Marriage Done Right

[SPEAKER_01]: All right, so Ephesians chapter 5 verse 22 through 33, it says this, it says, why have some myths here own husbands as to the Lord for the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ is the head of the church.

Ephesians 5:22–33

[SPEAKER_01]: He is the Savior of the body.

[SPEAKER_01]: Now as the church submits to Christ, so wives are to submit to their husbands and everything.

[SPEAKER_01]: Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself for her, to make her holy, cleansing her with the washing of water by the word.

[SPEAKER_01]: Verse 27, he did this to present the church to himself and splendor without spa or wrinkle or anything like that, but holy and blameless.

[SPEAKER_01]: In the same way husbands are to love their wives as their own bodies.

[SPEAKER_01]: He who loves his wife loves himself.

[SPEAKER_01]: For no one ever hates his own flesh, but provides and cares for it.

[SPEAKER_01]: Just as Christ does for the church, since we are members of his body.

[SPEAKER_01]: For this reason, a man will leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, in the two shall become one flesh.

[SPEAKER_01]: This mystery is profound, but I am talking about Christ and the Church.

[SPEAKER_01]: To sum up each one of you is to love his wife as himself, and the wife is to respect her husband.

[SPEAKER_01]: Now, jump over to Genesis chapter one.

[SPEAKER_01]: Genesis chapter one.

[SPEAKER_01]: We're gonna read just a couple verses here, verses 26 through 28.

[SPEAKER_01]: Genesis chapter 1 verse 26 or 28 going all the way back to the beginning says then God said Let us make man and our image according to our lightness They will rule the fish of the sea the birds of the sky the livestock all the earth and the creatures that crawl in the earth So God created man in his own image.

Genesis 1:26

[SPEAKER_01]: He created him in the image of God

[SPEAKER_01]: He created them male and female.

[SPEAKER_01]: God bless them and God said to them, be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth and subdue it.

[SPEAKER_01]: Rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky and every creature that crawls on the earth.

[SPEAKER_01]: All right, so if you're taking notes this morning, the title of today's message is marriage done right.

[SPEAKER_01]: marriage done right because how many you can say there's a wrong way to do marriage and there's a right way to do marriage.

[SPEAKER_01]: Come on now marriage done right.

[SPEAKER_01]: All right Father, we thank you, Lord, for your word this morning.

[SPEAKER_01]: We thank you for teaching us something new We receive Father, God, what you would speak to us today, and we thank you for it, Lord.

[SPEAKER_01]: We thank you for your word in Jesus name everybody said

[SPEAKER_01]: Amen.

[SPEAKER_01]: Glory to God.

[SPEAKER_01]: Well, let me just start out this morning by saying, you know, we've been talking about this in the area of our families and in our households specifically That you know you can believe and cry out for for certain things from God You can believe and cry out for revival in this nation, but she got to know that before God does anything like that on a grand scale He wants to do it in your homes first

[SPEAKER_01]: Right?

[SPEAKER_01]: He wants to show up and show out in your households and he wants to take care of your household and make sure that he is fully a part of everything that you're doing in your home, especially this morning in your marriage.

[SPEAKER_01]: And now when it comes to the book of Ephesians, many people will quote parts of Ephesians chapter 6, especially at the beginning where it says to children obey your parents, right?

Ephesians 6 · chapter mention

[SPEAKER_01]: And we've heard that said, we know that scripture of children obey your parents in the Lord for this is right, right?

[SPEAKER_01]: We all know that, but right before that said in chapter 6,

[SPEAKER_01]: And which is directed towards children, a really getting children in the right space and the right mind is straightening them up.

[SPEAKER_01]: It's important to note that Ephesians 5, first addresses the marriage.

[SPEAKER_01]: And it's simple because you can't expect your kids to be right if your relationship with your spouse isn't right first.

[SPEAKER_01]: There should have been a long, little louder amen to that.

[SPEAKER_01]: You know, I think so many times we put so much on our kids and a demand on them and a demand for them to do right and to be right and make good decisions and do all these things and we neglect.

[SPEAKER_01]: what needs to come first, which is the marriage, because we can't expect good out of our kids if we can't have right in our marriage, right?

[SPEAKER_01]: And, you know, for example, you can't get mad at your kids for their dysfunctional behaviors when all they've ever been seen and demonstrated before them is mom and dad's dysfunctional behaviors.

[SPEAKER_01]: Right?

[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, it just makes sense.

[SPEAKER_01]: But I'm believing that in this next season.

