Harvest Ministry "A New Beginning" with Greg Laurie's Notes for the Week of Monday, 12 January 2015

Harvest Ministry "A New Beginning" with Greg Laurie's Notes for the Week of Monday, 12 January 2015
UPCOMING PROGRAMS:
Best of A New Beginning, top 10 most-requested messages of last 12 months
"Strengthening Your Marriage"
STRENGTHENING YOUR MARRIAGE
Question and Answer Session
Have you ever wanted to sit down with a happily married couple and ask them how they keep their marriage strong? Here’s the next best thing: highlights from a question-and-answer session with Greg and Cathe Laurie as they share time-tested, biblical principles that will not only help your marriage survive, but thrive.
PRACTICAL PRINCIPLES
1. Establish ground rules for dealing with disagreements.
 • Be quick to listen and slow to speak (see James 1:19).
 • Don’t let the day end without resolving your argument (see Ephesians 4:26).
2. Choose the right moment, the right time, and the right place to bring up the issues on which you disagree.
 • Don’t do it in front of others.
 • Don’t do it in front of your children.
 • Try to balance each criticism with two or three compliments.
3. Unfaithfulness is grounds for divorce, but unfaithfulness is also grounds for forgiveness. It takes time to restore trust, but infidelity can be survived. Repairing a marriage that has been hurt by infidelity requires time and hard work.
4. Marriage requires “leaving and cleaving” (see Genesis 2:24). Leave all other relationships and join yourself to your spouse. Your husband or wife should be your best friend.
5. Put your relationship with Christ first, and look realistically at the standard for marriage that God has laid out in Scripture. Emotions will change, customs will change, and the culture will  change, but God’s Word never will change.
RELEVANT REMINDERS
Remember the amount of time, imagination, and resources you put into your relationship before you decided to get married? If couples would work as hard on their marriage as they did on their relationship before marriage, just imagine how strong their marriages could be.
APPLICABLE ACTIONS
What obstacles are you facing in your marriage today? God, the designer of marriage, wants yours to succeed. Ask Him to help you become the husband or wife He has called you to be and to show you what you can do to help you strengthen your marriage.
Monday, 12 January 2015
Strengthening Your Marriage — I
Marriage can be challenging. In fact, looking at the divorce rate, some say it's too hard. Pastor Greg Laurie says it IS too hard . . . without God's help! We'll see how to follow God's guaranteed plan for marital success.
Tuesday, 13 January 2015
Strengthening Your Marriage — II
Want to see more harmony in the home? Then Pastor Greg Laurie says stay in tune with God's Word! Biblical insight on strengthening our marriages. It's the kind of counsel that can make a change in your home, starting today!
Wednesday, 14 January 2015
Strengthening Your Marriage — III
The Bible isn't silent on what it takes to have a successful marriage. Pastor Greg Laurie helps us dig in to God's plan for the home. Plus, Pastor Greg and his wife Cathe answer questions on the practical side of successful marriage.
Best of A New Beginning, top 10 most-requested messages of last 12 months
"Hope for Hurting Marriages, Part 1"
HOPE FOR HURTING MARRIAGES, PART 1
Matthew 19: Teaching about Divorce
1 When Jesus finished teaching, he left Galilee and went to the part of Judea that is east of the Jordan River. 2 Large crowds followed him, and he healed their sick people.
3 Some Pharisees wanted to test Jesus. They came up to him and asked, “Is it right for a man to divorce his wife for just any reason?”
4 Jesus answered, “Don’t you know that in the beginning the Creator made a man and a woman? 5 That’s why a man leaves his father and mother and gets married. He becomes like one person with his wife. 6 Then they are no longer two people, but one. And no one should separate a couple that God has joined together.”
7 The Pharisees asked Jesus, “Why did Moses say that a man could write out divorce papers and send his wife away?”
8 Jesus replied, “You are so heartless! That’s why Moses allowed you to divorce your wife. But from the beginning God did not intend it to be that way. 9 I say that if your wife has not committed some terrible sexual sin,[a] you must not divorce her to marry someone else. If you do, you are unfaithful.”
