Can Two Walk Together? (eBook)

Encouragement for Spirtually Unbalanced Marriages

Dr. Sabrina D. Black (Autor)

eBook Download: EPUB

2023 | 1. Auflage
200 Seiten
Bookbaby (Verlag)
979-8-88896-846-8 (ISBN)

Infos

Many couples struggle to honor and respect with love, joy, and peace. They are challenged by the individual accountability to live right even if their spouse or partner does wrong. Walking together requires love and forgiveness.

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Let Dr. Sabrina Black share with you how to fulfill your covenant commitment and the vows you took before God and a company of witnesses. Whether you are unequally yoked, contemplating marriage, or just looking to grow closer together this book will help you. Here's just a little of what you will learn on these pages:Learn what it means to walk in W.I.S.D.O.M. Learn how to have the P.O.W.E.R. of God active and available. Learn how to "e;give him or her something they can feel."e;Learn how walking with God brings hope, help, and healing. Learn from a spouse's perspective what it is like to be unequally yoked. Can two walk together? Absolutely! Yes, they can, if they agree. Sabrina shares with care and compassion how to take your relationship to the next level. This is also a great tool for Pastors, Counselors, Friends, and individuals who walk alongside those who want to grow in their relationships.

Textauszug

Chapter One

The Power of God – Active and Available

 

If you have ever tried to do a difficult thing in your own strength, you know how quickly you become tired. Just surviving from day to day sometimes seems like a mir- acle. God s power is always available; but if we don t avail ourselves of it, what difference does it make for us? It is like having money in the bank and living like you are poor when all you have to do is make a withdrawal.

Scripture says that God gives strength and power to His people (Psalm 68:35; Matthew 9:8; 2 Timothy 1:7). There is power in the name of the Lord, there is power in the blood, there is power in God s Word, and there is power in the testimony of the saints. We must learn to activate God s power in our lives, in our everyday situations, and in our marriages. All we have to do is fall down on our knees and pray; all we have to do is ask and receive, and trust and obey.

I guess you’re thinking, That s easy for you to say, but how can I do this? I promise you, my friend, it is not easy for me because I am weak. However, you must remember I am not doing this thing and neither will you. God in us transforms our marriages. The strength is in Him!

 

Be Strong in the Lord

 

Ephesians 6:10 is a verse that has really ministered to me. You can encourage others with this same verse. Following are four different translations of this verse. As you read each, stop and think about what the verse says to you before going on to read the next one.

 

• Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might.(NASB)
• Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. (NIV)
• Last of all I want to remind you that your strength must come from the Lord’s mighty power within you. (TLB)
• In conclusion, be strong in the Lord—be empowered through your union with Him; draw your strength from Him—that strength which His [boundless] might provides. (AMPLIFIED)

 

In Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, the word finally means furthermore; from now on; henceforth; moreover. Therefore, the Word of God says: No matter what your situation is whatever you are facing from henceforth, be strong in the Lord. You may be feeling weak, tired, or fed up. You may be wondering what you’re going to do, and how you’re going to cope. The answer is: Finally, from henceforth, go forward; furthermore, be strong in the Lord. It was not until I got to this final      point in my marriage that God was able to work. Before, I thought it was something that I could do. Not! It was a matter of my allowing God to be God and effect a change in both José and me.

To be strong in the Lord means to be empowered, be enabled, and be activated for good works. This power we are talking about is taken from the Greek word that means that awesome power. It’s where we get the word dynamite. So when the Bible tells us to be strong in the Lord, it is talking about dynamite power. With God s power, you can blow the situation wide open.

We are told to be strong in the Lord for a reason. You know that when you’re trying to do anything in your own strength, you just become tired; and when you get tired, distressed, or fed up, the weight is more than you can carry. But the Lord s power is mighty. The Lord does not get tired. When you have the Lord living within you (because of your relationship with Him) and you are growing spiritually because you are studying the Word and praying on a daily basis, you can rest in the Lord and work in His power. You can be strong because it’s not in your strength that you continue; it’s in the Lord s strength that you can carry on.

My Story

 

God has done wondrous works in my marriage. It is His power active and available in my life, in my marriage, and in my home that enables me to write this book. Sometimes I stop and look back, and I just do not believe it. I know it is the grace of God that has brought me through. As you read my story, think about your situation and how this information or my experience applies to you. Information is great, but it is no good if it is not applied and acted upon. So after reading, ask yourself: What can I do differently?

