Since I’ve always considered being jealous a “bad” thing, and it’s something I know many men and women standing for marriage restoration battle, it was quite a surprise to discover that the Bible actually says God’s name is Jealous, as it does in Exodus 34:14, which says Do not worship any other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God. While I don’t recall ever hearing anyone say that was one of His names, I knew that God is a “jealous” God, because that’s what the first commandment says, as seen in these verses from Exodus 20:
1 And God spoke all these words:
2 “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.
3 “You shall have no other gods before me.
4 “You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below.
5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me,
6 but showing love to a thousand {generations} of those who love me and keep my commandments.
Since that was so surprising, I searched for more about it in the Bible, and the following verses are just a few that reveal God as a jealous God and warn us about the consequences when we fail to be obedient to His word and put Him first in our lives:

Deuteronomy 4:24
For the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.

Judges 10:13
But you have forsaken me and served other gods, so I will no longer save you.

2 Kings 17:38
Do not forget the covenant I have made with you, and do not worship other gods.

1 Kings 9
5 I will establish your royal throne over Israel forever, as I promised David your father when I said, ‘You shall never fail to have a man on the throne of Israel.’
6 “But if you or your sons turn away from me and do not observe the commands and decrees I have given you and go off to serve other gods and worship them,
7 then I will cut off Israel from the land I have given them and will reject this temple I have consecrated for my Name. Israel will then become a byword and an object
of ridicule among all peoples.

Deuteronomy 30
16 For I command you today to love the LORD your God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the LORD your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess.
17 But if your heart turns away and you are not obedient, and if you are drawn away to bow down to other gods and worship them,
18 I declare to you this day that you will certainly be destroyed. You will not live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess.
19 This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live
20 and that you may love the LORD your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the LORD is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

Psalm 16:4
The sorrows of those will increase who run after other gods. I will not pour out their libations of blood or take up their names on my lips.

Matthew 22
36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”
37 Jesus replied: ” ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’
38 This is the first and greatest commandment.

While I don’t fully understand why God’s name is Jealous, and some of the other Bible references indicating that jealousy is not the bad thing we usually consider it, such as Numbers 5:11-31, which addresses a husband’s jealousy when he suspects his wife has been unfaithful, it’s still VERY important for us to understand this characteristic of God as we stand for marriage restoration.

First, if we’re honest, we’re more than likely guilty of violating the first commandment, especially as it was restated by Jesus in the above verses from Matthew 22. And since God never changes, as we’re told in Malachi 3:6, we have to accept that our current marital woes are probably the result of our disobedience. It’s not just a matter of discipline or correction on the Lord’s part, but when we are not in right relationship with Him, and we’re not putting the Lord first in our lives, it’s not possible for us to love, respect or submit to our husbands as the Bible instructs, or for men to love and cherish their wives as Christ loves the church. So our marriages are not built on the foundation God intended and can not withstand the storms when they come.

Secondly, if we keep putting our spouses and marriages before the Lord, He’s not going to reward our disobedience by restoring our marriages. If we spend more time thinking about our husbands and wives, trying to please them, worrying about what they think and what they’ll do than the time we spend improving our relationship with the Lord, then we’re still putting our spouses before the Lord. And if we’re more focused on restoring our marriages than our walk with the Lord, our marriages are still first. So it’s VERY important for us to understand that as long as marriage restoration means more to us than our relationship with the Lord, He’s not going to give us that desire of our heart, because we’re not delighting ourselves in Him, not committed to His ways, and we’re not putting our trust in Him so we can’t expect the rewards promised in Psalm 37:4-6.

Perhaps what Paul said in 2 Corinthians 11:2 (NLT) best illustrates why God’s name is Jealous, because he said I am jealous for you with the jealousy of God himself. For I promised you as a pure bride to one husband, Christ. That certainly confirms the will of God as revealed in Ephesians 1, which tells us that EVERYTHING is predestined in accordance with God’s good pleasure and will for the praise and glory of Christ. And the only way to live for the praise and glory of our Lord and Savior is to put Him first and REALLY make Him the LORD of our lives!

While 1 Corinthians 13 is often called “the love chapter”, it is not about romantic love. It’s a portrait of God’s love, which is the love we’re all called to walk in as Christians, and it’s especially important in the marriage relationship. When we read verses, 1-3, we see how important godly love is in our lives as Christians and even more particularly in our marriages, because they say If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing. We tend to skim over these first few verses to get to the ones we consider the most important, because we believe they’re the ones that tell us what love is and what it isn’t, and what it does and doesn’t do, but these verses actually tell us a lot about that too.

