MAKING YOUR MARRIAGE GREAT: Part 1 continued - Putting your marriage in God's Hands and practical tips you can apply.

Greg Smith
00:00:11.920 - 00:00:23.846
Music hey, we're Greg and Linda Smith from Raleigh, North Carolina. We are excited to have you join us for the married and love it podcast. We believe every couple should be able to say we are married and love it.

Linda Smith
00:00:23.958 - 00:00:45.190
Greg and I have been married for over 46 years and we've had a lot of life experiences to overcome, including relationship issues, near separation, health, and financial challenges. And through it all, we can still say we're married and love it. In addition to this, we have over 47 years of ministry and business experience.

Greg Smith
00:00:45.810 - 00:00:53.938
Making marriage great is our goal. We will accomplish this by teaching you how to be married and love it. Regardless of your present marriage situation.

Linda Smith
00:00:54.114 - 00:01:06.244
We're going to be covering everything that has to do with marriage, including the hot topics of love, sex, communication, and much more. Our teachings are based on christian principles.

Greg Smith
00:01:06.372 - 00:02:23.564
And we look forward to helping you make your marriage great. It is an honor and privilege to have you join us for this weekly podcast.

And our goal here at married and Lovett is to develop successful families and see them impact their world again.

In other words, that means we want to help you to be married and Lovett, and for your marriage to be impacting those people that you come across in your life. And we're excited to continue today. Our series called making marriage great.

And there's seven titles that we're going to be covering over the next few podcasts. And today is going to be part three of you're in good hands. And that's dealing with basically putting our marriage into the hands of God.

And that means that brings in the God factor. It gets him involved in our marriages.

Because when we, Linda and I, put our marriage into God's hands and actually applied what we were knowing to do what we were learning in the area of marriage, it made a major difference. It set us up after that eight.

After eight years of marriage, when we got back together, after almost separating, we've got our, our marriage going again. Took a couple years, but after that, the things we learned and applied, well.

Linda Smith
00:02:23.612 - 00:02:25.916
Those two or three years, it was getting better and better.

Greg Smith
00:02:25.948 - 00:02:26.540
Oh, yeah. Yeah.

Linda Smith
00:02:26.580 - 00:02:30.212
All along, it wasn't like, oh, my gosh, how long am I gonna have to.

Greg Smith
00:02:30.236 - 00:02:30.828
Yeah. Really?

Linda Smith
00:02:30.924 - 00:02:35.964
That wasn't happening. I mean, it was. It was getting better and better, but it was still a process.

Greg Smith
00:02:36.092 - 00:02:39.364
Yeah. Where we really were getting in a good rhythm, so to speak.

Linda Smith
00:02:39.412 - 00:02:39.876
Yeah.

Greg Smith
00:02:39.988 - 00:03:05.652
And now what we've learned personally in our marriage had helped, but also the power of having God in our lives and getting that working got us through, especially the last eleven years as we've coming up on 47 years of marriage. So the God factor, having him involved in our life is powerful, and we want you to experience that.

Linda Smith
00:03:05.716 - 00:03:08.588
Well, that was our whole foundation. I mean, we couldn't have done it.

Greg Smith
00:03:08.644 - 00:03:11.388
Yeah. Now, there's a lot of things we had to learn how to do better.

Linda Smith
00:03:11.484 - 00:03:11.912
Yeah.

Greg Smith
00:03:11.996 - 00:03:23.136
But that was our foundation. So we're gonna pick that back up. Part three of you're in good hands. And we left off with the scripture that talked about abiding in the vine.

Linda, you wanna go ahead?

Linda Smith
00:03:23.168 - 00:03:36.096
John 15 seven. And it says, I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me, and I in him. He bears much fruit. Now, this is God talking to us.

Greg Smith
00:03:36.168 - 00:03:36.528
Yes.

Linda Smith
00:03:36.584 - 00:04:10.986
Okay. For apart from me, you can do nothing.

John 1517 says, if you abide in me and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish and it shall be done for you. And so we were talking about the prayer of agreement. That was what we were encouraging you to do, is to take time to pray together.

