BLOOM WHERE YOU'RE PLANTED

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Nevertheless, each person should live as a believer in whatever situation the Lord has assigned to them, just as God has called them. This is the rule I lay down in all the churches.

1 Corinthians 7:17

This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Bloom where you’re planted.

It’s been a saying I have carried with me for the longest time.

The idea is that the Lord will place you in many different circumstances through your life, professionally and personally. Many of these would not be our choice if we had it but that’s a part of the amazing work God does to mold and shape us into being the people He wants us to be.

In my case, I spent most of my life serving in the United States Navy, twenty eight and a half years to be exact. This career found me assigned to five different ships. I was also at various shore based commands before being selected to lead at the highest senior enlisted level possible for my final seven years. My tours included a stint in Washington, DC, as well as Djibouti, Africa. Each job was different in the scope of my job and responsibilities but one constant was in place no matter where I was placed.

I had the chance to bloom wherever the Lord planted me and I did because I allowed Him to make it so.

You see, understanding and knowing your place in life means that you see God moving in matters constantly. He is always present and ever dictating the path we travel. After all, He did say that He knows the plans He has for us. It’s up to us to submit to His will and way, allowing Him to carry out His promise made in regard to His plans, that they were designed so we might ultimately prosper and have hope for a future.

As we consider how this applies to our study of 1 Corinthians, we see the Apostle Paul as “Exhibit A” when it comes to the matter of seeking to excel, no matter where the Lord placed him. The faithful, dedicated Gospel-spreader was sent by God on four missionary journeys which served to fulfill Jesus’ proclamation that His salvation message would be taken to the “ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8). As we read his many epistles in the New Testament, we see how the places Paul went were all unique in their own right and this required Paul to use different approaches in order to share the good news with others. Across the board, we find the apostle having success because He placed his trust in the Lord who planted him in places so he could bloom while serving at the will of the Master Gardener (John 15:1).

Because of this, Paul could speak with authority when he wrote the following words to the church in Corinth:

Nevertheless, each person should live as a believer in whatever situation the Lord has assigned to them, just as God has called them. This is the rule I lay down in all the churches. 1 Corinthians 7:17

Note here that Paul’s rule was not just for the Corinthians but rather all churches and this means it applied to all Christians.

What was the rule?

They were to live as a believer, to live as a person in and of Christ, through whatever situation the Lord placed them in. The idea was that the Lord had called them into certain circumstances for His purposes and so the Christian believer needed to bloom where they were planted, allowing God’s will to be done. It was true in the Christian churches and their congregants in first century A.D. and it remains true today.

So the questions are, “How well are we doing this? How well are we embracing the life situations God is bringing us into and letting Him show us to not just survive but thrive?”

There’s another saying I have used for many years.

The Lord will never bring you to something He isn’t going to bring you through.

Remember this as you are placed in different circumstances by the Lord and trust Him. For if you do, He will give you the strength and guidance to bloom in the place where He has planted you, and it will all happen for His honor and glory.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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HANDLING MARITAL SPIRITUAL IMBALANCE

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In Christ, Mark

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** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

To the rest I say this (I, not the Lord): If any brother has a wife who is not a believer and she is willing to live with him, he must not divorce her. And if a woman has a husband who is not a believer and he is willing to live with her, she must not divorce him. For the unbelieving husband has been sanctified through his wife, and the unbelieving wife has been sanctified through her believing husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but as it is, they are holy.

But if the unbeliever leaves, let it be so. The brother or the sister is not bound in such circumstances; God has called us to live in peace. How do you know, wife, whether you will save your husband? Or, how do you know, husband, whether you will save your wife?

1 Corinthians 7:12-16

This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

As we have been studying the seventh chapter of 1 Corinthians, marriage has been at the forefront of Paul’s words to the church in Corinth. Earlier in the chapter, we found him talking about how a husband and wife should function within a marital relationship, focusing on the self sacrificing attitude needed between a husband and wife.

But what happens if things start to go wrong as they often do when two people attempt to live a life where they are supposed to be completely and uncompromisingly devoted to one another but have different spiritual beliefs?

In today’s passage, we find Paul offering some guidance. Look again at that here:

To the rest I say this (I, not the Lord): If any brother has a wife who is not a believer and she is willing to live with him, he must not divorce her. And if a woman has a husband who is not a believer and he is willing to live with her, she must not divorce him. For the unbelieving husband has been sanctified through his wife, and the unbelieving wife has been sanctified through her believing husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but as it is, they are holy.

