I was thinking … Psalm 150 is a wonderful finish to the Psalms. It behooves me as a bride to praise my Savior who says He will surround me with His loving arms and be my strength and refuge and always with me. See more about the passion and dynamic energy in this Psalm 150 @ Brides. It grieves me deeply to hear marriages falling into the worlds ways daily. Divorce should never be in the vocabulary of a Christian married couple. Ideas and ideals are powerful forces. Vows help define what the marriage commitment is. Embracing the worlds view on marriage can turn our thinking into a deeply hostile attitude toward our vows. God has an ideal for our marriages. We have ideas. It is good for a couple to view video or photo album together of their wedding day. Praise our wonderful awesome God who created marriage and said it is good. He was a witness at our wedding. I was thinking how serious this is. See more in Psalm 150 What do you think?

I was thinking …  When my marriage demonstrates that I love and serve the Lord, it is a new song to a miserable unhappy world. As a Christian wife, I am to demonstrate in my marriage a God like composure. If my marriage cannot demonstrate a life surrendered to God, then I best say little of God’s love to others. I take marriage seriously. Our skeptical world watches and waits for me as a bride to stumble. And I will. But what do I do when I stumble? How do I respond? I often think of Habakkuk, in a time when he was in a place of seemingly a right to be discouraged; there was no food in the bend and no cattle on the hill and no fruit on the tree, yet he said with confidence, “The Lord God is my Strength, my personal bravery, and my invincible army; He makes my feet like hinds’ feet and will make me to walk not to stand still in terror, but to walk and make spiritual progress upon my high places of trouble, suffering, or responsibility! I was thinking that we have much to praise Him for. See more in Psalm 149 @ Brides

Psalm 150: 6 (NAS) Ideas and Ideals

Let everything that has breath praise the LORD. Praise the LORD!

Wow! What a wonderful finish to the Psalms. It behooves a bride to praise the Savior who says He will surround her with His loving arms and be her strength and refuge and always with her. This Psalm is the final great hallelujah. It is full of life, passion, and dynamic energy.

“Give praised to God who reigns above for perfect knowledge, wisdom, love. His judgments are divine, devout, His paths beyond all tracing out. Come, lift your voice to heaven’s throne, and glory give to God alone!” James Montgomery Boice.

Divorce should never be in the vocabulary of a Christian married couple. Ideas and ideals are powerful forces. Just the use of the word, causes negative thinking. Sociologists know this, and so do ordinary people who struggle with questions about whether and how much their marriage vows ought to constrain their behavior. Vows help define what the marriage commitment is. Embracing the worlds view on marriage can turn our thinking into a deeply hostile attitude toward our vows.

It is a sweet reminder for the couple to view their video of their ceremony at least every year, perhaps a tradition on the anniversary date. If there was no video, then sit down and look at the photo album together and remember… Marriage must remain a strong goal. Divorce is never an option. Hence the word never mentioned. Praise our wonderful awesome God who created marriage and said it is good. He was a witness at our wedding.

Listen to me, Lord…and hold me warm and forgive me. Soften my experiences into wisdom…my longing into trust, and soften me into love. Ted Loder

I ask myself:

1. How often do I reflect on my marriage vows? Can I find the photos of that day? Can I remember the people in attendance? I do and I can.
2. Do I praise God often enough for the marriage He created for us? I will.

Marriage is “Joy unspeakable and full of glory.”

Nahum 1:7 God is good.

Psalm 149: 1 (NAS) Sing a New song

Praise the LORD! Sing to the LORD a new song, and His praise in the congregation of the godly ones.

A new song! A marriage that demonstrates the couple loves and serves the Lord is a new song to a miserable unhappy world. That must be what it means when a marriage is a picture of God and the church. Even in the face of life-threatening peril, the Christian marriage is to demonstrate a God like composure. What joy! What blessing! What a glorious new song.

Mathew Henry said,”Be not afraid of saying too much in the praises of God; all the danger is of saying too little.”