And then how do you actually tap into this abiding in the vine thing? And that is Romans 1017. And that says, faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God.

Greg Smith
00:04:11.138 - 00:04:12.498
Let's back up just a little bit.

Linda Smith
00:04:12.554 - 00:04:12.938
Sure.

Greg Smith
00:04:13.034 - 00:04:58.682
When you abide in the vine, you're getting nutrition for your life. You're drawing God's power from him because you're spending time with him.

And what happens when you spend time with people or get immersed in something? You begin to come like that. You begin to act like that, take on those qualities. So as we spend time with Goddesse, we begin to pick up his nature.

And he's good. He's nice. He treats people nice, and we get those qualities coming into us. So another question is, who do you hang out with most of the time?

How are they impacting you? Are they giving you nutrition to be that wife or husband you want to be? But we have to hook in. Plug into the power source.

Linda Smith
00:04:58.706 - 00:05:00.474
Plug in to the power source.

Greg Smith
00:05:00.562 - 00:05:12.786
So what happens when you take a branch off a tree? That branch dies, and God's saying, stay plugged into me. Be praying you on your own, you and your spouse. And as you're hooked into me and.

Linda Smith
00:05:12.818 - 00:05:14.250
Getting in the word and getting into.

Greg Smith
00:05:14.290 - 00:05:18.018
The word and doing the word, then you're getting strength, and you will bear fruit.

Linda Smith
00:05:18.034 - 00:05:19.498
And the word is the Bible.

Greg Smith
00:05:19.634 - 00:05:26.386
You'll bear right fruit in your marriage. It's good fruit. Okay, now we Romans 1017.

Linda Smith
00:05:26.458 - 00:05:34.604
So Romans 1017. This is brought me right to what I was saying. The word of God. Faith and faith is the power to believe.

Greg Smith
00:05:34.732 - 00:05:35.388
Yes.

Linda Smith
00:05:35.524 - 00:05:48.940
Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God.

And we need to have that power to believe so much in our homes, in our marriages, believe that there's hope, that there's hope at the end of the tunnel, right?

Greg Smith
00:05:49.020 - 00:05:49.404
Right.

Linda Smith
00:05:49.492 - 00:06:23.146
So by plugging into the vine, plugging into the power source, plugging in, listening to the word, looking for instruction, God's instruction manual, then that is going to give you the power to move forward and be able to do like God. Like in Philippians we talked about, you can do all things through Christ, who strengthens you in the tough times.

And so in God's hands, you have a bright future. And Jeremiah 29 talks about that. 20 911.

Greg Smith
00:06:23.218 - 00:06:52.138
Right. I'll get to that in just a moment for romans ten. Back up a little bit. Romans 1017.

You know, you could be believing for your, your husband or your wife to change, to come back to you, or you guys are going through a struggle. Well, what happens is you get around some friends and they go, I wouldn't stay married to that person. I would lose them.

Y'all are believing for a house. Don't you know the interest rates are high? There's no way, or you're never going to be able to afford a house.

Linda Smith
00:06:52.304 - 00:06:52.990
Negative.

Greg Smith
00:06:53.110 - 00:07:11.622
Your kid is sick. Oh, no. I don't know what's going to happen. He's got that particular thing. You know what? You're getting negative coming in through your eyes and ears.

But God says, plug into him. See what his word says. Because his word says, I love.

Linda Smith
00:07:11.646 - 00:07:13.134
See what he says about the whole.

Greg Smith
00:07:13.182 - 00:08:00.798
Situation through Christ, who strengthens me. Yes, well, I can love my husband. Yes, I can love my wife. Oh, you know what his Bible says? He heals. Well, we can believe God for healing.

Or he says he'll meet all my needs. Well, we need money to pay our rent. We need money to buy. Want to buy a house or to get our car fixed or. Or to do something or give to our church.

Hearing his word is what develops faith in you. So you can believe for your future that God has, for which we're getting ready to talk about, but you need to have that faith.

