**The Word of God is clear on the connection between loving God, loving others, loving ourselves, and taking time in those relationships.
The above statement was on the ‘syllabus’ (link to) for the first day of the Relationship series. Over the past few weeks we have covered the importance of being in a loving relationship with God and loving others, this week we will look at loving ourselves.
Living life fully at peace and being free in grace will allow us to be in a healthy relationship with ourselves.
Grace is God’s free and unmerited favor for sinful humanity.
When we live fully in His grace for us, we find a peace and joy that allows us to live freely! Living freely allows you to live life purposefully.
Friends and family will you join me in praying today that He will turn our hearts to see Him, hear Him and truly experience Him?
Dear Heavenly Father thank You Lord for pursuing us and calling us by name. Thank You for desiring to reveal to us our true selves, the ones You created us to be. Please prepare us, ready us to hear the truth You have for us. Amen
**Do I love myself?
**Where does my confidence come from?
**What am I confident about?
**Do I know what God says about me?
**Do I hear what God says about me?
**Do I believe what God says about me?
**Do I know the Truth?
But now this is what the LORD says- he who created you, O Jacob
He who formed you, O Israel; "Fear not, for I have redeemed you by name; you are mine." Isaiah 43:1
The LORD your God is with you, He is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing. Zephaniah 3:17
"This above all: to thine ownself be true,And it must follow, as the night the day,Thou canst not then be false to any man."-Shakespeare-Hamlet
Seeking to know the Truth will lead us to His amazing grace. If there is one selfish thing you do for yourself today, seek His purpose! Seek Him for love, confidence, and peace. When you seek Him, you will find Him and He will fill you to overflowing. You will then be able to live freely in His love for you. A place that will leave you dancing!
May we know that He loves us, cares for us and wants more than anything to bring us close to His heart!
Monday, July 6, 2009
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Fiddling with the Facilitator
Okay so many, many weeks ago I heard God speaking to my heart that He wanted me to facilitate a blog series on relationships. I wish I could tell you that from the moment He first started whispering until right now here in this very moment that I have felt nothing but elation, excitement, and in complete control. Yes that's what control freaks want to feel all the time! But friends its so not the case here. I have been overwhelmed, frightened, pushed a little too far, stretched, twisted! I have been fiddled with!
Friends I believe we can't truly experience life without allowing God to fiddle with us. You see His fiddling is very purposeful. He doesn't just 'try' something out on us to see if it works, nope, He knows it will! So when He fiddles its all good!
Is it possible that when He fiddles with a mommas heart on releasing her boys into the next season and phase of their lives that there is eternal purpose? Is is possible that this fiddling that really hurts a mommas heart is all about relationship? A relationship in which God is asking me to trust Him above all else. Could this fiddling be about restoring relationships? Will the fiddling be worth it?
Dear Father God I want more than anything to be a girl living on purpose in relationship with You. I want my mind, heart, and soul to be filled with You. I want to trust You and submit to You in all things. Even when it seems what You are asking of me is really stinkin hard. I know You don't fiddle with me because You can, but because You want to. Your fiddling is full of Your heart extended and shared with me. Thank You for loving me before, now and tomorrow. I desire to be Your girl complete fiddled with on purpose. Amen
Friends as the facilitator of this series please know that I have been fiddled with by Our God and know that I believe its all on purpose!
May we allow Him to fiddle with us! May we trust Him, He knows just what needs tweaking and He knows just how to do it perfectly!
Friends I believe we can't truly experience life without allowing God to fiddle with us. You see His fiddling is very purposeful. He doesn't just 'try' something out on us to see if it works, nope, He knows it will! So when He fiddles its all good!
Is it possible that when He fiddles with a mommas heart on releasing her boys into the next season and phase of their lives that there is eternal purpose? Is is possible that this fiddling that really hurts a mommas heart is all about relationship? A relationship in which God is asking me to trust Him above all else. Could this fiddling be about restoring relationships? Will the fiddling be worth it?
