tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3234955108796698362024-03-04T21:12:23.169-08:00We put the FUN in DysFUNctional!~Welcome to Holland!Kellyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01821666124355516237noreply@blogger.comBlogger71125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-323495510879669836.post-27188306014816467002013-05-07T17:26:00.000-07:002013-05-07T17:27:26.523-07:00Everyone is all hung up on looks...<br />
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Posting this after a somewhat of a rough weekend and start to this week already.<br />
Sunday, I noticed she was getting a little loud but we were outside so it was ok. But then at the Basspro shop while we were letting Zev shop with his gift cards things got a little "funner".<br />
He had to go to the bathroom and didn't want to go in the mens room because too many men were in there (yes, he has issues too). So I had to take him to the ladies room and the girls were looking around while we were in there. When I found Hayden she was in a boat that they were letting her "drive" to keep her busy till her parent (me) came because they had to continue to remove her from the fish tank. Yes the big fish tank! She kept dangling her arms in the top of the tank and was trying to catch one of the big fish :) So I got her and kept her with me and we let Zev finish shopping. I got a little irritated with her as her behavior continued to deteriorate. I still needed to go to Walmart and a few other places but I didn't know if we were going to make it much longer. We went strait to Walmart where it seemed like forces were pulling her in every direction. She could not focus on my voice, what she wanted to say, do or anything. She was humming loudly and making different noises with her mouth and sitting upside down in the cart. Yes, she is too big for the cart but we had come to that point. I don't think she even knew she was doing any of it. I was supposed to get a bunch of things for Zev's class and we needed a lot of stuff for the house but we only had about 4 things in the cart when I said "we have to leave". I just couldn't handle much more. I didn't want to loose my self control and I could sense myself starting to. We took our 4 things to the checkout line and Zev had one item as well that he wanted to pay for separately. Zev's separate purchase wound up causing us another 10 minutes due to the register not scanning something right so this gave Hayden some more time to really lose it. At one point she was on the check out belt like you would place an item, then under it, then crawling on the floor, then back on the check out belt, talking really loud at the lady about what she needed to do at the register like the lady didn't know her job.<br />
It was really kind of sad more than anything. I knew something was wrong and I had a real good idea what it was.<br />
When I walked in the door it was 7pm, I saw her cup filled with pills. Just what I had suspected. She didn't have her medicine. Which is 5 different pills.<br />
We have went without them once or twice before and when we do we try to stay in to make life easier.<br />
I guess it was a good reminder of the help she gets from them. I wasn't happy about starting them years ago but I eventually knew that we had to.<br />
If I could be perfectly honest though sometimes I would like to let her go without all her medications so all of the "so called experts" who like to diagnose everyone can see how she is without them and has to try to function.<br />
"She doesn't look Autistic"<br />
If your job is a cashier that doesn't make you proficient in Autism related disorders.<br />
If you saw the movie "Rainman" no you are not able to spot Autistic people.<br />
If you work in a day care, you are not a neurologist. There is a reason that you make 7$ and hour and they make $175 and hour.<br />
If you are a teacher, you may have dealt with some similar traits but that doesn't make you an expert either on whether they are or are not on the Autism spectrum. Nor can you"fix them, because you have a kid and know how to handle them"<br />
They are not murderers, bombers, crazies, or any other stereotypical stuff that is going on lately.<br />
If you would just stop taking their "not typical" behavior personal and stop blaming the parents than maybe some of them will stop growing up to be confused, stressed, depressed adults.<br />
That night we talked about how hard of a day she had and she didn't remember much of it but she said "I am really sorry" I told her it was ok and that I was sorry too.<br />
Do I ever think it will get better, Yes. I am claiming that!<br />
Neuropsych says that she will always be behind her age group in social things for a while. When she was 10 she was more like 5 and when she is 20 she will be like 15 and she says hopefully when she is 30 she will be caught up or near there.<br />
So don't be ignorant and don't teach your children to be ignorant either. Teach them kindness to everyone. If you can't handle someone who acts different without giving them a dirty look or saying something ignorant then PLEASE do not take a job that has anything to do with children at all.<br />
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<span class="text John-9-2" id="en-NIV-26443"><span style="color: red;"><sup class="versenum" style="font-size: 0.75em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: top;"> </sup>His disciples asked him, “Rabbi,<sup class="crossreference" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: top;" value="(<a href="#cen-NIV-26443A" title="See cross-reference A">A</a>)"></sup> who sinned,<sup class="crossreference" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: top;" value="(<a href="#cen-NIV-26443B" title="See cross-reference B">B</a>)"></sup> this man<sup class="crossreference" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: top;" value="(<a href="#cen-NIV-26443C" title="See cross-reference C">C</a>)"></sup> or his parents,<sup class="crossreference" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: top;" value="(<a href="#cen-NIV-26443D" title="See cross-reference D">D</a>)"></sup> that he was born blind?”</span></span></div>
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<span class="text John-9-3" id="en-NIV-26444"><span style="color: red;"><span class="woj"><sup class="versenum" style="font-size: 0.75em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: top;"> </sup>“Neither this man nor his parents sinned,”</span> said Jesus, <span class="woj">“but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him.</span></span></span></div>
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<span class="text John-9-3"><span class="woj">John 9:2-3</span></span></div>
<br />Kellyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01821666124355516237noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-323495510879669836.post-36505298382813613932013-02-28T17:00:00.000-08:002013-02-28T17:00:19.714-08:00Love Dare ~ Day 40 "Love is a Covenant"<br />
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<span style="color: red;">Today is our last day, I hope this 40 day journey has helped build your relationship with your child or spouse stronger than ever.</span> </div>
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Thank you to the authors of the "Love Dare" Stephen and Alex Kendrick for such a great tool.</div>
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<strong><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; line-height: 21px;"><span style="font-size: large;">Love Is a Covenant</span></span></strong></div>
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<em><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;"><b>Where you go, I will go, and where you lodge, I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God, my God. – Ruth 1:16</b></span></em></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Congratulations. You’ve reached the end of the Love Dare – the book. But the experience and challenge of loving your mate is something that never comes to an end. It goes on for the rest of your life.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">This book may end at Day 40. But who says your dare has to stop? And as you view your marriage relationship from this point on, we challenge you to consider it a covenant instead of a contract. These two words sound similar in meaning and intent but are in reality much different. Seeing marriage as a contract is like saying to your spouse, “I take you for me and we’ll see if this works out.” But realizing it as a covenant changes it to say, “I give myself to you and commit to this marriage for life.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">There are many other differences between covenants and contracts. A contract is usually a written agreement based on distrust, outlining the conditions and consequences if broken. A covenant is a verbal commitment based on trust, assuring someone that your promise is unconditional and good for life. It is spoken before God out of love for another.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">A contract is self-serving and comes with limited liability. It establishes a time frame for certain deliverables to be met and accomplished. A covenant is for the benefit of others and comes with unlimited responsibility. It has no expiration date. It is “til death do us part.” A contract can be broken with mutual consent. A covenant is intended to be unbreakable.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">The Bible contains several major covenants as part of the unfolding story of God’s people. God made a covenant with Noah, promising never to destroy all flesh with a worldwide flood (Genesis 9:12-17). He made a covenant with Abraham, promising that an entire nation of descendents would come from his family line (Genesis 17:1-8). He made a covenant with Moses, declaring that the people of Israel would be God’s permanent possession (Exodus 19:3-6). He made a covenant with David, promising that a ruler would sit on his throne forever (2 Samuel 7:7-16). Ultimately, He made a “new covenant” by the blood of Christ, establishing an unending, unchanging legacy of forgiven sins and eternal life for those who believe in Him (Hebrews 9:15). Never once has God broken any of these covenants.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">And then there’s marriage – the strongest covenant on earth between two people, the pledge of a man and woman to establish a love that is unconditional and lasts a lifetime. In marriage, your wedding ring represents your covenant vows – not merely commitments you hoped to keep but premeditated promises, publicly spoken and witnessed by others.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">As you’ve read numerous times in these pages, keeping this covenant is not something you can do in your own strength. There’s good reason why God was the One who initiated covenants with His people. He alone is able to fulfill the demands of His own promises. He alone is able to forgive the receivers of His covenant when they fail to uphold their part of the agreement. But the Spirit of God is within you by the virtue of your faith in His Son and the grace bestowed upon you in salvation. That means you now can exercise your role as covenant keeper, no matter what may arise to challenge your faithfulness to it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Especially if your spouse is not in a place of receiving your love right now, the act of covenant keeping can grow more daunting with each passing day. But marriage is not a contract with escape clauses and exception wordings. Marriage is a covenant intended to cut off all avenues of retreat or withdrawal. There’s nothing in all the world that should sever what God has joined together. Your love is based on covenant.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Hundreds of years after the prophet Malachi recorded these words, people are still wondering why God withholds His hand of blessing at times from their homes and marriages. “You say, ‘For what reason?’ Because the Lord has been witness between you and your wife of your youth, against whom you have dealt treacherously, though she is your companion and your wife by covenant … For I hate divorce, says the Lord, the God of Israel, and him who covers his garment with wrong, says the Lord of hosts. So take heed to your spirit, that you do not deal treacherously” (Malachi 2:14, 16).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Every marriage is called to be an earthly picture of God’s heavenly covenant with His church. It is to reveal to the world the glory and beauty of God’s unconditional love for us. Jesus said, “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love” (John 15:9 NIV). Let His words inspire you to be a channel of God’s love to your spouse.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">The time is now, man or woman of God, to renew your covenant of love in all sincerity and surrender. Love is too holy a treasure to trade in for another, and too powerful a bond to be broken without dire consequences. Fasten your love afresh on this one the Lord has given you to cherish, prize, and honor.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Your life together is before you. Dare to take hold of it and never let go.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">We dare you.</span></div>
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<strong><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; line-height: 21px;"><span style="font-size: large;">Today’s Dare</span></span></strong></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Write out a renewal of your vows and place them in your home. Perhaps if appropriate, you could make arrangements to formally renew your wedding vows before a minister and with family present. Make it a living testament to the value of marriage in God’s eyes and the high honor of being one with your mate.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: red;"><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px;">By virtue of being a family you are in covenant with one another, a God given covenant. Create a family covenant and print it out to hang in your home.</span></span></div>
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<em><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;"><b>He has remembered His covenant forever. (Psalm 105:8)</b></span></em></div>
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Kellyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01821666124355516237noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-323495510879669836.post-29453139587271114842013-02-27T18:26:00.000-08:002013-02-27T18:26:35.147-08:00Love Dare ~ Day 39 "Love Endures"<br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; line-height: 21px;"><span style="font-size: large;">Love Endures</span></span></strong></div>
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<em><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;"><b>Love never fails. – 1 Corinthians 13:8</b></span></em></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Of all the things love dares to do, this the ultimate. Though threatened, it keeps pursuing. Though challenged, it keeps moving forward. Though mistreated and rejected, it refuses to give up.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Love never fails.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Many times when a marriage is in crisis, the spouse who is trying to make things work will go to the other, declaring in no uncertain terms that no matter what has happened in the past, he or she is committed to this marriage. Their love can be counted on to last. They promise. But not wanting to hear this yet, the other spouse holds their position. They still want out. They don’t see this marriage lasting long-term. Nor do they even want it to anymore.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">The partner who has just laid his or her heart on the line, extending the olive branch, can’t handle the rejection. So they withdraw their statement. “Fine. If that’s the way you want it, that’s the way it’ll be.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">But if love is really love, it doesn’t waffle when it’s not received the way you want it to be. If love can be told to quit loving, then it’s not really love. Love that is from God is unending, unstoppable. If the object of its affection doesn’t choose to receive it, love keeps giving anyway.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Love never fails.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Never.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">That’s what Jesus’ love is like. His disciples were nothing if not unpredictable. After their final Passover meal together, when Jesus told them they would all forsake Him before the night was over, Peter declared, “Even though all may fall away because of You, I will never fall away … Even if I have to die with You, I will not deny You” (Matthew 26:33, 35). All the other disciples echoed the very same promise.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">But later that night, Jesus’ inner circle of followers – Peter, James, and John – would sleep through Christ’s agony in the garden. On the way to Christ’s crucifixion, Peter would deny Him three times in the courtyard. But at the precise moment, the Bible says Jesus “turned and looked” at him (Luke 22:61). His men had failed Him – again – within hours of their sworn promises. Yet He never stopped loving them, because He and His love are “the same yesterday and today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">When you have done everything within your power to obey God, your spouse may still forsake you and walk away – just as Jesus’ followers did to Him. But if your marriage fails, if your spouse walks away, let it not be because you gave up or stopped loving them.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Love never fails.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Of the nine “fruits of the Spirit” listed in Galatians 5, the first of all is love. And because the unchanging Holy Spirit is its source – the same Holy Spirit who dwells in the hearts of all believers – then the love He creates in you is unchanging as well. It is based on the will of God, the calling of God, and the Word of God – all unchanging things. The Bible declares them “irrevocable” (Romans 11:29). “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away” (Luke 21:33).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Only a few days ago you were Love Dared to build your marriage on the Word of God. That’s because when all else fails, the truth of God will still be standing. Along the way you have also been dared to be patient, to be unselfish, to sacrifice for your mate’s needs.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">These are not just loving ideas, existing in isolation. Each quality of love outlined in this book is based on the love of God, captured and expressed in the Word of God. The unchanging Word of God. No challenge or circumstance can occur that will ever put an expiration date on Him or His love. Therefore, your love – made of the same substance – bears the same, unchanging characteristics.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Love never fails.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">So today your dare is to put your unfailing love into the most powerful, personal words you can. This is your chance to declare that no matter what imperfections exist – both in you and in your spouse – your love is greater still. No matter what they’ve done or how often they’ve done it, you choose to love them anyway. Though you’ve been far from steady in your treatment of them over the years, your days of being inconsistent in love are over. You accept this one man or woman as God’s special gift to you, and you promise to love them until death.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">You’re saying to your spouse, “Even if you don’t like what you’re reading – even if you don’t like me – I choose to love you anyway. Forever.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Because love never fails.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; line-height: 21px;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">Today’s Dare</span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Spend time in personal prayer, then write a letter of commitment and resolve to your spouse. Include why you are committing to this marriage until death, and that you have purposed to love them no matter what. Leave it in a place that your mate will find it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="color: red;">Spend time in personal prayer, then write a letter of commitment and resolve to your family. Include why you are committing to this, and that you have purposed to love them no matter what. Leave it in a place that your family will find it.</span></span></div>
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<em><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;"><b>He delights in unchanging love. (Micah 7:18)</b></span></em></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;"> </span></div>
Kellyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01821666124355516237noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-323495510879669836.post-5749118126928287932013-02-26T16:09:00.000-08:002013-02-26T16:09:44.384-08:00Love Dare ~ Day 38 "Love Fulfills Dreams"<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUiN_z_vY2_46CKK54mSM__aRshLSfTd_6TZRkEqV2oKp5OqT1ZpxIj3mN4gyB3dge6oFJMQa6n3BbyFTdCNx1mF2OmIelU3zEz6A5xMl2gmmbLUUa8uK1SO1oCmZzD5-f4szVm-r6C0w/s1600/dream-blue-blog-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="178" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUiN_z_vY2_46CKK54mSM__aRshLSfTd_6TZRkEqV2oKp5OqT1ZpxIj3mN4gyB3dge6oFJMQa6n3BbyFTdCNx1mF2OmIelU3zEz6A5xMl2gmmbLUUa8uK1SO1oCmZzD5-f4szVm-r6C0w/s320/dream-blue-blog-2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<strong><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; line-height: 21px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></strong></div>
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<strong><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; line-height: 21px;"><span style="font-size: large;">Love Fulfills Dreams</span></span></strong></div>
