Weekend Devo — The Gift of God’s Word

“When he takes the throne of his kingdom, he is to write for himself on a scroll a copy of this law, taken from that of the priests, who are Levites. It is to be with him, and he is to read it all the days of his life so that he may learn to revere the LORD his God and follow carefully all the words of this law and these decrees...” — Deuteronomy 17:18-19  NIV

Starting in the Old Testament, God set a pattern of instruction and expectation for His people to read His Words on a daily basis. It wasn’t about rituals or fulfilling duties. It was about learning who God is and respecting Him. It was about a king learning from his true King how to be a leader to the people of Israel.

God carried that message into the New Testament. Paul explains to Timothy in his letter that Scripture is vital to equipping us for our lives:

“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” — 2 Timothy 3:16-17

Even James has something to say about what we do with God’s Word:

“Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.” — James 1:22 NIV

God spoke the world into being with His Words. First John 1 describes the deity of Christ as the Word, which was with God from the very beginning. God’s Word is a gift, just like his Son. So not reading the Bible is like having a gift from God that you never opened.

Don’t miss out on what God has waiting for you right in the words of the Bible. It’s the greatest adventure you’ll ever take because the Holy Spirit is the one who opens the meaning of every page and word. Ask for His help to delve into God’s Word with an unquenchable hunger. I know from experience that is one prayer He will answer with gusto!

Praying and believing,
Dineen

The Sanctified Unbeliever

For the unbelieving husband has been sanctified through his wife, and the unbelieving wife has been sanctified through her believing husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but as it is, they are holy. — 1Corinthians 7:14

This Scripture came up in my Bible study this week. A dear friend at my table said something about it that sparked my investigation mode. There’s a precious meaning to this verse that holds such encouragement for us regarding our unbelieving spouses. Hang in there with me, I think you’ll really like this.

My exploration of this verse first took me to find out what exactly “sanctified” meant in each use in this verse. The Greek word used in both places is hagiazo, which means to make holy, consecrate. Next, I went to my Bible commentary and found this wonderful explanation of what sanctified means in this context:  

“The word 'sanctified' does not refer to moral purity—Paul is certainly not teaching that the unbelieving partner is made morally pure through a believing spouse. What the word emphasizes is a relationship to God, a claim of God on the person and family to be set apart for Him. The tense of the verb stresses that the unbeliever who is in a Christian family has already become and continues to be a part of a family unit upon which God has His claim and which He will use for his service.” (Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Abridged Edition)

The commentary goes on to even reference our children as being covered much like the children of the Israelites were included in God’s covenant with them. Jesus also makes reference to this in Acts 2:38-39 when He says salvation is a promise not just for us but for our children and “for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself.”

This makes me wonder two things:

1. God made a covenant with the Israelites, which covered their children and each generation after. God also sees marriage as a covenant, without qualification. Does this mean we can take our marriage as a covenant with our spouse as also a “covering” for our unbelieving spouse? Could this be what Paul means when he says our unbelieving spouse is also sanctified through us, the believing spouse? I believe it does.

2. If the point above is true, this makes our marriages uniquely different from a marriage of two unbelievers. I kind of see us as that middle place between a non-Christian marriage where neither partner is a believer and a Christian marriage. Something to think about. We have an edge. If what the commentary says is true, then our unbelieving spouses have been set apart by God.

Which then brings me to this conclusion: Our place in our marriage is not just about what we pray, what we do, or what we think. It’s also about who we are. As children of God, born into the family of God through the sacrifice of His Son, Jesus, our very presence protects our spouses. Our faith acts like an umbrella over our family. God lays claim not only to us but to our unbelieving spouse as well.

No, that doesn’t mean they are saved by association but it does mean God has a special interest in our marriage and the salvation of our spouse that goes beyond the norm. There’s a covenant involved and we know how God feels about covenants.

