Married for a Purpose E-Book

Greg Gorman

• Herausgeber: BroadStreet Publishing Group, LLC
• Kategorie: Religion und Spiritualität
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2018

Seitenzahl: 112

Beschreibung

Problems divide. Purpose unites. Welcome God's purpose, together! Does the busyness of life choke your time for quality connection? Could you use some positive affirmation to cultivate transformation in a world filled with negativity? Do you aspire to live fully in God's purpose as a couple? In Married for a Purpose, Greg and Julie Gorman share 52 power-packed devotions, filled with encouragement, Scriptures, prayers, and practical next-step actions to help you live purpose focused, not problem focused in your marriage. Each week you'll uncover insights to create new habits of thought in your relationship, enriching your communication and unifying you physically, intellectually, emotionally, and spiritually. Welcome God's purpose for your marriage. Live the life God intended. He created you and your spouse to live Married for a Purpose!

Leseprobe

BroadStreet Publishing® Group, LLC

Racine, Wisconsin, USA

BroadStreetPublishing.com

MARRIED FOR A PURPOSE:

NEW HABITS OF THINKING FOR A HIGHER WAY OF LIVING

Copyright © 2018 Greg and Julie Gorman

ISBN-13: 978-1-4245-5632-8 (hardcover)

ISBN-13: 978-1-4245-5633-5 (e-book)

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Unless noted otherwise, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. Scripture quotations marked NKJV are taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked NLT are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, Copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188, USA. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked NASB are taken from the New American Standard Bible, ©Copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. Scripture quotations marked AMP are taken from the Amplified® Bible, Copyright © 2015 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. Scripture quotations marked BSB are taken from The Holy Bible, Berean Study Bible, Copyright © 2016 by Bible Hub. Used by Permission. All Rights Reserved Worldwide.

Cover by Jeremiah Yancy at jeremiahyancy.com

Interior by Katherine Lloyd at theDESKonline.com

Printed in China

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Table of Contents

Introduction

Concentrate Your Attention on God’s Intention

Make God Known

Bring God Pleasure

Demonstrate God’s Unconditional Love

Remember, Your Outcome Begins in Your Mind-set

Take Comfort … God Measures Success through Obedience

Improve Yourself … Not Your Spouse

Live Purpose-Focused

Believe the Best About Each Other

Inspire the Best

Surrender Your Rights for God’s Ultimate Purpose

Prefer Each Other’s Needs Over Your Own

Celebrate Your Differences

Tame Your Tongue

Practice Praise

Remember… You Find What You’re Looking For

When You Can’t Change How You Feel, Change the Way You Think

Remember Each Other’s Value

Surprise Your Spouse

Schedule Thoughtfulness

Date Your Spouse

Pursue Intimacy, Not Just Sex

Remember … Nothing Is Impossible with God

Trust God with Your Outcome

Live Like You Were Dying

Build on Common Ground

Establish Your Core Values

Envision Your Ideal Marriage and Live into It

Manage for What Is Most Important

Manage Against Things That Sabotage

Don’t Settle for What’s Good… Live for What’s Great

Determine Your Non-Negotiables

Don’t Live Resigned … Pursue God’s Design

Determine Small Measurable Steps

Sow Generously

Schedule Time for Reflection

Celebrate Your Progress

Enjoy Every Moment… Embrace the Process

Instead of Doing, Practice Being

Starve the Lies … Feed the Truth

Lift the Lid … Remember God’s Promise

Don’t Mistake God’s Silence as God’s Absence

Align Your Actions to Follow God’s Vision

Release the Outcome

Do the Unexpected

Manage for Margin

Replenish Together

Wait Patiently as You Seize Your Promise

Fight for (Not with) Your Spouse

Dare to Dream Together

Live Like a Tourist

Change Your How to Who

About the Authors

Introduction

Do you desire to connect and grow with your spouse? If so, we invite you to lean in and embrace each weekly devotional designed to help you create new habits of thinking to enjoy a higher way of living for your marriage.

As small business owners, certified life coaches, and most of all parents of two teenagers and a now twenty-something-year-old, like you, we understand the everyday challenges of life. When we first married, we allowed those challenges to divide us. We lived into our problems instead of God’s purpose. When we made a conscious decision to pursue God’s purpose for our marriage, it changed everything! In saying that, we also understand that living purpose-focused doesn’t just happen. It takes intentionality and discipline. Yet, discipline in and of itself isn’t enough; oneness in marriage takes inspired discipline. So rather than providing you with another have-to-do list, our hope is to provide you with insights that help you uncover God’s vision for your marriage, which in turn produces inspired discipline.

As you read through the following weekly devotionals, you’ll uncover ways to help you create new habits of thought in your relationship, thought-provoking questions to enrich your communication, along with a passage from God’s Word to nurture and welcome God’s specific purpose for your marriage. Take time to embrace each application and pray together. Our hope is to inspire you to live the life God intended.

He created you and your spouse to live Married for a Purpose!

CONCENTRATE YOUR Attention ON GOD’S Intention

Week 1

Concentrate Your Attention on God’s Intention

Ever get tired of to-do lists? If so, you’ll love this simple truth: God’s purpose for your marriage isn’t another thing you need to do; it’s a celebration of who you are. God created every one of us on purpose and for a purpose, and the same holds true for our marriages. But in order for us to live God’s purpose, we need to create godly habits that foster life and welcome His purpose into our everyday living.

Part of welcoming God’s purpose means that we stop focusing on our problems and concentrate our attention on God’s intention. We experience a higher way of living when we choose to look past our hardships and instead look forward and upward to live God’s design, a practice George Washington Carver embraced.

