25 Encouraging Bible Verses for Newlyweds

Posted on August 4, 2014 by Lynn

Pair_of_White_Doves_Symbolize_LoveJune is generally considered the “wedding month”.  My husband and I were married on June 2 and my oldest daughter on June 18.  I suppose it doesn’t matter what month a young couple weds, the day is not as important as the years that follow.  A wedding day is one thing, a life-long commitment in marriage is what is truly important.  Here are some scripture verses that I hope all young couples will ponder upon in the weeks, months and year ahead as newlyweds.

Genesis 2:22-24  “Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.  The man said, “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called ‘woman,’ for she was taken out of man.”  That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh.”

Matthew 19:4-6  “Haven’t you read,” he replied, “that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’ and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’?  So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”

Song of Songs 2:8-13  “Listen! My beloved!  Look! Here he comes, leaping across the mountains, bounding over the hills.  My beloved is like a gazelle or a young stag.  Look! There he stands behind our wall, gazing through the windows, peering through the lattice.  My beloved spoke and said to me, “Arise, my darling, my beautiful one, come with me.  See! The winter is past; the rains are over and gone.  Flowers appear on the earth; the season of singing has come, the cooing of doves is heard in our land.  The fig tree forms its early fruit; the blossoming vines spread their fragrance.  Arise, come, my darling; my beautiful one, come with me.”

Proverbs 5:18-19  “May your fountain be blessed, and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth.   A loving doe, a graceful deer— may her breasts satisfy you always, may you ever be intoxicated with her love.”

1 Corinthians 7: 4  “The wife does not have authority over her own body but yields it to her husband. In the same way, the husband does not have authority over his own body but yields it to his wife.”

Proverbs 12:4  “A wife of noble character is her husband’s crown, but a disgraceful wife is like decay in his bones.”

Proverbs 18:22  “He who finds a wife finds what is good and receives favor from the Lord.”

Proverbs 19:14  “Houses and wealth are inherited from parents, but a prudent wife is from the Lord.”

Proverbs 31:10  “A wife of noble character who can find?  She is worth far more than rubies.”

Colossians 3:18-19  “Wives, submit yourselves to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.  Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them.”

Ephesians 5:22-23  “Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior.”

Hebrews 13:4  “Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral.”

Malachi 2:14-15  “You ask, “Why?” It is because the Lord is the witness between you and the wife of your youth. You have been unfaithful to her, though she is your partner, the wife of your marriage covenant.  Has not the one God made you? You belong to him in body and spirit. And what does the one God seek? Godly offspring.  So be on your guard, and do not be unfaithful to the wife of your youth.”

Romans 12:17  “Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone.”

Ephesians 4:1-3  “As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.  Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.”

Ephesians 4:31-32  “Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice.  Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.”

Philippians 1:9-10  “And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight,  so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ,”

1 Peter 1:22  “Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for each other, love one another deeply, from the heart.”

1 Peter 3:7  “Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers.”

Ecclesiastes 4:9-12  “Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor: If either of them falls down, one can help the other up.  But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up.   Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm.  But how can one keep warm alone?  Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves.  A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.”

Philippians 2:2  “ then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind.”

Hebrews 10:24-25  “And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”

1 Peter 4:8  “Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.”

1 John 3:16  “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.”

1 Corinthians 13:4-13  “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.  Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.  It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.   Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.  For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears.  When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me.  For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.  And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.”

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™

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Teachers Who Inspire

Posted on July 31, 2014 by Lynn

inspiring-teacher-quoteI’m doing what I have always wanted to do…teach.  I have taught all grade levels from preschool to grade twelve and my journey in the classroom began way back in 1977 as a student teacher.  I can remember my practicums vividly, especially one group of grade three students who decided to sit like “Mork from Ork” in their desks, heads down on the chairs, knees on the desk tops, bottoms pointing towards me.  When I entered the classroom that morning and saw that, all I could do was sit at my desk and laugh until the tears streamed down my face!  If cell phones had been invented then I would have hastily grabbed my iPhone and posted the picture on Facebook.  I’ll bet I would have gotten a million likes!

There was also the practicum from H.E… double hockey sticks!  A teaching nightmare that almost caused me to have a nervous breakdown.  It wasn’t the fault of the students per se, but a tyrannical mentor teacher, who hated the idea of someone usurping her role (even slightly) in the classroom.  It is interesting that out of nearly one hundred and fifty student teachers that started that year with me from the University of Victoria, only fifty came back to continue in the education faculty the following year.  Practicums had a way of weeding out those who could not “cut it” in front of the classroom.

But my journey with teaching did not start after high school, but long, long before then when I was a student.  I am indeed blessed that in my lifetime, I was fortunate enough to learn the art of teaching from master-teachers!  Memorable, caring individuals who filled my head with knowledge, built on the foundation of my dreams, and encouraged me to ask questions, explore and search for answers.  Mrs. Lees in grade four, Mrs. Peterson in grade five, Mr. Songhurst and Mr. Hopwood (Gr. 6 and 7) and then in high school: Mr. Parslow, Mr. Snider, Mrs. Lidster, Mrs. Oke and Mr. Sankey (my high school principal).  However, the most sparkling gem of them all was Mr. Tom Scrase…oh, how I loved every minute spent in his classroom!  He made history come alive for me, and challenged his students to do the unheard of…write a hundred page “Depth Study” as he called it, on a World War 1 or 2 event.  We didn’t work in partners either!  I remember I spent months researching and collecting pictures and reading book after book on the Holocaust.  (This was before the internet people!  It meant going to the library and digging through books, newspapers, magazines and microfilm and collecting data that way.  Also no computers or typewriters to use to write my report.  It was all hand written!)  I wonder what students, even university students would say today about getting that kind of an assignment and being told they couldn’t use their computers or the internet to aid them?

