Words have the divine power to generate realities—that is why prayer is so powerful. Prayer is declaring God’s purposes. You can pray for your spouse for years, “I want my spouse to change,” but if every time you talk to them you say negative things, that prayer is not going to work. Understand that praying is speaking what God says. Instead of praying for two hours on your knees and then doing something that contradicts your prayers, you will achieve more if you declare God’s purpose over your spouse. You need to know that he or she is who God says they are.
Our words, the same as our prayers, are declarations that align things to the will of God. James 3 in the Scriptures talks about people who do not put a filter on their mouths, people who have not learned to stop saying negative things. If two different things are coming out of your mouth, God has given you the power today to stop cursing and start speaking words of blessing. It is a choice, a decision you have to make. You can choose today to speak what is right and put a filter on your mouth to create a positive reality in your marriage.
I need to learn to speak so that the negative energy that is within me, can be changed into positive energy. My words affect not only the people I speak to but my life as well. In many ways, the state our marriages are in is the result of the words we have been declaring over our spouses. Do not let negative things come out of your mouth any longer.
God’s message is called “The Good News” because bad news does not change a person. People and marriages change when they hear good news. Good news can change us on the inside and change our families, our jobs, and our world. We need to learn how to speak like God. God put His Word in our mouths. We need to speak of God’s decrees, establish them in our marriage, and start creating life and change in our homes.
Reflect: Are you using the Good News to change lives?
Credit: Gerardo Cardenas; www.centrocristiano.org
Content for the weekly inspirational bulletin is provided by Lyle Dietrich.
Our Daily Bread
Mistakes Were Made
They gave me the gold, and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf!—Exodus 32:24
“Mistakes were made,” said the CEO as he discussed the illegal activity his company had been involved in. He looked regretful, yet he kept blame at arm’s length and couldn’t admit he had personally done anything wrong.
Some “mistakes” are just mistakes: driving in the wrong direction, forgetting to set a timer and burning dinner, miscalculating your checkbook balance. But then there are the deliberate deeds that go far beyond—God calls those sin. When God questioned Adam and Eve about why they had disobeyed Him, they quickly tried to shift the blame to another (Gen. 3:8-13). Aaron took no personal responsibility when the people built a golden calf to worship in the desert. He explained to Moses, “[The people] gave me the gold, and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf!” (Ex. 32:24). He might as well have muttered, “Mistakes were made.”
Sometimes it seems easier to blame someone else rather than admitting our own failings. Equally dangerous is to try to minimize our sin by calling it “just a mistake” instead of acknowledging its true nature.
But when we take responsibility—acknowledging our sin and confessing it—the One who “is faithful and just . . . will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). Our God offers His children forgiveness and restoration. —Cindy Hess Kasper
REFLECT & PRAY:
The first step to receiving God’s forgiveness is to admit that we need it.
Credit: Our Daily Bread
I Have Never Found A Shortcut
How much time do you devote to your marriage each day? How much time do you think you need to devote to your marriage each day? I have never found a shortcut to an Awesome Marriage. Believe me, I have tried. An Awesome Marriage takes consistent daily focused time each day. It takes me focusing on Nancy. I need to be face to face with her so I can look into her eyes and she can look into mine. I need to laugh with her. I need to enjoy doing things with her. The bottom line is that when I am consistent with all of these, our marriage is awesome. When I slack off it is not. Today’s One Thing: Spend focused quality time with your spouse! |