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Loving your Husband with God’s Love 

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It’s day 3 of the 40 Day Marriage Challenge here at Refocused Bible Study! 

L- Log the verse- ““Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.”

‭‭1 John‬ ‭4:7 ESV 

O- observations – You are so LOVED by the Father! This love is meant be be deeply experienced by having a personal and growing relationship with God. Then, we are to share this wellspring of unconditional love- the kind of love we receive from God- unselfish and pure- produced by His Holy Spirit in us – with others- starting with and in a special covenant way with our spouse. 

V- Verse’s implications for marriage – Be committed to experiencing God’s love for you. Bask in it. Don’t seek this kind of love from your husband. There are places in your heart that need God’s touch before you can offer an unselfish love to your husband. Know you are securely loved by God. Ask Him to pour an overflow of His agape love you receive from Him into your spouse daily. This supernatural one is rich in mercy, slow to anger, and forgiving as far as the east is to the west. 
E- End in prayer – Love Himself, our source of Love, the face of love, we praise you. Thank you for loving us first, changing us with your love, and giving us your love freely to give to others. Please forgive us for the times we haven’t loved our spouses with your love. We’ve held onto selfish things. We’ve put up walls. Soften our hearts to love our own husbands with abandonment to self, covered and secure in your love. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Question- How do you experience God’s love most fully? Corporate worship? Outside in nature? Alone with His Word? Prayer journaling? Comment below and commit doing that today so you have an overflow of His love to give your husband.


Victory over all hardships in marriage 

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It’s day two of the 40 Day Marriage Challenge here at Refocused Bible Study.


This whole chapter is so good! Especially v.31-39!


L – Log the verse – “No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.”

‭‭Romans‬ ‭8:37‬ ‭ESV 

O – Observations – “all these things” in the verses leading up to this one include: trouble, calamity, persecution, hunger, coldness, endangerment, and being threatened with death. These were serious troubles believers were facing. Paul was able to pen these words through the Holy Spirit because though these were real fears, Christ had already given them victory by conquering sin and death on the cross. 
V- Verse pertains to marriage – Jesus’ victory on the cross brings us victory in marriage. We face real troubles and stressors in marriage. (If you are in physical danger in your marriage please get to a safe place and seek professional help, but continue to seek Jesus’ help!) All issues are won on the cross. Jesus loves you and your spouse no matter what’s going on in your relationship and he is FOR you and your marriage. Believe he is allowing any trial to bring good and to strengthen your relationship to Him and your relationship with your husband. Today pray for one area in your marriage that is lacking. Trust God to bring victory in His power and timing. 
E- end in prayer- Inseparable Savior, thank you for victory in my marriage – over any opposing force in the spiritual or physical realm. Keep pushing back the darkness and bring victory in all areas of my marriage. For your glory, Amen. 
Give God glory below by sharing one way He’s answered a prayer in your marriage, and given you and your husband victory over an issue. ✨

Love Him when He doesn’t deserve it 

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It’s day one of the 40 Day Marriage Challenge here at Refocused Bible Study! I’m sharing my devotion pattern for this series below. I hope you’ll join us! 

L – log the verse- “but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

‭‭Romans‬ ‭5:8‬ ‭ESV‬‬
O- observations – God didn’t wait until I acted worthy of His love. He gave his most treasured person for me while I still went my own way. 
V – verse’s implications for marriage- Font wait until your spouse is worthy of love to demonstrate love for him. Give your very best love to him before you deem him deserving. You are following God’s unselfish pattern for covenant love when you decide to love him this way. 
E – end in prayer- Lord, I praise you for your unconditional love for me, and for all reading these words. Please help us love our spouses the way you’ve loved us; even if and when we don’t think they are worthy of it. Thank you for dying for us when we were still sinners. 

In Jesus’ name – Amen
Challenge of the day – ask God to search your heart and show you when you typically hold grudges against your husband (when he doesn’t help with chores, etc). Ask him to help you love him with His love at all times. 
What did the Lord speak to you through today’s devotion? Comment below! Pray for each other.

Changed by Love for Love  Marriage Challenge 

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My patience was spent by the time the drink hit the floor and spilled everywhere. Cleaning, packing, and traveling stress had gotten the best of me and left herself several miles back. Some choice words spewed out my mouth at my husband next and left a mess harder to clean up than the liquid on the tiles below us. 

Have you been there friends? Just stressed about everyday life and all of the sudden you become shocked at the monstrous villain voice barking at the love of your life? I think if we are honest, we’ve all had moments that are less than lovely in our love life. Sometimes we’re the one at fault, sometimes our spouse, and many times both parties need to apologize and seek forgiveness. 

