Author: Thomas E Meyer Jr

2 Peter 3:8-9 New King James Version

⁸ But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. ⁹ The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward ^[a]us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.

The Bible is the best interpreter of itself, and when we come across passages which confound us, we first need to see what else Scripture has to say about the matter. 

2 Peter 3:9 has proven to be a confusing verse to many, but we will investigate God’s Word for the correct interpretation of this verse.

What does 2 Peter 3:9 mean?

What is the Context of 2 Peter 3:9?

To better understand the verse, we need to examine the context of the passage, starting with 1 Peter. 

In his first letter, Peter wrote encouragement to his readers who underwent suffering and persecution (1 Peter 1:6-7; 2:18-20; 3:9, 13-17; 4:1-4, 12-19; 5:9).

Peter called the long-suffering believers to look toward Christ’s return with the hope of being proven in their faithfulness.

He exhorted them to remain true to the Lord Jesus Christ in the midst of such hardship.

Peter highlights who these believers are in Christ,

“But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for His own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light” (1 Peter 2:9).

No matter how secular society viewed them, they were called by God for His purposes, and just as Jesus lived a life of righteousness, they were to follow His example.

As such, they were to live righteous lives in the presence of others so their opponents would see their godly behavior and perhaps be won to the faith.

Since this is Peter’s second letter to his audience (1 Peter 1:1; 2 Peter 3:1), he was probably writing from his prison cell in Rome (2 Peter 1:12-15) to the exiled believers (1 Peter 1:1; 2:11) in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia.

2 Peter follows the encouragement of the first letter with warnings to the believers against false teachers and to practice godliness as they anticipate Christ’s return.

They were hit with remonstrances from unbelievers who sought to bring doubt with questions such as, “Where is the promise of His coming?” (2 Peter 3:4).

Peter reminded his audience of the words of the prophets who said, “scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires” (2 Peter 3:3).

The environment in which the believers lived was full of the false teachers’ heresies, greed, sensuality, lust, wicked actions, rejection of God’s authority. (2 Peter 2:1-22)

These false teachers promised freedom but instead were slaves to their sinful desires.

The CEV renders 2 Peter 2:3 as, “Those false teachers only want your money, so they will use you by telling you lies. Their judgment spoken against them long ago is still coming, and their ruin is certain.”

Our theological environment reeks of the same sinful actions by false teachers.

Peter confronted the false teachings with the truth of God’s character (2 Peter 2:4-10a), the absolute authority of Christ, the veracity of God’s Word, the authority of the apostles’ words (2 Peter 1:16-21), and the last things to come.

What does this Verse Mean?

The immediate context of this last chapter of 2 Peter has to do with the last days, especially the Day of the Lord (2 Peter 3:3, 10).

The exiled elect were anxiously waiting for the Lord to return, and some had lost hope, especially amid the persecution and scoffing they endured.

Just as we now long for vindication for our faithful obedience, so too did they.

Peter urges the believers to remember what the prophets said throughout the Old Testament, the command of the Lord Jesus (the Gospel) as given through the apostles (2 Peter 3:2).

Let’s start with the first part of the verse,

“The Lord is not slow (to fulfill His promise) as some count slowness, but is patient toward you,” (parentheses added).

1. “The Lord is not slow… as some count slowness, but is patient toward you,”

In 2 Peter 3:8, the verse which immediately precedes our key verse, Peter says, “But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.”

What does this mean but time — all time — is according to the Lord.

Time did not exist until God created the sun and the moon (Genesis 1:16; Psalm 104:19).

God Himself is timeless, and all moments are as the present to Him.

Christianity.com writer Alyssa Roat explains, “He (God) is simultaneously in the past, present, and future. When He tells what is to come, He isn’t making a prediction; He is already there” (John 4:24; Revelation 1:8).

Slowness is a subjective condition, and God is not subjective regarding humans, nor does He show partiality (Acts 10:34; Romans 2:11).

God is accountable to no one’s idea of what His timing should be because He alone is the Lord, and He is perfect and holy (Leviticus 18:4; 2 Samuel 22:31; Revelation 6:10).

Trusting Him is an obedient action.

As an example, in Malachi 4:5, the Lord spoke through His prophet,

“Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes.”

When?

The prophet did not utter words of when; he spoke the words God gave him.

Four hundred years of silence followed Malachi’s pronouncement.

No further word came from the Lord during that time between the Old and New Testament times.

What the people were left with was the prophecy, “I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes” (Malachi 4:5).

Voiced in Malachi’s time, that was according to God’s timing, and while the people waited, the geo-political landscape changed big time and the Jewish people then formed the Pharisees and Sadducees and built on their tradition.

Through all of history, we see God’s patience displayed.

In the Garden of Eden, God could have wiped out the first humans because of their sin, but He initiated His plan of redemption by His promise to Adam and Eve (and all humankind) (Genesis 3:15).

All of Scripture points to Christ, and history will be culminated in His return.

God was patient with the rebellious Israelites, the men He used to bear the good seed, men whose lives were touched by God as lessons for us (Job, Jonah, etc.), and with Jesus’ disciples as they walked with Him for three years on this earth.

Peter held all of this history, relayed the truth of God’s character to his readers.

2. “to fulfill His promise…”

This parenthetical phrase speaks of God’s character.

What God promises, God fulfills.

Our Bible’s New Testament begins with Matthew. Matthew launches his Gospel with the supreme fulfillment of God’s promises, the genealogy and birth of Christ (Matthew 1:1-25), an immediate look back at His lineage and a look forward as He is described as the long-awaited Messiah (Isaiah 7:14).

God’s promise was fulfilled in Jesus Christ.

As we saw, God’s timing is perfect according to His standards, not ours, and it’s His standards alone which matter.

Why Do We Sometimes Think God Is Slow?

Our view of God and His timing is from a human perspective.

Most of us have been conditioned to a fast-paced life, from daily activities to our needs and wants, we want it all now – so any waiting, therefore, is hard. 

God’s promises are the height of excitement for us because we know He will bring about what He says He will do.

Yet, we grow weary of this sin-sick world, where society has skewed God’s moral principles beyond any measure of recognition.

Babies are murdered.

Immature children aren’t only permitted but are encouraged to change genders.

Wicked immoral incomprehensible lifestyles are plastered on media outlets as today’s “chic” entertainment at least and an example to be followed to utmost.

The devil is hard at work seeking people to devour (1 Peter 5:8).

He is the father of all lies from the beginning (John 8:44) and he knows his time is short (Revelation 12:12)

Christians have the peace of Jesus within them, but we long for a peaceful world as soon as possible – we must just trust God to enact His will in His perfect time.

What Does the Second Part of 2 Peter 3:9 Mean?

2 Peter 3:9b tells us, (God) “not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.”

Since chapter 3 is about the coming Day of the Lord, judgment is at hand.

The church Peter writes to in his epistles was in we would say were dire straits.

They longed for the Lord to return to institute His kingdom on earth and exact vengeance on His enemies (2 Peter 3:7).

They were under severe persecution and feared they would perish before He returned.

Peter explained God was not acting in reluctance or slowness to save them; He was being patient in His dispositional will.

In a long yet well-defined article on God’s will, Dr. R. C. Sproul clarifies,

“We should understand God’s will as it is discussed in 2 Peter 3:8–9 as describing His will of disposition. Here, Peter speaks about God’s will through anthropomorphic expressions that describe God’s will and affections in a manner that we can understand by describing them in a way analogous to our experience. In this way, “God does not delight in the death of the wicked — He doesn’t get some great, personal thrill out of sending people to hell, even though He wills to do it.” He is just, and must serve His justice.

How Do We See God’s Patience and Love in This Verse?

God knows who belong to Him in Jesus Christ and who will be His (Matthew 24:22, 24, 31; Luke 18:7).

There will come a day of reckoning for the wicked when God will judge and God will condemn those who have refused His Son.

That time and action does not belong to sinful man; it rightfully belongs to our sovereign Lord.

We petition our merciful God to make everything right, and we are eager to see “His kingdom come and His will be done on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10).

As of this devotions writing, more will be added to the Lamb’s Book of Life, for when the laborious work of men as the Lord’s ambassadors (2 Corinthians 5:20) is finished (by God’s personal timetable), Jesus will return and Jesus will judge. 

All who are elect will be saved and ushered into eternity with Christ.

Those who are not will be forever in hell, apart from the goodness of God (Matthew 13:47-50).

When we think, we ponder, of when we came to the Lord in repentance and faith and surrendered to Him, we are sternly reminded of God’s patience with us and our receivership of it thankful for His everlasting love (Psalm 103:17).

How Does this Verse Encourage Us in Our Daily Walk?

