Despite seeing so many amazing miracles in our midst (almost every day) for the past few weeks, I am somewhat surprised and perplexed to see how many FAM Fellowship members still struggle to WATCH for God’s hand at work in their circumstances and lives with a THANKFUL and EXPECTANT attitude. And that’s despite knowing all of the verses that make it abundantly clear how VITALLY important faith is as we stand for the restoration of our marriages. It just doesn’t get much simpler or clearer than what Jesus said in Mark 9:23 (NJKV), which says Jesus said to him, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.” And Matthew 9:29 (NASB) says Then He touched their eyes, saying, “It shall be done to you according to your faith.” And even though not one of us doubts the power of prayer and how important it as we stand for our marriages, we seem to forget the “instructions” given to us in Colossians 4:2, which says Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.

There are SO many verses throughout the Bible making it so clear that when we ask for something in the name and in keeping with the will of God as revealed in His written Word, especially when praying in agreement with others, IF we have faith and BELIEVE God is going to do it, it WILL be done, and that there is NO force, wisdom, insight or plan that can keep it from being done (Proverbs 21:30)! And we see in Isaiah 46:11 that God will do WHATEVER it takes to accomplish HIS will, because it says From the east I summon a bird of prey; from a far-off land, a man to fulfill my purpose. What I have said, that will I bring about; what I have planned, that will I do. Of course, that’s just further confirmation of Jeremiah 55:10-11, which says As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. So if we have a difficult time accepting that, AND living our lives accordingly, we ARE calling God a liar, because Numbers 23:19 says God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?

Yet, there IS something WE can do to sabotage our own miracles; because Matthew 13:58 also makes it VERY clear that our LACK of faith CAN keep our miracles from coming to pass. It says And he did not do many miracles there because of their lack of faith. So, it’s not really all that difficult for most of us to understand that we have to have faith as we stand for the restoration of our marriages, but we probably don’t know HOW to effectively demonstrate our faith, or realize some of the things we do that actually cancel it out and show god and the rest of the watching world that when it comes right down to it, we really DON’T trust and believe that God will deliver on His promises after all.. So let’s think of our prayers like going into a restaurant where we can see the cook preparing our food after it is ordered. Once we place the order, we KNOW they’re preparing it and that it WILL be delivered. So as we sit there, we watch the cook and finally see him putting what we ordered on the grill, and we think “That’s my dinner…yum, I’m hungry.” So we WATCH with anticipation and expectation; confident that we will have our meal soon. The cook finishes preparing “our” meal, and we see the waitress bringing it to us, and get even more excited, because we’re REALLY hungry! BUT instead of stopping at our table, the waitress just keeps going right on past us to another table! So now what do we do and think? Are we going to get up and leave the restaurant, because we thought that was our meal and it wasn’t delivered to us WEN we thought it was going to be? Or do we think “Oh, that was somebody else’s dinner. Mine will be next.”…and again start watching to see what the cook is doing? Obviously, that same scenario could play itself out several times before we ACTUALLY have our dinner sitting in front of us for our enjoyment and pleasure. But we didn’t get up and leave, because we KNEW we had placed the order and it WOULD come in time! Well, it’s really the same way with God, but we don’t believe that. The Bible is our menu of promises; the Holy spirit is our waitress, and God is our cook! We have to read the menu to know what’s available; then we give our waitress our order through prayer; and God prepares our meal based on HIS schedule and not ours…BUT WE WILL GET OUR DINNER. Yet, unlike at the restaurant, where we never really doubted that, even if we were irritated and impatient due to what we considered unreasonable or unnecessary delays, when we experience delays on God’s promises, we often just get up and leave! And just like in the restaurant scenario, if we just get up and leave, there’s a good chance that our dinner would show up right after we leave the restaurant! Of course, there is another option; we could cancel the order…and that’s what way too many of us do when we stop watching and giving thanks! The ONLY reason to stop expecting to receive our promise is if we have cancelled the order…which is EXACTLY what we do with our negative thoughts, speech and actions! Even if we don’t verbalize the cancellation, God knows our hearts, so He KNOWS we have cancelled it, because we’re NOT expecting it, and we’re NOT watching out for its soon arrival with great anticipation and thanksgiving!

So as we stand for the restoration of our marriages and families, we need to pay a lot more attention to what kind of message we’re sending to the Lord. Does He know we are waiting with great anticipation for what we want, which just makes Him all the more eager to make sure that it is better than we expect it to be, or does He see that we’re not expecting anything, and that there’s no need to deliver?

The most common way I’ve seen the inability to be watchful and thankful played out in the lives of our members this past week or so is in how things going on around them tend to be perceived. Unfortunately, it seems way too easy to see and accept the negative possible explanations for the things we hear and see instead of recognizing and believing the positive possibilities. And when we expect the Lord to be delivering on His promises, we should be LOOKING for the positive evidence that He is doing just that, and not focusing on all of the signs indicating that He ISN’T! So that means we need to develop the habit of evaluating EVERYTHING in terms of our faith and confidence that God WILL deliver on His Word and promise. That means very deliberately and intentionally ignoring and disregarding anything negative or contrary to the fulfillment of our prayers, and CHOOSING to focus on and respond to whatever we can find that is positive. And some times we do have to dig to find the positive, but it is there almost ALL of the time, if we’d just look for it! And even if in some very rare circumstance, we can’t find the positive, that’s a WHOLE lot better than ALWAYS looking for and finding, or even worse yet, responding to the negatives. When we look for the positives in faith that God is doing ex
actly what His Word says He will do, then we are trusting Him with all of our hearts. And when we only see the negative possibilities, we’re leaning to our own understanding and we are NOT acknowledging the power and promise of God in all of our ways. And since we need God to make our paths straight, just as Proverbs 3:5-6 tells us He will do, we have a clear choice to make. So it is my hope and prayer that everyone standing for marriage restoration will make the choice to be devoted in prayer, while watching and giving thanks for the inevitable delivery of God’s promise, which is that HE will uphold the covenant of our marriages! And when we believe and understand that, we can’t help being blessed and encouraged!

Exodus 6:1 (NASB) – The Lord said to Moses, ” now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh: for under compulsion he will let them go, and under compulsion he will drive them out of his land.” In other words, the Lord was saying by choice or force, His will would be done and we all know how that story ended.. Hallelujah!

It didn’t matter what Pharaoh wanted. He honestly thought he was in charge. Pharaoh had no intention, desire or a will to let the Israelites go; he sure thought his plan would prevail. But God had a plan, and His desire and His will was for them to be set free. Doesn’t that sound like our spouses? Many of our spouses have no intention, desire or a will to return to God and their marriages. But God’s desire is to set our spouses free and for our marriages to be restored. Jesus came to set the captives free (Luke 4:18)and He is a restorer of the breach(Isaiah 58:12).

God says “enough is enough” and we read what He said to Moses in the above verse from Exodus 6. Under compulsion (Webster’s meaning – a force or agency that compels, an irresistible impulse to perform) he will drive them out of his land. Pharaoh was going to be forced to do something against his own will. So much for the “free-will theory.” God sends a series of plagues that breaks Pharaoh’s will and the Israelites are set free. You can imagine Pharaoh couldn’t believe what was happening! Our spouses won’t be able to explain why they are running back to God; why they are back home with their spouses; why they are back leading their family in worship and sharing the good news of Jesus!

Our beloved spouses believe they are in control, and for a season God will allow them to believe their own lie (2 Thessalonians 2:11). I truly believe that God by divine design will orchestrate a plan that will cause our spouses to relinquish their ungodly wills and force them to turn around. He did that for me and I know He’ll do the same for them

Our Lord God is the “agent” that will compel them. Under HIS mighty hand, He will turn the course they are on and bring them back to right relationship with Him (Jeremiah 32:40(b))…He will do it for their own good and for the good of their children after them (Jeremiah 32:39).

I don’t know about you, but reading that has brought solace to my soul and strengthen my faith and trust in my Lord God. We, like the Israelites, are in covenant relationship with him. So how much more will the Lord do for us?

The following message was posted yesterday on the private site by one of the FAM Fellowship members and since there’s so much encouragement in it, as well as in the responses from other members, I wanted to share it here, because there’s no way to read it without being blessed and encouraged! Thanks, Amy, for sharing this with us and reminding us of these important points to keep in mind as we stand against the ways of the world for our marriages. And thanks to everyone for such great responses!

