May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace. Every time I think of you, I give thanks to my God. for you have been my partners in spreading the Good News about Christ from the time you first heard it until now. Whenever I pray, I make my requests for all of you with joy, And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns. Philippians 1:2-6

Grace: Strength To Obey

Grace for us is the God strength to obey, to keep a pure heart before God, to keep our flesh in check and make the right choice that opens our lives up to bearing the fruit of godly characteristics like it says in  Galatians 5:22-26 – God’s grace is the power behind our choice to say no to our fleshly ways and say yes to godly characteristics, and this is the fruit of God’s Spirit, the yielding of our life for His!

Pray It Up For Your Family

We pray for our family today for each one of our family members to take themselves off the throne of their lives, and put Jesus on the throne of their life. We pray for our emotions not to be in control so that we have “flesh out” situations in our family life. We pray for God to be in control of our lives, because it is this kind of family life, where selflessness and humility, these choices from moment to choice in our family life, makes for a very sweet family life. Father God, we pray that each member of our family will not walk in their own strength, but out of a vital-vertical relationship with You. We ask You Holy Spirit to do the work in the heart of our family so our family members will bring to the family table these fruits:

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. The law is not against such things. Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.
Galatians 5:22-26

Draw Upon God’s Grace

As we in our family life, personally draw upon the Grace of God, drawing near to God, knowing Him, being in His transforming Word, applying its truths to our lives, we keep pride under the guard of Grace and there is peace in our lives, strife is minimized because there is no envy, there is no pride, there is no provoking of one another. Father God speak to the hearts of our family members, only You can change their hearts and cause them to be full of humility and kindness towards one another.  God’s Grace is the strength of our humility, the purity of our peace in our family life, and in the working of grace through humility, we have no conceited actions, no self righteousness, no condemnation of each other, and there is harmony in our family life. Jesus help us to not let our ego rise up in our family life. Listen up to this 1 Minute Encouragement Video and glean the wisdom to be a better family member.

For you were called to be free, brothers and sisters; only don’t use this freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but serve one another through love. For the whole law is fulfilled in one statement: Love your neighbor as yourself. But if you bite and devour one another, watch out, or you will be consumed by one another. Galatians 5:13-15

Strengthened By Grace

The Grace of God is not a tool for doing what we want, and then covering it by God’s Grace. It is the opposite, it is the strength to say no to the flesh and do what is right. We pray for God’s Grace to flow in our family life and through us as we love others in a way that pleases Him. Jesus modeled a selfless life, He humbled Himself for us. He was the King of Heaven, free to exercise His authority and power, but He yielded to the moment, to the will and plan of God, and meekly, with His power under control, He humbled Himself, died our death, so we could live His life. We need to emulate this kind of humility, respect and reverence in our family lives. We pray it would be so Lord Jesus.

Brothers and sisters, if someone is overtaken in any wrongdoing, you who are spiritual, restore such a person with a gentle spirit, watching out for yourselves so that you also won’t be tempted. Carry one another’s burdens; in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. For if anyone considers himself to be something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. Let each person examine his own work, and then he can take pride in himself alone, and not compare himself with someone else. For each person will have to carry his own load. Galatians 6:1-5

Freedom Rightly Used

We are free, but our freedom is best served by loving others humbly in our family life. If we use our freedom to lord over others in a conceited and self righteous way, pride takes over and the devouring of one another begins. This nit-picking of one another causes the peace to exit our family life, and the enemy consumes our unity, destroying the fabric of the foundation of our family life. It is so easy to devour one another in a self-righteous way, but just as Jesus showed us, humility is a powerful thing, it renovates the fruit of the spirit in our family life. We pray for humility to be an inner core strength of our family members. We yield our lives to God, He gives us His Grace, strengthening us to make the right choices of selfless serving through love.

Let the one who is taught the word share all his good things with the teacher. Don’t be deceived: God is not mocked. For whatever a person sows he will also reap, because the one who sows to his flesh will reap destruction from the flesh, but the one who sows to the Spirit will reap eternal life from the Spirit. Let us not get tired of doing good, for we will reap at the proper time if we don’t give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us work for the good of all, especially for those who belong to the household of faith. Galatians 6:6-10

Pride And Conceit

Pride and conceit causes us to color outside of the lines of our life circle, where we try to make others like us, we only accept others in the family if they resemble us, but if they are different, the comparison causes us to love them conditionally. This conditional love is pride’s best work and destroys family unity.  Leaning into the Grace of God, helps us to stay in our own lane, and helps ut to stop comparing ourselves to others. We should be able to bring to the family table our gifts, and freely offer them to others, as we also partake in the god giftedness of all the family members. This sharing of the fruit of our lives, this is a beautiful unity, where our family can function as many uniquely created individuals, and the state of our family is strong, undergirded by the strength of the Grace of God working in each of us. This is what we pray for.

I say, then, walk by the Spirit and you will certainly not carry out the desire of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is against the Spirit, and the Spirit desires what is against the flesh; these are opposed to each other, so that you don’t do what you want. Galatians 5:16-17

Thank you for stopping into The Bridegroom’s Cafe today. We hope your spiritual meal on the Family Life Table has nourished your soul. Praying for your family is one of the best things you can do for them. We hope you have heard The Bridegroom’s Voice today and felt His love and encouragement for your family. God bless you, MUCH, KimberlyMac