River Garden

A place where new life springs forth out of despair, failure and death. A place where God brings physical, emotional and spiritual healing to you.

Christian Marriage

A Christian wedding ceremony is a celebration of a covenant made by three participants. They are the Groom who is H\[OVYPaLK I` .VK [V PUP[PH[L [OL JV]LUHU[ [OL )YPKL ^OV agrees and receives the covenant, and God who seals the covenant between them and Himself. The two now become one ÅLZOPU[OL L`LZVM.VKPU[OL ZWPYP[\HS YLHST;OLPY JV]LUHU[ then becomes a strong three-fold cord which cannot easily be broken, for it is made strong by the presence of the Lord as the third one. The wedding guests are present to give blessings for covenant union, and the parents are present for binding consent. There is a big difference between “covenant and contract”. *V]LUHU[ZHYLPUP[PH[LKHUKH\[OVYPaLKI`.VKHUKHYLIHZLK upon trust. They embrace unlimited responsibilities and cannot be disannulled or voided. Contracts are initiated by man, and are based on distrust to insure that those who enter into contracts cannot be hurt or taken advantage of. They can be voided by mutual consent. God instituted marriage, and it is a ISVVKJVU]LUHU[PU[OH[[^VZOHSSILJVTLVULÅLZO0[PZUV[H contract.

In God’s plan, He has gifted the husband for covenant responsibility to his wife. These include to protect and defend her, to provide in advance to meet her needs, to love her with tender and passionate affection, to honor her publicly and privately and to speak well about her, to cover her to make provision for safety and success by placing himself as a protection over her, and to pray for her often. God has gifted the wife for covenant responsibility to her husband. She is to encourageHUKPUZWPYLOPT^P[OJVUÄKLUJL to respect and highly regard him, to uphold and lift him up and defend him against opposition, to honor him and show courtesy, to helpHUKYLSPL]LOPTPUKPMÄJ\S[`[VJVU[YPI\[LZ[YLUN[OHUK to pray for him often. Covenant is an agreement in which it is understood there must be a “death” of the ones who enter into covenant before the agreement can become valid. Jesus Christ is portrayed in scripture as the Bridegroom and His Bride is His Church, known HZ ILSPL]LYZ *OYPZ[ NH]L /PZ SPML [V IYPUN [OL 5L^ *V]LUHU[ VY UL^ [LZ[HTLU[ VM ZHS]H[PVU I` MHP[O PU /PZ ZOLK ISVVK and believers in Christ surrender their old sinful nature to be WVZP[PVUHSS` JY\JPÄLK ^P[O *OYPZ[ HZ [OL` LU[LY PU[V JV]LUHU[ with Him. As Christ died, the husband “dies” by an act of his ^PSS[VZLSMHUK[VZLSÄZOULZZ[OLU[OL^PML¸KPLZ¹I`HUHJ[VM OLY^PSS[VZLSMHUK[VZLSÄZOULZZHUK[OL`JVTL[VNL[OLYHZVUL 5V^[OL`JHUIYPUN[OLPYNPM[ZVMSV]L[VLHJOV[OLY¸/\ZIHUKZ love your wives, even as Christ also loved the Church and NH]L/PTZLSMMVYP[¹,WOLZPHUZ!;OL3VYKOHZNP]LU\Z/PZ blueprint for marriage to become like heaven on earth. Without Divine intervention and help it is hardly possible to have a “heaven on earth marriage”. This is where the husband and the wife must call on the power of God and yield themselves to His ^VYRPU[OLPYSPML;OL`HYLZWPYP[\HSS`VULÅLZOI\[PU[OLUH[\YHS realm they are still two very separate ones and this will cause

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[YV\ISL 0[ OHZ ILLU ZHPK! 0[ ZLLTZ HSTVZ[ \UP]LYZHS [OH[ VUJL a couple is married, each spouse begins to view the other as ¸H]HZ[[LLTPUNÅH^JVSVU`¹*V\WSLZKLZPYLPU[PTHJ`I\[YLHS PU[PTHJ`PZUV[Q\Z[HWO`ZPJHS YLSH[PVUZOPW0[PZÄYZ[HZWPYP[\HS relationship in which you feel you can reveal and expose your dreams and fears to someone who you trust completely. How do we get to that point of real trust? How do we deal with the shortcomings of a spouse? It is by God’s intervention and His plan, but we must ask Him to take control, take our hands off, and then do what he says. Here is a short and easy to understand parable of how the 3VYKTHRLZ[^VWLVWSLPU[VVULÅLZO(THUHUKOPZ^PMLHYL SPRL [^V YH^ WV[H[VLZ ^OLU [OL` ÄYZ[ NL[ THYYPLK ;OL` HYL \UWLLSLK I\TW` ISLTPZOLK HUK KPY[` 0[ PZ [OL 3VYK»Z QVI [V clean them up, remove the outer peeling, the bumps and rotten WSHJLZ-PYZ[/LNP]LZ[OLTHNVVKZJY\IIPUNKV^UHUK^OPSL He is using the potatoe peeler on tough skin and cutting out the bad places on the wife she says to her husband “You never talk to me anymore, you won’t go shopping with me, you never complained about me spending money before we got married”. We hear the husband say as you never made me go shopping with you, you told me you liked for me to go hunting a lot, you never complained about my friends or my family, or how I dress, HUKUV^`V\KV¹;OL3VYK[OLUW\[Z[OLTIV[OPU[VHWV[VM water on the stove and turns up the heat. As the water starts to boil, they begin to soften and become pliable and when they are done, He takes a potatoe masher and uses it on them. It is at this point that many couples decide “I never thought marriage [V`V\^HZNVPUN[VILSPRL[OPZ/V^L]LY`V\^PSSILJVTLQ\Z[ who He had envisioned you both to be, and you will surely ILJVTLVULÅLZOHZ/LJVTIPULZ`V\[VNL[OLYHM[LY[OLWYVJLZZ PZ JVTWSL[L1\Z[ HZ[OLÄUPZOPUN[V\JOLZ HYLTHKL[VTHZOLK potatoes, He seasons you with correct seasonings and butter. /V^HWWLHSPUN`V\ILJVTL[VLHJOV[OLY5V^`V\HYLIV[O changed and polished up supernaturally and there is not much to cause discord. It is almost impossible to get to this point of ILPUNVULÅLZO^P[OV\[[OL^VYRVM.VKPU`V\YTHYYPHNL.VK PZ MHP[OM\S .VK PZ MH[POM\S /L WYVTPZLZ `V\ PU ;OLZZ ! ¸-HP[OM\SPZ/L^OVJHSSZ`V\^OVHSZV^PSSKVP[¹;OPZTLHUZ trust Him to do what He said He would do. You cannot do it, /L^PSSTHRL[^VPU[VVULÅLZO@V\T\Z[Z[VW[Y`PUN[VJOHUNL your spouse yourself because it will never work that way. Instead of voicing your dissatisfactions, you must earnestly pray, do not Z[VWWYH`PUNHUK`V\»SSZLLYLZ\S[Z@V\YOLH]LUS`-H[OLYNPM[LK you with that husband or wife, and don’t ever forget, but you have to ask Him to do what only He can do. He is waiting for you to ask Him, and to leave it in His capable hands. Ask Him to be Lord of your marriage, and your life. 90=,9.(9+,576)V_3HRLTVU[.LVYNPH