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For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. Romans 11:29 WEBI know a dad that once bought his son a car because he had taken a turn for the better. Not very long after this, his son got a DUI with the car and the dad took it back and sold it. I don't blame the dad and may have done the same, but often our gifts are more of a bonus or a reward than an actual gift.Many times when we give gifts...

Day 40 Love is a Covenant Where you go, I will go, and where you lodge, I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God, my God.  – Ruth 1:16   Congratulations. You’ve reached the end of the Love Dare – the book. But the experience and challenge of loving your mate is something that never comes to an end. It goes on for the rest of your life. This book may end...

Day 39 Love Endures Love never fails. – 1 Corinthians 13:8   Of all the things love dares to do, this the ultimate. Though threatened, it keeps pursuing. Though challenged, it keeps moving forward. Though mistreated and rejected, it refuses to give up. Love never fails. Many times when a marriage is in crisis, the spouse who is trying to make things work will go to the other, declaring...

Day 38 Love Fulfills Dreams Delight yourself in the Lord; and He will give you the desires of your heart.  – Psalm 37:4   What is something your spouse would really, really love?  And how often do you ask yourself that question? Common sense tells us we can’t give our wife or husband everything they might like.  Our budgets and account balances tell us...

Day 37 Love Agrees in Prayer If two of you agree on earth about anything that they may ask, it shall be done for them by May Father.  – Matthew 18:19   If someone told you that by changing one thing about your marriage, you could guarantee with near 100 percent assurance that your life together would significantly improve, you would at least want to know what it was. And for...

Day 36 Love is God's Word Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.  – Psalm 119:105   For some people, the Bible seems just too big to understand.  It’s like an impossible challenge.  They don’t know where or how to begin.  But as a Christian, you’re not left alone to try grasping the major themes and deep meanings of the Bible.  The...

Day 35 Love is Accountable Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed.  – Proverbs 15:22   Mighty sequoia trees tower hundreds of feet in the air and can withstand intense environmental pressures.  Lightning can strike them, fierce winds can blow, and forest fires can rage around them.  But the sequoia endures, standing firm, only...

Day 34 Love Celebrates Godliness [Love] does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth.  – 1 Corinthians 13:6   From the moment you close your Bible in the morning nearly everything else you’ll encounter throughout the day will be luring you away from its truths. The opinions of your coworkers, the news coverage on television, your typical Websites,...

Day 33 Love Completes Each Other If two lie down together they keep warm, but how can one be warm alone?  -- Ecclesiastes 4:11   God creates marriage by taking a man and a woman and uniting them as one. And although love must be willing to act alone if necessary, it is always better when it is not just a solo performance. Love can function on its own if there is no other way, but...

Day 32 Love Meets Sexual Needs The husband must fulfill his duty to his wife, and likewise also the wife to her husband. – 1 Corinthians 7:3   Some people think the Bible has nothing good to say about sex, as though all God seems concerned about is telling us when not to do it and who not `and the blessing it can be for both husband and wife. Even its boundaries and restrictions are God’s...

Day 31 Love and Marriage A man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh. – Genesis 2:24   This verse is God’s original blueprint for how marriage is supposed to work. It involves a tearing away and a knitting together. It reconfigures existing relationships while establishing a brand new one. Marriage changes everything.   That’s...

Day 30 Love Brings Unity Father, keep them in Your name, the name which You have given Me, that they may be one even as We are. – John 17:11   One of the most impressive things about the Bible is the way it linked together, with consistent themes running throughout, from beginning to end. Though written over a span of 1,600 years and composed by more than forty writers of various backgrounds...

Day 29 Love's Motivation Render service with a good attitude, as to the Lord and not to men.  – Ephesians 6:7 HCSB   It doesn’t take much experience to discover that your mate will not always motivate your love. In fact, many times they will de-motivate it. More often than you’d like, it will seem difficult to find the inspiration to demonstrated your love. They may not even...

Day 28 Love Makes Sacrifices He laid down His life for us.  We should also lay down our lives for our brothers. – 1 John 3:16 HCSB   Life can be hard. But what we usually mean is that our life can be hard. We’re the first to feel it when we’re the ones being mistreated or inconvenienced. We’re quick to sulk when we’re the ones who feel deprived or unappreciated. When...