But we did it!  Even the students who were less than stellar in the classroom handed in a completed report.  Mr. Scrase was like our coach throughout the entire process, spurring us all on so that we knew when we handed in that assignment that we had REALLY accomplished something spectacular.  I didn’t know then but I have come to learn that it wasn’t so much the contents of our individual reports that he marked us on but the EFFORT we took in doing the assignment.  He gave us a seemingly “impossible” assignment and then applauded the entire class when we did the “impossible”.  I’ll never forget it!  I will also never forget how he spent time with us, talked with us, treated us with respect and listened to us.  He spent little time in the staff room because he preferred spending lunch hours in his classroom watching “Hogan’s Heroes” reruns with his students, pointing out historical “flaws” along the way as we giggled at the comedic aspects of the show.  And on occasion, when his call to pay attention in class went unheeded, he would hurl a piece of chalk in our general direction, that would bounce off the back wall above our heads and snap us to face forward.  He called it a “warning shot” 🙂  I will never ever forget Mr. Scrase.  (I named one of the characters in my “Love the Wounded” book after that beloved teacher.  It was my way of honouring his memory!)

I model some of my teaching after Mr. Scrase, although hurling chalk is strictly verboten 🙂 I expect my students to try something that challenges them to go way beyond where they think they can go, or what they think they can do especially in writing.  Last year, I taught a creative writing class that had each of my students take on the NANOWRIMO challenge.  For those writers out there who have never taken on the National Novel Writing Month (November), it is to write 50,000 words in one month.  For those of us who have written novels, that word count is a small novella at best but for students who are in junior high, the thought of writing 500 words is a daunting task!  I challenged my students to write at least 20,000 words as their goal.  All of the students surpassed that mark with a few writing the full 50,000 words!  Again, it was not so much the story or content I applauded them on (although we spent the next several months editing and polishing the stories and learning a lot about building plot, characterizations etc. etc.) but I applauded them on accomplishing something NONE of them thought they could do: write a “novel” in a one month!  When I handed them their certificates of accomplishment, their faces beamed with delight.  I knew then how Mr. Scrase must have felt when he handed me back my Depth Study and saw the look on my face when I read his comments on the cover page: “A +++”  “A job well done!”

Yep, there’s a sermon illustration in that, I’m sure 🙂

 

 

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A Chasing After the Wind

Posted on July 30, 2014 by Lynn

I love the expression, “A Chasing After the Wind”!  It brings up a word picture of someone going full tilt through life chasing something that is never meant to be caught.  It is an impossibility to chase the wind.  Sure, with modern technology we can “harness” the wind by allowing it’s power to spin turbines that become an alternative energy power source, but still the wind can never be caught.  It can’t be held in your hand.  To try to grab hold of it is a totally futile attempt at best and yet many of us try to do just that.

Wise Solomon in Ecclesiastes 2 admitted that he chased after the wind.  Someone called it the “I” Factor.  Notice how many “I‘s” are in the passage: “I tried cheering myself with wine,…I undertook great projects: I built houses for myself and planted vineyards.  I made gardens and parks and planted all kinds of fruit trees in them.  I made reservoirs to water groves of flourishing trees.  I bought male and female slaves…I also owned more herds and flocks than anyone in Jerusalem before me.  I amassed silver and gold for myself…I acquired men and women singers, and a harem as well – the delights of the heart of man.  I became greater by far than anyone in Jerusalem before me…I denied myself nothing my eyes desired; I refused my heart no pleasure…” (vs. 3-10)

But listen to his words at the end of this: “Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after wind; nothing was gained under the sun.” (vs.11)

Solomon was “chasing after the wind” with pursuits that only would result in temporary enjoyment and short-term pleasure.  That is what is meant by “living under the sun”.  Earthly pursuits under the sun bring only temporary comfort.  We may delight in them for a short time but ultimately we must be prepared to give it all up when our earthly bodies die.

Solomon understood that…eventually.  It took him some time though.  He chased after the wind through most of his life and it cost him dearly.  He finally understood towards the end of his life that he should have focused more on living a life for God.  “Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the days of trouble come and the years approach when you will say, “I find no pleasure in them” (Ecclesiastes 12:1)

I remember after my Mom passed away from a two year battle with breast cancer my father and I had the unenviable task of going through her belongings.  I’ll have to write another time the crazy things my Mom saved during her lifetime but pertinent to this topic was when my Dad opened Mom’s wallet and took out all the contents and spread it on the table in front of me.  She had about thirty dollars and change, her driver’s license, several coupons, pictures of my brother and I and several credit cards.  For a few minutes my Dad just stared at it all and then he calmly went into the kitchen and came back with a scissor.  For the next few minutes he cut her credit cards to pieces.  All he said was, “She won’t be needing these anymore.”

It was true.  Mom’s life under the sun was over.  Her life with the Son had begun.

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