Homecoming

Homecoming

As we drove back home, you could see the path the fire took. In it was total destruction. The earth was charred to a deep black, even the tall trees were just black toothpicks sticking up out of the ground. The smaller trees and brush that had filled up the void was completely gone. It looked like a Halloween ghost flick, complete with still smoky steam rising up to float over the surface.

Oh but our house never looked so good! However humble, there is no place like home. When we drove in, it felt like the house was holding its arms out to us in welcome.

All the chickens were there, though it took almost three months for them to come to trust me again, and about just as long before they started laying eggs again. We had gone on two week vacations before, and had a neighbor come and care for them while we were away, and found that they were no different when we returned. Not so this time. Something serious must have happened for them to distrust me so. They must have had quite the view to the fire, for their coop looks over the land that was scorched blackest. My heart aches for them; I wished I could have taken them with me when we left, but it was not possible. When we left, the automatic waterers were on, but when we returned, we found that the water to the house had been shut off. So the neighbors who stayed behind had been watering them as well as feeding them. Not an easy job when you have to truck the water in.

We could see that the fire had come right up to our driveway. Firemen had chopped down the nice trees that lined it, in an effort to preserve the house. The fence was charred black, with most of it missing.

The fire also chewed on one side of the shed, leaving quite a charred black spot. But it still stood, and everything inside it was safe.

We looked at the devastation all around us, and I found myself alternately crying and praising God. As I wandered around the property, I came across a pile of old hay that was still smoldering. We tried putting it out but we realized that the fire had moved underground, so we left the hose running (we had turned back on the water,) and hoped that it would be enough.

Inside the house everything was as we left it. The place reeked of smoke, and this did not go away for several weeks. Laundry had been left in the washer, and all the clothes were moldy and ruined, but the washer survived. All the contents of the fridges and freezers were rotten and full of mold.

We still had no power, but they got it up and running soon after we returned. The phone lines however remained down for months.

The place was crawling with people. It felt quite invasive, with so many strangers on our property. They claimed that they were “from the government and were here to help” us. They wanted to inspect things, to make sure that anything hazardous was taken care of.

Some firemen drove by, asking us if we had seen anything, so we told them about the fire on our property, so they came with their picks and dug out the ground till they reached the underground fire. They then used our water hose to put it out.

They told us that they were the ones who had camped out on our deck to keep a watch out for the fire. It was special for me, to be able to thank them in person for the work that they did. They told me that it was “no big deal” for them, and one of them told me that it was “fun” to put out the fires.

We decided to walk around the neighborhood to see how others were doing. Black and grey soot covered everything. Whenever the wind blew, chunks of grey ash fell off the tree limbs, making it look like it was snowing. We found that in many places the ground was so hot that it still radiated heat upwards. It’s not like the hot asphalt on a hundred degree day. It comes at you in distinct waves, and is much hotter. Black toothpicks of leftover stumps surrounded us, and many homes were just burnt out concrete slabs with a fireplace skeleton remaining. A horrible stench of something rotten and dead filled the air. Dizziness kept assaulting me, so I had to hold on to my husband as we walked. I had not felt this kind of dizziness while we were evacuated, but here near the fire, I did. I really do wonder if something was used to help this fire along, for somehow it felt quite evil and unnatural.

On our way back, a cop car came along side of us and wanted to know where we lived. While we were telling them, they got a call on their CB radio from another group of officers, telling them about a suspect that they had just taken into custody. Apparently this man had driven onto someone’s property and tried to pull open the garage door to gain entrance to the house. As we overheard their description, we realized that the house was our own, and their suspect was one of our boys who had been staying with the other family offering us shelter. We told this to the officers we were with, but they refused to release him. The officers asked us to get into the car with them so they could drive us back home and see if this person really was our son.

When we got there, we asked my son why he did not show the police his driver’s license, to prove that he lived there. He said that he did, but the police still did not believe him.

Thankfully they believed us, especially when they watched my husband pull out his keys to unlock the front door.