10 The disciples said, “If that’s how it is between a man and a woman, it’s better not to get married.”
11 Jesus told them, “Only those people who have been given the gift of staying single can accept this teaching. 12 Some people are unable to marry because of birth defects or because of what someone has done to their bodies. Others stay single for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Anyone who can accept this teaching should do so.”
Jesus Blesses Little Children
13 Some people brought their children to Jesus, so that he could place his hands on them and pray for them. His disciples told the people to stop bothering him. 14 But Jesus said, “Let the children come to me, and don’t try to stop them! People who are like these children belong to God’s kingdom.”[b] 15 After Jesus had placed his hands on the children, he left.
A Rich Young Man
16 A man came to Jesus and asked, “Teacher, what good thing must I do to have eternal life?”
17 Jesus said to him, “Why do you ask me about what is good? Only God is good. If you want to have eternal life, you must obey his commandments.”
18 “Which ones?” the man asked.
Jesus answered, “Do not murder. Be faithful in marriage. Do not steal. Do not tell lies about others. 19 Respect your father and mother. And love others as much as you love yourself.” 20 The young man said, “I have obeyed all of these. What else must I do?”
21 Jesus replied, “If you want to be perfect, go sell everything you own! Give the money to the poor, and you will have riches in heaven. Then come and be my follower.” 22 When the young man heard this, he was sad, because he was very rich.
23 Jesus said to his disciples, “It’s terribly hard for rich people to get into the kingdom of heaven! 24 In fact, it’s easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to get into God’s kingdom.”
25 When the disciples heard this, they were greatly surprised and asked, “How can anyone ever be saved?”
26 Jesus looked straight at them and said, “There are some things that people cannot do, but God can do anything.”
27 Peter replied, “Remember, we have left everything to be your followers! What will we get?”
28 Jesus answered:
Yes, all of you have become my followers. And so in the future world, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, I promise that you will sit on twelve thrones to judge the twelve tribes of Israel. 29 All who have given up home or brothers and sisters or father and mother or children or land for me will be given a hundred times as much. They will also have eternal life. 30 But many who are now first will be last, and many who are last will be first.
[Footnotes:
19.9 some terrible sexual sin: See the note at 5.32.
19.14 People who are like these children belong to God’s kingdom: Or “God’s kingdom belongs to people who are like these children.”
When it comes to marriage, we need to think and act biblically, not emotionally. We need a biblical worldview because marriages come under attack. Marriages face pressure and hardship. What are you building your foundation on? The solid ground of God’s Word? Or the shifting sands of this world? Is your marriage on the rocks or on the Rock?]
PRACTICAL PRINCIPLES
1. Every marriage is going to go through changes and is going to be tested. If you think your marriage is exempt, you’re mistaken. We want to build our marriages on the solid foundation of Christ, or it is only a matter of time before it collapses.
2. If a marriage is miserable, the fault lies with the participants, not the institution. God designed marriage to be a place of security, growth, and enjoyment. To say, “Marriage just doesn’t work for us” is an excuse. The truth is better stated, “We aren’t working at marriage.”
3. Wedlock should be a padlock. God hates divorce. I believe most divorces can be averted if we would just start with the operative principles of leaving and cleaving.
4. We must leave and cleave. Leaving means giving all other relationships a lesser degree of importance. Cleaving means clinging to one another, being aligned together, and welded as one.
RELEVANT REMINDERS
 • Constant communication is a major key to a good marriage.
 • Your spouse should be your best friend.
 • Husbands should be the ones to initiate love and should be the spiritual leaders in their homes. In most cases, the wife will respond appropriately. It has been said, “Treat your wife like a thoroughbred and she will never become a nag.”
APPLICABLE ACTIONS
Ruth Graham said, “A good marriage consists of two good forgivers.” If you have a hurting marriage today, start with forgiveness. Then put into practice the biblical principles of leaving and cleaving. Communicate with one another and put the needs of your mate above your own. You will see dramatic changes take place. 