Just as Peter reminded his ancient audience to remember what the prophets, Jesus, and His apostles said, we as contemporaries, can immerse ourselves in the Bible and read about God’s provision, protection, and fulfilled promises.

All Scripture is for our use and betterment (2 Timothy 3:16-17) and through the Holy Spirit we are able to understand (1 Corinthians 2:1-16; 2 Peter 1:21), exalt (Psalm 34:3), and glorify the Lord (Psalm 86:12) when we obey His commands (2 Peter 3:2).

We thank God for His patience with us as we are being sanctified and conformed to His image (Romans 8:29).

We daily reflect His goodness when we display patience with others within and outside the church.

As Peter spoke of his ancient audience’s godliness perhaps winning some to the Lord, so too God may use our contemporary walk with our Savior Christ to spur others forward to repent in faith and to love and obey Him. (Psalm 32)

Even today, Christians all over the world undergo persecution, some to very small degrees of censure when families, friends, and/or others mock our faith.

And Christians in countries either politically ruled or culturally driven by false religions may suffer torment and even death.

Peter’s message to persevere and remain steadfast in our hope mimics Christ’s magnificent promise spoken to the disciples while Messiah Jesus was yet alive:

“I have said these things to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).

Our Patient and Active Missionary God

In his mission, God exercises a patient love as well as a vigorous engagement to defeat Satan and the forces of evil.

Already in Genesis 3:15 God’s promise looks ahead to Jesus’ victory over Satan.

We grow impatient and sometimes despair of evil and its effects in the world around us.

But the apostle Paul writes, “The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet” (Romans 16:20).

The final, great victory of Jesus over evil is described in Revelation 20:10: “The devil … was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur” to remain there forever.

In the meantime, be aware, says Paul, that

“our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” (Ephesians 6:12).

That is why we need to “be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power” (6:10).

God is not forgetting us.

Our merciful, patient, and powerful God is moving forward with his mission for the salvation of the people he loves.

Hold on to Jesus’ promise: “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Creator and Creating God. Heavenly Father, I praise Your wonderful name for your long-suffering attitude toward me, Your errant child, and toward the whole world. I am sorry for those times when I have wondered why Jesus has not returned yet. Help me see the unsaved world through Your eyes of love, that You want all to be saved. Give me a hunger to spread Your saving gospel of grace to a lost world. I know that my Lord and Savior Jesus lived, ministered, and suffered and crucified and died, was resurrected at the right time, seated with You and is coming back at the right time. I pray many may come to faith in You, while there is still time. In Jesus’ name, AMEN.

Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.

https://translate.google.com/

1 Samuel 17:45-50 GOD’S WORD Translation

⁴⁵ David told the Philistine, “You come to me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of Armies, the God of the army of Israel, whom you have insulted. ⁴⁶ Today the Lord will hand you over to me. I will strike you down and cut off your head. And this day I will give the dead bodies of the Philistine army to the birds and the wild animals. The whole world will know that Israel has a God.  ⁴⁷ Then everyone gathered here will know that the Lord can save without sword or spear, because the Lord determines every battle’s outcome. He will hand all of you over to us.”

⁴⁸ When the Philistine moved closer in order to attack, David quickly ran toward the opposing battle line to attack the Philistine. ⁴⁹ Then David reached into his bag, took out a stone, hurled it from his sling, and struck the Philistine in the forehead. The stone sank into Goliath’s forehead, and he fell to the ground on his face. ⁵⁰ So using ⌞only⌟ a sling and a stone, David proved to be stronger than the Philistine. David struck down and killed the Philistine, even though David didn’t have a sword in his hand.

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.

David’s triumph over Goliath is one of the best-known stories of the Bible.

An agile boy with a few smooth stones defeats a giant, armored warrior decked out with heavy weapons.

It’s a story of contrasts and ironies: tall versus short, strength versus weakness, arrogance versus humility, and too, glorious victory versus humiliating defeat.

In this ancient text, we find ourselves savoring in the triumph of the underdog.

But this impressive, miraculous story is not mainly about David and Goliath.

The core conflict is between the false gods of the Philistines and the God of Israel, Yahweh Sabaoth, “the LORD of Hosts” or “the LORD Almighty.”

Yahweh Sabaoth is one of the most widely used names for God in the Old Testament, occurring nearly 300 times.

The name Sabaoth comes from the Hebrew word for “that which goes forth” and for “armies” or “hosts.”

The name Yahweh Sabaoth declares God’s absolute reign, absolute sovereignty over heaven and earth and over all armies, both earthly and spiritual.

David, understanding the real conflict, declares that “the battle is the LORD’s.”

And through him, Yahweh Sabaoth, “the LORD of Hosts,” defeats the mighty Philistine Goliath, the Philistine Army and their gods.

A hymn of the church sings, “Lord Sabaoth his name, from age to age the same”—and we can absolutely rely on all of his strength in our daily battles.

The Man in Between

1 Samuel 17:48-50 GOD’S WORD Translation

⁴⁸ When the Philistine moved closer in order to attack, David quickly ran toward the opposing battle line to attack the Philistine. ⁴⁹ Then David reached into his bag, took out a stone, hurled it from his sling, and struck the Philistine in the forehead. The stone sank into Goliath’s forehead, and he fell to the ground on his face. ⁵⁰ So using ⌞only⌟ a sling and a stone, David proved to be stronger than the Philistine. David struck down and killed the Philistine, even though David didn’t have a sword in his hand.

As previously stated, this is one of the most familiar moments in Scripture, but do not let that blind you to the extraordinary nature of the victory it describes.

A mere shepherd boy with his staff, five stones, and a sling brought down an experienced man of war, a giant, who came after him with mighty weapons.

It is maximum victory the fame of which hasn’t dimmed through the centuries.

At stake in David’s astonishing battle against Goliath was all of Israel’s future.

The army didn’t fight, no one moved a muscle to move forward.

Neither did their failed king, Saul – who sat alone despondent in his royal tent.

They only watched in disbelief, in their shame and guilt as their future hung on the shoulders of David, who was chosen by Yahweh to be “the man in between.”

David was the anointed, appointed, inspired and empowered servant of God—and in that respect, in that very real sense, he was the true prototype of Jesus.

Like that of Israel’s army, the present and the future of every man and woman and child for generations to come, hangs high in the life versus death balance.

Our ultimate defeat on the overwhelming battlefields of life is by our death, when the abundant life we’ve imagined and built for ourselves comes to a halt.

Our death, our inevitable mortality, terrifies us because it is the punishment for our sin (Romans 6:23) which not one single one of us are without (Romans 3:23).

The law of God demands perfection, yet none of us are perfect (v 10).

Death, then, is the undefeatable Goliath before whom we can but tremble.

We need someone infinitely mightier to stand in between us and our death.

We need somebody who is absolutely unafraid, to step forward where we refuse.

And He did.

Just as the fearless David moved forward where no one else dared step, he stood between the army of Israel and their defeat, so Jesus stood between us and ours.

His max victory in that moment is the greatest news the world has ever known.

The demands of the whole law were completely met by His perfect life.

The maximum, ultimate penalty of the law was carried out in His death in place of us, who deserved to die for complete, absolute cowardice, before our enemy.

And the power of death was 100% defeated by the power of God over death, His empty tomb, rolled away stone, witnessed resurrection as He triumphed over it.

As David in the Valley of Elah, alone on the field of ultimate combat won victory not only for himself but for the whole of Israel, so Jesus at Calvary, the rolled away stone, empty tomb won victory for all who are united with Him by faith.

No wonder Paul resoundingly declared 1000 year later, “Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 15:57)!

As we witness to David setting aside his mortality, believing in the sovereignty of God over his life, picking up his rocks and preparing his sling for combat, As we look upon the cross of Christ and the triumph of His resurrection today, we are looking at the eternally honored victory that has been won, won for us all.

Pause now if you dare, to pray, rejoice, singing songs of praise and thanksgiving because every single one of us have maximum, absolute victory through Him.

Then in the strength of that victory, in the power of God over life and death, go out into a not so courageous, not so empowered world that is both fractured and broken and scared to death of death, declare Yahweh Sabaoth, that people need not fear sin for in faith they too can take hold of Jesus, our victorious champion.

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Psalm 46 The Message

46 ^1-3 God is a safe place to hide,
    ready to help when we need him.
We stand fearless at the cliff-edge of doom,
    courageous in seastorm and earthquake,
Before the rush and roar of oceans,
    the tremors that shift mountains.

    Jacob-wrestling God fights for us,
    God-of-Angel-Armies protects us.

^4-6 River fountains splash joy, cooling God’s city,
    this sacred haunt of the Most High.
God lives here, the streets are safe,
    God at your service from crack of dawn.
Godless nations rant and rave, kings and kingdoms threaten,
    but Earth does anything he says.

