Magnificent Marriage Monday – My Marriage Is Protected By God!

Posted on May 13, 2019 by Dr. Matthew Lee Smith

“But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night and said to him, “You are about to die because of the woman you have taken, for she is a married woman.” Then God said to him in the dream, “Yes, I know that you did this with a clear conscience. I have also kept you from sinning against me. Therefore I have not let you touch her. Now return the man’s wife, for he is a prophet, and he will pray for you and you will live. But if you do not return her, know that you will certainly die, you and all who are yours.”” (Genesis 20:3, 6–7, CSB)

If you do not return her, know that you will certainly die, you and all who are yours. Even if you don’t take your marriage seriously, God does. He watches every action and attitude. He knows every mistreatment and mean word. While we may seek to excuse our behavior, God knows that much of what we think and do should be refused and rejected immediately.

Marriage is sacred – holy – to be set apart as so specialthat nothing should bring even a stain on our union together. Paul put it this way, “[Christ] did this to present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or anything like that, but holy and blameless. In the same way, husbands are to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself.” (Ephesians 5:27–28, CSB)

In other words, we men are to honor our wives and value them as much as we value ourselves. Never mind what the culture says or does. It’s not relevant that a majority of people practice this or that. The only opinion that is of significance when it comes to how men treat their wives – and how wives treat their husbands – is this: Do I hold my spouse at such a level of value that whatever happens to her is what I want to happen to me?

God holds our marriage so highly that He threatened to kill the man who innocently took Abraham’s wife – even as Abraham willfully did nothing to protect her. This should be a powerful warning to those of us who choose to treat our spouse with too little respect.

God is watching all. He keeps track of what’s happening. He hears all the words. He knows our attitudes and motives. And, in the midst of our daily choices, whether good or bad, He judges. When we honor and cherish our mate, He blesses.  When we don’t, well …

Magnificent Marriage Mondays are helpful hints, clues, ideas, and solutions for the child of God who is looking for a spouse, in a relationship with someone, or are already married. Each post seeks to bring help, hope, and honesty to your life and make the rest of your life, the best of your life. They are written by Dr. Matthew Lee Smith, Executive Director of Eagles In Leadership, and come from his 38 years, 5 months and 2 days experience with his wife, Melodee, who was promoted to Heaven on November 11, 2017. He is currently seeking God’s will for his new life partner. He welcomes your comments below.

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Hope For Today – Honoring Your Mother!

Posted on May 12, 2019 by Dr. Matthew Lee Smith

It’s Mother’s Day! That special holiday where godly men and children take care of their mother like she has taken care of them the other 364 days over the past year!

I’m Dr. Matthew Lee Smith and I want to share some Hope For Today about Honoring Your Mother!

Check it out at the link below. Click the link below to listen. Hope For Today is a part of the ministry of Eagles In Leadership. If you would like to know more about the hope God gives and His abundant life through Jesus Christ, I would invite you to check out our website: EaglesInLeadership.org.

Just push the media button below to hear this encouraging message!

We hope you’ll consider going to Israel with the Eagles In Leadership group this December! Click the link, “Join Us In Israel This Fall,” at the top of the website for more information.

And, if you are so inclined, sign up for more encouragement through notifications (UPPER RIGHT CORNER OF THE WEBSITE) of other blogs and podcasts while you are at the Eagles in Leadership​ website.

And if you have ever wanted to go to Israel, why not join us this fall! Details are on our website, just click the tab, “Israel Tours for Groups and Individuals!”

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Faith Filled Friday – Blessed Because Of Another

Posted on May 10, 2019 by Dr. Matthew Lee Smith

“From there he went up to Beersheba. And the Lord appeared to him the same night and said, “I am the God of Abraham your father. Fear not, for I am with you and will bless you and multiply your offspring for my servant Abraham’s sake.” So he built an altar there and called upon the name of the Lord and pitched his tent there. And there Isaac’s servants dug a well.” (Genesis 26:23–25, ESV)

I am the God of Abraham your father. Fear not, for I am with you and will bless you and multiply your offspring for my servant Abraham’s sake. Despite ourselves, God often blesses us. For many, this is a great mystery. For others, it is a reality that they never ponder. Yet, for all of us who enjoy God’s blessings, we should stop and ask a simple question: “Am I blessed for my obedience or because of the obedience of one of my relatives?”

