Instead of writing my usual post today, I’ve created a new page for the website in which I’ve attempted to address some of the most common questions concerning divorce and remarriage. A lot of the email I receive is from visitors to the site who want to know if it’s okay to stand for their marriage, even though it’s not their first marriage, or it’s not their husband’s first marriage. I’m not comfortable answering questions about specific situations, because those answers MUST come from the Lord through the study of His word and by seeking His will through prayer and fasting, especially since every situation is different. However, I have addressed in more general terms the things commonly taught and promoted in churches today that are not supported by what the Bible says, which I sincerely hope will not create more turmoil for women already struggling with these issues.. The only way to make a sound decision as we decide to stand for our marriages is to make certain that we’re doing it in obedience to God’s word and will, because that’s the only way we’ll ever have the strength and grace needed to do it. So the following link is to the new page, which I hope and pray the Lord will use to help anyone making such serious decisions make the ones that most glorify Him.

Marriage, Divorce & Remarriage

Most of us standing for marriage restoration have heard all too much about the grace of God being sufficient to cover and excuse the sin of adultery, because “God is the God of second chances”! I don’t get angry easily, but that is one thing that REALLY ticks me off, and those who teach and believe that need to be VERY careful and should read Hebrews 10 and Matthew 5:17-19, because believing a lie doesn’t make the lie true! The precious blood of Christ was shed as a one time sacrifice for the atonement of our sin, and only the requirement for blood sacrifices was set aside, and it is absurd to believe that it was ever meant to give us license to sin. Since a lot of Christians today erroneously believe the Old Testament is not important and does not apply to us, because we’re no longer “under the law”, I hope and pray the following verses will TOTALLY dispel that notion:

Matthew 22:29
Jesus replied, “You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God.

Matthew 4:3
Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’

Luke 16 (NLT)
16 “Until John the Baptist began to preach, the laws of Moses and the messages of the prophets were your guides. But now the Good News of the Kingdom of God is preached, and eager multitudes are forcing their way in.
17 But that doesn’t mean that the law has lost its force in even the smallest point. It is stronger and more permanent than heaven and earth.

Hebrews 10
26 If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left,
27 but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God.
28 Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses.
29 How much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God under foot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace?
35 So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded.
36 You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised.

1 John 3:22
And whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight.

Jesus did not come to destroy or abolish the law as many so erroneously teach and believe. Instead He came to fulfill the law by Himself being made the pure blood sacrifice it requires for the remission and atonement for our sin. We trample on that precious blood sacrifice if we believe the grace it provides means we are no longer required to honor and obey God’s commandments. Because of the sacrificial blood of Christ, we no longer have to obey the law to avoid eternity in hell, which is the penalty for our sin, in order to go to heaven. So we’re obedient to what His word teaches because we know it’s pleasing to the Lord and it’s the ONLY way to have the abundant life Jesus died to give us. ALL questions concerning the importance of the law in our lives as Christians today were settled by Jesus Himself, because in Matthew 5:17-19 He said “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled. Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. It couldn’t be any clearer than that!

Jesus came so we wouldn’t be condemned for our sin, and NOT so we could continue living in it, as illustrated by the woman caught in adultery in John 8:1-11, particularly in verses 10 and 11, which say Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” “No one, sir,” she said. “Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.” Then Romans 6:1-2 makes it even clearer, because it says What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? Quite the contrary, Luke 12:47-48 tells us “That servant who knows his master’s will and does not get ready or does not do what his master wants will be beaten with many blows. But the one who does not know and does things deserving punishment will be beaten with few blows. From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked. As Christians, the only acceptable relationship we have with sin is repentance, which means not continuing in our sin, because Revelation 2:5 says Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place.

The grace Jesus’ blood sacrifice provides is best understood in 1 John 1:9, which says If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. And Acts 3:19-20 says Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord, and that he may send the Christ, who has been appointed for you—even Jesus. And for those who believe this refers only to the repentance of salvation rather than to Christians, here’s what Paul said in 2 Corinthians 12:21, I am afraid that when I come again my God will humble me before you, and I will be grieved over many who have sinned earlier and have not repented of the impurity, sexual sin and debauchery in which they have indulged. We must remember who our enemy is and that he came to kill, steal and destroy, which he ALWAYS does through deception. Therefore, we need to remember these instructions in 2 Timothy 2:24-26, which tells us And the Lord’s servant must not quarrel; instead, he must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. Those who oppose him he must gently instruct, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will. And that is my prayer for anyone deceived into believing the lie from the pit of hell that we are no longer bound by the law of God’s word. Jesus said we live by EVERY word that comes from the mouth of God, not just what is in the New Testament. And the same things that pleased or displeased the Lord then, please or displease Him now. We know that because Hebrews 13:8 tells us that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. So let’s not be Christians that are destroyed from lack of knowledge as shown in Hosea 4:6, which says my people are destroyed from lack of knowledge. “Because you have rejected knowledge, I also reject you as my priests; because you have ignored the law of your God, I also will ignore your children.

One thing everyone standing for marriage restoration knows ALL about is obstacles that appear impossible to overcome, but we know NOTHING is too difficult or too hard for God as we see in the following verses:

Jeremiah 32:27
“I am the LORD, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for me?

