The Invitation To Be A Sweetheart

Bible Reading: Revelation 22

Key Verse: Verse 17 - “And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.”

Key Words: And the Spirit and the bride say, Come

Today, all “unbelievers” have an invitation to become a bride of Christ.  It’s not something that will be forced on anyone.  It’s simply an open invitation.

The other day in the mail, a credit card application arrived.  The credit card application said, "You have been prequalified for a $15,000 limit."  This meant that I had already been determined to be acceptable to the company.  This meant that the credit card company had already given the OK.  However, the invitation did not automatically grant me membership.  In order to get the card, I had to fill out a form and send it in.  Even though the company had already extended the credit approval, that did not mean that I would automatically get the card.  I had to write back and say that I wanted it.

God has already prequalified you for heaven by paying for your sins on the cross, but He can only activate your account if you tell Him you want Him to do so.  If you still believe that you must pay for it yourself, what you’re saying is, “I don’t need Your card.  I’ve got my own and I’m going to satisfy You by my own human efforts.”  A person needs to understand that in order to receive eternal life they have to admit that they are a sinner and therefore unable to save themselves.”

 Today, if you have never accepted Jesus as your Savior, He wants you to become his “bride.”  Will you say yes to Jesus?

                                                                                            Dr, Mike Rouse

What to do: 

✞Say yes to Jesus.

The Sweetheart Of Jesus

Bible Reading: Ephesians 5:17-33

Key Verse: Verse 25 - “Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;”

Key Words: Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it

A father and a mother love their son and want the very best for him.  They hope he will find a girl outstanding in character and attainments, and that this girl will make him a good wife.  They watch him pay attention to two girls, each of whom is seeking to capture the son for herself.  The two girls may be jealous of each other in the modern sense of unpleasant fear and resentment, but the parents are jealous of their son in the Bible sense of the word.  They are not jealous of  him, nor are they jealous of either of the girls.  They have a feeling of great love and desire for their son; they wish to protect him from any unworthy choice; they wish only that he will turn to that which will be best for him.

 God has jealousy for us; He loves us so much that He does not wish us to waste our powers and our affections on the trivial and tawdry.  God’s whole purpose in the processes of life is to undeceive us, to turn us from hope or trust in ourselves and turn us back to all hope and trust in Himself.

                                                                                                        Dr. Mike Rouse

What to do: 

✞Sing praises unto God.  Isn’t He wonderful, wonderful, wonderful!!

Sweethearts That Appear To Be The Perfect Couple

Bible Reading: Acts 5:1-11

Key Verse: Verse 1 - “But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession,”

Key Words: Ananias, with Sapphira his wife

On the surface this couple appeared to be “the perfect couple.”

• They appeared to be givers (verse 1).
• They attended church.
• They were in unison (verse 9).

They gave all the outward signs of being just a “perfect couple.”  But all of us know that there usually is no perfect marriage.

The Perfect Story:  There was a perfect man who met a perfect woman.  After a perfect courtship, they had a perfect wedding.  Their life together was, of course, perfect.

One snowy, stormy Christmas Eve this perfect couple was driving along a winding road when they noticed someone at the roadside in distress.  Being the perfect couple, they stopped to help.  There stood Santa Claus with a huge bundle of toys.  Not wanting to disappoint any children on the eve of Christmas, the perfect couple loaded Santa and his toys into their vehicle.  Soon they were driving along delivering the toys.  Unfortunately, the driving conditions deteriorated and the perfect couple and Santa Claus had an accident.  Only one of them survived the accident.  Who was the survivor?

Answer:  The perfect woman.  She’s the only one that really existed in the first place.  Everyone knows there is no Santa Claus and there is no such thing as a perfect man.

A Male’s Response: So, if there is no perfect man and no Santa Claus, the perfect woman must have been driving.  This explains why there was a car accident.

While there is no perfect couple, each couple can unite to serve God together with sincerity and integrity.  Are you doing that?

                                                                                                Dr. Mike Rouse

What to do:

✞Be real, but be real to God and for God, not to the world and for the world.

Sweethearts Who Served Together

Bible Reading: Acts 18:1-11 

Key Verse: Verse 2 – “And found a certain Jew named Aquila, born in Pontus, lately come from Italy, with his wife Priscilla; (because that Claudius had commanded all Jews to depart from Rome:) and came unto them.”

