For You, Daughters of Zion from JESUS WITH LOVE.

" The Positive Approach"

If you want to strengthen your relationship with your husband, take the time to encourage him.  Be a support.  Help him carry his load.  He does need to learn to communicate more and to humble himself and ask for help, but your offering to help will be a start.

Encourage him for his strong points and try to overlook his faults.  If you have trouble recognizing his strengths, ask Me to point them out to you.  This positive approach will get far better results than nagging.  If you're seeking Me and asking Me to help you love him as I do, with My love, I will cause you to see his good points and not to focus on the faults that bother you.

You're a good team, but you'd be an even better team if you spent more time loving Me and each other.  You need to spend time together reading My word and talking about things I show you.  This will draw you closer to each other and help you grow in Me together.


" Through the ups and downs...."

 Every marriage is a work in progress.  Every marriage has its ups and downs, but it is through those ups and downs that marriages are strengthened.

The most important thing is that you're good friends.  Most marriages start in the heat of passion, but over time settle into the routine of day-to-day living.  This is the normal course of events, but it can come as a disappointment

Some people think their marriage is a failure or they've "lost" something just because the initial passion is gone, but that is not necessarily the case.  The problem is often that one or both mates have unrealistic expectations.  It is not wise to compare your marriage to how marriages are portrayed in movies, books or with anyone else's marriage either, for that matter.  
Just as every person created is unique, so is every marriage built.

The "style" of your love and relationship might change over the years, but real love will become even deeper and stronger through the difficulties you overcome together.

The Lord bless and keep your marriages now and always in Jesus name.

Shalom

Intimacy with God, Spending Quality time with Him.

  Heb 4:16, James 4:8a
 by Kemi O.

It is obvious that some people are closer to the Lord than others and its been like that since biblical times e.g Abraham, David, Moses etc.  You begin to wonder why does these ones seem to have a closer relationship with the Lord? or why is that they are hearing from God clearly, what is it that they are doing that I am not?
Is it that God has favorites? Is He a respecter of persons? The answer is No, because the scripture tells us that He is not a respecter of persons Rom 2:11 and we, not God determine our own level of intimacy with Him.  God is not going to force himself on us  but He has freely invited us into His presence  to fearlessly and boldly come unto the throne of grace that we may receive mercy for our failures and find grace to help in good times for every need. Heb 4:16 amplified.  This verse in scripture indicates that each one of us can be as close to God's throne of grace as we choose to be.
 In order to have a closer relationship with the Lord, we have to be willing to spend quality time with Him.   It also depends on how much time you are ready to commit to  pursuing a relationship with Him.  God does not ask for all our time, just a portion of it in which He can spend time guiding and directing us, revealing important things to us, enjoying our praises and worship etc.  I have found out from personal experience that the best time of the day to give to the Lord is early in the morning before my day begins.
I receive strength, guidance, refreshment from above that will carry me through the day and it always feels good.  The day I forget or postpone my quiet time with the Lord, I do not feel good at all, things just seem to be out of balance and I have to ask God for mercy by the end of the day. 

As christian women, especially we, mothers who are constantly busy with not just our careers but household chores, children's activities etc, our goal should be to have proper balance in order to live healty and fulfilling lives.  I know it appears almost impossible to juggle both our time with the Lord, family and career, church activities etc,  but the Lord has designed us ( body, spirit & soul) to accomodate all however, we need to ask Him for the strength to live balanced lives.

 I believe the whole issue of intimacy with God is a matter of how we chose to spend our time.   Look at the story of Mary and Martha, Luke 10:40-42.  Martha chose to spend her time by serving,  being burdened with the cooking, cleaning etc, while her sister, Mary chose to spend her time with Jesus learning more about the kingdom of God.  It is not that Martha's service to the Lord was not acceptable to Him, but at that point in time, it was not a priority to the Lord for He had preferred her to do the same as Mary. 

A lot of times, we argue that there is not just enough time in the day and so therefore it's not easy to commit to spending quality time with the Lord but yet, we take time to do other things that are important to us.  Women, we need to fight distractions that are around us on a  daily basis to protect our time with the Lord.  No matter how busy we get, we should always remember how important our God is, He has to take top priority in our lives for all that we have is from Him  and all that we are is because of Him.  The enemy knows that when we have an intimate relationship with our God, it makes us stronger believers and alert in the spirit and able to discern between good and evil, which makes us dangerous to the kingdom of darkness. As a result, satan tries to do everything in his power to distract us from spending quality time with the Lord.

In order to experience intimacy with God, we must be ready to give up time for Him, quality time.  A commitment to spend time with Him is as serious as any other commitment we could ever make in our lives.  The Lord reveals in Psalm 27:8 that  He is a vital necessity in our lives.   If we say we love the Lord with all our heart, then we should be eager to be in His presence as often as possible.  Matt 22:37

The quality of our lives as women is greatly affected by  the time we spend with God.  As a result of spending time in His presence, we become effective in our prayer lives and more knowledgeable of who He is, fruitful and productive in our homes, careers, ministries, etc.  Sisters, it is time to enjoy an intimate, loving relationship with our God. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Jam 4:8a

Let us come boldly into His presence for He is ready to spend as much time with us as we allow Him to and the Lord will help us by His Holy Spirit to achieve this in Jesus name.

Shalom!

Hope for the Lonely Woman

Bible Text: Jeremiah 29:11
by Joyce Meyer.


Many women in today's world are lonely.  Even those who have others around them often say they are lonely.  The death of a spouse or another closed loved one can leave you lonely and confused as well as feeling abandoned.  However, your circumstances don't have to be quite so severe to put you into the category of loneliness. 

Perhaps you have moved to a new neighborhood in a new city, and have begun attending a new church, or have just stated a new job, and you just don't seem to fit in yet.  I know what it's like to be lonely. 

For years the devil convinced me that no one liked me.  I believed that, and I received what I believed.  I did not like myself, and so I believed that no one else could like me either.  Learning to like myself and to pray for favor has changed my life, and it will change yours.  Social  "poverty" is not part of our heritage from the Lord. 

Beware of being passive.  Don't just wait for someone to fall into your life before you are willing to have fellowship.  Find someone who is lonelier than you and be a blessing to them.  Giving always brings joy into your life.  Be friendly and pleasant and you'll attract others who are also friendly and pleasant to be around.

Many women feel that life is more painful than they can bear.  If that is true of you, I encourage you to remember Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane.  John the Baptist, the closest person to Him, and the only one who really understood His ministry, had been violently murdered.  All of Jesus' friends had disappointed Him.  He had ministered to them for three years, and now He needed them to spend only one final hour with Him, and they hadn't been able to stay awake.

Luke 22:44 records that Jesus was under such intense pressure in His mind that His sweat became like great drops of blood.  I believe as you realize that Jesus does indeed know how you feel and has promised never to leave nor forsake you, that you will be strengthened to press on.

Things are always changing, and the way you feel right now will change with time.  Time has healing properties, and will eventually bring new direction to your life.  I also believe that lonely women can learn to enjoy being alone.

There is a major difference between being lonely and being alone.  There is also a difference in being alone and being bored.  There is no need for you to live a life of boredom.  There are far too many people who need help for anyone to be bored.  You may see yourself as a woman who can meet needs.  As you reach out to others, you will be sowing seed for your own loneliness to be overcome.

God has a good plan for your life.  " For I know the thoughts and plans that I have for you, says the Lord, thoughts and plans for welfare and peace and not for evil, to give you hope in your outcome"  ( Jer 29:11). Be encouraged by thsi scripture.  Also choose to take some God-inspired action now.  This can be a new beginning for you!