A Good Marriage - An Honest Relationship

When we come to a fork in the road of life, especially if we and our spouse want to take a different path, conflicts arise. We both think that we are right, and we often do not want to take the time to truly understand each other's viewpoint.

Discussing issues in our relationship is the best way to keep the seeds of bitterness from tarnishing our life together (Hebrews 12:15). The goal is not to win or to get our way, but to find a resolution which blesses both of us.

We do not push our agenda, but we try to understand our spouse's viewpoint and support his/her needs as well as our own. Honest communication, along with praying together about the issue, will help us to solve the problem.

If we sweep our issues under the rug, or bury them in our subconscious mind, they are still there, spoiling our bond in marriage. If we just argue, or blow up about an incident, we accomplish little more than to wound our spouse and to drive an emotional wedge between us.

God helps us to see the real cause behind our disagreement. As humble servants of God and to our spouse, we can solve these issues more quickly as we honestly and humbly communicate our true feelings about the problems we face.

Our spouse is not the enemy, but our partner in life. The devil will use disagreements to pull us apart, to steal our hope from us, and to make us feel helpless to resolve our conflicts. There is always a solution in the center of God's will.

Problem-solving together with a prayerful attitude enables us to find God's will. We stick to one issue at a time until we find an alternative plan that solves the problem. We can make a pro-con list of all the possibilities, and then ask God for His wisdom on how to meet both of our needs.

Prayer:

Father God, help us to honestly communicate our feelings about the problems that we face, and to look at various solutions that support both of us, rather than to insist on our own way. If we have differing communication styles, teach us how to relate to one another using words that resonate with both of us.

Once we decide on a solution, give us the fortitude to stick to our plan, so that we do not further frustrate and disappoint each other needlessly, and so that we always bring glory to Your name. You have a perfect plan for our life at each cross-road in life, and gaining Your wisdom and perspective will unite us as a couple, and will maintain the love and peace in our partnership.

Thought for the Day:

An amiable discussion about how we will spend our money, how much time we will spend separately and together, what activities we can both support in our marriage, how to raise and discipline our children, what activities to pursue in our careers and our retirement years, etc. helps us to decide together what is best for us as a couple and as a family.

God is Our Source

Our illnesses often reflect chemical issues in our body, but also our emotional health. Recent commercials are even encouraging patients to chat with their doctor about their emotional issues as well as their physical ones. The two influence one another.

Even our car's interior and exterior, our home and yard, etc. can mirror the clutter present in our soul or in our overly busy schedule. An excess of clutter, and a lack of emotional support actually damages our body as well as our soul, and we reap the results of their influence for years.

Our thoughts and emotions reveal areas where we are neglecting our physical, mental, emotional and spiritual needs. We may be harboring shame, bitterness, anger, etc. and we need to forgive our self and others.

Medical practitioners are discovering that our hormones, adrenalin, endorphins and cortisol are all affected by our negative thoughts and emotions. They state that a conflict in our soul will make us sick mentally, emotionally and physically.

When our heart's feelings and thoughts conflict with the reality of our life, we may feel confused, hopeless, depressed, anxious, stressed, etc., which causes deficiencies in our body and soul. Negative emotions, such as depression, trigger a negative downward spiral that often make us want to quit on life.

Our attitude about our circumstances reflects in our face, posture and body language. Also, when we suffer physical trauma, the pain triggers reactions equally in our body and soul. This affects our passion, joy, peace, and interactions with other people, as well as our empathy for our self and others.

Negative emotions are stored in our body, unless we release them in positive ways, such as: sharing with a trusted friend, and journaling, as well as taking our disappointments, neglect, betrayal, and broken promises to the Lord for His resolution.

Other people have their own needs and agenda. We cannot expect them to drop their priorities to meet our needs. The only way to really feel loved, accepted and provided for is to come to God, and to enjoy His abiding presence within us.

Our Daddy God truly cares about every issue that we face (1 Peter 5:7). He is our only true source of health, wealth and success in our body, soul and spirit. His joy, peace, contentment and fulfillment flood our soul, heal our body, and lift our spirit.

