Category: Inspirational Verses

Lead a Quiet Life, Mind Your Own Business, and Work with Your Own Hands

1 Thessalonians 4

Plea for Purity

4 Finally then, brethren, we urge and exhort in the Lord Jesus that you should abound more and more, just as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God; 2 for you know what commandments we gave you through the Lord Jesus.

3 For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you should abstain from sexual immorality; 4 that each of you should know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, 5 not in passion of lust, like the Gentiles who do not know God; 6 that no one should take advantage of and defraud his brother in this matter, because the Lord is the avenger of all such, as we also forewarned you and testified. 7 For God did not call us to uncleanness, but in holiness. 8 Therefore he who rejects this does not reject man, but God, who has also given us His Holy Spirit.

A Brotherly and Orderly Life

9 But concerning brotherly love you have no need that I should write to you, for you yourselves are taught by God to love one another; 10 and indeed you do so toward all the brethren who are in all Macedonia. But we urge you, brethren, that you increase more and more;

11 that you also aspire to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you, 12 that you may walk properly toward those who are outside, and that you may lack nothing.

 
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The Comfort of Christ’s Coming

13 But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope.

14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus.

15 For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. 16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore comfort one another with these words.

~Break Free~

“The enemy wants you to suffer from a case of mistaken identity.  Makes his job a whole lot easier.  And makes your defenses a lot weaker.  He’s working overtime to mask your identity in Christ, to keep the truth from coming out–that you are indeed alive and free and empowered by God’s own Spirit to fight victoriously against him.

He’d rather conspire to keep you in a constant state of mourning, grieving over who you wish you were, instead of relishing who you really are.  He prefers you insecure and crippled by self-doubt.  Lifeless. Comatose.

But his reign of terror is over in our lives.  Because now we know the truth.  God has ‘made us alive together with Christ’ and has ‘raised us up with Him and sealed us with Him in heavenly places’ (Ephesians 2:5-6).  We will put our helmets on and stand firm against the attacks of the enemy.”  ~Priscilla Shirer

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LORD, I repent of the lies I have believed about myself, and given to me by the enemy to stifle me in despair.  Help me break the chains of servitude to the devil so that I may be truly free in You.  ~Amen

HYOWM AYWB~The Day of Job

As feelings of desolation, gloom, and hopelessness pervade my being I am reminded by the Helping Spirit that Job suffered just like me.  No other account in the Bible relates the human condition of losing everything when it seemingly makes no sense like the Book of Job.  Hence there I find my only solace.

I can completely relate to his story and I am so thankful it is in the Bible, and that I am acquainted with it.  As I lift my head above the churning waves of despair, I get a glimpse of the hope that is my God looking down upon me with affection and love, eager to assuage my pain.

I believe God is using me as He did Job:  to be an example of righteousness to the devil.

It’s not that I am perfect.  I have struggled with difficult things.  Since becoming a Christian I have sinned less and less, but pulling out of a sinful way of thinking has been a long process of two steps forward, one step back.  I have especially fought a battle with sexual immorality.  It isn’t that I am that bad by worldly standards, but that it has taken me longer to perfect the side of myself that seeks romance and relationship.  I think this is typical of most women.

Yet I do get better as time goes by, praise God.  And I believe He has chosen to make an example of me despite these fall backs.

I first lost my marriage when my husband left me.  I then began losing my family as I had known it; my kids gravitated to their father’s house and he remarried, giving them a new family.  I have grieved the loss of their presence as a mother would grieve a literal death of her child.  I fought in utter desperation to try to keep them close to me, all to no avail.  As time went by my hope for having another committed relationship slowly eroded away until I have all but given up on hoping for one anymore, and this is after much effort was exerted on my part to meet someone who completed me.  My business then failed into which I had invested my time, money, heart, and future.  As I go forth trying to carve out a career niche that suits me, I meet mostly dead ends.  I have interviewed for jobs to only be turned down, even when I seemed to be the best candidate or even overly qualified.  God gives me work, but it does not utilize all my talents leaving me feeling like my potential is untapped, and leaving me always unfulfilled.  My financial situation is rather dour and I am in debt.  I have noticed of late that I am having chest pain after moderate aerobic exercise which I never had before.  My friends are left baffled by my circumstances, but instead of understanding this as a Job moment and giving me good counsel, they begin launching into a litany of advice and vain words which only increases my frustration and pain.