So many people live without the favor of God on their lives. You see it in there lives on almost a daily basis. In fact, there’s a popular phrase right now that defines that lack of favor so many Americans are experiencing. The phrase is, “The struggle is real,” and it is a (generally) ironic saying often used in place of the saying, “first world problems”. Has slightly more urban undertones than “first world problems”. Denotes a situation where the user wishes to express that they are encountering some sort of undesirable difficulty, but dealing with it. With irony, it has a comical effect of dramatizing a non-critical, yet undesirable situation.[i]

Isaac was experiencing the blessing of God despite the fact that he had just given his wife to the king of Gerar and claimed she was his sister! What happens next to Isaac is stunning in its magnitude. “Isaac sowed in that land and reaped in the same year a hundredfold. The Lord blessed him, and the man became rich, and gained more and more until he became very wealthy.” (Genesis 26:12–13, ESV)

Yet, those blessings weren’t about him. As God told him, I am with you and will bless you and multiply your offspring for my servant Abraham’s sake.”Isaac’s blessings were from Abraham’s bank account!

As you step into your new day, is God blessing you? If so, is it because of your faithfulness or someone else’s? And if you are not, perhaps its time to stop the current routine, drop to your knees in surrender and roll your situation onto the God who can speak life into it!

Faith Filled Fridays hope to boost your trust in God and accelerate your daring and courage in everyday life. Dr. Matthew Lee Smith, Executive Director of Eagles In Leadership, writes each encouragement out of a heart that has known both great joy and great loss – his wife of 38 years, 5 months and 2 days was promoted to Heaven on November 11, 2017. Through every experience, God has proven Himself more than faithful and trustworthy. He welcomes your comments below.

 

[i]Extracted on May 9, 2019, from https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=The%20struggle%20is%20real

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Train Them Thursday – Faith’s Beginning – Repentance!

Posted on May 9, 2019 by Dr. Matthew Lee Smith

“John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And all the country of Judea was going out to him, and all the people of Jerusalem; and they were being baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins.” (Mark 1:4–5, NASB95)

John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. Turning around. Why do we find it so hard to do? I mean, we often know what we are doing is wrong and yet, there is resistance to changing. We find it so had to simply t-u-r-n a-r-o-u-n-d.

When I struggle with this I will eventually trace it back to a simple truth: I don’t want to admit that I have made a mistake … even to myself. Pride is an ugly monster. It tends to take control of our lives and drive roots deep into our soul, burrowing all through our subconscious until it’s removal is near impossible.

The long tentacles of pride need to be pulled out one strand at a time. It’s a laborious process and can only be achieved through the supernatural power of the transformative work of God within our body, mind, and spirit. But before this can happen, a choice must first occur. We must want to change. And that is the intersection between faith and life. At that crossroads is something the Bible calls repentance.

Repentance – the message of faith’s beginning – is the essential birthing process for God’s transformative process. It is a personal willingness to say, “Yes, God. I stop going my own way. I turn towards You. I choose to make this my path in life … to chase after You and all that You want for me.”

As we turn around, people see and witness the external evidences of our internal choices. Take, for instance, Paul’s description of the reports he was hearing about the Thessalonians and their new life of faith: “For they themselves report about us what kind of a reception we had with you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve a living and true God.” (1 Thessalonians 1:9, NASB95)

Discipleship is about repentance … as a beginning and a way of life. Before there can be life and that more abundant, there is repentance.

 

Train Them Thursdays seeks to wed the Great Commission directive of Jesus with the practice He employed while on Earth. Each nugget is meant to encourage the reader with a “can-do” spirit to realize that discipleship is something each person is both capable of and empowered to accomplish. Dr. Matthew Lee Smith, Executive Director of Eagles In Leadership, writes each thought and they flow out of decades of his tried and true field-testing in multiple settings from rural to the inner city. He welcomes your comments below.

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Willing Worker Wednesday – Mid-Course Corrections!

