Witnessing God’s power and faithfulness to change hearts and the course of FAM Fellowship members’ lives has without a doubt been one of the most awe inspiring and humbling experiences of my life, and that’s never been the case more so than with two of our most recent members. Just as Isaiah 55:10-11 declares and promises, God’s Word NEVER returns to Him WITHOUT accomplishing what HE desires and the purpose for which He sent it, and FAM Fellowship members have certainly been reminded of that quite powerfully by getting to know MNO (member name omitted) as she has humbly shared the word of her testimony over the past month and a half; some of which I have requested and received her permission to share here as well.

But before sharing MNO’s most recent Prodigal Perspective post below, I want to share some of the conversation I had with our newest member yesterday; during which we both cried as we recognized the work God was doing in his heart and life. Soon after our conversation began, he acknowledged that the marriage he was standing for began in adultery during his first marriage, so I told him that I would refund his membership dues because we could not support his stand; that if his first wife were to join the ministry to stand for the restoration of their marriage, she’s the one we would support and stand in agreement with based on the Word of God.

Contrary to what many believe and sadly what even most churches and ministries believe and condone, GOD NEVER SEES ADULTERY AS ANYTHING BUT ADULTERY! And since no law passed by man can or will ever change that, anyone believing otherwise is either deceived or not aware of God’s Word because 2 Samuel 12 makes it abundantly clear how God views marriage rooted and established in adultery; particularly based on what God very unequivocally told David in 2 Samuel 12:9-10. Of course, the response I always get from men and women in such circumstances when I tell them that FAMM can’t stand with them for the restoration of their adulterous marriage is that they have repented and know that God has forgiven them. My response to that is to simply ask them if the Lord used them to lead someone they worked with to salvation and they later learned that they were living in a homosexual relationship, would they then tell that person they could continue in their homosexual relationship under any circumstances? Needless to say, I’ve never had anyone say that they would tell someone they could continue in a homosexual relationship; yet their adultery somehow seems to fall into a different category of sin. Sadly, it won’t be too surprising to see the answer to that question change now that homosexual marriage is also becoming “legal.” Yet further proof that God does NOT recognize adulterous marriage as anything but adultery is even included in the Bible’s account of Jesus’ geneology because Matthew 1:6 says, and Jesse the father of King David. David was the father of Solomon, whose mother had been Uriah’s wife, which makes it undeniably clear that GOD did not acknowledge David and Bathsheba’s “marriage” as such. So in the eyes of God, EVEN AFTER URIAH’S DEATH, God still saw David’s marriage to Bathsheba as adultery and something he should NOT have done. And just as with David, there’s NO REPENTANCE when we continue in our sin because repentance requires the acknowledgement that we have sinned and a commitment NOT to continue doing so! And God’s absolute refusal to condone or acknowledge adulterous “marriage” is further confirmed in Mark 6:17-18, in which Herodias is referred to as “Philip’s wife (Herod’s brother) even though she was “legally” married to Herod (she is also referred to as “Philip’s wife” and NOT Herod’s wife–though they were “married”–in Matthew 14:3 and Luke 3:19).

Getting back to my conversation yesterday, the response I got from the young man I was talking to was quite unexpected and something I’ll never forget. He said, “linda, all this time, I’ve thought my wife (his partner in adultery) was the “prodigal”…but I’m the prodigal!” Just as with MNO, this young man’s heart was broken with the realization of what he had done and the level of his own deception, but I confidently assured him that God was about to do something so miraculous in his life that he couldn’t even begin to imagine what’s coming. His covenant wife is a strong Christian woman and based on a recent attempt to reach out to her, he has reason to believe that she’s been standing for their marriage even though it’s been more than five years since he left and had his first child with the NCP while still married to her. He was also finally able to understand why the problems began in his current marriage after his current wife got saved, which he didn’t understand before because he expected that to make things better. This is a young man who knows the Lord; he just turned his back on him because of disappointing church experiences and now God is bringing him back to his senses and back to Him and his covenant wife! But that’s no surprise when we understand that God’s Word NEVER returns void and God’s Word says that adultery NEVER comes to a good end…but there is an END according to Proverbs 5:4!

So I hope and pray that every man and woman standing for marriage restoration will indeed be encouraged by these testimonies and make certain to be ready when God does as Jesus described in Luke 15:10-32, and brings your spouse back to their senses just as He portrayed in Luke 15:17-18.

So here’s MNO’s Prodigal Perspective post, which she titled, The Enemy’s Grip is No Where Near as Strong as the Lord’s Power to Break it!:

Hello Everyone,

I’ve wanted to write this for a while now, but have to fight back the tears just to discuss it because no one ever could have convinced me that I’d ever be in this position…divorced, pregnant by the NCP and standing for the restoration of my marriage! I got married “until death do us part”…FOREVER, and not to be divorced after three years because of my infidelity.

Yet I want you all to know that I deeply loved and still do love my husband. Our marriage wasn’t perfect, but I loved my husband dearly. I cooked, cleaned, packed his lunch and even washed his hair. I’m not saying this to say that I was a perfect wife; rather because I want you, my fellow standers, to know that it is not “truly” your spouse in their right mind who gets involved with the NCP. The enemy comes to kill and destroy and he is the one who encourages and condones your spouse’s infidelity.

I saw signs that I should end the relationship with the NCP, but I allowed Satan to convince me that my husband didn’t appreciate me, that the NCP loved me more, that we would have a long lasting relationship, that I wasn’t compromising my salvation, that my husband didn’t care and that I really wasn’t hurting him. The enemy knew exactly how to convince and reassure me that I was doing the right thing, that I didn’t love my husband, and that I deserved more than I was receiving in my marriage…so I was only giving my husband what he wanted and deserved since he didn’t appreciate me anyway.

Today, when I look back to that time in my life, I am in utter disbelief. WHO WAS I? I literally wake up in the morning and have to remind myself what my life is today. And my dealings, mind-set and relationship with the NCP feels like an out-of-body experience now. I don’t even know that person! In my right mind, I never would have hurt anyone; especially not my husband.

So, as a prodigal turned stander, I want you all to know that if your spouse is involved with an NCP, they WILL turn around! The enemy is powerful (for a short time), but our God is so much stronger, so reality does and will eventually come to your spouse; and they do still love you, even if they think they don’t. It’s only temporary, so keep the faith and continue to pray. The enemy’s grip is no where near as strong as the Lord’s power to break it! And prodigals really do come home!

This is such an awesome message from Lorraine that I just had to share it, so take it to heart and there’s no doubt how blessed you’ll be!

