Daily Treasure

“Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers…” (2 Corinthians 6:14a).

I’ve never been into crafts or sewing that much, but, I know when colors or patterns fail to match.  When a couple decides to marry, certain issues need to be resolved.  Failure to do so will ruin the weave of the fabric of their marriage. If you as a couple are “unequally yoked together” and go ahead and marry, how are your lives going to blend?  You might think you can change one another but odds of that happening tend to be slim.

Before a couple exchanges vows at a marriage altar, they need to make things right with God at an altar of prayer. That’s the key for lives that are truly interwoven. Then you can help each other be all Christ wants you to be. It is the only way your marriage has a fighting chance.

Sue Winchester
Missouri

PRAY TOGETHER: Please pray for home missionaries who are currently building or expanding facilities. Encourage them.

“….and they took knowledge of them that they had been with Jesus” (Acts 4:13b).

Do you remember your wedding day?  If anyone doubted how happy you were, all they had to do was look at the faces of a couple in love.

What about your love for Jesus?  Does your life reflect how much you love Him? So many things are woven into your life to make you who you are. If Jesus is a vital  part of the blend, people can’t help but notice. You’ve been with Jesus…and it shows.

Sue Winchester
Missouri

PRAY TOGETHER: Our June study theme is “Something New.” Praise God as we celebrate all things new in FWBHM and FWBIM.

“But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord” (2 Corinthians 3:8).

As I began to write this devotional, I paused to think about my late husband. It’s been five years since he went home to glory.  He was several years older than me.  We had different backgrounds and points of view. We weaved it all together for 38 years. Most people thought  we were a good match because we were a great blend.  I have to agree with our study writer. After so long a time together a couple may start to think, act and possibly look alike.

We learn from today’s verse the longer we are in a close relationship with Christ, the more we should mirror Him. Our walk, talk, and appearance should reflect Him.  The “old” is gone. The weave of the fabric of our lives should reveal a change of heart. We should have a strong desire to be more like Him.

Sue Winchester
Missouri

PRAY TOGETHER: Remember in prayer today those who have given all for our freedom.

“But they didn’t understand what he was saying, and they were afraid to ask him what he meant”  (Mark 9:32 NLT).

Will what I don’t understand about God become an obstacle today—or a topic for discussion?

Will the things I don’t see Him do today become a stumbling block for my faith–—or will my faith be strengthened by the discipline of my continuing to seek Him and His will?

Will what He’s asking me to do, given I don’t fully grasp the reason or the purpose behind it, become a pit I allow myself to wallow in—or my own Sea of Galilee provided for me to take a step of faith upon?

What I don’t understand can draw me closer to Him or push me away.  What will I allow it to do?

Malinda Edgell
Illinois

PRAY TOGETHER: Pray for guidance as college and high school graduates seek God’s will.

“These are some of the minor things he does, merely a whisper of his power…”  (Job 26:14 NLT).

Might I add, this is one of my favorite passages of Scripture.  The “minor things” Job mentions prior to this verse?  God stretching the sky across the heavens, hanging the earth on nothing, wrapping the rain with clouds and the clouds not bursting with the weight, the horizon, the boundaries of day and night.

And these, are referred to as the minor things?

These same topics have dumbfounded scientists, caused many a philosopher to scratch his head in wonder, been the subjects of books, documentaries and debates.  Points to ponder.  Unfounded theories.  Entire college courses.

These are the types of things that cause us to lie down in the green grass of summer and just stare for hours at the clouds.  To stand on the beach and become mesmerized by the lapping of the waves.  To believe in the depths of our hearts that with such a creation, there must be an awesome Creator!

And still, in God’s eyes, these are minor things?

So, I wonder, what is it He considers “big”?

Could it be the miracles of conception, birth, growth, aging, death?  The intricacy of DNA, molecules or the number of grains of sand?  Is it the specific formula for the bluest of skies, the greenest of leaves or the purple needed to make the first crocus of spring stand out in the snow?  Does He consider the taste of an apple, the scent of a peony or the coolness of water, as something major?

Or is it the washing white of a blackened-by-sin heart?  Is it the redemption of an unworthy lamb by a Holy Shepherd?  Is it the moving of the Holy Spirit among His children?  The drawing of a lost soul into the Light?

Just what is it God considers major?  Is it your prayer request, the burden of your heart, the fear you want Him to calm? Yes! Oh yes, and so much more.

Malinda Edgell
Illinois

PRAY TOGETHER: Praise God! Murial Gainer’s mother is cancer-free. Pray for the WNAC Executive Committee meeting this morning with a potential candidate for WNAC Executive Secretary-Treasurer.

“I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20).

In a marriage, two people are motivated by mutual love to cleave to each other “until death do us part.”

Our motivation to cleave to God is greater because of His love for us.  His love surpasses any form of earthly devotion.  We will never find a greater reason to cling to Him, knowing He was willing to lay down His life for us.  Your life should reflect the fact you share a mutual love with Him.

Sue Winchester
Missouri

PRAY TOGETHER: Praise God! Murial Gainer’s mom is cancer free.

“Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God; him shalt thou serve, and to him shalt thou cleave, and swear by his name”  (Deuteronomy 10:20).

This verse goes along with the past  two days’ verses.  If we can grasp the importance of today’s verse, we can make any relationship work.  If we develop an intimate relationship with God, we are going to find it will enhance every other relationship we make.

If we have that reverential respect for God and we are serving Him to the best of our ability, our word will mean something. Others will see we take all our vows seriously because those vows are sacred to us.

Sue Winchester
Missouri

PRAY TOGETHER: It’s not too early to pray for our WNAC National Convention. Cover preparation for this event in your prayers today.