Thank you.

To New Beginnings…

Marriages end in divorce.

But why?

Why even sworn love till death do us part cannot hold on when one leaves…

It cannot keep the promise, fulfill the dream, and complete the vision when two are needed but only one remains.

Sharp

Cold

Harsh

Lies

Anger

Affairs

Rejection

Denial

Pain

Fear

Isolation

Emptiness

Like a death…and now the tears…

You see, I hold in my hands but souvenirs of over a decade…

A wedding certificate with the date that we celebrated…

Pictures of the tux and princess gown and the smug smiles that assured everyone this was special and would last…

Three blessings recorded and videoed with pictures of the family and questions from the children always before me…

The dreams, the plans, the promise dead.

And soon the signed papers making it official…

Moist, earthy smell, the broken hearts, the casket of remembrance, and the tears…

Cherish the good, the blessings…

Bury the bad…

Be thankful IN all circumstances, not of them.

Learn to be content

Newness of life

Breathing

Humbling

Healing

Smiling

Rejoicing

Hoping

Giving

Believing

Restoring

Dreaming

Beginning again…To New Beginnings…

Hmmmmm....What does the Bible say?


Psalm 143

1 O LORD, hear my prayer,
listen to my cry for mercy;
in your faithfulness and righteousness
come to my relief.

2 Do not bring your servant into judgment,
for no one living is righteous before you.

Romans 3:9-11 (New International Version)

9What shall we conclude then? Are we any better? Not at all! We have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under sin.

10As it is written:

"There is no one righteous, not even one;
11there is no one who understands,
no one who seeks God.

Romans 3:21-25 (New International Version)


21But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify.

22 This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference,

23for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

24and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.

25God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood.


We are not saved by our good works, but by the decision to accept that Jesus is the Son of God, died on the cross for our sins and arose from the grave on the third day for the forgiveness of our sins. Then we invite Him to come into our heart and live and He does when we truly believe and repent. It has nothing to do with our OWN righteousness. As we allow Jesus to come into our lives, He begins to clean the junk out and heal us from the inside out as we yield ourselves to Him. It is a process and takes time…we didn’t get messed up in a day and it is a life-long progression to work out our salvation.

Romans 3:20

Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin.

Ephesians 2:8-9 (New International Version)

8For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9not by works, so that no one can boast.

And God did come for everyone for He is not willing that any should perish and declares that there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than 99 righteous!

2 Peter 3:9 (New International Version)

9The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.


Blessings

Thank you Bro. Clark for your thoughtfulness!


Thank you everyone for your happy wishes and the fun pics!

Hi CGIRL777,

I just tried to e-mail you and it wouldn't except it since I am not a guy.

E-mail me if you want to talk or pray together!

God bless you.

God is neither a male nor a female; He is a spirit. We are made in his image. We are spirit beings with a natural body. When our spirit leaves, the body dies or when our body dies, the spirit leaves (depending on the situation). God does not possess physical attributes, but will use figurative language (because for the most part we can only comprehend the physical realm), in order for us to understand and know Him better.

He is our creator and our bodies are so complex it is simply amazing! Did you know that the amount of salt in our blood is the exact same amount in the ocean and if it is deviated, life in either would not be able to survive! Wow, I could go on and on, but I am deviating from the question…sorry. He made us with a purpose, as he made every living thing be it plants, animals, and humans. We are well thought out and planned (Psalm 139, Ro. 8:28-29, Eph. 2:10). Some believe that God is both male and female and when He made Adam and decided that he needed a helper, he split them into 2 (they say this is why God says that when husband and wife come together they become one flesh).

What I know is that God is a Spirit according to John 4:24 that states, “God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.” He does not have physical attributes but he is a Person. He is a Spirit and has a mind, will, intellect, emotions, and moral capacity and so do we!!! This is profoundly wonderful and this is what is meant when He says that we are made in His image.

God did not make any other living thing with this capacity. Animals do not have the same characteristics, especially the moral capacity or the spiritual component that we alone experience. God created us to have a relationship with Him, and we are the only ones with this capability and for this purpose. Let me reiterate that being made in the image of God does not have anything to do with physical characteristics, but with the spirit, mind, will, intellect, emotions and moral capacity!

He does not have physical attributes so-to-speak, but He is referred to in the Old and New Testament as the “Father” around 170 times and we know that only a male can be a father. Also, when Jesus was on the earth he referred to God in the masculine pronoun and called Him Father. Jesus even says in John 10:30 that He and the Father are one. When he came to earth in human form, he came in the masculine male form.

Male and female are for this life only according to Mark 12:24-26 (New International Version):

24Jesus replied, "Are you not in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God? 25When the dead rise, they will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven. 26Now about the dead rising—have you not read in the book of Moses, in the account of the bush, how God said to him, 'I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'?

The Bible is God’s instruction manual for life and to know Him and all His attributes one must read the Bible and study Him to know what a wonderful Creator made us and to be able to comprehend how much He loves us. He loves us so much that He sent His One and Only Son to die for us so that we would not perish, but have everlasting life! It is a free gift for anyone who wants it!

I hope this helps in understanding God better.

Blessings

Yes, it does boo.

Thank you Thomas3474 & Cabot for your service for our country and our freedom

I respect what our service men and woman have to say, their feelings, and their experiences...

Awesome! Thanks for sharing!

You should go sometime.



I think so!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78VWXvY-aGI


All things are possible with God! (Matthew 19:26, Mark 10:27)

I think the whole point is to make a commitment to God and your spouse and keep your commitment even if it hurts. When people believe that divorce is not an option, they will work harder to keep their marriage healthy so they don’t have to live so miserably. The problem is, it takes two and each has a free will. In our society today, we think the answer is to move on in hopes of something better instead of doing the hard work it takes to succeed.

