Hupotasso

Last night at church was a lot better than I thought it was going to be. Flood is going through the book of Ephesians, and I knew that last night was going to be covering Ephesians 5:22-33. This passage is about husbands loving their wives as Christ loved the church, and wives submitting to their husbands. I went in with the mindset that "Well, I'm not married or even dating for that matter, so this isn't going to relate to me at all." Well, I was wrong. This passage used to make me cringe. The word "submit" has such a negative connotation in our society today. It gives off such a "master/slave" feeling. The slave is submissive to his master. It was always such an odd thing to think about, wives submitting to their husbands. Matt explained submission in a way that made it all make sense in my mind though. While the passage specifically was speaking on husbands and wives, it applies to everyone, regardless of marital status. Submission is supporting the mission of God in the lives of others. It is done out of respect, not inferiority. He then talked about three points of submission.

1. If you are not submitting to those closest to you, you are not submitted to God.

2. Everyone has a role of submission.

3. Worship is the fuel of a life of submission.

We are called to be in submission, or Hupotasso, to Christ out of love and respect for Him. It may seem easy to submit to God, but unless you are also submitting to those closest to you, you are missing the point. Being in submission to the people in your lives is one of the best ways to show God's love to others.

Just to touch quickly back on the whole "Husbands and Wives" thing, Mark Driscoll did an amazing sermon on Men and Marriage a while back that goes more into depth on what it means to be the kind of husband that a Godly woman of Christ deserves. He also did a sermon on Women and Marriage that also dives into scripture on the matter. I watched them both about a year ago, and though I couldn't apply it to a marriage, it helped lay the groundwork for the man that I wanted to become so that I could one day be the husband that the Bible calls me to be.

We should all be striving to live a life of Hupotasso, not just to Christ, but to everyone around us. Husbands, wives, boyfriends, girlfriends, family, roommates, bosses. Respect those closest to you. Love those closest to you. Submit to those closest to you. In doing so, you are submitting to God.

Eternally His,

Andrew

Worship

So tonight, I dropped by AGO after dropping Crush off at the airport. I remembered that they were going to be having a worship night, and I thought I would go check it out. I have to say, I'm not usually big into long extended "worship" sessions, but tonight was amazing. There was about 10 of us just sitting in the front room, praising our Lord. It was amazing to just really lose myself in the worship and really experience God for about 2 hours.

One thing that I have been noticing lately, is how people define "worship". For most, "worship" is the 20-30 minutes of singing that you do at church every sunday. While this is definitely a beautiful way to worship, the act of worshiping should in no way end there. You can worship the Lord in so many other ways that you might not even realize. God gave you so many different skills and abilities, and whenever you use those talents to further His kingdom, you are worshiping Him. You can live a life of worship.

This is one of the things that I want to change in my life. God has provided me with such an amazing life, and there are times where I take it all for granted. Go out and worship Him. Be the best you that you can be, and bring glory to His kingdom. I hope to see you out there.

Eternally His,

Andrew

How He Loves Us

Today I woke up and was super excited about what the rest of the day had for me. Little did I know that it was going to be one of the worst days of work ever, and that I would have no fun plans for after I got off of work. But all throughout the day, and for the past three days really, I had a song stuck in my head. A song that made my day tolerable. A song that kept my spirits high regardless of what was going on around me. The song was "How He Loves", and the lyrics are below:

He is jealous for me,

Loves like a hurricane, I am a tree,

Bending beneath the wind of his weight and mercy.

When all of a sudden,

I am unaware of these afflictions eclipsed by glory,

And I realize just how beautiful You are.

And how great your affections are for me.

And oh, how He loves us so,

Oh, how He loves us,

How He loves us all.

Yeah, He loves us,

Oh! How He loves us,

Oh! How He loves us,

Oh! How He loves.

We are His portion and He is our prize,

Drawn to redemption by the grace in His eyes,

If His grace is an ocean, we're all sinking.

And Heaven meets Earth like an unforseen kiss,

And my heart turns violently inside of my chest,

I don't have time to maintain these regrets,

When I think about, the way...

How He loves us so,

Oh, how He loves us,

How He loves us all.

Yeah, He loves us,

Oh! How He loves us,

Oh! How He loves us,

Oh! How He loves.

This song is just such an amazing reminder to me that God doesn't just love us when we go to church, or read our Bible, or do something nice for somebody else. We are experiencing God's love every minute of the day, whether we realize it or not. Every breath that we take is a living testament to God's amazing love for us. Take a deep breath, and take comfort in the fact that God loves you.

Eternally His,

Andrew