From: Kenneth Linden, Jr.
To: ChimWRITE-owner@yahoogroups.com
27th November, 2008
Folks should read all of the New Covenant again and really see for themselves what is said about divorce - from what Yeshua taught (prophetically) and what was taught/written by The Inspiration of The Breath of God (The Ruach).
It really isn't 'cut and dried'. Let's look at it as it really is portrayed in Scripture and not from some rigid religious mindset.
Ken
Bremerton, WA.
From: Chimezie & Ibidun Onyebilanma
To: "Kenneth Linden, Jr."
28th November, 2008
Hi Ken,
Its nice to hear from you after so many years. I was wondering if you were still on the list.
Trust you are fine.
Thanks for your comments. What is interesting to me is that your present views seem a bit different from what it was 6 years ago when I first posted this article on divorce.
Here I quote your mail of March, 2002
Chim,
The issue of 'hard heart' is a description of 'unforgiveness'. Check out the other references of 'a heart of stone'. Contrast that with the references to 'a heart of flesh' (not to be confused with 'carnality' or 'flesh nature').
Hmmmmmmm, 'differences that we cannot (*will not*) reconcile'. What would happen if God used that line on us?
Shalom
Ken
P.S. The other 'untouchable' subject is 'remarriage' - after 'divorce'. But then, you've already shown - lovers of self and not of God.
Has your views changed? Please let me know. Bless you dear brother.
From: Kenneth Linden, Jr.
To: Chimezie & Ibidun Onyebilanma
28th November, 2008
Changes? How about less clinical, more compassionate. Since then, God has allowed me to share/minister His Love in ways of Kindness.
I was, at that time, filled with zeal. That has changed, transforming from an 'anger based/idignation' to one that is Love Based - Passion. It's not wrong to be zealous for the sake of righteousness, but it is dangerous ground. Learning how to Love, that's the real challenge.
What used to be a 'hard lined/no excuses' has become one of compassion and empathy. The roots of things are still of great importance, but how to 'live it out to the Glory of God' is even more important. Divorce is still a tradgedy - but then we still (at least here in the US) rush 'flushed with love' into a life-time covenant with another human when we really don't know how to live in Covenant with our God.
I sent that to you just a couple of years from being involved in a separation and demand for divorce by my wife. That could explain the harsh sound/tone.
It's still a heart issue - but stepping back, it's one about doing the things that bring pleasure to God. Yes, God is concerned for our 'happiness', but that's not what a marriage should be based on.
We can't really 'amen' this phrase "What God has joined together, let no man put asunder", when He really wasn't involved with/in the process.
I guess to sum it up, there really is little that men can do to help God but by being obedient to what He wants and desires. That can only really be satisfied by a daily walking with Him - not just by trying to apply 'nuggets of wisdom' extracted from text.
By close fellowship with Him letting Him have our ears and hearts can we begin to move in His economy utilizing His technologies at His personal direction.
A new dimension to those thoughts/comments would be this - the Church still doesn't know how to apply the Balm Of Gilead to the wounds that come along in life. Maybe we should become more Samaritan like in the way we deal with the situations in other's lives. We should be out and about the highways and byways, taking The Kingdom of God to the world instead of trying to bring the world into The Kingdom of God.
Shabbat Shalom! (the Things of Old have passed away..... Behold the New Things that are to change everything!)
Ken
P.S. It seems that in the OT the hard heart was between people. In the NT it's between people and God. How can we expect people to reconcile with each other when they won't/can't really reconcile with God? There should be more weeping before the altar.
From: Chimezie & Ibidun Onyebilanma
To: "Kenneth Linden, Jr."
3rd December
Dear Ken,
I agree that the real challenge is learning to speak the truth in LOVE. True godly zeal is based on a passionate love for God and the brethren. In as much as my heart breaks to see way divorce is gaining acceptance in the Church, my heart aches for those who go through divorce and for many too who are in very tough and troubled marriage relationships.
