A Good Marriage - Getting Out of the Rut

Breaking the mold by which we live is a great way to keep our marriage fresh and interesting. Getting into a rut will make our relationship seem stale and boring. Our heart will wander, and we can fall into Satan's trap that he inevitably sets for us.

Instead, if we continue to date one another, rather than getting lazy and spending more time with our own friends and interests than with each other, our unity will grow. We feel more loved and cherished when we spend this mutual time together.

Taking turns to plan romantic evenings, even getting the babysitter, and making reservations or buying tickets, will show our spouse that we care about their interests as well as our own. Even if we simply get a milk shake or coffee together and chat and laughing together for hours, our unity grows.

Children require a great deal of attention and care. Working together as a couple to help our children, also helps our relationship. Rather than trying to compete with our children for our spouse's time and energy, we actually expedite childcare by doing it together.

This way we have more time, energy and attention for one another and neither one of us gets ignored or snapped at by a tired, grouching mate. We also have the energy to care about how we look, dress and smell, which improves our intimacy.

Getting "in the mood" takes timing and effort. If we approach our spouse when they are in the middle of some chore or endeavor, it is hard for them to switch gears and to make us the focus of their attention. Men are often ready to engage physically in no time; however, women need slow, deliberate attention prior to their fulfillment.

As we forgive one another frequently, this keeps resentment from growing between us. Taking time to snuggle every day will also insure that our lines of communication stay open. When we focus on what we love about each other, emotional intimacy is a wonderful prelude to physical intimacy.

Prayer:

Father God, it is often hard to adjust to relationships. We are merrily single, and suddenly we are no longer free to be, do and say what we want to. Yet, living alone can cause our soul to die from loneliness a little bit each day, unless we use our time wisely, and minister to those that You bring into our life.

We want to abide in Your shadow, dream Your dreams for us, and walk in Your Spirit. Remind us to spend alone time with You as we seek to continue spending alone time with our spouse. This focused attention is vitally important for the whole family, and makes us feel like we matter as much as the children, ministry opportunities, friends, vocation, etc.

Thought for the Day:

Our mate is our closest ally and can be our best friend if we invest the time in our relationship; love is accepting one another's faults and successes, and growing together by communicating, being vulnerable rather than prideful, listening to each other, and spending time together.

Victory in Life's Hardships

When, over a lifetime, we lose so many people, pets, homes, job and important items that we hold dear, we sometimes feel discouraged, overwhelmed, depressed and hopeless. We compare our life with Job and feel a kinship with this dear Saint of God.

People often come to us with remedies for our troubles, and they give us advice about what they perceive as possible short-comings in our life. They believe that if we just had enough faith, then our life would turn around in our favor.

This is just not true. However, if we realize that God is still at work for us, in us, and through us during the deep, dark valleys, just as He is on our mountain top experiences, then our attitude, thoughts, emotions, and behavior often change to more positive ones, in spite of our horrid circumstances remaining the same (Philippians 4:8).

Sometimes, we want specific results, and we get discouraged when they do not happen. However, God is still meeting our immediate needs, sharing little "hugs" with us throughout the day, and letting His face shine on us to bring us comfort, encouragement, peace and joy in the middle of our storms (Numbers 6:25-26).

At times, we do not hear God or see Him at work, because we take our focus off Him and put it on our troubles instead (Isaiah 26:3; Hebrews 12:2). Jesus promises us trials in this life, but He already overcame similar situations, and He abides within us (John 16:33).

In our greatest troubles and darkest hours, we are never truly alone. Our supposed friends may reject us, Satan may belittle us and attempt to discourage us, but we have a friend in Jesus (Matthew 26:36-46). We find comfort in God's Word, help through His Spirit's guidance, and strength from the presence of His Trinity within us.

Prayer:

Father God, through Your Word, we always find comfort, direction, support and challenges, which sustain us with victory through life's hardships. You always lift us up in our times of need, ease our suffering in our afflictions, and bring us healing in our infirmities. During His time on this sin-filled globe, Your Son knew similar suffering as we do now.

He committed no sin, and often we do not sin either; but life has a way of weighing us down. Jesus had His union with You to comfort Him, except for His nine hours on Calvary's cross where He died to pay our sin debt for each one of us. Help us to trust in You alone during both our trials and our temptations.

Thought for the Day:

Health, financial prosperity, believing that human values are God's will for us, and expecting God's intervention in our life are not signs of God's favor any more than trials and tribulation are a sign of God's disapproval of us; in this world tribulations is part of life, and we find our comfort in God alone.

Nothing Separates Us from God's Love

Regardless of whether we live on this earth, or die and join God in heaven, or encounter demons or angels, or drown in our fear for today and our worries about tomorrow, or come up against all of the powers of hell, all authentic Believers are convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God's love (Romans 8:38-39).

If we succumb to the scary events in this life, they will capture us in their negative force; however, if we trust only in the Lord, He shelters us in His loving arms (Proverbs 29:25). God fights for us, because the battle belongs to Him (Deuteronomy 3:22).

During His lifetime, Jesus continually proved His power over nature, as well as over the enemies of a Christian life. He will continue to prove this to us too, as we have faith in His faithfulness (Mark 4:39-40). He instructs us by His Word and Holy Spirit each moment of our day.

When we trust in Him, God always delivers us in His timing and way (Psalm 34:7). We simply pray to the Lord, and He answers us. He frees us from all of our fears and worries, as we trust in Him with our whole heart - that means … without reservation (Psalm 34:4).

Even in times of suffering and hardship, God rewards us for our faithfulness to Him, eradicating our worries if we relinquish them to Him in prayer, and giving us courage when we are threatened with insurmountable odds (1 Peter 3:14).

He places His right hand on us to keep us safe, admonishes us not to entertain fear, comforts us with the knowledge that He is our Alpha and Omega, and gives us guardian angels to camp out all around us (Revelation 1:17; Mark 5:36; Psalm 91).