Two days later two insurance men came out to access the damage. One of them began arguing with us on the cost of a large tub of sour cream, but then the other man he was with stopped him and suggested that he should go on to the next place, for that one would have a lot more to deal with than us, and that he could take care of the stuff here. So the one man left, and the other man remained. (Apparently one of them takes care of the inside of the home, and the other one takes care of the outside claims.) He asked us about the damages, and we told him and gave him our photos and lists, and he didn’t even look at them or argue about the price of things. He just asked for the totals and wrote it in his computer. He then asked us if he could just sit there on our deck and work for the afternoon. We told him yes. Later on, he asked for my husband and said he had a check ready for us. My husband didn’t think that we would even meet the deductible, so when the adjuster wrote him out a check for several thousand dollars, he found he had to sit down in the nearest chair from shock. Apparently all the huge dead and chopped down trees around our home were worth several hundred a piece.

My husband had been wondering how we would be able to make our monthly mortgage payment, (for my husband had not gotten his usual summer job,) and here the Lord Jesus uses an insurance man to deliver the money we desperately needed to make the payment. Thank You Jesus!

A few days after we had returned, I suddenly realized what day it was; it was the first day of the Feast of Tabernacles. This is a Holy Feast mentioned in the bible in several places, most notably in Leviticus 23:33-39 and in John 7:2-14. The first part of it is a solemn assembly, whereby an offering is made by fire to the Lord, and the people live in tents, as a sign that they are ready and willing to leave all that they have and follow God. The second part of it is on the eighth day, when a big feast (party) is held as a celebration for returning home. Our family usually takes out the old tent trailer to stay in, to celebrate the feast. But when I went to mention this to my husband, he became overwhelmed with all it entailed; the garage was still partially blocked from the downed trees, and the last thing anyone wanted to do was to go and live in a tent for a week. It would take several days just to clear everything out so we could get at the tent. I went back to the Lord and asked him (I was distressed with the thought of failing Him in this,) what we should do. But His calming voice slowly penetrated my mind.

“For more than a week you have tabernacled with Me, relying upon Me for your shelter and security. You made your sacrificial offering to Me and I have accepted it. You have met the requirements of the Feast of Tabernacles. You need do nothing more.”

I thought back to that dream of the colonel, and how we were safely residing in some kind of shield, and then relief washed through me, as I realized the truth of what He said. That night at the dinner table, we gave Him extra thanks and praise for all He does for us!

A week later, my stomach had settled back to normal, and my limbs no longer shook. I have been hit with tiredness in all that has happened to me. Yet I have also had great moments of profound joy.

I recently came across a piece of scripture that really summed it all up for me:

“The Word of the Lord is tried in the fire; He is a shield to all who trust in Him.” (Psalm 18:30, GNV)

TO BE CONTINUED… (Next post : The Aftermath)

Staying in an Unbeliever’s Home

I sensed from the Lord that I was to get on line and ask my friends to pray for us, so I did. It is something I do not like doing, for I hate to bother others with my needs. I figure they have their own problems to deal with, and do not need mine to add to their burdens. But then He reminds me of how I am blessed when I pray for others and then get to see the answered prayers. So I went ahead and sent out my prayer requests.

The parents of my son’s friend set up an air mattress in the middle of their living room for us to sleep on, and one of my other boys slept in the friend’s room.

That first night I slept there, satan kept trying to attack me, by whispering in my ear, that our house was gone. And every time he did so, I refuted it. He kept asking me, “How can you even think that your home is still there? Even the firemen told you it was gone!” But I kept claiming the Word out loud, (of which he hated,) and claimed yet again that it would still be there. Then he kept trying to hit me with those ‘what if’ questions, but I refused to give in to those thoughts either. After a few hours of these kinds of attacks, I finally fell asleep.

The next morning I awoke to find my husband gone. He had driven back home to see if we still had one.

I realized then, that the battle for my home was much more serious than I had first thought. It felt as if everything was resting on that one piece of scripture. I had felt Him tell me that I could claim it, and my children had felt the same from the Lord concerning our home. Wishful thinking or not, it still came down to that passage in the bible. Was God’s Word true or not? It says “If you live in Me…” well, I knew that I lived in Him, for I went to Him, asking Him what it is that He wants me to do, and when that is done, I go back and ask Him what I should do next. If that isn’t living in Him, then I don’t know what is. And then it said “And My Words live in you…” well, this got me hung up for a few moments, for I am not one of those people who have a hundred pieces of scripture memorized and can just whip them out as needed. But then I felt the Lord Jesus remind me, that I still use His Word on a daily basis, as I cast out demons and heal the sick, so I would still qualify for His promises. If I lost my home, that was one thing, for we could get another, but if I lost my faith, that was completely something else, for my God is irreplaceable! I felt as if this was actually a battle for my faith in Christ. If my home remained, then God’s Word was true. If it did not…

Well, you can see how this all affected me. Satan was relentless in his attacks. They physically tired me out.