If our marriage cannot demonstrate lives surrendered to God, then we best say little of God’s love to others. Only when a marriage is God centered can a couple dare to declare God’s praise working in them. Even then our skeptical world watches and waits for the couple to stumble. And they will. It is what they do with it that shows God’s strength and blessing and we can say like Habakkuk, the Lord God is my Strength, my personal bravery, and my invincible army; He makes my feet like hinds’ feet and will make me to walk not to stand still in terror, but to walk and make spiritual progress upon my high places of trouble, suffering, or responsibility! We have much to praise Him for.

I ask myself:

1. Are there times I fail to praise God in life-threatening peril?
2. Does my fitting as a bride demonstrate to my neighbors what I profess with my lips?
3. How can I more effectively praise God in all my ways? I so desire to.

Marriage is “Joy unspeakable and full of glory.”

Nahum 1:7 God is good!

I was thinking … Does it seem we women have more than the usual longings? What is a longing anyway? Webster says that it is a strong desire especially for something unattainable. Oh such a longing to have what is not attainable. How sad and yet how real. I know so many young women who are in relationships of years and marriage doesn’t seem attainable for years to come due to very legitimate reasons on his part. We all know young women who have given a guy years of companionship (and some more intimate interaction) and after years of giving, he just doesn’t want to marry. What is it with these guys? Actually what is it with these women? Women forget we have a great deal of power in a relationship. It grieves me to see many wasted years when the end result they are wanting isn’t attainable. I know they don’t all turn out that way. If the young woman wants to stay and wait, then she needs to be quiet and enjoy what she has at this time. She needs to stop nagging – which turns him away. She needs to become the Proverbs 31 woman finding her complete joy and fulfillment in the Lord. If we don’t have our joy in the Lord, nothing we want will ever make us happy. That is another subject. I think I think too much. I love marriage, I do remember the ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh days of flutter and desire and longings (I still have  them). I am just  concern for the young woman who doesn’t see reality. What do you think? Can you encourage these young women? See more about longings in Brides Psalm 148.

Psalm 148: 12,13a (NAS) Longings

Both young men and virgins; Old men and children: Let them praise the name of Jehovah;

Redeemed brides are to praise God for who He is, for His character, for His attributes, for the glory of His being, for the glory of His name. All is exalted and above the heaven and earth.

Charles Haddon Spurgeon said, “When God is praised, we have come to the ultimatum. This is the thing for which all other things are designed.”

A marriage is to glorify God and bring praise upon His name. Brides are God’s daughters first and are to praise Him through their marriage and are to first love the Lord, God with all their heart, mind, soul and strength (Mark 12:30).

“With all thy heart” – with its longings, with its affections, with its attachments, with all its desires. “With all thy soul” – with its vital powers, and the will as a royal master in the soul. “With all thy mind” – its faculties of thought of knowledge, of reasoning, and its powers of memory and imagination. “With all thy strength” – this is nothing less than the sacrifice of everything, and the putting forth of our utmost endeavors. All for God, for God alone, and our one desire must be to love and serve Him perfectly. Andrew Murray from God’s Best Secrets.

If as a bride, we are loving God as described above, how blessed our marriage would be. A bride can bring her longings to God and know that He will meet each one in His perfect way, in His perfect timing, and for His perfect will.

I ask myself:

1. Am I willing to make a list of my longings and give them to God?
2. Do I allow self to stand between me and obedience to His way?
3. Do I expect my human husband to meet the needs that can only be met by God?

Marriage is “Joy unspeakable and full of glory.”

Nahum 1:7 God is good!

I was thinking … If we brides could just remember that distance creates distance in our marriage, we might be willing to go beyond the normal “rights” attitude and be willing to do what ever it took to bring harmony back into our marriage. When did it leave? Where did it go? What happened? We can begin by praising and thanking God for bringing this awareness to our minds and ask Him to help us to do our part instead of waiting for him to do his (what ever that is). Begin by thanking God for the  little things. Do you have Salvation? Thank Him. Do you have a roof over your head? Thank Him. Do you have food to serve for dinner? Thank Him. Do you have feet that work? Thank Him. It is the seemingly little things in life that cause the big turn a rounds. I was thinking … Who creates distance? Just think, only one can make a difference. Oh the joys of marriage which get lost in the confusion of wanting our own way. Sadness for sure. Who cares? Do you? Why? Who is in the front lead in the picture? Interesting. I was just thinking … See more in Brides Psalm 147.