Key Words: certain Jew named Aquilla...with his wife Priscilla

This couple served God together.  Now, how precious is that?  Note the following verses.  Acts 18:18, “And Paul after this tarried there yet a good while, and then took his leave of the brethren, and sailed thence into Syria, and with him Priscilla and Aquilla; having shorn his head in Cenchrea: for he had a vow.”  Acts 18:26, “And he began to speak boldly in the synagogue: whom when Aquilla and Pricilla had heard, they took him unto them, and expounded unto him the way of God more perfectly.”  Romans 16:3, “Greet Priscilla and Aquilla my helpers in Christ Jesus.”

How wonderful it is to see sweethearts serving the Lord together.

Missionary Ken Board to Japan writes about his sweetheart’s last Sunday.  “Watching videos of TV programs with my wife could be frustrating at times.  Without saying a word she would suddenly get up and leave, so thinking that she was probably going to the bathroom or to the kitchen for a snack, I would pause the video and wait.  I would wait several minutes, and when she didn’t return, I would go looking for her and find her asleep in bed.  One night she did something she had never done before.  We had just finished watching a program when I received a phone call.  While I was talking on the phone, she got up out of her chair and headed for the bedroom, but just before she entered the room, she stopped and smiled and waved her hand.  That moment has become a precious moment in my memory, for early the next morning she suffered a cerebral hemorrhage and went home to be with the Lord.

“The next day I was looking through her Bible and I found two verses that she had written in her own hand.  Inside the front cover of her Bible she had written, ‘Delight thyself also in the Lord; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart’ (Psalm 37:4).  Inside the back cover of her Bible she had written, ‘Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life’ (Revelation 2:10).

“’Faithful’ – there is no more a fitting word to describe the life of Louise Board.  To her children she was a faithful mother.  To her husband she was a faithful wife.  To her Lord she was a faithful servant and missionary.  On the last Sunday of her life, she attended church in the morning and went out with the church members to distribute tracts and church flyers in the afternoon.  Faithful!

“When people speak of us and our last Sunday on this earth, I wonder what they will say.”

What else could I possibly add?

                                                                                                            Dr. Mike Rouse

What to do: 

✞As sweethearts, serve God together.  Never marry a sweetheart who does not have a servant’s heart.  If you do, I promise it will not be “sweet.”

The Samaritan And Her Sweethearts

Bible Reading:  John 4:1-30

Key Verse: Verse 18 - “For thou hast had five husbands; and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband: in that saidst thou truly.”

Key Words: For thou hast had five husbands

Much could be said about the Samaritan woman but if you would stop and think, she was living like a natural person would live.  But after she was saved, the first thing she did was find all of her “sweethearts” so they could be saved as well.  While you may not approve of her lifestyle, she was responsible for more souls being saved than the average believer today.

George Sweeting, in his book The No-Guilt Guide for Witnessing, tells of a man by the name of John Currier who in 1949 was found guilty of murder and sentenced to life in prison. Later he was transferred and paroled to work on a farm near Nashville, Tennessee.

In 1968, Currier’s sentence was terminated, and a letter bearing the good news was sent to him.  But John never saw the letter, nor was he told anything about it.  Life on that farm was hard and without promise for the future.  Yet John kept doing what he was told even after the farmer for whom he worked had died.

Ten years went by.  Then a state parole officer learned about Currier’s plight, found him, and told him that his sentence had been terminated.  He was a free man.

Sweeting concluded that story by asking, “Would it matter to you if someone sent you an important message – the most important in your life – and year after year the urgent message was never delivered?”

We who have heard the good news and experienced freedom through Christ are responsible to proclaim it to others still enslaved by sin.  Are we doing all we can to make sure that people get the message?

Praise God that these men had a sweetheart who cared!!

                                                                                                        Dr. Mike Rouse                

What to do:  

✞Tell others what Jesus has done for you.

The Sweethearts Whose Compassion Could Not Be Controlled

Bible Reading:  Acts 25:13-27

Key Verse: Verse 13 - “And after certain days king Agrippa and Bernice came unto Caesarea to salute Festus.”

