MARRIAGE IS A COVENANT

And I say unto you, whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery: and whoso marrieth her which is put away doth commit adultery Matthew 19:9 Although adultery denotes one has unlawful intercourse with the spouse of another, however, in its much broader term, it means to violate or pollute. Isreal violated or polluted their covenant with God. Jeremiah says, “She (Judah) defiled the land, and committed adultery Jeremiah 3:9. Adultery in relation to marriage also reflects a violation of the covenant of companionship. Sex outside marriage is adultery because it violates or pollutes the covenant of marriage by introducing another party and bringing that relationship into the marriage. The two shall be one flesh Ephesians 5:31. Divorce also adulterates or pollutes marriage because it disrupts or denies the divorced parties the right to be faithful to their covenant of companionship. Any time one divorces his mate (except for fornication) and marries another, he is guilty of adultery. He has polluted and destroyed a relationship intended by God to be permanent and pure. Why the “except for forniction” clause? Jesus is not saying that if fornication is involved, we must divorce, but rather, when fornication is involved, that is the only time when the person getting the divorce is not guilty of adultery. That is because the partner who had an extra- marital relationship has already polluted the marriage vow. In God's original design for marriage He intended marriage to be sacred, precious, pure,and permanent. The marriage covenant represents a final, irrevocable commitment where the man and woman renounce the right to live for themselves and become heirs together of the grace of life" 1 Peter 3:7.

BELIEVE AND BE RESTORED

For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Isreal after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people. Hebrews 8:10 When God created man, He gave him dominion over all the earth. See,there are two ways that Jesus takes dominion: By force or by love and sanctification. By force-the forces of darkness are put down by force and placed under Christ feet in victory. In other words, those humans who refused to acknowledge Jesus as Lord and saviour will at some point in the future, be forced to bow to the domination of Jesus and all evil spirits will also be forced to bow to His dominion. On the other hand with the church, Jesus exercises dominion also through love. When God sent His Son to pay the penalty for our sin, He gave one basic command: "Believe" John 3:16. Those who do not obey this final command are condemned to an eternal seperation; those who believe are restored unto God's family and receive a new and lasting covenant. God has now written His laws into our heart and has promised to guide us in His wonderful plan. When we face temptation, loneliness, fear, or frustration, we can be comforted in knowing that God is already clearing a path for us to walk, a path that leads us unto Him. We only need to believe and be restored. As you believe in the finished work of Jesus, may your salvation remain permanent in Jesus name.

THE DANGER OF UNBELIEF

And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. Genesis 3:6 Beloved,I think unbelief is actually faith. It is just faith in something other than God and His words. When Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit, they were in faith. But their faith was in what the serpent said instead of what God said. Their unbelief was just their God given misdirected causing them to believe in a lie. We are faith beings. God created us to have belief in Him, However, some of us do belief in something else instead of God. Whether we like it or not, you must have believe in something if not God. We drive cars and ride on airplanes because we believe they will safely get us to our destination. We eat in faith, we sit in. Faith.....Everything we do is done in faith. Faith governs our lives. We use faith everyday. No one can function without faith. All of our actions are based on faith. But if we base our faith on things that contradict God's Word, we are in unbelief and using faith in reverse. Therefore unbelief is actually the power of faith working in a negative way. Just as faith is the power that releases God's ability 1John5:4, unbelief is the power that releases the will of Satan in our lives. Therefore, realize that you do have faith and you use it every day consciously and unconsciously in either a positive or negative way. Choose to direct your faith in the positive direction of God by basing it on the promises of God.