I Run to You: Developing a Great Marriage

Running to God requires:

getting faith,
making decisions
and take action

Luke 9:23nlt
23
Then he said to the crowd, If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up
your cross daily, and follow me.

In order to run to God, you have to turn from your selfish ways to follow God and be successful in
marriage.

What do you run to?

Selfishness
Anger
Pride

Psalm 62:8 amp

Trust [confidently] in Him at all times, O people;
Pour out your heart before Him.
God is a refuge for us.

Being Close to God requires pouring out your heart to him

Then you can be vulnerable with your spouse

Criticism hurts/destroys/dismantles your spouses confidence and faith

Ephesians 4:29, 29 Do not let unwholesome [foul, profane, worthless, vulgar] words ever come out of your
mouth, but only such speech as is good for building up others, according to the need and the occasion, so
that it will be a blessing to those who hear [you speak].

Philippians 2:33 Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit [through factional motives, or strife], but
with [an attitude of] humility [being neither arrogant nor self-righteous], regard others as more important
than yourselves.

Say helpful things,

 Serve your spouse, do things that BUILD faith and confidence

Hebrews 13:4-5
4 Marriage is to be held in honor among all [that is, regarded as something of great value], and

the marriage bed undefiled [by immorality or by any sexual sin]; for God will judge the sexually immoral and
adulterous. 5 Let your character [your moral essence, your inner nature] be free from the love of money
[shun greedbe financially ethical], being content with what you have; for He has said, I will never [under
any circumstances] desert you [nor give you up nor leave you without support, nor will I in any degree leave
you helpless], nor will I forsake or let you down or relax My hold on you [assuredly not]!

This is the Bible's standard for marriage - God Values Marriage

To Honor (esteemed, worthy, precious, of great price)
Do you honor your marriage this way? If you don't. You are in sin.
The opposite is unfaithfulness
o unspiritual = stop going to God for your needs and as a result, your spouse suffers instead
growing
o Is your spouse more confident and faithful to God since you have been married? If not, what
do you need to repent of?

Hebrews 12:1-3
Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of [a]witnesses [who by faith have testified to the
truth of Gods absolute faithfulness], stripping off every unnecessary weight and the sin which so
easily and cleverly entangles us, let us run with endurance and active persistence the race that is set before
us,2 [looking away from all that will distract us and] focusing our eyes on Jesus, who is the Author and
Perfecter of faith [the first incentive for our belief and the One who brings our faith to maturity], who for the
joy [of accomplishing the goal] set before Him endured the cross, [b]disregarding the shame, and sat down at
the right hand of the throne of God [revealing His deity, His authority, and the completion of His work].

3 Just consider and meditate on Him who endured

from sinners such bitter hostility against Himself [consider
it all in comparison with your trials], so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

This is a practical of how to stay faithful to God and your spouse

it requires Daily work

It requires vulnerability
It requires openness
Gratitude turns WHAT WE HAVE into ENOUGH

Faith determines the state of your marriage

Do you believe that God is on your side?

Do you believe you are on the right road to your destiny?
Do you believe your marriage can be completely different today?
Do you believe that your faith can be revived today?

Ezekiel 11:19-20
19
And I will give them one heart [a new heart], and put a new spirit within them. I will take from them the
heart of stone, and will give them a heart of flesh [that is responsive to My touch], 20 that they may walk in
My statutes and keep My ordinances and do them. Then they shall be My people, and I will be their God.

God can put desire in you and Change your heart to make you have desire to be close to him and
your spouse

Your belief and faith determines what you run after.

Faith is about working, dreaming about toward a life that pleases God

Psalm 16:1-2
Keep and protect me, O God, for in You I have placed my trust and found refuge.
2

I said to the Lord, You are my Lord;

I have no good besides You.

Do you really believe that apart from God, you have nothing?
Unhappiness comes from faithlessness
I run to you is about a deliberate decision to turn to God
Faith=running to God
don't give up on God when you feel like things are hard
Great faith leads to be a great learner
Great faith is about believing that if you abandon God, VERY BAD THINGS will happen

Psalm 16:4 niv

Those who run after other gods will suffer more and more.
I will not pour out libations of blood to such gods
or take up their names on my lips.

must take unfaithfulness to God SERIOUSLY

Understand that it will destroy your life
Where have you been running to, to abandon God?
You have to let your friends influence you so you can grow and change

Psalm 16:5-8
Lord, you alone are my portion and my cup;
you make my lot secure.
6
The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;
surely I have a delightful inheritance.
7
I will praise the Lord, who counsels me;
even at night my heart instructs me.
8
I keep my eyes always on the Lord.
With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken.

Do you believe that you can make it without God?

When you lose faith in God, you will get incredibly anxious and insecure.

God Makes Us Unbreakable and Unshakeable

What stops us from running to God?

Luke 9:23-27
23 Then
he said to them all: Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross
daily and follow me. 24 For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will
save it. 25 What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit their very
self? 26 Whoever is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes
in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.

27 Truly I tell you, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God.

Refusing to let God lead

What have you gotten at the cost of your faith?

Solutions
Get faith - 1pe 1:7 7 These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faithof greater worth than
gold, which perishes even though refined by firemay result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is
revealed.

Make decisions - admit truth & don't quit- Romans 4:18-21 18 Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed
and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, So shall your offspring
be.[d] 19 Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as deadsince he was
about a hundred years oldand that Sarahs womb was also dead.20 Yet he did not waver through unbelief
regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, 21 being fully
persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.
Take action - 2 pe 1:5-10 5 For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to
goodness, knowledge; 6 and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to
perseverance, godliness; 7 and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. 8 For if you
possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in
your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 But whoever does not have them is nearsighted and
blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their past sins.

10
Therefore, my brothers and sisters,[a] make every effort to confirm your calling and election. For if you do
these things, you will never stumble, 11 and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our
Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Psalm 119:32niv
I run in the path of your commands,
for you have broadened my understanding.

We run when we are free(honest)

Free from guilt, past, bitterness, faithlessness, apathy, fear, etc
A great relationship with God produces freedom

GIVE your spouse Faith!!!!!!!