So we're not just talking about getting Godd, get warm fuzzies. We're talking about how when you get them involved and get that God factor in your life, you're different.

You're getting into a different zone that most people never get to experience.

Linda Smith
00:08:00.894 - 00:08:02.862
They don't tap into it, and that's.

Greg Smith
00:08:02.926 - 00:08:51.645
That's the difference. Now, Jeremiah 20 911 says this. It's one of my favorite scriptures. God says.

He's saying to you for I know the plans that I have for you, declares the Lord. Plan? Let's say plans for your marriage, plans for welfare and not for calamity, to give you a future and a hope. God knows what he's got for you.

As we read in that one scripture on a couple of podcasts ago about what his expectations was for your sexual union in your marriage. He's got things for you with your finances, with your health, with your emotions, your mental areas, your housing, your budgets, everything.

Linda Smith
00:08:51.757 - 00:08:55.309
The dreams that you have, the goals that you've set.

Greg Smith
00:08:55.389 - 00:08:57.357
Yeah, maybe it's a dream to go.

Linda Smith
00:08:57.373 - 00:08:59.045
On a vacation or something like that.

Greg Smith
00:08:59.077 - 00:09:15.436
Or maybe God's calling you to start a business, or he wants you to volunteer somewhere, whatever it is, he gives you those dreams and he says, I know what you're capable of, and that's what he wants to happen in your life. So you have a destiny for your marriage.

Linda Smith
00:09:15.508 - 00:09:18.212
But you know what, Greg? Marriage busters are going to come in.

Greg Smith
00:09:18.236 - 00:09:18.660
No.

Linda Smith
00:09:18.780 - 00:09:55.112
Yeah. I mean, like here. And we're told about it. The thief comes to steal God's future from you. Yeah. And that's in John 1010, but the thief comes only now.

This is that the devil would be the devil. Exactly. To the devil may his resume is. The devil made it to do it. His. The enemies. He's an enemy. He's a thief. That's the devil.

He comes only to steal, kill and destroy. That is his only resume. Well, he's a liar, too, but nothing good.

Greg Smith
00:09:55.176 - 00:10:02.480
So you're nothing good when we get married, God is not God, but the devil. He wants to see us fail.

Linda Smith
00:10:02.560 - 00:10:04.816
Yeah, he does. He wants you to destroy.

Greg Smith
00:10:04.888 - 00:10:09.880
He wants you to be miserable. Even if you don't get a divorce, he would love to have you just be miserable.

Linda Smith
00:10:09.960 - 00:10:17.272
Miserable. Yeah. And, you know, in this day and time, it seems like there's an all out attack on the family. Oh, more so than ever, there's an.

Greg Smith
00:10:17.296 - 00:10:18.232
Attack on the families.

Linda Smith
00:10:18.296 - 00:10:46.502
But. But there's good news here. God came that they might have life and life more abundantly. Well, we know life's gonna come. We know life's gonna hit.

We know the marriage busters are gonna hit. But when we put our marriage in God's hands, we can overcome these circumstances of life, and we know that we have that promise that God has.

He wants us to have that life and life more abundantly. So how do we get it? Matthew seven.

Greg Smith
00:10:46.566 - 00:10:47.142
Yeah.

Linda Smith
00:10:47.286 - 00:10:49.446
Matthew 724 27.

Greg Smith
00:10:49.558 - 00:11:49.576
Yes. And just just with what I'm going to read on 724.

But you know, when the junk hits, when those marriage busters come, you can say devil or marriage buster, whatever word you want to use. God said that I have life and life more abundantly.

So when you get those negative thoughts come in, when you look at your checkbook, you look at your spouse or your kids or something, your car that's smoking, you can say, God says, I can have life and life more abundantly, and he's got good things for me. And that's where you can stand on that. Now, here's a key. Linda brought up Matthew 724 through 27. How do we do this? How do we activate that?

Number one, we said earlier, you got to abide in the vine. But here's what the scripture says. It says, therefore every marriage. It says every person.

But I'm putting in here every marriage who hears these words of the bible of mine and acts upon them.

