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The Importance of Learning Them! |
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WARFARE; The Attack On Family 'Reinforcing The Marriage!' More and more today, marriages need to be reinforced so they are strengthened against the attacks of the enemy. The reinforcing is done in the time when things are going well, there's no friction, stress or vital concerns pressing right at the moment. These are the times when husbands and wives need to get closer and be more intimate with each other. This refers to sexual as well as the non-sexual nature. Many couples don't have problems coming together in the privacy of their own bedrooms at the end of the day. But how many of us take time in our day just to hold one another or cuddle in each others arms and just deposit fillings of love into one another? This is a sure way of intensifying the strength of the love between you. It requires that the two of you spend quality time together, alone! Reiterating and fortifying the love that founded you as a couple and seeing how strong it yet remains. Identifying the areas that need to be worked on and 'getting busy!' Not waiting for one individual to initiate the process, but whoever sees the need initiates love, tenderness, caring, the 'I love you's' as needed. Allow nothing to hinder this needed time between you. Set aside special time to see to it that you lovingly nuture one another for the sake of the marriage relationship. And be like the scripture says '...even more so as you see the day approaching.' This is doing effective warfare for your marriage! |
| 'Being There For Your Children!' All parents today are experiencing the tug-o'-war with their children, teenagers and the outside influences in their lives (i.e. peer pressure, friends, music, fashion, etc). Today, the latch-key system is yet utilized, where both parents in the home work. Children come home to an empty house with a note of things to do along with their homework until a parent arrives home. But nowdays, this can be a potentially dangerous situation with everything that is happening in our world today, this is just not as safe as it used to be. Parents need to re-consider the importance of their priorities. Somewhere we have lost God's focus for our lives, we have placed more importance on things rather than each other. It has become pinnacle to be visible when your children arrive home, not only to show them your love and concern for them but to know where they are and what they are doing! Is it a sacrifice? Yes it will be! But what is more important maintaining a sound relationship with your children or having an abundance of material things? God has given us to be stewards (caretakers) over 'His' heritage (our children) and He is going to hold us passionately responsible for how they are cared for! Improving the methods of communications used with our children can make all the difference in the adults they'll become in life. |
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'Maintaining A Spiritual Home!' Parents are the ones responsible for maintaining a spiritual home. We are deem 'keepers of the flame' in other words, that the light of the Word of God does not grow dim. The fathers are designated as the 'priest, prophet and providers' of the home and mothers are responsible for the nurturing of the family. God has made the parents responsible for setting the Godly example for the children. We must be the first example of prayer, honor and reverence of God's Word in our lives. It is our example of training that will stay with our children and come back to them as a reminder of the Godly principles they grew up with. Proverbs 22:6 says "Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it." We must be visible to them, reading the Word, displaying the attributes of it, exercising the precepts and examples that God left for us and expects to see in us. This is how we maintain a Godly home by setting the best Godly example before our children that we can, at all times!
