Standing for God’s Glory!
There’s no way to overstate how important it is for us to realize that we’re standing for the restoration of our marriages in obedience to God’s call on our lives and for His glory. Yes, there are other obvious natural reasons and personal motivations, but if obedience to God is not at the core of what we are doing, we will not have the grace, anointing and strength needed to endure to God’s victorious end, which is the full and complete restoration of our marriages and families!
So we have to understand that EVERYTHING God does is ALWAYS motivated by the praise, honor and glory of His beloved Son, Jesus Christ, just as Ephesians 1 makes very clear, and that God will fully equip us to do what He calls us to do. And when we get that, we will understand why self-pity, self focus, self absorption, self edification, mumbling, grumbling and complaining and all the other things we do that magnify and glorify the works and power of the devil over the power and promise of God’s Word and the glory of our Lord, literally stop the flow of God’s divine supernatural power from working in our lives. When we so desperately need the power of God to work on our behalf, as we most certainly do when standing against the gates of hell and the rest of the world for the salvation and restoration of our marriages and families, we had better realize that the only way to assure that is to praise, honor and glorify the name and works of the Lord in ALL we say and do! Because the more we do to glorify Jesus Christ, the more God will bless us and give us to use for His glory (just read The Parable of the Talents, and what great glory Jesus gets when our marriages and families are restored right before the very eyes of a doubting world! And there’s no greater evidence and proof of that than the following praise report and testimony, which was posted yesterday on the ladies’ private website by one of the FAM Fellowship members! For obvious reasons, names are omitted (SNO – spouse’s name; NO – member’s name), but there’s no way to see what God has done in this family after six years of standing for marriage restoration, without being very blessed and encouraged!
“Sorry guys, I am late posting some praise, but work has me going long and hard of late. I’ve missed everyone terribly and I feel so behind on all the good news!
When I was standing, I tried hard not to get too detailed in wondering just what my marriage would be like restored. From the beginning, my marriage had issues, because I had issues and even though my husband loved me very much, I wasn’t equipped to receive it or give it back. But I can truly say that my marriage is better right now than it ever was before. It is just as the Word says, “He will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten.” And God has restored much more than I ever could have imagined.
Now there is no lack of hugs and kisses in my house and I hear “I love you” every day. Look forward to it, ladies and gents, because it’s coming for you too. I used to write poems to my husband and send little emails but he never replied. But the other day he sent me an email with the words “I love you. Yours, (SNO)” and it included a drawing of a bouquet of flowers that our daughter had drawn on the computer when she was 3 years old. My husband also washed the dishes after dinner the other night and told me to sit down and rest. If I fall asleep reading in bed, I wake up when he comes in to tuck me in and kiss me good night and I get tucked in every night without fail. Now some people might think we’re just in some lovey-dovey stage that will pass, but I can tell you that it won’t pass. It won’t pass, because of the work that God has done in me all these years of standing, and when my husband expresses his love, I have my own to give him right back. God is systematically removing the fear, the insecurity, and the anger…all of it.
When I met my husband, I felt so unworthy of him; I was scared he was going to leave, and all of that is gone now; perished in that refining fire. Intimacy was a big issue in the beginning of my marriage; now it is as fulfilling and deeply intimate as I could ever wish it to be.
Also, (SNO) now has expressed a desire to tithe and we are both in agreement on wanting to bring all aspects of our lives under God’s divine order. And since he has not been to church, I asked him where he felt the money should go. He thought about 2 seconds and then said that until he got back to church, he wanted his tithe to go to this ministry. How awesome is that?
Also, my husband is becoming much more involved in our daughter’s life. Back in the dark days, he was either asleep or glued to the computer in an effort to protect himself from his hurt. But now, he is there to tuck her in every night, they play together and I can see the positive change in her, because of the sense of peace and security she has watching mommy and daddy taking care of each other and her. The other day she said she wanted a little brother and I told her that daddy and I had discussed it, but had decided to wait on having more children for a while. When I asked her if she knew the reason, she was correct when she said, “It’s because daddy wants to have more time with me, isn’t it?”
So many in this fellowship are getting closer and closer to their restorations. I know because I can recognize the signs in my own journey. When our spouses express their pain, it’s because they’re acknowledging our power in their lives to make it right. When they spend time with us and our kids, it’s because they WANT to. When they smack us on the butt or flirt, it’s because they also desire that connection to be re-established. There are so many more praises, but I have to pick up my little one. But I hope everyone is encouraged, because through my marriage restoration, especially considering my past, God is showing us all just how complete and long-lasting His handiwork is.
I love you all! …”
And further confirming the fact that we have to stand for marriage restoration for God’s glory is the following post from Dan, which he posted on the men’s private site yesterday as well! Thanks for sharing another great Bible study with us, Dan! What a great source of blessing and encouragement you are to all of us!
As I was reading through Haggai this morning, I was reminded once again that God must be our number one priority in standing for marriage. We certainly may have other human motives for our stand, but God’s will must be why we stand. And we know that it is indeed God’s will for us to obey Him by honoring the covenant of our marriages.
Unfortunately, at some point in most of our marriages, one or the other, or perhaps both spouses shifted from putting God first to putting our own needs and interests first. And in Haggai, we are reminded that blessings lie ahead for those who put God first. Haggai 1:1-11 tells us that the people put aside doing God’s work in order to concentrate on meeting their own needs. He pointed out to them that setting God aside had not only kept them from moving ahead, but that conditions and circumstances had worsened. They had abandoned the one thing essential for success; the one who was in control; the one that could make them prosper – God.
