Dearly beloved,

"We wrestle not against flesh and blood but against principalities, against powers, against the world rulers of this present darkness, against wickedness in high places."   Ephesians 6:12.

The Lord has made known through His Word the master plan of Satan in this hour. That master plan is to destroy the family cohesiveness of the committed Christian!

Satan knows, believes and acts upon Scripture better than many Christians.  He knows and believes the Scripture that "two can put 10,000 to flight" (Deut. 32:30)!  Two!  Two joined together!  That's Satan's great fear!

So you thought the problems between you and your spouse were about things (petty things!) like person- ality.  Attitude.  Money.  YOU ARE WRONG!

"For we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against...the world rulers and wickedness in high places!!  Now YOU may not want to believe that.  I admit, through personal experience, that it's easier - and it feels better - to believe that you're wrestling that spouse of yours!  If you DO believe that your mate is your worst problem, the enemy of your soul has you just where he wants you:  FIGHTING, YELLING, SCREAMING, CUSSING, EVEN IGNORING your partner in battle - the partner God gave you to learn to fight the enemy of the Kingdom with.

Wake up, O thou that sleepest!  Wake up and look up! Wise up and stop being a tool of the enemy!  Since God created Adam and Eve, He has been trying to get couples to prevent Satan from separating them.  Two  UNITED in purpose is God's preservation plan.

Until we awaken, we don't look up; we look around - around at our dissatisfactions.  Why do you think Adam and Eve wore fig leaves?  I believe it's because they were trying to hide their nakedness first from their mates:  each was busy pointing out what was different (WE translate:  WRONG!) about the other and causing each other to hide in shame, self-con- sciousness - with the resultant lowered self-esteem in each other's eyes instead of accepting and building each other up.  Looking around - not up: SATAN'S PLAN AND INTENT! 

AND IT WORKS EVERY TIME!  When we become dissatisfied, we look around instead of up.  Just look at the state of the family life in the CHURCH - GOD'S FRONTLINE troops!

But our Beloved Lord has the perfect answer, the per- fect antidote, the perfect weapon:  LOVE COVERS A MULTITUDE OF SINS!!! When I began to believe God and began to act not upon my feelings but upon the Word, the battle was over.

Importantly, I began to stop looking at my spouse as the source of my personal dissatisfactions (actually, I was REALLY hungry for more of God although I didn't recognize that at the time!).  When THAT began to happen, I also stopped looking at my spouse as the source of my joy and happiness, too!  God taught me a life changing truth:  HE ALONE IS MY SOURCE!!!
DID YOU HEAR ME?   GOD ALONE IS MY SOURCE!  My husband is not. 

"How can that be?" I can hear you ask.  "Everyone knows a husband or wife is responsible to make the other happy."  NO!  THAT'S NOT TRUE FOR THE CHURCH AND IS ANOTHER LIE SATAN WANTS YOU TO BELIEVE!  FOR YOU SEE, THE LORD IS THE SPOUSE OF THE CHRISTIAN - BOTH OF THE MALE AND OF THE FEMALE - NOT, IN REALITY, SOME HUMAN MAN OR WOMAN! 

Yes,you have a NATURAL spouse BUT THAT IS SUPERSEDED BY THE  WORD:  "FOR THE MAKER IS YOUR HUSBAND, THE LORD OF HOSTS IS HIS NAME; AND THE HOLY ONE OF ISRAEL IS YOUR REDEEMER, THE GOD OF THE WHOLE EARTH HE IS CALLED."

So your needs aren't being met by an earthly spouse.  You should learn, then, who your "husband" really is.  THE LORD OF HOSTS IS HIS NAME.  So your needs are not being met?  Where have you been looking - around or up?  I cannot tell you what a vital truth this is:  God alone is your source.  What do you need?    God is your source.  Joy?  God is your source.   Friends?  God is your source.  Finances?  God is your source.  Lonely?  God is your source.  So long as you look to a person, YOUR NEEDS WILL NEVER BE MET!   For that is definitely NOT God's plan - to have a man/woman before Him. 