*****
Coffee Break – “Stay With You”

“He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.” Psalm 91:1

Occasionally, when I am around my little granddaughter and it is time for her to leave, she will decide she doesn’t want to leave. She will come to me and say, “I want to stay with you”. She doesn’t want to go home with her mother or daddy, but she wants to stay with me instead. As a grandmother that blesses my heart so much, makes me feel good and brings me lots of joy because at that moment she is saying that there is no place she would rather be than with me.

I wonder how much the heart of our Heavenly Father is blessed when we have that same attitude– “I want to stay with You”. When was the last time that you felt like my granddaughter— toward the Lord? Are there other places you would rather be than in His presence? Are you content to just sit at His feet, like Mary? Or are you more concerned about being other places and doing other things, like Martha? One of my favorite hymns is “In The Garden”. One line of the song says, “I’d stay in the garden with Him, though the night around me be falling”. Is that how you feel? You long to stay with Him regardless of what may be going on around you? Does your heart yearn for His presence- to stay with Him? Or are you in a hurry to get finished with your time of communion with Him so you can rush off to do something else- something that you would rather do?

It gives me so much joy to be with my granddaughter. Do you know where I get that attitude from? My Heavenly Father- He is the same way. We are what brings Him joy. And He has great joy when we willing desire to be, and stay, with Him in His presence.

Have a great day. Where would you rather be? Staying in His presence or somewhere else?

For further reading:
James 4:8
1 Corinthians 3:16
1 Corinthians 6:19
Zephaniah 3:17
Psalm 65:4
Psalm 84:10
Luke 10:41-42

*****
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.

Since I know most of you are not likely watching television, please do so immediately if you are on the west coast or anywhere on the Pacific Rim (particularly if you live on the coast) as there was an 8.9 earth quake inJapan and now massive tsunamis are already hitting and approaching land in many areas where we have members around the world including the west coast of the United States.

Our thoughts and prayers are with all of you who will be impacted by this, as well as all people around the world. May God be glorified in the midst of this disaster and may the hearts of the people turn to Him as we all see the power of His mighty hand and pray for and humbly seek His mercy, grace, protection and provision.

Whose journey are we on? That’s a question my pastor asked last weekend, which of course got me to thinking about standing for marriage restoration. Over the past 4 and a half years, I have talked to seventy-five or more men who were experiencing the pain and hurt of divorce, and we were all gung ho at the beginning of our stand. Why? I think it was because we were on “our” journey and thought for sure that if we “changed,” our spouses would be more than willing to come back to us. Yet, after a week, several weeks, a few months and then maybe even a year or more, “our” journey looked too hard and hopeless; so many of those men have now sadly given up on “their” journey of restoration.

In our world, we are used to seeing a journey come to an end. If we go on vacation, we are gone a set time and then return. When our wives were pregnant, we knew the baby would be born in about nine months. We go to school for a set amount of time. We have jobs, projects, childhoods, and most everything in our lives has an end to the journey…even death. However, for some reason, in our stand for marriage restoration, in our obedience to God, it is common to give up on the journey.

Why is that? Some of it is obviously attributed to the influence of the enemy; but for me, it comes down to my choices and knowing whose journey I’m on. If I am on my journey, then of course the pride and selfishness in me will surface and I’ll do what my flesh desires. Yes, I want someone to love me, to have companionship and to have an intimate relationship with. God created me to want that, but He also created me to give those same things to someone else; the wife He created and chose for me to live with for the rest of my life.

So we can easily give up on our journey when it is focused on our own desires and not God. Yet when we focus on God’s Word, which is very clear about marriage and divorce, then we can let Him take us on the journey where only He can heal and restore. I wouldn’t ever attempt to repair the engine in my car or perform surgery on someone; nor would anyone else want me to because I can’t do it. And the same is true with our marriage restoration because we cannot do it. Yet we can prepare for it by letting God make the changes in us that need to be made. And we can get ready by becoming the spiritual leaders of our families. We have work to do and responsibilities, but we cannot do what only God can do and that is change hearts. Most of us have had a changed heart, which we know didn’t come about by our own doing. God worked in each of us and we have to believe, just as the Bible teaches, that He will make those changes in our spouses as well.

So until we decide we are on God’s journey and not our own, letting Him prepare the way, continuing to make the changes in us and change our spouses, we are going to get results that are not Godly or supernatural. God is a God of healing, restoration and the supernatural. And as we wait on Him to make the necessary repairs and do the heart surgery needed in both us and our spouses, He will provide the grace to do what He has called us to do.

We have to know and believe in God’s Word or it is of no use to us. We cannot be obedient if we don’t know what that means. And if we don’t trust God to keep His Word, then none of it is any use to us. Thankfully, God has provided the path for our journey! He loves us and we need to stand because we love Him; giving Him all the glory and honor and having absolutely no doubt that He will complete what He has begun! And GOD’S journey will indeed take us to an incredible marriage; the one He intended for us to have in the first place.

After being so blessed to witness the awesome love and power of God at work as women from around the country gathered together this past weekend in the home of one of our members in Houston, and shared the word of their testimonies and how God is working in their hearts, lives and marriages for their good and His glory, I feel a renewed sense of how vitally important it is to reach out to others who are so desperately seeking comfort and guidance while experiencing the pain and despair of marital separation and divorce.

While there are indeed so many blessings associated with doing the work God has called me to, none matches the blessing of witnessing the amazing transforming love and power of Jesus Christ at work in the heart and life of another human being; which I experienced from a totally different perspective this past weekend as I was blessed to meet and spend time with the mother of the young woman who hosted our FAM Reunion. And now that I’ve had time to “be still” after returning home from a pretty hectic weekend, and reflect on the events of the weekend and all that God revealed, I realize that God intended and used that blessed experience to remind me even more powerfully than ever before of how the work of marriage restoration goes so much beyond just the restoration of marriages and immediate families and how He uses the work done in the hearts, lives and marriages of the men and women involved in FAMM in ways far exceeding anything we could ever think or imagine.

Since it tends to be emotionally overwhelming, I don’t allow myself to consider the work being done through FAMM on a personal level; yet that was totally unavoidable as MNO’s (member name omitted) mother poured out her heart and shared her heart felt appreciation and gratitude for seeing her precious daughter transformed from a time when she was “curled up in the fetal position and not wanting to go on” to the vivacious, confident and joy filled young mother who so graciously hosted a group of women from around the country who she had never met before in her home. Hearing the passion and joy in that mother’s heart and being showered with the intensity of her gratitude were truly overwhelming and perhaps even life changing for me in some way I probably can’t even express or yet fully fathom. Needless to say, we all cried as we shared our total awe in witnessing the miraculous transformation God has made in MNO as a young Christian woman in general and as a mother and wife in particular. MNO’s mother had been praying for this transformation for years and just couldn’t contain her joy and excitement, so I reminded her that while her daughter’s involvement in FAMM was the means God used, it was in fact her prayers and faith that brought about the work God was ever so faithful to do in her daughter’s heart and life.