Prayer:

Father God, teach us to come to You to ask for forgiveness for our sins, to daily trust in and to rely on You, and to look to You and to our self to meet our needs, rather than to other people. This helps us to feel hopeful and refreshed on a daily basis. Remind us to love our self, so that we can love others according to the direction of Your Holy Spirit (Mark 12:31).

Help us to inventory our soul to find the root cause of all of our negative emotions, to come to You for healing, and to reach outside of our self to minister to others as a source of joy for us. Help us to learn that we do not need to wait for people to approach us; we can reach out to them as Your Spirit leads us, even to people we do not know. We rejoice in the beauty of Your creation and in the wisdom that You give us to create beauty as well.

Thought for the Day:

Discrepancies between our body and soul cause illness in our mind, emotions and body; when we stop criticizing our self, forgive our self, and begin to consistently meet our own needs, or to ask the Lord for what we need, our soul stops punishing us - by using many of our illnesses to do so.

Trusting God with our Whole Heart

God did great miracles for His prophets and the leadership of Israel. He took constant care of His people, regardless of their unfaithfulness to Him. He did this due to His unconditional promise to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

One night in particular, the Lord drove back the waters of the sea, which prevented Israel from crossing out of Egypt. He used a strong east wind that blew all night long and divided the waters and dried up the ground (Exodus 14:21).

The entire nation was able to cross over the Red Sea with a wall of water on their right and on their left (Exodus 14:22); yet, once Israel crossed, the walls of water tumbled down, and the Egyptian army drowned in that exact same spot (Deuteronomy 11:4).

God did a similar feat during Joshua's time of leadership. When the priests who carried the ark reached the Jordan, and their feet touched the water's edge, the water from upstream stopped flowing and piled up in a heap a great distance away (Joshua 3:15-16).

When we face insurmountable odds stacking up against us, as well as the raging tide of world events threatening to overwhelm us, we are afraid to trust the Lord. We experienced disappointment in the past, which hinders us from believing for the future.

We desire a fulfilled life, but are crippled by the fear of having to give up something that we hold dear. Or we wonder what God will call us to do, if we surrender our will completely to His. This causes us to miss the opportunity to experience the deliverance and provision of our Daddy God.

All He requires of us is to take that first step of obedience, that first step of faith into the swollen river of life. Then, once we do obey, the seeds of our faith spring up into a garden full of spiritual fruit.

Prayer:

Father God, each time that You deliver us through a trial, our assurance of Your love and faithfulness grows. We gain more confidence to live a more committed life through our covenant with You. You are simply waiting for us to take that first step, so that You can roll back the floodwaters and lead us in Your will for our life.

Fill us with Your peace, and help us to submit to Your Spirit's guidance through every moment of our day. We want to live in Your spiritual reality, rather than in the carnal pursuit of our own desires. Remind us to draw near to You, to resist the devil's lies, and he will flee from us (James 4:7). We want to walk in Your ways, and to live in Your grace.

Thought for the Day:

Taking a secure hold of God's hand will allow us to proceed with each new step of faith that we take into His plans and purpose for our life; all that we need is simple obedience and a heart full of trust in His goodness and love for us.

Raised with Christ

We look forward to being raised with Christ when He comes for His bride; however, we need to realize that, once we accept Jesus as our Savior, we are already raised with Him. Our life is hidden with Christ in God, and Jesus is our whole life (Colossians 3:3-4).

Therefore, we set our heart on heavenly aspects rather than earthly things (Colossians 3:1-2), just as the early Church did.

John the Baptist ushered in the Kingdom of Heaven, and the Church has been forcefully advancing it ever since (Matthew 11:12).

Satan may attempt to sidetrack us, thwart our efforts or discourage us, but if we make Him our whole life during our lifetime, our life is secure with Christ. When Jesus does appear for His second coming, we will appear with Him in Glory (Colossians 3:3-4).

Starting with our own life, we want nothing more than for God's will to be done on earth as it is in Heaven (Matthew 6:9-10). The more we center our mind on God, the more peace we enjoy. Our thoughts are less self-centered and more focused on the positive (Philippians 4:8).

God's peace floods our spirit and soul (Philippians 4:9), and His presence in us guards and guides us throughout the day. When our mind is controlled by God's Holy Spirit, we enjoy life and peace as we further God's Kingdom on this earth (Romans 8:5-6).

