I want to share something I found as I was running through some of Rick Warren’s messages today. We cannot lean on our own understanding or base our thoughts on what we see. We have to rely on God’s promises and trust that He is working His plan for His benefit; for our good and His glory. And we can’t judge a situation or a person since we do not know what is in someone’s heart or what the truth is.

Proverbs 3:5-6 (KJV)
Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

The following is a story from a book by David Roper:

Once a group of young men decided to play a practical joke on a young bachelor executive who worked with them in Dallas. It was the custom each Thanksgiving for the president of the firm to give free turkeys to all employees. The young friend had indicated his displeasure at the idea since, being a young bachelor, he had no idea what he’d do with a whole turkey and furthermore, he had no desire to cook it. His friends, therefore, confiscated his turkey and replaced it with one made out of paper mache, the only remains of the original bird being the neck and the tail, which protruded from the paper wrappings.

You can never judge anybody’s motives, what they’re doing. You don’t know what’s going on.

There’s nothing more awe inspiring and encouraging for those of us standing for marriage restoration than seeing the way God works to restore what the world considers hopeless and dead marriages, and we were blessed to witness that as it happened in the lives of several FAM Fellowship members last week! What a wonderful way to celebrate the birth of Jesus! And I especially want to thank the FAM Fellowship members who gave permission to share some of those testimonies here, because experience has taught me that New Year’s Eve is often more difficult for those standing for marriage restoration than Christmas. So it’s really important to glorify the Lord by acknowledging and praising the awesome work of restoration we see Him doing and to use the word of our testimonies to encourage others who may well be growing discouraged or weary; after all it is by the word of our testimony that the devil is defeated! So we do praise the Lord and give Him all of the honor and glory for the great and mighty things He has done and which we know He will continue to do!

Revelation 12:10-11 – Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: “Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ. For the accuser of our brothers, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down. They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.

One of our members who had filed for divorce when she found out last summer that her husband was involved with another woman, finally took the plunge and told him that she has changed her mind and didn’t want to go through with the divorce. Of course, he had told her that he didn’t love her anymore; that she didn’t make him happy and that the NCP (non-covenant person) gave him everything he wanted and needed…blah, blah, blah…the same thing almost all prodigals say. And even though their relationship seemed less hostile, she wasn’t sure what his relationship was with the NCP, so it was a huge leap of faith for her to put her feelings on the line as she did. But she put aside her fear and pride and humbled herself before her husband and under the mighty hand of God and the reward was so worth it, because her husband acknowledged that he didn’t want the divorce either, but felt unworthy to approach her about coming back home. So he was thrilled to hear her news and he’s been home for almost two weeks now! Needless to say, hearing that their parents weren’t getting a divorce was the very best Christmas present for their kids and she said that this was their best Christmas ever!

And we’re all so happy and excited to see what the Lord has done in the restoration of another member’s marriage and family! They’ve been separated for seventeen months, during which time her husband has lived with the NCP. They’ve both suffered greatly through the ups and downs of the past seventeen months, as have their young children, but we’ve seen the Lord steadily at work through it all! And this week, he announced that he was moving to take a job in another state. And as hard as it was to believe, he told his wife he thought the kids would like that and when she repeated what he said with surprise, he stated that they would all be going with him! And when she asked about the NCP, he just said that he had to leave her some time; that he couldn’t just keep wasting his life with her! So they’re now making plans to look for a new home together and planning to start all over again…TOGETHER!

And we’ve seen the Lord at work in other relationships as well, so we just might have more restorations to give the Lord praise and thanks for real soon! God is so faithful to uphold the power and integrity of His Word, so we all have to keep our focus on the power and promise of His Word instead of the things that make our marriages look just as hopeless and dead as these did; along with those of all of the FAM Fellowship members who are now continuously posting wonderful, God glorifying testimonies of the awesome work of restoration the Lord has done and continues to do in their marriages and families since they were restored! God is no respecter of persons and what He has done for them, He will do for all! So put your hope, faith and confidence in the Lord and the fact that His Word NEVER returns void and GET READY! You could be next!

Isaiah 55:10-11 – As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.

This is in response to Linda’s Seeds Of Faith post, Remain in Christ. Remaining in Christ defeats any attempt by Satan to “win” us over. We can drive Satan away at every encounter just by doing what Jesus did and speaking the Word; “It is written…” and then He quoted the scripture!! Just as Ephesians 6:11-12 says, our battle is not with flesh and blood. The Word is given to us as a weapon, but it only works if we choose to use it.

Ephesians 6:11-12 (NIV) – Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

When we drink the milk and eat the meat of the Word, and spend time with the Lord, we begin to cultivate the right relationship with Christ that enables us to remain in Him at all times.

1 Peter 2:2-3 (NIV) – Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.

Isaiah 55:2-3 (NIV) – Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of fare. Give ear and come to me; hear me, that your soul may live. I will make an everlasting covenant with you, my faithful love promised to David.

Psalm 34:8 (NLT) – Taste and see that the Lord is good. Oh, the joys of those who take refuge in him!

Even Satan knows the power of God’s Word, because he used the scripture when trying to tempt Jesus. When he couldn’t get Him to break His fast and Jesus spoke the Word to him, he responded by quoting scripture back to Jesus. He actually tried to use the Word in Psalm 91:11-12 (NLT) to tempt Jesus, which says For he will order his angels to protect you wherever you go. They will hold you up with their hands so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone. So Satan obviously knew the power of using the scriptures in spiritual warfare. He also knew the scriptures well enough to stop at verse 12 instead of continuing with verse 13, because that says You will tread upon the lion and the cobra, the young lion and the serpent you will trample underfoot. Satan will always take advantage of our lack of knowledge of the Word, so we must continue to study, meditate and be ready to apply God’s Word in all situations and circumstances.

We must also be careful not to water down the Word by twisting it to justify and rationalize our actions, which is what happens when we take it out of context. And we can be sure that Satan rejoices when we do that. I love the way Bayless Conley put it when he said “we must take the Word like it is, refusing to dilute it, to dissect it, or dismiss it.” Bayless also shared his thoughts on divorce by saying “people twist every kind of scripture you can imagine in order to justify divorce. You know, in reality they are just tired of the old model and wanting a new one. There is no scriptural grounds for their divorce, but they think ‘I am going to come up with something.’” So that is just a temptation the devil uses to try to seduce people who actually know the truth – the Word. Another powerful statement from Bayless Conley is “Listen; the gospel is not politically correct. It is just the truth.” And that sure does step on a lot of toes!! So we have to be careful and remain in the Lord.

