caring for his wife, he is not ready either.
     It always comes back to taking two to make marriage work, so consider before you marry and choose carefully. First choice, are you mature enough for marriage? Second choice, is your intended really someone that will go the extra mile with you?