The mother in the home, (the dad had gone off to work,) was also tiring me out, for she seemed to take for granted that we had lost our home. But I refused to talk with her about rebuilding it, and told her that I firmly believed that God would save it.

Then my husband calls. OUR HOME IS STILL STANDING! ALL GLORY BE TO JESUS CHRIST OF NAZARETH!

Apparently, the wind had shifted at the last moment, JUST AS WE HAD CLAIMED, saving our home from total destruction. Firemen were camped out at our place, still fighting the fire. My husband (and only my husband, no others from the family,) was allowed back into the house, to get any emergency medicines or important papers. The air was filled with thick falling ash, making it hard to breathe. He was led in by a police man, and given only a few minutes to retrieve what he could. The police man never checked his identification; he just asked him if he needed help in breaking into the home. My husband looked at him funny, and got out his key to enter. After four minutes, the policeman came and escorted him off our property.

That was the last time we seen our home for many days. After that, they refused to let anyone into the area.

The woman we were staying with, proclaimed that we were “very lucky” that our home survived. It felt like another attack from satan when she said that, so I told her flat out that I did not believe in that kind of “luck” for believers, and that it was the Lord that kept our home safe, just as I had claimed through the scriptures.

That night, we switched rooms with my son, and he slept out on the air mattress, and we slept in the bedroom. Satan kept trying to attack me like he had done the night before, but it was to no avail, for our house still stood. But then as I fell asleep, I had horrendous dreams of a great fire overtaking everything in its path. I dreamed that it not only took out our house, but it was now coming for me. They were incredibly satanic somehow, and when I awoke the next morning, I told my son about it, and asked him if he had experienced such dreams here. He nodded in agreement, and then frowned. He walked back into the room, stood there for a moment, before walking over to the headboard of the bed, (it was actually a shelf where you could store books and such,) and then grabbed something from beneath a pile of papers. It was a large deck of playing cards. “Yugioh cards!” he exclaimed, and then he showed me the top card that was facing upwards.

It was the fire demon card.

And it looked exactly like my nightmare.

We put them in a drawer face down, and then bound them up in the name of Jesus, and then claimed that they could not affect anyone in our family anymore.

The stress was really getting to me, so I begged the Lord to make this whole mess just go away. He then reminded me of the dream about the colonel that He had given me a short while ago. I told Him that I didn’t want to be a colonel, but just an average believer who’d get to heaven one day. At this, I felt the Lord take a step back from me, leaving me exposed. “Are you SURE you want this?” He asks me sternly.

And then I began to cry. Through all the stuff I had been through, I had not shed a tear. But THIS caused me to cry. I could feel the presence of the Lord begin to leave me, and it terrified me no small amount. So I broke down and told Him that “No, I will still do and be whatever You want me to; just please help me get through this!”

Then I felt the Lord’s presence envelope me once again, and I felt and sensed His angels surrounding me. I felt their peace and strength fill me, and I immediately calmed back down and stopped crying.

I realized then, that this was what the colonel dream had foretold. Staying there in that home, and feeling as if I was falling from the sky, (I was still shaky and unable to eat much from nerves,) was just what I had experienced in the dream. The knowledge that we were all protected somehow, and that there were other unbelievers there with us, made me realize that the colonel dream was referring to this moment in time. My questioning the Lord on the title of colonel, is what might have tipped over the shield that we were traveling in, had I let it.

Soon we started getting information on others who have been affected by the fire. One of my son’s friends lost their home. This boy was the one who had called my son and told him about the fire headed our way in the first place. My son had called him back, and told him that his family was in danger, and that they had to start evacuating now. My son then tried to tell him about claiming, and that he should do this for his home. “What’s claiming?” he asked, and then the phone went dead, so he could not tell him more.

I had asked my son, why he did not just claim that his friend’s home would be saved too. He told me that the Lord told him that as believers themselves, they must speak for their own house, and that he was not to do it for them.

When my son had given them the warning, they had first laughed it off. But an hour later, they were busy packing up their stuff. They had over six hours to remove most of their belongings, and move them to his grandmother’s house just a short distance away. They were able to clear out their home fairly well; not much was left in it when the fire finally took it. His grandmother had died a few months before, and they had been reluctant to put the house on the market. Now her house would be theirs to live in from now on.