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<em><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;"><b>Delight yourself in the Lord; and He will give you the desires of your heart. – Psalm 37:4</b></span></em></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">What is something your spouse would really, really love? And how often do you ask yourself that question?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Common sense tells us we can’t give our wife or husband everything they might like. Our budgets and account balances tell us we probably couldn’t afford it anyway. And even if we could, it might not be good for us. Or for them.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">But perhaps you’ve let “no” become too quick a response. Perhaps you’ve let this negative default setting become too reasoned and rational, too automatic. What if instead of dismissing the thought, you did your best to honor it. What might happen if the one thing they said you’d never do for them became the next thing you did?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Love sometimes needs to be extravagant. To go all out. It sometimes needs to set aside the technicalities and just bless because it wants to.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Is that thinking too much like a teenager? Is love like this no longer on the menu after so many years of marriage? After all, with the way your relationship might be at the moment, wouldn’t it be less than genuine to indulge your spouse if your heart’s not in it?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Well, how about putting your heart in it. How about developing a new level of love that actually wants to fulfill every dream and desire you possibly can.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Hasn’t God’s love met needs in your heart that once seemed out of the question? You were living under such a load of sin and regret; you thought you’d never earn your way back into His good graces. But He looked at you with love and said you didn’t have to. He wanted you back. He wanted you to realize your need for Him, and that as you repented and turned to Him, He would love and forgive you. “God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ” (Ephesians 2:4-5).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">You thought life was over when a certain setback took all the wind out of your sails. You broke down and cried out to Him. You prayed like you’d never prayed before. And though it wasn’t easy getting back up and walking on, you somehow survived. He met you with His promised peace “which surpasses all comprehension” (Philippians 4:7) and kept you on your feet.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">It wasn’t when you were behaving like an angel that God chose to pour out His love on you. It wasn’t when you were behaving like an angel that God chose to pour out His love on you. It wasn’t because you were so deserving that He offered you His grace. “God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Chris died for us” (Romans 5:8).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">He’s your model. He’s the One your love is designed to imitate. Though you weren’t a likely candidate for His love, He gave it anyway. He paid the price.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Not everything your spouse wants has a hefty price tag. Not everything he or she desires can be bought with money. Your wife may really want your time. She may really want your attention. She may really want to be treated like a lady, to know that her husband considers her his greatest treasure. She may really want to see in your eyes a love that chooses to be there no matter what.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Your husband may really want your respect. He may really want you to acknowledge him as the head of the house in front of the children. He may really want you to put your arms around his neck for no apparent reason, surprising him with a long kiss or a love note when there’s not even a birthday or anniversary to justify it. He may really need to know that you still think he’s strong and handsome, the way you used to.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Dreams and desires come in all shapes and sizes. But love takes careful notice of each one.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Love calls you to listen to what your mate is saying and hoping for.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Love calls you to remember the things that are unique to your relationship, the pleasures and enjoyments that bring a smile to the other’s face.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Love calls you to give when it would be a lot more convenient to wait.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">And love calls you to daydream about these opportunities so regularly that their desires become yours as well.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">We dare you to think in terms of overwhelming your spouse with love. To surprise them by exceeding all their expectations with your kindness. It may or may not be a financial sacrifice, but it needs to reflect a heart that is willing to express itself with extravagance.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">What is something your spouse would really, really love? It’s time you started living out the answer to that question.</span></div>
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<strong><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; line-height: 21px;"><span style="font-size: large;">Today’s Dare</span></span></strong></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Ask yourself what your mate would want if it was obtainable. Commit this to prayer, and start mapping out a plan for meeting some (if not all) of their desires, to whatever level you possibly can.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px;"><span style="color: red;">Ask yourself what your family would want if it was obtainable. Commit this to prayer, and start mapping out a plan for meeting some (if not all) of their desires, to whatever level you possibly can.</span></span></div>
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<em><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;"><br /></span></em></div>
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<em><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;"><b>God is able to make all grace abound to you. (2 Corinthians 9:8)</b></span></em></div>
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Kellyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01821666124355516237noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-323495510879669836.post-85920948600646936162013-02-25T17:24:00.000-08:002013-02-25T17:26:24.791-08:00Love Dare ~ Day 37 "Love Agrees in Prayer"<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgntBMrGeJ3PfL7z567RJidn6csMhximSBjR64aLeg2Z5FZd8Y1LTq5pnOEDw79B-5y_j_RzhUNIReDtiZlEv3dxS3bFjRiZsBqN8L-3_X_eWso5rQll-B3YG1VGBbpS150EZxiPz4td1s/s1600/Praying-Hands1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgntBMrGeJ3PfL7z567RJidn6csMhximSBjR64aLeg2Z5FZd8Y1LTq5pnOEDw79B-5y_j_RzhUNIReDtiZlEv3dxS3bFjRiZsBqN8L-3_X_eWso5rQll-B3YG1VGBbpS150EZxiPz4td1s/s320/Praying-Hands1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<strong><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; line-height: 21px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></strong></div>
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<strong><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; line-height: 21px;"><span style="font-size: large;">Love Agrees in Prayer</span></span></strong></div>
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<em><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;"><b>If two of you agree on earth about anything that they may ask, it shall be done for them by May Father. – Matthew 18:19</b></span></em></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">If someone told you that by changing one thing about your marriage, you could guarantee with near 100 percent assurance that your life together would significantly improve, you would at least want to know what it was. And for many godly couples, that “one thing” is the daily practice of praying together.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">To someone who tends to devalue spiritual matters, this sounds fairly ridiculous. And if told that shared prayer is a key ingredient in marital longevity and leads to a heightened sense of sexual intimacy, they would think you had really gone too far. But the unity that grows between a man and woman who regularly pray together forms an intense and powerful connection. Within the sanctuary of your marriage, praying together can work wonders on every level of your relationship.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">When you were joined together as husband and wife, God gave you a wedding gift – a permanent prayer partner for life. When you need wisdom on a certain decision, you and your prayer partner can seek God together for the answer. When you’re struggling with your own fears and insecurities, your prayer partner can hold your hand and intercede on your behalf. When you and your spouse are not getting along and can’t get past a particular argument or sticking point, you can call a time out, drop your weapons, and go with your partner into emergency prayer. It should become your automatic reflex action when you don’t know what else to do.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">It’s hard to stay angry long with someone for whom you’re praying. It’s hard not to back down when you’re hearing your mate humbly cry out to God and beg Him for mercy in the midst of your heated crisis. In prayer, two people remember that God has made them one. And in the grip of His uniting presence, disharmony blends into beauty.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Praying for your spouse leads your heart to care more deeply about them. But more importantly, God is pleased when He sees you both humbling yourselves and seeking His face together. His blessing falls on you when you agree in prayer.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">The word Jesus used when He talked about “agreeing” in prayer has the idea of harmonic symphony. Two separate notes, played one at a time, sound different. They’re opposed to each other. But play them at the same time – in agreement – and they can create a pleasing sense of harmony. Together they give a fuller, more complete sound than either of them can make on its own.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Agreeing in prayer is like that – even in the midst of disagreeing. It pulls you both back toward your real center. It places you on common ground, face-to-face before the Father. It restores harmony in the midst of contention.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">The church – which in Scripture has a marriage connotation with Christ – can sometimes be a place where conflict rules. The disharmony that can flare up over various matters can derail the church from its mission and disrupt the free flow of worship and unity. At times godly church leaders will see what is taking place, break off discussions, and call the people of God to prayer. Instead of continuing the discord and allowing more feelings to be hurt, they will seek unity by turning their hearts back to God and appealing to Him for help.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">The same thing happens in our homes when there is an intervention of prayer, even at high points of disagreement. It stops the bleeding. It quiets the loud voices. It pauses you as you realize whose presence you’re in.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">But prayer is for a lot more than breaking up fights. Prayer is a privilege to be enjoyed on a consistent, daily basis. When you know that prayer time awaits you before going to bed, it will change the way you spend your evening. Even if your prayers together are typically short and to the point, this will become a standing appointment that you can orbit your day around, keeping God in the middle of everything.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">It’s true that beginning a habit like this can initially feel awkward and uncomfortable. Anything this powerful will surprise you with its weight and responsibility when you actually try doing it. But bear in mind that God wants you to engage with Him – invites you, in fact – and He will grow you as you take it seriously and push past those times when you don’t know what to say.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">You’ll look back at this common thread that ran through everything from average Mondays to major decisions and be so thankful for this “one thing” that changed everything. This is one area where it’s imperative that you agree to agree.</span></div>
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<strong><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; line-height: 21px;"><span style="font-size: large;">Today’s Dare</span></span></strong></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Ask your spouse if you can begin praying together. Talk about the best time to do this -- whether it’s in the morning, your lunch hour, or before bedtime. Use this time to commit your concerns, disagreements, and needs before the Lord. Don’t forget to thank Him for His provision and blessing. Even if your spouse refuses to do this, resolve to spend this daily time in prayer yourself.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: red;"><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;"> The family that prays together....Stays together!</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: red;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px;">Pray together. Talk about the best time to do this, whether it’s in the morning, your lunch hour, or before bedtime. Use this time to commit your concerns, disagreements, and needs before the Lord. Don’t forget to thank Him for provision and blessing.</span></span></div>
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<em><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;"><br /></span></em></div>
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<em><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;"><b>In the morning my prayer comes before You. (Psalm 88:13)</b></span></em></div>
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Kellyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01821666124355516237noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-323495510879669836.post-54245428559725895382013-02-24T17:42:00.000-08:002013-02-24T17:42:59.900-08:00Love Dare ~ Day 36 "Love Is God's Word"<br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; line-height: 21px;"><span style="font-size: large;">Love is God’s Word</span></span></strong></div>
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<em><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;"><b>Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. – Psalm 119:105</b></span></em></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">For some people, the Bible seems just too big to understand. It’s like an impossible challenge. They don’t know where or how to begin. But as a Christian, you’re not left alone to try grasping the major themes and deep meanings of the Bible. The Holy Spirit, who now lives in your heart by the way of salvation, is an illuminator of truth. “For the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God” (1 Corinthians 2:10). And because of His internal lamp, the Scriptures are now yours to read, absorb, comprehend, and live by.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">But first, you’ve got to commit to do it.</span></div>
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<em><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Be in it</span></em><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">. If this is not already a habit of yours, now is the time to begin reading a portion of the Bible every day. Ideally, read it together as husband and wife – in the morning, perhaps, or before bed. Be like the writer of Psalm 119, who could say, “With all my heart I have sought You … Your word I have treasured in my heart, that I may not sin against You” (Psalm 119:10-11).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Those who practice a consistent pattern of reading the Bible soon discover it to be “more desirable than gold, yes, than much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb” (Psalm 19:10).</span></div>
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<em><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Stay under it</span></em><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">. You’re right; the Bible can be deep and challenging. That’s why it’s so important to be part of a church where the Word is faithfully taught and preached. By hearing it explained in sermons and Bible study classes, you’ll get a broader, more balanced view of what God is saying through His Word. You’ll also get to join with others who are on the same journey you are, wanting to be fed by the truths of Scripture. “Continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of, knowing from whom you have learned them” (2 Timothy 3:14).</span></div>
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<em><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Live it</span></em><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">. Unlike most other books, which are only designed to be read and digested, the Bible is a living book. It lives because the Holy Spirit still resonates within its words. It lives because, unlike the ancient writings of other religions, its Author is still alive. And it lives because it becomes a part of who you are, how you think, and what you do. “Prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers” (James 1:22).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Jesus talked about people who build their lives on sand – their own logic, their best guesses, the latest reasoning. When the storms of life begin to blow (which they always will), foundations of sand will only result in total disaster. Their houses may light up and look nice for a while, but they are tragedies waiting to happen. Ultimately they collapse.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">But Jesus said, “Everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them may be compared to a wise man who builds on the rock. The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock” (Matthew 7:24-25). When your home is founded on the rock of God’s unchanging Word, it is insured against destruction.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">That’s because God has the right plan for everything, and He’s revealed these plans in His Word. They’re right there for anyone who will read it and apply it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">God has a plan for the way you handle your money. A plan for the way you raise your children. A plan for the way you treat your body. A plan for the way you spend your time. A plan for the way you handle conflict. Isn’t it just like your Maker to know exactly what you need?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">If being a regular Bible reader is new for you, you’ll be surprised how quickly you’ll begin thinking differently and more eternally. And if you are serious about establishing strategies for life based on God’s way of doing things, He will guide you to make connections between what you’re reading and how it applies. It’s an enlightening journey with discoveries to be made all the time.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Every aspect of your life that you submit to, God’s principles will grow stronger and more long-lasting over time. But any part you withhold from Him, choosing instead to try your own hand at it, will weaken and eventually fail when the storms of life hit you. It may, in fact, be the one area that hastens the downfall of your home and marriage.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Wise couples build their houses on the rock of God’s Word. They’ve seen what sand can do. They know how it feels when their footing gets soft and the foundation gives way. That’s why must determine to build your life and marriage on the solid rock of the Bible, and then you can plan on a stronger future – no matter how bad the storms get.</span></div>
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<strong><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; line-height: 21px;"><span style="font-size: large;">Today’s Dare</span></span></strong></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Commit to reading the Bible every day. Find a devotional book or other resource that will give you some guidance. If your spouse is open to it, see if they will commit to daily Bible reading with you. Begin submitting each area of your life to its guidance and start building on the rock.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;"> </span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: red;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px;">Commit to reading the Bible every day. Find a devotional book or other resource that will give you some guidance. Commit to daily Bible reading with your family. Begin submitting each area of your life to its guidance and start building on the rock.</span><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<em><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;"><b>Whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction. (Romans 15:4)</b></span></em></div>
Kellyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01821666124355516237noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-323495510879669836.post-20495187871075593942013-02-23T20:35:00.000-08:002013-02-23T20:35:56.274-08:00Love Dare ~ Day 35 "Love Is Accountable"<span style="color: red;">Parent teams- Especially single parents: Find a mentor, if not for you than for your children. I am hoping to find one for mine soon.</span><br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; line-height: 21px;"><span style="font-size: large;">Love is Accountable</span></span></strong></div>