⁷     Jacob-wrestling God fights for us,
    God-of-Angel-Armies protects us.

^8-10 Attention, all! See the marvels of God!
    He plants flowers and trees all over the earth,
Bans war from pole to pole,
    breaks all the weapons across his knee.
“Step out of the traffic! Take a long,
    loving look at me, your High God,
    above politics, above everything.”

¹¹     Jacob-wrestling God fights for us,
    God-of-Angel-Armies protects us.

Lord of Hosts, Lord God who goes before us, and remains with us in the fields of war, help us to rely on your strength to wage the impossible battles which we face each day against our own trials and temptations. We ask this in Savior Jesus’ name. Amen.

Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.

1 Samuel 17:41-47 GOD’S WORD Translation

⁴¹ The Philistine, preceded by the man carrying his shield, was coming closer and closer to David. ⁴² When the Philistine got a good look at David, he despised him. After all, David was a young man with a healthy complexion and good looks.

⁴³ The Philistine asked David, “Am I a dog that you come to ⌞attack⌟ me with sticks?” So the Philistine called on his gods to curse David. ⁴⁴ “Come on,” the Philistine told David, “and I’ll give your body to the birds.”

⁴⁵ David told the Philistine, “You come to me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of Armies, the God of the army of Israel, whom you have insulted. ⁴⁶ Today the Lord will hand you over to me. I will strike you down and cut off your head. And this day I will give the dead bodies of the Philistine army to the birds and the wild animals. The whole world will know that Israel has a God.  ⁴⁷ Then everyone gathered here will know that the Lord can save without sword or spear, because the Lord determines every battle’s outcome. He will hand all of you over to us.”

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.

Before, during and after a game, talking trash, trying to psyche out your next opponent, trying to demoralize their efforts while trying to encourage your own team on to victory is a practice dating back to long before professional sports.

When the giant Goliath, for instance, was “insulted” by a mere boy being sent to fight him, he began to shout out smack—and he “cursed David by his gods.”

Goliath’s cursing is significant.

He was trying to demoralize and intimidate David, cause David to question the “wisdom” of his actions, cause David to think a thousand times over about if he could, would, or should actually be on that battlefield, fracturing his courage.

Goliath’s goal was to be that one guy, one larger than all life enemy whom no one could defeat, no matter what their raucous shouts of bravado displayed.

For all his bravado, King Saul, for the most part, stayed in his royal tent, on his royal throne – his royal ” do not dare disturb me” backside firmly planted there.

Saul’s entire Army was “steadfast and immovable” and in battle formation, with their spears and with their swords waiting for any command to move up, any one man who would exercise enormous initiative and to enter the fray.

Saul stayed in his royal tent.

The Army stayed in its formation and no one exercised any initiative to take the battle to this Philistine – perhaps encouraging a few others to join in the battle.

But, NO! Everyone on that field of combat was “super glued” to the ground in front of them, swallowing their courage with each and every breath they took.

Goliath’s days long taunting had completely immobilized an entire nation.

But, if we look carefully, listen even more carefully, we see his weaknesses, the giant unwittingly acknowledged that what was about to take place was far more significant than a conflict between two people or two armies or two nations.

By invoking his gods, he demonstrated that the battle was ultimately between their so-called gods of the Philistines and the living God, the God of Israel.

Taking the time sort things out, to cut into all of Goliath’s bravado, we hear the words of fear, we hear an enemy admitting to their ultimate human weakness.

David knew that upon a mere moment’s reflection it should have reminded all the Israelites that the “gods” of the Philistines were not any impressive group.

Like all false gods, they had to be carried around and couldn’t act on their own.

Recall previously, the Philistines had had to set up their god Dagon after he had toppled over—eventually, his head had even fallen clean off (1 Samuel 5:3-4)!

It makes sense, then, Goliath’s insults, mention of his gods, didn’t scare David.

The shepherd boy , wise beyond his youthful years recognized that while the giant was terrifyingly large and came at him with many great weapons, he knew the giant was right about one thing: it was a much bigger event than a one-to-one combat—and the difference was David knew that the living God who had repeatedly saved his life, and trained his shepherd’s hands for battle, whom he publicly proclaimed before friend and foe, and served could save him and Israel.

David understood Goliath’s defeat was not about making a name for himself; it would be so “all the earth may know there is a God in Israel” (1 Samuel 17:46).

David’s lone entry onto the field of combat, hand to hand combat, against his greatest enemy with a sling and a rock, the victory was to be a testimony to the assembled crowd on both sides of the valley God was alive and powerful to save.

Save without the need of the sharpest sword and without the need of any spear.

The Lord of Hosts, Jehovah, determines the final outcome of every single battle.

No matter what the appearance or display of our enemies strength to our eyes, The Lord of Hosts, Jehovah GOD, is always going to be in absolute command.

The Lord of Hosts, Jehovah GOD, commands all battle grounds, determines the outcome, determines victory or defeat-the outcome will always belong to Him.

⁴⁷ Then everyone gathered here will know that the Lord can save without sword or spear, because the Lord determines every battle’s outcome. He will hand all of you over to us.” (1 Samuel 17:47)

In these new covenant times, the battle today is likewise ultimately between the living God and the principalities and the evil powers of our age (Ephesians 6:12).

Ephesians 6:10-13 GOD’S WORD Translation

Put On All the Armor That God Supplies

¹⁰ Finally, receive your power from the Lord and from his mighty strength. ¹¹ Put on all the armor that God supplies. In this way you can take a stand against the devil’s strategies. ¹² This is not a wrestling match against a human opponent. We are wrestling with rulers, authorities, the powers who govern this world of darkness, and spiritual forces that control evil in the heavenly world. ¹³ For this reason, take up all the armor that God supplies. Then you will be able to take a stand during these evil days.^[a] Once you have overcome all obstacles, you will be able to stand your ground.

God tells us that the most lethal illness afflicting the entire human race is sin.

As Jehovah GOD, As our One great physician, He knows we need a cure, a Savior.

The only way we have to treat the malignancy of our sin is to receive His Son Jesus, God’s only Son, as Savior—he died in our place to pay the debt of our sin.

As we, like David, move forward to confront our greatest enemy, as we confess our sins and declare Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we receive new, eternal life.

Do we trust in God to save us through the victory, finished work of Jesus Christ?

Press your friends kindly, and ask how their gods—gods of ambition, politics, education, social media and so on—are working for them – do they have peace?

Do they have lasting confidence? Do they have contentment? Do they have joy?

DO THEY HAVE CONFIDENCE IN THEIR ULTIMATE VICTORY THROUGH GOD?

Thankfully, we have something that gives all these things and infinitely more.

We have the God who doesn’t topple, know defeat, who needs nothing from us.

We know the living God who has been faithful for a thousand generations and who tells us, “I have made, and I will bear; I will carry and will save” (Isaiah 46:4).

Let all the world, your enemies around you see, hear who it is you serve today.

1 Samuel 17:45–47 Reminds Us God Will Only Glorify Himself

1 Samuel 17:45-47 The Message

^45-47 David answered, “You come at me with sword and spear and battle-ax. I come at you in the name of God-of-the-Angel-Armies, the God of Israel’s troops, whom you curse and mock. This very day God is handing you over to me. I’m about to kill you, cut off your head, and serve up your body and the bodies of your Philistine buddies to the crows and coyotes. The whole earth will know that there’s an extraordinary God in Israel. And everyone gathered here will learn that God doesn’t save by means of sword or spear. The battle belongs to God—he’s handing you to us on a platter!”

And notice where this vocalized faith in his God leads David to act, with trust in God, to go out to this giant, Goliath, and to say, “This battle, for the glory of God, is not ultimately mine, it’s ultimately God’s. And he will glorify himself.”

This is Psalm 46:10, right? “Be still and know that I am God, and I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in all the earth.”

Oh, there’s so much here in 1 Samuel 17:45–47 and all over the Bible.

God will glorify himself among all the peoples of the earth.

There is always a battle going on every single day and multitudes, countless multitudes of countless ways for the glory of God to be known and exalted.

There’s an adversary prowling around, always at work in this world who is doing everything he can to keep God from being exalted in your life, in my life, among this people group, that people group, in this way, that way, every way.

We are all called to enter the fray with faith in God, to live day in, day out with zeal for the glory of God, trusting Him in the battles we face to glorify himself.

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

God help us to live in this sense, as David lived, with zeal for your glory, zeal for your honor, zeal for the hallowing of your name. Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. We pray for the exaltation of your name in our lives, for the exaltation of your name in our families, for the exaltation of your name in our churches. We pray for the hallowing, the exalting of your name in the cities where we live. God, we pray for the exalting, hallowing of your name among all the nations of the earth. We pray that you would spend our lives toward this end. Toward the hallowing of your name. That we might live in a way that glorifies your name in everything we say and think and do, in the way we love, way we care for others, in the way we reflect your character. May your name be hallowed in us. Help us to do good works, that people may see us, proclaim, glorify your name in heaven. Make us salt and light like that in this world.

Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.

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1 Samuel 17:38-39 GOD’S WORD Translation

³⁸ Saul put his battle tunic on David; he put a bronze helmet on David’s head and dressed him in armor. ³⁹ David fastened Saul’s sword over his clothes and tried to walk, but he had never practiced doing this. “I can’t walk in these things,” David told Saul. “I’ve never had any practice doing this.” So David took all those things off.

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.

From long years of personal experience growing up in the snow, it’s the type of helpful reminder that many mothers give younger children on a snowy day or older children before an interview: “Make sure you’re properly dressed.”

For King Saul, it was not any great worry over dessert weather conditions, but being properly dressed for war was the difference between victory and demise.

Thus, when David took witness of Saul against the Philistines, volunteered to face Goliath on Israel’s behalf, the first order of business was for him to suit up.

The king rested all his hope in the strength of his armor—his kingly armor fit for him alone in war and so here is a memorable scene, both comic and tragic, of a failed king and a boy who was so weighed down that he could not move.

King Saul was convinced that if he could dig out his old armor and put it on this boy, it apparent strength might just be adequate enough to see David through, despite the nearly impossible odds that were so clearly arrayed against him.

Yet Saul was a big guy (1 Samuel 10:23), and David was only a youth (17:33).

Reading this biblical passage, we can look into it and we come to the almost immediate conclusion that however desperate, it was never going to work.

Besides, if the armor was not sufficient for Saul to go out against Goliath and win, why did he think a shepherd boy in ill-fitting armor would stand a chance?

Saul was a failed king, he had lost his courage waiting for someone else or the Philistine Goliath and their army to disappear that he might be able to claim a false bravado and the wearing or not wearing of armor had zero to do with it.

David tried to wear it, tried to walk, but recognized that far from helping him, this heavy, ill-fitting armor would only hamper his efforts—so he cast it aside.

He knew that he could not be made into someone else, he knew didn’t need to be made into someone else, because he very much knew God would help him.

He knew he didn’t need to rely on anything else, because God was with him.

It’s a sad picture in Israel’s history, really.

King Saul wasn’t even close to a shadow of the strong person he had been.

There he stood, absent God’s Spirit, losing sight of God’s glory, his courage gone—and with it his joy, his peace, his vitality and the security of his mind.

We can imagine his empty hopeless gaze as it follows David heading off toward the brook in the valley and pausing to pick up five stones—the tragic gaze of a depleted king, his shadow growing long, longer in the light of his setting reign.

Let this picture of Saul invite you to consider: Are we relying on the illusion or delusion of great strength of his “oversized armor” as security in our lives?

In these days of mounting uncertainty, in what ways have we rested our hopes on human methods that will never fit, have never worked in a way that will last?

Like David, refusing all other “armors” looking to God who helps us, is with us.

Then we will be able to cast such useless failing “armor” aside and trust in God to lead you -then we can face the day, every day, with joy, peace, and courage.

David decided to overwhelm the overwhelming odds, take on a man who was several times bigger than himself because that man was blaspheming God.

A weakened defeated King Saul tried to give David the royal armor and sword.

But David could not because he wasn’t used to them.

When Goliath saw a boy with a sling coming at him he laughed and said,

““Am I a dog, that you come at me with sticks?” David replied, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied…”

And the battle was over with just one small stone sunk into the skull of a giant.

David didn’t enter the battle armed with the strength of humanity nor win the battle because of fancy wear, the latest battle tech, or even the King’s “sword.”

He won the day through the power and might in the name of the Lord.

That same power a teenager used, that killed a giant can and will help you.

God can give you the strength to overwhelm impossible odds and to overcome.

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Psalm 23

A Psalm of David.

¹ The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
² He maketh me to lie down in green pastures:
he leadeth me beside the still waters.
³ He restoreth my soul:
he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
⁴ Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil: for thou art with me;
thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
⁵ Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies:
thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
⁶ Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life:
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.

Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.

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1 Samuel 17:32-37 Authorized (King James) Version

³² And David said to Saul, Let no man’s heart fail because of him; thy servant will go and fight with this Philistine. ³³ And Saul said to David, Thou art not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him: for thou art but a youth, and he a man of war from his youth. ³⁴ And David said unto Saul, Thy servant kept his father’s sheep, and there came a lion, and a bear, and took a lamb out of the flock: ³⁵ and I went out after him, and smote him, and delivered it out of his mouth: and when he arose against me, I caught him by his beard, and smote him, and slew him. ³⁶ Thy servant slew both the lion and the bear: and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, seeing he hath defied the armies of the living God. ³⁷ David said moreover, The Lord that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine. And Saul said unto David, Go, and the Lord be with thee.

The Word of God for the Children of God

Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.

Our world is smeared with hopelessness, helplessness, and worthlessness.

But God wants us to know our worth and have fulfillment in life.

He wants us to know we can be world changers.

He wants us to be world changers.

He wants us to move beyond the status quo to help people enter his kingdom.

David was young and inexperienced.

According to his brother Eliab, he did not have the right attitude.

He was not properly equipped.

Yet God used David, an unlikely warrior, to move the young nation of Israel from a place of fear before their enemy and likely defeat to a place of victory.

When David arrived on the battlefield, he saw that King Saul and the Israelites were immobilized, paralyzed with fear because of the Philistine giant Goliath.

But David knew this was the Lord’s battle, so he spoke with words of hope:

“Who is this . . . Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God? . . . Let no one lose heart on account of this Philistine.”

From a human point of view, Goliath had the most advanced equipment and the battle tested, battle hardened experience of an undefeated champion warrior, while David was just a teenage shepherd with no ­armor, no battle experience.

But by time and trial, lions and bears, David knew this was the Lord’s battle.

So he moved straight past all the “obstacles” stepped forward with tunic alone for his armor and a few rocks for his armament and took this opponent down.

David and Israel, as God’s people on this earth in those ancient of days, with God’s help, we too can use our skills and limited resources we have to change what is directly in front of us – our world, and help God increase his kingdom.

Whatever our Odds, Our Help Comes From the Lord

When David arrived at the scene of the great standoff between Goliath and God’s people, he boldly stepped into the presence of the King of Israel, told the quaking King Saul that there was no need for fear—which was quite remarkable when the entire Israelite army had been completely paralyzed by the giant!

When they saw Goliath, they ran away.

For days on end, Goliath kept challenging them, kept taunting them, waving his mighty weaponry around as he walked across the front but they had no answer.

Then up came the nondescript left behind shepherd boy David, a mere teenaged boy, who simply said, “By my God, No one else needs to be afraid. I will fight him.“

Would the nation of Israel display “David’s Courage” before her enemies now!

Would that we ourselves display “David’s Courage” before our enemy – sin!

When King Saul understandably questioned David’s ability to face Goliath, David neither gave up nor suggested that he was tougher than he looked.

Instead, he testified to the Lord’s enabling.

In caring for his father’s sheep, David had dealt with bears and lions, and he knew that such successes had come from God and God alone.

Now David was confident that that same God would give him success again, this time against this Philistine braggart who had defiantly mocked all God’s people.

Perhaps David had in mind the one miraculous scene from Exodus 14, when the Israelites’ backs were against the Red Sea and all the balance of military power, weaponry and great chariots was on the side of the onrushing Egyptian army.

Back then, in those ancient of days when the people had all cried out in fear,

Steadfast and firm in his faith in God Moses had replied, “Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will work for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again. The LORD will fight for you, and you have only to be silent” (Exodus 14:13-14).

And that is exactly what God did.

Yahweh, the living God who had delivered His people by pillar of fire and parted waters, visible pathway through, was the same Lord who would deliver David.

Later, when David penned his poems and provided songs for worshipers, he recollected,

“If it had not been the LORD who was on our side when people rose up against us, then they would have swallowed us up alive, when their anger was kindled against us” (Psalm 124:2-3).

He then concluded with this great hope-filled declaration: “Our help is in the name of the LORD, who made heaven and earth” (v 8).

On what basis, on what measure of faith, are we able to take on all that comes against us like a giant in the day or any monster in our sleeplessness at night?

How do we believe the stricken nation Israel, will again overcome its enemies?

How do we know that you and I, stricken down by our sins, will succeed?

If our courage is founded strictly on your ability to be steadfastly afraid, then sooner or later we will inevitably meet and greet our own “King Saul” match.

Rather, let our confidence in the Lord , be as David’s confidence in the Lord—because the Lord had delivered for David, and the Lord will deliver for us too.

