This week's lesson was sobering. We have an enemy... and it is NOT our spouse. We live in a love story set in a world at War. We have an enemy - the devil.
Other things affect our relationship such as personal brokenness, our personal style of relating. But the biggest 'issue' is the enemy. 1 Peter 5:8 'Be self controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings'.
The authors of the book 'Love and War' said, " Pressed to choose our top three things that would most help our marriage, we would come down to this list:
1. Find life in God.
2. Deal with your brokenness.
3. Learn to shut down the spiritual attacks that come against your marriage.
Practice this and nothing else, and you will be amazed at the freedom, love, and joy that will begin to flow."
Don't make agreements with the Devil. "A neighbor confided in me one day that he believed he married the wrong woman. 'I realised it on my wedding day'. 'Really', i said. 'How?'
'It just came to me. I made a terrible mistake. I married the wrong person.'
I asked him if it ever occured to him that is wasn't an epiphany from God, not even a moment of personal clarity, but a suggestion fromt he pit of hell.
He looked at me with absolute incomprehension, like a frog looks at you. He had swallowed the bait - hook,line, and sinker. And it destroyed their marriage. They had about fifteen years of shared disappointment, during which time he had mostly checked out. After all, he "married the wrong woman." They divorced last year.
This info is powerful! Powerful if we put it into practise and powerful if we don't. So many marriages/friends/family are living a life of disappointment. Are you beliving any lies from the enemy? Ask God to show you. What are the agreements I have been making about marriage? What are the agreements that I have been making about love? What are the agreements I have been making about my spouse? John 10:10 says the devil is out to steal, kill and destroy. Serious stuff, friends.
On a brighter note though - something my hubby, James says, that I love is, "We have the power of the ressurrected Lord living inside of us and fighting for us. HE is stronger than the enemy and if we access HIS strength, wisdom and power, we will be victorious." Praise God. Come to God together and fight for your marriage. Matthew 18:19 says "I tell you the truth, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you lose on earth will be loosed in heaven. Again, I tell you if two on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in Heaven."
Fight for each other!
Pray together and pray to break agreements made with the enemy. Is your spouse having a bad day? how about saying 'can i pray for you right now?'. emmmmm - fyi, i don't do this. I should. By God's grace - I will. I want to fight for James. And I want him to fight for me in this way. That takes humility and an awkward moment or two.
"Fighting for one another when one is down has proven to be one of the most beautiful gifts Satsi and I have given to one another in our marriage. This can become as normal to a marriage as paying the bills and taking out the trash".
We had our friends over last night to watch the marriage session. James was at a metting and my kids were not being angels so we both missed the video. We watched it after our friends left which was awesome. James had a long day. So did I, but we fought for each other and fought for the info we knew would help us on our journey. We had a nice time together... and then conor started to cough and needed 2 hours of attention - accident? no. Spiritual warfare.
So there you have it. That's what I learned this week. I am blessed by the honesty and growth in all of the relationships in the group. A honor to be a part of it.
No comments:
Post a Comment