| Heaven
Ministries Oct-Nov 2006 Volume 3 Issue 36 |
Marriage Alive! Newsletter |
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The unfaithful husband seeking forgiveness
Just For Teens The Skinny on Teenage Body Image and spiritual Health
Joanne's Devotion
Other Articles Would Jesus Celebrate Halloween? Preview or buy Love The Woman You Married
Preview or Buy Love The Man You Married
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The Unfaithful Wife Seeking Forgiveness These days it seems, even the wife is getting herself into a little trouble when it comes to staying faithful. This article does not concern women who don’t care about right or wrong, and have become rebellious to their husbands. Any woman can be unfaithful to her husband, that’s the easy part; the hard part is being unfaithful to her beliefs. The main reason a wife
would be unfaithful is non-committal to her marriage. Without this
important aspect covering the marriage, she will undoubtedly fall for the
misinformation of the outside world, especially if her marriage is not so
great to begin with. The second reason is she is not committed to God,
which is really the first reason, because I feel that without full belief
and acceptance of Christ Jesus who has given us all of who He is, a woman
will not be able to devote herself to her purpose in life. When a woman becomes born
again, she is given a newfound strength from God that frees her from
temptation. In other words, she is able to control her lustful attitude
and remain faithful. This gives a wife the freedom to live for God rather
than for herself. If she cares about the sanctity of
her marriage she should try and figure out “why” she would skip flight
and become unfaithful in the first place, or better yet, find out how she
can learn to devote herself to her marriage, whether all is going well or
not Watching television shows
that depict sexual lust, immorality and adultery, condition the mind into
believing adultery is acceptable. These demoralizing shows make
unfaithfulness look glamorous and alluring, but it is not. God does not
allow us to do what we want now, and then later celebrate heaven with
Jesus. Nope, it doesn’t work like that. Marriage should be honored
by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer
and all the sexual immoral. (Hebrews 13:4) An unfaithful wife should
take a look at her attitude and see what she can do to change it from
bitterness of heart, to love, truth and goodness. When she seeks the
truth, she will ultimately find the love of Christ within, and she will
then be able to forgive herself for her transgressions. Once that is
accomplished she can begin living for the Lord rather than for herself. I
truly believe that most unfaithfulness in marriage stems from not keeping
in tune with our spiritual side. We have to study the word and we have to
bring the word into our heart and mind on a daily basis for reflection and
spiritual growth. If a wife has been
unfaithful and she is repentant for her actions she will not do it again.
That means she will not go out of her way to look for it. Her repentance
has saved her from the temptation; therefore, she will do whatever it
takes to remain faithful to her husband and work on her marriage. If she
is unable to forgive herself and she is wrapped up within guilt she should
come to God and pray about it, asking Him for release from her pain and
suffering. A wife of noble character
who can find? She is worth far more than rubies. (Proverbs 31:10) If she is unable to forgive
herself, she will not find it an easy task to accept forgiveness from her
husband or God. The problem is now she is in a catch
22, because without God’s Spirit of love and truth penetrating within
her she is likely to repeat her unfaithfulness over and over again. If a
wife feels in her heart that she has done wrong and wants to save her
marriage, she has received forgiveness already from God; she should accept
that she has been forgiven and heal herself. A woman’s purpose is what
makes her who she is. A married woman can choose to seek out what her
purpose is and begin living for what God created her to be. Once
a godly woman finds her purpose it will be difficult to break her free
from progressing further into the truth of her existence. For she has
found the wisdom and knowledge from above that was planted as a mere seed
in her heart. It has finally produced beautiful rose petals for lavishing
upon her family. She has been forgiven so she should let the sin go from
her heart and begin to live and love. If you put away the sin that is in your hand and allow no evil to dwell in your tent, then you will lift up your face without shame; you will stand firm without fear. (Job 11:14-15) ***************************** The
Unfaithful Husband Seeking Forgiveness It is sad and scary how society has deemed adultery a natural part of the American culture. This is why God specifically says for believers to separate from the ungodliness of the world. I truly believe that unfaithfulness in marriage stems from not keeping in tune with our spiritual side. We have to study the word and we have to bring the word into our heart and mind on a daily basis for reflection and spiritual growth. This article is for those husbands who are repentant and want to save their marriage. Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it – he will be blessed in what he does. James (1:22-25) Are you deceiving yourself
by not putting Gods perfect law into your daily life? God’s law points
out sin and gives the husband the opportunity to repent and ask for
God’s forgiveness. Salvation frees a man from sins control. As a
believer you are free to live as God created you to live. If you are not
living the way God intends for you to live, could it be that you have not
yet settle your debts with God? “But if a wicked man
turns away from all the sins he has committed and keeps all my decrees and
does what is just and right, he will surely live; he will not die. None of
the offenses he has committed will be remembered against him” (Ezekiel
18:21) Pride tends to make a man
selfish, and leads him into believing he deserves everything he sees and
wants. Because of this attitude, it creates greed and lust, which
invariably leads to immoral desires, such as adultery, pornography and all
other immoral sexual sins. A husband can be released from the bondage of
his temptations when he humbles himself to the Lord and accepts Christ
forgiveness. When you become filled up with the Holy Spirit you will see