You are correct when you point to the root of this problem being the way we rush into marriages with only our feelings to lead us and our happiness as the object. It is not just enough to deplore the rate of divorce in the church, we must go back and address the orientation we give our young ones about how to make choice of a life-partner. We must throw away the shallow dating we allow them to do and teach them the need to seriously seek God's leading before they commit themselves to marry someone.
And yes like I said earlier the problem is hardness of heart.
Thanks once again for sharing these thoughts. I intend to share it with others on my blog.
Blessings!
Chim
Monday, December 3, 2007
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
RESPONES to "'Till Death Do Us Part"
Beloved,
As expected, my article on divorce some weeks back attracted a lot of responses. I also had the oppurtunity of talking with a few who had questions on where to draw the lines in thorny cases.
Like I promised, I post here some of the respones I recieved. And I look forward to more reactions, comments and questions to this important issue. Please just click on comments below to add your comment or questions.
Let me encourage us all once again not to give up too quickly on a vision of a glorious marriage. Let us fight on our knees and by applying God's Word for our marriages and God will make it shine. ~ Chim.
Nike K, from Warri, Nigeria wrote..
Your article is very topical. I want to lend my voice to yours that divorce is not an option for the Christian. A little more patience and much more prayers will help us in our marriages. Selflessness and unconditional love are the keys. We need to be more intimate with God in order to get along better with each other. May the Lord sustain our marriages and homes in Jesus' name.
W. Riad from Kuwait ..
I agree with all you have discussed. I say with Jesus and with you "No divorce".
Chinua O, from Nigera
Personally, I see Christianity, today, as playing the ostrich with the issue of divorce (hiding our heads in the sand). With the recent addition of two popular female TV ministers in the USA to the failed marriage statistics, we can no longer pretend that all is well.
I shocked when I found out that we have the same rate of divorce both among Christians in America and non-Christians!! My question is: What then is the difference that Christ makes in us? What then is the evidence of the Spirit of God dwelling in us? What then is our testimony?
As I was studying the statistics and pondering over the above questions I saw a foot note at the bottom of the statistics spreadsheet that said it all: Among the Christians, for the couples that pray together, the percentage of divorces drops dramatically!
Christians today needs to go beyond just being "Born-again" to being Disciples of the Lord, whose lives can be described as "Have your way Lord".
As long as we are still living for ourselves, we would be missing the mark. (Note: the direct literal translation of the hebrew word for "sin" means "to miss the mark").
The enthronement of SELF in the developed countries (and it is also gradually happening here in Africa) needs to be treated as alarming by all Christians. Else, the scourge will spread to us all.
Owojori G. from University of Stellenbosch, South Africa;
Really enjoyed your piece titled "Till Death do us part". It’s in my opinion, a message that is urgently needed given the rate of divorce in homes in the West which is gradually creeping into our well valued homes in the South (Nigeria inclusive). However, I believe that there are occasions when a divorce may be necessary, in extreme cases though. For example, a wife who has been beaten for the umpteenth time by her husband, and the man is ready to kill her, in as much as she comes back home....A faithful husband who is unlucky to have a strange woman, whose marital ideology, is one wife several bed-mates. Imagine if this woman has HIV, is the husband supposed to remain in such marriage until he contact the HIV and ruin his life, and probably ministry because of an unfaithful wife? These hypothetical cases seldom happen between "believer and believer'' marriages, but some believers do actually marry unbeliever by omission or commission, so what do we say when that happens? Also when Christ said, "in the beginning this was not so", we must also remember that in the beginning, sin had not entered into the heart of man. The man in the beginning was following God, and had regular fellowship with God. Yes I believe, that was the intention of God. May the Lord save our homes.
Charles B from Lagos, Nigeria
You've taken the bull by the horn. This message will surely not be popular in the US and other Western nations. Although I'm afraid even in Africa divorce is becoming an acceptable thing in the Church.
I agree that if we enter into marriage knowing that there is no exit, we will have to "press on" until the solution comes. But when we think there is an option, we so easily look for the easy solution. What has always blessed my heart in this matter is where in Malachi, God says he hates divorce. God hates it. If he hates it, then we should hate it too and love our spouse. Just a comment, wouldn't it have been better to refer to adultery instead of fornication since it will involve someone already married?
