"When Joe, 64, a computer professional in Massachusetts, married for the first time, he was 31 and very in love.
"She was attracted to me because I had structure; I was attracted to her because she was a lot of fun," said Joe.
He had noticed some financial red flags while they were dating: She always carried a credit card balance and liked buying expensive gifts for people. Still, he said, he wasn't fazed: "I never thought about it, because it wasn't my problem."
After they married, though, his new wife's spending habits became Joe's problem.
"She could drain a checking account in no time," he recalled. Joe describes himself as an avid saver, and his and his wife's financial differences became the cause of bad fights. "I couldn't stand being broke all the time and really struggling to pay the bills, and she didn't like the restriction of me saying we can't afford this," he said. 'We kind of drove each other into corners. She became more irresponsible and I became more rigid." Joe and his wife divorced after three years, largely because of financial differences," writes Stacey Vanek Smith in the March 26, 2013 The New York Times article "Money Talk Before Marriage A Tip You Can't Disparage."
Judas Iscariot divorced Jesus Christ in about three years also, and money seems to have played a major role. Judas, one of Jesus' original 12 apostles, didn't approve of Jesus' money management methods. In the Bible book of Matthew chapter 26 after a woman pours an alabaster flask of very expensive perfume on Jesus' head, Judas divorces Jesus.
"An archaic and infrequently used name for the Wednesday before Easter is "Spy Wednesday", named for Judas' becoming a spy for the Sanhedrin," writes Joe Carter, editor for The Gospel Coalition, in his March 25, 2013, article "9 Things You Should Know About Holy Week." For 30 pieces of silver Judas tells the Sanhedrin where to capture Jesus. Once Jesus is captured, later in the week on Friday Jesus is crucified. On Sunday, Jesus rose from the dead, having paid the sin debt for each person who will receive Him into their life for eternity.
The Chinese invented paper money which they originally called "flying money" because it was so light and easily flew out of people's hand. The generosity of Jesus frustrated and disappointed Judas. Money seemed to fly out of Jesus' hand. Judas wanted enough on hand for his desires, including theft.
An African proverb says, "Work is good, provided you do not forget to live." Jesus sees money as a tool to live well and to do good. Jesus says in Luke 16:9 Amplified Bible, "And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous mammon (deceitful riches, money, possessions), so that when it fails, they [those you have favored] may receive and welcome you into the everlasting habitations (dwellings)."
The more money possessed, the more responsibility to do good. The Complete Jewish Bible says in 1 Timothy 6:17-19, "As for those who do have riches in this present world, charge them not to be proud and not to let their hopes rest on the uncertainties of riches but to rest their hopes on God, who richly provides us with all things for our enjoyment. Charge them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, to be generous and ready to share. In this way they will treasure up for themselves a good foundation for the future, so that they may lay hold of the real life."
Conflict over differences in the management of money and sex are among the top reasons husbands and wives do not have un matrimonio de pasión y sorpresa and some end up seeking un divorcio. Instead of allowing differences to divide, why not ask God to help you find a way to diversity in unity? God the Son Jesus Christ and God the Father are different and unified. Jesus Christ prayed for believers in John 17:21 English Standard Version Bible, "That they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me."
What are some ways Jesus Christ has brought diversity in unity to your marriage or your singleness?
Showing posts with label Dating. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Dating. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 27, 2013
Sunday, February 24, 2013
Showing Your Heart
Last night when Rafael and I came home, our cat, Isobel Imani Fowler, was waiting for us not far from the front door as she usually waits for us when we return from an outing. Even though I've seen this many times before, I felt joy, delight, excitement and other positive emotions to see her perched upright looking at us and waiting for us.
God is always looking at us and waiting for us. He is so excited to see us. He loves us extravagantly. God has high expectations of us. 1 John 4:7-11 Amplified Bible says, "Beloved, let us love one another, for love is (springs) from God; and he who loves [his fellowmen] is begotten (born) of God and is coming [progressively] to know and understand God [to perceive and recognize and get a better and clearer knowledge of Him]. He who does not love has not become acquainted with God [does not and never did know Him], for God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest (displayed) where we are concerned: in that God sent His Son, the only begotten or unique [Son], into the world so that we might live through Him. In this is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation (the atoning sacrifice) for our sins. Beloved, if God loved us so [very much], we also ought to love one another."