For instance, I’m sure it was not unintentional or just by coincidence that the very first verse in the “love” chapter talks about how we speak. I now understand, as never before, why that’s so important, especially in light of Luke 6:45, which tells us that out of the overflow of our hearts our mouths speak, and Proverbs 18:21, which tells us that the tongue has the power of life and death and that those who love it will eat its fruit. No matter how beautiful or impressive the words we speak are, when they don’t convey or reflect the love of God, they are nothing but loud and useless noise; and bear no fruit. In fact, they are very likely to cause death, and if we’re honest, we’ve all spoken harmful words that contributed to the death and destruction of our marriages. So it doesn’t matter how intelligent we are, how much wisdom we have or how strong our faith is, because if we don’t understand and demonstrate the meaning and power of God’s love, our knowledge, wisdom and faith are totally worthless. And finally, no matter what good deeds we do, and no matter what sacrifices we make, we gain nothing if not motivated by godly love, because as Jeremiah 17:10 tells us, God searches our hearts and examines our minds to reward us according to our conduct, according to what our deeds deserve. Therefore, it’s very important that what we say, know, understand, believe and do is rooted in the love of God. In fact it is SO important that James 4:3 warns us When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.

Many times when I first begin talking to someone standing for marriage restoration, I sense so much anger, bitterness, unforgiveness, self-righteousness and condescension, that it makes me cringe. It makes me cringe because I remember those feelings all too well, and know from my own experience how destructive they are and how they stop marriage restoration dead in its tracks. Marriage restoration is NOT possible unless we deal with these emotions through the love of God, which is what 1 Corinthians 13 shows us how to do, especially the following verses:
4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.
5 It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.
6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.
7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Yet, despite our acts and feelings of anger, bitterness, Unforgiveness, self-righteousness and condescension, we still think we love our spouses. But if we take the time to carefully read the above verses and then ask how well we have demonstrated our love, that should have the desired effect of getting our focus off of our spouses’ sin and failures onto our own. And that’s important, because there’s nothing we can do about theirs, but there’s an awful lot we can and need to do about ours. And those who refuse to understand and apply the wisdom found in Matthew 7:3 will probably NEVER experience the restoration of their marriages, because they’re too focused on everything their husbands and wives have done wrong and too wrapped up in their identity as victims to answer the question, “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? Sadly, the inability to do that falls far short of the love described in the above verses, and whatever self seeking and self gratifying emotion they experience, it certainly doesn’t come close to the love described in John15:13 (AMP), which says No one has greater love [no one has shown stronger affection] than to lay down (give up) his own life for his friends. Whatever else love might or might not be, it is ALWAYS sacrificial, and those unwilling or unable to love sacrificially can not understand the power of Proverbs 19:22, which says What a man desires is unfailing love.

So the most difficult, yet most rewarding, challenge for anyone standing for marriage restoration is learning to walk in the love described in the above verses, and even though it is not easy, it IS possible. And Jesus revealed the ONLY way to do it in John 15:5, where He said “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. Jesus demonstrated the greatest act of love the world has ever known by dying for us on the cross, and in Luke 9:23, He challenges us to follow His example of sacrificial love, because it says Then he said to them all: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. So that’s our challenge as we stand for the restoration of our marriages and families; to deny our flesh and follow Jesus in sacrificial love.

Sometimes when we’re in the midst of a storm, we have a tendency to forget the miracles we’ve already seen the Lord perform in our lives. For instance, we all experienced the miracle of salvation, so we KNOW what God CAN do, because we experienced such an awesome change In our own hearts and lives. As Psalm 98:1 says, we learned to Sing to the LORD a new song, for he has done marvelous things; his right hand and his holy arm have worked salvation for him. But when we found ourselves in a difficult time, so often just a time of testing, did we keep singing that new song or did we revert to the old song? Did we remember what Psalm 68:19
says, which is Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior, who daily bears our burdens.? And do we trust what Psalm 68:35 says, which is You are awesome, O God, in your sanctuary; the God of Israel gives power and strength to his people. Praise be to God!? Or are we more like the Israelites, who the Lord let wander in the desert for forty years because of their murmuring and complaining, and lack of faith?

There’s a very important principle of marriage restoration in The Parable of the Talents, because if we don’t use the miracle of our own salvation to glorify the Lord despite our whole world being turned upside-down, we’re just as unlikely to glorify the Lord if He restores our marriages and saves our husbands. So there’s no reason to expect Him to restore our marriages or save our husbands when EVERYTHING He does is for HIS praise and glory.

If you’re unable to relate to the experience of salvation as an AWESOME miracle, then perhaps you should revisit the question of whether or not you’re saved. If you don’t experience the fruit of salvation in your spirit, as described in Galatians 5:22-23, which says But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law., perhaps you should read The Foundation For Restoration.

Remembering the miracle of our own salvation helps give us the faith needed to believe and put our confidence in these awesome and powerful verses from Romans 4:

16 Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham’s offspring—not only to those who are of the law but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all.
17 As it is written: “I have made you a father of many nations.” He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed—the God who gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as though they were.
18 Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, “So shall your offspring be.”

19 Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that Sarah’s womb was also dead.
20 Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God,
21 being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.

Never forget that God gives life to the things that are dead and calls things that are not as though they were, so that you will be strengthened in your faith and give glory to God, being FULLY persuaded that God has the power to do ALL that He promises, which includes the restoration of your marriage and the salvation of your husband…ALL FOR HIS PRAISE AND GLORY!

