James C. Dobson - Night Light: A Devotional for Couples

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Night Light: A Devotional for Couples

Copyright 2000 by James Dobson, Inc. All rights reserved.

First published as Night Light by Multnomah Publishers, Inc., under ISBN 1-57673-674-1 (leather edition ISBN 1-57673-981-3). Multnomah is a trademark of Multnomah Publishers, Inc., and is registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

Cover illustration from 1,001 Floral Motifs and Ornaments. Copyright by Dover Publications, Inc. All rights reserved.

First hardcover printing by Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., in 2007.

First softcover printing by Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., in 2008.

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version , NIV . Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com.

Scripture quotations are also taken from the Holy Bible, King James Version.

ISBN 978-1-4143-1749-6 (hc)

ISBN 978-1-4143-1750-2 (imit leather)

ISBN 978-1-4143-2060-1 (sc)

ISBN 978-1-4143-4678-6 (LeatherLike)

Build: 2016-08-16 09:30:46

This book is dedicated affectionately to married couples around the world. May the Lord grant you loving and caring relationships that will endure to the final moment of your lives together. It is our prayer that this devotional will help you achieve that worthy objective. Gods blessings to you all.

Jim and Shirley Dobson

Acknowledgments

Writing Night Light was a very enjoyable experience. We wish to express our appreciation to Multnomah Publishers, who originally published this bookspecifically, our editor James Lund; his editorial support team of Keith Wall, Judith St. Pierre, and David Kopp; and publisher Don Jacobson.

Thanks also to Doug Knox and his team at Tyndale House Publishers, for bringing a new vision for the expanded distribution of Night Light and its ministry to married couples now and in the future.

Introduction

On a warm August night in Pasadena, California, a twenty-four-year-old man dressed in a black and white tuxedo and a twenty-three-year-old woman wearing a resplendent gown stood in a church and solemnly pledged their undying love to each other. The young man slipped a silver band on the womans finger, wishing he could have afforded a diamond ring. Then the couple knelt at the altar as the minister (the grooms father) prayed this beautiful prayer of dedication:

O eternal God: We bring Thee our children, Jimmy and Shirley. They were Thine, but Thou in love didst lend them to us for a little season to care for, to love, and to cherish. It has been a labor of love that has seemed but a few days because of the affection we bear them. Fresh from Thy hand they were in the morning of their lives. Clean and upright, but yet two separate personalities. Tonight we give them back to Theeno longer as twobut as one flesh. May nothing short of death dissolve the union here cemented . And to this end let the marvelous grace of God do its perfect work!

It is also our earnest prayer for them, not that God shall have a part in their lives, but that He shall have the preeminent part; not that they shall possess faith, but that faith shall fully possess them both; that in a materialistic world they shall not live for the earthly and temporal alone, but that they shall be enabled to lay hold of that which is spiritual and eternal .

Let their lives together be like the course of the sunrising in strength, going forth in power, and shining more and more unto the perfect day. Let the end of their lives resemble the setting of the sungoing down in a sea of glory, only to shine on undimmed in the firmament of a better world than this.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.

Many in attendance that night had moist eyes by the time the minister had finished his prayer. Then he pronounced the couple man and wife and said with a wry smile, Kiss er Jim. The groom didnt argue. After greeting the well-wishers, eating some dreadful cake, and posing for the perspiring photographer, they left on a low-budget honeymoon. And... they had only just begun.

How quickly the years have flown since that humble beginning more than four decades ago. Marriage has fulfilled all their youthful expectations and dreams. The man and woman are still deeply committed to each other and have enjoyed the sweet benefits of a happy, successful, loving relationship. Every good and perfect gift has been showered upon them, including the blessing of two great kids, who are now grown and serving the Lord in their communities.

Of course, the journey has not been without stresses and difficulties. The mans beloved parents died much too soon, and an assortment of illnesses and challenges have visited the couple along the way. But there has not been one moment in these forty years when they have wished to be free or have regretted the decision they made in their youth.

As you may have guessed by this point, we are the fortunate coupleJim and Shirley Dobson. Our purpose in preparing this devotional has been to share some of the experiences and concepts that have strengthened our marriage through the years, in the hope that what we have learned will benefit those who are younger.

We are deeply concerned about the scourge of divorce that plagues mankind today. A recent study conducted at Rutgers University concluded that the institution of marriage appears to be dying in the United States. Similar trends are occurring in nations around the world. Since 1960 cohabitation has increased by 1,000 percent, with millions of naive couples entering into nonbinding, uncommitted relationships that are destined to flame out. Boredom and disenchantment, or both, are virtually inevitable after a few years. By the time they go their separate ways, the man and woman may have a child or twochildren who will never enjoy the security of a stable, dedicated, two-parent family. It is a very sad sign of the times.

Why do young couples do it? Why do they settle for impermanent, unsatisfying, counterfeit relationships instead of committing themselves to lifelong love? We believe it is because many have a pervasive fear of marriage. They have watched their mothers and fathers claw each other to pieces. Teens and young adults want desperately to find someone to love but are afraid of being vulnerableof being rejected and abandoned. Some wonder if marriage itself is pass and whether lifelong love is still achievable in todays world.

Well, we are living testimony to the fact that marriage based on a foundation of biblical principles is not only still workable, but offers the most fulfilling human relationship possible. There is nothing quite like being loved unconditionally and intimately, decade after decade, by someone who promises to be there for better or worse, in sickness and health, whether richer or poorer, forsaking all others all othersuntil separated by death. It is a plan that bears the wisdom and compassion of the Creator Himself. The three pillars on which such a relationship is based are a deep and unshakable faith in Jesus Christ, an ironclad commitment to each other, and a dependence upon the eternal truths of the Holy Scriptures. With those weapons in the family arsenal, nothing can tear down the fortress of love.

Night Light is designed to help you build on such a foundation. It provides twenty-six weeks (six months) of devotionals that explore different topics relating to marriage: communication, romance, forgiveness, money, humor, and many more. Each Sunday an inspirational story, followed by a brief commentary, introduces a different theme. The sessions planned for Monday through Friday address the theme through Scripture verses, insights, suggestions, and a few provocative questions to encourage deeper intimacy between you, your spouse, and the Lord. A prayer concludes the day. Then Shirley gets the last word on Saturday, when she wraps up the week with a final comment.