Couple After God's Own Heart , livre ebook

Harvest House Publishers, Inc. - Jim George , George Elizabeth

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114 pages

English

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New from bestselling authors Jim and Elizabeth George! Jim and Elizabeth come together to share from 40-plus years of marital wisdom and experiences to help couples grow closer to each other and to God.Husbands and wives will discover how they can enrich their marriages by looking at the lives of key couples in the Bible. As they observe the strengths and weaknesses of couples like Abraham and Sarah, Boaz and Ruth, Joseph and Mary, and others, they willlearn the essentials necessary for enjoying an exciting life togetherdevelop better ways to communicate and make solid decisionsrealize the need to draw upon God for unity and strength in hard timesAn outstanding resource that will lead husbands and wives to enjoy a richer and deeper union!

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Publié par	Harvest House Publishers, Inc.
Date de parution	01 janvier 2013
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9780736951210
Langue	English

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0646€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

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HARVEST HOUSE PUBLISHERS EUGENE, OREGON
Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from the New King James Version. Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Verses marked NASB are from the New American Standard Bible , 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. ( www.Lockman.org )
Verses marked NIV are taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version NIV . Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Verses marked NEB are taken from The New English Bible, copyright Oxford University Press and Cambridge University Press 1961, 1970. All rights reserved.
Italics in Scripture indicate author emphasis.
Cover by Garborg Design Works, Savage, Minnesota
Cover photo iStockphoto / stevecoleimages

A Word of Thanks
Every book in print is evidence of a multitude of miracles. For us, a few of our miracles during the writing and editing of A Couple After God s Own Heart came in the form of editors par excellence. From our hearts we wish to thank God for Steve Miller, senior editor, and Kathleen Kerr, associate senior editor, for invaluable help and guidance coupled with their energetic encouragement throughout the writing of this book. These two seasoned editors and friends, along with LaRae Weikert, Barb Sherrill, and Betty Fletcher, cheered us every step of the way to getting this book into your hands. Thank you, one and all. And thank you, Bob Hawkins, and all your capable staff at Harvest House Publishers, for your unwavering support of us and our books.
With thanksgiving to our Lord,
Jim and Elizabeth George
30 Days of Growing Together material taken from Powerful Promises for Every Couple. Copyright 2004 by Jim and Elizabeth George.
A COUPLE AFTER GOD S OWN HEART
Copyright 2012 by Jim and Elizabeth George
Published by Harvest House Publishers
Eugene, Oregon 97402
www.harvesthousepublishers.com
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
George, Jim, 1943-
A couple after God s own heart / Jim and Elizabeth George.
p. cm.
ISBN 978-0-7369-5120-3 (pbk.)
ISBN 978-0-7369-5121-0 (eBook)
1. Marriage--Biblical teaching. 2. Bible--Biography. I. George, Elizabeth, 1944- II. Title. BS680.M35G46 2012
248.8 44--dc23
2012034069
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means-electronic, mechanical, digital, photocopy, recording, or any other-except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher.
Contents
Before You Begin
Part One: Following God Together
1. Adam and Eve
The Original Couple After God s Own Heart
2. Abraham and Sarah
Partners in Faith
3. Isaac and Rebekah
A Marriage Made in Heaven
4. Jacob and Rachel
Love that Lasts a Lifetime
5. Manoah and His Wife
Best Friends Forever
6. Boaz and Ruth
A Couple with Character
7. David and Bathsheba
Second-chance Marriage
8. Zacharias and Elizabeth
Partners with Pure Hearts
9. Joseph and Mary
A Couple in Crisis
10. Aquila and Priscilla
A Remarkable Husband-wife Team
Part Two: Thirty Days of Growing Together
Before You Begin
DAY ONE: The Promise
DAY TWO: The Couple Who Prays Together
DAY THREE: Adapt and Transform
DAY FOUR: Forget and Forget and Forget!
DAY FIVE: The God of All Comfort
DAY SIX: Unfinished Work
DAY SEVEN: Seek Ye First
DAY EIGHT: The Playbook
DAY NINE: The Way Out
DAY TEN: Once and for All
DAY ELEVEN: Without Ceasing
DAY TWELVE: Undeserved
DAY THIRTEEN: Running in Circles
DAY FOURTEEN: Grounded in Hope
DAY FIFTEEN: The Fountain of Life
DAY SIXTEEN: Nothing Can Separate
DAY SEVENTEEN: No Mistakes
DAY EIGHTEEN: The War Is Over!
DAY NINETEEN: Never Apart
DAY TWENTY: Riches in Glory
DAY TWENTY-ONE: The Greatest Purpose
DAY TWENTY-TWO: Rest
DAY TWENTY-THREE: Time
DAY TWENTY-FOUR: Strengthened
DAY TWENTY-FIVE: A Little Perspective
DAY TWENTY-SIX: Worrywart
DAY TWENTY-SEVEN: Your Treasure
DAY TWENTY-EIGHT: Taking Control
DAY TWENTY-NINE: A Different Perspective
DAY THIRTY: The Maze
Notes
About the Authors
Before You Begin