So, my dear friends, we can commit our marriages into God’s hands with the full confidence that He’s laid claim to both you and your spouse. He is smack dab in the middle working. On those days that you wonder and doubt, remember this commitment and profess God’s truth—you belong to Him and through you, God claims your spouse too.

Praying and believing,
Dineen

Are You Desperate?

There came a day.

That day when I finally said, “I can’t do this anymore.”

I am a determined and self-sufficient woman and for “that” day to finally arrive, I was truly at the end of my rope. I was desperate.

I couldn’t have one more argument over my faith with him.

I was done trying to help him find Jesus.

I couldn’t take one more hurtful word about my Lord.

I was desperate.

Why is it that we must finally travel this desolate road of desperate into the wilderness? Why do we think we can handle our life on our own strength, by our own wits, with our own intellect?

My journey to the Land of Desperate was necessary. I needed to realize I was….

Desperate for Jesus.

Jesus had to take me to the end of myself to see that everything I was working to accomplish was nothing. He needed me to see that I just needed Him.

When I finally came to this place in my marriage that is when I truly discovered Jesus. He is all I need. Jesus is my Hero. Jesus is my provider. Jesus is my strength. Jesus is my joy, and hope and love and future and… and… and….

I finally decided that reading the Bible might make a difference. (What a thought) I began getting up early and would read from my daily Bible then pray. Every morning. Without fail.

   

That was 14 years ago and I still meet with the King today, every morning, early with coffee in hand and my daily Bible.

Are you desperate? Meet with the King every morning. It will change your life. And that’s a promise.

Be embraced this day my friends and meet with the King. He has so much to give you and it will blow your mind. Hugs, Lynn

Thankful Thursday - 2,920 days

Thankful Thursday is at Grace Alone in March, back here in April and at Women Taking a Stand in May.

Hello... IT'S THANKFUL THURSDAY.

Bible study is a lifeline for those of us who are unequally yoked. In the early years of my marriage, I was desperate to have someone of faith come along side me and love on me, teach me and pray for me. My small group of gals from Bible study was God's provision in a time of my much needed spiritual growth.

I have served as a small group leader of women's Bible study for many years now. It remains one of the most rewarding adventures in my life. 

Yesterday I was privileged to pray with one of the women in our group when after eight years of inviting her to study, she gave her heart to Christ. 

Angels and this lil' ole Bible study leader are rejoicing!

I'm overwhelmed the Lord would pursue this woman for all these years and allow me to watch as He captured her heart. He never gave up and you know what, I didn't either. Her journey to the cross was nurtured through so many in our group and I am a humble participant.

Rejoice with me today for God loves people and He never, NEVER gives up. 

Praising Him, Lynn

Building Big Faith

Over the weekend Dineen shared a fantastic post ~Big Faith… If you missed it, scroll down and take a minute.

So today I must follow up that post with a question. How do I develop BIG FAITH?

I was pondering this very question and the Lord answered. Isn’t that just like the Lord?

Sunday mornings, my church is studying from the book of Haggai. We finished the first chapter yesterday. I have to tell you, I’m astonished this obscure book in the Old Testament with a strange name contains so much wisdom we can apply to our life in 2011.

So here’s the gist…. Fifteen years have passed since the Israelite remnant returned from Babylon. The people have use the cedar logs meant for the temple to rebuild their homes and they failed to construct the Lord’s house. Can you see a parallel in 2011? Yikes

So God calls them out and says: “You expected much, but see, it turned out to be little. What you brought home, I blew away. Why?” declares the LORD Almighty. “Because of my house, which remains a ruin, while each of you is busy with your own house. Therefore, because of you the heavens have withheld their dew and the earth its crops. I called for a drought on the fields and the mountains, on the grain, the new wine, the olive oil and everything else the ground produces, on people and livestock, and on all the labor of your hands.”

In these words I hear the Lord calling me out. Ouch.