Dear Father God I want more than anything to be a girl living on purpose in relationship with You. I want my mind, heart, and soul to be filled with You. I want to trust You and submit to You in all things. Even when it seems what You are asking of me is really stinkin hard. I know You don't fiddle with me because You can, but because You want to. Your fiddling is full of Your heart extended and shared with me. Thank You for loving me before, now and tomorrow. I desire to be Your girl complete fiddled with on purpose. Amen
Friends as the facilitator of this series please know that I have been fiddled with by Our God and know that I believe its all on purpose!
May we allow Him to fiddle with us! May we trust Him, He knows just what needs tweaking and He knows just how to do it perfectly!
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Happy Birthday Engineer
It's a special day today! You know I truly believe that God could only create one true Engineer and I get the special privilege of being married to him!
Babe-may you know you are loved, appreciated, and most of all enjoyed!
Happy Birthday to you!
May all your wildest dreams come true! I love you!
On Purpose,
Nichole
Babe-may you know you are loved, appreciated, and most of all enjoyed!
Happy Birthday to you!
May all your wildest dreams come true! I love you!
On Purpose,
Nichole
Friday, June 26, 2009
Can't we all just get along?
Thank you so much for loving my family and me and for lifting us up in prayer. We see His people being committed to living out His love and grace and it encourages us to stand firm! Thursday night The Engineer and I spent some time together in prayer and our God met us on the floor of our family room. He is calmed our minds, reminded us of His great love for us, and has informed us He is in complete control! Amen! Please know that we lifted you up in praise! We praised God for you and will continue to do so. Please know we would fill honored to pray for you and your family too! Your prayer requests are always welcome here! We believe that when Gods people pray He listens!
We will continue on in our relationship series today. This one I feel is for everyone out there! I know pretty bold statement for a girl to make huh? But really as I have prayed over it and read His word, I believe everyone has a relationship that needs work, could be a little better, needs a huge dose of Gods love and grace, am I right? I know I sure do! I want to bring glory and honor in all I do, and being that He is the creator of relationships I most definitely want Him to be glorified through mine. Not from anything I am doing right, but by allowing Him to work in them and through them! Amen!
If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.
Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death— even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Philippians 2:1-11
Each one of us chooses our attitude. We can either go through life expecting to be served or look for opportunities to serve others. I can waste a whole lotta time hoping, wishing that someone else will change to make my life easier and more comfortable, or I can ask God to humble me and show me how to love this person. How to serve this person. I can’t help but wonder how many times it crossed the mind of our Jesus, in the ‘real’ humanness of His mind as He was on the cross, ‘why do these people deserve my love, my commitment?’ I can hear Him asking His Father ‘why do I have to be the one to work out this relationship?’ I believe Jesus lived every moment of His life on purpose. Every step He took to the cross was on purpose. Every thing He did was to restore a relationship. A relationship between a Heavenly Father and His people.
"For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many" Mark 10:45
Have you ever been tempted to ask ‘why me?’ ‘Why do I have to be the one who works harder in this relationship?’ ‘Why does it feel like I am doing all the work here?’
I have asked these questions many times! I have learned that the best place to take these questions is to the throne, the throne of an all knowing God. Yep march right up there and ask away. But when you do, be ready to hear His answer, allow Him to speak to your heart.
He seems to have a pretty stable and solid answer for me each time I ask:
Nichole you are to love others as I have loved you. You are to extend grace to them. The grace that you so freely live in is not just for you, but it is meant to be shared.
I can’t imagine the pain that the cross caused to our Jesus. I can’t imagine the perseverance it took to live out the purpose His Father asked Him to live out.
I can imagine some of the pain that I have felt being in relationships with others here on earth. Relationships that have left me broken hearted, hurt, disappointed, confused, and lonely. I have also caused some hurt, pain, and disappointments to others.
**Can’t we all just get along?
Friends being in relationships with others is NOT something we do in our strength. But rather in allowing God to work in us and through us.
**What kind of people are you attracted to?
Well to be perfectly honest I am attracted to people who give of themselves. They are great listeners. And after time spent with them you feel encouraged to be a better person.
