Sharing is Caring

The wise woman who builds a house         [Proverbs 14:1-9]                   How should you and I build our own families?   Personally, when I think about Matthew 16:18, the promise that the Lord gave to our Victory Presbyterian Church, I pray while holding on to the words that the Lord will build the Lord’s church.   I have three prayer topics.   I pray that the Lord will raise up the Christ-centered leaders with dreams among us.   In the midst of that, I also pray that the Lord will build each of our families.   And I pray that the Lord will build Victory Presbyterian Church, the body of the Lord, and establish the kingdom of God.   That is why, whenever I pray with you, I often pray for individuals, families, and churches together.   Among these three prayer topics today, I cannot help but think about the second prayer topic, how we should pray...

Is space essential?     In a marriage relationship, couples need to give each other space so that the Lord can work in their hearts and lives (something I thought was important in my conversation with my wife tonight).   "We should respect all people.   We may not respect them for who they are now, but we should respect them for their potential to change through the blood of the Lamb and the renewing power of the Holy Spirit" (A. W. Tozer).   People cannot see the "potential to change" unless they themselves are changing.   The reason we want the other person to change and think, "Why doesn't that person change?" is because we ourselves are not changing.   A couple must be able to see the "potential for change" in each other with faith. In order to do so, I must first continue to change in my relationship with the Lord.   In the midst of this, I must see my beloved spouse from the perspective of faith that trusts in the Lord...

Space in a marital relationship         I think that in a marital relationship, we need to give each other a certain amount of 'space'. I think that space is the space where the Lord works in the lives of each husband and wife, the space where the couple trusts each other because they trust the Lord, the space where each husband and wife change, and the space where each can develop their gifts, talents, and potential.

Slowly, in step with my wife ...         This morning, as I was meditating on Genesis 33, I was brought to focus on verse 14: "You go on ahead, my brother; I will go slowly, keeping pace with the livestock and the children, until I meet you at Seir."   While meditating on this verse, I wrote this short meditation: "Parents should keep pace with their children, so that they may go slowly before them (see Genesis 33:14, NIV).   Then, another thought came to me when I ran a marathon with my wife.   The reason is that I could have run faster than her, but I ran slowly, 'keeping pace' with her.   My wife also knows this fact.   So, when we used to run together, she would sometimes say to me, "You could have run faster than me and gotten ahead, but you had a hard time running with me."   This memory came to mind as I was meditating on Genesis 33:14 in Korean Modern Bible.   One of my most memorable memories was when I ran my...