"For I have known him, in order that he may command his children and his household after him, that they keep the way of the LORD, to do righteousness and justice, that the LORD may bring to Abraham what He has spoken to him."

Genesis 18:19

And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.

Galatians 3:29

{1} Give ear, O my people, to my law;
Incline your ears to the words of my mouth.
{2} I will open my mouth in a parable;
I will utter dark sayings of old,
{3} Which we have heard and known,
And our fathers have told us.
{4} We will not hide them from their children,
Telling to the generation to come the praises of the LORD,
And His strength and His wonderful works that He has done.
{5} For He established a testimony in Jacob,
And appointed a law in Israel,
Which He commanded our fathers,
That they should make them known to their children;
{6} That the generation to come might know them,
The children who would be born,
That they may arise and declare them to their children,
{7} That they may set their hope in God,
And not forget the works of God,
But keep His commandments;

Psalm 78:1-7

Throughout history, thousands of believers have shed their blood and given their lives to preserve copies of the books written by Moses, the prophets, and the apostles.

Nothing in our lives could be more important than learning God’s Word.

In the Rebuilder’s Guide book, begin at pages 14-15. There is a chart to help begin your daily reading of the Word of God. You can zerox this chart and check it off each day.

When you finish the Psalms and Proverbs, read a few chapters more in an effort to get through the entire Bible. The easiest thing to do is just start in Genesis, read 3 or 4 or 10 chapters each day. Or read 3 from the Old Testament and 2 from the New. Whatever you’re comfortable with.

Start small. One chapter from each is OK. The secret to success is just to keep going, day after day. When you look back, you will be amazed at how far you got.

If you don’t read anything else from this book, make sure you read every day from God’s Book.

But if you want to read a little bit after you’ve read the Bible, then just check off each day as you go along.

We are not "Re-builders," we are just builders. Read what "a builder is…" on p. 7. Every Christian should be a "builder." Substitute "build" for "rebuilder" in each of the seven goals on page 3. Pretty cool, huh? All Christians should have these goals.

You can do the next seven "days" all at once, or just take a minute or two each day to survey the book. Each day we will look at one of the seven goals of a marriage "builder."

 Day 2 — Building a Heart that Seeks God p. 4

If God is God, then He deserves our worship even if He doesn’t make all we do prosper (p. 9). We should seek God because we owe Him everything. We shouldn’t ask, "What’s in it for me?" We must commit ourselves to seek God in the six ways mentioned on p. 4 (Goal 1).

 Day 3 — Building a Commitment to God’s Design for Marriage p. 4

Is it true that less than half of all marriages survive – even among Christians? Christians are supposed to be the Bride of Christ. If we take that seriously, we will be committed to our marriage, which illustrates our salvation through Christ. How much do we know about the important spiritual truths illustrated by marriage?

 Day 4 — Building a Clear Conscience and a Forgiving Spirit p. 4

This book is published by the Institute in Basic Youth Conflicts (p.2). Many of the conflicts people experience in marriage are actually conflicts they have brought into the marriage from their youth. Do we know the ways past guilt causes present bitterness and conflict?

 Day 5 — Building our Marriage p. 4

Broken marriages are always caused by sin. Do we know how to keep ourselves from sin? Do we know how to keep our spouse free from sin? Do we know the basic needs of our spouse? We’ll be finding out more as we read chapter 4.

 Day 6 — Building a Learning Relationship with our Children. p. 5

Even if God chooses to withhold children from a marriage, both partners will still have an obligation to teach younger Christians. Do we know how to be mentors? It is better to begin thinking about this and learn how before the need arises.

 Day 7 — Building Past Failures into a new Life Message p. 5

We all sin. If we continue to sin, our life says to others, "It’s OK to sin —Look: I’m doing it!" If we see how our sins offend God and hurt others and we stop sinning, our life has a much better message. Do we know how to develop a "life message" to explain to others how God is working through our sinful weaknesses to show the greatness of His power and the riches of His grace?

 Day 8 — Re-Building the Damaged Marriages of Others p. 4

The Bible says that older couples have a duty to help younger couples. There aren’t too many couples who take that command seriously. We need to be committed to building a better future for other couples. The time to start building the future is now.

 Day 9 — Building a Heart that Seeks After God pp. 10-11

Let’s take the quiz on pages 10-11. Have a good laugh at the first two questions. Now think about questions 3-18. The purpose of these questions is not to make us feel like failures. This book will show us how to answer these questions in the right way, and for the right reasons (some Christians might be able to answer these questions the right way, but perhaps not for the right reason). As you think about each of these questions, let the Spirit build excitement and hope in your hearts.

