Turning Point with David Jeremiah

[Judy Harder]

Tuesday, February 15

Cranberry Juice and a Good Marriage

Live joyfully with the wife whom you love....
Ecclesiastes 9:9

Recommended Reading
Psalm 127


A newspaper in Nova Scotia recently interviewed Mae Forbes, 100 years old, who has been a volunteer for the Bridgewater Hospital's auxiliary for 72 years. When asked the secret of her longevity, she replied, "I love cranberry juice." Then she added, "I had a happy marriage. I think that's the reason I feel so good. I had a lovely marriage." Mrs. Forbes met her husband when she was singing in the church choir. Stanley came into the service one day, and Mae spotted him. Nudging a girlfriend beside her, Mae whispered, "I'm going to get him." They were a happy couple for 64 years until Stanley's death.

Experts tell us that a good marriage can enhance our lives, and most studies report that married people live longer than non-married folks. There are various explanations for this, but undoubtedly our health is enhanced by the security of knowing we have someone with whom to share our lives.

The point is--if you're married, treasure your partner and value your home. And don't forget an occasional glass of cranberry juice.

Read-Thru-the-Bible
Numbers 15:1-16:50

[Judy Harder]

Wednesday, February 16

There's a Wedding in Your Future

Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready.
Revelation 19:7

Recommended Reading
Revelation 19:6-10


The average wedding costs $27,000, and some nuptials can gobble up hundreds of thousands of dollars. Some wedding dresses cost over $100,000, and the private jets to visit the designers are extra. Couples can easily blow a half-million on catering, especially if a famous chef is involved. Throw in a forty-piece orchestra, a private mansion, and over-the-top gift bags for the guests--and we're talking real money!

But there will never be a wedding to match the glory of the marriage of the Lamb. When the last saint has been transported to heaven and the total number of the redeemed are gathered around the throne, the church will be presented to Christ like a bride. Ephesians 5:27 says, "that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing..."

We spend months anticipating our wedding and when the day comes, we're filled with joy. As Christians our Groom is preparing for us, and our happiest moments are still ahead.

O, that the church would work a hundredfold more earnestly for the conversion of souls and the edifying of the body of Christ, that the bride might be complete, and thus hasten the coming of her Lord.
William E. Blackstone

Read-Thru-the-Bible
Numbers 17:1-20:29

[Judy Harder]

Thursday, February 17

Wedding Disasters

So it came to pass in the morning, that behold, it was Leah.
Genesis 29:25a

Recommended Reading
Matthew 22:1-14


The Today Show recently ran some stories about real-life wedding disasters, like the bride who was thrown from her carriage when the horse got spooked en route to the church. Another unfortunate bride swallowed her engagement ring. And don't forget the bride who got intoxicated at her wedding and was hauled off to jail.

But in the area of wedding disasters, nothing can top Jacob's disastrous experience in Genesis 29 when he woke up the next morning to learn he had married the wrong girl.

We can rest assured nothing will go wrong at the greatest of all weddings--the Marriage of the Lamb. It's been planned since eternity past. Jesus prayed, "Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me...for You loved Me before the foundation of the world" (John 17:24). We are chosen in Christ "before the foundation of the world" (Ephesians 1:4). Christ "was foreordained before the foundation of the world" for us (1 Peter 1:20).

Since the dawn of time, God has been preparing for our eternal future with Him. We have a glorious "wedding" to anticipate!

Read-Thru-the-Bible
Numbers 21:1-23:30

[Judy Harder]

Friday, February 18

Time and Place

I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, by the gazelles or by the does of the field, do not stir up nor awaken love until it pleases.
Song of Solomon 2:7

Recommended Reading
Ecclesiastes 3:1-8


A 2005 study by The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation on "U. S. Teen Sexual Activity" found 34 percent of young women become pregnant at least once before they reach the age of 20, and approximately four million teens contract a sexually transmitted disease each year.*

If the young wife of Solomon, King of Israel, were to comment on these statistics, she might say, "Too many young people are stirring up and awakening love before love is ready to be roused." And if Solomon himself were to chime in, he would probably say, "To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven--including sex!" Somewhere, the beautiful and intimate act of marital relations has been moved from the sanctity of the marriage bed to the common ways of our culture. And we are the worse for it. God is the author of marriage, romance, and parenthood--and all the acts pertaining thereto.