Linda Smith
00:11:49.728 - 00:11:51.544
Keyword, key words.

Greg Smith
00:11:51.672 - 00:11:52.992
Acts, does.

Linda Smith
00:11:53.136 - 00:11:54.384
So you just a doer.

Greg Smith
00:11:54.432 - 00:12:44.404
You just can't read it and expect, oh, fairy dust is going to come down. No, it says you got to do them.

It says, acts upon them may be compared to a wise marriage or a wise man or woman which built this house upon the rock. That's Jesus, the word of God. And the marriage buster's life hit and came just like right now. We were talking to somebody in Florida.

They got hurricane warnings up. You know, in our lives, we have marriage buster warnings coming, but we can prepare for them and be ready for them as we're doing the word of God.

So those marriage busters come and burst against that house, and the word says, and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded upon the rock.

Linda Smith
00:12:44.492 - 00:12:45.028
That's it.

Greg Smith
00:12:45.084 - 00:13:16.142
You want to see your marriage succeed, you're going to have problems. I mean, I don't care how much this is life. You're always going to have little bickers and life problems between relationships.

But life's going to hit you. It's going to hit you and hit some people more than others. But we got to have a firm foundation.

Then the second part of that scripture says, and every marriage who hears these words of mine and does not act upon them will be like a foolish marriage. Do you want to be a wise marriage or a foolish marriage?

Linda Smith
00:13:16.266 - 00:13:16.854
Wise.

Greg Smith
00:13:16.982 - 00:13:25.250
Wise. That foolish marriage built its house upon the sand. They built a house, but they put it upon the sand.

Linda Smith
00:13:25.870 - 00:13:26.878
Sinking sand.

Greg Smith
00:13:26.934 - 00:13:34.950
Yes. And the merit busters came and burst against that house, and great was its fall.

Linda Smith
00:13:35.070 - 00:13:36.438
Whoa. We don't want that.

Greg Smith
00:13:36.534 - 00:13:59.708
So we need to hear and do really all good marriage teaching has to be applied to. But when you get the ones that are coming from the word or got scriptures to stand on, we need to be doing them.

So hear in, apply and be a doer, and you'll be a wise marriage, a wise husband and a wise spouse.

Linda Smith
00:13:59.764 - 00:14:02.724
But. But here, it's got to be done on purpose.

Greg Smith
00:14:02.892 - 00:14:03.380
Yes.

Linda Smith
00:14:03.460 - 00:14:26.722
Right here. Great marriages, they don't just happen. It has to be intentional. I mean, it takes effort. Marriage is hard work.

Yes, marriage takes effort, and it takes action on our part. Like Greg said, to be a hearer and a doer, that's what's going to. I mean, what do you want? What do you want with your marriage?

Greg Smith
00:14:26.786 - 00:14:27.194
Yeah.

Linda Smith
00:14:27.282 - 00:14:43.748
Got to ask yourself, what do you want? What are you willing to do to obtain a marriage? That is where you can say, I'm married and I love it. I actually. I'm enjoying my life.

Greg Smith
00:14:43.844 - 00:14:44.284
Yeah.

Linda Smith
00:14:44.372 - 00:14:55.124
What are you willing to do to obtain that? What are you going to focus on? What are you going to intentionally and on purpose work on and apply in your marriage relationship?

Greg Smith
00:14:55.172 - 00:15:00.284
It's just like when I went on a diet in the past. Well, everybody. Yeah, a lot of diet.

Linda Smith
00:15:00.332 - 00:15:02.864
Don't call it diet. Right.

Greg Smith
00:15:03.052 - 00:15:16.952
You want to lose weight. Well, what are you going to do about it? How are you going to change your diet? What about exercise?

You have to put together a plan, but you got to be on purpose. But then you have to do it and you develop daily habits. Okay.

Linda Smith
00:15:17.096 - 00:15:17.608
Yes.

Greg Smith
00:15:17.704 - 00:15:18.712
All right, let's move on.

