After You Say "I DO" The Fuel Gauge (3)

Have you ever run out of gas in your vehicle?  I hate to admit it, but I have done it. You say to yourself, “Ah, I can go a few more miles.”  My dad and I have walked more than once to find gas.  You would think that the pain would cause us not to repeat this foolish mistake.

Many of us have also ignored the fuel gauge in our marriages.  You have to put fuel in your marriage to keep it going. Each of us married folks can remember the things we did before we got married, like opening the car door, and spending an hour getting ready for our date. I’m not sure what happens after we have been married a few years; I think we go brain dead!

If we would keep doing the things we did before we got married, most of our marriages would stay alive and vibrant. I would like to encourage you Sir, plan out a vacation for you and your wife. You need time with one another and yes, without the kids.  Take her on a cruise, wash and vacuum her car, shave and dress up a bit for your weekly date.  She’s worth it.

You must put fuel in the relationship in order to keep things exciting. If you ignore it, you will soon be out of energy in the relationship. Ladies, make his favorite chocolate pie or dessert.

If you’re a stay at home mom, greet him when he comes home with an attractive dress rather than your nightgown. Before you got married, you wouldn’t think of spending just 5 minutes getting ready for a date. All these things are putting fuel in the tank.

Texting one another during the day, taking walks together, leaving one another love notes, buying special gifts, are ways to show one each other how much you value them.

 When was the last time you really looked at the dashboard of your marriage? Is it running close to E? Are you going to risk losing one of the best things that ever happened in your life?  Don’t say, “I really can’t afford a cruise, flowers, or time off work. Listen, it’s cheaper than the court system or a lawyer! 

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After you Say “I DO” The Oil Gauge (2)

Mom called me as she sat on the side of the road. “Danny, there’s steam coming out of the engine.” As I pulled up beside her I noticed steam and heat coming out from the hood. Mom had ignored a red light that came up on the dashboard. The engine light was telling her to stop. She had insufficient oil in the engine, and now it was toast.

Ignoring our gauges on the dashboard of our cars can be very costly, but even more costly in our marriage. I would like to use the oil gauge as the oil that comes from the Holy Spirit to empower each of us for the journey in life. Jesus told his disciples when I leave, “I will send the Holy Spirit to empower you, to guide and lead you into all truth.”

It’s essential for each of us to allow the Holy Spirit to work in our lives. He will help us to work out our stress and struggles that each of us contends with. Taking out your stress on your spouse will cause the engine of your marriage to overheat.

How often do we take the time to allow the Holy Spirit to change our thinking, our hurts that cause us to toss and turn in the night? One word from the Holy Spirit can settle down our emotions and our temperament. The Spirit of God comes to keep us cool calm and collective in the storms and stress of life. When your upset about something, the last thing you need to do is to take it out on those around you.

God says; “I can do all things through Christ that strengthens me.” “Greater is He that is in me than he that is in the world.” God sent His very best when He left this world to help us. Why would we not lean on Him to see us through the uncharted waters of life? Your marriage doesn’t have to die in a hot desert.

Are you allowing the Holy Spirit to heal your past hurts, jealousy, abuse, or even an affair that is hindering your going forward? There is nothing the Holy Spirit can’t heal in your life or your past. Maybe you have suffered physical or verbal abuse from your past. Today allow the Holy Spirit to bring healing to your pain and sorrow. He died on Calvary; He paid for your hurt and pain, and yes even our mistakes. By His stripes you are healed.

Refuse to allow your relationship with your spouse to burn out. Refuse to be stranded on the side of the road for thieves and robbers to destroy. If the oil gauge is running low, “Stop," and allow the Holy Spirit to refresh and renew you even as you read this devotion.

 “They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles and shall run and not be weary and shall walk and not faint." God can quickly change your gauge today and bring fresh life, peace and power back into the relationship that seems impossible to repair. Had Mom stopped to pour in some oil, the engine would have lasted many more years. How much longer would your marriage last if you would stop to let Him pour in you today?   

   

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After You Say "I DO" The Amp Gauge (1)

Ephesians 5:25  Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.

If you have driven a car very long, you realize that cars have important gauges on the dashboard that are to be watched and not ignored. I was praying about our Marriage Series and it came to me that there are also gauges to watch in our marriage. Have you thought about what the gauges are indicating in your marriage?

Several years ago, the Saturday Evening Post published an article entitled “The Seven Ages of the Married Cold.” It revealed the reaction of a husband to his wife’s colds during their first seven years of marriage. It went something like this:

·       The first year: “Sugar dumpling, I’m really worried about my baby girl. You’ve got a bad sniffle, and there’s no telling about these things with all this strep throat going around. I’m putting you in the hospital this afternoon for a general checkup and a good rest. I know the food’s lousy, but I’ll be bringing your meals in from Rosini’s. I’ve already got it all arranged with the floor superintendent.”

·       The second year: “Listen, darling, I don’t like the sound of that cough. I called Doc Miller and asked him to rush over here. Now you go to bed like a good girl, please? Just for Papa.”

·       The third year: “Maybe you’d better lie down, honey: nothing like a little rest when you feel lousy. I’ll bring you something to eat. Have you got any canned soup?”

·       The fourth year: “Now look, dear, be sensible. After you’ve fed the kids, washed the dishes and finished the floor, you’d better lie down.”

