Come To Jesus Part 1

 

I’m Duane Matz and welcome to Today’s Living Word.

 

One of my favorite things to do is include classic devotional literature in my time of morning devotion. I typically cycle through these classics and find myself blessed by their timeless wisdom and encouragement.

 

One of my favorites is a 36 page booklet written by Neuman Hall entitled “Come To Jesus.”

 

The Booklet was first published in 1848 and by the end of the century, it had been published in 40 different languages and sold 4 million copies worldwide. I invite you to journey with me through this booklet, asking you to bear with the King James English and at the same time allowing these inspirational words to encourage you in your walk with Jesus.

 

Neuman begins with thoughts concerning an incident with the blind beggar Bartimaeus found in Mr 10:46-52, “ Now they came to Jericho. As He went out of Jericho with His disciples and a great multitude, blind Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, sat by the road begging.

 47 And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!"

 48 Then many warned him to be quiet; but he cried out all the more, "Son of David, have mercy on me!"

 49 So Jesus stood still and commanded him to be called. Then they called the blind man, saying to him, "Be of good cheer. Rise, He is calling you."

 50 And throwing aside his garment, he rose and came to Jesus.

 51 So Jesus answered and said to him, "What do you want Me to do for you?" The blind man said to Him, "Rabboni, that I may receive my sight."

 52 Then Jesus said to him, "Go your way; your faith has made you well." And immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus on the road.

 

Neuman writes: A blind beggar by the wayside, hearing He was passing cried out for mercy. The people told him to be quiet, but he shouted the louder. Then some said, “be of good cheer, He calleth thee!” Sinner, be of good cheer! The same Jesus calleth thee!

 

As the blind man threw off his cloak lest it should hinder him, do you cast off every sin that would stop you? Rush through every crowd of difficulties and falling at the feet of Jesus, say, “Have mercy on me! I am blind! I am lost! Save, or I perish!”

 

Have you a guilty conscience? Come! A wicked heart? Come! Have nothing with which to purchase His favor? Without money? Come!

Rich and poor, masters and servants, old and young, white man and black, sinners of every class come!

 

 

I’m Duane Matz and that’s Today’s Living Word

Do Not Kill the Innocent

 

I’m Duane Matz and welcome to Today’s Living Word.

 

Ex 23:7 "Keep yourself far from a false matter; do not kill the innocent and righteous. For I will not justify the wicked.

 

“Do not kill the innocent.” Can it be any plainer than that? This command from God is at the heart of the right to life issue. Do you want to win me over to the pro choice camp? Then name the crime of the unborn child!

 

Did the unborn child rape? Did the unborn child commit incest? Was a crime committed in the first six weeks of the unborn’s life, but after 6 weeks he or she is deemed innocent and suddenly worthy of protection? Is being inconvenient a crime worthy of capital punishment?

 

Make no mistake about it, this matter will be the number one issue in this year’s election. One party unashamedly in favor of making the killing of an innocent unborn child legal, the other clamoring to soften up abortion restrictions by making all kinds of exceptions.

 

Both parties missing the point for the sake of political expediency, and forgetting what God plainly says about life. “Do not kill the innocent.”

 

Personally, I’m tired of voting for political expediency or the lesser of two evils. This year, I’m looking for candidates who really understand the innocence of the unborn child from conception on.

 

They may not be electable considering the current public opinion, but at least I can leave the voting booth with a clear conscience.

 

I’m Duane Matz and that’s Today’s Living Word

Brace Yourself

 

I’m Duane Matz and welcome to Today’s Living Word.

 

Brace yourself. The political ads are about to heat up and once again turn ugly. Featuring the most unflattering pictures the ad executives can come up with, coupled with out of context quotes and positions that make Hitler look like a saint! Brace yourself and don’t join in the fray.

 

Like it or not this years presidential election will likely be a contest between an incumbent president (Biden) and a former president (Trump) Before you are tempted to belittle either candidate, keep this verse in mind from Ex 22:28 "You shall not revile God, nor curse a ruler of your people.

