The heart of a good husband =)

Man's selfless effort determines what kind of price he can get. =)

Meg

28 Feb 2015

Nothing Wasted

CURRENT TEACHING SERIES Can You Hear Me Now?

One Barrier to Hearing God Speak is Resistance By Rick Warren — Feb 27, 2015 “A farmer went out to plant his seed. As he scattered it across his field, some seed some fell on a footpath, where it was stepped on, and the birds ate it.” (Luke 8:5 NLT) If you want to hear God speak, you must first cultivate an open mind. What does that mean? It means you’ve got to be receptive. You’ve got to be willing. You’ve got to be open. You’ve got to be eager. You’ve got to be ready. The number one barrier to hearing God speak is resistance. So many people are closed to the possibility that God might speak to them. If you don’t think God can or will speak to you, guess what? He won’t. Jesus talked about this kind of soil — the footpath soil — in Luke 8:5: “A farmer went out to plant his seed. As he scattered it across his field, some seed some fell on a footpath, where it was stepped on, and the birds ate it” (NLT). As workers walk down the path between each row of a field, it becomes trampled down. The soil becomes compact and gets really hard. If seed happens to land on the footpath, there’s no way it’s going to sprout. It’s not going to take root. It just lays on the surface until a bird comes along and eats it. Jesus goes on to explain in verse 12 that “the seeds that fell on the footpath represent those who hear the message, only to have the devil come and take it away from their hearts and prevent them from believing and being saved.” There are two characteristics of a footpath: It’s hardened, and it’s narrow. Do you know any minds like that? I know a lot of people who have a closed mind, a hard heart, and a narrow view of life. They don’t even give God a chance. Their minds are made up; they’re unwilling to listen. The tragedy of a closed mind and a hard heart is that it’s barren. Nothing can grow there. Nothing can live there. Even if a little seed does happen to fall on a closed mind or a hardened heart, it can’t take root. People who have a closed mind are not really living; they just exist. But a bitter life is a wasted life. It just perpetuates the pain! So how should you respond instead? The Bible says, “Get rid of all the filth and evil in your lives, and humbly accept the word God has planted in your hearts, for it has the power to save your souls” (James1:21 NLT). The opposite of a closed mind is an open mind. You need to say to God, “I can’t do it on my own. The ways I’ve tried haven’t worked. So I’m going to listen to you and open my heart and mind to your possibilities. God, I believe in you and want to hear from you!” PLAY today’s audio teaching from Pastor Rick >> Talk It Over What does it mean to cultivate something? How does that apply to having an open mind? How have you rejected the word God has already planted in your heart? What are your expectations when you are waiting to hear from God? Nothing Wasted TODAY’S SCRIPTURE “After everyone was full, Jesus told his disciples, ‘Now gather the leftovers, so that nothing is wasted.’ ” (John 6:12, NLT) TODAY’S WORD from Joel and Victoria The Bible tells of a time when Jesus fed a crowd of five thousand with only five loaves. That day, everyone had more than enough to eat and there were still twelve baskets full of bread. That’s because we serve a God of abundance! I love that Jesus told the disciples to collect all the leftovers “so that nothing is wasted.” With God, nothing is ever wasted. He’ll never waste an experience; He’ll never waste a hurt; He’ll never waste a dream; He’ll never waste even a single piece of bread. God is still in the miracle-working business. He is still our Creator and He is a Restorer. If you’ve felt like you’ve wasted years of your life in the wrong job, hanging around the wrong people, doing the wrong things, God will gather those years and restore them back to you. He’ll take those experiences that the enemy meant for your harm, and He’ll turn them around for your good. He’ll make you stronger, wiser, and better off than you were before. He can launch you further into your destiny than before. Be encouraged today because with God all things are possible and nothing is ever wasted! A PRAYER FOR TODAY Heavenly Father, I give You every bit of my life, my past, my present, and my future. Thank you for taking every experience in my life and turning it around for my good. In Jesus’ Name. Amen. PS... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ga6Qtxzd6vk#t=158

Photo of the day =)

10 signs you’re in the right relationship

Even if you hit a roadblock in your relationship, these 10 tips will tell you if you’re on the right track.