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<em><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;"><b>Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed. – Proverbs 15:22</b></span></em></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Mighty sequoia trees tower hundreds of feet in the air and can withstand intense environmental pressures. Lightning can strike them, fierce winds can blow, and forest fires can rage around them. But the sequoia endures, standing firm, only growing stronger through the trials.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">One of the secrets to the strength of this giant tree is what goes on below the surface. Unlike many trees, they reach out and interlock their roots with the sequoias around them. Each becomes empowered and reinforced by the strength of each others.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">The secret to the sequoia is also the key to maintaining a strong, healthy marriage. A couple that faces problems alone is more likely to fall apart during rough times. However, the ones who interlock their lives in a network of other strong marriages radically increase their chances of surviving the fiercest of storms. It is crucial that a husband and wife pursue godly advice, healthy friendships, and experienced mentors.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Everyone needs wise counsel throughout life. Wise people constantly seek it and gladly receive it. Fools never ask for it and then ignore it when it’s given to them.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">As the Bible so clearly explains, “The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man is he who listens to counsel” (Proverbs 12:15).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Gaining wise counsel is like having a detailed road map and a personal guide while traveling on a long, challenging journey. It can be the difference between continual success or the destruction of another marriage. It is vital that you invite strong couples to share the wisdom they have gained through their own successes and failures.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Why waste years of your life learning painful lessons when you could discover those same truths during a few hours of wise counsel? Why not cross the bridges others have built? Wisdom is more valuable than gold. Not receiving it is like letting priceless coins pass through your fingers.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Good marriage mentors warn you before you make a bad decision. They encourage you when you are ready to give up. And they cheer you on as you reach new levels of intimacy in your marriage.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Do you have an older couple or a friend or a friend of the same gender you can turn to for good advice, for prayer support, and for regular accountability checkups? Do you have someone in your life who shoots straight with you?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">You and your spouse need these types of friends and mentors on a consistent basis. The Bible says, “Encourage one another day after day … so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin” (Hebrews 3:13). Too often we can isolate ourselves from others. If we are not careful, we could push away the people who love us the most.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">You must guard yourself against the wrong influencers. Everyone has an opinion and some people will encourage you to act selfishly and leave your mate in order to pursue your own happiness. Be careful about listening to advice from people who don’t have a good marriage themselves.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">If your marriage is hanging by a thread or already heading for a divorce, then you need to stop everything and pursue solid counseling as quickly as possible. Call a pastor, a Bible-believing counselor, or a marriage ministry today. As awkward as it may initially be to open up your life to a stranger, your marriage is worth every second spent and every sacrifice you will make for it. Even if your marriage is fairly stable, you’re in no less need of honest, open mentors – people who can put wind in your sails and make your marriage even better.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">How do you pick a good mentor? You look for a person who has the kind of marriage you want. You look for a person whose heart for Christ comes first before everything else. You look for someone who doesn’t live by his or her opinions but by the unchanging Word of God. And more times than not, this person will likely be delighted you asked for help. Start praying for God to send this person into your life. Then pick a time to meet and talk.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">If this doesn’t sound too important to you, it would be a good idea to ask yourself why. Do you have something to hide? Are you afraid you will be embarrassed? Do you think your marriage is exempt from needing outside help? Does diving into a river of positive influence not appeal to you? Don’t be the captain of another Titanic divorce by ignoring the warning signs around you when you could have been helped.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Here’s an important reminder from Scripture: “Each one of us will give an account of himself to God” (Romans 14:12). This appointment is unbreakable. And though we’re all ultimately responsible for the way we approach it, we can surely stand as much help as others can give. It might just be the relational influence that takes your marriage from mediocre to amazing.</span></div>
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<strong><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; line-height: 21px;"><span style="font-size: large;">Today’s Dare</span></span></strong></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Find a marriage mentor – someone who is a strong Christian and who will be honest and loving with you. If you feel that counseling is needed, then take the first step to set up an appointment. During this process, ask God to direct your decisions and discernment.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: red;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px;">Find a Parenting mentor—someone who is a strong Christian and who will be honest and loving with you. If you feel that counseling is needed, then take the first step to set up an appointment. During this process, ask God to direct your decisions and discernment.</span><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<em><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;"><b>In abundance of counselors there is victory. (Proverbs 11:14)</b></span></em></div>
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Kellyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01821666124355516237noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-323495510879669836.post-85696568880237961042013-02-22T23:11:00.000-08:002013-02-22T23:11:45.966-08:00Love Dare ~ Day 34 "Love Celebrates Godliness"<br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; line-height: 21px;"><span style="font-size: large;">Love Celebrates Godliness</span></span></strong></div>
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<em><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;"><b>[Love] does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth. – 1 Corinthians 13:6</b></span></em></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">From the moment you close your Bible in the morning nearly everything else you’ll encounter throughout the day will be luring you away from its truths. The opinions of your coworkers, the news coverage on television, your typical Websites, the various temptations of the day – all of these and more will be working overtime to shape your perceptions of what’s true and most desirable in life.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">They’ll say that having a knockout wife who dresses to get other men’s attention is a good thing. They say that bad language and immorality in the movies are fine for mature people. They’ll say that church isn’t important in a person’s life. They’ll say that we each must find God in our own way.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">They’ll say a lot of things. And they’ll say them so loudly and frequently that if we’re not careful, we can start believing that what they say is the way things should be. We can begin valuing what everybody else values and thinking the way everybody else does.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">But the meaning of “real life” changes dramatically when we understand that God’s Word is the ultimate expression of what real life is. The teachings it contains are not just good guesses at what should matter. They are principles that reflect the way things really are, the way God created life to be. His ideals and instructions are the only pathways to real blessing, and when we see people following them in obedience to the Lord; it should cause us to rejoice.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">What makes you the proudest of your husband? Is it when he comes home with a trophy from the company golf tournament, or when he gathers the family before bedtime to pray together and read the Word?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">What overjoys you the most in your wife? Is it seeing her try a new painting technique in the children’s bedrooms, or seeing her forgive the neighbor whose dog dug up her plants?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">You are one of the most influential people in your spouse’s life. Have you been using your influence to lead them to honor God, or to dishonor Him?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Love rejoices most in the things that please God. When your mate is growing in Christian character, persevering in faith, seeking purity, and embracing roles of giving and service – becoming spiritually responsible in your home – the Bible says we should be celebrating it. The word “rejoices” in 1 Corinthians 13:6 carries the idea of being absolutely thrilled, excitedly cheering them on for what they’re allowing God to accomplish in their lives.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">The apostle Paul, who helped establish and minister to many of the first-century churches, wrote in his letters how delighted he was to hear reports of the people’s faithfulness and growth in Jesus. “We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brethren, as is only fitting, because your faith is greatly enlarged, and the love of each one of you toward one another grows ever greater; therefore, we ourselves speak proudly of you among the churches of God for your perseverance and faith in the midst of all your persecutions and afflictions which you endure” (2 Thessalonians 1:3-4).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">The apostle John, who had walked closely with Jesus and became one of the main leaders in the early church, once wrote to his flock, “I have no greater joy than this, to hear of my children walking in the truth” (3 John 4).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">That should be what energizes us when we see it happening in our mate. More than when they save money on the grocery bill. More than when they achieve success at work. Sometimes by accepting modern culture’s take on what to applaud in our spouse, we can even be guilty of encouraging them to sin – perhaps by feeding their vanity, or by letting boys be boys.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">But “love does not rejoice in unrighteousness” – not in ourselves and not in our mate. Rather, love “rejoices with the truth,” the way Paul did when he said to the Roman church, “The report of your obedience has reached to all; therefore I am rejoicing over you, but I want you to be wise in what is good and innocent in what is evil” (Romans 16:19). He knew that the pursuit of godliness, purity, and faithfulness was the only way for them to find joy and ultimate fulfillment. Being “wise” about holiness while being “innocent” about sin – remaining unjaded and uncompromising as we travel through life – is the way to win in God’s eyes.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">And what more could we want for our wife or husband than for them to experience God’s best in life?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Be happy for any success your spouse enjoys. But save your heartiest congratulations for those times when they are honoring God with their worship and obedience.</span></div>
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<strong><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; line-height: 21px;"><span style="font-size: large;">Today’s Dare</span></span></strong></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Find a specific, recent example when your spouse demonstrated Christian character in a noticeable way. Verbally commend them for this at some point today.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px;"><span style="color: red;">Find a specific, recent example when your family members demonstrated Christian character in a noticeable way. Verbally commend them for this at some point today.</span></span></div>
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<em><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;"><b>I will walk within my house in the integrity of my heart. (Psalm 101:2)</b></span></em></div>
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Kellyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01821666124355516237noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-323495510879669836.post-74303579488445225812013-02-21T15:52:00.000-08:002013-02-21T15:52:59.123-08:00Love Dare ~ Day 33 "Love Completes Each Other"<span style="color: red;">Parent teams, this is a good one if you can remember that they have a mind, and opinion too and want to be heard and valued. Guess what? You might like their opinion! You could listen...</span><br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; line-height: 21px;"><span style="font-size: large;">Love Completes Each Other</span></span></strong></div>
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<em><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;"><b>If two lie down together they keep warm, but how can one be warm alone? -- Ecclesiastes 4:11</b></span></em></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">God creates marriage by taking a man and a woman and uniting them as one. And although love must be willing to act alone if necessary, it is always better when it is not just a solo performance. Love can function on its own if there is no other way, but there is a “more excellent way” (1 Corinthians 12:31). And love dares not to stop loving before it gets there.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">This “completing” aspect of love was revealed to mankind from the beginning. God originated the human race with male and a female – two similar but complementary designs meant to function in harmony.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Are bodies are made for each other. Our natures and temperaments provide balance, enabling us to more effectively complete the tasks at hand. Our oneness can produce children, and our teamwork can best raise them to health and maturity. When one is weak, the other is strong. When one needs building up, the other is equipped to enhance and encourage. We multiply one another’s joys and divide one another’s sorrows.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">The scriptures say, “Two are better than one because they have a good return for their labor. For if either of them falls, the other one will lift up his companion. But woe to the one who falls, the one will lift up his companion. But woe to the one who falls when there is not another to lift him up”(Ecclesiastes 4:9, 10). It’s like your two hands, which don’t just coexist together but multiply the effectiveness of the other. In order to do what they do, neither is quite complete without the other.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Although our difference can frequently be the source of the misunderstanding and conflict, they have been created by God and can be ongoing blessings if we respect them.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">One of you may be better at cooking, for instance, while the other is more thorough in cleaning the dishes. One may be more gentle and able to keep peace among family members, while the other handles discipline more directly and effectively. One may have a good business head but needs the other to help him remember to be generous.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">When we learn to accept these distinctions in our mate, we can bypass criticism and go straight to helping and appreciating one another.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">But some can’t seem to get past their partners differences. And they suffer many wasted opportunities as a result. They don’t take advantage of the uniqueness that makes each of them more effective when including the other.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">One such example from the Bible is Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor who presided over the trial of Jesus. Unaware of who Christ was and against his better judgment, he allowed the crowd to influence him into crucifying Jesus.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">But the one person who was more sensitive to what was really happening was Pilate’s wife, who came to him at the height of the uproar and warned him he was making a mistake. “While he was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent him a message, saying, ‘Have nothing to do with what righteous Man; for last night I suffered greatly in a dream because of Him” (Matthew 27:19).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">She was apparently a woman of keen discernment who grasped the magnitude of these events before her husband did. Certainly, God’s sovereignty was at work, and nothing would have kept His Son from marching obediently to the cross for us. But Pilate’s dismissal of his wife’s intuition reveals an unfortunate side to man’s nature that is often downplayed. God made wives to complete their husbands, and He gives them insight that in many cases is kept from their men. If this discernment is ignored, it is often to the detriment of the man making the decision.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">The effectiveness of your marriage is dependent upon both of you working together. Do you have big decisions to make about your finances or retirement planning? Are you having a real problem with a coworker who’s getting harder and harder to deal with, and you are grappling with the appropriate action to take? Are you absolutely convinced that your educational choices for the children are right, no matter what your spouse thinks?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Don’t try doing all the analysis yourself. Don’t disqualify his or her right to voice an opinion on matters that affect both of you. Love realizes that God has put you together on purpose. And though you may wind up disagreeing with your spouse’s perspectives, you should still give their views respect and strong consideration. This honors God’s design for your relationship and guards the oneness He intends.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Joined together, you are greater than your independent parts. You need each other. You complete each other.</span></div>
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<strong><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; line-height: 21px;"><span style="font-size: large;">Today’s Dare</span></span></strong></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Recognize that your spouse is integral to your future success. Let them know today that you desire to include them in your upcoming decisions, and that you need their perspective and counsel. If you have ignored their input in the past, admit your oversight and ask them to forgive you.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="color: red;">Recognize that you are an integral part of your family’s future success and they yours. Let them know today your desire to be included in there decisions and include them in yours, seek one another’s perspective and counsel when possible. If you have ignored their input in the past, admit your oversight and ask them to forgive you.</span></span></div>
Kellyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01821666124355516237noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-323495510879669836.post-78139740478710208242013-02-20T16:15:00.000-08:002013-02-20T16:15:00.352-08:00Love Dare ~ Day 32 "Love Meets Sexual Needs"<br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="color: red;">Closeness and familiarity as a family honors God. Truly know your family.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="color: red;">Sorry Parent/Child teams, this is another husband and wife day.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="color: red;">My suggestion is to redo Day 18: Love Seeks to Understand:</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: red;">Prepare a special dinner at home, just for your family. The dinner can be as nice as you prefer. Focus this time on getting to know each other better, perhaps in areas you’ve rarely talked about. Determine to make it an enjoyable evening for your whole family.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: red;">How blessed is the man who finds wisdom, and the man who gains understanding. Proverbs 3:13</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: red;">Good understanding produces favor. Proverbs 13:15</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx_0OJx6zRqQkmNcE6WXsF10DkMlcL2w2Sk1HGcb54DevKtrJZBEMvj-9wYRlMU0dC6CiWMndraujABTbtN7y8vwQOEnL5bfvQw-6UhyNfS9tyO_JOykrQgDzrmmjMgRbry3x03pIM07E/s1600/3501-couple-husband-and-wife-franchise.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx_0OJx6zRqQkmNcE6WXsF10DkMlcL2w2Sk1HGcb54DevKtrJZBEMvj-9wYRlMU0dC6CiWMndraujABTbtN7y8vwQOEnL5bfvQw-6UhyNfS9tyO_JOykrQgDzrmmjMgRbry3x03pIM07E/s320/3501-couple-husband-and-wife-franchise.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<strong><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; line-height: 21px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></strong></div>
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<strong><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; line-height: 21px;"><span style="font-size: large;">Love Meets Sexual Needs</span></span></strong></div>