“This morning I was also thinking about Diane and her husband. And I started to think about comments made to me continuously by friends and family. The same comments I know you have all heard. “If it’s not in God’s will, it won’t happen.” “If your husband doesn’t WANT to change, there is nothing God can do.” And on and on and on; lies, all of them. But, at times, we let those lies get to us, don’t we? Just look at Diane’s situation. A month ago, her husband would have none of it. He was done; it was over; it could never be repaired. He was never going to be lying around on that couch again! But it’s all different now, huh? And from what I see, even her husband is surprised at what is going on! Well first, we KNOW it IS God’s will for all of our marriages to be restored. Problem solved. Second, do you think that (name omitted) would be so flabbergasted by what is happening if he had already sat down and decided that this is what he wanted? Do you honestly think that he would be surprised at the events taking place if he had made up his mind, got down and said “God, restore my marriage!”? Nope. God didn’t care if (name omitted) wanted to change or not. He didn’t care if (name omitted) wanted to come back to his wife or not! What God cared about was simply (name omitted) and what HE knew was the best path for him. And God set it up and followed through! There are many in the Bible who were completely turned around and away from their sinful lives, solely because GOD wanted it; NOT because they did. How did we come to the Lord? I would bet that there are a few of us who had not intended at all to become who we are today. But God had a different plan for us and followed through. Praise God for that! So the next time you hear “They won’t change unless they want to.”…just smile and praise God that you know the truth. :)”

Response by Robin on May 8th, 2007 at 3:16 pm
Thank you, Amy, for this post! The devil is constantly on his job of discouragement. He tried to attack my mind on several occasions this week and it’s only Tuesday. Usually I get a little discouraged when I don’t hear from my husband for a few days. But I told the Lord today. “I DON’T MIND WAITING ON HIM!!!” I just begin to bless the Lord with everything that is with in me and thank him for what He is doing in our lives. This post is a reminder that God has everything under control. I put Junita Bynum’s cd in and listened to “I Don’t Mind Waiting” and had an awesome worship service with the Lord this morning. Because it’s in him that we move, breathe and have our very being. Love ya and keep ’em coming!!!!!

Response by Janet in Maryland on May 8th, 2007 at 10:10 pm
Amy, I loved this. It all goes back to the Word which says, “Many are the plans in man’s heart but God will direct his steps.” (Name omitted) and all our spouses could say anything they want; God is the one who will ultimately direct their steps. There isn’t anything that our spouses could do to thwart God’s plan. God’s plan will ultimately prevail in the end.

Response by Fran on May 8th, 2007 at 11:02 pm
Amy,

This message is so encouraging. Most of what was said about (name omitted)’s words and actions sound just like my (husband’s name omitted). Satan is not clever at all. He uses the same tricks and devices every time to get to us. But, we have been given the authority. Satan is under our feet. I thank God continually for all His goodness, His mercy, and His faithfulness. God is awesome. He is great and greatly to be praised.

Although I don’t know any of you very well just yet, I know that we share so much. I am truly glad to be a member of this family and I give God all the praise for all He has done; is doing, and just for whom He is. I love Him.

Response by Dan on May 8th, 2007 at 10:08 pm
Such a powerful testimony, Amy. Thank you.

“I trusted in, relied on, and was confident in You, O Lord; I said, You are my God. My times are in Your hands.” Psalm 31:14-15

This is my Joyce Meyer devotion for tonight and I thought it fit well. She goes on to say, that trust requires you to place your time in God’s hands, believing that His timing is perfect for all things in your life. Our human nature wants good things to happen now – not later. But as we mature in the Christian life, we learn to believe for things not now, but in God’s perfect timing. Trusting God often means not knowing how God is going to accomplish something and not knowing when He will do it. But not knowing “how and when” stretches our faith and teaches us lessons in trust. Remember, trust is not inherited; it is learned.

We know what God is going to do. He gives us the promise of restored marriages, but when and how is put in His capable hands, His miracle working hands!!

Response by Diane on May 9th, 2007 at 10:53 am
Thanks, Amy. And you are so right; (husband’s name omitted) is so confused about how and why this change came about. But we all know how and why, and WHO. This is so true and all we need to do is let God do the work and be obedient to HIM. Satan likes to use people to try to discourage us and then we let our own minds do it. So it is so important to take those thoughts captive and speak things that are not as though they are. Keep saying that God has promised this and He will bring it to pass. Let’s not let the devil push us around; and use the authority we have been given and push those thoughts down under our feet. Let’s put on our armor and get ready to see Gods glory all over this ministry and this world. God is moving and He is bigger than anything or anyone that tries to change His plan for our marriages. Have a blessed week and keep praising. God loves those praises. Diane

And anyone who still believes in “man’s free will” might want to check out The False Doctirne of Free Will, which is a SOF post from one year ago.

With all of the wonderful and miraculous breakthroughs and restorations FAM Fellowship members have experienced and witnessed in the past couple of weeks, and continue to witness even today, we KNOW Satan is not a happy camper and he WILL be on the warpath! So we all need to put on our armor and be on the lookout for his attacks…which we can be pretty sure will come through deceptive thoughts intended to create doubt and discouragement; thus the absolute necessity to take EVERY thought captive and make it obedient to the Word of God, as the last two SOF posts have focused on.

Fortunately for us, Ephesians 6:1020 tells us exactly how we stand strong against Satan’s attack in the power of our Lord by putting on the FULL armor of God 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. Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.

Since this is such an important message, I checked out the Charles Stanley video archives today, and found the following message about winning spiritual warfare and the armor we need to win the battle, so listen to Winning In Warfare, from March 30,2003.

Then the following message was shared by one of the fellowship members yesterday, and since faith is a vitally important component of our armor as we stand against the gates of hell for the restoration of our marriages, Dan’s message is also very important as we’re on guard for the devil’s attacks. So here’s the message Dan shared with us yesterday about some of the things he “pondered” over the weekend concerning faith.

“After a Covenant Keeper’s meeting this weekend, a seminar about Ministering Like Jesus, plus my regular two church services, and of course, our Friday night chat and the various sermons I watched on TV; after processing the information gained from it all, and doing my weekly pondering, I have these thoughts to share.

First of all, I truly do believe that behind every broken marriage is a heart hardened against God which in turn is then hardened against their mate. Looking back at my own marriage now, I can certainly identify estrangement from God. Satan searches for the tiniest crack in a relationship, and the covenant of marriage, because it is an earthly representation of the spiritual relationship between Christ and the church.
(Covenant Keepers’ Book One) He hates that relationship so he is there to pounce. As part of the marriage covenant though, we are afforded all of God’s resources and power to bring restoration and reconciliation.

In Bayless Conley’s message this week, and most of you know I am a big Bayless fan, he continues talking about the Seven Faiths. Today I want to focus on “Great Faith”. He states that Great Faith rests on God’s Word alone, because God’s Word is authority. WE need to find a promise in the Word that covers our need – in our case, the restoration and preservation of our marriage covenant, proclaim it and then be tenacious in praying for it. Great Faith does not give up.

Even when there is silence or when God delays in answering our prayer, it does not mean He is denying it – He simply has a plan that is much better and complete than ours. We may need to ask God to help us so our prayer will be answered or perhaps spotlight our heart and reveal obstacles within us. God has brought His kingdom to the earth for us through Jesus’ life on earth and the Holy Spirit living in us now.

He continues that Great Faith is unselfish. Reaching out to God, praying and ministering to others is essential in growing in our faith. The worse that can happen in reaching out to others is that they know we care! God will take care of the rest.

The final component of Great Faith is praising God in advance for His answer to our prayers. Claim it – God has heard me instead of God is going to hear me – we know God hears our prayers as soon as they are spoken! This sets us in agreement with asking according to God’s will.

As I look at what is happening in the marriages of our partners, there seem to be some consistent threads:

Faith, trust and obedience to God
Letting go and praying for healing and restoration of our spouses to God – for God’s promise; not our marriages – that will come!)
Maintaining a sensitive heart
Our words and actions becoming examples of unconditional love
Strong, genuine, consistent relationship with Jesus Christ

So I pray for all of us to always cling to God’s promises of the marriage covenant. Praise Him for the healing and restoration of our marriages, pray and read the Word consistently, love our spouses unconditionally, minister (share) to others and let God do what God does! Blessings and many more restorations and healings this week!!

I have included the scriptures below: (and taken the liberty to highlight what I have stressed)

Revelation 19:7-9 (NLT)
7 Let us be glad and rejoice, and let us give honor to him. For the time has come for the wedding feast of the Lamb, and his bride has prepared herself.
8 She has been given the finest of pure white linen to wear.” For the fine linen represents the good deeds of God’s holy people.
9 And the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding feast of the Lamb.” And he added, “These are true words that come from God.”

