I had a totally different post planned for today and for FAM Chat tonight, but as the result of a conversation I had with someone a couple of nights ago and a wonderful praise testimony posted by one of the FAM Fellowship members this morning, I decided to actually do a Bible study on submission. And since there’s SO much that could be written as a result, I’m not really going to do much more today than share some of the passages of scripture that best illustrate what the Lord has put on my heart, and what I know is so important for everyone standing for marriage restoration to understand and put into practice. But I will address some of that in later Seeds Of Faith posts.

When we read and study God’s Word, there’s no doubt that God is very serious about respecting and honoring those He sets up in positions of authority, and the way He is glorified when we do and the amazing blessings we receive when we HUMBLE ourselves and submit to the authorities in our lives and to God. And that’s very particularly the case in terms of God’s command and expectation for women to submit themselves to the authority and headship of their husbands. Whether or not we understand it, or even if we don’t like it; that is what the Bible makes VERY clear and we all ignore or disregard it at our own peril but we won’t be the only ones who have to live with the consequences of that kind of disobedience; which by the way is no less sinful or unacceptable than the eyes of God than adultery or any other kind of sin our spouses might be involved in.

The following passages of scripture make it very clear that God sets up those in authority over us in all areas of our lives and that He expects us to submit to their authority in submission and obedience to Him AND trust the consequences to Him. And THEY will give an account to HIM for what they do as they exercise the authority He has given them. And it’s not possible to do a thorough study of what God teaches on this topic without realizing that despite popular opinion; God expects us to be obedient and submissive EVEN to the UNGODLY people in positions of authority in our lives! So read the following verses with that in mind:

Romans 13:1-3 – Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and he will commend you.

Hebrews 13:17 – Obey your leaders and submit to their authority. They keep watch over you as men who must give an account. Obey them so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no advantage to you.

1 Peter 2:11-15 – Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul. Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us. Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every authority instituted among men: whether to the king, as the supreme authority, or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right. For it is God’s will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish men.

1 Peter 2:17-19 – Show proper respect to everyone: Love the brotherhood of believers, fear God, honor the king.
Slaves, submit yourselves to your masters with all respect, not only to those who are good and considerate, but also to those who are harsh. For it is commendable if a man bears up under the pain of unjust suffering because he is conscious of God.

When we find ourselves in the midst of strife and conflict, our attitudes are not pleasing to God and we are NOT submitting to Him and what His Word teaches; and much of the time, probably not acting in submission to someone else in a position of authority in our lives. When we trust God and HUMBLE ourselves under His mighty hand, we don’t have to have our own way or “prove” that we’re right and that someone else is wrong; that’s pride. And as Proverbs 13:10 (NKJV) states By pride comes nothing but strife, But with the well-advised is wisdom. And that’s confirmed in the following passage of scripture.

James 4:1-12 – What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? You want something but don’t get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.
You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. Or do you think Scripture says without reason that the spirit he caused to live in us envies intensely? But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.
Brothers, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against his brother or judges him speaks against the law and judges it. When you judge the law, you are not keeping
it, but sitting in judgment on it. There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you—who are you to judge your neighbor?

While submission and humility is ALWAYS contrary to the dictates of our flesh, there’s no doubt that it’s SO much easier when we understand the blessings it brings our way and the supernatural power it releases into our lives and circumstances. I’ve seen the Lord move in many amazing ways; but little compares to the supernatural power I’ve seen released through submission to the power and promise of God’s Word. And it NEVER ceases to amaze me how QUICKLY the Lord acts when we do humble ourselves before Him and others. I don’t have space to include them here, but there are a LOT of verses that PROMISE that the LORD will exalt, honor, bless, glorify and lift us up when we humble ourselves under His mighty hand and submit to Him and those in authority in our lives as He commands us to do. But the following verses are just a few to keep in mind as we consider that, especially the passage from Psalm 81, which promises that God will act QUICKLY on our behalf when we turn to doing things His way.

