The Hardness of Men's Heart

I want to say a very big thank you to the church of our Lord Jesus Christ in Nigeria, United Kingdom, Canada, US, Uganda and many  parts of Africa, you are my family indeed, who  has raised their voices in prayer for my family as we go through this time of crises. Am persuaded our God who hears and  answers prayers is working on your prayers for our good. Many thanks and may The Lord remember you in your time of need.

Matthew19vs3-8.    "Some Pharisees came to Him to test, Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any and every thing"----------v6 "So they are no longer two but one.Therefore what God has joined together let no man separate"".   ---------"vs 7 "why then' they asked did Moses command  that a man give a certificate of divorce and send her away." Vs8--------" Jesus ,replied Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because of  the hardness of your hearts,but it was not so in the beginning.

Am not an expert in marriage but any student of the holy scriptures know and believe that here in this verse is the major cause of all divorces on this side of eternity. Mankind is running with the command of Moses a man,while conveniently neglecting the direct word of God.It was not so in the beginning,says the Lord,something happened between the beginning and now-----"the hardness of men's heart   is what happened '.Every where there is a divorce, it does not matter the reason given for it in public ; our favorite one being 'Irreconcilable Difference' ,underneath is what our Lord has called hardness of heart. So what does it mean?

Zechariah 7 vs12-----------"They made their hearts as hard as flint and would not listen to the law or the words of The Lord Almighty has sent by His Spirit-------"
Hosea10 vs12---"sow to your selves in righteousness--------- and break up your fallow ground or unplowed ground; for it it is time to seek The Lord ------"   These two verses describes the condition

or state of the heart that it is impossible for the truth of God's to be received willingly.Any farmer knows by experience that a fallow ground can not receive even water much less seed; a fallow ground must first plowed,broken up or dug up with a hoe or other stronger implements to expose the soft soil then watered for some time before  seed is put into it.   The result of such a heart is obvious to all, stubbornness ,hatred, envy,selfish ambition, unrepentance,fits of rage, their thinking is futile, and such hearts have become darkened,insolent, arrogant and boastful, they are covenant breakers, and can not retain the knowledge of God and His truth.

God's word on marriage is clear, but because a hard heart has become desperately wicked according to Jeremiah the prophet,it seeks for new inventions to disobey God.  If you ask any body, wife or husband asking for divorce they simply tell you irreconcilable differences,, what does it mean no body has been able to explain it ,not even the lawyers who use the term.    But one thing is clear some body in that marriage is experiencing hardness of heart, if you notice the person asking for divorce will refuse to gofor counseling, or seek help, next that partner will put all the blame on the other spouse, like our progenitor Adam who instead of admitting his weakness and failure ; said to God " it is this woman you gave to me".Because pride, arrogance and selfish ambition will not allow  that spouse to take responsibility .It is easier to blame somebody else.

I have said before and say it again, divorce is a spirit, for this reason it is not the first time troubles starts that there is a divorce, when misunderstandings ,quarrels are not properly settled and wounds and hurts are not healed, it opens the door for the this wicked spirit to come in. The plan of this spirit is to scatter or put assunder as old king James puts it what God  has put together. The Jews were surprised that Jesus did not approve their any and every reason cause for divorce, Moses was a man and could not stand evil he saw displayed,when the any man was tired of his wife and wanted a younger woman to  boost his ego or should i say libido he finds fault with the old one. When David committed adultery with Bathsheba  and he was confronted, God said through the prophet ------ if you wanted more wives and wealth I would have given you,selfish ambition  and pride made him  to believe that it was his right as king to have whom he wanted.

As Christians we have become careless,and no longer guard our hearts from becoming hard. We have become too busy chasing life and all it has to offer,counting it as blessings of God. Search your heart when was the last time you worshipped God together as a family not just going to church on sunday?. The most important gift and ministry is your family. God said to Adam ''tend and keep the garden and Eve help him to fulfill this responsibility. So when every body is seeking fame and fortune,personal fulfillment,the marriage that is a  gift from God is left unattended,and the enemy of our souls comes to steal, kill and finally destroy.Jesus said in one of His famous parables, ''while men slept the enemy came in to sow tares'' .in songs of Solomon the shulamite cried and said ''my own vineyard i have not kept'. Like every garden marriage needs to be tended daily constantly,, watered with prayers love,forgiveness mercy and grace. And because it is hard work many have chosen the easier route,discard the old ,and a take a new one.

Today we are rewriting in our own words  according to the dictates of our culture what marriage rules ought to be.Because we are no longer adhering the to bible as our one and only source,husbands are no longer fulfilling their marital obligations to love their wives as Christ loved the church and gave Himself for her. Husbands are quick to tell you that this word should not be taken literally, but the word that says wife submit to your husband,and that your desire shall be to your husband should be taken literally. O God have mercy.

Companionship is key to a successful marriage ,and so absence of such is a pit fall that can lead to divorce,that's why you hear things like 'we have grown apart so there is no love between us any more. Love is an act of the will, you choose to love, it is a deliberate conscious decision you make.Read your bible God did not fall in love,if He did He would have fallen out of love with all of us long ago because we are unloveable,we are terrible. sinners.Twenty one years i made a conscious decision to love my husband and still do, for me nothing has changed i loved  him then, i love him now, i will love him tomorrow.This decision was taken even before i met him. From reading the word of God i said to God ; 'when you bring my husband to me i love him and submit to him,it does not where he is coming from,his background or his status in life. And by God's grace that's what i have done for twenty one years. Even when i do not understand the decisions i obeyed,because i promised God to submit to my husband as unto the Lord. I am not perfect woman never was, probably never will be on this side of eternity until my Maker and my Husband ,the Lord of Host Himself comes to take me home to be with Him forever.

Companionship is one of the few joys we have here on the earth.we must deliberately build friendship in our marriages,In Africa our cultures over ride this issue, for the husband sees himself as lord and master, and a boss so it is difficult to be friends with that kind of position. In the west the roles of the husband and wife have so confused or mushed together there is no more respect for the head of the family. The result is in both culture there is lack of mutual respect, intimacy and oneness is difficult to achieve ofcourse with a few exceptions.

God said to Abraham 'harken unto Sarah your wife, when certain issues arose in the family twice God said the same thing to His friend,in their old age Isaac and Rebecca were caught making out. Every reader of the Songs of Solomon know that it is the great make out book, only true friends can talk to each other without shame and embarassment  as Solomon and the Shulamite did. The word of God  is complete, i declared to God recently after reading through the bible again,am in love with the word of God , for me it's a treasure like no other.