So many believers today know that Jesus died for them to save them, but are very much unaware of the full implication of this. A huge step in the right direction towards victory in absolutely every area of our lives is when we really begin to believe what we know:
1Jo 4:16 And we have known and believed the love that God has in us.
The more we rest in what He has done for us on the Cross, the less we will strive in our own attempts to achieve a victorious life. This is an amazing truth!!
Rom 4:16 says that the way we receive the promises of God is NOT by self-effort and obedience to the Law (:a list of right and wrong behavior to inherit or loose out blessings).
Us, receiving the promises of God in our lives is dependent on us having Faith in the Grace (Unmerited/undeserved Favor) of God towards us.
But Andrew, how does simply believing that help my marriage?
God tells us that His Promises are received by Faith in His Grace. Now, one of God's promises' is that He brought life and life abundantly -that you would experience His Goodness towards you in every area of life.
Your marriage that may not be in an "ideal" place more reflects the work of Satan "to rob, kill and destroy" and is NOT reflecting "life abundantly" therefore still needs to line up to Gods word.
God says that if you are trying in your own strength to fix it, you cant receive Gods Promises, because His promises are not received by mans effort but by Faith in Gods Grace towards you because of Jesus' finished work.
"You mean to say I must just sit back and do nothing, and it will all "just work out"!
No, just make sure that what you do do, has the Love of God (the Good News) fueling it, and for that to happen.... you need to believe (not just know) the full extent of Jesus on Calvary.
This is why:
Scripture says:
1Jo 4:19 We love, because he first loved us.
We must see the "hugeness" of Gods love directed towards you by sending Jesus to take your place of Judgment based on Gods Holy wrath towards all of your sin, and in so doing, completely and forever removing it from Gods sight (Psalm 103) and memory (Jer 31, Heb 8) because of His Righteous acquittal of you.
He would now be UNRIGHTEOUS if He was still holding your sins against you.
When we see this amazingly Good News of His great love towards us, it causes us to love Him, and others.
We love, BECAUSE we know and believe His love for us, even while we were still in sin (unbelievers). It is COMPLETELY unconditional of you! Its ONLY CONDITIONAL of your perfect sacrifice - Jesus!
When you Just Believe the Gospel, the result is Love for others..... included your husband or wife. Even when they "dont deserve it", once you "know AND UNDERSTAND" His love for you - the fruit is Love for others.
Love for others is NOT a work of the flesh (self effort)..... it is a FRUIT that is borne by the Holy spirit living in you,(Gal 5)
His promise is that if we have Faith in His Grace, we will walk in His Promises.
Lets Trust that Sarah (Grace) is able to raise up Isaac (Children of the Promise) (Gal 4:21-31)
Keep living Blessed!!
Andrew
Showing posts with label marriage. Show all posts
Showing posts with label marriage. Show all posts
Friday, January 8, 2010
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Love and Marriage
One of the most hated and most attacked areas of Christianity by the devil is the area of marriage. If Satan can get marraiges to become disfunctional, he takes a huge chunk out of our effectiveness as believers.
This is brilliant article written by Andrew Wommack. I have eddited it to make it a little shorter.
"Very few things in our world today are actually a part of Gods initial plan for his people, for instance the worlds goverment systems and monetry trading would certainly not be neccesary in a sinless world which is how God created it!
But one thing that God established while man was still in a sinless condition and said that it was not good for man to do without was marriage. Genesis 2:18 says, "It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet [or sufficient] for him." A perfect man who had none of the pressures or problems that we know of today still was not complete without a mate. And it was not Adam who approached God about the situation and asked for a companion. Adam didn't know what he was missing! It was God who initiated the whole thing because that was His perfect plan. This all emphasizes the high priority that marriage should have in our lives. However, it has not usually held that position.
God instituted marriage, so He certainly knows how to make it work properly. The only reason two out of three marriages end up in divorce is because the people involved don't follow the instructions God gave concerning marriage. It is that simple. The solution is not easy, but it is that simple.
We read in Eph 5 that Gods kind of love is absolutely essential for any marriage to work well. (That is.... GODS kind of love... not our kind of love): "Husbands love your wives as Christ loved the Church...."
Many believing husbands have dicovered Gods kind of love for the lost and for others in their local church family but this truth often doesnt bleed over to their own wives which actually where according to this passage, for husbands, it was primarily intended to be directed.
One of the most striking differences to me between the world's love and God's kind of love is that you can teach yourself to operate in God's love. Titus 2:4 says that the older women are to teach the younger women "to love their husbands, to love their children." Carnal love is completely motivated by the emotions or senses, but God's love comes from the heart.
"I can't act like I love them when I don't feel it." Oh, yes you can! God's Word tells us to even love our enemies (Matt. 5:44). It is a command. He didn't say to do it if you felt like it. If you will choose to do what God tells you to, your feelings will follow. You can teach yourself to love with God's kind of love.
It is not hypocritical to act in love when you don't feel it. It is actually hypocritical to act on what you feel instead of who you really are in Christ Jesus.
