Pre -Marriage Intro. There is Hope in the LORD

The call came to me on the emergency pager- married for only months the young wife with the tone of anxiety and exasperation said, "He gave His life to Christ, just before we were married but now....?"
Pornography
Hip Hop culture friends
Selfishness
And the justification...
BUT... I go to church on Sunday and that's enough !

The papers had been filed but she felt the LORD wanted her to wait.... ANY Hope Pastor?

To take back my line from a famous political candidate "you betcha!"

Being married for 26 years to my wife - I explained- we all have problems and fights - but we have the Lord.
When my wife married me I was not a Christian -Boy, did I make her life difficult!
Even after coming to Christ I had to GROW UP!

There is hope in the LORD
in the awesome power of prayer and submission to HIS will.
Submission to His will
I took the young wife, to 1 Peter 3 a difficult passage for those who are married to non believers. Non the less, a call to obedience to Christ and a plan for winning the unsaved husband.
The Power of Prayer
I encouraged her to ask God to change her heart about praying for her husband.
The key to prayer is, to pray for God's will for God's Glory - I told her to pray HIS way and HIS will for her husband, not just to pray for an easier life with a "Christian husband."

I can hear the voices of some women saying, "If he is into porn then divorce him."
Sure, on the tech side of the Greek word Porn-ea (Matthew 19 sexual immorality)- she could divorce, but what had God spoken to her! to stay in the marriage........ and hold on to that hope!
Marriage counseling is on their Horizon - as he is open for help.

It's not just the men...
This has also been a year when I have heard of young women who looked solid in Christ from the outside - BUT, they went outside their marriage to find what they thought were greener pastures.

That's what leads me to this blog- I believe there is a way to prevent much of this heartache, by dealing with major issues -before the marriage... with premarital counsel from God's Word. Once married the issues and problems have a way of multiplying (by what seems to be a factor of 10!). Deal with issues now! Grow up in HIM!

The Outline of C's for Premarital Counseling

The outline we will discuss is simple - yet profound because it is based in God's WORD.
I routinely take young couples through this outline and have seen major breakthroughs in their walk with the LORD. These breakthroughs lead to improved relationships - and from what I have observed great marriages

The outline we will be following in future blogs...

Christ: Where is He in my life? - Have I a relationship with HIM? -Is He #1? Am I a disciple?

Commitment: What does commitment mean? Am I commit-ed to Christ? Do I live for HIM? - Do I know HIS commitment to me? Am I a commit -ed person/ to relationships in my life? Will I be commit- ed to my spouse?


Caring: What is love?What love is not? Do I know God's love? Do I love my brothers? Do I know how to love? Do I love my spouse to be?

Communication: Do I communicate like a Christian? What does that mean? Do I communicate with GOD? Am I hearing HIS DIRECTION FOR MY LIFE? How do I communicate with others? How do I communicate with my future spouse? What does bad communication look like?

Conflict: How does God want us to deal with conflict? Is conflict always bad? What are the origins of conflict? How do I deal with conflict? How does this affect my future spouse?

So here we grow............
Ephesians 4:15-16
15 Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ. 16 From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.
NIV


In Christ
Peter

Making a Comeback Psalm 80

We never want to stop learning and growing in our relationship with the LORD. The consequence of having a sinful nature and living in this World is that we can find ourselves against the wall.....at the end of our rope. Worse yet is knowing that the sins and mistakes we have made have put us in this place. I know I have felt those pangs of hopeless despair that wage a war within. At those times the thought of being restored, a comeback seems dim.

When a nation begins to reject the LORD, the consequences and decline can bring great anxiety and pain. We have been experiencing this in our nation and world today. Economic uncertainty and the stress of living in 21st century America have caused some to wonder if God has forgotten us because many have forgotten Him.

The Psalmist during a time of national calamity remembers that he has a good shepherd in the LORD, one who restores the soul and brings deliverance. He is honest with God in sharing his feelings of despair and three times makes this urgent plea.

Psalm 80:19
Restore us O LORD, God of Hosts,
Cause your face to shine
and we shall be save
NKJV

He makes this cry to the God who controls the universe and has the power to save.
He makes this plea not just for himself but for a nation.

How much more can we, the redeemed, come to our God, who "has made His light shine in our hearts to give us the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ."
Making a comeback is possible with the LORD!


O LORD God of Hosts, restore us
Cause your face to shine upon us
And we will saved.
NASB

Living among those who hate peace

Psalm 120:7
I am a man of peace but when I speak, they are for war

One of the more difficult and at time frustrating aspects of living the Christian Life is the conflict that ensues as we take the Gospel of Peace and bring it to those who desperately need to hear the Message of Jesus Christ. There will be those of the tents of Meshech and Kedar who will work to bring distress into our lives. Meshech was a tribe from just North of modern day Turkey known for their cruelty and fierceness. Kedar was in the South - from Abraham's clan -born of his son Ishmael. Reminds me that even "relatives" and close associates can be the source of distress. The distress comes from those words that can discourage and feel as if a sharp object was thrust into ones flesh. Many have been wounded by the untamable tongue.
This is a Psalm of Ascents - Those heading to worship God in Jerusalem for the Passover feast would recite it on the road. The Psalmist reminds them at the outset of this Psalm about the one who is there to answer this prayer. We need to trust Him to defend us and to be our strength and encouragement.

Psalm 120:1
I call on the LORD in my distress
and He answers me

Each New Day

On thing I love about our LORD is the opportunity of each new day with Him. It is never stale or old but, each day He is doing a new thing- I must forget the former things and move forward. It does not mean I do not remember the wonderful things God has done in my past or that I never learn from my past mistakes but rather I can:

• Not allow my past failures and hurts to stop me from receiving TODAY what God has for me
• As I read the WORD I can find and hold on to a new PROMISE that gives me HOPE
• I can have fresh and new DIRECTION in the most difficult of situations
• I can expect new MERCIES that will never fail

He is the God that makes a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland and is the one who calls us to Himself.

Isaiah 43:18-19

Blessings In Christ

Peter