When Two Become One – A principle of Marriage

Let the husband render to his wife the affection due her, and likewise also the wife to her husband. The wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does. And likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does. Do not deprive one another except with consent for a time, that you may give yourselves to fasting and prayer; and come together again so that Satan does not tempt you because of your lack of self-control. 1 Corinthians 7:3-5

I want to touch on a subject that perhaps you have encountered or perhaps not yet - temptations in marriage. Perhaps you are married and have not encountered temptation – praise the Lord! Perhaps you have. Either way, I want to focus on the different areas that temptation can enter and not just the obvious one although that is an important one. The first two verses speak about the body and how it belongs to your spouse. When you get married you become one with your spouse. The bible says in Genesis 2:24 that "For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh." The reason for this is because whenever a man and a woman come together sexually, the man deposits of himself in the woman and the woman receives him, making them one. So the husband's body belongs to his wife, and the wife's body belongs to her husband. There is no more "my body"; it becomes "his body" or "her body."

We cannot dress the way we used to because now we dress to please our spouse, not ourselves. We cannot neglect our bodies (we shouldn't anyway) because our bodies are no longer ours but our spouses. We can go on and on about what we can and cannot do with our bodies because we no longer have authority over it, as the Scriptures tell us. It is also one of the reasons why we cannot and should not commit or practice adultery. We cannot give away what is not ours to give. Our bodies are not ours to give when we are married and God clearly speaks against this behavior. (Exodus 20:14)

I want to bring your attention to verse 5 which tells us: "Do not deprive one another except with consent for a time, that you may give yourselves to fasting and prayer; and come together again so that Satan does not tempt you because of your lack of self-control." I want to focus on this verse because here is where we will see what kind of temptations can arise and why. Obviously, the verse is speaking about depriving each other of sex but when we deprive each other of sex the temptations that arise are more than sexual ones. For instance, there is the temptation to despise your spouse because of neglect. There is the temptation to be angry and bitter. There is the temptation to mock or speak ill of or to your spouse. Now this is something that you would see in a marriage without Christ but clearly the Apostle Paul is speaking to believers. Why? Because Satan doesn't tempt the unbeliever, he already has control of the unbeliever. It is the believer that Satan tempts because he wants to make the unbeliever fall.

To deprive one another can be more than sexual as well. You can deprive one another of companionship, affection, love, friendship. Clearly Paul is emphasizing sexual deprivation because this can lead to the temptation to fulfill your needs elsewhere. As a Christian, this is not an option and doing so will cause you to fall, yet many fall into these other temptations I mentioned above as well.

When you find yourself facing these temptations the first thing you must do is pray. Pray for your marriage, pray for that passion to return to your marriage. Pray for your spouse if that's where the negligence is or pray for yourself if it is on your part. Whatever you do, DON'T GIVE IN TO TEMPTATION. Study the word of God and what it says about the tongue and how you should speak blessings over your home. Pray over your home and if your temptation is sexual pray for your desire to be for your spouse and do what you must to engage your spouse. Remember the word says that if you are going to hold out on each other, it should be consentual for the purpose of fasting and prayer; for the purpose of setting yourself apart for God only. Anything else is no excuse. So be aware, be careful, and pray for your marriage and your spouse so that temptation does not catch you in a moment of lack of self control.

God bless!

Have You Abandoned Your Post?

"So you, son of man: I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; therefore you shall hear a word from My mouth and warn them for Me. ⁸ When I say to the wicked, 'O wicked man, you shall surely die!' and you do not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at your hand. ⁹ Nevertheless if you warn the wicked to turn from his way, and he does not turn from his way, he shall die in his iniquity; but you have delivered your soul. ¹⁰ "Therefore you, O son of man, say to the house of Israel: 'Thus you say, "If our transgressions and our sins lie upon us, and we pine away in them, how can we then live?"' ¹¹ Say to them: 'As I live,' says the Lord GOD, 'I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn, turn from your evil ways! For why should you die, O house of Israel?' Ezekiel 33:7-11

Have you abandoned your post?

Definition of watchman – a person who keeps watch; watcher – one that sits up or continues awake through the night.

In the Old Testament the watchman was usually a prophet, the person that God used to speak to His people. Today the watchman is the church. You and I. We are responsible for letting the world know that there is salvation in the name of Jesus. We are responsible for letting the sinner know that they need to repent and be saved. We are responsible for teaching our children the way of the lord and correcting them when they go the wrong way. We are watchmen in our homes, our jobs, and our churches.

