The Covenant: Transforming the Heart of Your Marriage by Vance K. JacksonSample

Protect The Ground of Your Marriage. 

“And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” Genesis 2:15-17 KJV

Where did sin enter the borders of your marriage? What did God tell you not to touch? In Genesis 2:17 KJV, God told Adam not to eat from a specific tree, “But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” When God commands you not to touch something—do not touch it. Choose to obey God.

When God commands you not to touch, watch, or connect with something or someone that’s not like Him—do not give in to the lust of the flesh. Choose to follow God’s Word. Choose to obey God’s Voice. Obey His Instruction. Submit to His Command and let your home and marriage flourish. What have you touched that God has told you not to touch? What have you entertained that God has told you not to entertain?

What’s done in secret, God will bring it to light. Let God’s Word shine on every area of your life. Let God’s Word shine in every area of your marriage. Let His Word expose every hidden trap. Let His Power deliver you from every hidden secret. Let His Word deliver you from every addiction and bondage. Let His Word transform you. Let His Word make you whole.

When you surrender your life to Christ, He will remove the taste of lust, deception, deceit, perversion, and manipulation from your life. Let Christ till your heart’s soil and cultivate the ground of your marriage. Let God remove what’s not like Him. What’s tainting the ground of your heart?

Jeremiah 4:3 KJV declares, “For thus saith the Lord to the men of Judah and Jerusalem, Break up your fallow ground, and sow not among thorns.” Break up your own fallow ground. According to Strong’s Concordance, the Hebrew word for Fallow is niyr (H5215), which means “Untilled.” Let His Word till the ground of your heart. Let His Word cultivate the ground of your marriage. Let His Word break up the untilled, unfruitful, and unproductive parts of your life. Let His Word cultivate and nourish every aspect of your family, life, and marriage.

Hebrews 4:12 AMPC declares, “For the Word that God speaks is alive and full of power [making it active, operative, energizing, and effective]; it is sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating to the dividing line of the breath of life (soul) and [the immortal] spirit, and of joints and marrow [of the deepest parts of our nature], exposing and sifting and analyzing and judging the very thoughts and purposes of the heart.” 

Let God’s Word sift and search every part of your heart. Let His Word sink deep into the very fabric and foundation of your marriage. His Word is alive, and is active, and will energize and strengthen the infrastructure of your home and marriage. Surrender to God. Choose to surrender to His Word.