MNO’s mother wept as she shared how helpless and inadequate she felt to comfort, console and encourage her daughter in her darkest days, but then her awe and amazement as she started sharing how she felt as she saw the changes in her daughter were just as evident, and almost overwhelming on another level. And it drew me right back to the passion that initially led me to establish this ministry so many years ago; reminding me that there are so many hurting people who are just as much in need and how the Lord has called me to reach out to them and share His love and faithfulness to heal and restore broken marriages…NO MATTER WHAT. And as He is always so faithful to do, God confirmed that message to me in more ways than one upon my return home.

The first one was through a post Dan published while I was out of town, entitled ” Whose Journey Are We On?” It’s quite powerful so I’ll be publishing it here as well, and it reminded me that our call to ministry isn’t “our” journey either. So I have to stop allowing concern that I won’t be able to handle things if the ministry keeps growing (we currently have more than two-hundred-fifty members) to justify a lack of “outreach” on the public website. The Lord had actually been “talking” to me about that before now, which is why I’ve recently made a more concerted effort to get something posted on the public site from time to time. And then on Monday, I received notification from PayPal of a donation to the ministry from someone I don’t even know, which included the following note: “Just wanted to thank you for all the help I found on your website when I was in crisis. Thanks to the information and prayers I found there, I am experiencing healing and restoration in my marriage. God bless you and your ministry.”

So, with all of that and the responses of the women this past weekend when I asked how they found the ministry, why they joined and how long it took them to join, and hearing how much more they’ve experienced above what they expected after joining, I feel a renewed commitment to more ministry outreach through the public website and any other means the Lord might bring to mind! And I’m looking forward to seeing how HE will handle things as I continue on HIS journey and hope and fully expect that many more will be blessed and encouraged in the Lord along the way! SO GET READY…GOD IS MOVING!!!

The following testimony was recently shared by one of the FAM members who was blessed with sudden marriage restoration a year or so ago and I greatly appreciate his permission to share it here because I know it will bless many who read it and understand the truth of what MNO (member name omitted) has shared. So be blessed and encouraged by this amazing “After Restoration” testimony!

*****
We Can’t Go it Alone!

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

It’s been way too long since I last updated or posted anything, and so much has transpired over the past year; so many blessings and yet so much time wasted wandering in the desert as well. Like the Israelites, we just extend our time in the desert when we’re filled with so much pride instead of submitting to God. So I want to share my testimony of how important it is to be obedient to God and to stay in His Word and to be involved with this ministry.

When we try to stand on our own, to lean on our own strength and understanding, we will fall. But do note that I said fall and not Fail! And that’s because God is always walking beside us. Yet as we all know too well, the problem is that we keep getting in His way. So I praise God for allowing me to fall and for the events of this past year because I now see that He still has so much work to do in me, and I want to share this with all of you to glorify God, His faithfulness and abounding love and to hopefully decrease your time in the desert.

The last time I posted, SNO (spouse name omitted) had come home and I was praising God for the restoration of my marriage. I was so happy and over whelmed that I let down my guard and took my eyes off of God, His Word and this ministry, and basically went it alone even though I knew from Linda and others that’s when the truly hard work of marriage restoration begins.

After several weeks of my wife being home, it was obvious that Satan was hard at work and didn’t want to give up, and she ended up going back to the NCP (non-covenant person) and her apartment. But instead of taking my thoughts captive and trusting in God, I immediately took on the victim mentality and was not the least bit forgiving. I kept focusing in on her sins and my loss and heartache, and I let Satan lie to me and convince me of how dumb I was to claim restoration, which made me feel embarrassed to be part of this ministry and that I was a failure.

I tried desperately to cling to the principles and lessons I had learned but didn’t realize at the time that this is not something anyone can do on their own. I even found myself missing church more and more over the year and spending less time in His Word. I was giving up and even questioned what I was doing; yet in spite of my weakness, God continued doing His work and brought SNO around and blessed us with more and more time together. So this past fall, my wife again broke things off with the NCP and moved into her parents’ home. I naturally sang God’s praises and gave Him thanks as we continued to spend more and more time together; but I still had not surrendered to Him and I wasn’t sold out to Him.

So when I found out that she had still been talking to the NCP, since I was not bearing the full armor of the Lord or actively involved in any ministry, I once again lashed out in anger towards her. I was not at all forgiving toward her and threw in the towel and completely abandoned my stand and had no interaction with her for nearly two months. I was so stubborn and prideful that I didn’t even go over to her parents’ for Christmas when invited; nor did I attend the annual family outing to go see our favorite play, A Christmas Carol, even though my wife texted me that she would really enjoy having me there. I was foolishly convinced that I’d show her what she was missing.

Well, I convinced her alright! I convinced her to take up the divorce proceedings once again, and a little over a month ago, she sent me an email saying that she’d be meeting with her attorney that week, and that I needed to gather all of the pertinent financial information for her. So that email was a real wake up call and I fell on my face and cried out to God. I realized just how far I had fallen and how I had made my restoration my priority and not my relationship with HIM! And I realized for the first time how I had been leaning so much on my own understanding; it was like a cloud was lifted from me and I could once again see the folly of my way. Instead of praising Him for my wife’s double mindedness, I whined about it. Instead of praising Him for our 25th anniversary, I cried about her not being with me. Instead of praising Him for and enjoying the moments we spent together, and there were many, I whined about the ones she shared with the NCP.

I was completely broken…I had fallen back to square one, so I immersed myself in His Word. I had received exactly what I deserved and yet God was not finished with me, even though I felt so embarrassed and ashamed that I had let Him down. Yet His Word spoke to me stronger than ever before. And a week after getting that email from my wife, her aunt (who’s family is in their own valley right now) sent me an email and really encouraged me. She ended the email reminding me that the most important thing was to be Obedient to God along with reminding me of several verses; Philippians 2:12-13, Exodus 15:26 and Leviticus 26:3-43. Then God really put it on my heart that I needed to come back to this ministry and I read Shell’s post about God Examining our Motives. And that really got me thinking…had I made my stand for restoration my God? Yes, I had, which is so hard to see, but easy to do (Exodus 20:3 and Deuteronomy 5:7). And by doing that, I was just focused on my wife’s actions and the situation and my unmet expectations and timing. So my eyes were finally opened to that, and God brought me to the point of realizing that I was nothing without Him. “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” (Matthew 6:33) It’s so true that on our own we can bear no good fruit, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire (Matthew 7:19). And in John 15:5-8, Jesus very specifically tells us that He is the vine and we are the branches, that if we remain in Him and He in us that we will bear much fruit and that apart from Him, we can do nothing and will wither away.

