The Lord Preserves His Faithful

The Lord preserves His faithful, those who love Him and keep His commandments (Psalm 31:23). He does not want us to obey for His sake as much as He does for our own sake.

We avoid so many troubles and trials when we do things His way. After all, Father really does know best. He created us for His purpose and when we walk in His will, our life proceeds so much more smoothly and effortlessly.

Our soul finds rest in God alone. He is our only rock and salvation, our fortress that prevents life from shaking our faith. We have strong courage to face life's issues, because God strengthens our heart as we hope in Him (Psalm 31:23, 62:1).

God is our hiding place and He preserves us in trouble by encompassing us with songs of deliverance (Psalm 32:7). Whenever we are afraid, we can trust in Him (Psalm 53:3). 

Yet, He allows the proud and arrogant who refuse to believe in Jesus for salvation to reap the results of their choices - even to the point of eternity in the fires of damnation (John 3:18; Psalm 31:23).

We are crucified with Christ and share in His death to sin, even though we still live on this earth. Christ lives in us and we live by His faith in us (Galatians 2:20). We are dead to this world and our life is hidden with Christ in God (Colossians 3:1-3).

As we delight our self in the Lord, God puts His desires in our heart (Psalm 37:4). We make the effort it takes to clear our heart and mind of things of this world, and instead to love the Lord with all of our heart.

We walk in His ways, keep His commandments and cling only to Him. He orders our steps and He delights when we walk in His will (Psalm 37:23). Even if we fall in spirit, soul or body, we shall not be entirely cast down, or cast out of His Kingdom, because God holds us in His hand (Psalm 37:24).

Prayer:

Father God, thank You for giving us the opportunity to be risen with Christ and for helping us to seek and set our affections and desires only on heavenly, eternal aspects (Colossians 3:1-3). You make our steps firm, when You delight in our thoughts, words and deeds.

Always keep us in the center of Your will; not drawn away by our fleshly desires, but kept on the straight and narrow road, designed to protect us by its simple parameters. Allow us to hear Your still small voice whispering "this is the way, walk you in it.” We always want You to delight in us, and in our ways; so You will keep our steps firm and our footing sure (Psalm 37:23).

Thought for the Day:

God’s river of salvation protects us in any fiery trial, and He alone is worthy of all of our trust.

A Good Marriage - Sandpaper Spouse

 

Over time, our spouse often turns into a "sandpaper" person who gets on our nerves…an irritation that causes abrasions and discomfort on our soul. We want to turn away from them, rather than to embrace them.

However, this only compounds the irritation, because they try harder to gain our attention and to communicate their needs. They are like the continual drip of a leaky faucet - nerve wracking, torture to our soul (Proverbs 25:24, 27:15).

We tend to avoid and ignore them or to brush them aside, taking them for granted and not showering them with love, gratitude and affirmation they are crying out to receive.

We do not want to be bothered by their neediness. We start to resent them and Satan helps bitterness and anger to grow in our soul toward them. This makes them more insecure and increases their neediness and pleas for our attention and help.

We often attempt to placate them, give them a pat on the head and expect them to go away and to take care of their own needs. Unfortunately, although they do minister to many of their own needs and the needs of others in your sphere of family, church family and friends, some of what they need can only be supplied by their spouse…and that is YOU! 

We say that we "love" them, but Agape love looks beyond their behavior or words to the cry of their soul. We access God's compassion and see His desire for us to minister to them as the spouse He created us to be. 

We start focusing on their needs, and appreciating all the little things they do for us each and every day.

Surprisingly, this loving attention will help to heal much of their behavior which irritates us in the first place. They will be more secure in our relationship with them and more content with life in general.

Prayer:

Father God, teach us that we can accomplish much more to alleviate the irritation of the Sandpaper People in our life by giving them our undivided and focused attention, taking them seriously when they share their needs, and working out with them a solution to their issues that we can fit into our regular, daily schedule.

At times, this requires sacrifice on our part. You teach us to alter our priorities to include them, to take time away from our pursuits to meet their needs, or to focus on their needs as well as on our own. We have to lay down our life for them, and we tend to resent this. Help us to gain the mind of Christ in our relationships and to cherish those You place in our life as the treasure that they truly are.

Thought for the Day:

Loving Sandpaper People in the way that they need to be loved, not in a way that makes our life easier or decreases our responsibility to them, makes them feel special and improves our quality of life as well as theirs; we stop treating them as the hired help and realize that they are the treasures that God intends for them to be in our life.

Encouragement from God

To be encouraged is to be filled with courage. We do not buckle under the weight of circumstances when we have courage, especially when that courage comes to us through God's Spirit within us.

As we continually set the Lord in the forefront of our thoughts, we will not be shaken, because He is near us and in us (Psalm 16:8). Even if fear or anxiety trouble us for some reason, we can keep our faith in His faithfulness (Psalm 56:3).

We trust Him and His Word, which gives us serenity in this sin-cursed world. There is nothing anyone can do to us that He is not capable of turning around for our ultimate good (Psalm 56:4; Romans 8:28).

God's Word is full of assurances, which give us peace, even in the direst of circumstances. We can be encouraged because Jesus already overcame the world, and He abides within us (John 16:33).

There is no need to feel anxiety about anything, because in every circumstance we can pray, cast our cares on God, and live in gratitude for all He already did for us (Philippians 4:6).

His peace, which overcomes every anxious thought, guards our heart and mind in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:7). He floods our soul with His peace, which goes far beyond human reasoning (Philippians 4:8).

It is not fleeting, circumstantial peace or peace we derive from things of this world, but peace that abides in us and eliminates all fear and discouragement regardless of our life issues (John 14:27).

God is our eternal hiding place and He protects us in times of trouble as He walks through it in us and with us. He floods our mind with worship songs to praise Him, so that we remain victorious each step of the way (Psalm 32:7-8).

Prayer:

Father God, hardships, turmoil, sleeplessness, deprivation, abuse, financial ruin, etc. touch everyone at some point in time. These external pressures add to our other worries about our family and the world around us (2 Corinthians 11:27-28).  Yet, when we cry to You for help, You hear us and rescue us from all of our troubles (Psalm 34:17).

Remind us that if we allow our sinful nature to control our thoughts and emotions and physical desires, we will destroy our self; but if we allow Your Spirit to control us, You will lead us into life and peace now and throughout eternity (Romans 8:6).

Thought for the Day:

We have no need to be overwhelmed by life, because the Lord goes before us and leads us, and He will never fail or forsake us.- Deuteronomy 31:8