In  the same breath, in one short sentence reviling God and cursing a ruler are tied together and rightly so.  That ruler that you are cursing has been allowed to rule by the sovereignty of God!

 

Da 4:17b reminds us: “the Most High rules in the kingdom of men, Gives it to whomever He will, And sets over it the lowest of men.'

 

Da 2:21b, “And He changes the times and the seasons; He removes kings and raises up kings; He gives wisdom to the wise And knowledge to those who have understanding.”

 

Let the reviling of God and the cursing of His appointed rulers be left for the ungodly, rather let us as followers of Christ pray for our rulers, for this is the will of God. Instead of getting upset over these hateful ads, use them as a catalyst to remind you to pray for our leaders!

 

1Ti 2:1 Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, 2 for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence.

 

I’m Duane Matz and that’s Today’s Living Word

Rightly Placed Fear

 

I’m Duane Matz and welcome to Today’s Living Word.

 

I want to continue talking about the Ten Commandments today. You’ll find them in Exodus 20. With the exception of “Remember the Sabbath Day,”  they all begin with this phrase: “Thou shall not.” And even on the Sabbath day we are told, “you shall do no work,” (read that, thou shall not do any work.”

 

To do any of these things that God forbids stirs up His wrath. Note well the setting of His deliverance of these commands on Mt Sinai.  It was not chirping birds and harps, gentle brooks and flowery meadows!

 

Ex 19:16 Then it came to pass on the third day, in the morning, that there were thunderings and lightnings, and a thick cloud on the mountain; and the sound of the trumpet was very loud, so that all the people who were in the camp trembled.

 

This setting should strike fear in all of us! In the matter of these “thou shalt nots,” God means terrifying business.  And if we were honest with ourselves and took the time to let each one of these commands break through our denials, we would have to admit we deserve His wrath!

 

 

What a despairing situation for sinners like you and I, and those just delivered from Egypt, Israelites. And right on the heels of the “thou shalt nots,” Moses says this: Ex 20:20  "Do not fear; for God has come to test you, and that His fear may be before you, so that you may not sin."

 

The test is simple. Do you fear the wrath of God? Do you desire to not sin? That’s called repentance, and repentance is a necessary forerunner of the gospel, And the gospel when rightly received, removes all fear.

 

Why? Because one understands that the wrath of God against your sins was poured out on Jesus Christ on the cross. All your dark and forboding “thou shalt nots” have been paid for!

 

Proper fear of God ushers in proper reception of the Gospel. Let the Law of God do it’s preparatory work for the Gospel. 

 

Tremble before the Law but fear not from the Gospel. Jesus has paid for your sins.

 

I’m Duane Matz and that’s Today’s Living Word

Get Down and Then Come Up

 

I’m Duane Matz and welcome to Today’s Living Word.

The Apostle John, writing in the Book of Revelation describes Jesus (the Son of Man) as having “eyes like a flame of fire.” Let that word picture sink in for a minute. We are talking about the holy gaze of Christ! Do you, do I dare to meet that gaze!

 

That gaze that penetrates the shadows, where we are prone to hang out, in order to avoid facing our sin. It’s that same gaze that found Peter in the shadows of the courtyard as he denied Jesus for the third time!  

 

Lu 22:61 And the Lord turned and looked at Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how He had said to him, "Before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times."

 62 So Peter went out and wept bitterly.

 

Broken by his sin, Peter sobbed uncontrollably.

 

May I ask a very personal question? When’s the last time you were broken by your sin? When’s the last time you allowed Jesus to fix His holy gaze on you through the Ten Commandments?

 

Not just  sin spoken of in generalities, but ten specific things that displease God!

 

  I urge you to slow down and take the time to let each commandment speak to you, but before you start, listen to the word of the Lord given to Moses before he came up the mountain to receive the commandments!

 

It’s from Ex 19: 24, “Then the LORD said to him, "Away! Get down and then come up”

 

The way up the mountain and toward the revelation of God is humility!

 

Jas 4:10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.

Ps 51:17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, A broken and a contrite heart-These, O God, You will not despise.

 

Admit you are a sinner, then open your heart up to the holy gaze of Jesus and let Him show you the errors of your ways!

