ONE FLESH MARRIAGE

“Wherefore they are no more two, but one flesh.
What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder”
Matthew 19:6).

God designed marriage:

1. DIVINELY

The Creator of male and female divinely designed His perfect plan. It is God who joins the man and woman in marriage: “What therefore GOD hath joined together.”

2. PROPHETICALLY

God revealed His plan in the beginning for all future marriages: “Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.” Where were the father and mother? They were nowhere on the scene when God spoke these words. Adam and Eve had never seen a father and mother! God prophetically revealed His plan and how it would work for all future mankind.

3. INTENTIONALLY AND FACTUALLY

God unmistakably states His plan: “They two (the man and his wife) shall be one flesh. Wherefore they are no more two, but one flesh.” It does not matter what mere man thinks, it is what God states! His Word is eternal. It doesn’t change from the beginning to the end.

4. EMPHATICALLY

There are no “if, buts, or maybes,” but “And God said.” Not man (the created), but God (the Designer and Creator) has the first and last say!

5. PHYSICALLY

The coming together of male and female to be “one flesh” in marriage is a perfect fit. The sexual organs of male and female are opposite, (the man’s external and the woman’s internal), but they fit perfectly by God’s design. Male and male or female and female are not a perfect fit. This lifestyle is outside the Creator’s design.

When Jesus answered the questions of the Pharisees He said: “Have yet not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female, and said, FOR THIS CAUSE. . .” It was FOR THIS CAUSE (because He created them male and female) that the man cleaves to his wife. Please notice the words “man and wife,” not two of the same sex.

6. GENERATIONALLY

The coming together as “one flesh” results in the potential procreation of children and children’s children. From the two come one, or many, each bearing genetic genes of both the father and mother. This is impossible in a homosexual relationship which is outside of God’s blessing. These relationships end in nothingness and future destruction.

It is the male and female oneness that God blessed: “Male and female created he them. And God BLESSED them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth.” Children only come through the blessing of God.

7. DELIGHTFULLY

God must have been filled with joy and delight when He designed the “one flesh” marriage. Who but our amazing God could plan for the man and his wife to experience such ecstatic joy, fulfillment, and wonder together? Proverbs 5:18,19 speaks of the married couple ravishing and intoxicating one another with their love.

8. EMOTIONALLY AND MENTALLY

Human beings are not animals. We are created in the image and likeness of God. We are body, soul, and spirit. Because God created us with a heart, mind, and soul, the “one flesh” statement is more than physical. It is also a oneness of soul. I am not whole without my husband. He is not whole without me for “they are no more two, but one.” We complement one another and each one brings different strengths to the marriage to make it complete.

9. SPIRITUALLY

Our bodies are only the house of the real person, the spirit--the part of us which was made for fellowship with God. God’s highest purpose for us in marriage is to become one together in spirit--connected to one another by our spirits and God’s Holy Spirit. We are to be glued together as one.

10. PURPOSEFULLY

God brings the male and female together to accomplish His purposes. God’s primary purpose for male and female is to have children. As husband and wife, and together with their children, they are to be fruitful, fill the earth, and “subdue it: and have dominion.” Purposefully together they advance God’s kingdom in the earth, reveal His image and likeness, and bring more of His love, truth, justice, and peace to the earth.

11. UNDEFILEDLY

Marriage is called “holy matrimony” and the marriage bed is holy and sacred. At the beginning of the wedding vows, the minister says: “Into this ‘holy estate’ these two persons come now to be joined. Therefore; it is not to be entered unadvisedly or lightly, but reverently and soberly.”

Marriage is God-mandated and to be enjoyed according to God’s pattern, but it is designed only for male and female. Hebrews 13:4 (ESV) states: “Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous.” God created the sexual act to be totally fulfilling without the use of “toys,” alternative ways that are not according to God’s Word, or anything that violates the conscience.

12. UNENDINGLY

The traditional wedding vows state: "I take thee . . . to love and to cherish, till death do us part (or, as long as we both shall live), according to God's holy ordinance.”