And if God is for us, who, ultimately, what Goliath, can long stand against the nation of Israel and can long stand against us (Romans 8:31)?

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Psalm 121 The Message

121 ^1-2 I look up to the mountains;
    does my strength come from mountains?
No, my strength comes from God,
    who made heaven, and earth, and mountains.

^3-4 He won’t let you stumble,
    your Guardian God won’t fall asleep.
Not on your life! Israel’s
    Guardian will never doze or sleep.

^5-6 God’s your Guardian,
    right at your side to protect you—
Shielding you from sunstroke,
    sheltering you from moonstroke.

^7-8 God guards you from every evil,
    he guards your very life.
He guards you when you leave and when you return,
    he guards you now, he guards you always.

Dear Lord, please help Israel to be brave. It is a scary time for the people, the nation of Israel, and they need your divine help to be brave. We know you can do all things and provide bravery to fill their bones and souls. Thank you for being with Israel, and please give them the bravery to face the days ahead. In Jesus’ Name, I pray, Amen.

Father, the battle is yours alone, we are your servants. Our faith is in you as we face terrifying and fearful things in our lives. We will not fear, for you are with us. Amen.

Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.

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Colossians 3:12-14 The Message

^12-14 So, chosen by God for this new life of love, dress in the wardrobe God picked out for you: compassion, kindness, humility, quiet strength, discipline. Be even-tempered, content with second place, quick to forgive an offense. Forgive as quickly and completely as the Master forgave you. And regardless of what else you put on, wear love. It’s your basic, all-purpose garment. Never be without it.

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.

All of us have times in our lives when we need those extra measures of support and love.

When things are difficult or when we mess up and feel as if no one can love us, we need to be cared for and loved.

And there are times when we need to extend ourselves to extend care for others, especially when they mess up or are going through difficult times.

From Colossians 3:12-14, Apostle Paul describes the new life, the simpler life, that followers of Christ pursue and live into solely because of Christ’s sacrifice.

Followers of Christ put off their old selfish ways and put on all the new virtues they can have because of Christ.

And over all of those things we are called to put on love, which pulls everything else together – unconditional love is 100% essential and integral to community.

The Call to Pursue Godly Character!

God loves you!

God loves me!

He chose you and He chose me to be one of His holy people, so we must clothe ourselves in His love and principles.

We all must go to that one place in life, acknowledge and realize that others have faults and show them the grace and forgiveness that Christ has given us.

We are to be in a single minded unity, filled with gratitude, which will set the tone for our lives, spiritual growth, and our relationship with God and others.

This is about what we, as baptized Christians, are to put on, put off in our lives.

What are we to put on?

Fruit, (not fruit of the loom) which is the Holy Spirit working in and through us, so we are oozing with His love.

We are to become His masterpiece and showcase of God’s goodness and grace.

What is produced?

Tender mercies, compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, and forgiveness; these are virtues that are sealed and empowered by His love for us, which comes from Christ ruling our hearts and His Word indwelling us.

This is not a set of ideas we are being asked to consider.

Rather, we are called and “must do” them!

What do we get in return?

Peace which surpasses our understanding, as Christ dwells in us and uses us in the lives of others through our words, our prayers, our attitudes, and lifestyle.

God’s command to love affords us a life of simplicity that can only be found in his kingdom come to earth. 

Colossians 3:14 says, “And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.” 

Christianity is a simple religion.

Jesus said all of God’s commandments can be summed up with one word: love.

Galatians 5:14 says, “For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’” 

How is it then that our spirituality often feels so complex and difficult?

How is we have a hard time experiencing the simplicity our faith affords us?

Complexity in Christianity finds its root in the attempt to live for both the world and God.

Jesus makes it clear in Matthew 6:24, “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.” 

Loving God and people is simple.

There is only one right choice before us in all that we do.

Complexity enters into our lives as soon as we try and juggle living for the world and living for God.

There is a fence between this world and God’s kingdom too high to straddle.

It is impossible to put one foot in God’s kingdom while keeping a foot in the world.

God longs for you and me to make our first action every day to serve and love him alone.

He longs to guide us into the incredible, abundant life that comes from seeking his kingdom above all else. 

1 John 2:15-17 tells us, “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.” 

You cannot have both love for the world and love for your heavenly Father.

This world is at enmity with God (James 4:4).

It is set against him and his ways.

But you and I have been given a choice by the powerful sacrifice of Jesus.

We’ve been given a real, available option to serve, love the eternal, Almighty God.

It’s time for the bride of Christ to end its affair with the world.

It’s time for us to let God love us and in response live for him alone.

It’s time for us to “lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us” (Hebrews 12:1).

Choose today the simplicity of love.

Serve God alone.

And discover a life far greater than anything you could experience outside of living for God above all else.

Dearly loved/beloved. God loves you and me and accepts us more powerfully, passionately, purposefully, and deeply than you could ever fathom!

You are secure. God “guarantees” you with a clear, powerful, loving, impacting, and lasting relationship with Him.

When we are in Christ, God is pleased with us!

No need to fear; we are a people of deepest value and worth before our Lord!

We are forgiven because of Jesus Christ and His righteousness that covers us-not because of our deeds or performance.

We are unique and complete in Him; and because of this, we are a special person whom God loves and will use to further impact His kingdom (John 6:37, 44, 65;13:1; 15:16; Rom. 5:1-8; Eph. 1:4-5; Phil. 1:6; Col. 1:21-22; 2:10; 1 John 4:9-11)!

Devotional Thoughts and Applications:

We need to see this passage not just as a slap beside our head to get right with God so our behaviors are right, but also as an encouragement that we can do it.

Since Christ gave us new life, we have the empowerment, gifts, and abilities, and alongside that, the Spirit’s indwelling to rise up and live for Him.

Because Christ is supreme, because He is there molding and guiding us, we can set our purpose and vision of our life in Him and for Him.

He is our real life; He is our all in all.

We each share in His glory, so we can make the decision, live out the choice to put to death all that holds us all back from embracing and living for Christ, and become persons of true spiritual maturity who are effective for the Kingdom!

We can recognize sin and remove its influence from us.

How is this done?

Simply put by Paul in the next verse, by allowing the Word-Christ’s presence-to dwell in us, and learn His instruction, so the peace of Christ will rule in our hearts and minds and translate into our actions.

It is all about our spiritual growth impacting us so it impacts others positively and in love.

The key is to know Christ is sufficient, so we can trust in Him-and in Him alone!

Our faith is by facts that are tangible, impacting what is intangible.

Without His intervention-our spiritual circumcision-we remain in our sins and are dead to God in a hopeless and worthless state.

Because of Christ, we have forgiveness and hope.

We are alive and God favors us!

Jesus nailed our sins to the cross and in so doing, disarmed the evil of the world.

Sin is still roaming around, but neutered as to what it can do to a Christian.

He is victorious through Christ Jesus and we have our eternal victory in Him.

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

1. Meditate on the impossibility of loving God and the world. Allow Scripture to fill you with a desire to seek God first today in all that you do.

“You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.” James 4:4

“No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.” Matthew 6:24

2. How have you been in friendship with the world? In what ways are you trying to serve two masters?

“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” Romans 12:2

3. Confess any sin of pursuing the world to God and receive his forgiveness and love. God has total grace for us in our sin. All he wants is to guide us to a life more filled with his presence, love, and purpose. Don’t wallow in your sin. Receive God’s gift of forgiveness and choose to live differently.

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9

It’s incredibly important as believers to acknowledge both our sin and the powerful transformation through God’s love that’s available to us.

So often we allow our past sins and present failures to define us.

In reality, we’re given an opportunity every day to receive God’s transformation and healing that we might live more like Jesus. 

Lamentations 3:23 tells us that his mercies are new every morning.

If we will receive the mercies available to us today, receive them in the spirit in which it was first given by God, we can choose to truly live our life differently.

Have faith in the power of the Holy Spirit who dwells within you to help you.

Ask Him to decisively, definitively show us the root of your sin (Psalm 139:23-24) that we might pray for His grace and receive healing and transformation.

May you and I discover today a wonderful life rooted in the simplicity of love.

Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.

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1 Corinthians 13 English Standard Version

The Way of Love

13 If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. ² And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. ³ If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned,^[a] but have not love, I gain nothing.

⁴ Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant ⁵ or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;^[b] 6 it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. ⁷ Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

⁸ Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. ⁹ For we know in part and we prophesy in part, ¹⁰ but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. ¹¹  When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. ¹² For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.

¹³ So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.

The covenant commitment to love, honor, and cherish are words very familiar and deeply meaningful to most of us.

Too often they are simply words of a ceremony.

The meaning, weight, and importance of those words are often overlooked.

They are actual promises/vows that spouses make to each other, for a lifetime.

We say them in front of our family, friends, the preacher, each other, and God.