Prayer:

Father God, through Christ, who is our whole reason for living, we present our self to You as one alive from the dead (Colossians 3:3-4). We are a living sacrifice, and we want to be acceptable to You (Romans 12:1). We cooperate with Your Spirit's sanctifying work in our life, and we disengage from this world's terrifying circumstances, and focus on Your Kingdom instead.

Help us also to take our eyes off our fear of our future on this earth, and off the results of our human efforts. Teach us to realize that obedience is what You are looking for from us. Remind us that as we fellowship with other Believers, give testimony to the lost world about Your saving grace, study the Bible, pray, and trust You with our whole life, we will flourish like a tree planted by the water.

Thought for the Day:

Our ultimate joy as a human being is that we benefit from a personal relationship with the Living God on a daily basis; although we started out in life as enemies of God, He reconciled us through the saving grace of salvation by the death of Jesus Christ on Calvary’s Cross.

- Colossians 1:20

Fast Switch

Train engineers have "switches" on the tracks, which they use to alter the direction of engines in order for them to pull their load in another direction. Without this life-saving device, many trains would collide head-on, derail, or have to wait a lengthy time for other trains to get out of their way.

Life uses "switches" to direct us too. Misfortune strikes like lightning, trials appear out of nowhere, and a door slams shut in front of us when we least expect it. We get "gun shy" after a while, fearing when the next adversity will overwhelm us. Some people call it, "waiting for the next shoe to drop."

Our sleep is interrupted by worry, our digestive track suffers with ulcers, bleeding, etc., and we take shallow breaths because our chest muscles are continually clenched tight. We doubt that we actually heard from God, or that He loves and cares about us after all.

Our first line of defense against these constant trials is to take a searching inventory of our body, soul and spirit. Is God attempting to use these issues to communicate that we are somehow off track from His plan for us?

He may want us to change our habits in order to protect our health, or maybe we are walking in the flesh and ignoring the guidance of His Spirit, or possibly He wants us to walk to the edge of our human understanding and then take one more step by faith (2 Corinthians 5:7).

Keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, will give us a peaceful attitude during our trials. He will align our beliefs, values, affections and behavior with His Word. He will use His Truth to free us from some addiction or from dependence on the things of this world, and then give us the mind and divine character of Christ in us (2 Peter 1:4).

Many times, trials come in order to drive us deeper under the shadow of God's wings (Psalm 17:8, 91:4). They increase our dependence on God, and decrease our reliance on our human resources. They may even put us in the right place, at the right time to fulfill God's will for us.

Trials also remind us that we are not in control, and we cannot save our self. They give us the conviction and courage to recall that God is in control and will work out everything for our ultimate good (Romans 8:28), if we trust in Him with our whole heart and walk on the path that He chooses for us.

Prayer:

Father God, help us to walk in the faith that You have a purpose for us in every trial. We can breathe deeply and trust that You are using these events to allow patience to have her perfecting work in our life (James 1:4), so that we are complete in You (Colossians 2:10). By relinquishing our expectations for the outcome of these events, we give You the freedom to keep us in the very center of Your will for our individual life (Ephesians 2:10).

You help us to slay our doubts, and to abide in Your peace and joy. Your Light, Love and Living Water sustain us through every adversity. We trust in You alone, as we depend on Your nurture, compassion and grace. We listen for Your voice to direct our steps, and we refuse to rely on our human understanding. You are worthy of all of our praise, and we give You the glory for everything that we accomplish in Your name.

Thought for the Day:

As we spend time in God's presence within us, our doubts fade, our faith grows, and our dependence on Him alone increases; no adversity, challenge, loss, or worry can defeat us, as long as we trust in the goodness and faithfulness of God.

The Lord is Our Helper

We need a helper from time to time along life's highway. There is only one Being who is always faithful, always available, always nurturing and compassionate, and never ever fails us (Hebrew 13:5-6).

He is our awesome Daddy God, Creator, Sustainer, Author and Finisher of our faith, etc. His love is always patient, kind, unselfish and not self-seeking, not prideful, not easily offended or angered, keeps no record of wrong, and never delights in evil.

His love always protects us, is worthy of our trust, gives us eternal hope and is always faithful (1 Corinthians 13:4-8). His love forgives our multitude of sin, and keeps us on the straight and narrow road, in order to protect us from harm.

Our Father God bears with us, comforts us and embraces us in His everlasting arms. He rejoices when we walk in His truth, as well as when we speak His truth to others and to ourselves. He teaches us that we can do, through Christ, His Son, all things that He created us to do (Ephesians 2:10).

Jesus lives within us by His Spirit, providing all the power of the entire triune Godhead for us to utilize as we need His help with a task, guidance to walk in His will, and protection to keep us safe. These truths always inspire assurance in our heart.

Prayer:

Father God, Your love does not depend on our thoughts, choices or emotions. You freely shower Your affection and protection on all of Your Saints. You created us as human beings, and You have the patience to wait as our character grows through the encouragement of Your love. Therefore, I can do my best and leave the rest up to You.

You teach us that when we give in to Satan’s temptation to give up on our self, You are in our corner believing in our success. Help us to read Your Word, to delight in each thought it reveals, to allow it to divide between our flesh and our spirit in order to make us holy, and to help us to share Your Truth with everyone that we meet.

Thought for the Day:

God loves our humanity, because He made us as mere mortals; we may make mistakes, but God’s love is not contingent upon our works; although He calls us to reach for perfection, He knows that without His grace this goal is impossible for us to achieve on our own.

- Ephesians 2:8-10

Living the Transformed Life

As authentic Believers, we no longer conform to this world, but we are transformed by the renewing of our mind into the mind of Christ. We prove what the good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God is for us (Romans 12:2). In Christ, we are a new creation.

We are no longer encumbered by a dead spirit or rotting flesh. They passed away with Christ on Calvary's cross. Now everything is brand new, exciting, and hopeful (2 Corinthians 5:17). God gives us a new heart of flesh, and a spirit that is now Born Again within us (Ezekiel 36:26).