I had my own dreams. I tried to build my house, my marriage, my career, etc. and I didn’t consult the Lord. I didn’t want to hear what He had to say about marriage to an unbeliever.

God, blew it all away. Why does God blow our dreams away?

Well, out of our dying dreams our opportunity to really trust God is born. We learn to put God (His house) first. We discover the truth of Romans 8:31 If God is for us, who can be against us?

God says in Haggai 1: 13 “I am with you,” declares the LORD.

These words shout to my soul. I am with you….. You are special. You are chosen. You are important to God’s plan. You are significant.

So today, I’m going to respond like the Israelites did. They got to work. They believed God and began to build. They left their mediocre past behind and embraced a new future. They lived believing that God was with them. They found a new dream.

Today, I am going to live as if Jesus is with me always. I am going to build my marriage up. I am going to breathe significance into my children. I will reject the lies of the enemy and tell anyone who will listen that my God saves.

I will build my faith through obedience just as they did. I will, because I know that I am significant to God. Therefore everything I am and everything I do is significant.

THAT is the beginning of BIG Faith. Live like Jesus is with you always.

Be blessed, Lynn

*Inspired by Josh Clark. Thanks Josh. Sunridge Community Church.

Fasting

Q: Is it the duty of every disciple and believer to fast?

Milk or Solid Food?

On Friday, Lynn will host the next edition of The Intentional Marriage over at CWATV.com. (I hope you’ll tune in and participate in the meme.) As you know by the title of our program, we talk a lot about being intentional in our marriages. And last week, I wrote about thinking of our marriages as training for deeper intimacy with God.

The idea behind an “intentional marriage” is to be an active participant, not passive—being intentional about spending time together, doing things together, and praying for your spouse regularly. It’s about putting your marriage in the forefront of your thoughts and life, not in the background as an afterthought. I hope that makes sense.

This past weekend I made another connection along those lines that I want to share with you. My women’s ministry group at church is just finishing the DeeperStill Bible study Faithful, Abundant, True by Kay Author, Priscilla Shirer, and Beth Moore. The last day of this study (led by Beth Moore) spoke about walking in the Spirit on purpose. With intention. Then this morning, one of my devotionals covered Hebrews 5. Take a look at verses 11-14:

We have much to say about this, but it is hard to make it clear to you because you no longer try to understand. In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.

Paul is admonishing the believers for becoming passive in their faith training. They’ve neglected building upon the first foundations of their faith to become mature believers and have even regressed to a state of infancy of their beliefs. They are no longer intentional about their faith or God. They’ve become passive.

Have you ever noticed how you wind up drifting away from your spouse when you don’t spend time together and make time to talk and interact—on purpose, not just out of necessity? Have you noticed how you drift away from God when you forget to pray or wind up so busy you don’t keep that appointed time to meet with Him?

Do you see the connection? Our marriages are an earthly representation of our relationship to Christ, as his bride. When we see our marriages as a training ground of being intentional in a relationship, we are learning what it means to be intentional in our relationship with God.

Just as we have to be intentional in our marriages in order to grow closer to our spouse and mature the relationship, we need to do the same thing in our relationship with God to mature spiritually.

We can’t keep living on milk. Sometimes we have to take a hefty bite of the solid stuff and chew on it for a while to learn and grow in our marriages and our faith. Even when it seems scary, too hard, or just too much work.

Remaining in infancy keeps us from fully experiencing who God is, who our spouses are, and what our marriages and faith lives can become. We miss out on the tasty stuff.

I know this faith walk isn’t easy. Sometimes God calls us to trust Him in whole new ways and calls us to difficult tasks and directions. Not to starve or punish us, but to feed us with His best.

Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good. — 1Peter 2:2-3

Praying and believing,
Dineen

We're in This Together

I want to share something absolutely precious with you! One of are readers has started a class for the unequally yoked at her church. We want to give a big "shout out" to the women attending Cindi's class at her church. Here's the info from Cindi herself:

"My church is The Rock San Diego and the Women's Ministry is S.I.S.T.E.R.S. (Spirit-led, Instruction, Sharing, Teaching, Encouragement for Reverent Submission to God). The Bible Study is on Spiritual Warfare titled "Standing Firm" by Karen Stevens (our leader). We meet in classes after Bible Study and the name of my class is "Uniquely Yoked." Book studying is Beloved Unbeliever by Jo Berry. Fall session meets Wednesday nights from Sept 15th - Nov 17th  6:30 - 8:30pm."

If you're in Cindi's area and looking for a group like this, email Lynn or myself (use that little button above with the "C" on it to get our email addys) and we'll get you connected to Cindi for details.

To the dear ladies who are attending her class, I just want to say WE LOVE YOU!!! Hang in there. You're not alone. Beloved Unbeliever is the book that began the transformation God wanted so desperately to work in my marriage. I will be praying for you all as you walk this journey with Cindi. Please feel free to let us know how you're doing!

Ladies (and gents), we are all in this together, and Lynn and I are so honored to be a part of your journey. We are dedicated to this ministry and to helping others find that "thriving" zone. We love you all so dearly and you minister to us too! Did you know that? You are all so precious to us, and we could not do this ministry without your help.

Cindi is such an inspiration in her desire to help others. That's where Lynn and I started and look what God has done! So if you're thinking about starting a small group, go for it. Let us know so we can be praying for you.

We had bookmarks made to help spread the "You're Not Alone" message we bring to this blog and our soon-to-be-released book. We would be delighted to send a few to whoever would like some to keep and share. Email me with your address and I'll send them out.

We are always here to help!

Praying and believing,
Dineen

A Roly-Poly and a Great Big God!

Have you ever prayed this scripture? 

Psalm 139:23-24 (Amplified Bible) Search me [thoroughly], O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there is any wicked or hurtful way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. 

A couple of weeks ago, my alarm sounded at 5:15 a.m. Ugh! 

I shut it off. Shrugged into my robe. You should see this robe. It is thick and fuzzy and fat and I look like a warm roly-poly all tied up in it. But, no one is awake in the house at that hour except Jesus and he doesn’t care what I look like. 

 I shuffled to the coffee pot where a fresh brew was waiting. (One of God’s greatest blessings to humanity is the auto brew feature). I pulled my Daily Bible from the drawer along with my prayer binder then moved to sit on the end of the couch under the lamp on the table. I tucked my cold feet under me and I begin to read and sip from the steaming cup. 

It’s funny what will happen when you just sit with Jesus. You find out just how much you really don’t know. 

It’s been years since I overcame my disappointments in my marriage. I discovered peace and am happily married to the best guy on the planet. But on this particular morning, God was going to have a WORD with me. Yikes! 

As I sat and scribbled a few requests in my prayer book, I immediately stopped in mid-sentence as a thought came to me. 

"Lynn, you have unforgiveness in your heart.” What, Lord? Are you talking to me?” 

I sat and listened. 

And then, I was overwhelmed by the Holy Spirit. It was true. Way, way back in the cobwebs of my heart something was lurking. I honestly didn’t know it was there. 

It was anger. 

Anger with my husband. I was still mad at him and to top it off, I wasn’t even really sure what I was mad about. Just mad. Angry. 

“O Lord, Lord, LORD, you are so right. It is there.” 

To my utter surprise, I was still allowing anger to linger in my soul. I was SHOCKED! But I knew in that instant it was there. What’s crazy about this is the fact that God has known it was there all along and decided it was time to clue me in. God freaks me out sometimes! He is amazing in His love and care for us. 

Now here is the wild part. 

I prayed, “O, Lord. There IS anger in my heart. I didn’t know I was saving it back there. I confess it to you. Forgive me.” 

