Marriage Anchors

Have you ever pondered a thought with intentionality? Have you studied something to the point that others wondered when “you’d come up for air”? I’m not too good at meditating. My mind tends to travel so fast I feel like a jack rabbit running on a hot bed of coals.

I’ve seen people in art museums, real art lovers, standing in front of some painting staring and pondering for minutes at a time. I often wonder what they are so enamored with. I think they are pondering, studying, and feeling deeply. Perhaps their very soul is moved.

I get that way sometimes when I listen to well written, well-orchestrated, and well performed symphonic music. I am moved deeply, stirred wonderfully, and with eyes closed, I envision some wondrous scene that reflects what I’m hearing and feeling.

I think Psalmists understood this in relating to Almighty God and His Scriptures. They loved all of God; His essence, His character, and His Word. They meditated upon Jehovah and His wondrous checed (Hebrew) unfailing, unconditional, and never ending love for His people (His children). Let’s pray for each other that we’d learn to do likewise today.

“We have thought (meditated NIV) on your steadfast love (checed), O God, in the midst of your temple.”  (Psalm 48:9 ESV)

I went to an animal petting farm with our family when the kids were young. If you’ve not been to one, the experience is memorable. I loved holding the little chicks and petting the sheep, goats, and cows. At the same time, I was looking for that alcohol hand sanitizer!

As I was slowly meandering through the barnyard, suddenly a quick moving brood of ducklings ran up to my feet and began nibbling ferociously at my ankles. They were precious little things and they were persistent.

My thoughts immediately transferred to these little ducklings and their incessant nibbling. Wherever I went, they followed. My ankles knew no relief.

I have found that many days of my life have been like that. Priorities and urgencies, some small, some big, finding their way to my heart and soul nibbling away at my joy and attempting to distance me from fellowship with the Lord Jesus. Here in lies the danger.

I am, with great difficulty, learning to seek the Lord Jesus when seeking Him does not fit into my crazy, impulsive schedule or “To Do” list. You see, the way I’m wired, I’m a Doer… a”Get er done!” kind of guy. Most of you (including the ladies) are as well, no doubt. When I can cross stuff off my pressing list of things I “gotta do today!”,  I feel some temporary relief and my anxiety is reduced. Much of my life is about anxiety reduction. I seldom volunteer to do things. Why? Well, first, I learned in the Army… Ha! Second, if I take on new tasks, my anxiety thermometer just goes up and up.

I have to choose to seek Him. Putting other tasks on hold and then choose to seek and spend time with God and His Word tends to produce anxiety. Why? My flesh, when Jesus is not ruling my heart, wants ANXIETY REDUCTION!

I realize I must choose to seek Him no matter what. He, not getting things done, is my life. Let’s pray that we each would center in on this today.

“Blessed are those who keep his testimonies, who seek him with their whole heart,” (Psalm 119:2 ESV)

I went for a walk in a mature pine forest near Wisconsin Dells. It was a beautiful summer morning. The sky was blue, the sun up, and the stillness armongst the tall pines was dripping with calm.

I found a nice tree and I sat down on the thick, soft bed of pine needles that had gathered by the base. I took in a deep breath of the pine scented air. I looked up. There, high up in one of the trees about 100 feet away, was a large red-headed woodpecker pecking his best trying to get a bug breakfast from under the bark.

I don’t think I’ve ever experienced such quiet and peace. No other sound filled the air except for this beautiful bird and the muffled, hollow sound of pecking.

I’ve told a few people this. I feel closest to God when I’m in a pine forest. The distractions of life are, for a moment, gone. I can just focus on God. His presence is real and so comforting. The pine forest is a hiding place for me and for the Lord. I long for it as I write. Let’s pray for each other today that we would find Him in the hidden places.

“You are a hiding place for me; you preserve me from trouble; you surround me with shouts of deliverance.” (Psalm 32:7 ESV

“Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.”  (1Peter 5:8 ESV)

From almost 40 years of ministry, I’ve learned an important principle regarding following Jesus and being His disciple. “Godly wisdom is learning to trust yourself less and less each day and learning to entrust yourself to your mate, if married, and to 1 or 2 good people of the same gender.”

The above Devil’s Triangle is a simplified strategy the Wicked One uses. Think of the inside of the triangle as one of those ‘Catch a Mouse Sticky Traps’ you put on the floor. Getting you hooked, stuck, or tempted to be drawn in via one angle or side is good. Yes! But he is crafty and often will employ several angles or sides to get you ensnared in deep bondage. He wants you in the middle of the trap. He wants you ruined and dead.

