Take Your Job Seriously

Celebrating the Resurrection

“Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.” – Ephesians 5:25-27

Love pours forth from the man to the woman and back again in reciprocity.  When you love another person, you are willing to sacrifice your desires, your hopes and your dreams.  When you love another person, you are willing to serve them, bring them joy and fulfill their dreams.  When you love another person it is okay to lose, it is okay to humble yourself and to be second in priority.  This is the missing ingredient in our world today.  Most relationships are built on self-centered gain and satisfaction.  The “what’s in it for me” mentality has become rampant and flooded the perception of a large percentage of our youth.  Entitlement seems at an all time high while respect seems to have become a thing of the past.

Husbands love your wives as Christ loved the church.  Well, what did Christ do for the church?

1. He was patient as they grew and learned
2. He was peaceful when they required discipline
3. He was stern when they were flirting with the devil
4. He was humble when they needed help
5. He was loving when they were hurting
6. He was courageous when they were weak
7. He served them while still leading
8. He stood in their place when they were disobedient
9. He stood in their place when punishment was demanded
10. He pleaded with the Father on their behalf with His final breath
11. He defeated Satan from the grave so they would be found blameless
    
    

So, husbands the next time you might feel your wife is in the wrong, decide which of these you are going to implement and lift your wife up from where she may have fallen.  After all, you are the Priest of your household, and bear the responsibility for all that goes on within your dwelling.  Be the leader that He has called you to be, by loving her and your children with the love of the Father.
 



© Sondove Enterprises, 2019
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A Solid Investment

Read It, Learn It, Live It, Share It


“Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes out of the mouth of God.”  – Matthew 4:4
 
What is more important than God?
 

We have created a comfortable life in which God often times is pushed to the backburner in many of our daily interactions.  Think about your daily habits, it might look something like this. 
Every morning you wake up and you start with habitual actions. 

• Go to the bathroomBrush your teethBet a cup of coffeePerhaps have your first cigarette of the dayLet the dog outPull out your smartphone to see who sent you messages or what they posted in Facebook or Twitter or Instagram since you last checked at midnight when you went to bedCheck your email to see if your boss sent you anything criticalCheck your daytimer / calendar to see the meetings ahead of youShower, shave, get dressed for the dayTake the same route to the same office for another day of work
• 
  This is typical of a very large percentage of the population, regardless of where you are at.  We don’t think about whether we should brush our teeth, or go to the bathroom, or let the dog out, we just do it.  These things have become second nature in life, almost like breathing or blinking.  We are creatures of habit and are comforted by repetition in life.
  
  Scientists have said that repetition of an act for 2 weeks straight will create the beginnings of a habit.  Continuing that act for an additional 2 weeks and the habit is engrained in the human psyche.  If you are looking to deepen your relationship with Christ, creating a habit of reading and studying His word will help you in this area.
  
  Think about your strongest relationship, your spouse, your parents, your children.  You know so much about them because you have engaged with them and learned from and about them over years.  Yet, many of you believe you can go to a church building once a week and have a deep relationship with the Creator of the world.  In all honesty, your relationship with Christ should be the strongest relationship you have.  Stronger than your spouse, parents or children relationships.
  
  This relationship has eternal implications, as well as joy, comfort, peace and fulfillment here on this earth.  Every other relationship you have is terminal and will end at some given point.  Investing in a relationship with God the Father should be your focus every single day, and soon enough, you won’t even have to remind yourself to do it, it will just happen.