Psalm 56:5 (NLT) – They are always twisting what I say; they spend their days plotting to harm me.

2 Corinthians 2:17 (NLT) – You see, we are not like the many hucksters[a] who preach for personal profit. We preach the word of God with sincerity and with Christ’s authority, knowing that God is watching us.

Revelation 11:15 (NLT) – The Seventh Trumpet Brings the Third Terror 15 Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices shouting in heaven:
“The world has now become the Kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign forever and ever.”

Jesus said “I am the way, the truth, the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” So let’s stay true to the Word whether it fits what we are doing or not, whether it is politically correct or not. Let’s accept and embrace its demands as well as its promises and not twist it and try to bend it and shape it to fit our wants. Let’s do it God’s way!

Once again, I really appreciated today’s Coffee Break devotion from Lorraine Ezell, because it’s such an important message for everyone standing for marriage restoration since we have to stop striving in our own understanding and strength if we’re ever going to learn to cast our cares and burdens on the Lord as we rely on the power and promise of His Word…AND REMAIN IN HIM!

The importance and significance of Lorraine’s message is made very clear in John 15:5-11, where Jesus 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. If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples. “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.

WOW! What a powerful and encouraging passage of scripture for all of us as we stand against the world and the gates of Hell for the restoration of our marriages and families! There’s SO MUCH in these few verses, and we need to REALLY study and meditate on them to fully understand their significance. We often try to make things so complicated! Well maybe it isn’t that we try to make it that way; maybe we just can’t believe how truly simple it really is. But look at what Jesus said in verse 7; If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. That’s SO simple; yet it seems to be so hard for many of us to DO, even though that’s exactly how the Bible tells us to be victorious in matters of spiritual warfare. The simple truth is that the devil is defeated and has to flee when we SPEAK the Word of God back to him and we can’t DO that without having His Word written on the tablets of our hearts, which means memorized. And the importance of that is revealed in 2 Corinthians 10:3-5, which says For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. And without KNOWING the Word, how will we even recognize the arguments and pretensions that set themselves up against the knowledge of God; much less take them captive and make them obedient to Christ, which means making our thoughts and words line up with the Word?

So there’s no way to underestimate the importance of knowing, speaking and living according to the Word of God! And the best example of that was when Jesus was tempted by the devil and He responded by saying “It is written: ‘Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ (Matthew 4:4) The devil is NEVER going to stop coming against us to steal, kill and destroy (John10:10), but when we follow the example Jesus provides in Matthew 4:1-11, the devil WILL BE DEFEATED and we will be victorious and our marriages and families WILL BE RESTORED!

Then the devil will be defeated by the word of our restored marriage testimonies, just as we see in Revelation 12:10-11, which says Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: “Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ. For the accuser of our brothers, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down. They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.

It’s very important for us to understand that the Lord gives us what we ask for when we rely on the power and promise of God’s Word, using it to overcome and defeat the works and intentions of the devil, so that the fruit it bears in our lives will bring Him glory. That’s what Jesus explained in John 15:8, where He said This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples. “ And that brings glory to Jesus as well. So when we have a difficult time believing that God is going to do EXACTLY what His Word says (that HE will make sure that it does NOT return void), perhaps it helps to understand that even if we don’t believe that He will do it for us, we can believe that He WILL do it for the praise, honor and glory of His beloved Son, just as Ephesians 1 tells us.

According to Jesus, the reason to remain in Him; the reason He gave us the commands in John 15, is that our joy might be made complete! And that’s certainly one thing everyone standing for marriage restoration is waiting for, so let’s remember the very important counsel and instructions Jesus gave us about remaining in Him in John 15:9-11, which says “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. And when the devil comes to deceive us into believing that it’s impossible to do ANYTHING the Lord tells us to do, we have to remember what Jesus said in John 15:5…apart from Him, we can do NOTHING! And the GOOD NEWS is that Philippians 4:13 (NKJV) says I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. And we CAN DO that by claiming and relying on the encouragement found in 2 Corinthians 12:9, which says 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.

And finally, the key to “remaining” in Christ is remaining in His Word, because the Word is Christ and Christ is the Word (John 1:1-5 and John 1:14). And since faith comes by hearing the Word (Romans 10:17) and it’s the Word that lights our way (Psalm 119:105); and since it is the word of God that can speak life to the dead bones of our marriages (Ezekiel 37:3-5), it’s no wonder that there’s almost always a very direct correlation between the amount of time people spend studying the Word of God and the fruit it bears in their lives; including the fruit of marriage restoration! So REMAIN in Christ by remaining in the Word of God, and you WILL BE blessed and encouraged!

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:28

Are you weary? Are you in need of a refreshing? Do you feel you can’t go on? Are you burdened down with the cares of life? Does it seem more than you can bear? Are you carrying things that are too heavy for you– guilt, the burdens of others, pain, grief, condemnation? Are you ready to stop being tired and weary, overwhelmed and burdened down? Well, then do something about it… “Come to me”. Go to Jesus.

You can’t just hope it will go away. You can’t just sit back and wait for it to get better. You can’t just wish it would happen. You have to do something— go to Him and cast it upon Him. You have to make a step toward the Lord and surrender the burdens you are trying to bear. You weren’t designed to carry them. And don’t believe the enemy that tells you that this is your “cross to bear”— “His yoke is easy and His burden is light”.

He offers you an invitation this morning… “Come to Me”. Will you accept it or will you continue to carry the load? Go to Him, get into His presence, place your “heaviness” upon Him, and wait there until the burdens have lifted, His rest engulfs you, and a time of refreshing comes.

There are two things that we usually do when we finally accept His invitation to come and cast them upon Him. We either do cast them upon Him but take them back, or we don’t wait long enough for His presence to come so we can give them to Him. This morning there is one more option— be still, wait for Him to take them, wait for His peace to come, then leave the burdens with Him and take the “rest” with you.

Have a great day. Don’t be burdened down another day. Cast it upon the Lord and let Him give you His rest.

