Throw Another Log on the Fire

 

(Sermon Notes) By Warren Zehrung 8/1/2020

In today’s sermon, we will be talking about our marriage commitment and the care and feeding of a Godly marriage. I would like to begin today by sharing an exciting and harrowing experience my wife, Sharon, and I had back in the early 1980s, almost 40 years ago. This is a sermon on marriage – and I’d like to draw a few analogies from that trip long ago…

Sharon had bought me an eighteen-foot Coleman Canoe for Father’s Day – and we were anxious to put it through its paces on a white-water river. The winter was unseasonably warm that year. The trees were already blooming and the sap was already rising-up in February.

The Buffalo National River is a white-water river in the Buffalo National Forrest of the U.S. National Park Service… lots of twists, turns, cliffs, boulders and rapids… The beautiful Arkansas Buffalo River flows freely for 135 miles and is one of the few remaining undammed rivers in the lower 48 states.

We chose a section from Ponca to Pruitt, AR, a 30-mile float that takes a minimum of two days to complete. It was an adventurous and ambitious trip… You camp and cook on the river’s edge on a trip like that.

That trip featured the best scenery the Buffalo National River has to offer,

We left Baton Rouge, LA about noon on Friday and attended Sabbath services with brethren in Searcy, AR.

It was dark Sunday morning, with a quiet misty foggy – when our trip began.

Keep in mind that there was no Doppler Radar or precise Weather forecast back then… We had warm rain … We wondered, “Had the weather Front gone through?” I had noticed 12-degree temperatures in Oklahoma. So we packed for freezing cold weather and safety… Winds, temperatures, humidity, and barometers were not that good at predicting blizzards in those days.

The river had fast water! … the most beautiful place on earth! Going through the canyon with 300-foot cliffs on either side of the river. There were gorgeous Deep crevasses and stunning ravines…

After 3 hours the temperatures began to plunge – I’ll tell you, “it was cold.” Sharon will tell you, “It was bitter cold!”

There was no turning back. Very shortly, we were Pelted with frozen rain and sleet. A person can go for weeks without food – but perish in a night from icy over-exposure. It was getting rough! River Spray – We were getting soaked.

The other couple with us capsized in the fast and swerving river. We had tents, food, blankets and lots of gear. With the steep walls of the mountainsides – the River was rising rapidly – 2’ – 3’ and more… We realized that it wasn’t a regular storm – but a blizzard we’d gotten ourselves into.

And we’d have to work fast if we were going to survive without serious harm to ourselves… We were getting soaked – but we knew that we had woolen socks and changes of clothes packed in waterproof bags.

The big question we had was, “Just how bad was this storm going to be – and we had not even gone through the first night yet! We considered aborting the journey – to wait for a more advantageous time.

We had lots of good maps of the area, but it was 17 miles through mountains and forest to the nearest highway where we might seek help – so that was out of the question. And the night was coming on – so the better part of wisdom told us that we needed to seek shelter to be able to ride out the Blizzard.

We found a location where there had been a farm many years before and there was an old pump-shed, still standing, that we could use for shelter. Good! We didn’t have to use the tents! It was small, 8 foot by 8 foot pump-shed, – without a door – but it had a roof – and so we decided to spend the night there.

By that time the other young lady (30 years old) from the capsized canoe was crying because the cold had gotten to her, and the pain in her hands had become intolerable. We needed some heat – and fast!

There was a lot of old hay strewn about the place that we could use. We built a Straw and Hay fire. The quick warmth felt good on our faces and hands. The hay fire gave off a lot of instant heat, but it only lasted two or three minutes, and as fast as it flared up, it began to go out.

At about that time of the evening Sharon said, “What is that white stuff getting all over everything?” The other man with us said, “That must be ash from the hay-fire that we had built. I said, “We didn’t make that much ash, and besides it is getting all over the mountain across the Buffalo River.”

The trees on top of the mountain were glistening as the rays of the setting sun reflected off the ice crystals. When you are from Louisiana, you aren’t too quick at recognizing snow. We were not expecting snow. The rain and sleet had changed to snow – and all of a sudden it was really starting to snow heavily.

That blizzard came in with a fury and within an hour there was already a foot and a half of snow on the ground. It was still early and we began to prepare for the night. We gathered a lot of hay into that small pump-house to sleep on, and we started chopping and gathering as much firewood as we could find along the river bank.

