I was listening to my husband and a friend talk about praying for the salvation of family members and how example is just as important as prayer. John was talking about his dad and how he wasn't sure if he would ever accept Christ.
It got me thinking about the choices we make, and how even if we don't see it, affects those who are in our lives and those who pass through our sphere of life.
Anyone who knows me knows the history of my marriage with John. In the 11 years we have been together, there were times I wanted to walk away. Times I came close to doing so. The main reason I did not just walk away and end the marriage was because I knew that was not what the Lord wanted me to do. He pointed out to me numerous times He hates divorce.
That is not to say He will not forgive us if we make that choice, but it is not God's perfect will for our lives and it is disobedience to divorce. And before anyone uses the whole, "but what about in cases of abuse, or adultery?"
If you are in an abusive marriage, remove yourself from that situation. The word of God does say, "A wife is not to depart from her husband. But even if she does depart, let her remain unmarried or be reconciled to her husband. And a husband is not to divorce his wife." 1 Corinthians 7:10-12
The condition of a reconciliation in the case of abuse or ongoing habits or adultery is proof that there has been true repentance and outside counseling help before reconciliation is even considered. At least six months to a year...at least. In some cases separation could be longer. If the offending spouse refuses to get help and does not want to remain in the marriage under those conditions, then you are free, biblical speaking, to walk away from that marriage.
Adultery is really the ONLY biblical ground to divorce a spouse. Adultery does not just mean the other person has actually physically had sexual relations with another person. Adultery is unfaithfulness. A spouse can be unfaithful long before they actually do the deed. However, again, divorce is not God's will even in adultery. He can and will heal any break in a relationship and like it or not we do have to forgive the offending person, whether you stay in the marriage or not.
If that were not the case He would not have given us the example in the book of Hosea. Check it out sometime. It's about God telling Hosea to take a wife who is a harlot( biblical term here). Throughout the book the wife leaves more than once, commits adultery and God tells Hosea to take her back each time. Giving us also a picture of how merciful He is to us when we are unfaithful to the Lord, seeking and serving idols. He draws us back to himself, loving and forgiving us.
Anyway, I said all that to get to this. There was a point in our marriage I had to leave, for my own sanity and to get out of the Lord's way so He could deal with my husband. And although it would have been a lot easier to just end the marriage and move on, a part deep inside me still believed the Lord was going to deliver my husband and some day we would be able to work on having the kind of marriage God wants us to have. (No... we're not there yet but things are headed in the right direction.)
Without going into the dirty details, when I left my husband in California and moved to Michigan I had talked to my father-in-law and told him what had been going on. I also told him I had no intention of filing for divorce because I was choosing to believe someday God would intervene.
Needless to say I got a lot of "why are you staying married to him for?" And to be honest here, I can't and won't take any credit for standing firm because there were many times when I literally argued this point with the Lord. There were times when I threw up my hands and my heart just said..."nope, no way, I am not doing this anymore, I'm done!!" Although I never spoke those words out to anyone but the Lord.
Every time I would get to this point and want to argue my side with God, He was very quick to lovingly point out He hates divorce and to ignore that again would be outright disobedience and rebellion. Didn't matter what I thought, what I felt or what I tried to convince myself to believe. God is God and He means what He says. Therefore I can release what I want or think over to Him and trust him at His word, or I can do my own thing and probably not like the outcome in the long run.
My Father-in-law came to visit us for Christmas a couple of years ago. He spent a couple of weeks with us, at which time he attended church with us. During his visit he accepted Christ. It was awesome because it was my husband's biggest fear, that his dad would die before being eternally secure.
During the visit and various other times, we had talked about things that happened in the past, and how he and his girlfriend were surprised that I stayed in the marriage, and again not that I am taking any credit for it, but most women would have walked away a long time ago. That had impressed them in a way.
I really believe the year and a half that we were separated, my desire to do things God's way and not my own, coupled with his seeing his son finally start to change in a positive manner, served as a living example of the power and mercy of God. Which in turn lead him to realize God is alive, He is there and He loves us.
So even if you think no one is really paying attention to your choices, that they really only affect you, or you feel like giving up just because you can't take anymore, remember two things.
1. God is who He says He is and will pull you through ANYTHING if you surrender to Him.
2. You never know how your choices when obeying and walking with the Lord will affect someone else eternally!
I have pirated a couple of pictures from Sarah's site of my little grandson Kellen. I put the most recent one as the desktop picture and everytime I see it I just want to kiss his little face. From day one he has been my "little Kissy face boy". Although when he gets older he may not appreciate that nickname:-) He is so darn cute! I suppose all grandparents feel that way about their grandbabies, but I really think Kellen is extra special :-)
His whole arrival into our family was a miracle, and because I do believe he is a heritage from the Lord for Matt and Sarah, I think the Lord has big plans for him.
The very first time I held him when they brought him home, I remember silently praying, "Lord bless this little guy, that he grows up to be an awesome man of God someday and has great impact for the kingdom of God."
If you read my first post about him and the kid's long journey in his adoption, you know that last year before his arrival was very emotionally difficult for Sarah and Matt. With so many disappointments, being taken advantage of and trials in faith, Kellen truly was and is a miracle.
I believe all babies are miracles, the whole pregnancy and birth process is in and of itself a miracle from God. And each child is a blessing. Too many people today don't think about that or even believe it. If they did there would not be such a thing as abortion or child abuse.
The whole process has been a walk in faith. Honestly I do not know how anyone could make it through what the kids have gone through without a relationship with Christ and faith that the Lord was with them through it.