Whether you are pre-wedding or post-wedding, give fresh consideration to God's design for sexual relations--and His perfect time and place for everything.

Whereas the charge leveled at the Victorians was "love without sex," today it is "sex without love."
David Watson

*Source: kff.org/youthhivstds/upload/U-S-Teen-Sexual-Activity-Fact-Sheet.pdf (as of 10-12-10)

Read-Thru-the-Bible
Numbers 24:1-26:41

[Judy Harder]

Weekend, February 19 & 20

"I Love You"--The Surprise of God's Love

But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Romans 5:8

Recommended Reading
Romans 5:6-11


Jesus shocked His Jewish audience when He replaced the non-biblical idea of hating one's enemies with the New Testament idea of loving them (Matthew 5:43). The Jewish tradition of hating one's enemies had achieved Scripture-like status among the Jews--a status Jesus debunked.

The apostle Paul took that teaching a step further when he pointed out that it would be a rare occasion when someone might die for another person--even a righteous person (Romans 5:7), much less an enemy. Who would die for an enemy? God did, Paul said. God demonstrated His love for us--His enemies (Romans 5:10; Colossians 1:21)--by dying for us. So when God says, "I love you," He is saying He chose to love someone who, before being reconciled to Him through faith in Christ, was His enemy. What a shock to the world's system! The world thinks it's normal to love our friends but not to love (hate) our enemies. Yet God's love is counter cultural again.

God loves friends and enemies, as should we. If there is someone unlovely in your life today, surprise him with your love.

You never so touch the ocean of God's love as when you forgive and love your enemies.
Corrie ten Boom

Read-Thru-the-Bible
Numbers 26:42-31:54

 

[Judy Harder]

Monday, February 21

Making God in Man's Image

If anyone wills to do His will, he shall know concerning the doctrine, whether it is from God or whether I speak on My own authority.
John 7:17

Recommended Reading
John 8:42-47


An often-heard expression by those holding strong opinions about God (that are contrary to orthodox, historic, biblical teaching) is, "My God would never...(send anyone to hell, expect me to live a celibate lifestyle--and other opinions)." Whereas the Bible says God created man in His image, these people are creating God in their image.

Such opinions and declarations about God beg the question, "How do you know God wouldn't do such a thing?" Everyone has a right to his or her opinion about anything, but that doesn't make those opinions truth. Truth has to be anchored in something more dependable, trustworthy, and time-tested than an opinion. Thankfully, we have such a source from which to learn about God: the Word of God written (the Bible) and living (Jesus Christ). Jesus gave His stamp of authority to Scripture by affirming its teachings, and God affirmed Jesus by raising Him from the dead.

When opinions about God are being shared, it's always best to direct the discussion back to Scripture. If Scripture (rightly interpreted) says it, then that settles it. Anything else is just an opinion at best, speculation at worst. 

Read-Thru-the-Bible
Numbers 32:1-33:56

[Judy Harder]

Tuesday, February 22

Love Is Spelled T-i-m-e

By night on my bed I sought the one I love; I sought him, but I did not find him.
Song of Solomon 3:1

Recommended Reading
John 13:34-35


A couple decades ago, Christian publishers released waves of books on marriage, family, and childrearing from a biblical perspective. Many of them countered a popular cultural notion that championed quality of time over quantity of time in relationships. Not so, Christian authors said: Quantity of time spent in relationships is just as important as quality of time, if not more so. Love, some suggested, could be spelled t-i-m-e.