I found out that they had said quite often, that if there was ever a fire near their property, their home would surely go up in flames. Their grandfather firmly believed that this would happen to his family one day, and his children believed him, and ended up claiming this for themselves.

THEY HAD CLAIMED THAT THEIR HOUSE WOULD BURN AND IT DID!

We then found out more about the homes that were destroyed near our house. The elderly Catholic lady and her husband, (a real sweet couple,) were the first to lose their home in our area. My husband then remembered that they had said at the last neighborhood party, that if there was ever a fire coming towards them, that their home would be the first to go up in flames.

AND JUST AS THEY CLAIMED, SO IT HAPPENED!

I spoke to a sister in Christ who is also my neighbor, and she told me that their house is still standing.

SHE TOO, HAD USED THE SAME EXACT PIECE OF SCRIPTURE TO CLAIM THAT THEIR HOUSE WOULD REMAIN UNTOUCHED! SHE CLAIMED IN HIS NAME THAT IT WOULD NOT BURN AND IT DID NOT!

They had a fireman call them up and tell then that he had personally witnessed their house going up in flames. Can you imagine it? Making the same claim upon God and then being told that? Oi! How she must have suffered! This woman must be incredibly strong spiritually. It wasn’t until a neighbor sandwiched between her home and mine called her and asked her for any diesel that they might have, that they found out the truth. The fire had circled back around one night, and took out the home directly next to them, and this is the home the fireman had assumed was theirs.

She told me that ALL THE HOMES BETWEEN MY HOUSE AND HERS WERE SAFE,

And that ALL THE OTHER HOMES AROUND US WERE GONE.

That means the witch’s home, the new age’s home, the agnostic’s homes and the atheist’s homes were all DESTROYED.

This same neighbor called us too, and told us that he had somehow sneaked back in and was trying to live in his house. (He lives between me and my Christian friend.) He told us that the firemen had moved on, but that there were still several spot fires on our property that he was still dousing with water. Several looters had infiltrated the area, and he had to chase them off with his gun and his dog. He was telling us that he would have to soon leave, for he could find no more diesel to run his generator. He had sent his son out to go get more, but the cops arrested him as he tried to get back in. We told him how to get into our garage, and that he could use our generator instead, which took propane, and there was plenty of that in the garages that were left. Then he told me that my chickens were safe, and that he was looking for something to feed them with. A phone call later to our Christian neighbors, told him where to get the feed that was needed from their garage.

OH HOW OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST PROVIDES FOR HIS CHILDREN!!

The lady of the house we were staying in did not like to hear any this. She kept arguing with me, insisting that it was all just luck. She brought up examples of family members dying young from cancer. I asked her if the cancer demon was cast out. She says they prayed, but to no avail. I told her that she must cast it out in Jesus name. Then she said “So you have to do it in a specific way, or He won’t honor it?” (She said this very sarcastically, as if I was crazy for even thinking it.) I told her that the Lord has given us examples in His Word, and that this is what we go by. She came back and started quoting the bible where it talks about no one being above another. (What this had to do with the argument confused me; anyone who lives in Him, and His words live in them, can make such claims. Sadly, I got pulled away before I could give her that answer.)  I wish I had my Geneva bible, and not the corrupt NIV, for the NIV has some very important scriptures missing from it. I had kept the bible because of all the notes I had put in it over the years. (This has taught me to transfer the notes to the new one, and then get rid of it. After all, who wants to be caught with a weak sword that breaks or bends in battle?)

When I returned, her husband was looking at me and smiling as if to say, “now you’re gonna get it!” He acted like he had sat down to watch a good fight on T.V.. She started asking me questions about what I believe, and made statements on her beliefs that were designed to draw me out. Some I sensed from the Lord to say nothing about, while others I got no warning message, so I would try to quote the right scriptures to match the topic, just as she was doing. At first I thought she was actually interested in what I had to share, but then towards the end, I sensed she simply wanted to fight. At this point, I let a distraction break off the conversation, and left the room.

The next night was much better in terms of sleep, though while writing on the computer, I found myself under attack once again. I sensed evil starring at me. I asked the Lord where this was coming from, and it turns out that this kid had more decks of yugioh cards sitting on his desk where I was working. So I bound them up and turned them away from me, and was able to then work unmolested.