Hebrews 10:35-36 (NLT)
35 So do not throw away this confident trust in the Lord. Remember the great reward it brings you!
36 Patient endurance is what you need now, so that you will continue to do God’s will. Then you will receive all that he has promised.

Matthew 17:20 (NLT)
20 “You don’t have enough faith,” Jesus told them. “I tell you the truth, if you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it would move. Nothing would be impossible.[a]”

Isaiah 55:10-11 (NLT)
10 “The rain and snow come down from the heavens and stay on the ground to water the earth. They cause the grain to grow, producing seed for the farmer and bread for the hungry.
11 It is the same with my word. I send it out, and it always produces fruit. It will accomplish all I want it to, and it will prosper everywhere I send it.

Hosea 2:19-20 (NLT)
19 I will make you my wife forever, showing you righteousness and justice, unfailing love and compassion.

Malachi 2:15-16 (NLT)
15 Didn’t the Lord make you one with your wife? In body and spirit you are his.[b] And what does he want? Godly children from your union. So guard your heart; remain loyal to the wife of your youth.
16“For I hate divorce!” says the Lord, the God of Israel. “To divorce your wife is to overwhelm her with cruelty, c]” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. “So guard your heart; do not be unfaithful to your wife.”

Isaiah 55:9 (NLT)
9 For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.

Mark 10:5-10 (NLT)
5 But Jesus responded, “He wrote this commandment only as a concession to your hard hearts.
6 But ‘God made them male and female’[a] from the beginning of creation.
7 ‘This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife,[b]
8 and the two are united into one.’[c] Since they are no longer two but one,
9 let no one split apart what God has joined together.”

1 Corinthians 13 (NLT)
1 If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.
2 If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing.
3 If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it;[a] but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing.
4 Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud
5 or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged.
6 It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out.
7 Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.
8 Prophecy and speaking in unknown languages[b] and special knowledge will become useless. But love will last forever!
9 Now our knowledge is partial and incomplete, and even the gift of prophecy reveals only part of the whole picture!
10 But when full understanding comes, these partial things will become useless.
11 When I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child. But when I grew up, I put away childish things.
12 Now we see things imperfectly as in a cloudy mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity.[c] All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely.
13 Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love.”

And then the following message was posted by Dan last week, and since it was something so encouraging to our members, I thought I’d share it here to remind everyone just how important the word of our testimony is as we stand for the restoration of our marriages, because there’s NO doubt we’ve all been exceedingly blessed and encouraged by them over the past couple of weeks! And since God is enthroned on the praises of His people, as long as we keep praising the Lord, Satan doesn’t stand a chance, because he can’t come near us! And here’s Dan’s message about how that works from last week:

“Thanks for sharing the incredible stuff God is doing! Christy, Diane and Robin, thank you so much for sharing the way God is working in your lives and that of your loving spouses. It is incredible how not very long ago these very things that are happening seemed “impossible”!! And they certainly were through us, but we worship the most high God, who, like we have heard before, does not lie and keeps His promises. As I told Linda, it is so cool to be part of this sweeping restoration, because it isn’t just someone we read about and think “Well, that is “just” a story.” We all know each other and what has taken place to get where we are today. We know the pain and agony – we know the little bits and pieces that our Lord has put together – some in over years of time. We know it didn’t just happen; it was painful; it was discouraging; it was a nightmare at times; but God never left, even, and maybe more so, when we didn’t see anything happening. This is real life, baby!! God is real – God is working – and it is us – not somebody else!!! We know it is fact; we know it is exciting. WOOHOO!
Bless you all, Love ya!”

So we have to put on our heavenly armor, keep praising the Lord and using the word of our testimony to defeat the devil, and just as Revelation 12:10-11 promises, WE WILL WINN THIS BATTLE AND SEE THE RESTORATION OF OUR MARRIAGES…AND BE VERY BLESSED AND ENCOURAGED!!!

Even though I’m always so totally amazed by it, and now pretty much expect God’s awesome faithfulness to confirm, I have to admit that couldn’t believe it when I heard the following message from Dr. Charles Stanley Sunday morning! What a perfect confirmation of what the Lord had put on my heart for Friday’s SOF post, Understanting the VITAL Importance of Taking EVERY Thought Captive, and most certainly a perfect follow up to Friday night’s FAM Chat! So here is a link to Dr. Stanley’s sermon outline for Controlling Your Thoughts, from this past Sunday’s message, where you can also watch or listen to the message. And here’s the outline:

“Introduction:
Do you have problems controlling your thoughts? Perhaps you struggle with negative thoughts or ones you know are not godly. What you think determines where you end up in life. So, it’s vital that you learn to master your mind.
Scripture: Colossians 3:1-3
The Bible is full of truth about the importance of controlling our minds.
• Unbelievers set their minds on what comes naturally to humans—pursuing sensual, selfish or materialistic things (Rom. 8:5-7).
• God gives disobedient people over to their depraved minds (Rom. 1:28).
• We have to be careful that our minds aren’t led away from pure devotion to Christ
(2 Cor. 11:2-3).
• Controlling our thoughts is a vital part of spiritual warfare (2 Cor. 10:4-5).
How can our transformation into new creatures affect our thought lives?
• The Holy Spirit enables us to walk out the Christian life. We died to our old life, and were raised to walk in newness of life. Example: a caterpillar turning into a butterfly
• We can learn to view ourselves primarily as children of God: born-again and citizens of heaven.
• To have the mind of Christ means that we agree with Him about what’s good and evil in this world. We share His values and begin to think like Him (2 Cor. 2:16).
• We have to guard our minds from the influence of the world. Example: watching soap operas
• We must prepare by being alert to erroneous thinking (1 Peter 1:13). “Sow a thought, reap an action; sow an action, reap a habit; sow a habit, reap a destiny.”
• Seek first the rule of God in your life, and He will provide for your needs (Matt.
6:33).
If you want to be happy, even in difficult times, you must think rightly. How do you do that?
1. Screen your thoughts.
• Let the Word of God be the grid of your mind. Reject thoughts that aren’t compatible with the Bible.
• Ask yourself these questions:
1. What’s the source?
2. Where will it lead me?
3. Is this scripturally sound?
4. Is this thought going to build me up or tear me down?
5. Can I share this thought with someone else?
6. Does this thought make me feel guilty?
7. Does this fit who I am as a follower of Jesus?
2. Reject ungodly thoughts.
• If you ask yourself the questions above and realize the thought isn’t godly, choose not to think about it again.
3. Cultivate godly thoughts.
• Dwell on things that are good and practice living out those thoughts (Phil. 4:4-9).
Closing:
Who you will be in the future will be a result of what you’re thinking right now.
If you don’t like where you’re headed, begin to think godly, positive thoughts. God will change your destiny.”

Since I’ve heard words of discouragement from several FAM Fellowship members in the past few days (like I’m just tired or weary and I don’t think I can do this any more), there’s just NO way to over state how vitally important it is for us to TAKE control of our thoughts as we stand against the gates of hell and the world for the restoration of our marriages. And Dr. Stanly helps make that so clear in this message, and gives us some great practical advice about how to DO it. If we give in to thoughts like that, we shouldn’t be too surprised when that is EXACTLY what HAPPENS, so we are all sure to be blessed and encouraged IF we study this and learn to DO it!

This past week has been one of the most exciting and awe inspiring since establishing this ministry, but it’s also been necessary to remind many of the fellowship members that we are actively engaged in spiritual warfare when we stand for the restoration of our marriages, and that we CAN expect to be attacked by the devil when we are the closest to a breakthrough. Christians standing for marriage restoration know full well that it is a matter of spiritual warfare, yet that’s something we seem to forget in the heat of the battle. And that’s sad, because the Bible gives us fool-proof instructions for winning the battle if we’d just remember to DO it! 2 Corinthians 10:3-5, says For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

While a lot could be said about spiritual warfare and the weapons described in the Bible to insure victorious outcomes in every situation, I want to focus on what it means to take EVERY thought captive and MAKE it obedient to Christ, or the Word of God, because that’s got to be our FIRST line of defense. So that’s one of the most important reasons to STUDY and meditate on the Word. We can’t take our thoughts captive and make them obedient to the Word of God if we don’t know it. We have to be familiar with what God says to know how to answer the devil when he tries to tell us something contrary to what the Bible teaches us about the nature and character of God, and His will and ways.

The best example of how that works is provided by Jesus Himself and how He responded when the devil tried to tempt Him, which we see in Matthew 4:1-11. And if we want the devil to leave us as he did Jesus, we need to learn to do what Jesus did, and we obviously have to KNOW what is written to tell the devil what is written!

