Rite of Restoration
Theme of the Week: Ties that Dissolve
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
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Key Bible Verse:Give honor to marriage, and remain faithful to one another in marriage (Hebrews 13:4). Bonus Reading: Malachi 2:14-16
Steve and Michelle finally agreed to the plan. Steve found another place to live. We kept working with them and gave them
counseling and support. God opened their eyes to spiritual realities. Then something wonderful happened. As our Tuesday evening
prayer meeting drew to a close, I said, "Before you all leave, I have a surprise for you tonight. Everybody stand, please."
The congregation rose… and the organist began the stately chords of Lohengrin's "Wedding March." The rear doors opened and the smiling bride, in a tea-length dress and holding flowers, moved forward. The 1,500 witnesses broke into wild applause.
Steve, who'd been sitting near me on the front row, stood for the ceremony, as they were united in Christ.
Several times during the proceedings, their quiet weeping for joy became so loud it could be heard through my microphone. They managed to say their vows nevertheless. After the recessional I said to the audience, "You know, that couple just recently came to the Lord." I didn't go into the unseemly details of their past, but most people could figure it out. They knew full well the grace and power of God to make crooked things straight.
—Jim Cymbala in Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire
My Response: How can I affirm someone who is making something crooked straight?
Thought to Apply:What would you not give to have the word "sex" set free from every trace if fear, guilt, shame, and impurity?—source unknown.
Adapted from Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire (Zondervan, 1997) by permission.
Copyright © 2009 by the author or Christianity Today International/Men of Integrity magazine.
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Creator God, publicly uniting a man and woman for life was your plan. Please keep me from short-changing that relationship.
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