Day 27 Love Encourages Guard my soul and deliver me; do not let me be ashamed, for I take refuge in You. – Psalm 25:20   Marriage has a way of altering our vision. We go in expecting our mate to fulfill our hopes and to make us happy. But this is an impossible order for our spouse to fill. Unrealistic expectations breed disappointment. The higher your expectations, the more likely your...

Day 26 Love is Responsible When you judge another, you condemn yourself, since you, the judge, do the same things.  – Romans 2:1 HCSB   Today will be hard. But as you seek God’s strength and wisdom, you will be able to get through it. This day could be a milestone in your marriage if you allow it to be. So resolve to focus on what the Lord may be saying to you, and purpose...

Day 25 Love Forgives What I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, I did it for your sakes in the presence of Christ. – 2 Corinthians 2:10   This one is tough – perhaps the toughest dare in the book.  But if there is to be any hope for your marriage, this is a challenge that must absolutely be taken seriously.  Counselors and ministers who deal with broken couples...

Day 24 Love vs. Lust The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever.  – 1 John 2:17   Adam and Eve were supplied with everything they needed in the Garden of Eden. They had fellowship with God and intimacy with one another. But after Eve was deceived by the serpent, she saw the forbidden fruit and set her heart on it. Before...

Day 23 Love Always Protects While we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. –Romans 5:6   Marriage is made up of many things, including joys, sorrows, successes, and failures. But when you think about what you want marriage to be like, the furthest thing from your mind is a battleground. However, there are some battles you should be more than willing to...

Day 22 Love is Faithful I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness.  Then you will know the Lord. – Hosea 2:20   As Christians, love is the basis of our whole identity. Our spiritual rebirth came about because “God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life” (John 3:16).   When asked to...

Day 21 Love is Satisfied in God The Lord will continually guide you, and satisfy your desire. – Isaiah 58:11   Day 20 was a vitally important day in the Love Dare – and in your life. You came face-to-face with the glaring need of every human heart. And perhaps for the very first time, you became aware of how personal this need really is. You may have realized that nothing in your toolbox...

Let us acknowledge Yahweh. Let us press on to know Yahweh. As surely as the sun rises, Yahweh will appear. He will come to us like the rain, Like the spring rain that waters the earth. Hosea 6:3 WEBDuring the long hot summer of the south, the fields can get so dry that the crops just sit dead. The one thing that they need to restore life and make everything right, is a good rain shower. Once the rain...

Isaiah 55:8-11 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the...

Psalm 103:12: As far as east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us.    One of the favorite activities in our household is to put a puzzle together. We spread out all the pieces on the dining room table and we scan the many shapes and colors to determine which pieces fit together. The key in putting together a puzzle with a lot of pieces is to look for the edge...

Ezekiel 3:1-3: And He said to me, son of man, eat what is before you, eat this scroll; then go and speak to the house of Israel. So I opened my mouth, and He gave me the scroll to eat. Then He said to me, Son of man, eat this scroll I am giving you and fill your stomach with it. So I ate it, and it tasted as sweet as honey in my mouth.  Jeremiah 15:16: When your words came, I ate them; they were...

Isaiah 28:16- This is what the Sovereign Lord says:  "See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation; the one who relies on it will never be stricken with panic.   Ephesians 2: 19-20: Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizenswith God’s people and also members of his household, built on the foundationof...

Jesus went about all the cities and the villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every disease and every sickness among the people. But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion for them, because they were harassed and scattered, like sheep without a shepherd. Matthew 9:35 WEBWhen Jesus saw the crowds, He had compassion on them for...

1st Corinthians 13:2: If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. We all have amazing talents and gifts, things that we are better at than others. We can find that something may start out like a passion that fuels us into action based on those talents. What this scripture is...

Jeremiah 49:12- This is what the Lord says; If those who do not deserve to drink the cup must drink it, why should you go unpunished? You will not go unpunished, but must drink it.  Luke 22:42- Saying, Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Yours be done. Matthew: 26:27- Then he took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, saying, Drink from it, all of...

Matthew 10:34-39: Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to turn a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law a man's enemies will be the members of his own household. Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son...