Q: What hinders a husbands prayers from being answered?
A: This comes from 1 Ptr 3:7. Peter encourages husbands to "be considerate" of your wives, to "treat them with respect" and as "heirs with you of the gracious gift of life." To hinder means that something is in our way, an obstacle. When a husband, and a wife, are not receiving the unconditional love of God that meets the deepest desires of their heart, they will have no alternative then to seek it from each other. And when you have two people come together looking for something neither of them have to give, conflict ensues. Two people cannot love each other unconditionally, only conditionally. And when those conditions aren't being met hate will arise. Therefore, you won't be praying or you will be praying in the flesh for things God didn't necessarily promise to give.
Only when we are experiencing the love of God that meets the deepest desires of our heart will we "serve one another in love (Gal 5:13)." And when a husband is serving his wife in love with the love he has received from God, she will be submissive to his role as leader of the household, and vice versa. 1 Corinthians 13 is a description of the love God has for us. And when we realize He has been patient, kind, long suffering, keeps no record of wrongs, etc, we will be able to serve one another in love. We will engage each other with what we have to give rather than with the false expectation of what we hope to get that the other doesn't have to offer. When that happens order will be established in a marriage and Ephesian 5:23 will be realized. "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 will be considerate, respectful and knowledgeable of the gift of life they have in Christ in proportion to their understanding of all they have been given from God as a result of His love for them. Therefore, when they pray there will be no hindrance because their relationship with their wives is grounded in the love of the Lord. Be blessed.
Q: What is Jesus ultimate "purpose" for our lives?
A: God's ultimate purpose is for us to be at home with Him in Heaven. "Now it is God who has made us for this very purpose and has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come (2 Cor 5:5)." God created mankind so that He might indwell us and be our life. As it has been said, "God in the man is indispensable to the life of the man." That is why we read in Genesis 2 that God gave Adam the "breath of life" and he became a "living being." When it says that God gave us His Spirit as a deposit guaranteeing what is to come, that means He gave us His life to carry us through this life, through death, and on into eternity. It is a life that can never leave us because there is no sin that can cause His life to leave because of the eternal redemption (Heb 9:12) purchased by Christ at the Cross. And now, through us, He is able to reach the lost world with the same message of the saving life of Christ that we accepted.
"The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance (2 Ptr 3:9)." We see clearly that God wants all to repent of their unbelief in Jesus Christ and accept the Gospel. Those that do are given the Holy Spirit and in turn we serve others in love with the love God has expressed towards us in hopes that some may accept God's gift of His Son. Jesus gave His life for us, so that He could give His life to us, so that He could live His life through us. That is God's ultimate purpose for us. Be blessed.
Q: Why is it important to protect your "thought" life?
A: We protect our thought life because the real battle we wage in this life is between the truth and the lie. The truth being our identity in Christ. The lie being what Satan wants us to believe about ourselves. "For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he (Pr 23:7 KJV)." What we think about ourselves eventually plays itself out in what we say, do and how we treat others. Jesus said, "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also (Mth 6:21)." Too many Christians get off track focusing on their flesh and what they are doing and not doing or what they have and don't have. It is a mindset which asks, "Am I doing good and avoiding evil?" or "Will God bless me or curse me?" This plays right into Satan's hands. If he can get our eyes on ourselves it means they're off of Jesus. It is not about whether or not we are being obedient and repentant enough. It is about do we know who we are in Christ?
God sees you as holy (Heb 10:10), blameless (Eph 1:4), pure (1 Jn 1:7), set apart from sinners (1 Cor. 6:11), exalted above the Heavens (Eph 2:6), forgiven (Eph 1:7), at peace with Him (Rom 5:1), totally blessed (Eph 1:3) and given everything (2 Ptr 1:3). How does knowing this truth effect your thought life? And how will that truth play itself out in your life as you move forward? When you know how God sees you and who you are in Christ you will engage the world with what you have to give it not in hopes of what you hope to receive from it. This keeps your mindset focused on Christ and what He did for you and not on your flesh and what you are trying to do for yourself and Him. This is what it means to have the "mind of Christ." As we learn to trust and depend on Him our thoughts will be in accordance with the truth He has revealed to us. Be blessed.
Q: Why does God "pursue" us?
A: God doesn't so much pursue as He draws us to Himself. Jesus said, "But I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself (Jn 12:32)." Jesus is like a lighthouse. A lighthouse is a very bright light used for the guidance of ships in avoiding dangerous areas. The lost, unbelievers, are similar to those ships trying to navigate in the dark. The Bible says that "whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on him (Jn 3:36)." The lost are already under the condemnation of God and headed for eternal separation from Him in Hell. But Jesus, the Light of the world, shines through us to act as that "lighthouse" to draw the lost to Him for salvation. God draws us to the Lord in three distinct ways.
There is the "light" of Creation. "For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse (Rom 1:20)." There is the "light" of our conscious. "[T]he requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts now accusing, now even defending them (Rom 2:15)." And, of course, the "light" of Jesus Christ. "This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe (Rom 3:22)." It is up to the individual to respond to all the evidence God has clearly revealed to us in this world. It is through all this evidence that God's love for us is revealed. It is in His love for us that His "pursuit" of us is made known. That is why there is no excuse (Rom 1:20) for those who reject His gift of life found only in Jesus Christ. Be blessed.
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