God Calls Divorce Violence

God Calls Divorce Violence

To believers on Divorce and Remarriage;

We have to do more than teach the "rules." We have to show the reason Christ told us not to divorce and remarry, the first reason is that He said not to, and the second reason is what happens when we reject God's ways, the consequences, are staggering for the family and for the society.

When Christ declares a matter in His Word, then we need to trust Him. He knows the consequences of unforgiveness, brutality and revenge.

Malachi 2:16 "For the LORD, the God of Israel, saith that he hateth putting away: for one covereth violence with his garment, saith the LORD of hosts: therefore take heed to your spirit, that ye deal not treacherously."

There is always a deep element of anger and unforgiveness in the act of divorce. There is also an element of revenge in the heart of one who remarries after divorce. We can always point to severe cases of abuse and try to justify divorce, however, most cases are not abuse, but rather two people who refuse to compromise their rights for the sake of another.

One person cannot fight all by themselves, it takes two to make a fight. When one party refuses to fight back, relinquishing their rights for the sake of peace in the house, most things could be resolved quickly.

I used to hear the excuse that it is better to divorce than to fight all the time. My answer would always be, "why don't YOU stop fighting." We have been so trained in our culture to "fight for our freedoms", that the mentality used to justify war for national freedom, unfortunately slops over into nearly every other area of our lives.

Our children have learned to defy authority when they see a good reason, even if they don't have all the wisdom and facts to make such a judgement. It is about what I want, much more than what is good for everyone.

God has provided many verses to guide us on the subject of divorce and remarriage.
If we are determined to obey God no matter what, then we will experience power to do what we should do and the blessing of a clear conscience, even greater than that is the reward we will see when we reach our eternal home.

Everything we do is an example for our children. There is an old saying, "more is caught than taught." I have seen this many times, even the children who fight with their parents, as though they hate them, will in many cases be just like the parent they disrespect.

Mark 10:2-12
"2 And the Pharisees came to him, and asked him, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife? tempting him.
3 And he answered and said unto them, What did Moses command you?
4 And they said, Moses suffered to write a bill of divorcement, and to put her away.
5 And Jesus answered and said unto them, For the hardness of your heart he wrote you this precept.
6 But from the beginning of the creation God made them male and female.
7 For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and cleave to his wife;
8 And they twain shall be one flesh: so then they are no more twain, but one flesh.
9 What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.
10 And in the house his disciples asked him again of the same matter.
11 And he saith unto them, Whosoever shall put away his wife, and marry another, committeth adultery against her.
12 And if a woman shall put away her husband, and be married to another, she committeth adultery."

Luke 16:18
"18 “Everyone who [a]divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery, and he who marries one who is [b]divorced from a husband commits adultery."

1 Corinthians 7:39
"39 A wife is bound as long as her husband lives; but if her husband [a]is dead, she is free to be married to whom she wishes, only in the Lord."

Ephesians 5:33
"33 Nevertheless, each individual among you also is to love his own wife even as himself, and the wife must see to it that she [a]respects her husband."

Matthew 19:6-7
"6 So they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate.” 7 They *said to Him, “Why then did Moses command to give her a certificate of divorce and send her away?”

Romans 7:2-3
"2 For the married woman is bound by law to her [a]husband while he is living; but if her husband dies, she is released from the law [b]concerning the husband. 3 So then, if while her husband is living she is joined to another man, she shall be called an adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is free from the law, so that she is not an adulteress though she is joined to another man."

To summarize divorce and remarriage God says;

We are not to divorce for any reason.
We are not to remarry unless a spouse is dead.
We commit adultery if we remarry while we have a living spouse.
Divorce is a violent act against a spouse.

There is no provision for divorce because of adultery, the passage that is always sited as a reason for divorce in Matthew, "except for fornication", is misunderstood by most preachers. They have been taught in seminary that there is an exception for divorce but it is only because they have not been taught correctly.

The passage in Matthew that says except for fornication was written to the Jews who had a custom of requiring a certificate of divorcement from a betrothal or what we call an engagement. Notice that that same clause is not mentioned in the other gospels, but only in Matthew.

In Matthew 1:19 Joseph is referred to as Mary's husband even though they were not formally living together and no ceremony had been performed yet.

"19 And Joseph her husband, being a righteous man and not wanting to disgrace her, planned to send her away secretly."

Joseph thought Mary had been unfaithful to their engagement, so he, being a kind man didn't want her to be stoned, was going to quietly put her away from him. After he realized that it was from the Lord that she became pregnant, he then married her after all.

