Junk Drawers

God gives us the strength to live godly.

Titus 2:11-15

11. For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. 12. It teaches us to say "no" to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in this present age, 13. While we wait for the blessed hope--- the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, 14. who gave Himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for Himself a people that are His very own, eager to do what is good. 15. These, then, are the things you should teach. Encourage and rebuke with all authority. Do not let anyone despise you.

This lesson started with me and 7 junk drawers. 7!!!! I had 7 drawers filled with mostly junk, stuffed away, hidden from sight, and in cleaning them God started cleaning me. I have a hard time with biblical submission. I wasn't raised to submit. I was raised like most women in our culture to be self-sufficient, strong, and fight for my rights. So when God started showing me and teaching me that I have a very stubborn heart the heat was on. I was broken by the 7 drawers. I saw the junk in my own heart that needed to be cleaned and purged out. So I pray the same for you! I pray that you will take this lesson and apply it to your heart, those secret places that are hidden away for no one to see.

To have a clean heart we first MUST be saved! The key to living a godly life is to be converted and filled with the Holy Spirit. Apart from Him we can do nothing.

So examine yourself and ask God to reveal the condition of your heart. This is for everyone, the Sunday School teacher, the ones of you that made a profession of faith at a young age, you that prayed a prayer, everyone needs to examine their heart. If you are converted there are things that we all need to be delivered and set free from. Women carry a lot of baggage and stuff a lot of junk. Thankfully we have the Holy Spirit and God's word to teach us.

Look at verse 12--- Gods grace teaches us to say "no" to ungodliness and worldly passions.

I love the word "teaches" in this verse. It says to me that it is a process that is not yet complete. We are continually being taught to say no to our flesh and to live a self controlled life.

Let's look up at verse 10. Here Paul is telling Titus to teach slaves how to obey their masters (WE ARE BACK AT SUBMISSION). Read verse 10 "They will make the teaching about God our Savior attractive." !!!!!

Are we making the teaching we do about God attractive through our lives? Can we be trusted with the holy word of God?

What are areas you lack self-control? Write them down.

What secret sin do you need to clean out of your junk drawers? Write it down.

What are some worldly-passions we lust after? Read Titus 3:3 List some worldly passions.

We should live godly in this present age. Our present age is defined by social media, texting, entertainment. We have a lot of temptations to fight against in order to live godly. We shouldn't look like the world. If we are watching what they watch, wearing what they wear, listening to what they listen to, are we living godly? Can they see a difference?

This brings us back to submission to Gods authority. He created us for good works. He has equipped us beforehand to live upright, godly, and self-controlled lives.

Verse 13--- We live this way while we wait for our blessed hope to return. We live with GREAT expectation of the life to come. When our obedience is full-filled and we are with Christ forever. He is coming for His people a pure people. Verse 14--- a purified bride.

The end of Verse 14 says: "We're eager to do good."

Are you eager to do good? It is not always the easiest thing to do, but we should want to do good.


Homework

Clean and organize a space in your house, a drawer, a room, a closet, etc. As you are cleaning ask God to reveal any area in your life that is junkie. Ask Him to purify you and help you in this area. We all need help. There is none perfect except Christ. Open the drawers of your heart today and let God cleanse you!

Housekeeping

Submission in the Greek is Hupotasso- A Voluntary placement of oneself under the authority and leadership of another.

We are going to peer into this idea, seek it out, and ask God to help us learn the reason for our submission and the blessing that will come when we submit.


Goals for our 4 week study

• Learn God's idea for women
• Clean our junk drawers
• Learn how to serve and why
• Learn the gift of hospitality

All through biblical submission. 

Week 1- God's idea for Women

Let's start at the beginning in Genesis 2:15-18 (Please Read)

The man Adam was the first created human to dwell on the earth. God commissioned him to work and tend the garden that God had made for him. He issued the first command to man in verse 17 when he told Adam not to eat of the fruit. 

So we start out with man, Adam, he is in submission to God. God gave him very specific instructions on how to live, what is expected of him, and what he is not allowed to do. 

God gave Adam a choice to submit to His power and authority. God did not lock the tree up or put a wall around it. He said, "I set before you life or death, choose life." 

1.) Submission gives life

Then we see in verse 18 that God saw it wasn't good for man to be alone. There are many ways God could have chosen to form Eve. The animals came forth and Adam was made from the dust of the earth. He chose however to take her from man. 

Read verses 18-23

I find the next verse very interesting. Verse 24 That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh. God took Eve from Adam then He states that they are to leave their father and mother and become one flesh. Let's dissect the term one flesh. 

Read Matthew 19:4-6

The becoming of one flesh means physical through sex, spiritual the covenant before God, and social the picture of Christ and the Church before men. 

Lebasar-(Hebrew for flesh)- It describes the entire human nature. So with marriage we have the father and the mother giving their children in marriage. The headship of the parent's in the marriage relationship transfers to the husband. The couple leave their father and mother and cleave to each other. There is something to be said of the family participating in the paring of two people. (that's another lesson on the importance of courtship rather than casual dating.)

I think in order to understand the importance of biblical submission we must understand the importance of the marital relationship. 

#2 Submission was God's original design. 

What is the wife's role? 

Let's take a look back at the first wife Eve. She was created to help her husband. What are ways you think she helped her husband? List them. 

She was also created to submit to her husband as the leader that God placed over her. She was the weaker vessel and needed direction. God is a God of order and design. He created the order of the universe: God, Man, Woman, animals. Man was the head of the woman from the beginning. 

What does God require form us as wives? Read Ephesians 5:22-24, 33

The word respect  in verse 33 is the Greek word Phobetai- it literally mans "fear". It can refer to the fear we have toward God. A reverence and respect. 

If we look at our role as wives in relation to the church and Jesus it may put things into perspective. If the church is the bride of Christ and He is her husband we can see the love, fear, respect, and reverence the church has for Christ. That is what we are to imitate. 

#3 Submission shows the world Jesus!

Submission goes against our sinful nature. In Genesis after the fall God told Eve she would desire her husband. This means she would desire to Lord over him. We by nature want to control our husbands. We nag, we boss, we pout, we stomp, we want our own way. And our husbands by nature let us do it. So when you see a godly woman that truly has a converted heart the seeks after God submitting to her husband it shows the world and us a picture of Christ. This is why the enemy is seeking to destroy the marriage. 

HOMEWORK!

1.) PRAY! Pray for God to open your heart to submission. Ask for God to show you areas in your heart that you don't want to give up. 

2.) Speak kindly to your husband! Even if he is irritating you or being ugly to you. 

3.) Submit your body to your husband. Push pass NO! Become one this week in the flesh.