Jeremiah 32:17
“Ah, Sovereign LORD, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too hard for you.

Genesis 18
13 Then the LORD said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Will I really have a child, now that I am old?’
14 Is anything too hard for the LORD ? I will return to you at the appointed time next year and Sarah will have a son.”

Deuteronomy 1:17
Do not show partiality in judging; hear both small and great alike. Do not be afraid of any man, for judgment belongs to God. Bring me any case too hard for you, and I will hear it.

Proverbs 21:30
There is no wisdom, no insight, no plan that can succeed against the LORD.

It’s up to us whether or not we will let the obstacles standing in the way of our marriage restoration deter us or if we will take God at His word and make them opportunities to glorify Him! What an awesome example we see of how that works when the Lord rewarded Joshua’s obedience and brought down the walls of Jericho, andJoshua 1:1-9 tells us EXACTLY how we can experience that same kind of victory in our own lives!

So, when the devil tries to convince you that you can’t do this anymore, be encouraged and remember that NO problem is more than you can endure in the strength of the Lord. And don’t forget the awesome promise in Isaiah 64:4, which says Since ancient times no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides you, who acts on behalf of those who wait for him.

Charles Stanley delivered an AWESOME message this morning about facing and dealing with obstacles, and even though he wasn’t talking about standing for marriage restoration specifically, he certainly could have been! It’s another message no one standing for the restoration of their marriage should miss, so please take the time to watch Facing Difficulties.

As I was reading proverbs 22 this morning, verses 22 and 23 really caught my attention, probably because they confirm and remind me of a lot of other verses I like, and justify what I posted yesterday about being still and resting in the Lord. They say Do not exploit the poor because they are poor and do not crush the needy in court, for the LORD will take up their case and will plunder those who plunder them. My first thought was what an awesome illustration that is of how God vindicates us! So I looked for verses that refer to God as our vindicator and the following were some of my favorites:

Psalm 135:14
For the LORD will vindicate his people and have compassion on his servants.

Psalm 43:1
Vindicate me, O God, and plead my cause against an ungodly nation; rescue me from deceitful and wicked men.

Isaiah 50:7-9
7 Because the Sovereign LORD helps me, I will not be disgraced. Therefore have I set my face like flint, and I know I will not be put to shame.
8 He who vindicates me is near. Who then will bring charges against me? Let us face each other! Who is my accuser? Let him confront me!
9 It is the Sovereign LORD who helps me. Who is he that will condemn me? They will all wear out like a garment; the moths will eat them up.

I’ve recently started taking the time to look up actual dictionary definitions, because it does help make a verse more meaningful. For instance, to “vindicate” means to clear (free) of accusation, allegations, blame, suspicion,
or doubt with supporting arguments or proof; to lay claim to, avenge, confirm, substantiate (to provide justification or defense for), justify (to protect from attack or encroachment), defend (to maintain a right to), to set free or deliver. And, PRAISE THE LORD, we KNOW God WILL do ALL of that for us as we stand in obedience to Him for the restoration of our marriages! Just in case someone needs one, a good online dictionary is Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, which is where I found some of the above definitions.

When we’re standing for marriage restoration, there are times when our situations look totally hopeless and impossible, but that’s when we have to keep our eyes on the Lord and confess His AWESOME promise to vindicate us as the above verses say and we MUST believe what Psalm 37 6:6 says, which is He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun. And the following passages of scripture are two of my all time favorites that remind us that God is our vindicator and that we have NOTHING to worry about:

Isaiah 41 (NKJV)
10 Fear not, for I am with you; Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’
11 “ Behold, all those who were incensed against you Shall be ashamed and disgraced; They shall be as nothing, And those who strive with you shall perish.
12 You shall seek them and not find them—Those who contended with you. Those who war against you Shall be as nothing, As a nonexistent thing.
13 For I, the LORD your God, will hold your right hand, Saying to you, ‘Fear not, I will help you.’

Romans 8
30 And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.
31 What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us?

The closest I ever came to hearing the audible voice of God was during a time of great turmoil and anxiety, when I heard the Lord say “Be still and KNOW I am God.” It had the same amazing calming effect on me as when Jesus calmed the storm as seen in Matthew 8:23-27, which is an AWESOME demonstration of how we KNOW He is God! In the end, Jesus WILL ALWAYS be exalted, as we see in Psalm 46:10, which says “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”

It’s VERY important to understand that being still means not moving, stationary, quiet, hushed, free of disturbance and turbulence, or calm. And “know” means to perceive, understand, or experience directly, and to be sure of, to be acquainted with and have knowledge, perception, or understanding. When we’re “still” and “know” He is God, we’re finally able to find the “rest” Jesus promises in Matthew 11:28-29, where He said “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. Interesting definitions for “rest” include: the ease and comfort following exertion or work, relief from mental or emotional turmoil, something used as a support, the ending or absence of motion, a place of shelter or lodging, to relax, especially by sleeping or lying down, to terminate motion or activity, to be without disturbance or anxiety, to be supported, in law; to voluntarily end the presentation of evidence in a case, to remain; as with no further action, and a look or gaze that lingers on something.

