BECOME COURAGEOUS FOR MARRIAGE RESTORATION
Charlyne Steinkamp
Is the Lord asking you to live, believe and act differently than the world regarding your marriage, separation or divorce? Will you choose to risk your reputation and sacrifice your life for your marriage? Courageous people often have to risk their lives to do what is right. Your circumstances regarding your marriage or divorce may seem overwhelming, but your Lord God will never leave you or forsake you. Nothing is too hard for God!
Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart, All you who hope in the LORD. Psalm 31:24
The Lord can touch and change your husband’s or wife’s heart of stone. The Lord is asking you to stand up for the righteousness of God and the sanctity of God. It is not popular to pray for husbands, wives or rebellious children who are living in sin. But God sent His only Son to come to the earth to seek and save the lost. You have two choices. One, you can live and act as the world does and you may even go to church on Sunday, but you have never surrendered your heart and life to the Lord’s way. You may not be following any of God’s principles and instructions in the Bible. The second choice is that you have asked Jesus Christ to be Savior and Lord of your life and you are choosing to live a Christ‑like life every day, reading God’s Word and growing and maturing in the Lord. You and I have a choice every day of our lives. Will you fight for your spouse’s soul, lost loved ones, your friends and for future generations? What will your legacy be?
Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be man of courage; be strong. Do everything in love. 1 Corinthians 16:13-14
The Bible is filled with examples of those who were willing to become courageous in order to obey God or save others. In Exodus 1 you can read that the midwives went against Pharaoh’s orders to spare the Hebrew babies. Their “faith in God” gave them the courage to take a stand for what they knew was right. In Exodus 2 you will read where Moses was born and then after three months his mother took the risk and made a papyrus basket for him and coated it with tar and pitch. Then she put the baby in the basket, in the reeds along the bank of the Nile. By God’s divine intervention, the baby was found and rescued by Pharaoh’s daughter. Look how God used Moses later in his life to rescue the Israelite people. The Lord is with His children and does supernatural things every day! Never forget that you do not know God’s plans for your own children’s lives. Be courageous, raise your children and bring them up in the training and instructions of the Lord regardless of your spouse’s behavior right now. Trust the Lord only for your future.
I saw the movie, Courageous and I was praying and praising the Lord for how this movie can touch and change not only thousands, but millions of men’s lives and families’ lives now and in the months and years to come when the DVD comes out. Pray that churches will use this movie as an instrument now and in the future with teaching the Courageous Living Bible Study. (For information on this film visithttp://www.courageousthemovie.com/) You can be courageous by being bold in representing your Lord Jesus Christ. Do your family and friends know that you believe in the sanctity of marriage? We Christians have an excellent opportunity at this time in our lives to say right is right and wrong is wrong. You can do it with love, but boldness requires courage to press through your fears and do and say what you know is right. Ask the Holy Spirit to give you boldness and courage at the proper time to speak God’s truths in every situation.
You and your beloved spouse will never have peace until you are walking in the will of God. May you seek the Lord to have the courage to do the will of God for standing in the gap for your marriage, for your spouse and for your children’s marriages. No one else can speak life or death to your marriage but the Lord God. We can make a difference by joining God’s army! Will you join others to stop divorce around the world? Will you seek the Lord for the courage to stand for God’s best ‑ marriage restoration?
“…But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.” Joshua 24:15
RESTORATION IS POSSIBLE
Lori Steinkamp Lassen
Our Pastor stepped up to the pulpit and said, “Turn with me to the book of Amos.” I looked at my husband and we both smiled, sort of surprised at the sermon selection. Amos probably doesn’t rank up there with the top books for sermon material. Well, I was wrong. Sadly, I knew very little about Amos so after church, I set out on a journey to understand this man of God better. Amos isn’t one of the more popular characters in the Bible. He was a layperson, a sheep herder. God gave Amos a message to deliver to Israel so Amos obeyed and delivered the message. The nation was succeeding politically but not spiritually. Israel also had great economic prosperity at this time. Amos was trying to warn the people that God will judge them, as a nation for their sins. This is a message that Israel didn’t want to hear. They were quite happy in their current state.
The Lord roars from Zion and thunders from Jerusalem; the pastures of the shepherds dry up, and the top of Carmel withers. Amos 1:2
This is depicting the Lord as a fierce lion capable of drying up the land. Chapter 1:3 through Chapter 2, the Lord is showing us how this nation has repeatedly sinned. They have refused to follow God’s commands. Amos is warning them of God’s judgment. The Lord was condemning Israel for things such as, treating the poor unfairly, engaging in sexual sins and worshipping false gods.
As you continue to read the early chapters in Amos, you see the continual warning of God’s impending judgment.
This is what the Sovereign Lord showed me: He was preparing swarms of locusts after the king’s share had been harvested and just as the second crop was coming up. When they had stripped the land clean, I cried out, “Sovereign Lord, forgive! How can Jacob survive? He is so small!” So the Lord relented. “This will not happen,” the Lord said. Amos 7:1-3
Israel was so focused on the sins of others they could not see where they were disobeying God. Are you focusing on what your husband or wife has done to contribute to the demise of your marriage or are you seeking the Lord and asking Him to show you where you have failed? Do you see your spouse’s faults as “much worse” than your own?
Do you believe prayer changes things? Amos cried out for the Lord to spare the crops from the locusts and the Lord relented. Are you crying out to God? In Amos 7:14-15, we see what the Lord called Amos to do. Amos wasn’t qualified but he was willing. Are you willing? Has the Lord called you to stand for the restoration of your marriage? It isn’t easy! We all know that.
My daughter Kayla had a terrible time with growing pains in her legs. She would go to bed at night and come out complaining about the back of her legs hurting. I remembered those same pains when I was a child. Growth isn’t always without pain. If the Lord has called you to be the Amos for your family, He will equip you and He promises to be with you every step of the way.
Surely the eyes of the Sovereign Lord are on the sinful kingdom. I will destroy it from the face of the earth – yet I will not totally destroy the house of Jacob. Amos 9:8
The Jewish people had lost sight of who God really was. They were more concerned with rituals and building up treasures on earth. They spent little time caring for the needy. They couldn’t wait for the Sabbath to be over so they could go back to work (Amos 8:5). In Chapter 9, God restores Israel. There was a punishment and the house of David was demolished, but God promised restoration and He delivered.
Where are you today? Are you so worried about what is going right or wrong in your life that you don’t minister to others? Are you consumed by your problems? This may feel like a justified time to slip off the radar and think that with a crisis in your family, no one would criticize you for stepping out of ministry. You are wrong! The Lord can use you right now…right where you are!
While this book was full of impending judgment, there was restoration! God is able to restore Israel and that same God is able to restore your family.
I would challenge you to fall in love with Jesus and His commands all over again. Do you have a Bible teaching church that you faithfully attend? If not, set out to find one. You need the support of other believers. If you are involved in a church, are you really involved? It is amazing what a blessing it is to minister to others. Maybe the Lord has called you to work with the youth or help out with visitation. Whatever it is, do it! Don’t let your current crisis rob you of a blessing.
Restoration is possible!
CALLING ME HOME
No comments:
Post a Comment