Linda Smith
00:15:18.776 - 00:15:32.774
So, first corinthians 924 through 27, run your race to win with your prize in mind and exercise self control so you can win a. So tell me about that, Greg.

Greg Smith
00:15:32.902 - 00:15:50.302
Well, when we get in a race, you got to want to win it. I remember when jason, our little, our son, he was just 8910, somewhere in that range, and he was playing on one of those youth soccer leagues.

And I, the coach asked me to fill in one day, and so I was going to fill in, but she.

Linda Smith
00:15:50.326 - 00:15:51.910
Says now, to help coach the team.

Greg Smith
00:15:51.950 - 00:16:15.564
Yeah, to help coach the team. And she said, no, we don't teach them to win. It's just to get out there and have fun. No, I said, what? You got to have a goal.

Oh, no, we can't do that. You know, you got to want to win your race if you're going to run it, and you got to know what the prize is.

What's the prize you won in your marriage? As Linda brought up all ago, what do you want to see happen in your marriage.

Linda Smith
00:16:15.652 - 00:16:18.468
It's going to be exciting, that it's going to be sizzling.

Greg Smith
00:16:18.644 - 00:16:43.074
So it says, run your race to win with the prize in mind and exercise self control so you can win. As you're working on your marriage here in the future, what are you learning? What are you wanting, and what are you gonna do? It's.

It can be tough if you go back. Well, we haven't got to it. In a couple of podcasts, we're gonna talk about better you, better self. Well, we're gonna look at some things.

Linda Smith
00:16:43.122 - 00:16:43.730
Better marriage.

Greg Smith
00:16:43.810 - 00:16:44.634
Better marriage.

Linda Smith
00:16:44.762 - 00:16:45.362
Better marriage.

Greg Smith
00:16:45.386 - 00:16:56.708
Yeah, better marriage. We're gonna talk about things for you to do, and they may be a little hard.

Gonna have to open up a little bit and think, but what are you willing to do?

Linda Smith
00:16:56.764 - 00:16:58.044
It's gonna be worth it.

Greg Smith
00:16:58.132 - 00:17:59.390
The better, the more the race goes, the tougher sometimes, the better the price. And I want to put one thought on that. There was years ago when I was playing little league baseball, probably junior high or high.

Probably junior high.

I remember I was up the bat, and I actually hit the ball, and I hit it right to the shortstop, and I took off down first base, started running, and I saw the guy was catching it, and I slowed down before I got the first base. When I got back to the dugout, my coach lit into me in front of the team, the other team, and all the parents.

He said, don't you ever, ever slow down again. In other words, when you're running for the prize, you give it all you've got. You put 100% effort into it.

Because you know what would have happened if I slowed down and the guy missed the ball or he overthrew it.

Linda Smith
00:17:59.470 - 00:18:02.238
Or it went between his legs and it rolled into the backfield.

Greg Smith
00:18:02.294 - 00:18:12.884
There's always a chance that you can still win and get to what your goal is if you don't quit and slow down. So run your race to win.

Linda Smith
00:18:13.012 - 00:18:13.916
Run hard.

Greg Smith
00:18:14.028 - 00:18:33.844
When you said, I do, you were saying, I'm going to do whatever. That do's an action word. I'm going to do whatever I can, whatever blessing to my spouse and for us to have a successful marriage.

So whatever the conditions are in your marriage, Excel still more.

Linda Smith
00:18:33.932 - 00:18:35.252
Yeah, don't settle for.

Greg Smith
00:18:35.316 - 00:18:37.160
Don't settle for. That's a big key.

Linda Smith
00:18:38.110 - 00:19:02.398
Regardless of the condition in your marriage, you don't want to settle for it. Excel still more. And as time goes by, you can still say, you want to be able to say, you're still the one, right?

So right now, that's what we want to be able to always say, even at 40, almost 47 years, you're still the one. But you know what? It's really all about you still being the one.

Greg Smith
00:19:02.454 - 00:19:02.884
Yes.

Linda Smith
00:19:02.982 - 00:19:11.016
You know, like I have to tell myself. I have to look in the mirror and say, linda, it's all about you, Linda. About still being the one for Greg.