The Jews had the custom of referring to the betrothed couple as husband and wife before the marriage.

We can twist the Bible every which way to say what we want it to, if we are determined to sin against God.

God allowed for walking away from an engagement if there was unfaithfulness before the marriage. But He did not allow for human beings to dissolve the union of two people who have been made one by God. A spiritual glue has been applied when God makes two people one, and no piece of paper by the law of a land, can dissolve that glue.

Any discussion on this arguing for the exception clause will be deleted. The answer has been given on this matter, there is no need for argument. If someone disagrees, then take it to the Lord, not here.

Inside Out or Outside Only?

Inside Out or Outside Only?

Often our Christianity is a form of "verbalism", it is based on what we say rather who Christ made us or what we are committed to.

I see this more times than I can count, people who will agree with all the principles of Christ, but their life experience shows that they are merely making a mental ascent, the power of God is not in their life.

Recently I have encountered, several times, those who say what they want to believe, rather than what is real. They don't like to think negatively so they believe the best about everything they see, even making up evidence that does not exist to maintain a "happy story."

If we cannot handle the truth, so much so that we must tell a lie to feel better about a matter, then we are of no use to our brothers and sisters. We must tell the truth and allow God to do His work.

Are we so fragile that we can only see life through rose colored glasses in order to feel happy?

My joy never leaves me, grief does come often when facing this world and all the deceptions of the devil, that are ruining the lives of many . My grief over what I see does not remove my joy, nor does it take away my faith.

Honesty in all things, makes us stronger and more discerning. Those who wear rose colored glasses cannot be discerning, everything they see will be interpreted in terms of how they want to feel.

1 Thessalonians 5:21-22

"21 Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.

22 Abstain from all appearance of evil."

Our culture has brain washed us into thinking we cannot have joy if we are sad, so we frame everything in terms of personal happiness rather than truth.

2 Peter 1:3

"3 seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence."

When we cannot see things in truth, we make unbiblical and even damaging decisions to protect our emotional high.

Ephesians 4:14

"14 As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming;"

Our culture is becoming more and more committed to personal happiness and fulfillment above the principles of God. It is easier to do what makes us happy, than it is to do that which brings difficulty, but obeys God.

In an attempt to maintain our superficial facade, we quench any discussion on the principles of Christ, even accusing the brethren of things to silence them, if their delivery or message is not pleasing to us.

1 John 4:1

"4 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world."

Evaluating things is a big part of the believer life, everything must be filtered through the Bible, prayed over and hearing the Holy Spirit for the truth.

God's Blessing!

God's Blessing!

Numbers 6:24-26
24 “The Lord bless you and keep you;
25 The Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
26 The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.”’

I was reflecting upon this verse today, pondering it's deeper meaning. The verse is clearly showing that the Lord is the one working in us giving us what we need.

"Lord lift up HIS countenance upon you, giving you peace."

If we are to be cleansed and changed it will only be through the power of Christ in us, anything we attempt on our own is fleshly and will fall short of God's true change, a change deeply transformed by Him in our spirit.

As our spirit is changed, then too will our mind follow after.

Romans 8:28
"28 And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose."

Again in the Romans verse we see that God works things in us as well as in the world. He will not work in those who resist Him, but He will work mightily in those who want to be changed by Him.

Jeremiah 33:3 "'Call to Me and I will answer you, and I will tell you great and mighty things, which you do not know.'"

James 4:3
“When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures”

Isaiah 59:1-2
“Surely the arm of the Lord is not too short to save, nor His ear too dull to hear. But your iniquities (sins) have separated you from God; your sins have hidden his face from you so that He will not hear."

Hebrews 13:20-22
"20 Now the God of peace, who brought up from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the eternal covenant, even Jesus our Lord, 21 equip you in every good thing to do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen."

He brought us up from the dead, He created the eternal covenant with us through His blood, He is working in us and He gets all the glory.

Ephesians 2:8-10
"8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9 not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them."

We are not saved by our works, nor are we kept by our works! We are saved by grace and kept by His grace.

Hallelujah!

We Are Not Alone, What We See Really Is Happening

Don't be discouraged when in company of people who claim to be believers, show little Christ like love for one another. This is the state of the apostate church. Matthew 7:21-23

As a believer, have you wondered why you are ignored or tolerated in the company of others, whether in the church or among family members?

It is because the self indulgence of this culture does not allow room for others, unless those others enhance their personal experience.