Based on our recommended plan for reading the Proverbs and Psalms every month, Proverbs 7 (about the dangers of adultery), is on today’s schedule. Unfortunately, many women standing for marriage restoration are already familiar with the devastation and destruction caused by adultery and are experiencing one of the most painful and difficult times of their lives as a result of it. So how awesome it is that two of the other chapters we read today are Psalm 37 and Psalm 97, which are two of my favorites! They remind us that the Lord is with us and that He will get us through this time as we see in these encouraging and reassuring verses from Psalm 37:

3 Trust in the LORD and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.
4 Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart.
5 Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him and he will do this:
6 He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun.
7 Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him; do not fret when men succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes.
8 Refrain from anger and turn from wrath; do not fret—it leads only to evil.
23 If the LORD delights in a man’s way, he makes his steps firm;
24 though he stumble, he will not fall, for the LORD upholds him with his hand.
29 the righteous will inherit the land and dwell in it forever.
34 Wait for the LORD and keep his way. He will exalt you to inherit the land; when the wicked are cut off, you will see it.
39 The salvation of the righteous comes from the LORD; he is their stronghold in time of trouble.
40 The LORD helps them and delivers them; he delivers them from the wicked and saves them, because they take refuge in him.

There’s SO much wisdom in the above verses, so I hope everyone standing for marriage restoration will read them often and take them to heart, because we HAVE to learn and understand what it means to take refuge in the Lord, which is what these verses help teach us. If we could learn to live in accordance with what they teach, we’d have the battle for the restoration of our marriages won! And just in case we need to be reminded of how awesome and powerful the Lord is and that He CAN fulfill every one of these promises, we can read Psalm 97! Once we REALLY understand who the Lord is and His AWESOME promises to us, it’s easy to make Him our stronghold and take refuge in Him, and do as Psalm 97:12 says, Rejoice in the LORD, you who are righteous, and praise his holy name!

As our regular visitors are already aware, we have been experiencing serious website issues (servers down), and finally made the decision to move to a different server Tuesday night. Unfortunately, that created a lot of unexpected problems, which prevented me from posting yesterday, so I just posted that post this morning. Please continue to pray, as we still have problems that need to be resolved, and thanks so much for your support and patience!

I pray for every woman (or man) standing for marriage restoration to understand how vitally important it is to take control of our thoughts! Because we ABSOLUTELY MUST take them “captive”, as 2 Corinthians 10:5 shows us, 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.

The first step is understanding and acknowledging that we are very literally involved in spiritual warfare and that our husbands (or wives) are not our enemies, as we see 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. That process begins by following the instructions found in Romans 12:2, which tells us Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. And we KNOW we can trust God’s good, pleasing and perfect will, because Jeremiah 29:11 (AMP) promises For I know the thoughts and plans that I have for you, says the Lord, thoughts and plans for welfare and peace and not for evil, to give you hope in your final outcome.

We begin to understand how important our thoughts and what we REALLY feel in our hearts is to God when we read Isaiah 29:13, which says The Lord says: “These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is made up only of rules taught by men. Then Jeremiah 17:5, says This is what the LORD says: “Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who depends on flesh for his strength and whose heart turns away from the LORD. And in Jeremiah 17:10 we see “I the LORD search the heart and examine the mind, to reward a man according to his conduct, according to what his deeds deserve.” So we see that our deeds and conduct are measured and judged by God based on the secret things we mistakenly believe are safely tucked away and hidden in our hearts and thoughts. No matter how hard we try, we can’t really hide what is in our hearts, because as Luke 6:45 tells us, i>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. We all know only too well how difficult it is to feel or think something without it eventually coming out of our mouths, and as I often tell women standing for marriage restoration, when it comes to issues of bitterness and unforgiveness, you can be certain it WILL come out at the worst possible moment, and when you least expect it.

So in practical terms, we HAVE to take control of our thoughts because they LITERALLY determine our emotions and our emotions lead us to action, because there is a definite link between what we do and what we think. Paul gives us some very practical instructions about how to do that in Philippians 4:8, in which he says Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Of course, the opposite of that is just as important…do NOT think or dwell on anything that is not true (contrary to the word of God), noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent or praise worthy! And, YES, I do know how difficult that is, which is why I advise women battling negativity, or thoughts that don’t glorify the Lord, to say a prayer every time negative thoughts about their husband comes to their mind! In addition to the AWESOME power the prayers release, the thoughts eventually stop coming to our minds, because the LAST thing Satan wants to do is remind us to pray for our husbands and our marriages! In addition, by focusing on the power and promises of God instead, we release the power of this awesome promise found in Isaiah 26:3, which says You will keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on You, Because he trusts in You. When we keep our focus on the Lord, it’s not possible to feel anything but the awesome peace of God that passes all understanding, and many of the testimonies from men with restored marriages state that it was their wife’s unexpected and unexplainable peace that first drew them back to her.

Since taking EVERY thought captive and making it obedient to Christ (what the Bible teaches us), is such an important principle of marriage restoration, we all need to memorize and pray Psalm 19:14 often, which says May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer. Don’t forget that our thoughts form the basis for our emotions, and out of our hearts, our mouths speak, and as Proverbs 18:21 tells us, The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit. It is my most sincere prayer for everyone reading this to understand the importance of taking EVERY thought captive to make it obedient to Christ, and that our thoughts, hearts and tongues WILL bring forth God glorifying fruit, especially the restoration of our marriages!

