Set Apart, One to Another

One of my all-time favorite Christian choruses has to be "Refiner's Fire" by Brian Doerksen. I absolutely love the lyrics and I must say that this line always tears me up:

My heart's one desire
Is to be holy
Set apart for You, Lord
I choose to be holy
Set apart for You, my Master

Before that song came out in 1990, I hadn't really thought about what the word "holy" meant. To be honest with you, I kinda thought it meant being religious. I'm embarrassed to admit that now, but that was about the sum of my knowledge. I was a church goer, a Bible reader, I had Christian friends, and I taught Sunday school. That was my definition of "holy."

I later came to realize that being holy meant that we are dedicated to the Lord and set apart from all things impure:

But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do;  for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.” ~ 1 Peter 1:15&16.

The word "holy" in the greek translation is hagios coming from the word hagnos, which is defined in Strong's Concordance (G53) as:

1. exciting reverence, venerable, sacred
2. pure
   a) pure from carnality, chaste, modest
   b) pure from every fault, immaculate
   c) clean

In the same way, it's a beautiful thing when a husband and wife live in holy matrimony. When a man and a woman are dedicated to each other and set apart from anything that could destroy or damage their union.

This requires sacrifice on our part. Sacrifice might be anything from giving up something that distracts us from your relationship to career choices that we make. I hope and pray that we are living this way to please God, but let us also give attention to pleasing our husbands.

Saying "I do," and being united in holy matrimony is more than a ceremony. It's a life-long commitment of giving. And in the same way that being holy was more than attending church and reading my Bible, marriage is more than just living in the same house and putting up with each other. It's a continual giving of ourselves in dedication one to another.

A prime example of this is Kirk Cameron who refused to compromise both his faith and his marriage for the sake of career. His wife Chelsea stepped in for the scene at the end of "Fireproof" when Caleb kisses Catherine, and in my opinion it made the movie so much better for me as a viewer. After all, isn't that what the movie was about?

Catherine was distracted with a relationship at work, Caleb was distracted by women on the internet and neither of them were dedicated to making their relationship work. That is until Caleb took action that changed the course of their marriage.

Yeah, you've probably seen this scene before, but it's definitely worth a repeat!






You are loved by an almighty God,

Darlene

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How Two Become "One" Through Marriage - And a Titus 2sday Link Up!

When reading John chapter seventeen, one can't help but notice the fervent prayer of "unity" that Jesus prayed in the last hours of His death. In particular, these verses have always stood out to me:

Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me. ~ John 17:20-23, KJV

In reading that we gain an understanding of how important unity is for believers. And the reason it's important is because we bring glory to God when we reflect a unified church. We are a living testimony to the life of Christ and that testimony is strengthened when the body of Christ is whole.

Let's look at the flip-side for a moment and consider a scenario. Say I have a problem with a woman at church and I write about my frustrations openly on my blog. And let's say that this woman talks about it at play group. By doing that, what we are showing the world is a fractured church where members are at war with one another rather than a body that is functioning well. God is not a God of confusion, and neither should we be.

This is how we are instructed to handle disagreements:

If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over. ~ Matthew 18:15, NIV

Further instruction is given in Matthew 18 for those who can't resolve their problems alone. But I won't get into that today because I'm simply making the point that unity should be achieved behind closed doors.

With that thought in mind consider how this message is a benefit to the family unit. When children see two parents raising them with one heart and mind they see order instead of confusion.

When parents are headed in two different directions, we develop a fracture in the family unit that can be detrimental to our children.

One example is when parents argue in front of the kids. Not only is this dis-heartening to children, it also models a lack of love and respect to our spouse. If we want our children to seek out good relationships when they are older then we must show them what that relationship looks like today. We can start by discussing disagreements behind closed doors. How do we do that? We make an effort to exercise self control.

A second example is dissing our spouse when he's not around, or showing a lack of respect for him when he is absent. I want my sons to find wives that respect them, and therefore I need to show them what that picture looks like today. In the same way I want my daughter to respect her future husband. (and vice versa for both). I must teach them these lessons today, as they're growing before me. That window of opportunity is only open so long.

If you missed my radio interview with Naomi Striemer the other day, you can listen to the podcast here.

Naomi asks me, "What do you have coming up next?" Listen to find out...

You are loved by an almighty God,

Darlene

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Today and every Tuesday, I want to invite bloggers to link-up any blog posts that will encourage women to joyfully live out their roles as wives and keepers of their homes I'm looking for posts on marriage, parenting, housekeeping, or recipes.

1. Enter the direct link from your post into the linky tool below!

2. Please link back here with the {TITUS 2}SDAYS code (below) so that other bloggers can join in too!

3. Enjoy each other's fellowship, and have fun!

FAQ:
Can I use an old post, or do I need to use a current one?You can absolutely use an older post if you feel that the post is a great fit for this meme. Have fun!

<a href="http://www.time-warp-wife.blogspot.com"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyFVkPRxDXs7GaNNaxIYnodArf7CO5U9_6R11ECTIyBoo9k-X8eX06D_quh-uSInbTrPDUhzbPCKwD6OhK9qPTckQ8hUS9bTWC__AlxPJC27dOsVN0nXvjhAIJL5hbU0eqq2K42H-3TbA/s1600/Titus_2sdays_button.png" /></a>

Thoughts on Home Church

Dear Darlene,

I have been enjoying your blog.

I read your post about communion tonight and have a question. Do you home church? Is this in addition to the communion service at church?

Thanks,

Theresa
Being Refined as Silver


Dear Theresa,

Perceptive question. We home churched for several years about a decade ago. I absolutely loved home church since I'm a firm believer that God doesn't dwell in temples.


For where two or three come together
in my name, there am I with them.
~ Matthew 18:20, NIV


When I say "home church" I'm not talking about a cell group or home Bible study like most Christians are accustomed to. It was a weekly church meeting of about 35 people in our house. We also had prayer meetings, extra Bible studies, potluck dinners and outings for the kids. Most of us were homeschooling at the time as well.

Uniting the church has been a topic heavy on my heart for years, which is where, "Christian Women Online: Uniting Women of Faith" stemmed from. It was Christ's dying wish in the Garden of Gethsemane when He prayed that the church would be united and that through His death we would be united to God. I'm sad over the fact that in many cases, church walls divide the body of Christ. We are so fragmented by denominations, and further divided because we let our understanding of scripture stand in the way of love.

Where home church started out to be one thing for me, in many ways it became something else. We returned to organized church about nine years ago, because I wanted my children to be connected to a larger body of believers. It was also because I came to the personal realization that it's my responsibility to love the body of Christ and look past the areas where we differ in understanding. Tolerate sin? No. Study (and live) to show myself approved unto God? Absolutely.

All this to say, that, yes, we used to home church. Now we take communion at the little chapel we attend down the street, but we still enjoy celebrating the Lord’s supper with family and friends from other congregations. I know you didn't ask for a full essay on the subject, but some days I start to write and my keyboard decides to say more than it’s asked!


My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those
who will believe in me through their message, that all
of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I
am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may
believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory
that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one—
I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to
complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me
and have loved them even as you have loved me.
~ John 17:20-23


You are loved by an almighty God,

Darlene

For comments or questions, contact me at:
darlene[at]darleneschacht.net

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