Today’s Scripture Readings:
OT: Esther 3
NT: Luke 14
W&W: Psalm 54
OT: Esther 3
NT: Luke 14
W&W: Psalm 54
Today’s Reflection:
Yesterday I began preaching revival at Obetz Nazarene. God has led me to preach on “Sharing the Hope of Jesus” for this revival. Last night’s message was “Sharing Hope at Home.” I would like to share a portion of that message with you today.
What are the things that dash our hopes at home? One of them is Dying Romance. I came across the following quote that I feel captures our desperation for love:
“All our lives we search for someone who makes us complete. We choose partners and change partners. We dance the song of heartbreak and hope, all the while wondering if somewhere, somehow there is someone searching for us.”
And the following poem, The Hope of Loving, by Daniel Ladinsky:
Yesterday I began preaching revival at Obetz Nazarene. God has led me to preach on “Sharing the Hope of Jesus” for this revival. Last night’s message was “Sharing Hope at Home.” I would like to share a portion of that message with you today.
What are the things that dash our hopes at home? One of them is Dying Romance. I came across the following quote that I feel captures our desperation for love:
“All our lives we search for someone who makes us complete. We choose partners and change partners. We dance the song of heartbreak and hope, all the while wondering if somewhere, somehow there is someone searching for us.”
And the following poem, The Hope of Loving, by Daniel Ladinsky:
What keeps us alive, what allows us to endure?
I think it is the hope of loving,
or being loved.
I heard a fable once about the sun going on a journey
I heard a fable once about the sun going on a journey
to find its source, and how the moon wept
without her lover’s
warm gaze.
We weep when light does not reach our hearts. We wither
We weep when light does not reach our hearts. We wither
like fields if someone close
does not rain their
kindness
upon
us.
I heard this joke this week: “What's the difference between a boyfriend and a husband? About 30#!” At first I didn’t get it, then I remembered Lana’s boyfriend in college weighed about 145 pounds. As a matter of fact, he weighed that much on their wedding day. After he became her husband, though, he topped out at about 180#! The difference between Lana’s boyfriend and husband was 35#! Like our bodies, if we let it go, romance can become flabby and unattractive. We begin to neglect all the nice things we did for her or him But we don’t need to.
How long does it take for romance to die? Or how old do you have to be? I don’t know. I’m not that old yet! One fella down in NC told me, “We were sittin’ out on the front porch one day and my wife came out. She looked so purty to me, my pacemaker opened the garage door across the street!” I can’t attest to how pacemakers work, but I do know that God will put a love in your heart that will never die!
What can we do to keep romance alive? Beware of and guard against these immorality attractions:
- Persistently thinking of someone other than your spouse
- Disengaged from intimate conversations and activity with your spouse
- Discussing things normally reserved for your spouse with others
- Visiting explicit sites
The Bible is a champion of marital love. Go to it for help in keeping romance alive. Live according to Ephesians 5. Or, try reading the Song of Solomon together to add a spark to your lives! Go to the book of Ruth to read one of the greatest love stories I’ve ever read.
Like anything else that’s alive, love has to be taken care of. Nurture it and it will bear much fruit – the fruit of joy!
This Week’s Scripture to Memorize:
Isaiah 53.8-9: By oppression and judgment he was taken away. And who can speak of his descendants? For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was stricken. He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth.
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