Thursday, 15 January 2015
Hope for Hurting Marriages, Part 1 — I
Matthew 19: Teaching about Divorce
1 When Jesus finished teaching, he left Galilee and went to the part of Judea that is east of the Jordan River. 2 Large crowds followed him, and he healed their sick people.
3 Some Pharisees wanted to test Jesus. They came up to him and asked, “Is it right for a man to divorce his wife for just any reason?”
4 Jesus answered, “Don’t you know that in the beginning the Creator made a man and a woman? 5 That’s why a man leaves his father and mother and gets married. He becomes like one person with his wife. 6 Then they are no longer two people, but one. And no one should separate a couple that God has joined together.”
7 The Pharisees asked Jesus, “Why did Moses say that a man could write out divorce papers and send his wife away?”
8 Jesus replied, “You are so heartless! That’s why Moses allowed you to divorce your wife. But from the beginning God did not intend it to be that way. 9 I say that if your wife has not committed some terrible sexual sin,[a] you must not divorce her to marry someone else. If you do, you are unfaithful.”
10 The disciples said, “If that’s how it is between a man and a woman, it’s better not to get married.”
11 Jesus told them, “Only those people who have been given the gift of staying single can accept this teaching. 12 Some people are unable to marry because of birth defects or because of what someone has done to their bodies. Others stay single for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Anyone who can accept this teaching should do so.”
Jesus Blesses Little Children
13 Some people brought their children to Jesus, so that he could place his hands on them and pray for them. His disciples told the people to stop bothering him. 14 But Jesus said, “Let the children come to me, and don’t try to stop them! People who are like these children belong to God’s kingdom.”[b] 15 After Jesus had placed his hands on the children, he left.
A Rich Young Man
16 A man came to Jesus and asked, “Teacher, what good thing must I do to have eternal life?”
17 Jesus said to him, “Why do you ask me about what is good? Only God is good. If you want to have eternal life, you must obey his commandments.”
18 “Which ones?” the man asked.
Jesus answered, “Do not murder. Be faithful in marriage. Do not steal. Do not tell lies about others. 19 Respect your father and mother. And love others as much as you love yourself.” 20 The young man said, “I have obeyed all of these. What else must I do?”
21 Jesus replied, “If you want to be perfect, go sell everything you own! Give the money to the poor, and you will have riches in heaven. Then come and be my follower.” 22 When the young man heard this, he was sad, because he was very rich.
23 Jesus said to his disciples, “It’s terribly hard for rich people to get into the kingdom of heaven! 24 In fact, it’s easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to get into God’s kingdom.”
25 When the disciples heard this, they were greatly surprised and asked, “How can anyone ever be saved?”
26 Jesus looked straight at them and said, “There are some things that people cannot do, but God can do anything.”
27 Peter replied, “Remember, we have left everything to be your followers! What will we get?”
28 Jesus answered:
Yes, all of you have become my followers. And so in the future world, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, I promise that you will sit on twelve thrones to judge the twelve tribes of Israel. 29 All who have given up home or brothers and sisters or father and mother or children or land for me will be given a hundred times as much. They will also have eternal life. 30 But many who are now first will be last, and many who are last will be first.
[Footnotes:
19.9 some terrible sexual sin: See the note at 5.32.
19.14 People who are like these children belong to God’s kingdom: Or “God’s kingdom belongs to people who are like these children.”
When it comes to marriage, we need to think and act biblically, not emotionally. We need a biblical worldview because marriages come under attack. Marriages face pressure and hardship. What are you building your foundation on? The solid ground of God’s Word? Or the shifting sands of this world? Is your marriage on the rocks or on the Rock?]
Some people build their lives on the Solid Rock, Jesus Christ . . . other marriages are on the rocks! Pastor Greg Laurie brings us straight talk on the value of marriage, and the importance on preserving it even when life is tough.