Do not worry when those who are in your presence show little or no interest in the things you have to say or what you are doing in your life, this is normal for our society. It does not mean that you have nothing to offer, it only means that everyone, as a whole, is focused on the enhancement of their own life experience.

2 Timothy 3:1-5
"1 But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come.
2 For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy,
3 unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, 4 treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,
5 holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; Avoid such men as these."

I have encountered many believers in our day who will say the right thing when asked or prompted to respond, but have little desire to speak of the Lord unless induced. I have to believe, that a person who has to be induced or prompted, is walking superficially, really has little or no interest in the things of the Lord, but responds in a way that they think will please the one who introduces the subjects of Christ and His principles.

I am convinced that many believers have been drawn to facebook and other social media for two reasons, one is to bring the gospel to the lost and the other is to connect with other believers who are feeling the dearth of fellowship and acceptance.

As believers we know what real love looks like, we feel a sense of the absence of it, but because it is so rare, we tend to question whether or not we are not seeing things correctly.

2 Timothy 3 helps us to remember that we are living in the times that are described there, we are not seeing things incorrectly, we are just having a hard time believing we are actually living in the times described there.

May the Lord comfort each one who seeks the Lord with His words. Yes love is rare, yes true Christianity is rare and yes we are not alone, there are others who are seeing what we see!

Wanting To Be Changed By Christ Brings Growth

How do we become born again?

I am born again because when I realized I was a desperately wicked person on my way to hell, I began to become ashamed of myself. I asked the Lord to save me, however as a new believer I learned later, through the reading of God's Word and asking God to show me things in it, that He had to do the changing in me.

As time went on I also realized that all my efforts to change myself were as water running through a sieve, I became frustrated at myself. It was during all this that the Lord showed me the futility of trying to effect my own change, and He made it clear that I must pray and ask, only then would change me.

My heart became joyful, if became easier and easier to confess, because I knew the more I confessed the more I would grow. What a blessing it was when I realized that Christ does all the work in me. I don't do and say the things I used to when I was a new believer, He still works in me on other things that need to fall off.

Psalm 51:10
"Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me."

Luke 6:45
"45 The good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth what is good; and the evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth what is evil; for his mouth speaks from that which fills his heart."

Hebrews 10:22
"let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water."

Our spiritual growth will be in direct proportions to how much time we spend in the Word while seeking God's heart for truth.

May people read the Bible every day, some even teach their children, but if they do not do so asking for wisdom and desiring to be changed, they will not progress past infancy in their walk.

Our walk is not about knowing what the truth is, it is about knowing and being changed continually.....growing through it.




1 Corinthians 8:1
"Now concerning things sacrificed to idols, we know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge makes arrogant, but love edifies."

There Is No Formula or Mantra For Prayer

Christ gave us one model for prayer to teach us how to pray, only one and it was not complicated. Here it is: Matthew 6:9-13
"9 “Pray, then, in this way:

"‘Our Father who is in heaven,
Hallowed be Your name.
10 ‘Your kingdom come.
Your will be done,
On earth as it is in heaven.
11 ‘Give us this day our daily bread.
12 ‘And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 ‘And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. [For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.’"

God never intended for us to have a mantra or formula to pray. If we put into practice the elements He gave us in Matthew 6, then we will have Holy Spirit led variety in our words with passion in our hearts, nothing else is needed.

Changed from the inside out!

Changed from the inside out!

Often we hear the phrase "so and so converted to Christianity." This is an inaccurate phrase, in terms of true Christianity, many can convert to Christianity without becoming born again. In fact this is the state of our apostate church today.

When we become born again, Christ transforms us into a new creation, we are no longer the old and will never return to it......it is done away with entirely.

2 Corinthians 5:17 "Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come."

We no longer think as we used to think. What used to be attractive to us before becomes ugly and unappealing to us. The things that used to embarrass us, such as righteousness and holiness, become desirable to us.

Our thoughts continually gravitate toward the Lord throughout the day. When a dilemma or situation arises we are compelled to ask the Lord about it. When we have had a blessing of any kind our senses thank Him for it.

Being Christians is not a club or church we join, it is a state of being brought on by the Lord in response to our desire to be free of our sin and pleasing to Him. He changes our spirit, something no man can do for himself.

The gratefulness we feel because of what He did for us leads us to want to obey His principles. When we disobey them, we are grieved and must confess them quickly to restore the lost fellowship with Him.

When will those who are pretenders realize that becoming born again is not a club we join or lifestyle we embrace? Being born again is something Christ does to us that completely changes us from the inside out.