commitment | Wordscroll

Today I give honor to a couple that are near and dear to my heart. In fact, I have known them all my life–they are my mom and dad, Tom and Grace Bloxsom.

Today they celebrate something that is very rare and wonderful–

→ 76 years of marriage ♥

Very few will ever accomplish such a feat; sadly, these days, most do not even try. Sin, selfishness and rebellion have given marriage a negative connotation; but my parents have lived and demonstrated it in the true meaning of the word, two lives joined together as one–for always.

As anyone that has been married can attest, it is not always easy, and often can be hard work, but it is the commitment that determines the outcome. For my parents, this commitment has been non-negotiable. For better or worse, in good times and bad, sickness and in health, they have remained faithful to their vows and to each other.

So today, and every day, I honor them! ♥

Their commitment to each other and their willingness to persevere, even in the tough times has given them a resilience, also rarely seen in the elderly. At the ages of 95 and nearly 98 my parents are independent and their minds are sharp! In this, I believe, God too, has honored them; as they have lived their lives in honor to Him and their marriage–in honor to each other.

“And he said to him, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it. You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'” Matthew 22:37-39

Who is our closest neighbor but those living in our own household? If you have failed the second commandment, it is likely that you have failed the first. Repent, and give honor to God; from Him, receive what you need to honor and love your spouse.

Is He truly Lord of your life or are you?

I believe He has something very special in store for you, when you sort that one out–it’s not too late!

God is faithful, even when we are not, for He cannot deny Himself.

“‘This saying is sure: If we have died with him, we shall also live with him; if we endure, we shall also reign with him; if we deny him, he will also deny us; if we are faithless, he remains faithful–for he cannot deny himself.'” 2 Timothy 2:11-13

Seek Him with your ‘whole’ heart!

So, this year brings another special, momentous, and rarely seen occasion, Our family business–Bloxsom Roofing Company; founded by my grandfather in 1925, now 100 years old! My dad began working for his dad in this business when he was just 12 years old. He and his brothers retired from it and passed it down to my brothers and cousins; it is still family run, now by my brother and cousin’s son, to this day. I am told that less than 1% of family businesses make it to 100 years. Just as in marriage, it takes commitment–perseverance in good times and bad. It takes commitment to each other when you don’t always agree. It takes honor, faithfulness, honesty and integrity. It takes a foundation built on the principles that God placed before us in His Word, the Holy Scriptures–it takes forgiveness and love.

My grandpa will be so pleased to learn that his business carried on for many years, long after he left to join the Lord in his forever home. . .

I expect he already knows ♥

Do you see? As hard as this life is, with its ever-increasing stress–the intensity of coldness increasingly taking over the hearts of men–yet you can accomplish it all by first receiving Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. Above all, give first, your honor to God. If you commit to Him, and to placing others before yourself–from your communion with Him you will receive all you need to do this. From His Presence, and from reading His Word, you will ever-increasingly be taking on His characteristics and His nature and then–naturally–love your neighbor as yourself.

“‘You shall not kill. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal. You shall not bear false witness. Honor your father and mother, and You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'” Matthew 19:18-19

This is the legacy my grandparents lived–handed down to my parents, and they have modeled for their world.

Thank you, mom and dad ♥ Today, every day, I honor you!

“‘Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land which the Lord your God gives you.'” Exodus 20:12, Deut. 5:16

“Give respect to your father and mother, for without them you wouldn’t even be here. And don’t neglect them when they grow old. Embrace the truth and hold it close. Don’t let go of wisdom, instruction, and life-giving understanding. When a father observes his child living in godliness, he is ecstatic with joy–nothing makes him prouder! So may your father’s heart burst with joy and your mother’s soul be filled with gladness because of you.” Proverbs 23:22-25 TPT

Quit picking up the dress and looking into things you should not see.

My people should have modesty and leave the rest, the unseemly, to Me. I know your curiosity leads you to the unknown, but I would spare you the heartache of what you will find. For the world has developed an insatiable desire for fiery things, but it is strange fire and this provokes anger within Me. For they are led forth, enticed, by the enemy of their souls and yet they wonder where I’ve been.

“He who loves his life, loses it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If any one serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there shall my servant be also; if any one serves me, the Father will honor him.” John 12:25-26

I do not see you dirty, for I have washed you in My Blood.

No, but My desire for you is innocence and that your ‘incline’ would be for Me. You see I was the one who loved you first–I AM He who loves you wholly.

The master of evil, he whom entices, does not love you, nor can he. To him you are insignificant–a mere pawn in a chess game; it is not for you that he plays. Do you see that he has nothing more to lose?

Come away from the game–just walk away.

I love you more.

I have better things in store than what you now see. Come away with Me.

“Do you not know that he who joins himself to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For, as it is written, ‘The two shall become one.’ But he who is united to the Lord becomes one spirit with him. Shun immorality. Every other sin which a man commits is outside the body; but the immoral man sins against his own body. Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God? You are not your own; you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.” I Corinthians 6:16-20

“Let the marriage bed be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled; for God will judge the immoral and adulterous.” Hebrews 13:4

“No one after lighting a lamp puts it in a cellar or under a bushel, but on a stand, that those who enter may see the light. Your eye is the lamp of your body; when your eye is sound, your whole body is full of light; but when it is not sound, your body is full of darkness. Therefore be careful lest the light in you be darkness. If then your whole body is full of light, having no part dark, it will be wholly bright, as when a lamp with its rays gives you light.” Luke 11:33-36

“Let your loins be girded and your lamps burning, and be like men who are waiting for their master to come home from the marriage feast, so that they may open to him at once when he comes and knocks. Blessed are those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes; truly, I say to you, he will gird himself and have them sit at table, and he will come and serve them. If he comes in the second watch, or in the third, and finds them so, blessed are those servants! But know this, that if the householder had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would have been awake and would not have left his house to be broken into. You also must be ready; for the Son of man is coming at an hour you do not expect.” Luke 12:35-40