Everyone standing for marriage restoration remembers the days, weeks, months, or even years it took for the shock to wear off when our marriages fell apart, and the world seemed to be spinning out of control, and what we wouldn’t have given to be still and rest! Thank Goodness, it IS better late than never!

Last week I received the following prayer from Robert and Kimberly Pinkney, who are affiliated with WIN, a ministry that sends out daily prayers worldwide by email. I greatly appreciated it, and their permission to share it on the site. Since we just celebrated the resurrection of our Lord and Savior this week, it’s important to remember that He died to give us the authority and power to overcome EVERY weapon Satan fashions against us, and that we serve a RISEN Lord who is ALIVE! Thank You, Jesus!

Father God,
You are great and greatly to be praised. You are a mighty God, and Your Word assures us that You will never leave us nor forsake us. And Jesus informed us through His disciples that He is with us to the end of the world. We depend on Your agape and Your great mercies, which are new every morning. Dear Father, we cry out to You in faith. For we know that if we ask in faith—nothing wavering—that You will grant our requests. We also know that this is the confidence that we have in You, that if we ask anything according to Your will, You hear us, and if we know that You hear us, then we know that we have the petitions that we desire of You! Father, although the enemy desires to sift us as wheat, we stand steady on Your Word. We refuse to faint because we realize that we will reap in due season. Even though weeping may endure for a night, we are confident that joy comes in the morning, and that we will reap in joy. We rebuke the devil’s plans in the Name of Jesus! He will not prevail against us in any of his schemes. Instead, You will prevail mightily through us against the enemy. We rebuke the spirit of death. Death, in the Name of Jesus, you can no longer devour our families. We cover all the members of our families—saved and unsaved alike—with the protective, redemptive and restorative Blood of Jesus, the Lamb Who was slain before the foundation of the earth. Jesus has borne sickness and has rendered death ineffective. We are not afraid to die, but we believe You Lord that we will live out the full number of our days on the earth in protection and safety to do the perfect will of our Father. Our family members will live and not die and declare the works of the Lord. Father, in Psalm 103: 4, we are informed that our lives are redeemed from destruction. That includes premature death and tragedy. Psalms 91 tells us that with long life, You will satisfy us and show us Your salvation. We claim long life—a life worth living and filled with Your goodness. Psalm 23 lets us know that even when we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, You will stay closely by our side to bring us total deliverance. We thank You, Father, for bringing us into a wealthy place, filled with life. Your Word says that the Anointed One has redeemed us from the curse, being made a curse for us. We know that death—especially premature death—is a part of the curse. In the Name of Jesus, devil, we resist your curse. We command death to flee from us as if in terror. We claim life, and life more abundantly, for the readers of this prayer and all their family members. Enough is Enough!!! In the Mighty Name of Jesus, devil, get your hands off our bodies. Get your hands off our finances. Get your hands off our minds. Get your hands off our lives. Get your hands off our family members. You will not continue to block the salvation of our family members. They will not only get saved, but they will serve the Lord in the greatest capacity. God will use them to wreak utter havoc to your kingdom. We thank You, Father, that the same power that raised Jesus from the dead is alive in us—in a mighty way! We have resurrection power flowing through our veins. In the Name of Jesus, we resurrect every dead situation, and we rebuke the spirit of death off our families. We expect good, praiseworthy reports from the doctors, lawyers, our financial consultants, our supervisors, etc. And when we don’t receive them, we purpose in our hearts to believe the report of the Lord. Your report says life not death. Your report says victory not defeat. Your report says healing not sickness. Your report says wealth not poverty. And your report says wholeness (nothing missing, nothing broken!), not brokenness. We are whole and intact, spirit, soul and body all the days of our lives—in our homes, within our families, on our jobs. In every situation we encounter, we are on the top and NEVER on the bottom. IN THE NAME OF JESUS!!!, devil, we stop you!! We command you to cease and desist your maneuvers against us. This will be the year of total fulfillment. Whosoever and whatsoever come against us shall fall for our sakes. Great shall be our peace, and no weapon formed against us shall prosper. And every tongue that rises against us in judgment, we shall condemn (we condemn death!) For our heritage is life, and we stand in the gap for every family member so that they might receive the life of God in abundance. We speak to them: LIVE!!! In Jesus’ Name….AMEN!

While the path to marriage restoration is lined with stumbling blocks and deadly land mines, I am convinced that one of the most destructive is our inability to stop focusing on our spouses sin and wrong doing long enough to recognize our own, which results in unforgiveness and bitterness, and reveals an unholy attitude of self righteousness and condescension. Most of us are very familiar with Matthew 7:4, which says How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? But we need to read that verse in context to fully understand its importance as a principle of marriage restoration, which we see in the following verses from Matthew 7:
1 “Do not judge, or you too will be judged.
2 For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
3 “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?
4 How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye?
5 You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.
I am absolutely certain that marriage restoration is NOT possible without understanding and practicing this very important principle of restoration. In fact, I believe that So strongly that I recommend avoiding contact with our spouses as much as possible until we master it. And that is done only by a REAL change in the condition of our hearts through the love and grace of Jesus Christ, and not with empty words. Deuteronomy 8:2 tells us Remember how the LORD your God led you all the way in the desert these forty years, to humble you and to test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands. So it’s important to humble ourselves before the Lord and examine our own lives and behavior; keeping in mind the instruction Jesus gave in John 8:7, which says But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.” And let’s not forget that her sin was the act of adultery, for which the penalty was death!

