WEEK 3 — Suffering, Healing & Presence
Dear Daughter,
Ask the furnace what it does to gold — it does not destroy it, it reveals it.
Whatever fire your marriage is walking through right now is not proof God left. It may be proof He is refining what remains.
Dross burns off. Gold stays.
'When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned' (Isa 43:2).
What is the fire revealing in you that comfort never could?
#DearDaughter #RefinedNotRuined #StrongMarriage
Dear Daughter,
Ask the furnace what it does to gold — it does not destroy it, it reveals it.
Whatever fire your marriage is walking through right now is not proof God left. It may be proof He is refining what remains.
Dross burns off. Gold stays.
'When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned' (Isa 43:2).
What is the fire revealing in you that comfort never could?
#DearDaughter #RefinedNotRuined #StrongMarriage
❤2
One of the clearest evidences that you love Christ...
Is how you treat people who can do absolutely nothing for you.
Is how you treat people who can do absolutely nothing for you.
🔥14❤1
Pray together, stay together! 🙏💞 Two voices lifted as one carry weight in heaven! Matt 18:19-20 ❤️
Will you pray together today? #StrongMarriage #August
Will you pray together today? #StrongMarriage #August
❤7
A husband's/father's daily home audit:
1. Is Christ honored here?
2. Is my wife cherished here?
3. Are my children discipled here?
4. Am I bringing peace or pressure here?
5. Is God's Word shaping this home?
6. Am I patient, gentle, and self-controlled?
7. Would my family describe me as joyful to be around?
8. Am I making disciples or merely paying bills?
9. If Christ inspected my leadership today, what would He commend?
10. Am I building a culture of constant prayer?
1. Is Christ honored here?
2. Is my wife cherished here?
3. Are my children discipled here?
4. Am I bringing peace or pressure here?
5. Is God's Word shaping this home?
6. Am I patient, gentle, and self-controlled?
7. Would my family describe me as joyful to be around?
8. Am I making disciples or merely paying bills?
9. If Christ inspected my leadership today, what would He commend?
10. Am I building a culture of constant prayer?
❤7
Men are not transformed by vibes, slogans, or motivational noise. They are transformed by the Spirit of God through the Word of God.
❤8
Believers, we must guard our minds from the corrupt ideas of this present age. The world constantly pushes lies about truth, morality, and God.
"Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind" (Rom. 12:2).
"Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind" (Rom. 12:2).
❤🔥8
“The Spirit says that in later times some will depart from the faith.” 1 Timothy 4:1
“Deconversions” confirm the faithfulness of God to his word.
So does the acceptance of prodigals.
“Thus says the Lord: ‘If you return, I will restore you.’” Jeremiah 15:19
“Deconversions” confirm the faithfulness of God to his word.
So does the acceptance of prodigals.
“Thus says the Lord: ‘If you return, I will restore you.’” Jeremiah 15:19
❤2
A healthy church is not defined by its band or its coffee. It is built on the faithful preaching of the biblical gospel.
🔥8
“While his son was still a long way off, the father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him.” Luke 15:20
He saw.
He felt.
He ran.
He embraced.
He kissed.
He saw.
He felt.
He ran.
He embraced.
He kissed.
❤6
Christian, your identity is no longer tied to your past mistakes or sin. You have been washed clean by the precious blood of the Lamb and adopted into the family of God!
❤5
August 19: The Cost of Comfort
#Devotional
Isaiah 39:1–40:31; Luke 14:1–35; Job 9:12–19
“ ‘[You all] comfort; comfort my people,’ says your God. ‘Speak to the heart of Jerusalem, and call to her, that her compulsory labor is fulfilled, that her sin is paid for, that she has received from the hand of Yahweh double for all her sins’ ” (Isa 40:1–2). God directed this command at the prophet and a group of people—possibly all those remaining in Israel. They were to speak comfort to the exiled Israelites, to call them home again.
Sometimes we feel the need for this kind of comfort. Like the prodigal son in the pig sty, we feel exiled and alone; we have paid our sentence, and we want to go home. We’re not even asking for joy—just comfort. Despite their sins, God responded to the Israelites. But God did not merely restore them to their former state. He sent the Suffering Servant, prophesied later in Isaiah (Isa 52:13–53:12), to die on behalf of the people, to pay for the sins that resulted in exile in the first place. God does this so that all our sins—past, present and future—might be paid once and for all.
But God requires much from those to whom much has been given, which is all of us. The great news of the Suffering Servant, Jesus, is not only that we find comfort and peace in Him, but also that we are empowered to act—free from sin. As Jesus’ disciples, we must live the way that He has called us to live, being willing to make the sacrifices that discipleship requires (e.g., Luke 14:25–35).
The grace we receive from God is free, but a great price was paid for it. We must live fully in it. We must embrace it with our entire being. For when we do, we become not just a comforted people, but a restored people, instruments of God’s work in the world.
What is God calling you to sacrifice? How can you take joy in the comfort He has brought you, and then show others that joy?
#Devotional
Isaiah 39:1–40:31; Luke 14:1–35; Job 9:12–19
“ ‘[You all] comfort; comfort my people,’ says your God. ‘Speak to the heart of Jerusalem, and call to her, that her compulsory labor is fulfilled, that her sin is paid for, that she has received from the hand of Yahweh double for all her sins’ ” (Isa 40:1–2). God directed this command at the prophet and a group of people—possibly all those remaining in Israel. They were to speak comfort to the exiled Israelites, to call them home again.