We dug a trench to build a good fire in it – one that would make a lot of coals with staying power to give off heat for hours if we kept feeding the fire. And when the penetrating cold would creep into our little shelter we would get up and throw another log on the fire.

We survived that blizzard because we were prepared, and because we kept feeding that fire. That is where I take the title of today’s sermon from – throw another log on the fire.

We found that we could not leave our protective fire unattended for very long – or we’d suffer the consequences. That unexpected blizzard in which we found ourselves is an apt analogy of the unanticipated ordeal that will eventually beset every marriage.

When you are young and infatuated you think that in marriage – every day will be a sunshiny day. In marriage, the reality is that you will occasionally be hit with an unexpected storm.

Today, marriage, as an institution, is greatly under attack and being rejected as unnecessary and out of date. And, our marriages in God’s Church, are not without their problems.

The nuclear family, a family unit that includes two married parents of opposite genders and their children, is the basic foundational building block of every civilized society. Satan is the enemy of Godly marriages – he wants them to fail. The sacred establishment of marriage is under attack by Satan.

Genesis 1:28 God blessed [Adam and Eve], and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth.

God’s view of marriage is entirely different from that being promulgated and disseminated by today’s world. God designed marriage for a purpose.

Brethren, we in God’s church need to be ever vigilant not to be drawn down into the quagmire of filth that our society has become. We need to ardently and enthusiastically return to the Godly values once delivered to the Children of God (Jude 1:3).

Though marriage is a physical union, it is a divine institution established by God at creation. When God made Adam, He realized that there was no one to help Adam, and no one to be his mate. Adam needed someone to compliment him physically, emotionally, psychologically, and especially, spiritually.

Genesis 2:18 The Lord God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an helper, comparable to him.”

So, God created Eve as a counterpart for Adam, and together, man and woman were complete. They were the first human family. It is God’s intention that a married husband and wife, together, reach the pinnacle of love and unity.

In a Godly marriage between two called-out and converted Christians, there exists a covenant, not only between the man and wife, but also with God. The man vows, [contracts, promises, pledges] with God and his wife, while the wife vows with God and her husband.

For this reason, a marriage between two of God’s people rises to the level of a God-plane relationship. People in the world cannot reach that pinnacle of attainment – because God is not in their equation.

The purpose of a Godly marriage is, first of all, for each partner to help complete the spiritual development and Godly character growth within their spouse. It is the solemn duty of each spouse to help their mate achieve their full spiritual potential. That is a responsibility we each have.

However, helping a spouse complete their spiritual development and character – sometimes requires tough love. In so doing, each spouse will ultimately arrive at the highest place in God’s Kingdom that is attainable.

But, or if, a husband or wife is not fulfilling their obligation to walk worthy of God, and their spouse motivates and enables them in that wrong direction to their own hurt and detriment – they are cohorts in sin tearing their marriage apart.

A wife is meant to be a positive enabler – so that he is able to be stronger in Godly character, grow spiritually, be happy so the entire family can be happier… be a comfort and peacemaker.

Today’s evil world does not realize that one of the greatest blessings from God, in this life, is a happy marriage.

Marriage reflects the exact picture of Jesus Christ and His loving relationship with His Church—the Church of God. Sadly, few marriages reach the level of marital harmony that God intended. Too many marriages are plagued with anger, hurt, resentment, and regret.

As with all things, God has given us instructions on how to have a happy and successful marriage. Marriage is a very early institution of God. God created marriage and sanctified it. That means that the union of Marriage is Holy.

Marriage points to God Himself, and the incredible intimacy of the Family of God. Marriage has tremendous ramifications that point to our relationship with Jesus Christ, and it contains the values and principles of God’s Kingdom.

Genesis 2:20  And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him. 

Genesis 2:21  And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; 

Genesis 2:22  And the rib, [actually a side of Adam] which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. 

God is intricately and intimately involved in the marriage process in a most detailed manner. Marriage is a divine institution in which a couple enters into a covenant relationship with each other, and also with God.

Genesis 2:23  And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man. 

Genesis 2:24  Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave [inseparable fusion] unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh

Cleave” means that you are so close together – nothing can come between you. The world does not grasp this Godly concept.