And it’s very important to note that Jesus did not engage in unnecessary conversation with the devil. He didn’t argue with him or try to reason with him or to understand what he was offering. He IMMEDIATELY refuted him with the Word. Unfortunately, when the devil comes calling on us most of the time, instead of sending him away with the Word, we entertain his temptation by wondering what it means and what the possible ramifications are. But by doing that, we give him power and credibility in our lives and circumstances, and we give him a place at the table. And once we start considering his proposals and all they entail, it doesn’t take long before we’re riding them right down the path to doubt, discouragement and disobedience!

And most of the time, the temptations Satan puts in front of us are not new. He likes to come back with the same issues over and over again, which means he knows the areas or issues of greatest vulnerability to us…probably because we’ve SAID it to someone as we often do, without realizing that Satan is right there waiting to hear what it will take to discourage us or make us give up! That’s why it’s SO important NOT to say “If so and so happens…that’s it.” Or even “I just couldn’t take that.” When we speak or think things like that, we are setting ourselves up for trouble, because we’re NOT taking every thought captive, since Philippians 4:13 tells us that we can do ALL things through Christ Jesus, who strengthens us, and 1 Corinthians 10:13 says No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it. And then there’s Philippians 4:19, which says And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus. HE WILL MEET ALL OF OUR NEEDS! That’ means there are NO exceptions. And then there’s no way we can ignore Romans 8:28, which says And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. And if those don’t cover the situation at hand, which they more than likely do, then find a verse or two of scripture that directly and specifically deals with the area of vulnerability in your situation and memorize them. And the next time Satan comes back with the same temptation or weapon, you will be prepared to send him packing!

So when we are under attack, we need to determine the source, and most of the time it’s pretty easy to decide if it’s coming from the Lord or the devil. If it’s causing confusion, anger and other negative emotions, it’s more than likely from the devil. So that’s when we need to make sure our thoughts, emotions and actions line up with the Word of God. And the best way to overcome it IS with the word of our testimony. In other words, who and what will we choose to magnify and glorify with our thoughts and words in that moment; who and what will we surrender our peace, power, and authority to. Don’t forget, Satan only comes to steal, kill and destroy, so that’s the purpose of EVERY attack he brings against us. And if we give way to his will and way, it will be the restoration of our marriages and families that he steals, kills and destroys.

It breaks my heart, but I have witnessed standers giving way to Satan’s plans when I had no doubt there could have been a different outcome if they had chosen to stand strongly on the Word and promises of God instead. And ALMOST ALWAYS, the weapon of choice for Satan is PRIDE, usually manifested in the form of self defense and self protection mechanisms! That’s the poison pill he loves to pull out of his bag of tricks and it’s sad to see how often it very effectively delivers the knock-out punch to so many men and women standing for the restoration of their marriages.

And even though the fellowship members MUST get tired of hearing me say it, the most effective defense against failure to take every thought captive is found in Proverbs 3:5-6, which says Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. So when we catch ourselves trying to understand or make sense of things we don’t understand or that don’t make sense, we’re leaning on our own understanding rather than trust what we DON’T know or understand to the loving hand and power of Almighty God. And when we give way to fear or dread of what we don’t know or understand, or even of something we’re pretty sure will happen, we’re NOT trusting God with ALL of our hearts. In fact, WE are then the ones setting up an argument or pretension against the knowledge of God and exalting it over what we SHOULD know about Him and His will and ways, according to His written Word.

If we all find the specific Bible verses that most help us take EVERY thought captive and make them obedient to Jesus Christ and His Word, we’ll all be blessed and encouraged beyond belief, and we will tear down the strongholds of every argument and pretension that has set itself up against the knowledge of God and the sanctity and one flesh covenant of our marriages!

I wrote most of this message yesterday, but ended up being on the phone until quite late last night, and just ran out of steam, so I apologize for not getting it posted until this morning! But that means I had a chance to see the second part of Joyce Meyer’s message from yesterday, which I’ve included a link to as well…and you won’t want to miss it!

In the past week or so, as I’ve watched in total awe and amazement at how the Lord has moved so miraculously in the marriages and lives of so many of the FAM Fellowship members, I can’t help realizing how vitally important it is for all of us to recognize the awesome power of our testimonies. As I shared Monday, there’s no denying that those members seeing the most progress in the restoration of their marriages tend to be the same ones who are the most active in ministering to others through sharing the words of their testimony, by encouraging and supporting other members, as well as praying for them and even fasting with them when the need arises. And we even had further evidence of that yesterday when two more members posted praise reports sharing significant changes in their relationships with their spouses, and another one posted tonight about what could be very significant changes in her circumstances as well. So, as incredible as it seems, that means that other than me, NOT ONE OF THE most CONSISTENTLY ACTIVE FELLOWSHIP MEMBERS HAS FAILED TO SEE VERY SIGNIFICANT CHANGES (OR ACTUAL RESTORATION) IN THEIR MARRIAGES IN THE PAST WEEK! So the events of the past week or so definitely prove that we can absolutely count on supernatural power being released to work on our behalf when we share the word of our testimony, just as foretold in Revelation 12:10-11, which says Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: “Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ. For the accuser of our brothers, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down. They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.

I wrote this post as a result of pondering Friday night’s chat, and watching ballgames all weekend. It’s nothing profound, but I did have fun writing it and it made a lot of sense to me as I was creating it. So here it goes!
It was a replay of a game played the previous day. The winner had already been determined, and the outcome sealed. Although the results were known, some watched with anticipation and anxiousness as the game unfolded. Could the other team pull off the victory? Of course not, but….. some kept watching with expectancy.
One could clearly see the winning coach’s strategy; the plan he had presented to his team. It was obvious that the individuals had bought into the coach’s philosophy and were enthusiastic in carrying through what they had been called to do. After all, the coach had done his job, collected the important data, and studied the other team. He knew the adjustments necessary to win the game. The players were equipped with the knowledge and ability to perform the specific skills they each possessed. There was humbleness as each individual contributed to the team in their unique way; stepping up at just the right time to display the particular talent they had been given or had developed. There was a joy, peace and intensity with which each player participated with one another; knowing that they could depend on each other.
The victory was a result of trusting the coach, believing in his diligent preparation, scouting, researching, and being ready for the contest. He knew the other team backwards and forwards. He realized that in spite of the talent and knowledge of the opponents, they did nothing different from contest to contest. They always used the same game plan; never varying their approach, predictable in every aspect of the game. Sure, they were able to win some games, but only with those teams who were not prepared; those who hadn’t planned and done a scouting report. Their coach was limited in his power and authority to get players to believe and respond to his way of thinking and doing things. He presented nothing to believe in. Yet, he had a team of players who had talent and skills year after year, even though they went nowhere. They were not, and could not be successful on their own power and abilities.
The coach who led individuals to victory time and time again was a superb recruiter. He would present his expectation, guidelines, rules, philosophy, and share his proven record of success. The players were excited and motivated about the possibilities afforded to them – the hope of victory each and every time they took the floor. Each had the skills and put their faith in their coach, and each other, to achieve victory. There was no leniency for selfishness or egotism – you obeyed or you were not part of the team. No second chances were given.
As I was relating to the SOF post from Friday and how we often choose the wrong “team”, knowing full well that our God has already won the victory. The fact that I often exalt Satan instead of God blew me away. Fortunately, God doesn’t “kick” us off the team when we don’t follow Him completely and fully. He gives us more chances and helps us grow into maturity with Him. Why do we choose to be on the losing team? Why do we exalt Satan? I had to seriously look at myself. Ouch! My opinion is that it is easier than abiding by rules and commands! It involves no faith, no action, no effort, no thought, no trust, no patience, no endurance, no belief system; we can just continue our lives puttering through the days. However, there is a price to pay when we walk with Satan – in fact, there is hell to pay – both in this life and eternity.
Satan knows that if he can dominate our thinking, he can dominate our life. Joyce Meyer shares that he bombards our minds with every negative and ungodly thought imaginable to bring about misery and sorrow. He gets us exalting him.
We can eventually become complacent and settle for a losing team. We go through the motions of life, depressed, rejected, addicted, hopeless, selfish; and living just the way the enemy wants us, as low as we can go. Satan will hold us captive in bondage, if we let him. So it is up to us to let god lead us out of the desert and into the kingdom He has prepared for us- from beginning to end- this life and the next. He gives us refuge. There is a spiritual war going on every day, and we need to choose sides. We know the outcome of the war. We know which side wins. Who in their right mind would choose the losing side? More importantly, who would choose to stay on the losing team when they already know and experience the victory God has brought to all of us through the blood of Jesus?
God gives us authority (another of Joyce Meyer’s teachings) to declare and command with the same authority as Jesus did. In fact, that was one of Jesus’ purposes – to teach us how to live in accordance to God’s law; that we may be like Christ.
God does not kick us off the team. He equips us with the necessary wisdom and strength to submit and be obedient to Him. God gives us the faith to do what He has called us to do and the faith to believe what He wants us to believe. He does not ask us to do something and then leave us to our own accord. He does not want us on the losing team! He will continue to recruit us until we join Him. Have faith in God to deliver His promises for your marriage and mine! Thank You, Heavenly Father. We praise and worship You and give You all the glory and honor for restorations and healing.