God loves us with passion and purpose. He doesn't have a problem getting high in holiness. Ephesians 5:18 New Living Translation Bible says, "Don’t be drunk with wine, because that will ruin your life. Instead, be filled with the Holy Spirit." David writes about God in Psalm 16:11 Amplified Bible, "You will show me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy, at Your right hand there are pleasures forevermore."
Fill us up, and let us overflow with God who is love, joy and all that is good. God is everywhere. While God does not live inside of everyone, the root source of good that we see in people is God.
A young man wrote on a piece of pottery some time during the Nineteenth Dynasty (1304-1085 B.C.) of ancient Egypt:
"When I embrace her,
And her arms open wide,
I feel like a man in Spiceland,
Who is overwhelmed with perfume.
Then I kiss her;
And she opens her lips, Without a taste of beer,
I am intoxicated."
Love is supposed to be exciting.
Routine and rapture are not an oxymoron. Simple things like waiting at the front door for a love one like our cat waits for us shows her love of us.
A lot of little missed opportunities to show love over a long time will harm and even lead to broken relationships. A lover requests of her lover in Song of Solomon 2:15 Complete Jewish Bible, “Catch the foxes for us, yes, the little foxes! They are ruining the vineyards when our vineyards are in bloom!”
A spouse in a class I taught commented that he really wished his spouse would greet him at the door when he returned home from work, and they would talk. The other spouse did not think this would make much difference in their relationship and refused to do it.
"Do not fear going forward slowly, fear only to stand still," says a Chinese proverb.
Little steps expressing love are possible to take. Es posible for believers to change empowered by God living on the inside.
Maybe you can't wait at your front door for loved ones like our cat does. Nick Vujicic was born with tetra-amelia syndrome, a rare disorder characterized by the absence of both arms and both legs. He cannot hold his wife, Kanae Loida Vujicic-Miyahara, and son, Kiyoshi James Vujicic in his hands, but he can hold his family in his heart.
Vujuicic can also speak. He is confident, creative, courageous and compassionate. Perhaps he says things to his wife like Solomon said to his Shulammite bride. Song of Solomon 4:7-10 English Standard Version Bible says, "You are altogether beautiful, my love; there is no flaw in you. Come with me from Lebanon, my bride; come with me from Lebanon. Depart from the peak of Amana, from the peak of Senir and Hermon, from the dens of lions, from the mountains of leopards. You have captivated my heart, my sister, my bride; you have captivated my heart with one glance of your eyes, with one jewel of your necklace. How beautiful is your love, my sister, my bride! How much better is your love than wine, and the fragrance of your oils than any spice!"
What are some simple things we can do on a regular basis to show we care about someone?
God is always looking at us and waiting for us. He is so excited to see us. He loves us extravagantly. God has high expectations of us. 1 John 4:7-11 Amplified Bible says, "Beloved, let us love one another, for love is (springs) from God; and he who loves [his fellowmen] is begotten (born) of God and is coming [progressively] to know and understand God [to perceive and recognize and get a better and clearer knowledge of Him]. He who does not love has not become acquainted with God [does not and never did know Him], for God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest (displayed) where we are concerned: in that God sent His Son, the only begotten or unique [Son], into the world so that we might live through Him. In this is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation (the atoning sacrifice) for our sins. Beloved, if God loved us so [very much], we also ought to love one another."
God loves us with passion and purpose. He doesn't have a problem getting high in holiness. Ephesians 5:18 New Living Translation Bible says, "Don’t be drunk with wine, because that will ruin your life. Instead, be filled with the Holy Spirit." David writes about God in Psalm 16:11 Amplified Bible, "You will show me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy, at Your right hand there are pleasures forevermore."
Fill us up, and let us overflow with God who is love, joy and all that is good. God is everywhere. While God does not live inside of everyone, the root source of good that we see in people is God.
A young man wrote on a piece of pottery some time during the Nineteenth Dynasty (1304-1085 B.C.) of ancient Egypt:
"When I embrace her,
And her arms open wide,
I feel like a man in Spiceland,
Who is overwhelmed with perfume.
Then I kiss her;
And she opens her lips, Without a taste of beer,
I am intoxicated."