Then God led me to the parable of the farmer sowing the seed in Mark 4:2-20…“He taught them many things by parables, and in his teaching said: 3 “Listen! A farmer went out to sow his seed. 4 As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5 Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. 6 But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants, so that they did not bear grain. 8 Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up, grew and produced a crop, some multiplying thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times13 Then Jesus said to them, “Don’t you understand this parable? How then will you understand any parable? 14 The farmer sows the word. 15 Some people are like seed along the path, where the word is sown. As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them. 16 Others, like seed sown on rocky places, hear the word and at once receive it with joy. 17 But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. 18 Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; 19 but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful. 20 Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop—some thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times what was sown.”

I think we all want to bear the fruit of seed sown on good soil, but in order to be that good soil, we need to put God first in our lives, we need to stay connected to a Bible based church and we need to be involved in ministry with others who encourage, support and strengthen each other. And we need to leave our pride at the door and put all of our trust and faith in Jesus and remember that God is faithful in His timing and makes all things work to His glory.

Well, not only has God been so good as to bring me back on my knees, broken and surrendering it all to him; He also continues to work miracles in my life and marriage. I had to go out of town for business for an entire week a couple of weeks ago, and I sent an email to SNO and told her that she was most welcome to stay with the kids while I was away and pointed out that it would be closer for her to go to work. By the way, the Lord blessed her with a job just five minutes away from our home after she’d been unemployed for nearly two years! She left me a voice mail that Monday morning and said that she didn’t mean to be rude for not saying hello when she dropped her stuff off that morning before work and saw my car in the garage, and ended the call saying “Have a good trip, Dear.” I just praised God when I heard her message; I had already left as I had taken a taxi to the airport, but she cared enough to call and used the term dear at the end of the call. Then she sent me an email the following Monday, asking if it would be ok if she stopped by on Tuesday after work to “say hello” and drop off some makeup she had borrowed from our daughter. So I responded that she was always welcome.

Well, as it happened, Chicago got hit with over two feet of snow that week which started that Tuesday. So imagine my joy and heaps of praises when she came over after work and it was the most relaxed and natural time because I just gave it all over to God. We ended up having dinner together, and as the snow got worse the later it got, I expressed concern about her driving all the way back to her parents’ home that night, which is about a forty minute drive. And she said that if it was okay with me, she was planning to stay for the night. Well, of course it was! We all had breakfast together the next day and spent the morning together as a family digging out our driveway, laughing and having a great time. And she asked if it was okay for her to stay that night as well and made us a wonderful dinner. She ended up leaving Thursday morning and thanked me for a wonderful week and not a single word was said about divorce!

As my wife left, I was praising and thanking God for such a miracle and for the first time in so long, not worrying about when she would come back. So I’m keeping my eyes on God and realize that He still has so much work to complete in me and I’m just enjoying being His child and each day as it comes. And I give all the glory to God and wish His blessings for all of you!

Since one of the most rewarding blessings of marriage restoration ministry is witnessing what happens when God replaces a heart of stone with a heart of flesh and the resulting miracles of restoration on so many levels, I asked MNO (member name omitted) for her permission to share the testimony she recently posted on the private website here. I know this is something all of us can relate to, and I hope and pray that it will make many others examine their own hearts and ask the Lord to reveal and remove anything in them that displeases Him as David did in Psalm 139:23-24. As MNO shared so powerfully, the resulting peace and joy of a transformed heart truly is unspeakable, so I’m thankful for her willingness to let me share the word of her testimony here that it might bless others as it has all of us in the FAM Fellowship! Be blessed and encouraged in the Lord as you too seek a new heart!

*****
Thanking God for Giving Me a Heart Transplant and Unspeakable Joy!

Hello Everyone,

A lot has happened since my last post, and there have been many tests and trials; some I have failed when my flesh wanted to shine, and some I have passed by allowing the Lord to have His way. But I’m still standing on the Solid Rock of Jesus Christ, and since being served with divorce papers, I have scheduled the families in transitions (FIT) classes) and am now starting to seek employment. So, after the Lord’s breaking and shaking, I have come to a place of real surrender. When I came to FAMM, I came looking for the restoration of my marriage, but now I see that I needed restoration in my relationship with the Father.

I truly believed that I was a good wife, that I did not deserve to be divorced by my husband and that I should be the one divorcing him. I even felt that I was denied that opportunity, which I now realize was pride because I was rejected and I wanted to be the one to reject him. I had helped build our business together…how could he abandon me…the Mother of his children…the one who left my career to raise our children, which is what we both decided was best…how could he do this to me! How could he tell me that I needed to get my annual medical exams done because I will no longer have insurance (which he has since said he will pay for)! How could he reject me, a good wife who cooked and cleaned and washed his clothes, took care of him and was there for him…or so I thought! How would this make me look to our families and friends, and my church family…I felt so humiliated and ashamed! Those things hurt so much, and I just kept asking how my husband could do this to me, his wife, his biggest supporter and the mother of his children.

Well, little did I know how the heart transplant I asked the Lord for (Ezekiel 11:19), along with asking Him to search my heart (Psalm 139:23-24), would reveal to me how I was not the wife that I needed to be, how I resented my husband because I felt he was ungrateful, and how PRIDE, PRIDE, PRIDE continued to build up in my heart until it became a heart of stone. Even though I was praying for the Lord to convict my husband, I didn’t have real compassion for him; just pure resentment, and I couldn’t cover him (Proverbs 10:12 and Proverbs 17:9) with a heart like that. And the Lord reminded me of the first few years of our marriage when I was so selfish, and felt that my husband loved me so much that he would never leave me. He reminded me of the times when I actually made him cry and threatened him with divorce over and over again; not knowing the seed I was planting. I didn’t know the damage I was doing, and when I realized it years later and apologize to him, the root had already been established and here we are in the very situation I never thought possible. But I count it all joy, for greater is He that is in me than he that is in the world!

My husband recently shared that when his Lawyer told him that I would be served with divorce papers, he asked if there was any other way to send them because he did not want to hurt me in that way. And I saw the pain in his eyes and believed him; yet I used to think that he enjoyed hurting me. So I asked if he was sure he wanted to do this, which Linda later pointed out was an attempt to put him under condemnation and that I shouldn’t have said that, so I repented.

I could not forgive my husband with my old heart because I was afraid of so many things and I thought it would make me look like a door mat…a foot stool. But now, for Christ to dwell in my heart, I surrender my all to Him so that it’s not my will, but His that will ultimately be done. One of my favorite scriptures is Philippians 3:10…I want to know Christ and the Power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in death. Oh, how I loved this scripture; especially the resurrection part, but not the suffering. Yet I now know the resurrection was so powerful because of the suffering, the shame and humiliation of the cross, and now embrace knowing my Lord like never before. Is it easy? No way! Is it worth it? Yes, it is!