 

 Confess your sins and then believing, receive His forgiveness

 

I’m Duane Matz and that’s Today’s Living Word

The Blood of Jesus Speaks Louder

 

I’m Duane Matz and welcome to Today’s Living Word.

It’s been a while since the last posting of Today’s Living Word, but I want to continue looking at Psalm 94 and its clear message regarding the culture of life vs the culture of death.

 

Ps 94:1 O LORD God, to whom vengeance belongs-O God, to whom vengeance belongs, shine forth!

 2 Rise up, O Judge of the earth; Render punishment to the proud.

 3 LORD, how long will the wicked, How long will the wicked triumph?

 4 They utter speech, and speak insolent things; All the workers of iniquity boast in themselves.

 5 They break in pieces Your people, O LORD, And afflict Your heritage.

 6 They slay the widow and the stranger, And murder the fatherless.

 7 Yet they say, "The LORD does not see, Nor does the God of Jacob understand."

 

I just received the latest copy of the Lutherans For Life publication, “Lifedate,” and on the back page in bold letters was this sobering statistic: 63,443,118 babies have been killed in abortions since Roe V Wade in 1973. That’s 1.2 million a year, 3400 a day, 142 an hour, 2.36 every minute.

With the overturning of Roe v Wade in the Dobbs decision of 2022 one would think the abortion numbers would go down. They didn’t.

 

According to the Planned Parenthood research arm, (The Guttmacher Institute) abortions last year increased by 10% to the tune of 1,926,690 pre-born lives snuffed out in one calendar year.

 

Recently, Walgreens and CVS pharmacies announced that they will begin providing the abortion pill mifepristone (miff eh priss’ stone) in a few select states via a doctors prescription beginning this month.

What a deal, stop by the drugstore for a little cough syrup to end a cold, an while you’re at it, something to end an innocent unborn baby’s life.

 

Sadly there is no shortage of doctors willing to write such a deadly prescription.

 

The Psalm that I have quoted above sounds prideful and self-righteous if it comes from my mouth , but not so much if it comes from the mouths of unborn babes. It is the plea from the blood of unborn children to God! This blood is no different than the blood of innocent Abel crying out to God!

 

Ge 4:10 “The voice of your brother's blood cries out to Me from the ground.”

 

 

Abels blood speaks loud from the ground to be sure, but there is a blood that speaks even louder, and if you have participated in the act of abortion in some way or another, please remember this verse from Hebrews: Heb 12:24 to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel.

 

The blood of Abel calls out for vengeance, but the blood of Jesus calls out for forgiveness, know this! Believe this! There is no sin (yes even the sin of abortion, that the blood of Jesus did not pay for on the cross.

 

I’m Duane Matz and that’s Today’s Living Word

 

Hope For A Lost Loved One

 

I’m Duane Matz and welcome to Today’s Living Word.

Joh 8:44 "You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.

 

A word of hope today for those of you who have loved ones caught up in sin and rejection of Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.  How bad can they be? Can they be as bad as Jacob when He outright lied to his dying father as he sought to steal the family blessing from his brother Esau?

 

If you recall, Isaac had asked Esau to hunt some wild game and prepare it for him as a savory meal, but Jacob brought a savory meal to him instead in a successful attempt to fool his dad.

 

Isaac smelled a rat and asked Jacob how he managed to catch and cook this game so quickly and can you believe Jacob’s reply?  Ge 27:20b, “Because the LORD your God brought it to me."

He lied about God! He brought God into his diabolical fabrication! Apparently Jacob didn’t give a rip about breaking one of God’s commands!  You  know, the one that says, Ex 20:7 "You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.

 

In spite of the seriousness of this sin, God did not give up on Jacob, and later on in his life, he got tangled up with an all night wrestling match with God

and everything changed! Jacob, in effect was born again and he no longer served the father of all lies, the devil

 

If God could save a diabolical liar like Jacob, if God could save me, if God could save you, He can save that lost loved one as well. Pray for that wrestling match to come to pass in their lives as God sends the hounds of heaven after your loved ones soul. Dear Jesus hear the bleat of that one lost sheep, leave the 99 and find them and save them.