My husband and I have been married now for seventeen years, and I have been saved for sixteen of those years. The first year of our marriage was like heaven; it was bliss! I knew about the Lord at the time, but I did not have a relationship with Him. I knew enough to pray before I went to bed. I sent my tithes to the local church and I knew that God was good, but that was about it.

I married a wonderful guy. My husband is an excellent cook. He put dinner on the table every night. I worked in corporate America. My colleagues could not believe that I left work and went home to candlelight dinners every night. But it was true. (I have often said that his mother could be Suzy Homemaker s sister which would make my husband Suzy Homemaker s nephew.)

He also keeps an immaculate house. So not only would I come home to dinner by candlelight, but the house would be spotless. Many times, my bathwater would be drawn because he knew I had a long, hard day. I thought, wow, isn’t this wonderful?

At my job, there was a lady who was always going on and on about these miracles at her church. I kept thinking, Yeah, yeah, I know God is good. I don t need to go to church. I am too busy. I have all of this work to do on the weekends. I don t have time for church. But she insisted, and finally, I went to church with her. That evening, they had testimony during communion, and everybody stood up talking about how good God was. So, I said, OK, I know God. I can stand up and give a testimony too.

So I stood up and I went on and on about how great my life was, how wonderful my husband was, the delicious dinners on the table, and how I had this great job in corporate America making lots of money. I had just purchased a new home, a new car, and a new wardrobe for my upcoming travels. I had everything in life, someone, my age could possibly want. But there was still something missing and I was not sure what it was. At that point, I began to get tears in my eyes. With all these wonderful things, I was still not happy. I quickly composed myself. Tears did not go with the executive image; everything would be OK. I would get to heaven and Peter would greet me at the gate and say, well, Sabrina, why should you come in? And I would say, well, I sent my money to the church, and I sang in the choir and I served on the usher board. I am a pretty good person; people like me and I do good deeds most of the time. But somehow, I wasn’t sure if that would be enough. So I sat down and consoled myself by thinking, That was a good testimony.

After service, about five people rushed me. I thought, What?

What did I do? What did I say? And the lady who had invited me leaned over and said, I will talk to her. I asked, What did I do? She said, First of all, Sabrina, Peter will not greet you at the gate.

And if you really want to go to heaven, all you have to do is believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, receive Him into your heart, and have faith that you will be there with Him in heaven. I thought That s all?

After we prayed and I asked Jesus to be my Lord and Savior, the joy of the Lord bubbled over in my soul. I was so excited. I went home and I thought, Great! I can’t wait until I tell my husband the good news. I have found a Savior like no other. Then I remembered that he was not really keen on religion. It had never been a concern before because neither of us went to church (except for the holidays).

My husband grew up Catholic. He went to Mass regularly. He prayed the rosary, paid penance, and went to see the priest, the whole nine yards. His father was a devout Catholic. My husband grew up loving God, church structure and discipline but hating religious dogma. Later he tried to give religion a second chance, but he had a few bad experiences with the church. So now he hated religion, and he hated churches. In spite of the importance of my great news, I began to think, Maybe I shouldn’t tell him just yet.

So, I had this wonderful secret, this newfound love that I was holding, just waiting for the right time to tell him. My girlfriend called and asked my husband, Hey, did Sabrina tell you about her great news? I had not told him yet. My husband’s sarcastic response was, So you joined the local church, huh? I could tell by his comment that he wasn’t pleased and that my not telling him sooner was a problem. I immediately began to highlight all the positive aspects of my joining the church. Honey, it s a wonderful place, I said. You would love these people. They’re young and vibrant, college-educated like we are, and they have great jobs. Many are newlyweds and starting families. Come on, come on, you’ll really like it. He grunted. His response was less than enthusiastic, but he did come to church a few times in those early years. I thought he would see for himself that it was OK and the people were not that bad. He even met several people he knew from college. And I thought excitedly, Great, he will come back. Yes, he’ll come back.

My husband did not come back, but I kept going. For me, it was more than the church; it was my commitment to Christ. The love of the Lord was growing in my heart. I had a desire for God s Word, and I wanted to know how He would have me live my life. I rushed to church every time they opened up the doors. Then I would go home and say, Honey, guess what the pastor said … Do you know what the pastor said? And the Bible says … And the pastor said … Not only did he hate religion, he...

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 3.2.2023
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Sachbuch/Ratgeber ► Gesundheit / Leben / Psychologie ► Partnerschaft / Sexualität
• ISBN-13: 979-8-88896-846-8 / 9798888968468