Marriage, Depression & New Year's Resolutions

It is that time of year, the time of year that depression sets in for many. Shorter days, colder weather, large credit card balances from Christmas spending and maybe failed expectations from your loved one this holiday season. Time to reflect on the year and maybe your relationship/marriage has soured or isn't what you had hoped it would be and you just been trying to get through the holidays.

Well, just so you know, the grass isn't always greener on the other side of the fence. It is always greener where it gets watered.

Contrary to what many people believe, there is no such thing as a Mr. or Mrs. Right for us. Want in on a divine secret?

God puts people in your life for a reason, it is up to you to make the relationship Holy or allow Satan to tear it apart.

In in his book "Laugh your way to a Better Marriage," author Mark Gungor says:

“The truth is, a successful marriage is not the result of marrying the “right” person, feeling the “right” emotions, thinking the “right” thoughts, or even praying the “right” prayers. It’s about doing the “right” things -- period."

Truth

Nothing in the bible tells us that God has a chosen one for us. Why? As Gungor says, "Because He knows that His principles of love, acceptance, patience, and forgiveness work, and they work all the time, every time — no matter to whom you are married.”

I wrote a blog in October titled "Important Questions Jesus Asked Himself" that goes into depth of these same principles.

Ever want to become a priest or nun and devote yourself to the Lord? Well, marriage is even a higher calling. Marriage is a Holy union between man and woman instituted by God, it provides the framework to add more children to God's Kingdom.

Marriage will test your faith and be a testament of your faith to make it work. Why? Because marriage forces you to become more selfless and Christlike on a daily basis--being single doesn't. Marriage forces you to grow up and to think less about self. To make a relationship work, you have to be less self-centered and more Christ-centered.

But today's world seems to cut-and-run in relationships when the going gets tough as Gungor says: “Then the unwise voices of modern convention scream in their minds: ‘If things are bad, you married the wrong person.’ ‘It’s not supposed to be this hard.’ ‘You’ve made a mistake.’ ‘God doesn’t want you to feel unloved.’"

But any relationship is hard work and God has to be the center of it. Perhaps this scripture tells it best:

• Proverbs 14:4: Where there are no oxen, the manger is empty, but from the strength of an ox comes an abundant harvest.

And where there are oxen, there will be ox poo.

As with anything in life, whether it be your job or marriage...

• Colossians 3:23-24: Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.

And marriage requires two people serving eachother for the Lord. I know that I want to be treated like a King. Not that type of King, like Christ who is the King. Wives, treat your husbands like Christ the King. Husbands treat your wives like Christ did the church.

Divorce - What did Jesus Say?

Mark 10:2-8: Some Pharisees came and tested him (Jesus) by asking, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?" "What did Moses command you?" Jesus replied. They said, "Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce and send her away."

"It was because your hearts were hard that Moses wrote you this law," Jesus replied. "But at the beginning of creation God made them male and female. For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh. So they are no longer two, but one."

Mark 10:9: "Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate."

"Let man not separate." This means: divisive friends or family, marriage counselors that don't view marriage as a sacrament, greedy attorneys and the hard-hearted prideful spouse.


Advice From Christ

Luke 21:34-36: "Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with dissipation, drunkenness and the anxieties of life, and that day will close on you unexpectedly like a trap. For it will come upon all those who live on the face of the whole earth. Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man."

Can't think of a New Year's Resolution for 2010?

How about living a more Holy life and being more Christlike to those around you.

And judging from divorce statistics, make a resolution to work harder in your relationship and be a better parent and spouse.

• John 13:34: "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another."
  
  

Its all Faith Plus Love. And when you have these, you have Hope.

A video I recommend, click HERE

Peace be with you,

© Michael J. Cox

Is there going to be a Christmas this year?

Is there really going to be a Christmas this year? Will the real spirit of Christ be present this December 25th or will many celebrate a commercialized holiday "of the world"?

Will you celebrate the birth of our savior or will many continue to celebrate a false god of worldy things--materialistic goods that bring short-term happiness?

Remember what Christ said in John 6:48:

"I am the bread of life."

We are all hungry. We all hunger for love, peace and happiness in our lives. Christ feeds this hunger and he truly is the bread of life.

Christ was born in Bethlehem. Bethlehem in Hebrew means "House of Bread."

In John 6:51 Christ says: "I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world."

Is there any coincidence that the Christ child was first laid in a manger, a feeding trough?

In John 6:53-58, Christ goes on to say:

"I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him. Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your forefathers ate manna and died, but he who feeds on this bread will live forever."

But many did not believe Christ then or today...

John 6:60: On hearing it, many of his disciples said, "This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?"

John 6:61: Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them: "Does this offend you?

Knowing that he was still alive and in the flesh, Jesus sets the table for Holy Communion later and "Do This In Remembrance of Me" on the night of the Last Supper when he says:

John 6:62:

"What if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before!"

In John 6:643-65, Christ goes on to say: "The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life. Yet there are some of you who do not believe." For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him. He went on to say, "This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled him."

Sadly,

John 6:66: From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.

John 6:67:

"You do not want to leave too, do you?" Jesus asked the Twelve.

Have you turned your back on Christ or strayed away from him?

The Humble King

Christ was born in the humble setting of a stable, not a royal, lush palace of your typical king. He said came to serve--not to be served.

• Mark 10:45: "For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."
  

He taught us to put others first and ourselves last.

• Mark 9:35 Christ said: "If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and a servant of all"

He taught us not to value material possessions.

• Luke 12:15: Then he said to them, "Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions."
  

Will the real spirit of Christ be in you this Christmas?

Will your heart be filled with Christ's love, humility and forgiveness?

That is how you can truly celebrate Christmas. For Christ to be alive in your heart so that he was not born and did not die in vain.

Have a very Merry Christmas!

Lets remember the greatest gift of all.

A recommended video to watch, click HERE

Peace be with you,

© Michael J. Cox