Today’s Devotional – September 14th (Divorce: Bondage or Perfect Peace?)
By admin On February 3rd, 2021.
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Today’s Devotional – September 14th
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Divorce: Bondage or Perfect Peace?
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“But if the unbelieving depart,
let him depart.
A brother or a sister
is not under bondage in such cases:
but God hath called us to peace.”
1st Corinthians 7:15
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So this above verse, pretty much says it all! Yes, if an unbelieving spouse departs, then we are free to remarry! Right?
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BONDAGE = SERVITUDE
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Well, actually, this passage is not saying we are “not under bondage” in a legal sense. Actually, this word bondage is a word which speaks of bondage in the sense of suffering, or servitude.
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In other words, when an unbelieving spouse departs, we are no longer under bondage in the sense that we have been freed from all the servitude and suffering which comes from a Believer and an unbeliever living under the same roof!
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Mocking Bird Argument – cropped image – wikimedia – share-alike license
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REMAIN UNMARRIED!
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And we have further confirmation with this next verse…
“And unto the married I command, yet not I, but the Lord,
Let not the wife depart from her husband:
But and if she depart, let her remain unmarried,
or be reconciled to her husband:
and let not the husband put away his wife.”
2nd Corinthians 7:10, 11
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So, this above passage confirms that a Believer should remain unmarried, if she departs.
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Weddingring – JH – cropped image – Wikipedia – share-alike license
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JESUS SPEAKS ON DIVORCE & RE-MARRIAGE
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Now there is more to all this! Listen to Jesus, as He answered the stubborn Pharisees about the issue of divorce…
“It hath been said, Whosoever shall put away his wife,
let him give her a writing of divorcement:
But I say unto you, That whosoever shall put away his wife,
saving for the cause of fornication,
causeth her to commit adultery:
and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery.”
Matthew 5:31, 32
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So this passage makes clear that re-marriage after divorce is adultery! God reveals in Malachi… “For the LORD, the God of Israel, saith that He hateth putting away (divorce)” Malachi 2:16
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Brooklyn Museum – The Pharisees Question Jesus – James Tissot – US Public Domain – Wikimedia
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So, with all this, just why would a true-worshipper of God ever want to divorce and re-marry, if God says that’s adultery?
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Question Marks – At a loss – svg – Wikimedia Commons – Share-Alike License
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LOVE RULES THE HEAVENS!
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But there is a much greater principle which governs the matters of life! Yes, it is the great rule which governs the entire Heavens!
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Some call it “The Golden Rule”. Others simply call it “Love”.
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You see, God has chosen us to be ambassadors of love!
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We have been called to be representatives of Jesus Christ, spreading the seeds of agape love to this fallen and sin-darkened world!
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“I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me”
Galatians 2:20.
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Therefore, we are to love our spouse with the same agape love as Christ has for us!
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And this means that we are to do for others, even as Christ has done for us! And of course, this includes our spouse!
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Yes, no matter how our spouse behaves, we must let Jesus live out His life through us!
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CHRISTIANS IN TRAINING!
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Now, why does God put us in such a miserable position, with an unloving and even a bitter spouse?
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Well, for a number of reasons! But one big reason is, that God wants us to die-to-self. And there is no better training ground for a Believer to die-to-self, than to live with an unbelieving spouse!
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Yes, an unbelieving spouse unknowingly trains us to keep quiet in the midst of verbal attacks!
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And there is nothing like an unbelieving spouse to teach us patience!
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And there is nothing like an unbelieving spouse to drive us to our knees in prayer, for our worldly-minded children, products of a divided home!
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And the unbelieving spouse teaches us how to forgive, in the face of anger, rudeness, and hardheartedness!
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And many other Christlike virtues are developed in a divided home, as along as the Believer is willing to stay and endure such chastening.
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Cat and dog – Dont know whats comin – Wikimedia – Share-Alike License
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TRIBULATION IN DARK AGES!
