July 15, 2010 So who is your spouse?

"And in the resurrection from the the dead (they) will neither marry nor be given in marriage, and they will no longer die; for they are like the angels. They are God's children, since they are children of the resurrection."

Good Family day Thursday morning, my dear brothers and sisters. It is a beautiful day here at the Southern Location of the North Pole. Today as we pray for families I ask that you pray for the family in the White House and as you pray for them, pray that they come to Jesus, before they bring things to the public. Please pray for families on this line, and pray for families who have family members who struggle with addictions. And pray for the family of God.

So who is your spouse? (3): Luke 20:35B/36 - "And in the resurrection from the the dead (they) will neither marry nor be given in marriage, and they will no longer die; for they are like the angels. They are God's children, since they are children of the resurrection." (NIV) (words of Jesus)

Ok, let me get started today by clearing up what I said I would clear up today... The sin of divorce! To this day there are churches that will not let a divorced man be a pastor in the church. When I talk churches here I am talking denominations here, folks, and in fact I know of one man who was a deacon at an Assembly of God church. Now this man was divorced and beside being a deacon he was the leader of a singles group. Then he met this wonderful lady in the singles group, they fell in love and got married. He then was removed from the deacon board as this denomination says, as the Bible tells us that to be a pastor or deacon they must be a man of just one wife. Now in their eyes I guess he was a man of more than one wife, but in the mind of this writer that is not the case. I believe this is in the Bible to prevent leaders of the church being married to more than one woman at a time. Remember back in those days, and still in some countries, men had/have more than one wife at a time. Now here comes the part that I look at, if divorce is a sin, and in most cases it is, and the divorced person, man or woman, comes to Jesus in faith and asks to be forgiven, are they not forgiven, does our Lord Jesus forgive all of our sins? Jesus does not pick and choose some sins (as long as we do not blast the Holy Spirit). Jesus heals us from all sins and they are washed away and gone. To me, and I will hear from some on this and I pray I do, to me for a church to hold back a good person who was divorced after they have come to Christ and asked to be forgiven, indeed are NOT BELIEVING IN ALL THAT IS IN THE BIBLE. I know sometimes it seems the Bible goes both sides of a fence, but when you really get into it, it does not. Folks, and I am sure there are a lot of divorce people on this line (I am one of them, folks) and if we did not believe that Jesus forgives us from the sins of divorce then why in the world would we still be having faith we are going to heaven? JESUS FORGIVES OUR SINS, all of them, if we ask. While people will cast up our pasts, Jesus will not, and when others cast up your past, tell them in a nice way that your past is just that, your past, it has been given over to God and it is a done deal. Oh, with all that said, if in that same church a man and woman were just living together and now the man wanted to be a pastor, he could go to school and do just that. He would need to break off that live-in relationship by getting married (again if it is a first time marriage) or living under a different roof... and giving up all that other married stuff and you know what I mean on this. If you don't, I am talking sex here...

Ok, with all that said, and now those divorced people have been forgiven, and remarried, "who is their spouse?" I promise that I will tell you tomorrow, remember now, and here is a hint... We are talking about who is your spouse in Heaven. Will it be your first spouse, maybe the one who had the children with you, or your second spouse or third, who is your spouse in Heaven?

Ok, here is the question for today, you have never been married, never at all, "who is your spouse?" Am I getting deep on this one, so who is your spouse? Come back tomorrow when I tell you the answers to all the questions of the week. I have received some answers back and so far all who have answered have answered correctly. What about you, will I hear from you? Who is your spouse?

Oh, and let me add this today so you can get working on this... If you were married, and went through a nasty divorce and I believe all of them get nasty or hurt people, you need to forgive the past spouse, you really do. At our big picnic the other week, my first wife and her mother, ex mother-in-law whom I still call "mom" came, and they also follow this line. All the past has been forgiven, not forgotten I am sure, but forgiven by each other and by God. You need to work on that one if you are still holding things, like hate, against that former spouse. Please remember that we must love our neighbors and those X's are our neighbors. And someone said AMEN.

Dear Father in Heaven, thanks for another beautiful day, and thanks for all You do for all of us. Lord, please forgive us, forgive me of my past, including failed marriages, and Lord, please bless families today, bless them, and Father, I pray that folks come to You today and come nearer and nearer, and that because of that families stay together and put You in charge of the family. Lord, if only I would have done that years ago, so Lord, help families bring You on board in the number one spot. In the name of Jesus I ask that You bless all families, of all colors, of all religions, and give them strength and peace. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Now go forth sharing your blessings and have a wonderful day and please come back tomorrow when we find out the answer to "Who is your spouse?" Love ya, Pastor Dan.