But if the unbeliever leaves, let it be so. The brother or the sister is not bound in such circumstances; God has called us to live in peace. How do you know, wife, whether you will save your husband? Or, how do you know, husband, whether you will save your wife?  1 Corinthians 7:12-16

Here we find Paul addressing marriages where the husband and wife are not equally yoked, where one might be a Christian while the other is not. How should the Christian mate treat the other?

Well, the first thing we see that divorce is not the answer and this is definitely counter to what the world would say. The world would say that if you realize incompatibility in a marriage, just agree to split and go separate ways. But the ways of the Lord will almost always run counter to the world’s recommendations.

As we see in our scripture passage, a Christian husband who is married to an unbelieving wife isn’t to divorce her if she’s willing to live with him. Ditto for a Christian wife and her unbelieving husband.

Why?

Because there is always hope for conversion and change, that’s why.

An unbelieving wife becomes sanctified through her marriage to her Christ-believing husband. She is set apart from unbelieving wives who are married to unbelieving husbands. The same holds true the other way around as an unbelieving husband will be sanctified by being married to his Christian wife. The believing partner in the marital relationship brings holiness to their unbelieving companion.

Now this would be a blessing in its own right but Paul adds one more benefit to remaining married. The children of a marriage where either the husband or wife are Christian believers will be holy, this as opposed to a child born in a marriage where neither the husband nor wife believed in Jesus.

Let me stop and say something here that needs to be understood. God’s word here is not saying that a husband or wife should remain in a marriage that is abusive. The Lord would never require a person to remain in a place where there is intentional, sinful harm being inflicted on them. If you’re in that situation, the Lord can lead you out and to a place where you can be treated with love. Please don’t ever remain in an abusive environment, even if the abuser is trying to convince you that what they are doing is biblical. Woe to the person who does this and tries to propose God endorsing their sinful, evil behavior.

Finally, we find Paul address the scenario where an unbelieving husband or wife wants to leave the marriage. In these instances, the Christian husband or wife is not obligated. They are okay letting the unbelieving partner to walk away and can live in peace doing so. They shouldn’t feel like they are the ones responsible for saving their mate. God is the only One who can do the actual saving through His Son Jesus. He just uses people to help others come to Him for salvation.  

Are you a Christian and married to an unbeliever?

Paul’s words offer important direction so you know how to manage it. Allow the Lord's holiness to transfer from you to your husband and children, and pray that your partner might make the choice to be saved themselves.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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SHOULD YOU MARRY OR REMARRY?

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In Christ, Mark

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** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Now to the unmarried and the widows I say: It is good for them to stay unmarried, as I do. But if they cannot control themselves, they should marry, for it is better to marry than to burn with passion.

1 Corinthians 7:8-9

This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Should someone feel like they have to get married or remarried if they have become widowed?

The biblical answer is “It depends”.

Unfortunately, the worldly answer is expectedly different and this places pressure and stress on men and women.

This is because the world seems to always push people into marital relationships. It creates this false narrative that a person must have something wrong with them if they don’t marry, that they have flaws of one kind or another that make them unattractive to a person of the opposite sex when it comes to a lifelong relationship. And don’t let me even get started about the archaic practice of arranged marriages that still goes on in many parts of our world today.

As for widows, the world would always seek to drive a man or woman into a new relationship like it’s easy to start new again. I often think about how my life would change if my wife happened to pass away and I don’t believe I would want to get into another marriage if it was up to me. The Lord has blessed me so much in this marital relationship that I’m not sure I could ever have another one like it and so my inclination would be to remain a surviving spouse until the Lord comes for me, no matter what the world might say.

Given these worldly pressures regarding marriage and remarriage, I would wager that millions of people have been emotionally and psychologically damaged through the years but as we see in two simple verses from the seventh chapter of 1 Corinthians, Paul debunks the theory that everyone needs to get married. Look again at his words here:

Now to the unmarried and the widows I say: It is good for them to stay unmarried, as I do. But if they cannot control themselves, they should marry, for it is better to marry than to burn with passion.

Paul has a lot to say in this chapter about proper behavior within the context of a marriage and it requires a lot of self sacrifice between a man and a woman. Each has to put their personal desires aside to fully invest in the desires of their mate, yielding their bodies one to the other. Sexual relations are not permitted outside of the marriage as this intimacy is reserved for the husband and wife and them alone. Marriage is a locked in commitment, the scriptures make this very plain and simple.

