Abundant Springs

I was listening to Cindy Rushton’s Romance Toolbox Virtual Seminar yesterday and ladies, there was some GOOD stuff there!

She said quite a bit that spoke to my heart but, one thing in particular was that our husbands and families deserve our BEST and the world should get our crumbs.  The fact is, for most of us, we shine for the world, giving them our best, and our families get our leftover crumbs ~ if there is anything left. 

Talk about convicted.  I prayed right then and there that I take that piece of sage advice and put it into action.

She also shared 1Peter 3 (The Message)

Cultivate Inner Beauty

1-4The same goes for you wives: Be good wives to your husbands, responsive to their needs. There are husbands who, indifferent as they are to any words about God, will be captivated by your life of holy beauty. What matters is not your outer appearance—the styling of your hair, the jewelry you wear, the cut of your clothes—but your inner disposition.

4-6Cultivate inner beauty, the gentle, gracious kind that God delights in. The holy women of old were beautiful before God that way, and were good, loyal wives to their husbands. Sarah, for instance, taking care of Abraham, would address him as "my dear husband." You'll be true daughters of Sarah if you do the same, unanxious and unintimidated.

7The same goes for you husbands: Be good husbands to your wives. Honor them, delight in them. As women they lack some of your advantages. But in the new life of God's grace, you're equals. Treat your wives, then, as equals so your prayers don't run aground.

Suffering for Doing Good

8-12Summing up: Be agreeable, be sympathetic, be loving, be compassionate, be humble. That goes for all of you, no exceptions. No retaliation. No sharp-tongued sarcasm. Instead, bless—that's your job, to bless. You'll be a blessing and also get a blessing.

   Whoever wants to embrace life
      and see the day fill up with good,
   Here's what you do:
      Say nothing evil or hurtful;
   Snub evil and cultivate good;
      run after peace for all you're worth.
   God looks on all this with approval,
      listening and responding well to what he's asked;
   But he turns his back
      on those who do evil things.

13-18If with heart and soul you're doing good, do you think you can be stopped? Even if you suffer for it, you're still better off. Don't give the opposition a second thought. Through thick and thin, keep your hearts at attention, in adoration before Christ, your Master. Be ready to speak up and tell anyone who asks why you're living the way you are, and always with the utmost courtesy. Keep a clear conscience before God so that when people throw mud at you, none of it will stick. They'll end up realizing that they're the ones who need a bath. It's better to suffer for doing good, if that's what God wants, than to be punished for doing bad. That's what Christ did definitively: suffered because of others' sins, the Righteous One for the unrighteous ones. He went through it all—was put to death and then made alive—to bring us to God.

19-22He went and proclaimed God's salvation to earlier generations who ended up in the prison of judgment because they wouldn't listen. You know, even though God waited patiently all the days that Noah built his ship, only a few were saved then, eight to be exact—saved from the water by the water. The waters of baptism do that for you, not by washing away dirt from your skin but by presenting you through Jesus' resurrection before God with a clear conscience. Jesus has the last word on everything and everyone, from angels to armies. He's standing right alongside God, and what he says goes.

Not only did this speak to my heart about my marriage but God is truly in the details.  You see, just after hearing that part of the discussion a dear friend of mine called me crying.  She is having a hard time at work because she has chosen to stand on Godly principals.  I was able to share this verse with her & remind her “to snub evil & cultivate good”!

If you’re interested in listening in on the seminars today live and at no cost to you simply visit http://www.romancetoolbox.com/seminar.html

Scroll down to the bottom and fill out the info under “Try Us”.  The seminar begins at 9am CST

Today’s Topics Include:

9AM CST
Fill Your Home with Good Things!

11AM CST
Maintenance!

1PM CST
Rebuilding from the Rubbish!

3PM CST
Honey Do’s to Make the Marriage HOT!!

Hope to see you there!

Tracy