The Lord also showed me that I did not cover my husband’s nakedness, and told people about what he did (and even though I thought it wasn’t that many, it was too many). I never had a quiet and gentle spirit (1 Peter 3:1-6), and when the Lord turned the mirror on me, I saw how I had destroyed my marriage in so many ways. Although I cooked, cleaned, washed, and kept a clean and immaculate home, my heart was not the way God wanted it to be. So I saw how the enemy had an opportunity to come in through me, and I wept and wept; tears of sadness, and then tears of joy because I finally get it! And I thank God that I am a stander, and standing on the solid Rock of Christ. I need restoration with my Lord before my marriage can be restored, and I want that and to be molded and shaped God’s way. So I will eat lots of humble pie, which sure does taste a lot better than being filled with filthy pride. And I now understand that I must be restored in my walk and relationship with the Lord to become a “Proverbs 31 woman.” So I do “get it” and thank God for Linda and all of you at FAMM)!

Yes, I want my husband home and I want my family back together, but most importantly, I see the Hand of God at work in me and through me and I would not want to go back to that place before my heart transplant; which was a place of resentment, bitterness and a place of deep sadness. But now I really do have joy; unspeakable joy, for the joy of the Lord is my strength (Nehemiah 8:10). And I have peace that one of my closest friends can’t understand, but I now realize that she doesn’t need to know any details about what is going on with my husband and marriage; what God has put together, let no man put asunder (Mark 10:7-9). He is my husband, bone of my bone, flesh of my flesh (Genesis 2:23) and we are one! The healing that has taken place in me since joining FAMM is so remarkable to me, and I don’t ever want to go back! I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it, But one thing I do; Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus (Philippians 3:13-14).

So I continue to give the Lord my shame, my pain, my fear, my bitterness and my unforgiveness, and allowing Him to shape my heart of flesh into what He wants it to be; a heart to know Him (Jeremiah 24:7) and a heart that loves and forgives. I thank God for His mercy upon my life, His grace, His patience, His love in spite of my former condition and that He never left or forsook me! And now my confidence and my trust are in Him (Jeremiah 17:7-8)! I thank the Lord for not giving up on me, and I will not give up on my husband and will cover him, pray for him and love him; not my way, but God’s way.

I want to share something that happened at the Christmas service at my church last Sunday because it was so profound. Our children had something planned, but the song (which had been downloaded) wouldn’t play past the first few lines and just kept repeating. And as the song started, I wasn’t at all happy to hear a song at our “Christmas” service talking about Santa Claus and shoppers at the mall, but then came a line that brought me to tears because a little boy asked, “Where’s the line to see Jesus?”…and then he goes on about the REAL reason for the Christmas season. I just sat there and cried each time as those lines were repeated, and when I got home, I had to find the song to hear the rest of it, but had no idea that was the title. Yet it is a powerful reminder of the REAL reason for this Christmas season, so I want to share it with all of you and hope you will be blessed and touched as I was. It’s Where’s the Line to See Jesus by Becky Kelley.

So let’s not get so caught up with the hustle and bustle of this time of year that we forget our Lord Jesus Who came to bring peace on earth and to reconcile us to our Heavenly Father for all of eternity. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JESUS!

Perhaps some of you haven’t realized it yet, but BibleGateway.com has changed their default version of the Bible to the New International Version 2010, which is a combination of the version most of us are familiar with, the New International Version 1984, and Today’s New International Version. But as we discussed on our last conference call, some of the changes are quite alarming; particularly when it comes to passages relating to marriage and God’s view and instructions concerning marriage, separation divorce, remarriage and some other “PC” issues. A great example of that is Malachi 2:16, which no longer states that God hates divorce in the 2010 version!

Unfortunately, that meant that the links automatically created in our posts and responses to scripture references on the site were defaulting to the 2010 version. So we’ve asked our site programmer to rewrite the code for that particular program and change that for us.

If you use the NIV as your default version when on BibleGateway.com, you can set your preferences and change your default version to the NIV 1984 as well. And be very careful when buying a new Bible too, because you’ll most likely be buying the 2010 version, which I wouldn’t recommend to anyone. Good alternative versions are the New King James Version and the New American Standard Bible. This is something we should all be praying about as well because it’s getting more and more difficult to buy Bibles that haven’t been “updated” to water down God’s Word and make it all more PC. And when you read the justification and explanation for these latest changes, it makes absolutely no sense!

Anyway, we should have this corrected on the websites very soon and I just wanted to make everyone aware of it. I was slow to catch the change, but should have figured it out when someone read from the 2010 version on one of our recent calls and I thought they were reading from the wrong place or hadn’t read it all! In some places, the changes are very subtle, but in others not so subtle. For instance, instead of saying that the Holy Spirit is our Counselor, the 2010 version now says He is our Advocate–and there’s quite a difference in the meaning and importance of that distinction! I didn’t catch that on our last call, but Kathy did as she was reading from the 1984 version, and I told her she should have brought that up right away and encourage anyone to do so when you notice something like that. That’s exactly how the devil works, so we all have to be alert and on guard for his cunning and seemingly subtle ways of perverting the truth of God’s Word as warned in 1 Peter 5:8! But the best good news is that he is a liar and a defeated foe and that NO wisdom, NO insight and No plan can succeed against God! Praise the Lord!

Update: The needed changes have been made and the site notations about using the NIV unless otherwise stated has also been updated. Anyone wanting to know the reasoning for this change can find it on BibleGateway as well, and it really doesn’t make a bit of sense–especially the explanation for Malachi 2:16 since their earlier translation seems to cover the confusion they perceive so much better than what they have now. What a sad sign of the times in which we live!

Since this is a very important time in our nation, it’s my heart felt hope and prayer that each and every man and woman standing for marriage restoration will exercise your right and responsibility to vote tomorrow if you have not yet done so. And I pray that we all will vote in accordance with the very same Word of God on which we stand in faith and obedience for the restoration of our marriages.

Many Christians seem to believe that as Christians we shouldn’t be involved in politics, which is a bit incredulous since it was our Lord’s stand against all that was “politically correct” in His time that ultimately led to his crucifixion He stood steadfastly on the Word of God and refused to be moved from it regardless of the criticism and threats leveled against Him. And it is sadly because of such misguided Christian attitudes that atheists were able to get prayer removed from our schools; along with any godly teaching such as the Ten Commandments and even “do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”

Tragically, in the same way, the unwillingness of Christians to take a meaningful stand for what we profess to believe has led to the legalized murder of millions of babies in what God intended to be the safety of their mothers’ wombs, and we now see our country moving forward to legalize homosexual marriage the same way adultery is now legalized in marriage and even accepted and condoned in our churches.. At what point will we truly say enough is enough and start taking a stand for the Word of God, especially since that’s the very same Word we are standing on as we put our faith and confidence in Him to uphold the covenant of our marriages?