Edith B from Nigeria,
Thanks for the mail on marriage. Marriage is honourable and indeed a discipleship school for us. The enemy is fighting homes and many Christians are giving him rooms in their marriages. There's bound to be challenges but divorce is not the way out. Overcoming those challenges is the issue. " ..and having done all to stand" (Eph. 6:13b). Marriage is a serious issue and must not be trivialised or cheapened as we see in the western world. The world can not love and therefore can't show us the true marriage. Christ is the Author and Sustainer of marriage.
Jesus says that you can not divorce except for the sin of fornication. But can a married person commit fornication? No!! He or she can only commit adultery. Fornication applies to the unmarried. So there is no way out or exit like yousaid. We are in and we are in! We must make the bestout of it.
And truly if the Lord has led us to our partner/spouse by his spirit, not that we just "opened our eyes and picked" , as some have been erroneously taught, we are bound to overcome all the challenges.
Well, I have so much to say on marriage though I'm still young in marriage (just 16 years this week), but let me stop for now as the discussion and contributions continue. Bless you my brother for your sensitivity to bring up this topic now.
As expected, my article on divorce some weeks back attracted a lot of responses. I also had the oppurtunity of talking with a few who had questions on where to draw the lines in thorny cases.
Like I promised, I post here some of the respones I recieved. And I look forward to more reactions, comments and questions to this important issue. Please just click on comments below to add your comment or questions.
Let me encourage us all once again not to give up too quickly on a vision of a glorious marriage. Let us fight on our knees and by applying God's Word for our marriages and God will make it shine. ~ Chim.
Nike K, from Warri, Nigeria wrote..
Your article is very topical. I want to lend my voice to yours that divorce is not an option for the Christian. A little more patience and much more prayers will help us in our marriages. Selflessness and unconditional love are the keys. We need to be more intimate with God in order to get along better with each other. May the Lord sustain our marriages and homes in Jesus' name.
W. Riad from Kuwait ..
I agree with all you have discussed. I say with Jesus and with you "No divorce".
Chinua O, from Nigera
Personally, I see Christianity, today, as playing the ostrich with the issue of divorce (hiding our heads in the sand). With the recent addition of two popular female TV ministers in the USA to the failed marriage statistics, we can no longer pretend that all is well.
I shocked when I found out that we have the same rate of divorce both among Christians in America and non-Christians!! My question is: What then is the difference that Christ makes in us? What then is the evidence of the Spirit of God dwelling in us? What then is our testimony?
As I was studying the statistics and pondering over the above questions I saw a foot note at the bottom of the statistics spreadsheet that said it all: Among the Christians, for the couples that pray together, the percentage of divorces drops dramatically!
Christians today needs to go beyond just being "Born-again" to being Disciples of the Lord, whose lives can be described as "Have your way Lord".
As long as we are still living for ourselves, we would be missing the mark. (Note: the direct literal translation of the hebrew word for "sin" means "to miss the mark").
The enthronement of SELF in the developed countries (and it is also gradually happening here in Africa) needs to be treated as alarming by all Christians. Else, the scourge will spread to us all.
Owojori G. from University of Stellenbosch, South Africa;
Really enjoyed your piece titled "Till Death do us part". It’s in my opinion, a message that is urgently needed given the rate of divorce in homes in the West which is gradually creeping into our well valued homes in the South (Nigeria inclusive). However, I believe that there are occasions when a divorce may be necessary, in extreme cases though. For example, a wife who has been beaten for the umpteenth time by her husband, and the man is ready to kill her, in as much as she comes back home....A faithful husband who is unlucky to have a strange woman, whose marital ideology, is one wife several bed-mates. Imagine if this woman has HIV, is the husband supposed to remain in such marriage until he contact the HIV and ruin his life, and probably ministry because of an unfaithful wife? These hypothetical cases seldom happen between "believer and believer'' marriages, but some believers do actually marry unbeliever by omission or commission, so what do we say when that happens? Also when Christ said, "in the beginning this was not so", we must also remember that in the beginning, sin had not entered into the heart of man. The man in the beginning was following God, and had regular fellowship with God. Yes I believe, that was the intention of God. May the Lord save our homes.