When we do not receive what we desire and pray for, we are most often asking for something outside of the will of God for us (James 4:3). Yet, when our love for God is authentic, and we put God's desires foremost in our thoughts and prayers and actions, we see phenomenal results.

We do ask for what we need, but we do not strive to make it happen. We wait on the Lord, who hears our prayers, and who knows the amazing future plans that He has for us (Jeremiah 29:11). He fills us with the fruit of His Spirit, and He abides within us every moment of every day (Romans 8:6).

Prayer:

Father God, we are Your redeemed, and we need to take every opportunity to say so (Psalm 107:2-8). The desires of our flesh, the world, and the devil bring us destruction; but as we focus on Your desires, which You give to us (Psalm 37:4), they bring us life and peace both now and throughout eternity (Colossians 3:1).

Give us Your vision of Your Kingdom (Matthew 6:9-10), so that we will make its growth our mission for our life. We want to bring as many people to Heaven as we can, in order for them to spend eternity with us in Your presence, and in service to our King Jesus. Help us to develop a heavenly mindset now, so that we can stay focused on You during all the days of our life.

Thought for the Day:

By understanding our resurrected position, hidden with Christ in God, we realize that our old carnal nature is buried with Him, and we are raised to walk in His new life within us; we are already raised up and seated with Him in the heavenly realm.

- Ephesians 2:6

Merely Human, but Divinely Energized

As human beings, we all make mistakes. Episodes of failures litter the pathway of our past. None of us is perfect or better than anyone else. In reality, our insufficiency is a blessing, because it proves to us that we have a need for a savior to protect us from our self; and that Savior is Jesus Christ.

Jesus is the Light of the world that came down into our darkness. He is the Truth in the midst of so many lies from our flesh, the world and the devil. He is the only Way to spend eternity with God, and the only true source of Life that anyone has ever met (John 14:6).

God's Word is our comfort, it gives us strength, it guides our steps and it nourishes our soul as it matures our spirit. His grace is sufficient for us (2 Corinthians 12:9), and it brings lifelong sanctification to our soul. His love, in and through us, makes us a new creation, and changes the world around us (2 Corinthians 5:17).

God's Spirit is ready, willing and able to meet us right where we are and to mature us into Saints of God. We simply need to invite Jesus to abide in us and to change us from the inside out. He takes our obsession with our self and exchanges it for a new focus on Him.

Our seemingly insurmountable, heavy burdens weigh us down, but Christ in us cleanses us, renews our vision and faith, and encourages us with His strength when we feel helpless. God fuels our spirit, restores our spiritual sight, and adopts us into His family.

His power is made perfect in our weakness; therefore, we can rejoice in our insufficiencies, because it is then that Christ's strengths empower us (2 Corinthians 12:9). If we allow Satan to convince us that we are alone in this world, we fail.

However, if we realize that we are one with God's Trinity within us, we are never alone or forsaken (Psalm 37:25; Hebrews 13:5-6). His abiding presence within us sustains us each moment of the day. We never face any tribulation alone, and God plants a seed for a miracle in each and every trial.

Prayer:

Father God, thank You for Your plan to have Your perfect, only begotten Son pay the penalty for our sins, so that we can enjoy Your blessings and the privilege of living as Your adopted children. We are so thrilled that Your entire Godhead abides permanently in the spirit of every authentic Born Again Believer.

You separated us from our mother's womb and called us to Yourself by Your grace, in order to reveal to our world that Your Son richly dwells in us (2 Corinthians 6:17). Give us Your power to share this love with our world, and to be Your instruments as life-changers, so we can make a difference in the lives that You touch through us.

Thought for the Day:

It pleases God to reveal His Son in us, so that we can help Him to transform our world; when we walk in obedience to His Spirit, we do not need to feel the slightest bit of hesitation, because we abide in His fortress, which allows us to enjoy protection from the enemies of our faith.

Keys for Better Relationships

Relating is a fine art that facilitates intimacy in any union; however, it is often impossible with some people, and extremely difficult with others. Then, there are those with whom we have an immediate link and a lasting and intimate relationship.