The next day, the boy whose room we were staying in, (he is a believer,) returned to see how we were doing. So I told him about the yugioh cards in his room, and that they were cursed items that needed to be removed at some point, for his peace and safety, if he was ever going to stay there again. (He was no longer living there, but at times he had stayed there overnight.)

His mother heard me saying this to her son, and became very angry. She then came to the conclusion that it was me that was bringing in the demons, for she had not run into them before.

An hour later, right before bed time, her and her husband decided to kick us all out of their home. “Take your demons and get out!” she screamed at me. I tried to tell her that she could check up on the yugioh cards on line for herself, and see just how evil they really were, but she refused to listen.

Her son, the one who is friends with one of my boys, told them that they could not just cast us out without no warning, for even hotels gave a night’s notice. So they let us stay that night, but told us we had to leave right away the next morning.

Apparently, satan didn’t want to be bound up, nor did he want to be removed any more from their house, and fought back the only way he could.

In prayer time, the Lord revealed to me, how this family worked. I had always wondered if her husband was still a believer, but not anymore. I know this may sound crazy, but it’s almost as if he keeps her on a leash, and sends her out to go attack, and then when he thinks enough blood is spilled, he reigns her back in. This way, he looks like the good guy, even though he is not, and she gets to vent her beliefs, without making everyone look bad. What kind of a believer would sic their unbelieving wife on another believer, in order to watch them fight? My son described her as being extremely conniving and underhanded, never knowing when she would fly off the handle and start screaming at something or someone. To me, it was all very confusing. I had thought for the most part that we were getting along just fine, not agreeing with each other, but still respecting each other’s beliefs. But my son told me that she can put on a mask that makes her look all nice and friendly, when underneath she is anything but.

All night long, satan attacked me, very similar to my first night there in their house. He tried to convince me, that we would end up on the streets. (We had been told that all the hotels within an hours drive were all booked up already from fire evacuees.) But this time, he could not hit me as much, for I had won the biggest faith battle I had yet to ever encounter, and I knew that I could easily make another claim upon Jesus for shelter. So I did. I kept claiming that He would bring us to a better place to stay. Then He had me read psalm 23 out loud. It has been a long time since I read it.

The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures,
He leads me beside quiet waters,
He restores my soul…

After I read through the whole psalm, He had me go back and meditate on the first part that I just shared with you.

The peace of His Word settled over my heart and soul, and greatly comforted me. I knew then for sure, that we shall not want, and that even amidst a great fire, he would find us a place to lie down in green pastures.

Another piece of scripture He led me to, is Psalm 5:11-12

But let all who take refuge in You be glad;
Let them ever sing for joy.
Spread Your protection over them,
That those who love Your name may rejoice in You.
For surely, O Lord, You bless the righteous;
You surround them with Your favor as with a shield.

(Remember the dream of the colonel? The Lord told me this scripture was the container, kind of like an upside down shield of old, that we were all in, as we fell down to the earth.)

The next morning, around noon, my husband got a response from one of his friends. (This was the one who had first offered my husband shelter.) He was out of town fishing, but told us where the key was, and that we could go in and make ourselves comfortable.

So we packed up and got ready to leave. As I was getting into the car, I heard the Lord Jesus tell me to wipe off my feet. I thought this really odd, and wondered what could be on the bottom of my shoes. I thought I should go back inside, and wash off my sandals in the sink, for they would get much cleaner that way. But I felt Him say no, and then tell me to simply brush off the top of my feet with my hands. I felt really odd in doing this, but I obeyed Him and brushed off the top of my feet. I then got into the car to leave.

As we drove off, we went a short distance, before my son in the car with me suddenly got very upset, and told me to stop the car. So I pulled over to the side, and he then grabbed my hand and told me that the woman had just tried to send her demons onto us, and that we had to cast them out from our car and claim that they would not follow us.

After doing this, he calmed back down, and we then drove to the next place to stay.

TO BE CONTINUED….

Thinking Of Leaving Your Spouse?

I Had a dream the other night.

This was a dream, where me and my husband separated shortly after we were married.

I went to New York City, met another high fashion artist, (he could have been an actual sculptor or painter artist, I’m not sure.) We got married and stayed together for a few years, and then we separated. During this time, I became an unbeliever. After the trial separation period, we divorced.

I then went from long-term relationship to long-term relationship, each one lasting a few months to a few years. In some of the instances, I married them, and then divorced them.

