Deja Vu

 Memories of Cheezits! Earlier we had many pounds of bulk cheezits to bag - the orangey, cheesy, messy ones. This past week we again had many more pounds of them - but - they are the white cheddar, not so messy kind. Fred and the amazing man who supplies us with these wonderful items bagged over 500# of them, as well as 500# of the ever present sweetened cereal. We also received boxes of rice krispie treats ( the small, white chocolate ones), and cases of sour Twizzler packages. I am always amazed at the variety and quantity of items we receive. We even had a few crates of some kind of bean pod which the people seem to love. This coming week, Fred and a very helpful lady are going to bag 1000# of beans, as I volunteer at Children's Haven Thrift Store. I would stay and help, But Linda loves to help bag beans and I always seem to be in the way as those two seem to have a system of their own. We have a new sealing machine - it just seals the bag with a bit of red tape and works quite well. I used  it this last week as I bagged and sealed 240# of frozen, breaded chicken breasts. 

The weather was frightful this past couple of days. Friday it was 90 degrees, with a nice breeze. Saturday, it was cold, rainy, and 60 degrees. We spent the afternoon with the wife of one of our chaplains who passed away unexpectedly two months. She seems to be doing well, coping with all that needs to be done. The most difficult area was the legal part of it all - the state where they are from is a community state, while Texas is not. Therefore, all of their vehicles, as well as their new trailer home here in the Valley, had to have title changes, otherwise all their assets would have to be divided up between all of the living blood relatives. It was a long and trying process, but she seemed to have managed it well. Right now she is taking each day as it comes, until she knows for sure the path the Lord had laid out for her. We had a long and wonderful lunch and then relaxed in her new home and reminisced. She is a remarkable woman, with a trust in the Lord.

Bilhah, another one of the Bible's "bad girls" was a slave girl, the handmaiden of Rachel, Jacob's beloved wife, whom Laban gave to his daughter when she married Jacob. Because Rachel had no children for many years, she gave Bilhah to Jacob as a "secondary" wife in order that there would be children of Jacob. This was in accordance to the traditions of the time, totally allowed by law. Bilhah ranked above a mere concubine but did not have the station of a free born mistress. She bore Jacob two son, Dan and Naphtali. Rueben, Jacob's first son with Rachel's sister, was guilty of incest with Bilhah, and Israel heard of it. Therefore, Rueben was deprived of his birthright which was then given to the sons of Joseph. 

We just finished reading through the Book of Deuteronomy, which lists the laws the Jewish people must follow. It made my head swim just to try to understand all of them - no wonder the Jewish people had so much trouble following the laws - over 600 hundred of them, some of them so complicated that it would be difficult for anyone to understand and follow. 

Vance continued with the series on marriage today. I believe he has broken this down into a 3 part series, helping us all to  understand the intricacies of a relationship.  We live and act in freedom in Christ in every aspect of our lives. We are free to say we love God. "For freedom in Christ has set us free, stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to the yoke of slavery". Galatians 5:1. Religion is I obey and therefore I am accepted. Gospel is I am accepted therefore I obey. We are empowered by Christ because we have the freedom in Christ. Make a covenant in your marriage. Love and faithfulness is what you need to do. Use your freedom in your marriage to make a missional task to accomplish God's purpose. What can you do to serve God and support each other?  Be resilient in the face of adversity. Resilience means to bounce back - we can do that especially in the events of this  past year. We can get discouraged. We have a cultural pressure moving against our families. Men need to step up and fight for the family. Freedom is Christ is to be able to die a little to live for Him. Take up a cross for Him. There is power in dying to live. Die a little to live a lot. God will reward you. Using the power of your freedom in Christ is to resolve resentments quickly before they destroy your intimacy. Satan uses a Trojan horse to slowly destroy your marriage. Growing resentment forms a wedge in marriage. A drop of resentment is a poison that grows and ruins marriages. Unresolved bitterness can destroy a marriage. "Be angry and do not sin: do not let the sun go down on your anger and give no opportunity to the devil". Ephesians 4:26-27. Unresolved anger builds in a marriage and opens the door for the Devil to get a foothold. Wrong behavior will not bring right results. The Devil is an accuser. If you have gone to bed angry, you have consulted with the Devil. There are better ways to get a hold on resentment. We are free to take responsibility because of our freedom in Christ. Your spouse is not the enemy - Satan is. Satan is a snake that slithers into a marriage. "Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you." Ephesians 4:32.