Greg Smith
00:19:11.128 - 00:19:11.624
Yes.

Linda Smith
00:19:11.712 - 00:19:17.392
You know, to make my marriage work, I gotta look at myself and focus on me. So.

Greg Smith
00:19:17.536 - 00:19:34.604
So, like, when we come up on 47 years, am I still the 01:00 a.m. i still doing everything I can do on my part so Linda can look at me and say, you're still the one.

And be smiling and saying, give me my ten second kiss, but let's go into overtime.

Linda Smith
00:19:34.692 - 00:19:37.860
Yeah. Yeah. So what you want to talk about Adam and Eve?

Greg Smith
00:19:37.900 - 00:19:38.284
Yeah.

Linda Smith
00:19:38.372 - 00:19:43.900
All right. Well, everybody knows Adam and Eve. The story of Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden.

Greg Smith
00:19:43.940 - 00:19:44.276
Yes.

Linda Smith
00:19:44.348 - 00:20:21.200
It was heaven on earth, and Adam was told to take care of it and he was told to enjoy it. But what happened? What happened? Marriage busters. Marriage busters came in and just like John 1010, the devil came to steal, kill and destroy.

And they didn't. They didn't fall back on, but Jesus came to give me life and life more. But they didn't do that.

Adam let the snake get into the garden and he let his guard down. Yep. He let his guard down. He just moved aside and he just got lax about it. And Eve listened to the lies of the devil.

Greg Smith
00:20:21.320 - 00:20:21.872
Yep.

Linda Smith
00:20:21.976 - 00:20:25.296
And for them at that time, that was a marriage buster.

Greg Smith
00:20:25.368 - 00:20:26.940
That was a marriage buster. Yeah.

Linda Smith
00:20:27.440 - 00:20:29.300
Destroying their marriage.

Greg Smith
00:20:30.420 - 00:20:31.764
They didn't protect their marriage.

Linda Smith
00:20:31.812 - 00:20:32.164
Right.

Greg Smith
00:20:32.252 - 00:20:34.316
They didn't do their maintenance on their garden.

Linda Smith
00:20:34.388 - 00:20:35.012
Yep.

Greg Smith
00:20:35.156 - 00:20:37.268
And all that. And they let the snake in.

Linda Smith
00:20:37.324 - 00:20:53.740
Yep. And they both started blame shifting. What happened? He pointed to her and he said, it's that woman you gave me, God.

And she pointed back and their actions impacted them and impacted us, and it impacted all the future generations.

Greg Smith
00:20:53.860 - 00:20:54.572
Yeah. Yeah.

Linda Smith
00:20:54.596 - 00:20:57.052
We're still thousands and thousands of years, right?

Greg Smith
00:20:57.196 - 00:20:57.696
Yeah.

Linda Smith
00:20:57.788 - 00:21:15.608
Well, your marriage, you have gotten married and you have been given a garden of your own to develop, to cultivate. And this is all going to take on you being on purpose and running that race. And when the marriage busters come, what are you going to do?

Greg Smith
00:21:15.704 - 00:21:16.296
That's right.

Linda Smith
00:21:16.368 - 00:21:41.058
Going to fall back on the word of God.

You're going to realize that together, husband and wife, that you can pray, you can get in the word of God to seek direction in whatever marriage buster may be hitting on you and regardless of your present garden condition. So to speak. You can start again.

Greg Smith
00:21:41.194 - 00:21:54.272
Yeah. Now, something on that to add to that.

What Linda is saying is you don't wait for the marriage busters to come in before you start exactly believing God's going to help you or to deal with the battle.

Linda Smith
00:21:54.336 - 00:21:56.984
Well, that comes back to building your house on the rock.

Greg Smith
00:21:57.032 - 00:21:57.392
Rock.

Linda Smith
00:21:57.456 - 00:21:57.896
Yes.

Greg Smith
00:21:58.008 - 00:21:58.496
Right? Yep.

Linda Smith
00:21:58.528 - 00:22:00.144
Yep. Comes right back to that.