Therefore, because of the mercies of God, we present our body to Him as a living sacrifice that is holy and acceptable to Him (Romans 12:1). God's Spirit enlightens our understanding, and we realize the hope of His calling on our life, as well as the riches of our inheritance as co-heirs with Jesus (Ephesians 1:18).

There are times when we feel forsaken by Him, or that our circumstances are about to overwhelm us. However, if we change our focus to the confidence that we have in Him, we will have more peace and joy in our life as we trust in Him and His goodness.

God began His good work in us, and He will continue to perform this transformation until we see Jesus face-to-face (Philippians 1:6). He also gave us His Word, which is actually alive, and it is swift to perfect us, and powerful to instruct us.

God's Word is sharper than a two-edged sword; and when we read and study it, it reveals to us the thoughts and intents of our heart (Hebrews 4:12). It divides our carnality from our spirituality, and helps us to bear fruit as branches connected to the Vine of Christ (John 15:5).

Prayer:

Father God, teach us to be sober and vigilant in order to avoid Satan's attempts to devour us (1 Peter 5:8). By using discernment, rather than just believing whatever anyone tells us is true, we are able to recognize false prophets who have infiltrated this world (1 John 4:1). We rejoice that we are justified before You by faith, and that Your peace infiltrates every part of our life (Romans 5:1).

Thank You for changing us into the image of Jesus by Your Spirit, as He transforms us from glory to glory (2 Corinthians 3:18). We love the fact that we are already crucified with Christ; and that, although we still have to live in this world, we are not part of it. Due to the faith of Christ in us, we realize that He loves us and gave Himself as a willing offering to pay the penalty of our sins for us (Galatians 2:20).

Thought for the Day:

Jesus is the Word, who dwelled with God from the very beginning, and He has always been and will always be part of the Trinity of God; everything was made by Him, and He holds it all together; He is the true Light of the world, and in Him there is no darkness; when we receive Him as our Savior and Lord, we receive His grace and His glory as our own.

- John 1:1-51

Spiritual Blindness

This age in which we live is considered the "age of the Gentiles," because God included non-Jews in the focus of His Saints' outreach to the lost. Since Jesus' ministry began, Gentiles are freely included in God's adopted family - the Jews first, and then the Gentiles (Romans 1:16).

Prior to this, His attention was on His chosen people, the Jews. Consequently, there were only a few non-Jews that He included in His family, such as the woman who safely harbored Joshua and the spies in Jericho, as well as Naomi's daughter-in-law, Ruth, etc.

The Messianic Jews embrace Jesus, but there are not many of them. Even within the Jewish population now living in the promised land of Israel, there are few who choose to believe in their Messiah, Jesus Christ. For centuries, the Jews have been "blinded" by Jesus' first humble coming.

As a babe in the manger, Jesus did not resemble the coming King prophesied in the Old Testament writings. Those prophecies represent His second coming, however. Somehow Jewish scholars missed the 300 prophesies that Christ's first coming fulfilled (Isaiah 7:14; Micah 5:2, etc).

After Jesus' resurrection, God led some of the apostles to go and preach to the Gentiles, giving generations since then the opportunity for non-Jewish people to enter His family (Ephesians 1:5). However, when the anti-Christ takes power, God will send a strong spirit of delusion over the whole earth.

This gives the anti-Christ the ability to continue Satan's ministry of deception (2 Thessalonians 2:10-12). Only a few Gentiles will believe during that time, because their worldview and belief system are based on their hardened hearts against the truth of the Gospel of Christ.

The wrath of God is revealed during the Great Tribulation period against all of those who suppressed the Truth of God. Sadly, those who know the Gospel truth, and who refuse to believe it, and who close their mind to its validity, will receive eternal condemnation by their own choices (John 3:18; Romans 1:18).  

Prayer:

Father God, thank You that the 144,000 evangelists - 1200 from each of the twelve Israeli tribes (Rev 14:1-20), will go out into the world and minister to the Jews who are alive during the time of the Great Tribulation, and many will accept Jesus as their Savior and Lord. We are so thankful that You are faithful to Your promises to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, because that means that You are always faithful to Your promises to all of Your Saints.

We cling to the truth of Your Word, revel in the love that You shower us with every moment of our life, and rejoice in Your presence in our life both now and throughout eternity. Help us to rid our life of every "idol" that we embrace now, and prevent us from clinging to any others in the future. Christ is our whole life (Colossians 3:3-4), and we will bow to and worship no other God.

Thought for the Day:

All of those who clearly heard a presentation of the Gospel of Christ during the age of the Gentiles and during the Great Tribulation, and rejected the opportunity to accept Christ as their Savior, will continue to believe the anti-Christ's rhetoric prevalent in the world even today; and they will die in their sins, and eternally reap the condemnation of their own choices - unless they turn their heart to Jesus.

- Titus 1:14; 1 Timothy 4:1-2; John 3:18

  

A Good Marriage - Healing Together

Some people are self-centered and egotistical. They rarely consider the needs of their spouse or family. They demand time to pursue their own interests to the detriment of everyone else around them. Their marriage is doomed to fail, unless they start considering the needs of others in their life.

Conversely, if we are codependent, we will ignore our own needs, and put everyone else's needs first. Then we expect our mate to care for all of our needs. We end up overly burden them with extra duties and expectations. In this case, self-care is an essential element for a good marriage.

Taking some time for our self every day is vitally important to the health of our soul. We end up having more physical and emotional energy to meet the needs in others. We also act more positively, patiently, kindly and lovingly, as well as less irritably and angrily.

There are often childhood or young adult wounds, that we buried in our subconscious mind, that fuel our most irritating habits. They often decide whether we end up as self-centered or codependent adults. These disturbing events imprinted patterns of thought and behavior on our soul, and influence our current habits, personality and idiosyncrasies.

