What is the glory of a woman? How can we overcome our failure, shame, and fear? These were some the questions we explored as I spoke on the topic of “Living as Women of Strength and Honor.” I was privileged to speak at a women’s brunch hosted by the Adorned Read more…
Want to transform your life? Develop the habit of meditating on Scripture. Meditating on Scripture is like pouring your life into a divine mold.
1 Corinthians 13* If I speak to my spouse using tactful “I feel” messages and skillful conflict-resolution strategies, but I do not love, I am like a clanging cymbal or a car alarm that won’t shut off. And even if I have an advanced degree in marriage counseling and understand Read more…
What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.A. W. Tozer As Christ-followers, we believe is that God is good. That statement is far more than a simple cliché: it is a critical dividing line! This belief distinguishes angels from demons. The Read more…
LORD, I thank You for my husband. Thank You for creating him in Your image, designing him for greatness and strength. I pray that my husband will be like a great tree planted by streams of water, its branches reaching up to the sky. May my husband be a mighty Read more…
This Sunday, June 4, is Pentecost. We have just had a big holiday weekend here in the United States, so you may not feel eager for another “event.” But Pentecost does not require a lot of preparation, and it is too wonderful to miss! Very simply, Pentecost is a day Read more…
What is a Biblical response to same-sex marriage? How does the good news of Christ shape our thinking on this topic? If you are asking these questions, then you will want to read The Gospel and Same-Sex Marriage. Edited by Russell Moore and Andrew Walker, it is the most recent book in “The Read more…
A Holy-Day to Celebrate You probably know that today is Halloween. But did you realize that it is also Reformation Day? And did you know that Reformation Day is a fantastic thing to celebrate? On October 31, 1517, Martin Luther nailed his Ninety-Five Theses to the wooden door of the cathedral Read more…
5 Great Quotes: Elizabeth Elliot put it this way: we married our spouses because we loved them, so now we must love our spouses because we married them. Be for your spouse! Don’t just commit to your marriage: commit to the good of your spouse. Love is a decision to seek Read more…
Need to move any mountains? Jesus replied, “Truly I tell you, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and it will be done.” Read more…
Do trials increase our faith? Have you heard that trials increase our faith? “Trials and troubles … are treadmills for the soul.”[i] That certainly may be true. But if trials increase faith, then we should be muscle-bulging spiritual giants and we should be surrounded by people of massive faith. We Read more…
The Seven Rings of Marriage is a new book by a new author. Jackie Bledsoe has a sincere passion to share what he’s learning in his marriage to encourage others in their marriages. His fervency is the strength of this book. The High Value of Marriage I greatly appreciate the high value that Jackie puts on marriage. Read more…
If you are trying to build up your value, or if you are working to create a satisfying identity, you can lay those heavy burdens down. I listened to my friend recently as she lamented that her sense of identity was unraveling like yarn being pulled from a sweater: “I Read more…
We live in a world of hurt, don’t we? We are not quite the walking dead, but we are the walking wounded. We know how to feel hurt and how to cause hurt, but who knows how to heal? Mercifully, “the God of all comfort” specializes in healing. As our tender-hearted Read more…
Sometimes, God’s Will can be a real mystery to us. At other times, it can seem rather mundane. But we can learn from several fascinating stories how to push through the mysterious and mundane into the marvelous! Kings have dreams. In ancient Babylon, King Nebuchadnezzar had a disturbing dream. When Read more…
In Psalm 18:35, God says that He stoops down to make us great. Isn’t that incredible? I think that also sums up the wonderful message of Christmas: God came down to lift us up. How amazing! I wrote about Psalm 18:35, Christmas, and marriage in “A Christmas Prayer for Our Read more…
God saw that His creation, though still beloved, was beautiful no more. His broken world broke His heart open. Like a tear, the immense love of God for the people of Earth welled up and spilled out, descending like a brilliant star through the universe before appearing as a baby Read more…