Galatians 5:22 says that love is a part of the fruit of the Spirit. This is specifically speaking of the Holy Spirit; but our new man was born of the Spirit, so it has to be true that God's love has been shed abroad in our spirits too. We do have God's love in our new man. Our feelings are not automatically changed, however. Our feelings will continue to act like they were taught to act until we subdue them and bring them under the control of our spirit man.
God's kind of love is a choice that you make on the basis of what God said, and then act on it in faith until it becomes a reality in your spirit, soul, and body.
If you can receive this basic truth about God's love, then you can begin to be consistent in your love to your mate because your love is based on a choice that you have made, not on the way they act.
Aren't you glad that God doesn't treat us that way? Romans 5:8 says, "God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." Praise God! God's love wasn't based upon what we had done for Him or what we deserved but upon His choice to love us. That is all! We didn't do anything to merit God's love. He just chose to give it. We can choose to receive that kind of love and then give it to others in the same way.
Jesus didn't wait until we were worth it or had repented before He gave Himself for our sins. He gave Himself for us while we were yet sinners and living a life of rebellion against Him.
Gods love is unconditional. If you live with a person for any length of time at all, you are going to find fault with them. If your love isn't unconditional, then you will begin to give them what they deserve, which is trouble.
Many couples actually use their conditional love as a weapon to try and motivate their mates to do things. That will destroy a marriage. If the thing that keeps your mate in line is a fear of your exploding if they mess up, then you are tormenting them. That's what 1 John 4:18 says, "Fear hath torment." You may see some results through that method, but it's a fact that you are building resentment and rejection in them, and sooner or later, it will explode. God's love is unconditional."
God blessed you!!
This is brilliant article written by Andrew Wommack. I have eddited it to make it a little shorter.
"Very few things in our world today are actually a part of Gods initial plan for his people, for instance the worlds goverment systems and monetry trading would certainly not be neccesary in a sinless world which is how God created it!
But one thing that God established while man was still in a sinless condition and said that it was not good for man to do without was marriage. Genesis 2:18 says, "It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet [or sufficient] for him." A perfect man who had none of the pressures or problems that we know of today still was not complete without a mate. And it was not Adam who approached God about the situation and asked for a companion. Adam didn't know what he was missing! It was God who initiated the whole thing because that was His perfect plan. This all emphasizes the high priority that marriage should have in our lives. However, it has not usually held that position.
God instituted marriage, so He certainly knows how to make it work properly. The only reason two out of three marriages end up in divorce is because the people involved don't follow the instructions God gave concerning marriage. It is that simple. The solution is not easy, but it is that simple.
We read in Eph 5 that Gods kind of love is absolutely essential for any marriage to work well. (That is.... GODS kind of love... not our kind of love): "Husbands love your wives as Christ loved the Church...."
Many believing husbands have dicovered Gods kind of love for the lost and for others in their local church family but this truth often doesnt bleed over to their own wives which actually where according to this passage, for husbands, it was primarily intended to be directed.
One of the most striking differences to me between the world's love and God's kind of love is that you can teach yourself to operate in God's love. Titus 2:4 says that the older women are to teach the younger women "to love their husbands, to love their children." Carnal love is completely motivated by the emotions or senses, but God's love comes from the heart.
"I can't act like I love them when I don't feel it." Oh, yes you can! God's Word tells us to even love our enemies (Matt. 5:44). It is a command. He didn't say to do it if you felt like it. If you will choose to do what God tells you to, your feelings will follow. You can teach yourself to love with God's kind of love.
It is not hypocritical to act in love when you don't feel it. It is actually hypocritical to act on what you feel instead of who you really are in Christ Jesus.
Galatians 5:22 says that love is a part of the fruit of the Spirit. This is specifically speaking of the Holy Spirit; but our new man was born of the Spirit, so it has to be true that God's love has been shed abroad in our spirits too. We do have God's love in our new man. Our feelings are not automatically changed, however. Our feelings will continue to act like they were taught to act until we subdue them and bring them under the control of our spirit man.
God's kind of love is a choice that you make on the basis of what God said, and then act on it in faith until it becomes a reality in your spirit, soul, and body.
If you can receive this basic truth about God's love, then you can begin to be consistent in your love to your mate because your love is based on a choice that you have made, not on the way they act.
Aren't you glad that God doesn't treat us that way? Romans 5:8 says, "God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." Praise God! God's love wasn't based upon what we had done for Him or what we deserved but upon His choice to love us. That is all! We didn't do anything to merit God's love. He just chose to give it. We can choose to receive that kind of love and then give it to others in the same way.
Jesus didn't wait until we were worth it or had repented before He gave Himself for our sins. He gave Himself for us while we were yet sinners and living a life of rebellion against Him.
Gods love is unconditional. If you live with a person for any length of time at all, you are going to find fault with them. If your love isn't unconditional, then you will begin to give them what they deserve, which is trouble.
Many couples actually use their conditional love as a weapon to try and motivate their mates to do things. That will destroy a marriage. If the thing that keeps your mate in line is a fear of your exploding if they mess up, then you are tormenting them. That's what 1 John 4:18 says, "Fear hath torment." You may see some results through that method, but it's a fact that you are building resentment and rejection in them, and sooner or later, it will explode. God's love is unconditional."
God blessed you!!
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