Magnets, Glue, and Marriage....Two!

Just to let you know, this is a Part Two to the previous blog called "Magnets, Glue, and Marriage, Too!". I felt it deserved continuation.

Matthew 19:4 says,"Haven't you read that at the beginning, the Creator made them male and female and that he said,'for this reason, a man shall leave his father and mother and be united with his wife, and the two are to become one flesh?' Thus they are no longer two, but one. So then, no one should split apart what God has joined together."

So let's go back to our example of a magnet:

A magnet represents a married couple; designed to stick together. Suppose you and your spouse decide to go your separate ways. This creates a very fundamental problem (I've never been divorced, but I've observed plenty of divorces among my friends. These are just my thoughts. I hope they don't come across hurtful).

That magnet that has a break in it is only designed to fit perfectly with its other half. It will still stick to anything metallic; it may even stick very strongly, but that perfect fit will never be acheived while being stuck to anything else but it's original other half. When it's God that has joined you together, nobody can improve on His work. There are only varying degrees of how much you mess it up!

Just think for a moment, where would we be if Adam and Eve hadn't resolved that whole 'downfall of man' marital spat in the garden? The first recorded work of the enemy in the garden resulted in a division in the very first marriage! He's still playing that same game today, and he's upped the stakes. The divorce rate is AS high if not higher, in the church. The best way to deal with a snake who's trying to mess up your garden is to crush his head.

"Remember, I have given you authority so you can trample down snakes and scorpions, indeed, all the enemies forces; you will remain completely unharmed." -Luke 10:19

Too many people (Christians I know) think that 'if I leave him (satan) alone, he'll leave me alone!'. FALSE!!!! He's not a bee, he's a snake! By the way, when God cursed Lucifer, he said that he'd eat of the dust of the earth his whole life. WE are made of the dust! So, if you're walking in the flesh, you're giving him plenty to feed on.

Men, especially, it is your job to guard your wife. Satan knows that the woman is the weaker vessel (that's why he went for Eve first). If Adam had been acting as he should have, as her protector, there would have been no deception. He would have dealt with the snake before he had a chance to speak. We're not here to give glory to the devil, but I don't want you to be ignorant of his devices, either.

To let your marriage be fixed by God(after there's been a breakage), you have to intentionally turn away from anything that's drawing you apart from your spouse, forsaking all others. The truth is, you will be attracted to many things around you, and many things will try to draw you away. Only your willingness to be used by God, and his power to fix can ever make things the way they were meant to be.

Magnets, Glue, and Marriage too!

God works in mysterious ways! When he speaks, He can take something insignificant and speak divine wisdom even through every day,mundane things.

I work with magnets at my job to hang up blueprints etc.... I have these small disc magnets, only about an inch in diameter, and one of them broke. I learned something about round magnets then:when a round magnet that used to be one piece gets a broken spot in the middle, the same magnetic energy that used to hold the piece together now opposes each other from the center.

I pretty much always keep a bottle of gorilla glue on me , because stuff is always breaking! Elmer's school glue is ok if you want to make something glittery or do a kindergarten project, but if something is REALLY BROKEN you need something stronger. So I began to try and fix the broken magnet. I almost immediately thought of marriage when the magnet broke....

Our own marriage was broken at one point, many people thought we wouldn't make it (including ourselves at times). Some "well meaning" christians even suggested divorce or separation! They should've followed scripture: Malachi 2:16 says," I hate divorce and marital separation"(amplified ). I believe we are now living in the times that the Bible refers to when it says " the love of most will grow cold". It is very dangerous and deadly to the life of God within you to listen to any sort of worldly advice or psycho-babble (as I call some solutions for personal problems). We need to seek God's heart and God's heart is always for restoration and reconciliation. We tried just about everything out there to try to help our marriage. I was an extremely hot headed and abusive husband and we were both hard headed. I remember something being said to the effect of " til death do us part, so to get rid of me, one of us is leaving in a body bag!"

Back to the illustration of the magnet, you have one piece that is now two and it is OPPOSING ITSELF FROM ITS VERY CENTER! I heard a quote once that said,"You cannot fix a problem on the same level it was created." So obviously, we need power greater than the opposing forces and a bond stronger than they are to hold them together. Matthew 19:4 says,"Haven't you read that at the beginning the creator made them male and female, and that he said,'For this reason a man should leave his father and mother and be united to his wife and the two are to become one flesh'? Thus, they are no longer two, but one. So then, no one should split apart what God has joined together." The better thing is always that stuff wouldn't break. But we live on Planet Earth. Magnets break and so do marriages. As sure as a magnet can't fix itself, you in your own strength cannot fix your marriage if it has a fracture.