Showing compassion for one another in these areas of brokenness, will help to sever the connection of our soul-ties to these destructive patterns. We can work together to discover the roots of these influences, and find healing from the Lord. This will improve our current relationship.

https://www.transformationprayer.org/preparing-journey-introduction/

In a secure connection with our spouse, we can identify our own failings and strengths, humbly admit when we are wrong, ask for forgiveness, and apologize when we hurt one another. This humility helps us to change the destructive behavior patterns we adopted to deal with and to protect our self against our inner pain.

Once the pain is replaced by the truth, which God speaks to us about our past, we no longer react negatively in these same issues. We are free from the soul-ties that held us in bondage to our brokenness in these areas, because they are no longer deeply rooted in our subconscious mind.

Prayer:

Father God, no matter what our experience has been with our earthly caregivers, the truth is that, as our heavenly Father, You are perfect in all of Your ways. You love us with an everlasting love, and You rejoice over us with singing. You are righteous in all that You allow to happen to us, You do no wrong, and Your justice comes to us morning by morning (Zephaniah 3:5, 17).

Thank You for loving us so much, and for making us part of Your family as Your adopted children. We savor Your blessings that You continually shower us with each day, and we feel secure in Your presence. You are our great God, Almighty in power, deep in wisdom, generous with Your peace and joy, and absolute in Your love. We love You with our whole heart, and rejoice in Your presence in our life.

Thought for the Day:

Our Father God is our perfect parent who loves us unconditionally, cares for our every need, wisely disciplines and perfects us, never abandons us, is interested in all that we think and feel and do, skillfully guides us through the twists and turns of life, generously supplies for all of our needs, is always available to us, and cherishes us as His unique and precious child.

Not of This World

Cattle drives that we see in movies show the riders driving the cattle. However, sheep are not driven, but led. They know their shepherd and willingly follow Him. Jesus instructed us that His sheep hear and recognize His voice, and that He intimately knows each one of us as we follow Him (John 10:27).

Jesus' makes us, His sheep, lie down in thick, green pastures; He leads us to clear, clean water to drink; if we go through the shadow of death, He is with us; goodness and mercy follow us all the days of our life; and we will dwell in His house forever (Psalm 23).

However, if we continue to sin, we do not belong to Him (1 John 3:9). When He convicts us of our sin, and shows us that He knows the secrets of our heart, we will either walk away from Him or fall on our face in repentance and worship (1 Corinthians 14:25).

We cannot find eternal life on our own, even by reading God's Word or by doing good works (Ephesians 2:8-9). It is only as we trust in the Gospel of Christ, and He knows us in a personal union that we are saved and sealed by His Holy Spirit (Matthew 7:21-23; John 6:27).

Then we are able to trust in Him for our salvation and walk in His ways. We reap His blessings continually and enjoy His presence within us (Colossians 1:27). These spiritual truths allow us to see His divine Truth, such as the fact that we are not of this world, and that Christ in us is our only hope of glory. 

When we belong to Jesus, His Spirit replaces in us our sinful attitudes and habits with His spiritual fruit (Galatians 5:22-23). God strengthens us in our inner being by His Spirit, and makes known to us the glorious riches of His mysteries (Ephesians 1:12-13, 3:17; John 5:39).

These spiritual truths allow us to see His divine Truth, such as the fact that Christ in us is our only hope of glory. Then we are able to trust in Him for our salvation and walk in His ways. We reap His blessings continually and enjoy His presence within us (Colossians 1:27).

As children of God, we address Him as our "Abba Father," because He sent the Spirit of His Son into our heart. Even in times of persecution, God's Spirit within us sustains us and also gives us the words to speak when our beliefs are challenged (Galatians 4:6; Matthew 10:19-20).

Prayer:

Father God, when we accept Your Son, Jesus, as our Savior, we have peace with You and pure fellowship with Christ through Your Spirit (1 John 1:3, 7). We rejoice in the fact that although it is always possible for us to get tangled up in sin again, You give us complete salvation - if we choose to walk in it. You also bless us with freedom from our flesh, the world, and the deception of the devil.

Thank You that if we love You, and obey Jesus' teachings, then You will love us, and Your Trinity will come and make Your home in us (John 14:20-23). Just as You and Jesus are one, You are in us as well, which make us one with You too. Jesus will return for us, so that we can abide with Your Trinity for eternity (John 14:3, 17:15, 24). Thank You for protecting us from Satan's lies while we remain on this sin-filled globe, and for giving us Your intimate presence in our heart (John 17:15).

Thought for the Day:

At the moment of our salvation, we are crucified with Christ, and it is no longer we who live, but Christ who lives in and through us; then during the remainder of the life that we live on this earth, we live by His faith in us, because He loves us and gave Himself for us.

- Galatians 2:20

Saving Faith through Christ

Even as Christians, we often get an idea in our mind and run with it. We go from one worldly pursuit to the next, collecting human accolades and storing up treasure on this earth. We eventually find our feet far from the path that God designed for our life (Ephesians 2:10).

We are walking in disobedience and completely out of His will. Every sin spawns from one major offense - the sin of unbelief. Unbelief keeps us out of the Kingdom of God on earth, and prevents us from enjoying eternity with God in Heaven (John 3:16-18).

God demonstrated His love for us by sending Jesus to die for us and to justify us by His blood (Romans 5:5-9). He reconciled us to Himself through Jesus, who gave us this same ministry of reconciliation for others (2 Corinthians 5:18).

We inherit an unbelieving heart from Adam and Eve, but we acquire saving faith from Jesus Christ. He presents us holy in His sight, without blemish and free from any accusation that would condemn us for eternity (Colossians 1:22).

Sin also separates us from God's companionship, which we come to cherish; but restoration is only a humble prayer away. While we were still enemies with God, He saved us from His wrath through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus on earth, who now abides within us (Romans 5:9-10).

God also gave us His Spirit to comfort, guide and teach us all things (John 14:26; 1 John 2:20, 27). When life overwhelms us, and worry robs us of health and God's peace, God gives us ways to return to the center of His love: praying to God who cares, sharing with a fellow Christian who understands, reading His Word for encouragement, and walking in the Spirit one moment at a time.

