APR 18 - Ruth 1:17

Ruth said to her mother-in-law, Naomi,

“Where you go, I will go;

where you lodge, I will lodge;

your people shall be my people,

and your God my God.

Ruth 1:19

I just got back from seeing my son and new daughter-in-law in Connecticut. They’re doing great!

Wedding pictures are still an important part of their décor, so I kept remembering the day! I was honored to preach at their wedding. But there was a problem with the sermon. I’m used to Spirit of Joy’s liveliness. This crowd was stoic. I thought my sermon was an absolute dud!

… until afterwards. All I’d done was give some simple Biblical advice on marriage, and suddenly all of Paul and Meredith’s friends kept coming up to me and saying, “Thank you,” “That was really helpful,“ and “I’m just getting serious with a girl I’ve been dating; I needed to hear that.”

It’s a tough time for marriages in our world today.

·         The pace of life keeps getting busier.

·         Culture continually promotes false values.

·         Economic stress is adding exponentially to family burdens.

·         Furthermore, more and more adults grew up in families without role models for successful marriage.

Because of this, I’m going to focus on marriage and relationships a little more frequently in these devotions. Not every day!!! But more frequently.  

Two important things:

·         If you’re not married, don’t worry. I’m not leaving you out. First, most of these devotions will still apply because the relationship principals absolutely apply to our relationships in general. Second, when they are more specific to marriage, you surely have friends who could occasionally use a little encouragement and coaching for their marriage. So consider yourself better equipped to be a coach and friend.

·         Second, if we’re talking about marriage and relationships is there anyone you’d like to add to this list? Maybe it’s a young person who is approaching marital age? Maybe it’s a newlywed? Maybe a friend who’s trying to hold their marriage together. I’d be glad to add them, but tell them why you’re adding them! Tell them that in addition to some general devotions, a couple of times a week this devotion deals with marriage and relationships.

I’m not the only one noticing the stress in marriage. Kristen, our Director of Faith Development, responded before I did! She’s planning a congregational marriage retreat – local, easy, and not costly – for the second weekend in August. Everyone ought to be there. Why? Because eventually all our marriages will encounter stress. We want them all to be built more firmly on the rock.

Please pray with me for marriages!

In Christ’s Love,

a guy who’s praying

for your marriage