IF YOU ARE A "TRUE" CHRISTIAN, GOD WILL KEEP YOU LONELY BEFORE HE PERMITS A MAN OR WOMAN TO FULFILL YOUR LONELINESS.  GOD WILL KEEP YOU FRIENDLESS BEFORE HE PERMITS A MAN OR WOMAN TO FULFILL YOUR NEED FOR A FRIEND.  GOD WILL KEEP YOU POOR BEFORE HE ALLOWS A MAN OR WOMAN TO REMOVE YOUR POVERTY.

Please understand me:  It WILL be a man or woman God SENDS to meet your need BUT that man or woman will NOT be your SOURCE.  You only have ONE source:  THE LORD OF HOSTS!!!

How does this thing work?  THIS IS IT:  if you are lonely, stop expecting family members or friends to notice and care for you.  THEY ARE NOT "THE SOURCE". Stop binding them.  TELL GOD ABOUT YOUR LONELINESS.  HE WILL SUPPLY.  IF HE DOES NOT - BLAME HIM - NOT THEM.  THERE'S A REASON AND YOU HAVE TO FIND OUT WHY FROM HIM!

If you lack finances, stop expecting those family members or friends to care for you.  THEY ARE NOT "THE SOURCE" OF FINANCES.  GOD IS.  Stop binding them.  TELL GOD ABOUT YOUR FINANCES.  HE WILL SUPPLY.  IF HE DOES NOT, BLAME HIM - NOT THEM.  THERE'S A REASON AND YOU HAVE TO FIND OUT WHY FROM HIM!

Do you now understand?  YOU WILL GET WHAT HE WANTS YOU TO HAVE, NOT WHAT YOU WANT TO HAVE.  HE IS BUILDING A KINGDOM - NOT SUBURBS, SOCIAL CLUBS, BANK ACCOUNTS.  HE IS BUILDING SHIPS FOR THE STORMS AHEAD.  ONLY THE OVERCOMERS WILL SURVIVE TO TELL THE STORY.  WE MUST BE ABLE TO KNOW WHAT IS REALLY IMPORTANT IN THE KINGDOM AND WHAT OUR PART IS TO BE.

Satan would have us think that "what pleases the eye and fills the belly" is what is important.  THAT IS THE OLD, OLD STORY OF TEMPTATION:  STOP THEM FROM LOOKING UP AND MAKE THEM LOOK AROUND.

Will you be the one who finally gets the message and stops being the tool of the enemy of your soul?  If you're a husband, will you stop looking at yourself, your job as your source for your family and look "up" to God?  If you're a wife, will you stop looking at your husband as source and look instead "up" to God?  Get out of His way.  It'll be the wisest decision you have  made since trusting The Lord of Hosts as your Saviour, Lord, Healer, Baptizer.

Stop being manipulated by the enemy.  Stop being used as a tool to stop God's Kingdom from coming in its fulness to you.  Stop looking at each other as your source.  GOD HAS MANY SOURCES AND IT IS HIS CHOICE AS TO HOW OUR NEEDS WILL BE MET. LIVE ABOVE THIS WORLD SYSTEM.

"Fear not, for you shall not be ashamed; neither be confounded and depressed, for you shall not be put to shame; for you shall forget the shame of your youth, and you shall not seriously remember the reproach of your widowhood any more.

"For your Maker is your Husband, The Lord of Hosts is His Name; and the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer, the God of the whole earth He is called.

"For the Lord has called you like a woman forsaken, bereaved in spirit and heartsore, even a wife [wooed and won] in youth, when she is later refused and scorned, says your God.

"For a brief moment I forsook you, but with great compassion and mercies I gather you to Me again.

"In a little burst of wrath I hid My face from you for a moment, but with age-enduring love and kindness I will have compassion and mercy on you, says The Lord, your Redeemer".    Isaiah 54:4-8.