See I believe with my whole heart that people were, are and will continue to be attracted to Jesus, why? Because Jesus gave of Himself. He lived His life to serve others, and knew that His reward had eternal purpose.
**You will gather others around you only by giving of yourself away.
One thing that has been a huge help in my relationships with others is truly asking God to help me see them from His perspective. He is helping me to learn that everyone He created, He created in His image! And that if I truly love Him, then I need to love those He created.
We love because He first loved us. If anyone says, "I love God," yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. And He has give this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother. 1 John 4:19-21
There is disunity everywhere we turn these days. In marriages, between parents and children, between families, in the work place, in Congress, between different countries, between different religious groups, in the church.
I believe it hurts God immensely to see such disunity. Why? Because He sacrificed someone very dear to His heart to restore unity.
For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16 (emphasis mine)
His sacrifice was for all!
But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8
This verse above encourages me to pass on this same love to those around me. I am reminded I didn’t deserve this love nor can I earn it, it’s a love that God gave freely to us. A love He was willing to grace us with to restore a relationship.
This is how God showed His love among us; He sent His one and only Son into the world that we might live through Him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 1 John 4:9-10
**Can’t we all just get along?
I don’t know about you, but I can’t! I can’t do it. I can’t get it right. Not all of my relationships are perfect…I know scary thought since I am going through this whole relationship series…but it’s the truth.
Dear Friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and His love is made complete in us. 1 John 4:11-12
That’s what I want! For His love to be made complete. I want to be submissive to Him and the work He is doing in and through me, so that He can love those around me. He is more than able and it looks so much better when He does it!
Father God may we truly seek to be in an intimate relationship with You. A relationship made possible by Your Son. May the desire of our heart be complete submission to You and Your will. Fill us with the power of the Holy Spirit to live and love on purpose. Amen.
We will continue on in our relationship series today. This one I feel is for everyone out there! I know pretty bold statement for a girl to make huh? But really as I have prayed over it and read His word, I believe everyone has a relationship that needs work, could be a little better, needs a huge dose of Gods love and grace, am I right? I know I sure do! I want to bring glory and honor in all I do, and being that He is the creator of relationships I most definitely want Him to be glorified through mine. Not from anything I am doing right, but by allowing Him to work in them and through them! Amen!
If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.
Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death— even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Philippians 2:1-11
Each one of us chooses our attitude. We can either go through life expecting to be served or look for opportunities to serve others. I can waste a whole lotta time hoping, wishing that someone else will change to make my life easier and more comfortable, or I can ask God to humble me and show me how to love this person. How to serve this person. I can’t help but wonder how many times it crossed the mind of our Jesus, in the ‘real’ humanness of His mind as He was on the cross, ‘why do these people deserve my love, my commitment?’ I can hear Him asking His Father ‘why do I have to be the one to work out this relationship?’ I believe Jesus lived every moment of His life on purpose. Every step He took to the cross was on purpose. Every thing He did was to restore a relationship. A relationship between a Heavenly Father and His people.
"For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many" Mark 10:45
Have you ever been tempted to ask ‘why me?’ ‘Why do I have to be the one who works harder in this relationship?’ ‘Why does it feel like I am doing all the work here?’
I have asked these questions many times! I have learned that the best place to take these questions is to the throne, the throne of an all knowing God. Yep march right up there and ask away. But when you do, be ready to hear His answer, allow Him to speak to your heart.
He seems to have a pretty stable and solid answer for me each time I ask:
Nichole you are to love others as I have loved you. You are to extend grace to them. The grace that you so freely live in is not just for you, but it is meant to be shared.
I can’t imagine the pain that the cross caused to our Jesus. I can’t imagine the perseverance it took to live out the purpose His Father asked Him to live out.
I can imagine some of the pain that I have felt being in relationships with others here on earth. Relationships that have left me broken hearted, hurt, disappointed, confused, and lonely. I have also caused some hurt, pain, and disappointments to others.
**Can’t we all just get along?
Friends being in relationships with others is NOT something we do in our strength. But rather in allowing God to work in us and through us.