Charles B from Lagos, Nigeria
You've taken the bull by the horn. This message will surely not be popular in the US and other Western nations. Although I'm afraid even in Africa divorce is becoming an acceptable thing in the Church.
I agree that if we enter into marriage knowing that there is no exit, we will have to "press on" until the solution comes. But when we think there is an option, we so easily look for the easy solution. What has always blessed my heart in this matter is where in Malachi, God says he hates divorce. God hates it. If he hates it, then we should hate it too and love our spouse. Just a comment, wouldn't it have been better to refer to adultery instead of fornication since it will involve someone already married?
Edith B from Nigeria,
Thanks for the mail on marriage. Marriage is honourable and indeed a discipleship school for us. The enemy is fighting homes and many Christians are giving him rooms in their marriages. There's bound to be challenges but divorce is not the way out. Overcoming those challenges is the issue. " ..and having done all to stand" (Eph. 6:13b). Marriage is a serious issue and must not be trivialised or cheapened as we see in the western world. The world can not love and therefore can't show us the true marriage. Christ is the Author and Sustainer of marriage.
Jesus says that you can not divorce except for the sin of fornication. But can a married person commit fornication? No!! He or she can only commit adultery. Fornication applies to the unmarried. So there is no way out or exit like yousaid. We are in and we are in! We must make the bestout of it.
And truly if the Lord has led us to our partner/spouse by his spirit, not that we just "opened our eyes and picked" , as some have been erroneously taught, we are bound to overcome all the challenges.
Well, I have so much to say on marriage though I'm still young in marriage (just 16 years this week), but let me stop for now as the discussion and contributions continue. Bless you my brother for your sensitivity to bring up this topic now.
'Till Death Do Us Part
"What therefore God hath joined together, let no man put asunder" Matthew 19:6
I want to discuss an issue that was raised in Jesus’ encounter with the Pharisees in Mathew 19:1-12. It is about divorce and it is something that has bothered me for a long time.
I believe the Pharisees felt they could put Jesus on the spot by bringing up this issue because, just as in our day, divorce in those days had become very rampart. Such that it had become a "don't-preach-against" issue for preachers who cared about their popularity. Today it is hard to preach God’s mind concerning divorce without being labeled judgmental or narrow-minded. Among believers and even some preachers divorce has come to be widely accepted. But Jesus was not afraid to confront the issue head-on, as we see from his reply.
Jesus' reply to the question whether one can divorce was that God’s original plan for marriage was that there would be no divorce. He said “in the beginning this was not so”. "In the beginning" divorce was not part of the Creator’s design for marriage. Instead the mystery of marriage is that when a man and a woman unite together in marriage they become one flesh. No longer two.
The mistake we make is to look at the physical and feel that since they are still two individuals, they can conveniently divorce themselves, if they want. But in reality, what they are now is an entity so that what divorce leaves behind are not two whole individuals but two incomplete pieces of a whole. Only those that have experienced it, can tell the amount of pain and mess that divorce always leaves behind.
The Pharisees understood Jesus was saying no to divorce, that is why they asked why Moses, the man of God, permitted it. Jesus said it was permitted because of the hardiness of the heart of the people even though it was not in line with God’s plan. Here is a lesson for us - it is possible that through the hardiness of heart of a generation for things that is not in line with God’s order to become accepted and permitted in the Church. But majority decision does not change God’s standard.
The only reason for divorce that Jesus allows here is fornication. Yet it is clear from the context of his discourse that divorce is not to be an option in marriage. The disciples understood what he was saying, that was why they said “If this is the situation between a husband and a wife, it is better not to marry”. That is to say, “if marriage has only an entrance and no exit, given all the heat that comes up in marriage, it is better not to marry”!
But understanding that God planned marriage to have only an entrance and no exit does not turn it into hell on earth, but instead an opportunity to build a heaven on earth. I know it is difficult to generalize, but I believe there are many dissolved marriages that could have become glorious if the man and wife did not believe divorce was an option. When we come into marriage without divorce in our vocabulary, we would put in our all to make it work, because we believe there is no other option.
