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                    ||                       How beautiful on the mountains
                    ||                       are the feet of those ... who
                    ||                       proclaim salvation, who say to
                                             Zion, "Your God reigns!"
          Pastor RALPH & GENE ANN WOOD                  --Isaiah 52:7 (NIV)
          E-mail:  randg.wood@encode.com
          FRESH MANNA, 04/03/1998 .......................... MATTHEW 19:4-6
          {19:4} And he [Jesus] answered and said, Have ye not read, that
          he who made [them] from the beginning made them male and female,
          {19:5} and said, For this cause shall a man leave his father and
          mother, and shall cleave to his wife; and the two shall become
          one flesh? {19:6} So that they are no more two, but one flesh.
          What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.
                                                    --MATTHEW 19:4-6 (ASV)
             Jesus' opponents had found the perfect trick question.  If He
          took the soft line on divorce, He'd lose face before them, -and-
          credibility before all His disciples.  If He took the hard line,
          He'd say the same thing about King Herod's unlawful marriage that
          had got His own cousin John the Baptist, imprisoned and murdered.
          Well, Jesus not only took the "hard line", He took the "radical
          fundamentalist line"!  Divorce, in and of itself, is a sin.
             And this word of Jesus is a powerful bulwark, a fortification,
          a hedge of protection, around all of our marriages.  If the enemy
          tries to cause trouble in your marriage, just give the command--
          "In Jesus' name, get out of here Satan-- for it is written, `What
          therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder!'".
             Indeed, you don't have to wait for an attack!  We have learned
          by hard experience:-- be warned; be aware of the early symptoms!
          Whenever you're about to do something for Jesus-- especially any
          new witness, ministry or mission you haven't been doing before--
          Satan will often attack not only your marriage, but the marriages
          of people associated with you.
            Therefore, in our daily prayer time every morning, we always
          keep on praying, on behalf of ourselves and all others:--
            "Father, bind us together as fully one flesh in Christ;
            make us truly sons of encouragement to one another;
            let nothing separate what you have joined together."
             The first clause, of course, is based on MATTHEW 19:4-6 and
          EPHESIANS 5:21-33.  The second clause comes from ACTS 4:36-37.
          And the third clause, again, rests on MATTHEW 19:4-6.  We invite
          all Fresh Manna readers to join us in this prayer!  Whether any
          among us are married or not, we can all be great prayer warriors
          in support of all those who are!  To the bulwark!   --RLW
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