Treasured Truth

When you look at the storm you’re going through, then you’re ready to give up.  But when you look through the storm, you have resolve to go on.  And that’s what we need to do! We need that resolve to look through the storm, keep going, keep on pushing, and to keep on doing what God has called us to do.

Jesus said, “Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age…” So we can be sure that when God is silent, He’s working behind the scenes and doing things that we don’t even realize in order to get us to the place where He wants us to be.

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 on 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. Join us today to learn how we can be compassionate as we help other people.

In our study today, we’ll discover how 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.

Pastor Ford will prompt us today to think about why the problems in our lives seem so difficult.  Whatever the problems are, they’re difficult because they’re most likely still in our hands, not His hand.  Consider this—have you put your problems in His hand yet?

Today, Pastor Ford will remind us about how 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.