Love Is An Unconditional Commitment
To An Imperfect Person.
Quote By: Selwyn Hughes
Ecclesiastes 4: 9-12 A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken.
A Special Message From The Author, KimberlyMac
April 12th is a special day for me. It reminds me of a beautiful marriage that I got the privilege of being a part of all my life. My parents were married on April 12th. I was blessed beyond measure to be a part of a family whose parents loved each other like mine did. They had such a beautiful marriage. They both are in heaven now and I know that they are enjoying their time together with Jesus. I just wanted to thank them for such a Godly heritage. I know that my marriage is strong today because of the living legacy they instilled in me. My dad loved my mom like Jesus loves His church and my mom respected my dad, like Jesus respected and reverently submitted to His Father God. That made for a great childhood. We had our trials, yes, but God was at the foundation of my parents’ marriage and life was good. Thank you Jesus. KimberlyMac
“Relationships are hard, and in my own power, my marriage is surely on sandy ground. My own sinfulness will too often prevail when I rely on my strength. Yet, I have a powerful ONE who intercedes on my behalf when I am weak. He specializes in resurrecting that which would otherwise be dead.” Author Joycelyn Green
Listen Up To: The Marriage Prayer By John Waller
A Special Challenge From Author KimberlyMac
Let’s take some time today and renew our marriages by the truth of God’s Word, the testimony of each other’s wisdom and the music of God speaking to His people. God bless your marriage and may Jesus be at the center of it!
Jesus, I cry out to the Father God today for our marriages, will You intercede for us? I am hoping huge in the Father God to renew, restore and heal marriages from the inside to the outside. I pray God creates a three strand cord out of our marriages: Husband, Wife And Jesus, our lives braided together with His to be an unbreakable three strand cord. Let it be so. AMEN
It Takes Three To Make A Marriage Work And This Is What I Am Praying For Your Marriage, LISTEN And Be Encouraged:
“God knew from the beginning that marriage would not be about convenience, but commitment. Commitments of life-changing proportions are never struggle-free.” Quote By Beth J. Lueders
Marriage Begins Here:
To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul; in you I trust, O my God. Do not let me be put to shame, nor let my enemies triumph over me. No one whose hope is in you will ever be put to shame, but they will be put to shame who are treacherous without excuse. Show me your ways, O Lord, teach me your paths; guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long. Psalm 25:1-5
Joy Is Giving Your Life Away For Your Spouse
“Jesus teaches our joy is found in giving our life away. When we try on our own, to make our life good, we thwart God’s power. I believe firmly that what you make happen for someone else God will make happen for you —even if you’re married to a first-class jerk. If you live your life trying to be a blessing to others, God will bring you joy—if not from your spouse, from other relationships. Or he’ll impart it to you himself. A lot of people say, “I’m in this marriage and I believe God wants me to stick it out. But I’m miserable.” Yet I believe that if God asks us to do something, he gives us the grace to do it. So if God is asking a person to stay in a difficult marriage, he’s not asking them to stay and be miserable. He’ll give that person what they need to make it.” Author Joyce Meyer
Commitment Shares Pain
“Each of us will suffer at different points in our lives, and when we are married, we are committed to sharing in the pain of another person. For that reason, we need to look to our commitment and to our marriage vows for strength, stability, and endurance —especially when feelings of love aren’t as strong as they once were.” Author Norman Wright. Book: One Marriage Under God
“Haven’t you read the Scriptures?” Jesus replied. “They record that from the beginning ‘God made them male and female.'” And he said, “‘This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.’ Since they are no longer two but one, let no one split apart what God has joined together.” “Then why did Moses say in the law that a man could give his wife a written notice of divorce and send her away?” they asked. Jesus replied, “Moses permitted divorce only as a concession to your hard hearts, but it was not what God had originally intended. And I tell you this, whoever divorces his wife and marries someone else commits adultery—unless his wife has been unfaithful.” Matthew 19:4-9 New Living Testament
Get Rid Of Distorted Thinking
“I hear this line from most unfaithful spouses we work with: “I never loved my spouse.” It simply isn’t true. Unfaithful spouses convince themselves of this to give them permission to have affairs, because otherwise, they would think of themselves as a “bad” person. “If I love my spouse and I have an affair anyway, then I must be a bad person,” they reason. In addition, their thinking gets distorted. They rewrite their marital history in their minds. Bad memories become bigger, and the good memories, the loving feelings, they once had are forgotten.” Author Anne Bercht
Stick To Your Marriage
“Unfortunately in our society, many couples reason they are stuck in marriage instead of determining to stick to marriage. Our culture feeds the consumer mind set of obsolescence in which people continually toss or trade in products —even relationships —that no longer satisfy their expectations. God never intended marriage to be a test-drive relationship, but a binding pledge of permanence. When the Creator established the blueprints for marriage He stated, “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh” (Genesis 2:24). God designed marriage as a lasting “one flesh” union between a man and a woman. God knew from the beginning that marriage would not be about convenience, but commitment. Commitments of life-changing proportions are never struggle-free.” Author~Beth J. Lueders
Never Fall Out Of Repentance
“If your marriage has grown stale, look in the mirror and ask God how He can use it to transform the person looking back at you. If you have let bitterness seize your heart, stop praying for your spouse to change and ask God to change you. Most marriages can survive temporarily “falling out of love.” But you’re headed for disaster if you ever let yourself fall out of repentance.” Author~ Gary Thomas
It Is Never To Late To Be On The Right Side Of Truth
