The Devil Hates Marriage, Every Day of Every Year
/John and I have been married 49 years today, and I have just now come to the realization . . . no, the revelation by the Holy Spirit . . .
The DEVIL hates marriage . . . our marriage!
And why is that?
Because marriage is a picture of the oneness we experience with Christ the true Lover of our souls. And the evil one loves to mar God’s pictures.
For those of you who have followed my blog posts for the last 10 years, you know I have always been honest about our marriage. Writing glowing, idealistic, wishful thinking posts about anything isn’t my style, much less this most important and life-changing relationship of marriage. (Take a look HERE to visit our previous anniversary blog posts).
Only God could take a “know it all” only-child and a “boss of the mob/brains of the mob” (according to my mom) first-born of 7 and keep them together for 49 years. It is because He has made us His new creations and has never stopped working on us to conform us in our humanness into the image of His Son.
And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns. Philippians 1:6 NLT
And this year has been amazing in moving us toward more of what what God has intended all along for our marriage. The 2020 world-wide pandemic, along with its quarantines and other confusions and difficulties, actually locked us up to each other and God. He began to heal us of many of our dysfunctional ways of relating to each other. It was amazing … truly! We were experiencing more harmony within ourselves and with each other.
Then came the “holidays,” along with decisions on how to do things safely and wisely, though differently. And then also came the conflict and upheaval. The enemy had seized his opportunity. But the weird thing is that John and I weren’t that far different in our thinking of how we should handle things.
Despite that, the arguments and the continued conflict caused everything to go dark in my soul. I couldn’t hear God, and I couldn’t think kindly of John and his motives. So I had to bring it all to the Lord.
In my Prayer Chair the next morning, the Lord revealed that the enemy was at work against our marriage …because he hates marriages . . . our marriage, because it pictures our union with Christ, the Lover of our Souls..
So I
took authority over the evil one on behalf of our marriage in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the power of His blood.
renounced the lies I was believing and affirmed God’s truth about both John and myself — that we are beloved children of God, that we are unconditionally loved and accepted by Him, that we called to Himself for a purpose, and that we are secure in Him against all our enemies — the world, the flesh, and the devil.
The darkness has lifted. And now we are walking with our God as He completes His work in us through His indwelling Holy Spirit.
And again I am so thankful for my “know it all” guy who continues to love, care for, protect, and be faithful to his “boss of the mob” wife though all the up’s and down’s of the past 49 years and on into the remainder of our life journey together.
Because I am in Christ...
I Am Loved
I am a child of God-John 1:12
I am beloved-Romans 9:25
I am chosen-Colossians 3:12
I am loved by God as much as Jesus is-John 17:23, 26 I am Jesus's friend-John 15:15
I am inseparable from God's love-Romans 8:37-39
I Am Acceptable
I am accepted by God-Romans 15:7
I am righteous-2 Corinthians 5:21
I am a saint-1 Corinthians 1:2; Ephesians 1:1 (NASB) I am not condemned-Romans 8:1
I am completely forgiven-Colossians 2:13
I am holy and blameless-Ephesians 1:4
I Am Valuable
I am God's masterpiece-Ephesians 2:10 (NLT) I am adopted-Ephesians 1:5
I am God's treasure-Matthew 13:44
I am God's pearl-Matthew 13:45-46
I am a new creation-2 Corinthians 5:17
I am designed by God-Psalm 139:13-16
I Am Secure
I am more than a conqueror-Romans 8:37
I am complete in Christ-Colossians 2:10
I am safe in Christ-Colossians 3:3-4
I am seated in the heavenly realms-Ephesians 2:6 I am eternally in Christ-John 10:28
I am united with Christ-1 Corinthians 6:17
(From God's Best-Kept Secret: Christianity Is Easier Than You Think by Mark Maulding)