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<em><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;"><b>The husband must fulfill his duty to his wife, and likewise also the wife to her husband. – 1 Corinthians 7:3</b></span></em></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Some people think the Bible has nothing good to say about sex, as though all God seems concerned about is telling us when not to do it and who not `and the blessing it can be for both husband and wife. Even its boundaries and restrictions are God’s ways of keeping our sexual experiences at a level far beyond any of those advertised on television or in the movies.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">In Christian marriage, romance is meant to thrive and flourish. After all, it was created by God. It’s all part of celebrating what God has given, becoming one with our mate while simultaneously pursuing purity and holiness. He delights in us when this happens.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">The Song of Solomon, for example, though frequently misunderstood as nothing more than an allegory about God’s passion for His people, is actually a beautiful love story. It describes sexual acts between a husband and wife in poetic detail, showing how each one responds to the other. It expresses how honesty and understanding in sexual matters lead to a life of confident love together.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">It’s true that sex is only one aspect of marriage. But as time goes by, one of you will likely value its importance more highly than the other. As a result of this, the nature of your oneness as man and wife will feel threatened and endangered.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Again, the biblical foundations of marriage were originally expressed in the creation of Adam and Eve. She was made to be “a helper suitable for him” (Genesis 2:18). The unity of their relationship and physical bodies was so strong, they were said to become “one flesh” (Genesis 2:24).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">This same oneness is a hallmark of every marriage. In the act of romance, we join our hearts to each other an expression of love that no other form of communication can match. That’s why “the marriage bed is to be undefiled” (Hebrews 13:4). We are not to share this same experience with anyone else.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">But we are weak. And when this legitimate need goes unmet – when it’s treated as being selfish and demanding by the other – our hearts are subject to being drawn away from marriage, tempted to fulfill this longing somewhere else, some other way.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">To counteract this tendency, God established marriage with a “one flesh” mentality. “The wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does; and likewise also the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does” (1 Corinthians 7:4).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Sex is not to be used as a bargaining chip. It is not something God allows us to withhold without consequence. Though there can be abuses to this divinely designed framework, the heart of marriage is one of giving ourselves to each other to meet the other’s needs.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Sex is one God-given opportunity to do that.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">So “stop depriving one another,” the Bible warns, “except by agreement for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer, and come together again so that Satan will not tempt you because of you lack of self-control” (1 Corinthians 7:5).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">You are the one person called and designated by God to meet your spouse’s sexual needs. If you allow distance to grow between you in this area, if you allow staleness to set in, you are taking something that rightly (and exclusively) belongs to your spouse. If you let your mate know – by words, actions, or inactions – that sex needn’t be any more than you want it to be, you rob from them a sense of honor and endearment that has been set in place by biblical mandate. You violate the “one flesh” unity of marriage.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">So whether you perceive yourself as being on the deprived end, or you would admit that you are the one depriving the other, know that God’s plan for you is to meet in the middle and come to a place of agreement. But also know that the path to getting there will not be accomplished by sulking, arguing or demanding. Love is the only way to reestablish loving union between each other. All the things the Love Dare entails – patience, kindness, selflessness, thoughtfulness, protection, honor, forgiveness – will play a role in renewing your sexual intimacy. When the love of Christ is the foundation of your marriage, the strength of your friendship and sexual relationship can be enjoyed at a level this world can never know.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">“You have been bought with a price,” God has declared (1 Corinthians 6:20). He set His affections on you and went to every length to draw you into desiring Him. Now it is your turn to pay the loving price to win the heart of your mate. When you do, you will enjoy the pure delight that flows when sex is done for all the right reasons. And as if that’s not enough, you will also have the opportunity to “glorify God in your body” (1 Corinthians 6:20). How beautiful.</span></div>
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<strong><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; line-height: 21px;"><span style="font-size: large;">Today’s Dare</span></span></strong></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">If at all possible, try to initiate sex with your husband or wife today. Do this in a way that honors what your spouse has told you (or implied to you) about what they need from you sexually. Ask God to make this enjoyable for both of you as well as a path to greater intimacy.</span></div>
Kellyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01821666124355516237noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-323495510879669836.post-3465116176463227362013-02-19T15:40:00.001-08:002013-02-19T15:40:21.038-08:00Love Dare ~ Day 31 "Love and Marriage"<br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; line-height: 21px;"><span style="color: red;">Parent/child teams: This is a hard day to change up and is really just a husband/wife day. Go back and pick your favorite day from the past 30 days and do that dare again. One of my favorite's is the "say nothing negative" day. That is always a good one to do over! </span></span></div>
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<strong><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; line-height: 21px;"><span style="font-size: large;">Love and Marriage</span></span></strong></div>
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<em><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;"><b>A man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh. – Genesis 2:24</b></span></em></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">This verse is God’s original blueprint for how marriage is supposed to work. It involves a tearing away and a knitting together. It reconfigures existing relationships while establishing a brand new one. Marriage changes everything.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">That’s why couples who don’t take this “leaving” and “cleaving” message to heart will reap the consequences down the line, when the problems are much harder to repair without hurting someone.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">“Leaving” means that you are breaking a natural tie. Your parents step into the role of counselors to be respected, but can no longer tell you what to do. Sometimes the difficulty in doing this comes from the original source. A parent may not be ready to release you yet from their control and expectations. Whether through unhealthy dependence or inner struggles over the empty nest, parents don’t always take their share of this responsibility. In such cases, the grown child has to make “leaving” a courageous choice of his own. And far too often, this break is not made in the right way.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Are you and your spouse still living with unresolved issues because of a failure to cut the apron strings? Do either of your parents continue to create problems within your home – perhaps without their even knowing it? What needs to happen to put a stop to this before it creates too wide of a division in your marriage?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Unity is a marriage quality to be guarded at a great cost. The purpose of “leaving,” of course, is not to abandon all contact with the past but rather to preserve the unique oneness that marriage is designed to capture. Only in oneness can you become all that God means for you to be.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">If you’re too tightly drawn to your parents, the singular identity of your marriage will not be able to come to flower. You will always be held back, and a root of division will continue to send up new shoots into your relationship. It won’t go away unless you do something about it. For without “leaving,” you cannot do the “cleaving” you need, the joining of your hearts that’s required to experience oneness.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">“Cleaving” carries the idea of catching someone by pursuit, clinging to them as your new rock of refuge and safety. This man is now the spiritual leader of your new home, tasked with the responsibility of loving you “just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her” (Ephesians 5:25). This woman is now one in union with you, called to “see to it that she respects her husband” (Ephesians 5:33).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">As a result of this essential process, you are now free to become everything God meant when He declared you “one flesh.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">You are able to achieve oneness in your decision making, even when you begin from differing viewpoints.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">You are able to achieve oneness in your priorities, even through you’ve come together from backgrounds that could hardly be more different.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">You are able to achieve oneness in your sexual affections toward each other, even if either of both of you have memories of impurity in your pre-marital past.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">God’s decision to make you “one flesh” in marriage can make anything possible.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">If this is not how things are going in your home right now, you’re unfortunately in the majority. It’s not out of character for couples of all kinds – even Christian couples – to ignore God’s design for marriage, thinking they know better than He does. Genesis 2:24 may have sounded nice and noble when it was wrapped around the sharing of vows at the wedding. But as a fundamental principle to be put into place and practiced as a living fact – this just seems too difficult to do. But this is what you must make any sacrifice to reclaim.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">It’s hard – extremely hard – when the pursuit of oneness is basically one-sided. Your spouse may not be interested at all in recapturing the unity you had at first. Even if there is some desire on his or her part, there may still be issues between you that are nowhere close to being resolved.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">But if you’ll continue to keep a passion for oneness forefront in your mind and heart, your relationship over time will begin to reflect the inescapable “one flesh” design that is printed on its DNA. You don’t have to go looking for it. It’s already there. But you don’t have to live it, or there’s nothing else to expect than disunity.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Leave. And cleave. And dare to walk as one.</span></div>
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<strong><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; line-height: 21px;"><span style="font-size: large;">Today’s Dare</span></span></strong></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Is there a “leaving” issue you haven’t been brave enough to conquer yet? Confess it to your spouse today, and resolve to make it right. The oneness of your marriage is dependent upon it. Follow this with a commitment to your spouse and to God to make your marriage the top priority over every other human relationship.</span></div>
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Kellyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01821666124355516237noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-323495510879669836.post-8349848766454735842013-02-18T19:06:00.000-08:002013-02-18T19:06:51.549-08:00Love Dare ~ Day 30 "Love Brings Unity"<br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; line-height: 21px;"><span style="font-size: large;">Love Brings Unity</span></span></strong></div>
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<em><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;"><b>Father, keep them in Your name, the name which You have given Me, that they may be one even as We are. – John 17:11</b></span></em></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">One of the most impressive things about the Bible is the way it linked together, with consistent themes running throughout, from beginning to end. Though written over a span of 1,600 years and composed by more than forty writers of various backgrounds and skill levels, God sovereignty authored it with one united voice. And He continues to speak through it today without going message.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Unity. Togetherness. Oneness. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">These are the unshakable hallmarks of our God.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">From the very beginning of time, we see His unity at work through the Trinity – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. God the Father is there, creating the heavens and the earth. The Spirit is “moving over the surface of the waters” (Genesis 1:2). And the Son, who is “the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature” (Hebrews 1:3), joins in speaking the world into existence. “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness” (Genesis 1:26).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Us. Our.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">All three are in perfect oneness of mind and purpose.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">We later see Jesus rising from the waters of baptism, as the Spirit descends like a dove and the Father announces over this majestic scene, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased” (Matthew 3:17).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Jesus later says, “I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me” (John 6:38). His desire to answer His followers’ prayer is “so that the Father may be glorified in the Son” (John 14:13). He asks the Father to send the Holy Spirit, knowing that the Spirit will faithfully testify about the Son He loves, for “no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God” (1 Corinthians 2:11 NIV).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Father, Son, and Spirit are in pristine unity. They serve each other, love each other, and honor each other. Though equal, they rejoice when the other is praised. Though distinct, they are one, indivisible.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">And because this relationship is so special – so representative of the vastness and grandeur of God – He has chosen to let us experience an aspect of it. In the unique relationship of husband and wife, two distinct individuals are spiritually united into “one flesh” (Genesis 2:24). And “what God has joined together, let man not separate” (Mark 10:9 NIV).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">In fact, this mystery is so compelling – and the love between husband and wife so intertwined and complete – that God uses the imagery of marriage to explain His love for the church.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">The church (the bride) is most honored when her Savior is worshiped and celebrated. Christ (the bridegroom), who has given Himself up for her, is most honored when He sees her “as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless” (Ephesians 5:27 NIV). Both Christ and the church love and honor the other.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">That’s the beauty of unity.</span></div>
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<em><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Husband</span></em><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;"> – What would happen in your marriage if you devoted yourself to loving, honoring, and serving your wife in all things? What if you determined that the preservation of your oneness with this woman was worth every sacrifice and expression of love you could make? What would change in your home if you took that approach to your relationship on a daily basis?</span></div>
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<em><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Wife</span></em><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;"> – What would happen if you made it your mission to do everything possible to promote togetherness of heart with your husband? What if every threat to your unity was treated as a poison, a cancer, an enemy to be eliminated by love, humility, and selflessness? What would your marriage become if you were never again willing to see your oneness torn apart?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">The unity of the Trinity, as seen beyond the reaches of history past and continuing into the future, is evidence of the power of oneness. It is unbreakable. It is unending. And it is this same spiritual reality that disguises itself as your home and mailing address. Though painted in the colors of work schedules and doctor visits and trips to the grocery, oneness is the eternal thread that runs through the daily experience of what you call “your marriage,” giving it a purpose to be defended for life.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Therefore, love this one who is as much a part of your body as you are. Serve this one whose needs cannot be separated from your own. Honor this one who, when raised upon the pedestal of your love, raises you up too in the eyes of God, all at the same time.</span></div>
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<strong><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; line-height: 21px;"><span style="font-size: large;">Today’s Dare</span></span></strong></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Isolate one area of division in your marriage, and look on today as a fresh opportunity to pray about it. Ask the Lord to reveal anything in your own heart that is threatening oneness with your spouse. Pray that He would do the same for them. And if appropriate, discuss this matter openly, seeking God for unity.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="color: red;">Isolate one area of division in your family, and look on today as a fresh opportunity to pray about it. Ask the Lord to reveal anything in your own heart that is threatening unity. Pray that He would do the same for them. And if appropriate, discuss this matter openly, seeking God for unity.</span></span></div>
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<em><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;"><b>The Lord is our God, the Lord is one! (Deuteronomy 6:4)</b></span></em></div>
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Kellyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01821666124355516237noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-323495510879669836.post-65235815582202526032013-02-17T16:32:00.000-08:002013-02-17T16:32:10.695-08:00Love Dare ~ Day 29 "Love's Motivation"<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXjLQpkLEuI7LWN7zUmoFQnvmqbL7D82GSYqVzCkBJhLC3Fr-HUDC3MkdC6KwSYYSQj8BZw8rx_n4Fs0e2rhmNgAjfqPu9TzOCZUkYIUk8unl44PJjLlTYgWRMDSCIbP0xR9S_QIAsSTg/s1600/hands_of_love_the_sun_is_our__1933382.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXjLQpkLEuI7LWN7zUmoFQnvmqbL7D82GSYqVzCkBJhLC3Fr-HUDC3MkdC6KwSYYSQj8BZw8rx_n4Fs0e2rhmNgAjfqPu9TzOCZUkYIUk8unl44PJjLlTYgWRMDSCIbP0xR9S_QIAsSTg/s320/hands_of_love_the_sun_is_our__1933382.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<strong><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; line-height: 21px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></strong></div>
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<strong><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; line-height: 21px;"><span style="font-size: large;">Love’s Motivation</span></span></strong></div>
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<em><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;"><b>Render service with a good attitude, as to the Lord and not to men. – Ephesians 6:7 HCSB</b></span></em></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">It doesn’t take much experience to discover that your mate will not always motivate your love. In fact, many times they will de-motivate it. More often than you’d like, it will seem difficult to find the inspiration to demonstrated your love. They may not even receive it when you try to express it. That’s simply the nature life, even in fairly healthy marriages.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">But although moods and emotions can create all kinds of moving motivational targets, one is certain to stay in the same place, all the time. When God is your reason for loving, your ability to love is guaranteed.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">That’s because love comes from Him.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Think of it like this. When you were a child, your parents certainly established rules for you to follow. Your bedtime was at a certain hour. Your room had to be kept mostly clean. Your schoolwork needed to be finished before you could go play. If you were like most people, you bent these rules as often as you obeyed them. And if not for the incentive of force and consequences, you might not have obeyed them at all.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">But if you met Christ along the way or received any kind of Bible teaching, you probably were exposed to this idea – “Children, be obedient to your parents in all things, for this is well-pleasing to the Lord” (Colossians 3:20). If you took this to heart at all, you knew you didn’t merely have your parents to answer anymore.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">This was no longer a battle of wills between you and a flesh-and-blood authority figure. This was now between you and God. Your mom and dad were just the go-betweens.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">As it turns out, however, the relationship between parents and children isn’t the only thing enhanced by letting God become your driving motivation. Consider the following areas where pleasing Him should become our goal:</span></div>
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<em><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Work</span></em><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">. “Do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men” (Colossians 3:23).</span></div>
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<em><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Service.</span></em><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;"> “Obey those who are your masters on earth, not with external service, as those who merely please men, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord” (Colossians 3:22).</span></div>
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<em><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Everything.</span></em><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;"> “Work hard at “whatever you do … knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve” (Colossians 3:23-24).</span></div>