1 Peter 5:6-7 (NIV)
Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.

Galatians 5:26 (NIV)
Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.

Colossians 2:6-8 (NIV)
So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness. See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ.

Galatians 5:16 (NIV)
So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature.

Romans 12:3 (NIV)
For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you.

1 Thessalonians 5:23-24 (NIV)
May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it.

WOW! That’s just about all I feel like saying this morning, because my head is still spinning with all the wonderful things the Lord did this weekend! Never let it be said that our great and mighty God is not faithful and able to back up and bring His EVERY Word and promise to pass! That’s a lie straight from the pit of hell and we know better!

Regular visitors to the website are familiar with the wonderful messages of inspiration and encouragement Alex has shared with us from time to time, so I know you all will join all of the FAM fellowship members as we rejoice and celebrate the restoration of Alex’s marriage, which was manifested yesterday! But the devil was just as reliably faithful to do his best to keep that from happening in the preceding hours before it came to pass. And if Alex had not made a very difficult and deliberate decision to overcome the dictates of her flesh and submit herself in total humility and obedience, putting her trust in God, the outcome might have been very different, because she well could have sabotaged the work of restoration the Lord had already done. But because she did give it to Him, He took what Satan clearly intended for evil; to kill, steal and destroy; and made it something great and glorious! God watered the seeds Alex has so faithfully, consistently, and selflessly sown into her own garden of restoration, which she did in great measure by ministering hope and restoration to others.

Additionally, regular visitors to the site are also familiar with Diane, through her responses to posts on the private website, which I’ve often shared here as well. She is very active in the FAM Fellowship ministry; and always supporting and encouraging others with her unique and contagious spirit of faith and optimism. After returning from a business trip Friday afternoon, her husband woke her up early Saturday morning and asked her to meet him for breakfast before going to her eye doctor appointment. And the first words out of his mouth when he saw her was not to worry about “those papers” – referring to their divorce settlement papers, which they had been trying to come to agreement on for about two weeks! He expressed a desire to come home, and even though he moved the rest of his belongings into the garage later that day and spent that night at home (the new apartment is not yet available – hmmm…God at work?) before going out of town on another week long business trip, he said he still needs more time before coming back home. So he plans to move to a month-to-month rental when he returns next weekend, but we’re standing in agreement that he will feel comfortable coming home to stay when he returns from his trip at the end of the week! So we are all rejoicing with Diane, and praising the Lord for the awesome work of restoration He brought about in her marriage this weekend, with absolute confidence and assurance that He WILL be faithful to complete it!

And Jenn is another FAM Fellowship member regular visitors know through her posts and responses, which I’ve often shared here on the public site as well. She has been very active in the ministry and strongly supportive and encouraging to the other members of the fellowship, and she has been actively ministering seeds of marriage restoration outside of her involvement in FAM as well. And we’re all rejoicing with Jenn as we see how faithfully God has been watering her garden of restoration too! Her testimony is quite lengthy and amazing, but let it suffice to say that the Lord is DEFINITELY working and that she is seeing her marriage steadily and consistently restored; step by step, day by day…But there’s no doubt that it is being restored, as further evidenced by events this past weekend!

While others in the ministry are seeing evidence of the Lord’s hand at work in the restoration of their marriages too, there’s no doubt that the Lord is clearly rewarding and blessing those who have so consistently made themselves available to pray for and minister to others; thereby sowing seeds of marriage restoration into the lives of others, and into their own garden of restoration, which God ALWAYS stands ready to water! These testimonies should be enough to help all of us see the obvious importance God places on our faithful obedience to minister to others, and make all of us get a lot more serious about finding out what the Lord wants us to do to further His kingdom as we stand for marriage restoration, and not just our own.

Revelation 12:10-11 tells us Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: “Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ. For the accuser of our brothers, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down. They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death. And the Parable of the Talents in Matthew 25:14-30, makes it pretty clear that if we’re faithful with little, God will give us more. But when He sees that we can’t be trusted with what He has already given us for the furtherance of His kingdom, He will take even the little we have away from us. So we need to read and meditate on this passage of scripture and really take it to heart, because Alex, Diane and Jenn are real flesh and blood proof of how that principle works, and how it applies as we stand for the restoration of our marriages. So let’s all follow their lead and give God our own gardens of restoration to water!

One more thing regular visitors to the website know is that I tend to get VERY excited about God’s amazing faithfulness to ALWAYS confirm the things He is trying to get across to us, and this message is no exception! After hearing these praise reports through the weekend, by yesterday afternoon and evening, I knew my SOF post today would be about the importance of sowing seeds of restoration by ministering to others, because it is so undeniable that God is bringing forth a harvest of marriage restoration in the lives of the FAM Fellowship members who have been so faithfully and consistently doing so, which is what I was thinking about as I went to bed last night. So, with that in mind, along with my SOF post from Friday, How we CAN Avoid Sabotaging God’s Work of Restoration, and that I just sent an email message to my husband saying that I was finding it so much easier to manage my time and responsibilities for the ministry, just try to imagine my delight and amazement when I read the following Spirit of Prophecy Bulletin from Bill and Marsha Burns this morning! And be blessed and encouraged as I most certainly was!

“Spirit of Prophecy Bulletin
The Trumpet by Bill Burns
— April 30, 2007: Expect Me to come and water the seeds you have sown. Even as April showers bring forth May flowers, so shall the rain of this season fall upon the promise that you have hidden in your heart. And, it shall spring forth as My rain comes. This is the time of the rain, so ask for the rain to come and to water your garden so that it will become a fruitful place, a place of harvest, a place of joy and peace, a place that I dwell in.

Small Straws In A Soft Wind by Marsha Burns
— April 30, 2007: I speak to those who have been laid bare and are wide open. Your level of vulnerability has been frightening at best, but now is the time for healing and building up. (Ecclesiastes 3:3) I will hide you in the cleft of the Rock and cover you there with My hand. I will conceal you from those the enemy would use to pursue you. Predators will continue to be a fact of life, but you will no longer be their prey. You are Mine, says the Lord, and I will keep you from the teeth of the savage beast. You’ve been almost to hell and back, and you stand amazed that you’ve made it through the last round of challenges. Did you hear the alarm? Did you get the wake-up call? Rise up in your strong faith and go forth to gain every victory, says the Lord. I tell you that you are now better equipped to handle whatever life has to throw at you than ever before.
Just when you thought you were functioning at absolute capacity, doing all that you could possibly do, watch and be amazed. I am about to cause you to do twice as much, and yet with efficiency that will actually reduce your workload. I will show you ways to be more effective in what you’ve been given to accomplish, but you will need to be flexible and be open to change and new ways of doing things. It is a matter of attitude and a willingness to flow. Beloved, rise up and stir up the gift that is in you. You have laid aside your mantle, as discouragement and disheartenment have caused you to back away from what you have been called to do. The enemy has done his level best to disable you, and he almost succeeded, but now is the time to come back with a vengeance (to an extreme and excessive degree). Make a declaration and determine a decree that you will not sit down, shut up or go back. Activate your will to go forth with great zeal to fulfill your destiny. And, I am with you, says the Lord, to establish you in kingdom purpose. Truly you are going to increase in almost every area of your life, but this increase will require you to stretch beyond what you ever thought possible. Get ready to experience growing pains. Revelation is a key. When you need understanding all you have to do is ask and the light will come on. Make that a priority in this process of growth. Ask; seek; knock. Watch for and discern opportunities that will facilitate divine objectives. Wait for My leading and then do not be afraid to explore the unexplored, or to develop the undeveloped. You are a people on the cutting edge of My plans and purposes, and I will lead you into higher realms of My manifest glory. Prepare yourselves for an adventure, says the Lord.”

You can read these messages from Bill and Marsha Burns and others, as well as sign up to receive them by email at the Spirit of Phrophecy website.

