July 2012

If You Want Your Marriage to Prosper Don’t Trash It!

If You Want Your Marriage to Prosper, Don’t Trash It!

image credits: www.sxc.hu/profile/simmbarb

Why is there such a tendency to run and

find someone to unload all the ugly details on

when a marriage relationship is struggling?

Gossip is not good in any form and

it is especially harmful in marriages.

Why would a spouse want to gossip and air their own dirty laundry about their own spouse?

 

Do You Want Your Marriage to Prosper?

Then Do NOT Trash It!

Deborah McCarragher, author of “Mission Possible – Spiritual Covering,” addressed this issue on her blog in the article “Does Your Garbage Stink? Don’t Trash Your Marriage…”

She explains that when we are emotionally hurt we want to get some sympathy from someone else.  She goes on to quote Joyce Meyer’s advice for hurting hearts: “Run to the Throne instead of the phone.”

Deborah shares why this is so important…

“It’s a simple concept:  when you’ve been emotionally hurt and you want some sympathy from your best friend or neighbor, run to God instead.  He will listen without prejudice and love you without condemnation.  Most importantly, He will not just tell you what you want to hear. He will speak directly to your heart.” (read more)

And, still addressing the issue of turning to others during relationship struggles, Deborah wrote the following powerful message…

“Though we can be an oasis at times for others, we must point them to Jesus, the eternal well of Living Water.  God’s Word quenches every thirst and satisfies truly parched souls.  It holds the key to a fulfilling marriage – even when only one of you follow it’s principles.” (read more)

“Just remember that grace extended goes a long way to fostering harmony in the home.”
— Deborah McCarragher

Go now and take a moment to read the entire article on Deborah McCarragher’s blog. She gives additional advice and biblical insights to encourage thriving, prosperous marriages.

I also highly recommend getting a copy of Deborah McCarragher’s Christian non-fiction book “Mission Possible.” It was written for women who love the Lord, but their spouse doesn’t share their passion. It is meant to encourage and challenge the reader to embrace God’s promise for their spouse and future together.

“You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on you: because he trusts in you.”
Isaiah 26:3

Bottom line: We all know relationships are hard work – especially marriages. And if we want our marriage to prosper then we need to think twice before trashing it and unloading our hurt feelings on others. Strive first and always to take it to the Lord!

May you always run to God first and allow Him to help your marriage to prosper and your life to abound in growing prosperity!

Be Blessed to Be a Blessing –

God bless you always,
Brenda

When your feelings are hurt in your marriage –

Do you run to God first or others?

BEFORE YOU GO…Please leave your answer in the comment section below and then tweet and share with others…

 

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You Are My Shield – Psalm 119:114 Christian Meditation

“You Are My Shield”

You are my shield

 

 

“You are my refuge and my shield; I have put my hope in Your Word.” — Psalm 119:114 NIV

“I hate double-minded people,
but I love your law.
You are my refuge and my shield;
I have put my hope in your word.
Away from me, you evildoers,
that I may keep the commands of my God!
Sustain me, my God, according to your promise, and I will live;
do not let my hopes be dashed.
Uphold me, and I will be delivered;
I will always have regard for your decrees.
You reject all who stray from your decrees,
for their delusions come to nothing.
All the wicked of the earth you discard like dross;
therefore I love your statutes.
My flesh trembles in fear of you;
I stand in awe of your laws.”
Psalm 119:113-120

 

Be Blessed to Be a Blessing!

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When Mercy Found Me by Rhett Walker – Christian Music Video

“When Mercy Found Me” by Rhett Walker – Live on K-Love

“When Mercy Found Me” by Rhett Walker

found on the album “Come to the River”

Rhett Walker performs “When Mercy Found Me” live on K-Love. You’ll really enjoy this soulful acoustic version and you can find the studio version on the album “Come to the River.”

Click on the album to find on Amazon

or click here to find on iTunes

“When Mercy Found Me” Song Lyrics:

I can’t count the broken roads I’ve been down, but all I know;
Something had to give; something had to give.
Cause living my life so wild and free
Finally caught up
Oh it left me broken; left me hopeless,
But that’s where I met Jesus.

(Chorus)
In one moment everything changed
Who I was got washed away
When mercy found me
My Savior’s arms were open wide
And I felt love for the very first time
When mercy found me
When mercy found me

All those days, all those doubts
They don’t seem to matter now.
His Grace is all I need
His Grace is all I need
And the chains that I was in before
They don’t hold me anymore
His love has rescued me.
His love has set me free.

Chorus

My mind found peace
My soul found hope
My heart found a home.

