My husband’s birthday is this week so I thought I’d write about what a blessing he is to me, his family and friends.  When we met 49 years ago he was in the Army and I was working in a bank.  Mutual friends set us up on a blind date.  Yep that’s truly what I said – a blind date – that began the courtship which has continued to this very day.  We will celebrate our 48^th anniversary in October.  He has a quite nature which probably is what drew me to him, since my side of the family is not so quiet!  Hah!  But mostly he is a godly man, strong in his faith in God and loves his family.  He is loyal, dependable, trustworthy, and worked hard to provide for his family.  He is very much of a craftsman at heart in that he has built cabinets, bookcases, desks for our home; not to mention all the painting, plumbing, and re-modeling of homes we have bought over the years.  He can fix almost anything that gets broken and has a very creative mind.  So this week I’m thanking God for my husband, for his love, loyalty, dependability, for being trustworthy, and always working hard to provide a good home.  May God continue to complete all that He has begun in you; that His love will abound more and more in your heart.  You are the love of my life, and I appreciate you, love you, and thank God for you.

This week I thought I would talk a little about some of the good qualities I see in my husband as God’s character lives through him: loyalty, dependability, trustworthy, provider, and of course love. 

Loyalty is defined as faithful in allegiance to a cause; is constant.  Is this not a good description of our Lord Jesus Christ?  When He walked on this earth He was loyal to the Father to do all that He said to do.  Jesus was constant – which means to be fixed and unchanging.  Jesus was fixed or focused on fulfilling the plan God had for him, and He is still unchanging today as we are told in Hebrews 13:8 that He is the same yesterday, today and forever.  What a blessing it is to know our Lord is not in heaven changing His mind about his Book – the Bible.  What He said and did when He walked on this earth is still true today.

We can depend on Him to do what He has promised.  Just as Abraham was fully convinced that God would do what He said, we too can trust God to fulfill His promises to us (Romans 4:21; 1 Corinthians 1:9). We do not have to lean on our own understanding for we can depend on God to direct our paths (Proverbs 3:5-6).

Being Trustworthy means that a person can be relied upon to follow through with what they said.  When our Heavenly Father said He would send a Savior, that’s just what He did when He sent Jesus. (Isaiah 7:14; Psalm 107:20; Luke 1:26-31).  When Jesus said in Luke 4:18-21 that He was anointed to preach the gospel, heal the brokenhearted, deliver the captive, recover the sight of the blind, to set at liberty those oppressed, He did just that when He walked on this earth and completed the plan when He died on the Cross and rose again.  Jesus did the Father’s will (John 5:30). Jesus did not come to condemn us but to save us (John 3:16-17).

God made provision for everything we will ever need for living a victorious and abundant life. Everything is in the blessing of knowing Jesus.  He came to give us abundant life (John 10:10).  In Jesus God provided the Savior for the world, the Healer from any and all sicknesses and diseases, the Deliverer from the bondage of sin, and the Wisdom to make our way prosperous. It is all in the Power, Presence and Name of Jesus.

Love is the basis for everything God does.  He has a purpose for everything and everyone.  Ephesians 2:4 tells us that God is rich in mercy and with great love He loves us.  It is because of His love for us that He sent Jesus to save us.  God is NOT mad at anyone, and does NOT condemn anyone, for it is in Jesus that we have redemption from sin; condemnation comes from rejection Him.  So realize and believe that God loves you and has given you victory over sin when you accept Jesus as Savior in your heart. Our part is to believe and receive Him as Savior.

This week let’s be about our daily responsibility to be loyal and faithful to spend time with our Lord, read His Word and pray.  Let’s daily depend on Him to do exactly what He has promised in His Word, and daily put forth our faith to trust Him to provide our every need, including Salvation for our soul, healing and health for our body, peace for our mind, and to prosper according to His Word.  We are to daily walk in love towards others in words and actions of kindness.

Have a great week.