Love is supposed to be exciting.
Routine and rapture are not an oxymoron. Simple things like waiting at the front door for a love one like our cat waits for us shows her love of us.
A lot of little missed opportunities to show love over a long time will harm and even lead to broken relationships. A lover requests of her lover in Song of Solomon 2:15 Complete Jewish Bible, “Catch the foxes for us, yes, the little foxes! They are ruining the vineyards when our vineyards are in bloom!”
A spouse in a class I taught commented that he really wished his spouse would greet him at the door when he returned home from work, and they would talk. The other spouse did not think this would make much difference in their relationship and refused to do it.
"Do not fear going forward slowly, fear only to stand still," says a Chinese proverb.
Little steps expressing love are possible to take. Es posible for believers to change empowered by God living on the inside.
Maybe you can't wait at your front door for loved ones like our cat does. Nick Vujicic was born with tetra-amelia syndrome, a rare disorder characterized by the absence of both arms and both legs. He cannot hold his wife, Kanae Loida Vujicic-Miyahara, and son, Kiyoshi James Vujicic in his hands, but he can hold his family in his heart.
Vujuicic can also speak. He is confident, creative, courageous and compassionate. Perhaps he says things to his wife like Solomon said to his Shulammite bride. Song of Solomon 4:7-10 English Standard Version Bible says, "You are altogether beautiful, my love; there is no flaw in you. Come with me from Lebanon, my bride; come with me from Lebanon. Depart from the peak of Amana, from the peak of Senir and Hermon, from the dens of lions, from the mountains of leopards. You have captivated my heart, my sister, my bride; you have captivated my heart with one glance of your eyes, with one jewel of your necklace. How beautiful is your love, my sister, my bride! How much better is your love than wine, and the fragrance of your oils than any spice!"
What are some simple things we can do on a regular basis to show we care about someone?
Friday, January 25, 2013
Rejection
In the pursuit of finding a spouse, many people will not be selected. Some may remain friends, others will not. Some people have problems processing rejection properly.
God calls believers to give and receive rejection with elegance and esteem. Romans 12:18 New Living Translation Bible says, "Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone."
It's a lesson Majid Movahedi needs to learn. In 2008 the Iranian Supreme Court convicted Movahedi of throwing a bucket of acid on the face of Ameneh Bahrami. The court sentenced him to jail, to be blinded and to economic compensation to Bahrami.
Bahrami rejected Movahedi's romantic advances for two years. Movahedi just couldn't accept "no." So Movahedi blinded Bahrami and disfigured her face with the acid.
Sometimes we have to accept a "no" to love ourselves and to love someone else. True love learns to manage negative emotions and to tap into the self-control of the God the Holy Ghost to manage emotions effectively. The Apostle Paul writes in Galatians 5:14 English Standard Version Bible, "For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself."
View rejection as God redirecting and preparing you to possess something better. With more than seven billion people living on planet earth, a good possibility exists that another person is available to say "yes" to our romantic pursuits. Comedian Carl Reiner says in the Huffington Post newspaper article, "Carl Reiner -- The Art Of Being Funny," on February 1, 2013, about his wife of 64 years, Estelle, who had one of the most famous movie lines when she said, "I'll have what she's having," in response to the simulated-deli-orgasm scene with Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal directed by Carl's and Estelle's son, Rob Reiner, in the movie, When Harry Met Sally, "My wife . . . said, "Marry someone who can stand you." And that's absolutely true! There are many, many reasons to break up but if you can stand the worst of what they do, why break up? (Laughs) You're only going to get someone who will annoy you in another way so whatever little annoyances there are, you can stand that. We were able to stand each other very, very well."
While Bahrami does not know Jesus Christ, she has accepted that forgiveness is better than an eye for an eye. She asked that Movahedi's blinding be stopped and that only economic compensation be pursued for the more than one dozen surgeries she has undergone.
Acid attacks like Movahedi's of Bahrami happen mostly to women in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Nepal, Uganda, Liberia, Afghanistan, Iran, the United Kingdom, Columbia and the United States. IoL News reported on January 23, 2013, that Bogota Columbia Councilwoman Olga Victoria Rubio says that acid attacks happen because men want to punish women for their beauty; they use the acid attack to fulfill their desire to isolate women. Rubio says that so far 55 cases of acid attacks have been uncovered in Bogota, Columbia, but she thinks this is just scratching the surface of the problem.