Posted on May 8, 2019 by Dr. Matthew Lee Smith

“Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan, to be baptized by him. But John tried to stop Him, saying, “I need to be baptized by You, and yet You come to me?” Jesus answered him, “Allow it for now, because this is the way for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he allowed Him to be baptized.” (Matthew 3:13–15, HCSB)

Allow it for now, because this is the way for us to fulfill all righteousness. Right is a path, not just a value or moral. We know what is right with our mind. We evaluate and we judge between what is wrong and what is right by the inevitable trajectory such a value or moral places us on. In other words, right is a path.

We make small choices each day, “Midcourse corrections” if you will. There’s an accident on the freeway in front of us and we see it in time to take an exit and go around. We make a correction … we make a value judgment and choose to do what is right at the moment.

Yet, that choice is based on a bigger value system. One that includes wanting to get to our destination, like work, so we can do our job well. Or, perhaps it’s home because we love our families. Each small choice is reflective of our greater value systems.

When Jesus came to John and asked to be baptized, there was a greater reality flowing. Jesus really didn’t need to be baptized. As John well says, “I need to be baptized by You, and yet You come to me?”Here Jesus is thinking, like we do, about the greater values that guide His steps. He’s thinking of the Path of Right prescribed by God.

You and I have a life to live for God’s purpose: To make disciples of all the nations. (Matthew 28:19-20) If we truly believe that, if that is our North Star, so to speak, then everything we do, every choice we make, big or small, will be guided by that direction.

So, what we are really chasing in this life? Are we after that which fills us and thrills us financially, educationally, emotionally, socially, or physically? Or, do we live for a greater purpose? Do we live for the pleasure of our Master, Jesus?

Each choice we make today and every day reveals whether we are walking on the Path of Right or not. The beauty is that if we’ve gotten off the path, we can make some Mid-Course Corrections and return!

Willing Worker Wednesdays are dedicated to explaining the core realities of servant leadership – the Biblical principles and methods used by God’s faithful people throughout time. They further reflect the lifestyle of Jesus, the King of kings and Lord of lords as He walked on this earth announcing the Kingdom of God had arrived. These brief lessons are written by Dr. Matthew Lee Smith, Executive Director of Eagles In Leadership, and come from his extensive ministry within the local church, in higher education, in church consulting and as a Biblical author and leader. He welcomes your comments below.

 

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Turn-Around Tuesday – Choosing to Be a Believer

Posted on May 7, 2019 by Dr. Matthew Lee Smith

“When Abram was ninety-nine years old the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless, that I may make my covenant between me and you, and may multiply you greatly.” Then Abram fell on his face.” (Genesis 17:1–3, ESV)

 When Abram was ninety-nine years old the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him … “Walk before me … that I may multiply you greatly.”God is the God of the impossible, the incomprehensible, and the ridiculous. Can you see the silliness of these words?

Here’s a man who is 99 years old … and the New Testament tells us that he is past the ability to father children (Romans 4:19). And yet God hasn’t begun to work with him. God was about to give Abraham many sons, especially Isaac, the son of the covenant. At 99 years old God was just getting started with Abraham.

When God spoke to Abraham, “He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead (since he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah’s womb.” (Romans 4:19, ESV)

God has a plan for our lives. He isn’t done with us. He hasn’t even begun yet. I mean, Abraham had done so much and God had blessed Him so, yet, as most would be ready for retirement and death, Abraham rose to the occasion. He chose to believe God for a bigger, brighter future … at age 99! He chose to be a believer, not a doubter.

Our situation may look dead. We may be thinking things are winding down. It could be possible we’ve given up on our God-implanted dreams and visions that we once had. Abraham tells us not to, “weaken in faith.” The deadness of our situation means little to the Lord of life. Today is a great day to fall to our knees and cry out to Jesus for that resurrection power.

Turn-around comes from God. He “is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us.” (Ephesians 3:20, ESV) The question is this: Are we asking? Are we imagining greater things? God loves it when we choose the impossible. When we can’t God can. When it’s impossible for us it’s easy for Him. Will we choose to be a believer today?

Turn-Around Tuesdays are designed to bring hope and help, insight and encouragement to those of us who are simply overwhelmed by the flood of problems life throws at us. No one is immune to trials and troubles, but God has a way of lifting us from life’s torrents. Each short thought is written by Dr. Matthew Lee Smith, Executive Director of Eagles In Leadership, and comes from his life-journey with the God who never leaves us or forsakes us. He welcomes your comments below.

