Category: Marriage

Let’s read aloud the following passages together, as we receive God’s covenant of love afresh.

Psalm 103
3 who forgives all your sins
and heals all your diseases,
4 who redeems your life from the pit
and crowns you with love and compassion,
5 who satisfies your desires with good things
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
10 he does not treat us as our sins deserve
or repay us according to our iniquities.

Ephesians 5.21-22,25-26, 31-32
21 Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.
22 Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord…
25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her 26 to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, 27 and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless…
31 “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” 32 This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, we receive your covenant of love afresh today. Thank you that you do not treat us as our sins deserve, instead your blessings are new every morning. Great is your faithfulness. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Let’s worship to the song “Mercies” by Matt Redman (click here).

-GK

Genesis 2:18 “Yahweh God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone. I will make for him a helper suitable for him.”

The word “helper” (’Ezer’) in this passage is an interesting one. It does not mean an assistant or an aid. Rather, the word helper is the word that is used when Scripture talks about God helping his people towards salvation. So, when the LORD helps, he brings supernatural salvation, healing, and redemption. Now to use that word for another human being, is to say that they are to helps us towards salvation, healing, and redemption. This is the description of what a pastor and minister does.

The words suitable for him literally means “I will make for him a helper as in front of him,” and someone who corresponds to him on a daily basis. Hence, the passage above speaks of our spouses being the most suitable, fitting, appropriate ones to bring the Spirit’s ministry in our lives. This gives the clear message that in biblical marriages, each of the spouses are to see themselves as helpers and ministers—those whose task is to pursue the rescue, healing, salvation of God in each other’s lives.

Today, consider the ways in which you can minister to your spouse. One clear way is in prayer, as you seek for greater healing and blessing for your spouse. Pray for the Lord to cause the dry bones to come alive in your marriage. As you pray, worship to the song “Dry bones” by Worship Central (click here).

Prayer: Thank you Jesus for the wonderful vision of marriage, which is for your ministry to constantly occur in our homes. We pray for your empowering as we pray and minister to our spouses. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

-GK

1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

The wonderful aspect of God’s covenant of love is that there is a reset and restart the Lord gives his people. In the Old Testament, the Lord remakes and renews the covenant that he made with the Israelites several times, and this was done especially after a time when the Israelites would fail spectacularly. These renewed covenants were a time to reset the people to start their lives anew.

It is in this understanding that in our marriages we can also have a reset and to start anew. The question of “how do you undo the ball of string that is filled with hurts, disappointment, etc?” How do you untangle that? The answer is that we receive a reset in our marriages, where we re-covenant before the Lord and each other.

The reset is a hard-reset. Just like when you do a hard-reset on your phone or computer, and all the data is erased along with all the viruses, and you start fresh and new—in factory setting.
In Christ we are given a hard-reset!

Today, let’s receive and respond in worship as we receive the reset in Christ—to love the Lord, our spouses, and our neighbors afresh. As you pray, worship to the song “You make all things new” by Hillsong (click here).

Prayer: Lord Jesus, we thank you that you have made all things new. We pray for the reset in our marriages, where the gospel is the only history that defines and determines how we live and respond to one another. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

-GK

Romans 5: 20b (NIV) “But where sin increased, grace increased all the more.”

The supernatural-ness of the Christian life is because of this biblical truth: that in those areas where sin abounds—the deep hurts, disappointments, betrayals, things said and done, to the deepest experience of brokenness—where sin increased, the grace of God increased all the more! We daily live in the amazing grace of God’s covenantal love towards us.

Hence, the grace behind supernatural marriage is to experience the grace of God abounding and rising above the sinful history that had once marked our marriages. It is supernatural precisely because it is the increase of God’s grace in the places of sinful experiences. This is the biblical vision of supernatural marriage—where the gospel is now how we relate; in forgiveness, healing, and the desire to see one another made whole.

Today, may we experience this truth as we worship to the song “Raised to Life” by Elevation music (click here). As you worship the Lord, let’s declare this truth: Sin was strong, but Jesus is stronger; My shame was great, but Jesus is greater!

Prayer: Lord Jesus, we declare today that there is no sin or shame that is beyond the power of the cross. We thank you that in those areas where sin abounded, your grace increased all the more! In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.

-GK

Psalm 103.3-5, 10 (NIV)
3 who forgives all your sins
and heals all your diseases,
4 who redeems your life from the pit
and crowns you with love and compassion,
5 who satisfies your desires with good things
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
10 he does not treat us as our sins deserve
or repay us according to our iniquities

The biblical view of marriage is not transactional, but covenantal. This is how God relates with us out of his covenant of love; that in our brokenness, shame, and rebellion, we are met by his forgiveness, healing, and redemption. When it says “your youth is renewed like the eagle’s,” it is contrasting how we feel when dealing with marriage issues—tired, worn out, and “aged.” In covenant relationship with the Lord, we are refreshed, renewed, for God does not treat us as our sins deserve! Therefore, just as the covenant of love is not transactional, our marriage relationships are also not to be transactional, but covenantal. May our marriages reflect the forgiveness, healing, and renewal that we have received in Christ.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank you for your covenant of love–for forgiving all of our sins and not treating us as our sins deserve. We pray that in our marriages, we will reflect your covenant of love, as we forgive and seek your healing for our spouses. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

Let’s worship to the song “It is well with my soul,” by Matt Redman (click here).

-GK