Coffee Break is a morning devotional written by Lorraine Ezell and it’s sent by email free of charge for the asking from About the Master’s Business Ministry, Inc.

So please feel free to call Lorraine at (601) 833-5278 or E-mail her at mastersbusiness@bellsouth.net.
And you can visit her on the web at MastersBusiness.org.

(Note from Linda: This is a very important question for everyone standing for marriage restoration to consider and deal with appropriately, because there’s NO doubt that God wants to be first and for us to make the “higher things” of His kingdom our first priority. So I appreciate Lorraine’s permission to share today’s Coffee Break devotion and hope that everyone reading it will be blessed and encouraged and reminded that the restoration of our marriages can not be our top priority if we want to please God.)

“If ye then be risen with Christ…” Colossians 3:1a

To those who are “risen with Christ”- who have received eternal life, have the new birth, who have been raised from death into life, whose sins are buried, and whose life is in Christ- the writer of the verse goes on to tell us two things: “If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.” (verses 1,2)
“Seek those things which are above; set your affection on things above…. not on things on the earth”

I believe that this is a time when God is calling His people to stop seeking earthly, temporal things and begin to seek those things which are eternal- “higher things”. We have put too much emphasis on personal gain, houses, lands, riches, acceptance by the world, fame and popularity. These are not the “higher things”. These are not the things that hold great eternal rewards. They are temporary- we can’t take them with us when we leave here, moths and rust corrupt them, and thieves break through and steal them. Let me stop right here for a moment and say, “I thank God for blessing me with nice things and the things that I have need of. I am so thankful to have a roof over my head, shoes on my feet, food on my table, etc.” But I cannot “set my affection on these things”. I can’t “seek after these things”.

What are you seeking after this morning? More and more and more “things”? “Godliness with contentment is great gain.” (1 Timothy 6:6) Where have you set your affection? On earthly things? Temporal things? Heavenly things? Eternal things? “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” (Matthew 6:21) It’s time to take inventory of where your priorities lie. If they are not in the right place, then repent and begin to refocus and put “higher things” first.

Have a great day. Are your affections on the “higher things”? Are you seeking after “higher things”?

Coffee Break is a morning devotional written by Lorraine Ezell and it’s sent by email free of charge for the asking from About the Master’s Business Ministry, Inc.

So please feel free to call Lorraine at (601) 833-5278 or E-mail her at mastersbusiness@bellsouth.net.
And you can visit her on the web at MastersBusiness.org.

One of the greatest challenges facing many men and women standing for marriage restoration this Christmas, especially if it’s the first holiday season since marital separation, is finding and really experiencing true joy. So if you’re not experiencing joy this Christmas season, I hope and pray this message brings a certain measure of comfort, encouragement, hope and joy. Even though I know it’s difficult not to focus on all that’s missing this Christmas instead of all you have to be thankful for, and even though it’s easy to give way to the thoughts of abandonment, loneliness and loss the devil brings to steal, kill and destroy, it’s important to know that there is another choice! And with the grace and strength of the Lord, you can make the better and wiser choice, which is to learn where and how to find and experience joy that comes only from being in right relationship with Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.

First, we have to understand what brings joy to us as Christians, as well as what keeps us from finding and experiencing the joy of our salvation; our strength according to Nehemiah 8:10,which says Nehemiah said, “Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is sacred to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.” The problem is that we insist on looking for our joy and happiness in all the wrong places, which won’t EVER work. Jesus gave us a perfect illustration of that in Matthew 13:44, when He said “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field. And then Romans 14:17 even says For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, Yet, we keep looking to our spouses and the restoration of our marriages to find everything we’re looking for, which can’t and wont ever bring us the joy and happiness we so desperately seek unless we are willing to give it all up for the Lord. And the sad truth is that most of us tend to look to the Lord for what we think He will give us; namely the restoration of our marriages, and without much thought of giving up ANYTHING for Him; much less giving up EVERYTHING for Him! Yet, in Mark 10:29-30, we have this awesome promise: “I tell you the truth,” Jesus replied, “no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age (homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—and with them, persecutions) and in the age to come, eternal life. So Jesus never promised us that standing on the power and promise of His Word for the restoration of our marriages and families would be a walk in the park, but He does promise that if we’ll give it all up to follow Him, which means DOING things HIS way and for HIS glory, we’ll get it all back one hundred fold! And the marriage restorations we’ve been honored and blessed to witness in our midst certainly prove that!

So when we’re missing the joy we should have as Christians, the first step to finding and experiencing it is to put our relationship with Jesus FIRST, which is why Matthew 6:32-33 tells us For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. And then we have God’s Word and promise in Psalm 37:4 telling us Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart. And even though jealousy is one aspect of God’s character we don’t hear much about, these verses are in perfect keeping with the warning given in Exodus 34:14, which says Do not worship any other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God. And then Deuteronomy 4:24 even says For the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God. So when we look back at our marriages and even examine our priorities now, we can probably see how we got into trouble–because most of us have been guilty and perhaps still are guilty of putting our spouses and marriages or even the restoration of our marriages before God. God will have no part in that, and He knows our hearts. So we may be able to fool those around us and even ourselves, but we can NOT fool God; for as Psalm 44:20-21 says, If we had forgotten the name of our God or spread out our hands to a foreign god, would not God have discovered it, since he knows the secrets of the heart?

By studying and considering the following verses, we can better understand the joy we should have in Christ:

John 15:10-12 – If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.
What a powerful passage! If we are obedient to the Word of God, we remain in the love of Christ and OUR joy is made complete! And what did He tell us to do? Love others as He loves us! And there’s no doubt that the love of Christ is a very sacrificial love, which means God expects us to put the needs and interests of our spouses and others before our own needs and interests.

John 16:24 – Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete.
How sad it is that we so often resort to so many things before it ever occurs to us to simply ask for what we want or need in the name of Jesus! Yet, that’s when He said our joy will be made complete! And what a lot of trouble and heartache we could avoid if we’d just believe that and learn to put it into practice!

Acts 2:28 – You have made known to me the paths of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence.’
There’s no greater joy known to us than when we are in the presence of the Lord. Yet, instead of seeking the path His Word clearly gives us for our lives, we seek the counsel of others and so often miss out on the power of just being still in His presence and KNOWING that He is God!