that the world’s alluring appeal are only cheap substitutes for what God
has for you. Forgiveness comes when you
let down pride and open yourself up to God by giving Him your life. Why
give your life to the world? The world can’t save you. The world is
blind to the ways of the Lord and stands in the way of forgiveness and
love. Don’t be deceived any longer. Your source for everything under the
sun is the One who created you. Humble your life to Him and let Him guide
your paths to righteousness. Blessed is the man who
preserves under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive
the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him. (James
1:12) Temptations do not come
from God; they come from the evil desires within us. They begin with an
evil thought and become sin only when we act upon them. A man must always
keep Gods words written upon his heart on a daily basis as to throw off
the wrong thoughts that satan tries to deceive him with. I
can’t tell you how important it is to continue studying the words of God
and to reflect and grow on them daily. Persevere always and do not give up
the fight. The fight is between good and evil. You don’t want to let
evil prevail do you? Come to the Lord and be forgiven. Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you. Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. (James 1:21-24) *********************** The Skinny On Teenage Body Image and Spiritual HealthMany young women and
teenagers are placing great value on looking like the latest Cover Girl
model, and placing little or no value on spiritual health. I agree, it is
important to feel good about the way we look, but I think the culture is
going a bit too far. It is far more important for young girls to feel good
about who they are on the inside, wouldn’t you agree? What are we teaching our
youth of today? Have we, as parents contributed to this self-indulgent
need to look perfect, be thin as a rail, and wear expensive adornment to
be somebody? Have we taught our children that beauty starts on the
outside? Are we telling them that it is more important to “look” good
rather than “be” good? I also want women to dress
modestly, with decency and propriety, not with braided hair or gold and
pearls or expensive clothes, but with good deeds, appropriate for women
who profess to worship God. (1 Timothy 2: 9, 10) It is not a sin to get a
nose job, and wear expensive clothing and jewelry, but as we all know,
real beauty comes from the inside of a person, not what they are wearing
or how beautiful they look. A modest, kind teenager will gain more respect
and kindness from others than one who dresses in expensive clothes and is
stuck-up and hateful. It all begins in the attitude. The standards of what
society deems important is not what God deems important. As a teenager, I
strived to be accepted by others, but I never really loved myself. Because
of this, I never became the young person God created me to be. I wasted my
teenage years trying to impress others, but that wasn’t who I was. It
wasn’t until I was in my thirties that I realized God’s love for me.
It is never too late to become the person God intends you to be, but if
you wait, it may be too late. It is important to wear
clean clothes and be well groomed, but it is not important to have big
breasts, a twenty-five inch waist, full lips, and a perfect nose. God made
you the unique and special young girl that you are. Your nose, eyes, lips
and chin is your uniqueness that sets you apart from looking like everyone
else. Accept what God has given you and be content to be who it is you
are. …Instead, it should be
that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit,
which is of great worth in God’s sight. (1 Peter 3:4) It’s easy to be beautiful
on the outside, but it is not an easy thing to be beautiful on the inside.
Being beautiful on the inside is a bit more difficult to accomplish. It
takes great wisdom and understanding to realize the special person you are
regardless how much money you have, how skinny you are, or what you wear.
Those things don’t make someone be great. Those things do not make
someone successful. Those things are only a cover up to hide the true
self. To be great and to be successful is to know God! Your true value in
God is what’s important not what others think of you. Please don’t fall for the
“appearances trap”, and become too obsessed with fashion and looking
like the latest cover girl model. Dress to please God not others. Of
course, hygiene and neatness is always important, but even more important
is your inner spiritual self and attitude towards others and God. Strive
to be the person God wants you to be not what the world is enticing you to
be. Do not conform any longer
to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your
mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is –
his pleasing and perfect will. (Romans 12:2) *********************** Marriage
Quote **********************
YOU
ARE FORGIVEN
“When
Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her,
Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man
condemned thee? She said, No man, Lord. And
Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.” John
8: 10, 11 King
James Version I
asked Jesus to forgive my sins and come into my heart and be my personal
Saviour. Yet, for almost twenty five years I couldn’t
forgive myself for the terrible things I had said to my family, loved ones
and friends. I kept putting myself down and allowed
satan to keep me shackled in depression because of not being able to
forgive myself. One
day, Jesus spoke to my heart and said that I had not truly accepted His
forgiveness. He told me that I was acting like He didn’t have the power
to forgive my sins and change my heart because I wouldn’t forgive myself
and stop thinking about my past. I
have learned from bitter experience that satan will use our past to try
and keep us in bondage of depression and despair. Jesus
tells us that when He forgives us that He never brings it up or holds it
against us again. I submit to you on the Authority of
the Word of God that if Jesus has forgiven you, you are forgiven! If
you are constantly dwelling on the things you did before you made a heart
commitment to Jesus, then you are allowing satan to defeat you.
We know that satan will never win the war because Jesus defeated
him on the Cross of Joanne
Lowe July 28, 2006
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© 2006 Heaven Ministries |