I have voluntarily been in a Foxhole Buddyrelationship since 1988 not because I’m super great and holy. It is because I am profoundly weak and I don’t trust myself. I want to be wise in my weakness, not foolish in my weakness. I’m in my 3^rd Buddy relationship now. Seth, married, and a father of 4, and I have either met in a restaurant or called weekly for 6 years. We’ve got each other’s back. The 4 pillar verses we uphold in confidence are: 

James 5:16

Hebrews 3:13

Galatians 6:2

Ecclesiastes 4:9-12

If you are not in a grace-based, encouraging, accountable, and confidential same-gender relationship where you look out for each other’s Christian walk, thought life, marriage, priorities, fatigue levels, etc., then you are like the tied up goat in the first Jurassic Park movie: Lunch!

Let’s pray that each of us would get and keep a Foxhole Buddy for the honor of God and the protection of our witness for the Lord Jesus.           

“Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.”  (Galatians 6:2 ESV)

“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”  (Acts 1:8 ESV)

Whether it is the Fast Food ‘drive thru’ employee passing you your burgers or the entire world (7.6+ Billion souls), Jesus’ passion is for the lost. If you do not yet have an aching burden to see lost souls reached, saved, and discipled by the Spirit of Jesus, then please get alone with God and beg Him for lost souls.

Ask Him to well up within you an overflowing passion for the hearts of men, women, and children. Seek and ask Him to burn into you a relentless burden to see none perish in the endless fires of Hell. (2Peter 3:9)

Luke 19:10 says, “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”  (ESV) Now Jesus came here for many reasons (Read Psalm 146), but one is paramount. If the multitudes are warmed, sheltered, medicated, and fed and redemption through Christ’s shed blood on the Cross is not shared and achieved, how will this increase Heaven?

Great ministries help with these noble causes. Their work is vital. Yet, as important as these are, the work of salvation and spiritual growth must be centered in their operational DNA.

If someone cuts me, I want passion for lost souls to flow out. Just like it did and still does for Jesus.

Let’s pray this for each other today.

^“19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”  (Matthew 28:19-20 ESV)

^“9 Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your produce;
¹⁰ then your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will be bursting with wine.”               (Proverbs 3:9-10 ESV Bold added)

At the U. S. Military Academy at West Point, our math instructors drilled into us the importance of the “=” sign. The idea is this: If 3 + 5 is added, then you get 8. ( 3+5 = 8 ) In other words, the left side will / should equal the right side. If you are grateful for what God has done for you and you revere Him and hold Him in the highest trust and esteem, then He will receive your obedience. For you to give Him otherwise would dishonor Him and slap Him in the face!

If you are thankful to the Lord Jesus for dying on the Cross and paying the eternal debt for your sins and giving you unconditional forgiveness and eternal life, you will want to obey Him by honoring Him, and thus upholding His Word.

God loves a cheerful, honoring, private, and generous giver. Here is the math: Was He generous toward you? (John 3:16) If so, be the same back to Him. If you receive less money and provision this month, choose to give Him more. Go ahead! Test Him in this! (Malachi 3:10)

Let’s pray for each other that we each honor God by being generous givers.

^“6 The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. ⁷ Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”  (2Corinthians 9:6-7 ESV)

“For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”  (Mark 10:45 ESV)

“You will know you are a servant when people start treating you like one.” Perhaps this is why servanthood, though sounding popular, is not all that sought after. Have you ever been treated like a servant?

There are times, if we are honest, when serving in the church or on the mission field, or helping a friend or family member, we’d kind of like to get some thanks and notice. There is nothing wrong with giving or receiving appreciation, but this should never be allowed to bake in the oven of our minds for more than it takes to expel this contemptable temptation.

Have you ever had someone, say, in church, or during a retreat, humbly wash your feet? Have you ever washed someone else’s feet? I have. It is humbling and a tad embarrassing on both sides of the equation. When I’m tired, fending off a headache or aching muscles, or just plain weary of the daily grind, the last thing I want is to serve another selflessly.

During some of those times, I rather be served or just left alone. Have you ever entered your kitchen only to find dirty dishes in the sink waiting to be washed? Enough said.

Christianity, and God’s overarching message of redemption, are messaged to the world by Jesus followers with servant’s hearts, approachable hearts, and humble hearts. People catch a glimpse of Jesus when the Christian refuses to run from service. Others are blessed when the Christian chooses to serve quietly, looking for no fanfare or limelight. Jesus came to serve. He always does. Let’s pray He would help us to do likewise today.

“For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake.”  (2Corinthians 4:5)