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| YOUR PEACE AND PATIENCE 'Maintaining Your Peace Is Vital!' How important is the maintenance of our personal peace? To know this we must first understand the purpose that peace serves in our life. For the Christian, peace is the reassurance that in any situation or circumstance we encounter, we have no need to worry as long as we're in Christ. Our peace is the shield for our mind, to protect it from the attacks of desparation, hopelessness, defeat, fear, worry etc. Isaiah 26:3 says, "Thou (God) will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on Thee (God). Because he trusts in Thee." No matter what we go through if we let nothing remove the reassurance that we're completely in God's care, we will continually have our peace. It's not maintained through a feeling because in some life situations, we may not feel peace. But it's found and preserved in what we 'know and believe' about God's Word as long as we stand firmly on what God has said, nothing can move, shake or destroy our peace. |
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'Faith Needs Patience & Peace To Be Strong!' Faith requires two important elements that make it what it is and to keep it strengthened; patience and peace. It's these two things that make our faith work especially in difficult times. Patience and peace work together, but they have two distinct roles when it comes to their part in equipping our faith. Both of these attributes are found in the fruit of the Spirit; peace and patience which we find synonymous with longsuffering. Patience allows us to maintain a calm mindset and serene decorum in our body. Though it may seem that everything is coming a part at the seams, we are 'yet' assured that God will indeed take complete care of us! And because we're assured, we can wait patiently for His intervention in our situation. Peace is the foundation that our patience is anchored to. When we meditate consistently on the firm belief in our soul, it keeps us comfortable in the divine rest of God. For faith to be 'faith' it must have these two components, without them, we do not have 'true' faith! It is our responsibility to make sure we keep our peace and patience in abundance and strong so when we need them, their able to handle what we place upon them. "But without faith it is impossible to please God..." Hebrews 11:6 |
| 'Being Patient With Others!' How come it's sometimes hard for us to be patient with others? We have all types of excuses, 'I just have little tolerance for people like that,' 'it's one of my pet peeves.' 'how long do I have to put up with this?' Do we realize or remember what it takes to be patient with others? It requires much endurance on our part as the one who's trying to deal with it! Though not an 'easy' task to do, it still can be done. What many of us forget as Christians, is to accomplish this, there has to be discipline on our part. We have to bring our flesh into subjection or 'patience won't be able to have her perfect work in us.' We have to stay focused on the goal 'patience' and utilize the tools of prayer and fasting as well. It won't happen overnight, but we have to constantly remind ourselves 'what' we're trying to do. The more we correct our self, a pattern will begin to establish and replace our old fleshly way of handling the situation. 'Practice does make perfect, even in this instance!'
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BEING A GOOD STEWARD 'Of The Things That I Have!' The importance of being good stewards over the personal things that God has given us should be a priority for all Christians. We must remember at all times that we're not the ones responsible for the things we have, it is God's ability that enables us to obtain the things we have. Often we think because 'we're' the ones working everyday and retrieving the paycheck, we're responsible for what we have. But this is how the world thinks; as people of God we must know better! Without God endowing us with a generous portion of health, strength and a proper mindset, we'd have 'nothing!' We must never forget to be thankful for all that God does for us and what He has blessed us with. Keeping in mind always, as easily as we have these things, they can be 'gone' quickly without a shred of hope for getting them back! We must think of others with the things we have, share when we can and offer help to those less fortunate than us. This is how we're good stewards over what we've been blessed with in God's eyes. |
| 'Of My Family (My Spouse And/Or Children)' Being a good steward of the things that God has entrusted to us requires much of ourselves; sacrifice of our time, what we have and who we are. Especially when we're referring to our families, (spouses, children & relatives). We all have very busy schedules that often dictate how we spend our time. However, when it comes to our families, we must make sacrificies! To spend quality, well-needed time with them requires that we do whatever we must to care and nurture them as God's Word has instructed us. I Timothy 5:8 tells us, "But anyone who won't care for his own relatives, especially those living in his own family, has no right to say he is a Christian. Such a person is worse than a heathen." God gave us our families to love and care for the way that 'He would.' He gave the greatest sacrifice for us; His life. At times we find difficulty to pass up overtime at the job, schedule family time into our personal planner, take time to listen 'intently' to what our children have to say. These sacrifices are small compared to what Christ gave and we must make them! God is carefully watching what we do in caring for our families, He is looking to see if our actions, behavior and conversation portray His Word. Remember this simple lesson, when our children don't care and appreciate what we give them, we take it back; and so will God! |
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'Of My Finances!' One of the major areas we have problems being good stewards is over the finances that God has trusted us with. Our thinking tends to be along the fleshly lines that 'we' are the ones who manually or physically perform the work that affords us a paycheck. Therefore 'we' should be the designator of what is done with the money. We must remember what Proverbs 3:6 tells us, "In everything that you do, put God first, and He will direct you and crown your efforts with success." (Living Bible) Being a good steward over our finances requires that we obey what God's Word says. We must take care of 'first things first,' tithes and offerings! This is what being a good steward over your finances is about, being obedient to God's commands. These aspects of stewardship are up to each individual to follow and whether we abide by them or not lies between us and God. But obedience is the difference between being just a steward or being a 'good' steward in God's opinion. |
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'Of My Time!' |
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