Matthew 19:8, "But from the beginning it was not so."

We are now entering the 21st century – 6,000 years since God created man. Are God’s people still walking in the ways God originally intended for mankind? I think there are many of God’s people who no longer understand God’s original plan. It is so easy for us to become assimilated to the current trend around us, isn’t it?

Others may say, "Oh yes, I know all that, but it’s not relevant to this era of history." This kind of statement totally undermines the validity of God’s Word. I believe God’s Word is timeless. The Psalmist proclaims that God’s commandments "stand fast forever and ever." (Psalm 111:7-8.) They don’t have to be adjusted for each new generation. They are eternal laws that were designed and refined in the eternal realm to be workable for all generations.

This is why Genesis is such an important book of the Bible. Here God establishes His eternal laws on many subjects. Let’s check to see if we are still walking in God’s original intention in just two basic areas.

In our text in Matthew 19:7-9, the Pharisees challenge Jesus that Moses allowed for divorce. What was Jesus reply? "For your hardness of heart Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so." Divorce has become part of our lives, nearly as much amongst those who say they are Christians, as those in the world, but it is not God’s original plan.

Why does marriage not work today? Because we try to do it our way! We think we have a better way than God. God intends the husband to be the head of the home, but most women run from this principle. Yes, I know that many cruel men have hurt women, but this is far from God’s heart. God’s purpose is not to imprison a wife, but to protect her.

The husband’s mandate from God is to cover his wife by caring for her needs, physically, emotionally and spiritually. He covers her by caressing her with the same kind of love with which Christ loved the church. He provides for her so she doesn’t have to leave her nest and her little ones to the mercy of others. He protects her from the deceptions of this world so she can walk in peace. The wife’s privilege is to submit to this covering and to be blessed.

Many women are more submitted to their boss at work than they are to their husband at home. They have to fit in and run to the dictates of their employer rather than the desires of their husband.

"But I can earn more than my husband," you reply. It doesn’t matter whether you make three times as much as him; you have still got away from God’s original plan. God didn’t create two Adams. He created an Adam and an Eve, each to fulfill a different task. We see God’s plan for the husband to be the head of the home even in the order of creation. Man was created first then the woman was created to be a helper to the man. She needs him but he can’t function without her.

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Why does God hate divorce? Because it hurts the godly seed. You can read about this in Malachi 2:14-16. A child cannot avoid being hurt and tortured in his or her soul when parents divorce.

We usually have a testimony time at our Above Rubies retreats. A few weekends ago a beautiful mother shared how she found it so difficult to mother the way she wanted to. She had build up hard walls all around her. They started the day her father left when she was a child of four. She still remembers him driving down the road. She remembers the color and kind of the car. She hates that kind of car and that color today. From that moment she began to put up walls that she is still finding hard to break down today. This is a typical story of thousands of others.

What about the message that God gave to the first wedded couple? What was it? Listen to it again. "Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over… every living thing that moves upon the earth." (Genesis 1:28.) These were the very first words that man ever heard from the mouth of God! Wow! They must be important! But do we take any notice of God’s original plan? Oh no! We’d rather do anything than obey God’s very first command. We’d rather go to Siberia and "serve the Lord" than have another baby! We are so emphatic about it that we get "sterilized" to make sure that the reproductive cycle which God so amazingly designed can no longer function!

But it wasn’t so at the beginning! They filled the earth. In fact, when God’s people were in Egypt, they continued to be fruitful, even in the face of hard bondage and persecution. They became "more and mightier" than the Egyptians! (Exodus 1:7-12).

When a husband and wife fulfill the specific tasks that God planned for them they will accomplish far more than both trying to do the same job. When both partners are trying to do Adam’s job, the wife cannot fulfill her true nurturing anointing of embracing children and training them for God’s purposes. And the opposite can be true. I have seen husbands who have been badgered into doing half the wife’s work and therefore he is hindered from accomplishing his task of providing adequately for the home.

The big question is: are we living our lives according to thinking of society today, or are we living according to what God stated at the very beginning. Listen again to what Jesus said, "Have you not read that he who made them from the beginning made them male and female, 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? So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man put asunder." (Matthew 19: 4-6.)

Love from Nancy Campbell

PRAYER:

"Father, help me to understand your ways. Forgive me for walking away from your original mandate. Lord, I want to live my life by your rules, not by the customs of this age. Give me strength and anointing to live in your light in the midst of darkness. Help me to stand strong and not give into the trends of society around me. Help me to walk the "narrow way" rather than joining the throngs on the broad way that leads to destruction. Thank you that you will lead me, Lord. Amen."

QUOTE:

"God’s perfect will for our lives will never contradict His original commandments." Nancy Campbell

Isaiah 32:18, “And my people shall dwell in a peaceable habitation, and in sure dwellings, and in quiet resting places.”

We read this Scripture at family devotions recently. Pearl’s children were in bed so she came for a walk and joined us for devotions.

“How does this work?” she exclaimed. “My home was not very peaceful today!”

In the morning her son, Rocklyn, went to the toilet and put too much paper in the toilet. To try and flush the toiler paper down he kept flushing and flushing. Of course it overflowed—all over the bathroom and out onto the lounge carpet, poops and poopy paper included! Pearl used 20 towels to clean up the mess, but managed to keep her cool! She disinfected the bathroom and did several loads of laundry.

By afternoon, peace reigned again. All towels were dried and folded when Noble went to the toilet! He also put too much paper in the toilet and so Rocklyn, the expert toilet flusher, came to his rescue! Another flood! This time it was worse and even grosser! It took more than 20 towels to clean up! Pearl said she didn’t keep her cool this time! “Get out” she screamed to her children as she started the huge clean up all over again!

So how do you have a peaceful home when you constantly face upsetting incidents? God knows that when you have children life is not perfect. They do stupid things. They break things. They make messes. They squabble. Help! The only way to keep things perfect is to have no children. But that’s boring! And what do you accomplish by having a perfect house with no upsets? All you gain is a perfect house! That doesn’t change the world. That doesn’t raise godly children who will do mighty exploits for God. Proverbs 14:4 says, “Where no oxen are, the crib is clean; but much increase is by the strength of the ox.” Children bring work—and messes, but also joy, increase, wealth and growth in character.

And in the midst of it all we can have peace. This is God’s plan for our dwellings. It doesn’t mean that we won’t face interruptions, upsets, messes and heartaches. But we can have God’s peace even in the midst of trials. Anyone can have peace when everything is going perfect. But the “peace that passes all understanding” is peace that we experience in the midst of difficulties and trials. It’s the peace we experience even when we are upset. (Philippians 4:7)

God wants us to enjoy this peace. And He enables us to enjoy it. He lives in us and He is Peace! When Christ Jesus came into your life by His Holy Spirit, He did not leave His peace out of you. In the midst of problems, thank God for His peace. Thank Him that His peace overflows your heart. Are you kidding yourself? No. It is truth. That Christ is in you is truth. You can choose to live by your feelings, by your flesh and by your reactions to the problem, or by the life of Christ who lives in you. And His life is peace!

Don’t despair. God understands your frustrations. He is right there with you in them. I am sure that He was having a little laugh as He watched the shenanigans at Pearl’s home. Even as Pearl laughed about it later--and apologized to her children for screaming at them.

Love from NANCY CAMPBELL

PRAYER:

“Thank you, Lord, that you are the God of peace. Wherever you are, there is peace, even when everything is going wrong. Help me to acknowledge your peace in every circumstance. Please fill my home with your peace. Amen.”

AFFIRMATION: 

I am making my home a peaceful dwelling.

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