Yet…do we really “get” the meaning of those words and apply them to our daily lives…living them each out in the great expanse of time which is our marriage? 

1 Corinthians 13:13 says, “So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.” 

By God’s spoken Word, the greatest of all aspects of the Christian life is love.

Love is to be at the foundation of all we do, all we are, and all we hold on to.

If we focus on love and allow the Holy Spirit to strip everything else away, what will be left is a life of blessed simplicity rooted in face-to-face, life to life, heart to heart relationship with our heavenly Father.

As we spend time looking at the simplicity of love, I pray that all the weighty, frivolous things of the world that rob you of an abundant life fall away in light of the glorious goodness of God’s unconditional, wholly available love for you.

All God Asks of Us is to Love, Honor and Cherish

As Husband’s and Wives, we look at each other – eye to eye, face to face, life to life – we must come together in the sight of God and a whole host of witnesses to acknowledge and confess before everyone, that one of the most life-giving, transformational truths of the gospel is that of everything we have to offer God, of everything in this life we have to give to each other, He most desires our love.

To love God is all-encompassing. 

Colossians 3:14 says, “And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.” 

To love God and each other is to pursue a life of wholehearted devotion to a King who is wholeheartedly devoted to us – to love God is to place ourselves in this never-ending, totally blessed cycle of giving and receiving limitless love.

The simple truth of the Gospel message is that God simply wants our love, by our love, God frees us from frivolous pursuits.

God’s love frees us all from systems and practices that are rooted in “would” “should” and “could” and might have” and “what if’s” rather than true desire.

God will take us however God can get us.

He’ll take every single one of us if all we have to give is a simple child-like belief that as husbands and wives we should both equally serve Him or be with Him.

But God never desires to keep us in that place.

He longs to love each of us to such an unbelievably miraculous level that we, as husbands and wives would live and serve Him equally out of a place of full 100% devotion as our hearts natural response to His overwhelming affections for us.

1 John 4:16 says, “So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.”

Allow 1 John 4:16 to create an image in your mind for a second.

Picture what it would be like to truly abide in God and have him abide in you.

Picture what it would be like to truly abide in God, have our spouses abide too.

Take both pictures, bring them together as one – in God, the Father Almighty.

Ask the Holy Spirit to give you a vision of what that would be like.

What would everyday life look like for you and your spouse if you were to both, individually and together, truly abide in our God and have Him abiding in you?

So great is God’s love for us, as husbands and wives, that He makes himself available for both of us, individually and together, to genuinely abide in Him.

So great are his affections for us that we could have Him abiding in us.

If we will pursue love for God above all else, we will discover a wellspring of child simplicity and life rooted in wholehearted devotion to the God of love.

Cast off all other pursuits today in light of God’s call to love.

Cast off the striving, tireless work of doing life rooted in the “what if” “could” “should” “would” and let God love us to a place of true love-based obedience.

Find rest today in the truth that God is simply after your heart.

Open up to him and receive his vast affections. 

1 Corinthians 16:14 says, “Let all that you do be done in love.” 

May you and your spouse abide in the heart of your heavenly Father and allow him to come in and meet with you that all you do today might be done in love.

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Guided Prayer:

1. Meditate on the call of God to love. Allow Scripture to fill you with a wholehearted desire to love God in all you do.

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” Luke 10:27

“So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.” 1 John 4:16

2. Ask the Holy Spirit to fill you with a fresh revelation of God’s love for you. Receive the love of God and allow it to cast out all fear and reservation.

“There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.” 1 John 4:18

3. Respond to the affections of God with your own. Tell God how you feel in his presence. Thank him for all that he’s done for you. Enter into the cycle of giving and receiving affection.

“We love because he first loved us.” 1 John 4:19

This life cycle of husband and wife giving, receiving affection, is really just a picture of what it is to worship God the Father God the Son God the Holy Spirit.

As we allow God to love us, our natural response will be to love him in return because we are created for worship.

As we receive his love we will naturally love him and others.

For a long time I pictured worship as this time where I had to somehow drum up affection for God that I honestly didn’t always feel.

God never asks us to fake our worship.

God never asks us to fake our marriages.

He never wants worship that isn’t truly from our hearts.

He knows we need his love to love him in return.

If you and your spouse find yourself emptied of affection for him and others today, take time to just let him love you so you can live wholeheartedly today.

Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.

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1 Corinthians 7:1-7 GOD’S WORD Translation

Advice about Marriage

7 Now, concerning the things that you wrote about: It’s good for men not to get married. ² But in order to avoid sexual sins, each man should have his own wife, and each woman should have her own husband.

³ Husbands and wives should satisfy each other’s ⌞sexual⌟ needs. ⁴ A wife doesn’t have authority over her own body, but her husband does. In the same way, a husband doesn’t have authority over his own body, but his wife does.

⁵ Don’t withhold yourselves from each other unless you agree to do so for a set time to devote yourselves to prayer. Then you should get back together so that Satan doesn’t use your lack of self-control to tempt you. ⁶ What I have just said is not meant as a command but as a suggestion. ⁷ I would like everyone to be like me. However, each person has a special gift from God, and these gifts vary from person to person.

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.

Marriage is a shared hard covenant to keep -there were times early on in my own marriage that I was sadly tempted to love my wife less out of fear of loss.

As time passed and my wife and I grew together, Through prayer, education, and God’s grace I reached a point where I realized how foolish this was and I made a final decision that if I was going to love, I was going to give it my ALL!

It was not that I did not give everything of myself before, but because of past wounds I had held back a little, cautiously protecting the investment of myself.

I was not giving a sincere gift of self the way God intended and in the early days it admittedly wounded my marriage.

Reflecting on my attitudes, my previous “bachelorhood at all costs” mindset I now understand how severely limited immature and selfish my thinking was.

Our Marriage is a journey of two souls bonded by a sacrament, living fully and loving intentionally.

I want nothing more than my marital journey to embrace all that God intends so when that day comes that God calls one of us 2 home, I can say with conviction that I loved fully and gave unconditionally to my spouse, “till death do us part.”

My marriage relationship with God and to my wife is of the utmost importance.

I want every single aspect of my time with my God and with my wife be of the utmost meaning and significance – no one else matters more than my bride.

We have been married thirteen and a half years now and we are both well in our retirement years – finances, health issues, hiccups, hang-ups and hurry up’s all somehow weave together and intertwine into all those things we call our habits.

There is nothing wrong with engaging in our hobbies, and playing cards, and playing our favorite board games, watching Netflix and relaxing as a way to connect with our spouses, but we can’t let that be all we choose to do together.

Intentional, deep, and purposeful conversations about issues that matter with our soul mates help to keep our marriages strong and well connected with God.

I find having gentle, sometimes even the provocative questions that help start these conversations is helpful to provoke us past the conversation focused only on the details of the day, considering the bigger picture of our lives together.

One of my biggest fears is waking up five or ten years from now beside my wife and anxiously feeling like I do not know her as well as I always thought I did!

That is perhaps a bit of a dramatic fear, but it’s pretty easy to slip into a place of marriage complacency that does not take the absolutely necessary time to look past what we saw in the past, and now see barely on the surface with each other.

The easiest way the Devil can steal time from our marriages often does not look like dramatic breaks of trust or infidelity – it’s actually just letting life consume us to the point that we slowly are becoming strangers living in the same home.

The way to avoid the slow fade out of love is open engagement, intentionality!

Its a process of God, husband wife self examination, being present with God, each other regularly, having fun “being like Jesus” together whenever possible.

It looks like staying on the same page with God and each other regarding the big things and with the little things – it’s cheering each other on and being there to encourage each other when we are stuck in a rut – it’s work, but it’s so worth it.

Here are just a few questions to help us stay connected with our spouses:

1. How do we both feel about our marriage?

My wife and I are opposites.

I should have known this from the beginning because when they did those cute things, those “let’s have you each answer the same questions separately about each other and then compare your answers games”, we almost shared none of the same responses.

Nonetheless, it has taken me nearly 15 years since our engagement to really appreciate how very different we are!

Not surprisingly, over the years, I have gradually realized that we often have very different, divergent understandings views on how our marriage is fairing.

I often project my feelings onto my wife without really asking her what she thinks about me, creating some tense problematic silent bubble interactions.

Recently I’ve trying to make a point to ask her how she feels about us before jumping straight into my very exclusive “how I have been feeling about us.”

It’s also helpful for me to gauge if my feelings are confirmed by her.

If we are both feeling “righteously” disconnected at the exact same time, then it’s probably a very good indicator that there is an issue needs to be addressed.

2. What is God speaking to our hearts in this season?

My favorite thing about the spring mother’s day season is that our wedding anniversary is right on this holiday weekend.