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<em><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Even marriage.</span></em><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;"> “Wives, be subject to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord” (Colossians 3:18). “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her” (Ephesians 5:25).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">The love that’s demanded from you in marriage is not dependent on your mate’s sweetness or suitability. The love between a husband and wife should have one chief objective: honoring the Lord with devotion and sincerity. The fact that it blesses our beloved in the process is simply a wonderful, additional benefit.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">This change of focus and perspective is crucial for a Christian. Being able to wake up knowing that God is your source and supply – not just of your own needs but also those of your spouse – changes your whole reason for interacting with your mate.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">No longer is it this imperfect person who decides how much love you’ll show, but rather it’s your omni-perfect God who can use even a flawed person like yourself to bestow loving favor on another.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Has your wife become fairly hard to live with lately? Is her slowness at getting over a disagreement wearing on your patience? Can she not just give it a rest? Don’t withhold your love just because she thinks differently from you. Love her “as to the Lord.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Is your husband tuning you out, not saying much, apparently brooding over something he’s not interested in sharing? Do you feel hurt by his unwillingness to open up? Are you tired of him being so short with you, not even responding to the children the way he needs to? Don’t battle back with a double dose of silence and inattention. Love him anyway. “As to the Lord.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Love motivated by mere duty cannot hold out for very long. And love that is only motivated by favorable conditions can never be assured of sufficient oxygen to keep it breathing. Only love that is lifted up as an offering to God – returned to Him in gratitude for all He’s done – is able to sustain itself when all other reasons have lost their ability to energize us.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Those who are fine with mediocre marriages can leave their love to chance and hope for the best. But if you are committed to giving your spouse the best. But if you are committed to giving your spouse the best love you possibly can, you need to shoot for love’s highest motivation. Love that has god as its primary focus is unlimited in the heights it can attain.</span></div>
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<strong><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; line-height: 21px;"><span style="font-size: large;">Today’s Dare</span></span></strong></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Before you see your spouse again today, pray for them by name and for their needs. Whether it comes easy for you or not, say “I love you,” then express love to them in some tangible way. Go to God in prayers again, thanking Him for giving you the privilege of loving this one special person – unconditionally, the way He loves both of you.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px;"><span style="color: red;">Before you see your family again today, pray for them by name and for their needs. Whether it comes easy for you or not, say “I love you,” then express love to them in some tangible way. Go to God in prayer again, thanking Him for giving you the privilege of loving the family He has given you—unconditionally, the way He loves them.</span></span></div>
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<em><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;"><b>As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. (Joshua 24:15)</b></span></em></div>
Kellyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01821666124355516237noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-323495510879669836.post-32643007557700345442013-02-16T16:47:00.000-08:002013-02-16T16:47:52.699-08:00Love Dare ~ Day 28 "Love makes Sacrifices"<br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; line-height: 21px;"><span style="font-size: large;">Love Makes Sacrifices</span></span></strong></div>
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<em><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;"><b>He laid down His life for us. We should also lay down our lives for our brothers. – 1 John 3:16 HCSB</b></span></em></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Life can be hard. But what we usually mean is that our life can be hard. We’re the first to feel it when we’re the ones being mistreated or inconvenienced. We’re quick to sulk when we’re the ones who feel deprived or unappreciated. When life is difficult for us, we notice.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">But too often the only way we notice that life is hard for our mate is when they start complaining about it. Then instead of genuinely caring or rushing in to help, we might think they just have a bad attitude. The pain and pressure they’re under don’t register with us the way it does when it’s our pain and pressure. When we want to complain, we expect everyone to understand and feel sorry for us.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">This doesn’t happen when love is at work. Love doesn’t have to be jarred awake by your mate’s obvious signs of distress. Before worries and troubles have begun to bury them, love has already gone into action mode. It sees the weight beginning to pile up and it steps in to help. That’s because love wants you to be sensitive to your spouse.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Love makes sacrifices. It keeps you so tuned in to what your spouse needs that you often respond without being asked. And when you don’t notice ahead of time and must be told what’s happening, love responds to the heart of the problem.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Even when your mate’s stress comes out in words of personal accusation, love shows compassion rather than becoming defensive. Love inspires you to say “no” to what you want, in order to say “yes” to what your spouse needs.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">That’s what Jesus did. “He laid down His life for us” to show us that “we should also lay down our lives” for others. He taught us that the evidence of love is found in seeing a need in others, then doing all we can to satisfy it. “For I was hungry and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me” (Matthew 23:35-36).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">These are the types of needs you should be looking for in your wife or husband. Instead of sitting around upset that they’re not treating you the way you think they should, let love pick you up out of your self-pity and turn your attention to their needs.</span></div>
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<em><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Is he “hungry”</span></em><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;"> – needing you sexually, even when you don’t feel like it?</span></div>
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<em><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Is she “thirsty”</span></em><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;"> – craving the time and attention you seem to be able to give everyone else?</span></div>
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<em><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Does he feel like a “stranger” </span></em><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">– insecure in his work, needing home to be a refuge and sanctuary?</span></div>
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<em><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Is she “naked”</span></em><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;"> – frightened or ashamed, desperate for the warm covering of your loving affirmation?</span></div>
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<em><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Is he feeling “sick”</span></em><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;"> – physically tired and needing you to help guard him from interruptions?</span></div>
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<em><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Does she feel in “prison”</span></em><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;"> – fearful and depressed, needing some safety and intervention?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Love is willing to make sacrifices to see that the needs of your spouse are given your very best effort and focus. When your mate is overwhelmed and under the gun, love calls you to set aside what seems so essential in your own life to help, even if it’s merely the gift of a listening ear.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Often all they really need is just to talk this situation out. They need to see in your two attentive eyes that you truly care about what this is costing them, and you’re serious about helping them seek answers. They need you to pray with them about what to do, and then keep following up to see how it’s going. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">The words “How can I help you?” need to stay fresh on your lips.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">The solutions may be simple and easy for you to do, or they may be complex and expensive, requiring time, energy and great effort. Either way, you should do whatever you can to meet the real needs of the one who is a part of who you are. After all, when you help them, you are also helping yourself. That’s the beautiful part of sacrificing for your spouse. Jesus did it for us. And He extends the grace to do it for others.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">When the New Testament believers began to walk in love, their lives together were marked by sharing and sacrifice. Their heartbeat was to worship the Lord and to serve His people. “All those who had believed were together and had all things in common; and they began selling their property and possessions and were sharing them with all, as anyone might have “need” (Acts 2:44-45). As Paul said to one of these churches in a later decade, “I will most gladly spend and be expended for your souls” (2 Corinthians 12:15). Lives that have been raised from death by Jesus sacrifice should be ready and willing to make daily sacrifices to meet the needs of others.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; line-height: 21px;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">Today’s Dare</span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">What is one of the greatest needs in your spouse’s life right now? Is there a need you could lift from their shoulders today by a daring act of sacrifice on your part? Whether the need is big or small, purpose to do what you can to meet the need.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px;"><span style="color: red;">What is one of the greatest needs in your family’s life right now? Is there a need you could lift from their shoulders today by a daring act of sacrifice on your part? Whether the need is big or small, purpose to do what you can to meet the need.</span></span></div>
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<em><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;"><b>Bear one another’s burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ. (Galatians 6:2)</b></span></em></div>
Kellyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01821666124355516237noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-323495510879669836.post-90910651682381982013-02-15T16:38:00.000-08:002013-02-15T16:38:06.593-08:00Love Dare ~ Day 27 "Love Encourages"<br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; line-height: 21px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></strong></div>
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<strong><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; line-height: 21px;"><span style="font-size: large;">Love Encourages</span></span></strong></div>
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<em><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;"><b>Guard my soul and deliver me; do not let me be ashamed, for I take refuge in You. – Psalm 25:20</b></span></em></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Marriage has a way of altering our vision. We go in expecting our mate to fulfill our hopes and to make us happy. But this is an impossible order for our spouse to fill. Unrealistic expectations breed disappointment. The higher your expectations, the more likely your spouse will fail you and cause you frustration.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;"> If a wife expects her husband to always be on time, clean up after himself, and understand all her needs, she will likely live most her married life in constant disappointment. But if she gets realistic and understands that he’s human, forgetful, and sometimes thoughtless, then she will be more delighted when he is responsible, loving, and kind.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Divorce is nearly inevitable when people refuse to allow their spouses to be human. So there needs to be a transition in your thinking. You must choose to live by <em>encouragement</em> rather than by <em>expectations.</em> The way your spouse has been for the last ten years is likely what he or she will be in the future apart from your loving encouragement and an intervention from God. Love puts the focus on personal responsibility and improving yourself rather than on demanding more from others.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Jesus painted a picture of this when He talked about the person who saw the “speck” in his brother’s eye but didn’t notice the “log” in his own.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">“How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ and behold, the log is in your eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye” (Matthew 7:4-5).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Does your spouse feel like they’re living with a speck inspector? Are they routinely on edge, fearful of not living up to your expectations? Would they say they spend most days sensing more of your disapproval than your acceptance?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Perhaps you’d respond by saying that the problem is not with you but with them. If they really do come up short in a lot of areas, why is that your fault? As far as you’re concerned, it takes both of you doing everything you can to make marriage work. If your mate doesn’t want you to be so critical, they need to realize that the issues you bring up are legitimate. You’re not saying you’re perfect, by any mean, but it does seem like you should be able to say what you think. Right?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">The problem with this kind of attitude is that few people are able to respond to criticism with total objectivity. When it seems clear that someone is unhappy with you – whether by direct confrontation or the silent treatment – it’s hard not to take their displeasure personally. Especially in marriage.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">After all, unlike any other friendship, your relationship with your spouse began with both of you bending over backwards to please the other. When your mate was your boyfriend or girlfriend, they were completely charmed by your personality. You could almost do no wrong. Your life together was so much easier. And though you didn’t expect it to stay that way forever, you certainly didn’t see them being so sinful and getting so angry with you. You never expected that this man or woman who promised to love you could get to where they didn’t even seem to like you.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">So when this stark contrast becomes living reality, your natural reaction is to resist it. During the early days of marriage, you may have been more inclined to listen and make subtle changes. But as the years go by, your spouse’s disapproval only tends to entrench you. Rather than making you want to correct things, it makes you want to dig in even deeper.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Love is too smart for that. Instead of putting your mate in a position to rebel, love teaches you to give them room to be themselves. Even if you’re the goal-oriented type who places high demands on yourself, love calls you not to project your hard-driving ways onto your mate’s performance. You must realize that marriage is a relationship to be enjoyed and savored along the way. It’s a unique friendship designed by God Himself where two people live together in flawed imperfection but deal with it by encouraging each other, not <em>discouraging</em>them.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">The Bible says, “Encourage the exhausted, and strengthen the feeble” (Isaiah 35:3). “Encourage one another and build up one another … Encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with everyone” (1 Thessalonians 5:11, 14).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Don’t you want married life to be a place where you can enjoy free expression of who you are, growing within a safe environment that encourages you even when you fail? Your spouse does too – and love gives them that privilege. If your wife or husband has told you on more than one occasion that you make them feel beat down and defeated, you need to take these words to heart. Make a commitment to daily let go of unrealistic expectations and become your spouse’s greatest encourager. And the person they’re created by God to be will begin to emerge with new confidence and love for you.</span></div>
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<strong><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; line-height: 21px;"><span style="font-size: large;">Today’s Dare</span></span></strong></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Eliminate the poison of unrealistic expectations in your home. Think of one area where your spouse has told you you’re expecting too much, and tell them you’re sorry for being so hard on them about it. Promise them you’ll seek to understand, and assure them of your unconditional love.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: red;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px;"> Eliminate the poison of unrealistic expectations in your home. Think of one area where your family has told you you’re expecting too much, and tell them you’re sorry for being so hard on them about it. Promise them you’ll seek to understand, and assure them of your unconditional love.</span></span></span></div>
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<em><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;"><b>Let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds. (Hebrews 10:24)</b></span></em><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;"></span></div>
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Kellyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01821666124355516237noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-323495510879669836.post-19900311799952230422013-02-14T18:29:00.001-08:002013-02-14T18:29:47.937-08:00Love Dare ~ Day 26 "Love is Responsible"<br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; line-height: 21px;"><span style="font-size: large;">Love is Responsible</span></span></strong></div>
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<em><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;"><b>When you judge another, you condemn yourself, since you, the judge, do the same things. – Romans 2:1 HCSB</b></span></em></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Today will be hard. But as you seek God’s strength and wisdom, you will be able to get through it. This day could be a milestone in your marriage if you allow it to be. So resolve to focus on what the Lord may be saying to you, and purpose to follow His leading.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Today is about personal responsibility. It’s something we all agree others should have, but we struggle to maintain it ourselves. Over the past few decades, there’s been a decline in personal responsibility. More and more, people seem less likely to acknowledge their own mistakes. We see it in politics. We see it in business. We see it in celebrity headlines.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">But this is not just a problem with the rich and famous. To find an example of someone who has an excuse for every action, all we have to do is look in the mirror. We are so quick to justify our motives. So quick to deflect criticism. So quick to find fault – especially with our spouse, who is always the easiest one to blame.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">We tend to believe that our views are correct, or at least much more correct than our mate’s. And we don’t believe that anybody, give our same set of circumstances, would act much differently than we have. As far as we’re concerned, we’re doing the best we can. And our spouse just ought to be glad we’re as good to them as we are.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">But love doesn’t pass the blame so easily or justify selfish motives. Love is not nearly as concerned with its own performance as with other’s needs. When love takes responsibility for its actions, it’s not to prove how noble you’ve been but rather to admit how much further you have to go.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Love doesn’t make excuses. Love keeps working to make a difference – in you and in your marriage.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">That’s why the next time you’re in an argument with your spouse, instead of working up your comebacks, stop and see if there’s something worth listening to in what your mate is saying. What might happen in your relationship if instead of passing blame, you first admitted your own wrongs? As the Scripture says, “Rebuke is more effective for a wise man than a hundred blows on a fool” (Proverbs 17:10 NKJV).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Love is responsible and is willing to admit and correct its faults and errors up front. Are you taking responsibility for this person you chose for yourself as the love of your life? How deliberate are you about making sure your spouse’s needs are met? Or are you only concerned with your mate fulfilling yours? Love calls us to take responsibility for our partner in marriage. To love them. To honor them. To cherish them.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Are you taking responsibility for your own faults? Have you said or done things to your spouse – or to God – that are wrong? Love desires to have a right relationship with both God and your mate. Once that is right, the stage is set for other areas to fall into place.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">A real heart of repentance may take a while to grow in you. Pride is very resistant to responsibility, but humility and honesty before God and your spouse is crucial for a healthy relationship.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">This doesn’t mean you’re always wrong and your spouse is always right. This is not a demand that you become a doormat. But if there is something that’s not right between you and God, or you and your spouse, then that should be the first priority.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">“If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us” (1 John 1:8). However, “if we confess our sins, [God] is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). Confess your areas of sin first, then you’ll be on better ground to work things out with your spouse.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">In order to walk with God and to keep His favor, you must stay clean before Him. That doesn’t mean you can never stumble but you confess it to God and ask for forgiveness when you do.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Can your spouse say that you have wronged or wounded them in any way and never made it right? Part of taking responsibility is admitting when you’ve failed and asking for forgiveness. It’s time to humble yourself, correct your offenses, and repair the damage. It’s an act of love. God wants there to be no unresolved issues between the two of you.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">The problem is, to do it sincerely you must swallow your pride and seek forgiveness regardless of how your spouse responds. They should forgive you, but your responsibility does not lie with their decision. Admitting your mistakes is your responsibility. If they have wronged you, leave that for them to deal with at another time.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Ask God to show you where you have failed in your responsibility, then get it right with Him first. Once you’ve done that, you need to get right with your spouse. It may be the most difficult thing you’ve ever done, but it is crucial to taking the next step in your marriage and with God. If you are sincere, you may be surprised at the grace and strength God give you when you take this step.</span></div>
