Marriage, The Prophetic Covenant
You know this story; It’s in the Bible:
Long Long ago in the land of Egypt the Children of God, the Israelites, were working in the construction trade. Life was good. Lots of leeks and onions. One day little baby Moses was lost in the reeds. The Pharaoh’s daughter found him and raised him as an Egyptian.
When Moses grew up he moved to a far away land called the backside of the Desert. Moses settled there, got married and went into the sheep business. One day God told him to go back to Egypt and ask Pharaoh to allow the Israelites to leave Egypt. So he did.
He went to Pharaoh and said, “Uh (Moses wasn’t good with words), God said for me to ask you to let my people go”.
Pharaoh said, “OK, and oh by the way Moses, you folks have served us well these many years, take as much gold and silver as you want as a parting thank you gift. Have a nice day”.
A few days later as the Israelites were moving toward the Promised Land they came upon the Red Sea. “No problem” said Moses. They found a nice 4-lane bridge that had just been built and crossed it.
A couple days later they came to Mount Sinai. Moses said, “I’m going up to get the Law of God. Wait here and I’ll be back”. The people said, “We will pray for you”. 40 days later he came back down the mountain with the 10 commandments. The people were praying and fasting faithfully. They welcomed Moses with open arms. He gave them the law and they praised God.
In a couple weeks they came to the Jordan River. Moses said, “Well, there’s the promised land”. The people said “Good Deal! Lets send in some guys to make sure we know what we’re doing”. 12 men went in, came back and said, “there’s lots of Grapes, Milk, Honey and really nice beaches”. “No Problem”
They prayed that God would send a message to all the various "….ites" who lived in the land. The "...ites" all heard from God, laid down their arms, packed up and left town never to be heard from again.
So the children of Israel crossed the Jordan River via a newly constructed 4-lane air-conditioned tunnel. Not one person was tired, wet or dirty. No "....ites" were injured in possessing the land. The happy Israelites all moved into houses they hadn’t built, drank from wells they didn’t dig, harvested grapes from vines they hadn’t planted and lived happily ever after.
THE END
Now if that’s not exactly as you remember it, I have a question, why do we as Christians believe that when we leave Egypt (get saved and embark on our God ordained purpose toward the promise of God in our life) that from that day forward everything will be hunky dory? The Cinderella story exists only in the fairy tale that it is. Marriage is tough. Life is tough. Giving up is easy but ends up tough.
The real story of the Israelites and their struggles, falls, failures, defeats and victories is the life we all lead. Jesus warned us not to be shocked when tribulation comes in this life.
When we go into ministry, start a business, take a job, get married, have children and all the other decisions we make in life, the promise contained in those decisions will be equaled by the problems we will face in reaching our promised land in this life. Big Promise = Big Problems.
But it’s all worth it. Jesus also said that we should cheer up, even when big problems come that the world sends our way, he has overcome the world. The spiritual quality of a man or woman of God is best measured by how he or she reacts to life’s shock and awe. Victory is measured by the number of times we are knocked down versus the number of times we get up. If the getting ups is a larger number than knock downs, we win.
Hang in there – The battle is the Lords and faith without works is dead!
WARNING!!!!!
Don't Read this if:
I write to fellow Christians; Christians of every type, every denomination. If you are a follower of Jesus I welcome you. This book is for you. If you are not in fellowship with the Savior I doubt there is much here for you. Reading this book will only frustrate you. Sorry.
I love you, I hope you will come into a saving knowledge of Jesus but there is just too wide a gulf fixed for me to cross for you to benefit from an exposition of the unadulterated truth of the Word of God for Marriage. If you want to know Jesus because you believe there may be something here, please email me and I will put you in touch with a Godly person who can help you step over from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of LIGHT. God wants your marriage to be whole. He really does. It’s his plan for you.
All thru the Bible there are examples of how God dealt with people in correction; in encouragement and other ways he showed his love. I address issues and circumstances that show how your marriage and what goes on in it has prophetic significance for your ministry, your job and how you will live the rest of your life.