Greg Smith
00:22:00.232 - 00:22:02.152
Yeah. So you're ready for.

Linda Smith
00:22:02.256 - 00:22:16.546
You're ready together as a couple. And so there's some plants that Greg will often talk about whenever that he is doing a teaching. But how about tell us about those plants right now.

Greg Smith
00:22:16.688 - 00:23:12.062
Okay. Well, you know, I just look at your garden.

If you can walk outside and you got some plants that are looking really good, they got the nice leaves on them. If they have flowers, they're looking really good. And then you can go down a little further and you can have a plant.

Or maybe in another week or two, that plant is starting to look a little brown, not as nice, and the flowers are starting to wilt. What happened? It didn't get watered. Maybe it didn't get the food it needs. It had neglect.

And then that plant, you find this plant and it's not looking good, what do you do? You got two choices. If you leave it alone, it's going to get worse and it could eventually die.

However, if you give it some TLC, all of a sudden it's going to start getting green again. The leaves are going to perk up. The flower buds pick up, they start blooming. And now you've got a nice, nice plant.

And that's the same thing with your marriage.

Linda Smith
00:23:12.126 - 00:23:13.222
It can be restored.

Greg Smith
00:23:13.326 - 00:23:24.934
That plant can represent your spouse. If she's not he or she's not getting love attention, they're getting their needs taken care of. Then what happens? They begin to wilt.

Linda Smith
00:23:24.982 - 00:23:25.542
They wilt.

Greg Smith
00:23:25.606 - 00:23:36.980
Or it can represent your marriage. So what condition is your marriage in? What condition is your spouse in? Maybe. What condition are you in and what can you do to get it back.

Linda Smith
00:23:37.880 - 00:23:52.536
For restoration, even to take place? So our goal here is to help you make your marriage great and that you can say that you love it and on purpose. You're putting your marriage.

You're putting it into God's hands.

Greg Smith
00:23:52.568 - 00:26:11.440
Yes, I'm gonna. We're closing this session now. This is the end of the putting your marriage in God hands.

And there's a song that came out in the eighties, and I was listening to it. I think it came out. It's by Gary Dunham.

Came out in 1980, but it was around 19, 82, 83 when I started listening to it, and it was about the time that our marriage was falling apart. And I took the song and listened to it, and it became a prayer. And it's something I just meditated on.

And I want to read it here because I think it's applicable to what happened in my life and what our vision for married and Lovett is. It says, thank you, Lord. Thank you for giving her, my wife to me again. I thought it was the end, but you came and changed it, that God factor.

And thank you, Lord. Thank you for taking such a lonely man. You took my life in your hands. You took my. I'm putting in here.

You took my marriage in your hands and you rearranged it. See, when we get God involved, he rearranges our life and puts us on track and makes us into the person we're called to be and want to be.

It says, a happy family is quite a thing to see nowadays.

And, Lord, I hope that every, everybody sees us so I can tell them that a man can take a wife and share the sunshine and the storms together, but love won't stand the weather without Jesus. Thank you, Lord, for being a dad who was never like this. I see how much I have missed it by doing it my way.

And, Lord, you are the one who's given me my wife and family. You've given me new life to do it your way. Putting our marriage into God's hands. Putting our life into God's hands.

He can come in and rearrange our hearts. And as our spouse opens, as he ministers to our spouse, they can open their hearts up.

And God can cause a happy family so other people can see us as a happy family and we can impact the world.

Linda Smith
00:26:12.100 - 00:26:14.444
Yeah, I think that can be found on YouTube.

Greg Smith
00:26:14.572 - 00:26:15.840
Yeah, check it out.

Linda Smith
00:26:16.420 - 00:26:21.528
Happy family is the name of the song. And Gary Dunham.

Greg Smith
00:26:21.724 - 00:26:23.648
We'll put a link in the show notes for that.

Linda Smith
00:26:23.704 - 00:27:13.200
Okay, that sounds great. But, you know, that brings us back to ephesians 320. God, my God, your God. It's a promise in the word of God. Yes, my God will do exceedingly.