Romans 15:13 – May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
There’s no greater hope than the hope we have in Jesus Christ! And when we rely on the power of the Holy Spirit to work in our lives as we put our trust in the Lord, we WILL be filled with peace and joy that surpasses anything man could ever understand or explain!

2 Corinthians 8:2 – Out of the most severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity.
No matter how bad our circumstances are, when we have the peace and joy found only in the Lord, we can look beyond our own circumstances to the needs of others and find even more joy when we help meet them!

Galatians 5:22-23 – 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.
It’s very important to know that we WILL experience all of this when we are in right relationship with the Lord and the power of the Holy Spirit is at work within us. So when we are not, we know something is wrong and that we need to ask the Lord to help us get back in right relationship with Him so the fruit of His Spirit can be at work in and through us.

1 Peter 1:6-9 – In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
So instead of feeling abandoned by the Lord when we find ourselves in trying times, we need to understand that God Almighty has a purpose in it all, and that it is ultimately for the praise, honor and glory of Jesus Christ. And when we put our faith and trust in Him and love Him, even when we can’t see what He’s doing, we can experience true joy as we rest in the confidence we have that He will complete the good work He’s begun in us and in the restoration of our marriages and families, which will all be for His glory!

Nehemiah 8:12 – Then all the people went away to eat and drink, to send portions of food and to celebrate with great joy, because they now understood the words that had been made known to them.
There is such joy when we truly understand the Word of God, because it comes with power and grace and anointing that we just don’t get any other way!

Psalm 5:11 – But let all who take refuge in you be glad; let them ever sing for joy. Spread your protection over them, that those who love your name may rejoice in you.
When we take refuge in the Lord and rejoice in His name, we will have His protection and be filled with inexplicable joy! So instead of looking to others when we need comfort and protection, we need to learn to turn to the Lord and put our trust in Him.

Psalm 19:8 – The precepts of the LORD are right, giving joy to the heart. The commands of the LORD are radiant, giving light to the eyes.
This is another reminder of the joy we can find only when we put the Word of God into practice in our lives and rely on it to show us the way God wants us to go.

Psalm 21:6 – Surely you have granted him eternal blessings and made him glad with the joy of your presence.
And this is another reminder of the joy we find just by being in the presence of the Lord!

Psalm 28:7 – The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and I am helped. My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to him in song.
There’s nothing better we can do than rely on the Lord for our strength and shield in times of trouble and need and when we put our trust in Him, we will know joy even in the most difficult of all circumstances and situations. God is ALWAYS there to help us when we just call on Him!

Psalm 90:14 – Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.
When we truly learn to rest in the unfailing love of God, we will know everlasting joy and gladness beyond our ability to comprehend and express!

Psalm 92:4 – For you make me glad by your deeds, O LORD; I sing for joy at the works of your hands.
When we consider all we have seen the hand or the Lord do, we can’t help feeling abundant joy! And the good news is that what we’ve seen Him do for one, He will do for all! So when we get discouraged, we just need to consider all the wonderful things we know He’s done for us in the past and all the miracles we know He’s done for others as well! That’s why the Word of our testimony is so powerful to overcome the works of the devil!

Psalm 97:11 – Light is shed upon the righteous and joy on the upright in heart.
When we remain righteous and upright in all circumstances and no matter what is going on around us or what others do to us, the Lord will continue to bless us with joy!

Psalm 119:111-112 – Your statutes are my heritage forever; they are the joy of my heart. My heart is set on keeping your decrees to the very end.
This is such an important reminder that we have to have an unwavering commitment to keep God’s Word; to walk in His ways; to trust Him with all of our hearts and acknowledge Him in all of our ways! Knowing His word without DOING His Word makes it powerless to bring about God’s desired purpose in our lives, but when we walk in its power, we will be filled with joy!

Psalm 126:3 – The LORD has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy.
This is just another reminder to keep our eyes on the power and work of the Lord and the great things He has done! We have nothing to fear and nothing to worry about, because we have seen how the Lord works and that He is ALWAYS faithful to keep His promises and uphold His Word!

Psalm 126:6 – He who goes out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of Joy carrying sheaves with him.
I love this verse! Even when we are sad and in the midst of our own trials, we can be used by the Lord to sow seeds of His love and goodness in the lives of others, and when we are faithful to HIS cause and concerned about sowing seeds for HIS glory, we are the ones who return with JOY and a harvest!!!

Proverbs 12:20 – There is deceit in the hearts of those who plot evil, but joy for those who promote peace.
This is SO important, because we all have many opportunities to choose between returning evil for evil or to promote peace. And when we choose to promote and seek peace instead of responding in kind when others hurt or disappoint us, we will be blessed with joy and great reward, because that usually requires humility, and when we humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God, HE WILL LIFT US UP IN DUE TIME!

Proverbs 15:30 – A cheerful look brings joy to the heart, and good news gives health to the bones.
It’s SO important for everyone standing for marriage restoration and prone to depression and self pity to remember this verse! No one wants to be around miserable people, yet that is all our spouses often see when they are around us! What a difference it would make if we’d put a smile on our faces and start speaking life giving words; words of praise, edification and encouragement instead of the woe is me scenario our spouses have grown so used to, and of which they are no doubt so weary!

Isaiah 49:13 – Shout for joy, O heavens; rejoice, O earth; burst into song, O mountains! For the LORD comforts his people and will have compassion on his afflicted ones.
We all need to take this verse to heart and BELIEVE it and EXPECT it! God is not a liar and His Word NEVER returns void! He will comfort us and He will have compassion on us! So sing and shout for joy; this trying time just came to pass! And when it passes, our marriages and families WILL BE RESTORED for the glory of the Lord!

Jeremiah 15:16 – When your words came, I ate them; they were my joy and my heart’s delight, for I bear your name, O LORD God Almighty.
When we love the Lord Jesus, we HAVE to eat His Word. After all, Jesus told us that we do not live by bread alone, but by EVERY Word that proceeds from the mouth of God! When we know and understand the Word of God, our joy will indeed be made complete, because we will be fully able to stand in boldness and with total confidence in its power and on every promise it holds!