If the language “Prophetic” seems a little strange related to marriage, let me explain. The apostle Paul said in First Corinthians Chap 14 how he desired that we all prophesy. In many ways, by our very existence, as we are led by the Holy Spirit we all DO prophecy as we react in various ways to situations around us. Sometimes intentionally. Sometimes without intention. The people around us who trouble us are prophetic presences in our life to help us to understand the purposes of God and our heart’s attitude toward those purposes. If we watch and pray we can learn to grow into more of what God plans for us dealing properly with the situations in our life which are there to help us understand who God made us to be and what he wants us to do. Sometimes that prophetic presence in our life which gets under our skin is our spouse. They can make us so mad. Remember, that which offends reveals the heart.
What you read in this book comes from lifetimes of experience of successful Christian marriages and of lives and ministries that were shipwrecked by marriages that went off onto the shoals of divorce. If you think you see yourself in this book, please know that there are many people who have been part of this profile. It is an amalgam. As I have sat with people in difficult marriage situations truths surfaced. Only the truths are recorded here and not the painful stories that go with them. None of this is theoretical. None of this is academic. In fact, I have on purpose read no books on marriage after starting to write this over a year ago. I am not doing a study; I am relating life, good bad and ugly, as hammered out on the anvil of experience.
This is about dealing with the issues that will come up in your marriage. This is not 25 pithy tips on having a better marriage. There are lots of professional people in the world writing good books on marriage with that bent. My goal is to illuminate purely according to the word of God the issues that can help you and your spouse reach the goal of your marriage being all you ever hoped it would be.
Marriage was designed to be more than you could ever ask or think. Your marriage is supposed to be full of joy, peace, longsuffering, and compassion. You are familiar with the fruits of the Holy Spirit. They must first be in your marriage before they can manifest to the world thru you. It only flows out of the Holy Spirit that binds you together. There are really 3 people in your marriage. You, your spouse and Jesus. Jesus is the chief part, the cornerstone, and the glue that holds you two together. You can anticipate goodness from a Fathers heart with instruction and correction for your life.
Long Long ago in the land of Egypt the Children of God, the Israelites, were working in the construction trade. Life was good. Lots of leeks and onions. One day little baby Moses was lost in the reeds. The Pharaoh’s daughter found him and raised him as an Egyptian.
When Moses grew up he moved to a far away land called the backside of the Desert. Moses settled there, got married and went into the sheep business. One day God told him to go back to Egypt and ask Pharaoh to allow the Israelites to leave Egypt. So he did.
He went to Pharaoh and said, “Uh (Moses wasn’t good with words), God said for me to ask you to let my people go”.
Pharaoh said, “OK, and oh by the way Moses, you folks have served us well these many years, take as much gold and silver as you want as a parting thank you gift. Have a nice day”.
A few days later as the Israelites were moving toward the Promised Land they came upon the Red Sea. “No problem” said Moses. They found a nice 4-lane bridge that had just been built and crossed it.
A couple days later they came to Mount Sinai. Moses said, “I’m going up to get the Law of God. Wait here and I’ll be back”. The people said, “We will pray for you”. 40 days later he came back down the mountain with the 10 commandments. The people were praying and fasting faithfully. They welcomed Moses with open arms. He gave them the law and they praised God.
In a couple weeks they came to the Jordan River. Moses said, “Well, there’s the promised land”. The people said “Good Deal! Lets send in some guys to make sure we know what we’re doing”. 12 men went in, came back and said, “there’s lots of Grapes, Milk, Honey and really nice beaches”. “No Problem”
They prayed that God would send a message to all the various "….ites" who lived in the land. The "...ites" all heard from God, laid down their arms, packed up and left town never to be heard from again.
So the children of Israel crossed the Jordan River via a newly constructed 4-lane air-conditioned tunnel. Not one person was tired, wet or dirty. No "....ites" were injured in possessing the land. The happy Israelites all moved into houses they hadn’t built, drank from wells they didn’t dig, harvested grapes from vines they hadn’t planted and lived happily ever after.
