April 5, 2010

"But Ruth replied, "Don't urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God." Ruth 1:16

For 40 days you have been committed to integrating your faith fully into your marriage relationship. That is something every believer pledged to do when they took their wedding vows. Being a believer is not something you do it is what you are and what you are becoming. The promise you made to your partner is the same promise you made to your God. As you live out the one you live out both. As you fail in one you fail in both.

If you grasp this truth and forge it into your spirit your "Love Dare" will not end but will become a way of life. You will see a steady growth in your spirituality as you see your marriage deepen. That reality is one of the things that has excited me about this study.

The key is commitment. While there is something in our human nature that resists and recoils against commitment, it is absolutely necessary for growth and health.

Ruth totally committed herself in this statement and it gives us a good look at this commitment piece. You can learn from her. I hope you will.

Simply stated commitment is eliminating all other options. Essentially, what Ruth said is, "I will choose this one option and nothing else. I will have no 'plan B'".

When you choose to follow God, that is your commitment. You are agreeing to follow only one God and honor Him supremely. You will have no spiritual "plan B".

When you give yourself to a partner in marriage you are saying that you will devote yourself fully to them emotionally, physically, spiritually and romantically. You will have no "plan B".

Going forward, continue what you have been learning and practicing about commitment. Remain fully committed to God and fully devote to your partner. Eliminate any alternate plans and throw your heart and your mind completely into the relationship. You will find an amazing joy and satisfaction in both!

Make the "Love Dare" your new way of living and thinking. Because the truth is that "Love Dare" and "Christian Commitment" are one in the same!

Commit to a future of being fully engaged in loving God and loving your spouse. I dare you!

April 4, 2010

"1Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. 2So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, "They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don't know where they have put him!" 3So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. 4Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. 6Then Simon Peter, who was behind him, arrived and went into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, 7as well as the burial cloth that had been around Jesus' head. The cloth was folded up by itself, separate from the linen. 8Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. 9(They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.) 10Then the disciples went back to their homes, 11but Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb 12and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus' body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot. 13They asked her, "Woman, why are you crying?" "They have taken my Lord away," she said, "and I don't know where they have put him." 14At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus. 15"Woman," he said, "why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?" Thinking he was the gardener, she said, "Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him." 16Jesus said to her, "Mary." She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, "Rabboni!" (which means Teacher). 17Jesus said, "Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet returned to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, 'I am returning to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.' " 18Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: "I have seen the Lord!" And she told them that he had said these things to her. 19On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you!" 20After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord." John 20:1-20

They were overjoyed when they saw the Lord!

That phrase best capsulizes the emotion that Easter should bring to the human heart. Recognizing that Jesus is alive and that our sins are forgiven makes a world of difference in how we view ourselves, our God, other people and our purpose for living!

Everyone of these Christ-followers were filled with joy when they saw Jesus but there is one who was especially thrilled and I think this video clip captures that! Take a look:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LFDknSGVmXw

BECAUSE HE LIVES PETER’S FAILURES ARE FORGIVEN!

Peter, a lot like you and me, was his own worst enemy. This was the disicple who had only one speed - full! He had some of the highest highs and a few of the deepest lows.

Peter had been with Jesus and a select few on the Mount of Transfiguration. He had seen the glorified Jesus along with Moses and Elijah! Peter had been there when the 5,ooo were fed and then the 4,000. He had been there when Lazarus walked out to the grave! For Pete's sake - he had walked on water!

But he had also vowed that He would never forsake Jesus and in the Garden he impulsively grabbed his sword and tried to decapitate the Roman guard. And on that fateful night after Jesus was arrested he denied three times and even cursed for emphasis.

It was that final failure that almost did him in - until he saw the Risen Jesus! Then he was filled with joy knowing that Jesus was alive and his failures were forgiven!

Do you have some failures that haunt you?

Have you betrayed Jesus with your decisions and choices?

Could you use a few “do-overs”? Does some forgiveness sound good?

Well, the good news is, as Peter discovered, JESUS IS ALIVE and your sins can be forgiven!

