At times I select a passage of Scripture and I read it repeatedly for a set amount of time. This week I chose the little letter to Titus. I will share what has overwhelmed me from Titus this week. (And, it was not the expected Titus Two Woman teaching that I might have thought it would be.)
Here are some key verses from Titus:
" [God] ... has in due time manifested His word through preaching, which was committed to me according to the commandment of God our Savior;" ~~Titus 1:3
"[the unbelieving] ... profess to know God but in works they deny Him." ~~1:16
AND....it goes on to say that they are disqualified for every good work.
So....this is the whole point; the words "good work" are often used in Titus. Let's look at how many times in chpt 2 and 3:
" ... our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, 14 who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for ***good works.*** ~~ Titus 2:14
"Remind them to be subject to rulers and authorities, to obey, to be ready for every ***good work,*** to speak evil of no one, to be peaceable, gentle, showing all humility to all men." ~~Titus 3:1-2
" ... I want you to affirm constantly, that those who have believed in God should be careful to maintain ***good works***..." ~~ Titus 3:8
" ... let our people also learn to maintain ***good works,*** to meet urgent needs, that they may not be unfruitful." ~~Titus 3:14
That is FOUR times in only TWO chapters. Amazing.
But let's not get confused and start to think that our good works will bring us salvation. There are many, many, many solid Biblical teachings that clear that up. But have you ever noticed that Paul even included that thought right there in Titus? It's clearly taught in Chapter 3:4-7
"But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, 5 ***not by works of righteousness which we have done,*** but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, 6 whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life."
This is what keeps popping out at me during my week's Bible reading.
Thank you,
Clevsea
: )
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Monday, October 25, 2010
TWO Questions about Covering
Basically one question is what do women do when their husbands don't get 100% on-board with the covering.
The second question was concern about not looking pretty for one's husband if one were to start covering.
Clevsea's Answers:
Some women will not cover without their husband's blessing. Not me. I would cover regardless.
Why?
Because the headship order as given in the covering passage (I Corinthians 11) clearly shows that my husband is outranked by Jesus. Anytime I personally am faced with choosing between the Lord God and my husband I will choose God. There are times when I place myself under my husband's decisions even though I feel that they are not the Lord's most highest calling for he and I. Covering is not one of those areas for me however and I would choose covering to obey the Lord and His clear teaching in I Cor 11. Sometimes husbands are not even Christians and they have not read the Bible. To me that makes them somewhat untrustworthy to decide some things for me that I can see I am clearly accountable to obey.
But like I said many women will not cover unless their husband is 100% for it. I respect that. They feel that covering would defeat the purpose under those circumstances.
But for me I do not think that submission to one's husband is the whole purpose. The angels are named as one other purpose in I Cor 11. Whether we are speaking of "good" angels or "fallen" angels we cannot know from Paul's letter. Either way it seems best to simply obey what we are taught and not overly concern ourselves with what we cannot know.
Many other ladies with disapproving husbands cover regardless and they either "go for it" and cover in the most religious looking way that they can or they are way more discreet and wear hats more and hanging veils & kapps and bonnets less.
MANY ladies do concern themselves with how they will look. That is not foolish. As the covering passage says we (females) are made for them, not they for us. Part of the marriage is often a physical attraction, not always, but many times. So perhaps certain wives make themselves "attractive" when they are alone with their husbands but they still dress modestly in public and cover.
Taking your husband's sensibilities into account is very smart. You may get to the point where you and he can sit done and look at the zillions of covering websites and view all the options out there. You may be able to discern his taste in coverings by taking the time to do this.
There are ladies that I have known who freaked their husbands out, so to speak, by their choices and they later learned how important their physical appearance is/was to their husbands. This is why I say it is not a foolish struggle. A wise wife gives thought to this.
If a lady is married to such a man then it is possible to only cover for prayer and not when going places with the husband. I know we'd like to pray all the time but this is one compromise that has worked for some marriages.
Keep praying and seeking the Lord Jesus Christ for your clothing and covering choices. He will guide you and then you will obey that guidance. Sometimes you and I will choose obedience to the Lord over obedience to the husband but that too will be rewarded in some way in the Lord's timing.
Let me add that many husbands change. This is the truth.
At first they are frightened. The "frumps" scare them. They like tight clothes or they think that they do. After some time passes many, many husbands wind up SEEING the truth and thanking their wives for covering up their bodies and heads. They will eventually see the worldly women's attire and start to "wake up" to how ungodly it is. Then the see their wives with new eyes and realise that she is saving her charms for privacy. And....they like it after all!!
Clevsea
The second question was concern about not looking pretty for one's husband if one were to start covering.
Clevsea's Answers:
Some women will not cover without their husband's blessing. Not me. I would cover regardless.
Why?
Because the headship order as given in the covering passage (I Corinthians 11) clearly shows that my husband is outranked by Jesus. Anytime I personally am faced with choosing between the Lord God and my husband I will choose God. There are times when I place myself under my husband's decisions even though I feel that they are not the Lord's most highest calling for he and I. Covering is not one of those areas for me however and I would choose covering to obey the Lord and His clear teaching in I Cor 11. Sometimes husbands are not even Christians and they have not read the Bible. To me that makes them somewhat untrustworthy to decide some things for me that I can see I am clearly accountable to obey.
But like I said many women will not cover unless their husband is 100% for it. I respect that. They feel that covering would defeat the purpose under those circumstances.
But for me I do not think that submission to one's husband is the whole purpose. The angels are named as one other purpose in I Cor 11. Whether we are speaking of "good" angels or "fallen" angels we cannot know from Paul's letter. Either way it seems best to simply obey what we are taught and not overly concern ourselves with what we cannot know.
Many other ladies with disapproving husbands cover regardless and they either "go for it" and cover in the most religious looking way that they can or they are way more discreet and wear hats more and hanging veils & kapps and bonnets less.
MANY ladies do concern themselves with how they will look. That is not foolish. As the covering passage says we (females) are made for them, not they for us. Part of the marriage is often a physical attraction, not always, but many times. So perhaps certain wives make themselves "attractive" when they are alone with their husbands but they still dress modestly in public and cover.
Taking your husband's sensibilities into account is very smart. You may get to the point where you and he can sit done and look at the zillions of covering websites and view all the options out there. You may be able to discern his taste in coverings by taking the time to do this.
There are ladies that I have known who freaked their husbands out, so to speak, by their choices and they later learned how important their physical appearance is/was to their husbands. This is why I say it is not a foolish struggle. A wise wife gives thought to this.
If a lady is married to such a man then it is possible to only cover for prayer and not when going places with the husband. I know we'd like to pray all the time but this is one compromise that has worked for some marriages.
Keep praying and seeking the Lord Jesus Christ for your clothing and covering choices. He will guide you and then you will obey that guidance. Sometimes you and I will choose obedience to the Lord over obedience to the husband but that too will be rewarded in some way in the Lord's timing.
Let me add that many husbands change. This is the truth.
At first they are frightened. The "frumps" scare them. They like tight clothes or they think that they do. After some time passes many, many husbands wind up SEEING the truth and thanking their wives for covering up their bodies and heads. They will eventually see the worldly women's attire and start to "wake up" to how ungodly it is. Then the see their wives with new eyes and realise that she is saving her charms for privacy. And....they like it after all!!
Clevsea
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