In addition to telling us not to cast stones at others unless we are without sin, Jesus warned us about the dangers of unforgiveness in The Parable of the Unmerciful Servant, Matthew 18:21-35, which He summed up in Matthew 18:34-35, by saying In anger his master turned him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed. “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother
from your heart.” Then these verses from 2 Corinthians 2 tell us:
7 Now instead, you ought to forgive and comfort him, so that he will not be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow.
8 I urge you, therefore, to reaffirm your love for him.
9 The reason I wrote you was to see if you would stand the test and be obedient in everything.
10 If you forgive anyone, I also forgive him. And what I have forgiven—if there was anything to forgive—I have forgiven in the sight of Christ for your sake,
11 in order that Satan might not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes. And there’s NO doubt that Satan WILL use our inability or unwillingness to forgive our husbands and wives to kill, steal and destroy our marriages and any hope we have of marriage restoration, and keep us from experiencing the abundant life Jesus came to give us, as we’re told in John 10:10.

Hopefully, what Jesus said in Matthew 6:14-15 is enough to get our attention, and make us take this matter seriously, because He said 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. And Colossians 3:12-14 tells us Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

If we refuse to forgive as Jesus instructed us to do, it WILL lead to bitterness, which makes us captive to sin according to Acts 8:23, which says For I see that you are full of bitterness and captive to sin.” An excellent chapter dealing with these issues is Ephesians 4, which includes the following verses:
2 Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.
26 “In your anger do not sin”: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry,
27 and do not give the devil a foothold.
30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
31 Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice.
32 Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.

And another VERY important reason for anyone standing for marriage restoration, or asking for any miracle to overcome unforgiveness is provided in Mark 11:24-25, which 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.” So we see that our failure to forgive could prevent the Lord from hearing and answering our prayers, which is way too high a price to pay for holding onto something that only hurts us and does NOTHING to help us.

Finally, as long as we’re focused on our spouses’ sin, shortcomings and wrong doing, we’re far from achieving the Lord’s measure of forgiveness as revealed in Hebrews 8:12, which says For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.” And holding grudges and keeping records of wrongs obviously falls FAR short of love as described in 1 Corinthians 13:4-5 (NLT), which says Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. Love does not demand its own way. Love is not irritable, and it keeps no record of when it has been wronged. Ouch!

Anyone who knows me or talks to me much at all knows that my favorite scripture verse is Romans 8:28 (NKJV), which says And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. I’ve claimed that verse as my favorite for many years now, and even though many other verses have had significant impact on my life recently, the one I ALWAYS fall back on is Romans 8:28, so I was really excited when that’s what the Lord put on my heart to write about this morning. But it’s taken a totally different direction than I expected, because the Lord changed my focus from not worrying about anything no matter what happens to one of obedience. Instead of thinking that no matter what happens, it will work out for my good if I love the Lord and am obedient, I now understand that obedience is a demonstration of my love and faith in the Lord, which means I can trust God to work ALL things together for my good. Maybe that seems like an insignificant distinction, but it’s not.

In John 15:5, Jesus told us “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. And John 14:23 says Jesus replied, “If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. And in John 10, we see:
25 Jesus answered, “I did tell you, but you do not believe. The miracles I do in my Father’s name speak for me,
26 but you do not believe because you are not my sheep.
27 My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.
28 I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand.
29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand.
30 I and the Father are one.” It’s clear from these verses that when we love the Lord, we are obedient to what His word teaches, and He lives with us and protects us…that no one and nothing can snatch us out of His hand. The Bible reveals the heart of a shepherd and how ferociously he protects his flock in 1 Samuel 17:34-35, which says But David said to Saul, “Your servant has been keeping his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it.

In the above verses, Jesus uses the words “IF“ we “remain” in Him and “apart” from Him, so it’s very important to understand what He meant by that since He said we couldn’t be “snatched” from His hand.. However, Proverbs 27:8 says Like a bird that strays from its nest is a man who strays from his home. Jesus said if we love Him, we obey His teachings, and He and the Father come and make their home with us. Obviously, when we are disobedient, we stray from our home with Him, and out of the nest and protection provided by the loving shelter of His wing, as so beautifully illustrated in Deuteronomy 32:10-11, which says “He found them in a desert land, in an empty, howling wasteland. He surrounded them and watched over them; he guarded them as his most precious possession. Like an eagle that rouses her chicks and hovers over her young, so he spread his wings to take them in and carried them aloft on his pinions. What an awesome picture of salvation! But in stark contrast, Jeremiah 2:5 reveals the dangers of straying from the Lord with This is what the LORD says: “What fault did your fathers find in me, that they strayed so far from me? They followed worthless idols and became worthless themselves. And Proverbs 21:16 warns A man who strays from the path of understanding comes to rest in the company of the dead. And Hosea 7:13 says Woe to them, because they have strayed from me! Destruction to them, because they have rebelled against me! I long to redeem them but they speak lies against me. Fortunately, Proverbs 19:27 shows us how to avoid straying, because it says Stop listening to instruction, my son, and you will stray from the words of knowledge. So we avoid straying by staying in the word.