Prayer:

Father God, our assurance of our salvation though Jesus works in our hearts and transforms us from children of darkness into children of Light (1 Thessalonians 5:5). Then You launch us into the ministry of reconciliation, to bring this same Good News to all of those, which You place in our life (2 Corinthians 5:18).

Help us to take a chance in all of our tomorrows, to share the Good News of Jesus Christ with someone we know, or that we meet by Your divine providence. Help us to share our faith with them simply and distinctly, with conviction and joy. Give us Your courage, wisdom and words to reconcile souls to faith in You.

Thought for the Day:

When we were enemies of God, Christ reconciled us to the Father through His death; now He keeps us on a straight and narrow path, because of our enemies; He also surrounds us with His angels, so that we will not stumble or fall.

- Psalm 27:11, 91:11

Recovering from Grief

We all experience times of grief in this sin-filled life. We reap the consequences of choices that we make, or a choice made by a person of influence over us, and we suffer a loss. We consider this as unfair; and at times, we even blame God for allowing these events to occur.

We grow angry, bitter, skeptical, pessimistic and wary. These attitudes hinder us from finding our way through our grief and healing our inner wounds, especially if we hibernate to our self and meditate on the negative experience that happened to us.

Changing our focus about the event(s), and finding alternative methods of behavior will facilitate a quicker resolution. We never forget the grief, but it no longer hobbles us to the past. Over time, the intensity of the pain can diminish, and we will recover a little more each day.

Fear and remorse from the past will cripple our future, but courageously facing our future will give us the strength to live each current moment with God's Trinity within us. He has perfect plans for our life, and it makes sense for us to discover them (Ephesians 2:10).

We are a person too, and we can ask God to teach us ways to minister to our needs in the same way that we help others. Serving others brings us joy, as it blesses them, and it lightens the burdens that we all share.

We find JOY by serving:

J-esus

O-thers

Y-ourself.

Focusing on what we lost will only set up a negative spiral of emotions, behavior and events in our future. However, changing our focus to what we still have, as well as to what God provides for us each new day, will strengthen us and give us joy.

Entertaining positive attitudes give us more peace and energy to face the future, especially if we serve God with our whole mind, heart, choices and strength (Mark 12:30). Walking in the center of God's will for us guarantees our success.

Prayer:

Father God, each day, and especially during times of loss and grief, You always send ministering "angels" into our life to comfort and fortify our soul. Remind us that we can find the fortitude we need to climb out of our pit of despair by reading and meditating on Your Word, fellowshipping with Your Body, and hearing Your Word preached in classes and sermons.

By this, we find answers to our questions, hope for our future, and healing from our past. We find comfort in Your loving presence within us. Our recovery increases our union and deepens our relationship with Your Spirit who abides within us. Weeping may plague us during our darkest hours, but Your joy is always waiting for us in the morning (Psalm 30:5).

Thought for the Day:

Some of the alternative activities that we can participate in to relieve our grief are simply common sense. A few we will have no interest in trying, but some of them may peak our interest:

1.  Biking, walking, jogging, strolling in nature

2.  Adopting a pet, caring for an elderly relative or neighbor, joining a service organization in our area

3.  Making a "bucket list" of activities that we always wanted to try and doing one thing at a time

4.  Going back to school to finish our degree, pursuing a new career choice, volunteering at community or church outreaches

5.  Searching our soul to discover what will help us to positively face each new day

6.  Spending concentrated time maturing spiritually and walking in God's Spirit's direction for our life

Is Surrender Ever Positive ?

Our culture constantly encourages us to fight … to fight illnesses, fight social injustices, fight animal abuse or extinction, fight to protect our children like a mother bear, etc. I used to follow this line of reasoning too.

I was the "Unsinkable Molly Brown" who escaped from the Titanic's fatal fate. I pulled myself up by my "bootstraps" with every trial that occurred in my life. I also fought any circumstance or person that threatened my security or well-being in any way.

I never gave up, and I thought I was achieving something necessary for my survival. My trials kept getting worse, however, and harder to overcome. I was not always successful, and I lost many battles in which I valiantly resisted the evident outcome.

Then, the biggest battle of all occurred in my life. My former husband decided there was no option for us but divorce. There was no changing his mind. I did not hear from him for 18 months after we separated. Our children said he was pursuing his education and dating other people. I did not know how to fight that.

God provided for my every need during this time. He proved Himself to me as a faithful "husband" (Isaiah 54:5). He nurtured and comforted my soul, protected and provided for me physically, gave me His wisdom and grace, and continued to draw my spirit ever closer in intimate fellowship with Him.

I continued to fight defeat in other areas of my life, such as my job situation, my housing arrangements, my lack of a vehicle, etc. I worked three jobs to pay my bills and to save for the inevitable rainy day. Then, I had a car wreck that broke me, not only my body, but my soul as well.

God continued to provide for me by taking away all physical pain from the accident, great insurance that helped to pay the medical bills, and supportive friends and family. With a fragmented body and soul, I sat in the "ash heap" of my life (Job 46:6).

For the first time, I learned that it takes more courage to surrender than to fight. I turned everything in my life over to God. I stopped treading to keep my head above water. I just floated. I let God decide where His currents would take me, and what lay under the surface of the water that would attack me next.

I surrendered totally and completely to my Father God. He started to show me the miracles that He planted in every single trial that I ever experienced - even divorce and a devastating car wreck. This started a whole new adventure for me, an entirely different walk in faith, and a deeper intimacy with God than I ever imagined was possible.

Prayer:

Father God, life is full or troubles and trials, and I finally realized that You use these negative aspects to prove Your love for us. They make us more complete when we surrender totally to Your will. They mature us spiritually when we embrace them, instead of fighting them. We see Your hand in each one, growing our faith in Your faithfulness (Romans 8:28).

Jesus promised that we would have tribulation in this world (John 16:33), but then He encouraged us to be joyful in all things. That sounds like an oxymoron to the human ear, but You taught me that it is actually the recipe for success. Complete surrender to Your will in our life reduces our stress level. Keeping our focus on You, and not on our circumstances, brings us great joy. You always have our best interest in mind, and we trust in You alone.

