Are You Like Coming Home To a Celebration?

Some people wanted the written form of my devotion that I did at Alisha's ( Mike Miller's fiance) bridal shower. So here it is......

Psalm 128:3- Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine within your house. (Read the whole text)) In Psalm 128 the wife is compared to a vine, she is like a vine. This is in reference to grapes that are grown to make wine and use it for celebration and refreshment. This passage is saying that the wife in the house of a man who fears the Lord will be a refreshment to him. Yes, this is in reference to the physical relationship that sacredly and enthusiastically exists between a husband and wife that results in children, but not that alone. She refreshes him body, soul and mind. This woman is like coming home to a celebration; she causes him to forget the toils and troubles of the day. She is the wise woman who builds her house rather than tears it down with her own hand like a fool. Proverbs 14:1 (Read)

So, how does a women build her house so as to be a fruitful vine to her husband? Well, we know this woman is wise; therefore she fears the Lord. Proverbs 1:7 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom...

This women trembles at the One who can cast the body and the soul into hell. This womans fear moves her to take refuge in Jesus Christ Himself and draws her near to Him, not away from Him. This woman knows God is to be taken seriously and all that she is, does and attains to, begins, continues and ends with God. She delights in His law and sees His word as Sweeter than honey and more precious than money. Her awe filled delight in the Lord causes her to act- to obey. The woman who fears the Lord sees the verse that says: And the wife must see to it that she respects her husband..... (Eph 6:33) and she takes it seriously. She gets busy seeing to it!

This wise woman cultivates a heart of respect toward the man she is married to. This verse is an imperative, a command, it is telling us that we must continually choose to respect our husbands. Meaning we are called to: Notice him, regard him, honor him, prefer him, praise him, esteem him, love him and admire him exceedingly!

We must respect his position as our head. 1 Cor. 11:3

Our respect will be obvious.

A. Our speech will reflect our respect. The tone of voice, even the words we use. We can easily evaluate how our words are reflecting our heart of respect. Do you interrupt him? Talk in a condescending way to him? Contradict him in front of others? If you do any of these things, you do not respect him.

B. Do not compare him unfavorably to other men or to yourself. Be content with your own husband no matter what. Phil. 4:11

C.Listen carefully to him, and seek his counsel.

A contentious and argumentative woman can by no means be like coming home to a celebration! Proverbs 21:9,Proverbs 19:13

D. Submit! IF you respect him you will obey him as unto the Lord. If you have a hight view of God you will put yourself willingly and joyfully under the God given authority of your husband. Entrust yourself to God and do not be frightened about doing so. God is good and His commands are not burdensome to those who love Him. We know it is for our good and His glory.

So in faith, respect and obey.

We must also cultivate a love for our husbands.

In Titus 2 the older women are to teach the younger women to love their husbands so that the word of God will not be dishonored. The phrase love their husbands is the greek word, Philandros. Philandros means literally "love of man." It is two words, phileo and andros. Phileo means tender affection and andros means man or husband, in this context it is obviously, husband. Your husband must be dear to you. He is your beloved and cherished friend. This means you think about him often and tender feelings come to you. Your heart leaps for joy at the sound of his voice and you long to be in his presence. It is primarily an emotional bond.

If we as younger women must be taught or trained to love our husbands this way, it means we need to have open ears and willing minds to learn and practice and cultivate this love continually.

We can cultivate this love by consistently putting him first. Put him before your girlfriends, ministry, children, job... whatever. Prefer him and come alongside his goals, hopes and dreams and add to them by being helpful, creative and enthusiastic about his plans and ideas. Truly loving your husband is going to mean humbling yourself and thinking of him as better than yourself and putting on the heart of a servant.

Do nice things for him. It can be simple so as to keep it consistent. Make food he enjoys for dinner. Ask him what he wants to eat. Write little notes to show your appreciation to him. Make it a habit to say "I love you." Look for things to thank him for and then thank him. Keep a running list of things you like about him so that when times are tough and you start having unkind thoughts about him, you can fight it by looking at your list and remembering his good qualities.

In order to keep growing in our love we must guard against bitterness. Bitterness will destroy you and your marriage. The Bible says: See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble... Heb. 12:15-17

We must be women who forgive. Love covers a multitude of sins. We must not keep a record of wrongs. Do not keep playing sins that your husband commits over and over again in your head. Put on a heart of forgiveness. God takes forgiveness very seriously. ( talk briefly about slave that was forgiven and then would not forgive) Matthew 18: 35 My heavenly father will also do the same to you, if each of you does not forgive his brother from the heart. This is serious stuff! We have been forgiven much through the death of our sinless Lord and savior Jesus Christ. Eph. 4:31-32 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving each other just as God in Christ has forgiven you. Jesus absorbed the wrath that God rightfully should direct toward us for falling short of His glory by not worshiping Him and thinking about Him as we ought. We are sinners who neglect to love God and obey Him. And because of that we earn something: Death. But those who believe and put their trust in Jesus shall be saved because HE took our death, He died in our place. Now we are forgiven! Our Sins are not counted against us. They are cast away from us as far as the east is from the west! Now we say with the Psalmist, Blessed is the man whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered! How blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity! If God sent His own son to be crushed for our sins and His beloved and only son willingly paid for them and now we are given a clean slate, completely forgiven, not condemned with nothing held against us; rather we are considered righteous because of Jesus our righteous, perfect, pure sacrifice or payment. If we are given His right standing before God as if we are the righteous ones, how can we hold another's sin against us,against them. If we consider the good news of the forgiveness we have received, we will be more eager to forgive others. We must forgive our husbands, we must not hold their sins against them or we will tear down our home with our own two hands and be fruitless vines.

If we want to be wise woman who are a true refreshment to our husbands let us walk in the fear of the Lord, respect and obey our husbands, love them and forgive them.