Tag: Marriage

COME CLOSE TO GOD

Published on by sgf1964Leave a comment

By

Shelby G. Floyd

Close to God

Our God is great, but he wants a close relationship with all of his people. Sadly, many Christian people never realize the nearness of God in their daily walk with God. Many of God’s children feel that God is far away and not interested in their joys and sadness. However, this is not the case. God has demonstrated over and over again, that if we will seek him out he will be found to be close at hand.

Near the end of the New Testament revelation, the apostle James exhorted the Christians of the dispersion to, “Come close to God and He will come close to you” (James 4:8). Man left God, but God did not leave sinful man. Because of the great love, mercy and grace of God, he made the first and last move to reconcile man back to himself. This he did by sending his beloved Son from heaven to earth to redeem us from eternal separation. Now it is up to each one of us to make our move back to God and enjoy the close fellowship that was enjoyed in the Eden Paradise. Continue reading “COME CLOSE TO GOD” →

WAKE UP

Published on by sgf1964Leave a comment

By

Shelby G. Floyd

sleeper

Sleep” is used in several different ways as a metaphor to illustrate the Christian life and death. It sometimes refers to “the sleep” of death: “Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed—in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed” (1 Corinthians 15:51-52). Continue reading “WAKE UP” →

LIVE WITHOUT REGRET

Published on by sgf1964Leave a comment

By

Shelby G. Floyd

Drifting-Away

All of God’s people should live our life in such a way, that when we come to the end, we can look back without regret. This means that we must dedicated to the Lord, study his word and rely upon divine wisdom to make the right choices. Life goes by fast and how many times do we hear someone say, “If I had my life to live over again I would have done such and such.” John Greenleaf Whittier wrote,

For all sad words of tongue and pen,
The saddest are these,
‘It might have been’.

“It might have been” represents those who have neglected the great salvation offered by Christ.

In the book of Hebrews the people are warned not to neglect what is important:

Hebrews 2:1-3
Therefore we must give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard, lest we drift away. For if the word spoken through angels proved steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just reward, how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed to us by those who heard Him.
NKJV

If we will heed what is said and not neglect our duty, then we can look back without regret and not think about what “might have been.”

No doubt Esau was filled with remorse and regret after he realized he sold his birthright for a bowl of soup. Esau was a profane person and was filled with regret, “For you know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he carefully sought it with tears” (Hebrews 12:17). No doubt he looked back and wondered again and again, “what might have been.”

Every one of us has a sphere of influence for Christ and the church. We have opportunities to do good for those out of Christ and for those especially who are in the household of God (Galatians 6:10). Let each one of us zealously work to bring our friends and acquaintances into Christ.

Copyright © 2015 Shelby G. Floyd, All Rights Reserved

Shelby G. Floyd

Shelby G. Floyd
Heartland Church of Christ
1693 West Main Street
Greenwood, Indiana 46142

Choose Your Wife (Husband) for Life

Published on by sgf1964Leave a comment

By

Shelby G. Floyd

Choose

 

 

Today, most young people between the ages of 18 and 25 are thinking about getting married and having a family. It is very important for the happiness and success of a young man or young woman to make the right decision in choosing their partner for life. Perhaps it would be good to observe a few principles by which God’s people made that choice in the Old Testament.

Choosing a Worldly Marriage Partner

As you probably remember, the patriarch Isaac and his wife Rebecca, had twin boys—Jacob and Esau. The New Testament declares that Esau was a profane man who sold his birthright for one morsel of food (Hebrews 12:16-17). This simply means that his character was godless. We see this demonstrated in the choice that he made when he selected his wife.

It seems during this period of time that men and women were quite a bit older when they selected their marriage partners than today. The book of Genesis declares: “When Esau was forty years old, he took Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite to be his wife, and Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite, and they made life bitter for Isaac and Rebekah” (Genesis 26: 34-35). Esau demonstrated that he lacked spiritual values in his choice of Hittite women who had Canaanite and worldly values embedded in their culture. When young people select a wife or husband, they are marrying into their families as well as their own. Continue reading “Choose Your Wife (Husband) for Life” →

The Ezekiel Project–God’s Search For a Man

Published on by sgf1964Leave a comment

By

Shelby G. Floyd

Ezekiel Project

The United States Marines have a motto that says, “We are looking for a few good men.” The Marine Corps has a glorious history of good men who were courageous, brave, caring for their fellow Marines, and loyal patriots of America.

Lee Iacocca was a brilliant businessman who pulled the Chrysler Corporation out of almost certain bankruptcy. After he retired he published a book with the title, “Where Have All The Leaders Gone?” He was referring to business leaders who are failing to lead businesses and corporations in successful ways.

God is also looking for leaders and good men to serve him in the family, in the church, and in our great country. Too many fathers are abandoning their families, their jobs, and the church. They are not faithful to their family, their job and the church of Christ.

It is time for fathers to assume their God-given responsibility as the head of the home and religious leader of the family. There is an old English proverb that says, “One father is worth more than one hundred schoolmasters.” The American icon, Mark Twain declared, “My father was an amazing man. The older I got, the smarter he got.”

In the early days of our country, a well-known preacher by the name of Jonathan Edwards said,

Resolved: first; that every man should live at his highest and best for Christ always and everywhere, and second; whether any other man in the world so lives are not, I shall strive with God’s help so to live to the end of my day.

God Almighty is looking for a few good men to be leaders in the home and in the church. But it is increasingly becoming more difficult to find these kinds of men to be leaders in all of the different kinds of responsibilities incumbent on them. There seems to be a decline of male leadership in almost all of our institutions in America. This is not a good thing and we must turn it around in order for God to bless his people.

DECLINE

Today, our lesson is on The Ezekiel Project. There is in the book of Ezekiel a sentence that emphasizes the power of one person:

Ezekiel 22:30-31
So I sought for a man among them who would make a wall, and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found no one. Therefore I have poured out My indignation on them; I have consumed them with the fire of My wrath; and I have recompensed their deeds on their own heads,” says the Lord God.
NKJV

Each person has an individual and personal responsibility to fulfill before Almighty God. And our great leader Jesus Christ does not allow the individual to get lost in the crowd. He wants us to step up and be a man.

In the days of Ezekiel the world was much like our world is today. There was a decline in everything that was good during the sixth century before Christ.

o There was a decline of standards of right and wrong, truth and error.

o There was a decline of morals with everyone doing what was right in their own eyes.

o There was a decline of religion, with the people of God abandoning his word and worshiping and serving pagan idolatry.

The nation of Israel had fallen away from God and was in exile because of their sin and rebellion. Israel had desecrated the Sabbath day–the Jewish day of worship. They were guilty of every form of idolatry—worshiping false gods created by men. They had shed much blood by committing murder. They were guilty of every kind of immorality as described in Leviticus 18, and 20. They were even guilty of practicing child sacrifices that they had learned from their ungodly neighbors.

All of these evil and sinful things were being practiced from the princes to the people—from the head to the toe. Continue reading “The Ezekiel Project–God’s Search For a Man” →