Thought for the Day:

When we look around at our life, we can get discouraged, but when we focus our thoughts only on the Lord, rather than on our circumstances, we have victory; even if a trial kills us, we still win, because we are immediately in the presence of our God and King.

- Isaiah 26:3; 2 Corinthians 5:8

Greater is Christ in Us

What was true in Biblical times is true now. He who dwells in the hearts of Christians by his Spirit - Jesus, the Christ - is infinitely mightier than the devil who is in this world (1 John 4:4). The devil is merely, "the ruler of the darkness - of this world only" (2 Corinthians 4:4).

It is the devil’s goal to corrupt and destroy the Believer. He is the father of all lies - the deceiver. He wants to terminate us as persons - body, soul, and spirit. He knows when and where we are most vulnerable, and attacks us when we are at our weakest moments.

The good news is that the devil is under God’s control, and God knows we will prove faithful, because of the work that He is doing in us. The devil has limited power - as much control in our life as we, or as God allows. Our victory over all of Satan's demons and temptations is guaranteed by the blood of Jesus.

In our conflict with sin, temptation, and false teachers, an authentic Christian need never despair, because our God insures us of success by the blood of Jesus, the power in Jesus' name, and God's Spirit that abides within us (1 Corinthians 10:13).

For the Believer, Satan can influence our body and soul - which is our mind, will, emotions; but he cannot touch our spirit, because it is already washed and protected by the blood of Jesus. We access this power by dealing with any issues of guilt, fear, self-rejection and unforgiveness that we harbor toward our self, others, or even of God.

When we draw near to God by taking authority in Jesus' name, and by binding the devil and his demons from our life, they have to flee from us (James 4:7). We take all of our thoughts captive and make them obedient to Christ, casting down our vivid imagination and fantasies, and submitting them to Christ's control (2 Corinthians 10:3-5).

Prayer:

Father God, remind us that although we live in the flesh now, we do not need to walk in the flesh or to fight with the flesh. Our battle is not with the flesh, and our weapons are not carnal or finite, but spiritual (2 Corinthians 10:3-5). Teach us that we are mighty in Christ and can pull down every stronghold that exalts itself against what You teach us in Your Word.

Satan likes to pervert our imagination, influence our emotions and actions, and use us for his purposes. So help us to submit to Your Holy Spirit each moment of the day, and to resist the lies that the devil whispers in our mind, so that He will flee from us (James 4:8). Help us not to give Satan permission to oppress us, and trouble us with his evil spirits, by willfully sinning and forming unholy soul-ties with other people.

Thought for the Day:

If we do not inventory our thoughts and line them up with the Word of God, Satan will enslave our thoughts and use them against us; therefore, we can never grow lax and forget that our battles are won and lost in the recesses of our mind; therefore, we should cooperate as God's Spirit renews our mind with the mind of Christ.

- 1 Corinthians 2:16; Philippians 2:5, 4:8; Romans 12:2

Beauty from Ashes

I started life as a reticent, melancholy individual that would sacrifice anything in order to gain my parent's approval and love. I developed an addiction to pleasing others due to a codependent attitude, and I often ignored my own necessities in order to meet someone else's needs.

As a teen and young adult, I felt anger toward those who abused me when they were supposed to care for me, anger at God for allowing me to grow up in such a situation, and anger at myself for abandoning myself in the process of trying to earn love and acceptance.

In my mid-life years, I learned that anger is part of the grieving process, and is part of our recovery. Anger at God meant that I truly believed in His existence. I started to use a journal to discover the underlying issues that I needed to face, and from which I needed to heal.

As I grew in my understanding of God's ways, experience taught me that He answers our prayers in His own timing and way (Jeremiah 29:12-13). He knows the end from the beginning (Isaiah 46:10), and He often answers our prayers with a "No," because to give us what we want would prevent us from receiving all that He has planned for us (Ephesians 2:10).

God gives us beauty from the ashes of our losses, joy from the tears that we shed, and praise in our heart from the heaviness caused by our circumstances in life. He rebuilds our life from the ruins we experienced in our past, repairs the torn fabric of our current existence, and generously supplies all of our needs in the future (Isaiah 61:3-4).

Prayer:

Father God, we humble our self from under Your mighty hand of discipline and trials. We trust that in Your good timing, You will deliver us and lift us up. We give You all of our worries and cares, because we know that You are aware of all of our needs, that You walk through all of our trials with us, and that You will supply for us and nurture us in the midst of all of our concerns.

Teach us to watch out for satanic attacks on our mind, choices and emotions. He is our greatest enemy, and he prowls around tempting us at our most vulnerable times. Help us to stand firm against his assault by teaching us to trust only in You, and not to rely on our human resources (Proverbs 3:5-6). We know that Your Saints around the world are experiencing trials too, and we pray for them as well (1 Peter 5:6-9).

Thought for the Day:

God, our Father, loves us with an everlasting comfort for our heart, and hope for our future that we do not deserve; He helps us as He directs our paths for each new day; therefore, we have no need to feel anxious about our future, since He will take care of us in His own timing and way as we live for Him each moment of our day.

- 2 Thessalonians 2:16-17; Matthew 6:34

A Good Marriage - Noticing the Little Things

Over the years of our marriage, we often build up resentment and hold grudges toward one another. We feel more and more irritated over each other's habits. We take for granted the myriad of blessings our mate showers on us each day, and even stop noticing them or showing gratitude for them.

A woman needs her husband to intimately share his thoughts and feeling with her. A man needs his wife to admire what he accomplishes with his life, and especially for her. We need one another's empathy over our trials, and understanding over our shortcomings.

Our mate likes to know that we find him/her physically attractive and that we appreciate their choice of hair and clothing styles. This makes us feel more secure and reassured of our attraction and love toward one another. Wives need to feel cherished, and husbands like to be respected.

