The youngest among the Band of Brothers (Jeremiah) is getting married. To honor and help him, we got together last night to share some great Brats (thanks Bill), some stories, and finished up with some pool (9-ball) in the basement. We even watched a short video of Jeremiah sky-diving!
Each of the guys spent time asking God about the stories from their own life, and the life-lessons they learned. Most of the stories were intensely personal, but the life lessons below seemed that they deserved to be remembered, not just by Jeremiah, but anyone who is in a relationship with a spouse, or with God.
Brad C.
- "New covenant....written on their hearts...remember their sins no more." Jeremiah 31:31-34 ....Its a covenant based on forgiveness.
- "[God] calls things that are not as though they were." Romans 4:17 ....Seeing our spouse as God does
- "Love never fails" 1 Cor 13:8 ....Love always wins, despite what you see.
Bill O.
- "May your fountain be blessed, and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth" Proverbs 5:18 Set a high value on your marriage and your wife. Everything you invest in marriage now will pay off dividends for the rest of your life.
- "Better to live in a desert than with a quarrelsome and ill-tempered wife" Proverbs 21:19 I once heard that you can’t win an argument with your wife…cause even if you win…you still loose. Women react to the way we treat them and they become quarrelsome when they are not being treated well.
- "Wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses. "Proverbs 27:6.... Stay in the company of people who will give you good advice and tell you what you need to hear rather then what you want to hear
- "As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another. Proverbs 27:17 ....Seek fellowship of other men who desire to grow in Christ, fight the good fight, win the race and help you stay on your current path in life.
- "...may you rejoice in the wife of your youth" Proverbs 5:18
Bill G.
- "...we are the salt of the earth" Matthew 5:13
- "....Is tasteless food eaten without salt.... I refuse to touch it...such food makes me ill." Job 6:6
- A chefs hat doesn't make a good chef. We season life, the seasoning the good Lord puts into you. Each flavor from the Holy Spirit ( salt, pepper, basil) helps the bland pot of stew.
- Love her even when you don't like her. My dad said " soup with someone you love is better than steak with someone you hate".
Garry C.
- Communication: Prov 13 Real communication, stay connected.
- Consideration: Helpful and forgiving and considerate of each other
- Compromise: Honor and value one another
- Conflict: Learn how to have conflict
- Committment Malachai 2:16 God Hates Divorce, not many times God says he hates something
- Christ: Takes Three to Tango Ecclesiastes , a chord of 3 strands is not easily broken.
Ed B.
Learn how to breathe...not respond out of emotion, but in response to God. If you make a mistake, you can alway fall back on the fact you are a man....they usually accept that as a good reason :)
Joel C.
Let her shop, saving other thoughts for the next event.
Scott H.
I ask my wife to replace the word Love in 1 Cor 13 with his name everywhere the word Love appears, and asks her how he is doing on each of those measures.
- Put toothpaste on her toothbrush
- Call her another name, like "Beautiful", careful not to use it to be manipulative.
- Recognize that as they draw near to God (picture three points on a triangle), they will draw near to each other.
Mike C.
From Brennan Manning (Ruthless Trust: The Ragamuffin's Path to God)
"Ruthless trust is choosing to be a homebody. As you exhale breath throughout the day, let AH be a simple reminder of your true domicile. My gracious Lord has shown me that the best way to strip fear of its awesome power is to be a homebody, to stay home in the palace of nowhere. Ruthless trust is an unerring sense, way deep down that beneath the surface agitation, boredom, and insecurity of life, it's gonna be all right. Ill winds may blow, more character defects, may surface, sickness may visit, and friends will surely die, but a stubborn, irrefutable certainty persists that God is with us and loves us in our struggle to be faithful. A nonrational, absolutely true intuition perdures that there is something unfathomably big in the universe (kabod), something that points to Someone who is filled with peace and power, love and undreamed of creativity--Someone who inevitable will reconcile all things to himself.
Why does our trust offer such immense pleasure to God? Because trust is the pre-eminent expression of love. Thus, it may mean more to Jesus when we say, 'I trust you,' than when we say, 'I love you.'
Where am I in all this? With you, clasping hands each morning and crying out in union, "Lord Jesus, I trust you, help my lack of trust."
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