Sarah and I have both started doing a nine week bible study by Beth Moore called "Believing God". It's amazing and really gets to the point of are you going to really trust and believe God or not? Sarah said Matt has begun the study also. It all boils down to this: Do you believe God, not just believe in Him but believe HIM? Do you believe He is who He says He is? Or do you believe what the world says about Him?
I have always believed God, although that is not to say there were not times when I have doubted, but my times of doubt in no way affected the fact that God is who He says He is and can do what He says he can. This bible study has impacted me mostly in the area of disipline.
Getting into the word every single day for a least and hour or two. Learning the scriptures that back up what I already believe. Learning the original greek and hebrew words behind the translastions. It's been really cool and I am only one week two, day two.
I wish there was a way to get through to every believe just how vitally important it is to mediate and study the word of God daily. Not just reading it but really digging in and studying what God has given us in His word. It is our sword ya know! How can you even being to win a battle without one of your greatest weapons??? And how can you even begin to have the kind of faith you need without the word? "Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the WORD". Romans 10:17
The journey of Kellen's adoption is not quite final yet, but I know the Lord brought this child into our lives for a purpose, and I do not believe He will allow anyone to take that blessing away. I believe (know, have no doubts, trust) God!
There are a lot of people who say they believe "in" God or that they believe there "is" a God. But how many who say they believe in God actually believe God is who He says He is? Seriously..Think about it.
God says He is the ONLY God..Who has been from the very beginning. There is no other God or gods but Him. "I AM God and there is no other, I AM God and there is none like me" Isaiah 46.9
Apparently He wants us to get and understand this fact as it's repeated twice in the same verse. Even Pharaoh got this, of course it took a whole lot of plagues happening, but in the end he admitted the God of Moses is God.
God says He created all things, before Him there was nothing! No earth, no plants no animals, and no human beings. He created everything! Genesis 1 & 2
He holds everything in His power, even the winds and the waves obey his every command. Matthew 8:26-28 Luke 8:24-26 Job 38:10-12
I guess the real question is do you believe in God...I AM...YHVH-the Hebrew word that translates as "LORD". Found more often in the Old Testament than any other name for God (approximately 7,000 times), the title is also referred to as the "Tetragrammaton," meaning the "The Four Letters".
YHVH comes from the Hebrew verb "to be" and is the special name that God revealed to Moses at the burning bush. "And God said to Moses, 'I AM WHO I AM; and He said, thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, I AM has sent me to you... this is My eternal name, and this is how I am to be recalled for all generations'" (Exodus 3:14-15). Therefore, YHVH declares God's absolute being - the source of everything, without beginning and without end.
Now if you believe God is who He says He is, why is there any reason to not trust Him and take Him at His word? Is it really that difficult to believe nothing is impossible for Him? When He says He loves us and wants a relationship with each one of us, is it really that hard to believe and accept? I mean He created each person for His purpose..and that purpose is to have an intimate and loving relationship with Him.
It is no different...OK well a little different but not in principle...how those of us who are parents feel about our children. We created them...sort of...and we love them! We would do anything for our children and want for them to love us and have a relationship with us. Imagine having a child that refuses to not only have any kind of relationship with you but refuses to even believe you exist!!
That is how most people treat YHVH (the LORD). Talk about ungrateful children!
I have always had faith and believed God is who He says He is because I have had a personal relationship with Him for very long time now. I have seen Him do and bring about some amazing, even miraculous things in my life and the lives of those around me. My grandson is just one of many examples.
I have learned over the years to pray about everything..and I mean everything! God cares about even the smallest details of our lives! Just recently my husband could not find his glasses, we literally looked everywhere we could think to look. My first response to him was "did you pray about it and ask the Lord to help you find them?" So I did just that. I was sitting at the computer and dropped something, I reached down to pick it up and there where his glasses, right at my feet. I was amazed that no one had stepped on them. He was amazed when I set them on the counter and asked him if he wanted his glasses back.
Later that evening I went to check my cell phone. Which was also an answer to prayer. I had been praying for a few months for a cell phone, knowing we could not afford to spend the money on one, but knowing if the good Lord wanted me to have one He would provide it. And He did just that. My daughter bought a new Droid because her old phone died and with their program they can purchase a new phone every two years at a discounted rate. Anyway, with the promotion going on if you buy one you get one free. The condition on the free one though is you have to get another completely different phone line. So her hubby got a new phone, added a new number for himself and gave me his old phone with his old number on their plan.
Anyway, that evening I picked it up to check it, I had shown a friend a video I had taken the night before in the morning. The phone was completely dead..it would not go on. I plugged it into the charger and nothing. It did not register it was charging. My husband checked it over and could not figure it out either. At first I thought maybe it had done what my daughters had one..simply "gone to sleep" as the sales person called it. Which would mean it was basically gone.
So that night when I went to bed I talked to the Lord about it. I have been doing this awesome nine week bible study with Beth Moore called Believing God. So I simply told the Lord, "OK Lord I know everything happens for a reason, and I also know you can do anything. So could you please make the phone work again because I don't believe you would give me this blessing and then allow it to be taken away". I chose to believe God.
The first thing I did when I got up was hit the button to turn it on..and guess what? I came on! When my husband got home from work I showed him the phone and said, "this is what prayer can do!" He just looked at me. Within a 24 hour period he saw first hand that God does care about everyday things..not just the "big" stuff.
We all have a choice. We can say we believe in God but never truly believe Him or we can take Him at His word and KNOW He is who He says He is, He can do what He says He can do, We are who He says we are (read the bible it will tell you who He says we are), We can do all things through Christ and His word is alive and active in us! (Providing of course we are walking with Him and have accepted His son Jesus as our Lord and Savior)
I am here to tell you God IS who He says He is!