Obviously, there’s an awful lot to learn about finding and experiencing joy when we study and meditate on the above passages of scripture, especially that we will find joy simply by being in the presence of the Lord and that there is great joy in knowing and understanding and obeying His Word. And when we study God’s Word, one thing that becomes very clear is that the best way to find JOY in Jesus Christ is to remember to put things in the right order; Jesus first, then others, and yourself last. And that’s all very neatly wrapped up for us in Matthew 22:36-40, which says “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied: ” ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

Unfortunately, most of us fall far short of this powerful, yet simple commandment, which is most likely why we have trouble finding and experiencing joy this Christmas season. We tend to be a lot more focused on what we want and need and how we feel and what we’re missing to ever give much serious thought to how our spouses feel and what they want and need. When their need and what they want is something we can’t understand and something that makes no sense to us, we tend to just dismiss it as wrong or unreasonable. Yet, whether it’s right or wrong and whether or not we understand it or like it or not; that is their reality and until we learn to deal with them and interact with them on that basis, we are just making our situations worse. That’s why the one thing the Bible tells us to do when our spouses want to leave is to let them depart and to live in peace. And until we learn to do that, which is the FIRST step to the full and complete restoration of our marriages, we shouldn’t be surprised when we don’t get anywhere or see changes indicating that the Lord is at work on our behalf. He has work to do in us first, and that work begins with our obedience and putting our faith, confidence and trust in Him and His Word, which means DOING what He tells us to do and trusting Him with the results! So we may need to go back to the basics and learn to practice letting our spouses go; which means not calling them and giving them the peace and quiet they need to hear the Lord when He begins talking to them. And we have to stop trying to keep them out of the pig pens of life they may well be headed for because they aren’t likely to get a belly full of the consequences of their bad choices unless they get there. God has to be the one to change their hearts and to deal with their mistakes and sin; our part is to draw into closer relationship with Him so that we are able through His grace and strength to forgive and make possible the atmosphere of grace that will be necessary for redemption and restoration when our spouses are ready. And if we’re really honest, most of us have to admit that we have everything turned totally upside-down, because we tend to put ourselves first, and then our spouses and others, and then the Lord last. So it’s no wonder we can’t find and experience the joy that comes ONLY when we have things in the right order, which means putting the Lord first, then our spouses and others, and ourselves last. So instead of feeling sorry for yourself this Christmas and focusing on everything you are missing, do something for someone else, even if it’s a total stranger. Do something just to put a smile on someone’s face and know that the Lord is watching and He is pleased and that you will have a reward in heaven in addition to the unexpected joy you will experience when you take your focus off of yourself long enough to bless someone else this Christmas!

God loves you so much and His plans for you are for good, and He WILL restore your marriage and family, but only when you get things in the proper order and put Him first. He is a jealous God, but He is also a faithful God, and His blessings and favor are never ending and beyond comprehension when we are in right relationship with Him. Then we can rely on His awesome promise in Psalm 84:11, which says For the LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD bestows favor and honor; no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless. So when you put Jesus first in your life and love your spouse and others as you love yourself, God will not withhold any good thing from you, and that’s all He wants before restoring your marriage and family. So that should be your goal as we head into the season of making new commitments and resolutions; resolve to put God first in your heart, mind and soul, then to care about and put the needs and interests of your spouse and others above your own.

Merry Christmas and may the Lord’s peace and joy abound in your heart and life in the coming days and New Year!

This is often a very difficult time of year for men and women standing for marriage restoration, especially if it’s the first Christmas season after marital separation. And it breaks my heart to see standers under such a burden of self-condemnation just because they’re hurting and struggling during an understandably painful time; that’s exactly what Satan wants to use to steal, kill, and destroy the peace, joy and victory )abundant life) Jesus came to give us. Romans 8:1-2 very specifically says Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.

Yet, we can’t deny the apparent conflict between the requirement for obedience to receive all of the blessings promised in God’s Word and the idea that we shouldn’t feel like failures when we’re unable to attain the high mark of perfection. That’s why it’s so important to understand that God knows that we’re NOT perfect, and He understands our ongoing struggle to overcome our human weakness as we strive to walk in faith and obedience as we stand for the restoration of our marriages.

Since Paul wrote most of the New Testament and is certainly considered a great man of God, reading 2 Corinthians 12:8-10 is a good place to begin understanding that God can actually be glorified in our weakness, because it says Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 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. And we can all attest to the fact that it’s in times of our greatest weakness and trials that we tend to realize and acknowledge that we can’t do what we need to do without God, so we call on Him and rely on HIS power to get us through. And then His name is glorified when we make it through in HIS strength and not ours. In the same way we wouldn’t need a Savior if we weren’t sinners and there wasn’t a place called hell; we wouldn’t need God’s grace and power if we were always strong and perfect. So we need to stop letting the devil put us under condemnation because of our human shortcomings and failures. Instead, we should recognize them as opportunities for Jesus to be glorified as we rely on HIS grace, strength, and power to overcome them and everything the devil intends for evil. Hebrews 7:28 even says For the law appoints as high priests men who are weak; but the oath, which came after the law, appointed the Son, who has been made perfect forever. Obviously, God does not expect us to be perfect or that we can even attain it in and of ourselves. That’s why we have to turn to our Lord and Savior when we are weak and when we struggle with faith and our walk as Christians. As Hebrews 10:13-14 says Since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool, because by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy. And 2 Samuel 22:33 very clearly says It is God who arms me with strength and makes my way perfect.

Taking on attitudes of self-condemnation occurs when we take the focus off of Jesus, and put it on ourselves; ignoring Philippians 3:12, which says Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Of course, that brings us to the inevitable question of just why Christ Jesus “took hold” of us.” Fortunately, truly understanding that takes us a long way toward overcoming guilt and self-condemnation, because the root of self-condemnation is “self, which is what happens when we take our focus off of the Lord and His glory, power and purpose, and put it squarely on ourselves. Yet, Ephesians 1:6-14 makes it VERY clear that we are CHOSEN by God for the praise and glory of Jesus Christ; that EVERYTHING that happens is predetermined and ordained by God, when the time is right according to His plan, just for His praise and glory.