I have lost my marriage, my family, my career has stagnated, and now I am losing my health.

Through it all, I have tried to do what modern Christian pastors, counselors, and friends tell you to do:  I have shared my plight with my Christian friends.  The problem is that my failures make no rational sense when you try to explain them, which they inevitably try to do.  My husband did not have to get a new wife two weeks after he left me; my children should not have gravitated to him because I was a doting stay-at-home-homeschooling mom; my business was a shining example of perfection in this region of the United States as I am a highly qualified practitioner with a good reputation in my community; and I have always had exemplary health, am relatively athletic, have low blood pressure, and low cholesterol!  Yet all but one of my few Christian friends have difficulty validating me and my experiences at the least, and at the worst, cause trauma to me with their words which sound harsh to my wounded and sensitive ears.

Like Job’s friends, my primary Christian female friend implies that either I am somehow not being thankful enough for what I have (I am very thankful and thank God without ceasing); that I am focusing too much on the negative side of things because the reality really is not that bad–that I just am going through a hard time and having trouble seeing objectively; that it is not time yet for God to bless me because I am somehow not ready or matured in my faith enough to warrant that yet; or that His purpose is being fulfilled through me in all these failures but I just cannot see it–as if others go through this all the time (and I know they do not).  These false ideas come at me as I try to do as I am told and seek comfort among my Christian sisters.  However, just like Job’s brethren, my sisters do me more harm than good.

The fact is that our Christian culture has adopted an understanding of God’s will as something like this:  If you are obedient, you will be blessed and those blessings will look like success in our world.  Christian fruit has been taken to mean having plenty, being successful in business, and having a close relationship with your children.  You may suffer a little while, but not too long….unless you are being disobedient.  There is no room for extended catastrophic events or Job-like moments in our modern understanding of the Lord.  I would guess this is because we don’t have much cultural memory as Americans of times being very hard, and our understanding of God has been molded along with the advancing affluence of our country.

But sometimes God still makes examples of people like He did Job, and I am here to testify of that.  It is the only explanation that makes rational sense for the things I have endured and continue to endure.  God still wants to show the devil that some put Him first.  Even a new Christian who has only known Him 4 years!

I am tested often but I am not usually consciously aware it is a test at the time, but sometimes I become aware of it during the test or just afterward.  I do not usually try to answer in a way to merely please God, though that would be okay, I believe, but I answer in what I know or feel to be right in the situation.  I know many Christian sisters who would pass these tests too, and I have to ask, as Job did, “Why me, LORD?”  Maybe more of us have Job moments than we can know.  But what I do know, is that I am blessed to be debased in the world.  The lower I become in the world, the higher I become unto God.

I hope I am pleasing God as much as Job did.  Thankfully I can see where Job made his mistake doubting God, and hopefully with Jesus’ strength, I can keep my faith as I keep my love for Him and my neighbor.  I pray the devil can see that there really are some Christians who fear God and shun evil faithfully through pain, loss, and as all worldly blessings fall away.  Thank God for the Bible.  I can find validation and solace here I can literally find no where else:

Oh that my grief were fully weighed, and my calamity laid with it in the balances!  For then it would be heavier than the sand of the sea–

What strength do I have, that I should hope?  And what is my end, that I should prolong my life?  Is my help not within me?  And is success driven from me?

To him who is afflicted, kindness should be shown by his friend, even though he forsakes the fear of the Almighty.  My brothers have dealt deceitfully like a brook, like the streams of the brooks that pass away, which are dark because of the ice, and into which the snow vanishes.  When it is warm, they cease to flow; when it is hot, they vanish from their place.  The paths of their way turn aside, they go nowhere and perish.  The caravans of Tema look, the travelers of Sheba hope for them.  They are disappointed because they were confident; they come there and are confused.  

