The Winning Walk with Dr. Ed Young - Daily Radio

It is virtually impossible to overstate the intensity of the attacks on marriage and the family today. How can you protect your marriage or restore a marriage that is struggling? The determining factor is the foundation on which the marriage is built. Protect your marriage by building on a solid biblical foundation.

There is a divine math that takes place in marriage; in the covenant that is marriage, one plus one equals one. Marriages thrive when couples understand that their highest priority is now their mate. You focus on the oneness and unity that is only achieved when your marriage operates on the principles God has given in His Word.

Most of us find it difficult to offer or give true forgiveness. When an affair, betrayal, conflict or little irritations destroy trust or undermine unity in a marriage, we need to understand what is involved in genuine, biblical forgiveness. That begins with our understanding of the character of God and the forgiveness He extended to us, in love, at the Cross of Jesus.

Outside of our relationship with God, marriage is the most important relationship we will ever have. That is why the Bible provides clear principles that work whether you are a newlywed or have been married for many years. When marriages get into trouble, the root of the problem is often a case of selfishness. Learn to recognize the symptoms and the cure.

There is conflict in any relationship, and marriage is no exception. But there is good news. Whether your marriage is in SOS mode or is simply “so-so,” these clear and practical instructions will help you speak the truth in love and get your relationship back on the road to success.

A good marriage exhibits timing, balance, strength and beauty. The Holy Spirit is the choreographer who provides the instructions and empowers the husband and wife, in full partnership, to dance this wonderful dance of marriage according to God’s design.

When you invite Jesus to be your Life Coach, He will point you to the Playbook that provides His game plan for the abundant life. This Playbook, the Bible, will teach you how to get out of the stands and into the thrilling experience of a life that works.

What we do with our bodies matters to God. That is why, in today’s sexualized culture, we need to be reminded of the clear biblical guidelines God has provided, and the boundaries He has put in place, to protect our bodies, preserve our physical and emotional health, and help us remain true to our identity in Christ.

Come as you are. The invitation of the gospel is clear. Whatever your background, there is a place for you in the body of Christ. God takes the broken pieces of our lives and puts them back together as He adopts us into His family and transforms us – inside and out.

What we truly believe should determine the way we live. But when we are honest with God, and with ourselves, we admit that we are not always sensitive to the things of God. We need to seek His forgiveness, and be restored through His grace and His love, so we can return to the right side of the Cross.

We all need the gospel. No one is so good that he does not need it, or so low or destitute that he cannot receive it. The wonder of God’s grace is that, once we have acknowledged our need for it, nothing will keep us from receiving the new life which only Jesus can provide.

When you take that first step of obedience you will discover that if the Lord is on your side, nothing else matters.

The Bible is filled with the accounts of men and women our culture would regard as unlikely, ordinary individuals. But these are the very people God often uses in extraordinary ways. Before you allow yourself to doubt what God can do through you, remember this: Little is much when God is in it!

When God becomes your Commander-in-Chief, you will be ready to follow wherever He leads. And when trouble comes, if God is in charge, there is never any doubt about the outcome. Victory is certain. Learn this, and you will have discovered the key to a life of joy and fulfillment.

God’s purpose for our lives is so much bigger than our personal agendas. But we can miss it unless we are prepared to listen to Him and allow Him to redirect our steps. Don’t be surprised when God allows you to experience a watershed event that will result in a deeper realization that His way works, every time and in every circumstance.

Everything good happens at the feet of Jesus! That is where healing, and restoration, and forgiveness begin. Spend time at the feet of Jesus and you will begin to see yourself, and the world around you, in a way you have never seen them before.

Balance is essential for our spiritual as well as our physical health. Staying in balance as we walk through life is not easy, which is why we need a Coach who can steady us, keep us centered, and make sure that the core of our life is our relationship with Christ.

Sometimes we need to take a time out to ask ourselves, “When I get where I’m going in life, where will I be?” There is nothing more thrilling than to experience the overflowing life God gives to those who love and follow Him. Don’t miss it.

You will never find anyone better equipped to be your life coach than Jesus. But some of us are - at best - reluctantly coachable. Only when we decide to trust Jesus, and sign up to let Him coach us, will we discover the genius of the victorious Christian life.

If you want a customized plan that will help you reach your full potential, you need a coach who cares about you and will make the most of life’s teachable moments. Choose the right Coach, and He will enroll you in a curriculum designed specifically for you.

Where do you find your identity? When we are in Christ the Holy Spirit gives us the assurance that we are children of God and that we belong to Him. God’s children know who they are! They have the certainty of Heaven, the ability to understand the things of the Spirit, and the blessing of an intimate new relationship with God, their Abba Father.

In a season of uncertainty, or when something happens that you didn’t anticipate, how can you know you are making wise choices and are headed in the right direction? As we begin to walk and grow in the power of God, we can rest in the assurance that the Holy Spirit will guide and direct us in the way we should go.

When we become members of God’s family, He gives us the Holy Spirit to be our counselor, our helper, and our healer. The Spirit operates like a floodlight in our lives, pointing us to the things of Christ, giving us a new mindset, and redirecting us to become the people God wants us to be.

The message of the Beatitudes is at the heart and the core of the teachings of Jesus. They have been given to us to help us nail down the health of our spiritual lives and the authenticity of our faith. This, Jesus says, is how we are to live.