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<strong><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; line-height: 21px;"><span style="font-size: large;">Today’s Dare</span></span></strong></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Take time to pray through your areas of wrongdoing. As for God’s forgiveness, then humble yourself enough to admit them to your spouse. Do it sincerely and truthfully. Ask your spouse for forgiveness as well. No matter how they respond, make sure you cover your responsibility in love. Even if they respond with criticism, accept it by receiving it as counsel.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px;"><span style="color: red;">Take time to pray thorough your areas of wrongdoing. Ask for God’s forgiveness, then humble yourself enough to admit them to your family. Do it sincerely and truthfully. Ask your family for forgiveness as well. No matter how they respond, make sure you cover your responsibility in love. Even if they respond with criticism, accept it by receiving it as counsel.</span></span></div>
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<em><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;"><b><br /></b></span></em></div>
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<em><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;"><b>Each one must examine his own work … in regard to himself alone. (Galatians 6:4)</b></span></em></div>
Kellyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01821666124355516237noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-323495510879669836.post-60880331795464816702013-02-13T17:09:00.000-08:002013-02-13T17:09:37.135-08:00Love Dare ~ Day 25 "Love Forgives"<span style="color: red;">For parent/child teams this may not be that big of a problem yet or at all (or maybe it is). </span><br />
<span style="color: red;">If there is nothing to work on here then re-do another day that had a good impact on the family.</span><br />
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<em><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;"><b>What I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, I did it for your sakes in the presence of Christ. – 2 Corinthians 2:10</b></span></em></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">This one is tough – perhaps the toughest dare in the book. But if there is to be any hope for your marriage, this is a challenge that must absolutely be taken seriously. Counselors and ministers who deal with broken couples on a regular basis will tell you that this is the most complex problem of all, a rupture that is often the last to be repaired. It cannot just be considered and contemplated but must be deliberately put into practice. Forgiveness has to happen, or a successful marriage won’t.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Jesus painted a vivid image of forgiveness in His parable of the ungrateful servant. A man who owed a sizable sum of money was surprised when his master heard his appeals for mercy and totally canceled his debt. But upon being released from this enormous load, the servant did a most unexpected thing; he went to another man who owed him a much smaller amount and demanded immediate payment. When the master heard of it, things changed dramatically in his arrangement with the slave. “His lord, moved with anger, handed him over to the torturers until he should repay all that was owed him” (Matthew 18:34). A day that had begun with joy and relief ended in grief and hopelessness.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Torture. Prison. When you think of unforgiveness, this is what should come to your mind, for Jesus said, “My heavenly Father will also do the same to you, if each of does not forgive his brother from your heart” (Matthew 18:35).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Imagine you find yourself in a prison-like setting. As you look around, you see a number of cells visible from where you’re standing. You see people from your past incarcerated there – people who wounded you as a child. You see people you once called friends but who wronged you at some point in life. You might see one or both of your parents there, perhaps a brother or sister or some other family member. Even your spouse is locked in nearby, trapped with all the others in this jail of your own making.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">This prison, you see, is a room in your own heart. This dark, drafty, depressing chamber exists inside you every day. But not far away, Jesus is standing there, extending to you a key that will release every inmate.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">No. You don’t want any part of it. These people have hurt you too badly. They knew what they were doing and yet they did it anyway – even your spouse, the one you should have been able to count on most of all. So you resist and turn away. You’re unwilling to stay here any longer – seeing Jesus, seeing the key in His hand, knowing what He’s asking you to do. It’s just too much.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">But in trying to escape, you make a startling discovery. There is no way out. You’re trapped inside with all other captives. Your unforgiveness, anger, and bitterness have made a prisoner of you as well. Like the servant in Jesus’ story, who was forgiven an impossible debt, you have chosen not to forgive and have been handed over to the jailers and torturers. Your freedom is now dependent on your forgiveness.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Coming to this conclusion usually takes us a while. We see all kinds of dangers and risks involved in forgiving others. For instance, what they did was really wrong, whether they admit it or not. They may not even be sorry about it. They may feel perfectly justified in their actions, even going so far as to blame you for it. But forgiveness doesn’t absolve anyone of blame. It doesn’t clear their record with God. It just clears you of having to worry about how to punish them. When you forgive another person, you’re not turning them loose. You’re just turning them over to God, who can be counted on to deal with them His way. You’re saving yourself the trouble of scripting any more arguments or trying to prevail in this situation. It’s not about winning and losing anymore. It’s about freedom. It’s about letting go.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">That’s why you often hear people who have genuinely forgiven say, “It felt like a weight being lifted off my shoulders.” Yes, that’s exactly what it is. It’s like a breath of fresh air rushing into your hear. The stale dankness of the prison house is flooded with light and coolness. For the first time in a long time, you feel at peace. You feel free.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">But how do you do it? You release your anger and the responsibility for judging this person to the Lord. “Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath for it is written, ‘Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,’ says the Lord” (Romans 12:19).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">How do you know you’ve done it? You know it when the thought of their name or the sight of their face – rather than causing your blood to boil – causes you to feel sorry for them instead, to pity them, to genuinely hope they get this turned around.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">There’s so much more that could be said and so many emotional issues you may need to fight through to get there. But great marriages are not created by people who never hurt each other, only by people who choose to keep “no record of wrongs” (1 Corinthians 13:5).</span></div>
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<strong><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Today’s Dare</span></strong></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Whatever you haven’t forgiven in your mate, forgive it today. Let it go. Just as we ask Jesus to “forgive us our debts” each day, we must ask Him to help us “forgive our debtors” each day as well. Unforgiveness has been keeping you and your spouse in prison too long. Say from your heart, “I choose to forgive.”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="color: red;">Whatever you haven’t forgiven in your family, forgive it today. Let it go. Just as we ask Jesus to “forgive us our debts” each day, we must ask him to help us “forgive our debtors” each day as well. Un-forgiveness has been keeping you and your family in prison too long. Say from your heart, “I choose to forgive.”</span></span></div>
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<em><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;"><b>Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing. (Luke 23:34).</b></span></em></div>
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Kellyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01821666124355516237noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-323495510879669836.post-54036147288087646972013-02-12T16:25:00.000-08:002013-02-12T16:25:15.651-08:00Love Dare ~ Day 24 "Love vs. Lust"<br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; line-height: 21px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></strong></div>
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<strong><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; line-height: 21px;"><span style="font-size: large;">Love vs. Lust</span></span></strong></div>
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<em><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;"><b>The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever. – 1 John 2:17</b></span></em></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Adam and Eve were supplied with everything they needed in the Garden of Eden. They had fellowship with God and intimacy with one another. But after Eve was deceived by the serpent, she saw the forbidden fruit and set her heart on it. Before long, Adam joined in her wishes, and against God’s command both of them ate.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">That’s the progression. From eyes to heart to action. And then follows shame and regret.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">We, too, have been supplied with everything we need for a full, productive, enriching life. “We have brought nothing into the world, so we cannot take anything out of it either” (1 Timothy 6:7). But the Bible goes on to say that, having basics of food and clothing, we should be “content.” And Jesus promised these two things would always be provided to God’s children (Matthew 6:25-33).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">God’s blessings, however, go so far beyond these fundamental needs, we could rightly say that we want for nothing. Yet like Adam and Eve, we still want more. So we set our eyes and hearts on seeking worldly pleasure. We try to meet legitimate needs in illegitimate ways. For many it’s seeking sexual fulfillment in another person or in pornographic images designed to <em>feel </em>like a real person. We look, stare, and fantasize. We try to be discreet but barely turn our eyes away. And once our eyes are capture by curiosity, our hearts become entangled. Then we act on our lust.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">We can also lust after possessions or power or prideful ambition. We see what others have and we want it. Our hearts are deceived into saying, “I could be happy if I only had this.” Then we make the decision to go after it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">“But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction” (1 Timothy 6:9).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Lust is in opposition to love. It means to set your heart and passions on something forbidden. And for a believer it’s the first step out of fellowship with the Lord and with others. That’s because every object of your lust – whether it’s a young coworker or a film actress, or coveting after a half-million dollar house or a sports car – represents the beginnings of a lie. This person or thing that seems to promise sheer satisfaction is more like a bottomless pit of unmet longings.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Lust always breeds more lust. “What is the source of the wars and the fights among you? Don’t they come from the cravings that are at war within you? (James 4:1 HCSB). Lust will make you dissatisfied with your husband or wife. It breeds anger, numbs hearts, and destroys marriages. Rather than fullness, it leads to emptiness.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">It’s time to expose lust for what it really is – a misguided thirst for satisfaction that only God can fulfill. Lust is like a warning light on the dashboard of your heart, alerting you to the fact that you are not allowing God’s love to fill you. When your eyes and heart are on Him, your actions will lead you to lasting joy, not to endless cycles of regret and condemnation.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">“His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust” (2 Peter 1:3-4).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Are you tired of being lied to by lust? Are you fed up with believing that forbidden pleasures are able to keep you happy and content? Then begin setting your eyes on the Word of God. Let His promises of peace and freedom work their way into your heart. Daily receive the unconditional love He has already proven to your through the cross. Focus on being grateful for everything God has already given you rather than choosing discontentment.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">You’ll find yourself so full on what He provides, you won’t be hungry anymore for the junk food of lust.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">And while you’re at it, set your eyes and heart on your spouse again. “Let your fountain be blessed, and rejoice in the wife of your youth … Be exhilarated always with her love. For why should you, my son, be exhilarated with an adulteress and embrace the bosom of a foreigner? For the ways of a man are before the eyes of the Lord, and He watches all his paths” (Proverbs 5:18-21).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">“Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him” (1 John 2:15). Lust is the best this world has to offer, but love offers you the best life in the world.</span></div>
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<strong><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; line-height: 21px;"><span style="font-size: large;">Today’s Dare</span></span></strong></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">End it now. Identify every object of lust in your life and remove it. Single out every lie you’ve swallowed in pursuing forbidden pleasure and reject it. Lust cannot be allowed to live in a back bedroom. It must be killed and destroyed – today – and replaced with the sure promises of God and a heart filled with His perfect love.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="color: red;">End it now. Identify every object of lust in your life and remove it. Single out every lie you’ve swallowed in pursuing forbidden pleasure and reject it. Lust cannot be allowed to live in your home. It must be killed and destroyed –today—and replaced with the sure promises of God and a heart filled with His perfect love.</span></span></div>
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<em><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;"><b>Act as free men, and do not use your freedom as a covering for evil. (1 Peter 2:16)</b></span></em></div>
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Kellyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01821666124355516237noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-323495510879669836.post-17277014900756385882013-02-11T14:32:00.001-08:002013-02-11T14:32:37.021-08:00Love Dare ~ Day 23 "Love Always Protects"<br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; line-height: 21px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></strong></div>
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<strong><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; line-height: 21px;"><span style="font-size: large;">Love Always Protects</span></span></strong></div>
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<em><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;"><b>[Love] always protects. – 1 Corinthians 13:7 NIV</b></span></em></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Marriage is made up of many things, including joys, sorrows, successes, and failures. But when you think about what you want marriage to be like, the furthest thing from your mind is a battleground. However, there are some battles you should be more than willing to fight. These are battles that pertain to protecting your spouse.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Unfortunately your marriage has enemies out there. They come in different forms and use different strategies, but nonetheless they will conspire to destroy your relationship unless you know how to ward them off.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Some are clever and seem attractive, only to undermine your love and appreciation for one another. Others try to lure your heart away from your spouse by feeding you unhealthy fantasies and unrealistic comparisons. It’s a battle you must wage to protect your marriage – when love puts on armor and picks up a sword to defend its own. Your mate and your marriage need your constant protection from things like:</span></div>
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<em><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Harmful influences.</span></em><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;"> Are you allowing certain habits to poison your home? The Internet and television can be productive and enjoyable additions to your life, but they can also bring in destructive content and drain away precious hours from your family. The same thing goes for work schedules that keep you separated from each other for unhealthy amounts of time.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">You can’t protect your home when you’re rarely there, nor when you’re relationally disconnected. You have to fight to keep balance right.</span></div>
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<em><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Unhealthy relationships.</span></em><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;"> Not everyone has the material to be a good friend. Not every man you hunt and fish with speaks wisely when it comes to matters of marriage. Not every woman in your lunch group has a good perspective on commitment and priorities. In fact, anyone who undermines your marriage does not deserve to be given the title of “friend.” And certainly you must be on guard at all times from allowing opposite-sex relationships at work, the gym, or even church to draw you emotionally away from the one to whom you’ve already given your heart.</span></div>
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<em><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Shame.</span></em><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;"> Everyone deals with some level of inferiority and weakness. And because marriage has a way of exposing it all to you and your mate, you need to protect your wife or husband’s vulnerability by never speaking negatively about them in public. Their secrets are your secrets (unless, of course, these involve destructive behaviors that are putting you, your children, or themselves in grave danger). Generally speaking, love hides the fault of others. It covers their shame.</span></div>
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<em><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Parasites.</span></em><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;"> Watch out for parasites. A parasite is anything that latches onto you or your partner and sucks the life out of your marriage. They’re usually in the form of addictions, like gambling, drugs, or pornography. They promise pleasure but grow like a disease and consume more and more of your thoughts, time, and money. They steal away your loyalty and heart from those you love. Marriages rarely survive if parasites are present. If you love your spouse, you must destroy any addiction that has your heart. If you don’t, it will destroy you.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">The Bible speaks plainly about this protective role, often using the analogy of a shepherd. God warned, “My flock has become prey … food for all the beasts of the field.” How so? “For lack of a shepherd.” Not because these men were too weak to perform their duties but because they didn’t pay attention. Instead of watching to make sure that the sheep weren’t being picked off by predators, “the shepherds fed themselves and did not feed My flock” (Ezekial 34:8). They took extra good care of their own needs and appetites but gave little thought to the safety of those under their supervision.</span></div>
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<em><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Wives</span></em><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;"> – you have a role as protector in your marriage. You must guard your heart from being led away through novels, magazines, and other forms of entertainment that blur your perception of reality and put unfair expectations on your husband. Instead you must do your part in helping him feel strong, while also avoiding talk-show thinking that can lure your attention away from your family. “The wise woman builds her house, but the foolish tears it down with her own hands” (Proverbs 14:1).</span></div>
