Spouse

Most potential spouses (aka "dates") claim Jesus as their Savior, but do they make Him Lord? Actually, few people let Jesus govern their life, & fewer choose to represent Jesus for the world they live in. A Disciple, meaning "learner" is rare these days, & since most so called "Christians" don't study, they misrepresent "the Word". Apostle, meaning, teacher/representative, is a mature Believer (aka "Saint") who has a personal ministry for teaching in & out of church.

Meaning, Apostles are more likely to hold themselves to a higher standard. Why? Our lives go under a microscope once we start to minister to people, & this makes apostles push more often to be trustworthy...it's a simple word called "accountability". My research has led me to believe that the ideal spouse has graduated by moving up the following steps:


1) Savior - Here people realize that Jesus is the only way to escape sin, death, & more importantly to them...get to Heaven. They are only interested in being saved at this stage though. The term "Justification" is a Bible term for phase 1.  A person who is justified is considered "not guilty" by God's judgment. Clear? I hope so, & I hope that we trust that only God can judge how long we get before we move to the next phase of "Sanctification", where a disciple develops & learns to make God Lord.


2) Disciple - Jesus was baptized at 30, *the official age of a rabbi, and His disciples sat at His foot so to speak, to learn the rules (better known as commandments). *FYI, the Bible covers Jesus' 1st years, then skips to age 12, and skips again to His years of ministry from age 30 and on. Why? Simple. His birth fulfilled Bible prophecy, then age 12, Jesus Himself began to learn at the foot of the rabbi. That is why the Bible says so little about years 1-12, nothing about 12-29, & so much from 30 to His Ascension. So, Jesus was a disciple from 12 to 29, & His disciples learned at His foot (so to speak) beginning around age 30.


3) Lord - Phases 2 -4 are captured in a Biblical term called "Sanctification" (set aside for sacred purpose), meaning this is time to develop into who God wants before Jesus returns. The 3rd Biblical term is "Glorification", & that's after Jesus returns, we get a glorified body, & will forever be with God amen. Alright, now after we learn the rules, & only after deciding to obey the commandments can we make Jesus Lord. The choice is yours. If you never learn any of God's commandments, He cannot be Lord of your life. Meaning, Jesus becomes Lord if (and only "if") we agree to accept God's Commandments, and let Him govern.


4) Apostle - By now, the disciple is ready to graduate from only being concerned about saving self, seeing Heaven, etc., and though is not perfect, has a reasonable understanding of purpose & mission. At this stage we realize that the only way to do right is by turning our actions over to Jesus (righteousness). Also, we learn to love the way God thinks based on what He says and does. We then get a feel for why He is true love, and we begin to express His love to our contacts though our own personal ministry in which we teach and represent in & out of church.

Wouldn't it be nice if we all chose spouses who are apostles in their own right? I have said some bold things about marriage, Sabbath, & now I'm saying another huge statement in that, our churches have been operating in a mix of error and TRUTH. Meaning, we are in Babylon, the one spoken of in Revelation, & even I should've given more attention to steps 1-3 before trying to teach. Our churches have it wrong yall, so come out of Babylon.

Think twice about trying to preach & represent Jesus until you have learned (and mastered) some Bible teaching...that will reduce hypocrisy. Develop proper training & Bible study wherever you worship...that will improve our churches.

Understand how powerful it is to be able to refer the opposite gender to your spouse, & how powerful a couple you can be with both spouses in ministry...that will reduce jealousy, strife, divorces, & improve marriages. Then the public will have a higher regard for the Christian life, & be attracted to God's Word.