Genesis 49:14-15 – “Issachar is a rawboned donkey lying down between two saddlebags. When he sees how good is his resting place and how pleasant is his land, he will bend his shoulder to the burden and submit to forced labor. “

2 Chronicles 30:7-9 – Do not be like your fathers and brothers, who were unfaithful to the LORD, the God of their fathers, so that he made them an object of horror, as you see. Do not be stiff-necked, as your fathers were; submit to the LORD. Come to the sanctuary, which he has consecrated forever. Serve the LORD your God, so that his fierce anger will turn away from you. If you return to the LORD, then your brothers and your children will be shown compassion by their captors and will come back to this land, for the LORD your God is gracious and compassionate. He will not turn his face from you if you return to him.”

Hebrews 12:9 – Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of our spirits and live!

Job 22:21-22 – “Submit to God and be at peace with him; in this way prosperity will come to you. Accept instruction from his mouth and lay up his words in your heart.

Psalm 81:10-16 – I am the LORD your God, who brought you up out of Egypt. Open wide your mouth and I will fill it. “But my people would not listen to me; Israel would not submit to me. So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts to follow their own devices. “If my people would but listen to me, if Israel would follow my ways, how quickly would I subdue their enemies and turn my hand against their foes! Those who hate the LORD would cringe before him, and their punishment would last forever. But you would be fed with the finest of wheat; with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.”

We need to realize that instead of giving up power (usually power we don’t even have, no matter how much we might think otherwise), the totally opposite is true, because when we humble ourselves before the Lord and DO as His Word instructs, including submission to those in authority over us, we in fact access the supernatural power of Jesus Christ and our Lord God Almighty and thereby walk in the AUTHORITY of HIS name! And the following verses are just a few to help us understand that and the awesome power and protection we have access to in the name and authority of Jesus Christ!

Luke 10:17-24 – The seventy-two returned with joy and said, “Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name.” He replied, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you. However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”
At that time Jesus, full of joy through the Holy Spirit, said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this was your good pleasure. “All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows who the Son is except the Father, and no one knows who the Father is except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.” Then he turned to his disciples and said privately, “Blessed are the eyes that see what you see. For I tell you that many prophets and kings wanted to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.”

And without a true understanding and knowledge of the Lord, we can’t and won’t submit to His Word, will and way or walk in the power of His Spirit, as the following passages make very clear.

Romans 8:6-8 – The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God.

Romans 10:2-4 – For I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge. Since they did not know the righteousness that comes from God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness. Christ is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes.

James 3:17 – But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.

So it’s very important for all of us standing on the power and promise of God’s Word for marriage restoration to learn what it means to “submit” according to what His Word teaches. Therefore, the following passages of scripture are some of the most instructive and important for anyone standing for marriage restoration; particularly wives.

Colossians 3:17-19 – And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.
Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them.

1 Peter 3:1-7 – Wives, in the same way be submissive to your husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives, when they see the purity and reverence of your lives.
Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes. Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight. For this is the way the holy women of the past who put their hope in God used to make themselves beautiful. They were submissive to their own husbands, like Sarah, who obeyed Abraham and called him her master. You are her daughters if you do what is right and do not give way to fear. Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers.

Ephesians 5:21-33 – Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.
Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. After all, no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it, just as Christ does the church—for we are members of his body.
“For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church.
However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.

And if we have any doubt just how important submission is to God, it’s difficult to miss when we read Hebrews 5:7, which says During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. If Jesus, WHO HIMSELF IS GOD, was heard BECAUSE of His submission and reverence, surely we don’t think we can get away with anything less! But WHEN we DO submit to God’s authority (including those HE has put in authority over us), we can expect to see great and mighty things happening in our lives and at what I am personally convinced is likely to be at a greatly accelerated pace, because of God’s awesome promise in 1 Peter 5:5-6, which says Young men, in the same way be submissive to those who are older. All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.

And since there’s never a more powerful way to illustrate the way God works and just how faithful He ALWAYS is and ALWAYS WILL BE when we submit in faith and obedience to what His Word teaches, we are blessed to have the following praise testimony (edited to protect the identity of those involved) from a FAM Fellowship member who learned about the power and promise of submission in a very real and personal way last night. So I thank her for permission to share her testimony here and I know everyone reading it will be blessed and encouraged!

*****
Hi everyone,

I know it’s early, but I just had to take this time to give God the glory for what just transpired. Monday was our wedding anniversary, and my husband and I spoke briefly to each other and he said “Happy Anniversary and God bless you.” So I extended the same back to him.

