WATCH OUT FOR THIRD PARTIES

Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden. Genesis 3: 1-2

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Proverbs 7-10

God loves family. He loves children dearly. The bible records that when the disciples forbade parents from bringing their children to Jesus, He told them; “suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 19:14)”. He loves mothers so much that He compared the way He comforts to the way mothers comfort their children. Isaiah 66:13 says as one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you; and ye shall be comforted in Jerusalem. He loves fathers to the extent that He associates Himself with them. Psalm 68:5 says a father of the fatherless, and a judge of the widows, is God in his holy habitation.

Because He loves marriage – the union of two people (man and woman) in holy matrimony, the the first institution He created was marriage. Adam and Eve had a perfect marriage. They were open to each other. They kept no secrets from each other. Genesis 2:25 says and they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed. To Eve, Adam was perfect. To Adam, Eve was the most beautiful woman he had ever set his eyes on. They enjoyed the Garden of Eden (blessing of the Lord ) together. There was peace in their marriage, the bible did not record any account of Adam beating up Eve or Eve cursing Adam until Eve (the wife) started listening to the voice of a third party (serpent). Genesis 3:1-2 says now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? And the woman said unto the serpent, we may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden.

Eve ate of the forbidden fruit and offered some to her husband which he ate. From that day, they began to have problems in their marriage. First of all, they realized that they were both naked , Adam no longer felt comfortable around his wife, Eve on the other hand started keeping things from her husband. That was how they both started keeping secrets from each other. Not only that, Adam began to see faults in Eve, before they knew it , the blame game started. When the Lord asked Adam if he had eaten of the forbidden fruit, instead answering yes or no, he blamed his wife. At the end, they were both banished from the Garden of Eden. In your marriage, watch out for third party influence. If your marriage is going to succeed, you need to cut out as much as third party influence as possible. As brides of Christ, if our relationship with Him is going to blossom and grow, we need to cut out third party influence i.e. voice of the devil. Any one encouraging you to compromise or do anything outside the bible is a third party and you need to cut them out or else it will cause you your relationship with Him.

ACTION: Let us remember those that are experiencing challenges in their marriages that the Prince of peace will declare peace in their marriages.

Bro Samuel – Reaching the world for Jesus.