Key Words: Bernice

While not much is said about the husband of Bernice, we know she was married to the king of  Chalcis, located in Greece.

Historians say of Bernice that she was the eldest daughter of Agrippa I.  Here is what history records about Bernice.

• She was the sister of Drusilla.  Acts 24:24 records that Drusilla was a Jewess so Bernice had to have had some Jewish blood in her and no doubt knew of God, but yet still rejected Him.
• Historians recorded that she had an adulterous relationship with her brother, Agrippa II.
• We know that she heard the gospel message from Paul and rejected it (Acts 26:28-30).
• The historian Ellicott writes that “Bernice was a woman of uncontrolled passion.”

I read the following article and as I did, I could not help but think of Bernice.

“You may have heard the story of two friends who met for dinner in a restaurant.  Each requested filet of sole, and after a few minutes the waiter came back with their order.  Two pieces of fish, a large and a small, were on the same platter.  One of the men proceeded to serve his friend.  Placing the small fish on his plate, he handed it across the table.  ‘Well, you certainly have your nerve!’ exclaimed his friend.

 “‘What’s troubling you?’ asked the other.  ‘Look what you’ve done,’ he answered.  ‘You’ve given me the little piece and kept the big one for yourself.’  ‘How would you have done it?’ the man asked.  His friend replied, ‘If I were serving, I would have given you the big piece.’  ‘Well,’ replied the man, ‘I’ve got it, haven’t I?’”

                                                                                                            Dr. Mike Rouse

What to do:

✞Remember, where the Spirit of God rules, there is temperance.

Interesting Sweethearts

Bible Reading:  Luke 1:1-14

Key Verse: Verse 5 - “There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judaea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the course of Abia: and his wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elisabeth.”

Key Words: Zacharias...and his wife...was Elisabeth

Zacharias and Elisabeth was an interesting couple.  First, they were both righteous before God (verse 6).  Second, they, like Abraham and Sarah, had no children and were past their child-bearing years (verse 7).  Third, Zacharias was the High Priest.  Fourth, they were born in the town of Abraham’s dwelling, Hebron.  Fifth, Elisabeth was the cousin of Mary, the mother of Jesus.  Last of all, through a miracle of God, Elisabeth birthed John the Baptist, the forerunner to Jesus.  The thing I find truly interesting about the couple is that they had no selfish aims or ambitions...only to live pleasing to God.  They truly understood only what was done for God would last.

A farmer’s daughter was carrying her pail of milk from the field to the farmhouse, when she fell a-musing.  “The money for which this milk will be sold, will buy at least three hundred eggs.  The eggs, allowing for all mishaps, will produce two hundred and fifty chickens.  The chickens will become ready for the market when poultry will fetch the highest price, so that by the end of the year I shall have enough money from my share to buy a new gown.  In this dress I will go to the Christmas parties, where all the young fellows will propose to me, but I will toss my head and refuse them every one.”  At this moment she tossed her head in unison with her thoughts, when down fell the milk pail to the ground, and all her imaginary schemes perished in a moment.  So it is with our lives as well.  Remember, only what’s done for Christ will last.

 

                                                                                                        Dr. Mike Rouse

What to do:  

✞Remember, I’ve never met the couple that comes to the end of life that has ever regretted putting God first.

Sweethearts Like No Other

Bible Reading:  Matthew 1:18-25

Key Verse: Verse 18 – “Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost.”

Key Words: before they came together, she was found with child

While I do not believe that either Joseph or Mary should be worshipped, you would have to admit there are no other sweethearts quite like them, chosen by God to be the earthly “parents” of the Messiah.

You would have to also admit that the birth of Jesus was miraculous...born of a virgin.  Some years ago, I was asked if I could explain the virgin birth of Jesus.  My answer both then and now: “Faith doesn’t require that I explain it; it simply demands that I believe it.”

But the birth of Jesus was no ordinary birth, for sure.  A little boy asked his mother where he came from, and also where she had come from as a baby.  His mother gave him a tall tale about a beautiful white-feathered bird.  The boy asked his grandmother the same question and received a variation of the bird story.  Outside to his playmate he said, “You know, there hasn’t been a normal birth in our family for three generations.”