I recently received something written by one of the FAM Fellowship members in which she shared her heart concerning something the Lord had revealed to her, and it really struck a cord of unexpected recognition in me, as I expect it may do in others as well. So thank you, Mindy, for letting me share what you wrote and how God used it to teach both of us something VERY important. And here’s what Mindy shared with me a couple of weeks ago:

“God has really been working on me, but this time I took off the boxing gloves and ran into Daddy’s arms. When we look into a pond, what do we see? When our children look at us, what do they see? When our spouses look at us, what do they see? When the world looks at us, what do they see? Are answer should be Jesus. But when I looked in the mirror, all I saw was me. Sadly, I realized that every time I put my two
cents in and believed I was assisting God in my restoration; all I was doing was throwing a rock into my reflection. So there was a ripple effect – a little of me and a little of God. But it can’t be that way. I also realized that I still had some anger, unforgiveness, self righteousness, and (the biggie) Jealousy left. Fortunately, God is faithful and lets us repeat the tests until we pass.

I got pretty upset because my husband had skipped out on coming to see his daughter to go to a party with the ungodly people who had influenced his adultery. But what I really needed to do was to have compassion and forgive them for they know not what they’re doing. Meanwhile, my husband didn’t go to the party and said I could ask his father if they played computer games that night, if I wanted to know the truth. Jealousy is a killer. But God was once again so gracious and cleaned up my mess.

I heard God ask “Why must you always try to destroy my work of restoration?” I said “You’re God…you know.” (I am so glad God puts up with me.) Then at Target, right before seeing my husband Saturday afternoon at my son’s birthday celebration, God said “Mindy, I want you to tell me.” I was cornered. I felt like a rabbit caught in a cage; so scared, yet angry. I said “God, I have been rejected since birth and I don’t need it from you too.” What I did my whole life was stuffed my pain. I did not go to God to heal me or help me deal with it. But I could not stuff being hurt by God. You see my court date is coming up; and I know I heard God say He was not going to allow the divorce and that He heard my prayer; and that my youngest daughter would not go back and forth; that He would not allow her to go through what her older sister went through. Now I know a lot of you are saying that God can restore even after divorce. Yes, He can, but my prayer and belief goes back to when my daughter was in my womb and I heard God audibly tell me that He would not allow the divorce. And He even brought local restored couples into my life to stand by my side and pray with me. So I said “God, I only have you and I believe you are the God of the bible, and that the stories are real and the word is alive. I’d rather die than be let down about whom I believe you to be. I believe your word and could not take rejection or being let down by you, Lord.” Then I said “I like being able to come and go as I please and not having to serve my husband every night. I am content in my circumstances.” And looking back, never in a million years would I have believed that possible! I said “God, you have taught me; you are my provider; you are my comfort; you are that ear that will always listen and not judge me. You are my best friend; you are the one who gives me peace when I could go postal; you are my husband and help with my children. Lord, you have given me joy in washing clothes
and cleaning on my own, when I used to complain. You are my healer and deliverer, so, Lord, I could not bear or fathom that you, my Lord, could not put love where no love exists, because you did it for me. I could not bear to believe your word that says ask anything in my name and believe and I will do it for the Glory of my father; or to see all the delays in the divorce proceedings; believe that you would answer my prayer about my daughter going back and forth; see how you brought couples with restored marriages who have ministered to me…I could not bear to believe you would do all this and then have you not do it.” But God said “I will never let you down and I am faithful. He pointed out that not one person in the bible that received a word or a promise from Him had ever been let down. He also said “I did not bring other ladies (names omitted) to you to minister too for their restoration and not do the same for you, my child.” God said “Give it to me. I will not hurt you.” So I did. I am on Cloud Nine and very peaceful.

This was nothing to do with my husband; but all with God. I am not even concerned about the marriage being saved. It was my heart not being able to bear that my God could not do something or that He was not real. But He is so real. Only He can touch my heart and make this past adulterous, that lied, stole, cheated, and manipulated, realize what
unconditional love is. It is God. Love doesn’t count one’s wrongs, or give expecting in return. Love sacrifices and bears all. I pray that if any of you are where I was, you will surrender your fears, because God loves us so very much. It is not about the miracle, everyone. It is about the road getting there. This is where we find true love, Jesus, and who we are in Him.

Jesus, I thank you very, very much. No one but you could have shown me what love is and restore me and clean out all of the garbage the enemy made me stuff inside of me. Lord, may you continue to use me to go out to your people and to the lost to let them know Jesus. You are simply the answer to all. I love you, Lord, and now you are my first love. Lord, deliver your children from pride, anger, Jealousy, selfishness and all that would hinder your divine work. Open the eyes of the prodigals to see who you are and may they, along with the rest of the world, see you, Jesus, when they look at us and be
drawn to you. Lord, save these prodigals/marriages for your Glory. In Jesus’ name Amen”

To be very honest, I was actually quite surprised and disturbed by how much I could relate to exactly what Mindy was saying. And I have a feeling a lot more people who are standing for the restoration of their marriages, especially those who have been standing for awhile, will relate to it as well. I had to admit that even though I consider myself a woman of strong faith in God, I had to acknowledge that something rang true in that part about not wanting to be disappointed in God; even to the point of holding back from believing with ALL of my heart and absolute certainty that He IS going to restore my marriage. Now, that was a pretty shocking and serious admission coming from someone in my position! And I could most certainly understand and relate to the part about not being so sure I even want my marriage restored, because I’m so used to doing things entirely on my own, the way I want to do them, without any consideration for anyone but me…and what if my husband has changed so much that I won’t feel the same way…and what if… Oh yeah, the recognition and acknowledgement of similar thoughts in myself sparked quite a bit of turmoil inside of me, and I spent the better part of the next week trying to understand where that was coming from and asking God to reveal what it meant. I was surprisingly very troubled in my own spirit, and couldn’t really understand why, but I knew that the confusion did NOT come from the Lord. But once I was faced with the realization that I was holding back from believing God would restore my marriage with ALL my heart, and even questioning if that’s what I REALLY want, I wanted to know why. One of the most obvious answers was that this is my second marriage, even though my first husband had remarried. So that sent me down the path of questioning what I had been pretty confident the Bible teaches about being released to remarry when one’s spouse has committed adultery. And another was fear that I MIGHT not be able to love my husband as I should and that I could disappoint or hurt him again. Oh yes, Satan was having a fine time playing with my mind, and God didn’t seem to be coming forth with any answers!

And it didn’t get settled in my own heart and mind until I started editing Mindy’s message for a SOF post a few days ago. And as I read it again, instead of being struck by the recognition of similar thoughts or feelings in myself, it became as clear as day what the problem was – with both me and Mindy! No matter how true and probable all of those issues might be, we miserably failed to follow what the Lord instructs us to do in one of my very favorite passages of scripture, which is Proverbs 3:5-6 (NJKV), because it says Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths. Well, we were most certainly LEANING and relying on our own flawed and limited human understanding, and we most definitely were NOT trusting God with ALL of our hearts or acknowledging Him in ALL our ways! And it’s unfortunate that we also failed miserably at heeding the counsel and instruction found in another one of my favorite verses; 2 Corinthians 10:5, which says We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. OUCH! OUCH! OUCH! Well, I certainly failed miserably at taking my own advice and practicing what I preach! And Mindy let her fear of what happened with her older daughter in the past loom larger than her experience and knowledge of God, and that caused her to focus on that to the exclusion of everything she knows and believes with all of her heart about Him – so she withheld that one little bit of her heart from God when it came to trusting Him. (By the way, Mindy and I have since discussed this and are in total agreement.) And I allowed my surprise and uncertainty upon recognizing something unexpected about my own “feelings” to lead me down a path I would not have gone down otherwise, and exalted my “need” and desire to understand that about myself over my experience and knowledge of God. But it did NOT change or alter my stand, because that’s something I do in obedience to God, which probably wouldn’t have been the case otherwise. And with both me and Mindy, just as I’m sure Satan does with just about all of us, he used the exact same tactics on us that he started using way back there in the Garden. He loves to whisper to us…”Did God REALLY say….”