Even when we stray, the Lord loves us so much that He will come after us to bring us back into the flock and into the shelter of His wing, as we see in Matthew 18:
12 “What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off?
13 And if he finds it, I tell you the truth, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off.
14 In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should be lost. How wonderful it is that the Lord will turn even our disobedience, which Satan intended for evil, into something good, as we see in this awesome portrait of restoration in Hosea 2 (NLT)!

The GOOD news is that we do have the Lord’s promise that He will work ALL things together for our good when we love Him and are living our lives in accordance with His purpose, in which case we have the assurance that NO MATTER what is going on in our lives, it is happening exactly as it has to happen for God’s perfect plan for us to be perfected. And then even when we stray away and are not acting in obedience, HE will draw us back, and when we return to Him and put Him first in our lives with a genuine attitude of repentance, He WILL work even our disobedience to our good! However, if we’re wise, we won’t make the mistake of straying in the first place! So PRAISE THE LORD that even though His blessings and protection are all conditional, His Love is unconditional!

When we think of “faith without works”, we usually think “faith without works is dead”, which can be confusing, because it seems to contradict being “saved by grace”, as stated in Romans 11:6 (AMP), But if it is by grace (His unmerited favor and graciousness), it is no longer conditioned on works or anything men have done. Otherwise, grace would no longer be grace [it would be meaningless]. I’ve heard a lot of interesting messages about grace, works and faith without works, and some were actually pretty tortured. And since this is such an important principle in faith and marriage restoration, I wanted to get a better understanding of it based on what the Bible says.

One of the easiest ways to clear up the contradiction is to read the same verse, James 2:26, in the Amplified Bible, which says For as the human body apart from the spirit is lifeless, so faith apart from [its] works of obedience is also dead. The difference is that being saved by grace and not by works refers to works BEFORE salvation, and faith without works being dead refers to works AFTER salvation. Jesus made it pretty clear that there is a direct connection between our faith and our works, obedience to His word, in John 14:23, which says Jesus replied, “If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. And then in John 14:24, Jesus even said He who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me. And, we certainly can’t ignore what Jesus said in Matthew 7:18, which says A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit.

Then James 2:14 says What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? Obviously, that’s an important verse for us as we stand for marriage restoration, so “faith without works” will be the topic for this week’s Restoration Principles. Because if we’re all honest, we have to admit that time after time we fail to walk out the words of faith we speak and profess to believe. 2 Corinthians 1:24, leaves little doubt how important this is to us, because it says Not that we lord it over your faith, but we work with you for your joy, because it is by faith you stand firm. And we all want to stand firm!

We can learn a lot more about what the Bible teaches about faith by reading James 2:14-26 (AMP.

The following prayer is from Darlenn Wilson, who is affiliated with WIN, which is a ministry that sends prayers out worldwide by email, and I greatly appreciate her permission to post it on the site today. May you all have a GLORIOUS RESURRECTION DAY!!!

HAPPY RESURRECTION DAY! GLORY TO GOD. HALLELUJAH! HALLELUJAH! HALLELUJAH! JESUS WE BLESS YOU THIS MORNING AND PRAISE YOU TOO. WE LOVE YOU LORD BECAUSE YOU FIRST LOVED US. WE GIVE YOU ALL THE GLORY AND HONOR AS
WE LIFT YOU THIS MORNING. LORD YOU ARE SO WONDERFUL. WHAT AN AWESOME AND MIGHTY GOD WE SERVE.

He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chatisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors (Isa 53: 3-5, 10-12)

I bless you Lord for the sacrifice. We are redeemed today because of it and we thank you Lord. Bless every marriage today Father and let the resurrection power of Jesus bring to life every dead situation now. In Jesus name we thank you for miracles today in homes, neighborhoods, communities, cities, states, nations, our world, our government, and in our churches. We thank you now Father God for bringing answers to our prayers that we have been praying and believing you for for so long. Thank you Lord for deliverance this morning. We give you thanks Father God for all the lost souls that shall come into the Kingdom today. We thank you now for saving our family members, friends, co-workers, supervisors, and enemies today because today is our receiving day Lord and we bless you. We honor you this morning for breakthroughs in the lives of your people Jesus. We thank you for the Power of the Living God falling all over this world today because it is Resurrection Sunday. We remember what you did and we thank you. Bless every reader this morning and keep them Jesus. Help us all to fall deeper in love with you Lord and remember that you are our first love. We magnify you Jesus. We lift you up this morning and gratefully say Thank you Lord. Bless the land of Israel Father and bring peace to Jerusalem today.
Sing aloud unto God our strength: make a joyful noise unto the God of Jacob.(Psalms 81:1) Be blessed saints of the Most High God today and always. I love you.
Blessings

When making the decision to stand for the restoration of our marriages, the first and most important question is why we’re standing, because unless we’re standing for the right reason, we won’t have the grace and power it requires. While this may sound harsh, standing for our marriages just because we love our husbands and miss them and want them back isn’t good enough and if that’s what motivates us, the chance of marriage restoration is not good. The ONLY motive for standing for marriage restoration that adequately equips us for all the trials and storms we’ll face is the unshakable belief that it is God’s will, and our decision and commitment to do so for the sake of obedience to Him. That’s why I encourage every woman dealing with separation or divorce to spend time studying the Bible and praying and fasting to hear from God regarding the restoration of her marriage.