The way to fix a broken magnet that is opposing itself is a wonderful illustration of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. I must say at this point, that anything short of God's Word and the power of the Holy Spirit is insufficient. The C-clamp(and my fingers) represent the work of God the Father. The Gorilla Glue represents the Holy Spirit. The water represents the blood of Christ. Gorilla Glue is water-activated and so also is the power of the Holy Spirit in your life. There is no other way to activate His power. I put the glue and the water on both pieces of the broken magnet, and began trying to clamp them. Between them opposing each other, being covered in glue, and getting stuck themselves to other metal objects, it was quite a trick to get them clamped. With some difficulty, I did manage to get them clamped. In the end, the power of the C-clamp is greater than the opposing magnetic strength. Once clamped, the glue is strong enough to keep them together even though the opposition is technically still there. The break was fixed and the magnet was restored to its normal function.

I just want to offer encouragement to anybody who feels like giving up. There's no way that I can shut up about what God has done in our life. I knew during the saving process, that He was going to use us and use our story as an example to others because a lot of people give up for a lot less than what we've been through. He(God) is a Master at restoring broken lives. No matter if its a small fault or if you're completely broken and separated, with God all things are possible. With the power of God the Father (clamping you), the power of the Holy Spirit (bonding you), and the power of Christ (activating the Holy Spirit) there is no break that he can't fix.

Purified By Fire

I have always had a big thing for music-- especially harder edge stuff, ( I have come to find out it's a strange manifestation of being a preacher's kid; it's basically sermons set to music hard enough to bash your head in!)There is a problem with this though: When I was a young man, full of anger and rebellion , this type of music was an outlet. Instead of having a healthy way to work through my feelings, I just vented it out to the music. Proverbs says that only a fool gives full vent to his anger; so in my foolishness , I opened up myself to lots of demonic activity (This is something that the Lord has led me recently to overcome. Praise God! after praying for freedom and taking authority in Christ to expel the demons, the Lord led me one night to clean out my collection of music and movies etc.) .

What was the standard? I simply let the Lord speak to me about each thing I put my hand to; if it had any sort of a negative confession or something that was unpleasing to God, I put it in a pile on the burn pit, and let it burn! A few of the things were a little hard to part with, but the more I let Him lead me I felt better for it. After a while, we had quite a blaze going! I said: Lord let is be a pleasing fragrance to you. Even a lot of my so-called Christian music was full of bad confession, and Jesus is the high priest of our confession, and so it was really dangerous to be letting this stuff into my mind and heart--it's just like eating junk food: garbage in garbage out!

I am pleased to say I've had a lot of growth since that night.

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ:

The enemy has totally influenced every segment of our society and even the church with all forms of media, leading MANY astray into darkness. Brothers and sisters! We need to ask the Lord to refine us and rid ourselves of this junk! His holiness is the standard! Anything less, if you don't burn it now, HE WILL BURN IT LATER! It's your choice. you can let him convict you now, or answer to Him for all this garbage when you stand before him in his glory and see the flames lick up everything worthless.



1 Corinthians 3:12 says, "Let each man be careful how he builds,for no one can lay another foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus the Messiah. Some will use Gold , silver and precious stone to build on this foundation; while others will use wood, grass and straw but each one's work will be shown for what it is, the day will disclose it because it will be revealed by FIRE -the fire will test the quality of each one's work. If the work someone has built on the foundation survives, he will be rewarded;if it is burned up , he will suffer the loss;he will escape with his life , but it will be like escaping through a fire.."

I got a clear vision of this scripture one day while talking to the Lord. What a waste to go through all this life , with all it's trials, only to have the very thing you lived for burned up right before your eyes in the presence of a Holy God! I know it is not wise to compare yourself to anybody else, but just thinking of quality of life here, it's either going to be treasure or trash from God's point of view. I prayed at that time that I would not be one of those escaping through the flames, but that I would have something to show from my life here on earth. This life is nothing but a vapor: Here today , gone tomorrow. Eternity is forever. I can't quite wrap my mind around what forever is, but if I'm going to remember my life here, I sure want it to be worth remembering.

Dear Lord, refine us with your fire now!, while were are in these clay tents. Help us to be malleable in your hands, to work us into something beautiful for your kingdom!

CITIZENS OF HEAVEN

I received an email the other day entitled "Never Forgive a Traitor!". It had to do with war atrocities from the Vietnam war and subsequent injustice. After reading the email, the thing that kept stirring in my spirit is "Traitors against whom?". Phillipians 3:20 says," But we are citizens of heaven and it is from there that we expect a deliverer, the Lord Jesus the Messiah. He will change the bodies we have in this humble state and make them like his glorious body, using the power which enables him to bring everything under his control."