Genesis 1:28  And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth… [fill the earth]

By being able to bring children into the world, God was giving mankind a direct creative part in His Plan of making man in His image for the purpose of being in the very Family of God (Genesis 1:27).

Man and woman have been given a part in God’s direct creative process of bringing the human family ultimately into the Family of God. Marriage is the pinnacle of human experience.

In marriage men and women are given a part in God’s creative endeavor. It is beyond our comprehension that we are given the power to bring a man-child into the world. A child who is destined to become a Son or daughter of God.

I want to draw some analogies from this fire – because as it turned out on our canoe trip – that fire was very important to our survival. I’ll just mention right here that 47 people perished in that surprise storm. Obviously, we survived the blizzard, but there were times that we were very concerned.

There was no chance of rescue for two reasons: There were no first responders and cell phones in those days, and secondly, there was no one who was aware of our dire circumstance.

The blizzard was so severe that half the beautiful 2 feet in diameter oak trees on the Ambassador College, Big Sandy campus froze, burst, and died. The early false-spring-like buds and rising sap made the oak trees most vulnerable to the 12-degree freeze. That rare blizzard was the worst storm in decades –

With dry wool socks, ski suits, and quilted overalls we made it through the night with our fire just outside the open door. The show was deep – and where we’d built the straw and hay fire the beautiful snow had completely covered up the spot. But our big log fire was still hot with smoldering coals giving off a lot of heat.

And when we threw a few new logs on it – it burst into flames so that we were soon having stew for breakfast and hot coffee. Needless to say, we didn’t need the mosquito repellant we had brought along in our first-aid kit – but we were well prepared

Never the less we found ourselves perturbed over the fact that we were in a remote wilderness area – in our tennis shoes – unable to extract ourselves from a very dangerous situation.

Brethren, in married life you have to go into it with an all-out, maximum, lifetime commitment. You have to make the commitment to keep the fire burning. You must make the commitment to throw another log on the fire anytime the flames dim in the least – especially through the most difficult trials.

That commitment needs to be made before marriage, and again early in marriage and That commitment needs to be renewed over and over throughout life to remain “young at heart”. You may refer to your sweetheart as “My old flame.” As soon as that old flame is ignited – that commitment needs to be made.

Hollywood marriages and social media romances put out a lot of heat, smoke, and flame – but they are like that first hay fire that we built. It flares up and is soon gone – because of a lack of preparation and commitment. They say, “I do,” and then they don’t! They do not even know how to make a commitment. They go into a marriage thinking, “We’ll see how it works out!” The first storm that comes along – they find that their love is under 2 feet of snow. They do not keep working on their marriage – they do not keep adding to it – but let it die down.

Married life can be a lot like that unexpected storm. I don’t think that comes as a surprise to anyone. Married life is not all sun-shiny days – merrily, merrily drifting along downstream.

Those of you who have been married for some time, realize that there are cloudy days sometimes… rainy days… stormy days.., and once in a while a doozy of a blizzard can catch you off guard. That’s when you had better already made your commitment to see it through.

God designed marriages to grow and grow. Husbands and wives have their respective duties. A husband’s duty is to develop his wife spiritually – with the goal of Godly character in the Kingdom of God. And visa-versa, a wife’s duty is to develop her husband spiritually.

Here is a strange thing that I would like to share with you, brethren. As you go through the Scriptures – you will not find many “good marriages” represented in God’s Word.

Jesus Christ, when He has established His Father’s Kingdom on this earth in the Millennium – is going to be in need of some “good marriages” to hold up as representations of what marriage must be.

The Millennium will not be like our world today where half or more marriages end up disastrously. What we will be doing in the Millennium is showing those young people the purpose of good marriages – what marriage is for – what it is about. We will need examples of good marriages to hold up to the people and say, “This is what a good marriage looks like, and here is why marriage is so important.”

The Millennium will not look like our burning cities of today – torched by young people who come from families where only one in ten come from a two-parent family. What does a good marriage produce physically?

What does a Godly marriage produce spiritually? If you search the Scriptures, you will find very few exemplary marriages. Even in God’s Church – there are not as many “good marriages” there should be.

It is God’s intention, and with His help, those wonderful marriages are absolutely possible at this time. God will use the “good” marriages of today as beautiful examples to all those in the world tomorrow. Those examples of Godly marriages will be needed for the young people in the Millennium if we are going to have Peace on earth.

