Author: barbaramcox

I am the author of The Step-Father’s Step-Son. The book is available through Family Matters Publishing at www.stepfathersstepson.com and Amazon.com. The book covers subjects such as: adultery, family, relationships, and parenting. The book is written primarily for the first family and the children of the parents of the first family.

Tight and rigid

Jesus is the new wine and new cloth, but most of us are old wineskins and old cloth. In order for us to become “new”, we must give up the old laws/rules that enclose us, bind us, and keep us from growing. Love is big. Love grows. But genuine love applies to whole families and not parts of our family. It is not about the tight skin of the old law – the one that says that we can only love the one that we are with. Our calling is to love our entire family, but most especially our spouses and children from the first family. Our first family must come first or our family will be broken. All of our children need their fathers and their mothers. Second wives and second husbands must never be first in our life. Don’t ever move in with them and don’t cheat to get one either.

 

Jesus spoke about old wineskins and new wineskins. He said in Luke 5:33-37, “And they said unto him, Why do the disciples of John fast often, and make prayer, and likewise the disciples of the Pharisees; but thine eat and drink?, And he said unto them, “Can ye make the children of the bridechamber fast, while the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken away from them, and then shall they fast in those days.” And he spake also a parable unto them, “No man putteth a piece of a new garment upon an old; if otherwise then both the new maketh a rent, and the piece that was taken out of the new agreeth not with the old. And no man putteth new wine into old bottles; else the new wine will burst the bottles, and be spilled, and the bottles shall perish. But new wine must be put into new bottles; and both are preserved. No man also having drunk old wine straightway desireth new for he saith, “The old is better.””.

WAKE UP!

In case you haven’t noticed it yet, 2000 years ago they were doing the very same things that we are still doing today. It seems that few heard what Jesus said when he walked this earth. Jesus said in Matthew 15:8, “This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.” God doesn’t force correction. He leaves it up to each one of us to make our own decisions. But the one thing that he doesn’t permit is the abandonment and killing of his family members. Every child has a family and it is unconscionable for a father or mother to abandon their children for another man or another woman. Furthermore, our partners need their spouses too. Family is forever unless you try to force the break-up with “laws”, lawyers, and law enforcement officials. This is how men try to play God. God’s law is a higher standard than the laws of men. Put God first in your life and start loving, forgiving, and repenting.

The sabbath day was made for man

Mark 2:27, Jesus said, “The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath. Therefore, the Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath.”

First, notice that when Jesus said the word “sabbath” that the word was not capitalized. For us, we are taught that we must go to church on the “Sabbath”. Jesus said that he is the Lord also of the sabbath. That means that our church is every day, seven days a week. Our church is with the people that we see and work with every day. Jesus said that there is one that has come that is greater than the temple – Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. This means that we are to follow him seven days a week and not just the day that we call the “Sabbath”. Jesus’ church and our church have no walls. The sabbath was created so that we could rest if we need it. But it is not a requirement because Jesus said that man was not made for the sabbath, but the sabbath was made so that we could rest if we need rest. Life goes on and if we need to do work on the sabbath we can do it.

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The “law” and the Sabbath day

According to the “law” some believe that no work can be performed on Sunday and yet we have priests/pastors that get up and do their jobs on the Sabbath. By doing so, they are breaking the “law”. Also, some churches have “showbread” and some of the “showbread” is locked into a safe to keep anyone but the priests/pastors from eating it. David ate this same bread when he was hungry and even though he broke the “law”, he did not break God’s law. There is something more important than the four walls of our churches and synagogues – it is LOVE. Jesus is anywhere that two or more are gathered in his name. When we love, repent and forgive, we are in Jesus’ presence with each other. Jesus’ love is outside the four walls. His love is with the people that we see and work with every day. His love is about living in the moment and this means that we are called to STOP, provide a drink of water to the homeless, an extra coat to those that are cold, and help others along our life’s journey. Worshiping Jesus comes before serving our priests and pastors. The guiltless are the ones that have repented of their sins. (Note: I don’t think that repentance covers adultery without correction. Our children need their fathers and mothers.) Yet in most countries around the world, punishment is still administered. We tell them that anything that they say or do can be used against them in a court of law – this discourages repentance and is against Jesus. And if they do repent, we will give them more jail/prison time as their reward.

Matthew 12:3-8, “Have ye not read what David did, when he was an hungered, and did eat the showbread which was not lawful for him to eat, neither for them which were with him, but only for the priests? Or have ye not read in the law, how that on the sabbath days the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath, and are blameless? But I say unto you that in this place there is one greater than the temple. But if ye had known what this meaneth, ye would not have condemned the guiltless. For the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day.”

A United Family Is the Only Way

Jacob kept his generations perfect by keeping his second wife Leah in second position within his family. Rachel lived with Jacob, while Leah did not. Leah’s sons with Jacob wanted to kill Joseph, Rachel’s son. The children of the first family must be protected because quite often the children of the second family desire to kill and replace the children of the first family. This is the reason why a simple family is much easier to manage than a complex family unit. If you look closer at Jacob’s family, you will also notice that Leah’s sons had little respect for Jacob, their own father. Jacob did the right thing, though. He kept his first family FIRST!

In our country, everything goes to the second wife and her children. They become the heirs to everything or almost everything. My husband got a pair of house shoes from his natural father – they got everything else! But for some reason, I still don’t think that the children of the second family really love their father even in this scenario.

Hagar’s son Ishmael, Abraham’s son, wanted to take Isaac’s place within the family also. Abraham and Sarah ended up sending Hagar and Ishmael away in order to protect Isaac.