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It's not about us.
It's all about Him.

Richness in Christ

Words That Burn in My Heart

Where and How Does Riches in Christ Begin?

Riches in Christ and the Journey into Community

There is a point at which the journey into richness takes us outside ourselves and into community. It just happened again. It's Saturday afternoon. I'm sitting at the computer, alone with my thoughts. Reflecting. Barb came into the room just as I was beginning to sob and cry my heart out over some issues that had been building for some time and were really tearing at my heart. For awhile she just held me while I sobbed, then as I began to quiet down, she sat down on the floor next to my chair and simply, quietly, compassionately said, "Talk to me". And I did. Without reservation, or fear I just poured it all out while she compassionately entered into my pain and listened. It was a time when our hearts were one.

The journey into richness is not to be walked alone; it is to be walked together. It's about bearing one another's burdens. It is about oneness with others, about learning community. And living in community. The Kingdom of God is community based and is lived out through richness in Christ. Jesus said, "Where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there with them." Heaven itself is community based: "In my Father's house are many rooms...".

The Jesus Journey is also community-based:"Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another."

For me, the place where love, community, Kingdom and richness in Christ begin to deepen, and take on substance and meaning, is marriage, the uniting of two hearts into one.

Marriage is the means by which beauty breaks forth into the world. It is where church begins. It is where all those things God placed within us at conception are given expression, nurtured, finely-tuned and then joyfully burst forth onto the landscape of our lives. The uniting of one man one woman is the primary earthly relationship. It is where love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, kindness, faithfulness, goodness and self-control are given flesh.

Marriage is where we learn that commitment means living with the results. We learn the strength and truth of living in community, and are encouraged for the journey. It is where we learn lessons that apply to all of life for we learn the price and the rewards of "for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health until one shall lay the other into the arms of the Lord" . The extent to which we are faithful to that we experience richness in Christ, and the Kingdom of God is present. If we handle marriage well, we'll also handle community and Kingdom well.

Next to Jesus, Barb and I are the centers of each other's lives and a precious presence at the core of each other's being. We seek to love each other as Christ loves us and are ready to pay whatever price that commitment exacts. We are at times tempted and buffeted by all kinds of realities and circumstances. Yet at the same time we know that we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us. We know that we can live by the promise that every child of God defeats this evil world by trusting Christ to give the victory, and we know that those who win the victories over this world are those who believe that Jesus is the Son of God, for in Christ lie hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

"Where two or three are gathered in my name I am there with them". The integrity of living this out in our marriage is crucial to the integrity of the rest of the journey because integrity begins with me, in my own home, and in my own marriage. If integrity is not fully present here, then neither will community nor the Kingdom of God be present. If integrity is not fully present in my relationship with Barb, it will not be present in my relationship with others. I will never experience richness in Christ and I will never be a cornerstone in anyone's foundation, an issue we'll pursue in just a few pages..

Marriage is...
A life worth living
A love worth finding
A peace worth having
A faith worth walking
A risk worth taking
A price worth paying

For marriage is community, Kingdom, church and richness in Christ in its purest form ...and opens the door to the rest of the journey.