Acid attacks are not always well known, but romantic rejection is. Romantic rejection happens almost everywhere.
Yet one person will never reject us. He will help us to properly process rejection. David writes about God in Psalm 27:10 New Living Translation Bible, "Even if my father and mother abandon me, the Lord will hold me close."
God holds believers close and never lets them go. John 17:3 Amplified Bible says, "And this is eternal life [it means] to know (to perceive, recognize, become acquainted with, and understand) You, the only true and real God, and [likewise] to know Him, Jesus [as the] Christ (the Anointed one, the Messiah), Whom You have sent."
Hold God close. He will be our forever friend and lead us to other friends. He will also led us to a spouse if that is His will for us. Psalm 73:24 New Living Translation Bible says, "You guide me with your counsel, leading me to a glorious destiny."
Please leave an on-line comment sharing stories of rejection turned into finding true love.
God calls believers to give and receive rejection with elegance and esteem. Romans 12:18 New Living Translation Bible says, "Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone."
It's a lesson Majid Movahedi needs to learn. In 2008 the Iranian Supreme Court convicted Movahedi of throwing a bucket of acid on the face of Ameneh Bahrami. The court sentenced him to jail, to be blinded and to economic compensation to Bahrami.
Bahrami rejected Movahedi's romantic advances for two years. Movahedi just couldn't accept "no." So Movahedi blinded Bahrami and disfigured her face with the acid.
Sometimes we have to accept a "no" to love ourselves and to love someone else. True love learns to manage negative emotions and to tap into the self-control of the God the Holy Ghost to manage emotions effectively. The Apostle Paul writes in Galatians 5:14 English Standard Version Bible, "For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself."
View rejection as God redirecting and preparing you to possess something better. With more than seven billion people living on planet earth, a good possibility exists that another person is available to say "yes" to our romantic pursuits. Comedian Carl Reiner says in the Huffington Post newspaper article, "Carl Reiner -- The Art Of Being Funny," on February 1, 2013, about his wife of 64 years, Estelle, who had one of the most famous movie lines when she said, "I'll have what she's having," in response to the simulated-deli-orgasm scene with Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal directed by Carl's and Estelle's son, Rob Reiner, in the movie, When Harry Met Sally, "My wife . . . said, "Marry someone who can stand you." And that's absolutely true! There are many, many reasons to break up but if you can stand the worst of what they do, why break up? (Laughs) You're only going to get someone who will annoy you in another way so whatever little annoyances there are, you can stand that. We were able to stand each other very, very well."
While Bahrami does not know Jesus Christ, she has accepted that forgiveness is better than an eye for an eye. She asked that Movahedi's blinding be stopped and that only economic compensation be pursued for the more than one dozen surgeries she has undergone.
Acid attacks like Movahedi's of Bahrami happen mostly to women in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Nepal, Uganda, Liberia, Afghanistan, Iran, the United Kingdom, Columbia and the United States. IoL News reported on January 23, 2013, that Bogota Columbia Councilwoman Olga Victoria Rubio says that acid attacks happen because men want to punish women for their beauty; they use the acid attack to fulfill their desire to isolate women. Rubio says that so far 55 cases of acid attacks have been uncovered in Bogota, Columbia, but she thinks this is just scratching the surface of the problem.
Acid attacks are not always well known, but romantic rejection is. Romantic rejection happens almost everywhere.
Yet one person will never reject us. He will help us to properly process rejection. David writes about God in Psalm 27:10 New Living Translation Bible, "Even if my father and mother abandon me, the Lord will hold me close."
God holds believers close and never lets them go. John 17:3 Amplified Bible says, "And this is eternal life [it means] to know (to perceive, recognize, become acquainted with, and understand) You, the only true and real God, and [likewise] to know Him, Jesus [as the] Christ (the Anointed one, the Messiah), Whom You have sent."
Hold God close. He will be our forever friend and lead us to other friends. He will also led us to a spouse if that is His will for us. Psalm 73:24 New Living Translation Bible says, "You guide me with your counsel, leading me to a glorious destiny."
Please leave an on-line comment sharing stories of rejection turned into finding true love.
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