Chapter 1 : One Flesh, are you sure?
Chapter 2: But Won’t That Hurt?
Chapter 3: Before Starting Over, Try This.
Chapter 4: A Man Shouldn’t Be Alone
Chapter 5: Count to Ten Before You Speak
Chapter 6: Maybe Some of It Was My Fault
Making Marriage Work by Joyce Meyer
Maybe Some of It Was My Fault Part 2
Holy life begins with getting rid of selfishness in your life. The paradox of happiness is that it comes when you forget about yourself and live to help somebody else. If we don’t have righteousness, peace, and joy, then we have missed the kingdom. Prosperity, healing, success, and promotions on our jobs are all kingdom benefits that God wants us to have. He shows us in the Bible how to get them. (Romans 14:17) (Matthew 6:33)
So our priorities need to stay in line with God’s Word. We need to go to God not for what He can do for us, but for Who He is and because we need Him to survive every day. The kingdom of God is the realm within us. It is learning a response to daily life that differs from how the world responds, and we need to pay more attention to this inner life we have available to us through Christ. We get too concerned with what everybody else things of us, but we need to be more concerned with what kind of thoughts we have.
If you are unhappy, examine yourself and ask,
- What’s going on in me that is not pleasing to God?
- What attitudes do I have that stink in the nostrils of God?
- Am I jealous, bitter, or resentful?
- HOw many people am I offended with?
- How many people do I have unforgiveness against?
- How many people do I hate?
- How many people am I jealous of?
As I typed those questions I felt the guilt come upon me. If your heart is not full of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy ghost; happiness wont be found anywhere, or through anyone. It’s not your circumstances that make you unhappy; it’s not having things right on the inside of your heart. Jesus says we can have peace in the midst of the storm. (Matthew 8:26). When Peter said we can have joy unspeakable and full of glory (1 Peter 1:8) he was in the midst of persecution from Nero’s reign in Rome. Paul repeatedly spoke of his joy saying in all his troubles his joy knew no bounds. (2 Corinthians 7:4)
Dear God, I did not become a Christian so I could trade in my worldly misery for a Christian misery. Something is wrong. – Jerry Savelle.
The only way we will see changes is to learn what God’s Word says and, whether you feel like it or not, start doing what it says consistently day, after day. Improvements to your present conditions come from getting alone with God, confronting the devil yourself, and gaining victories that no devil in hell can take away from you. You must know who you are in Christ and seek peace and joy in the Holy Ghost.
When you can’t deliver yourself, and you can’t encourage yourself, you can still go encourage someone else. Sometimes when you can’t believe God for the mess you are in, you can encourage someone else to believe God. And as you share with them, your encourage yourself to believe God as well. Always remember that what you make happen for someone else, God will make happen for you.
You can have all kind of methods to make things happen but without the power flowing through that method it can become empty, dead works that wear you out and get your burned out with Christianity. Jesus’s didn’t come to teach us about rules, regulations, and method. He came to teach us how to have a personal relationship with the Almighty God and then with others.
How To Be Rid Of Strife
James 4 talks about strife. What leads to strife? Jealousy and unfulfilled desires lead to strife. Strife gets started because of all the stuff we want that we don’t know how to get. So why don’t we get the things we want? First of all , we are trying to do it ourselves instead of asking God and the result is strife in our life. Secondly, we do ask God for it, but our motive is wrong. he can’t reward our wrong motives. There is a purification process that has to go on in our life. We just have to ask God, and He will give it to us in His way and in His time. I think that is what the problem is. We want it NOW and if we don’t get it soon, we probably wont get it mentality.
Try praying this:
God, help me to stay in Your will. I don’t want anything that You don’t want me to have. if it’s not You, God, slam the door in my face.
We do not need to be afraid to walk in the light of God’s truth. Light exposes every bug and every rat in the room, and when you turn the light on, they all start running for some corner to hide in. We don’t know what is in us until we are tested. We don’t know what kind of endurance, steadfastness, or faithfulness we have until its been tried. We don’t know anything about being faithful to our spouse until that spouse is failing to do a few things we want them to do.
Next Chapter: Chapter 7
Extraordinary Jeni 