This is the first time I’ve posted an entire article from Restoration Principles, which is in the private FAM Fellowship section of our website, but this is such an important principle, that I felt led to post it here for the benefit of everyone seeking the restoration of their marriages, in appreciation for your support of this ministry..

Here’s another AWESOME prayer of encouragement and hope from Sharon Kornegay! Sharon and other prayer warriors and intercessors affiliated with WIN, send out prayers by email daily and when I read this one today, I knew it would speak to many who are standing for marriage restoration, so I thank Sharon for her obedience to the Lord in her ministry and for allowing me to share her prayers with you. This particular prayer reminds me of Deuteronomy 31:6, which says Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.” And Deuteronomy 31:8, which says The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.” And Joshua 1:5, which says No one will be able to stand up against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you.

I am not forgotten, I am not forgotten, I am not forgotten, and God knows my name.
He knows my name…
As the song say’s, God knows my name.
We are thankful today dear Father that You know all about us.
There is nothing that is hidden from You.
Thank You for giving us strength over weaknesses, light over darkness, and joy over sadness.
Thanks for being a father to the fatherless, friend to friendless and hope over hopeless.
We can rest assured today that You have not forgotten about us.
We are indeed Your children. Thank You today for the blood of Jesus.
He has washed us and cleansed us from all unrighteousness.
We celebrate His life.
He is still alive today.
He is moving in our situations right now.
We bind today any and all forms of fear.
Your truth is our shield and buckler.
We shall not be afraid of the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flies by day; nor for the pestilence that walks in darkness; nor for the destruction that wastes at noonday.
We know that when we pass through the waters, You will be with us; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow us; When we walk through the fire, we shall not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon us.
We take authority over and rebuke fear in Jesus’ name. The Lord is our helper and we shall not fear!
We pray for our enemies.
We realize that we are saved from our enemies and the hands of all that hate us (Luke 1:71).
Although we walk in the midst of trouble, You shall hide us in Your pavilion: In the secret of Your tabernacle, You shall hide us; You shall set us up upon a rock.
And now shall our heads be lifted up above our enemies round about us: therefore, we will offer in Your tabernacle the sacrifice of joy; we will sing, yea, we will sing praises unto the Lord. And yes Lord, we will love our neighbors and our enemies amazingly in some instances, they are the same people (smile).
We pray today for those who need to be encouraged.
We know that You give power to the faint; and to them that have no might, You increase strength.
We thank You that we can, will and are doing all things today through Christ which gives us strength.
Thank You for ordering our conversations today.
We choose to put off anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, and filthy communication out of our mouths.
We know that a soft answer turns away wrath: but grievous words stirs up anger.
We pray Lord that You will set a watch before our mouths and keep the doors of our lips. You have told us that a man has joy by the answer of his mouth: and a word spoken in due season, how good is it!
Today, we declare that our speech will be with grace, seasoned with salt, that we may know how to answer every man.
Finally, we praise You today for wiping away every tear.
Thank You that no matter what anyone reading this e-mail may be experiencing that it is not hidden from You.
You are with us today. Your rod and staff comforts us.
You have told us that weeping may endure for a night but joy cometh in the morning.
We stand flat footed today and say, “Good Morning!” We continue to stand and pray for those serving in the military and in support of the war on terrorism. Father, we are praying that hearts will be mended and families will be strengthened.
We pray Your protection and guidance for those who are also stationed in various parts of the world. We pray for the peace of Jerusalem and also for world peace. We pray for our president and those who are leaders in our government. We pray for church officials and leaders of our families. Guide them Lord by Your Spirit. We pray for those who haven’t accepted Jesus to be saved. As we remember the cross of Calvary this week, we know that it wasn’t an easy task for Jesus to carry it. Nevertheless, He did it for us. He loved us so much. He came that we could have life and have it more abundantly.
We receive life today. In Jesus’ name. we pray, Amen

The following is today’s email prayer from Sharon Kornegay, who is the founder of the World Intercessor Network, and it really touched my heart, so I hope it will bless you too:

Good Day All,

I pray that each and every person that receives this e-mail today will know without a shadow of doubt that God has You on His mind. He loves You and wants You to know that He gave to You His Son Jesus Christ in order that You could experience total life prosperity.
I pray today that His love will begin to encompass Your very being and help You to experience His peace, Joy, hope, and favor in any and all situations that come your way.
Father, In the mighty name of Jesus Christ our loving Savior, we embrace Your love.
We thank You today that we have been forgiven of all sins and cleansed from all unrighteousness.
May we begin to experience Your love today.
Show us how to walk in love and display love toward others.
We invite Your presence to envelope us and show us a more excellent and great way to live a prosperous life.
We know that without Jesus we would fail.
Because of Jesus, we can have everlasting and abundant life.
We speak to any and all mountains in our life and command them to be removed and be cast into the midst of the sea in Jesus’ name.
We pray for our enemies and call them to be saved in order that they can have eternal life with Jesus Christ too.
We pray for the Body of Christ to begin to grow up in all areas of our lives and begin to conform to Your will for our lives.
We bind up any and all negative influence from the pit of hell and refuse to allow our lives to be in bondage to any form of sin.
We rebuke satan away from our lives and loose forth angels of protection to encamp round about us.
We are Your children and we are blessed.
We thank You that right where we stand today, the ground is holy.
We thank You for the blood of Jesus that saved us.
We have been redeemed from any and all manner of sicknesses and diseases.
By Jesus’ stripes we are healed and made whole.
We thank You that nothing is missing or broken in our lives.
We speak those things that are not as though they already are.
We have been bought with a price.
Thank You for granting to us Your peace that surpasses all of our understanding.
Thank You for covering every member of our families.
Thank You for watching over the troops and those who serve in the military.
Continue to surpass them about with Your great love. Watch over our president and those who are the decision making authorities.
In Jesus’ name, we declare that Your Word is being established here in the earth.
We thank You for favor that operates in our lives on a daily basis.
Favor, come now from the north, south, east and west and rest in our situations.
Thank You Jesus that our inheritances will not be stolen and You are giving back to us double for our troubles.
We declare peace in every situation that seems grim.
Jesus, we know that You are on our side.
Thank You that demons are bound right now in Jesus’ name.
We stand in victory! We put a praise on it!
Praise is comely and we shout unto You Dear God with a voice of triumph!
For our God is great and greatly to be praised!
Hallelujah!
Glory to God! Blessed Lord!
We glorify Your name!
We celebrate Jesus!
He is King of kings!
He is our mighty fortress!
He is our refuge!
He is our savior!
Father, we pray Psalm 91 over our lives today.
We also praise You that no weapon formed against us shall prosper today.
In Jesus’ mighty name we pray. Amen.

If you’re following our suggested plan for daily Bible reading, you should be reading Proverbs 3 today, and since it’s SO good I’ve decided to make it the topic for today’s post. So here’s a link to Proverbs 3 (NLT).

In this single chapter, God tells us how we can have a long and satisfying life, find favor with God and man, have a good reputation, get Him to direct our paths, gain renewed health and vitality, have our needs met with an overflowing abundance of the finest quality, have life with riches and honor, travel delightful paths, be satisfied, be happy, access God’s power, enjoy honor and respect, stay safe and avoid stumbling, rest without fear and enjoy pleasant dreams, have no fear of disaster or destruction, be secure in the Lord’s protection, avoid falling into a trap, enjoy the Lord’s friendship, receive the Lord’s blessing on our homes, be shown the Lord’s favor, inherit honor, and not be put to shame! Wow! I don’t know anyone who doesn’t want all of that, especially when we’re standing for the restoration of our marriages and all of this seems so unattainable in the midst of our current situations. God is NOT a liar, so there’s nothing better we can do than understand and apply the wisdom the Lord provides in this chapter.

I am firmly convinced that it is not possible to stand for the restoration of our marriages without first seeking and KNOWING God’s will, because that’s the only way we will ever have the strength and grace to do all it requires. As the Bible shows us over and over again, no matter what God calls us to do, HE ALWAYS provides EVERYTHING we need to do it. Many of the great men and women in the Bible felt totally unqualified or ill equipped for the work the Lord called them to…something we can ALL relate to! BUT…the rest of the story is that when they were obedient and trusted and relied on God to meet every need, doing what the Lord called them to do, they experienced miracles and blessings beyond anything they ever believed or imagined! Since the Bible tells us that God NEVER changes, we are assured that He will do the same thing for us!

One of the greatest obstacles to knowing God’s will is trying to make HIS will conform to ours, instead of the other way around, which we’re ALL guilty of at one time or another. But that’s a very dangerous stumbling block and pitfall, especially when we knowingly defy the word of God. God’s will is NEVER contrary to what His word, the Bible, teaches, so ANYTHING we’re doing that goes against the laws and principles found in the Bible can NOT be God’s will. One of the most unpleasant experiences in this ministry is when, in obedience to the Lord, I have to show a woman that what she wants or what she is doing is not in accordance with what the Bible teaches. It’s SO important to remember what 2 Timothy 4:3 tells us, which is For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. Sadly, we can always find preachers and teachers, or friends and other people we look to for spiritual guidance, who will tell us what we want to hear, but the only answer that matters, is what God says, and we can ALWAYS find that in His word, the Bible.

So, no matter what the question is, it’s very important to find at least one Bible verse revealing the Lord’s will about it, but it can’t be something taken out of context or given a meaning contrary to what the rest of the Bible teaches. Then, once the Lord speaks to us about something, we have His blessings and protection, and He will provide the grace and strength we need to stand on His word and promise to us. In the painful and difficult times when we have to face the reality that what we want is Not God’s will for our lives, we must believe and hold onto the Lord’s promise in Jeremiah 29:11 (AMP), which says For I know the thoughts and plans that I have for you, says the Lord, thoughts and plans for welfare and peace and not for evil, to give you hope in your final outcome. We will NEVER, NEVER regret choosing to do the Lord’s will over our own, but we are very likely to greatly regret it when we don’t. I have learned that lesson in my own life so powerfully that I can’t imagine ever going against what I know God’s will is again, and now I even welcome the times when I have to choose His will over mine, because I know it will result in an abundance of blessings and unexpected results. In fact, I’ve even experienced times when I submitted to God’s will over what I wanted, or didn’t want, only to have the outcome in the end be EXACTLY what I wanted! What an awesome God it is who will change the expected, and seemingly inevitable, outcome of a situation to give us the desires of our hearts JUST because we were obedient and trusted Him! That’s why I love Psalm 37:4-6 SO much, which promises 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.

