God Hates Divorce! God Loves Obedience!

Nehemiah 13; Malachi 1; Malachi 2; Acts 4
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Scripture

Malachi 2

14 You cry out, “Why doesn’t the LORD accept my worship?” I’ll tell you why! Because the LORD witnessed the vows you and your wife made when you were young. But you have been unfaithful to her, though she remained your faithful partner, the wife of your marriage vows.

15 Didn’t the LORD make you one with your wife? In body and spirit you are his. And what does he want? Godly children from your union. So guard your heart; remain loyal to the wife of your youth. 16 “For I hate divorce!” says the LORD, the God of Israel. “To divorce your wife is to overwhelm her with cruelty,” says the LORD of Heaven’s Armies. “So guard your heart; do not be unfaithful to your wife.”

Acts 4

19 But Peter and John replied, “Do you think God wants us to obey you rather than him? 20 We cannot stop telling about everything we have seen and heard.”


Observation

I had to share both of these passages this morning. They are both so powerful. In fact everything I read this morning was loaded with good stuff for my life. Nehemiah goes back to Jerusalem and finds the people involved in the same sins that caused God to punish them and send them into captivity earlier so Nehemiah cracked the whip and got them back on track once again.

Malachi 2 reveals God’s heart and how strong God feels about marriage and how much He hates divorce. And He warns us men to guard our hearts and He warns us not to be unfaithful to our wives.

In Acts 4 we have Peter and John standing before the religious leaders after spending a night in jail for healing a crippled man that had been crippled since birth. The religious leaders told Peter and John to quit preaching using the Name of Jesus, but they responded, “Do you think God wants us to obey you rather than him? 20 We cannot stop telling about everything we have seen and heard.”

Three great passages this morning with 3 messages all showing us how important it is to obey God.

Application

It is my plan today to obey God with all my heart.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, give me the courage of Nehemiah, Malachi, Peter and John to live a life of obedience to You. I pray for the men of our church that they would also be men desiring to please you and that they would be men that keep Your Word. Help all of us strengthen our marriages and love our wives like You want us to.

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