It won't come as a surprise to modern married couples that the first spat in the marriage of King Solomon and his Shulamite bride was over the issue of time. Shulamith expected Solomon home at a certain hour and he showed up in the middle of the night. And Shulamith was too offended to get up and let him in. They patched things up in due course, but the tension they experienced is a warning to anyone in any relationship: There is no substitute for time spent together. Whether in marriage, childrearing, a relationship with God, or just good friends, growth and intimacy grow over time.

Consider your relationships today: Are you giving the people you love the time they deserve?

We have been too busy chopping wood to take time out to sharpen the ax.
Vance Havner

Read-Thru-the-Bible
Numbers 34:1-36:13

[Judy Harder]

Wednesday, February 23

Time Together

Where has your beloved gone...? Where has your beloved turned aside...?
Song of Solomon 6:1

Recommended Reading
Song 6:1-3


Marriage counselors are alarmed about the scant amount of time husbands and wives spend with each other and their children during the course of the week. We're a distracted generation. In olden times, families spent vast chunks of time together in the farmhouse and around the barn and in the fields. Today the average family hardly has time to eat a hurried sandwich together, and that's often done in the car after we've zipped past a drive-in where someone tosses food to us through the window.

A team of counselors recently suggested that any marriage can be improved by committing to a 30/30 plan--spending thirty minutes together for thirty days. We have to be intentional about scheduling time to protect priceless moments with those most precious to us. Block in date nights, family times, camping trips, regular meals, getaway Weekends, and reading times with your youngsters at bedtime.

Even Solomon and Shulamith had trouble spending time with each other in Song of Solomon. The problem is as old as the Bible, but the answer is as modern as a good planning calendar.

Read-Thru-the-Bible
Deuteronomy 1:1-2:37

[Judy Harder]

Thursday, February 24

Rekindling Love

Let the husband render to his wife the affection due her, and likewise also the wife to her husband.
1 Corinthians 7:3

Recommended Reading
Ephesians 5:32-33


Psychologists tell us that many couples are so "in love" when they get married that they don't realize that the flush of emotions will die down like the flames in a fireplace, and that constant work is required to keep the blaze going. Some couples forget to tend the flames of romance. They get busy, distracted, and negligent of each other. The pressures of life fall over the fire like a wet blanket. Before you know it, all that's left are dying embers.

But dying embers when urgently and properly tended to can be rekindled into a blaze that yields both heat and light. Stop taking your spouse for granted. Make time for romance. Start "dating" again. Start holding hands again. Kiss in the kitchen. Hug. Affirm. Take time to talk over dinner. Plan a Weekend getaway without the kids.

Go, show your love to your wife again, or to your husband or children, or to the Lord. It often doesn't take much to rekindle the fire if the burning embers are still there.

Affection is the cement of a relationship.
Willard F. Harley, Jr.

Read-Thru-the-Bible
Deuteronomy 3:1-4:49

[Judy Harder]

Friday, February 25

The Right Road

Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love.
Revelation 2:4

Recommended Reading
2 Timothy 1:3-6


There is a principle in geography, relationships, and other endeavors that involve time and movement: The wrong road never turns into the right road. If you discover you are on the wrong road you must turn around and go back to where you made the wrong turn. Get off the wrong road, and get on the right road, and move forward from there. Even if we miss our objective by a millimeter, the distance between us and our goal only widens with time if we are on the wrong road.

When love for Christ grew cold in the church at Ephesus, Jesus himself told the church to "repent" and return to her first love. When young pastor Timothy grew fearful in exercising his gift of leadership, Paul told him to "stir up" the gift--fan it into flame again. And when Solomon and his wife hit a rough spot in their marriage, they rekindled their romance with a Weekend retreat to the countryside. The first step is acknowledgement: Things are different; the fire/romance/power/love is waning and weakening. We must get off this wrong road and return to the right road before we lose our way.

If you are losing sight of familiar benchmarks in any area of life, stop--go back to the landmarks you recognize, and go forward again.

Read-Thru-the-Bible
Deuteronomy 5:1-7:26