Asked to define the game of golf, one man said cynically, Golf is a good walk spoiled. Maybe the person who made this statement had just finished a bad round. Or maybe he hadn t been trying very hard, or he didn t feel golf was important enough to make it worthwhile to try to improve his game.
Whatever the case, this person s statement is clearly a negative assessment of the sport. And unfortunately, there are a growing number of people today who spout this same kind of attitude toward marriage. What s sad is that God intended that the joining together of a man and woman would bring the greatest human happiness known to mankind.
To any thinking person, it s obvious that it is the bad golfer-not the game of golf itself-that is at fault. In the same way, it isn t the divine institution of marriage that s at fault, but the husband and wife who are the bad golfers -the bad partners-when it comes to their marital issues.
Now, getting back to our golfer-if he was wholly committed to the game, he would gladly make every effort to become the best golfer he could be. Then he would enjoy the game a lot more. In the same way, if a husband and wife are both wholeheartedly committed to their marriage, they will make every sacrifice and do whatever is necessary to keep their relationship healthy, growing, and fulfilling.
Many people want a good marriage, but oftentimes they don t want to do what it takes to become the best spouse possible and work through life issues as they pop up along the way. It s easier (or so they think) to get a new partner! Or to simply go through the motions, doing only the absolute minimum that might be expected in maintaining a marriage relationship.
This book is written to and for couples who want to work at improving their marriages-couples who desire to follow God (together!) and reap the lifetime of blessings that are sure to be theirs. We-Jim and Elizabeth-as a couple are hoping and praying that, as you begin to make your way through the pages of this book (and hopefully also the Couple After God s Own Heart Interactive Workbook ) you will commit to building a marriage that lasts. We don t have to tell you that no marriage is perfect, but we pray that you, along with us, are progressing toward being a couple after God s own heart.
Oh, and one final note: This book has been a challenge to write-a refreshing challenge! It s true that we have a lot we can share with you to help your marriage mend, grow, and improve-whichever is needed. But we too are still on the marriage journey ourselves. We still have to apologize and say, I m sorry, babe. We can still get upset with each other. And, believe us, we still have times when complete stupidity marks our actions toward each other.
And here s a challenge for you: As you read along, whose voice will you hear throughout this book? Will it be Jim s voice or Elizabeth s? Will we qualify our words by prompting, Jim speaking, or Hi, it s me, Elizabeth, who s now writing ? We decided (an example of teamwork!) to write as one voice because we want you, as husband and wife, to read this book together-as a couple.
As you make your way through this book, you may not even notice when one of us leaves off and the other begins. (And isn t that the way it should be in a good marriage?) Oh, there ll be some places where it s obvious Jim is talking to husbands and Elizabeth chimes in for wives, and vice versa. But on the whole, our desire is for this to serve as a seamless treatment of that wonderful-and demanding-institution called marriage. The two of you will enjoy journeying together through the lives of key couples in the Bible. You will also benefit from the lessons in God s Word that can help you to grow toward a richer, more intimate love for one another. And blessing upon blessings, you will grow closer together as you share the devotional in the second half of this book, which was created just for you as a couple after God s own heart.
Before you begin chapter 1, here are a couple of sobering thoughts for you to ponder:
-In 1788, Edward Gibbon, the English historian and author, finished the sixth and final volume of the now-classic History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. He offered several basic reasons for the collapse of the Roman Empire, and one of them was the decrease in the dignity and sanctity of home and marriage, which included the problem of a rapidly growing divorce rate. That reason is strikingly applicable to our society today.
-In AD 30, Jesus, the Son of God and God in human flesh, said, God who made them at the beginning made them male and female, and said, For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate (Matthew 19:4-6).
Gibbons is right-for when marriages fall apart, it affects more than just the couple. It affects the immediate family and others beyond. The repercussions are felt in the church, the community, and even in society as a whole.
Which is why you as a husband and wife need to take Jesus mandate in Matthew 19:4-6 seriously. God s design for marriage has always been one man and one woman, together, for the rest of their lives. This is God s intent, for good reason: A strong and intimate marriage relationship is a perpetual fountain of joy and blessing to both the couple and everyone around them.
With that in mind, let s look to the life examples of key marriages in the Bible, and discover what it takes to be a couple after God s own heart!
PART ONE

Following God Together
1
Adam and Eve
The Original Couple After God s Own Heart