Really paying attention to our spouse, looking into one another's eyes, and chatting about what is on our mind - even if it is just for a short period of time every day, helps us to feel validated and shows our concern for each other. We assure our mate of our love for them alone, and we care about his/her concerns.

Date nights do not need to be comprised of expensive dinners and elaborate tickets to art, music, literature or sporting events. A simple meal cooked together and eaten at the dining room table, watching a TV movie afterward or taking a stroll around the neighborhood, or giving each other reciprocal massages may be even more effective.

Love and loyalty motivate us to stay faithful to one another. This protects and strengthens our commitment to each other. We feel more secure and joyful with life in general, when we know that we are unconditionally loved, and that our mate is supporting us and watching out for us.

Prayer:

Father God, give us Your Agape love for each other, and help us to feel compassion for one another and to be attentive to each other's interests. Help us to honestly share with each other what is bothering us at home, at work, at church and in our community. Teach us not to tease or make fun of each other, so that we can be vulnerable with one another without fear.

No one wants to fear belittlement, rejection or abandonment; so help us to decrease our mate's stress by showing sympathy toward their issues inside and outside of our relationship. Teach us how to share with our mate what is bothering us about one another, and to brainstorm together to find alternative behaviors that will not trouble us.

Thought for the Day:

Taking an interest in our spouse's interests makes them feel valued and affirmed; when we put everyone else's needs above the needs of our spouse, we send a signal that others are more important to us than our marriage relationship; so, solving these issues together makes us better partners, community members, and parents.

Controlled and Guided by the Spirit of God

During these End Times, there are more false teachers than ever before. Their unorthodox teachings are cutting through the fabric of mainline denominations, who are abandoning the Truth of God's Word in favor of political correctness, seducing spirits, doctrines of demons, and humanistic fables (1 Timothy 4:1).

This gives Pastors and church leaders the responsibility of teaching the conservative truth of Biblical Christianity. New Believers do not instantly walk in their potential as sanctified Saints who are a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17). The Holy Spirit perfects us over the years by renewing our mind with the mind of Christ (2 Corinthians 3:18).

We commence this process by repenting of our sins, and accepting Jesus as our only way of salvation, and our only means of attaining eternal life. We gradually mature spiritually and become complete in Christ (Colossians 2:10).

There is nothing that can happen to us during our lifetime that does not first go through God's gracious hands. Even if we cause some mishap to occur by the lusts of our flesh, the deceitfulness of riches, or the philosophy of this world, God will still work through it to perfect us.

Every task that God calls us to perform is our opportunity to allow Christ to work in us and through us. He gives us His supernatural power to accomplish His will for our life (Colossains 1:29). We are inspired and invigorated by God's Spirit within us (1 Corinthians 3:16; Philippians 2:12-13).

God's Spirit conforms us to the image of Jesus - free of blame, and holy and unblemished - bringing many adopted children from glory to glory (Zechariah 4:6; Ephesians 3:7; Philippians 4:13, 19). We are filled with Christ, under His guidance, and willingly submitted to His control each moment of our day.

Prayer:

Father God, we are controlled in this life by circumstances, or by the will of our flesh and the devil, or by Your Holy Spirit, or by all three at various times and places. Remind us that this is our choice. Fill us so full of Your Holy Spirit that we exhibit the life of Christ to the world around us (Galatians 2:20). We want to walk in Your spiritual fruit, guided and directed by Your perfect plans for our life.

Help us to decrease, so that Christ in us can increase. We want Him to serve as our eyes, hands, feet, thoughts, emotions and behavior, as we conduct the ministry of reconciliation of sinners to Christ. We willingly submit our life to Your control. Teach us how to lift Jesus up, so He can draw everyone to Himself (John 12:32). Use us as You desire, and allow us to see the spiritual fruit of our labors.

Thought for the Day:

Christ in us inspires us to encourage our fellow Saints in times of stress, to comfort each other through times of grief, and to instruct one another in Biblical Truth through His love, power, wisdom, compassion, and inspiration within us.

- Galatians 5:22-23

The Measure of God's Spirit within Us

God gives us the measure of His Holy Spirit within us to profit everyone in our sphere of influence (1 Corinthians 12:7). We have the choice of chaining Him to our unholy, carnal desires, or setting Him free by our desire to live a holy life (2 Timothy 3:12), in order for Him to work in and through us for the glory of God.

God is always close at hand, and is not far away in some heavenly kingdom (Jeremiah 23:23; Acts 17:24-28). We are examples of His goodness, provision, protection, and power in an individual life, and we cling to His mercy, love, peace and joy (John 1:7-9; Ephesians 3:17).

We tell everyone who will listen that by His grace, Jesus' salvation is free for all (Romans 3:23, 6:23; 1 Corinthians 3:16, 6:19; Titus 2:11). People see how He works in and through our life as the temple of His Spirit (Romans 1:19), and they realize the extent of the riches of His glory within us, His Saints, through Christ in us (Colossians 1:2 7).

The Pharisees, proficient in their knowledge of the Old Testament truth, rejected Jesus, because they did not hear or see God in Him. They were too wrapped up in their private interpretation of God's Word, and missed the truth of it in their midst (John 5:37-40).

Unlike them, authentic Believers are God's people, and He walks with us and abides in us (2 Corinthians 6:16; Ephesians 4:6). He never gives up on us. We can grieve Him by our thoughts, words and deeds; however, we can never cause Him to leave or to forsake us (Hebrews 13:5; Galatians 4:19).

At salvation, we receive His anointing, which abides within us. It teaches us what we need to know about living the Christian life. It is true and righteous, and it enables us to dwell in Christ (1 John 2:27). We bear much fruit for Him, which honors our Heavenly Father and glorifies His name, as it proves that we are His true followers (John 15:5-6, 8).

Prayer:

Father God, show us how to test our self to be sure that Christ abides in us by Your Holy Spirit (2 Corinthians 13:5). Allow the words of Jesus to richly dwell in our spirit with all of His wisdom, teachings, exhortation and inspiration. We want to worship You in Spirit and in Truth (John 4:23-24), and to sing continual melodies in our heart to You (Colossians 3:16).