Psalm 147: 1 (NAS) Praise

Praise ye Jehovah; For it is good to sing praises unto our God; For it is pleasant, and praise is comely.

“In public worship all should join. The little strings go to make up a concert, as well as the great.” Thomas Goodwin

We brides can praise God for His abundant goodness. It is good to sing praises to Him. It is pleasurable and appropriate. There are many ways we can praise Him and be an example to our society. One of the ways we as brides can praise His abundant goodness is through our marriage.

Knowing that distance creates distance in our marriage, we can begin our praise by thanking God for our husband’s safe return each evening. We can create closeness in our marriage by:

1. Spoiling him. Brides are the only one who knows what their man likes. His favorite gum, candy, or beverage. The way he takes his coffee. Make his life lighter.

2. Giving appreciation. He needs honest appreciation. He wants it from his wife first. Simple thank-you’s mean so much.

3. Willing to apologize. When we have responded wrongly, be willing to apologize. Leave out the, “I’m sorry’s.” Stick to, “I was wrong (the way I responded – tone of voice), will you forgive me.”

4. Planning a treat away. Surprise him with an away night, or picnic on a blanket at the park, a drive to the beach and sit on a bench, and shower him with affection.

5. Learning to laugh. Be quick to find humor in almost anything. Show him laughter.

I ask myself:

1. Am I willing to greet him with his favorite ice-tea drink?
2. Do I allow distance to create distance? May it never be.
3. Can I be creative? Can I learn to laugh? I hope so.

Marriage is “Joy unspeakable and full of glory.”

Nahum 1:7 God is good!

I was thinking … When things seems to be going all wrong, how wise I would be if I would stop and remember I trust the Lord for His guidance and help. He wants me to calmly bring everything to Him. I can stew in my anger, or I can turn it around and praise Him for what He is going to do in this situation. Many brides live daily with an angry attitude. Or they live with an angry man and are challenged to adjust. Therefore the practice of praising God gets forgotten.

Interesting studies reveal that a few key-connections to anger are 1) Time pressures, 2) Economic hardship, and 3) Interpersonal conflict. I want to take time to reconnect with my sweetheart no matter how pressured the time schedule is. I want to talk about the changes in our economic condition and give input that can help solve the problem not allow it to destroy our relationship. And I want to reach out and be creative in renewing my love for him.

What about you? How do you avoid the trap of these three evils abounding in our world? See more in Brides.

Psalm 146: 1 (NAS) Praise

Praise the LORD!  Praise the LORD, O my soul!

Charles Haddon Spurgeon said, “Praise is the rehearsal of our eternal song.”

The greatest thing in the entire world that will help a bride is to intently praise God. Whatever is going on in her life, she will advance quicker when she chooses to praise God.

Many brides live daily with an angry attitude. Or they live with an angry man and are challenged to adjust. Therefore praising her Lord and Savior gets forgotten.

Interesting studies reveal that a few key-connections to anger are 1) Time pressures, 2) Economic hardship, and 3) Interpersonal conflict.

Anger can crush a relationship in marriage. Couples need to 1) find time in busy schedules to be alone and reconnect with each other, 2) talk about how to energize their relationship, create a plan together, and be committed to it, and 3) recognize that when both have outside-the-marriage-interpersonal conflicts it creates tension in their already-tired bodies that return together to “live happily ever after” in the evening.

Praising God is a blessing to be encountered as we in obedience follow the Lord in Praise. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord, O my soul. The Lord wants us to stop and remember our trust is in Him. When things seems to be going wrong, He wants us to bring these matters to Him and leave them in His capable Hands. Brides are to be thankful, trusting, and resting in His sovereign control. Praise His wonderful name.

“The most holy service that we can render to God is to be employed in praising His name.” John Calvin

I ask myself:

1. When has anger caused me to forget to praise God?
2. Do I recognize the circumstances that perpetuate anger in my marriage?
3. Am I willing to chose to praise God in the midst of trial? I hope so.

Marriage is “Joy unspeakable and full of glory.”

Nahum 1:7 God is good!