And this is what God told me when I was at the very beginning of saying, okay, I'm gonna. I'm gonna trust you, God, to take this marriage and make it a happy family.

Yes, Ephesians 320, my God will do exceedingly, abundantly above and beyond all that I can ask or think according to the power that works within me. So that is what a scripture that you can stand on. You can stand on that for your marriage, your home.

Greg Smith
00:27:13.700 - 00:27:34.890
Yes. And we're going to close with that scripture.

I got some homework for you, but before I give you the homework, I just want to say a prayer for you and your family and Lord right now, Linda and I agree that everybody listening here today, that you've got good things in store for them, that you have a future and a hope for them.

Linda Smith
00:27:34.970 - 00:27:35.386
Yes.

Greg Smith
00:27:35.458 - 00:28:29.662
And Lord God, regardless of where they're at in their marriage, I ask that you just reveal yourself to them. I don't know where they're at with you even. They may not even be a believer, but I just ask that you reveal yourself to every person.

That hope comes up in their hearts, that faith, after they're listening to these podcasts, they'll have faith that they'll be able to do all things through you. Who strengthens them, Father God? That wherever they're at in their marriage walk, that you're going to cause that marriage to excel still more.

For the couples that are going through marriage busters like it's perfect storms against their finances, against with their health or whatever, that you're going to give them the strength and ability to get through those times and you can provide for them in different ways. For those that have hard hearts right now or their hearts are broken.

We thank you Lord God, that you're able to make a heart of stone into a heart of flesh.

Linda Smith
00:28:29.726 - 00:28:30.118
Yes.

Greg Smith
00:28:30.214 - 00:29:12.958
And I ask that you minister those people, Lord, you know where each and every person is.

And we just thank you right now that the good work that you're starting in their lives from listening to these podcast about putting their marriage and their lives into your hands, that you're going to do exceedingly, abundantly above all that they could ask or think in their lives. And we just thank you for it.

We thank you Lord God, for creating couples marriages where they can say they are married and love it, that they're still the one and that they're going to impact generations. And we thank you for it, Lord, in Jesus name. So your homework again, might as well get used to this homework. It's the ten second kiss.

Linda Smith
00:29:13.054 - 00:29:14.790
Always starting with that.

Greg Smith
00:29:14.870 - 00:29:29.190
Always start with all the time. So get used to kissing.

And you can, like I say, you can up your game, you can up the time, wherever how you want to kiss and just get creative, do it more than once a day, get extra credit. Any other homework for them?

Linda Smith
00:29:29.230 - 00:29:49.978
Yes. Are you running your race to win? Yes, we talked about that. To run with the, to run the race to win.

So your ten second kiss and then last podcast, I think we were, you were going to check and see have you put your marriage in God's hands? And now for this one. Are you running your ways to win?

Greg Smith
00:29:50.034 - 00:30:03.548
And I would say take time and write down, look up some of these scriptures and see how they apply to you and your marriage. And if you and your husband or spouse or wife maybe sit down and go over it with them, if that's the spot you guys are in in.

Linda Smith
00:30:03.564 - 00:30:07.708
Your marriage, they're gonna be. The scriptures will be in the share notes the trend.

Greg Smith
00:30:07.764 - 00:31:14.858
Yeah, and we're glad you spent this time with us.

We're looking forward in the future to spending more time with you because we're gonna talk about communication, in laws, personalities, love, languages, sex, sex, more sex, romance, all the different topics that deal with marriage we're going to be covering. And we're looking forward to spending that time with you so everybody can say they are married and love it.

Thank you for investing into your marriage by listening to the married and Love it podcast.

Be sure to be a part of the ripple effect of making marriage great by sharing this podcast with other couples to equip them to be married and Lovett to the max.

Also, subscribe to and follow us on your favorite platform and be sure to check out our website at www.marriedandloveit.com where you can learn more about married and Lovett and contact us with any questions or comments that you may have. And remember with God that you have a future and a hope and you can be married and love it.