Help us not to walk in the flesh, but by Your Holy Spirit's guidance and control. We are spiritually alive, and we prosper by the righteousness of Christ within us (Romans 8:9-10). We rightly call You "our Father," because the Spirit of Christ is in our heart (Galatians 4:6). The suffering that we endure on this earth is minimal compared to the glory, which You will reveal in us and to us throughout eternity (Romans 8:18).

Thought for the Day:

If we seek the Lord, we shall surely find Him; if we knock, He will open the door wide for us; and if we ask, He will give us everything that we need in life in order to successfully accomplish His will for us.

- Matthew 7:7-8

Go Ahead and Enjoy Sweets

I saw a commercial today that advertised a product that eliminates our desire to eat sweets. What a wonder-less world we would live in without sweet, salty and sour. God gave us this diverse tasting system to bless our soul, as well as our taste buds.

There are healthy alternatives to white cane sugar, which is the real addictive product that is so harmful to our health. Dates, bananas, applesauce, coconut sugar, local honey, Erythritol, and Stevia are among the best alternatives. They sweeten everything from marshmallows to ice cream, with cakes, cookies and pies in between.

God gives us wholesome alternatives to a life filled with an unholy addiction to sin too. The sweet allure of our desires demands satisfaction, and we often fall into its temptation. Yet, there is a whole other world that satisfies our soul, and causes sin to lose its attraction over us.

Some of these stress busters include sports, fishing, gardening, the arts of music and pottery and painting and crafts, exercise from biking to boating to hiking to dancing and the gym, restoring old cars, hobbies like board or word games, and others such as Tiddley Winks to chess tournaments and video gaming, as well as sewing, and needlework from knitting to embroidery to cross stitching.

These are just a few examples of ways to fill our time with wholesome hobbies. Another pursuit is to feed our spirit with personal Bible reading, and meditation on verses that speak to us each day; worship attendance, Christian fellowship, and various ministries to our community; sharing Christ with the lost, etc.

God has a perfect plan for each individual life (Ephesians 2:10), and walking in His will each day guarantees both our success and His continual blessings in our life. Daily obedience to the Holy Spirit's guidance, wisdom, power, and unity with the Trinity within us will lead us to a deeper union with God.

Prayer:

Father God, every good and perfect gift that we receive on this earth is from You. Even our paycheck, bonuses, overtime, etc. come from You. You provide us with all of our needs, as well as extra blessings that fill our soul with joy. Help us to find holy alternatives to carnal pursuits, so that we do not grieve You and ruin our fellowship with You. Your love is sustaining, Your power is creative, Your peace is invasive, and Your plans are eternal.

Remind us that there is nothing to fear on this earth, because nothing can separate us from Your love: not the trials of life, spiritual powers, the past or the future, no mountain top or deep valley of circumstances, no created thing and not even death (Jeremiah 42:11; Romans 8:38-39). Thank You for continually hiding us in the depth of Your love (Acts 17:11).

Thought for the Day:

Our carnality decreases as our reliance on Christ in us increases; His Holy Spirit sanctifies us from one stage of glory to the next, until our light shines out into the darkness of this world; a city set on a hill cannot be hidden, and we will not fade away either, as the light of Christ in us shines ever brighter every day.

Maturing in Our Faith

The Holy Spirit of God works in our life in order to present us to Father God as one who is complete in Christ. He is the author and finisher of our faith, and He matures us in our spiritual walk. He also perfects us through His ministry of sanctification (1 Corinthians 14:20; Ephesians 4:13).

God's Spirit allows us access to the Godhead within us. As authentic Believers, we can aid one another in entering a deeper walk in Christ. Not everyone is interested, because their time is filled by pursuing the things of this finite life; but there are those who hunger and thirst after the fullness of Christ's presence in us (Matthew 5:6).

Our spiritual birth initiates this hunger in our spirit, and the longing grows day by day. This proves that God's Spirit abides in us, and that we are truly His temple (1 Corinthians 6:19). Christ gradually becomes our whole life (Colossians 3:3-4). Our love relationship and intimacy with Christ increases more each day, until we are complete, content, inspired and challenged (Colossians 1:22).

This challenge encourages us to take the Gospel of Christ to our family, church, community and the world. We intimately know God. He, not His favors and offerings, is the desire of our heart. We crave more intimacy with Him though each passing day, and we want to share this union with anyone who will catch the vision.

We may have all of this world's goods, and still feel deprived, until we come to the saving knowledge of our need for Jesus in our life. Until we come to Christ, we are merely grasping at straws, and never truly fulfilled and satisfied. When Jesus is our center, we feel complete in Him, because He is our eternal destiny (Colossians 2:10).

As our Lord and Savior, Jesus is the only one we can always count on to be both in us and with us now and for eternity. If we consult the Lord each moment of our day, He oversees every aspect of our life and arranges and governs all of our steps. His Word is a light for our path and a lamp for our steps (Psalm 119:105).

Prayer:

Father God, Jesus is Your power and wisdom in our life (1 Corinthians 1:22-25). We find great spiritual riches in our relationship with You and Your Word. Christ is our Emmanuel (Colossians 1:15), and in Him Your fullness dwells (Colossians 1:19, 2:9). As our intimacy with Him increases, we discover more and more of Your wisdom and knowledge, which improves our life (Colossians 2:3).

As our invisible, immortal God, You chose that Your nature and divinity was manifested in Jesus' mortality and human form. Jesus said that when we see Him, we also see You, our Father (John 14:9). Jesus is the revelation of You to the world. Help us to worship You as You deserve, to rely on You for all of our needs, and to trust our very life and death to You. We worship and adore You with every breath of air that we breathe.

Thought for the Day:

In this world, we encourage, instruct, and exhort one another to follow God's perfect plans for our life, which will lead us all to the fulfillment of our goal: to mature in our faith and in our obedience to Him and His Word.

- 1 John 3:2; 2 Corinthians 3:18; Romans 8:25-35