“I am successful and spiritually prosperous because of God’s blessings. My wife is the best God’s gift, blessing in my life, and the best mother of my four children, so I am twice blessed indeed.”
I called my wife Christie – MOM! Did you ever noticed that MOM spelled upside down is WOW? That is because my wife is beautiful and amazing mother of my four children: John, Chris, Elias (Jay) and Chrisha. They are all married with children. My youngest, our daughter Christine Elisha (Chrisha) will celebrate her second Mother’s Day with her husband Steve, and their son Nathaniel.
Our son Christopher’s wife Taylor will be her first Mother’s Day celebration with their daughter Zara Rose.
John, our oldest son with his wife Kristin will celebrate Mother’s Day with their children: Greyson, Harper and Maxwell.
Elias (Jay), our youngest son with his wife Sarah will also celebrate Mother’s Day with their children, Miles Elias and Liliana.
As a mother and a wife, the wife must come first, then the mother. It isn’t correct for a mother to interfere and take priority in her married daughter and son’s life. That said, this is hopefully not a path that has to be walked – to me it’s fine for my spouse to spend time with his/her mother, just the two of them!
Wife is a wife , she can’t be your mother. Mother’s love is unconditional and can’t be replaced by any one that is true. Remember one thing , Mother loves the child because you are born through her, your are her blood. … But wife she is a different blood although she loves you why that is God’s gift and a miracle.
Unfortunately my husband is not around to answer. But I would like to share my observation. My husband and his mother had an extremely close relationship. He loved, almost worshiped his mother. That played a role in my attraction to him. I noticed that soon after I met my husband, and I thought it was beautiful. Later my mother in-law and I loved each other very much too. Around the end of my mother in-law’s life she and I were closer too each other than my husband and her. She died when we were married for about 30 years.
To my surprise it did not devastate my husband. My husband was a medical doctor, so death to him was more natural than for the rest of us. But I was still surprised. One day, I don’t remember what prompted the discussion, he told me that I took over his mother’s role in his life.
In my thoughts I reversed the question, and tried to think who was most important in my life. True, without my mother I would not be here. But not taking that in to consideration, I am almost ashamed to say that I loved my husband more. My parents loved me I know. But my mother used to spank me, quite hard, with the wooden spoon.
I recall when I got married, how I realized one day, and how I felt about the fact that nobody will hit me anymore. We loved each other with my husband very much. We were, as others said, inseparable. He died 8 months ago. I was sad when I lost my parents, but nearly not as devastated as my husband’s death leaves me. We were married for 64 years.
In the Bible, the book of Proverbs 31:10-29 says, “A Wife of Noble Character “10 Who can find a virtuous and capable wife? She is more precious than rubies. 11 Her husband can trust her, and she will greatly enrich his life. 12 She brings him good, not harm, all the days of her life. 13 She finds wool and flax and busily spins it. 14 She is like a merchant’s ship, bringing her food from afar. 15 She gets up before dawn to prepare breakfast for her household and plan the day’s work for her servant girls. 16 She goes to inspect a field and buys it; with her earnings she plants a vineyard. 17 She is energetic and strong, a hard worker. 18 She makes sure her dealings are profitable; her lamp burns late into the night. 19 Her hands are busy spinning thread, her fingers twisting fiber. 20 She extends a helping hand to the poor and opens her arms to the needy. 21 She has no fear of winter for her household, for everyone has warm clothes. 22 She makes her own bedspreads. She dresses in fine linen and purple gowns. 23 Her husband is well known at the city gates, where he sits with the other civic leaders. 24 She makes belted linen garments and sashes to sell to the merchants. 25 She is clothed with strength and dignity, and she laughs without fear of the future. 26 When she speaks, her words are wise, and she gives instructions with kindness. 27 She carefully watches everything in her household and suffers nothing from laziness. 28 Her children stand and bless her. Her husband praises her: 29 “There are many virtuous and capable women in the world, but you surpass them all!”
These verses describe an ideal woman whose virtuous qualities are both a challenge and an encouragement to women striving for the same excellence. The verses form an acrostic or alphabetical poem, with each verse beginning with successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet. The term translated “virtuous” (Proverbs 31:10) refers elsewhere to strength, ability, efficiency, wealth, and valor. She works late into the night (Proverbs 31:18). Earlier, the book noted that an understanding wife is from the Lord (Proverbs 19:14). Here, that gift from God is described in detail. The key to the character of this worthy woman is found in the fact that she “fears the Lord” (Proverbs 31:30; cf. 1:7). The book begins and ends by focusing on this motivating concept.
Elias A. Busuego, Jr., PhD, DTM is self-described as “proud of the only two women in my life – my wife and my daughter (with her husband and one grandson & one granddaughter). I am also proud of my three sons: John and his family (two sons & 1 daughter); Christopher and his family (with his wife and one grandson & one daughter); and Elias Jr. IV and his family (with his wife and one son & one daughter), who are all serving in the U.S. military.” The author states that he read the Bible back-to-back, and learned the history behind it, but did not understand its deeper spiritual perspective until he experienced of being Born-Again, born in spirit.