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Georgia Lee

108,494 views   |   23,065 shares

• Crisis can come upon couples unexpectedly and rattle even the most solid of relationships. No matter how smitten you are with your honey, doubt may creep into your mind, clouding your vision of a perfect match. So how do you really know if this relationship is right for you? Here are a few ways to find out:

• 1. Moral support

  When your friends and family want to see you and your partner together, there is something to savor. Sometimes outside perspective is needed to see things you are too close and emotionally invested in to appreciate or view clearly. Don't base the value of your relationship on the opinion of others, but listen to the voices you love and respect.

• 2. Fair fights

  When a fight does break out, it's a clean one. Your arguments work toward resolving issues and solving problems while still appreciating each other's feelings and needs.

• 3. New issues

  Your issues are new issues. Past problems actually get worked out and don't come back up to bite you. Old resentments don't get brought up in new arguments, and old dirt doesn't get thrown around in current conversations.

• 4. Hard work

  You're both willing to put in the work. You jump into action without skipping a beat, and you work on an issue until it's over. No hesitations.

• 5. Growing together

  You and your partner are evolving together emotionally, mentally and spiritually. Growing closer is easy and a natural course of your relationship.

• 6. Major change

  You are both naturally changing for the better because you are happier being who you are this new way. Not because he asked you to change, and certainly not to keep him. Maybe you never wanted children, and now you can't wait to be a parent with your partner. Or maybe he always needed his space, and now being away from you feels incomplete.

• 7. Life partners

  You don't see yourself or your life without him. And you know he feels the same way.

• 8. The L-word

  "Love" rolls off the tongue effortlessly. You can't imagine not saying it; that would hurt too much. You need to say it, you want to say it and it brings you joy. And it's the same for him.

• 9. Spiritual connection

  There's just something cosmic that pulls you two back together when you drift apart. It's unexplainable. But it's there. And it's always for the better for both of you.

• 10. Love is blind

  You don't see anyone else as a potential partner, and you're not interested in building any kind of connection with another. No one comes close to the amazing person you have. Physical attraction may pop in and surprise you, but the desire for intimacy or emotional connection doesn't develop.
  Knowing when you are right where you should be can be difficult in the midst of it. Hindsight may be 20/20, and if you're the type that doesn't know what you've got until it's gone, keep your eyes open and see what blessings you have in your love. Let this list encourage you to keep going and keep the faith when the road gets rough and blue skies go gray. You can build a beautiful home for yourself and your family when you appreciate everything and everyone in it.

Smallest things =)

Why making love is important? =)

Why is sex so important?

The topic of intimacy causes some of the nastiest fights among married couples. What's all the fuss really about?

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Aaron Anderson

124,842 views   |   3,252 shares

• In marriage, one of the most common causes of fights is the topic of sex. While there is a whole host of intimacy issues that couples fight about, the most common disagreement occurs over how often sex is (or isn't) happening.
  You'd think that a simple fight once in awhile wouldn't hurt anything, but for some reason, fights about sex often get nasty. The high desire partner (the one who wants intimacy more often) feels unloved or disregarded, and these feelings amplify each time another sexual advance is rejected by the low desire partner (the one who wants intimacy less). At the same time, the low desire partner often feels pressured, controlled and objectified. A couple will often continue in this cycle of hurt, and these feelings damage the marriage.
  With all these problems that come with intimacy, a lot of people wonder why sex is so important anyway. After all, you might have a perfect marriage if you didn't fight about it so much. Well, there are several reasons it's important. Here are three:

• 1. It's makes you a couple

  Sex is something you share with your partner that you don't share with anyone else. Sure, you can talk to your spouse about what a rotten day you had at work or how you feel inadequate as a parent, but you can also talk to your friends or parents about those things. You can't have sex with anyone besides your spouse, however. As a result, intimacy truly sets you and your partner apart as a couple. If you're not being close to your partner in this way, the two of you may become less like a couple and more like roommates.

• 2. It is a unique expression of intimacy

  Yes, you can hug and kiss your partner to show your love, but you also do those things to your mother, your cousin and even your friends. You can call your partner "sweetie" or "honey," but your spouse shares those titles with your children. Sex is a unique expression of intimacy that happens only with your spouse. It's an expression of love, romance and passion that exceeds a simple hug or kiss. Both you and your partner need that special expression of intimacy to feel truly loved.