Sadly, we don’t live in a perfect world and there are times when it is no longer safe to live in a marriage where one of the two continues in a despicable, ungodly, and unrepentant lifestyle. Jesus admitted when talking to the Pharisees that Moses allowed divorce because “of the hardness of your hearts,” but He continued, “From the beginning it was not so.” It was never God’s plan.

Jesus also forcefully stated: “What therefore God hath joined together, let no man put asunder (or separate).” Or, let no man or woman, no organization, no church, no Facebook, or anything at all separate a man and wife from each other. They are to be fused as one.

Blessings from Nancy Campbell
www.aboverubies.org

PRAYER:

“Thank you, Holy Father, for your perfect design for marriage. You created male and female to come together as one. Thank You for your glorious design. Please help my husband and I to be a living picture of the relationship between You and Your bride, the church. Amen.

AFFIRMATION:

I embrace God’s highest design of a one flesh marriage.

SCRIPTURES:
Read the following Scriptures referred to above: Genesis 1:26-28; 2:23, 24; Proverbs 5:18, 19; Matthew 5:27, 28; 19:4-9; Mark 10:2-9; 1 Corinthians 6:16,17; 7:1-5; 11:8, 9; Ephesians 5:31-33; and Hebrews 13:4.

OPEN YOUR MOUTH

“Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering."
Hebrews 10:23 (ESV).

How do we stay strong in faith? How do we stand fast against the ungodly influence of others around us? God has the answer. The way to do it is to continually confess our faith. We are born again into the family of God by believing and CONFESSING that Jesus is our Lord (Romans 10:9,10). But we don’t stop there. We keep on believing and CONFESSING every day of our lives (Colossians 2:7).

You only keep what you speak out. Both David and Paul stated: “I believed; therefore have I spoken” (Psalm 116:10 and 2 Corinthians 4:13).

Can I encourage you to continually confess your faith, your hope, your convictions, and the truths God daily reveals to you? If you don’t speak them out, you’ll lose them. The more you speak them out, the more they become part of you, and you become UNWAVERING in your faith. You will stand no matter what people say against you.

SPEAK TO YOUR SOUL

When doubts and unbelief creep in, speak the truth aloud to your soul. When discouragement and despair begin to overwhelm you, encourage your soul. This is what David did: “Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance” (1 Samuel 30:6; Psalm 42:5, 11; and 43:5).

SPEAK TO YOUR HUSBAND

Share the truths and revelations you receive as you read God’s Word with your husband. As you share them, they will become even clearer and stronger in your spirit.

SPEAK TO YOUR CHILDREN

Speak out God’s truths and ways daily to your children. It is not enough to have God’s Word in your heart. You must have it in your MOUTH! And even that’s not enough. God’s purpose for you as a mother is to get His Word and His truths into your children’s MOUTHS! Not just their hearts.

Isaiah 59:21 is the vision we must have: “My Spirit who is upon you, and my words which I have put in your MOUTH, shall not depart from your MOUTH, nor from the MOUTH of your descendants, nor from the MOUTH of your descendants’ descendants, says the LORD, from this time and forevermore.” How will your children get it into their mouth unless it continually comes out of your mouth?

SPEAK TO EVERYONE YOU MEET

Always be ready to open your mouth to sow seeds of truth--to friends at church, but also to unbelievers you meet when shopping or out and about (Hebrews 3:13; 10:25; and 1 Peter 3:15).

Truth becomes part of you when you confess it. Therefore, the more you confess, the less you will waver! The more you speak out, the less you will be intimidated by your antagonists.

Jesus said: “Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before M=my Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 10:32, 33).

Are you a confessing family? It’s the only way for you and your children to stay strong in the truth.

Blessings to you today, Nancy Campbell
www.aboverubies.org

PRAYER:

“Dear Father, I have so much to confess. You have saved me and washed me clean through Your precious blood. How can I keep this to myself? You daily show me wondrous things out of Your Word. Please help me to share them with my family and everyone I meet. Amen.”

AFFIRMATION:

I am an unwavering Word-believing, Word-adhering, Word-confessing believer!

WHAT IS YOUR CROWN OF BOASTING? Pt 2

“Holding forth the word of life that I may rejoice in the day of Christ,
that I have NOT RUN IN VAIN, NEITHER LABORED IN VAIN”
(Philippians 2:16).

We continue our study about preparing our children for the coming of the Lord Jesus.

4. GOD’S WORD OF TRUTH

We must have a healthy fear of God’s Word. That means we revere it as the living, breathing, active Word of God. We read it as though God is personally speaking to us. We listen to Him through His Word. We obey Him. We tremble at His word. If we have this attitude to God’s Word, our children will imbibe the same attitude.

If we carelessly treat God’s Word, our children will be careless about it. Our children notice if we rarely pick up God’s Word. They see what importance we place on His Word by how much we read it and talk about it. Do we read it with them every morning and evening? They soon become aware that we either take it with a grain of salt or tremble at His Word (Isaiah 66:2).

In preparing the new Christians to be his “crown of boasting” when Jesus comes, Paul lifted God’s Word to its high level. 1 Thessalonians 3:13 says: “When ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God which effectually worketh also in you that believe.”

When writing to these believers, Paul shared how he longed to see their faces again so he “might perfect that which is lacking in your faith” (3:10). How did he do this? By continuing to teach them more of God’s Word of truth. It is the Word that builds up our faith and fills up the areas we are lacking in our lives and our children’s lives.

THERE IS NOTHING LIKE GOD’S WORD TO FILL UP THE WEAKNESSES IN YOUR CHILDREN’S LIVES.

When you see an area of lack in your children’s lives, fill it up with God’s Word. Find the Scriptures that apply to that area of need. Read those Scriptures with your children. Write them up in big colorful letters in appropriate places in the home. Encourage your children to memorize these Scriptures. You will find that there is nothing else that is as effective of God’s Word to fill up the lacks.

5. PRAYER

The last point, but the most important of all. And the one we use the least. Do you and your husband pray together each day for your children? It takes much prayer and intercession to get them through life in victory and holiness—and for them to become your “glory” and “joy.” Never give up praying. Find a time that is suitable for your husband to pray with you each day. Paul prayed “NIGHT AND DAY EXCEEDINGLY” (3:10). We can at least find one time in the day.

He prayed that God would establish their hearts “unblamable in holiness before God” (3:13). We live in an evil and deceived world and it takes prayer to keep our children and grandchildren walking in holiness. He prayed: “And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly, and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ” (5:23).

He not only prayed, but travailed in prayer for the believers in Galatia (Galatians 4:19).

He prayed many blessings for the Ephesians believers and that they would be “filled with all the fullness of God” (Ephesians 3:14-19).

He did “not cease to pray” for the Colossians believers (Colossian 1:9-12).

He prayed for the Philippian believers who he also called “my joy and crown” (Philippians 1:4, 9-11 and 4:1).

We must continually lift our children up before the Lord for He is the only who can “keep you from falling, and to present your faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy” (Jude 1:24).

Are your children your boast in the Lord? Paul confessed in 1 Thessalonians 3:8 “For now we live, if ye stand fast in the Lord.” Is this how you feel too? You feel you can only really live if your children are standing fast, walking in holiness, and overcoming the temptations of this evil world.

May our children be our “glory” and “joy” at His coming. May we not live in vain.

Blessings from Nancy Campbell]

PRAYER:

“Dear Father, Thank You for showing me the tools I need to prepare my children for Your coming. Help me to use them faithfully. Help me to give them a LOVE for Your precious word. Help my husband and I to be faithful in praying for them each day. Amen.”

AFFIRMATION:

I have no lesser a vision than to be a Holy Spirit-filled, Word-loving, and powerful-praying mother.

WHAT IS YOUR CROWN OF BOASTING?

“That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth,
though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ”
(1 Peter 1:7).