Now, we know that’s not true; but what is true is that Mary and Joseph were sweethearts like no other.

While our marriage can never be like Joseph’s and Mary’s, our marriage can be different and we can be sweethearts like no other in our community and church by loving and honoring one another and being an example of what a Godly marriage is.  May that be one of your goals!!

 

                                                                                            Dr. Mike Rouse

What to do: 

✞Strive and ask God to help you make your marriage all He wants it to be.

Unusual Sweethearts

Bible Reading:  Hosea 1:1-11

Key Verse: Verse 2 - “The beginning of the word of the LORD by Hosea. And the LORD said to Hosea, Go, take unto thee a wife of whoredoms and children of whoredoms: for the land hath committed great whoredom, departing from the LORD.”

Key Words: Go, take unto thee a wife of whoredoms

What an unusual command by God, “Go, take unto thee a wife of whoredoms...”  Why would God command such a thing?  Since this is a devotional and not a commentary, I will quickly state three points.

1. Hosea’s marriage is a picture of God’s grace and mercy to us, in spite of us.
2. Hosea’s marriage is a picture of God’s blessing to us, in spite of us.
3. Hosea’s marriage is a command to teach us the depth of God’s love and mercy for us.

As you read the book of Hosea, you are prone to wonder about Gomer.  Did she emerge from her whoredom a wise woman?  Did she return Hosea’s love?  Did she become a model wife and mother?  We can certainly hope so, but you have to admit that they were unusual sweethearts.

When Irving S. Olds was chairman of the U.S. Steel Corporation, he arrived for a stockholders’ meeting and was confronted by a woman who asked, “Exactly who are you and what do you do?”  Without batting an eye, Olds replied, “I am your chairman.  Of course, you know the duties of a chairman – that’s someone who is roughly the equivalent of parsley on a platter of fish.”

This is about how useful Gomer was in her marriage with Hosea; but, of course, the book of Hosea is not about Gomer’s unfaithfulness -- it’s about God’s faithfulness.  So remember when all is not well in your life and in your marriage, God is faithful when others aren’t.

                                                                 

                                                                                                                Dr. Mike Rouse

What to do: 

✞ When all is not well in your marriage, remember Hosea.

Unnamed Sweethearts

Bible Reading:  Song of Solomon, Chapter 1

Key Verse: Verse 2 – “Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth: for thy love is better than wine.”

Key Words: for thy love is better than wine

The Song of Solomon is not a story but a song, sung by God to His lover.  The book is a picture of a glorious wedding.  It’s about God’s love for Israel and about Christ’s love for His church, The Bride of Christ.

I read the following written by Dale Galloway.

“Little Chad was a shy, quiet young fella.  One day he came home and told his mother he’d like to make a valentine for everyone in his class.  Her heart sank.  She thought, ‘I wish he wouldn’t do that!’ because she had watched the children when they walked home from school.  Her Chad was always behind them.  They laughed and hung on to each other and talked to each other.  But Chad was never included.  Nevertheless, she decided she would go along with her son.  So she purchased the paper and glue and crayons.  For three whole weeks, night after night, Chad painstakingly made thirty-five valentines.

“Valentine’s Day dawned and Chad was beside himself with excitement!  He carefully stacked them up, put them in a bag, and bolted out the door.  His mom decided to bake him his favorite cookies and serve them up warm and nice with a cool glass of milk when he came home from school.  She just knew he’d be disappointed; maybe they would ease the pain a little.  It hurt her to think that he wouldn’t get many valentines – maybe none at all.

“That afternoon she had the cookies and milk out on the table.  When she heard the children outside, she looked out the window.  Sure enough, here they came, laughing and having the best time.  And, as always, there was Chad in the rear.  He walked a little faster than usual.  She fully expected him to burst into tears as soon as he got inside.  His arms were empty, she noticed, and when the door opened, she choked back the tears.

“’Mommy has some warm cookies and milk for you.’

“But he hardly heard her words.  He just marched right on by, his face aglow, and all he could say was: ‘Not a one...not a one.’  Her heart sank.  And then he added, ‘I didn’t forget a one, a single one!’”

        Nor can Christ!  He never forgets His future Bride, not a single one of us.
  

