web resources for MARRIAGE

Growth and Being Connected

Don't be cheated by people who make a show of acting humble and who worship angels. They brag about seeing visions. But it is all nonsense, because their minds are filled with selfish desires.  They are no longer part of Christ, who is the head of the whole body. Christ gives the body its strength, and he uses its joints and muscles to hold it together, as it grows by the power of God.  [Colossians 2:18-19 CEV]

No prolonged infancies among us, please. We'll not tolerate babes in the woods, small children who are an easy mark for impostors. God wants us to grow up, to know the whole truth and tell it in love—like Christ in everything. We take our lead from Christ, who is the source of everything we do. He keeps us in step with each other. His very breath and blood flow through us, nourishing us so that we will grow up healthy in God, robust in love.  [Ephesians 4:14-16 MSG]

You were all called to travel on the same road and in the same direction, so stay together, both outwardly and inwardly. You have one Master, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who rules over all, works through all, and is present in all. Everything you are and think and do is permeated with Oneness.


But that doesn't mean you should all look and speak and act the same. Out of the generosity of Christ, each of us is given his own gift.  He handed out gifts above and below, filled heaven with his gifts, filled earth with his gifts. He handed out gifts of apostle, prophet, evangelist, and pastor-teacher to train Christ's followers in skilled servant work, working within Christ's body, the church, until we're all moving rhythmically and easily with each other, efficient and graceful in response to God's Son, fully mature adults, fully developed within and without, fully alive like Christ. [Ephesians 4:4-13 MSG]

Now about spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be ignorant.  . ...  There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit.  There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord.  There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men.


Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.  To one there is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he gives them to each one, just as he determines.

Now the body is not made up of one part but of many.  If the foot should say, "Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. And if the ear should say, "Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body.

The eye cannot say to the hand, "I don't need you!" And the head cannot say to the feet, "I don't need you!" On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has combined the members of the body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it. [1 Corinthians 12:1-26 NIV - selected verses]

Have You Trials And Temptations

Have we trials and temptations?



Is there trouble anywhere?


We should never be discouraged;


take it to the Lord in prayer.


Can we find a friend so faithful


who will all our sorrows share?


Jesus knows our every weakness;


take it to the Lord in prayer.

2 Thessalonians 2:1-12

1 Now, dear brothers and sisters, let us clarify some things about the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and how we will be gathered to meet him. 2 Don’t be so easily shaken or alarmed by those who say that the day of the Lord has already begun. Don’t believe them, even if they claim to have had a spiritual vision, a revelation, or a letter supposedly from us. 3 Don’t be fooled by what they say. For that day will not come until there is a great rebellion against God and the man of lawlessness is revealed-the one who brings destruction. 4 He will exalt himself and defy everything that people call god and every object of worship. He will even sit in the temple of God, claiming that he himself is God.


5 Don’t you remember that I told you about all this when I was with you? 6 And you know what is HOLDING HIM BACK, for he can be revealed only when his time comes. 7 For this lawlessness is already at work secretly, and it will remain secret until the one who is HOLDING IT BACK steps out of the way. 8 Then the man of lawlessness will be revealed, but the Lord Jesus will kill him with the breath of his mouth and destroy him by the splendor of his coming.



9 This man will come to do the work of Satan with counterfeit power and signs and miracles. 10 He will use every kind of EVIL DECEPTION to fool those ON THEIR WAY TO DESTRUCTION, because they refuse to love and accept the truth that would save them. 11 So God will cause them to be greatly deceived, and THEY WILL BELIEVE THESE LIES. 12 Then they will be condemned for ENJOYING EVIL rather than BELIEVING THE TRUTH.
[as copied from:  http://chuckbalsamo.com/2009/11/drinking-down-the-kool-aide-of-hope/]

Who Does God Love?

2 Corinthians 9:7 (New International Version)

Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for

God loves a cheerful giver.

Psalm 39 (New International Version)

Psalm 39
For the director of music. For Jeduthun. A psalm of David.


1 I said, "I will watch my ways

and keep my tongue from sin;

I will put a muzzle on my mouth

as long as the wicked are in my presence."


2 But when I was silent and still,

not even saying anything good,

my anguish increased.



3 My heart grew hot within me,

and as I meditated, the fire burned;

then I spoke with my tongue:



4 "Show me, O LORD, my life's end

and the number of my days;

let me know how fleeting is my life.



5 You have made my days a mere handbreadth;

the span of my years is as nothing before you.
Each man's life is but a breath.

Selah

6 Man is a mere phantom as he goes to and fro:
He bustles about, but only in vain;

he heaps up wealth, not knowing who will get it.



7 "But now, Lord, what do I look for?

My hope is in you.



8 Save me from all my transgressions;

do not make me the scorn of fools.



9 I was silent; I would not open my mouth,

for you are the one who has done this.



10 Remove your scourge from me;

I am overcome by the blow of your hand.



11 You rebuke and discipline men for their sin;

you consume their wealth like a moth—

each man is but a breath.

Selah



12 "Hear my prayer, O LORD,

listen to my cry for help;

be not deaf to my weeping.

For I dwell with you as an alien,

a stranger, as all my fathers were.



13 Look away from me, that I may rejoice again

before I depart and am no more.

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