A Happy Marriage

The Lord God of heaven, which took me from my father’s house, and from the land of my kindred, and which spake unto me, and that sware unto me, saying, Unto thy seed will I give this land; he shall send his angel before thee, and thou shalt take a wife unto my son from thence. Genesis 24:7.
Isaac was highly honored by God in being made inheritor of the promises through which the world was to be blessed; yet when he was forty years of age he submitted to his father’s judgment in appointing his experienced, God-fearing servant to choose a wife for him. And the result of that marriage, as presented in the Scriptures, is a tender and beautiful picture of domestic happiness: “Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah’s tent, and took Rebekah, and she became his wife; and he loved her: and Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death.”
What a contrast between the course of Isaac and that pursued by the youth of our time, even among professed Christians! Young people too often feel that the bestowal of their affections is a matter in which self alone should be consulted—a matter that neither God nor their parents should in any wise control. Long before they have reached manhood or womanhood they think themselves competent to make their own choice, without the aid of their parents…. Many have thus wrecked their happiness in this life and their hope of the life to come….
Parents should never lose sight of their own responsibility for the future happiness of their children. Isaac’s deference to his father’s judgment was the result of the training that had taught him to live a life of obedience. While Abraham required his children to respect parental authority, his daily life testified that the authority was not a selfish or arbitrary control, but was founded in love, and had their welfare and happiness in view.
If there is any subject which should be carefully considered and in which the counsel of older and more experienced persons should be sought, it is the subject of marriage; if ever the Bible was needed as a counselor, if ever divine guidance should be sought in prayer, it is before taking a step that binds persons together for life.
Courage and Conflict p. 58
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Prayer Requests
—– My husband was home for 2 weeks finally from his kidney transplant. But in the short time he’s been home, he came down with a bad infection. I found him unable to answer questions sitting in bed, staring blank. He was taken to our local hospital. He was there for two days. The transplant team had him transferred by ambulance back to ___. Today They Performed A Biopsy On The Kidney. Shortly afterwards he suffered a seizure. Not sure why. They will call me when they know more. I’m still home about a 5 hr drive from there. Tending to my mom and youngest daughter. Please keep Robbie In prayer. Karen
—–Please pray for Esther, Danniella, and children as they go to family camp. Rose
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Dear Friends,
My mother and I took our vacation in New York City when I was eighteen. Since it was such a huge metropolitan area, we decided to take a Gray Line Tour. One of the stops on the tour was Rockefeller Center. Once inside, we were given tickets to one of the television shows that was broadcast from there and told to be back to the bus several hours later. There was much to see and do inside. We went down to the basement and browsed through many of the shops. When it was closer to the time for the TV show, she went back upstairs and wandered through some of the displays on the main floor.
My mother decided to go verify the time for the television program, so we would not be late. I didn’t want to go with her, so before she left, she gave explicit instructions that I was to stay right in that one area. I promised I would. After awhile, however, I began to feel rather strangely. I had this overpowering urge to begin walking away from that area. I resisted. My mother had told me to stay there, and stay there I was going to do.
Soon the urge became even stronger. This time I obeyed it not really knowing why or where I was going. I felt almost like I was in a dream. As I continued walking, I suddenly saw my mother standing in a long line. When she saw me, she smiled. That confused me even more. She was happy I had disobeyed her?
As I took my place in line beside her, she explained that when she had gotten there and saw that a line for the TV program was already forming, she “held a thought” so I would come. I didn’t know what she meant, so she explained. Passed down from generation to generation was this “ability” to “hold a thought” and make someone do or think a certain way. Then she explained exactly how it is done. I was shocked! I had heard of telepathic powers from school as well as from some TV programs. At the time, I didn’t understand much about the multitude of deceptions of the evil one, but the realization that my mother and her forebears had practiced such a concept was intriguing but frightening.
In God’s Holy Word, we are warned against these things. God warned Israel when they first came out of Egypt to keep away from those occultist practices that were so commonplace there, “When thou art come into the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not learn to do after the abominations of those nations. There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch, Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer. For all that do these things are an abomination unto the LORD: and because of these abominations the LORD thy God doth drive them out from before thee.” Deut 18:9-12 Saul committed the unpardonable sin by visiting the witch at Endor. Isaiah also warns against toying with the devil, “And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep, and that mutter: should not a people seek unto their God? for the living to the dead? To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.” Isa 8:19, 20
Such were the sins of Israel that caused them to be sent into Babylonian captivity. They had so desired to become like the nations around them, that they had adopted their devil worship The One True God declared of those that toyed with the enemy’s practices, “Therefore shall evil come upon thee, thou shalt not know from whence it riseth: and mischief shall fall upon thee, thou shalt not be able to put it off: and desolation shall come upon thee suddenly, which thou shalt not know. Stand now with thine enchantments, and with the multitude of thy sorceries, wherein thou hast laboured from thy youth, if so be thou shalt be able to profit, if so be thou mayest prevail. Thou art wearied in the multitude of thy counsels. Let now the astrologers, the stargazers, the monthly prognosticators, stand up, and save thee from these things that shall come upon thee.”
How important it is to keep away from even the first hint of anything to do with the occult. How vital that we flee from it. We must not watch anything on TV or read anything about it for as we do, those things can enter our mind. May we even keep away from using occultic terminology in day to day speech for all has a effect upon both hearer and speaker. “Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report, if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.” Phil 4:8 “Be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: Whom resist steadfast in the faith.” 1 Peter 5:8,9
Rose