These two yearly celebrations always cause us to pause and consider what God is doing in the spring time of another day and year of our married lives together for our hopes and dreams of that coming year and reflect on what he has done.

We both feel that we probably should have these prayers, conversations more than once yearly, but aiming for at least that annual check-in is a good start!

Find a time to mark as when you recall, reflect, and look ahead together.

What dreams have God placed on our hearts?

What goals do we feel God is calling us to accomplish both personally and as a married couple?

Is there any one thing or several things that needs to shift in our lives to better hear what God is speaking?

Who or what do we feel led to pour into with your time, money, and heart?

How can we both be praying over the dreams God has given us?

Discuss all of this and more!

Don’t be afraid to seek the Lord boldly.

God has good, abundantly gracious blessings and plans for our wedded life.

3. Are we finding God’s joy in our daily rhythms?

Adulting is HARD.

How many times a day do we think about, do we intentionally, sneakily, look around the room for another grown-up to show up and take over, to defer to?

Sometimes we just get plain worn out.

There are so many things to worry about, responsibilities to juggle, manage, parenting chores to do, laundry to keep up with, and work emails to send!

All that to say, we need to help each other remember life is not just about work.

Life is meant to be enjoyed.

That does not mean that every last thing we are called to do will be fun or even dramatic or significant but we need to be intentional about cultivating joy and gratitude, even in the stress or most mundane things of our everyday existence.

We need to help each other avoid burnout.

Talk together about what we can do differently if we are stuck in a cycle of frustration, stress, or depression.

Be each other’s advocate for joy!

We grow old quickly if we forget about laughter, adventure, and contentment.

4. Do our behaviors and routines align with God, our family’s spiritual mission?

As Grandparents, in our experience with home schooling, getting distracted and even angered by resistance to learning, perceived missed milestones are easy.

Our thoughts can spiral from our children or grandchildren struggling with their math and reading lessons to thinking they may never be able to relate, make it as an adult and their whole lives will amount to failure pretty quickly.

A close friend of ours advised we write down the end goal when we consider what roles we can play with any homeschooling and revisit this idea frequently.

Reminding ourselves of our roles can help clear our minds from distracting, irrelevant worries – it also helps us ensure we are investing in the patterns, skills, rhythms and activities that best push us towards our primary mission.

All of this is also true in our marriages.

It’s easy to get upset, distracted, or overly invested in patterns of behaviors that don’t align with the critical generational spiritual mission of our home.

Take time to define together what we feel we are called by God to as a couple.

This could be a long-term mission or a short-term dream but write down what kind of culture God is calling you to create in your home.

Then take time to check in and evaluate if our behaviors and routines align with what we both feel God has put upon both of our hearts.

Life is short, and we are too easily distracted!

It’s important to keep each other accountable to our unique spiritual missions.

5. What are our financial goals?

Money matters in marriage.

It’s one of the biggest reasons for frustration and stress in married life.

Regularly coming together and evaluating your financial goals, spending habits, debts, income is helpful to ensure we are unified in managing our home’s finances.

There is often a spender, a saver, a money planner, and one spouse who doesn’t care about money.

It’s good to have that balance of perspective, but budgeting requires unity.

Even if money doesn’t stress you out, it’s still important that you take time to engage our spouses in this conversation.

If we’re the bill payer, spender (me!), it’s important that the saver keep tabs on us so our regular spending does not become a financial problem in our home.

Marriage is a blessing, but it’s also where God does some of his character-refining work in our lives.

We have to be disciplined in how we approach each other.

Choosing to stay engaged, invested, and open to each other.

More than anything, God placed you together for a Heaven-ordained purpose.

Don’t forget His mission for our marriage as we muddle through the details of our days.

He is our strength and portion; He establishes our boundaries, He gives us what we need and what we will require to make our married love last for a lifetime.

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Father, I said till Death do us part
I want to mean it with all of my heart
Help me to love you more than I love her
Then I know I can love her more
Than anyone else

And bring her in Your presence today
Make her what You want her to be

I pray to hear her heart
I pray she’ll love you more
I pray to cherish and serve her
And we’ll bring you glory today, I pray

Father, I said till Death do us part
I want to mean it with all of my heart
Help me to love you more than I love him
Then I know I can love him more
Than anyone else

And bring him in Your presence today
Make him what You want him to be

Bridge
Lord, help me love her
As you love the church, your bride
Help me submit to him
As I submit to you, my life

This is my prayer Amen

Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.

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2 Corinthians 12:7-10The Message

^7-10 Because of the extravagance of those revelations, and so I wouldn’t get a big head, I was given the gift of a handicap to keep me in constant touch with my limitations. Satan’s angel did his best to get me down; what he in fact did was push me to my knees. No danger then of walking around high and mighty! At first I didn’t think of it as a gift, and begged God to remove it. Three times I did that, and then he told me,

My grace is enough; it’s all you need.
My strength comes into its own in your weakness.

Once I heard that, I was glad to let it happen. I quit focusing on the handicap and began appreciating the gift. It was a case of Christ’s strength moving in on my weakness. Now I take limitations in stride, and with good cheer, these limitations that cut me down to size—abuse, accidents, opposition, bad breaks. I just let Christ take over! And so the weaker I get, the stronger I become.

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.

“In Your Weakness I Will Strengthen You!”

Married people who are very confident in their own abilities and in what they have each achieved in their wedded life together, seldom know much of God.

Before we can genuinely discover God’s power and strength in all of its fullness, we must be brought face to face with our own inability, weakness and mortality.

We will all go through times in our lives that we’d rather avoid.

Like the apostle Paul, we will ask the Lord to remove difficulty from our lives, and we may receive the answer that, if we are brutally honest, we don’t always desire to hear: “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in [your] weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9).

Many of us spend our lives trying to be strong for others, to press on and to hold it together at all costs for those we have each come to very deeply care about.

We may even begin to believe that we can do that—but we can’t.

Even on our best days, we discover that we have physical and spiritual limits that we cannot possibly overcome on our own “at all costs” abilities.

Yet if we will only acknowledge how desperately weak we are, we will be amazed, totally awed to see the power of God unleashed within our lives.

The way to be truly strong for our spouses and strong for others, such as our children, is to lean upon the Lord’s strength, rather than to rely on our own.

Perhaps as you read short devotional this you are physically, emotionally, or spiritually drained—and if you are not, the time for feeling that way will come.

In your moments of weakness, you will be faced with a choice: you can ask God to give you strength, or you can turn to the idols of pride and self sufficiency.

Your all too natural inclination will not be to turn to God but to rejuvenate and reassure yourself by other means—your possessions, your intellect, your own energy, your past achievements, whatever else you and your spouse think of.

Yet the prophet pursues us with these words: “Thus says the LORD: ‘Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me’” (Jeremiah 9:23-24).

Instead of our spouses and I trying to press on in our own strength today, allow the Holy Spirit to minister to minister to us, shouting this truth into our souls:

God supplies His limitless strength for our all too limiting weakness.

Isaiah 41:10Authorized (King James) Version

¹⁰ Fear thou not; for I am with thee:
be not dismayed; for I am thy God:
I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee;
yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.

He says, “I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”

We serve a God who has eyes that quite literally see everything about us, knees that stoop to help you, and hands which reach out from heaven to embrace us.

Today, take both your spouses hands, face to face, life to life, humbly turn to Him in your weaknesses, be prepared for Him to meet you with His strength.

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us both Pray,

Psalm 23 Authorized (King James) Version

Psalm 23

A Psalm of David.

¹ The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
² He maketh me to lie down in green pastures:
he leadeth me beside the still waters.
³ He restoreth my soul:
he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
⁴ Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil: for thou art with me;
thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
⁵ Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies:
thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
⁶ Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life:
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.

Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.

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Ephesians 5:21-33 GOD’S WORD Translation

Advice to Wives and Husbands

²¹ Place yourselves under each other’s authority out of respect for Christ.

²² Wives, place yourselves under your husbands’ authority as you have placed yourselves under the Lord’s authority. ²³ The husband is the head of his wife as Christ is the head of the church. It is his body, and he is its Savior. ²⁴ As the church is under Christ’s authority, so wives are under their husbands’ authority in everything.

²⁵ Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave his life for it. ²⁶ He did this to make the church holy by cleansing it, washing it using water along with spoken words. ²⁷ Then he could present it to himself as a glorious church, without any kind of stain or wrinkle—holy and without faults. ²⁸ So husbands must love their wives as they love their own bodies. A man who loves his wife loves himself. ²⁹ No one ever hated his own body. Instead, he feeds and takes care of it, as Christ takes care of the church. ³⁰ We are parts of his body. ³¹ That’s why a man will leave his father and mother and be united with his wife, and the two will be one. ³² This is a great mystery. (I’m talking about Christ’s relationship to the church.) ³³ But every husband must love his wife as he loves himself, and wives should respect their husbands.

