Crouching At Your Door

Genesis 4:7 “But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.” Tonight Elaine and I will be leading our first session of Love After Marriage. (We’ve been in a supporting role in prior weeks). There’s been a lot of spiritual attack over the last week, and going through this week’s video has been really helpful for us. In it, Pastor Barry Byrne talks about the concept of taking every thought captive. We have to take responsibility for when we act out in sin (and when we repent God forgives us). However, oftentimes sin comes after us and we have a moment to fight it before we actually succumb to it and act it out. In Genesis 4, Cain got upset that his brother’s offering was well-received while Cain’s was not. It could be said that this anger in and of itself was a sin, but God came and told Cain that “sin is crouching at your door.” Similarly, when Elaine or I get upset at each other, we can feel guilt or shame because we “have sinned”, which typically makes us more defensive and more upset at each other. That’s exactly what the enemy wants, and that’s exactly what he got with Cain, who directed his anger at his brother Abel and murdered him. But last night we identified sin crouching at the door, we nailed it to the cross, and experienced victory and redemption in the process. The next time you start to feel upset, maybe you can try to nail that to the cross too. God already won the victory for us, and all we need to do is come in line with that truth. Lord, thank you for everything. The battle is won. The war is won. Because of what you’ve already done for us. I love you. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Back To The Garden

1 Corinthians 11:24 “and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said “This is my body, which is for you…” On Thursday we took the boys on a staycation to celebrate our youngest son Nate’s birthday. It’s always nice to get away, but I find it harder to keep my habits up. I didn’t work out, didn’t sleep well, and most importantly I didn’t carve out my time with God. It’s only natural in this backdrop that I was a lot less patient with Elaine, and got offended by several things she said. It wasn’t her fault by any means (any married man will tell you it never is!) But my state of mind led to a few explosions over the past few days. This morning I found myself worshiping to a beautiful song called Communion (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=91hHw1YPqxE) and meditating on 1 Corinthians 11:24 (the verse used for communion service). God reminded me that He’s always with me, that He’s closer to me than my skin, and He’s in the air I’m breathing in. That his body was broken for me, so I can experience Him any time I want to. Lord, thank you for the gift of your son. Thank you for pursuing me constantly, even when I fail at my end of the bargain. I commit this day to you, and I can’t wait to see what you have in store for our journey together. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Take me back to the garden Lead me be back to moment I heard Your voice Bring me back to communion Lead me back to the moment I saw Your face

And it was all so simple It was easy to love No space between us It was easy to trust

You are closer, closer than my skin You are in the air I'm breathing in Here's where the dead things Come back to living I feel my heart beating again Feels so good to know You are my friend

This is the garden Here in the place I find you close This is communion Here in the place I'm fully known

The Listening Exercise

James 1:19 Let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger. Last night we facilitated our second week of Love After Marriage. We practiced something called “The Listening Exercise” where one spouse says a few sentences about an issue they’re going through, and the other spouse tries their best to make their partner feel understood and “listened to.” It’s quite funny to watch couples (usually it’s the husband) hold back from trying to fix a problem. This video pretty much sums it up. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-4EDhdAHrOg If two become one flesh, and if we are to act as one body of believers, then the first step in loving each other is understanding each other. And how can one understand if he does not listen? Lord, thanks for giving us the listening exercise. It has helped our marriage so much, and yet there’s so much more room to grow. I pray that you will help me to be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger. In your son’s name, Amen.