I’m Duane Matz and that’s Today’s Living Word

Dig A Little Deeper In the Well

 

I’m Duane Matz and welcome to Today’s Living Word.

I was reading Genesis chapter 26 this morning and was struck by how often “wells” were mentioned. Abraham had dug them but the heathen kept filling them up with sand  cutting off the supply of water. Then Isaac comes along and the same problem arises. He dug them and the unbelievers filled them up.

 

It’s what unbelievers do, they seek to cut off the believers supply of “living water.”

 

All this talk about wells and water in the chapter and at the end of the chapter we see this information about Esau, (the son of Isaac) inserted: Ge 26:34 When Esau was forty years old, he took as wives Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite. 35 And they were a grief of mind to Isaac and Rebekah.

 

Where did that come from? Why was Esau’s marriage to unbelievers brought up? Why were Isaac and Rebekah grieved? I believe it came from God’s consistent command to not marry an unbeliever. ‘ Do not be unequally yoked! (2 Cor 6:14)

 

The result of this unequal yoking often results in a ditching of the faith aa the supply of living water is cut off or polluted by the ungodly influence of the unbeliever.

 

This most important first step of finding a life’s partner is often overlooked and sadly under emphasized in the church today. In this matter I would urge the singles in the kingdom to not settle but to seek out a like minded believer for marriage,

 

Before tying the knot, give a listen to this oak Ridge Boys song and “Dig A Little Deeper In the Well”

 

Dig A Little Deeper In The Well (youtube.com)

I’m Duane Matz and that’s Today’s Living Word

Press On

I’m Duane Matz and welcome to Today’s Living Word.

Most everyone knows the shortest verse in the Bible right? “Jesus wept.” (Jn 11:35) But do you know the second shortest verse? It’s found in  Lu 17:32 "Remember Lot's wife.”

 

In context, Jesus was talking about escaping God’s impending judgment with Lot’s wife being the example of what not to do! The angels who were leading Lot and his family out of Sodom and Gomorrah had strictly told them to “not look back,” (Gen 19:17)

 

But look what happened to Lot’s wife! Ge 19:26 But his wife looked back behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.

 

She looked back! We can only assume that she was longing for the old life, not willing to forsake it. This is a danger for all of us who have been pulled from the fire. When things get a little rough, we have the temptation to look back to our own personal “Egypt’s” and long for the “good old days” of living the way we pleased.

 

This was the constant problem of the Israelites as God led them to the promised land, they kept looking back to Egypt!

 

Jesus warns us in other places as well: Lu 14:33 "So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple.

And

Lu 9:62 "No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God."

 

And that’s why we “remember Lot’s wife.

 

That’s why the Apostle Paul reminds us: Php 3:13 Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, 14 I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

 

Follow Jesus! Don’t look back! All that stuff you are longing for is rubbish, destined to be like the ashes of Sodom and Gomorrah! So press on beloved….press on!

 

I’m Duane Matz and that’s Today’s Living Word

Who Told Lot?

 

I’m Duane Matz and welcome to Today’s Living Word.

 

Ge 13:10 And Lot lifted his eyes and saw all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere (before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah) like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt as you go toward Zoar.

 

 

Most of you are familiar with the backdrop here. Abraham and his nephew Lot had been materially blessed by the Lord. They both had a lot of livestock, but there wasn’t enough land to support them both, so they decided to split up.

 

Abraham yielded to Lot and gave him the choice of the land and Lot chose the land that was more lush.

So lush, that he compared it to the garden of Eden.

My question for you today is this, “who told Lot about the Garden of the Lord?”

 

The Lord had closed up that Garden about 2000 years before Lot was born! He didn’t have a Bible, how did he know that such a place once existed?

 

Obviously the fact of the existence of a Paradise was handed down from Adam all the way to Abraham and Lot.

Among other things, it survived the flood and the tower of Babel!

 

The question for you and I is; How is the existence of Paradise and God’s plan for restoring it doing in our families? Have we told our children and grandchildren about the Day when Jesus will return and restore all things, or has it been swallowed up in the flood of our worldly activities and corrupted by the competing babbling voices that seek to stir up doubt?