Given this, men and women may not want to enter into such an arrangement. For any number of reasons, marriage may not seem like an attractive life option and Paul is saying that this is perfectly okay as he writes to the Christians in Corinth. He asserts that it is good to stay unmarried.

Why would he say this?

Because remaining single or widowed is better than jumping into marriage without an intention to sacrifice oneself fully to the partner. People who like living on their own and only having to contend with themselves should stay living like that as long as they can control their lust for sexual relations. Because of our physiological makeup, especially hormonally, celibacy seems like it is an impossibility. But if a person is fully in the Lord then He provides the strength and power to manage lust through self control, one of the fruits of the Spirit that Paul talks about in his letter to the Galatians (5:22-23). This counters the acts of the flesh which include all sorts of sexual sinfulness (5:19-21).

So it’s good for a man and woman to totally devote themselves, one unto the other, in marriage or remarriage.

It’s also perfectly fine for a man or a woman to choose to remain single or widowed.

Ultimately, this should always come down to the Lord’s will and what He wants because that’s what really counts, isn’t it?

In the prayer our Savior Jesus taught us, we make this proclamation:

“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name, Your kingdom come, Your will be done.”

Jesus teaches us to ask God for His will to be done and this should apply to all parts of our life. If you are contemplating marriage or remarriage, place it in God’s hands and ask for His will to be done in the matter. The outcome, whether marriage or remarriage, whether remaining single or widowed, will be perfect because He willed it to be so.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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ALL ARE GIFTED

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In Christ, Mark

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** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

I wish that all of you were as I am. But each of you has your own gift from God; one has this gift, another has that.

1 Corinthians 7:7

This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

You are gifted.

Everyone is so no one can say otherwise.

As we look at this single verse from Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, we find him sharing the truth about giftedness to the believers in Corinth.

I wish that all of you were as I am. But each of you has your own gift from God; one has this gift, another has that.

Paul’s point was simple.

Not everyone was going to be an apostle of his magnitude or even an apostle at all. Each Corinthian Christian had their own gift from God and one person would have gifts different from the other. We’ll see this expounded on later when we get to the twelfth chapter of this letter but for now the key point is that everyone is gifted. God has given everyone a gift.

So if everyone is gifted by God, then why does it seem the church is always struggling for people to help do things to support the mission?

Because not everyone has sought to discover the gifts God has given. Or maybe they have realized their gifts and have decided not to put them to use. Jesus addressed this latter problem in His Parable of the Talents as He wrote:

“For the kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far country, who called his own servants and delivered his goods to them.  And to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, to each according to his own ability; and immediately he went on a journey.

Then he who had received the five talents went and traded with them, and made another five talents.

And likewise he who had received two gained two more also.

But he who had received one went and dug in the ground, and hid his lord’s money.

After a long time the lord of those servants came and settled accounts with them.

“So he who had received five talents came and brought five other talents, saying, ‘Lord, you delivered to me five talents; look, I have gained five more talents besides them.’ His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’”

“He also who had received two talents came and said, ‘Lord, you delivered to me two talents; look, I have gained two more talents besides them.’ His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’”

“Then he who had received the one talent came and said, ‘Lord, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not scattered seed. And I was afraid, and went and hid your talent in the ground. Look, there you have what is yours.’”

“But his lord answered and said to him, ‘You wicked and lazy servant, you knew that I reap where I have not sown, and gather where I have not scattered seed. So you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming I would have received back my own with interest. So take the talent from him, and give it to him who has ten talents.’”

“‘For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away. And cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’” Matthew 25:14-30

I don’t know about you but I wouldn’t ever want to be the third servant in this parable, the one who had been given a gift but buried it, not giving his lord a return on his investment.

And so the question is this:

Are you willing to allow God to activate the gift He has blessed you with or show you the way to use the gift you have already recognized so that His purposes might be fulfilled?

Note here that I said so His purposes might be fulfilled. For while all of us have been given gifts by God, those gifts haven’t been granted so that we might glorify ourselves. Rather, God has given them so He might receive the honor through the way use those gifts to fulfill His will and way.

God wants much of His work to be done through His people and He has instilled gifts in everyone to make that happen. It’s up to us to seek awareness of the gifts we’ve been given and then commit ourselves to use those gifts to carry out God’s kingdom work here on earth.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
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