BECAUSE HE LIVES PETER’S FAITH IS FIRM!

Peter had fully invested all of his hopes and dreams in Jesus.

Peter had fully bought into all of Jesus’ teachings and accepted Him as the Messiah.

Peter had seen all the miracles and he even done a few himself.

But then everything was up for grabs when Jesus was arrested and killed.

But the good news is JESUS IS ALIVE and everything is TRUE!

BECAUSE HE LIVES PETER’S FUTURE WAS FOREVER!

For the last few days Peter lived in fear. They had killed his leader and he fully expected them to be coming after him.

He had left his business and his family and invested his entire future in Jesus – then Jesus was DEAD!

In just a few days his future had gone from safe, secure and certain – to fearful and murky.

But the good news is JESUS IS ALIVE and his future is FOREVER!

That is the great news of Easter - WE SERVE A RISEN SAVIOR!

When He died on the cross He conquered sin. He pain the price for your sins and mine! And When He raised form the dead He conquered death! We no longer have to live in sin or fear death!

We can live in joy! We can live in freedom! We can live in power! We never have to be alone! And we know we will live forever!

BECAUSE HE LIVES!

April 3, 2010

"Love never fails." I Corinthians 13:8


What sort of a claim is that? Does this verse mean that if I love I will never make a mistake?

Are you kidding? Of course not.

So, then does it mean that if I love I will be successful at everything I try?

Hardly!

Well, is it promising that I will be right every time?

Dream on!

Does it mean that because I love golf I will par every hole on the course?

Are you serious?

Will I bowl a 300 game if I love bowling enough?

Get you mind out of the gutter!

Then what does it mean that love never fails if it doesn't mean any of those things?

What it means is that when I love with the love of God I will never fail to love! I will always do the loving thing. I will continue loving when I feel like it and when I don't. I will respond with love even when I have been rejected or when I have been hurt.

Love never fails because God is love and when you draw upon Him for love it will always be given.

There is no person or not circumstance that you will ever face where you cannot respond with love.

If you fail to love it is because your love for God has failed. If you love Him with an unfailing love and live in an unbroken relationship with Him your love will never fail because His never does!

Want a fail-safe love? Struggling with love? Find it difficult to be loving?

God has all the love you need. Don't fail to take it and use it!

April 2, 2010

"Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart." Psalm 37:4

Not many people get to live their dream. Some people never have a dream. A few live a nightmare.

The reason I am able to live my dream is twofold, God has been exceedingly gracious to me and a big part of that graciousness is His blessing me with a wife who has sacrificed to allow me to chase it.

How can two people become one if they don't share a dream or if they harbor competing dreams?

I believe that a couple should first discern the dream God has for their marriage and dedicate themselves to that above all. Then, I believe that each partner should be fully committed to helping each other chase their individual dreams. Obviously, their individual dreams should not come into conflict with their shared dream.

If you want to have a dream marriage don't be afraid to dream. But share God's dream and let God shape your dreams and then enjoy the pursuit!

Dreams do come true when you are true to the dreams that God planted in your spirit and to the person He partnered you with!

April 1, 2010

"Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven." Matthew 18:19

What happens when women get together? What do they usually talk about?

Their husbands, right?

What are men most likely to complain about?

Their wives.

What does talking about your spouse to other people accomplish?

No much that's positive, right?

What if when you talked to someone else about your spouse you talked to someone who could actually make a difference?

No, not Oprah. Not Dr. Phil.

How about talking to God? How about going to the One Who created you and created them and brought you together? Can you see how that might help?

Give it a try.

Once you get convinced on the value of that one get even more radical and pray together!

Our Scripture verse today makes an incredible promise of the power of agreeing together in prayer.

For the past couple of years Barbara and I have been praying together over several issues. Even though we didn't see those issues resolved or the prayers answered just the fact that we were taking them before God and doing it together was a tremendous help. Rather than worry individually we prayed together. Prayer kept us from despair. Prayer drew us together over some things that could have pushed us apart.