Every marriage has it’s challenges, yet if we do not hold firmly to God’s standard of "no divorce", we would not have the backbone to fight for our marriage, to pay the price of seeing it become a glorious testimony of a Christian marriage. We will give up too soon.
Ours is an age that are “lovers of their own selves”. I, me, mine are some of the big gods of this age. That is why marriage as God planned it is so difficult for us today. Marriage is not about what you can get, but what you can give. Marriage is God’s school of discipleship.
I pray that this truths do not come to you as judgmental but as an encouragement. It doesn’t matter what you have done in the past, what matters is what you’d do now. There are things we cannot change in our past but no matter where we are today, we can, by the grace of God, begin to live by this truth.
I’d would be looking forward to reading your comments on this issue. Please click below to read the responses of others and lets continue this discussion. And please do pray for your marriage and other christian marriages because there's a heated attack from hell on these like never before. And please don't hesitate to let me know how I can pray for yours.
I want to discuss an issue that was raised in Jesus’ encounter with the Pharisees in Mathew 19:1-12. It is about divorce and it is something that has bothered me for a long time.
I believe the Pharisees felt they could put Jesus on the spot by bringing up this issue because, just as in our day, divorce in those days had become very rampart. Such that it had become a "don't-preach-against" issue for preachers who cared about their popularity. Today it is hard to preach God’s mind concerning divorce without being labeled judgmental or narrow-minded. Among believers and even some preachers divorce has come to be widely accepted. But Jesus was not afraid to confront the issue head-on, as we see from his reply.
Jesus' reply to the question whether one can divorce was that God’s original plan for marriage was that there would be no divorce. He said “in the beginning this was not so”. "In the beginning" divorce was not part of the Creator’s design for marriage. Instead the mystery of marriage is that when a man and a woman unite together in marriage they become one flesh. No longer two.
The mistake we make is to look at the physical and feel that since they are still two individuals, they can conveniently divorce themselves, if they want. But in reality, what they are now is an entity so that what divorce leaves behind are not two whole individuals but two incomplete pieces of a whole. Only those that have experienced it, can tell the amount of pain and mess that divorce always leaves behind.
The Pharisees understood Jesus was saying no to divorce, that is why they asked why Moses, the man of God, permitted it. Jesus said it was permitted because of the hardiness of the heart of the people even though it was not in line with God’s plan. Here is a lesson for us - it is possible that through the hardiness of heart of a generation for things that is not in line with God’s order to become accepted and permitted in the Church. But majority decision does not change God’s standard.
The only reason for divorce that Jesus allows here is fornication. Yet it is clear from the context of his discourse that divorce is not to be an option in marriage. The disciples understood what he was saying, that was why they said “If this is the situation between a husband and a wife, it is better not to marry”. That is to say, “if marriage has only an entrance and no exit, given all the heat that comes up in marriage, it is better not to marry”!
But understanding that God planned marriage to have only an entrance and no exit does not turn it into hell on earth, but instead an opportunity to build a heaven on earth. I know it is difficult to generalize, but I believe there are many dissolved marriages that could have become glorious if the man and wife did not believe divorce was an option. When we come into marriage without divorce in our vocabulary, we would put in our all to make it work, because we believe there is no other option.
Every marriage has it’s challenges, yet if we do not hold firmly to God’s standard of "no divorce", we would not have the backbone to fight for our marriage, to pay the price of seeing it become a glorious testimony of a Christian marriage. We will give up too soon.
Ours is an age that are “lovers of their own selves”. I, me, mine are some of the big gods of this age. That is why marriage as God planned it is so difficult for us today. Marriage is not about what you can get, but what you can give. Marriage is God’s school of discipleship.
I pray that this truths do not come to you as judgmental but as an encouragement. It doesn’t matter what you have done in the past, what matters is what you’d do now. There are things we cannot change in our past but no matter where we are today, we can, by the grace of God, begin to live by this truth.