“Poor decisions in the past do not prevent future good decisions. Remember this: it’s never too late to start doing what is right. You may have made a mess of this marriage, another marriage, or even several marriages. Don’t allow that to keep you from making your current situation a tribute to God’s grace. It’s never too late to start anew! The same is true in any society; we can rise above the failures of the past by choosing God’s way over our own.” Author~ Charles Swindoll Book: Marriage…From Surviving to Thriving
Hope Is The Life-Light Of Love
“Hope keeps love alive. Stop hoping and marriage dies. As long as we imagine a better marriage and keep believing we will one day enjoy it, the battle against bad things can still be won. Hope lets us see that our world just might be set straight on its hinges once more.” Author Drs. Les and Leslie Parrott Book: I Love You More
Put Your Hope In God
“You may find it difficult to put your hope into a situation that looks hopeless. But can you put your hope into a God who is able to resurrect the dead? Don’t underestimate all that God can accomplish in your marriage and in your life with one heart that is fully yielded to Him.” Author~Cindy Wright
To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul; in you I trust, O my God. Do not let me be put to shame, nor let my enemies triumph over me. No one whose hope is in you will ever be put to shame, but they will be put to shame who are treacherous without excuse. Show me your ways, O Lord, teach me your paths; guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long. Psalm 25:1-5
You Break The Negative Cycle
“Somebody has to break out of the negative cycle of eye-for-an-eye, poor treatment for poor treatment. You need to step out of the insult-for-insult cycle and respond differently. You cannot control your spouse’s behavior, but you can control your own. Regardless of how your spouse responds, you must choose to treat them with love. This is not easy to do when your partner is not reciprocating, but it is what you vowed to do when you promised to love each other “for better or for worse.” Nothing breaks down emotional barriers like unconditional love.” Author~Dr.
One Day At A Time
“If you’re in a difficult season in your marriage and you start to think, “How can I take another 10 or 20 or, God forbid, 30 years of this?” you’re headed for trouble. You’re asking God to give you the grace for something that hasn’t happened. Instead, break it down to a single unit — a single day: “Just focus on this: Can I love my husband [or wife] for this day?” Don’t think about ten years down the road, or even ten months! Can you love your spouse for this one day? How do you stay married for twenty-six years? One day at a time. Break it down. Focus on the here and now. Put the future in God’s hands. Some miles will seem easy, and some will feel hard, but you need to focus only on the ones you’re currently running. Let the others remain in his care. Can you love your spouse for this one day?” Author~Gary Thomas Book: Devotions for a Sacred Marriage
If you find any comfort from being in the Anointed, if His love brings you some encouragement, if you experience true companionship with the Spirit, if His tenderness and mercy fill your heart; then, brothers and sisters, here is one thing that would complete my joy—come together as one in mind and spirit and purpose, sharing in the same love. Don’t let selfishness and prideful agendas take over. Embrace true humility, and lift your heads to extend love to others. Get beyond yourselves and protecting your own interests; be sincere, and secure your neighbors’ interests first. Philippians 2:1-4 The Voice
Divorce Is Not A Word In Our Vocabulary
“Take the word divorce out of your vocabulary. We talked about this one day and agreed never to use the threat again, regardless of how hurt or angry we were. Our trust is very strong now because we know that we’re committed to putting out the fires. We have no fire escape. We can therefore depend on the fact that we’ll have each other regardless of what happens.” Author~ Conrad Smith Book: Why Just be Married When You Can Be Best Friends
We Are Called To A Selfless Life
“Marriage calls us to an entirely new and selfless life, and any situation that calls me to confront my selfishness has enormous spiritual value. Perhaps God designed marriage to make us holy even more than to make us happy. I’m not suggesting that God has anything against happiness, or that happiness and holiness are mutually exclusive, but looking at marriage through the lens of holiness began to put marriage in a new perspective for me. In fact, it has led me to believe that couples don’t really fall “out of love.” I think it’s more precise to say they fall out of repentance. What usually happens is that we let little vices —like impatience, disrespect, selfishness, pride, and anger —pollute a once-precious relationship. Instead of letting marriage draw us into holiness, we let it draw us into bitterness and accusation. But changing partners isn’t the answer —changing ourselves is. Author~Gary Thomas
Give Your Expectations To God
Commitment means relinquishing the childish dream of having a spouse who gratifies all of your needs and desires and who makes up for all your childhood disappointments. It means expecting and accepting the fact that your spouse will disappoint you and at times not live up to your expectations. And it means sticking with your spouse when difficulties come your way in the marriage, which they eventually will. A friend of mine once told me how it was the commitment to his marriage that made it last: “Norm, we each had a commitment to each other and to the marriage. When our commitment to each other was low, it was the commitment to the marriage that kept us together. Author~H. Norman Wright Book: One Marriage Under God
Don’t Lose Heart, Focus On God
“Do you feel abandoned by your spouse or others or both? You might even feel abandoned by God because many of your prayers seem unanswered. We know how you feel because we were once there too. Don’t lose heart. Every person we know who stayed focused on God, when their marriages and families were in crisis, has come through their crisis feeling closer to God and their spouses.” Author: Joe and Michelle Williams Book: “Yes, Your Marriage Can Be Saved”
Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. James 1:2-4
This is also a really good prayer for you to go through, grow through and pray for your marriage relationship to be restored, renewed and revived, I hope it blesses you with God hope:
http://charginglife.com/a-prayer-for-marriage-restoration/
Thank you for stopping into The Bridegroom’s Café Author Table Today. I hope your soul has been fed. Whatever life season your marriage is in, I pray this exhortation on marriage has blessed you and realigned you with Him at the center of your lives. God bless you much, KimberlyMac