Protect My Marriage

Jeremiah 17:5

This is what the LORD says: "Cursed are those who put their trust in mere humans, who rely on human strength and turn their hearts from the LORD."

Hosea 6:6

Romans 1:16 (NIV)

I am not ashamed of the Gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile.

Romans 1:16 (NIV)

Matthew 19:8

Jesus replied, "Moses permitted divorce only as a concession to your hard hearts, but it was not what God had originally intended."

Jesus, may my heart never be that hard. Please protect my marriage. Thank you for the love and friendship my husband and I enjoy. Thank you for getting us the hard times. May our union be an illustration of the way Christ and the church are one.

Ephesians 5:31-33

As the Scriptures say, "A man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one." This is a great mystery, but it is an illustration of the way Christ and the church are one. So again I say, each man must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.

Lord, please teach me how to respect my husband in the way he most needs. Teach me to submit to him as you have called me to.

Ephesians 5:22-24

For wives, this means submit to your husbands as to the Lord. For a husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church. He is the Savior of his body, the church. As they church submits to Christ, so you wives should submit to your husbands in everything.

Sweat the Small Stuff! Bring it to God!

Romans 12:1

And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice - the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him.

Romans 12:1

Romans 1:16 (NIV)

I am not ashamed of the Gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile.

Romans 1:16 (NIV)

Exodus 15:24

Then the people complained and turned against Moses.

Lord, how quick I am to complain and to turn on those I love. Instead of complaining I need to be talking to you about it. Even the small stuff, especially the small stuff. It's the small stuff that builds up and ruins marriages and other relationships.

Lord, please forgive me for being a complainer. Help me to run to you with the small stuff, then if it's necessary, talk to the person who is doing it so that it doesn't cause friction in that relationship.

Lord, I have some relationships that already have years of small stuff built up. Will you show me how to break down those barriers so there can be reconciliation and no more friction?

 

Song of Solomon 2:15

Quick! Catch all the little foxes before they ruin the vineyard of your love, for the grapevines are all in blossom.

Philippians 2:14-15

Do everything without complaining and arguing, so that no one can criticize you. Live clean, innocent lives as children of God, shining like bright lights in a world full of crooked and perverse people.

Bridegroom of Blood

This week's memory verse:
Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!
Luke 1:45

Exodus 4:18-31

At a lodging place on the way, the LORD met Moses and was about to kill him. But Zipporah took a flint knife, cut off her son's foreskin and touched Moses feet with it.
Exodus 4:24-25

What in the world made Zipporah think to do this?? The LORD must have told them that was why he was going to kill Moses. I'm guessing that Moses was already circumcised but had obviously neglected to do this for his son. Maybe his wife didn't want it done? That seems possible because of the way she referred to circumcision by calling Moses a bridegroom of blood. It sounds like she saw it as a detestable practice.

There is a lesson here for me as a wife. I need to support my husband's decisions no matter how unappealing they may seem to me. I can certainly express my opinions but the final decision is still his. For some reason this seems to be even harder to do when the matter concerns our children.

Lord please forgive me for the times when I have insisted on having my way over my husband's. Please help me to learn to trust him more fully, because ultimately I am putting my trust in YOU. You are the one who has placed my husband in authority over me. 
Amen

Joseph and Potiphar's Wife

After nearly a year of no posts, I'm feeling led to repurpose this blog. I may still share things from my daily life, but the new main purpose of this blog will be to share what the Holy Spirit gives me during my quiet times. If these turn out to be too personal then I will either not share that day or generalize it for public consumption. I can't promise that I will share every day, but that is my goal. I need the discipline of journalling and this will help to add a level of accountability.

1-17-15
Genesis 39

Now Joseph was well-built and handsome and after a while his master's wife took notice of Joseph and said, "Come to bed with me!" Gen. 39:6b-7

I don't know what her marriage was like. Was it an arranged marriage in which she was unhappy? That doesn't really matter much. The point is that she allowed her heart to stray. This is something that is SO easy for a woman's heart to do! Even if you are married to a good man who treats you well. Any little bit of discontentment can drive a wedge between you. 

All it takes is a romance novel (even a Christian one!), a romantic movie, or thoughts of an old boyfriend and "How would things have been different with him?" If we allow ourselves to start believing that our husband doesn't measure up in some way then each discontented thought drives that wedge deeper and our heart strays further away.

 Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it. Proverbs 4:23

Lord, you know how I struggled with this early in my marriage. I allowed discontent to grow in my heart. You showed me how to rehearse the things that I love about the man you gave me. You gently urged me to confess my sin of dwelling on thoughts of an old boyfriend to my husband. You helped me to expose that sin to the light so that it no longer held me in bondage. You showed me how to guard my heart by taking every thought captive to the feet of Jesus Christ. But, Lord, sometimes I still forget to remember. When I forget, would you please remind me? Help my love for you first and then my husband to grow. Thank you Lord for 20+ years with this wonderful man! Amen!


If this post resonated with you, please leave your comments. I would love to hear how God is working in your life!