[SPEAKER_01]: And specifically, I just want to say this today.

[SPEAKER_01]: This is what the Lord gave me in the next three months specifically.

[SPEAKER_01]: The next three months that your entire household is going to be reset.

[SPEAKER_01]: refocused and really catapulted into greatness.

[SPEAKER_01]: And that's going to come in the area of your household meaning your finances and all that kind of stuff but your relationships, your relationship with your spouse, your relationship with your kids, all those kind of things that the next three months that God is going to do a reset, a refocus and he is going to catapult us into greatness, amen?

[SPEAKER_01]: Because I don't believe for a one second that God wants us

[SPEAKER_01]: despair, brokenness, loneliness, sadness all the time, hurt, depression, especially when it comes to our marriages.

[SPEAKER_01]: I don't believe that for one bit that God doesn't want that.

[SPEAKER_01]: And so if he doesn't desire that for our households and he doesn't

[SPEAKER_01]: Desire that for our relationships and our marriages specifically today then we know that God It's gonna need to fix some things.

[SPEAKER_01]: He's gonna need to do some things, but it's gonna it's gonna have to be fixed in our own hearts, right?

[SPEAKER_01]: Because that's where it starts and so here me we're not We're not going to show up to church and experience God and then and then just go home and deal with the same junk over and over again

[SPEAKER_01]: We're not going to come to church experience God and hear a word and get encouraged and then go back home and deal with the same demonic forces against our marriage or against our families or against our kids.

[SPEAKER_01]: I don't believe God is for that, but I'm not for that either.

[SPEAKER_01]: And I believe that we could take a stand and we can really see a refocus and a catapulting into greater greatness in this next season.

[SPEAKER_01]: Come on, if you believe that, say amen.

[SPEAKER_01]: And so I believe in Jesus' name that God is gonna break the chaos.

[SPEAKER_01]: that God's in a break the chaos.

[SPEAKER_01]: Maybe your chaos in your marriage is really small, but maybe it's really large.

[SPEAKER_01]: But I believe that God is gonna break the chaos.

[SPEAKER_01]: I believe that God is gonna bring peace into your marriage unlike you've ever experienced before.

[SPEAKER_01]: Amen.

[SPEAKER_01]: And when I'm saying marriage and you're not married yet, I want you to think about your relationship that you're in right now, if you're in one, or think about your future marriage.

[SPEAKER_01]: Okay, I don't want you to just say, oh, this is not for me, he's just talking to the married people.

[SPEAKER_01]: No, that's not true.

[SPEAKER_01]: Okay, this is for all of us this morning, all right, but I really believe that he wants to bring a greater piece, right?

[SPEAKER_01]: And he wants to bring it into our marriage and I believe specifically this morning when it comes to our marriage that that we no longer need to just go on survival mode, but I believe that we're going to be able to operate in a thriving mode.

[SPEAKER_01]: You know, so many people just do what they can to survive.

[SPEAKER_01]: It's constant survival mode.

[SPEAKER_01]: Just got to do whatever I can to just get through this day, this day alone, this week.

[SPEAKER_01]: If I can just get through this week, right?

[SPEAKER_01]: Or if I can just get to the next paycheck, if I can just get there, and it's a constant survival mode, living life, just trying to survive.

[SPEAKER_01]: But how much greater would it be if we can go from surviving to thriving?

[SPEAKER_01]: where we can thrive in every area of our life, right?

[SPEAKER_01]: Where we could say we can get to the point where we could actually say, even if I don't get that next paycheck, I'm all right because I'm thriving.

[SPEAKER_01]: I'm blessed by God, right?

[SPEAKER_01]: Or even if this, or even if that, it's okay because I'm thriving, God is

[SPEAKER_01]: doing something like he's showing up like he's working in my life and that's where God wants to take us at a survival mode into thriving mode.

[SPEAKER_01]: And when it comes to our relationships that's exactly what he wants to do today.

[SPEAKER_01]: That's exactly what he wants to do today.

[SPEAKER_01]: And so if you feel like your marriage has just been on a survival

[SPEAKER_01]: Like, we're just, we're just getting by, it's tough, it's rough, it's hard, it's difficult, but we're just surviving that I believe God's going to change that.

[SPEAKER_01]: He's going to flip it upside down, amen.

[SPEAKER_01]: Now it's important to note that God has a specific pattern, a specific flow, a rhythm, of marriage that he has established, and that rhythm is a rhythm of dominion.

