Don’t Suffer in Silence

Posted on February 17, 2017 by Shirlee Abbott

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As Good as Church

Posted on February 16, 2017 by Shirlee Abbott

Ephesians 5:24
Now as the church submits to Christ,
so also wives should submit to their husbands

I sometimes say (sorta kinda halfway seriously) that I submit to my husband every bit as much as the church submits to Christ.

 

Truth be told, Lord, all too often I make it all about me . . . and all too often our congregation makes it all about us. Forgive me for trespassing on my husband’s space . . . and forgive our congregation for trespassing your space. 

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The Head and the Heart

Posted on February 15, 2017 by Shirlee Abbott

When it comes to a good marriage, who’s in charge?

Ephesians 5:23’s For the husband is the head stirs heated debate. No one is neutral.

I believe that God’s best plan is for the husband to the head of the home . . . and the wife, the heart. Two different, but equally essential, functions. Take the body–brain death or cardiac death, either way it’s dead.

 

May your marriage be alive and well, head and heart.

 

 

 

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Know This, It’s More than Sex

Posted on February 14, 2017 by Shirlee Abbott

When I was a child, the Bible was the good ol’ King James.

Genesis 4:1 (KJV)
And Adam knew Eve his wife;
and she conceived, and bare Cain.

I giggled at that word, knew. I figured that was the King’s polite way of saying, had sex with. “How old fashioned,” I thought.

How little I knew!

The Hebrew word used here is yada, “to know.” To be known. To show and to discover. To perceive, acknowledge, clearly understand.

The same word is used in this beautiful psalm.

Psalm 139: 4 (NIV)
Before a word is on my tongue
you, LORD, know it completely.

Know your spouse!

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The Best Thing for Your Marriage

Posted on February 13, 2017 by Shirlee Abbott

 

This is a good week to think about marriage. What makes for a good relationship?

 

 

  • Love
  • Courtesy
  • Humor
  • Commitment

You’ve probably heard this quote, attributed to John Wooden and a host of others:

“The best thing a father can do for his children
  is to love their mother.”

I know you’ve heard this one:

Matthew 22:37 (NIV)
Love the Lord your God with all your heart
and with all your soul and with all your mind.

What’s the best thing you can do for your marriage?

Love God. With all your heart.

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Quickest to Listen

Posted on February 10, 2017 by Shirlee Abbott

Psalms 139-4

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“Listen with the Ears of God”

Posted on February 9, 2017 by Shirlee Abbott

Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1945) called for radical obedience to Christ. A witness to his death in a Nazi prison camp wrote, “I have hardly ever seen a man die so entirely submissive to the will of God.”

Bonhoeffer knew how to listen.

Rock solid

 

“Christians have forgotten that the ministry of listening has been committed to them by Him who is Himself the great listener and whose work they should share. We should listen with the ears of God.”bless listening

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Quick to Yell, Slow to Hear

Posted on February 8, 2017 by Shirlee Abbott

blueprint

 

James 1:19 (NLT)
Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters: You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak.

 

As a nation, we have it all backwards. We are quick to speak and even quicker to judge. Everyone talks at once, and we can’t hear each other. So we yell louder. 

Not God’s way. 

And we wonder why things are such a mess.bless quiet

 

 

 

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Adjusting My Rabbit Ears

Posted on February 7, 2017 by Shirlee Abbott

Let’s talk rabbit ears. Not the furry bunny kind. The antenna kind.

You jiggle the rabbit ears to clear up the signal.

I have spiritual rabbit ears–I can adjust them to better hear God. And sometimes I fiddle with them to block God’s message. It’s the spiritual equivalent of fingers in my ears, “na-na-nah-na-nah.”

Architect

 

Me:   I can’t hear you, God.

God: Silly child, fix those rabbit ears.
           Now.

 

 

James 1:19
Be quick to listen.

bless listening

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Rabbit Ears

Posted on February 6, 2017 by Shirlee Abbott

thought

 

You remember the story of the tortoise and the hare. Bunny versus turtle. Quick versus slow. In what ways are you rabbit-like?

 

  • Quick to judge
  • Quick to speak
  • Quick with advice
  • Quick to listen

Quick to listen?

Listening is slow! There’s a lot of STOP in listening. STOP what you’re doing. STOP planning what you’re going to say next.

Listening seems all turtle, no bunny.

James 1:19 (NIV)
My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry.

Put on your rabbit ears.bless listening

 

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