You might say, “Surely, Abraham had a good marriage.” Look again, there were some really stormy spots there. Isaac, Jacob, King David – a man after God’s own heart? Their marriages were fraught with troubles and terrible problems. Even in the New Testament Church of God – there are very few good marriages to be found. Aquila and Priscilla are an example of a good marriage.

A good marriage – one that has a covenant bond in it, has some of the attributes of our proven campfire – the one that made it through the blizzard. A good marriage is one that keeps the home-fires burning – providing the necessities required for strong and lasting relationships.

1Peter 3:1  Likewise, ye wives, be in subjection to your own husbands; that, if any obey not the word [he does not know the bible], they also may without the word be won by the conduct of the wives; 

subjection to your own husbands” – in WCG the understanding of this got out of hand all too many times…

Ephesians 5:21  Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear [reverence and respect] of God. 

That means serving and helping one another for the common good. The husband is to subject himself to the needs of his wife, and because of the husband’s primary responsibility for the family – the wife is to be subject to the husband.

Now, back to the husband who is won-over by the exemplary and excellent Godly conduct of his wife:

1Peter 3:2  While they behold your chaste conduct coupled with respect

Brethren, we must be markedly and decidedly respectful of our spouse’s sensitivities, weaknesses, and vulnerabilities. In marriage we are to be very close—we cleave to one another.

Because of our openness, closeness, and “oneness,” a marriage exposes a person’s most tender and sensitive feelings and emotions. They are evident, they are exposed and at risk to be damaged.

Those innermost sentiments must be held with the highest regard and deference not to injure a person’s inner-self and psyche.

We are in the flesh… we are frail in our emotions, self-image, expectations, and a plethora – an overabundance of wonderful tender sensitivities. Protect those – with all your being safeguard those tender sensitivities …

Psalm 139:14  [We are] fearfully and wonderfully made: and for this we praise God.

We all have emotional, and perhaps psychological, scars – hurts and experiences that the world is not; party to – they are a private affair between the husband and the wife, alone. We all have hurtful wounds and memories – fragile parts of our make-up, that no one but our spouse is to know of.

A husband and wife are able to cultivate a unique spiritual relationship [even most personal prayer to God] with one another. That intimate relationship between a husband and a wife is something that cannot be shared with anyone else. Because if it were shared – it would be a violation of trust. You do not say to a third party, “Let me tell you what my wife did… or, what my husband did.” That would be a violation of trust.

A good marriage has a solid foundation in the Principles of Jesus Christ.

1Peter 3:7  Likewise, ye husbands, dwell [stand with, /beside] with them according to knowledge [understanding], giving honor unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel [the husband has heavier responsibilities taking his place as the head (Ephesians 5:23, 1Peter 3:1)], and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered. 

Husbands and wives will love one another through all eternity – not having children again but a deeper and perfect eternal love.

Husbands and wives are literally willing to die for each other just as Jesus died for the Church brethren.

Being the “weaker vessel” does not carry any negative connotation what-so-ever. In fact, the woman’s place is an honored position. Husbands and wives are to complement and complete one another – balance each other out – so that each will become whole. We are all “weaker” than Jesus Christ.

Heirs together” – there is a fantastic revelation by God that in the marriage, the husband and the wife are linked/bound together for the purpose of being heirs together of the grace of life; This is saying that when we make a commitment to marriage – that working together in their spiritual lives is an utmost necessity for the people of God.

What is indicated in this verse is that working together in our married lives, husbands and wives help one – serve one another to attain to the highest degree of Godliness possible – heirs together of the Kingdom of God.

The concept of just trying to meet the lowest entry level of the Kingdom is a misguided notion. Barely making it into the Kingdom is not a Christian belief. It is a false concept. Christianity is not a coasting downhill kind of pursuit. It is more like a salmon fighting its way upstream – against constant forces – to the very headwaters of the river.

We want to be useful to Jesus Christ in every way possible. That is why we work, learn, and build Godly character together. Anything else would not be a Godly marriage. Our responsibility as a spouse is to help our mate attain to the highest degree possible in the Kingdom of God. Husband and wife work together – as Paul said:

Philippians 3:14  I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. 

