Life Over Coffee

The situational difficulties we face are the contexts that reveal our hearts, which is how God purifies our faith and obedience. These personal, relational, and situational challenges are our opportunities to follow Jesus in the Christian’s call to suffer. Paul discussed it as boasting in his weakness, but what does that mean? I want to take you on a journey through the New Testament, laying out how God chooses life’s foolish and weak things to confound the wise. Every dinged and dented jar of clay that God uses understands this “boasting in weakness worldview,” but for many of our brothers and sisters, it continues to be a mental challenge to shift from their former manner of life (Ephesians 4:22).

Read More: https://lifeovercoffee.com/god-calls-you-to-suffer/

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A cracked jar of clay does not have to be a bad thing: if you know the potter. God prefers His creation to be fragile jars of clay, so He can display His miraculous, surpassing power to our friends and the culture. Of course, there is a problem with this perspective. Adamic clay pots are not content being fragile, vulnerable, or weak. We envy strength, power, might, and other self-reliant strategies for self-protection and, sometimes, self-promotion. This counterintuitive message about the gospel cuts against the grain of proud hearts.

Read Here: https://lifeovercoffee.com/the-reason-god-wants-you-a-fragile-jar-of-clay/

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Shows Main Idea – In this first lesson, Rick discusses how the Triune God is the foundation of all godly relationships. Loving and glorifying God necessarily leads to loving others. This seven-part series builds one upon the other, so watching them in order is best. We also recommend you watch the video to read the content, see all the animations, and download all the supplemental graphics. Afterward, you can listen to the audio while driving, walking, and going about your day. The audio will bring back the visuals, cementing this content into your mind, a process that will transform your mind and relationships.

Lesson 1: https://lifeovercoffee.com/podcast/ep-469-friendship-series-knowing-and-loving-god-1/

Lesson 2: https://lifeovercoffee.com/podcast/ep-470-friendship-series-trusting-gods-word-2/

Lesson 3: https://lifeovercoffee.com/podcast/ep-471-friendship-series-defining-godly-relationships-3/

Lesson 4: https://lifeovercoffee.com/podcast/ep-472-friendship-series-overcoming-mistrust-and-hurt-4/

Lesson 5: https://lifeovercoffee.com/podcast/ep-473-friendship-series-words-that-build-relationships-5/

Lesson 6: https://lifeovercoffee.com/podcast/ep-474-friendship-series-actions-that-build-relationships-6/

Lesson 7 https://lifeovercoffee.com/podcast/ep-475-friendship-series-choosing-relationships-wisely-7/

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One of the most critical questions a wife could ask herself is how she compares herself to her husband. Is she better, worse, or similar to her husband? How she thinks about her role in her marriage and relationship with her husband will determine the trajectory of the union, for good or bad. I'm assuming—for this discussion—that both spouses are maturing, humble, and willing to communicate on the level this perspective requires. If one or both partners are pulling against each other, especially as it applies to a better-than, greater-than attitude toward the other, what I have to say here will not apply. So, how do you compare yourself to your husband?

Read Here: https://lifeovercoffee.com/essential-qualities-of-an-effective-wife/

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Shows Main Idea – There are five universal reactions to our mistakes. Four of them are wrong, and one is correct. As you think about what you do wrong, what is your most common response after making a mistake? Let’s say you sin against someone, and they confront you about what you did. Which one of these common responses do you typically use? Understanding our tendencies is the first step in changing. If your most common response is one of the four, I trust the next few minutes will be life-changing for you.

Show Notes: https://lifeovercoffee.com/podcast/ep-46-four-mistakes-people-make-feel-better/

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When discussing submission problems in a marriage, we should equally scrutinize the submission and leadership constructs. It’s not an either/or proposition. For example, a half analysis focuses solely on the man’s leadership or the wife’s submission, leaving holes in the reconciliation process. We must examine both sides of the one-flesh coin. Typically, I start with the man’s leadership since he’s the functional leader of the home. I’m not suggesting I neglect the wife’s role to submit, but the correct starting point is vital if the goal is to help a couple work through their problems.

Read Here: https://lifeovercoffee.com/submission-is-never-the-main-problem-in-a-marriage/

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It is common for someone to confuse their various roles within a hierarchal structure and their coequality with everyone within those structures. For example, a wife can be a sister, mother, employer, employee, church member, and citizen. She fits within all those structures and she's equal to every person within those contexts. This perspective does not negate each other but expand the possibilities for how she can love God and others most effectively. One of the misguided roles that some women accept (or resign to) is that they are lesser than their husbands, with no responsibility to speak into their lives. This perspective can be tragic, especially if the husband walks away from God and His Word.

Read Here: https://lifeovercoffee.com/going-over-your-husbands-head-to-help-him/

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Shows Main Idea – Nancy Pearcey is the author of The Toxic War on Masculinity: How Christianity Reconciles the Sexes, as well as Love Thy Body, The Soul of Science, Saving Leonardo, Finding Truth, and Total Truth. She is a professor and scholar in residence at Houston Christian University. She has been quoted in The New Yorker and Newsweek, highlighted as one of the five top women apologists by Christianity Today, and hailed in The Economist as “America’s pre-eminent evangelical Protestant female intellectual.”

Show Notes: https://lifeovercoffee.com/podcast/ep-467-nancy-pearcey-the-toxic-war-on-masculinity/

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Every wife is equal to her husband, even though there is a call on her life to submit to him. These are not opposing truths but a biblically common sense perspective on marriage. Hierarchy and equality do not compete but expand the possibilities for how a couple can meet their extraordinary potential, releasing the wife to practically come alongside her husband in a disciple-making capacity so he can be the best possible leader in their union.

Read More: https://lifeovercoffee.com/practical-thoughts-on-leading-your-husband-from-behind/

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A wife can be a husband’s most significant asset or a complicating liability. Most of us know this about our complementary roles in our marriages, but I wonder how many wives have thought through how to be an asset to their husbands by humbly leading them while submitting to them. Though a wife’s calling is to a particular role of submission in the marriage, it does not mean she can’t step into a Christlike leadership example to her husband, as a coequal image-bearer.

Read Here: https://lifeovercoffee.com/how-a-wife-can-lead-her-husband/

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