Sex and how we should view it: It is not about fulfilling our desires it is about honoring Him.

Love – misused and over used

Without the right picture of love we are useless as lovers.

We submit to one another out of reverence for Christ

Jesus is your example fir this submission

True submission is not 50/50 relationship. It is a 100/100 relationship. Both submitting everything.

100/ 0 is a better representation of how Jesus lived. Giving all without expecting return

Men should be modeling the way in this. Going all the way when it is not returned, appreciated or desired.

There is one type of healing listed in these verses that we cannot do.  Forgiveness of sin.  Jesus is the only one who can forgive sin and offer complete healing. What we can do is forgive others for any act they have done against us.  This shows others that we are His children. Even though we cannot ultimately forgive their sins, we can show them a little piece of forgiveness in hopes that they will take their sins to God and ask forgiveness and repent of the sin.

I am so glad Jesus can forgive sin. Do you have any sins you need to repent of?

We need God in our sexual relationship.

When you ask a person how they are doing spiritually often they answer based on how they are sexually.

You can’t seek sexual immortality and Gods righteousness at the same time.

Sex has become the most widely worshipped “religion”

Need to be talking to kids about sex.

14000 reference to sex on tv every year.

Nothing more pleasurable than sexual release

God has designed us to experience this with one other person. When are bonded to what ever brings us this sexual pleasure.

Outside of the marriage relationship sex will rewire our brains to view sex as God never intended

The real beauty of sexual relationship can not be experienced outside the marriage relationship

Why do we need to save for marriage? 1 Corinthians 6:19-20

Jesus knew there was something better than sex to do with his body. Give it on the cross for the father and for us.

To honor and glorify God. This is the reason to have sex or not have sex. Honor and glorify God with our bodies.

Sexual sin to death. You have to stop now. With all sin this is true. Just stop the sin. Confess your sin to God and to someone else.

Jesus had some great things to say in this scripture.  He knew sometime He needed to get away with his closest followers and leave the crowd behind. Does it mean He had any less compassion for the multitude? I think not. He just knew the right times to get away and spend time with His core team of followers.

He knew the hearts of His disciples and let them know exactly what they were asking for. When the scribe said he would follow Jesus anywhere, Jesus told him that the Son of man, God in human form had no place to lay His head to rest. What I gather from this is Jesus is saying “to follow me you will have the same as I, no place to rest or call your own.” In light of the previous verse where He commands them to get away from the crowd  He understands needing rest, but He knows His job is never done and He must keep doing what God placed him on the earth to do.

Jesus taught His disciples about priorities. To bury your father is an important task, but Jesus knew following Him and learning to truly live was more important that burying the dead. On a side note, I wonder if when He says “let the dead bury the dead” if He is talking about the spiritually dead bury the physically dead?

Jesus was a great teacher. We stand to learn a lot from Him, but we have to be in the scriptures to learn from Him.  Jesus is the savior of our souls. He paid the price we could not pay, so I think a few minutes a day to read His word is not too much to ask.

Have you read today?

Sex is a gift from God given to married couples
Anything outside of these boundaries is considered adultery.

Adultery is a subtle attack it is not an instant thing.

4 steps toward an affair
1- stop having sex, suppress sexual intimacy in our marriages. Only refrain from sexual intimacy when pursuing God. It is not just about the act … it is about pursuing as well.
2-establishing our standard of beauty outside the marriage. Comparing our spouses is not acceptable. Not only offer the words to your spouse setting the standard, but accepting our spouses standard.
-avoid tempting situations … tell our spouse about potential areas. Comments from others.
3- you need to be best/closest friends. There should never be a closer friendship than your spouse.
-no flirting
- no joking about sexual things
- Facebook is a potential issue … be guarded
- start discussing marriage issues with some one of the opposite sex
- must set boundaries
4- keeping God out it our lives and marriages will put our relationship in danger.
- 60 percent of marriages end in divorce.
Must honor our marriage bed and keep it holy
We can be forgiven our sexual sin … we just need to ask. Flee … run from sinful temptations.

Christ touched her and she was healed. How did she respond? She waited on (served) Him. Christ has taken away our sins, “healed” us. Yet how do we respond? Christ has offered to take ALL of our “diseases” like greed, lust and pride, but we all to often do not allow Him to heal us of these infirmaries and diseases. We hold onto them like trophies of a forgotten childhood sport. They fill our time and do not allow us the pleasure of serving the one true God.

I beg of the Lord that we might be broken of these vial things in our lives so that we can serve Him better, or better yet start serving Him for the first time. He and only He is worthy of our worship and praise.

So who are you serving today? Men? Self?

Oh to have the faith of the Centurion.  One thing I think of when I read this story is the fact that during this time in history the Romans worshiped many “gods” and this soldier would have been no different.  He probably got up every morning to have his coffee and eggs and thanked Jupiter for his provisioning.  I wonder how many times he got on bended knee to ask Jupiter or Cardea to heal his servant? Beating his chest and wondering why his “gods” were failing him.

Along came Jesus, God in human flesh, and this leader of men is humble enough to go and ask him to heal his servant.  Again in this passage we see that this follower of false “gods” just knows that Christ can heal the servant.  Not only does he know Christ can heal the servant, but he knows all Christ has to do is speak the words and the servant will be healed.

Here is my response to this story.  Christ, I am unworthy for you to have anything to do with me.  I do not deserve you to come into my life and use me for your purposes, because my sinful heart is broken and sick.  Christ just say the words and my heart will be healed and I can serve you.  Help me through your power to serve you.  By my power I will destroy anything that is given to me.  With your provisioning and power all things are possible.

How’s your faith today?

A man with leprosy had the faith to ask God in human form to heal him.  The wonderful thing is that this man knew he could be healed by the hand of this man named Jesus.  It was not a question in this man’s mind if Jesus could do it, but if He would do it.

How often do we find ourselves wondering if we could be “healed” or “saved” from something. I say that is the wrong way to look at it.  We should be asking God if He is willing to “heal” or “save” us from the situation we are in.  He might answer “no” or “not at this time” or even “yes, but not how you think it will look”.

I guess what is all boils down to is this.  Is it in God’s will for this thing we are asking for to take place?  I think I might need to change some of my prayers.

God if you are willing this _________ can be taken from me.  God if you are willing this _______ can be added to my life.

Pretty amazing, huh?