Charles Stanley continued his series about the will of God on his TV broadcast today, in which he discusses what keeps us from knowing and doing God’s will, such as our own self will, listening to the wrong people, ignorance of God’s principles or deliberately ignoring them, doubting God’s will, being too busy to listen to Him, fear of doing God’s will, and sin in our lives. As usual, I encourage everyone to listen to it, especially if you’re having a difficult time knowing or understanding God’s will for your life or in a particular situation, which you can do at this link, The Will of God: The Hinderances – April 2, 2006.

When the Lord gives us a burden for ministry, a great deal of responsibility comes along with it, but none much more important than what Hosea 4:6 warns us against, which is allowing God’s people to perish for lack of knowledge. That’s probably why one of the most frustrating things for anyone in ministry is the feeling of inadequacy when it comes to helping people understand the spiritual laws and principles of God so they won’t suffer the consequences we know that lack of knowledge inevitably brings.

So I was thrilled this past week to hear a powerful message from Creflo Dollar about a VERY important spiritual law that all Christians need to understand, especially when we’re standing for a miracle like the restoration of our marriages, and that’s the power of the words we speak and think.

I had planned to write about this earlier in the week, but the Lord kept bringing up other topics, so I’m glad to finally get to it today. The timing ended up being especially good, and SO much like God, because earlier today I had a long conversation with one of the FAM members about Job and why God allowed Satan to bring so much destruction into his life, which this definitely ties into, as well as a conversation I had with another member last night about things that can keep us from receiving miracles from God.

The only way to find the answers we’re looking for is to read the Bible and while reading Job this morning, I found something I never noticed before, which I believe explains why God removed His hand of protection from Job’s life. This could easily be the topic for another book, so I’ll just share the verse I believe holds the answer, which is Job 3:25. It says What I feared has come upon me; what I dreaded has happened to me. Those words speak volumes, because they reveal Job’s lack of faith in the Lord, which we know displeases Him, as so many Bible verses tell us. Isaiah 41:10 specifically says So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. I believe God’s reply to Job confirms his lack of faith and trust in God, because He admonishes Job for failure to recognize and acknowledge His omnipotent power and control of EVERYTHING, as you can see by reading Job 38. Then after Job repented and acknowledged what the Lord revealed to him, the Lord blessed him and restored everything he had lost and then some! God’s word is SO AWESOME, and we can learn so much about Him when we take the time to study it!

At the risk of sounding so much like a broken record, I STRONGLY encourage everyone to watch Creflo Dollar’s message from 3/28/2006 at this link, Working the Kingdom
of God System
(Part 2), by clicking on “ASX_Files/March_28_2006_-_Working_The_Kingdom_Of_God_System_Part_2_VOD_100k.asx”. This is a principle I haven’t perfected yet, but I’m really working on it, because I know the power it has to determine the course of my life, and I’m just thankful to finally understand it!

Anyone standing for marriage restoration and prone to discouragement and feeling sorry for themselves, especially when adultery is involved, should readIsaiah 61:7 (AMP), which is one of my favorites because it says Instead of your [former] shame you shall have a twofold recompense; instead of dishonor and reproach [your people] shall rejoice in their portion. Therefore in their land they shall possess double [what they had forfeited]; everlasting joy shall be theirs. And it’s important to note that “in their land” means that we will have this here and now and that it is not something we have to wait until we get to heaven to experience. How sad it is that there are so many Christians walking around with sad faces and despairing attitudes, which certainly does NOTHING to glorify the Lord! It reminds me of the testimony posted by one of our FAM members who had a friend tell her that her rotten attitude certainly didn’t make her want to be a Christian; that it was in fact more likely to keep her from ever considering it. Thank God that was enough to get her attention and make her realize what a terrible witness she was being for the Lord! People are watching us and when we don’t live our lives in a way that gives them a reason to want to be a Christian, we are doing the devil’s work and not the Lords, so when you get discouraged, please read the whole chapter of Isaiah 61 (AMP), and believe these awesome promises from God. He’s not a liar and if you don’t believe the Lord WILL do what He promises in these verses, you are in effect calling Him a liar, because you are CHOOSING to believe the report from Satan over the word of God! Remember that you are the only Jesus some of the people in your life will ever meet, so make every effort to give Him a good reputation. This is especially important for all mothers and fathers; your children are watching you as you go through this trial in your life and they are especially watching to see if what they see you do matches up with what they hear you say and deciding whether or not they want to be a Christian. So I hope and pray with all my heart that your life gives glory to Jesus Christ so that your children and your spouses will not consider any other option than making Him their Lord and Savior! There is no greater fruit than that, so for their sake, do WHATEVER it takes to insure that your walk matches your talk and glorifies the Lord!

