How Do You Do Life?

For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself. Philippians 3:20-21

What has God conquered for you? Go ahead, run the list through your mind. Here are a few that I can think of:

Death. Hell. Sin. The devil.

You already had those on your list? Awesome, what else do you have? Come on now, there must be something you can think of.

It’s really too bad if you cannot think of something that God has conquered for you. I mean, I absolutely am glad if you can say with confidence that Jesus has conquered death and Hell for you-that’s where our lives with Him begin, but that is not where His involvement in our lives ends.

You have a calling on your life, a path created by God specifically for you that He has called you to walk. Maybe you know something about this calling and you are asking God to show you the direction in life that He wants you to go. All of this is wonderful, but there is one more thing that you should know:

You will face obstacles as you work to live out your calling.

Perhaps you are facing some right now. What difficulties are staring you in the face today? Do they seem to block your road to the things you know God has called you to do? One last question, can you overcome these obstacles on your own?

The answer to that last question is almost certainly, No. However, many of us think we either can or have to handle life by ourselves. Let me break it to you-you could not get to Heaven by yourself, and you cannot fulfill Heaven’s plan for your life by yourself either!

Jesus is not only our champion who has opened the way for us to get to Heaven, but He is our champion who helps us conquer the obstacles that obstruct our callings.

How do you find His help against these difficulties? You find it the same way you found salvation-by faith. Believe in Him for the help you need. Let Him come and be your hero.

Prayer Lord Jesus,

Thank You for saving me, and thank You for not leaving me alone to walk through life by myself! Please help me conquer this difficulty that I am facing. Help me to fulfill all You have called me to be!

Amen

Avoiding the Toll Road of Divorce

For the LORD God of Israel says that He hates divorce, for it covers one’s garment with violence,’ says the LORD of hosts. Malachi 2:16

Do you realize how seriously the Lord takes marriage and divorce?

People come into my office all the time with the most creative excuses you can imagine. It’s as though they think they get to be the exception to the rule. Let me be clear-

there are no exceptions. God makes His opinion of divorce very clear in His Word. He hates it. Hates! How is that for strong language?

God is so serious about marriage and divorce that He will not even listen to us while we go through the motions of godliness if we do not keep faith with our spouse (see Malachi 2:13-14). Why? Because He was a witness to our vows. He was there when we stood at the altar together, or the courtroom, and pledged, Till death do us part. He has seen whether or not we have been faithful.

He says to us, You made a covenant, and that covenant still stands. You cannot violate it and expect that I will be okay with that.

God is so serious about this because He desires godly offspring (Malachi 2:15). Divorce cuts off godly offspring because it creates orphans.

I still hang out with my kids, Bob; they aren’t orphans, you tell me. Yeah, you still hang out with them, at least when it’s your turn to have custody of them. But what your kids really need is two fulltime parents, not two part-time parents who divide their children between them like spoils of war.

We have a higher calling, saints. We need to take our marriages seriously, no exceptions.

Prayer Lord God, I repent for how I have let excuses creep into my heart. I choose now to take my marriage seriously. Please heal our hearts from all the hurts we’ve given each other and help me to make my marriage into everything you want it to be.

Amen