How can we on one hand go to God in prayer and remind Him of the power and promise of His Word as we ask for His favor, provision, protection and blessings in the restoration of our marriages and families, and then on the other hand use our votes to elect leaders of our towns, cities, counties, states and country we absolutely know will govern in total opposition to much of what is written in that same Word? When Proverbs 3:6 instructs us to acknowledge God in ALL our ways and promises to direct our paths, that obviously doesn’t exclude our politics and how we vote. On the other hand, when Proverbs 28:9 warns us that if we don’t incline our ear to His law, our prayers are an abomination to God, that definitely includes our politics and how we vote. So I pray that everyone will take a stand for God’s Word and ways as you vote and carefully consider whether or not you are voting for men and women who will not protect the life of the unborn, who support and will promote the legalization of homosexual marriage and who believe that our Constitution promotes the separation of church and state instead of guaranteeing our freedom of religion by barring the government from establishing any laws that govern or dictate our rights to exercise our religious freedoms.

If we truly believe in God’s Holy covenant of marriage and the sanctity of life, then let’s take a stand for that with our votes and carefully consider those we elect and if they are likely to pass laws that respect neither. After all, our actions do speak louder than words and we will stand before the Lord and give account for all that we do and say, which will include how we vote.

The following are just a few scriptures to consider before casting your vote tomorrow:
For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. – Psalm 139:13-16

Listen to me, O house of Jacob, all you who remain of the house of Israel, you whom I have upheld since you were conceived, and have carried since your birth. Even to your old age and gray hairs I am he, I am he who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you. – Isaiah 46:3-4

The word of the LORD came to me, saying, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.” – Jeremiah 1:4-5

Rescue those being led away to death; hold back those staggering toward slaughter. If you say, “But we knew nothing about this,” does not he who weighs the heart perceive it? Does not he who guards your life know it? Will he not repay each person according to what he has done? – Proverbs 24:11-12

For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error. And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper.” – Romans 1:26-28

Or do you not know that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, shall inherit the kingdom of God.” – 1 Corinthians 6:9-10

“Haven’t you read,” he replied, “that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’ and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’? So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.” – Matthew 19:4-6

As for the man who does this, whoever he may be, may the LORD remove him from the tents of Jacob—even though he brings an offering to the LORD Almighty. Another thing you do: You flood the LORD’s altar with tears. You weep and wail because he no longer looks with favor on your offerings or accepts them with pleasure from your hands. You ask, “Why?” It is because the LORD is the witness between you and the wife of your youth. You have been unfaithful to her, though she is your partner, the wife of your marriage covenant. Has not the one God made you? You belong to him in body and spirit. And what does the one God seek? Godly offspring. So be on your guard, and do not be unfaithful to the wife of your youth. – Malachi 2:12-15

In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight. – Proverbs 3:6 (NASB)

He who turns away his ear from listening to the law, even his prayer is an abomination. – Proverbs 28:9 (NASB)

It is written: “‘As surely as I live,’ says the Lord, ‘every knee will bow before me; every tongue will acknowledge God.’” So then, each of us will give an account of ourselves to God. – Romans 14:11-12

Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account. – Hebrews 4:13

They are surprised that you do not join them in their reckless, wild living, and they heap abuse on you. But they will have to give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. – 1 Peter 4:4-5

if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. – 2 Chronicles 7:14

What a truly wonderful and blessed summer it’s been for FAM Fellowship members as we’ve witnessed God’s mighty hand moving so suddenly and supernaturally to restore one marriage after another! In the past week alone, we have been in utter awe and amazement as we read one breathtakingly miraculous Restored Marriage testimony after another and were blessed to share in the joy of the restoration of five of our members’ marriages–and there’s a sixth that hasn’t even been posted yet! That’s a new weekly record for FAMM and what joy and excitement it has created in our midst! We were also blessed by two awesome marriage restoration testimonies in July, so with those and the one shared here from June, by the power of God’s mighty hand, we have watched as nine marriages were miraculously restored before our very eyes this summer!

We also started putting our conference call line to good and godly use earlier in the summer and it’s quite obvious that we’ve been seeing the fruit of that labor as hearts and minds are changed, transformed and renewed by the power and promise of God’s Word! We started out the summer conference calls reading and studying Joyce Meyer’s book, The Battlefield of the Mind, on Friday nights. Dan’s been reading for us and then we have a time for discussion after each chapter and then at the end of the call, we share what impacted us the most about our study. And then I started hosting Bible studies on Monday nights, where we really get into the Word in depth and examine and consider how what we’re learning applies as we stand for the restoration of our marriages. And since it’s not possible for many of our members to join us, the calls are recorded and members can go back and listen to them whenever they want to. Of course, the goal of all of this is to make the Word of God come alive in our hearts, minds and spirits so that we can and will be blessed with all that Jesus Christ died and rose again to make possible in us, our lives and our marriages; so it’s a joy and thrill beyond description and compare to see that happening!

And since I just don’t have the time I’d love to devote to writing Seeds Of Faith posts as I did in the earlier years of the ministry, I have asked for permission to share some of our awesome and inspiring Restored Marriage testimonies here, and the one I’m sharing today is from a young man who was totally lost and had no sense of what to do when he first joined FAM soon after leaving the military and his separation. He even moved out of state and went back “home” after his separation, so I had to “persuade” him TWICE to get right back where he belonged and was blessed to watch how he took the counsel of God’s Word to heart and got his act together and prepared to be the husband and father he so longed to be. He and his wife were separated when he first joined the fellowship and were blessed with a brief time of restoration, which we knew nothing about until after they had separated again (the second time I had to get him to go back where he belonged! LOL!). But he learned a lot through that experience and truly got serious about his walk and relationship with the Lord and his stand for the full and complete restoration of his marriage; even though this time his wife had divorced him and was moving on with her life with someone else. BUT, as we always say around here…that wasn’t GOD’S plan! And God’s plan included blessing MNO (member name omitted) with the desires of his heart to be a dad and to see his marriage restored, so when he and his wife separated and divorced, what they didn’t know was that she was pregnant! And as only God could orchestrate, within days of her new relationship coming to an end, their baby had to be delivered thre months prematurely due to complications, and God used that to bring MNO and his wife back together. So here’s his awesome Restored Marriage testimony of how God worked so suddenly and powerfully in the worst of circumstances to bring about the best of circumstances for him and his family! I loved the title he chose above, because hearing something like “Wow” from MNO was a real big deal since he’s usually very low key! And I’m happy to report that they are planning to remarry and that even though their son did amazingly well from the very first day he was born, he had a bit of a set back due to a staph infection, but he is on the mend and we’re confident that he will be going home soon! So be blessed and encouraged…AND GET READY…GOD IS MOVING!