 

Have we told the next generation of the wrath to come and God’s plan of salvation through faith in Jesus? Have we told them that even now Jesus is preparing a place for them in the new heaven and the new earth.

 

Tell the story! Learn from the generation of Joshua where it was lost in just one generation!

Jg 2:10 When all that generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation arose after them who did not know the LORD nor the work which He had done for Israel.

 11 Then the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD, and served the Baals;

 12 and they forsook the LORD God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt; and they followed other gods from among the gods of the people who were  all around them, and they bowed down to them; and they provoked the LORD to anger.

 

I’m Duane Matz and that’s Today’s Living Word

Who's Going To Call the Shots

 

I’m Duane Matz and welcome to Today’s Living Word.

 

Sometimes we have to talk about the wrath and judgement of God. It’s coming, and in addressing it, one can hope and pray that some will take note and run to the cross for refuge.

 

I was reading the account of  the tower of Babel in Genesis 11 today, and in verses 6 through 8 we read: “Indeed the people are one and they all have one language, and this is what they begin to do; now nothing that they propose to do will be withheld from them.

 7 "Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another's speech."

 8 So the LORD scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they ceased building the city.

 

We live in an age where the world is again speaking one common language and it’s not English. It’s the binary language of the computer.

 

This language (the use of computer technology) has already brought about amazing things, some good and some potentially very bad.

 

AI Artificial Intelligence is the new buzz word and it’s frightening to think about the possible abuses involved, and I’m wondering. “What is God thinking about this?”

 

Will AI cross lines that weren’t meant to be crossed? Will AI eventually dictate the morality of the world, rather than the true and eternally abiding Word of God?

 

When will AI cross a line and if it does, will God say, “Enough!” as He did with Babel?  Will it be like the Psalmist who writes in  Ps 78:65 Then the Lord awoke as from sleep, Like a mighty man who shouts because of wine.

 

Obviously, no one can answer that question, God may just let it all ride, but in the end, when Christ returns, His certain wrath against unbelievers will be carried out.

 

But He has graciously provided a means to escape His wrath, through faith in Jesus!

Joh 3:36 "He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him."

 

The follower of Christ knows that true intelligence, true Wisdom comes from God, and in these latter days we should pay attention to what the Book of Revelation says about it!

 

Re 13:18 Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man: His number is six hundred and sixty-six.

 

Will you put your trust in man via AI or trust in God?

 

This is interesting to note, and quite a coincidence. There is a city in the Bible called Ai, and it comes from a word that means, “ruin.”  I think that is the eventual outcome for those who let AI call the shots.

 

I’m Duane Matz and that’s Today’s Living Word

A Changed Perspective

 

I’m Duane Matz and welcome to Today’s Living Word.

 

I was reading the 73^rd Psalm this morning and an old saying popped into my mind. I don’t know where it came from, but someone has rightly said, “This life is the only heaven that an unbeliever will know, conversely this life is the only hell a believer will know. “

It sounds flippant, but it’s very painful to ponder, especially when you consider the wayward loved ones in your life!

 

The psalmist spent most of the 73^rd Psalm lamenting the good life of the unbeliever compared to the difficult times often experienced by the believer.

 

We pick it up in Ps 73:16, “When I thought how to understand this, It was too painful for me- 17 Until I went into the sanctuary of God; Then I understood their end.

 

One glimpse of the holiness of God (a visit to the sanctuary) and the psalmist understood the frightening end for the unbeliever, and that changed his perspective.

 

 

May it change ours as well. May it add a greater sense of urgency to our prayers and witnessing as we consider the end of those who reject Jesus.

 

I’m Duane Matz and that’s Today’s Living Word

God Wants You To Get It

 

I’m Duane Matz and welcome to Today’s Living Word.

