Charlyne Cares Daily Devotional - Helping Stop Divorce God's Way

Do Not Forget God's Benefits!

"Praise the LORD, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion." Psalm 103:1-4

Do you know your benefits at where you work? That may sound like a strange question, but bear with me for just a few moments. I am sure you know your hourly rate or salary. Do you receive sick time, vacation time and holiday pay? Do you have health insurance or life insurance as a benefit? Due to the economy now, your employer may have had to reduce paying for all of your insurance benefits and now you may have to pay a certain percentage. Whenever an applicant goes in for an interview regarding a position that is open, they are waiting to hear all about the type of position that is available, the work that is involved, but at the end they are eagerly waiting to hear about the employer's benefits for the employee.

Do you know God's benefits as a child of God? Do you feel unloved and overwhelmed by all your circumstances, defeated and hopeless as a husband or wife and as a Christian? Today, I want to encourage you. If you are a child of God, you are loved by the Lord and His benefits are awesome! He is your Savior, your Healer, your Redeemer, your Deliverer, and the greatest Counselor you could ever know.

When you ask Jesus to come into your heart and life, He is giving you the benefit of eternal life. Have you made that decision in your life? Have you asked Jesus to forgive you of all your sins? Have you repented and are you choosing to live a Christ-like lifestyle,  growing in the Lord each and every day? When you receive the forgiveness of your sins, you receive the most important gift you can receive from God, your eternal life.

"When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death! But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 6:20-23

One of the main reasons that I started praying for Bob was for him to turn his life back to his Lord. I did not want Bob to suffer the consequences of living in sin, knowing on Judgement Day unless he repented he would have an eternal separation from God. I pray that the Holy Spirit has already revealed many different scriptures about the cost of disobedience and you have become burdened for your spouse, your children and loved ones who do not know the Lord Jesus Christ.

"I the LORD search the heart and examine the mind, to reward a man according to his conduct, according to what his deeds deserve." Jeremiah 17:10

Bob and I believe in marriage restoration. I believe the first step in rekindling and reigniting your love for each other is to ask the Lord to forgive you of your own sins of failure in your marriage. I thought I had none, and it was Bob's fault due to unfaithfulness, but the Lord opened my eyes to see the real truth. Then ask the Lord to give you agape, God's unconditional love for your beloved spouse regardless of what your spouse's present circumstances are. Then you must seek the Lord, read the Bible and grow in the Lord. Marriage restoration starts when one spouse will start praying for their husband or wife's hardened heart to be touched and softened so they will be able to hear the Lord's voice and see God's truth about sexual immorality and other sins that they may be battling.

I understand  you may say that you do not want your spouse home the way they are acting, living and speaking to you and to your children right now. We understand. Be sure to pray for a heart transformation. Remember, they are blinded and deceived by the enemy. What Bob and I are praying is that you will come to understand, believe and trust in your Heavenly Father for Him to touch and change your spouse's heart as your Lord has done for you and so many others. Prodigal spouses and children do come home every day around the world. People are delivered and set free from their sinful nature, adultery, abuse, pornography, alcohol or drugs. Nothing is too hard for your Lord.

"I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh. Then they will follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. They will be my people, and I will be their God." Ezekiel 11:19-20

Today may you never forget the benefit of your salvation with your Lord Jesus Christ who paid the price of shedding His Blood on the cross for all sinners, including your precious spouse.

"Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call." Acts 2:38-39

God bless,
Charlyne Steinkamp
Rejoice Marriage Ministries, Inc.
Post Office Box 10548
Pompano Beach, FL 33061 USA
http://rejoiceministries.org  (Ministry web site)
http://rejoiceministries.org/r.php?num=tizwl  (Bookstore)
http://rejoiceministries.org/r.php?num=1qrwh  (Radio 24/7)

Devotional Copyright© 2010 Rejoice Marriage Ministries, Inc.

Scripture quoted by permission and are from the Holy Bible; New International Version® Copyright© 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved.