If there is one thing that is important to almost every human being, it is family. And the foundation of every family is marriage between man and wife. In this series, we are taking a look into the Word of God to see the heart and will of God, not just for our lives but also for our families. Dr. Siohvaughn Funches explains that without a doubt, it is the perfect will of God for us and our whole house, in other words, family, to be saved! It all starts in the book of Genesis when God created man and, from his ribs, women to accompany each other. Beloved, it is with this confidence that we pray bold, faith-filled prayers for our spouses and our families to be saved and that we fulfill our destinies together in Christ together, as a family!
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It’s A Family Affair (Part 3)
We’re going to be continuing but definitely not finishing up our series titled It’s A Family Affair. Before we do that, we’re going to do what we always do on this blog and that takes the time to pray and acknowledge God. Besides Him, there is no other and without Him, we can do nothing. I thank you, heavenly Father, for this opportunity to get at the feet of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ and to hear Him.
I pray, Daddy, that you will give to each and every one of us the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Jesus, the eyes of our understanding being enlightened, that we may know what the hope of His calling is, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints. The exceeding greatness of His power towards us who believe according to the working of His mighty power. We ask you, Lord Jesus, to expound on the scriptures to us about the things concerning yourself.
I pray, Lord Jesus, that you cause us to set our gaze upon you, to behold you, to be whole, Lord what you have done for us, even as they did the children of Israel in the wilderness as Moses lifted up that serpent. I thank you, Lord, that we will see you lifted up for us on that cross because of your love for us. I thank you that we will see your grace for us and as we see you, Lord Jesus, I thank you that you’re causing your grace and Shalom to be multiplied. Let you a grace profusely abound in every area of my life, their life. I pray you release, God like a flood your goodness in our life. I pray you to cause us to receive, increase our capacity, God, to receive, open up our hearts wide to receive Lord, make us a people ready.
Bless us to be ready, God, for the next levels that you’re taking us to let your people, God, hear you, believe you. Let miracle signs and wonders follow us who believed, calls us God, who believed to enter into that rest and for that rest to be in us, God. I thank you, Lord, that you are going to not only open up our understanding, God but you’re going to cause us to comprehend the scriptures. You’re going to cause us to grow into a deeper, more intimate personal relationship with you. God, you’re going to show us your heart of love for us and we’re not going to run from you. We’re going to run towards you, God. I thank you, Lord Jesus, that in your presence is the fullness of joy and at your right hand are pleasures forevermore. We do receive it Lord in your name, Jesus, we pray.
We’re going to be picking up like I said, with this series but we’re definitely not going to finish. I want us to get everything that God has for us with this series because this series is one that touches the heart of God. Our key scripture comes from Acts 16:30-31. It says, “He brought them out and said, ‘Sirs, what must I do to be saved?’” They say, “Believe in the Lord, Jesus Christ and you will be saved, you and your household.” Now that is written.
We saw the Lord, by His spirit, laid a foundation for us with the word of God. For those just joining us, you’ll come to find very soon, even starting now, that on this particular blog and the premise is always the word of God. Upon that rock is where we build any wisdom, any revelation and it’s not by my power is by His spirit. Other than that, we don’t do it. I never called people to follow me and take my word for it.
I’m constantly showing them what God showed me and it’s all in His word. Every bit of it, every revelation, all enlightenment can be backed up, proven, and demonstrated in the very word of God multiple times over. We pray God to continue to do that through me and all those He has given this particular calling to go and share the gospel and the truth that God is revealing, especially to His church and His children. I’m honored to do that. Thank you again for being with me on this journey.
We looked at some scriptures. I’m not going to go over all of them. If you weren’t with us when we first started, I encourage you to definitely go back and read, and people who were, I encourage you to even read again. Faith comes by reading the word of Christ and continuing is to read. That’s an ongoing thing. Jesus said, “If you abide in me and my words abide in you, you ask what you desire and it shall be done for you.” That’s not come and go.
Abiding, represents staying in it, dwelling there, that being your resting place. How many words do you get? I don’t know. Some days may be a lot. Some days may be less than a lot. If God is leading you, it will be sufficient bread for you for that day. The point is to continue to get it Wednesdays and Sundays, your Bible studies or your day where you’re designated to go to church, whether it’s online or back in person now, is to me, not enough.
Jesus is the bread of life and if we eat natural food daily, even multiple times a day, that’s considered a healthy decision to make for the most part. How much more the bread of life Jesus Himself said, “Man can’t live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.” How much more do we have to feast on Him? When it’s the truth that if we don’t have natural bread for a period of time, human beings dropped dead. It goes that far. It’s that serious of a consequence. How much greater not to have the bread of life when Jesus Himself has said, “Man can’t live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.” It’s simply not enough to nourish our physical bodies.
God Is For Our Household
God made us bodies but they’re housing, the real you and me and that needs to be fed. Our spirits definitely need to be fed. That’s what we’re doing here. We began with the truth. Concerning the heart of God, that God is not for us but God is for us and our household that represents our family. It’s the perfect will of God that not only we but our whole households are saved, that they come to the saving knowledge and power of Jesus Christ in the cross. Jesus Christ was crucified. It is God’s perfect will that He be savior and Lord, not just over you but over your entire family. Spouses are your family. That’s included. We saw how the word of God is the will of God.
The Bible says in John 3:16, “For God, so loved the world.” God, didn’t just love those who are saved but God so loved the world, which includes your family members that you’re praying for to be saved, that He gave His only begotten son. He gave up Jesus, not for just you and me individually but us collectively, us as a unit, as a family.
God didn’t pay a small price. He certainly didn’t want something small in return. We looked at how God said it in the word and we even looked at it when we started this series but it is the will of God that all come right to the knowledge of God and that none should perish. That’s also written. God’s will is His word. God sent Jesus to save us from our sins. Of course, He did but He also sent Him to do more than that.
In John 1:12, he said, “As many as received Him to them, He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name.” God didn’t only send Jesus to save us from hell. Of course, He did but He also sent Jesus so that we would have an intimate relationship with Him that we can be the family, He so longed for. God is not after us for religious purposes. He’s after us for our relationship. We see this truth about God even being revealed after Jesus died and rose from the dead, after Jesus perfectly obeyed God and had delighted God’s heart like no other man, even land down as life in order to do the will of God.
The Bible says, “There’s no greater love than the one that will lay down his life for his friend.” That’s what Jesus did. He calls us friends. He says, “I no longer call you servants but I call you friends.” That’s in John. He laid down His life for us. He loves us but Jesus loves His Father. He loves our Father very much and He humbled Himself even to the point of death, the death of the cross to do the will of God. You can even see that in Hebrews.
Provision Precedes The Problem
It was never those sacrifices that God desired. Those are sacrificial things that are in books like Leviticus and they’re talked about in Exodus. That was never God’s will. All of that was pointing to Jesus Christ. The true lamb of God, God chose that lamb. When He picked that lamb without blemish spot or wrinkle but God had a lamb in mind before the foundations of the world, before Adam and Eve ever sin, God is very good and that teaches us that His provision always precedes the problem. Even if the problem is of our own making, God does that.
Abraham, as some will say amen to this, God does have a ram in the bush for you and that ram was caught in the thicket long before you got yourself into the trouble or someone else got you in it. Let’s not even fault fine like Jesus said, with the blind man, when He went to heal him and the disciples ask, “Who sin, Lord, this man or his parents?” Jesus is like, “None of that even really matters.” I’m paraphrasing, “Let’s get to the point. This man has a problem. I’m the solution. I’m here to handle it. I’m not here to fault find and finger point.” Glory be to God, who is solution-oriented and stays focused and on the course, and to get us to our destiny, not to nitpick and be petty.
God is very good. I wish nothing more than the world to see God for who He is and take the blinders of religion off that the devil has tried to put over our eyes, even through people who have taught the so-called word of God. It’s actually been the interpretation of man, which is why we rely heavily and totally on scripture. We don’t lay a foundation unless that foundation is Jesus Christ on this particular blog. This is not to be taken lightly to feed the sheep of Jesus Christ at all.
It’s certainly not taken lightly by me. It’s a tall task. I’m in serious business because I know how much God loves you as His sheep. I’m one of them. I get it. I know the lift you’ll go to for His sheep. It’s no small task and it’s not to be taken lightly. It truly is an honor. Thank you for letting me wash your feet by the spirit of God.
Now we saw that after Jesus did this and caused God, us to be reconciled to God and gave God a righteous foundation in which to have this relationship stand after the man had seen after Jesus had done the perfect will of God and has the heart of God smiling for all eternity. God has done away with wrath when it comes to man because of what He’s done for us who believe in Jesus Christ and what did God do? How did God bless Him? Jesus was crying out, “It is finished.” He’s saying, “Yes.” God has given Him the amen. He lays down His life. He goes to hell. Instead of us, literally in our place takes the keys of death hell and the grave raised from the dead.
Family Is God’s Idea And Blessing
God is forever glorified by what Jesus did. Inhale is definitely horrified about what Jesus did. God’s way of saying thank you. One of the ways, one of the first things God did was to bless Jesus with the bride and that bride is every born again, new covenant believer, that’s given their life to Christ. Whoever believes in the Lord, Jesus Christ, you are the bride of Christ. Bride and bridegroom speak of family and there’s the heart again of God.
We see it as one for family. We saw in Genesis 1:26, seen establish that Genesis of the book of beginnings but in it, we saw that in that book of beginnings, God said, “Let us make man in our image and likeness.” We took a look at not only was God saying, “Come on, let’s make Adam and Eve.” He had us, that’s the first family but he said, “Let us make man in our image and our likeness.” There’s a us. There’s an our. There’s a we, and with that being said, there was a family.
God, the Father, was there with the son, that’s family. These are things from the very beginning. There has been first importance and the Bible says, “Wisdom was there with God, too.” That’s why the Bible says, “Wisdom is a principal thing.” It’s the first importance. If God makes it a priority, it’s a priority. We want it to take time and go over that because to firmly establish in us to give us true faith and true faith will come from the word of God. It comes by reading the word of Christ. It is the forever reigning word of Christ. That is the perfect will of God that you and your family be safe. Family is God’s idea.
That’s His idea. Look at the length God has gone through for us to be family. He gave up His son to be a family. He gave us His best in order for us to have a family relationship with Him. What is it to give anything else to make sure that you and your household, I say that your family is doing the will of God, that your family is fulfilling their destinies together?
That right there, you are in the vein of God without a question when you make those prayers. Have no doubt about it. You can pray with boldness and confidence for your family. We saw God’s first relationship, He made was a human familiar relationship. It says in Genesis 2:18 how God was saying it and we look at verses 22-24, “Then the Lord, God said, it’s not good. That man should be alone. I’ll make him a helper comparable to him and the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam. He slept. He took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh in its place. Then the rib, which the Lord God had taken from man, He made into a woman and He brought her to the man.” It’s beautiful and we looked at that.
That was God’s first relationship. It was marriage. How important is your marriage to God? It’s pretty important when He started relationships. He’s the creator. We see that He can do anything. We see that with God, nothing is impossible right at the onset of creation itself. It was darkness and God simply said, “Light be.” Lights never left, people. It hasn’t left. Not one word He spoke has fallen to the ground. That’s pretty incredible. That’s more than impressive.
I’d say that’s God if I was summing that up. God and all the things He could have made, how He could have done it and what He could have started first with, this is what He chose. God Himself, as He did it and He did it in that order kept saying, “It is good.” When he made Adam and alone, without a companion comparable to him, he had God. He was with the father. The Holy Spirit was there. Jesus was there. Jesus is the tree of life in the garden. Right there in the center of it all, Jesus was there. That’s not what God meant when He said, “It’s not good for man to be alone.”
He was talking about a human relationship. That’s why I say somebody comparable to Him and out of all the things God could have done. He could have done a son with His mom. He could have done Adam with a son, Adam with a daughter. He could have done that but He starts off with this picture of Jesus Christ and His church from the beginning, God’s mind is on His son. He’s on what He’s going to do for His son.
He’s on how we are the benefactors of this blessing of this God, who is love. He doesn’t just love. He is love. Everything He does, He does it out of that. It’s filtered through that. Everything I do, I do it as a woman. If I go to the store, I’m going in the store as a woman. If I go to bed, I laid down and went to sleep as a woman. It’s part of who I am but this isn’t part of God being love. He is, it’s this whole genetic makeup so to speak, it’s love. Not that He loves, that’s impressive. That we worship God for but He is love.
That’s why we lift up holy hands to Him and it’s like, “Who besides you. There’s no other. This is incredible.” The Bible goes on to say, “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh. She shall be called a woman because she was taken out of man. Therefore, a man shall leave his father and mother, and be joined to his wife and they shall become one flesh.” Marriage is on the scene. It matters to God.
Praying wives, it matters to God. Know that when you’re praying for your spouse, you’re not praying to try to talk God into something. You don’t need to pray like, “I pray that I can be influential.” You already influenced God. Bride of Christ, you got so much favor with Him. He’s so madly in love with you. It’s actually His joy that you come to Him. That’s His will. Those who come to Him must believe that He exists and that He’s a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
You’re not wasting your time going to God and you said, “Vaughn, I’ve been going to God.” You’re not wasting your time diligently seeking Him either. God is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him and none of it is in vain. You have done the will of God. Perhaps God allowed you to be married to that particular person so that you would be the intercession that was needed for their life. God has allowed you to love that person because the love I have you, even when you want to give up, you keep praying. You’re like, “That’s the last time and I didn’t even you on your own find in.”
You say that and maybe at the time even mean that but eventually, love comes in. It’s an anchored boat on top rock and the water’s choppy. It’s storming, it’s getting dark but that boat is anchored that it ends up right back there. “Father in Jesus’ name, God, I thank you that the heart of the King is in the hands of the Lord and you turn it whatsoever way it pleases you, God.” You’re back praying again.
That’s not the devil. That’s God. God is love and that’s how He is with us loving tirelessly all the time through mistakes, through great days, through terrible ones. That’s who He is. You and I are made in His image and His likeness, and His spirit is living in us and influencing us every decision we make, every decision we don’t make continually.
Pray boldly for your spouse, knowing that this is the perfect will of God, that God loves marriage and at all the relationships you could have started. He started that one first and foremost. God is a God of order. It is significant that He did that, like I say, pointing to Jesus and His bride and then us being the beneficiaries of what Jesus has done. Remember what Jesus said in John 10:28 through 30. He’s talking about Him and the Father, “The Father and I are one.” He prayed that we will be one and Him.
It’s very significant when He brings somebody together in this covenant of marriage that God doesn’t see them as two anymore. He sees them as one and you’re saved. This is where we get some of these other scriptures from in the Bible about the unbelieving husband being sanctified by His believing wife and the children are holy and undefiled at that point.
Marriage Is The Foundation Of Family
Protection for the family, the blood of Jesus over the family. It’s major that God has this scripture at the onset of the Bible. I want to actually read to you John 10:28 through 30. It says, “I give them eternal life and they shall never perish.” Remember, this is Jesus talking, “Neither shall anyone snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all and no one is able to snatch them out of my Father’s hand. My Father and I are one.” This marriage depicts Christ and the church.
It also, this one is the picks Jesus, the Son and God the Father it’s very important to God. It’s significant and what it represents before God, literally the bridegroom being Jesus and the wife representing the church, is significant to God, this covenant. It means so much. It’s weighing heavy for good reason on His heart, you never have to doubt, whether or not it’s the will of God that your spouse be saved.
It is God’s perfect will that they be saved. Your prayers are not being made in vain. That’s for certain. That’s a given. We realize marriage is a reflection and a demonstration of Jesus Christ and the church. It’s very important. Now we’re going to see too how God calls family good and how marriage is that foundation that God chose to build the family upon and still ordains it that way, to this day.
In Genesis 2:18, He says, “The Lord God said that it’s not good that man should be alone. I’ll make him a helper comparable to him.” This we know is his wife but not only that. After God doing this, He said it was good because remember earlier He was saying, “It’s not good for man to be alone.” We see that God values your family, your marriage highly. It is His will. It’s God’s will to fight for His will to be done.
That’s the heart of God, too. God fights, not just for you. He loves you but He also loves His purpose. He loves the destiny He called you all to collectively, especially married couples. God will fight for that. We know that the Lord is both able and willing to fight for your marriage, beloved. We know that this is good for us so that we can pray in faith and boldness.
Marriage: The First Miracle Of Christ
We don’t have the enemy coming and trying to confuse us, “Is this the will of God?” It’s definitely the will of God. The will of God is the word of God and from the onset, God’s been for family. Get out of here with that. The one thing I know God loves His son, me, it’s family. If I don’t get another revelation, I’ve got those and those are immovable rock-solid revelations from God. You can pray with boldness and we see speaking of this whole concept of God doing things first.
That being significant because God is not saying at random. God, didn’t take something and say grab a piece of paper out of the bag, “What’s on it? Family. Let’s start with that.” Grab the next piece of paper, “What’s on it? Animal. Let’s go.” That’s not what happened. God did this not only what He did with the order He did it in. It is His perfect will. God doesn’t make mistakes. Everything He does emits perfection. He definitely did this on purpose and He did it perfectly.
We can see this too when Jesus gets started in His ministry. Some have read it and say, “It didn’t bring man toward.” Jesus knows the end in the beginning. It’s the perfect will of God and we saw in John 2:1-11. In the book of John, it says that the book is a book of signs. This book is pointing us to something and in this particular book, the first miracle, which is also the first sign because the book of John that particular gospel, it’s not miracles. It is a book of signs. Everything, every miracle in there that was done, everything Jesus did is a sign.
It’s amazing that the first sign that we see the first miracle, the first time He’s like He reveals Himself in this way and it’s recorded for us because everything recorded in the Bible, everything that God said, “Not that.” He expounds deeper, shows us things or connects dots, all of that is on purpose. We see that His first sign, the first miracle, in John 2, Jesus turned the water into wine at a wedding for a married couple to continue to celebrate their marriage.
All the things He could have done, it wasn’t there are people that need to be saved. There are people that need to be healed. We know there are people who died and needed to be raised from the dead. This is very important. Doesn’t seem important but God knows what’s important, first things first. We know with Him, all things are possible. The first thing He did was turn water into wine for a married couple. We see them when it came to human relationships, the first thing He did was create a marriage. Then here comes Jesus, God in the flesh and the first miracle and sign He did was for a married couple to keep celebrating their marriage.
I would say this seems important to Him. We’re going to read a bit from John 2, “It says on the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee and the mother of Jesus was there. Now both Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding.” This is important. They invited Him to the wedding. How did this couple get this miracle? They invited Jesus. That was it and that’s important.
It doesn’t say maybe the wife sent the invitation to Jesus. Maybe the husband hadn’t even been introduced to Him yet. Who knows? When an invitation from one or both because they are one that married couple, brought Jesus in the midst and when Jesus is in the midst miracles will be on His heels. He can’t help but He’s the light. He can’t help but dispel darkness. Invite Him your marriage, if you haven’t already, don’t wait for your spouse to get an agreement with you. Invite Him now.
You and God are the majority. If it’s a vote? There you got the 2 out of the 3, you won. Don’t wait for that and then they also invited the disciples. That’s pretty significant, too. Now marriage is intimate. It’s personal and there are obviously some things God will lead you that are between you, God and your spouse.
There are people that God probably will lead you to, that He will allow their disciples truly Born Again people that God leads you to and needs to be God led now. Not emotions, not because you’re related to them and not because you’ve been their friend for so long. If God doesn’t lead you to open up and be intimate, tell anybody anything intimate about your relationship, whether it’s going through problems and you want somebody to pray, what have you. Let that be God-led. If it’s not God-led, don’t do it.
I don’t care if it was the person you talked to the last five times and it went well. Let’s see on time. Number six if God is saying, “Continue with this person.” Maybe God wants to do a new thing or maybe God is saying, “I’m not going to use any human instruments this time. I’m coming directly Myself. I’m going to speak to your spouse in a dream,” or what have you. “I’m going to work it in you both to will and to do what you need to do. I’m going to grant you the wisdom. You suddenly knew what to do.”
Let’s God lead us, especially when it comes to marriage because it is intimate. I pray, God continues to lead into God in all things, especially that because of its intimate nature and we see that principle right there, inviting Jesus in was the key to that door and even His disciples that He chooses. It says when they ran out of wine, the mother of Jesus said to Him, “They have no wine” Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does your concern have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.” It always impresses me her response, Mary. His mother said to the servants, “Whatever He says to you, do it.” This is a woman who knows the heart of Jesus. She heard what He said out of His mouth but she said, “Whatever He tells you to do, do it.”
Now, what it sounds like, He was saying He’s not going to do anything. It sounds like, “That’s their problem, not mine,” but she knows the heart of Jesus, far be it from Him, that you came to Him and asked Him for help, He’s not turning you away. You see that throughout the gospels. We see what Jesus did and we see who He did it for. It was after that invitation.
Now we’re running out of time. I do not want to rush these marriage couples are heavy on the heart of God, it’s something I have a heart for myself. I do not want to rush through this. Let’s pray a bit and pick this up where we left off. I thank you, God, that you cover every seed of your word that’s been planted in our hearts. I thank you, Holy Spirit, that you will water these words. I thank you, God, that you will cover the seeds of your word with the blood of your son, Jesus. I thank you, Lord Jesus, that you Lord will cause it to bear much fruit that remains for the glory of our Father and the good of your church, Lord Jesus. In Jesus’ name, we pray. I love you. God bless you and I’ll be talking to you soon.
Important Links:
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- https://awowwoman.com
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Lovely Ms. Funches . I just really enjoy your podcasts series. God bless you!!! ❤️❤️❤️❤️
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