*****
Hello Everyone,

I want to thank you all for your prayers, and SNO (spouse name omitted)wants to thank you as well. God has really been doing a lot in my life lately. Our son is still in the hospital and will have to stay a little longer. Even though he wasn’t supposed to be born until September 14th, he is doing great and the doctors can’t find anything wrong with him!

From what I’ve been told, they could not find his heartbeat, so they had to deliver him early. SNO said he always moved whenever the doctors put anything on her stomach and that he was just hiding. And he’s very active at his young age of just eight days old! He was born weighing one pound and twelve ounces and is now two pounds and one ounce.

Before all of this took place (about three weeks ago), I received a phone call from the NCP. I didn’t know who it was at first because it was around midnight when he called. But he called to apologize for messing up my family and for causing so many problems. He said it was not his place to raise this child and that he had broken up with my wife and had to call to tell me that he was sorry. That’s when things started to change and a few days later, my wife sent the ultrasound pictures that I’d been waiting for. I never said anything to her about the NCP, but it was obvious that there was a change in her.

She was hospitalized the following week after a visit to the doctor, and our son was born two days later. I really wasn’t sure what was going to happen since SNO and I hadn’t talked in six months. But I was able to see my son when he was born, and it is truly amazing just to look at him; yet it still hasn’t quite settled in that I’m a dad! Since he was born prematurely, I had to have a wrist band to visit him and I didn’t have one. So, when he was three days old, I texted my wife to ask if she would take me down to see him and she said yes. And when I arrived at the hospital, we talked for an hour even though we had not talked for more than ten minutes in the previous six months up to that point, and that was just once.

Since then, we have been going to the hospital together to see our son every day, and we are constantly talking and making plans together for raising our son together. It seems that in one instant, things changed so completely and so quickly. It was definitely not the way I saw it coming, but as always, God’s plans are far better than ours. SNO believes that God brought our son into this world early to bring us back together since there is absolutely nothing wrong with him, and if he wasn’t here, we would not be talking again. I really don’t know what to say other than, “Wow, God is amazing!”

So I’m very happy to claim that my marriage is restored and, Linda, you can move us over to the restored marriage list! This is truly an amazing time, and I know that it was only God that could have done something like this. I am thankful every day for what He has done, and I look forward to the many wonders I know He will continue to do. And I’ll do my best to update you all as much as I can. I’m really sorry that it took so long to post this, and I finally just had to make an effort to give God the praise He deserves!

As I’ve often shared, one of the most amazing things I’m blessed to see God do over and over again is confirm the work done here, which often feels like He is very personally saying that we’re doing a good job! So imagine my awe and delight when I saw the following message from Glenn Jackson this morning—after our awesome Bible study last night, Why We Struggle, which used the same scripture (John 15:4-5)!

For the first time, our call was interrupted and it took a while for the lines to be available again, and then my computer malfunctioned, so it’s obvious the devil didn’t want that Bible study to take place! BUT our God is bigger and just as He declared in Proverbs 21:30, NO wisdom, NO insight and NO plan CAN succeed against God! So we had a great time of fellowship and study and I strongly encourage everyone who wasn’t able to participate to listen to the calls–it’s in two parts. And I know you will all be very blessed and encouraged by Glenn’s awesome and timely message!

*****
EXHORTATIONS FROM THE FATHER [Reflections Of The Father’s Heart]
August 10th 2010
VISION
– I entered a room and saw [literally] a million piece jig-saw puzzle lying in pieces on the floor. I immediately perceived the complete and utter hopelessness of the task of putting it together other than “entirely” by supernatural means.
The Father spoke to me and said: The “million pieces” of the puzzle represent the million facets of My Will that I am carrying out “behind the scenes” in any given moment on the behalf of My children [and all those in their “sphere of existence”] with a view to the perfect fulfillment of their destiny, in Christ. The fact that they were strewn about the room represents the fact that it is humanly impossible
for one to piece together the “puzzle” [mystery of their life and calling] properly. For even if one could put the pieces together it is certain that they could not do it in the “divine order” [piece by piece in the perfect order that is known only to My heart] that is necessary to both bring about and fulfil My highest Will and purpose in their lives – and the lives that they will touch [and the lives that will touch them] between now and the end of the age.
“strewn” – to let fall in separate pieces over a surface; scattered;
….”Dwell in Me, and I will dwell in you. [Live in Me, and I will live in you.] Just as no branch can bear fruit of itself without abiding in [being vitally united to] the vine, neither can you bear fruit unless you abide in Me. I am the Vine; you are the branches. Whoever lives in Me and I in him bears much [abundant] fruit. However, apart from Me [cut off from vital union with Me] you can do nothing”…. John 15:4-5
The Amplified Translation
….”we consider and look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen; for the things that are visible are temporal [brief and fleeting], but the things that are invisible are deathless and everlasting”…. 2 Corinthians 4:18
The Amplified Translation
*****
You can read all of Glenn’s messages or sign up to receive them each day by email on his website.

FAM members were truly blessed by the following testimony, which MNO (member name omitted) posted about two weeks ago, and I greatly appreciate her permission to share it here as well.

MNO and her husband have been separated for about four years and he was living with a NCP (non-covenant person) up until a few months ago. But she greatly struggled through most of those years to experience the joy and peace Jesus died to give all of us, and it was heart breaking to see her ongoing grief. So from my perspective, the above title of her Restored Marriage Testimony just couldn’t be more appropriate as God has truly turned her mourning into dancing, and it’s been a great blessing to witness how mightily He has moved in her heart and life, and now in the restoration of her marriage!

So I hope and pray that the word of MNO’s testimony will greatly bless and encourage everyone standing in faith and obedience on the power and promise of God’s Word for marriage restoration because God is ever so faithful to do exactly what His Word declares (Isaiah 46:10-11 and Isaiah 55:10-11)! And that’s something we all know so well in the FAM Fellowship because last year alone, we were blessed by the Restored Marriage Testimonies of twenty-eight of our members and we’ve already been blessed by six Restored marriage restoration testimonies so far this year! We are also blessed to be growing at an amazing rate, adding an average of fifteen to twenty new members each month, and I regret not having the time I used to for writing Seeds Of Faith posts, which is why it’s such a blessing to be able to share what God is doing in our midst on the public site from time to time. So be blessed and encouraged and GET READY…GOD IS MOVING!!!

*****
Hi Everyone,

It has been about six months since my last post, and my, how God has changed things in that time!

First, I want to say that my praise is to God alone! He does answer prayer, so believe that and believe Him with all your heart. Believe that as you surrender it all to the Lord Jesus Christ, He hears and answers. And don’t give up; keep trusting that the Lord is totally capable of doing ALL that needs doing in our situations, which includes working on us.