·       The fifth year: “Why don’t you take a couple of aspirin?”

·       The sixth year: “I wish you’d just gargle or something, instead of sitting around all evening barking like a seal!”

·       The seventh year: “For Pete’s sake, stop sneezing! Are you trying to give me pneumonia?”This humorous story describes the decline of marriage as seen through the common cold… A funny look at a not-so- funny reality.

I have been married 32 years, and while I have never accused Vonnell of barking like a seal, I have seen changes in our marriage, and not all of them for the good. Today I want to talk about being proactive in keeping the spark in our marriages.

Let’s look at the AMP Gauge. It’s important to know if the right electricity is running through your car. More importantly is if it’s still in the marriage. When you first got married, there was plenty of electricity in the relationship. But as we journey through the uncharted waters of marriage, we tend to forget the things we did with each other before we got married.

Do you remember how sweetly you asked how she was doing each day? And how long it took to get ready for a date? You got all dressed up, shaved, brushed your teeth, put on cologne, and couldn’t wait to share the night together. Has the fire gone out? No one likes to get in a vehicle with a dead battery.

There are things you can do to get the fire back. Guys, how about washing and vacuuming her car this week? Get the oil changed and fill up the tank instead of having her do it. Ladies, make his favorite dish and surprise him by being all dressed up when he comes home from work. Are you watching your AMP gauge? Are you maintaining the electricity in the marriage?

Remember, if the battery goes dead in your car, you don’t buy a new car; instead, you replace the battery or get it recharged. If the amp is reading low, begin doing things that will ignite a new fire in your marriage.     
                                    

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Cautious With Your Steps ( Reposted) 4.11.13

Solomon was the riches king on the earth. He was blessed with thousands of horses, camels, sheep, silver, and gold just to mention a few. He took seven years to build the most incredible temple and thirteen years in building his magnificent palace. Where did this man detour from his roots of faith? Where did he go wrong? How could one step in the wrong direction lead him so far from his Jehovah God? (1 Kings 11:1-13)

The word says that Solomon loved many foreign women. So did this guy just have issues with women? God was clear that Israel was not to marry those from foreign nations, because the women's gods would turn their hearts away from their Jehovah God. (1 Kings 11:2)

Why did this king seek after women from other nations? Could it be that he married Pharaoh's daughter so that he wouldn't have to war with the king of Egypt? Would not that be a wise strategy in order to secure his nation Israel? What father is going to go after the destruction of his daughter's domain?

The problem with that reasoning is God never breaks His principals in order to take care of His children. I do believe that indeed was Solomon's strategy and when it worked with one nation, he married women also from Moab, Ammon, Edom, Sidon, and from the Hitties.

How did this wise man lose confidence in his protector? God had promised him that as long as he kept His commandments, blessing's and protection would be on him and his nation.

Just as God had predicted, Solomon's wives turned his heart to worshipping other gods. These 700 wives caused him to worship Ashtoreth, the goddess of the Sidonians, and Molech, the detestable god of the Ammonites. What he did was evil in the Lord's sight; he refused to follow the Lord completely, as his father, David, had done.

Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life. Satan works at tempting us with one step, the first step in the wrong direction. Solomon married one woman from a foreign nation. When it seemly worked out to marry Pharaoh's daughter, what could be so wrong with marrying more from other nations?

Just one step in the wrong direction is what will lead you down the road of death. There is a way that seems right unto man but the end thereof is the way of death.

Be cautious with your steps in life, when you choose your own strategy that opposes the word of God, your about to step on a landmine that will forever change the trajectory that he has purpose for your future. How could one so blessed, so powerful, so successful turn away from his God?

Let the words of my mouth and the mediation of my heart be acceptable in thy sight O Lord my redeemer. (Psalm 19:14) Order my steps in thy word, and let not any iniquity have dominion over me. (Psalm 119:133) Let God's word and not your knowledge and wisdom be your guide and compass today.

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Moses Climbs Higher

In Moses' dying days, we see him climbing higher and higher up Mount Nebo to Pisgah Peak. There the Lord allowed him to see and view the Promise Land where Joshua would lead the people across the Jordan River. (Deuteronomy 34 )

Who said in your later years that you were to slow down and crawl inside a cave and die? The Word says that before Moses died at the age of 120, his eyesight was clear and he was stronger than ever before. Too many seniors in their later years lose more than their health; they lose the will to live, serve, be used of God, and to complete the dream that they started.

Moses doesn't back down in his last years of leading the people of God. He writes a song that Israel is to learn in going over into the Promise land. He is giving instructions to their new leader Joshua who will take them over into the land. He gives them warnings about traps and ways the enemy will try to distract and detour them in their new journey.

 It's not over till GOD says it's over!  It's our culture that leads many down the path that tells us in our older years, all we are to do is just retire, get a motor home and tour the nation. I have no problems with people touring the country, but if that is all you have to dream about, you will most certainly die an early and empty death.

Dreams are what keep people alive. Like Moses, keep climbing up your own mountain until the Lord brings about your last dying breath. There's still much work to be done in the kingdom of God. Like Paul, let's all have the testimony, "I have fought a good fight, finished my course, and kept the faith.  Are YOU climbing higher?

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