If we’re not motivated by obedience to the Lord, we’re not likely to make the changes required in ourselves to make lasting marriage restoration possible, and with any other motivation, it’s too easy to get discouraged and give up. James 4:3 tells us how important our motives are, because it says When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures. So before deciding to stand for marriage restoration, it is critically important to seek the Lord’s will so we know without a doubt that the Lord wants us to stand for our marriage, and that there are NO other options if we want to be obedient. Obedience, based on what His word tells us, is the only foundation strong enough to withstand all that the devil will bring against us, as seen in these verses in Matthew 7:
24 “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.
25 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock.
26 But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand.
27 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.” So be sure the foundation on which you’re standing for the restoration of your marriage is obedience to the Lord, and that it’s based on what His word says about marriage, divorce and remarriage.

I received this email yesterday and since it makes such an important point about rejecting what Jesus died to give us, I wanted to share it with the visitors to the site. Perhaps you will share it with others too.

Subject: Don’t Leave it on the Desk

There was a certain Professor of Religion named Dr. Christianson, a studious man who taught at a small college in the western United States. Dr. Christianson taught the required survey course in Christianity at this particular institution. Every student was required to take this course his or her freshman year, regardless of his or her major. Although Dr. Christianson tried hard to communicate the essence of the gospel in his class, he found that most of his students looked upon the course as nothing but required drudgery. Despite his best efforts, most students refused to take Christianity seriously.

This year, Dr. Christianson had a special student named Steve. Steve was only a freshman, but was studying with the intent of going onto seminary for the ministry. Steve was popular, he was well liked, and he was an imposing physical specimen. He was now the starting center on the school football team, and was the best student in the professor’s class.

One day, Dr. Christianson asked Steve to stay after class so he could talk with him. “How many push-ups can you do?” Steve said, “I do about 200 every night.” “200? That’s pretty good, Steve,” Dr Christianson said. “Do you think you could do 300?” Steve replied, “I don’t know… I’ve never done 300 at a time.” “Do you think you could?” again asked Dr. Christianson. “Well, I can try,” said Steve. “Can you do 300 in sets of 10? I have a class project in mind and I need you to do about 300 push-ups in sets of ten for this to work. Can you do it? I need you to tell me you can do it,” said the professor. Steve said, “Well… I think I can…yeah, I can do it.” Dr. Christianson said, “Good. I need you to do this on Friday. Let me explain what I have in mind.”