Just within the past several days two of those prayers were answered! It doubled our joy because we had shared the burden!

You will be talking about your spouse today. Why not talk to God about them?

You will be talking about God today. Why not talk to your spouse about Him?

You will be talking with each other today. Why not talk together to God?

Prayer keeps you from despair.

March 31, 2010

"Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path." Psalm 119:105

Leonard Ravenhill said, "Love is blind but marriage is an eye-opener."

There certainly is a degree to which we go into marriage blindly. But, by the same token we go into life blindly in the sense that we don't know what the future holds.

Acknowledging that fact the Psalmist understood the importance of being guided by One Who did know the future, his God. He turned to the Word of God to light the way to his future.

That sounds like a good idea.

The one who wrote this Psalm understood that we need direction from God for our next step and for the path ahead of us. Life is too important to spend it walking in the dark because first of all you can get lost, secondly you would not know that you are lost and if you did discover you were lost you would not be able to find your way back!

Ever walk into a dark room and feel along the wall for the light switch? You wouldn't want to live like that would you?

Can you imagine getting in your car at midnight to begin a trip to California and not turn your healights on? You would never do that. You might get out of town by the lights of the street lights and the other ambient lighting, but you would not get very far once you hit the darkness beyond. If you didn't hit something then someone else might hit you.

We need light! We need it in our individual path and we need it in our walk as husband and wife. Marriage is challenging enough without attempting it in the dark!

What better to light our way than the Word of God? And the Word of God tells us that God is Light. Light represents His wisdom and His knowledge and His Truth. We need that Word to be a lamp, or we would say, a flashlight to illuminate our next step. As we read His Word and listen to His voice, God will show us the way for our next step.

But we also need His light to illuminate our path, the course of our life and of our lives together. By knowing His Word and understanding it and obeying it we can know where our final destination will be. While God will not reveal all the details and events that will unfold, He can shine the light on our final destination.

And, His light is a searchlight that He shines in the inner recesses of our heart and mind to reveal anything that is not right. If there is darkness in us it will impair our ability to see the light before us. Knowing the right things and having the wrong things exposed is a crucial function of God's light.

You wouldn't drive in total darkness. Nor would you walk down a dark alley. So why would you walk blindly through marriage?

God has all the light you need! It is shining in His Word. It will be a flashlight and a headlight and searchlight to guide you safely and successfully.

Flip the switch!

March 30, 2010

"Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed." Proverbs 15:22

This week we move into the Final Four of the NCAA Basketball Tournament, one of the biggest events in the world of sports. Millions will tune into to watch the semi-finals and the championship games.

When I look at the four teams remaining in the chase for the championship I notice a common denominator - three of them have veteran coaches. Two of those coaches have won national championships before.

All four of these teams have tall and talented players. All of them have winning traditions. Both Duke and Michigan State have multiple final four appearances. But if you ask the one thing that separates these elite teams from the others you would have to point to Duke's Coach K, Michigan State's Coach Izzo, and West Virginia's Coach Huggins. They set themselves apart with their ability to coach teams to a championship level. It is not that their players are far more talented than the other teams, it is their ability to motivate and mentor those players into an effective team.

Tall, talented, teen-aged basketball stars don't naturally play championship level winning basketball. They are prone to play for themselves rather than for the team. It takes a Tom Izzo, or a Mike Krzyzewski, or a Bob Huggins to mold these talented kids into a smoothly functioning unit.

So, if it takes exceptional coaching to shape championship teams, what makes us think we can build strong marriages without help?

It is called accountability. It is called discipline. It is called coaching not because it creates talent but because it unifies and maximizes it. If we naturally did our best or automatically did everything we know we should do, we could go it alone. But let's be honest - we don't!

If it takes world-class coaches to mold world-class athletes into world-class teams what do think would help build world-class marriages?

So, why don't you have someone coaching or mentoring you?

Why are you going it alone?

Who do you know that you could ask to come along side of you and your spouse to help coach you and call out the best in your marriage?

When will you ask them?