George Washington Carver, a man born into slavery, certainly faced a lot of hardships. But he didn’t allow those hardships to stop him from using his gifts as a botanist and inventor. Instead, Carver went into his private time of study and lifting a peanut toward heaven, prayed, “Lord, we have so many of these. Help me discover the purpose for this peanut.”

And guess what? God did.

God revealed three hundred purposes for the peanut. Wow. Think about it. If God can reveal three hundred purposes for something as seemingly insignificant as a peanut, surely He holds a purpose for your marriage.

This Week’s Scripture

For we are God’s masterpiece.

He has created us anew in Christ Jesus,

so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.

EPHESIANS 2:10 NLT

This Week’s Application

°Each day this week, read Ephesians 2:10 together.

°Discuss how it applies to you as a couple. Ask each another: What do we care about? Who do we care about? How can we use our gifts and talents together for God’s purpose?

°Pray and ask God to reveal His purpose for your marriage.

This Week’s Prayer

Father, reveal your purpose for our marriage. Show us how we can serve you and each other, right where we are, every day.

MAKE God KNOWN

Week 2

Make God Known

As a couple, the highest compliment we experience occurs when our children say, “We see Jesus in you.” Or, “I feel His love when I’m with you.” Wow. What a feeling.

As a spouse (or parent), one of the best ways to cultivate new habits of thinking so we experience a higher way of living is by daily asking, “How can we make God known (most naturally) in our home?” After all, the greatest opportunity to make God known begins within our family relationships.

True, God calls us to make Him known through our random acts of kindness, by extending encouragement or benevolence to outsiders, or even by offering gentle responses to people we encounter day to day. But those same habits of extending God’s love should first be extended to each other. We welcome a higher way of living for our marriage when we daily purpose to make God known in our words and actions to each other in the privacy of our own homes.

Can you imagine how much our relationships would thrive if we as a couple determined one way each day to concentrate on making Him known within the four walls of our home? Can you imagine how much we could impact our culture and future generations if every morning before our feet hit the floor, we invited God to reveal one way we could make Him known to our spouse and to our children?

This Week’s Scripture

“You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill

cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and

put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives

light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light

shine before others, that they may see your good deeds

and glorify your Father in heaven.”

MATTHEW 5:14–16

This Week’s Application

°Discuss how Matthew 5:14–16 applies to you as a couple.

°Discuss a few ways you can add value to each other and to your children this week. Then do it!

°When you wake up each morning this week, say a short prayer, asking the Lord how He wants you to make God known through your words and actions to each other and your children.

This Week’s Prayer

Father, remind us to make you known in the way we respond, in the actions we take, and in the way we treat each other. We want to live full-on into your purpose, in a way that pleases you both practically and spiritually.

BRING God PLEASURE

Week 3

Bring God Pleasure

Several years ago, our middle child struggled between two decisions. She vacillated and wondered in which activities she should participate. Heavy-hearted and shoulders slumped, she asked, “Which do you want me to do, cheerleading or dance?” Without hesitation, we responded, “Which would you enjoy the most?”

As you take steps toward living God’s purpose for your marriage, we encourage you to ask yourself the same question. Don’t overcomplicate your marriage purpose. When we align our passions with our service to God, it brings Him pleasure. Just as we desire our children to fully enjoy life, God desires for us to enjoy life to its fullest. Our joint passions combined with our spouse’s reveals His design and purpose for us as a couple. We bring Him pleasure when we use our gifts, talents, and passions to honor Him.

Eric Liddell, a famous Scottish athlete, understood this truth. In the movie Chariots of Fire, he was quoted as saying, “I believe God made me for a purpose, but he also made me fast! And when I run I feel His pleasure.”

Simplify your thoughts and center them on this central truth: God created you and your spouse to bring Him pleasure together. When you submit your gifts, talents, and passions back to Him for His use, you bring Him pleasure.

This Week’s Scripture

For from him and through him and for him are all things.

To him be the glory forever!

ROMANS 11:36

This Week’s Application

°Make a list of the things you love to do (each spouse should make his or her own list). Compare lists. What activities, interests, or passions do you have in common? What do you enjoy doing together?

°Make a list of the gifts and talents you recognize in your spouse. Share what you wrote with the other. Use statements like, “I love how you _____ because that’s a weakness of mine.” Or, “You are so amazing at _____.”

°Consider how you can combine your gifts to bring God pleasure in and through your marriage, and then pray together, asking God how you can use your gifts to bring Him pleasure.

This Week’s Prayer

Father, we want our marriage to bring you pleasure. Cause us to live our life for you by simply being who you already created us to be. Inspire us to recognize each other’s gifts and talents and to encourage each other in them. We desire to honor each other and bring you pleasure in the process.

DEMONSTRATE GOD’S Unconditional LOVE

Week 4

Demonstrate God’s Unconditional Love

Neither of us lived a squeaky-clean life. Even after our conversion, we made huge blunders. One time, in the midst of a really dark season, God showed up in a bar and lovingly impressed on me this single thought: There’s nowhere you can run that my grace won’t find you. Wow. Talk about unconditional love. God didn’t condemn or pay back what I deserved. He demonstrated forgiveness and stirred repentance through His unending grace and unconditional love.

When you think of unconditional love, what comes to mind? Do you immediately envision someone who loved and served you selflessly? Better yet, how has God revealed His absolute, unrestricted, and unmerited love toward you?

For years, we’ve centered on this central truth: God’s love is more tender than a mother’s, more faithful than a brother’s, and more intimate than a lover’s. Jesus overlooked all of our indifference and pride, and willingly offered up His life. He nailed the weight of our sin to its final death on the cross.