Last Christmas, I shared how God had really worked in my heart and head. He had turned my mourning into dancing and I was and still am so incredibly grateful for His healing touch in my life. But about a month or so after that post, I realized that I still had a twinge of anger and unforgiveness in my heart for my husband. And I didn’t want it there, so I told God I didn’t want that in my heart anymore and asked Him to take it away. After all, I’d been dealing with it for almost four years! Well, He removed it, and I could write a lot more about what God did before He started changing my circumstances. We are, after all, such multi-faceted people. But let it suffice to say that when we work with Him, stay close to Him, honor and glorify Him, we won’t be disappointed!

As I also mentioned in a previous post, I used a journal to write everything down; praises, prayers, thanksgiving and everything. And God really used that to work in my heart about a lot of things. So I can tell you today that God is working in your circumstances; even when you don’t see it. He certainly did in mine!

My husband and I see each other often now and have contact in many different forms every day. And he has shared his desire to work on us and be something again. Woohoo!!! And we all know what that something is! God is moving us toward a completely restored marriage each day, and I believe one reason He answered my prayers, in the natural, is because He knew I was ready.

Our spouses are often not right with God when circumstances start changing, so we have to be ready for that! When our prodigal spouses return to our lives, they return with so much “stuff” and we have to be able to stand firm in the Lord when that happens. I’m also better able to “see” what God wants me to pray for now and can therefore be more specific in my prayers. I still surrender it all to God every day because I know only He can fix anything! Not by my might, not by my power, but by His Spirit, God will level the mountains and make the paths straight. And as I see God working every day, I’m reminded of Chris Tomlin’s song, Our God, which says “If our God is for us (he is), who can ever stop us, if our God is for us, who can stand against us”. Nothing. So in faith, I claim my husband restored to God and returned to our marriage and family! Throughout my journey, God gave me compounded faith, much like compounded interest. One way our faith grows is through our words, and since I want to let God know that I believe Him and His Word; Linda, please move us to the Restored Marriage list!

I also want to give special thanks to Diane in Canada and Amy in North Carolina because your posts about God working on us, waiting, praying, and standing when God is moving are invaluable and I refer back to them on a regular basis.

So hang on. Don’t give up. My circumstances were so hopeless, and I was a mess. But today, I am no longer hopeless or a mess, but a daughter of the High King. Wait, trust, hope in the Lord, and He will work it all out for His glory, honor, fame and praise. Be encouraged, dear brothers and sisters in Christ.

Many recent conversations with FAM members have been about the vital necessity of truly knowing God because it’s simply not possible for anyone to believe, love, trust or obey God if we don’t know Him. So this week’s message from Charles Stanley, Standing Tall and Strong through Prayer, which gets into how important it is to know WHO we’re praying to is another awesome example of God’s faithfulness to confirm the things He wants us to know and understand. So I strongly encourage everyone to listen to Dr. Stanley’s message, and you can follow along with his Sermon Outline, which includes links to the scripture references he uses.

Then I received an email message from my former church, Calvary Chapel in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, entitled “Learn the Names of God” with this link to even more messages about God by my former pastor, Bob Coy! There’s obviously no doubt that God is serious about confirming the importance of truly knowing Who He is so that we can victoriously stand in faith and obedience on the power and promise of His Word for the full and complete restoration of our marriages and families! And our Spanish speaking members will be very happy to see that there are a couple of Spanish translations available at the above link as well.

Since this is so vitally important to EVERYTHING we do as Christians, I hope and pray that everyone will make getting to know and understand God and our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, a top priority. And the only way to do that is to get very serious about reading and studying His Word and listening to messages like the ones linked to above. After all, the Bible is God’s love letter to us and our owner’s manual, so why do we think we can afford not to read or fully understand it? We can’t, because Jesus taught that loving Him with all of our heart, mind, soul and strength is the most important commandment of all (Mark 12:29-31) and that we will be blessed with His provision by seeking FIRST His kingdom and His righteousness (Matthew 6:31-33), and according to James 4:15-17, failure to do so is sin. And we simply can’t afford that because of the warning found in Psalm 66:17-19, which declares, I cried out to him with my mouth; his praise was on my tongue. If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened; but God has surely listened and heard my voice in prayer. Therefore, we’ll never do ANYTHING more important, blessed or rewarding than doing whatever it takes to truly get to know our most awesome and sovereign God and heavenly Father!

This week’s TV broadcast message from Charles Stanley is such a powerful and important message for everyone standing for marriage restoration that I just had to share it, and I hope everyone will take the time to watch or listen to it!

As I listened to Dr. Stanley talk about the necessity of EXPECTING God to answer our prayers, Colossians 4:2Philippians 4:6-7 came to mind because they so clearly instruct us to pray with expectancy and with an attitude of thanksgiving; obviously watching for the answers to our prayers and thanking God even before we see them manifest in the natural realm of our lives. And as he continued to talk about having to believe the things we’ve heard God say no matter what we see and hear, I was reminded of Romans 4:17-21 and how important it is for us to SPEAK in agreement with the things we know God promises even before we see them fully manifested in our lives and even if everything we see and hear in the natural indicates just the opposite of what we believe; which further reminded me of the power of Proverbs 18:20-21, Psalm 103:20 and Numbers 14:28.

Then as Dr. Stanley continued teaching that even the sins we tend to consider insignificant keep us from trusting God, I was reminded of Song of Solomon 2:15 because it teaches us that it’s the “little foxes” that ruin the vineyard—the vineyards that are in bloom, which means about to produce fruit. And then in 1 Corinthians 5:6-7, we’re taught that a little yeast works through the whole batch of dough and that we have to get rid of the old yeast; that we are a new batch without yeast because of the sacrifice Jesus made for us.

And as Dr. Stanley talked about the importance of our motives and that they must be to glorify the Lord, I was reminded of the warning given in James 4:3-4 that when we are motivated by our own gain and pleasure, we have no reason to expect God to answer our prayers; especially since Ephesians 1:3-14 makes it so clear that the only thing that motivates God is bringing honor and glory to His Son, Jesus Christ.

So listen to this week’s message, The Thrill of Trusting God, and learn how important it is to trust God as we stand in faith and obedience on the power and Promise of His Word and EXPECT HIM TO PERFORM IT (Isaiah 46:10-11, Isaiah 55:10-11 and 1 Thessalonians 5:24)! And here’s the Sermon Outline for The Thrill of Trusting God, with links to the scripture for references. As always, it all just comes down to whether or not we believe God, and there’s just no way to listen to a powerful message like this without being blessed and encouraged…so listen and GET READY BECAUSE GOD IS MOVING!