Immediately I felt a physical release. The best way I can think to describe it is as if a rope was tied around me. It had been there so long I didn’t even know it. It had become part of me. But, in that instant I felt like a knife sliced clean through it and released the tension. I’m not kidding, I felt a physical little pop. I jumped. 

Then I sat there stunned. What in the world just happened? 

I’ll tell you what, God knows me so well, certainly better than I know myself. He yearns for every part of my soul. In that moment, I understood for the first time just how sin binds us up over time. It slowly intertwines itself in our skin, deliberately tightening, shutting down our circulation – life in Christ. Real freedom comes from confession and forgiveness. 

Unforgivness, the need to be right, having the last word, selfishness, bitterness, hatred, held against anyone is a bitter root, a rope of bondage, that will impede our full relationship with Jesus. 

I realize forgiveness is difficult. Many of us carry deep woundings, placed there by people who should have protected and cared for us. 

My journey to forgiveness started with a simple and honest prayer. 

Lord, help me to want to forgive. 

I’m sure you have heard this before but unforivness and bitterness rarely affects the person to whom you are harboring these feelings. Forgiveness comes through the supernatural power of Jesus Christ. I have found the path to freedom from my bitterness through Jesus. 

So I have a scary challenge for you today. Pray this scripture. 

Psalm 139:23-24 (Amplified Bible) Search me [thoroughly], O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there is any wicked or hurtful way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

But expect Him to reveal some things to you that He want’s changed and then …… 

Do it! 

There is freedom in Jesus. There is happiness in mismatched marriage. Let His name be praised. Be blessed, Lynn

How I Found Healing

Many of you, who have been readers here at Spiritually Unequal Marriage for a long time, likely know that I began this blog more than four years ago because the Lord, Jesus, healed me and my marriage. It was a journey with Christ that returned my hope and instilled peace in my life and gifted me with authentic joy. 

After finding a real relationship with Jesus, He then urged me to share the path of healing with others who are traveling behind me. For all of our many new readers who have not had the opportunity to go into the archives, I want to share the single most important and powerful thing that changed my life. 

My Daily Bible

 

This is a picture of my Bible. I began reading it on June 13, 1998 and have read through God's word every year since. This is one of my precious heirlooms. I record events in the margin and scribble notes to my Savior among the pages. I have underlined passages and their are stains of coffee as well as tears. My daughter has asked that this Bible be listed as her inheritance in our will. (she cracks me up)

Through the most unusual culmination of circumstances my mother gave me this Daily Bible which she purchased from a Becky Tirabassi seminar. This Bible is a 15-minute daily reading. It includes a portion from the Old Testament, the New Testament, Psalms, and Proverbs. You read through the entire Bible in a year.

Like Becky Tirabassi, I was able to keep my dentist appointment, my hair appointment but made little effort to keep my appointment with the God of the universe. But, I wanted lasting change in my marriage so I knew I needed to invite God into it. I needed to know what He had to say about life.

I needed to read His Word.

So, here is the hard part. I had to get up at 5:30 a.m. every morning to meet with the Lord. But I made this appointment and I kept it. At that time in my life I was working in Corporate America. I had an extraordinarily busy schedule. However, I set my alarm and shuffled to the coffee pot. Sat with my Bible, my journal and there I met Jesus.

Every morning.

I invited God into my life through His transforming words. I was forever changed and healed.

So, I ask this question of you. Are you struggling in your marriage? Are you struggling with a child or with your employment? Are you unhappy, disillusioned?

Then this is your invitation to healing. 

God is asking you to sacrifice your sleep to find peace, contentment, healing and a relationship that will ROCK your world and leave you forever changed.... for the better.

Click on the link below right now and order your own Daily Bible. 

Change your marriage.

Change your perspective.

Change your life.

NLT One Year Bible Compact Softcover

Leave a comment. One of you will win a free copy of this Bible. I love you my friends. Our hope, our healing and joy is living in the presence of the Lord, Jesus Christ. You will find Him in the pages of His word. Be blessed, Lynn