One of the most startling and convincing passages of scripture I’ve ever read about the lengths God goes to in order to accomplish His will and purpose is 1 Kings 22:1-40. There’s NO way to read that without realizing that God REALLY means business when He says that His Word will NEVER return void (Isaiah 55:10-11) and that He will do WHATEVER it takes to accomplish what He has said He will do (Isaiah 46:10-11). But it really surprised me to learn that God would approve sending lying spirits to do it! That just didn’t seem like something God would do and I had such a hard time wrapping my mind around that; yet, there it is in black and white! So read it and think about that the next time the devil tempts you to think that God can’t or won’t get our spouses’ attention and MAKE them do exactly what His Word says He can and will do!

That’s really been brought to my attention in the past few days through the amazing testimonies of two FAM Fellowship members about how God has worked in totally unexpected ways in the lives of their spouses. And one of the most amazing things about that is that these ladies have very similar situations, and we have all come to expect that what happens with one of their husbands’ will soon happen with the other, because of how we’ve seen that happen over and over again! They both have three young children; their husbands both left them to live with other women; they both had their own businesses and left their wives and kids without providing ANY support; and they both ended up losing their businesses and everything else! And both men have just careened from one crisis situation to another; to the point that neither of them was working or even have a car. They’ve were both in court on the same day, were evicted at the same time; became homeless at the same time; lost their cars at the same time and on and on. Meanwhile, their wives have worked on becoming self-sufficient and are now in assisted housing programs; making it possible for them to pay their rent and live independently and create a better home environment for their kids. One is now working and paying all of her own bills and isn’t even receiving Food Stamps at this time! This is the first time she’s ever done that in her whole life, and her husband is VERY impressed; he sees her life just getting better and better while his is falling totally apart! And the other, who was held back a bit because she was pregnant when her husband left, got her driver’s license and now has her own car, her own apartment with nice “new” furniture and is working to complete her GED so she can eventually independently support herself and her kids. Both women have learned to interact respectfully and kindly with their husbands and both look forward to being able to help support their families when their husbands come back home; now they won’t have to carry the burden of doing that all on their own. Both men are very impressed with what their wives have accomplished and greatly appreciate that they have NOT played the role of victim or tried to make their lives miserable or interfere with them in any way; they truly let their husbands go and put all of their hope, faith and confidence in the Lord! And they both have been VERY faithful to praise the Lord and see His hand at work in EVERYTHING, no matter how bad things might appear in the natural! So it was never in doubt that the Lord would reward their obedience and faithfulness, and we’re now seeing that manifested in the natural realm of their lives!

First, the woman who is working and supporting herself and the kids without ANY support from her husband called me Saturday to share what happened to her husband Friday night. Apparently, he was asleep and had a visitation from Jesus! He said he was asleep, but he also thought he was awake…someone was in front of him and He said “SNO (Spouse Name Omitted), do you remember me? And SNO said he couldn’t speak! Then He said “SNO, I am Jesus Christ, your Lord and Savior. Do you remember me?” That was it; He was gone! But it sure got SNO’s attention! And when he left after telling his wife about that, he took three of Charles Stanley’s books with him! And since this is a young man who used to actually preach as an evangelist, we’ve all been totally amazed to see how he continues to resist all that the Lord has so obviously done to get his attention; but it looks like the Lord has finally decided to take a more direct approach! And if that was Jesus, there’s no way change won’t follow, because NO ONE can ever have an encounter with Jesus and remain unchanged! And SNO has been telling his wife how unhappy he is lately and acknowledging what a mess he has made of their lives and that his life has never been in such disarray. He obviously wants out of the situation he’s in, but can’t figure out HOW to accomplish that. He’s even been moving some of his clothes and stuff into his wife’s closet, so it’s obvious that he really wants to be there too. And he’s really been drawn back to his children lately, and they’ve been pretty vocal about their wishes for him to come home. So it’s hard to believe it will be long before he comes home; Jesus is obviously going to show him the way! So never forget that when all else fails, Jesus Himself can and will pay our spouses a visit and they will never be the same!

Then on Monday, I heard from the other woman who had just received a call from her husband; he had a very interesting “favor” to request. And that was just after another member had said “Watch out, SNO!”–When I shared the first testimony with her. That’s just how confident we are that what happens to one of these men is likely to happen in some form or another with the other! Well, the favor was to rent and watch a movie he said he wanted to talk to her about! Since the movie is pretty raunchy in terms of language and lewd content, I don’t want to share the title of it here. But just the title was enough to make it clear that this was a very significant request, and it could well be renamed ‘The Anatomy of Adultery!” The story line had so many similarities to their situation that it was almost unbelievable and there’s little doubt how it spoke to SNO! But one of the most interesting things to me is that this movie probably accounts for the drastic, abrupt and consistent change we observed in SNO a few months ago…right after his wife had prayed for the Lord to show him where he belonged! His entire attitude toward her and the kids changed almost overnight. He couldn’t get enough time with the kids and kept requesting extra time with them (after going weeks with NO contact with them at all!); he didn’t get upset when she let him know that she had to go to court for more child support for their third baby and for spousal support now as well, in order to get into the housing program she was trying to get into (which is now coming out of his unemployment income), and he actually started aggressively flirting with her too! It’s very difficult for him to get away from the NCP for even one minute, but he said he would find a way to talk to her about what he wanted to within a few days; so now we’re eagerly waiting to see what he wants to say! And he has also admitted in recent conversations what a mess his life is and that he doesn’t feel that he’s where he’s supposed to be! And even though he literally ignored his wife’s pregnancy and the baby after he was born (because that’s what the NCP insisted on—she had a baby by him a month after his wife’s baby was born), he says he now feels very drawn to him! Praise the Lord for that, because that was one of the most difficult things to understand! It will be interesting to find out when SNO saw that movie, because it appears that the Lord used it to finally open his eyes and show him how wrong what he’s done is in the eyes of God and for his family, and even himself! When I heard about this, I couldn’t help thinking of Genesis 50:20 and even Romans 8:28! It’s a pretty safe assumption that as SNO began to watch that movie, he had no way of knowing how it would change the course of his life! And I can’t help wondering what the NCP thought when they were watching it, because there’s little doubt he could have watched it without her and SNO has also acknowledged that he is sure that she knows something has changed in him and that he no longer wants to be there! So we NEVER know what God can and will use to reach us or our spouses!