Do you want the truth? We are all traitors. We are all murderers. We all deserve hell. So back to this question of 'traitors against whom?'.... I believe, based on scripture, that we are all traitors against Almighty God. He reaches out to us in grace and forgiveness and we say," No thanks, I'd rather hang on to my hurt and my junk." I'm not trying to minimize the actions of anybody; I'm actually trying to get us all to see the condition of our hearts. Just because somebody seems blinder than other people, that is simply because they're being judged on a human level. From God's point of view, we're all blind! We're all lost.

You have heard that our fathers were told "Love your neighbor-and hate your enemy" but i tell you love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you ! Then you will become children of your father in heaven. For he makes HIS sun shine on good and bad people alike.

So if we can extract ourselves for a moment from our shallow patriotism to a simple country and elevate our thinking to our citizenship of heaven, the real treason here is unforgiveness, and the crime is against the kingdom of heaven!

Matthew 6:14-15"For if you forgive others their offenses, your heavenly father will also forgive you; but if you do not forgive others their offenses, your heavenly father will not forgive yours."


I don't want anyone to think that i am not moved when i hear of all the suffering and evil in the world, i just don't think it's up to us to judge every situation, and come up with our own conclusions, and in the process chain our hearts to this world. I believe it is very much a plan of satan to mask a otherwise "worthy" cause to get many people to be angry and eventually bitter. We are instructed in the word of God to "watch out for the root of bitterness that can spring up and defile many" ultimately God's kingdom is all that will remain when this age is over... we must remember that we are in a spiritual war here, so check what you are hearing by the word of God, in that light you can tell easily where the instructions are coming from . "NEVER FORGIVE A TRAITOR"..."FORGIVE AND YOU WILL BE FORGIVEN" now, which sounds like God? which sound like satan?

The ugly (and beautiful) truth of the matter is that we are all traitors, but Christ himself laid his life down, and now calls us friends if we receive his covering for our treason against a holy God. Be careful my brothers and sisters to not be entangled in the wars of the world. God's war on satan is the greatest struggle to which he calls us to fight. Fight free! "Cast off the sin that so easily ensnares us and run the race set before you , looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning it's shame" His joy can be your joy if you shed the darkness that is holding your heart down and join us in this final war! MARANATA (COME LORD JESUS) !! THE SPIRIT AND THE BRIDE SAY COME!!!

His blood can make the foulest clean; his blood availed for me!

Be Anxious For Nothing

Philippians 4:6 says,"Do not be anxious about anything but in everything by prayer and petition with thanksgiving present your requests to God."

I received a study from the American Psychiatric Foundation on anxiety disorders. I wanted to write as one who is overcoming and has overcome a lot of these things in the power of God. Here are some symptoms of what "they" call an anxiety disorder:

1) painful intrusive memories and recurring nightmares

1 John 3:19-20 ..."This, then, is how we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in His presence whenever our hearts condemn us, for God is greater than our hearts and He knows everything."

2) persistent obsessive thoughts

2 Corinthians 10:3-5..."For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ."

3) intense feelings of panic or fear

1 John 4:18..."There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out all fear because fear has to do with punishment, the man who fears is not made perfect in love."

Romans 8:15..."For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received a spirit of sonship. And by him we cry Abba (daddy)! Father."

2 Timothy 1:7..."For God did not give us a spirit of fear, but a spirit of power, of love, and of a sound mind."

There is a natural feeling of fear that God gives us as a warning, but intense feelings of panic and fear are NOTHING BUT DEMONIC! They (the demons) are the ones who are afraid. Fear has to do with punishment; they're trying to suggest that their punishment is yours. We have been redeemed by the blood of Christ--something that can never be taken away. Don't buy into Satan's lies. He's the one who's doomed, and all of his demons.

If you're plagued by anxiety, the world tells you to go talk to a psychotherapist and take pills. All that a psychotherapist can do is talk to you and make you talk more and make all of your problems all the more obvious and help you obsess over them a little more! By the way, he sells the pills, so the more messed up he can convince you that you are, it'll go to his pocket (not that all doctors are so unethical, some really believe in what they do). The pills can only suppress your brain functions and make you feel like all you've been suffering is less real. Christ died to buy both halves of your brain and he takes your very real sufferings and heals you. I don't want to slam doctors, but I want to let you know that I've seen the Great Physician. I just want you to know that only HE can offer you true freedom.

We would love to pray with anybody seeking freedom. (no co-pays)