But what does your arguing prove?  Do you intend to reprove my words, and the speeches of a desperate one, which are as wind?  Yes, you overwhelm the fatherless, and you undermine your friend.  Now therefore, be pleased to look at me; for I would never lie to your face.  Turn now, let there be no injustice; yes, turn again, my righteousness still stands.

So I have been allotted months of futility, and wearisome nights have been appointed to me.  When I lie down, I say, ‘When shall I arise, and the night be ended?’  For I have had my fill of tossing till dawn.  My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle, and are spent without hope.  Oh, remember that my life is a breath!  My eye will never again see good.  The eye of him who sees me will see me no more; while your eyes are upon me, I shall no longer be.  As the cloud disappears and vanishes away, so he who goes down to the grave does not come up.  He shall never return to his house, nor shall his place know him anymore.

What is man, that You should magnify him, that You should set Your heart on him, that You should attend to him every morning, and test him every moment?  How long?  Will You not look away from me, and let me alone till I swallow my saliva?  Why have You set me as Your target, so that I am a burden to myself?  Why then do You not pardon my transgression, and take away my iniquity?  For now I will lie down in the dust, and You will seek me diligently, but I will no longer be.

Behold, my eye has seen all this, my ear has heard and understood it.  What you know, I also know; I am not inferior to you.  You are all worthless physicians.  Oh, that you would be silent, and it would be your wisdom!  Your platitudes are proverbs of ashes….

Be silent with me, and let me speak, then let come on me what may!  Why do I take my flesh in my teeth, and put my life in my hands?  Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him.  

Nehemiah 9 Israelite Story, The Return to Zion

The People Confess Their Sins

9 Now on the twenty-fourth day of this month the children of Israel were assembled with fasting, in sackcloth, and with dust on their heads.[a] 2 Then those of Israelite lineage separated themselves from all foreigners; and they stood and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers. 3 And they stood up in their place and read from the Book of the Law of the Lord their God for one–fourth of the day; and for another fourth they confessed and worshiped the Lord their God.

4 Then Jeshua, Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, andChenani stood on the stairs of the Levites and cried out with a loud voice to the Lord their God. 5 And the Levites, Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabniah, Sherebiah, Hodijah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah, said:

“Stand up and bless the Lord your God
Forever and ever!

“Blessed be Your glorious name,
Which is exalted above all blessing and praise!
6 You alone are the Lord;
You have made heaven,
The heaven of heavens, with all their host,
The earth and everything on it,
The seas and all that is in them,
And You preserve them all.
The host of heaven worships You.

7 “You are the Lord God,
Who chose Abram,
And brought him out of Ur of the Chaldeans,
And gave him the name Abraham;
8 You found his heart faithful before You,
And made a covenant with him
To give the land of the Canaanites,
The Hittites, the Amorites,
The Perizzites, the Jebusites,
And the Girgashites—
To give it to his descendants.
You have performed Your words,
For You are righteous.

9 “You saw the affliction of our fathers in Egypt,
And heard their cry by the Red Sea.
10 You showed signs and wonders against Pharaoh,
Against all his servants,
And against all the people of his land.
For You knew that they acted proudly against them.
So You made a name for Yourself, as it is this day.
11 And You divided the sea before them,
So that they went through the midst of the sea on the dry land;
And their persecutors You threw into the deep,
As a stone into the mighty waters.
12 Moreover You led them by day with a cloudy pillar,
And by night with a pillar of fire,
To give them light on the road
Which they should travel.

13 “You came down also on Mount Sinai,
And spoke with them from heaven,
And gave them just ordinances and true laws,
Good statutes and commandments.
14 You made known to them Your holy Sabbath,
And commanded them precepts, statutes and laws,
By the hand of Moses Your servant.
15 You gave them bread from heaven for their hunger,
And brought them water out of the rock for their thirst,
And told them to go in to possess the land
Which You had sworn to give them.

