GOD HATES DIVORCE; SATAN HATES MARRIAGE!

WISDOM FOR LIVING DEVOTIONAL

SEPTEMBER 10, 2020

TOPIC: GOD HATES DIVORCE; SATAN HATES MARRIAGE!

BY T. O. BANSO

 “For I hate divorce!’ says the LORD, the God of Israel. ‘It is as cruel as putting on a victim’s bloodstained coat,’ says the LORD Almighty. ‘So guard yourself; always remain loyal to your wife’” (Malachi 2:16 New Living Translation)

Satan hates marriage! Perhaps, that’s why immediately after the marriage of Adam and Eve in Genesis 2, the next immediate event recorded in chapter 3 is the temptation of Eve and the subsequent fall of man.

You must know that the devil hates marriage, especially your marriage if you are a child of God. He wants you to divorce your spouse, even if you’ve been married for fifty years!

The devil knows that couples who stay harmoniously and peacefully together in marriage are a threat to him; they can achieve a lot. Therefore, he fights marriages and brings confusion. That’s why couples should resolve their differences quickly and tell off the devil.

Malachi 2:16 says, “For I hate divorce!’ says the LORD, the God of Israel. ‘It is as cruel as putting on a victim’s bloodstained coat,’ says the LORD Almighty. ‘So guard yourself; always remain loyal to your wife’” (New Living Translation). Unfortunately, today, many people love what the LORD hates: divorce or putting away.

They file for divorce for all manners of reasons. There’s no marriage that doesn’t have its own challenges, including the ones you’re envious of. There’s no perfect marriage, not even the one God directly brought the wife (Eve) to the husband, Adam! Eve disobeyed God first, and gave the fruit to Adam, though that doesn’t free Adam from guilt (Genesis 3). Adam didn’t divorce her because of that!

Neither the husband nor the wife is perfect. If couples resolve that divorce won’t be an option in their marriages, they’ll be able to overcome every challenge and enjoy their marriages. But where divorce is seen as an option, Satan will ensure that it happens.

Even fornication, a condition for divorce given by Jesus, can be forgiven, and couples reconcile when the guilty party shows genuine repentance (Matthew 19:6). It is not an unpardonable sin – the sin against the Holy Spirit (Mark 3:29).

However, divorce is inevitable where one of the parties subscribe to it. It takes the two parties to stay harmoniously and peacefully in a marriage. With God as their Father, Christian couples should be able to achieve this.

Debunking the myth of incompatibility in marriage, Ruth, wife of Billy Graham, said before she got married, someone gave her a gem of wisdom: “Where two people agree on everything, one of them is not unnecessary.” They were married for 63 years! Billy Graham said they didn’t have a perfect marriage but a great one. Referring to what he read somewhere, he said couples can be “Happily incompatible.”

You can be happily incompatible if you’re married already! Put away all excuses. Follow God’s instructions on marriage. Be controlled by the Holy Spirit of God. Prayerfully, you, both, can work out your marriage.

TAKE ACTION!

If you are not born again, you need to give your life to Jesus now. I urge you to take the following steps: *Admit you are a sinner and you cannot save yourself and repent of your sins. *Confess Jesus as your Lord and Saviour. *Renounce your past way of life – your relationship with the devil and his works. *Invite Jesus into your life. *As a mark of seriousness to mature in the faith, start attending a Bible-believing and Bible-teaching church. There they will teach you how to grow in the Kingdom of God.

Kindly say this prayer now: O Lord God, I come unto you today. I know I am a sinner and I cannot save myself. I believe that Jesus is the Son of God who died on the cross to save me and resurrected the third day. I repent of my sins and confess Jesus as my Lord and Saviour. I surrender my life to Jesus now and invite Him into my heart. By this prayer, I know I am saved. Thank you, Jesus, for saving me and making me a child of God.

I believe you have said this prayer from your heart. Congratulations! You will need to join a Bible-believing and Bible-teaching church in your area where they will teach you how to live your new life in Christ Jesus. I pray that you flourish like the palm tree and grow like the cedar of Lebanon. May you grow into Christ in all things and become all God wants you to be. I will be glad to hear from you. The LORD be with you.

PRAYER POINTS:  Father, help me to make the necessary adjustment that will make my marriage a great one. Help me and my spouse to overcome the present challenges in our marriage. Holy Spirit, help us to put away all excuses and follow God’s instructions on marriage. Holy Spirit, we shall surrender to your control.

(For over 300 in-depth and powerful messages by T.O. Banso, visit www.cedarministry.org)

T. O. Banso is the President, Cedar Ministry International, Abuja, Nigeria.
Phone No: +2348155744752, +2348033113523
WhatsApp No: +2349081295947
Email: cedarministryintl@yahoo.com,
cedarministryng@gmail.com
Website: www.cedarministry.org