A Strategy to Target Bitterness “If I were your enemy, I’d use every opportunity to bring old wounds to mind. … I’d try to ensure that your heart was hardened with anger and bitterness. Shackled through unforgiveness.” (page 151) With this insight, Priscilla Shirer begins her discussion of a prayer strategy Read more…
What are your prayer strategies? Could you use some? We understand that we are in a spiritual battle. We “wrestle not with flesh and blood,” but against spiritual forces. We wage this battle through prayer, fighting on our knees. But do we understand the need for clear battle strategies? Do Read more…
When God made a covenant with His people at Mount Sinai, He clarified the guidelines which would best nurture a healthy relationship. The Ten Commandments were given as principles which would guard the covenant. Just as there are principles which protect our relationship with God, our Covenant Partner, so there Read more…
I saw War Room last night. This new movie has a fantastic message: PRAY FOR YOUR MARRIAGE! The right way to fight in marriage is by fighting on our knees through prayer. We want to fight for our spouses, not against them. We must ask God to fight the real Read more…
Bitterness can destroy us. We understand that. But do we understand why? Why does our refusal to forgive cause such serious harm to us? Unforgiveness deforms us because it is rooted in a lie. As with all sin, it binds us in spiritual enslavement because bitterness denies the truth that Read more…
The President got a bit emotional this morning over the Supreme Court’s decision to legalize homosexual unions. I did, too. In fact, I cried. I am absolutely brokenhearted that this nation would willingly deprive children of a mother or a father—not only deprive the children, but tell them that it is Read more…
Have you heard about FoMO? The “Fear of Missing Out” is the latest trend. This phobia can cause endless checking of social media, as well as feelings of anxiety and depression. But Christ-followers have no need to take part in the FoMO fad because we have this fantastic promise from Read more…
I often need to recall the basics. Here are the basics of love, as spoken to us by Love Himself, paraphrased by Eugene Peterson. My favorite line is near the end: Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. From “the love chapter” (1 Corinthians 13): Love never gives up. Read more…
But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God. To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps. (1 Peter 2:20-21, NIV) This is the kind of life you’ve been invited Read more…
I am trying something new today. I would like to share with you a presentation called “Battle Strategies in Prayer: How to Fight on Your Knees.” In this slide-show, I discuss several aspects of effective prayer. These are spiritual principles that we can learn from Old Testament battle accounts. May God bless you Read more…
Looking for God’s direction concerning your marriage? Here is some clear instruction from 1 Corinthians 7—along with some encouragement and challenge, too: Marriage is not a place to “stand up for your rights.” Marriage is a decision to serve the other…. [I]f you are married, stay married. This is the Master’s command…. If Read more…
Do you have “his” and “her” towels at your house? How about “his” and “her” prayers? Today I want to share with you a husband’s prayer, based on Scripture. Next week, I will share a wife’s prayer. And as always, I am glad to hear your thoughts, too! I thank Read more…
How are you praying for your marriage? Here is a prayer, based on Scripture, that will enable you to fight for your marriage using “the sword of the Spirit”: LORD, I lift this marriage to You. In the spiritual realm, I want to surround this marriage with prayer and praise, just as the Read more…
Have you prayed for your spouse today? Psalm 1 provides a helpful guide as you pray for your husband or wife, or for someone else you know. A prayer for your husband: LORD, I pray that my husband will be blessed today–happy and spiritually healthy in You. I pray that he Read more…
We can call bitter “sweet,” if we want. That’s nothing new. (See Isaiah 5:20.) But this semantic violence fails to produce anything more than confused thinking: changing labels does not change essence. If we call homosexual union “a marriage,” then we need another word for this: God’s design for one man and Read more…
Are you giving your spouse your best “bread” or the leftover “crumbs”? When Jesus spoke with the Greek woman about the children’s bread and the pet dogs under the table, He was not belittling her; He was explaining His priorities and being faithful to His calling. Our spouses are our Read more…