There must needs be a Common Goal in a Godly marriage. Physically, and as the leader, the husband is usually tougher and stronger. But we must always understand that the wife is as vital and indispensable as the husband is.

Husbands must recognize that she is delicate, soft, imaginative, gentle, compassionate, and tender – attributes of God – that are as necessary and essential as any characteristic of the husband. She perceives things that the husband misses.

A husband must treat his wife with understanding, tenderness, patience, and, most importantly, with affection and as a best friend. She is entitled to be treated like a queen with chocolates and flowers occasionally.

Let’s talk about how to throw another log on the fire for the purpose of having a heart-warming marriage. We are not wrestling against flesh and blood (or blizzards) – so we need to look at some spiritual logs we can throw on the fire to enliven our marriages.

God is allowing us to learn some real lessons – and we do need His help in order to have Godly marriages—we cannot go it alone.

We build a solid fire as soon as we learn of the Truth of God – and then we keep that fire roaring – and we are to never let that fire go out.

Brethren, let me make a clarification and a distinction here: We have all heard of the fruit of the Spirit many, many times.

Galatians 5:22  But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, …and so forth. 

Someone will say, “I don’t feel the joy or the peace… I don’t see the love.” They are not reading the Scripture correctly: The fruit of the Spirit is not something you get – for yourself, alone. The fruit is what the Spirit produces. And it is produced in us for a purpose:

1 Corinthians 12:7 But the manifestation of the Spirit [that is when you have the fruit of the Spirit] is given to every man to profit withal.

for the common good.

so we can help each other.

for a special way of serving others.

for the good of all.

…for the benefit of all.

for the profit of all.

So fruit of the Spirit is not a feeling or sentiment – but a tangible product that must be of profit and help to a recipient. For the purpose of today’s sermon, I would like to apply this concept to marriage.

The title of today’s sermon is: Throw Another Log on the Fire.

Let’s let the fruit of the Spirit be a log. Love is a log, joy is a log, peace is a log… and so forth. Let’s read it again:

Galatians 5:22  But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 

Galatians 5:23  Meekness [Humility], temperance [self-control]: against such, there is no law. 

You might be saying, “I’ve seen those “Spiritual Logs” before, lots of times.” Maybe you have, but as long as they remain outside on the Firewood Rack outside your door – they are not adding the life-giving heat you need to survive. You must throw another log on the fire.

These “logs” are better known as the fruit of the Spirit.

The first log is Love:

What kind of love does the marriage need? The kind that adds needed warmth and comfort to a cooling relationship.

Giving, honoring, cleaving to one another. Doing not only what is right, but needful, helpful and required in the marriage. Paraphrasing Peter:

2Peter 1:10 … for if ye do these things, your marriage shall never grow cold

This is the warming agape – Godly love that will thaw the coldest heart.

How do we encourage; how do we inspire; how do we go about making it possible for our mate’s heart to melt into a receptive reservoir of affection?

Do we daily endeavor to make our home a joyful and peaceful abode – lacking the chill of a cold shoulder? What we need are Happiness, Smiles, kisses, and hugs…

It is so much more advantageous to be adorned in a meek and quiet spirit than to be exposed to the frigid elements of a joy-less marriage

1Peter 3:4-5  But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price.  For after this manner in the old time the holy women also, who trusted in God, adorned themselves, being in subjection unto their own husbands: 

The next log is Joy:

Do we work continuously to bring joy into the heart of the one we love?

Let’s face it, we all offend sometimes. Trials can sometimes render us less than patient. Depression can take its toll. Those are the times to be especially careful and tolerant of our spouse’s feelings. A wrong word, a bitter word – an ugly word, is like tossing ice cubes into hot soup that is ready to be served for supper.

The next log is Peace:

Better to be a peacemaker saying, “I’m sorry,” – – really mean those words.

That gesture of saying “I’m sorry,” is a little more like serving up steaming hot buttered rolls with that supper.

The next log is Longsuffering:

When one or the other spouse lets down – the other will carry the burden of the marriage, because it is God in us that causes us to provide and serve in that way when needed.

God’s Spirit in us, motivates us in that yielded and giving way. There is a lot of sacrifice in a Godly marriage.

Learning to bring that meek and quiet spirit with us wherever we go takes a patient and forgiving nature that comes only with patience and practice.