16 “But they and our fathers acted proudly,
Hardened their necks,
And did not heed Your commandments.
17 They refused to obey,
And they were not mindful of Your wonders
That You did among them.
But they hardened their necks,
And in their rebellion[b]
They appointed a leader
To return to their bondage.
But You are God,
Ready to pardon,
Gracious and merciful,
Slow to anger,
Abundant in kindness,
And did not forsake them.

18 “Even when they made a molded calf for themselves,
And said, ‘This is your god
That brought you up out of Egypt,’
And worked great provocations,
19 Yet in Your manifold mercies
You did not forsake them in the wilderness.
The pillar of the cloud did not depart from them by day,
To lead them on the road;
Nor the pillar of fire by night,
To show them light,
And the way they should go.
20 You also gave Your good Spirit to instruct them,
And did not withhold Your manna from their mouth,
And gave them water for their thirst.
21 Forty years You sustained them in the wilderness;
They lacked nothing;
Their clothes did not wear out[c]
And their feet did not swell.

22 “Moreover You gave them kingdoms and nations,
And divided them into districts.[d]
So they took possession of the land of Sihon,
The land of[e] the king of Heshbon,
And the land of Og king of Bashan.
23 You also multiplied their children as the stars of heaven,
And brought them into the land
Which You had told their fathers
To go in and possess.
24 So the people went in
And possessed the land;
You subdued before them the inhabitants of the land,
The Canaanites,
And gave them into their hands,
With their kings
And the people of the land,
That they might do with them as they wished.
25 And they took strong cities and a rich land,
And possessed houses full of all goods,
Cisterns already dug, vineyards, olive groves,
And fruit trees in abundance.
So they ate and were filled and grew fat,
And delighted themselves in Your great goodness.

26 “Nevertheless they were disobedient
And rebelled against You,
Cast Your law behind their backs
And killed Your prophets, who testified against them
To turn them to Yourself;
And they worked great provocations.
27 Therefore You delivered them into the hand of their enemies,
Who oppressed them;
And in the time of their trouble,
When they cried to You,
You heard from heaven;
And according to Your abundant mercies
You gave them deliverers who saved them
From the hand of their enemies.

28 “But after they had rest,
They again did evil before You.
Therefore You left them in the hand of their enemies,
So that they had dominion over them;
Yet when they returned and cried out to You,
You heard from heaven;
And many times You delivered them according to Your mercies,
29 And testified against them,
That You might bring them back to Your law.
Yet they acted proudly,
And did not heed Your commandments,
But sinned against Your judgments,
‘Which if a man does, he shall live by them.’[f]
And they shrugged their shoulders,
Stiffened their necks,
And would not hear.
30 Yet for many years You had patience with them,
And testified against them by Your Spirit in Your prophets.
Yet they would not listen;
Therefore You gave them into the hand of the peoples of the lands.
31 Nevertheless in Your great mercy
You did not utterly consume them nor forsake them;
For You are God, gracious and merciful.

32 “Now therefore, our God,
The great, the mighty, and awesome God,
Who keeps covenant and mercy:
Do not let all the trouble seem small before You
That has come upon us,
Our kings and our princes,
Our priests and our prophets,
Our fathers and on all Your people,
From the days of the kings of Assyria until this day.
33 However You are just in all that has befallen us;
For You have dealt faithfully,
But we have done wickedly.
34 Neither our kings nor our princes,
Our priests nor our fathers,
Have kept Your law,
Nor heeded Your commandments and Your testimonies,
With which You testified against them.
35 For they have not served You in their kingdom,
Or in the many good things that You gave them,
Or in the large and rich land which You set before them;
Nor did they turn from their wicked works.

36 “Here we are, servants today!
And the land that You gave to our fathers,
To eat its fruit and its bounty,
Here we are, servants in it!
37 And it yields much increase to the kings
You have set over us,
Because of our sins;
Also they have dominion over our bodies and our cattle
At their pleasure;
And we are in great distress.
38 “And because of all this,
We make a sure covenant and write it;
Our leaders, our Levites, and our priests seal it.”