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Hope For Today – God Created the Family!

Posted on May 5, 2019 by Dr. Matthew Lee Smith

I’m Dr. Matthew Lee Smith and I want to share some Hope For Today about the Biblical truth that God Created the Family!

Check it out at the link below. Click the link below to listen. Hope For Today is a part of the ministry of Eagles In Leadership. If you would like to know more about the hope God gives and His abundant life through Jesus Christ, I would invite you to check out our website: EaglesInLeadership.org.

Just push the media button below to hear this encouraging message!

We hope you’ll consider going to Israel with the Eagles In Leadership group this December! Click the link, “Join Us In Israel This Fall,” at the top of the website for more information.

And, if you are so inclined, sign up for more encouragement through notifications (UPPER RIGHT CORNER OF THE WEBSITE) of other blogs and podcasts while you are at the Eagles in Leadership​ website.

Check it out at the link below. Click the link below to listen. Hope For Today is a part of the ministry of Eagles In Leadership. If you would like to know more about the hope God gives and His abundant life through Jesus Christ, I would invite you to check out our website: EaglesInLeadership.org.

Just push the media button below to hear this encouraging message!

We hope you’ll consider going to Israel with the Eagles In Leadership group this December! Click the link, “Israel Tours for Groups and Individuals,” at the top of the website for more information.

And, if you are so inclined, sign up for more encouragement through notifications (UPPER RIGHT CORNER OF THE WEBSITE) of other blogs and podcasts while you are at the Eagles in Leadership​ website.

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Faith Filled Friday – Sins of the Father

Posted on May 3, 2019 by Dr. Matthew Lee Smith

“So Isaac settled in Gerar. When the men of the place asked him about his wife, he said, “She is my sister,” for he feared to say, “My wife,” thinking, “lest the men of the place should kill me because of Rebekah,” because she was attractive in appearance.” (Genesis 26:6–7, ESV)

When the men of the place asked him about his wife, he said, “She is my sister.” Some sins are simply learned at home. Whether it’s our mother or a father, or a combination of both, more things are caught than taught. All too often, parents do not realize the incredible influence they have upon their children. The reality is children pick up our bad habits faster than they pick up our good ones.

In all those years of traipsing around the Middle East, Abraham did not realize his lie concerning his wife being his sister was being talked about and heard in the ears of Isaac. In those early days of his childhood, while watching his father, Abraham – the man who followed hard after God, the man who God promised to give the land of the Canaanites – lie about his mother, left him with the understanding that when you are afraid it’s okay to lie.

This is why so many people talk about generational curses. The sins father becomes a reality in the lives of their children. Behavior is imitated from one father to son and then from that father to son for generation after generation. Our sins just become a part of the culture of our families. So the bad behavior may get modified but used for generations. Even good behaviors can be corrupted when it falls into a person of bad character in our family lines. And a new curse starts.

Thus, Isaac picked up his father Abraham’s bad habit of lying about his wife.  While Abraham’s wife was his half-sister, Rebecca was not Isaac’s. But the sin born out of doubt and fear in Abraham remained alive and well in Isaac. And this is the way it happens. Our faithlessness leads to more faithlessness in the next-generation if we do not confess it, forsake it, and constantly explain it to our children.

It is important right now to ask ourselves, “What am I doing that God disapproves of? How is it influencing my children? Do I really want this to take on a life of its own and live for generations in my family?”

The answers to these questions will demonstrate whether we are a person filled with faith or a person filled with self.

Faith Filled Fridays hope to boost your trust in God and accelerate your daring and courage in everyday life. Dr. Matthew Lee Smith, Executive Director of Eagles In Leadership, writes each encouragement out of a heart that has known both great joy and great loss – his wife of 38 years, 5 months and 2 days was promoted to Heaven on November 11, 2017. Through every experience, God has proven Himself more than faithful and trustworthy. He welcomes your comments below.

 

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Train Them Thursday – First Steps!

Posted on May 2, 2019 by Dr. Matthew Lee Smith

“Now in those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”” (Matthew 3:1–2, NASB95)

Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. The beginning of every journey starts with the first step. Whether we are walking around the block for exercise, going to the store for some groceries, or taking that trip to see our family, every time we go we take that first step towards our destination.