Chorus

(end of lyrics)

“He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of His mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.”
Titus 3:5 NIV

Enjoy this song and may it lift your spirits and cause your heart to give thanks to the Lord!

God bless you always –

Cheers,
Brenda

If you enjoyed this song, show your support and
LIKE, TWEET & SHARE! Thanks!

 

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Abundance: Stories of Giving and Prospering

Giving and prospering go hand-in-hand. No doubt about it, giving is one of the key principles that can begin to manifest increase, once it is put into action. Yet when we are struggling with lack, giving is the last thing most folks want to do or even consider doing.

I’ll confess, I too had a hard time believing

that I would receive if I gave (especially financially).

When I first started tithing I was a single parent

of two, receiving no child support and always

running short every month trying to pay my bills.

I decided to give tithing a “try” but I really didn’t understand how it would be possible in my circumstances.

Now, I could go on to share a lot of details here about my own personal story, but I’ll just leave it at: GOD’s WORD is True! When He says give and it shall be given back to you in good measure – He is not kidding!

“Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”
Luke 6:38 NIV

Stories of Giving and Prospering

I have read and heard many stories of people who have struggled with lack, and then managed to turned things around after applying the giving principle. Today I’ve decided to share some of those stories in order to provide some hope and encouragement.

STORY 1:

Paul, a husband and father, was attending a church service in which a special offering was being collected for a Haiti missions program. His heart said give, but his mind was thinking about his shrinking bank balance, his current financial struggles, and the needs of his own family. To give or not to give? Paul was torn between giving money or not, but decided to give the $100 that was impressed on his heart to give. He thanked God for the opportunity to give and asked God to use his gift to bless those in need. He also thanked God for always providing for the needs of his own family.

Paul went to work on Monday and received a promotion and pay increase worth many times the offering he gave the day before!

STORY 2:

Sharon was making minimum wage and having a hard time just paying her rent and other basic living expenses. She had committed years earlier to tithe. Sharon had consistently tithed until about a year earlier, when at some point her giving became random. Her heart was feeling heavy about not tithing and she asked God to help her as she recommitted to cheerfully and consistently tithing. She wrote a check and gave her tithe that Sunday during service.

Sharon’s mom handed her a card after service. (Prior to service, another lady at church had asked her mom to give it to Sharon and she almost forgot to pass it on.) Sharon opened the card and inside was $50 – more than double what she had just given.

I hear a lot of giving testimonials, directly or indirectly, by attending church. However, I also hear many stories of giving and prospering from individuals outside of church, and even non-Christians. Consider even some well known individuals through-out history…

STORY 3:

John D. Rockefeller, one of the world’s wealthiest men, was said to have given away $550 million dollars in his lifetime! He wrote to his son in 1924 and explained his practice of giving away money…

“…in the beginning of getting money, away back in my childhood, I began giving it away, and continued increasing the gifts as the income increased…”

Notice he gave more as he received more?

STORY 4:

Bob, an author, always believed giving was a scheme to get him to give money to the person who was telling him to give. So if he did ever give, it was like a miser. And of course his little giving resulted in little return.

One day Bob decided to test the theory of giving and he wrote a check to a speaker who had provided him with a lot of instruction and encouragement. Instead of the typical $5 he would normally give when he was in his scarcity and fear mode, he nervously and excitedly gave the largest single contribution he had ever given – $1,000.

The instructor was so surprised when he got the check that he called Bob personally to thank him. Bob said it made him feel like a million bucks! Then things began to happen…he got a call from someone asking him to co-author a book, and a foreign publisher wanted to buy translation rights and offered many times what Bob had given to the instructor as a gift!

Bob said that when he gave the large check, he sent himself a message that he was prosperous and in the flow.

Lack Equals Blockage – Giving Equals Flow

I’ve heard it over and over, in many different ways, from many different people…

If you have a lack of any kind: employment, money, friends, love, patience, joy, etc., then something is blocking the flow in your life. There is an abundance of all that you have need of in life and the best way to get it flowing into your life is to give!

“Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatever a man sows, that shall he also reap.”
Galatians 6:7

Christians should have a lifestyle of giving and be an example to others. We have been given so much and have so much to be thankful for.

Bottom line: Giving leads to receiving. The more you sow the more you reap – so make sure you are sowing what you want to reap. Begin to give to unblock any areas of lack and allow the abundant flow of giving and prospering into your life!

May you be a cheerful giver and enjoy a life of growing prosperity!

Be Blessed to Be a Blessing –

Cheers,
Brenda

Do You Agree that Giving and Prospering go hand-in-hand? Do You have a Story to Share?

If So, LIKE, TWEET and SHARE with us – We’d Love to Hear from You!

 

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