Marriage Devotion

I used to belong to a Messianic congregation in Colorado (20 years ago) and while there I had the pleasure of meeting a family who also had St. Bernard’s, as we did. They attended with their teenage son who is now a married adult. ‘Raise a child up in the way he should go and he will not depart from it’. This son took the gospel to heart early on and I was reading his blogging sheet (passed on by KH),
Greg Feinauer [One Fine Hour] brings up this point:

I am realizing more and more that the American lifestyle has been all based on lusts. These lusts are manifested in a variety of ways such as sexual immorality, monetarily, domination of others, acquiring more things, etc. ...

You have probably heard how to catch a monkey, right? All that is needed to catch a monkey is a temptation for the monkey and a long necked bottle or gourd with a neck small enough for the monkey's hand to fit into but not get his fist out of. When the monkey reaches in to get the treat he makes a fist around the object of his desire, he is now stuck. The monkey is so focused on the item that he does not realize that his life is in danger. You see we are the monkey!! We are so focused on the thing that we do not realize that we have sacrificed our safety (spiritually speaking) for some thing. Is that thing so important that we will die for it? Is that thing worth the cost? No! Oswald Chambers has written for March 8th in his book, "My Utmost For His Highest" a very succinct description of what this takes. And I quote; "Am I willing to relinquish my hold on all I possess, my hold on my affections, and on everything, and to be identified with the death of Christ"?

QUF, the 19th letter of the Hebrew alphabet has the monkey as its symbol representing just that: Vanity, the false imitations of this world. It's antidote, also found in QUF is Q'dusha: HOLINESS. You possess one or the other, not both at the same time.

Devotion – marriage devotion - is not devotion
until it meets the cross.

Marriage is blood covenant, according to the Word of God, terminated only upon the death of one of the spouses. The cross of Christ is twofold: consummation (blood covenant) with His bride (Rev 21), but his death allowing the termination of covenant with those who, by choice, will not choose Him.

What happens (as a professing Christian) when marriage – our own - ‘meets the cross’? Will we claim, ‘I never knew Him, and flee to save our own life’ - - our own lust. Divorce is not a solution, it is an act of violence.

Malachi 2:16
For the Lord God of Israel says that He hates divorce, for it covers one's garment with violence," says the Lord of hosts. Therefore take heed to your spirit, that you do not deal treacherously.

As a Christian we can not afford to succumb to the illusion (the deception) that we are following Christ while gratifying our lusts.

Divorce, for the Christian (according to the Word of God), is not license or freedom to pursue the desires of the flesh. It is a time of seeking reconciliation. (1Corinthians 7 whole chapter). The devil is not going to come to you with something you don’t want. He will come with the desire of your heart. Are we are so focused on the thing that we do not realize that we have sacrificed our safety (spiritually speaking) for some thing. Is that thing so important that we will die for it?

When we ‘so want what we want’, the true reality is that the devil is coming to ‘steal, kill and destroy - -our relationship in Christ. Consider King Saul.

Rabbi Ken Spiro: His fatal mistake: He disobeys the commandment of God to wipe out the nation of Amalek. Amalek's major ambition is to rid the world of moral influence, keeping the Jews in bondage to idolatry. Saul goes to war, has victory, but then falters, sparing King Agag (his own lusts and desires).

With this critical mistake, Saul is finished. He doesn't get a second chance. God doesn't mess around when it comes to the King of Israel.

If this seems harsh, we must keep in mind the guiding principles of the relationship between God and the Jewish people.

1. According to your level of knowledge is your level of responsibility. The mistakes of people in positions of power have huge consequences.

2. According to your level of responsibility is your level of accountability. The greater you are, the bigger the impact of your decisions, therefore you must be held to an extremely high standard.

As we saw previously with Moses hitting the rock ― even the smallest mistakes of great Jewish leaders are severely punished.

Although Saul is finished, this doesn't mean he gets deposed on the spot, but it means that his line will not carry on the monarchy.


To the Christian:
According to your level of knowledge is your level of responsibility. According to your level of responsibility is your level of accountability. As a Christian you are held to an extremely high standard - that of Jesus Christ.
Mistakes (sins) have high consequences.

Devotion is not talking the talk, it is walking the walk. And I quote; "Am I willing to relinquish my hold on all I possess, my hold on my affections, and on everything, and to be identified with the death of Christ"?

Lord have mercy on us all and open our ears to hear the call to repentance. God is not condemning us for our past. He is looking at ‘our today’ and ‘our future’.
Today if you hear His voice, there is always room at the cross.

Well, we need to look further at what the Scripture says about the heart. The heart is where all evil proceeds from as stated in Matthew 15: 18-20 In verse 19 it says; "For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies:" Our heart is the source of the trouble for our speech and actions. See Jeremiah 17:9-11 . We need to clean our heart out before it shows up on the surface. This is hard to do and most people are unwilling to do the work it requires. How do we clean our hearts then? In 1 John 1:9 it says that if we confess our sins (admit the filthy things in our hearts) then He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Notice how it says all not just some or a few. God can handle all our shortcomings. We need to ask Him to forgive us and then He will do the rest.