 Day 10 — True Motives for Seeking After God p. 12-13

There are lots of Christians who have good goals, but they seek these goals with the wrong motivations. The Table on pages 12-13 helps us establish good goals, but then prompts us to examine our hearts and make sure we seek these goals for the right reasons. Asking these questions will help us grow, and that will help build our marriage.

 Day 11— Learning Who God Really Is p. 16

God reveals Himself through His Names. The more we understand His Names and relate them to the needs and fears of our lives, the more we will enjoy God; the stronger our marriage will be. Our trust in Him will grow.

 Day 12 — 1. Jehovah-jireh p. 17

Abraham was willing to give the most precious thing in his life to God, believing that God would preserve it, or resurrect it, or replace it with something greater. Are we willing to give our most cherished affection to God? Our jobs? Our house?

 Day 13 — 2. Jehovah-rophe p. 17

God wants to replace our bitterness with sweetness. Are we harboring bitterness which will spill over to our spouse and to others?

 Day 14 — 3. Jehovah-nissi p. 18

We cannot win the battles we will face in our marriage without prayer. What steps can we take to support our sometimes weak efforts at prayer?

 Day 15 — 4. Jehova-M’Kaddesh p. 18

The Bible says that we are to be holy as God is holy. Is it possible? Only if the Perfect Man Jesus Christ lives in and through us. Christ must live in and through our marriage to make our marriage holy.

 Day 16 — 5. Jehovah-Shalom p. 19

We are called to be Peacemakers. One of the saddest things a person can see is two people who are married and have to live together even though they are at war with each other. Our God is the God of Peace. Our Savior is the Prince of Peace. He gives us the power to bring peace to our marriage and to our world.

 Day 17 — 6. Jehovah-Tsidkenu p. 19

Many Christians believe they are "under grace" and are not obligated to obey God’s Law. Does this mean they can be unfaithful to their spouse? Jesus did not come to annul God’s Law, but to purify it from Pharisaic distortions. We worship a God of Righteousness.

 Day 18 — 7. Jehovah-rohi p. 20

Life isn’t perfect. There are many challenges we face each day. Each of these imperfections are opportunities to let God be our Shepherd, and to lead us where He knows best.

 Day 19 — 8. Jehova-shamma p. 20

Even marriage does not end loneliness. Even together we can still be alone in the world. Everywhere and at all times, "The Lord is there."

 Day 20 —  Entering into the Resurrection Power of Christ. p. 22

We want to know Christ and the power of His resurrection. Philippians 3:10 Romans 6:6 Acts 26:18  There are seven steps to help us know this power. Taking these steps will help our marriage grow. It can even raise a dead marriage from the grave.

 Day 21 — 1. Engrafting Scripture into our Soul p. 22

Do you know how to "engraft" a branch onto a tree? Can this concept help us bear abundant fruit in our lives? Can we memorize one additional verse from Romans 6 each day? In 3 weeks we will have the whole chapter engrafted into our soul.

 Day 22 — Dying to Sin  p. 24

If our spouse does something stupid, we are tempted to be angry or critical. If we se someone who we think will satisfy our "needs" better than our spouse, we are tempted to violate our marriage vows. But if we reckon ourselves dead to sin, we will not be overcome.

 Day 23 — 3. Defying the Law of Gravity -- and sin! p. 24

If an eagle stopped spreading its wings, gravity would bring it hurtling to the ground. If it spreads its wings, however, it defies the law of gravity. God's Word gives us wings. We do not have to fall head-first into sin.

 Day 24 — 4. Personalizing Scripture  p. 26

This is a wonderful technique for making Scripture come alive. By speaking Scripture in the first person ("I," "me," "mine") we convert the Scripture into a personal vow to God. God will give us the Spiritual power to keep these oaths.

 Day 25 — 5. Make no Provision for the Flesh    p. 26

If we pray to God and ask Him to keep us from using drugs, but we have a syringe and some heroin in our back pocket, is God going to hear our prayer? If we ask God to keep us faithful to our spouse, but we allow our heads to turn, our eyes to dwell, and our minds to indulge, is our prayer sincere? We need to make sure that all the little things we use as tools to commit sins are removed from our homes and our lives.

 Day 26 — 6. Become Accountable  p. 27

When someone else is asking us how we are doing in our quest to become more like Christ, it prompts us to stay on track. If we are getting off track, we might call it "nagging," but if we know they are trying to help us attain our goals, we will be thankful that we have become accountable.