Another encouraging passage of scripture when the devil tempts us with discouragement is Joel 2:25-27, which says:
25 “I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten — the great locust and the young locust, the other locusts and the locust swarm — my great army that I sent among you.
26 You will have plenty to eat, until you are full, and you will praise the name of the LORD your God, who has worked wonders for you; never again will my people be shamed.
27 Then you will know that I am in Israel, that I am the LORD your God, and that there is no other; never again will my people be shamed.
This is a tough passage for some Christians to digest, because they mistakenly believe that the Lord never causes anything bad to happen in our lives, but that’s wishful thinking and not in accordance with what the Bible tells us. For instance, verse 13 says Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the LORD your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity. God does allow calamity, and He even sends it to get our attention when we are not living our lives for the Lord’s honor, praise and glory, for which we were created, and called to do when we made Jesus our Lord and Savior. Jesus didn’t die just to give us fire insurance, but that’s how many Christians live their lives, and God CAN NOT allow that to continue without dealing with it. So read the whole chapter of Joel 2, and you will see that God uses whatever it takes to make us get our hearts and lives right with Him so that we will praise Him and give Him the glory He demands. Remember, the very first commandment was that we put NO other god’s before Him, which includes our husbands, wives, children, marriages, jobs or anything else., and He is described as a “jealous” god in many verses, such as Exodus 34:14, which says Do not worship any other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God. However, the GREAT news is that when we repent and turn our hearts and lives back to the Lord, He will give us at least double what we lost as we saw by reading the whole chapter of Joel 2, and in Hosea 2.

We could all save ourselves so much pain and disappointment if we’d just learn to be obedient to the Lord’s will in the first place, because when we don’t listen to Him and live in accordance with what His word teaches us, He WILL get our attention by whatever means it takes. The sad news is that many of us are where we are in our marriages today because of our failure to know, understand, and live in accordance with what the Bible teaches us about our roles as husbands and wives. I can’t tell you how many times I hear “I just didn’t know…”, which I myself have said, but that does not change the outcome in our lives and the consequences we now have to deal with. That alone should be enough to convince us how important it is to find out what God expects of us, and then to do it simply for the sake of obedience to Him. And the ONLY way to do that is to seriously study His word, the Bible, which is His Owners’ Manual to us, His creation, and His love letter to us, His Beloved!. And when we do, we will better understand and know how to receive the fruit of discipline and the promise of reward found there!

With every passing day in this ministry, the Lord reveals one of my greatest flaws, which I must confess is impatience. That’s interesting, because I used to think I was pretty patient, with a few exceptions, like waiting for something I wanted. But I used to think I was patient with other people. In fact, I thought I was a LOT more patient than most! What a prideful attitude that was! When we spend quality time with the Lord, He has a way of revealing our faults and shortcomings and humbling us, so that’s something I’ve got to work on!

The reason for sharing that today is to try to express a sincere sense of frustration and helplessness often experienced as I minister to women standing for marriage restoration. While I’ve seen the Lord perform some amazing miracles, the issue we all seem to struggle with the most is the one that’s the most important, and that’s getting control of our thoughts. There’s no point in doing anything toward the restoration of our marriages until we realize that marriage restoration, the salvation of our husbands and children, healing or anything else we want begins with understanding and employing the miraculous power of “kingdom” thinking. It’s really sad to realize that most of us know a lot more about the physical laws of nature than we do about the spiritual laws of God. And just as surely as the physical laws of nature have to be observed for certain results, and when they are not, deadly and disastrous results may occur, so it is with the laws of God. Most of the women I talk to would tell you how I often tell them I wish I could put my knowledge and understanding in their heads and hearts, but I can’t, and if they don’t want what they profess to want enough to do what it takes to understand the spiritual laws of God, which is what I mean by “kingdom thinking”, there is little I can do to help them.

We’ve all heard that old saying “God helps those who help themselves”, and while that’s not really in the Bible as some believe, there is a lot in the Bible that could be translated to mean that. For instance, Deuteronomy 4:29 says But if from there you seek the LORD your God, you will find him if you look for him with all your heart and with all your soul. When we lose something, we turn everything upside-down looking for it. Or when we want to buy something in particular, we’ll go from one place to another trying to find just what we’re looking for, but how much time are we willing to spend to find out what the Lord has to give us in His word through understanding His law and the power of His kingdom? If we don’t seek Him and the instruction and promises He gave us in His word, The Bible, we are NOT going to “find” Him. God has shown me on a much smaller scale how He must feel. He gives us everything we need to know in His word, but we won’t even take the time to find out what He wants to tell us, even though it’s ALL for our benefit. In the same way, so many of the women who call don’t take the time to read the information posted on the website and often ask about topics covered in great detail, which I often devoted considerable time and study to address on their behalf; but for what purpose if they won’t even read it. It’s a very good thing for ALL of us that God’s nature is so much more forgiving, loving and patient than mine! And it’s a good thing that God doesn’t devote only as much time working on our behalf and thinking about us as we spend thinking about Him, or trying to know and understand Him and His laws better!

