H.O.P.E.

Here's a daily routine that, over time, will build a marriage.  The 'H' part is different for a husband than for a wife.

H~  For him, this is heart.  Even if you don't have loving feelings for her, show a heart of love by spending quality time with her and listening to her.  Ask her how you can better love her (and don't get angry with her honest answer; just listen).

H~  For her, this is help.  God gave Adam a helper, suitable for him.  Even if you don't feel like helping him, look for ways to be helpful and ask him how you can help him (and don't get defensive with his honest answer; just listen).

O~  Open your Bible every day and read something, even it it's just for five minutes. Psalms is a good place to start.

P~  Pray every day, even if it's just for five minutes.  Tell God your needs and ask Him to give you the strength and desire to help (if you're a wife) and love (if you're a husband) your spouse.

E~  Expect less from yourself and those around you.  If you demand perfection, or very high standards, from yourself and your family, a miserable dynamic of tyranny can ensue.  Not only do the demandees become miserable, but the demander is equally unhappy.  It is a lonely road.

TV~
I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live. [Ecclesiastes 3:12]

I Am, I Can, I Ought, I Will!

I came across this phrase today, by innovative educator Charlotte Mason.  Here is a personal elaboration of the phrase.  

I am a work of God.  "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God has before ordained that we should walk in them."  (Ephesians 2:10)

I can do what is right.  "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." (Philippians 4:13)

I ought to move forward on the right path.  "Turn not to the right hand nor to the left: remove your foot from evil."  (Proverbs 4: 27)  "If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn't do it, it is sin for them."  (James 4:17)

I will pray for help.  "So what shall I do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will also pray with my understanding..."  (I Corinthians 14:15)

TV~
Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts. [Zechariah 4:6b]

Linen

The wedding gown that we will wear to the marriage supper of the Lamb, as the Bride of Christ, will be made of fine linen, bright and pure.  Our right to wear this will be recorded in two books:

"and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works." (Rev. 20:12)

The Book of Life, the first book, will have our names written in it if we believe in the saving blood of Christ.

The other books: These will list the good things we have done. 

        * I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me. (Matthew 25:36)

        * Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. (Proverbs 31:8)

        * Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. (James 1:27)


TV~
Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready; it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure”— for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints. (Revelation 19:7-9)

The Ultimate Bling

A special friend of mine became engaged this past weekend.  When engagement and marriage are pending, tradition has it that the gentleman will present his bride-to-be with a precious ring, followed up by a second precious ring on the wedding day.

Did you know that God has an amazing set of precious and semi-precious stones that he is preparing for his bride?  That would mean us; those of us who are Christians.

"And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband...Her brilliance was like a very costly stone, as a stone of crystal-clear jasper...and the city was pure gold, like clear glass.  The foundation stones of the city wall were adorned with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation stone was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, chalcedony; the fourth, emerald; the fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, topaz; the tenth, chrysoprase; the eleventh, jacinth; the twelfth, amethyst.  And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; each one of the gates was a single pearl. And the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass." (Excerts from Revelation 21)

God is preparing to adorn us, his bride, with the ultimate bling.  Tomorrow, we will discuss the wedding dress!

 TV~
They were longing for a better country--a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them. [Hebrews 11:16]

Patience, Acceptance, Hanging in There

This was on a card that I received recently:

"Love has little to do with moonlight and balconies
    and everything to do with patience, acceptance, and hanging in there.

Love can't always move mountains or change the world overnight,
     but it can open its arms at the end of a long, bad day
       and welcome you home to true belonging."

If while we were still sinners, Christ died for us, then surely He can enable US to open our arms to those around us, while they are still sinning.

TV~
Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another. [I John 4: 10,11]

Only God

It is easy to think that a relationship will bring us fulfillment.  Yet no one person can ever meet all of our needs.

If we enter into a friendship or romance in a self-centered way, saying, "This person will love me the way I deserve...,"  we will be sorely disappointed.   "O put not your trust in princes, nor in any child of man, for there is no help in them." (Psalm 146:3) 

TV~
For you, O Lord, are my hope, my trust... [Psalm 71:5]

31

I'm thinking of the number 31 today.  Proverbs 31 hails the ideal married woman (who had servants to help her, I might add).  Judges 5:31 says, "Those who love Him are like the sun when it shines in its strength."  May 31 is the anniversary of a certain couple.

"What marriage offers - and what fidelity is meant to protect - is the possibility of moments when what we have chosen and what we desire are the same.  Such a convergence obviously cannot be continuous.  No relationship can continue very long at its highest pitch.  But fidelity prepares us for the return of these moments, which give us the highest joy we can know; that of union, communion, atonement (in the root sense of at-one-ment)... "                                         Wendell Berry, The Art of the Commonplace: The Agrarian Essay

TV~
 Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.            [I Peter 4:8]