Her Cherished Treasure

 

The wise woman makes her husband her priority second only to God. He will see her love for him in her eyes, in her tone of voice, in her caring touch and in the amount of time she wants to spend with him. 

He is her most cherished treasure and is highly esteemed in her priorities. She respects, prefers and values his presence in her life. Men want to be appreciated, and to feel trusted, believed in and admired. When a husband feels disrespected, he feels humiliated and will often react in anger or withdraw within himself. 

Often, his own behavior causes these feelings, but a wife can still attempt to support him in his endeavors. We believe in him, even when he doesn't believe in himself. Men are more vulnerable than they will admit or than most women realize. They crave verbal affirmation and encouragement. 

This gives them security and confidence. Some men believe that if their wife will stand with them, then the whole world can stand against them and they will not care. Many men will seek genuine affirmation from another woman, if they do not receive it from their wife.

Men want to be romantic, but fear humiliation. A wife's encouragement, even in his frailest attempts, will encourage a husband to do even more. A man needs to know that his wife wants and desires him. This helps him to feel loved and gives him the confidence to succeed in every area of life. Due to her appreciation, he will not feel trapped by the innate need to provide for his family.

Prayer:

Father God, You created marriage to give men a helpmate (Genesis 2:18-22). Enable women to focus on the positive character in our mate and to build him up and appreciate him at every opportunity. 

Remind us to be grateful to him for each romantic gesture and every moment that he wants to spend with us. Assist us in maintaining a positive attitude, even when our husband disappoints us.

Thought for the Day:

When a wife accepts the influence of her husband over the household, even an unbelieving husband will be impressed; and may be won over to the Gospel because of his wife's respect. - 1 Peter 3:1

Why Christians Suffer

Read: Romans 8:31-39

"My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.” - Psalm 73:26

When I surrendered my life to Christ, I had the misguided notion that my life would forever float free of any negative circumstances. I pictured myself tiptoeing through the tulips without a care in the world. Boy was I wrong! The few initial trials I experienced threw me off course. I stomped and squalled in disgust over the fact that a child of God should be subjected to such inconvenient conditions (Psalm 73:13-14).

As I checked around with my new friends, I found out that every one of them went through appalling situations as well (Matthew 5:45). We all conjectured, postulated, hypothesized and speculated about God’s reason for allowing this. We wondered why He did not destroy our enemies who mocked us, did not prevent the infliction of emotional wounds by calloused individuals and did not maintaining the security of our jobs and our financial stability. The inequality of the world weighed heavily on us and some injustices even inflicted pain in our own lives. It appeared that the unrighteous people we knew enjoyed more blessings than the righteous ones did (Psalm 73:1-12).

Our Pastor explained to us that God is able to make everything work out wonderfully for us, but He teaches us so much more through the negative times than the positive ones. In good times, we ride along almost oblivious to the need for prayer and fellowship with Our Father. As soon as something terrible happens, however, we run for cover under the shadow of His wings. We remind Him that we are the apple of His eye (Psalm 17:8) and we misguidedly accuse Him of not taking proper care of us.

Over the years, I learned that we suffer negative circumstances for several reasons. One comes from the curse on the earth, caused by Adam and Eve’s rebellion. Sinful behavior by others is the basis of most of our problems. We suffer harmful consequences imposed on us by wicked people. On top of this our own sins, our poor judgment and/or our faulty decisions are also a catalyst for our negative experiences. The good news is that God’s grace sees us through all of these painful times and teaches us lessons that we would otherwise miss.

God lives in eternity, and His concern is with the infinite issues of life. He sees the end from the beginning (Isaiah 46:10). God views 1000 years as if they were only one day (2 Peter 3:8). We, on the other hand, rarely focus on eternal issues. Our mind is consumed with the earthly realm and what we experience with our senses. We view life with a finite mind.

In His unlimited wisdom God knows that our concerns are only momentary and fleeting, and that He has ultimate plans for our good, as well as for the eternal punishment of the wicked (Psalm 73:17). God teaches us to trust Him through the hard times, because He knows that the blessings are just around the corner. We grow deeper, wider and stronger roots and every trial strengthens our faith. God uses these exasperating situations to conform us to the likeness of His Son (Romans 8:29).

Just look at the stars in the heavens. God created every pin-point and He calls each one by name. He does great things that cannot be fathomed and wonderful works that cannot be counted (Job 9:9-10). His power and incomparable strength holds each one in its place, and not one burns out without His knowledge (Isaiah 40:26; Psalm 147:4). God also spread out the earth and everything and everyone in it. He gives breath to the living and life to every creature that walks on the earth (Isaiah 43:5). His greatness is incomprehensible. He made the heavens and earth by His great power and outstretched arm. Absolutely nothing is too hard for Him (Jeremiah 32:17).

Even with the provision of all of this for us, God went one step further to connect to humanity and to provide for our needs. He sent His only Son to pay the penalty of our sin and to give us His righteousness in exchange (Psalm 8:3-5). This proves that He cares about every anxiety, distress, perplexity and difficulty we experience. He promises to work them all out for our ultimate good (Romans 8:28).

Prayer:

Lord Jesus, we are more than conquerors because You love us. I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present or the future, nor any power, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from Our Father’s love, which is in You, Our Lord (Romans 8:37-39).

Thought for the Day:

God esteems the person who is humble and contrite in spirit, the person who heeds His Words. - Isaiah 66:2 

Worthy of God's Love

Read: Deuteronomy 5: 7-10

“He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you: but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?” - Micah 6:8

None of us are, nor will we ever be, worthy of God’s love; and that really is Good News! We can do nothing to earn His love; and, therefore, we can do nothing to lose it (Ephesians 2:9). It is a free gift (Romans 6:23). Tender mercy is the aspect of God's love that causes Him to help us when, as miserable souls, we break His laws or are drowning in our circumstances. God’s great mercy saves us and allows us to approach His throne boldly to find grace in our time of need (Hebrews 4:16). His mercy always triumphs over the retribution we deserve for our behavior, which otherwise would condemn us to hell.

God not only has mercy on us, but also on our dwelling places in times of natural disasters (Psalm 46:1-3,7). We have every reason to trust in God’s mercy, which surrounds us and follows us all the days of our life (Psalm 23:6). He makes our paths full of mercy, so that we can rejoice and sing praises to His name (Psalm 25:10). God’s abundant mercy is just a call away and comes in spite of the fact that we do not deserve it and never, EVER will! Isn’t that great news?

Since God created us in His image, He expects us to serve as vessels of His magnanimous mercy to others. He desires that the whole earth be full of His mercy (Psalm 119:64). He gives joy to those who show mercy to the poor (Psalm 13:5). The wise book of Proverbs advises us to bind mercy and truth around our neck and to write them on the tablet of our heart, because this gives us favor and high esteem in the sight of man and God. God chooses the merciful to lead others. He prefers mercy over the biggest sacrifice we could ever make for His honor. He also gives the merciful the riches of His glory (Genesis 1:27; Psalm 33:5; Proverbs 3:3).

Prayer:

Lord Jesus, multiply to us Your mercy, peace, and love. If my foot slips, Your mercy will hold me up (Psalm 94:18). If I stumble, you will not allow me to fall (Psalm 91:12). You strengthen me by Your Spirit to fulfill Your purpose for my life in the earth. You count the number of my days (Psalm 30:4) and You send Your angels to escort me to heaven at the end of them (Luke 16:22).

Thought for the Day:

God takes pleasure in those who hope in His mercy. – Psalm 147:11 




Thank you, Katharine Evans for the use of your photo.