Friday, 16 January 2015
Hope for Hurting Marriages, Part 1 — II
Matthew 19: Teaching about Divorce
1 When Jesus finished teaching, he left Galilee and went to the part of Judea that is east of the Jordan River. 2 Large crowds followed him, and he healed their sick people.
3 Some Pharisees wanted to test Jesus. They came up to him and asked, “Is it right for a man to divorce his wife for just any reason?”
4 Jesus answered, “Don’t you know that in the beginning the Creator made a man and a woman? 5 That’s why a man leaves his father and mother and gets married. He becomes like one person with his wife. 6 Then they are no longer two people, but one. And no one should separate a couple that God has joined together.”
7 The Pharisees asked Jesus, “Why did Moses say that a man could write out divorce papers and send his wife away?”
8 Jesus replied, “You are so heartless! That’s why Moses allowed you to divorce your wife. But from the beginning God did not intend it to be that way. 9 I say that if your wife has not committed some terrible sexual sin,[a] you must not divorce her to marry someone else. If you do, you are unfaithful.”
10 The disciples said, “If that’s how it is between a man and a woman, it’s better not to get married.”
11 Jesus told them, “Only those people who have been given the gift of staying single can accept this teaching. 12 Some people are unable to marry because of birth defects or because of what someone has done to their bodies. Others stay single for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Anyone who can accept this teaching should do so.”
Jesus Blesses Little Children
13 Some people brought their children to Jesus, so that he could place his hands on them and pray for them. His disciples told the people to stop bothering him. 14 But Jesus said, “Let the children come to me, and don’t try to stop them! People who are like these children belong to God’s kingdom.”[b] 15 After Jesus had placed his hands on the children, he left.
A Rich Young Man
16 A man came to Jesus and asked, “Teacher, what good thing must I do to have eternal life?”
17 Jesus said to him, “Why do you ask me about what is good? Only God is good. If you want to have eternal life, you must obey his commandments.”
18 “Which ones?” the man asked.
Jesus answered, “Do not murder. Be faithful in marriage. Do not steal. Do not tell lies about others. 19 Respect your father and mother. And love others as much as you love yourself.” 20 The young man said, “I have obeyed all of these. What else must I do?”
21 Jesus replied, “If you want to be perfect, go sell everything you own! Give the money to the poor, and you will have riches in heaven. Then come and be my follower.” 22 When the young man heard this, he was sad, because he was very rich.
23 Jesus said to his disciples, “It’s terribly hard for rich people to get into the kingdom of heaven! 24 In fact, it’s easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to get into God’s kingdom.”
25 When the disciples heard this, they were greatly surprised and asked, “How can anyone ever be saved?”
26 Jesus looked straight at them and said, “There are some things that people cannot do, but God can do anything.”
27 Peter replied, “Remember, we have left everything to be your followers! What will we get?”
28 Jesus answered:
Yes, all of you have become my followers. And so in the future world, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, I promise that you will sit on twelve thrones to judge the twelve tribes of Israel. 29 All who have given up home or brothers and sisters or father and mother or children or land for me will be given a hundred times as much. They will also have eternal life. 30 But many who are now first will be last, and many who are last will be first.
[Footnotes:
19.9 some terrible sexual sin: See the note at 5.32.
19.14 People who are like these children belong to God’s kingdom: Or “God’s kingdom belongs to people who are like these children.”
When it comes to marriage, we need to think and act biblically, not emotionally. We need a biblical worldview because marriages come under attack. Marriages face pressure and hardship. What are you building your foundation on? The solid ground of God’s Word? Or the shifting sands of this world? Is your marriage on the rocks or on the Rock?]
The Bible speaks of "leaving and cleaving" in the way marriage partners relate to one another. And Pastor Greg Laurie says that's a key to a healthy, successful marriage. Tune in Friday for his reassuring message called "Hope for Hurting Marriages.
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Harvest Ministries with Greg Laurie
P.O. Box 4000
Riverside, CA 92514-4000 United States
Phone: 1(800)821-3300
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