God wants us to have an intimate love relationship with His beloved Son, Jesus Christ, and He wants us to walk in the power of the Holy Spirit so others are led into the same relationship with Jesus. But when we allow the devil to magnify our human frailties instead of focusing on the awesome glory and power of Jesus, we can’t be the vessels we’re called to be for the purpose of drawing others into His kingdom, which is exactly what the devil wants. So the bottom line is exactly what Rick Warren says; it’s NOT about us! Yet, we tend to make it all about us. And the reason we do that is because we don’t understand obedience; we don’t understand what it really means to trust and obey God. We tend to see obedience as a means to an end. In our case, it’s usually the means by which we think we can achieve the restoration of our marriages. So when we have a hard time taking God at His Word and believing that He IS restoring our marriages, or when we fail to walk out the principles of faith and marriage restoration according to what the Bible teaches, we get discouraged and down on ourselves, because we think that means that our marriages aren’t going to be restored; that we blew it, so now God won’t or can’t restore our marriages! What a snare of the devil that kind of thinking is! It just sets us up to fail, because it inadvertently rests the ability to get what we want in us, and everything we do in that endeavor is totally fruitless and useless, because our motivation to trust and obey is not for the praise and glory of Jesus Christ and the furtherance of His kingdom, but for our own desire for marriage restoration. And James 4:3 makes no bones about that, 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. And 1 Corinthians 4:5 even says Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait till the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men’s hearts. At that time each will receive his praise from God.

So it’s obvious that not only is faith and obedience important as we stand for the restoration of our marriages, but our motives are even MORE important! And the ONLY motive for obedience that pleases God and releases the supernatural power we need in our situations is spelled out very clearly in the following verses:

John 14:23 – 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.

John 14:21 – Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him.”

1 John 2:5-6 – But if anyone obeys his word, God’s love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in him: Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.

Unfortunately, it’s easy to slip into thinking of obedience as a means to the restoration of our marriages, but that’s not true. Yes, all of the verses we usually refer to about trusting God with all our hearts, acknowledging Him in all our ways and committing to doing things HIS way are important, but we can’t take those out of the context of obedience being motivated by our love for Jesus as our Lord and Savior. That’s why it is so important to keep things in the right order, and Jesus said the FIRST thing is to love God with all our hearts, minds, souls and strength; which means not putting ANY other gods or idols before Him, including our marriages, spouses or even the restoration of our marriages. And when we love Him that way, we will obey Him because we love him and want to please Him, and when our obedience is motivated by genuine trust and love, we will be blessed with every promise and provision found in God’s Word. And when we love Jesus, we will also love the Word, because John 1:1-4 tells us In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of men. And it’s not insignificant to note that most of the time we allow the devil to put us under condemnation, it’s due to a lack of faith and knowledge of what the Bible teaches. That’s why Romans 10:17 is so important; because it says Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ. And another very important reason to study our Bibles seriously as we stand for the restoration of our marriages is because we are in the spiritual battle of our lives, and 2Corinthians 10:4-5 tells us The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. So the only way to overcome attitudes of self-condemnation is to spend quality time studying the Bible, because that’s the only way to truly trust and obey God and have His love made complete in us. We have to know His Word in order to take every thought captive and make it obedient to Christ. And we can all be sure that as a result of doing that, we will have a much more intimate walk and relationship with the Lord; we’ll feel much less condemnation, and the devil won’t be able to steal our peace, joy, or victory! Then we’ll have the abundant life Jesus came to give us, so be blessed and encouraged!

What an awesome message from Bill Burns today! Many of us have shared that it actually gave us goose bumps!!! So be blessed and encouraged!

December 17, 2007: Please listen and understand that I told you that you would begin to hear the sounds of heaven as they came to earth, for with My sound comes My vibration, which brings the opportunity for change within your spirit. What change would that be? It would be a realignment of your spirit with heaven that you may experience the joy of your King and the peace of the kingdom.

Indeed, you will hear the sounds that were prophesied. It is time now for you to know experientially that I have prepared an atmosphere in which the vibration of My sound invades your spirit and atmosphere whereby I can touch you at the very roots of your existence. As I bring My sound to your spirit, allow it to change you and align you with My glory. Let Me touch you and open the doors of the Spirit and bring the times of refreshing that you so earnestly desire. You will look back soon and declare that this past year was both the best and the hardest of your existence. You faced many trials and yet you experienced My glory and blessings as well. These times were for your good and for your strengthening and growth so that the eyes of your understanding would be opened and that you might begin to know that I am in control of your destiny as I will unfold it before you day by day. As you walk the paths of your destiny the doors of My kingdom will continue to open before you. Get ready for the next season, for it will bring forth greater joy and fewer trials.

You, My people, have been overcomers even when you thought you had failed. For, I lead you always in triumph, and you shall see the glory of your King who leads and guides you. Receive the gift of great joy and peace. Make it yours, for it will make you ready for the season that lies before you, which shall be called The Season of the Open Door. In fact, many doors will open that you will walk through, and each door will show you an aspect of the Kingdom. It will show you the specific work being done in you at that time. Each door will provide an opportunity for you to come higher.

Lay hold of this sound of heaven as it comes to you. Allow it to be the strength of My presence in you, says the Lord.

Note: You can find Bill’s messages and many other prophetic messages on the Spirit of Prophecy website.

Here’s Another GREAT Coffee Break devotion by Lorraine Azell from last Friday! It’s a particularly timely and important message for everyone standing for marriage restoration, especially at this time of year. So if you’re feeling discouraged and thinking you can’t keep on standing, just remember that the devil comes to steal, kill and destroy and the only way he can do that as you stand for the restoration of your marriage and family is if you give up. So put on your favorite praise and worship music, pump up the volume, and tell the devil where to go and that you’re not giving up; because God is not a liar and NOTHING can stand against His Word and will and that you ARE victorious in the name and authority of Jesus Christ! Speak your favorite restoration verses and promises out loud to the devil and He WILL FLEE from you! And remember that James 4:6-7 tells us; But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. And PLEASE don’t forget that things so often look their very darkest and hopeless right before the dawn and your breakthrough! We’ve seen so many TOTALLY unexpected things happen lately, so we have to remember that we don’t know what’s going on behind the scenes; but God does and He’s in control of it ALL!! and He won’t let ANYTHING thwart HIS plans…ABSOLUTELY NOTHING! And if anyone knew that, it was Job, and in the darkest time of his life, when he certainly had cause to question God and what He was doing, he said “I know that you can do all things; no plan of yours can be thwarted. (Job42:2) That’s the kind of faith God wants from all of us and we can’t lose with faith like that, so don’t let the devil steal your peace and joy in the Lord. You aren’t the only one feeling the pain of separation this Christmas season, and that’s the truth no matter what you think and no matter how totally otherwise it may appear!