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<em><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Men</span></em><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;"> – you are the head of your home. You are the one responsible before God for guarding the gate and standing your ground against anything that would threaten your wife or marriage. This is no small assignment. It requires a heart of courage and a head for preemptive action. Jesus said, “If the head of the house had known at what time of the night the thief was coming, he would have been on the alert and would not have allowed his house to be broken into” (Matthew 24:43). This role is yours. Take it seriously.</span></div>
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<strong><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; line-height: 21px;"><span style="font-size: large;">Today’s Dare</span></span></strong></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Remove anything that is hindering your relationship, any addiction or influence that’s stealing your affections and turning your heart away from your spouse.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px;"><span style="color: red;">Remove anything that is hindering your relationship, any addiction or influence that’s stealing your affections and turning your heart away from your family.</span></span></div>
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<em><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;"><b>You will be restored if you remove unrighteousness far from your tent. (Job 22:23).</b></span></em></div>
Kellyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01821666124355516237noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-323495510879669836.post-65657283854186016882013-02-10T20:25:00.002-08:002013-02-10T20:25:57.827-08:00Love Dare ~ Day 22 "Love is Faithful"<br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Love is Faithful</span></span></strong></div>
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<em>I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness. Then you will know the Lord. – Hosea 2:20</em></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt;">As Christians, love is the basis of our whole identity. Our spiritual rebirth came about because “God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life” (John 3:16).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt;">When asked to clarify what the greatest commandments of all were, Jesus answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart … your soul … your strength … your mind … and your neighbor as yourself” (Luke 10:27).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt;">Our love for each other is supposed to be how people distinguish us as Christ’s disciples (John 13:35). It is the root and ground of our existence (Ephesians 3:17), meant to be expressed with passion and fervency (1 Peter 4:8). It is a quality that we are to “abound” in more and more (1 Thessalonians 3:12), always getting better at it, becoming increasingly defined by it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt;">So if love is what we were created to share, what do you do when your love is rejected? How do you handle it when the one to whom you’ve pledged your life stops accepting the love you’re called to give?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt;">The account of prophet Hosea is one of the most remarkable in the Bible. Against all logic and propriety, God instructed him to marry a prostitute. He wanted Hosea’s marriage to show what Heaven’s unconditional love looks like towards us. Hosea’s union with Gomer produced three children but, as expected, this woman who had long made her living in immorality was not content to stay faithful to one man. So Hosea was left to deal with a broken heart and the shame of abandonment.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt;">He had loved her, but she had spurned his love. They had grown close, but now she had been disloyal and adulterous, rejecting him for the lust of total strangers.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt;">Time passed, and God spoke to Hosea again. God told him to go and reaffirm his love for this woman who had been repeatedly unfaithful. This time she had reached a new low and had to be bought off the slave block, but Hosea paid the price for her redemption and bought her home. Yes, she had treated his love with contempt. She had dealt treacherously with his heart. But he welcomed her back into his life, expressing an unconditional love.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt;">This is a true story, but it was used as a picture of God’s love for us. He showers His favor on us without measure, though in return we often don’t pay attention. At times we have acted shamefully and deemed His love an intrusion, as if it’s keeping us from what we really want. We have rejected Him in many ways – even after receiving His gift of eternal salvation – and yet He still loves us. He still remains faithful.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt;">Even so, His love doesn’t keep Him from calling us to account for our mistreatment of Him. We pay more of a price for our rejection than we often realize. Yet He still chooses to respond with grace and mercy. “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace” (Ephesians 1:7). In Him we have the model of what rejected love does. It stays faithful.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt;">Jesus called us to this kind of love in the passage known as the Sermon on the Mount. He said to “love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you” (Luke 6:27-28).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt;">"If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same" (Luke 6:32-33).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt;">"Love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men" (Luke 6:35).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt;">From the vantage point of the wedding altar, you would never have dreamed that the person you married might later become to you a kind of "enemy," one you would need to love as an act of almost total sacrifice. And yet far too often in marriage, the relationship does indeed dwindle down to that level. Even to the point of betrayal or, sadly, to unfaithfulness.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt;">For many, this is the beginning of the end. Some respond by rapidly moving toward a tragic divorce. Others, more protective of their reputation than even their own happiness, decide to keep the charade going. But they have no intention of liking it--much less of loving each other again.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt;">This is not the model, however for the follower of Christ. If love is to be like His, it must love even when its overtures are returned unwanted. And for your love to be like that, it must be His love to begin with.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt;">You can give undeserved love to your spouse because God gave undeserved love to you--repeatedly, enduringly. Love is often expressed the most to those who deserve it the least.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt;">Ask Him to fill you with the kind of love only He can provide, then purpose to give it to your mate in a way that reflects your gratefulness to God for loving you. That's the beauty of redeeming love. That's the power of faithfulness.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span></div>
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<strong><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Today's Dare</span></span></strong></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt;">Love is a choice, not a feeling. It is an initiated action, not a knee-jerk reaction. Choose today to be committed to love even if your spouse has lost most of their interest in receiving it. Say to them today in words similar to these, "I love you. Period. I choose to love you even if you don't love me in return."</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="color: red;">Love is a choice, not a feeling. It is an initiated action, not a knee-jerk reaction. Choose today to be committed to love even if your spouse or children have lost most of their interest in receiving it. Say to them today in words similar to these, “I love you. Period. I choose to love you even if you don’t love me in return.”</span></span></div>
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<em><span style="font-size: large;"><b>I have chosen the faithful way. (Psalm 119:30)</b></span></em></div>
Kellyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01821666124355516237noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-323495510879669836.post-37430307790947598102013-02-09T22:03:00.000-08:002013-02-09T22:03:26.935-08:00Love Dare ~ Day 21 "Love is Satisfied in God"<br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; line-height: 21px;"><span style="font-size: large;">Love is Satisfied in God</span></span></strong></div>
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<em><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;"><b>The Lord will continually guide you, and satisfy your desire. – Isaiah 58:11</b></span></em></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Day 20 was a vitally important day in the Love Dare – and in your life. You came face-to-face with the glaring need of every human heart. And perhaps for the very first time, you became aware of how personal this need really is. You may have realized that nothing in your toolbox of talents and resources could repair the damage that sin leaves, and that Jesus is the only One who can supply what you’ve been missing. If you’ve received Him by faith and have turned your life over to Him to manage and lead, then His Holy Spirit is renewing your heart. His wisdom, grace, and power can now be released into everything you do. Including, not the least, your marriage.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">But whether this is new territory for you or if you’ve been a follower of Jesus for quite a while, now is the time for you to firm up one thing in your mind: you need God every single day. This is not a part-time proposition. He alone can satisfy, even when all else fails you.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Your husband may be late coming home. Again. But God will always be right on time.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Your wife may let you down. Again. But God can always be trusted to deliver on His promises.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Every day you place expectations on your spouse. Sometimes they meet them. Sometimes they don’t. But never will they be able to totally satisfy all the demands you ask of them – partly because some of your demands are unreasonable, partly because your mate is human.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">God, however, is not. And those who approach Him in utter dependence each day for the real needs in their life are the ones who find out just how dependable He is.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Can your spouse give you an inner peace? No. But God can. “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:6-7).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Can your spouse enable you to be content no matter what life throws at you? No. But God can. “In any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled … I can do all things through Him who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:12-13).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">There are needs in your life only God can fully satisfy. Though your husband or wife is able to complete some of these requirements – at least now and then – only God is able to do it all. Your need for love. Your need for acceptance. Your need for joy. It’s time to stop expecting somebody or something to keep your functioning and fulfilled on a non-stop basis. Only God can do that as you learn to depend on Him. But He wants to do it His way. “My God will supply all your need according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">The needs of love, peace, and adequacy are real. No one is saying you shouldn’t have them. But rather than plugging into things that are unstable at best and are subject to change – your health, your money, even the affections and best intentions of your mate – plug into God instead. He’s the only One in your life that can never change. His faithfulness, His truth, and His promises to His children will always remain. That’s why you need to seek Him every day.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Our only reason for not doing this is because we really don’t trust God to supply what we need. And yet the Bible says, “Delight yourself in the Lord; and He will give you the desires of your heart” (Psalm 37:4). When we are seeking Him first, loving Him first, making our relationship with Him top priority, He promises to supply us with what we really need – which, actually, is all it really takes to satisfy us.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Jesus once spoke to a woman at a Samaritan well, a woman who had tried getting her needs met through a string of failed relationships. With both her life and water bucket empty, she had come to this place broken and hardened yet still desperately in need. But in Christ she found what He called “living water” (John 4:10) – a supply that wasn’t just for quenching temporary thirst. What He offered her was a drink of soul satisfaction that never quits giving and refreshing. And that is what’s available to you each morning at sunrise and each night before bed, no matter who your spouse is what they’ve done to you.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">God is your everyday supply. Of everything you need.</span></div>
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<strong><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; line-height: 21px;"><span style="font-size: large;">Today’s Dare</span></span></strong></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Be intentional today about making time to pray and read your Bible. Try reading a chapter out of Proverbs each day (there are thirty-one – a full month’s supply), or reading a chapter in the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John). As you do, immerse yourself in the love and promises God has for you. This will add to your growth as you walk with Him.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 17px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="color: red;">Be intentional today about making a time to pray and read your Bible. Try reading a chapter out of Proverbs each day (there are thirty-one—A full month’s supply), or reading a chapter in the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John). As you do, immerse yourself in the love and promises God has for you. This will add to your growth as you walk with him.</span></span></div>
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<em><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;"><b>You open Your hand and satisfy the desire of every living thing. (Psalm 145:16)</b></span></em></div>
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Kellyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01821666124355516237noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-323495510879669836.post-85199020735549533312013-02-08T20:45:00.001-08:002013-02-08T20:45:40.546-08:00Love Dare ~ Day 20 "Love is Jesus Christ"<br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; line-height: 21px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></strong></div>
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<strong><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; line-height: 21px;"><span style="font-size: large;">Love is Jesus Christ</span></span></strong></div>
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<b><em><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">While we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.</span></em><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;"> –<em>Romans 5:6</em></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">The previous day and dare lead to no other conclusion that this. Thankfully, it’s a conclusion you can live with—today, tomorrow, and forever.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Jesus has come “to seek and to save” you (Luke 19:10). Everything you’ve failed at and haven’t been able to do, every minute you’ve wasted trying to fix things your own way—all of it can be forgiven and made right by putting your life into the hands of the One who first gave it to you.</span></div>
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<em><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Maybe you’ve never done this.</span></em><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;"> Then today is your day. “Now is the acceptable time, behold, now is the day of salvation” (2 Corinthians 6:2).</span></div>
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<em><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Maybe you did it years ago, </span></em><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">but you’ve wandered far from your spiritual roots. Then “repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord” (Acts 3:19). Even if you’ve already made Christ your way of life and have never stopped walking in fellowship with Him, the following Scriptures will be a grateful reminder of all He’s done for you.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">The Bible says we are sinful from birth, from the moment we arrive. “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me” (Psalm 51:5). “All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment” (Isaiah 64:6). It’s not as though God sends innocent people to hell.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">We deserve it. We simply can’t be good enough to live with a pure and holy God. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">However, “God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him” (I John 4:9). “Although He existed in the form of god, [He] did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant…He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Philippians 2:6-8). “He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed” (I Peter 2:24). By His death, He made invalid the very idea that you are unloved and devalued. If you ever feel that way, you’re not looking at the cross. He proved His love for you there.</span></div>
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<em><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Love like this cannot be fully understood. </span></em><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">“One will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. But God demonstrates His own love towards us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:7-8).</span></div>
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<em><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Nor can love like this be earned.</span></em><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;"> “The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23). “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9).</span></div>
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<em><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">But it must be received</span></em><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">. “If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation” (Romans 10:9-10).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">And when you have received this new life and love as your own, you are free to love in ways you’ve never been capable before.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">“This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers…This is His command; to believe in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as He commanded us” (I John 3:16, 23 NIV). “The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love” (I John 4:8).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">He was willing to love you even though you didn’t deserve it, even when you didn’t love back. He was able to see all your flaws and imperfections and still choose to love you. His love made the greatest sacrifice to meet your greatest need. As a result, you are able (by His grace) to walk in the fullness and blessing of His love. Now and forever.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">This means you now share this same love with your spouse. You can love even when you’re not love in return. You can see all their flaws and imperfections and still choose to love. And though you can’t meet their needs the way God can, you can become His instrument to meet the needs of your spouse. As result, he or she can walk in the fullness and blessing of your love. Now and till death.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">True love is found in Christ alone. And after you have received His gift of new life by accepting His death in your place and His forgiveness for your sins, you are finally ready to live the dare.</span></div>
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<strong><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; line-height: 21px;"><span style="font-size: large;">TODAY’s DARE</span></span></strong></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Dare to take God at His Word. Dare to trust Jesus Christ for salvation. Dare to pray “Lord Jesus, I’m a sinner. But You have shown Your love for me by dying to forgive my sins, and You have proven Your power to save me from death by Your resurrection. Lord, change my heart, and save me by Your grace.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Write about what this experience has been like for you. Even if you are only renewing your commitment to receive and express His love, what has He shown you today?</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 17px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="color: red;">Dare to take God at His word. Dare to trust Jesus Christ for salvation. Dare to pray, “Lord Jesus, I’m a sinner. But You have shown Your love for me by dying to forgive my sins, and You have proven Your power to save me from death by Your resurrection. Lord, change my heart, and save me by your grace.”</span></span></div>
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<em><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;"><b>In His love and in His mercy He redeemed them. (Isaiah 63:9)</b></span></em></div>
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Kellyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01821666124355516237noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-323495510879669836.post-62313601577934142282013-02-07T16:40:00.001-08:002013-02-07T16:40:32.210-08:00Love Dare ~ Day 19 "Love is impossible"<br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; line-height: 21px;"><span style="font-size: large;">Love is impossible</span></span></strong></div>