**What kind of people are you attracted to?
Well to be perfectly honest I am attracted to people who give of themselves. They are great listeners. And after time spent with them you feel encouraged to be a better person.
See I believe with my whole heart that people were, are and will continue to be attracted to Jesus, why? Because Jesus gave of Himself. He lived His life to serve others, and knew that His reward had eternal purpose.
**You will gather others around you only by giving of yourself away.
One thing that has been a huge help in my relationships with others is truly asking God to help me see them from His perspective. He is helping me to learn that everyone He created, He created in His image! And that if I truly love Him, then I need to love those He created.
We love because He first loved us. If anyone says, "I love God," yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. And He has give this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother. 1 John 4:19-21
There is disunity everywhere we turn these days. In marriages, between parents and children, between families, in the work place, in Congress, between different countries, between different religious groups, in the church.
I believe it hurts God immensely to see such disunity. Why? Because He sacrificed someone very dear to His heart to restore unity.
For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16 (emphasis mine)
His sacrifice was for all!
But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8
This verse above encourages me to pass on this same love to those around me. I am reminded I didn’t deserve this love nor can I earn it, it’s a love that God gave freely to us. A love He was willing to grace us with to restore a relationship.
This is how God showed His love among us; He sent His one and only Son into the world that we might live through Him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 1 John 4:9-10
**Can’t we all just get along?
I don’t know about you, but I can’t! I can’t do it. I can’t get it right. Not all of my relationships are perfect…I know scary thought since I am going through this whole relationship series…but it’s the truth.
Dear Friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and His love is made complete in us. 1 John 4:11-12
That’s what I want! For His love to be made complete. I want to be submissive to Him and the work He is doing in and through me, so that He can love those around me. He is more than able and it looks so much better when He does it!
Father God may we truly seek to be in an intimate relationship with You. A relationship made possible by Your Son. May the desire of our heart be complete submission to You and Your will. Fill us with the power of the Holy Spirit to live and love on purpose. Amen.
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
He is camping out
Hello Friends! I want to start by saying, thank you for being real with me, why? Because you remind me that being real is oh so important and worth it!
I come today to share with you that the enemy has camped himself right outside our door. Yep he has decided to pitch his tent, build a fire and the sparks from his fire are hot!
These sparks are trying to ignite a huge fire of destruction in many areas of our life right now!
The enemy is trying to set ablaze:
The Engineer through his work
The mommy and the daddy through our parenting
Our finances
My health
Our church
And the enemy is hoping that the smoke from his fire will keep us from seeing our God. He is trying to smoke us out of our purpose!
This morning I found myself in Daniel 2 reading this:
Then Daniel returned to his house and explained the matter to his friends Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. He urged them to plead for mercy from the God of heaven concerning this mystery, so that he and his friends might not be executed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon. During the night the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision. Then Daniel praised the God of heaven and said:
"Praise be to the name of God for ever and ever; wisdom and power are his.
He changes times and seasons; he sets up kings and deposes them.
He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning.
He reveals deep and hidden things; he knows what lies in darkness, and light dwells with him.
I thank and praise you, O God of my fathers: You have given me wisdom and power, you have made known to me what we asked of you, you have made known to us the dream of the king."
Daniel 2:17-23 (emphasis mine)
Now I know this scripture above and its in the context of Daniel being asked by the king to interpret a dream. But my prayer is this morning that you will join me and my family in prayer for us to keep remembering that God is in control. Just like with Daniel! Daniel didn't know the kings dream let alone how to interpret, it wasn't humanly possible.
Daniel replied, "No wise man, enchanter, magician or diviner can explain to the king the mystery he has asked about, but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries. Daniel 2:27-28 (emphasis mine)
I know God gave me this fresh living water from His Word this morning to show me He is in control. He is over this hot fire and He won't let us be burned!
Friends please know that is my heart to live completely for God. But this fire is hot, and it burns! I know that the enemy would not be camped outside our door if we were not a threat to him. Now I don't say that as a holier than though statement, or that our family is more important than anyone else.