Many marriages are restored this time of the year and I fully expect that many more will be again this year! We’ve been hearing about one sudden and unexpected marriage restoration after another among friends, relatives and acquaintances of FAM Fellowship members in the past few weeks, and that means we don’t know who could be next. But it could be you! So BELIEVE God; put your faith and confidence in His Word and you WILL BE blessed and encouraged!

“But unto you that fear my name shall the Son of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall.” Malachi 4:2

If you are ever going to accomplish anything, you have to “stick with it”. If you are going to reach the “prize of the high calling in Christ” you have to keep pressing.
If you are going to win the race, you have to keep running. Whatever you endeavor to do in life, you have to stick with it until you “get to the end”. You can’t stop in the process, you can’t quit in the middle, you must continue and keep on going.

Many times the reason why Christians find themselves falling backwards is because they stopped in the process of spiritual maturity. They quit doing the things that were necessary to move forward. So they stopped. When they stopped, they became “stagnant”, then they started falling backwards.
If you are going to grow spiritually, you have to continue to do those things that cause growth. If you are going to build your faith, you have to continue to do those things that make it strong. If you are going to be victorious, you have to continue to fight the battle. You can’t stop. You have to “stick with it”. You have to “stay in the game”. You have to “hang in there”.

If you are feeling that you are falling backwards instead of going forward, check to see if you have stopped doing those things that are needful to help you in the process. Are you neglecting or giving attention to those things that make you strong in your faith, cause you to grow, build you up spiritually? If so, “pick them up” and get going again.

Have a great day. If you are going to accomplish anything, you have to “stick with it”.

Coffee Break is a morning devotional written by Lorraine Ezell and it’s sent by email free of charge for the asking from About the Master’s Business Ministry, Inc.

So please feel free to call Lorraine at (601) 833-5278 or E-mail her at mastersbusiness@bellsouth.net.
And you can visit her on the web at MastersBusiness.org.

Continuing in the tradition established by Faith And Marriage Ministries last year; we are again accepting and coordinating donations to help make this Christmas a very special and memorable occasion when it might not otherwise be for nine children of FAM Fellowship members who aren’t able to buy presents for their children this year. Unfortunately, this is just one of the unintended consequences when men leave their families, but we don’t think the children should have to suffer as they often do; so this gives us a unique opportunity to make a difference in the lives of these children.

Anyone who feels led to bless these families in such a way, can make donations to the FAMM Christmas Blessings Fund by clicking on the PayPal button below:

The funds we receive will be distributed between four families this year, and as we did last year, we will post testimonies after the holidays of how the children were blessed! And remember, what we do for them, we do for Jesus, and what we give will be multiplied back to us many times over! So be blessed and I thank you in advance for your generous gifts to help bring smiles to the faces of these little ones in otherwise difficult times!

One of the FAM Fellowship members shared this with me last Friday, and since it’s such a powerful and important message for everyone standing for marriage restoration, I wanted to share it here as well! So I thank Lorraine for her permission to do so! Get the message and you’ll truly be blessed and encouraged!

“Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before.” Philippians 3:13

It’s interesting that Paul said, “This ONE thing I do”, then he named TWO things: “forgetting those things which are behind, AND reaching forth unto those things which are before.” Forgetting what’s behind and reaching to what’s ahead– that does not sound like only one thing to me. Paul considered it one thing though.

You can’t reach forward and still be looking behind… it’s not possible. To reach to what’s ahead you have to set your focus on it, you have to give attention to it, you have to keep moving toward it to attain it. As you do, the result is that you are leaving what’s behind because it is no longer the object of your focus, your intent, your goal.

On the flip side, if you are still hanging on to what’s in the past, if you are still focused on it, if you are looking behind, then you can’t and won’t go forward. The one act of “staying in the past” automatically effects and determines what’s ahead–so in reality it is only one act that you are doing but it encompasses both your past and your future. It’s a “two for one” package.

“And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.” (Luke 9:62) You can’t look back and go forward at the same time. When you do one, the other one is effected. Which will it be? Are you going to keep looking backward? Or go forward? You only have to make ONE choice.

Have a great day. If you keep looking behind it will effect what’s ahead. If you reach ahead, what’s behind will be forgotten.

Coffee Break is a morning devotional written by Lorraine Ezell and it’s sent by email free of charge for the asking from About the Master’s Business Ministry, Inc.

So please feel free to call Lorraine at (601) 833-5278 or E-mail her at mastersbusiness@bellsouth.net.
And you can visit her on the web at MastersBusiness.org.

The following prayer was shared over the weekend on the men’s private website and it’s so powerful that I want to share it here:

Father God, I pray that You would use each one of us in this ministry to launch a renewed faith in marriage restoration around the world. Lord, we have so many promises from You that we know will be manifested in our lives as we believe, totally and unwavering in faith, what Your Word says. Guide us and direct us; fill us with the knowledge and understanding of Your Word and give us the discernment, Lord, to know it is You and Your Word. Help us to have such strong faith and presence of the Holy Spirit that we humble ourselves and hand over every aspect of our lives to You – the Savior. Father, deliver us from anything and everything that Satan tries to seduce us with; help us to surrender all to You. Lord, as we come to You on our knees, forgive us for any doubt and unbelief that keeps us from knowing that You have already restored our marriages in the spiritual realm and that earthly manifestation is just a moment away. Let us completely and wholly give our lives to You. Lord, I pray that You would bless each member of this family ministry. Fill us with the Spirit that we would do everything humanly possible to further Your kingdom in the healing and restoring of families, and by sharing our faith, unleash the supernatural power of our mighty God in every marriage and family represented by this ministry. Help us to reach out and touch more and more lives as we strive to worship, praise, honor and glorify You and spread the Word – the truth about the covenant of marriage and Your faithfulness to that covenant. You are awesome, God, and I pray that You would continue to work in a most powerful and supernatural way in bringing about to this world a commitment to marriage that has never been witnessed before. And let us be the start of that, Lord; not for our glory, but for Yours. In the Mighty Name of Jesus – Amen

This past Monday, Pastor Doreen shared a very powerful and personal message straight from her heart in Doreen’s Daily Delights, when she acknowledge being very discouraged and ready to give up her ministry of encouragement to those standing for marriage restoration. I was deeply touched by Doreen’s message, because I know it wasn’t easy to admit to those of us so accustomed to relying on her encouragement that she too had experienced such discouragement. But the truth is that we are ALL prone to discouragement; and it always begins with thoughts contrary to the absolute truth of the power and promise of God’s Word and our failure to take those thoughts captive and MAKE them obedient to Christ and His Word. That’s why one of the most important passages of scripture for everyone standing for marriage restoration is found in 2 Corinthians 10:3-6, which says:
3 For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does.
4 The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.
5 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.
6 And we will be ready to punish every act of disobedience, once your obedience is complete.

