Another great topic Lori. Another topic that for those that want to surrender to Christ have to apply Rom 12:2: “Be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that …will of God.” This is a mind transformation. We have to stop talking about our experience and our opinion. We have to talk about what the Bible says. We have to ‘transform’ from our carnal way of thinking to His spiritual way of thinking by stepping out in faith, by acting on His Word, by being doers of His word, and then letting God give us understanding.

I repented recently for siding with and empowering the ‘other side’ …that which is not of Him. I repented for empowering women, for suppressing men. I repented for voting for women to be in authority over men. And in this last election I voted for no women, even when they were ‘right’ on the issues. Scripture is clear that God does not want women leading men. Prov 31:3 states it in a nutshell [the Prov 31 that no one speaks of]: “Give not thy strength unto women, nor thy ways to that which destroyeth kings.” I paraphrase that as ‘God would rather have a bad man lead than a good woman lead.’

Further, women should not vote [it is no different than a woman in office]. Voting is the power to place laws and requirements over men; to tell them what to do. That is clearly a-biblical. God chastened Adam [Gen 3:17] for “hearkening to the voice of the woman” …for surrendering to her instruction, her ‘authority.’ Men, by surrendering to women in leadership are inviting the chastisement of God. And that is what is on His church this very day.

Hi Kiwi:
Great heartfelt questions. An initial perspective to any discussion of God: we need to learn the language of God --which is obedience, and drop the language of the world -- which is asking ‘why?’ Using words of scripture: from our carnal perspective we demand to understand before we obey; from our spiritual perspective [as a mature Christian] we obey first and let God reveal the ‘why’ in his time. At the root of our carnal responses is our demand to be in charge, to be God for ourselves. That is all children are doing when they say “why” to a parental instruction; they want to be in charge of their lives.

INFERIOR: I don’t for a moment believe women are inferior in the sense that they are as much a part of God’s plan as men, as a being of God’s, with His kingdom offered to them. However, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, male or female” in the kingdom is after the resurrection, not here on earth. There are still positions and distinctions until Christ returns. A sergeant is always inferior to a General. So we should not be afraid to say that a wife is always inferior to her husband. That is the language of God. Women are incredibly impressive and life giving, but not in being equal to or greater than men. That is when they become incredibly depressive and deadly. In the carnal mind we compare how smart a woman is or how strong or experienced, etc. In the spiritual mind that would not occur to us: God does not want women leading men NOR getting his glory [1Cor11:7]. BTW, simple test: if you as wife or woman is getting the glory at the expense of your husband or a man, then God is being blasphemed.

THINK FOR SELF: that phrase smacks of not submitting. If a wife reserves the right to ‘think for herself’ that suggests she does not need to ‘obey in everything’ and that she reserves the right for the last word, justifying it because her husband is corrupt or ignorant, thereby demanding she is ultimately in charge. God does not want us to think for ourselves; He wants us to obey His word. ‘Renewing our mind’ simply means to stop lying to ourselves, stop deceiving self, and come back to obedience to the Word.

EDUCATION: and knowledge is power. That is what Eve grabbed for on the tree …to become like God …powerful. God wants us obedient before He wants us knowledgeable. We can use the knowledge properly when we are strictly obedient; improperly when not. You say you are more educated than your husband. That is not the issue. God does not want women leading men. He wants us poor and obedient rather than rich and blasphemous. There is literal Hell to pay. My sister kicked her husband out of the home because of adultery. She had to ‘protect’ her kids from their father. She homeschooled 5 of them to the biggest named [the biggest] universities in the world and everyone said ‘Wow, she is so great!’ Yet, her kinds reeled then and they are reeling more now at ages 25-35, from the alienation of their father [not to mention that I think she drove him to the adultery]. Education literally was her god from a little girl. But God ‘will turn the hearts of fathers to children…’ Malachi 4:6 !!

OBEY IN EVERYTHING: Lori has covered that well over the years and Eph 5:24 is so clear. Let me be to the point: anyone who does not see that verse does not want to see that verse; it is the condition of their heart. And God looks on the heart. As far as the reason behind it, I made a comment below about 1Peter Chapter 2+3 [and Lori has covered well –search all her blog; she is very good!]

Kiwi: I understand your POV. We are at war with powers and principalities that cloud the Word. We fight that by, as James 4:7 says, resisting. And we resist the Devil by aligning with God. And we align with God by strict obedience to His Word, the very being that is Jesus Christ. That is when we truly know Him. Bless you in your walk with Him.

Beautiful message. Through all the physical pain and mental anguish, God allows this so that He is glorified. We don't fully understand this of God but must thankfully accept it. As you note Paul, think also of David, the most beloved of God, yet an adulterer and muderer. Can we understand this? Well, not without ever increasing fear and respect for Him, no matter the situation.

When God does not make sense, you are in control. Switch to Plan B: "Not my will but Thine be done."

Guest: Effectively you ask ‘Are wives to override husbands because of husband’s sin or stupidity?’ 1 Pet 3:1 starts: “Likewise, ye wives…….” SO, WHAT IS THAT ‘LIKEWISE’ REFERRING TO? Peter tells wives [and all] to refer to prior verses and likens the wives relationship to their husbands as like slaves to masters and citizens to government.