In fact, when we have a place we want to go to, we are motivated to take that first step with greater enthusiasm and determination, unless of course, we are going to the dentist! Wherever we plan to be determines the inner drive we have to get there.

Good destinations cause us to pack quickly with purpose. Those places that we wish we didn’t have to visit can cause us to drag our feet and hesitate to take that first step. What’s true of our daily routine is true of our spiritual one as well.

God wants to change things for us. He wants us to have “life, and have it abundantly.” (John 10:10, NASB95) Our option is to determine if we want it enough. Each choice in life comes with a cost. Some places we travel to cost us much on the front end – like college. Yet, afterward, if we have excelled and chosen a field that is in demand, we will be rewarded in so many ways, including financially.

The “entrance price,” so to speak, for an intimate and favorable relationship with King Jesus, and all that He longs to give us in this life and the next is repentance. We choose to do three things when we repent. As Dr. Luke recorded Jesus’ words for us, I will let the Doctor explain: “And He was saying to them all, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, he is the one who will save it.” (Luke 9:23–24, NASB95)

The abundance of Heaven waits for us. Discipleship is the process of drawing near to God so that He draws near to us. The cost is (1) self-denial, (2) taking up our cross daily – a journey we won’t be coming back home from, and (3) following Jesus for the remainder of our days. It’s costly, but the benefits are both abundant and eternal.

Train Them Thursdays seeks to wed the Great Commission directive of Jesus with the practice He employed while on Earth. Each nugget is meant to encourage the reader with a “can-do” spirit to realize that discipleship is something each person is both capable of and empowered to accomplish. Dr. Matthew Lee Smith, Executive Director of Eagles In Leadership, writes each thought and they flow out of decades of his tried and true field-testing in multiple settings from rural to the inner city. He welcomes your comments below.

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Willing Worker Wednesday – This Is Who You Are!

Posted on May 1, 2019 by Dr. Matthew Lee Smith

“Now the people were waiting expectantly, and all of them were debating in their minds whether John might be the Messiah. John answered them all, “I baptize you with water, but One is coming who is more powerful than I. I am not worthy to untie the strap of His sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing shovel is in His hand to clear His threshing floor and gather the wheat into His barn, but the chaff He will burn up with a fire that never goes out.” Then, along with many other exhortations, he proclaimed good news to the people.” (Luke 3:15–18, HCSB)

I baptize you with water, but One is coming who is more powerful than I. I am not worthy to untie the strap of His sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. Do you have a self-inflated estimation of your own worth? Does your world revolve around you? When people come into your presence, is it all about you? Do you listen to them or do you wait for them just to stop talking so you can continue?

Selfishness is such cancer in our souls. It is the exact opposite of the heart of anyone who has surrendered to the King of kings and Lord of lords. In fact, we must be honest here; someone with a self-centered attitude and lifestyle broadcasts their lack of allegiance to the Lord Jesus Christ.

“Not My will, but Yours, be done.”(Luke 22:42, HCSB) THIS is the center of the heart of the true leader of Jesus. When we choose to follow Jesus we choose to imitate Him. We choose to take on His heart and attitude toward life and ministry.

True Christ-driven leadership is always servanthood. We serve as Jesus did. As Paul commanded us, we are to, “walk in love, as the Messiah also loved us and gave Himself for us, a sacrificial and fragrant offering to God.” (Ephesians 5:2, HCSB)

And there it is! Servant driven leadership is about love for others, a love that chooses to sacrifice for others, even those who hate and abuse us. We do this because we imitate the Lord of Life, the one who loves us so much. We pour out our lives for others, even to the point of our deaths, as a sacrifice and a fragrant offering to our God.

This is what it means to be a servant leader. This is who you are!

 

Willing Worker Wednesdays are dedicated to explaining the core realities of servant leadership – the Biblical principles and methods used by God’s faithful people throughout time. They further reflect the lifestyle of Jesus, the King of kings and Lord of lords as He walked on this earth announcing the Kingdom of God had arrived. These brief lessons are written by Dr. Matthew Lee Smith, Executive Director of Eagles In Leadership, and come from his extensive ministry within the local church, in higher education, in church consulting and as a Biblical author and leader. He welcomes your comments below.

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