I’m sharing all of this just to help anyone else Satan snares into sabotaging the work of restoration God IS doing, because they don’t trust God with ALL of their hearts, and don’t resist leaning to and relying on their own understanding; not to mention NOT taking EVERY thought captive and making it obedient to Jesus Christ and His Word. God really doesn’t want us to withhold even a tiny little piece of our hearts when it comes to trusting Him, because that WILL lead to thoughts, emotions, feelings and actions that serve in some way to sabotage His work of restoration in our marriages and lives. And one way to make sure to do that is to NEVER stop praising our Lord and Savior, which glorifies Him just as Psalm 86:12 says: I will praise you, O Lord my God, with all my heart; I will glorify your name forever. And another one of my very favorite passages of scripture that we can rely on when we trust God with ALL of our hearts, lean not on our own understanding, and acknowledge Him in all our ways and always praise Him is found in Psalm 37: 4-6, which says Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him and he will do this: He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun. So we have to STOP trying to understand everything and we have to understand that we DON’T need to figure everything out. We just have to trust God and do our best to DO everything in accordance with His written Word, and realize and ACKNOWLEDGE that HE KNOWS AND CONTROLS EVERYTHING…and that’s ALL we need to know. That’s what it really means to “be still” and KNOW that He’s God, and that NOTHING is impossible with Him. So the next time we find ourselves stressed, doubtful, uncertain, discouraged, frustrated, unhappy or dissatisfied (not at peace in the midst of our storms), we need to recall these verses and PUT THEM INTO PRACTICE. If we learn to do that consistently, the devil doesn’t stand a chance, and he will NEVER be able to steal ANYTHING from us again (especially our peace and joy) or lead us to say or do anything intended to sabotage and destroy the work of restoration we know God is doing! So I hope and pray you will learn from my experience and be blessed and encouraged!

It’s very unlikely we could participate in many conversations about the difficulties encountered while standing for the restoration of our marriages, without the discussion eventually turning to the inevitable battle between our flesh and spirit. And everyone standing for marriage restoration knows all about the concept of spiritual warfare as it is described in Ephesians 6:12, which says 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. However, not only is there a spiritual battle going on for our marriages and for many of our spouses’ souls, but for the word of our testimony as well, because Revelation 12:10-11 says Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: “Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ. For the accuser of our brothers, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down. They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death. As difficult as it is to comprehend, that passage makes it pretty clear that God equates the word of our testimony with the blood of Christ, which is pretty mind blowing!

Unfortunately, many people, standers in particular, seem to be convinced that they can not overcome the power of their flesh to control them, but Galatians 5:16 says otherwise, because it says I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. And John 6:63 says The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life. So like everything else that’s important to us as Christians, the struggle to walk in the power of the Holy Spirit is won by the Word of God. And when we overcome that battle, we experience peace, joy and victory beyond human comprehension, and that becomes the word of our testimony; all for the glory of Jesus Christ, which Satan HATES!

So it’s very important to understand that everything we encounter comes from either one kingdom or the other, because there is no in between with God; we’re either for Him or against Him. Since most of us would readily choose to be on God’s side of the equation, we need to learn some practical tips for walking in the power of the Holy Spirit, which is a post I’ve had on my mind for a few days now. So I really appreciated yesterday’s devotion by John Walker, A Long Thin Line, because it helps make that point so well, as well as how our testimony is tested and shaped by challenging circumstances.

And the following Heart To Heart message posted by one of the FAM Fellowship members today illustrates how we overcome our flesh to walk in the power of the Holy Spirit:

“What I’m posting below is something I copied from a book of mine about a year ago. If I could remember where I got it, I would give credit where it is due. But at the time, I wrote it in the back of my Bible so I would never lose it and it has been encouraging me to push on ever since. The author used Romans 8:28, along with this thought, which I hope is as uplifting to you as it has been to me.

“God never takes away except to give us back something better. It means we must be brave enough and determined enough to wait… because it often takes God time to turn a painful situation to good. It means we can embrace our pain and not resent it because a blessing is coming.”

Just because my marriage wasn’t good doesn’t mean it won’t be. It will take time. And if I wait on the Lord, He will take my pain away and bless me with the marriage I have been waiting to have. It isn’t pleasant to go through the uncertainties of what may happen and it’s painful to look back on what has happened, but I can’t give up, because things can change any minute now! I am called to stand for my husband and for our marriage. You are called to stand for your marriages as well. The waiting is only temporary. Just wait and see! – Christy

Habakkuk 2:3 For the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay.”

Obviously, Christy is not giving way to her pain and natural fear. Instead she is relying on the Word of God and looking to Him to fulfill His promises regardless of what she sees and experiences in the natural realm. And that’s only possible when walking in the power of the Holy Spirit, which gives our spirit control over our flesh and makes it possible for us to walk in obedience to our Lord and Savior.

Joyce Meyer’s TV broadcast today was a perfect message to go along with this topic, so I strongly encourage everyone to watch Power Releases Authority. You REALLY won’t want to miss it, because she uses one of the most powerful illustrations I’ve ever seen of how God deals with the devil, and everything he brings against us, when we trust Him enough to remain calm in the midst of our storms. And she points out how it’s only possible to access the authority of that power through prayer. And when we learn to overcome our flesh and walk in the power of the Holy Spirit, we can’t help being blessed and encouraged by the supernatural power released into our lives and circumstances!

I just got back from my Wednesday night bible study and was excited about something God revealed to me and just wanted to share it. It’s wonderful how God is so great and just links everything together. As I have mentioned before, we are studying the book of Mark, and tonight was chapter 8. I have learned many wonderful things through this study, but again, God spoke directly to me in regards to a link to restoration. The passage in Mark I am referring to is when Jesus healed the blind man:

The Healing of a Blind Man at Bethsaida
22 They came to Bethsaida, and some people brought a blind man and begged Jesus to touch him.
23 He took the blind man by the hand and led him outside the village. When he had spit on the man’s eyes and put his hands on him, Jesus asked, “Do you see anything?”
24 He looked up and said, “I see people; they look like trees walking around.”
25 Once more Jesus put his hands on the man’s eyes. Then his eyes were opened, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly.
26 Jesus sent him home, saying, “Don’t go into the village.”

I have briefly shared with Linda that I went totally blind for a period of time when I was younger. I believe the total blindness lasted about 2 weeks and was due to a disease I had called Intracranial Hypertension. The wonderful thing is that God blessed me tremendously by healing my blindness and giving me 20% of my eyesight back. Now this may not sound like much, and is still considered “legally” blind, but you would not believe what I am capable of doing; I am so blessed. Most people that find this out about me believe it must be incorrect, because they would never see me as blind. I am truly blessed in that the vision I lost does not really affect my daily life in any noticeable way. With that being said, although I had studied this passage earlier this week, as we read it tonight, God spoke to me specifically about how Jesus asked the man “Do you see anything?” It appears that the man saw something, but he didn’t see everything, and therefore wasn’t “completely” healed. So then Jesus gave the man further healing and his vision was then clear. HE WAS RESTORED!!! Well, from the period of time that I was totally blind, to where I have the vision I have today, I too began to see little bits of things. But I was unable to handle that. My brain had gone into a defense mode, as the doctors described it, and began putting images that it remembered in my mind so that I thought I saw certain things, which were actually images from my past. And it was those images combined with the images I was really starting to see that totally confused me. It really was a very hard time, because I was overwhelmed with confusion and didn’t know what was real and what wasn’t real. But slowly, my mind adjusted more and more to the “real” images and I did not dwell on the past images. My brain could now handle what my eyes were really seeing, so I was healed to the point I am now.

Ok, lots of talk, how does this apply? Woo-hoo, it’s cool and here it comes.

God began to show me that as in the case of the blind man, he wasn’t truly ready for complete healing; it had to come a little at a time. It came, and he linked it to what he knew, trees. He had obviously had vision at some point and knew what a tree was. Perhaps it was the trees that guided the man the entire time through his blindness. It was what he knew. So he linked the familiar past to what he was beginning to experience. Hmmm, isn’t this the same concept of how we and our spouses begin to heal in our hearts, yet link things to the past and struggle with making the connection between what was the past and the good we see in the healing??? We struggle with unforgiveness of the past and the healing of restoration. Just as in my case, when my eyesight was being restored; it’s an overload and our brains aren’t sure if we can really handle it; if it’s a mind game or if it’s real. Satan uses this and speaks to us and our spouses, and tries to play the same mind game with us; making us link the healing to what was familiar in the past. Satan reminds us of the past; he tries to get us to be unforgiving and dwell on the past. He doesn’t want to see our one flesh hearts healed and united together for God’s glory. But Jesus is there, revealing our total restoration a little bit at a time. He’s healing us bits at a time so that we aren’t confused and fall back into the past. We must choose to be led by Jesus with faith, just like this blind man was. We must know that the healing WILL COME and our vision (marriages) WILL BE RESTORED!!!

So just keep your eyes on Jesus. Don’t listen to Satan and allow him to talk you into linking everything and sliding back into the past; what you were comfortable with. There is so much more God has in store for each of us. God wants our complete restoration; that is His COMPLETE vision! So stand strong. Jesus is leading us and He will NOT LET US GO. Move forward, taking Him by the hand and just keep on keepin’ on =)

Have a blessed day in His glory!!!