Haggai 1:12-14 says “the Lord stirred up the spirit.” We know all the reasons we should trust the Lord, good and practical reasons, but many times we only respond when we allow God to stir up the spirit within us. As we pray for knowledge and understanding of God’s Word for us and our spouses, let us also pray that He would open the heart of the one we love and stir up the spirit in him/her to respond with obedience to our mighty God.
As we continue, Haggai shows us that we must not compare our accomplishments or tasks with others’. We must not become discouraged and drop our hands in defeat when looking at others’ marriage restorations. God’s response to this attitude is to “be strong” and continue to work on what God has given us to do. The new temple was not nearly as splendid as Solomon’s but the temple was glorious because of the immense presence of God in whose honor it was built. As long as what we do is done for Christ, His presence will overflow the work with glory. Haggai 2:1-4
In Haggai 2:8 God simply reminded the people of Judah that they were only responsible to work and follow Him in obedience; and He was responsible to provide. God gives us the same instructions and promise. We don’t need to know from where our resources will come just that when we do the will of God, He will provide them.
As Haggai comes to an end, we see God telling the people that they were receiving blessings; not because of their holiness, but because of the grace of God. It wasn’t worshiping in the temple or earning good things, but being obedient and putting God first that brought them to where His blessings flowed, where God was eager to give His blessings out of His love and grace.
Life changes when we put Jesus Christ first in our lives. It is the knowledge that we are pleasing God and fulfilling ourselves in the love of God through obedience, that we find peace. May God stir the spirit in all of our lives and those of our spouses, as we trust and obey, putting Him first and waiting patiently for the healing of our marriages.
Haggai 1:1-11 (NLT)
1 On August 29[a] of the second year of King Darius’s reign, the Lord gave a message through the prophet Haggai to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Jeshua[b] son of Jehozadak, the high priest.
2 “This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: The people are saying, ‘The time has not yet come to rebuild the house of the Lord.’”
3 Then the Lord sent this message through the prophet Haggai:
4 “Why are you living in luxurious houses while my house lies in ruins?
5 This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: Look at what’s happening to you!
6 You have planted much but harvest little. You eat but are not satisfied. You drink but are still thirsty. You put on clothes but cannot keep warm. Your wages disappear as though you were putting them in pockets filled with holes!
7 “This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: Look at what’s happening to you!
8 Now go up into the hills, bring down timber, and rebuild my house. Then I will take pleasure in it and be honored, says the Lord.
9 You hoped for rich harvests, but they were poor. And when you brought your harvest home, I blew it away. Why? Because my house lies in ruins, says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, while all of you are busy building your own fine houses. 10 It’s because of you that the heavens withhold the dew and the earth produces no crops.
11 I have called for a drought on your fields and hills—a drought to wither the grain and grapes and olive trees and all your other crops, a drought to starve you and your livestock and to ruin everything you have worked so hard to get.”
Haggai 1:12-14 (NLT)
12 Then Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the whole remnant of God’s people began to obey the message from the Lord their God. When they heard the words of the prophet Haggai, whom the Lord their God had sent, the people feared the Lord.
13 Then Haggai, the Lord’s messenger, gave the people this message from the Lord: “I am with you, says the Lord!”
14 So the Lord sparked the enthusiasm of Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the enthusiasm of Jeshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the enthusiasm of the whole remnant of God’s people. They began to work on the house of their God, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies,
Haggai 2:1-4 (NLT)
1 Then on October 17 of that same year,[a] the Lord sent another message through the prophet Haggai.
2 “Say this to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Jeshua[b] son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and to the remnant of God’s people there in the land:
3 ‘Does anyone remember this house—this Temple—in its former splendor? How, in comparison, does it look to you now? It must seem like nothing at all!
4 But now the Lord says: Be strong, Zerubbabel. Be strong, Jeshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest. Be strong, all you people still left in the land. And now get to work, for I am with you, says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.
Haggai 2:10-19 (NLT)
Blessings Promised for Obedience
10 On December 18[a] of the second year of King Darius’s reign, the Lord sent this message to the prophet Haggai:
11 “This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says. Ask the priests this question about the law:
12 ‘If one of you is carrying some meat from a holy sacrifice in his robes and his robe happens to brush against some bread or stew, wine or olive oil, or any other kind of food, will it also become holy?’”
The priests replied, “No.”
13 Then Haggai asked, “If someone becomes ceremonially unclean by touching a dead person and then touches any of these foods, will the food be defiled?”
And the priests answered, “Yes.”
14 Then Haggai responded, “That is how it is with this people and this nation, says the Lord. Everything they do and everything they offer is defiled by their sin. 15 Look at what was happening to you before you began to lay the foundation of the Lord’s Temple.
16 When you hoped for a twenty-bushel crop, you harvested only ten. When you expected to draw fifty gallons from the winepress, you found only twenty.
17 I sent blight and mildew and hail to destroy everything you worked so hard to produce. Even so, you refused to return to me, says the Lord.
18 “Think about this eighteenth day of December, the day[b] when the foundation of the Lord’s Temple was laid. Think carefully.
19 I am giving you a promise now while the seed is still in the barn.[c] You have not yet harvested your grain, and your grapevines, fig trees, pomegranates, and olive trees have not yet produced their crops. But from this day onward I will bless you