The Light at the End of the Tunnel

  

I recently went on an epic bike ride with my son and it involved riding on an old train track that has been turned into a bike path.  We went through 10 tunnels and over many trestle bridges.  The highlight of the ride was an amazingly long 1.7 mile tunnel which we went through twice, going and coming.  I noticed something about light and tunnels which I never realized before:  the light is much farther away than it seems.

The tunnel ride was a bit nerve wracking for me because my 7 year old was riding along with me and I kept anticipating worse-case scenarios.  I was already slightly unsettled upon entering the tunnel because our headlights we had bought and planned to use were insufficient for the complete darkness of the tunnel, which gets pitch black like a cave.  We had to turn around and rent brighter lights for our bicycles.

So when I began seeing the natural light at the end of the tunnel, my heart leapt for joy at exiting the tunnel without mishap.  However, I noticed that the rest of that tunnel ride seemed twice as long as I felt like it should be; I kept feeling like we should be nearing the exit but the exit stayed a really long way off yet.

I take from this a teaching about life:

Light beckons to us with warmth and with the promise of a happy ending, but we might still be in our tunnel much longer than we feel like we should be.  We might not be able to see much progress because that speck of light does not grow very quickly, but just glows as a steady companion and promise from God that He is there, waiting.

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We may feel anxious about how far off the light remains, but to stay in the darkness is not a viable choice once we have seen the light.  We must hurry toward it!  Thank you for Your Light, LORD.  ❤

 Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”  ~John 8:12

Commitment to Man

But Jesus did not commit Himself to them, because He knew all men, and had no need that anyone should testify of man, for He knew what was in man.  ~John 2:24-25

This is exactly how I feel increasingly of late.  Yet if I say it out loud, people would call me a ‘jaded’ or ’embittered’ woman.  I see how men consistently are, and I am reticent to commit myself to any of them because most men I meet and know are of the world, even if they profess to be Christians.  Men unanimously exude the traits of selfishness and lust, and often thanklessness, way too often for me to want to be involved with them.  Combine that with their natural proclivity to be prideful (a typical male characteristic), and, well, you have a recipe for being ensnared in your life.

I am beginning to come on board with Paul’s line of thinking that if you are single, it is best to stay single in order to fulfill God’s will as much as possible.  It is nigh on impossible to find a male worthy of a Godly woman, and I propose that it is getting harder as time goes by and more and more people fall away from the church.

It gives me comfort to know Jesus felt the same way about men.  I feel validated.  The world may call me jaded, but I will accept that because I would rather be jaded with Jesus, than foolish with men.

 

 

Posers

Among the many who profess the Christian faith, scarcely one in a thousand reveals any passionate thirst for God.  ~A.W. Tozer

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For the Love of Money

Now godliness with contentment is great gain.  For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out.  And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content.  But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition.  For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.  ~1 Timothy 6:6-10

If You Cannot Love Your Neighbor, You Cannot Love God

Matthew 22:36-40 New King James Version (NKJV)

36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?”

37 Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”

We are not loving God with all of our heart, soul, and might if we are not loving our neighbor as ourselves.  This is illustrated in this verse very well:

“Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift.”  ~Matthew 5:24-25

This is also supported by the old testament scripture that teaches us that obedience is better than sacrifice (1 Samuel 15:22), because we cannot sacrifice ourselves or an offering unto God knowing that we have not been obedient to his other great command to love our neighbor as we love ourselves.  God does not want us to come before him with false piety and righteousness when we have trespassed against or offended our neighbor.

Therefore if we cannot love our neighbor, we cannot love God.

~selah

And They Shall Become One Flesh.

Man and his Wife

And the Lord GOD called, “It is not good that the man is separated from his feminine equal, and a helper to be a mate.”

And the Lord GOD formed from the ground every living thing of the land, and every living bird of the heavens, and brought them to the man to see what he would proclaim their name to be.

And the man proclaimed all which were breathing and alive with their name; he proclaimed names to all cattle and to all the birds of the heavens, and to every living thing of the land.

