Treasured Truth

When they were wandering in the wilderness, the children of Israel took their eyes off the promise God had given them and put their eyes on the problems they had, and because of that, what happened to them?  All of that generation died in the wilderness.  Pastor Ford asks us today—how many of us are dying in the wilderness because we always focus on the problem and not the promise?

What’s the definition of compassion?  Pastor Ford defines it this way:  Your pain in my heart.  So, in order to be compassionate, we have to put other people’s pain in our heart.  Learn more about this topic on today's Treasured Truth.

In Psalm 55, King David is dealing with the emotional after effects of being betrayed. But Pastor Ford explains that David is wisely choosing not to let his feelings control his actions or will.  He will not allow how he feels to control what he does.

In our study today, we’ll discover that the Apostle Paul encourages us to react to people who have needs who can’t bear them by themselves.  But he doesn’t want us to relinquish them of responsibility that they can handle.  We need to strive to achieve a balance when we seek to help people.

Today, Pastor Ford will remind us scripture teaches us that if husbands don’t treat their wives right, then their prayers will be hindered. He will then also pose the question—if God feels that way about conflict in a marriage, what does He say about divorce?

Divorce is not just a modern day issue.  It was actually a problem that had to be addressed in the Old Testament.  As we continue to look at the book of Malachi, we’ll learn more what scripture says about divorce.

If you’re married and experiencing difficulty in your marriage, then you may be wondering if it would just be easier to be married to someone else. But Pastor Ford would suggest if the grass looks greener on the other side, then you just stay on your grass and start weeding it and watering it and fertilizing it.  And then you know what will happen?  Your grass will look as green as the grass on the other side.  In other words, marriages take work and care if they are going to succeeed.

We all know know that traditional marriage vows require a couple to promise, “until death do us part.” But Pastor Ford points out that is so often not the case in marriage today.  As we begin a study in Malachi about divorce, he’ll explain how God established marriage as a permanent institution, with principles that govern it.  And so, it’s just like anything else—if we honor the principles, the principles will honor us.

As we begin a new message from Psalm 55, Pastor Ford wants us to understand that pain can be useful in our lives.  He explains that we learn from this Psalm that pain helps us to be skillful in communicating to other people so they can learn from our pain, and hopefully in the process, avoid experiencing their own pain.

Unfortunately, sometimes there is misunderstanding that occurs in the church and in our interaction with each other as believers.  But, even when the messages haven’t been clear, haven’t been concise, or haven’t been communicated well, we have to leave that stuff behind us, grow from it, continue to go forward, and try as much as possible to make things better.