 

God really wants us to “get it” He teaches us of His justice, His mercy, and His goodness, His love  through nature, life’s circumstances and most importantly through His Word and Sacraments. It really is His desire  that all should come to repentance”.(2 Pet 3;9)

Not one word of the Holy Scriptures is wasted in that regard. 2Ti 3:16 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness,

Yes, ALL Scripture, even Genesis chapter 5. It’s one of those seemingly boring chapters on genealogy, following the line of Christ from Adam to Noah, but a closer look at the names of those involved tell a different story.

 

The name Adam means man.

Seth – appointed

Enos – mortal

Cainan – sorrow

Mahalaleal- the blessed God

Jared – shall descend

Enoch – initiate

Methusaleh – man of a dart

Lamech – lament, despairing,

Noah – rest

 

Put them together and you have, “Man is appointed to mortal (deadly)  sorrow on this earth, but the blessed God shall descend and initiate the dart (the arrow of the penetrating gospel)

That will give the despairing rest.

 

My friend, God really wants you and I to get it!

 

I’m Duane Matz and that’s Today’s Living Word

No Fault Divorce Has Been Around A Long Time

  

I’m Duane Matz and welcome to Today’s Living Word.

 

Heb 13:4 Marriage is honorable among all, and the bed undefiled; but fornicators and adulterers God will judge.

 5 Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you."

 6 So we may boldly say: "The LORD is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?"

We’ve been talking about marriage, (the institution that God loves Mal 2:11) and I think it’s time we in the church fessed up to the fact that we have allowed the world to define what marriage is rather than the Word of God!

 

 

Most of us have grown up in the world of “no fault” “easy” divorce, and it gets easier every day with the advent of the internet. Maybe easier on paper, but not in reality. Divorce is hard on all parties involved, just ask any spouse or child that has been affected by it!

 

There’s a reason it’s so hard….God hates it! Mal 2:16 "For the LORD God of Israel says That He hates divorce, For it covers one's garment with violence. What had been one seamless garment put stitched together by God is ripped apart by divorce.

 

No fault divorce is nothing new, it was around when Jesus walked the planet and the subject was brought up in Mt 19:3 The Pharisees also came to Him, testing Him, and saying to Him, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for just any reason?"

 4 And He answered and said to them, "Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning 'made them male and female,'

 5 "and said, 'For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh'?

 6 "So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate."

 

LET NOT MAN SEPARATE! Let those words ring in our ears BEFORE we tie the knot.

 

Father, forgive us for letting this matter slide, often for fear of man, we sidestep the issue, lest we offend, but from the beginning it was not so. Help us to lead the next generation to a right view of the institution that you love and forgive and heal those have been victimized. By divorce in the past.  Let us draw a line in the sand and be like that woman caught in the act of adultery. You did not condemn her, but you told her to go and sin no more.

 

I’m Duane Matz and that’s Today’s Living Word

Beware the Greener Grass

 

I’m Duane Matz and welcome to Today’s Living Word.

 

Heb 13:4 Marriage is honorable among all, and the bed undefiled; but fornicators and adulterers God will judge. 5 Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you."

 

It’s not by accident that the admonition to be content with what you have and the reminder that Jesus will never leave or forsake you follows the verse concerning undefiled marriage!

 

First of all, many marriages end up in divorce court because one of the spouses is not content with the other. Someone comes along and the spouse starts thinking, “oh my life would be so much better if I pursued this new relationship” and off they go seeking the supposed greener grass on the other side.

 

Blinded by covetousness and lust they disregard God’s command not to covet their neighbors wife! Ex 20:17 "You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor's."

 

Covetousness for the sake of another lover, breaks out into the sin of adultery and the marriage bed is defiled, and what God has joined together, man has torn apart.  Countless people have fallen for this trap of the devil and many lives (yes especially the children). suffer the ensuing damage.

 

If this describes your current situation, repent! Confess your played out act of covetousness as sin, receive God’s forgiveness, deal with the ensuing consequences of your actions and  be on guard so that the sin is not repeated.

 

And if you are beginning to have thoughts of “greener grass,” make those thoughts captive to Christ and flee to His arms, remembering His model of faithfulness to His bride. Seek to be like Jesus He will never leave His bride, and you and I should never leave or forsake our mate.

 

I’m Duane Matz and that’s Today’s Living Word