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.

My wife and I knew we were embarking on a season of intensity.

Lots of life changes, lots of expectations, and lots of unknowns awaited us.

I told her I thought life would eventually give us a tiny break here and there.

We were sure there would, inevitably, have to be a season of respite much sooner rather than much later.

Several months rolled around, then those months became years, and life was still coming at us at roller-coaster-like velocity with just about as many twists and turns as any two people thought they could keep themselves adjusting to.

We believe we are both “mature” people of faith and believe in God more so than ourselves to be able to ride out that whole host of issues on our plates.

Several (too many to count) broken plates later we learned that faith is not an abstract something that is nurtured inside a spiritual greenhouse environment.

It’s grown and stretched, sometimes uprooted too, in wild, uncharted terrains. (For further biblical references here – just look up the Parable of the Sowers)

Unquestionably, we have been so grateful for God’s faithful hand moving and through our growing our lives as husband and wife, even if we feel like that life resembles more a white-knuckle ride than a peaceful, stroll along quiet waters.

We are both mature enough, realistic enough, to know we can’t expect life on this earth to be continuously easy or even placid.

That is not the “welcome to our world” environment we each grew up in and we both welcome the thought that God is continuously after our seasons of growth!

People I know right now are going through seasons of unrelenting intensity.

Physical and financial fallout has coaxed many from cocoons of comfort out on the proverbial limb of trusting God rather than in their retirement or bankrolls.

A cascade of serious health, financial concerns weigh heavily on the hearts of many as they lift faces to God, hope for miracles that’s beyond the hand of man.

Family crisis, family crises, family struggles are a harsh, ever present reality that couples encounter and try to process and deal with (hopefully) together.

Dreams to pursue become dreams put on hold, dreams juggled, blessings given, become blessings ripped even violently stripped away, all put a stress and strain on the “for better of for worse” fabrics, blankets, tapestries of our marriages.

We shout out at and to each other rather than shout out at and unto the Lord.

Regardless of whether we find ourselves in a season of intense stress right now, the truth of the matter, is that biblically, we’ll eventually enter such intensity!

Right from the beginning Adam and Eve got married and for a time enjoyed all those seasons of health, tranquility and abundance – then things got intense!

The serpent showed up – then in the intense tranquility, intense sin entered in.

Eyes wide open, they feasted on the forbidden fruit, realized they were naked and they ran through and rushed all over the garden for any suitable fig leaves.

God showed up – and in the intensity of their moment – they ran from God and they hid from God and did not immediately respond to God’s verbal summons.

God then demanded an accounting from the both of them for their actions and immediately finger pointing entered the lexicon, the blame game was invented.

In as big a hurry as anyone can imagine, life is just something that rockets itself to the deepest heavens, inevitably full of things that add up to stress and strain.

How we handle the intensity and suddenness of the emotion of it all makes or breaks us as individuals and as a married “for better or for worse” couple.

Consider the following passage recorded the night Jesus would be led away to His crucifixion:

“Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, ‘Sit here while I go over there and pray.’ He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then he said to them, ‘My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me'” (Matthew 26:36-38).

The God of the Universe, the Creator of All Things, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords experienced emotions so powerful, deep and intense that the pressure of His grief made Him feel as if He could just keel over and die right there!

He sweated blood (Luke 22:44)!

Like uncountable numbers of fellow human beings, I have been stressed and I have been deeply intensely upset, but never been so distraught I sweat blood!

Hebrews 4:15 says, “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are — yet was without sin.”

Jesus is our High Priest who sympathizes with our weakness — even our weak, frail, human emotional stresses and issues.

He empathizes with us, sympathizes with us because He understands pressure, grief, sorrow, stress, anger, at measures of intensity no human can understand.

Yet in all the intense emotional drama that surrounded His leaving His home in heaven, being born of a human being, crucified earthly life, He never sinned.

He didn’t snap at the disciples out of impatience, like we might snap at our spouses when we are out of patience.

His blood sugar might have dropped low from hunger, but He did not get a horrid case of the “sudden lashing grumpies” like I do when that happens.

He didn’t let anxiety over mean, hurtful, destructive people eat away at His insides until He was totally immobilized for His mission — like I have done.

Yet He understands my struggle — and your struggle — with the emotions that derail and distract us from the good stuff He has planned for us.

He understands better than any human can hope to, deep, intense emotions.

And the hopeful part is this – He knows exactly, precisely what to do with them!

In our marriage husband and wife will inevitably, will even undoubtedly come to impasses where life is just plain too hot to touch, intense, too overwhelming.

In those seasons of intense stress we must proactively guard your marriage.

Practical ways we can protect our marriages from the eroding force of stress:

1. Follow Jesus’ example and pray!

Stats show that couples who pray together stay together!

Come together as simple, needy children before your Father in heaven and seek Him together with honesty and trust.

Also, pray with and for your spouse. Pray earnestly for their protection from temptation, the evil one and for their relationship with God to grow strong.

2. Be compassionate to one another.

Stress of any intensity causes us to do some weird things and we all need grace! 

Ephesians 4:32 says, “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you” (NIV).

3. Encourage your spouse to take the time they need to seek God, maintain physical health (time to sleep, exercise, eat well) positive, Christian fellowship.

I have always encouraged each other to take time for ladies lunches, retreats, enjoy “Christian” sisters who are a great source of joy and encouragement for her, fellowship, laugh, eat healthy and spend quality time deep in God’s word.

Especially when life is stressful, is intensely stressful, it seems really hard to take time to care of yourself — and that is often when you need to do it most!

Encourage your spouse to take care of him/herself.

4. Spoil ‘em a little!

Does your hubby really like foot rubs or a certain meal for dinner?

Does it bless your wife when you wash up the dishes after dinner or rub her shoulders at the end of the day?

Then go the extra mile and spoil your honey when life is stressful! (And this refers to you — it’s not for you to elbow your spouse to read — wink, wink!)

If you find yourself in a season of stress, my wife and I are praying that God’s grace would intensely surround you, that you would learn more of who God is, that your faith would grow deeper and that your marriage would grow stronger.

Committed, Covenanted, to For Better or Worse

Ephesians 5:25-33 GOD’S WORD Translation

²⁵ Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave his life for it. ²⁶ He did this to make the church holy by cleansing it, washing it using water along with spoken words. ²⁷ Then he could present it to himself as a glorious church, without any kind of stain or wrinkle—holy and without faults. ²⁸ So husbands must love their wives as they love their own bodies. A man who loves his wife loves himself.  ²⁹ No one ever hated his own body. Instead, he feeds and takes care of it, as Christ takes care of the church. ³⁰ We are parts of his body. ³¹ That’s why a man will leave his father and mother and be united with his wife, and the two will be one. ³² This is a great mystery. (I’m talking about Christ’s relationship to the church.) ³³ But every husband must love his wife as he loves himself, and wives should respect their husbands.

A lack of commitment to marriage is widespread among Christians, and it is genuinely heartbreaking.

We have been mandated to set the example for godly marriages.

We have the blueprint for how to combat the fiery darts designed to test our unity, love, and faith in God.

Instead, I am convinced that we too often forget when we recited our vows.

Our thoughts and actions would differ if we comprehended the magnitude of the covenant that we make before God and the company of witnesses.

Actually, as Ecclesiastes 5:5 declares,

“It is better to say nothing than to make a promise and not keep it.”

The covenant commitment to “for better or worse” is meant to be kept.

All marriages experience trial, tribulation, calamity, and tragedy.

How awesome is it to remember God, and have God carry you through.

God rewards us when we trust and obey him through better and worse.

For better or for worse, even through better and through the worst, to stay committed, we must decide to never leave our partner behind, forgive quickly and often, commit to work through the tough stuff, and love unconditionally.

Philippians 4:10-13 GOD’S WORD Translation

Thanks for Your Gifts

¹⁰ The Lord has filled me with joy because you again showed interest in me. You were interested but did not have an opportunity to show it. ¹¹ I’m not saying this because I’m in any need. I’ve learned to be content in whatever situation I’m in. ¹² I know how to live in poverty or prosperity. No matter what the situation, I’ve learned the secret of how to live when I’m full or when I’m hungry, when I have too much or when I have too little. ¹³ I can do everything through Christ who strengthens me.

For better or for worse, through the help of the Lord, all things are possible.

For better, through the worse, through the strength and help of the Lord …

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Psalm 23Authorized (King James) Version

Psalm 23

A Psalm of David.

¹ The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
² He maketh me to lie down in green pastures:
he leadeth me beside the still waters.
³ He restoreth my soul:
he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
⁴ Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil: for thou art with me;
thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
⁵ Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies:
thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
⁶ Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life:
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.

Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.

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