Do you want to experience the approval of God? When you genuinely receive Christ as your Savior and Lord, you can have confidence that you are approved by God! The smile of God will be on your life, and you will begin to see yourself the way God sees you.

In times of crisis or indecision, we often struggle to know how or what to pray. During such moments, we can be confident that the Holy Spirit will come alongside us, interpret our circumstances, and take our petitions to our Heavenly Father. The Spirit prays what we would pray if we knew everything God knows.

It’s unfortunate, but true, that we don’t always keep the promises we make. But when God makes a promise, He always delivers! We can celebrate the fact that God kept His promise when He visited this world in time and space in the person of His Son, Jesus, who became flesh and blood and dwelt among us.

The life of Jesus is bracketed by two miracles: the Virgin Birth at Christmas and the Resurrection at Easter. In this insightful message, we discover how these two major prophecies are supported and understood from the parallel accounts of the genealogies of Jesus.

In a very real sense, the whole story of life is acted out in history on Mount Calvary. It was here, on what we refer to as Good Friday, that Jesus was crucified between two thieves. We learn from them that the way in which people respond to the message of the Cross determines their eternity for all of eternity.

Do you want to experience the approval of God? When you genuinely receive Christ as your Savior and Lord, you can have confidence that you are approved by God! The smile of God will be on your life, and you will begin to see yourself the way God sees you.

We are all tempted to do things that satisfy ourselves and our desires rather than the things that point us to God. But God gives His children the ability to run from temptation. God’s Spirit within the child of God is greater than all the entanglements of the world. He will help you resist anything that might keep you from fulfilling His purpose for your life.

Partial obedience to the will of God will take us in the wrong direction. If, instead, we invite God to run our lives, we will discover that the path of obedience is also the path of joy and purpose – without exception!

When we try to run our own lives, we will get in trouble every time! How much better it is to trust God and believe that He is fully capable of replacing our selfish dreams and expectations with something infinitely better.

We need worship in order to focus on those things that are most important so that our work will have validity and power. In other words, the time we spend on the mountain with God equips us to become more effective for the work He calls us to do.

Every time we see a rainbow, it should remind us that God always provides for His children. In the storms of life, we can ask God to help us remember how much He loves us and be confident that He will keep His promises to us.

The Word of God changes lives and reveals His will for us! If we desire a physical, emotional, or spiritual touch from God, we must listen for His whispered word as He calls us to Himself and speaks directly to our hearts, our minds and our souls.

Lose sight of the things that connect you to the Living Lord and you will head down a dangerous and slippery slope away from Him. God has given us the Bible to help us nail down the things that matter most so we can secure them in our mind and in our heart.

Sometimes we need a wake-up call to keep us from becoming complacent! In the same way that parents expect their children to grow and develop, God monitors the development of His children. He expects us to avoid the paralysis of the status quo.

It doesn’t take long to mess up a life. Poor choices will cause us to end up a million miles from where we were meant to be. God has designed us with the capacity to experience His very best for our life. Whether we realize that plan or not is our choice.

Today’s world is filled with uncertainty and danger, so it is not surprising when people feel helpless at times. But if you are a child of God you can be confident that, whatever happens, He has you in the palm of His loving and capable hand.

God knows what He is doing! We can lean on Him and trust Him with every detail of our lives. Despite what may be happening in the world around us, we can know that God is God, and He is in control.

The Bible tells us that we are valuable to God, and He has stamped His image on us. He has a clear purpose for each life and we can learn to experience that purpose when we begin to live according to His beautiful design.

Our shadow is a symbol of our influence, and it is a reflection of all that we are – what we do, what we say, and how we speak. Periodically we need to ask ourselves, “What kind of shadow am I casting as I walk through life?”

When you are in love with stuff, you will go through life with a closed fist. But if you want to experience more contentment and joy in life than you ever thought possible, ask God to help you change your perspective on “stuff,” and He will do just that.

A dangerous and ungodly challenge to a biblical worldview has infiltrated our schools and the institutions that serve families. Jesus issued a particularly stern warning that is still relevant today to anyone who would place a stumbling block in the path of a child and thereby corrupt the innocence of childhood.

One of the greatest challenges of our culture is that, as a people, we have lost our sense of the holiness of God. The solution: Don’t put God in a box! Draw near to Him, listen to Him, and invite Him to occupy the place He desires – and deserves - to have in your life.

Sometimes God’s grace comes to us in the form of discipline. If we fail to listen to God when He whispers to us in love, He may force us to listen when He shouts to us in discipline. But God is also in the business of forgiveness. When we return to Him, His amazing grace will restore us, heal us, and bless us for His service.

What is your goal in life? If it is to experience life as God intended it to be, the good news is that we can have the assurance of a rich and full life now, empowered by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. God’s plan is never second best.

Doubt isn’t always bad, as it can become a stimulus to faith. When we begin to wrestle with doubt, we need to adjust our focus. Instead of dwelling on our doubts and amplifying them, we can focus on God and discover how He will help us transform our doubts into steadfast faith.

The death of Stephen, the first Christian martyr, became a catalyst for an extraordinary period of growth in the early church as the power of God, through the Holy Spirit, was released. What God gave Stephen is available to each of us as we seek to serve, witness, and make a difference in our world today.