Friday came and Steve got to class early and sat in the front of the room. When class started, the professor pulled out a big box of donuts. No, these weren’t the normal kinds of donuts, they were the extra fancy BIG kind, with cream centers and frosting swirls. Everyone was pretty excited it was Friday, the last class of the day, and they were going to get an early start on the weekend with a party in Dr. Christianson’s class. Dr. Christianson went to the first girl in the first row and asked, “Cynthia, do you want to have one of these donuts?” Cynthia said, “Yes.” Dr. Christianson then turned to Steve and asked, “Steve, would you do ten push-ups so that Cynthia can have a donut?” “Sure.” Steve jumped down from his desk to do a quick ten. Then Steve again sat in his desk. Mr. Christianson put a donut on Cynthia’s desk. Dr. Christianson then went to Joe, the next person, and asked, “Joe, do you want a donut?” Joe said, “Yes.” Dr. Christianson asked, “Steve would you do ten push-ups so Joe can have a donut?” Steve did ten push-ups, Joe got a donut. And so it went, down the first aisle, Steve did ten pushups for every person before they got their donut. Walking down the second aisle, Dr Christianson came to Scott. Scott was on the basketball team, and in as good condition as Steve. He was very popular and never lacking for female companionship. When the professor asked, “Scott do you want a donut?” Scott’s reply was, “Well, can I do my own pushups?” Dr. Christianson said, “No, Steve has to do them.” Then Scott said, “Well, I don’t want one then.” Dr. Christianson shrugged and then turned to Steve and asked, “Steve, would you do ten pushups so Scott can have a donut he doesn’t want?” With perfect obedience Steve started to do ten pushups. Scott said, “Hey, I said I didn’t want one.” Dr. Christianson said, “Look, this is my classroom, my class, my desks, and these are my donuts. Just leave it on the desk if you don’t want it.” And he put a donut on Scott’s desk. Now by this time, Steve had begun to slow down a little. He just stayed on the floor between sets because it took too much effort to be getting up and down. You could start to see a little perspiration coming out around his brow. Dr. Christianson started down the third row. Now the students were beginning to get a little angry. Dr. Christianson asked Jenny, “Jenny, do you want a donut?” Sternly, Jenny said, “No.” Then Dr. Christianson asked Steve, “Steve, would you do ten more push-ups so Jenny can have a donut that she doesn’t want?” Steve did ten….Jenny got a donut. By now, a growing sense of uneasiness filled the room. The students were beginning to say “No” and there were all these uneaten donuts on the desks. Steve also had to really put forth a lot of extra effort to get these pushups done for each donut. There began to be a small pool of sweat on the floor beneath his face, his arms and brow were beginning to get red because of the physical effort involved. Dr. Christianson asked Robert, who was the most vocal unbeliever in the class, to watch Steve do each push up to make sure he did the full ten pushups in a set because he couldn’t bear to watch all of Steve’s work for all of those uneaten donuts. He sent Robert over to where Steve was so Robert could count the set and watch Steve closely. Dr. Christianson started down the fourth row. During his class, however, some students from other classes had wandered in and sat down on the steps along the radiators that ran down the sides of the room. When the professor realized this, he did a quick count and saw that now there were 34 students in the room. He started to worry if Steve would be able to make it. Dr. Christianson went on to the next person and the next and the next. Near the end of that row, Steve was really having a rough time. He was taking a lot more time to complete each set. Steve asked Dr. Christianson, “Do I have to make my nose touch on each one?” Dr. Christianson thought for a moment, “Well, they’re your pushups. You are in charge now. You can do them any way that you want.” And Dr. Christianson went on. A few moments later, Jason, a recent transfer student, came to the room and was about to come in when all the students yelled in one voice, “NO, don’t come in Stay out!” Jason didn’t know what was going on. Steve picked up his head and said, “No, let him come.” Professor Christianson said, “You realize that if Jason comes in you will have to do ten pushups for him?” Steve said, “Yes, let him come in. Give him a donut.” Dr. Christianson said, “Okay, Steve, I’ll let you get Jason’s out of the way right now Jason, do you want a donut?” Jason, new to the room, hardly knew what was going on. “Yes,” he said, “give me a donut” “Steve, will you do ten push-ups so that Jason can have a donut?” Steve did ten pushups very slowly and with great effort. Jason, bewildered, was handed a donut and sat down. Dr. Christianson finished the fourth row, and then started on those visitors seated by the heaters. Steve’s arms were now shaking with each push-up in a struggle to lift himself against the force of gravity. By this time sweat was profusely dropping off of his face, there was no sound except his heavy breathing; there was not a dry eye in the room. The very last two students in the room were two young women, both cheerleaders, and very popular. Dr. Christianson went to Linda, the second to last, and asked, “Linda, do you want a doughnut?” Linda said, very sadly, “No, thank you.” Professor Christianson quietly asked, “Steve, would you do ten push-ups so that Linda can have a donut she doesn’t want?” Grunting from the effort, Steve did ten very slow pushups for Linda. Then Dr. Christianson turned to the last girl, Susan. “Susan, do you want a donut?” Susan, with tears flowing down her face, began to cry. “Dr. Christianson, why can’t I help him?” Dr. Christianson, with tears of his own, said, “No, Steve has to do it alone, I have given him this task and he is in charge of seeing that everyone has an opportunity for a donut whether they want it or not. When I decided to have a party this last day of class, I looked in my grade book. Steve here is the only student with a perfect grade. Everyone else has failed a test, skipped class, or offered me inferior work. Steve told me that in football practice, when a player messes up he must do push-ups. I told Steve that none of you could come to my party unless he paid the price by doing your push ups. He and I made a deal for your sakes.” “Steve, would you do ten push-ups so Susan can have a donut?” As Steve very slowly finished his last pushup, with the understanding that he had accomplished all that was required of him, having done 350 pushups, his arms buckled beneath him and he fell to the floor. Dr. Christianson turned to the room and said. “And so it was, that our Savior, Jesus Christ, on the cross, pled to the Father, ‘into thy hands I commend my spirit.’ With the understanding that He had done everything that was required of Him, He yielded up His life. And like some of those in this room, many of us leave the gift on the desk, uneaten.” Two students helped Steve up off the floor and to a seat, physically exhausted, but wearing a thin smile. “Well done, good and faithful servant,” said the professor, adding, “Not all sermons are preached in words.” Turning to his class, the professor said, “My wish is that you might understand and fully comprehend all the riches of grace and mercy that have been given to you through the sacrifice of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. He spared not only His Begotten Son, but gave Him up for us all, for the whole Church, now and forever. Whether or not we choose to accept His gift to us, the price has been paid.” “Wouldn’t you be foolish and ungrateful to leave it lying on the desk?”
Share this with someone. It’s bound to touch their heart and demonstrate salvation in a very special way.

Since fasting is one of our most powerful and effective weapons as we stand against the forces of Hell for the salvation of our husbands and the restoration of our marriages, some of the FAM Fellowship members are beginning three day, water only, fasts today and tomorrow.. We know the salvation of our husbands and the restoration of our marriages is a matter of spiritual warfare, and as Jesus said, there are times when fasting is the only thing that works. So I encourage those who are not familiar with the power of fasting to learn more about it and seriously consider fasting for restoration.

