Newsletter

Teaching for 11-19-08

Get A Divorce!

To most of us, this might seem to be a rather unlikely title for a teaching from Prayer Transformation Ministries. And perhaps a shocking piece of advice when we are trying so hard to fight for marriages in our country and in the Church today. But his is a serious and sincere exhortation that will bring victory and blessing into your life, and could lead to the transformation of your family, and your community. Get a divorce!

Who Are You Married To?

Before you turn this off completely, read carefully. What is marriage? It is not, as some have labeled it, an “institution,” as much as it is a covenant. The Bible describes marriage as a covenant between one man and one woman that reflects or pictures the covenantal relationship between Christ and His Church. This covenantal agreement is more than two signatures on a piece of paper. It involves intimate sharing of lives, of joys, sorrows, the bearing of children and so much more than just a contract. But the question is still relevant, who are you married to? The answer to that question is more than just the name on a marriage certificate. Much more.

No Other Lovers Allowed

That primary covenant relationship is the one that was purchased for us by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. We are married to Christ. He is to be our only lover. The primary fixation of our eyes and our hearts. He is the One who sought us out, and bought us from the slave market of sin. He is the only true lover of our souls. In the Old Testament, and the New, it is clear that we are to love the Lord with all our heart and soul and strength and mind (Deuteronomy 6:5; Matthew 22:37; Mark 12:30). The Lord is to be our only, our primary and whole love. There are to be no concubines. Yet the Bible is full of the examples of how the people of God have gone after other lovers. And as easy as it is for us to point the finger at those wicked people, have we confessed lately to the Lord how we have attached ourselves to other lovers? The Lord God Almighty will not allow us to have a stable full of lovers of our choosing. He demands that he be the only One.

The Wandering Heart

How easily our heats get attached to others when the Lord is truly all we really need. Too quickly we find our hearts attached (covenanted) to others. What are those things that steal our hearts away from our lover? Material possessions always come quickly to our minds, and although we speak strongly about how terrible this is, we find it difficult when pressed to grant a decree of divorce to those other lovers. The difficulty is not to come up with a list of all the possible prostitutes that steal our hearts away from our One true Lover. The real problem is in our willingness to turn our backs on the pleasures that they give to us. Fame, recognition, power, authority, titles, kingdoms large or small, all steal away the affection of our hearts, if we let them, from the Lord. Rare is the one who will come clean and make a public declaration of divorce from other lovers. They are other lovers, not false lovers. Because we do truly love them, and we can soon find that we love them more than we love Him who is to be our only love.

Who will it be?

The dilemma for us, is the same as any spouse that has been caught cheating. We must answer the question, which one will we choose? We cannot have both (Matthew 6:24). The Master of secrets, the Holy Spirit, knows who or what those other lovers are. He may even be naming them to us right now as we read this. So now we must confess to our True Lover, the Lord Jesus, our wandering ways, we must acknowledge that we have been cheating on Him, and we must tell Him which one we will choose. Like Israel of old in Joshua 24:15, we today are faced with a similar choice. Whom will we choose? Indeed, the fate of our nation, or our lives, or our families, of our churches depends much less upon who we elect into office than it does on who we choose to love and serve. Today, will you give a decree of divorce to those false lovers and choose this day to serve and love the Lord, and Him alone? God help us all to choose correctly.

Our Holy Lord, we confess to you that our hearts have wandered away from you, and we have attached our affections to other lovers. We have covenanted with them to give them our hearts. Those same hearts you gave your blood to redeem. So day Lord, we say we divorce those other lovers in our lives, and we renew our covenant of love with you, the lover of our souls. Forgive us, cleanse us, restore our love so that you alone occupy our hearts. Then let that love spill out to others for the glory of Your Name. Amen










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