The role of a watchman –

Spiritual – the watchman is always on alert for the wiles of the enemy. A watchman can be man or woman, not necessarily a prophet, though in the Old Testament the prophets were called watchmen. She/he is the one who warns the people of spiritual dangers, the one who warns the world that there are consequences for sin and that they should repent. If the watchman does not warn the people and they die in their sin, the watchman is held accountable for their blood.

Military – In a military sense, the watchman is the one who stays up all night standing guard. She/he is the one who sounds the alarm when they see the enemy approaching. If this person did not blow the horn when danger was approaching and the people died, the blood of those people was on the watchman's hands.

Characteristics and responsibilities of a watchman -

Watchmen must have vision – she/he has to be able to see the enemy for who he is and know his tactics. To do this we have to keep our eyes on Jesus and live a life of worship.
Watchmen must be alert – she/he should not let her/his guard down but must constantly be on guard so as not to let the enemy sneak up on her/him. To do this we must develop a consistent prayer life. By consistent, I mean we must spend time in prayer everyday. Prayer is very important for the watchman. We must also fast for clarity and discernment.
Watchmen must speak – the watchman has to open her/his mouth when danger is approaching. She/he has to let the endangered know that danger is coming and in our case what to do about it.
The watchman is held accountable for what she/he does or does not say.

Reasons a watchman will abandon or neglect his/her post –

Fear - For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. (2 Timothy 1:7)

Fear is a tool the enemy uses to keep us from being all that we can be in the Lord. It keeps us from speaking out against injustice, sin, and unrighteousness. Fear will cause you to question yourself and say "let somebody else do it, who am I to judge?" But God speaks specifically against this by reminding us that He has given us power, love, and a whole mind (my emphasis) never fear! If God gives us all these things then why do we allow fear into our lives and let it detain us?

Weariness - "If you have run with the footmen, and they have wearied you, then how can you contend with horses? And if in the land of peace, in which you trusted, they wearied you, then how will you do in the floodplain of the Jordan? (Jeremiah 12:5)

The NLT reads it like this - "If racing against mere men makes you tired, how will you race against horses? If you stumble and fall on open ground, what will you do in the thickets near the Jordan?

How does this apply to what we are talking about now? If you become weary and abandon your post, how will you deal with the greater things God has for you? He cannot give them to us until we have learned to stand firm no matter how weary we become. He is our strength and our sustenance. Weariness can cause us to make bad decisions. It can blur our vision. When we are weary we must go to the One who said "Come to me all you who are weary and heavy burdened and I will give you rest." We cannot rest on our own knowledge. We cannot rest in our family, friends, or anyone else. We cannot rest in our money, our job, or anything else but the One who created all things and called us to our post!

Wounded - He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. (Psalm 147:3)

Many times when we are hurt, we forget our purpose, we forget who called us, we forget our responsibility and we dwell. We focus on our wounds and how much it hurts and we forget that there was One who was wounded far worse that we can ever be wounded. We forget that He suffered everything we suffer and we forget that He is with us in our suffering.

Distraction - But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, "Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me." ⁴¹ And Jesus
answered and said to her, "Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. ⁴² But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her." (Luke 10:40-42)

Ahhhh, distraction is a tactic the enemy uses to sneak up on you. When you are distracted you cannot be alert. You cannot focus on your post. Your primary mission is sidetracked. There are many things that can distract us. Anything that occupies too much of our time and takes time away from God, is a distraction. Sometimes we get distracted by things we aren't even aware of.

Reclaiming your post - Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. (Ephesians 6:10)

If you have experienced or are experiencing any of these symptoms, I have good news! First you are not the first to experience this! Second, God has a remedy for each of these ailments! If you are wounded, cry out to him and he will heal you, restore you, and make you whole. If you are distracted, examine yourself and set aside the distractions – seek god and spend quality time with him. if you are fearful, take your fears to him and he will remind you that fear is not of him and he has given you what you need to proceed. Take courage! God is with you. When you are weary – don't give up!! He will give you rest!

I will leave you with this verse from Joshua 1:9 as motivation to reclaim your post. Assume the responsibility the Lord has given you and march forward in all that he puts in your hands because one day we will have to give account for everything we say and do. I would like to hear him say "well done, my good and faithful servant."

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go." (Joshua 1:9)

God bless!

Watchman Video/Chris Preaching