Please take the time to read this article, which provides an excellent understanding of what biblical fasting is and how to do it,written by Dennis Rupert.However, anyone with a medical condition should consult with their healthcare provider before beginning a fast, because there might be some medical conditions or medications, that preclude fasting, in which case, other options are available, as described in the article.

I believe every woman (or man) now standing for marriage restoration has been called for such a time as this and that we must seek the Lord’s face, favor and strength as we continue to do what He has called us to do, and fasting is one of the most effective ways to do that, so I hope and pray we’ll all learn to use this spiritual tool more effectively for the glory of the Lord.

What a comfort and blessing it is to know that when we are weak, the Lord is strong! As we stand for the restoration of our marriages, there are bound to be days when we feel like we just can’t stand another day, but those are days we should rejoice and take those lying thoughts from the devil captive and make them obedient to Christ! And we do that by remembering and confessing the following passages of scripture that promise when we are weak, He is strong!

Isaiah 40:28-29
Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.

2 Corinthians 13:4 (NLT)
Although he died on the cross in weakness, he now lives by the mighty power of God. We, too, are weak, but we live in him and have God’s power–the power we use in dealing with you.

2 Corinthians 12:9-10
But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Of course, the most encouraging verse we all tend to rely on when we feel like we can’t go on is Philippians 4:13, which says I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. But as I copied that, the Lord just gave me an awesome new revelation or insight about it, which is that our strength through Christ is directly related to and dependent on our understanding of the word, which makes perfect sense based on what these verses in John 1 tell us:
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
2 He was with God in the beginning.
3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.
4 In him was life, and that life was the light of men.
5 The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.

Without realizing it, we’ve probably all proven that before with a perfect illustration of exactly how it works, by asking the Lord to speak to us about something in particular when we REALLY needed to hear from Him, and then randomly opening the Bible to see what He led us to. That happened to me last July when I asked the Lord to show me if something was true or not, and He led me to Nehemiah 6, which I didn’t understand at first, because it seemed totally unrelated to what I wanted to know. When I realized what He was showing me, I couldn’t believe it, because I had just discovered that after many years of believing I was divorced that I was probably legally separated instead, and was asking the Lord to help me understand and know the truth. But verse 9 got my attention, because it says They were all trying to frighten us, thinking, “Their hands will get too weak for the work, and it will not be completed.” But I prayed, “Now strengthen my hands.” I was totally blown away, because there’s NO doubt that being legally married instead of legally divorced is a much stronger hand when standing for marriage restoration, especially when your husband is planning to get married in a matter of weeks! That made me a lot more interested in REALLY reading Nehemiah 6 again, and I couldn’t believe what I had missed! The whole chapter is about the incredible opposition to the rebuilding of the wall of Jerusalem, and how it was eventually rebuilt! So there’s a lot in this chapter anyone standing for marriage restoration can relate to and it’s very encouraging, as well as the Lord’s promise in Psalm 12:5, which says Because of the oppression of the weak and the groaning of the needy, I will now arise,” says the LORD. “I will protect them from those who malign them.”

As with everything else in God’s plan and purpose, 1 Peter 4:11 reveals why the Lord wants us to rely on HIS strength and not ours, because it says If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God. If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.

Getting to the place where we realize that we CANNOT do it ourselves is a GOOD thing, because that’s when we’ll FINALLY give it to the Lord to do! Our part is to learn the word, believe the word, pray the word, confess the word, and then expect and watch the Lord work, as Joyce Meyer said in her TV message today. So please watch and learn how All Things Are Possible – Part I!

What an AWESOME and POWERFUL message Joyce Meyer had on her TV broadcast this morning! It’s the second one in a series she started yesterday about Removing Hindrances, and it IS a MUST for everyone standing for marriage restoration! In it, she sums up SO many of the things I write about, especially the importance of knowing God’s word and the power our words have to speak things into being. In fact, she reminded me of this very powerful passage of scripture in Ezekiel 37:3-5, which says He asked me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” I said, “O Sovereign LORD, you alone know.” Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones and say to them, ‘Dry bones, hear the word of the LORD! This is what the Sovereign LORD says to these bones: I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life. When you need to be reminded of how the Lord brings dead things to life, such as our marriages, and the awesome power of our SPOKEN words, just read about The Valley of Dry Bones, in Ezekiel 37:1-14!

I agree with Joyce 100% when she GUARANTEES that if we spend just thirty minutes reading the Bible a day and just fifteen minutes a day praying, we WILL live VICTORIOUS lives! That’s such a SMALL investment to make for everything we’re asking the Lord to do for us, yet the reality is that it is a lot more than most of us CONSISTENTLY give to the Lord on a daily basis. Well, it’s time to get serious about the restoration of our marriages and find out where the rubber meets the road, because if we can’t do even that much for the Lord, we have no reason or right to expect Him to do ANYTHING for us, much less the miracle of marriage restoration and the salvation and deliverance of our husbands! I absolutely KNOW that everyone of us spend a LOT more time than that thinking about our husbands a day, so if we DON’T do even that LITTLE for the Lord, we should remember that God’s name is JEALOUS!