‘Yet I still belong to you; you hold my right hand. You guide me with your counsel, leading me to a glorious destiny. Whom have I in heaven but you? I desire you more than anything on earth. My health may fail, and my spirit may grow weak, but God remains the strength of my heart; he is mine forever.’ Psalms 73:23-26(NLT)
‘I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ and become one with him. I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ. For God’s way of making us right with himself depends on faith. I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead. I want to suffer with him, sharing in his death, so that one way or another I will experience the resurrection from the dead!
Pressing toward the Goal
I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.’ Philippians 3:7-14(NLT)
‘Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God’s right hand. Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth. For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God. And when Christ, who is your life, is revealed to the whole world, you will share in all his glory.’ Colossians 3:1-4(NLT)
As we begin to walk this out we must make sure that our focus and our foundation is in Christ. He must be your one and only, your sole priority. So let me ask, where is your focus? What fights for your attention or your heart’s affection? Is it work? Your marriage? Your children? Your social life? Your failure? Food? Alcohol? Self? What is it?
The bottom line is this. The Lord wants you, and He wants all of you. He wants all of you all of the time. So confess to Him each thing that fights to take His place in your heart. Ask Him to help you by grace to set your mind on Him and on things above. Ask Him to help you turn away from all that you want to control and anything that you treasure or desire above Him and turn towards Him instead. Delight yourself in the Lord. Repent from delighting in anything more than you delight in Him.
Confess your dependence on the comforts and pleasures of this world, the security of wealth, the affections of your spouse, the companionship of your children and friends, and the value of success to bring you peace, joy, and satisfaction. Confess treasuring other things and other people above Christ. Consider it all nothing, absolutely nothing, in light of knowing Christ and His presence and His power and His resurrection.
Then going forward each day, taking one day at a time, look to Christ and Christ alone. Look to Jesus and fix your eyes on Him. Set all of your hope on Him. Put your faith in His power to accomplish His work in your heart and in your marriage.
Praise Him for He alone is God with the Father and with the Spirit and He is worthy of all of our worship and all of our praise. He rules and reigns both in heaven and upon earth. Nothing and no one can prevent Him from doing His will. And nothing can separate us from His love.
from Dos And Don’ts: A One-Week Plan To Help Your Marriage