Day four: God gives a Call to Faithfulness for love

Can Christians divorce? Today God speaks this: Love means being faithful to the one you have vowed to love.
1. Love involves a vow made in a covenant relationship between two parties.
2. God is the witness (the third party) of this love vow.
3. The legitimate parties of the covenant are bound by the demand of faithfulness.
4. The ultimate court of appeal for the wronged party is God.
5. The ultimate Supreme Judge looks for one performance standard: Kindness is due performance of your vow of love. Love does not cause harm.
6. God looks at the heart condition.
7. Wordiness (without due performance to fulfill your vow) does not get you anywhere in this court of justice of love.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Bible verses:
Malachi 2:10-17 New Living Translation (NLT)
10 Are we not all children of the same Father? Are we not all created by the same God? Then why do we betray each other, violating the covenant of our ancestors?
11 Judah has been unfaithful, and a detestable thing has been done in Israel and in Jerusalem. The men of Judah have defiled the LORD’s beloved sanctuary by marrying women who worship idols. 12 May the LORD cut off from the nation of Israel[a] every last man who has done this and yet brings an offering to the LORD of Heaven’s Armies.
13 Here is another thing you do. You cover the LORD’s altar with tears, weeping and groaning because he pays no attention to your offerings and doesn’t accept them with pleasure. 14 You cry out, “Why doesn’t the LORD accept my worship?” I’ll tell you why! Because the LORD witnessed the vows you and your wife made when you were young. But you have been unfaithful to her, though she remained your faithful partner, the wife of your marriage vows.
15 Didn’t the LORD make you one with your wife? In body and spirit you are his.[b] And what does He want? Godly children from your union. So guard your heart; remain loyal to the wife of your youth. 16 “For I hate divorce!”[c] says the LORD, the God of Israel. “To divorce your wife is to overwhelm her with cruelty,[d]” says the LORD of Heaven’s Armies. “So guard your heart; do not be unfaithful to your wife.”
17 You have wearied the LORD with your words.
“How have we wearied him?” you ask.
You have wearied him by saying that all who do evil are good in the LORD’s sight, and he is pleased with them. You have wearied him by asking, “Where is the God of justice?”
Footnotes:
2:12 Hebrew from the tents of Jacob. The names “Jacob” and “Israel” are often interchanged throughout the Old Testament, referring sometimes to the individual patriarch and sometimes to the nation.
2:15 Or Didn’t the one Lord make us and preserve our life and breath? or Didn’t the one Lord make her, both flesh and spirit? The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain.
2:16a Hebrew For he hates divorcing.
2:16b Hebrew to cover one’s garment with violence.

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Matthew 19:3-9 Amplified Bible (AMP)

³ And Pharisees came to Jesus, testing Him and asking, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for just any reason?” ⁴ He replied, “Have you never read that He who created them from the beginning made them male and female, ⁵ and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and shall be joined inseparably to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? ⁶ So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together, let no one separate.” ⁷ The Pharisees said to Him, “Why then did Moses command us to give her a certificate of divorce and send her away?” ⁸ He said to them, “Because your hearts were hard and stubborn Moses permitted you to divorce your wives; but from the beginning it has not been this way. ⁹ I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery^[a].”

Footnotes:

1. Matthew 19:9 Some early mss add the phrase “…and he who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.”
   

Day three: God speaks of the positive aspects of love

God speaks of the positive aspects of love as we listen to Him through reading Malachi 2.
1. Love is a command from God.
2. Love requires making a clear decision.
3. Love honors God. Love requires reverence of God.
4. Love is a covenant.
5. Love’s covenant in practice brings life and peace.
6. Love’s words, when spoken, should preserve the knowledge of God.
7. Love’s words are spoken by the messenger of God.
8. Love does not show favoritism.
Malachi 2:1-9 New Living Translation (NLT)
A Warning to the Priests
2 “Listen, you priests—this command is for you! 2 Listen to me and make up your minds to honor my name,” says the LORD of Heaven’s Armies,
“or I will bring a terrible curse against you. I will curse even the blessings you receive. Indeed, I have already cursed them, because you have not taken my warning to heart. 3 I will punish your descendants and splatter your faces with the manure from your festival sacrifices, and I will throw you on the manure pile. 4 Then at last you will know it was I who sent you this warning so that my covenant with the Levites can continue,” says the LORD of Heaven’s Armies.
5 “The purpose of my covenant with the Levites was to bring life and peace, and that is what I gave them. This required reverence from them, and they greatly revered me and stood in awe of my name. 6 They passed on to the people the truth of the instructions they received from me. They did not lie or cheat; they walked with me, living good and righteous lives, and they turned many from lives of sin.
7 “The words of a priest’s lips should preserve knowledge of God, and people should go to him for instruction, for the priest is the messenger of the LORD of Heaven’s Armies. 8 But you priests have left God’s paths. Your instructions have caused many to stumble into sin. You have corrupted the covenant I made with the Levites,” says the LORD of Heaven’s Armies. 9 “So I have made you despised and humiliated in the eyes of all the people. For you have not obeyed me but have shown favoritism in the way you carry out my instructions.”