Psalm 15:4 (New Living Translation)
4b - and honor the faithful followers of the LORD,
and keep their promises even when it hurts.

NKJV - 4b He who swears to his own hurt and does not change;

NIV – 4b who keeps his oath even when it hurts,

CEV – 4b And they keep their promises, no matter what the cost.

I did not become ‘born again’ until I was 27. I identified with the church and believed in God, I prayed regularly and would receive answers; I called myself a Christian, yet had never read the Bible or given my life to Jesus. When I read Acts 10 & 11, I realized that I was a lot like Cornelius. Thank God for my friend who loved me enough and was patient enough to share the Truth and get me out of religion and into relationship!

I began making friends in Christian circles and I was surprised how similar our marital problems were. Some had been raised in loving Christian homes and my ex and I were x drinkers/daily pot smokers that came from very broken, messed up homes, yet, we still faced quite a few of the same problems.

I realized that there are no perfect marriages. Some have it easier due to their upbringing and the examples that they were shown, yet, they will face trials, temptations, and denial of self that comes with any lasting relationship (be it marriage, children, or friendship).

Successful relationships take a lot of work and sacrifice. It doesn’t seem that way at first, but once the newness wears off (and eventually it will), both parties have to be willing to overlook the others weaknesses and work to build each other up or ‘edify’. It takes a commitment to do what is necessary to make it work and a forgiving heart.

It is when one moves past the infatuation love and moves on to the agape love, (which is a supernatural love that is selfless and prefers another above oneself), that lasting relationships or true love takes root.

The Bible likens the husband and wife to Christ and his bride (the church). In order to have a close, intimate relationship with God, one must do certain things such as reading the word to renew our minds to know Gods will, pray, fellowship with other believers, attend church and serve regularly, worship, praise, etc. to build a true relationship.

Jesus was our ultimate example in that he loved not his life unto death and laid down his life for his friends. While we were still sinners, he loved us and for the joy set before Him endured the cross knowing that he was giving His life as an atoning sacrifice for all that would accept Him.

He showed us the example on how to love and serve one another and said that He came not to be served but to serve. Now that is a crucifying of the flesh and Jesus tells us to take up our cross and follow Him. When we enter into a marriage covenant, we have to crucify our flesh from having our own way all the time.

We should aspire to learn about the other person and want to bring happiness into their life. We should be willing to lay down our own wants and desires for them. Otherwise, one or both may become selfish, mostly caring about what is best for them.

We need to study the word to find out what a Biblical marriage looks like and be yielded and willing to let the Lord correct us as needed.

There is even more crucifying when you add children into the mix...

You are right earthytaurus76, there are no perfect relationships. I think it is when we expect the other person to be ‘perfect’, that relationships are set up to fail. What is perfection? That is subjective and no person will ever be able to meet all of our wants, needs, or desires.

That is why it is so important to nurture our most important relationship, our relationship with God, so that we are not needy or expecting a person to be someone that they are not. I’m not perfect! No one is, but I don’t think that should keep us from marriage.


Questions…

Was our society more loving and family oriented when couples stayed together for the sake of their family, children, and friends or in our society now where people don’t commit? Was it perfect then? No! Is it better now?

Are people happier now than say around 50 years ago? Are communities stronger? Do neighbors watch out for each others families? Help one another? Do we even know all the families on our block? Do we care?

Who doesn’t long in their heart for a committed, loyal, monogamous relationship with the ending being you and your spouse best friends, seeing your children’s children, knowing each other so intimately that you know each others thoughts with only a glance, still holding hands after the fiftieth wedding anniversary, and experiencing and exploring all life on earth has to offer before finally going home?


Eph 5:21-33

[21Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.

22Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. 23For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior.

24Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.

25Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her 26to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word,

27and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.

28In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29After all, no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it, just as Christ does the church—

30for we are members of his body. 31"For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh."

32This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church. 33However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.

Hi Ron and everyone!



I believe that God would still want the married couple to be together and enjoy the intimacy shared and pleasure of sex within the marital covenant. Abraham and Sarah are an example of a couple that continued to try and conceive and eventually had Isaac at a very old age. They believed God’s word and He credited to Abraham as righteousness. (Genesis 17 & 21:1-7, Romans 4:3, Galatians 3:6, & James 2:23)

Hannah was a lady that was unable to conceive with her husband Elkanah. She continued to seek the Lord by praying fervently out of her anguish and grief. The priest blessed her and the Lord opened up her womb and she had a son whom she named “Samuel” meaning, “Because I have asked the Lord for him.” (1 Samuel 1-2:11)

An example from the New Testament would be Zechariah and Elizabeth in Luke 1. Elizabeth was barren even though they were devout servants of God. An angel came to Zechariah and told him that his prayer had been heard and explained to him that he and his wife would have a son, and not just any son, but John the Baptist that would prepare the way of our Lord Jesus Christ. Zechariah was doubtful and asked how that could be since he and Elizabeth were well along in years and for doubting his mouth was shut until after the baby was born and he named him John.

There are probably more, but these are the ones that I thought of right away. To those unable to conceive I would advise you to pray and ask God. I know a couple who tried to conceive for over 10 years to no avail. They prayed and decided to adopt and were blessed with a beautiful baby girl. After their daughter was a year old, she became pregnant and had a son. I know of other similar stories or couples who have felt called to foster care and adopted many children from there and love them as their own. God’s ways are not our ways, but His ways are always best!

Beautiful thread Rapunzel! Thank you for being such a blessing and letting your light shine!




I printed this pic and have it on my desk beside my computer screen.


Amen!!!

beach waves crashing