For all of us, the good news is that the love of Jesus can transform our marriages. Even if you’re feeling like he’s the one who needs to apologize and the words “I’m sorry” are yet to be uttered, we can offer the forgiveness we’ve found in Christ. 

When we know Christ as our Savior, the unconditional love we’ve found in Him will constantly make our marriages better and better. 

It’s easy to just hit autopilot in marriage and let daily demands take precedence over the most important earthly relationship – with our husband. Kids, jobs, sports, bills, and chores are just a few important things that make life love take a backseat (and not in that way!) 

So, starting tomorrow, September 25th, for the next 40 days here at RefocusedBibleStudy.com, we are launching the Changed by Love for Love Challenge. 

This is NOT a list of “to do’s” for a better marriage. This devotion challenge is an opportunity to learn or reflect again on Christ’s love for you so you can love your spouse with more of His kind of love. 

Here’s the devotion plan:

Set a timer for 10 minutes. Write out the verse, your observations, how it could apply to your marriage, and then pray, asking God to help you love your spouse in a more Christlike way based on the verse. If you aren’t a journaler, still use the pattern to interact with the verse. 

Our mission here at Refocused is to encourage and equip women to engage in God’s Word in a personal way, and to know Jesus more intimately. I pray over the next 40 days, that will happen, along with Christ transforming the love you and your spouse share to become more like the unconditional love He lavishes on us. 

Here’s the first 10 days below; snapshot the screen and you’ll be all set! 


I’ll be blogging a few times a week here. Or, join our ladies’ Facebook group for daily discussion. 

I’d love to hear from you and encourage you on this journey. Let’s let His love continue to transform us and our marriages. 

Amy 

For the ones we left behind

Adoption

IMG_1457“I want you to pray to God and ask Him to let you be my mommy.”  The child clinging to me in the hot African sun looked up at me with the brownest set of puppy dog eyes you could imagine.

“I am sure God has good plans for you and He loves you very much.” I responded as I choked back tears at the irony of the moment. We had traveled around the world to welcome a child into our family who at the moment was so scared of us she played on the other side of the playground while this one begged me to adopt him.

But he persisted. “NO!”

He turned my face to look at those big brown eyes. “Ask HIM.” 

I was taken aback by his determination.

“I will.” I said.

And I did. When our family of four went back to the house we had rented, crawled under the mosquito net and closed our eyes, I asked him, just to make sure He got it right. (Do you ever do that too?) Sometimes it’s good to just confirm He knows what He’s doing, especially when you’re doing something huge like adopting a kid!

Alas, God showed within the next few days that our little girl, Sharon was definitely the match he made in heaven (and through our adoption agency)  to be the third child in our family, and that he would take care of his child who was begging me to be his mommy.

A few weeks later, Sharon and our family hugged and waved goodbye to the brown eyed boy as he held on to the hand of one of the aunties and hid his face. We were engulfed with the task before us, to give just one orphan a family and a home, and the next few months in Uganda, I would have to walk by needy child after needy child while holding on to the hand of just the one that we could help.

And believe me, just the one was a huge task for the moment. Adopting a kid is, like I said, kind of a big deal and the next few years were an awesome time but also an adjustment period in our family. We would talk about her friends at the orphanage but as days, months, and years (3 now) passed, we talked about them less and less, until we mostly just reminded her and our other two children about the fact that the kids at the orphanage were still eating rice and beans for dinner when they turned their noses up at my cooking.

In America, we get busy. Raising three kids, managing a home, homeschooling, (aye) pretty much takes up my time. But every once in a while, we get the opportunity to help the ones we had to leave behind.

This fall, we are teaming up with our adoption agency, Carolina Adoption Services, to help fundraise so they can keep connecting kids like Sharon with families like us. 

Kids like the big brown eyed one we had to leave behind with families. 

I was there.

I held him.

There are so, so many like him, in America and all over the world.

Waiting.

Wondering.

“Will I ever have a family?”

I know, you are like, seriously, Amy? My family doesn’t feel led to adopt, don’t guilt trip us.

And I hear you. Believe me, I am not encouraging everyone to adopt.

I am encouraging everyone to consider how they could help and to hear some of the beautiful ways God sets the lonely in families through adoption. (Psalm 68:6) He uses adoption agencies like Carolina Adoption Services to make this a reality.

If you live locally, (Greensboro, NC) we would love for you to come support this endeavor on one special night. Details are in the link below!

Click to access Get-Tickets-for-the-Blue-Jean-and-Pearls-Gala-October-28-2017.pdf