I truly wish there was some way to help everyone standing for the restoration of their marriages understand that there’s NO way we can ever know what God is going to do or when He’s going to do it…BUT HE WILL RESTORE OUR MARRIAGES IF WE STAND ON HIS WORD IN FAITH AND OBEDIENCE!!! And we have to believe that NO MATTER WHAT WE SEE OR HEAR from our spouses or anyone else!

It just so happens that we have a perfect example of that in the FAM Fellowship. Two Saturdays ago, I spent the better part of the day talking to one of our members who had just been given settlement papers by her husband, who had already served her with divorce papers. Despite being very confident that the Lord would prevent the divorce from going through, she was upset by the papers and she still had to deal with the legal issues and come to an understanding of what her husband was proposing. So we spent a lot of time trying to understand what he was offering, how it would work for her, and what kind of counter proposal she could offer. When she was served with divorce papers, she chose NOT to get an attorney, and she asked her husband if he would sit down with her instead so they could work out the details. Up to that time, he wouldn’t talk to her at all, and the only communication they had was by very limited email, and at that time he was involved with an NCP (non-covenant person). Meanwhile, since her husband had left home about nine months earlier, she got saved and the Lord changed her radically, but her husband had not had an opportunity to see that…until they started meeting to work out the details of their divorce settlement! And it seems he must have really liked what he saw! Because it wasn’t too long before the NCP didn’t seem to be around anymore and he started calling and coming by the house for no apparent reason. Then she received the settlement agreement two weeks ago and they spent the following week trying to work out some of the more minute details of the agreement. She made it clear that she didn’t want the divorce, but she was not going to stand in his way or try to hurt him in the process. So she went along with all of his requests; like trying to put the mortgage in her name only; just to find out that wasn’t possible because she didn’t have enough income. He also asked her to put the utilities for their house in her name as well, which she did. Then they got a very high and unexpected bill for closing out the other account because they were on a special payment plan and there was a deficit at that particular time! Her husband wanted to get his name off of things so he could qualify for a loan on his own for a home or whatever. But during that entire process, he seemed to get more and more confused and started seeking out her company much more than before; yet continued moving forward with the settlement agreement talk and plans. Then, out of the blue, in the middle of last week, he actually asked her to go to lunch with him this past Saturday–even though he knew her sister was flying in to spend the weekend with her! He said he wanted to talk about “stuff”, which was interesting since that’s all they had been doing for the past two weeks! Since he was leaving the next day to go out of town the following week on business, it didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that was a very good sign…and it was! What he wanted to talk about is how things would be if he came back home and what everyone would think about it! They actually moved his “stuff” into the garage, because he’s supposed to be moving at the end of the month, but he will be out of town when the new apartment comes available. Hmmmm…I wonder what the chances are that he’ll ever make it to that new apartment!!! Not very good, I’d say! BUT…if anyone had tried to tell her that was going to happen two weeks ago, she never would have believed it! So that just goes to PROVE that we do NOT know what God is doing, how He is working behind the scenes, and when He will bring everything into perfect alignment for HIS perfect plan of restoration to come to pass! Sadly, I have no doubt that way too many people give up just before their breakthrough is about to be manifested! So please don’t ever make the mistake of thinking you know how or when God is going to answer your prayers and restore your marriage because it will always be so much more than you’d ever think or imagine!

One of the most persistent challenges when standing for marriage restoration is recognizing and overcoming unforgiveness, which is like a poison pill to the restoration of our marriages. Most people standing for marriage restoration seem pretty sure they’ve forgiven their spouses, and often have a very difficult time admitting it’s an issue, even after saying or doing something proving otherwise. But if we’re still offended, hurt, or experience an emotional reaction to something, we have not forgiven it, according to God’s standards for forgiveness. And we know that based on the following verses:

Hebrews 8:12 – For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.”

Psalm 103:12 – For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.

Isaiah 43:25 – “I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more.

How incredible it is that the Lord tells us that it is for HIS OWN SAKE that He remembers our sins no more! And surely if it is something the Lord does for His own sake, we should understand that it’s for our own sake that we need to forgive others, especially our spouses with whom we are one flesh. And even more importantly, there are many verses that make it very clear that God forgives us ONLY AS we forgive others, such as the following:

Luke 11:4 – Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us. And lead us not into temptation. ‘”

Matthew 6:14-15 – For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.

Luke 6:37 – “Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.

And that point is certainly difficult to miss or ignore based on what Jesus said in the parable of The Unmerciful Servant in Matthew 18:21-35.

Then, in addition to restating the point that the Lord forgives us only as we forgive others, Mark 11:24-25 gives us another very important reason to guard our hearts against unforgiveness, because it says Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.” Obviously, there’s a direct connection between how the Lord responds to our prayers and a lack of forgiveness in our hearts. The Lord expects us to SEEK forgiveness as well as give it, which we know based on Matthew 5:23-24, because it says “Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift.

And what a powerful verse Luke 7:47 is for all of us as we stand for the restoration of our marriages, because it says Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—for she loved much. But he who has been forgiven little loves little.” And this is not the only place we see love and forgiveness going hand in hand, because in describing love, 1 Corinthians 13:5 says It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Ouch…that “keeps no record of wrongs” part is a really tough one, yet that’s exactly what true forgiveness and unconditional love requires!

I was talking to one of the FAM Fellowship members last Thursday night, who was surprised when I told her it sounded like she hadn’t forgiven her husband, because she honestly believed that she had. But when I reminded her of something she said, she realized that she hadn’t really forgiven him. When we harbor unforgiveness in our hearts, even on a subconscious level, it WILL come out sooner or later, and more than likely at the worst possible moment! From our hearts our mouths speak, so when we have unforgiveness in our hearts, it WILL eventually come out, no matter how hard we try to hide it. Luke 6:45 says The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks. And just as He so often does, the Lord was ever so faithful to confirm much of what we discussed that night in Joyce Meyer’s TV broadcast message the next morning. And since it was the second part of the message from Thursday, which I missed, I listen to that one too. They are both excellent messages about forgiveness, so I hope everyone will take the time to listen to
Put An End To Emotional Torment – Part I and Put An End To Emotional Torment – Part II.

Then Dr. Charles Stanley’s TV broadcast message from Sunday was an excellent message about forgiveness and restoration too, so listen to Bearing Each Other’s Burdens. And using his Sermon Outline will make following his message a lot easier. So as we listen to these great messages, we need to ask the Lord to help reveal any areas of unforgiveness, because when we truly forgive, we’re the ones who are really blessed and encouraged!

We either believe God says He is who He says He is and HE will do what He says He will do or we don’t believe in Him at all. There is no room for middle ground. His promises were written in the Bible for a reason and if we ignore part of His Word and believe some of it, do we really think He is taking us seriously?

In a Bible message by Bayless Conley, Bayless stresses that “we have been given exceedingly great and precious promises.” He gives us 2 Peter 1:3-4, which says His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. He goes on to share that the promises are our pipeline to God. Our greatest need as a human being is to be connected with God – a spiritual life. Through the promises, we are made partakers of God’s nature.

Pastor Bayless continues to say that when we obey and respond to a promise, it connects us with the nature of God, and it opens up supernatural doors and supernatural windows and gives us favor, and it will get us into places that we could otherwise never get into.

We must act on the promise, fulfilling all necessary conditions whether it be giving, forgiving, ministering, or whatever it may be that God calls us to do. God’s love is unconditional but His promises are conditional. He calls for us to trust and obey, to have faith, endurance, patience, and to give Him thanks, glory, and praise.

Now, finally, to my point! God has given us a promise in Matthew 19:6 So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate.”

We either believe God keeps His promises and does not lie, or we believe He is a liar and negates His promises. If you are a FAM Fellowship member or visit this site, I have to believe that you know God is faithful and He will not break His Word.

So I want us all to get our hopes up for marriage restoration and the healing of our spouses. I want us all to have patience and endurance as we put our faith in God, believing that He keeps His promises. When we embrace the promise of God, God’s nature will begin to flow immediately. Bless you and love you – may God’s peace find you today and always.

Heavenly Father, thank you for Your promises and Your faithfulness to carry out those promises. I pray that You would help us to increase our faith in You and give us the patience and persistence to keep doing what we know is right. Cleanse us from any doubt that You are who You say You are, and that You will do what You say You will do. Let us praise You and glorify You for what You are doing in our marriages and in our spouses. Flow through us like never before and may we trust and obey in seeking the victory that You promise. Thank You, Lord! Amen