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Now O child of faith, let’s think this thing through! Just read a book like Foxe’s Book of Martyrs!
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Just read about the torture that God’s people went through during the Dark Ages! Yes, those men, women, and children lived lives of deprivation and hardship! And some even suffered unspeakable torture in dark and dank dungeons! And many were simply left to rot in cold and damp prison cells! Many were forced to witness their own family members raped and even tortured to death!
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Burning at the Stake – Wikipedia – Public Domain
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SUFFERING IS A VITAL PART OF CHRISTIANITY!
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And so, to live with a bitter spouse is far less suffering than what our predecessors endured for the name of Christ!
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Listen to the testimony of Paul…
“For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time
are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.”
Hebrews 8:17, 18
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Yes, the Bible tells us that it is our privilege to share in Christ’s sufferings! We just need to forget all about this worldly notion that the Christian should live a charmed life!
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Yet, God will eventually give us that perfect peace which is an incomprehensible witness to the world’s inhabitants, as they behold us “standing on a sea of glass”, even in the midst of the fiery furnace! Revelation 15:2
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David’s sorrow – Wikigallery – Public Domain
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CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR!
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And so, as a popular saying goes… “Careful what you wish for!” Yes, by wishing to be freed from my present circumstances, I may end up in even worse circumstances!
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And as a chastened child of God, just be happy with the circumstances you are now in. And pray that, “after that ye have suffered a while, (God will) make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.” 1st Peter 5:10.
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Vincent van Gogh – Old Man in Sorrow (On the Threshold of Eternity) – Wikipedia US Public Domain.jpg
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REJOICE THAT GOD IS PURIFYING YOU!
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Well, the bottom line to all this is, if you and I are genuine Christians, suffering will be an integral part of our heart’s purification. So, if we will just suffer our present circumstances, then the day may come when our spouse may finally come to Salvation!
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Family Portrait – cropped image – Wikimedia – Share-alike License
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TODAY’S PRAYER…
“Dear Lord, Help me to rejoice in my sufferings, just as Paul did! Please keep giving me the trials which will cleanse my soul from the deeply-seated evil which exists within! Give me that peace which surpasses all understanding, so that I may endure those trials…
Praying Hands – Otto Greiner – Wikimedia – .bassenge.com – Cropped image – Public Domain
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READ MORE…
To explore deeper into this subject, please read… “The Flower of Heaven Constellation” or you can also read… “February 1st (In Every Thing Give Thanks!?!)”
Question book magnify svg – Wikimedia – GNU license
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THE END
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TODAY’S FEATURED HEAVENLY SIGN
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THE FLOWER OF HEAVEN CONSTELLATION
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REVELATION 12 WOMAN ON ALTAR AND FLOWER OF HEAVEN
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In The West
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This constellation almost appears as a vine, as it projects out from the Altar/Ark Constellation . This constellation appears in mid-winter through late-spring. As you can see in this sketch, the Altar/Ark
Constellation is also known as Leo Major , and the stem or vine of the flower is made of stars of the Virgo Constellation, and the flower itself is made of the Corvus Constellation.
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READ MORE…
To explore deeper into this subject, please read… “The Flower of Heaven Constellation”
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TOMORROW:
“September 15th (Here Are Two Swords!)”
Peter Smites Off the Ear of Malchus – www.joyfulheart.com
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20+ MINUTE AUDIO JEREMIAH STUDY
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ALL‘NOBLE BEREANS’ (open-minded seekers of Bible truth) ARE ENCOURAGED TO BEGIN FOLLOWING THIS 650+ AUDIO BIBLE STUDY THROUGH THE BOOK OF JEREMIAH EACH DAY ON THIS DAILY DEVOTIONAL.
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THIS IS STUDY #255 PRESENTED BY THE LATE HAROLD CAMPING, FORMER CEO OF FAMILY RADIO…
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Prophet Jeremiah – www.christianimagesource.com – Public Domain
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