I was great at matchmaking all my friends, (I had good enough friends to call them my ‘sisters’,) but wasn’t so great at it when it came to myself.

In my latest relationship, we had taken a break from each other, (Which is how my marriage to my first husband ended, by the way,) and I was in a nice upscale apartment in New York city, a high rise of some kind, close to the financial district. I was unpacking, and wondering why I always ended up by myself, and dancing around in my apartment, singing to a song called “Bad Case Of Loving You” by George Palmer, from 1979.

A hot summer night, fell like a net
I’ve gotta find my baby yet
I need you to soothe my head
Turn my blue heart to red

Doctor, doctor give me the news
I’ve got a bad case of loving you
No pill’s gonna cure my ill
I’ve got a bad case of loving you

A pretty face don’t make no pretty heart
I learned that buddy, from the start
You think I’m cute, a little bit shy
Momma, I ain’t that kind of guy

Doctor, doctor give me the news
I’ve got a bad case of loving you
No pill’s gonna cure my ill
I’ve got a bad case of loving you

Woo oohh

I know you like it, you like it on top
Tell me momma are you gonna stop

You had me down, 21 to zip
Smile of Judas on your lip
Shake my fist, knock on wood
I’ve got it bad and I’ve got it good

Doctor, doctor give me the news
I’ve got a bad case of loving you
No pill’s gonna cure my ill
I’ve got a bad case of loving you

(In the dream, when the song said ” I know you like it, you like it on top”, this was not meant to be sexual, but was instead a comment of how the person always liked to be in control and on top of things in a relationship.)

I could see my reflection in the mirror, and knew that I looked good. I was slim and trim, and still had no gray hair. (Though I could have colored it.)

I was wondering how long it would be, before meeting someone new, (I was still ever full of hope of meeting the ‘right’ guy,) when I caught the eye, of another man from across the apartment complex; another high rise apartment owner, looking for love as I was. I smiled back at him and knew then it would not be long.

Years later, out with one of my ‘sisters’, we were talking and trying to find out why no relationship of mine ever lasts very long.

The last one I had before my current one, lasted eight months. The one I was, again, taking a break from, was a little over seven months long.

While we were out, we seen both of these men. At this point, I was just as familiar to the older one as I was to the newer one. I kissed the older one, and he asked me if I realized how long it had been since I had kissed him and hugged him. I said no. “Eight months”, he replied. I grabbed his arm and asked him to go to dinner with me and my friend. He went, cause that was the kind of guy he was; somewhat shy, with a true heart. (Like my first husband.) My friend then seen my current boyfriend, (well, at least the most recent one,) and pulled him aside and managed to cajole him into joining us. He didn’t really want to, for he was trying to ‘take a break from me,’ like we had agreed to do.

We all sat down in the restaurant, and began to talk about the problem of my relationships going nowhere. The guy who I had been with in the past, was solid and dependable, but was too staid and unexciting for me. (He was thinking of getting everyone to sign a petition in his neighborhood, to try and fix the water quality. That was as exciting as he got.) My friend, my ‘sister’ said she’d take my cast-off any day, and proceeded to hook up with him. They ended up getting married and living happily ever after.

I soon realized through this talk, that I still had a deep seated fear of loved ones leaving me, and the moment I would feel like something was not quite right, (at the first sign of a problem,) I would go ahead and leave them, just as my first husband had left me all those years ago. I would leave them before they could leave me, and before I could get any closer to them. It was just as I used to do when I was little, when I’d suddenly find out that we were moving again. I’d break it off with all my friends as soon as I heard, for I didn’t want to get any closer to them and thereby get hurt even more.

Deep down inside, I knew that I was still in love with my first husband. Like the song said, ‘I had a bad case of loving you’. But I knew that he would never take me back.

My current boyfriend and I, decided to get married and stay married. But the marriage seemed like it was always missing something. We had no children. It was in no way shape or form like my marriage to my first husband. It lacked depth. It lacked that soul bonding closeness.

It lacked God.

I woke up then, my heart pounding, realizing, that if my husband had left me, back in New York, like he almost did, I would have never really known God. Jesus would have become just a legend or a fairy tale to me, without any real substance to hold on to in times of trouble.

I also knew, without doubt, I would have ended up in hell.

After I got up, I could still hear George Palmer’s song running through my head. I quickly put on some praise and worship music, and begin praising my God at the top of my lungs, and thanking Him for keeping me and my husband together…

THANK YOU JESUS CHIRST OF NAZARETH!

