Banner of Love – Marriage Reflections from Yeshua ~ Part 2

July 29, 2013 at 2:34 pm (Remodeling the Mind) (Adonai, gratefulness, honor, humility, jealousy, Jesus, Marriage, ownership, rights, the Father, Yeshua)

Exodus 43:14

Because you are not to bow down to any other god; since Adonai (the Lord) – whose very name is Jealous – is a jealous God.

Deuteronomy 4:24

For Adonai your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.

Deuteronomy 5:7-10

“You are to have no other gods before Me. You are not to make for yourselves a carved image or any kind of representation of anything in heaven above, on the earth beneath or in the water below the shoreline – you are not to bow down before them or serve them; for I, Adonai your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sins of the parents, also the third and forth generations of those who hate Me, but displaying grace to the THOUSANDTH generation of those who LOVE Me and obey My mitzvot.(instructions)

Hebrews 12:26-29

Even then, His Voice shook the earth; but now, He has made this promise:

“One more time I will shake not only the earth, but heaven too!” (Haggai 2:6;21)

And this phrase, “one more time,” makes clear that the things shaken are removed, since they are created things, so that the things not shaken may remain. Therefore, since we have received an unshakable Kingdom, let us have grace, through which we may offer service that will please God, with reverence and fear. For indeed,

“Our God is a consuming fire!” (Deut. 4:24; 9:3; Isaiah 33:14)

Jealousy – this is by far one of the most difficult concepts for many who follow Yeshua (Jesus) to understand. As it relates in human to human relationship can get confusing if not understood from Adonai’s perspective. Whether its in marriage or any other relationship. Jealous in these scriptures above define God as protective! Everything belongs to Him. Every human conceived, every speck of dust…everything! He alone has the “right of ownership” of anything. Even our children, whom we are most likely to feel as “ours” are not ours by “ownership”. In marriage…jealousy kills because – and especially in our culture of “having rights” we feel entitled to our spouses. The key word here is entitled. This is where we can go very very wrong. No one is entitled to anything about or concerning another human being. Period. For those of us with children and spouses this is a very humbling truth. Only God is “entitled” to anything and everything about those He has created. So in marriage, when the expectation arises that our spouse “withholds” nothing from us this morphs into a form of idolatry.

My husband, Sam, is very quiet. He is not verbal and can struggle to put words to his mind and emotions. When we first got married, we both, under the stewartship of “godly counsel” sought to “heal” him of this. Our hearts were pure in motive, truly believing that God would allow Sam to become able and willing to share everything with me, his wife. Indeed, God does enable Sam to express anything, but He does not always ask him to. This was a tough lesson…for us both. He simply said, “You are not entitled to everything about each other. Some things are Mine alone, as you are both My children. I may withhold from even a wife or husband anything I choose. It will always be for both of your good. Trust Me, and you will always receive from each other what you need, likewise, you will need to come to Me for that which I do not enable each of you to give to each other.”
It takes much humbleness of heart and determination to trust God alone to obey such words. Marriage does not entitle one to another, it offers all God would give to two people. When we understand that only Adonai can be jealous in righteousness and without sin, we begin to open our eyes to the truth and begin to cast aside our own rights to Him. In the area of fidelity…this is obvious. Unfaithfulness of flesh is sin. Our physical bodies truly belong to God, and when we marry, we make a covenant to God that even what others besides our spouse see is kept reserved for our spouse and God alone. So even our dress habits must come under God’s instruction.

In America and many democratic/republic “free” mentalities – “rights” have taken a repulsive turn into entitlement, and it breaks Adonai’s heart. Hence the reason so many feel entitled to divorce for such things as “irreconcilable differences”. It is not God’s way that we shall always agree. It is His way that unity can still come under His blessing even if we don’t agree. Often the air of conflict and disagreement are the road He puts each one on to work on each heart to train each one to trust in Him! This is the fire of Adonai’s consumption! Turning hearts away from the shakeable and created to the Unshakable and Creator. Its our discomfort that teaches us to seek the Comforter. With spouses the enemies objective will always be to turn the spouse into the object of our worship. So, too, with our children. We are instructed by God not to be jealous or envious for anything created because we have absolutely no power to create! Only Adonai ever has, ever will. And all things and people are His Creation.

Note: the word fire in the scriptures above refers to a “strong pressing down” that creates a burning off of sin. Like rubbing two pieces of wood together. The fire is often the hardness of circumstances… that consumes the wrong perspective leaving only ashes of the incorrect ways and God makes from those ashes the beauty of His Ways.

Relationships are hard…because it always involves two unique and separate people coming together to walk a similar road together. Each individual is still meant to be separate and unique before God, yet in marriage there is a oneness of heart and mind of two who seek to serve Him together. We are not supposed to think exactly alike, nor even do the exact same services. My gifting for the body of Yeshua is different than Sam’s. We support each other as God, often, uses us differently; but to expect myself to “be like Sam” or Sam “to be like myself” is utterly contadictive to how God works. I value and encourage my spouses uniqueness and his call. If I become jealous, either that he would enter into mine or me into his, the fire (discomfort) begins its work and we learn…that though we are together – we are still Adonai’s to move and often it is in a different direction in the Kingdom. We then trust that He who called us will keep His end of our covenant and keep us together as He wills. Almost everything we experience in this life challenges us to turn hard into the wind of trust in a God who often does not show us what’s around the corner. Every relationship will be used to turn us towards our first Love, Adonai, the Father, the Husband of us all. Only He sacrifices everything for us. He shows us how He does it often in our marriages. Sometimes it gets shown by how we fail each other. So we then reevaluate our source of complete Faithfulness, not our spouses, children, friends and family, but the One who Created us all and has us in His hands and timing exactly as He knows we need, but often our limited views would disagree with Him. So we trust and obey and wait upon the God whose speciality is making unity, order and peace.

Back when God gave the Words above, people literally made carved images and bowed down to worship them. Today we don’t do this quite the same. Now we make money and its “security” an idol, we make people our idols, we make our comfort our idols. Its hard work to carve such images and we have learned there’s no need to do so…but worship them we still do. By relying upon them to be what we think they should be and perform in ways we think they should perform. God is simply telling us He knows what we need and how things should work for us best. His instruction is to rely upon Him – the Reliable One who makes all things. His jealousy is protective not possessive as in mine, mine, mine, like a selfish child with a toy.
But rather His voice rings out in a lovers sonata

“You are mine, My desire is for you, I can lead and direct you to My Kingdom! It’s full of possibilities you can not fathom, you are the one I long for…I desire to see you as I formed you in My mind far before you were conceived in your mothers womb. Trust Me! I will never fail you…ever! I am your Husband-Maker and I can complete your life, indeed you shall never die in My arms!”

Grace and peace in Yeshua the Messiah ❤