We enjoy unhindered chats, common interests, an emotional flow and intellectual connections. Yet, we injure our harmony by focusing on our self and taking each other for granted. We stop valuing our relationship as we once did, and grow tired of one another.

We lose respect for one another, and we no longer cherish our relationship. Thinking of each other's faults, rather than our individual strengths, using humorous teasing as a slight, showing disrespect, and taking each other for granted will ruin the most intimate of unions.

The longer we know someone, the easier it is to disengage from them emotionally; especially if they are destructive or punitive in the relationship. We tire of making the constant effort to bridge any gaps between us, and we give up.

Making our relationship a priority will switch our outlook and emphasis on our friendships - even with our spouse, children and extended family. We schedule time to hang out, relax, play, talk and plan activities together. We continually respect each other's viewpoint, thoughts, feelings, needs and time.

Viewing our connection as a priority in our relationships is paramount for our success. We fan the flames of our interest in the other person by spending time together, really listening to their side of the conversation, reading between the lines of what they say, and showing compassion for them.  

Prayer:

Father God, help us to develop trust, to maintain open and honest communication, as well as empathy and compassion with the special people in our life. Teach us empathy with others in our life, and to honestly communicate our needs to each other, taking each other seriously and helping one another to feel cherished and respected.

Help us not to allow hurt feelings, resentment, anger, disapproval, frustration and bitterness to overcome any feelings of love and enjoyment that we initially felt in each other's company. Teach us not to speak disrespectfully, to criticize, or to grow to actually hate each other. Remind us to submit together to Your Spirit in all of our relationships and to bless one another in Jesus' name.

Thought for the Day:

We do not need to repay insult with insult, but simply explain our actions and share our feelings calmly and without accusation; then we can forgive those who continue to falsely accuse us, because we are called to take the higher ground; if we do, we will receive God’s blessings. - 1 Peter 3:9

Freely Forgiven Forever

We often think that we must perfect our self prior to coming to Christ, or in order to win His favor and deserve His love and acceptance. Nothing is further from the truth. God loved us while we were still sinners, and sent Jesus to die in our place (Romans 5:8).

We cannot be good enough, holy enough or spiritual enough to deserve God’s salvation (Isaiah 64:6). Our works and our human effort will not provide us with salvation or sanctification (Titus 3:4-6; Ephesians 2:8-10). They are free gifts from our Father God who loves us (Romans 2:23).

We already have God's love, which does not depend on our behavior; otherwise, we would have no need for Christ’s sacrifice on the cross. We simply walk in obedience to the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

Since we are Born Again by trusting in Jesus, we are also sanctified by the activity of God's Spirit, giving us the desire and the power to work out our salvation (Philippians 2:12-13). Imposed rules and regulations by well-meaning spiritual leaders do not guarantee our spiritual maturity.

God's Spirit progressively deepens our intimate acquaintance with God from one stage of glory to the next (2 Corinthians 3:18; Philippians 3:10). There is no striving on our part in this transformation, it is all the work of God's Spirit within us (Galatians 3:1-3).

We enter God's rest and cease from our own labors as God did from His on the seventh day. We make every effort to cooperate with the Holy Spirit, and we find eternal rest for our soul (Hebrews 4:9-12).

Prayer:

Father God, Jesus completed the work of our perfection on the cross. Remind us that we only need to allow You to help us to make a conscious effort to walk in obedience to Your will, regardless of the circumstances around us. The focus of our purpose in life is to follow hard after You, to drink in Your presence as a hart who seeks the waterbrook, and to enter into an intimate relationship with You - the Lover of our soul.

Whom do we have in heaven, but You? And besides You, we desire nothing else on this earth. Our flesh and our heart may fail, but You are the strength of our heart and our portion forever (Psalm 73:25-26). You will make known to us our path in life, and in Your presence is fullness of joy; in Your right hand there are pleasures forever (Psalm 16:11).

Thought for the Day

God gives us His unconditional love freely as a gift when we open our heart wide and receive it; as we realize the truth of this concept, we will sit in our quiet place and feel His love cascading over us like a waterfall, which is better than anything this life has to offer to us. 

- Psalm 63:2-3