                                                                                                                Dr. Mike Rouse          

What to do: 
✞Just as Christ never forgets us, let us never forget Him.

Sweethearts Whos Suffered Together

Bible Reading: Job 2:1-10

Key Verse: Verses 9 - “Then said his wife unto him, Dost thou still retain thine integrity? curse God, and die.”

Key Words: Then said his wife unto him

Many believe that Job’s wife was degrading Job when she says in verse 9, “Curse God and die.”  I personally believe she was out of line, but I also believe she loved Job dearly and no longer wanted him to suffer.

This couple had been through a lot together: children dying, losing their livelihood with the loss of all their livestock, servants dying, Job suffering.  But they, through God’s grace, made it through together and God blessed the end of their lives, doubling all they had before the suffering began.

When Jewish psychiatrist Victor Frankl was arrested by the Nazis in World War II, he was stripped of everything – property, family, possessions.  He had spent years researching and writing a book on the importance of finding meaning in life – concepts that later would be known as logotherapy.  When he arrived in Auschwitz, the infamous death camp, even his manuscript, which he had hidden in the lining of his coat, was taken away.

“I had to undergo and overcome the loss of my spiritual child,” Frankl wrote.  “Now it seemed as if nothing and no one would survive me; neither a physical nor a spiritual child of my own!  I found myself confronted with the question of whether under such circumstances my life was ultimately void of any meaning.”

He was still wrestling with that question a few days later when the Nazis forced the prisoners to give up their clothes.

“I had to surrender my clothes and in turn inherited the worn-out rags of an inmate who had been sent to the gas chamber,” said Frankl.  “Instead of the many pages of my manuscript, I found in the pocket of the newly acquired coat a single page torn out of a Hebrew prayer book, which contained the main Jewish prayer, Shema Yisrael (Hear, O Israel!  The Lord our God is one God.  And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.)

“How should I have interpreted such a ‘coincidence’ other than as a challenge to live my thoughts instead of merely putting them on paper?”

Later, as Frankl reflected on his ordeal, he wrote in his book, Man’s Search for Meaning, “There is nothing in the world that would so effectively help one to survive even the worst conditions, as the knowledge that there is a meaning in one’s life...He who has a why to live for can bear almost any how.”

These sweethearts had a why to live: God; and so do you and your sweetheart.  Your why to make it is “the glory of God” is at stake.

 

                                                                                                        Dr. Mike Rouse

What to do:  

✞Remember the words of C. S. Lewis when he was asked, “Why do the righteous suffer?”  “Why not,” he asked, “they are the only ones who can take it.”

Sweethearts Who were In God's Place For God's Purpose

Bible Reading: Esther 2:1-20

Key Verse: Verse 16 - “So Esther was taken unto king Ahasuerus into his house royal in the tenth month, which is the month Tebeth, in the seventh year of his reign.”

Key Words: So Esther was taken unto King Ahasuerus

Most everyone knows the story of Queen Esther and how she was chosen by the king to be his bride because of her beauty.  We know of the conflict between Haman and Mordecai, and how Mordecai, Esther’s uncle, had her intercede for all the Jewish people with King Ahasuerus.  No doubt Esther was a part of God’s plan for his people for such a time as this.  It was no accident that she was the king’s sweetheart.

Oftentimes it is not the faith of both sweethearts that sees them through difficult times, but the faith in God of just one of them that makes a difference for all.  This certainly would have been one of those times where one’s faith could easily fail.

A man fell off a cliff, but managed to grab a tree limb on the way down.  The following conversation ensued:

“Is anyone up there?”

“I am here.  I am the Lord.  Do you believe me?”

“Yes, Lord, I believe.  I really believe, but I can’t hold on much longer.”

“That’s all right, if you really believe you have nothing to worry about.  I will save you.  Just let go of the branch.”

A moment of pause, then: “Is anyone else up there?”

Praise God Esther didn’t say is anyone else up there!!  If you married in God’s will then God has you where He wants you “for such a time as this.”  So have faith in God.

 

                                                                                                Dr. Mike Rouse

What to do:  

✞Remember, faith in God never fails.

