Even though it might sound like an over simplification, I am convinced that every struggle encountered when standing for the restoration of our marriages is caused by a lack of faith and confidence in the awesome power of God’s love and His will and purpose for our lives. And the sad thing is that while none of us like to struggle and while we all want to walk through this difficult time with the peace, strength and joy Jesus came to give us, way too many standers aren’t willing to do the one thing it takes to overcome a lack of faith and to fully understand the love, power, purpose an faithfulness of God. And no matter what else we do; no matter how much we pray, no matter how much we fast; no matter how hard we try and how determined we are, the ONLY way to have the faith and confidence we need to successfully stand for the restoration of our marriages NO MATTER WHAT, is to get very serious about studying and understanding the Word of God! And the Bible itself confirms that in Romans 10:17, which says Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ.

The more we study God’s Word, the more of it we remember and are able to call to our minds, which then illumines our understanding as we continue to read other passages of scripture, so it’s the Word itself that helps us understand it as we study it consistently. And when we truly understand the depth of God’s great love for us, and the awesome power of his mighty hand, and His everlasting faithfulness to bring His Word to pass, we WILL have a confidence and assurance that NOTHING can shake. But for some reason, it seems that a lot of people are strongly resistant to reading and studying the Bible on their own. And one thing I have seen WITHOUT EXCEPTION is that the people who do make a commitment to seriously study and understand the Bible are the ones who are transformed by its power and who see the Lord working in their lives so supernaturally.

Psalm 119:105 tells us Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path. And Matthew 4:4 tells us that Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ “ So if we don’t know the words that come from the mouth of God, how can we expect to live on them? And since most of us don’t know or understand even a small portion of God’s Word, it’s no wonder that we’re so malnourished and puny when it comes to the strength needed to stand against the devil and the spiritual realm of wickedness as we fight for our marriages! And if we don’t know His Word, it’s no wonder we don’t know which way to go or what to do, because we’re left standing in the dark. Since EVERYTHING we need to VICTORIOUSLY stand for the restoration of our marriages can be found in our Bibles; perhaps we should ask ourselves why we’re so willing to look everywhere else for it and to everyone else willing to support and encourage us, and yet SO unwilling to seek what we need from the only source that really matters and actually holds the power and promise of all that we want and need.

Some of our favorite Bible verses make it clear that we have to trust God with ALL of our hearts, commit to doing things His way, acknowledge Him in ALL our ways, and lean not to our own understanding as we take every thought captive and make them obedient to Christ, just to mention a few. But how can we do any of that if we don’t know His ways and if we don’t understand the power of His love and His will and purpose for our lives? If we don’t KNOW is Word and ways and understand His eternal purpose for our lives, anything else we do is leaning on our own understanding, and quite often ends up being based on misunderstanding and misinterpretation of God’s Word and purpose. And that leads to deception, doubt, and discouragement, which are Satan’s 3D weapons and which are quite effective as he tries to persuade us that we’re fighting a losing battle. And if we don’t know the Word of God, we might not know that there are many verses that assure us that the battle we’re waging belongs to the Lord or that Romans 8:31 even says What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? And we might not know that Proverbs 18:30 even assures us that There is no wisdom, no insight, no plan that can succeed against the LORD.

That’s why when I ask newcomers to the ministry about their Bible reading habits, it never ceases to amaze me how few actually read the Bible with a plan to read all of it; not even the New Testament. How can we live on every word that comes from the mouth of God without even reading them? Most people just read whatever they feel like reading or open the Bible to see where it opens to, or have some method that does little to help fully understand God’s Word enough for it to ever have the power it could in their lives and in the restoration of their marriages and families. I always ask people to start reading in Matthew and work their way through at whatever pace they are most comfortable with. But we have to start there and read through the New Testament and as we continue to read, God’s Word will start to come alive for us and in us. And if we can’t read and understand the King James version, then we need to read something we understand, because otherwise it’s not going to help us grow in our understanding of God’s Word. But I do NOT recommend reading paraphrased versions for regular reading, even though they may be helpful for clarification or to gain a different perspective. But it’s important for us to read the Word for ourselves and rely on the power of the Holy Spirit to help us understand it; we shouldn’t rely on someone else’s understanding or interpretation. And it’s always good to read from the Psalms and Proverbs every day if time permits. And a good plan for that is to read one chapter of Proverbs a day and five chapters of the Psalms a day; and then we’re reading them through every month or so. And one easy plan for that is to read the same Proverb as the day of the month – like today is the sixth, so read Proverbs 6. And then read the same Psalm, and four more chapters in multiples of thirty; for instance Psalm 6, Psalm 36, Psalm 66, etc. Nothing has the power to transform us in our walk and relationship with the Lord like reading and understanding the Bible. So I am VERY serious when I suggest that if we don’t have time for reading the Bible as we should, then we need to spend a lot less time on sites like this one and others and reading or talking to others about marriage restoration, because the ONLY sure way to the restoration of our marriages is having absolute faith and confidence in the power of God’s love and purpose for our lives, and we will NOT get that anywhere other than through the Word of God. And there is ALWAYS a VERY direct correlation between the peace and joy experienced in our lives and the amount of serious time we are spending in the Word of God. Since our shield is faith and our sword is the Word, and faith comes through hearing the Word, that is the key to winning the battle for the restoration of our marriages according to Ephesians 6:10-18 as follows:
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.

Joyce Meyer’s TV broadcast message this morning, I Belong To God And He Loves Me – Part II, is an awesome message revealing just how important it is for us to know that God REALLY loves us and to believe in the power of His purpose to prevail in our lives, NO MATTER WHAT WE’RE GOING THROUGH! I especially love the reference she made to Psalm 45:1, which says My heart is stirred by a noble theme as I recite my verses for the king; my tongue is the pen of a skillful writer., and that our hearts are the tablets upon which our words are written! Oh if we could only REALLY grasp that and the power of our words, for good or evil; for life or death, just like Proverbs 18:20-21 says; From the fruit of his mouth a man’s stomach is filled; with the harvest from his lips he is satisfied. The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit. When we know the Word of God and understand His love for us and His power to bring every word from His mouth to pass, we’ll understand the power brought to bear on our circumstances when we speak those words to our mountains, especially when they’re written on the tablets of our hearts. And we can really see the importance of that as we stand for the restoration of our marriages in 2 Corinthians 3:3, which says You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts. So listen and be blessed and encouraged!

Dear Lord, let us be a living letter from your beloved Son, Jesus Christ, written not with ink but with the power of your Holy Spirit, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts, especially the hearts of our beloved spouses as we stand for the restoration of our marriages and families. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Posted Tuesday, March 6th, 2007 at 5:32 pm in Seeds Of Faith.