{"product_id":"love-and-war-devotional-for-couples-isbn-9780307729934","title":"Love and War Devotional for Couples","description":"\u003cb\u003eA Realistic Guide to the Marriage You’ve Always Dreamed Of\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIs your relationship with your spouse far from the union you’d hoped it would be? John and Stasi Eldredge know about the realities of marriage—and they know why it’s so important to take hold of the dreams you once had and see God fulfill them.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e In this eight-week devotional, John and Stasi will guide you and your spouse to see God’s heart for your marriage more clearly. This life-changing guide includes new insights, encouraging Scriptures, and practical exercises that will help you develop a personal plan for a vibrant marriage.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e As John and Stasi write, “We learn to love moment by moment. Day by day. Week by week. Our marriages grow and become what God intended and what we ultimately long for in the same way. We are, all of us, learning to love.”\u003cb\u003eJohn Eldredge \u003c\/b\u003eis the director of Ransomed Heart™ Ministries in Colorado Springs, Colorado, a fellowship devoted to helping people discover the heart of God. He is the author of numerous books, including \u003ci\u003eWild at Heart,\u003c\/i\u003e \u003ci\u003eWaking the Dead, \u003c\/i\u003eand \u003ci\u003eThe Sacred Romance \u003c\/i\u003e(with Brent Curtis)\u003ci\u003e. \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cb\u003eStasi Eldredge\u003c\/b\u003e is\u003ci\u003e \u003c\/i\u003ethe coauthor of\u003ci\u003e Captivating \u003c\/i\u003e(with John) and leads the women’s ministry of Ransomed Heart™. They have been married over twenty six years and have three sons.\u003cb\u003eINTRODUCTION\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOur lives are lived moment by moment, in increments we can actually handle. Our marriages are lived the same way. Not anniversary to anniversary or even month to month, but daily—in the ordinary ins and outs of time. The choices we make in the moments create the lives we enjoy—or don’t. Thus, a love and war devotional. This devotional is a tool for you, for your marriage. We invite you to walk alongside us for eight weeks—five days a week—and dive deeper into the tangible realities of your marriage. We’ll focus on Scripture and the heart of God and the heart that he placed in you and the heart he has placed in your spouse. \u003cbr\u003e   The journey of our lives is a journey of transformation. We are here to learn how to love. How do we learn? Moment by moment. Day by day. Week by week. Our marriages grow and become what God intended and what we ultimately long for in the same way. We are all of us learning to love. \u003cbr\u003e   Let’s learn together.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eDAY 1: Romance Meets Reality\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eWe love because he first loved us.\u003cbr\u003e —1 JOHN 4:19\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e   We probably ought to just start here: marriage is fabulously hard.\u003cbr\u003e   Maybe that’s an odd way to begin, but it is \u003ci\u003etrue\u003c\/i\u003e, and everybody who’s been married knows this, though years into marriage it still catches us off guard, all of us. And newly married couples, when they discover how hard it is, seem genuinely surprised. Shocked and disheartened by the fact. \u003ci\u003eAre we doing something wrong? Did I marry the right person?\u003c\/i\u003e The wonders that lure us into marriage—romance, love, passion, sex, longing, companionship—sometimes seem so far from the actual reality of married life that we wind up fearing we’ve made a colossal mistake, caught the wrong bus, missed our flight. And so the hardness of marriage can also come as something of an embarrassment.\u003cbr\u003e   Or maybe it’s just us. Don’t you feel embarrassed to admit how hard your marriage is?\u003cbr\u003e   Yep. This is everyone. We might as well come out and admit it.\u003cbr\u003e   The sooner we get that shame off our backs, the sooner we’ll find our way through. Of course marriage is hard. In fact, if you look back at the first marriage, that fairy-tale start in Genesis, you see that Adam and Eve had a pretty rough go at it. And they didn’t even have parents to screw them up as children or friends giving them ridiculous advice. The fall of man seems to come during the honeymoon or shortly thereafter. (And how many honeymoon stories seem to reenact that little drama?) They hit rough water as soon as they set sail. This is the story of the first marriage, and it’s a bit sobering.\u003cbr\u003e   But it also gives us some encouragement. It’s normal for marriage to be hard. Even the best of marriages.\u003cbr\u003e   And God is in that.\u003cbr\u003e   In order to have the life we want, the life we are made for, and the marriage we long for, we need God. That’s a very good thing! Because without him, nothing is as it should be. With him, all things are possible. Yes, marriage can be extremely hard. But that is not a reason to despair. Nor is it the final truth. There are seasons in marriage—in every relationship. Marriage is meant to be wonderful, and most of the time it is. Though it’s sometimes so hard, think of the difficulty as a doorway. A doorway to all the \u003ci\u003emore\u003c\/i\u003e Jesus has for us in himself ! There is hope!\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eDear God, as I begin this study, I offer up this time for your purposes. Please help me draw closer to your heart and deepen my marriage in every good way. Sometimes it is very hard. Even painful. I invite you into that as well. Have your way with me, with my spouse, and with our marriage. We need you. I am looking to you. In Jesus’ mighty name, amen.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eNot only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us. 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