GPS to a Joyful Marriage

It seems, lately, that whenever I turn on the news or read the newspaper, I’m always shocked at the broadcasts of the day.  Just when I think things can’t get any worse – they do.  I shouldn’t be surprised, though.  God’s Word speaks over and over about what to expect in the end times. The problems people face these days also seem to be at a greater intensity.  Everyone is dealing with some major issue in their lives.  Finances, illness, rebellious children and troubled marriages are just a few of the culprits.  As Christians, we need to remember that we’re not alone in our sufferings and continue to reach out to others, even when our own problems overwhelm us. I Peter 4:12-13 tells us, " Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you.  But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when His glory is revealed."   How do you stay positive and

Yesterday at church, the speaker mentioned that the world tells us to “Seize the moment”, while the Bible tells us to “Wait upon the Lord.” We live in a world of instant gratification.   We want everything—yesterday.   We’ve lost the discipline to wait.   Credit cards and computers have literally made things available for us almost immediately. I remember as a kid waiting for those two nights of the year, Sunday nights, when the Wizard of Oz or Sound of Music would be aired.   A huge event, we eagerly anticipated that night for weeks and looked forward to cooking Jiffy Pop over the stove.  My children have no clue about this joy we had of waiting for our favorite movie.     Now, we have so many movies available in our own homes, on the television, and via the Internet or Netflix, that most of the time I struggle deciding what to watch because the selection is overwhelming. So I watch nothing.   If you don’t want to go to the movie theatre, you only need to wait a few

It seems I’m still on the SELF bandwagon.   I’m continually bombarded with the inability of many people, and many Christians, to control this ugly monster.   I want to figure out how to help others beat it.    (The problem is that most SELFish people don’t see that as their problem!) I once discussed SELF with a prominent pastor who I highly admire, claiming that I thought selfishness was the root of most problems in marriage.   I told him I wanted to find out how to break through this barrier that kept people apart from God and a healthy relationship with their spouse.   I eagerly awaited his wise and respectable answer.   He said to me, “Good luck with that.   Let me know when you figure it out.” It’s a mystery to me how some people naturally put others needs ahead of their own, never stopping to think of their own desires of SELF.   And then there are other people who are totally caught up in their SELF, and wouldn’t even consider how another person could need help.    

I spend a lot of time writing about SELF on my blog.   That’s because I too frequently see it destroy marriages and relationships with God.   It is the slyest device the devil can use to sidetrack us from God’s will for our life and marriage.   (Of course, we don’t need the devil to operate in SELF – he just takes advantage of our SELFishness.)   SELF may be the most difficult part of our personality to quench.  It  can seem noble and necessary at times, even the right thing to do.   Noble and necessary to whom, though - that is the question.   It m ay be to the world in which we live, but not to God. To God, SELF is a blatant denial of what is right for your life that goes against every plan He initiates.   Obliging your SELF equals serving the devil. Even more subtle is a level of SELF that we all get stuck in occasionally.   That level consists of the times we face the big challenges in our lives.   The severity of an issue may cause us to focus all our energy on the