Other books in the God’s Love series: GOD’S LOVE FOR MOTHERS GOD’S LOVE FOR FATHERS GOD’S LOVE FOR FRIENDS
2nd edition, 1st printing Selection and arrangement © Scandinavia Publishing House 2015. Scripture quotations are from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. A co-production from Scandinavia Publishing House, Drejervej 15, 3rd floor, DK-2400 Copenhagen NV, Denmark. E-mail: info@sph.as All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without permission in writing from the publisher. Quotations and paintings selected by Scandinavia Publishing House Edited by Tomas Vium Olesen Design by Ranilo Cabo / Line14 Cover painting by William Henry Midwood Printed in China ISBN 9788771324723
God’s
Love
For Couples
God’s Love for Couples is a further development in the “God’s Love” series. The wisdom and examples we find in the Word of God are of tremendous worth. The Word is not just a collection of dead letters, but living flesh. We can let these letters become living flesh in our lives, by grasping the Word in faith. The book opens with a chapter which deals with the different aspects of single life, then it moves on to describe the processes of falling in love and building a relationship, highlighting the blessings and troubles relationships contain, as well as the foundation and fellowship of spiritual life. The book ends with promises for the family, given for when we have built a strong one-to-one relationship, a good basis for growth. Surely God has words and promises for us in the great and complex life of relationship. After creating Adam He saw that, “It is not good for the man to be alone,” and in response to that observation He said, “I will make a helper suitable for him.” He who created us, also has the ability to help and guide us. Let us draw upon His living Word.
That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh. Genesis 2:24
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GOD’S LOVE FOR COUPLES
GOD’S PROMISES FOR SINGLES
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Contents God’s Promises for Singles..................................................................15 Foundation...............................................................................17 Identity......................................................................................19 Loneliness.................................................................................22 Seeking......................................................................................24 Guidance..................................................................................27 God’s Promises for Couples................................................................31 Attraction.................................................................................32 Falling in Love..........................................................................35 Commitment............................................................................37 Responsibility...........................................................................40 A Woman’s Position.................................................................43 A Man’s Position......................................................................45 God’s Promises for Your Love.............................................................49 Longing.....................................................................................50 Desire........................................................................................53 Refuge.......................................................................................55 Friendship.................................................................................58 Unconditional Love.................................................................61
God’s Promises for Your Relationships..............................................65 Physical.....................................................................................66 Emotional.................................................................................69 Mental.......................................................................................72 Spiritual....................................................................................74 God’s Promises in Dark Times...........................................................79 Worry........................................................................................80 Disagreement............................................................................83 Temptation...............................................................................85 Conflict....................................................................................88 Distance....................................................................................91 Separation.................................................................................93 Sorrow.......................................................................................96 God’s Promises in Light Times...........................................................101 Devotion...................................................................................102 Harmony...................................................................................104 Joy.............................................................................................107 Blessing.....................................................................................110 Growth......................................................................................112 Faithfulness...............................................................................115
God’s Promises for Your Spiritual Life...............................................119 Submission...............................................................................121 Faith..........................................................................................123 Unity.........................................................................................125 Prayer........................................................................................127 Fruits of the Spirit....................................................................132 Grace.........................................................................................135 God’s Promises for Your Family.........................................................137 Finances....................................................................................138 Protection.................................................................................141 Home........................................................................................142 Children...................................................................................145 Salvation...................................................................................148
GOD’S PROMISES FOR SINGLES
WILHELM LIST
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GOD’S LOVE FOR COUPLES
Foundation
Be careful not to make a treaty with those who live in the land; for when they prostitute themselves to their gods and sacrifice to them, they will invite you and you will eat their sacrifices. And when you choose some of their daughters as wives for your sons and those daughters prostitute themselves to their gods, they will lead your sons to do the same. Exodus 34:15-16
When his parents saw him, they were astonished. His mother said to him, “Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you.” “Why were you searching for me?” he asked. “Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?” But they did not understand what he was saying to them. Then he went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them. But his mother treasured all these things in her heart. And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men. Luke 2:48-52
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“Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it? For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you, saying, ‘This person began to build and was not able to finish.’” Luke 14:28-30
Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? Or what does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people.” Therefore, “Come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you.” And, “I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.” 2 Corinthians 6:14-18
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GOD’S LOVE FOR COUPLES
Identity
A woman must not wear men’s clothing, nor a man wear women’s clothing, for the LORD your God detests anyone who does this. Deuteronomy 22:5
And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first. Matthew 19:29-30
I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. Galatians 2:20
GOD’S PROMISES FOR SINGLES
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Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers. 1 Timothy 4:16
You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you. Trust in the LORD for ever, for the LORD, the LORD himself, is the Rock eternal. Isaiah 26:3-4
“If you love me, keep my commands. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever—the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. John 14:15-17
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GOD’S LOVE FOR COUPLES
ADELSTEEN NORMANN
Loneliness
The LORD God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.” Genesis 2:18
At noon, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. And at three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice. . . “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Mark 15:33-34
Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Psalm 51:10
And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age. Matthew 28:20
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GOD’S LOVE FOR COUPLES
DAVID WOODLOCK
Seeking
Now the LORD God had formed out of the ground all the wild animals and all the birds in the sky. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds in the sky and all the wild animals. But for Adam no suitable helper was found. Genesis 2:19-20
You who are young, be happy while you are young, and let your heart give you joy in the days of your youth. Follow the ways of your heart and whatever your eyes see, but know that for all these things God will bring you into judgment. Ecclesiastes 11:9
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GOD’S LOVE FOR COUPLES
Then he prayed, “LORD, God of my master Abraham, give me success today, and show kindness to my master Abraham. See, I am standing beside this spring, and the daughters of the townspeople are coming out to draw water. May it be that when I say to a young woman, ‘Please let down your jar that I may have a drink,’ and she says, ‘Drink, and I’ll water your camels too’—let her be the one you have chosen for your servant Isaac. By this I will know that you have shown kindness to my master.” Genesis 24:12-14
But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Matthew 6:33
Rachel came with her father’s sheep, for she was a shepherd. When Jacob saw Rachel. . .he went over and rolled the stone away from the mouth of the well and watered his uncle’s sheep. Then Jacob kissed Rachel and began to weep aloud. Genesis 29:9-11
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VINCENT VAN GOGH
Guidance
When hard pressed, I cried to the LORD; he brought me into a spacious place. The LORD is with me; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me? The LORD is with me; he is my helper. I look in triumph on my enemies. Psalm 118:5-7
“When I came to the spring today, I said, ‘LORD, God of my master Abraham, if you will, please grant success to the journey on which I have come. See, I am standing beside this spring. If a young woman comes out to draw water and I say to her, “Please let me drink a little water from your jar,” and if she says to me, “Drink, and I’ll draw water for your camels too,” let her be the one the LORD has chosen for my master’s son.’ Genesis 24:42-44
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Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for to you I entrust my life. Psalm 143:8
There are three things that are too amazing for me, four that I do not understand: the way of an eagle in the sky, the way of a snake on a rock, the way of a ship on the high seas, and the way of a man with a young woman. Proverbs 30:18-19
Another disciple said to him, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.” But Jesus told him, “Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead.” Matthew 8:21-22
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GOD’S LOVE FOR COUPLES
JAMES JACQUES JOSEPH TISSOT