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<em><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;"><b>Let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. –I John 4:7</b></span></em></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">The Love Dare starts with a secret. And though it’s been an unspoken element throughout each day, you’ve likely grown more and more suspicious of it all the time. Now that you’re this far, it’s a secret you’re discovering for yourself, even if you haven’t exactly known how to put it into words.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">The secret is this: you cannot manufacture unconditional love (or <em>agape</em> love) out of your own heart. It’s impossible. It’s beyond your capabilities. It’s beyond <em>all</em> our capabilities.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">You may have demonstrated kindness and unselfishness in some form, and you may have learned to be more thoughtful and considerate. But sincerely loving someone unselfishly and unconditionally is another matter altogether.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">So how can you do it? Like it or not, <em>agape</em> love isn’t something you <em>can</em> do. It’s something only God can do. But because of His great love for you—and His love for your spouse—He chooses to express His love <em>through</em> you.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Still, you may not believe that. You may be convinced that with enough hard work and commitment, you can muster up unconditional, long-term, sacrificial love from your own heart. You want to believe it’s in you.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">But how many times has your love failed to keep you from lying, from lusting, from overreacting, from thinking evil of this person you’ve vowed before God to love for the rest of your life.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">How many times has your love proven incapable of controlling your anger? How many times has your love motivated you to forgive or brought about a peaceable end to an ongoing argument?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">It’s this failure that exposes mankind’s sinful condition. We’ve all fallen short of God’s commands (Romans 3:23). We’ve all demonstrated selfishness, hatred, and pride. And unless something is done to cleanse us of these ungodly attributes, we will stand before God guilty as charged (Romans 6:23). That’s why if you’re not right with God, you can’t truly love your spouse because He is the Source of that love.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">You can’t give what you don’t have. You can’t call up inner reserves and resources that aren’t there to be summoned. In the same way that you can’t give away a million dollars if you don’t have it to start with, you cannot pay out love in greater measure than you own. You can try, but you will fail.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">So the hard news is this: love that is able to withstand every pressure is out of your reach, as long as you’re only looking within yourself to find it. You need someone who can give you that kind of love.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">“Love is from God” (I John 4:7). And only those who have allowed Him into their heart through faith in His Son, Jesus—only those who have received the Spirit of Christ through belief in His death and resurrection—are able to tap into love’s real power. “Apart from me,” Jesus said, “you can do nothing” (John 15:5).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">But He also said, “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you” (John 15:7). God has promised through Christ to dwell in your heart through faith so that you can “know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God” (Ephesians 3:19 NKJV).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">When you surrender yourself to Christ, His power can work through you. Even at your very best, you are not able to live up to God’s standards. But He “is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us” (Ephesians 3:20). That’s how you love your spouse.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">So, this unsettling secret—as defeating as it may feel—has a happy ending for those who will stop resisting and will receive the love God has for them. This means that the love He has “poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us” (Romans 5:5) is always available, every time we choose to submit to it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">You simply won’t be able to do it without Him.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Perhaps you’ve never given our heart to Christ, but you sense Him drawing you today. You may be realizing for the first time that you, too, have broken God’s commands, and that your guilt will keep you from knowing Him. But Scripture says that if you repent by turning away from your sin and turning to God, He is willing to forgive you because of the sacrifice his Son made on the cross. He is pursuing you, not to enslave you but to free you, so you can receive His love and forgiveness. Then you can share it with the one you’ve been called most specifically to love.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Perhaps you’re already a believer, but you would admit that you have walked away from fellowship with God. You’re not in the Word, you’re not in prayer, maybe you’re not even in church anymore. The love you used to feel coursing through your veins has dwindled into apathy.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">The truth is, you can’t live without Him and you can’t love without Him. But there is no telling what He could do in your marriage if you put your trust in Him.</span></div>
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<strong><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; line-height: 21px;"><span style="font-size: large;">TODAY’S DARE</span></span></strong></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Look back over the dares from the previous days. Were there some that seemed impossible to you? Have you realized your need for God to change your heart and to give you the ability to love? Ask Him to show you where you stand with Him, and ask for the strength and grace to settle your eternal destination.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">What do you believe God is saying to you? Is there a stirring in your heart? What decision have you made in response to this?</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="color: red;">Look back over the dares from previous days. Were there some that seemed impossible for you? Have you realized your need for God to change your heart and to give you the ability to love? Ask Him to show you where you stand with Him, and ask for the strength and grace to settle your eternal destination.</span></span></div>
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<em><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;"><b>This is impossible, but with God all things are possible. (Matthew 19:26)</b></span></em></div>
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Kellyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01821666124355516237noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-323495510879669836.post-84823779419459756442013-02-06T20:50:00.001-08:002013-02-06T20:50:28.448-08:00Love Dare ~ Day 18 " Love Seeks to Understand"<br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; line-height: 21px;"><span style="font-size: large;">Love Seeks to Understand</span></span></strong></div>
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<em><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;"><b>How blessed is the man who finds wisdom, and the man who gains understanding. – Proverbs 3:13</b></span></em></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">We enjoy discovering as much as we can about the things we truly care about. If it’s our favorite football team, we’ll read any article that helps us keep up with how they’re doing. If it’s cooking, we’ll tune to those channels that share the best grilling techniques or dessert recipes. If there’s a subject that appeals to us, we’ll take notice any time it comes up. In fact, it’s often like an area of personal study.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">It’s fine, of course, to have outside interests and to be knowledgeable about certain things. But this is where love would ask the question, “How much do you know about our mate?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Think back to the days when you were courting. Didn’t you study the one your heart was yearning for?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">When a man is trying to win the heart of a woman, he studies her. He learns her likes, dislikes, habits, and hobbies. But after he wins her heart and marries her, he often stops learning about her. The mystery and challenge of knowing her seems less intriguing, and he finds his interests drifting to other areas.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">This is also true in many cases for women, who start off admiring and building respect for the man they desire to be with. But after marriage, those feelings begin to fade as reality reveals that her “prince” is a flawed and imperfect man.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Yet there are still hidden things to discover about your spouse. And this understanding will help draw you closer together. It can even give you favor in the eyes of your mate. “Good understanding produces favor” (Proverbs 13:15).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Consider the following perspective: if the amount you studied your spouse before marriage were equal to a high school diploma, then you should continue to learn about your mate until you gain a “college degree,” a “master’s degree,” and ultimately a “doctorate degree.” Think of it as a lifelong journey that draws your heart ever closer to your mate.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Do you know his or her greatest hopes and dreams?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Do you fully understand how they prefer to give and receive love?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Do you know what your spouse’s greatest fears are and why they struggle with them?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Some of the problems you have in relating to your spouse are simply because you don’t understand them. They probably react very differently to certain situations than you do, and you can’t figure out why?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">These differences – even the ones that are relatively insignificant – can be the cause of many fights and conflicts in your marriage. That’s because, as the Bible says, we tend to “revile” those things we don’t understand (Jude 10).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">There are reasons for his or her tastes and preferences. Each nuance in your spouse’s character has a back story. Each element of who he is, how he thinks, and what he’s like is couched in a set of guiding principles, which often makes sense only to the person who holds them. But it’s worth the time it will take to study why they are the way they are.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">If you missed the level of intimacy you once shared with your spouse, one of the best ways to unlock their heart again is by making a commitment to know them. Study them. Read them like a book you’re trying to understand.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Ask questions. The Bible says, “The ear of the wise seeks knowledge” (Proverbs 18:15). Love takes the initiative to begin conversations. In order to get your mate to open up, they need to know that your desire for understanding them is real and genuine.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Listen. “Wise men store up knowledge, but with the mouth of the foolish, ruin is at hand” (Proverbs 10:14). The goal of understanding your mate is to hear them, not to tell them what you think. Even if your spouse is not very talkative, love calls you to draw out the “deep water” that dwells within them (Proverbs 20:5).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Ask God for discernment. “The Lord gives wisdom; from His mouth come knowledge and understanding” (Proverbs 2:6). Things like gender differences, family backgrounds, and varied life experiences can cloud your ability to know your mate’s heart and motivations. But God is a giver of wisdom. The Lord will show you what you need in order to know how to love your spouse better.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">“By wisdom a house is built, and by understanding it is established; and by knowledge the rooms are filled with all precious and pleasant riches” (Proverbs 24:3-4). There is a depth of beauty and meaning inside your wife or husband that will amaze you as you discover more of it. Enter the mystery with expectation and enthusiasm. Desire to know this person even better than you do now. Make him or her your chosen field of study, and you will fill your home with the kind of riches only love can provide.</span></div>
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<strong><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; line-height: 21px;"><span style="font-size: large;">Today’s Dare</span></span></strong></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Prepare a special dinner at home, just for the two of you. The dinner can be as nice as you prefer. Focus this time on getting to know your spouse better, perhaps in areas you’ve rarely talked about. Determine to make it an enjoyable evening for you and your mate.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px;"><span style="color: red;">Prepare a special dinner at home, just for your family. The dinner can be as nice as you prefer. Focus this time on getting to know each other better, perhaps in areas you’ve rarely talked about. Determine to make it an enjoyable evening for your whole family.</span></span></div>
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<em><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;"><b>Acquire wisdom; and with all your acquiring, get understanding. (Proverbs 4:7)</b></span></em></div>
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Kellyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01821666124355516237noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-323495510879669836.post-92073872972265229962013-02-05T17:16:00.000-08:002013-02-05T17:16:01.008-08:00Love Dare ~ Day 17 "Love Promotes Intimacy"<br />
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<span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Parent teams doing the love dare may have a harder time with this day. My suggestion, if you need one is to go back and do your favorite day so far. Perhaps another "Saying nothing negative day"</span></div>
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<span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> I know I could use a reminder for that weekly!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcGnkKtisU31bRQctyw8gXfWOHsdQ5LbSDtW5kmDmZb5OYfJdqo3k0cclsScf-FBTRA5HxM098_dxnUg4uJPLzLtOsMOgDTUJ6AUJQK12YiQDf0V06nbv6Md619PJIcdyW7UvU_jFNB9I/s1600/secret.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="301" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcGnkKtisU31bRQctyw8gXfWOHsdQ5LbSDtW5kmDmZb5OYfJdqo3k0cclsScf-FBTRA5HxM098_dxnUg4uJPLzLtOsMOgDTUJ6AUJQK12YiQDf0V06nbv6Md619PJIcdyW7UvU_jFNB9I/s320/secret.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<strong><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; line-height: 21px;"><span style="font-size: large;">Love Promotes Intimacy</span></span></strong></div>
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<em><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;"><b>He who covers over an offense promotes love, but whoever repeats the matter separates close friends. – Proverbs 17:9 NIV</b></span></em></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">You can be close to a good friend you’ve known since childhood or college days. You can be close to a sibling, your parents, or a cousin who’s about your same age. But nothing rivals the closeness that’s experienced between a husband and wife. Marriage is the most intimate of all human relationships.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">That’s why we need it so much. Each of us comes into life with an inborn hunger to be known, love, and accepted. We want people to know your name, to recognize us when they see us, and to value who we are. The prospect of sharing our home with another person who knows us down to the most intimate detail is part of the deep pleasure of marriage.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Yet this great blessing is also the site of its greatest danger. Someone who knows us this intimately can either love us at a depth we never imagined, or can wound us in ways we may never fully recover from. It’s both the fire and the fear of marriage.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Which of these are you experiencing the most in your home right now? Are the secrets your spouse knows about you reasons for shame, or reason for drawing you closer? If your spouse were to answer this same question, would they say you make them feel safe, or scared?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">If home is not considered a place of safety, you will both be tempted to seek it somewhere else. Perhaps you might look to another person initiating a relationship that either flirts with adultery or actually enters in. You may look for comfort in work or outside hobbies, something that partially shields you from intimacy but also keeps you around people who respect and accept you.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Your mate should not feel pressured to be perfect in order to receive your approval. They should not walk on eggshells in the very place where they ought to feel the most comfortable in their bare feet. The Bible says, “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear” (1 John 4:18). The atmosphere in your marriage should be one of freedom. Like Adam and Eve in the garden, your closeness should only intensify your intimacy. Being “naked” and “not ashamed” (Genesis 2:25) should exist in the same sentence, right in your marriage – physically and emotionally.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Admittedly, this is tender territory. Marriage has unloaded another person’s baggage into your life, and yours into theirs. Both of you have reason to feel embarrassed that this much has been revealed about you to another living soul. But this is your opportunity to wrap all this private information about them in the protective embrace of your love, and promise to be the one who can best help him or her deal with it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Some of these secrets may need correcting. Therefore, you can be an agent of healing and repair – not by lecturing, not by criticizing, but by listening in love and offering support.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Some of these secrets just need to be accepted. They are part of this person’s make-up and history. And though these issues may not be very pleasant to deal with, they will always require a gentle touch.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">In either case, you and you alone wield the power either to reject your spouse because of this or to welcome them in – warts and all. They will either know they’re in a place of safety where they are free to make mistakes, or they will recoil into themselves and be lost to you, perhaps forever. Loving them well should be your life’s work.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Think of it this way. No one knows you better than God does, the One who made you. The writer of Psalm 139 was right when he said, “You know when I sit down and when I rise up; You understand my thought from afar. You scrutinize my path and my lying down, and are intimately acquainted with all my ways. Even before there is a word on my tongue, behold, O Lord, You know it all” (Psalm 139:2-4).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">And yet God, who knows secrets about us that we even hide from ourselves, loves us at a depth we cannot begin to fathom. How much more should we – as imperfect people – reach out to our spouse in grace and understanding, accepting them for who they are and assuring them that their secrets are safe with us?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">This may be an area where you’ve really failed in the past. If so, don’t expect your mate to immediately give you wide-open access to their heart. You must begin to rebuild trust. Jesus Himself is described as One who doesn’t barge into people’s lives but who stands at the door and knocks. “If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and I will dine with him, and he with Me” (Revelation 3:20).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">The reality of intimacy always takes time to develop, especially after being compromised. But your commitment to re-establishing it can happen today – for anyone willing to take the dare.</span></div>
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<strong><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; line-height: 21px;"><span style="font-size: large;">Today’s Dare</span></span></strong></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">Determine to guard your mate’s secrets (unless they are dangerous to them or to you) and to pray for them. Talk with your spouse, and resolve to demonstrate love in spite of these issues. Really listen to them when they share personal thoughts and struggles with you. Make them feel safe.</span><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;"> </span></div>
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<span style="color: red;"><span style="font-family: Book Antiqua, serif;"><span style="line-height: 21px;">Pick you favorite dare from previous days if this day </span></span><span style="font-family: Book Antiqua, serif;"><span style="line-height: 21px;">isn't easily moldable for families.</span></span></span></div>
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<em><span style="color: red;"><span style="font-family: Book Antiqua, serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="line-height: 21px;"><br /></span></span></span></em></div>
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<em style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;"><b>I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine. (Song of Solomon 6:3)</b></span></em><br />
<em style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;"><b><br /></b></span></em>
<em style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;"><b><br /></b></span></em>Kellyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01821666124355516237noreply@blogger.com0