BEAUTY FOR ASHES –  HELP FOR A HURTING WIFE

DAY 10 – Love is… A Man Who Wipes Away Our Tears Even When We Left Him Hanging on the Cross for our Sins

JOHN 13 34&35 – A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.

 Ask God to Show You How Much You Are Loved

The Bible tells us that God’s love is as vast as the ocean.  Do you remember that little chorus “Wide, wide as the ocean” I used to sing this at Sunday School:

Wide, wide as the ocean, high as the Heaven above, deep, deep as the deepest sea is my Saviour’s love.  I, though so unworthy, still am a child of His care, For His Word teaches me that His love reaches me everywhere.

I love to stand on the sea shore and look across that wide expanse of water which goes on and on and on,  never ending.  This is what the love of God is like.

I believe we all need a revelation of this vast ocean of love our Father has for us.  Ask God to show you and help you understand how wide, how long, how high and how deep His love really is?  Then accept His love and become firmly rooted and securely grounded in it.

Are You Afraid of the Future?

I remember, just before my chemotherapy treatment began, even though I knew God was with me, I was still afraid of not knowing what lay ahead of me. It was the same with my marriage, I felt I was destined to live with an angry man the rest of my life and I was also afraid he would fall back into his old habits again. I had just read a chapter of Joseph Prince’s book “Destined to Reign” which spoke about how he had a revelation of just how much God loved him, and how his daughter was healed through this.  I prayed to God to show me just how much He loved me, because deep down I believed I wasn’t “good” enough or “holy” enough to receive healing or even the “impossible” transformation of my marriage. My self esteem was very low, mainly because of the rejection I had felt throughout my marriage. The next morning as I drove home after dropping my daughter off at pre-school, I felt God’s presence sweep through me. Tears began to flow down my cheeks, I wasn’t quite sure what was happening.

A Beautiful Face

I pulled up in front of my house and began to see a picture in my mind – I realised it was Jesus.  I saw His beautiful face, mostly His huge eyes filled with love and compassion. Then I saw His loving hands, and suddenly a Roman soldier, in contrast, with eyes full of hatred and venom towards Jesus as he viciously hammered a huge, square nail into my beautiful Saviour’s hand. Then I saw Jesus say to that very soldier, “I love you and I will always love you. I forgive you for what you are doing to me”. At that moment I had a revelation of just how much God loved me.  I felt His love sweep through me from the top of my head to the tips of my toes. I had never felt anything like this before, and when I got out of the car, I was transformed.  I was skipping for joy, thanking God for His love, thanking Him for loving me so much that He gave His only Son for me. That He loved me unconditionally. Even the fact that He had taken the time to reassure me really amazed me!

Perfect Love Casts Out All Fear

All my fears had gone. His love had cast out all fear of the future. “There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear”. 1 John 4 18.  I knew right then that even if I’d been the only person on earth, Jesus would still have given His life for me. Even if I’d hated Him, scorned and rejected Him, He still would have thought me worth giving His life for.  He loves you too, He knew you before you were born and has always loved you.  He has great plans for you and He loves you now and forever. He wants to help you and He wants to see your marriage transformed to better than it has ever been.

Love One Another

I also began to realise that I had to love others, even my enemies, because Jesus loved that Roman soldier, who so brutally nailed Him to the cross. We have to forgive those who have hurt us and also accept God’s forgiveness for ourselves.  God loves you perfectly, but no-one can force you to accept this love, you have to receive it yourself. God’s love will carry you through and you will have the victory when everything, even all hell, seems to be against you.  Allow God’s love to carry you through every storm, whether that be in your marriage, or something else, and to give you peace. God loves you through every trial and every mistake. Don’t allow the devil to convince you that you’re not good enough or not righteous enough.  God loved you yesterday, He loves you today and will love you tomorrow and forever.  It doesn’t matter what you’ve done or even what’s been done to you – what’s in the past stays in the past. You can have abundant life, but you have to receive it, God has a great future planned for you.

Jesus Is Crying Out to You Now

Jesus cries out in John 7:37, telling you what you need:

Jesus stood, He cried in a loud voice “If any man is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink!”

He has accomplished everything on the cross that you will ever need.  So go to Him and drink in His love, believe that it is for you. Allow Him to quench your thirst.  Receive what the Holy Spirit has for you IN FULL! Then spread that love and joy to others, including your husband! Do it in submission to the Lord.  He is your life, your breath, your fortress, your rock and He will keep you sane!  He’s everything that you will ever need!

Remember, the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead is alive inside YOU!  He can supernaturally put life back into your dead marriage, He can transform a love which is dead and He can bring it back to life.

Be Rooted in His Love

The Creator of the universe opens His arms wide to you, His little girl, He invites you to come to Him, just as you are and He longs for you to experience His love, during your time here on earth.

So this is my prayer for you, that:

“Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong”.  And that “you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep His love is”. Ephesians 3:17&18.

I pray that your Abba Father will reveal His love to you personally, today. He is waiting for you with arms wide open, run into His warm embrace.

Beauty for Ashes

Gen3x– Helping wives of men who are involved in sexual sin