But to Adam there was not found a helper to be a mate.

And the Lord GOD caused a deep sleep to fall on the man, and he slept, and Yahweh took one rib from his ribs and closed the flesh beneath.

And the Lord GOD made from the rib which had been taken from Adam a woman, and brought her to the man and called the man, “This at last is a body from my body, and flesh from my flesh.  For this I proclaim ‘Woman’ because from man she has been taken.”

Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and cling to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.

And they were both nude, the man and his wife, and they were not ashamed.

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I have explored the subject of monogamy from nearly every angle imaginable.  Experiencing the parameters of relationship was an intense interest of mine while I was still married.  I even seriously considered going back to school to study anthropology as it applies to human intimacy such was my obsession with this subject.

I succeeded at monogamy for about 22 years, so I know a bit about it; the high points and the low.  The bliss and the brokenness.  I dabbled in polyamory for many years, mostly in my mind, but occasionally in my flesh as well.  I found this dynamic to be my preferred one.  More love was euphoric, why settle for just one love?

I have contemplated, philosophized, debated, meditated, and imagined the realm of relationships possible in life and lived most of them out, from ascetic to swinger.  I have blogged-and deleted-posts of emphatic feeling one way or the other depending on my perspective at any given time.  I swing this way and I swing that way (pun intended).  And I acknowledge that it is a very complex issue, this one of human intimacy and sexual loving.  Perhaps the most difficult one we face in our tenure here on earth.

I know from intense research that the Bible does not make polygyny a sin, which means one man can marry more than one woman, and which much of the world still practices today.  It makes sense also practically for a man to take care of more than one woman, and for women to be co-wives; women and men both are suited to this, and children can benefit as well in certain situations.  That it is not expressly forbidden in the Torah is profound, and meaningful.

Beyond the law however, when we look to the stories of the Bible, it is clear that in every case of polygyny, even in the most blessed sons of God, like Abraham, families and their future seed suffered negative consequences from being married to more than one wife.  Often in the Bible the children of different mothers aggrieve each other, war with each other, and murder each other out of maleficence born from their familial birthright or lack thereof.  This is a grave teaching from God through His prophets for us with eyes to see and ears to hear.  Indeed the first example of polygyny was in Lamech, seven generations from Adam, the man who was noteworthy for vengeance and bloodthirstiness.  And no matter how noble and honorable the patriarchs Abraham and Jacob (Israel) were, their practice of polygyny caused serious problems in their people which even extends into our modern world!

Polygamy is not a sin, and even though more love seems like a good idea, and man in his flesh might be hardwired for this.  From the very beginning, a couple of key points are unmistakably monogamous.  God takes one rib from Adam and closed the flesh beneath.  One rib equals one woman.  Closing the flesh implies it is done.  Then the man and woman become one flesh.  If they become one flesh, they essentially become joined physically and psychically to the point cleaving apart would cause much destruction and pain.

This is God’s ideal state for man and woman.  A bit further into the creation story God also makes man in His image, male and female He makes them.  But I also know that God can manifest Himself in a myriad of forms and ways, and He has unlimited names for Himself.  In this way, man could make himself fit more than one woman, easily as well, as he is made in the image of God.

The Apostle Paul is clear on this subject regarding bishops in the early church:

A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, temperate, sober-minded, of good behavior, hospitable, able to teach; 3 not given to wine, not violent, not greedy for money, but gentle, not quarrelsome, not covetous; 4 one who rules his own house well, having his children in submission with all reverence 5 (for if a man does not know how to rule his own house, how will he take care of the church of God?); 6 not a novice, lest being puffed up with pride he fall into the same condemnation as the devil.  ~1 Timothy 3:2-6

Overall, it requires the Holy Spirit moving in man for each man to know the path God has in mind for him.  Monogamy is not for everyone, and neither is polygamy.  It is almost certain that while not a sin, polygamy will cause familial pain and strife.  Finally, pastors and church leaders are called to be monogamous, at the very least.

~selah