But the enemy doesn't like:
An Engineer who is a man of ethics and integrity in a secular world
A mommy and daddy who are trying to raise their boys to love and live for Jesus
Us to be secure in God alone, the enemy will use worldly things to distract us
Me trying to be Godly wife, mom, friend, daughter and speaker so he will try and mess with my health and keep me in pain
Us being fed, so he is even trying to keep the unity out of the church
Please join us in praying that we stay focused and firm in God. Knowing that He is in complete control.
I know God is working and I know He can see through this smoke!
Thank you for your prayers!
**Note I promise we will finish up the relationship series soon! Thank you for your commitment, prayers and encouragement!
I come today to share with you that the enemy has camped himself right outside our door. Yep he has decided to pitch his tent, build a fire and the sparks from his fire are hot!
These sparks are trying to ignite a huge fire of destruction in many areas of our life right now!
The enemy is trying to set ablaze:
The Engineer through his work
The mommy and the daddy through our parenting
Our finances
My health
Our church
And the enemy is hoping that the smoke from his fire will keep us from seeing our God. He is trying to smoke us out of our purpose!
This morning I found myself in Daniel 2 reading this:
Then Daniel returned to his house and explained the matter to his friends Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. He urged them to plead for mercy from the God of heaven concerning this mystery, so that he and his friends might not be executed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon. During the night the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision. Then Daniel praised the God of heaven and said:
"Praise be to the name of God for ever and ever; wisdom and power are his.
He changes times and seasons; he sets up kings and deposes them.
He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning.
He reveals deep and hidden things; he knows what lies in darkness, and light dwells with him.
I thank and praise you, O God of my fathers: You have given me wisdom and power, you have made known to me what we asked of you, you have made known to us the dream of the king."
Daniel 2:17-23 (emphasis mine)
Now I know this scripture above and its in the context of Daniel being asked by the king to interpret a dream. But my prayer is this morning that you will join me and my family in prayer for us to keep remembering that God is in control. Just like with Daniel! Daniel didn't know the kings dream let alone how to interpret, it wasn't humanly possible.
Daniel replied, "No wise man, enchanter, magician or diviner can explain to the king the mystery he has asked about, but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries. Daniel 2:27-28 (emphasis mine)
I know God gave me this fresh living water from His Word this morning to show me He is in control. He is over this hot fire and He won't let us be burned!
Friends please know that is my heart to live completely for God. But this fire is hot, and it burns! I know that the enemy would not be camped outside our door if we were not a threat to him. Now I don't say that as a holier than though statement, or that our family is more important than anyone else.
But the enemy doesn't like:
An Engineer who is a man of ethics and integrity in a secular world
A mommy and daddy who are trying to raise their boys to love and live for Jesus
Us to be secure in God alone, the enemy will use worldly things to distract us
Me trying to be Godly wife, mom, friend, daughter and speaker so he will try and mess with my health and keep me in pain
Us being fed, so he is even trying to keep the unity out of the church
Please join us in praying that we stay focused and firm in God. Knowing that He is in complete control.
I know God is working and I know He can see through this smoke!
Thank you for your prayers!
**Note I promise we will finish up the relationship series soon! Thank you for your commitment, prayers and encouragement!
Sunday, June 21, 2009
A daddies love
Happy Father's Day Dad! For your love for me I know has come full circle. A love that comes from your heart to me, a love that was placed there by Our Heavenly Father. You are an amazing man dad...keep living fully in His love for you!
May we know today that Our Daddies love is without End! Amen!
May we know today that Our Daddies love is without End! Amen!
Friday, June 19, 2009
These ain't your mothers jeans!
We live in a world that honors individualism. A world that speaks very loudly all about me, and I and you! A world that doesn’t tend to hear about us, we, them! What do I mean by this? I believe our culture has lost the One true purpose. Our reason for being here on earth, to be in relationship with our Creator first and then to be in relationship with others second! Be loved and then love.
I first heard about Not Your Daughters Jeans a few months ago. They are a brand of jeans for women. I kinda of chuckled at the brand name and thought of it as funny and catchy. But interestingly enough this title has stuck in my brain for months now and has developed into a blog! Surprise. Right?