• 3. It creates deeper conversations and brings couples closer

  Intimacy requires communication — but not just any old "how was your day?" kind of communication. It takes a much more open, vulnerable and deep kind of interaction. The things you say to your partner during intimacy are much more personal than a discussion about what a tough day you had at work. You tell your partner what you like. You let your partner know how best to love you in a way that is much more personal than asking your partner to please you by taking out the trash, for example. Sex brings you much, much closer.
  When couples come to me for counseling over difficulties with intimacy, they're sometimes surprised that I don't focus on specific details or the number of times they engage in sex per week. What's more important is making sure that sex becomes an intimate experience that brings both partners together. If this isn't happening, then the marriage isn't really happy.
  Instead of arguing about intimacy and creating more distance, couples need to learn to really communicate feelings. Husbands and wives need to be open to hearing what their spouses want, feel and need. This is not only a recipe for a healthy sex life, but it's the recipe for a great marriage.

Hurry is a Barrier to Hearing God

CURRENT TEACHING SERIES Can You Hear Me Now?

Hurry is a Barrier to Hearing God By Rick Warren — Feb 26, 2015 “The seeds on the rocky soil represent those who hear the message and receive it with joy. But since they don’t have deep roots, they believe for a while, then they fall away when they face temptation.” (Luke 8:13 NLT) To cultivate an open mind so that you can hear from God, you’ve got to allocate time to listen. That means you’ve got to slow down. You’ve got to be quiet. You’ve got to put it in your schedule so you have time to hear God speak. The first barrier to hearing God speak is resistance. But the second barrier to hearing God is hurry. When we live hurried lives, God gets shuffled to the sidelines. We say, “God, I want to hear from you. But hurry up! I’ve only got five minutes!” God wants more than your leftovers and your spare moments. He wants to be the center of your life. The way that you prove he’s the center of your life is by allocating time to listen. Jesus says in Luke 8:6, “Other seed fell among rocks. It began to grow, but the plant soon wilted and died for lack of moisture” (NLT). Israel is not a very fertile country; most of it is a thin layer of topsoil over bedrock of limestone. If you plant something on this rocky soil, the seed will sprout — but it can’t get deep roots, so it withers and dies. In Luke 8:13 Jesus explains that this kind of soil represents “those who hear the message and receive it with joy. But since they don’t have deep roots, they believe for a while, then they fall away when they face temptation.” The shallow soil represents a superficial mind. Sometimes we react superficially to God’s Word. We get excited. We get emotional. We’re moved impulsively. But we don’t let God’s Word sink into the bedrock of our personality, so there’s no real change. How do you grow beyond superficiality? How do you develop spiritual roots? There are two very practical ways. First, schedule a daily quiet time with God. It can be 10 or 15 minutes. You sit, be quiet, listen to God, and ask him, “Is there anything you want to say to me through your Word?” You can review your notes from church or journal or sing your praises. Nothing will build spiritual roots faster than a daily quiet time with God. Second, join a weekly small group. That’s where God can speak to you through other people as you discuss and interact and learn from each other. Hebrews 10:25 says, “Let us not give up the habit of meeting together .... Instead, let us encourage one another” (TEV). Both of these habits require you to be intentional with your time. When you allocate part of your day for a quiet time and part of your week for small group, you are showing God that you want him at the center of your life and that you want to hear from him. PLAY today’s audio teaching from Pastor Rick >> Talk It Over Besides work, what fills up the most time in your schedule? How does this activity or responsibility relate to your relationship with God? Why do you think fellowship is so important to our ability to grow as individuals? How will you be more intentional with your time this week so that you can hear from God?https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8eL2dSaRllI Free from Condemnation TODAY’S SCRIPTURE “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, who live and walk not after the dictates of the flesh, but after the dictates of the Spirit.” (Romans 8:1, AMP) TODAY’S WORD from Joel and Victoria When you accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior, you are free from condemnation! Is there something that you feel guilty about? If you have repented, the Bible says He takes your sin and throws it as far as the east is from the west. He casts your sins into the sea of forgetfulness. God actually chooses to forget your sins! That means your sins are completely removed. In fact, they aren't even yours anymore. Don’t let the enemy dig up your past or try to make you feel guilty for something that happened a long time ago, or even yesterday. The enemy is called the “accuser of the brethren” and he works overtime to bring you down with false accusations. Be confident that God doesn’t remember your past. You are free from condemnation through the blood of Jesus Christ. The next time the enemy brings up your past, declare that you are free from condemnation in Jesus’ Name! A PRAYER FOR TODAY Heavenly Father, thank You for setting me free in Jesus! Thank You for forgiveness. Thank You washing me clean and making me new today. I receive your grace and mercy so that I can be a vessel used by You today. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

Prayer: Decide in Advance to Obey God’s Word

CURRENT TEACHING SERIES Can You Hear Me Now?