Are you preparing for the Coming Day? The day when our Lord Jesus Christ returns from Heaven? What will we present to Him on that day? Paul writes about what He is preparing for the Lord Jesus. He doesn’t mention any material things or aspirations of building a great organization. Instead he talks about his babes in Christ.

When writing to the new Thessalonian believers, he says: “For what is our hope or joy or crown of boasting before our Lord Jesus at his coming? Is it not you? For you are our glory and joy” (1 Thessalonians 2:19, 20 ESV). What will be your glory when Jesus comes?

What a challenge to us as mothers. We have such a powerful ministry right in our own homes. It’s right at our doorsteps. We don’t have to go any further. God has given us precious lives to lead to salvation and to nurture, train, and teach to be ardent disciples of the Lord. We have the responsibility to pray and pour into their lives so we can present our children to the Lord at His coming—sanctified and blameless in body, soul, and spirit (1 Thessalonians 5:23).

We have no greater ministry. The Lord Jesus will not be interested in our presenting our career to Him. Or our material possessions. Or the great name we made for ourselves. He looks for cleansed, purified, and holy sons and daughters. They will be our “crown of boasting.” They will be our “glory” and “joy” on that day.

But it cannot happen without our intercession, dedication, sacrifice, and pouring out our lives. As we read the entire epistle of Thessalonians we find Paul’s example of what it takes for this to happen.

1. NURTURING

Paul was like a “nursing mother” to these new babes in Christ. He says in 1 Thessalonians 2:7, 8 (ESV): “We were gentle among you, like a nursing mother taking care of her own children. So, being affectionately desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God, but also our own selves, because you had become very dear to us.”

If Paul could be like a nursing mother, surely, we can embrace our mothering role with all our hearts. We know that a nursing mother is available to her little babe day and night. She pours out of her life. She doesn’t try to save her own life. She loses her life to find it (Mark 8:35).

Be encouraged, dear mother, you begin discipling your children from the moment they are born. You not only nurture your babe with sustenance from your breast, but with powerful thoughts, visions, and prayers from your heart. Every moment of nursing is powerful and ministers into the life of your child who is an eternal soul. Not one moment is lost.

YOUR PREPARING THEM FOR THE COMING OF JESUS BEGINS AS A NURSING MOTHER!

2. LIFE EXAMPLE

As our children grow they learn more from watching our lifestyle than what we teach them. They emulate our way of life (1 Corinthians 4:15, 16; 11:1; Philippians 3:17; 4:9; 1 Thessalonians 1:6; and 3:9).

Paul could say to these young Christians: “You are witnesses, and God also, how holy and righteous and blameless was our conduct toward you” (1 Thessalonians 2:10). Not only for our own sake, and for God’s sake, but for our children’s sake we must seek to live holy lives.

3. TEACH AND COMMAND

Nothing happens in life without making it happen. Our children do not become our “glory” by hoping it will happen. What was Paul’s example? He says: “For you know how like a father with his children, we exhorted each one of you and encouraged you and CHARGED you to walk in a manner worthy of God, who calls you into his own kingdom and glory” (1 Thessalonians 2:11, 12 ESV). It takes constant encouraging, urging, teaching, and even commanding.

Abraham was a great example of parenting. God said that all the nations of the earth would be blessed because of Abraham and one of the reasons was because of his parenting. God said in Genesis 18:19: “For I know him that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the LORD, to do justice and judgment.” He didn’t let his household work things out for themselves. He COMMANDED them in the ways of the Lord. Read also 2 Thessalonians 3: 4, 6, 10, 12 and 4:2-7.

It is a constant and daily duty. Read Deuteronomy 4:9; 6:6-9; Psalm 78:1-8; and Isaiah 28:10,12.

PRAYER:

“Dear Father, I want to be ready for Your coming. I want my children to be ready for Your coming. Please strengthen me to be a responsible mother as I get my children ready to present them to You. I want them to be my joy and crown at Your appearing. Amen.”

AFFIRMATION:

I have a royal command to prepare my children for the coming of the Lord.