It’s just not possible to witness what God is doing in the marriages and lives of these two young couples and not see that He is doing exactly what His Word promises in Hosea 2; especially in verses 6 and 7 (NLT), which say “For this reason I will fence her in with thornbushes. I will block her path with a wall to make her lose her way. When she runs after her lovers, she won’t be able to catch them. She will search for them but not find them. Then she will think, ‘I might as well return to my husband, for I was better off with him than I am now.’ I strongly recommend that everyone who is standing for marriage restoration read Hosea 2 often; especially when adultery is involved as it almost always is. And read it in the various translations, because for those who are standing for marriage restoration even after their spouses have remarried; it’s important to note that MOST versions state that she will return to her “first husband.” And most Bible scholars agree that Gomer had married again after leaving Hosea. The NASB says “Therefore, behold, I will hedge up her way with thorns, And I will build a wall against her so that she cannot find her paths. “She will pursue her lovers, but she will not overtake them; And she will seek them, but will not find them. Then she will say, ‘I will go back to my first husband, For it was better for me then than now!’ Not only is this a portrait of how God works in the lives of our unfaithful spouses and brings them back; but it’s a portrait of how He works in the lives of anyone who walks away from him and becomes involved in a sinful lifestyle. So read all of Hosea to see how God does that. It’s SO important for us to understand and BELIEVE that when we stand for the deliverance of our spouses and for the restoration of our marriages and families, that it’s God’s Word we stand on, with full and complete confidence and assurance that HE CAN AND WILL USE ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING TO MAKE IT COME TO PASS IN OUR LIVES AND THE LIVES OF OUR SPOUSES!!! And the private pages of the FAM Fellowship sites are filled with testimonies of God’s faithfulness to do just that. But it’s also interesting and significant to note that those who have the most amazing testimonies are also those who have habitually had the Word of God in their mouths and readily shared it to help support and encourage others! And if God can make a donkey talk to get someone’s attention, as He did in Numbers 22:21-31, there’s no reason to ever doubt that He can and will use anything and everything to get our spouses’ attention and bring the fulfillment of His Word and will for our marriages and families to pass! And ALL we have to know, even though there IS so much more, is that GOD HATES DIVORCE…PERIOD!!! And He makes that ABUNDANTLY AND UNAMBIGEOUSLY CLEAR in Malachi 2!

After hearing about one husband being visited by Jesus and the call about watching the movie from the other Monday evening, I fully intended to write this post yesterday. But since I was feeling a bit out of sorts, I put it off until today. However, with that in mind; I couldn’t believe how well yesterday morning’s Coffee Break devotional from Lorraine Ezell went along with it! So read Lorraine’s message and be blessed and encouraged to know that in addition to using anything and everything to accomplish His will and purpose, whenever necessary, God CAN and WILL create our miracles and anything we need right “out of thin air!”

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Out Of Thin Air by Lorraine Ezell

“But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:19

As I awoke this morning the Lord was speaking something to me. It was on the order of: “if you need a job, I can create one for you.” I want to try to be brief and to the point this morning in explaining what He meant. Years ago I had a friend who needed a job and the Lord created one just for her. The job did not exist before, but God brought it forth “out of thin air” to meet her need. When her need was met, the job played out and no longer existed.

The jest of what the Lord was saying to me this morning was for you and it is: whatever you have need of, He can meet it, even if He has to “make” it. He can cause a company to make a new position so you will have a job. He can establish something where nothing was before in order to meet your need. And He will do it if that is what it takes.

When God was ready to create mankind, He brought forth the earth that had not existed in order to give us a place to live. When the Israelites were in the wilderness they needed food. God sent manna in the morning, they gathered it and then it was gone when their need was met. He sends us just what we need, when we need it, and if what we need does not exist, He’ll create it.

Have a great day. God will create what you need out of “thin air” if it doesn’t already exist in order to meet your need.

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Coffee Break is a morning devotional written by Lorraine Ezell, and available online and sent by email free of charge for the asking from About the Master’s Business Ministry, Inc.

So please feel free to call Lorraine at (601) 833-5278 or E-mail her at mastersbusiness@bellsouth.net
And you can visit her on the web at MastersBusiness.org.

Posted Wednesday, April 16th, 2008 at 3:40 pm in Seeds Of Faith.