THE END
Now if that’s not exactly as you remember it, I have a question, why do we as Christians believe that when we leave Egypt (get saved and embark on our God ordained purpose toward the promise of God in our life) that from that day forward everything will be hunky dory? The Cinderella story exists only in the fairy tale that it is. Marriage is tough. Life is tough. Giving up is easy but ends up tough.
The real story of the Israelites and their struggles, falls, failures, defeats and victories is the life we all lead. Jesus warned us not to be shocked when tribulation comes in this life.
When we go into ministry, start a business, take a job, get married, have children and all the other decisions we make in life, the promise contained in those decisions will be equaled by the problems we will face in reaching our promised land in this life. Big Promise = Big Problems.
But it’s all worth it. Jesus also said that we should cheer up, even when big problems come that the world sends our way, he has overcome the world. The spiritual quality of a man or woman of God is best measured by how he or she reacts to life’s shock and awe. Victory is measured by the number of times we are knocked down versus the number of times we get up. If the getting ups is a larger number than knock downs, we win.
Hang in there – The battle is the Lords and faith without works is dead!
WARNING!!!!!
Don't Read this if:
I write to fellow Christians; Christians of every type, every denomination. If you are a follower of Jesus I welcome you. This book is for you. If you are not in fellowship with the Savior I doubt there is much here for you. Reading this book will only frustrate you. Sorry.
I love you, I hope you will come into a saving knowledge of Jesus but there is just too wide a gulf fixed for me to cross for you to benefit from an exposition of the unadulterated truth of the Word of God for Marriage. If you want to know Jesus because you believe there may be something here, please email me and I will put you in touch with a Godly person who can help you step over from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of LIGHT. God wants your marriage to be whole. He really does. It’s his plan for you.
All thru the Bible there are examples of how God dealt with people in correction; in encouragement and other ways he showed his love. I address issues and circumstances that show how your marriage and what goes on in it has prophetic significance for your ministry, your job and how you will live the rest of your life.
If the language “Prophetic” seems a little strange related to marriage, let me explain. The apostle Paul said in First Corinthians Chap 14 how he desired that we all prophesy. In many ways, by our very existence, as we are led by the Holy Spirit we all DO prophecy as we react in various ways to situations around us. Sometimes intentionally. Sometimes without intention. The people around us who trouble us are prophetic presences in our life to help us to understand the purposes of God and our heart’s attitude toward those purposes. If we watch and pray we can learn to grow into more of what God plans for us dealing properly with the situations in our life which are there to help us understand who God made us to be and what he wants us to do. Sometimes that prophetic presence in our life which gets under our skin is our spouse. They can make us so mad. Remember, that which offends reveals the heart.
What you read in this book comes from lifetimes of experience of successful Christian marriages and of lives and ministries that were shipwrecked by marriages that went off onto the shoals of divorce. If you think you see yourself in this book, please know that there are many people who have been part of this profile. It is an amalgam. As I have sat with people in difficult marriage situations truths surfaced. Only the truths are recorded here and not the painful stories that go with them. None of this is theoretical. None of this is academic. In fact, I have on purpose read no books on marriage after starting to write this over a year ago. I am not doing a study; I am relating life, good bad and ugly, as hammered out on the anvil of experience.
This is about dealing with the issues that will come up in your marriage. This is not 25 pithy tips on having a better marriage. There are lots of professional people in the world writing good books on marriage with that bent. My goal is to illuminate purely according to the word of God the issues that can help you and your spouse reach the goal of your marriage being all you ever hoped it would be.
Marriage was designed to be more than you could ever ask or think. Your marriage is supposed to be full of joy, peace, longsuffering, and compassion. You are familiar with the fruits of the Holy Spirit. They must first be in your marriage before they can manifest to the world thru you. It only flows out of the Holy Spirit that binds you together. There are really 3 people in your marriage. You, your spouse and Jesus. Jesus is the chief part, the cornerstone, and the glue that holds you two together. You can anticipate goodness from a Fathers heart with instruction and correction for your life.
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