Prayer: Decide in Advance to Obey God’s Word By Rick Warren — Feb 25, 2015 “The seeds that fell in good soil stand for those who hear the message and retain it in a good and obedient heart, and they persist until they bear fruit.” (Luke 8:15 GNT) God speaks to the person who decides in advance to do whatever God says to do. God doesn’t speak to the person who says, “God, tell me what you want me to say, and I’ll decide if it’s a good idea or not.” God does not speak to the person who says, “God, tell me what you think is the good thing, and I’ll compare it with my other options and choose the one I think is best.” No. God’s not going to waste his time on that. You have to say in advance, “God, I’m willing to cooperate with whatever you want me to do. I’m signing a blank check; you fill it in.” This is what the Bible calls the good soil in Luke 8:15: “The seeds that fell in good soil stand for those who hear the message and retain it in a good and obedient heart, and they persist until they bear fruit”(GNT). Notice the four traits of good soil or the people who respond in faith to God’s Word: First, they hear it. Then, they retain it or remember it. Next, they obey it. Then, they persist in it until they bear fruit. How do you bear fruit? One way is to pass it on. The Living Bible translation of this verse says, “They listen to God’s words and cling to them and steadily spread them to others who also soon believe.” If you really want to hear from God, then you pass on what he’s already told you to somebody else. That means being obedient to God’s Word, and it’s something you decide in advance to do, before you even open up your Bible. This is the good soil of a willing and obedient mind. Let’s say you did a spiritual brain scan and all of your thoughts were projected on screens for others to see. Would you be embarrassed? Would your screens be blank? What would a spiritual brain scan reveal about you? Would it show that you have a closed mind? That you’re resistant? That you’ve been closed to God out of fear or guilt or resentment or pride or bitterness? Would it reveal a superficial mind? You attend church, but God isn’t really the top priority in your life. You know far more than you’re living. You’re not having a quiet time. You’re not in a small group. When the heat’s on, you’re going to wither because you don’t have any spiritual roots. Would it reveal that you have a preoccupied mind? You’re just so busy all the time with other things — bills and budgets and baseball and braces. You’ve been so busy that you give God your leftovers. He gets shuffled to the sidelines, and the weeds are choking out your spiritual life. Prayer; If you’re tired of living like that, then pray this prayer to God right now: “Dear God, I want to learn to hear your voice. Help me take these steps of preparation. I want to cultivate an open mind. I want to allocate time to listen. Today, I [commit or recommit] to having a daily quiet time with you and getting into a weekly small group. Help me to eliminate the distractions or the weeds in my life. I want to cooperate with you. Before you even tell me what you want me to do, I’m saying yes in advance to you, Jesus. I surrender my life to you. I pray this in your name. Amen.”

Believe and Receive

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE

“Therefore, I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.”

(Mark 11:24, NIV)

TODAY’S WORD from Joel and Victoria

Has God spoken things to your heart that haven’t come to pass yet? Sometimes when we are believing for things, it’s easy to let circumstances and the pressures of life drag us down. But when you make the choice to receive your promise by picturing it in your mind’s eye, and declaring it with the words of your mouth, your faith becomes stronger. You begin to feel more confident. You begin to feel more settled. You begin to have joy and peace because you know God is working behind the scenes on your behalf. What are you believing for God to do in your life today? Can you see it in your mind’s eye? Can you see yourself healed? Can you see yourself paying off that last debt? Can you see yourself at your ideal weight? Can you see yourself sharing the gospel with a family member or coworker? Ask the Lord to give you the picture of what He sees when He looks at you. As you open your heart and allow God’s thoughts to become your thoughts, and your receive His promises by faith, just like it says in the above verse — whatever you ask for in prayer will be yours!

A PRAYER FOR TODAY

Heavenly Father, thank You for another day to serve You. Thank You for the gift of faith. I ask that you search my heart and mind and remove anything that does not please you. Give me your thoughts of peace and joy today so that I can learn to receive all you have for me today. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

​PS...​

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fh-YrDflpyQ