 
 
 
© Sondove Enterprises, 2019
For more Daily Thoughts go to: http://sondove.blogspot.com
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I Want to Know You

Make 2014 a year for sharing

“Then they asked him, "Where is your father?" "You do not know me or my Father," Jesus replied. "If you knew me, you would know my Father also."”  – John 8:19

Her eyes are brown.  She loves the hiking in the mountains and reading a good book while hanging out at the beach. She is a mother of 5 and “Mi-Mi” of 3.  If she could save one beautiful little girl in Haiti, she would do everything she could to make that happen.  She likes to sleep in, yet she’s up at 6:45 every morning to take on the days activities with the 3 children.  She enjoys her coffee with lots of Peppermint Mocha cream and two sugars, preferably Seattle’s Best or Dunkin Donuts.  She loves Jesus Christ with everything in her heart and goes out of her way to help others each and every single day.  She leads bible studies, mother’s of pre-school groups and teaches home-school.  She wears the hat of a nurse, a chauffeur, a lead contractor for our new home construction and the banker in our home.  She likes a glass of White Zinfandel or Muscato and an occasional beer, but most of the time would rather have a tall glass of sweet ice tea.  Her favorite restaurant is Saltgrass Steakhouse, where she likes her steak well done with no pink in the middle.  She also loves baked ziti from Olive Garden if the mood for Italian strikes her.  I love it when she laughs, and I can tell when she is going to cry.  She loves everyone with the same unconditional, what you see is what you get, love.  The incredible woman I refer to is my wife of 26 years - Lisa.  This is the woman I love and I know her very well (or so I think).

We all have relationships with others that can be described in deep details.  You know your spouses, family and friends very well.  You know what makes them laugh and what makes them cry.  You could tell any person you meet on the street how special these individuals are to you.  We spend time with them, learn about their idiosyncrasies and habits.  We are willing to invest in a certain few individuals because we care about them and we want to know them more.  I’m sure you will agree with me in this matter as you look back at those in your life and begin to think about the deep details you know about each of them.

So, I have established that we are all capable of knowing someone if we chose to.  It takes work and effort and a desire to know them.  It takes time, not just studying about them, but spending time with them and learning first hand.  So, with this in mind I can honestly stand here and say with full sincerity; I don’t know God?  Don’t get me wrong.  I know He is my Lord and King and has provided me salvation by His grace through His Son Jesus Christ.  Now, having acknowledged that, I continue to struggle daily with wanting to know Him more.  Accepting God is a statement of faith, trust and belief; but knowing God takes work.  Just as in any relationship, the more you put into it the more you will get out of it. 

If I put 1 spend 3 hours a day with my kids and 3 additional hours a day with my beautiful wife, 2 hours commuting to/from work and 10 hours at the office with my co-workers and try to get at least 5 hours sleep each night that leaves 1 hour a day with my Creator.  Plus add Sunday church service and the occasional Wednesday or Saturday night and I am getting somewhere south of 500 hours a year with God almighty.  We are given 8,760 hours in a given year.  This means I am spending less than 6% of my time getting to know the Lord.  That just doesn’t seem like a plan to build a relationship now does it.

I have the desire to know Him more, but has it become important enough to actually do something about it?  That is the question that is posed for all of us to address.  I propose that the majority of us are in this same boat.  We get swallowed up in the busyness of the day and all of a sudden God is getting our leftovers rather than our first and best.  Today we have homework.  I would like to ask you to take an index card or a piece of paper and write down everything you know about God.  Put it somewhere in a prominent place that you will see everyday.  This will remind you daily of who it is that you serve.  Now, try to add to that list each day.  Can you spend enough time in the Word each day or on the internet learning about God and strengthening your relationship with Him to add one item a day.  I promise you as you learn more about Him your relationship will become stronger, because you see He’s already done His part of the assignment and knows everything about you.  The gap in this relationship rests on your shoulders, not His.

Prayer:
Almighty God,
We want to know You and serve You.  Please forgive our busyness as we allow the daily tasks to steal from our time with You.  Strengthen us Lord, to see You in a more fruitful manner and learn more from You and about You daily throughout this year.  Help each of us become more aware of our relationship and focus our attention on You, for it through You that we are given life.  In Your name we pray – Amen

© Sondove Enterprises, 2014
For more Daily Thoughts go to: http://sondove.blogspot.com
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