I’d would be looking forward to reading your comments on this issue. Please click below to read the responses of others and lets continue this discussion. And please do pray for your marriage and other christian marriages because there's a heated attack from hell on these like never before. And please don't hesitate to let me know how I can pray for yours.
Sunday, January 21, 2007
You Are The Right Size for your Destiny!
On Jan 17, 2007, at 3:42 AM,
Christy Hamlin wrote
Hi Chimezie!
I just wrote a newsletter to some friends this week and Ephesians 2:10 was the inspiration of it as well. I copied the paragraph below for you. Thanks for your encouragement and ministry through the emails. Blessings to you! Christy I currently have the statement hung in my room, “HAVE FAITH” with the attached quote, “I am not afraid . . . I WAS BORN TO DO THIS” from Joan of Arc. I find it both inspiring, and timely. I love the quote from the book of Esther where Esther was being asked to take a huge step of faith. Mordecai challenged her by pointing out something that may not have previously occurred to her. He declared that she had been strategically positioned, “for such a time as this.” I think we all need to live with that perspective. The fact that I am here is proof that God wants to glorify Himself in Detroit. Do you believe that for your city, your workplace, your family, etc? Eph. 2:10 declares, “For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” We cannot afford to view our lives as a series of happenstance occurrences. Our identity declares our value, our value determines our position and our position dictates our purpose. My expectation is increasing in response to my growing faith that impossible is possible. God can overturn cities and He can use ordinary people like me. I was born to do this.
Christy Hamlin wrote
Hi Chimezie!
I just wrote a newsletter to some friends this week and Ephesians 2:10 was the inspiration of it as well. I copied the paragraph below for you. Thanks for your encouragement and ministry through the emails. Blessings to you! Christy I currently have the statement hung in my room, “HAVE FAITH” with the attached quote, “I am not afraid . . . I WAS BORN TO DO THIS” from Joan of Arc. I find it both inspiring, and timely. I love the quote from the book of Esther where Esther was being asked to take a huge step of faith. Mordecai challenged her by pointing out something that may not have previously occurred to her. He declared that she had been strategically positioned, “for such a time as this.” I think we all need to live with that perspective. The fact that I am here is proof that God wants to glorify Himself in Detroit. Do you believe that for your city, your workplace, your family, etc? Eph. 2:10 declares, “For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” We cannot afford to view our lives as a series of happenstance occurrences. Our identity declares our value, our value determines our position and our position dictates our purpose. My expectation is increasing in response to my growing faith that impossible is possible. God can overturn cities and He can use ordinary people like me. I was born to do this.
Monday, December 25, 2006
The Goodnews Of Christmas.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Goodnews Of Christmas.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
I want to encourage you with what I saw in my Bible in the Christmas season of 1995.
In Matthew 2:1ff the Bible tells us of the wise men who came from the East searching for the baby King. We are told they traveled nights and days perhaps for many weeks and every day the star was there to lead them. But one day just when it seemed they were near, they cannot find the star. They were lost.
Now here is where they blew it. Instead of waiting for this manifest hand of God that had led them thus far they came to a decision to get some human help. ‘Where best to inquire after the King than from a king?’ they must have reasoned. But it was a wrong move that came because they were too impatient to wait for God.
As it turned out king Herod couldn’t help them. But it was their visit to him that led him to kill all those babies later. Surely these wise men had done a very unwise thing which nearly jeopardized God's Great Plan for the nations.
Have you ever found yourself in this kind of state where you blow it real big? I have and not just once. For example, God spoke this message to me at a time I was troubled by a major wrong decision I had made for my family that threatened to jeopardize God's will for us.
I can't describe to you the comfort I got many years ago as I caught a picture of the heart of God when we fail. If I had been God, I would have chided those men before I attempted to help them. But not so God. Immediately they went back to where they left off they saw the star again.
Imagine their joy. They must have realized after leaving the king they had blown it. Perhaps they were feeling guilty wondering why they hadn't just patiently waited for God. But as soon as they got back on track, God was awaiting for them.
