I hope each of you have enjoyed this class as much as I have! It has been awesome!

Week 3: 

Finances – continued, Outside Relationships

How did your budgets go?

What surprises came up?

What positives came about?

If you haven’t done a budget before, what are the benefits? 

• Living within your means
• Knowing how much you spend on each thing each month 
• Being prepared for unexpected emergencies 
• Not fighting about money because you know what to expect

Questions about finances

Outside relationships:

• What are the relationships that matter the most outside of our marriage?
  • • • Work
      • Friends
      • Family
• What are the positives and negatives of these types of relationships?
• What impact can they have on the marriage?

Here are 5 things that impact relationships in a negative way – you’ll see several we’ve talked about already. All 5 can deal with outside relationships and the impact they have on us.

1. 1. 1. Secrets spell trouble 
      2. Jealousy
      3. Financial issues
      4. Parenting disagreements
      5. Lack of communication – the biggest enemy

See you for week 4!

PWG

John 15 is the famous passage about the vine and the branches. Jesus tells the disciples a lot in these few verses, but one of the most impactful sections centers around this thought:  The ones who abide in me and I in them produce much fruit, but apart from me you can do nothing.

Let me clarify something for you. You can do lots of things on your own and in your own strength without God anywhere around. However, none of these things are the things we want to do or hope we do. Without God, I can make a mess of my relationships. Without God, I can waste a calling on my life. Without God, I can misuse my talents and abilities for my own gain. These are just the tip of the iceberg of what I can do apart from God.

So the real question becomes, what can I do if I’m truly connected to God all the time? If He is my vine – my source, my provider, my leader, my guide, my redeemer, and my purpose – then what could I really do for the people around me? The possibilities are endless and mind blowing!

The truth is, all of us are connected to something.  We all have a vine. God wants it to be Him, but you don’t have to choose Him. You can connect to anything you want to. You can choose to get your supplies from anywhere. So what will you choose today?

PWG

http://www.acts413.net/21days

Today, is probably the day of the prayer challenge that has impacted me the most.  I told everyone in the beginning, I went through this with our staff in October/November of last year. The whole thing was really good, and I learned so much from it. I could have spent more time on each day to pull everything from it, but today’s was by far the most life changing for me.

Here’s the thought: Prayer can do anything God can do.

God can do anything, and if I pray in His will, He will answer – so my prayer can do anything.

I know most of us would acknowledge God can do anything. We’ve been taught from a young age about His miracles and His power, but do we really believe He can anything? And, if I believe He can do anything, then my lack of prayer must say I don’t want Him to do things in my life. It says I don’t want to reach lost people, I don’t want to see miracles, I don’t want to see lives changed, I don’t want to see marriages restored, and I don’t want to feel God’s presence with me today. If I believe that God can do anything, then I must believe that prayer can do the same.

The story of D L Moody given in today’s reading is powerful.  What if God did the things in you or I He did with Moody? What would the world around me look like?

PWG

http://www.acts413.net/21days