Since he was Born-Again on March 17, 1972, he started understanding the Passage and/or Scripture on John 3:3-7 NLT.
These are most of his favorite verses. In John 3:3-7 NLT says, “3 Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God.”
4 “What do you mean?” exclaimed Nicodemus. “How can an old man go back into his mother’s womb and be born again? "Jesus replied, “I assure you; no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit. 6 Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life. 7 So don’t be surprised when I say, ‘You must be born again.’
In John 3:5 – This statement has perplexed and divided commentators for many centuries. Some traditions have taught that the water denotes physical birth (referring to the “water” of amniotic fluid or even semen) and Spirit to spiritual birth – in which case our Lord Jesus Christ would be saying that a person has to have two births: one physical and the second, spiritual. This view builds upon the preceding context when Nicodemus referred to physical birth. It also points to the parallel our Lord Jesus Christ makes in verse 6. According to this position, our Lord Jesus Christ would have been granting the Pharisee’s point in order to highlight the nature of the second birth as spiritual. Two strengths of this interpretation are that it avoids making the physical act of water baptism a necessity and that it avoids bringing almost a “third birth” idea into the discussion. If water doesn’t refer to natural birth, say its defenders, then our Lord Jesus Christ seems to be saying that a person must be born of their parents, born of water, and born of the Spirit.
Other traditions have taught that the water refers to baptism and the Spirit to spiritual regeneration – thus, our Lord Jesus Christ would have been saying that a person must both be baptized and receive the Spirit in order to enter the Kingdom of God. This view is at times influenced by the belief that the sacrament of baptism is itself a requirement for salvation.
A parallel view makes water refer to baptism but places the emphasis on teaching two steps of baptism; one by water, the other by the Spirit. For support, these views point to the larger context in John where John the Baptist and water baptism are mentioned just preceding the events in Cana and following this encounter with Nicodemus. They also rely on the tendency of previous generations of Christians to equate the mention of water with baptism. But in the first seven chapters of John, water appears in some way (naturally or symbolically) in each chapter. To associate water and baptism too closely makes baptism a higher priority than the Scriptures give it. Here, for instance, if our Lord Jesus Christ was speaking of two completely separate acts, two baptisms, it is odd that the rest of the discussion between our Lord Jesus Christ and Nicodemus never again refers to the subject but revolves entirely around the work of God’s Spirit.
Still other traditions have taught that our Lord Jesus’ reference to water is not physical in either the sense of birth or baptism. The term water is simply another description of the Spirit – or the Spirit’s activity of cleansing and giving life (see John 7:37-39).
In John 3:6 – Humans can produce only more human beings; this answers Nicodemus’s question in verse 4. Only God the Holy Spirit gives new life from heaven. At the same time God puts His Spirit into us, we are given a new regenerated human spirit. It is God’s Spirit, not our effort, that makes us children of God (John 1:12). Our Lord Jesus’ description corrects human hopes that we might somehow inherit goodness from parents or earn it by good behavior, church background, or correct associations. At some point we must be able to answer the question: Have I been born of the Spirit?
In John 3:7 – Our Lord Jesus’ statement to Nicodemus that evening has been heralded to all the world ever since. Both Jew and Gentile have heard the divine mandate: You must be born again. Without the new birth, one cannot see or enter into the Kingdom of God. In those words, millions have heard our Lord Jesus Christ speaking directly to their hearts and our hearts. Behind our Lord Jesus’ challenge is His invitation to each of us –” You must be born again; allow me to do that for you.”
Since he was born again on March 17, 1972, he started also understanding his other favorite Passage on Romans 12:2 NLT.
“Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.”
When Elias offered his entire self to God, a change happened in his relation to the world. As one of Born-Again Christians, he believes we are called to a different lifestyle than what the world offers with its behavior and customs, which are usually selfish and often corrupting (Galatians 1:4; 1 Peter 1:14).
He commented that Born-Again Christians are to live as citizens of a future world. There will be pressure to conform, to continue living according to the script written by the world, but Born-Again Christian believers are forbidden to give in to that pressure.
But refusing to conform to this world’s values must go even deeper than the level of behavior and customs – it must go to the transforming of the way we think.
In Elias testimonies as a Born-Again Christian believer, he emphasized that born-again is an experience and he experienced a complete transformation from the inside out. And the change must begin in the mind, where all thoughts and actions begin. Much of the work is done by God’s Spirit in us, and the tool most frequently used is God’s Word. As we memorize and meditate upon God’s Word, our way of thinking changes. Our minds become first informed, and then conformed to the pattern of God, the pattern for which we were originally designed. When we as Born-Again Christian believers have had our minds transformed and are becoming more like our Lord Jesus Christ, we will know what God wants and we will want to do it for it is good, pleasing to God, and perfect for us.
It is from those gleanings that he was able to write this book.
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One thought on “Happy Mother’s Day!”
Beautiful! Thank you for your passion in reaching out for the souls for the kingdom of God
Beautiful! Thank you for your passion in reaching out for the souls for the kingdom of God