I want to encourage you today to look at another one of your relationships. The one you have with your mother-in-law. And because I am a daughter-in-law I will be speaking from such perspective.
I would like to propose some ideas/questions for us to think through:
1)Am I loved by God? Am I living in this love?
2)Do I believe God created everyone in His image?
3)Am I loving others?
I believe that the being and nature of God is so beyond our comprehension and understanding and that when He created His people He made them all just a little different. All in His image, yet each a little unique, to represent some aspect of His character.
You see mother-in-laws don’t have to wear the same jeans as their daughter-in-laws. We are different, and it’s all about how He made us!
When we truly see others as created in the image of God it will be easier to accept them, love them, and be in relationship with them.
We are driving in the car and the song Testify to Love by Avalon comes on the radio. I love this song so I turn it up a little louder. Tyler (my almost 5 year old) asks from the back seat, ‘mom what does it mean to be a witness?’ A word that he hears in the lyrics of this song that is playing on the radio. I explain, ‘a witness is when you tell someone about something and this song is talking about being a witness for Jesus, telling other people about Him’. Tyler responds with ‘well the best way to learn about God is to dig out Gods Bible, all His words are in there!’
So today we are going to ‘dig out Gods Bible’ and see what He has for us on relationships between mother-in-laws and daughter-in-laws!
The book of Ruth is a beautiful story and real life representation of what a healthy relationship between a mother and daughter-in-law can look like when lived in the fullness of Gods love and grace.
When we read the book of Ruth, (which I challenge you to do it’s a great read in four simple chapters) we learn more about the relationship between Ruth and Naomi then we do about the individuals. How amazing is that? God wants us to focus on the relationship, not the individual!!
**How would all our relationships look if we focused on nurturing the relationship?
God was the center of the relationship between Ruth and Naomi. Their relationship worked because of God!
May we trust His way and know that when we align our hearts with His, He will create the relationship.
I first heard about Not Your Daughters Jeans a few months ago. They are a brand of jeans for women. I kinda of chuckled at the brand name and thought of it as funny and catchy. But interestingly enough this title has stuck in my brain for months now and has developed into a blog! Surprise. Right?
I want to encourage you today to look at another one of your relationships. The one you have with your mother-in-law. And because I am a daughter-in-law I will be speaking from such perspective.
I would like to propose some ideas/questions for us to think through:
1)Am I loved by God? Am I living in this love?
2)Do I believe God created everyone in His image?
3)Am I loving others?
I believe that the being and nature of God is so beyond our comprehension and understanding and that when He created His people He made them all just a little different. All in His image, yet each a little unique, to represent some aspect of His character.
You see mother-in-laws don’t have to wear the same jeans as their daughter-in-laws. We are different, and it’s all about how He made us!
When we truly see others as created in the image of God it will be easier to accept them, love them, and be in relationship with them.
We are driving in the car and the song Testify to Love by Avalon comes on the radio. I love this song so I turn it up a little louder. Tyler (my almost 5 year old) asks from the back seat, ‘mom what does it mean to be a witness?’ A word that he hears in the lyrics of this song that is playing on the radio. I explain, ‘a witness is when you tell someone about something and this song is talking about being a witness for Jesus, telling other people about Him’. Tyler responds with ‘well the best way to learn about God is to dig out Gods Bible, all His words are in there!’
So today we are going to ‘dig out Gods Bible’ and see what He has for us on relationships between mother-in-laws and daughter-in-laws!
The book of Ruth is a beautiful story and real life representation of what a healthy relationship between a mother and daughter-in-law can look like when lived in the fullness of Gods love and grace.
When we read the book of Ruth, (which I challenge you to do it’s a great read in four simple chapters) we learn more about the relationship between Ruth and Naomi then we do about the individuals. How amazing is that? God wants us to focus on the relationship, not the individual!!
**How would all our relationships look if we focused on nurturing the relationship?
God was the center of the relationship between Ruth and Naomi. Their relationship worked because of God!
May we trust His way and know that when we align our hearts with His, He will create the relationship.
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