Expectations...

When we are in any kind of a relationship with someone we naturally develop a set of expectations for that relationship and what we expect that person to do or give. This is true in all of our relationships. Some of the relationships we have we expect very little from people while other relationships we have higher expectations. I think most people who are married have a tendency to expect too much of their spouse. Most of us will at some point gravitate towards expecting our spouse to fill our needs for acceptance, identity, security, and purpose that can only be truly found in Christ.

I know for me I have done this many times. I have taken my eyes off of Jesus and as such I have stopped allowing Him to be meeting those needs and I started "requiring" Angie to meet those needs. That is an unrealistic expectation and unfair for me to place that upon her. The fact of the matter is that God intends for us to seek our basic needs from Him so that we can be a source of love and encouragement to others. In marriage, God expects me to love Him so much that I have an abundance of love and compassion for Angie. If I am able to constantly develop my relationship with Him then I will be better able and equipped to develop my relationship with her.

Blessing

One of the most rewarding and difficult parts of my life is my marriage. I love my Angie beyond reason. I love the passions that she has. I love her desire to be like God and to do things well. I love how she longs to be an even greater mother, homemaker and minister. Like most other marriages we have certainly been through our ups and downs. This past year we have found ourselves in more downs than ups and I accept my lion's share of the responsibility in this. I have not been the leader that I have needed to be. I have not been the kind of Godly man and husband that she needs me to be. The end result of this has been a marriage and family that has not been all that God has wanted it to be. This in turn has been used my the enemy to attack the emotional well being of myself and my wife. We have struggled with feelings of failure and inadequacy. For myself these feelings have permeated every aspect of my life. I feel like I have been a failure at work, at home and at church. I can look back at this past year and see some good things that have happened and yet I still see the whole of the year as a failure. I know in my head that it is not as bad as it seems but some times one of the hardest things we have to do in life is move head knowledge to heart knowledge.

As this year comes to a close I felt it only appropriate to try and place some sort of redeeming touch on the year by starting a new daily devotional with my wife. I know some of you may be wondering why not just start something new on the new year and I can see your point. For me though it was why wait. Why should wait another day to do something I should have been doing a long time ago.

Today's lesson deals with a marriage being a blessing. Specifically it deals with what the Hebrew word for blessed means-“to endue with power for success, prosperity, fertility and longevity.” When I read this I was struck by the word success. When we ask God to bless our marriage we are asking Him to infuse it with the power to succeed and to endure. We also know from Scripture that when ask God for these kinds of things that He will provide it to us. Therefore, way back when Angie and I first got married and we asked for God's blessing upon it He gave it (and us) the power to succeed. What an amazing thought this is that no matter who bad things may get or how dark the future may seem that God has already granted us the power to succeed in our marriage. This thought has literally blown me away!

If this is true of marriage then it must also be true in other areas of our lives. When God chose to bless something it means that He is empowering it to be successful and to endure. I know that some of you may be thinking of some ministries or churches that have failed and wondering if it was never God's will for that ministry to exist or not. The simple answer is no. We live in a fallen world and just like Adam and Eve's marriage started out as perfect it to would fall in to some level of failure. I think we see one result of the cracks in their marriage by how their 2 sons dealt with each other. The fact that one brother killed another and then ran away reflects at least partially on Adam and Eve and the examples the set for their kids.

In the end God does not want us to focus on the failures that are around us. He wants us to focus on those successful parts of our lives. He wants us to be able to see the things that have gone well and that are going well. I pray that to do you will take the time and focus on the things that have gone well (even the small things) and not dwell on the bad. The enemy would like nothing more than for you to come to the end of your day and to look back and see nothing but defeat. Do not allow the enemy to steal your joy in this way.

40 Days in the Gospels-Day 1

Today I read through Matthew 1 and 2. One of the things that really struck me today was how many times God used people's bad decisions in the lineage of Jesus. For example, if it were not for David's adultery with Bathsheba then we would not have Salomon who is in the direct line of Jesus. This was just a simple reminder that God uses us in ways we could never imagine even when we make mistakes larger than we ever thought we would/could. I hope that today you remember or hear for the first time today that God love us in spite of us.

40 Days in the Gospels-Intro

Today I begin, along with the teenagers at Crosspointe, a 40 day journey through the 89 chapters that compose the Gospels. During the next 40 days our group would appreciate your prayers, thoughts, comments, words of encouragement, etc.. as we not only seek to deepen our relationship with God through His Word, Our Actions, and Our Prayers. Over the next 40 days each one of us will be seeking to

Study Our Bible
Witness To Our Friends
Encourage One Another
Act On What We Read
Talk It Out With God

If you would like to join us on this journey simply download your journal and begin. You can start any time and we would love to here from you about how your 40 days changes the world you live in.

Second Chances

In our life we have opportunities to in essence hit the reset button on our life and relationships. God is merciful and gives us these chances in spite of our shortcomings. I feel as though I am in that place with so many things in my life. I am at that place with my wife. I am in that place with my family. I am in that place with my job. There is so much that I have not right and there is even more that I want to do better. I am battling the feeling of so much to do with so little time so why even try. I know in my head that I have to take it one step at a time. I know that the best plan is for me to listen to God and do the things He wants me to do in the order He wants me to do them.

I pray that I will be able to do this. I pray that I will be able to keep priorities set correctly.

Making A Choice

Our lives are filled with all kinds of choices. Some may seem mundane and simple while others we recognize as profound and potentially life altering. There are some choices that all of us have everyday. One of those choices is how are we going to look upon our world and life today. I know that some of us wake up and feel like we do not have any choice in the matter. Those of us who have or are battling depression understand this feeling of hopelessness when it comes to how we view the world around us. This does not change the fact that we have a choice in the matter. The choice may be a difficult one and it may be one that we have to be continually making through out the day but it is a choice nonetheless. I pray that today you will find the strength you need to make the choices you need to make, no matter how hard they are.

Job 36:15-16

"But those who suffer he delivers in their suffering; he speaks to them in their affliction."He is wooing you from the jaws of distress to a spacious place free from restriction, to the comfort of your table laden with choice food."

Courage

Making a stand can be a difficult thing but it is necessary if we are going to change the culture in which God has placed us. We must face the storms and praise Him! The storms WILL come of this there is no doubt. When they come will you be washed away or will you stand and sing. Will you chose to go dancing in the rain and praise Him for all that He has done and all that He is going to do?? The choice is yours!