(And thank you my wonderful husband, for staying married to me and being faithful to me all these years!)

*

I know these pieces of scripture can be painful, yet they are still there in the New Testament, and not something we should simply cast aside to pander to our feelings of discomfort. There are some real truths in these. I sense that they may be describing a simple unchangeable fact, and not just giving a basic ‘do not do this’ command…

Mark 10:2-12 (KJV)
And the Pharisees came to him, and asked him, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife? tempting him. And he answered and said unto them, What did Moses command you? And they said, Moses suffered to write a bill of divorcement, and to put her away. And Jesus answered and said unto them, For the hardness of your heart he wrote you this precept. But from the beginning of the creation God made them male and female. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and cleave to his wife; And they twain shall be one flesh: so then they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder. And in the house his disciples asked him again of the same matter. And he saith unto them, Whosoever shall put away his wife, and marry another, committeth adultery against her. And if a woman shall put away her husband, and be married to another, she committeth adultery. (See also Matthew 19:3-12.)

Matthew 5:31-32 (KJV)
It hath been said, Whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorcement: But I say unto you, That whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery: and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery. (See also Luke 16:18.)

1 Corinthians 7:39
“A woman is bound to her husband as long as he lives. But if her husband dies, she is free to marry anyone she wishes, but he must belong to the Lord.”

Romans 7:2-3 (KJV)
For the woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth; but if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband. So then if, while her husband liveth, she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress: but if her husband be dead, she is free from that law; so that she is no adulteress, though she be married to another man.

1 Corinthians 7:1-2, 6-16 (KJV)
Now concerning the things whereof ye wrote unto me: It is good for a man not to touch a woman. Nevertheless, to avoid fornication, let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband.
But I speak this by permission, and not of commandment. For I would that all men were even as I myself. But every man hath his proper gift of God, one after this manner, and another after that. I say therefore to the unmarried and widows, it is good for them if they abide even as I. But if they cannot contain, let them marry: for it is better to marry than to burn. And unto the married I command, yet not I, but the Lord, Let not the wife depart from her husband: But and if she depart, let her remain unmarried or be reconciled to her husband: and let not the husband put away his wife. But to the rest speak I, not the Lord: If any brother hath a wife that believeth not, and she be pleased to dwell with him, let him not put her away. And the woman which hath an husband that believeth not, and if he be pleased to dwell with her, let her not leave him. For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband: else were your children unclean; but now are they holy. But if the unbelieving depart, let him depart. A brother or a sister is not under bondage in such cases: but God hath called us to peace. For what knowest thou, O wife, whether thou shalt save thy husband? or how knowest thou, O man, whether thou shalt save thy wife?

Hebrews 13:4
Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral.

1 Corinthians 6:18 (KJV)
Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body.

Merriam-Webster defines fornication as: ‘consensual sexual intercourse between two persons not married to each other’.
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I can understand why Jesus would say this. Divorce is painful. There is a strong bond that is made, with the first person you marry, that is not so easily broken. And fornication brings in some nasty demons. These demons are shared with each other within the marital bond. (The two have become one.) By allowing divorce from someone who can not remain faithful to their marriage, Jesus was protecting them from repeated severe demonic infestations.

Please know, I do not say these things lightly. It took a lot of persuasion from the Lord to even post this article. I know how uncomfortable it makes people. If not themselves, then everyone seems to know someone else who has gone through a divorce and then gotten remarried again.

I do know how difficult it can be, to live with an abusive spouse. I grew up watching my father physically abuse my mother. (She did not know about casting out demons.) Yet please note; even physical abuse is not given as a permissible reason to divorce your spouse. Jesus DID however, teach us to cast out any demons troubling us in His name. (If not cast out, at least bind up.) In my experience, violent demons are ALWAYS the cause of spousal abuse, and they can be removed. So, get yourself to a safe place, and then get rid of the demons but keep your spouse!

For a piece of insight on how satan can work between two people, see: https://dreamsofdunamis.wordpress.com/2012/02/10/this-is-satan-attacking-us/

The Holy Spirit has told me, that there is someone out there reading this, who is thinking of leaving (or will be thinking of leaving,) their spouse. I pray that you do not. I pray that you find a way to cast out any demons that have come between you and your spouse, and to stay close to the Holy Spirit’s leading. Shalom; He WILL bring you peace!