Now, the REAL point of this post is to encourage, and even admonish, men and women who are standing for marriage restoration to get serious about it and start using the tools available to help understand the awesome power of kingdom thinking. In addition to reading our Bibles and taking advantage of the information provided on websites like the FAM sites, there are many anointed teachers on the radio and TV, and many good topical books available; but we’ve got to make the effort to listen to them and to read them in order to learn from them.

We need to understand that unless we demonstrate to the Lord that He can trust us with something so little, such as devoting time to learning and understanding His laws by reading and studying the Bible, and by listening to and reading books by His anointed teachers and preachers to better understand His word, He’s not going to trust us with anything more. If you doubt that, just read the parable of the talents (equivalent to $1000.00) in Matthew 25:14-30. And please don’t forget that the Lord tells us in Matthew 6:33 (KJV) But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

I received this in an email from one of the FAM members yesterday, but don’t know who the original author is. However, I doubt she will mind if I share her story here, since it was meant to illustrate such an important principle of faith, and something every woman standing for marriage restoration knows ALL about!

Once upon a time there was a bunch of tiny frogs… who arranged a running competition. The goal was to reach the top of a very high tower. A big crowd had gathered around the tower to see the race and cheer on the contestants…. The race began…. Honestly,no one in the crowd really believed that the tiny frogs would reach the top of the tower. You heard statements such as: “Oh, WAY too difficult!!”,
“They will NEVER make it to the top.” Or “Not a chance that they will succeed. The tower is too high!” The tiny frogs began collapsing. One by one…. Except for those, who in a fresh tempo, were climbing higher and higher…. The crowd continued to yell, “It is too difficult!!! No one will make it!” More tiny frogs got tired and gave up…. But ONE continued higher and higher and higher…. This one wouldn’t give up! At the end everyone else had given up climbing the tower. Except for the one tiny frog who, after a big effort, was the only one who reached the top! THEN all of the other tiny frogs naturally wanted to know how this one frog managed to do it? A contestant asked the tiny frog how he had found the strength to succeed and reach the goal? It turned out that the winner was DEAF!!!!

The wisdom of this story is:
Never listen to other people’s tendencies to be negative or pessimistic….because they take your most wonderful dreams and wishes away from you — the ones you have in your heart!
Always think of the power words have. Because everything you hear and read will affect your actions!
Therefore, ALWAYS be….POSITIVE!
And above all, Be DEAF when people tell YOU that you cannot fulfill your dreams!
Always think, God and I can do this!

What a cute little story illustrating how easily we can be discouraged by listening to those around us, when instead we need to be listening ONLY to the word of God wich tells us in Matthew 19:26 Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

While I’ve often heard the terms “pressing in” and “pressing on” used to mean don’t, give up, this morning was the first time I searched the Bible to see what it says about it, and what I found was very interesting.

First, it was interesting to note that all of the terms like ”pressing hard”, “pressed all day”, “pressed” and presses” ALWAYS produced something good or a definite result. For instance, olives were pressed to produce oil to light the lamps, grapes were pressed to make wine, figs were pressed and used for sustenance, numerous battles were won by pressing on, and the woman with the issue of blood was healed when she pressed through the crowds to touch the hem of Jesus’ garment.

Some of the most encouraging references about pressing are in Philippians 3, as the whole chapter encourages us to press on to victory in Christ!

The following verses are some of my favorites, and best illustrate why we have to press on to victory, no matter what obstacles we face in the natural realm, if we want our marriages to be restored.

Philippians 3:14
I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
That tells us that we have to press on toward the goal to win, and it is in the strength of Christ that we press on, knowing that our stand for marriage restoration is in accordance with His call on our lives.

Leviticus 24:2
“Command the Israelites to bring you clear oil of pressed olives for the light so that the lamps may be kept burning continually.
That says that we have to press on and stand CONTINUALLY, which doesn’t mean some times we do and some times we don’t.

2 Samuel 11:25
David told the messenger, “Say this to Joab: ‘Don’t let this upset you; the sword devours one as well as another. Press the attack against the city and destroy it.’ Say this to encourage Joab.”
This reminds us that either side can win in the spiritual battle now being waged against our marriages, so it’s important not to be upset by the circumstances and to press on to destroy every weapon Satan is using against us and our marriages.

Hosea 6:3
Let us acknowledge the LORD; let us press on to acknowledge him. As surely as the sun rises, he will appear; he will come to us like the winter rains, like the spring rains that water the earth.”
How awesome this verse is! ALL we have to do is acknowledge the Lord and His power and might. Even when the circumstances arise to discourage us, we have to keep our eyes on Him and know ABSOLUTELY that He will show up and refresh us and meet our needs!

Luke 6:38
Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”
I’ve always thought of this only in terms of tithes, but when I read it this morning, it took on a whole new meaning, as the Lord showed me that this also applies to the measure of faith we use and the measure we use to press on. If you ever need a reason to press on to victory, this should do it!

Yesterday, Joyce Meyer started an awesome series on her TV broadcast about pressing in to a new beginning, which you can watch here Pressing In to a New Beginning. Joyce feels so strongly that this is one of her best series that she’s making it available for any size donation, so I’d encourage you to take the time to check it out. It’s been VERY good so far and she makes some very good points that can help anyone standing for marriage restoration.