Do you get the message? There is no need to continue in guilt no matter how badly we've blown it. Neither should we stay on in Herod's palace; we must go back to where we left God. Go back to God and repent. And God will work things out. Note that God not only gave them back his guidance he also took care of the mess they had made so that it did not disturb his Plan and all this without chiding them.
Beloved, this is the whole message of Christmas - man blew it in the Garden of Eden but God's love made Him come as a baby to deliver us. He came not to patch us up, but wants to make us even more glorious if we would turn to him. And this is the encouragement I bring you this season: if you have blown it, there is hope. Return with all your heart to him and he would straighten things out. Happy Christmas!
The Goodnews Of Christmas.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
I want to encourage you with what I saw in my Bible in the Christmas season of 1995.
In Matthew 2:1ff the Bible tells us of the wise men who came from the East searching for the baby King. We are told they traveled nights and days perhaps for many weeks and every day the star was there to lead them. But one day just when it seemed they were near, they cannot find the star. They were lost.
Now here is where they blew it. Instead of waiting for this manifest hand of God that had led them thus far they came to a decision to get some human help. ‘Where best to inquire after the King than from a king?’ they must have reasoned. But it was a wrong move that came because they were too impatient to wait for God.
As it turned out king Herod couldn’t help them. But it was their visit to him that led him to kill all those babies later. Surely these wise men had done a very unwise thing which nearly jeopardized God's Great Plan for the nations.
Have you ever found yourself in this kind of state where you blow it real big? I have and not just once. For example, God spoke this message to me at a time I was troubled by a major wrong decision I had made for my family that threatened to jeopardize God's will for us.
I can't describe to you the comfort I got many years ago as I caught a picture of the heart of God when we fail. If I had been God, I would have chided those men before I attempted to help them. But not so God. Immediately they went back to where they left off they saw the star again.
Imagine their joy. They must have realized after leaving the king they had blown it. Perhaps they were feeling guilty wondering why they hadn't just patiently waited for God. But as soon as they got back on track, God was awaiting for them.
Do you get the message? There is no need to continue in guilt no matter how badly we've blown it. Neither should we stay on in Herod's palace; we must go back to where we left God. Go back to God and repent. And God will work things out. Note that God not only gave them back his guidance he also took care of the mess they had made so that it did not disturb his Plan and all this without chiding them.
Beloved, this is the whole message of Christmas - man blew it in the Garden of Eden but God's love made Him come as a baby to deliver us. He came not to patch us up, but wants to make us even more glorious if we would turn to him. And this is the encouragement I bring you this season: if you have blown it, there is hope. Return with all your heart to him and he would straighten things out. Happy Christmas!
Sunday, November 19, 2006
The Importance of Relationships in Spiritual Warfare
We can't talk of having a correct walk with God and ignore our walk with our fellow men. Jesus taught that the state of our relationship with our fellowmen can affect the effectiveness of our prayers (Matthew 5: 23-26; 6:16-18). One of the things, for example that can hinder effective spiritual warfare is unforgiveness. I believe it would be a good exercise to examine your relationships and see if there are some that might need correcting. This is an important step in winning this invisible war ~ Chimezie
Monday, November 13, 2006
The Invisible War (1)
We are at war. Our enemy, Satan will not ignore us just because we ignore him.
There was a missionary couple in Thailand who suddenly began going through months of strife after relocating to a new house. They could not understand why the strife until a friend visited. God led him to show them how a Buddhist’s shrine in their compound was the source of the demonic attack on their marriage. And when they resisted the demons, peace returned to their home.
I believe it would be a good exercise for each of us to examine our lives, those of our loved ones as well as our general surrounding and ask God to show us if there is any area the enemy might be working because of our ignorance.
There was a missionary couple in Thailand who suddenly began going through months of strife after relocating to a new house. They could not understand why the strife until a friend visited. God led him to show them how a Buddhist’s shrine in their compound was the source of the demonic attack on their marriage. And when they resisted the demons, peace returned to their home.
I believe it would be a good exercise for each of us to examine our lives, those of our loved ones as well as our general surrounding and ask God to show us if there is any area the enemy might be working because of our ignorance.
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