Patience and practice, that is what longsuffering means. Being incredibly patient, waiting, and enduring. Doing everything you possibly can to reconcile every situation.

Let’s talk about the log of Gentleness

Be gentle with each other. Not harsh, not hard – not overly demanding. Working together to be kind, and tender at all times. That is always a good log to throw on the fire – being tender to one another.

You must throw another log on the fire: Goodness and Faith

Two more logs: Goodness, and Faithfulness,

I need to be strong where my mate is weak.

If we believe in a 50% – 50% marriage – it will surely fail when one party lets down in the slightest way.

Even when one feels that their spouse is undeserving, you need to say to yourself, “I’ll carry 100% of the load so that when my spouse is injured, incapacitated, or weakened – we will still have, a 100% marriage. That, too, is always a good log to throw on the fire:

The next log Paul mentions is Meekness

Galatians 5:23  Meekness [Humility], temperance [self-control]: against such there is no law. 

The King James Version has “Meekness” and humility, humble, gentle, respectful … yielded, entreatable teachable, responsive – takes close communication – and that is a learned skill to keep the avenues of communication open. Without communication, we are not going to have a good marriage – and interaction is a learned skill.

Matthew 5:5 The meek [gentle] shall inherit the earth! It is one of Jesus Christ’s beatitudes. Meekness is the opposite of “bold,” “harsh” or “in your face.” Harshness is like throwing water on your home fire! You don’t want that! Both spouses need to be gentle to one another.

Forgiving is so important in marriage if you do not want to begin building walls of separation. Avoid resentment like the plague – because that is hating your own flesh. Because God says you are one flesh. If you have driven them away – that is hating your own flesh.

Purposely hurting or “getting even” – revenge – is an un-Christian trait.

If you insist in having “your pound of flesh” your marriage will soon waste away.

The log of Temperance (Self-Control)

The log of temperance is mostly overlooked – because it has gained the connotation of drinking in moderation – but it means so much more.

I suppose that the log ofTemperance does more to sustain affection and nurture the enduring flame of love than any of the other kinds of logs.

Temperance means “self-control.In marriage, we need to prioritize and have balance, between work, family, church, social life, and recreation.

We build the character to have self-control. We all have to fight, struggle, and make daily sacrifices to balance our lives. “Fight for balance” that is strange nomenclature!”

It is so easy to neglect important aspects of our family life because Temperance/self-control demands moderation in our emotions, desires, conversation, and activities. Temperance is the throttle on our emotions.

A right trait of Christianity is the decision to please our mate rather than pleasing ourselves. We should ask ourselves, “Do I put my mate first, or do I put myself first?” True love acts first – True love acts alone.

We used to have a saying, “If mother is not happy- no one is happy.” The point is that when one party is denied too much, or over-worked, the entire family will suffer. But when the wife has the sufficient resources to run her household – not only financially, but emotionally, physically, psychologically, and especially, spiritually – everyone will reap the dividends.

An un-Godly husband demands his wife prepare a meat and potatoes feast for him, but the good wife prepares a weenies and beanies meal – because that is the kind of budget he has given her.

It takes a lot of wise thought and diligent work in a marriage to keep the home fire burning.

Suffice it to say that any sinful vice will destroy every chance of having a happy and fruitful marriage. Be it gambling, womanizing, alcohol, drugs or lawlessness – you will wreck your marriage and be denied entrance into the Kingdom of God.

Revelation 21:8  But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.

With God’s help, when we properly restrain ourselves physically, mentally, and spiritually we have become a mature Christian. The apostle Paul describes how he thoroughly sought the Christian standard of self-discipline:

1Corinthians 9:27  I keep myself under control, and bring it into subjection [to Godliness]: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be denied [the Kingdom of God]. 

More than one out of every two marriages fail these days. It didn’t used to be that way.

If we do not prepare to keep the home fires burning brightly – there will be cool days – dark days ahead. If we do not prepare, we will be like those 47 people who perished in that surprise storm – because they were unprepared.

Storms and blizzards will come upon us – but we will endure it we continue to throw another log on the fire.

The more that we serve and care for someone – the more we will love them. And the better we love them, to more we will be loved, fulfilled and satisfied in marriage. Storms and blizzards will come upon us – but we will endure if we continue to throw another log on the fire.

End: Throw Another Log on the Fire