Since this is such an important passage of scripture to all of us and one I’ve written about many times, I went back to the archives to find previous Seeds Of Faith posts concerning it and encourage everyone to read The Importance Of Taking EVERY Thought Captive, which goes into an in depth study of this passage, BEWARE…Satan Comes ONLY to Steal, Kill and Destroy!, and Don’t settle for Less Than Abundant Life.

But what I want to focus on today is something Pastor Doreen wrote in her message Monday, which really made quite an impression on me; she said (person changed) “Clearly, when we are weary, discouraged and at wit’s end; that’s a time when either our faith will move the mountain or the mountain will remove our faith. In any event, we must turn to God to encourage ourselves. It is then we can come and stand in His presence, worshiping Him with the attitude that says “Lord, regardless of the circumstances, I will trust You.” I’ve meditated on that and considered it all week, and it’s amazing what a powerful and simple truth it is to realize that either our faith will move the mountains we face, or the mountains we face will remove our faith! And that’s SO true; because when our faith comes up against the mountains we face as we stand for the restoration of our marriages and families; with the passage of time, only one will be left standing! Hopefully reading the above Seeds Of Faith posts and really thinking about what Pastor Doreen said will help us realize that in the end there are only two outcomes as we stand for our marriages; either our unwavering faith in the power and promise of God’s Word will see us through to victory and the restoration of our marriages and families for the glory of Jesus Christ; or our faith in the awesome power and faithfulness of our Lord Jesus will be shattered. So there’s a lot more than our desire for restoration at stake when we’re standing for our marriages, which is why Satan will ALWAYS do his wicked best to bring us down with thoughts contrary to the power and promise we have in God’s Word. And two awesome promises concerning the power of God we can rely on as we stand for marriage restoration are Proverbs 21:30, There is no wisdom, no insight, no plan that can succeed against the LORD.; and Romans 8:28-33, which says:
More Than Conquerors
28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
29 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.
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?
32 He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?
33 Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies.

So the next time we’re in a battle where our faith versus our mountains, let’s remember and rely on the assurance we have in 1 John 4:4, which says You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. And let’s keep in mind that only one will be left standing, and it’s up to us to decide whether it will be our faith or our mountains, because without God we can’t lose, but we have to BELIEVE and EXPECT that! As Mark 9:23 (NKJV) says, “‘If you can’?” said Jesus. “Everything is possible for him who believes.” So BELIEVE and be blessed and encouraged, because no mountain can stand against us when we put all of our hope, faith and confidence in the power and promise of God’s Word!

Everyone standing for marriage restoration knows all about getting tired and discouraged, and wanting to give up, and some of us even have to confess to times when we DID. But, no matter how we feel, no matter what we think, no matter how much it hurts, and no matter how hopeless and discouraging our situations may seem, the Lord ALWAYS brings us right back to the realization that we can do nothing other than stand for the restoration of our marriages. That’s why it means so much to encourage other standers to find the indescribable place of truly resting in the love and power of our Lord and Savior; with the CERTAIN knowledge that He has EVERYTHING under control. NOTHING is too difficult or impossible for God; He CAN and WILL work it ALL together for our good and for His glory!

The Lord has so personally revealed His infinite faithfulness, mercy and grace to me in the past year and a half that it’s almost overwhelming! I’m in total amazement and awe of how He works, ESPECIALLY IN THOSE TIMES WHEN WE CAN’T SEE IT AND EVEN DOUBT IT! And in the past few weeks, several FAM Fellowship members have discovered that the reality concerning situations involving their spouses (or other family members) is totally different from everything they certainly had every “earthly” reason to believe. All of their amazing testimonies serve as powerful reminders of why it’s so important to resist the temptation to lean on our own understanding and trust God with all of our hearts instead; NO MATTER HOW BAD OR HOPELESS THINGS LOOK IN THE NATURAL.

When the Lord promises that He WILL cause ALL things to work together for our good, He really wants us to BELIEVE and EXPECT that. And the following Seeds Of Faith post, Trusting & Relying On God…No Matter What, which includes what I call my “apartment testimony” is an awesome example of why it’s so important to trust God and look for His totally omnipotent, powerful hand in EVERYTHING; most especially when we wonder what the Lord is doing, or if He’s doing anything at all. One thing that experience taught me is that when it looks like the Lord isn’t working on our circumstances or if it looks like everything is going the WRONG way, that’s when we have to trust Him the most. And that’s probably when we should start getting pretty excited, because more than likely, He’s just doing what is absolutely necessary to perfect His plan for us. Since I’ve come to rely so much on the awesome promise found in Romans 8:28 (NASB), which says 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., I now regret all of the tears, energy and emotion wasted crying and worrying about things that I later came to recognize as blessings, and God at work in my life! When we REALLY believe Romans 8:28, and what seems like the worst possible thing happens in our lives, we can assure ourselves that it has to happen EXACTLY as it is in order for God’s perfect plan for us to be perfected. When we rely on that promise, and always try to look at seemingly bad situations through “kingdom eyes”, which means applying what we know about how the Lord works and biblical principles which are certain and never changing, we’re more likely to see what the Lord might be doing. After all, that’s what Colossians 4:2 tells us to do, because it says Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. So instead of giving up, we just need to wait for the Lord to act on our behalf as we put our faith and confidence in the power and promise of His Word and rely on 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. So just remember that God IS working everything to our good when we love Him and are living according to His purpose, which we are when we trust Him and stand for the restoration of our marriages and families; and be blessed and encouraged!