 Day 27 — 7. Listening to the Promptings of the Spirit   p. 28

When we are tempted to sin, God is gracious and reminds us that what we are thinking about doing is wrong and leads to destruction, either of ourselves or of others. We need to listen to that small voice and heed its direction.

 Day 28 — 1. Building Consistency with Vows  p. 30

If you have begun personalizing Scripture, you have already started making vows. Vows remind us to do things even when we don't want to do them. Consider the possibility of making a vow to read the Bible for five minutes every day.

 Day 29 — 2. Cycles of Life  p. 31

If we get into the habit of watching a TV show which indulges us in a certain lust, and we watch that show on certain day every week, even after the show is cancelled, we will still have a temptation to sin during that time of the week. We need to understand these "cycles."

 Day 30 — Honoring the Lord's Day  p. 32

The U.S. Supreme Court has said that the Sabbath Day is just a secular day, just like any other day. Every day should be sanctified to the Lord, but perhaps we need to start by sanctifying one day.

 Day 31 — 1. Christ vs. Culture  p. 46

The Bible says that students should rise before their teachers (Leviticus 19:32). Today teachers are afraid their students might be "packing heat." We think we are so "scientific" and don't need to listen to the Bible. But society would be much better if we would make it conform to Biblical Law.

 Day 32 — 5. Wives are More Powerful than Husbands   p. 47

Behind every person who holds some powerful  public office are those who have the power of influence. It is true that the office-holder may "choose" his advisors, but he does so because he recognizes his dependence upon them. The Bible explains how wives can use this power for good.

 Day 33 — 6. How to Live with a Jerk  p. 48

If we do something stupid and someone calls us on it, but does so in a rude and insulting way, we might miss the message that we have done something stupid. We must separate the message God wants to teach us from the messenger. God chose the messenger for some very precise reason.

 Day 34 — 7. Gratefulness: The Key to a Happy Marriage    p. 49

God is the potter, we are the clay. Life is a gift. We have no "rights," but God is good. The TV tells us to expect what we want from others, and to demand it, to "stand up for your rights." If we yield our rights to God and develop gratefulness for what we have, God will give us more than we expected.

 Day 35 — 8. What Really Fulfills a Wife.  p. 49

In Genesis 39, we read the amazing story of Joseph, who was sold into slavery and put into jail. By having a servant's spirit and being obedient, he was exalted by God and became the ruler of Egypt. A servant's spirit is the key to our fulfillment.

 Day 36 — The power of an Appeal   p. 50

There wasn't much Joseph could do in prison to change things. But he did what he was supposed to do, and God changed Pharaoh's heart. One who feels trapped with their spouse should follow the same course of action.

 Day 37 — Love is a Decision, Not an Emotion    p. 50

God says we are to love Him with all our heart, mind and strength. When we stand before God's throne and face our sins, we wouldn't think of saying, "Well, I just didn't feel like loving you on that day" and expect God to let us off. True emotional happiness comes when we choose to obey God.

 Day 38 — The Value of Conflict  p. 51

Jesus learned obedience by the things He suffered (Hebrews 5:8) and then God exalted Him (Philippians 2:8-9). We will develop conflicts even in marriage, but God can turn these conflicts into deep fulfillment if we learn obedience like Christ.

 Day 39 — The Myth of a "50-50" Marriage    p. 51

The husband is supposed to lay down his life for his wife; the wife has no similar duty. Sarah called her husband "lord." God's plans for marriage are not the same as those of modern feminists.

 Day 40 — Building a Clear Conscience   p. 77

If we have not dealt with past sins, we will try to cover them up in ways which are inappropriate, that is, sinful.

 Day 41 — Emphasis on Giving, Not Getting    p. 78

Our culture teaches us to stand up for our rights, look out for number one, and grab for all the gusto we can. God teaches us to stand up for truth, even at great cost to ourselves, that God is Numero Uno, and He rewards us with great gusto when we seek first His Kingdom and righteousness (Matthew 6:33)

 Day 42 — Honor Your Father and Mother   p. 78

All human beings have a father and a mother. It's the way God created us. If we are not in harmony with our parents, there is a deep void, and the Bible shows how we attempt to fill this void in destructive ways. Better to fill the void God's way.

 Day 43 — Attitudes are More Powerful than Actions   p. 79

Actions spring from attitudes. Ideas have consequences. It is easier to overlook wrong actions than the underlying wrong attitudes. If our attitudes are not corrected, they will repeatedly give birth to more wrong actions.

 Day 44 — Attitudes are More Powerful than Actions   p. 79