Sweethearts Who Knew All was Well

Bible Reading:  II Kings 4:1-17 & verse 26

Key Verse: Verse 26 - “Run now, I pray thee, to meet her, and say unto her, Is it well with thee? is it well with thy husband? is it well with the child? And she answered, It is well.”

Key Words: It is well

In order to get the full impact of this Bible truth, you need to read all of II Kings chapter 4.  Here, though, in the midst of a crisis are two sweethearts who realize all is well.  Their son, a miracle child from God (which I believe every child is) is sick and dies but they never lost faith.  The key to a marriage surviving is in always understanding that God never does things to us, but allows things for us.  These sweethearts, I believe anyway, understood that.  That’s why the Shunammite woman could say “all is well.”

During the terrible days of the Blitz, a father, holding his small son by the hand, ran from a building that had been struck by a bomb.  In the front yard was a shell hole.  Seeking shelter as quickly as possible, the father jumped into the hole and held up his arms for his son to follow.  Terrified, yet hearing his father’s voice telling him to jump, the boy replied, “I can’t see you!”

The father, looking up against the sky tinted red by the burning buildings, called to the silhouette of his son, “But I can see you.  Jump!”  The boy jumped because he trusted his father.  The Christian faith enables us to face life or meet death, not because we can see, but with the certainty that we are seen; not that we know all the answers, but that we are known.

No matter what you are facing in life, remember – God knows, and all is well.

 

                                                                                                        Dr. Mike Rouse

What to do: 

✞Remember, faith is not merely you holding onto God; but it is also God holding on to you.  

                    John 10:28-29.

Evil Sweethearts

Bible Reading:  I Kings 16:25-34

Key Verse: Verse 31 – “And it came to pass, as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, that he took to wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Zidonians, and went and served Baal, and worshipped him.”

Key Words: that he took to wife Jezebel

They were evil; they were schemers and plotters.  They killed and had killed.  They were false worshippers.  It was the leadership of Ahab and Jezebel that led Elijah to pray for a famine.  These sweethearts were truly evil.  They really thought that they could “make it without God.”  What a tragedy!

The story is told of a farmer in a Midwestern state who had a strong disdain for “religious” things.  As he plowed his field on Sunday morning, he would shake his fist at the church people who passed by on their way to worship.  October came and the farmer had his finest crop ever – the best in the entire county.  When the harvest was complete, he placed an advertisement in the local paper which belittled the Christians for their faith in God.  Near the end of his diatribe he wrote, “Faith in God must not mean much if someone like me can prosper.”  The response from the Christians in the community was quiet and polite.  In the next edition of the town paper, a small ad appeared.  It read simply, “God doesn’t always settle His accounts in October.”

Sadly, today in our nation and even in our churches there are couples who believe that they too can live anyway they want, and all will be well and stay well.  Let me lovingly warn you...NOT SO!!

 

                                                                                                    Dr. Mike Rouse

What to do: 

✞Learn from Ahab and Jezebel or you will end up being evil sweethearts yourselves.

Sacrificial Love

Bible Reading: I Kings 11:1-13

Key Verse: Verse 3 - “And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines: and his wives turned away his heart.”

Key Words: seven hundred wives...three hundred concubines

If my math is right, Solomon had one thousand women...WOW!! One thousand...most of us can’t handle one, much more one thousand!!  To be the wisest man on earth, he wasn’t very smart, was he?

Don’t you know that Solomon’s palace was full of tension?  You get that many women together who love the same man and you have a problem waiting to happen.

Reminds me of a story I read recently titled “Men, Women, and Words.” 

In a Harvard study of several hundred preschoolers, researchers discovered an interesting phenomenon.  As they taped the children’s playground conversation, they realized that all the sounds coming from little girls’ mouths were recognizable words.  However, only 60% of the sounds coming from little boys were recognizable.  The other 40% were yells and sound effects like “Vrrrooooom!”  “Aaaaagh!”  “Toot toot!”  This difference persists into adulthood.

Communication experts say that the average woman speaks over 25,000 words a day while the average man speaks only a little over 10,000.  What does this mean in marital terms?  On average a wife will say she needs to spend 45 minutes to an hour each day in meaningful conversation with her husband.  What does her husband sitting next to her say is enough time for meaningful conversation?  Fifteen to twenty minutes – once or twice a week.

