Then you must protect me from the foxes, foxes on the prowl, foxes who would like nothing better than to get into our flowering garden. (Song of Solomon 2:15 MSG) These “little foxes” dig holes and passages in the marriage vineyard, loosen the love and intimacy that exists in the marriage and weaken it in…

In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength, but you would have none of it. (Isaiah 30:15) The nation of Israel in Isaiah’s day wanted the good life. So they made big plans and developed friendships with other countries to help them get ahead (Isaiah 30: 2). But it…

Then the family heads of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and Levites – everyone whose heart God had moved – prepared to go up and build the house of the Lord in Jerusalem. (Ezra 1:5) Cyrus, king of Persia, was moved by God to allow the exiled Jews to rebuild God’s temple in Jerusalem.…

Then Job replied: “How you have helped the powerless! How you have saved the arm that is feeble! What advice you have offered to one without wisdom! And what great insight you have displayed!” (Job 26:1-3) Job had endured the criticism and bad advice of his three friends about why God was allowing so much…

Seek the Lord, all you humble of the land, you who do what he commands. Seek righteousness, seek humility; perhaps you will be sheltered on the day of the Lord’s anger. (Zephaniah 2:3) According to the Bible, God created the universe as an act of love and enthusiasm. Earth, among the planets and stars, was…

Avoid godless chatter, because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly. (2 Timothy 2:16) If we cut off a piece of tail of the lizard, they continue to survive, dropping a piece of dead flesh here and there, then regenerating as they slither along. We get that image in our mind…

Then they will cry out to the Lord, but he will not answer them. At that time he will hide his face from them because of the evil they have done. (Micah 3:4) When you live up-close and personal, as married couples do, it doesn’t take long to see through each other’s doubletalk. If he…

I loathe my very life; therefore I will give free rein to my complaint and speak out in the bitterness of my soul. (Job 10:1) Job knew what it was like to wish he was dead. Sometimes Death seems preferable to facing the wreck that our marriage has become. Many times when we are going…

Better a dry crust with peace and quiet than a house full of feasting, with strife. (Proverbs 17:1)When a married couple has a meal together, husband and wife often need to share more than a piece of bread. They may have big issues, major decisions or upsetting developments to talk through. Each may be wrestling…