Day two: God defines love in action

God defines love in action: (Malachi 1b)
1. Love means giving one’s best without reservation.
2. Love is the highest form of gifts.
3. The gift of love is pure and holy, according to God’s prescribed revealed standards.
4. Love gift requires a cost, a sacrifice.
5. Love can only be binding in a legal relationship.
6. The opposite of love in a legal relationship is contempt.
7. Love requires honor and respect.
8. Love can be seen by all.
9. Love is the measurement for performance appraisal.
10. Love is never cheap or cheat.
Unworthy Sacrifices (1:6-14)
6 The Lord of Heaven’s Armies says to the priests: “A son honors his father, and a servant respects his master. If I am your father and master, where are the honor and respect I deserve? You have shown contempt for my name!
“But you ask, ‘How have we ever shown contempt for your name?’
7 “You have shown contempt by offering defiled sacrifices on my altar.
“Then you ask, ‘How have we defiled the sacrifices?[c]’
“You defile them by saying the altar of the Lord deserves no respect. 8 When you give blind animals as sacrifices, isn’t that wrong? And isn’t it wrong to offer animals that are crippled and diseased? Try giving gifts like that to your governor, and see how pleased he is!” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.
9 “Go ahead, beg God to be merciful to you! But when you bring that kind of offering, why should he show you any favor at all?” asks the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.
10 “How I wish one of you would shut the Temple doors so that these worthless sacrifices could not be offered! I am not pleased with you,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, “and I will not accept your offerings. 11 But my name is honored[d] by people of other nations from morning till night. All around the world they offer[e] sweet incense and pure offerings in honor of my name. For my name is great among the nations,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.
12 “But you dishonor my name with your actions. By bringing contemptible food, you are saying it’s all right to defile the Lord’s table. 13 You say, ‘It’s too hard to serve the Lord,’ and you turn up your noses at my commands,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. “Think of it! Animals that are stolen and crippled and sick are being presented as offerings! Should I accept from you such offerings as these?” asks the Lord.
14 “Cursed is the cheat who promises to give a fine ram from his flock but then sacrifices a defective one to the Lord. For I am a great King,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, “and my name is feared among the nations!
Footnotes:
1:1a Hebrew An Oracle: The message.
1:1b Malachi means “my messenger.”
1:7 As in Greek version; Hebrew reads defiled you?
1:11a Or will be honored.
1:11b Or will offer.

Watchman’s Adventure: How Jesus uses the Sword of the Spirit (updated 2015-10-28)

Further to what this watchman posted on 12/04/2010, the Biblical truth observed then had truly come to pass. Here is the summary of the original post with the latest update:

In the example of Jesus he observes the following:

1. Jesus knows His authority. He uses His authority calmly and confidently. He does not need to say twice to the demons to get them to obey His commands.

2. He knows where His authority comes from and He is confident of the ultimate sovereign power of the source of authority (God Himself). He does not fear that the authority may not work.

3. He always sees the real root of the problem and addresses it directly. He speaks to that root.

4. He is a spiritual man and He sees, hears and talks to the spiritual beings as though He is talking to the physical beings.

5. He knows His authority covers the natural realm as well as the supernatural realm and effectively uses the same authority to address it, for example, the wind, rough waves, demons, unclean spirits, the functioning of the body, creation etc.

The watchman concluded then that he would choose to go the Jesus way, i.e. issuing simple command with the authority of Jesus, effective and straightforward, to malfunctioning parts, demons and even natural elements.

Since then, the watchman has witnessed that when given the opportunity to put into practice by faith, the words of God came true: Diseases healed. Demons cast out. Oppression and depression lifted. Believers set free. Reconciliations. Restorations. Renewal. Transformations. In most occasions all that was done was giving a simple command in the name of Jesus and ministering in the power of the Holy Spirit by believers, just as Jesus has commanded.
Updated Conclusion:
1. The power of the name of Jesus is real and totally effective.
2. Believers are to walk by faith in the unseen Holy Spirit.

How does a Christian hear God’s voice? (a testimony)

How does a Christian hear God’s voice?
It is absolutely essential for a born again Christian to know God and hear Him and the only way is through the Holy Spirit. Jesus has said that the Holy Spirit would tell us the future. What does He mean?
Here is a summary of the spiritual journey of a believer:
1. I was introduced to a worship place which emphasized on worshiping God in the spirit.
2. The grace of God gave me the strength and determination to be humble and hang on despite my dislike and prejudices and critical views of the place.
3. I continued to practice what I learned there at home.
4. I read the Bible to confirm what I learned and practiced.
5. The steps I have practiced over the years: seek God diligently, listen to the voice/words in my spirit, and ask to see visions, record down what I receive (in words, pictures, diagrams, or any other journal ways.)
6. Last week a friend sent me a link to a book. The friend wrote this remark to me: “Over the years you have shared with us what you have received concerning how you have heard God’s voice, and you tried to teach us the whole process but I did not understand them until I read this present book which has confirmed what you have received even then.”
Here is the link to the book the friend has sent. I pray you may find it simple to apply. For those who are already walking in the Spirit and hearing God in your own way, my prayer is, “Press on.”

http://www.cwgministries.org/Four-Keys-to-Hearing-Gods-Voice

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John 6:63 It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh conveys no benefit [it is of no account]. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and life [providing eternal life].