Now, let’s see if I’ve got this straight.  Solomon had one thousand women – that’s 25,000,000 words a day he would have had to listen to!  It would have been 45,000 hours per day of conversation he would have been asked to listen to.

Hey Solomon, you wanted it – you got it!

This could not have been a pleasant experience with so many sweethearts.

“He who findeth a wife [singular] findeth a good thing.”  There’s a reason that God intended for us to have only one wife.  Trust me, it’s all we can handle.

                                                 

                                                                                             Dr. Mike Rouse

What to do: 

✞Be content with the wife of your youth.

Adulterous Sweethearts

Bible Reading:  II Samuel 11:1-13

Key Verse: Verse 4 - “And David sent messengers, and took her; and she came in unto him, and he lay with her; for she was purified from her uncleanness: and she returned unto her house.”

Key Words:  he lay with her

The steps of sin never change, whether it be Adam and Eve in the garden, Achan at Jericho, or David on the roof.  Sin all begins by being out of God’s will.  David was supposed to be at a battle of the kings, but instead he went for a walk on his roof.  He was out of God’s will.  The path of sin is always the same.

• Step One: I saw (verse 2 “and saw the woman”),
• Step Two: I coveted (verse 2 “the woman was very beautiful”),
• Step Three: I took (verse 4 “and took her”), and
• Step Four: I fell (verse 4 “he lay with her”).

In 1986, Gordon MacDonald was the president of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship.  He was admired and respected by countless people throughout the Christian community.  Within a year he was a broken man.  He had committed adultery.  By 1988, he was on the long road to healing and wrote a therapeutic book which dealt with his own brokenness, Rebuilding Your Broken World.  In this book, MacDonald shared an experience which took place several years before his adulterous relationship.  While on campus to speak at a college commencement, he struck up a conversation with a school board member.  After some pleasantries the new acquaintance asked, “If Satan were to blow you out of the water, how do you think he would do it?”  “I’m not sure I know,” said MacDonald.  “All sorts of ways, I suppose; but I know there’s one way he wouldn’t get me.”  “What’s that?”  “He’d never get me in the area of my personal relationships,” answered MacDonald.  “That’s one place where I have no doubt I’m as strong as you can get.”  Satan is wise and powerful.  That’s why Paul wrote, “Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall” (I Corinthians 10:12).

                                                                                                                Dr. Mike Rouse

What to do: 

✞Nothing good comes from adultery.  Note what comes as a result of adultery.  There was 1) death, 2) deception, and 3) disloyalty.  You are free to do what you want to do, but you are not free to choose the consequences of your action

The Inknown Sweethearts

Bible Reading:  Jeremiah 3:1-10

Key Verse: Verse 10 - “And the name of Saul's wife was Ahinoam, the daughter of Ahimaaz: and the name of the captain of his host was Abner, the son of Ner, Saul's uncle.”

Key Words:  And the name of Saul’s wife was Ahinoam

Now, be honest...before today if someone would have you to name King Saul’s wife, could you?  We know only three things about Ahinoam.

1. She is Saul’s wife.
2. She is only mentioned once in the Bible.
3. She births children by Saul.

Now, while all of this may be taken as a negative, there are certainly some positives found here as well.  

1. She never embarrassed King Saul.  He managed to do that for himself.
2. She did not seek the limelight like many queens did.
3. She did not attempt to become the vice-king or associate king.  (I see that a lot today from pastor’s wives.  They are the “behind-the-scenes” co-pastors.)

Now, I’m sure you can find many negatives in the lives of these two sweethearts; but one thing that appears to be a positive is that they do appear to have been faithful to each other.  There appears to be no polygamy in the relationship.

This reminds me of a Mark Twain story.  Once when Mark Twain was lecturing in Utah, a Mormon acquaintance argued with him on the subject of polygamy.  After a long and rather heated debate, the Mormon finally said, “Can you find for me a single passage of Scripture which forbids polygamy?”  “Certainly,” replied Twain, “No man can serve two masters.”

At least it appears the unknown sweethearts got that right.

                                                                                                        Dr. Mike Rouse

What to do:  

✞Stay faithful morally to each other.