1 Pet 2:13“..submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake” Why? To respect God’s authority structure. V18 “…be subject to your masters with all fear, not only to the good and gentle but to the froward [harsh in NKJV; Greek ‘skolios’ 4646 = warped, perverse, winding, crooked]” Why? V15“For this is the will of God…to silence the ignorance of foolish men.” V19-21“For this is thankworthy, if a man for conscience toward God endure grief, suffering wrongfully…fore even hereunto were ye called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow His steps.” Then 1 Pet 3:5-6“For in this manner in the old time, the holy women also, who trusted in God, adorned themselves, being in subjection unto their own husbands, even as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord, whose daughters ye are, as long as ye do well, and are not afraid with any ‘amazement’ [alarm, cause to fall, fly away - 4423/4422’ptoesis’].” Now since this is such a controversial topic and seemingly litigious to counselors, Guest, draw your own conclusions from God’s Word, simply repeated here. And let God be threatened with a lawsuit.

Michelle, 1 Tim 2:14 is clear on what happened in the garden: "Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression." KEY POINT: We transgress the law when we are deceived; not by others tempting us [we are tempted all the time] but by deceiving ourselves and acting on the temptation. Adam was not deceived because Paul said “Adam was not deceived.” That’s obvious but not spoken of in the church, so maybe this is not so obvious. Being deceived or lying to self leads to transgression and sin as this verse clearly says, and Eve obviously knew the fruit she was eating and chose to partake, meaning transgression requires we act against what we know to be true. We choose it. Eve transgressed. Adam did not. Deception to self precedes transgression as we are choosing death.

Further, I suggest that scripture is sufficiently clear that Adam was not with Eve when she was with the serpent and took the fruit from the tree. Gen 3:6b“She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate.” There is no evidence that Adam was there during the discussion with the serpent - no recorded anything about Adam until Eve gave the fruit to him. If he was physically nearby when Eve and the serpent were talking why wouldn’t the author say so in some form? The author did that for Eve, going to the trouble of outlining her mindset and motivation to eat the fruit. But why not that of Adam ...unless he was not there? Many a teacher hangs their hat of Adam’s supposed transgression on the phrase "with her." ‘With her’ could simply mean with her in the Garden -- was the Garden 100 sq feet or 100 sq miles? I’ve been ‘with’ someone many times but not with them, not in the same conversation or space. And it is too easy to presume that Adam would have recognized the fruit, and certainly not seen it peeled or cut [if applicable]; and the flesh could have been very similar to other fruits or not seen it at all before he ate. As in Gen3:17, he may have been distracted by the woman – wanting to please her by doing her desire -- and did not know what he was eating. I’ve been at a mall ‘with’ my wife but I have not been with her. More than once she has walk up to me, after being at the other end of the mall, and shoved something she bought into my mouth and said ‘here, taste this’ – without me seeing it, wanting to surprise me. I envision it could have been EXACTLY like that with Adam. And Paul supports this position, making it clear in 1Tim2:14 that Adam was not deceived, did not transgress.

1 Pet3:7 “Dwell with [wives] according to knowledge, giving honour unto the wife as unto the weaker vessel…” This “weaker” is not physical strength, as most pastors teach, because it talks about husbands ‘dwelling’ with them with ‘knowledge.’ This verse does not warn men that if you shake a woman’s hand be mindful not to crush it. The ‘weaker’ that Paul talks of in this verse is in being true to self, of self deception. The Greek = Strongs 772 ‘asthenes’ = ‘feeble, strengthless, weak, sick; 769-771 = disease, infirmity, a scruple of conscience; against knowledge & power, from root word “sthenoo’ 4599 is to confirm in knowledge and power. And this is why scriptural instruction to wives is so black and white –“submit in everything” “without a word,” etc’-- without room for discussion, negotiation, or collaboration. [FYI: The Greek word for knowledge used here is different from the ‘knowledge’ of spiritual discernment [1922 ‘epignosis’ = discernment, recognition, acknowledge – as in accepting the truth of God]; Strong’s 1108 defines “gnostis,” the knowledge in 1Pet3:7 as ‘science’ or fact finding, to learn what makes women ‘tick’ so-to-speak, so men can better lead, better love, better interact with, and [yes] better ‘lord’ over their wives. BTW, the opposite is agnostic = w/o knowledge. This all ties in with 1 Tim 2:14 that Eve did deceive herself; Adam did not.

Penny,

Partnership in Marriage? Answer: No, simply because God does not want it that way. God designed man to lead and woman to follow. We blasphemy God when we try to implement our way of thinking over His. It has zero to do with how bad or foolish a man may be or how good or smart a woman may be. God has said it and if we love Him we then keep His commandments. And we have Hell to pay [figuratively and literally] when we don't keep His commandments.

Eph 5:21 ['partnership' --submitting to each other] only applies to the brethren, not to marriage.

Also, very, very heartwarming testimonies of ALM and HH: very credible insight into how it works. If we start with 'because God wants it that way' rather than defaulting to feelings or conventional wisdom of the world, we act on faith and not on sight. And God rewards that richly.

And Paul reminds us that the marriage of wife to husband --how it is lived -- models the church's marriage to Christ -- how it is lived. Submission is the continental divide between life and death. "Choose life" is choosing submission to Christ and He as the Word.

Unfortunately that Facebook comment reveals she is hanging onto death (and obsurd logic, as you point out).

Keep the faith, even when the persecution starts.

Beautiful and important thoughts. Thanks for sharing.

While feeling emotional pain with the process and the death of a loved one it is important for believers to mature into embracing that death is a part of life, not separate from it.

Phil 1:21 “To die is gain” ….That is not only dying to self while alive but physically dying. Our loved one GETS to go ahead and meet Jesus and is free from the troubles of the world. And we release them to the Lord.

Nothing may say it better than Ps 116:15, calling His saints home: “Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of His saints.”

May God richly fill your remaining times together.

The stories of Guest, Adrienne, and Alisha are incredibly heartwarming. Praise to God that He is working in so many marriages !!! It is only the beginning.