My daughter has been spending just about all summer at his house with his daughter; a miracle in itself, because they were totally opposite when we all lived together, and she did not care for my husband at all about five months before we separated. And now she just adores him and I praise God for that miracle. On Wednesday, she came home briefly and then left to go back to my husband’s house, which is just a few minutes away. I gave her mail to give to my husband and told her to ask him if I could use his truck yesterday since I had to take my car to the mechanic. I did that as I don’t like to intrude. She called later and said that he said yes and for me to call him. I hesitated a while as I was not sure what he wanted since he had already said I could use the truck. But I called and he said that I didn’t have to send a message; to pick up the phone and call him for anything and that it was okay to use the vehicle and “I love you and you can ask me for anything; I am always here for you and you know that. If I needed to ask you something, I would pick up the phone and call you and ask you myself and not send a message through the children.” So I apologized and told him I was sorry and that it would not happen again.

And then yesterday morning, he called on my cell to check on me and ask how it was going with my car and if everything was okay. After I explained what was happening, he asked why I hadn’t come over to his house the night before. The questioned caught me off guard, so I hesitated and then said because I wasn’t invited over. He then said “I need to ask you to come over?” I said “Yes, just ask and I’ll be there.” And then I asked if he wanted me to come over last night and he said yes. So I said I would. We then talked a little bit more and hung up. He called again later and relayed a message from a mutual associate and we joked a little and he let me know that he was home and we said our goodbyes.

My husband and I conversed with one another, watched a little TV and the rest is history! Oh Glory! I told him later that I had not eaten anything and he said I was welcome to anything I wanted and to make myself at home. So I went downstairs and snacked on something and then went to bed. And he stayed close to me throughout the night.

Around 1:30 in the morning, I went downstairs to get something to drink and he asked me to bring him back a soda. The girls were still up and talking in his daughter’s bedroom. When I came back he asked what they were doing and I said they were talking and he just said okay. But around 2:20, they were still up and that bothered me a little as I thought they should have been in bed at that time. I wanted to say something but chose not to since I was at his house and I didn’t want him to think I was trying to run his house. But at 2:30, I couldn’t sleep as the girls were getting a little louder; laughing and singing. So I started to tell them to go to bed, but again didn’t because I was at his house. Then I remembered talking to Linda on Sunday for over two hours and one of the topics we discussed was 1 Peter 3:1-6 and she enlightened me as to what those passages really meant, which truly blessed me and gave me a totally different prospective on the way I am to handle everything concerning my husband. I was truly blessed and couldn’t believe how I was missing the mark. The Lord brought our conversation back to my memory and I decided to put it into practice.

Then I got out of the bed and got down on my knees and spent a little time praising and worshiping God and then I made my prayer and supplication known to Him and asked Him to move by his Spirit and deal with my husband’s heart concerning the girls going to bed as it was way past their bed time. Then I began to thank Him. And as I was getting off of my knees and getting ready to get back in bed, he said “MNO (member name omitted), can you please tell the girls to go to bed; it’s 2:48.” Y’all can imagine how I felt! I wanted to shout right then and there, but contained myself and just said “Okay.” I opened the bedroom door (his daughter’s bedroom is directly across from his) and said “Girls, SNO (spouse name omitted) said it’s time to go to bed…good night.” I then closed the door back and proceeded to go in the bathroom to give God all the glory and my husband said “MNO?” I said yes and he said “Thank you.” I said “you’re welcome.” And then I went into the bathroom and praised God like I had lost my natural mind because he honored me for honoring His word! I then got back in bed but could not sleep for thinking about what God had just done and for thanking Him so very much for what He did. It was then time for SNO to get up and get ready for work as he leaves very early. So we left and he followed me home.

Let me tell you all something; this has tremendously increased my faith in God and allowed me to know that if I hold my peace instead of handling it my way; and DO it His way, He is obligated to fulfill His promise by bringing it to pass. My God, my God, my God!
To GOD be the GLORY for great things he has done! Amen, Amen and Amen.

THANK YOU, LINDA, so very much for all you are doing and for helping us. If it had not been for God using you to speak into my life and correcting me, I can truly say I would not have had this outcome and it was right on time. Know that your labor is truly not in vain. My prayer is that God tremendously blesses you spiritually, financially and physically. Amen!

Posted Friday, July 18th, 2008 at 8:02 pm in Seeds Of Faith.