PASTOR JOHN COLLINS: MARRIAGE AND DIVORCE

From Pastor John Collins:

“But from the beginning of the creation, God ‘made them male and female. 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 then they are no longer two, but one flesh.’” Mark 10: 6-8 (NKJV).

Divorces are now the norm and multiple marriages with blended families are finding their way through the complications of upheaval. Commitment from the very beginning and the willingness to see it through to the end in relationships is definitely on the decline. What makes people want to end marriages and begin again? Many times, lust is mistaken for love and allows people to justify changing spouses and too often these changes come without the benefits of marriage to begin with. Too many marriages are based on lust and not on love. People want to be romanced and to have their lives filled with heightened passion that is full of excitement and delight. Too many times adultery is the result of seeking this excitement and too often a spouse is discarded because someone fell out of love.

Love and marriage are meant to be a commitment. You are supposed to be a team and you are meant to work together through the bad and the good. Too often long term goals and world viewpoints are not discussed before any commitment takes place, with or without any marriage license. When a couple chooses to take on life together, they need to make the effort to stay resolute in their fidelity to each other and to find the character within themselves to see it through. Marriage is more than lust and passion is not a reason for marriage, for without the faith to see it through, to be on your spouse’s team against all odds, you will find your marriage failing and you will find yourself divorced. Any passion that is stolen with another or any relationship that is created to avoid the obligations of home are going to leave a thirst inside of you and is indeed sin that will taint your soul. Faith and honor matter and marriage matters to God, for He gave it as a gift to you. It takes courage to stay committed and to stay faithful in this fallen and wanton world that we live in, but in the end it is worth it.

Do not let your flesh determine your steadfastness because the heart is desperately wicked and will deceive you into thinking that love is guiding you, when it is not. Choose a partner that is faithful, willing to go the extra mile and is committed to living as your teammate. If you find that your marriage is struggling then do a heart-check and find a way, through prayer and the word of God, to see what is motivating any distance between you and your spouse. A marriage takes work and a marriage is more than passion, romance and excitement. Your spouse is meant to be your biggest helpmate and together you are meant to stand strong against an evil world.

“Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.” Mark 10:9 (NKJV).

LOVE THAT CROSS PASTOR JOHN COLLINS

Read more about JOHN COLLINS MINISTRIES, or reach me, Pastor John, personally through John Collins Ministries at www.johncollinsministries.com.

PASTOR JOHN COLLINS: OVERCOMING OURSELVES

From Pastor John Collins:

"You have that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” Matthew 5:27-28 (NKJV).

Jesus gave us an interpretation of the law that is imperative that we understand. Prior to Him speaking about these things, it was the focus of the law to look at the actions of a person. Do not kill, steal, lie, or commit adultery and so on. Yet, with the words of our Lord, we learned that it is in our hearts that the sin begins. Before we will commit adultery we will lust, before we murder we usually hate. That is why Jesus said that what comes out of a man is what defiles a man.

Although we may feel that we understand this and we may even have given some thought to this, how often are we monitoring our emotions that will lead us to sin? We are filled with the propensity to be selfish and evil beings. That is a fact. We have to make the effort to allow Jesus to help us overcome ourselves. The most basic negative emotions, if left unchecked, will be the downfall of our souls.

We get depressed, angry, sad, resentful, bitter, and are full of fears and frustrations that may seem overwhelming to us. We must be diligent in our relationship with Jesus so that we allow Him to manage the purifying of our hearts for us. With His love leading us we are able to let go of the negative seeds in our hearts and to plant the positive and water them well. That is what being the branch to His vine is. That is where we will bear much fruit.

Do not let negativity rob you of the joy of Jesus. Do not allow bad emotions to build inside of you until they consume you. Pay attention to not only your actions, but to your feelings. That is where it begins.

“If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell.” Matthew 5:29 (NKJV).

LOVE THAT CROSS, Pastor John Collins

Read more about JOHN COLLINS MINISTRIES, or reach me, Pastor John, personally through John Collins Ministries at www.johncollinsministries.com.