That the Creator of the universe should desire to know us deeply and to love us in the knowing is amazing. That He should desire that we know Him deeply and love Him in the knowing is staggering. God comes to us with His desire to know when we bring Read more…
The Hebrew word yada can be used broadly to mean “to know.” However, it can also be used in a specific way to refer to knowing personally and directly. Yada often means involvement, revealing, or relational intimacy. It can even refer to physical intimacy, as in Genesis 4:1: “Now Adam Read more…
Rough bark scraped across the man’s bare chest as he rushed to crouch in the gathering darkness of the trees. An unfamiliar sense of guilt threatened to suffocate the man. His frantic attempts to cover himself had failed to ease his shame, just as the thin veil of dusk did Read more…
You may have guessed that we would not be able to watch the dancing king without noticing the seething shadow up in the palace window. If the king had noticed, it may have been because he felt the scathing heat of that shadow reaching him even in the streets below. Read more…
King David of Old Testament fame earned stellar marks as a musician, warrior, and king; but as a family man, he quite nearly flunked. However, on the day that he brought the ark of the covenant to Jerusalem, he dramatically demonstrated several characteristics of a godly husband and father: 1. Read more…
Does anyone remember reading about Eleazar, the son of Dodai the Ahohite? Probably not–but he was an incredible warrior, one whom we would do well to consider. According to Old Testament accounts, Eleazar was one of David’s “mighty men.” In a battle against the Philistines one day, “the men of Read more…
I salute you! Your heart for reconciliation reveals the very heart of God, and your faithfulness to covenant reflects the faithfulness of God, which “reaches to the skies.” We will break our loyalty to our covenant partners the day God breaks His loyalty to us, His covenant partners. I commend Read more…
When we are wronged, how can we handle our anger? We answer that best when we look at what God does when He is wronged. John Piper considers this in his book This Momentary Marriage: “But even though God has never done anything that legitimately provokes our anger at him, Read more…
In reading “my new favorite book on marriage,” I was interested to discover an entire chapter devoted to the topic of anger. Author John Piper bases much of his discussion in This Momentary Marriage on the Biblical directives given in Ephesians 5:21 through 6:4. When the apostle Paul speaks to Read more…
“Yes! Yes! That’s right! That’s it!” That was my ongoing mental refrain as I read This Momentary Marriage by John Piper last week. It is an excellent primer on marriage, dealing with the most basic, most essential, and most profound aspects of marriage, such as the purpose of marriage, the Read more…
“Welcome one another, therefore, as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God” (Romans 15:7, RSV). The apostle Paul gave this instruction to all believers in Christ. But Dietrich Bonhoeffer pointed out that these words also create an excellent guideline for husbands and wives to apply specifically in their marriages. While Read more…
Though I speak to my spouse using diplomatic “I feel” messages and skillful conflict-resolution strategies, but do not love, I am become as sounding brass or as a car alarm that won’t shut off. And though I have an advanced degree in marriage counseling and understand the mysteries of why Read more…
What card are you holding in your hand? One day soon, you’ll play that very card before God. Imagine this: As you stand before God one day, He says, “Lay down your card.” On the table before you, you lay down your ragged card, the card which you’ve been carrying Read more…
Old Testament Nazarites, such as Samson, wore long hair as a symbol of consecration to God. In the New Testament, married women wore long hair as a symbol of marital consecration. The Scriptures say that this sign of submission is important “because of the angels” (1 Corinthians 11:10, NIV). Could Read more…
When Jesus told the parable of the Good Samaritan, was He cognizant of the fact that He Himself would soon be in the same situation of being exposed before others? As He hung on the cross, Jesus experienced all of the varying “responses to nakedness.” There were accusers (like the Read more…
Do you think of one more person in the Scriptures who lay naked and vulnerable before others? Jesus told the story of a man who was brutally attacked by robbers on the road leading from Jerusalem to Jericho. In this parable, we again see contrasting responses to nakedness: 1. Both Read more…
