Page 22
Healthy Homes & Families Natural, Biblical, Healthy Living WisconsinChristianNews.com Sweat Equity By Chris McMahan August 2024 If you’re like 99% of America, 11:35, “Jesus wept.” (ESV).
Volume 25, Issue 4
size and wealth, by souls being saved. Jesus in- vested His sweat equity for US!
He thought the investment of His blood, sweat and tears was worth it. Do you know why He suf- fered? So that might be the first of many in the new
you’ve watched Chip and Joanna Gaines on TV transforming homes
Jesus invested so much so that we could have so much! He deemed us worthy of the investment of His blood, sweat and tears. What about us now? Will we invest our blood sweat and tears into the Kingdom that He died to give us? Do we think the investment is worth it? Will we work now for a reward that does not fade and cannot spoil; even if it is not immediate? Jesus has sweat equity in our lives. Will we yield a good return for Him? He doesn’t flip homes, but He does have a mansion prepared for each of us who have made a salvation transaction with Him. John 14:2, “In my Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.” This place, purchased by Jesus’ blood, sweat and tears…prepared for us, the object of His affection and the profit of His sweat equity. Chris McMahan, Email: Happy1970@icloud.com Please email me if you would like to receive monthly ministry updates.
that look like they belong in the dumpster to literal showplaces. My husband and I have done about a dozen “flip homes” over the
years. It’s not nearly as glamorous as the TV shows make it appear! They are a tre- mendous amount of work, as we do most of it ourselves, but the profit is usually very good because of the sweat equity. We quite literally have blood, sweat and tears into most of the homes we have renovated! Some people might think we are crazy, but we think the return on our investment is worth it. Every home so far has yielded a profit, thankfully. Our Lord Jesus shed blood, sweat and tears. He was a man like us…and yet also…He was God. He cried, He sweated, He bled. Isaiah 53:5, “But He was pierced for our transgressions; He was crushed for our iniquities; upon Him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with His wounds we are healed.” (ESV) Luke 22:44, “And being in agony, He prayed more earnestly; and His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.” (ESV). John
covenant so that He could call us brothers! So that we could be adopted as sons of God through His sacrifice. So that no longer was animal sacrifice necessary to make our relationship with God right, but His sacrifice was enough for all times. The sweat equity Jesus put into His earthly life was for a profit, a Kingdom profit. We are that profit be- cause we are the Kingdom! The Kingdom grows, in
This is What I’ve Learned...
... About a Matched Set
By Layton Howerton August 2024 I know you’re familiar with the term, a “matched set.” But you’re p r o b a b l y
marriage will become a “Matched Set” and this is what I’ve learned about how you’ll know when this has occurred in your marriage… When your names have become synonymous with one another and folks can’t refer to the the two of you without saying both of your names, like, Rob & Lisa, Dave & Mi- chelle, Mike & Kathy… then you’ll know you’ve become a matched set! These are just a few of the couples I’ve had the privilege of knowing in my lifetime that are “Matched Sets” — who truly have
thinking of things like salt and pepper shakers, his ‘n her towels, you know, the kinda things that are ob- viously a matched set. But in this month’s edition of WCN, I want to share with you a different meaning… To musicians like me, a matched set is the beau- tify blended sound of two different instruments being played together at the same time. And this
understanding of a matched set is what I want to share with you on how I’ve come to view the truly devoted couples I’ve known in my lifetime, who through thick and thin, for better or worse, richer or poorer, in sickness and health, have played and stayed together over the years, never allowing their, “I do’s,” to be- come “I don’ts” — who truly together are, a matched set! Now individually, both persons are uniquely different instruments, but when playing together, they make the most beautifully blended sound in all the world!
become “One-In Christ” together, which is the way our Heavenly Father always intended Holy Matrimony to be, when “Two shall become one!” So remember this as you move forward in your marriage each and every day… “The older the fiddle, the sweeter the music.” Because old love between a matched set is more precious than silver and gold, or any new love!
I sometimes use this illustration when I’m performing a marriage ceremony, by referring to the parents and grandpar- ents of the newlyweds, as a living illus- tration on how to make a lifetime of beautiful music together, by staying in step, in tune, and in time with each other, as a matched set. Ephesians 5:25 says, “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the Church and gave Himself for her.” And likewise, wives should do the same.
My hope and prayer for you is that your
Made with FlippingBook Converter PDF to HTML5