Sometimes we feel the need for this kind of comfort. Like the prodigal son in the pig sty, we feel exiled and alone; we have paid our sentence, and we want to go home. We’re not even asking for joy—just comfort. Despite their sins, God responded to the Israelites. But God did not merely restore them to their former state. He sent the Suffering Servant, prophesied later in Isaiah (Isa 52:13–53:12), to die on behalf of the people, to pay for the sins that resulted in exile in the first place. God does this so that all our sins—past, present and future—might be paid once and for all.
But God requires much from those to whom much has been given, which is all of us. The great news of the Suffering Servant, Jesus, is not only that we find comfort and peace in Him, but also that we are empowered to act—free from sin. As Jesus’ disciples, we must live the way that He has called us to live, being willing to make the sacrifices that discipleship requires (e.g., Luke 14:25–35).
The grace we receive from God is free, but a great price was paid for it. We must live fully in it. We must embrace it with our entire being. For when we do, we become not just a comforted people, but a restored people, instruments of God’s work in the world.
What is God calling you to sacrifice? How can you take joy in the comfort He has brought you, and then show others that joy?
August 19 - Marks of the True Believer
#LifeOfChrist
“‘They put new wine into fresh wineskins, and both are preserved’” (Matthew 9:17b).
Like new wine poured into fresh wineskins, everything stays spiritually fresh for the true believer. First, he or she leads a life of unquestioning obedience and follows the Lord without conditions or excuses. Not long before His ascension, Jesus told Peter, “‘Follow Me!’ Peter, turning around, saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them . . . So Peter seeing him said to Jesus, ‘Lord, and what about this man?’ Jesus said to him, ‘If I want him to remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow Me!’” (John 21:19–22). Christians don’t question Christ’s will or unwisely compare themselves to other believers.
Second, like Matthew who invited sinners to his house to see Jesus, true saints have compassion on the unsaved. They want to see them saved, even though at times that desire gets supplanted by selfish concerns. Because they know “the fear of the Lord, [they] persuade men” (2 Cor. 5:11). The love of Christ will prompt them to witness to others (v. 14).
Finally, if we are truly Christ’s children, we will not follow any sort of legalism or ritualism as the scribes and Pharisees did. We’ll realize soon enough that these are utterly incompatible with the new life in Jesus Christ. It should also be clear to us that what was begun in the Spirit cannot be finished in the flesh (Gal. 3:3). The new wine of salvation and sanctification has no place back in the old wineskins of our life before conversion.
Ask Yourself
Is your life devoid of some of these freedoms? Does your heart often—or perhaps incessantly—cause Christian faith to feel as though it’s just another burden or pressure rather than the pure expression of who you are? What’s standing between you and abundant life?
#LifeOfChrist
“‘They put new wine into fresh wineskins, and both are preserved’” (Matthew 9:17b).
Like new wine poured into fresh wineskins, everything stays spiritually fresh for the true believer. First, he or she leads a life of unquestioning obedience and follows the Lord without conditions or excuses. Not long before His ascension, Jesus told Peter, “‘Follow Me!’ Peter, turning around, saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them . . . So Peter seeing him said to Jesus, ‘Lord, and what about this man?’ Jesus said to him, ‘If I want him to remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow Me!’” (John 21:19–22). Christians don’t question Christ’s will or unwisely compare themselves to other believers.
Second, like Matthew who invited sinners to his house to see Jesus, true saints have compassion on the unsaved. They want to see them saved, even though at times that desire gets supplanted by selfish concerns. Because they know “the fear of the Lord, [they] persuade men” (2 Cor. 5:11). The love of Christ will prompt them to witness to others (v. 14).
Finally, if we are truly Christ’s children, we will not follow any sort of legalism or ritualism as the scribes and Pharisees did. We’ll realize soon enough that these are utterly incompatible with the new life in Jesus Christ. It should also be clear to us that what was begun in the Spirit cannot be finished in the flesh (Gal. 3:3). The new wine of salvation and sanctification has no place back in the old wineskins of our life before conversion.
Ask Yourself
Is your life devoid of some of these freedoms? Does your heart often—or perhaps incessantly—cause Christian faith to feel as though it’s just another burden or pressure rather than the pure expression of who you are? What’s standing between you and abundant life?
Every headline eventually becomes history. Every trend eventually dies. Every nation eventually changes.
But Christ still reigns.
Keep your eyes higher than today's news cycle.
But Christ still reigns.
Keep your eyes higher than today's news cycle.
If you found out that your pastor's sermon was AI-generated, how would you react?
❤2🙊2
Good morning and happy Saturday, brothers and sisters. This is your morning reminder to dig into Scripture. Sit at the feet of the Master. Hunger for the words and guidance of Christ.
Complaining about a silent God while our Bibles are closed is like complaining about not getting texts while your phones is turned off.
❤7
WEEK 3 — Suffering, Healing & Presence
Dear Daughter,
The man at Bethesda waited thirty-eight years by water that never healed him — until Presence walked by and asked one question.
Sometimes what your marriage needs isn't a method. It's an encounter.
Stop circling the same pool. Invite Him in.
'Do you want to be healed?' (John 5:6).
What healing have you been waiting on a method for, instead of a Person?
#DearDaughter #InvitePresence #StrongMarriage
Dear Daughter,
The man at Bethesda waited thirty-eight years by water that never healed him — until Presence walked by and asked one question.
Sometimes what your marriage needs isn't a method. It's an encounter.
Stop circling the same pool. Invite Him in.
'Do you want to be healed?' (John 5:6).
What healing have you been waiting on a method for, instead of a Person?
#DearDaughter #InvitePresence #StrongMarriage