THE POWER OF HOME 90-DAY DEVOTIONAL BUILDING A STRONG FAMILY DAY BY DAY TED AND AMY CUNNINGHAM
Copyright 2016 by Ted and Amy Cunningham ALL RIGHTS RESERVED Published by Salubris Resources 1445 N. Boonville Ave. Springfield, Missouri 65802 www.salubrisresources.com No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any other except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior written permission of the publisher. Cover design by PlainJoe Studios (www.plainjoestudios.com) Interior formatting by Prodigy Pixel (www.prodigypixel.com) Unless otherwise specified, Scripture quotations used in this book are taken from the 2011 edition of the Holy Bible, New International Version. NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.www.zondervan.com. The NIV and New International Version are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc. Scriptures marked nlt are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation. 1996, 2004, 2007. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved. Scriptures marked nkjv are taken from THE NEW KING JAMES VERSION. 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Scriptures marked nasb are taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE, 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. Scripture taken from The Message, copyright 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group. ISBN: 978-1-68067-054-7 19 18 17 16 1 2 3 4 Printed in the United States of America
DAY 1 FILL YOU UP Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it. PROVERBS 4:23 Everything you say and do flows from your heart. Every word you speak and action you take comes from within. Jesus was clear about this fact when He said, Don t you see that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then out of the body? But the things that come out of a person s mouth come from the heart (Matthew 15:17 18). If you want to change your behavior or the way you treat others, start by changing your heart. Imagine that your heart is a clear empty jug and God s love is water. The goal is to have a heart that is full of God s love. The desire is for a jug full of clear, fresh water. We fill the jug by spending time with God in His Word and prayer. With a full jug, we pour into family, friends, coworkers, and strangers. When our jug is empty, that s when we re short, unkind, rude, and impatient with others. Spending time with God fills our 90-DAY FAMILY DEVOTIONALS 1
jug. Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed (Luke 5:16). When we make time to disconnect from others to receive from our heavenly Father, this keeps us fresh and full. We need a full heart to pour into those around us. People are limited supplies. Codependency waits for others to pour back into us. It relies on people, places, and things as the source of life. People are not our source of life. They may fill you for a short time, but they can never fully satisfy. The good news is God s love and power are available in an unlimited supply. The best relationships are when two people are both connected to the true and only Source of life and then give each other the overflow. Never look to people to do what only God can do: Fill you up! C 1. What happens to our hearts when we allow people, places, or things to be the source of life? 2. How do you respond to others when your heart (jug) is empty? 3. Can you think of a time when you went on empty for a long time? What did that season of your life look like? 4. When we feel drained, what must we do to be filled up with the unlimited supply of God s love? 2 THE POWER OF HOME
DAY 2 JESUS IS MY SOURCE If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God. And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. 1 JOHN 4:15 16 Years ago, we received the news that Twinkies went bankrupt. Maybe when you heard the news you felt the need to rush out and buy the few remaining boxes. Even if you hadn t eaten a Twinkie in twenty years, the thought of not being able to get them made you want one. Limited supplies make people desperate. Have you ever met a clingy person? This person calls often, expects too much, and takes the relationship deeper and further than you want it to go. That clinginess comes from desperation. You are a limited supply and they are desperate to get whatever you have left in your emotional and relational reserves. Imagine you are sitting at home when you hear a knock on the door. You open the door and a construction worker informs you 90-DAY FAMILY DEVOTIONALS 3
that they are doing some work down the street and they need to turn the water off for an hour or so. What is your first thought? Does that news make you thirsty? When the supply is cut off, it makes you want it even more. The same is true with a clingy person. If you create boundaries with that person it is interpreted as the limited supply being cut off. Their efforts to connect become stronger. They ask questions like, What did I do wrong? What can I do to make you want to be my friend? Why can t we be friends? If I promise to change, will you give me another chance? Jesus is the only One we can cling to. We must rely on Him, not others, to be our unlimited supply of love, strength, patience, and joy. No matter how hard you try, you ll never be able to produce or generate love. We can only receive it when we rely on Him. God lives in you so you can rest Cin Him. He is your unlimited resource. 1. Is clinginess curable? How? 2. Who do you rely on more than Jesus? 3. Who relies on you more than Jesus? 4. Are there hard conversations that you avoid for fear of hurting another person s feelings? What steps can you take to initiate conversations with that person? 4 THE POWER OF HOME
ABOUT THE AUTHORS Ted Cunningham s previous books include Fun Loving You and Trophy Child. He has also co-authored four books with Dr. Gary Smalley. Cunningham founded Woodland Hills Family Church in Branson, Missouri, where he has ministered for more than thirteen years. He is a graduate of Liberty University and Dallas Theological Seminary. He and his wife, Amy, have two children, and currently reside in Branson, Missouri. Amy Cunningham serves as the Environments Director at Woodland Hills Family Church. She cofounded the church with Ted and served for many years as the Children s Director and Family Ministries Director of the church. She is a graduate of Liberty University, where she met Ted on a blind date. In October 2016, they will celebrate twenty years of marriage. 90-DAY FAMILY DEVOTIONALS 231
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