[SPEAKER_01]: In your marriage, you're supposed to be walking together in total dominion, total dominion.

[SPEAKER_01]: You know, the devil hates when couples walk with God.

[SPEAKER_01]: He hates it.

[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, you all know.

[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, he hates when you get your life right with God.

[SPEAKER_01]: First and foremost.

[SPEAKER_01]: He hates when you start going to church.

[SPEAKER_01]: He hates when you start changing the way you live.

[SPEAKER_01]: When you start doing things differently, he hates when you start connecting with other people that are running after God, that love God like you do.

[SPEAKER_01]: He hates all that, and so he wants to put a stop to it.

[SPEAKER_01]: And so he tries to come in and he'll creep in in the one of the ways that he forces a wedge in the area of our relationships.

[SPEAKER_01]: And the way he does it is he does it with the people that are closest to us.

[SPEAKER_01]: And so if you're married, it's always going to be with your spouse.

[SPEAKER_01]: Every single time, because he wants to come in and force that wedge, he wants to come in and bring some sort of separation, some sort of despair and just darkness, and he wants to try to come and take down and destroy what God has established.

[SPEAKER_01]: Why?

[SPEAKER_01]: Because we are created to take dominion.

[SPEAKER_01]: And we are taking dominion, and so the enemy hates that, and he wants to put a stop to it.

[SPEAKER_01]: And so if you don't think that the devil hates your marriage, it hates godly marriages, hates marriages walking into dominion, then you wouldn't have had the argument you had this morning.

[SPEAKER_01]: You wouldn't have dealt with the stuff that you dealt with this past week.

[SPEAKER_01]: If he didn't hate your marriage, if he didn't hate the fact that you're together, if he didn't hate the fact that you decided that you were going to come to church today, come on somebody, am I talking to any real people?

[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, it's reality, like this is the way it is.

[SPEAKER_01]: And he wants to try to stop and put a wedge in everything that God is doing.

[SPEAKER_01]: and he will absolutely try to do it every way he can possible.

[SPEAKER_01]: I'm not giving him credit, I'm just saying what's happening.

[SPEAKER_01]: And it's real.

[SPEAKER_01]: But marriage, thank God, has always been blessed by God.

[SPEAKER_01]: And because it's always been blessed by God, it will always be challenged by the enemy.

[SPEAKER_01]: Anything that's blessed of God will always be challenged by the enemy.

[SPEAKER_01]: It's just the way it is.

[SPEAKER_01]: And so now one of the biggest, if not the biggest challenges, and the Mary folk in the room are people that have been Mary before can give me an amen to this, but the biggest challenge that you will ever experience in your relationships is the challenge of communication.

[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.

[SPEAKER_01]: Because we know that if we don't communicate right, something's going to happen, right?

[SPEAKER_01]: Somebody's going to say something or somebody's going to feel something or whatever it may be.

[SPEAKER_01]: And you're now looking at a snowball effect, right?

[SPEAKER_01]: And it will go from one little thing that was not said or misunderstood or said the wrong way,

[SPEAKER_01]: That little thing of some messed up communication snowballs into this big thing before you know you've got a whole avalanche taking place in your household Right, I mean again, is there any real people in here?

[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, okay This is the way it is, but Amas 3 3 and the word of God Amas 3 3 says this says how can two walk together without a green?

[SPEAKER_01]: In other words, you can't walk side by side with somebody, especially in a relationship or in a marriage.

[SPEAKER_01]: You can't walk side by side if you don't agree.

[SPEAKER_01]: If you can't get on the same page, right?

[SPEAKER_01]: And people say that all the time.

[SPEAKER_01]: Well, we're just not on the same page.

[SPEAKER_01]: Well, get on the same page then.

[SPEAKER_01]: Like, figure out a way to work it out together, come into an agreement, because you've got to come into agreement so you can walk together, right?

[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, the scripture literally teaches us that, is that we, in order for us to walk together, we got to come into agreement.

[SPEAKER_01]: And so that is the area, I think, that the enemy attacks most in our relationships and our marriages is the communication area.

[SPEAKER_01]: And that's where he trips us up often times.

[SPEAKER_01]: And so let me tell you what marriage is not.

[SPEAKER_01]: Marriage is not using and dancing to the rhythm of one song while your spouse is dancing and singing to the rhythm of another song.

[SPEAKER_01]: That's what marriage is not.

[SPEAKER_01]: It will never work that way.

[SPEAKER_01]: Never worked that way.

[SPEAKER_01]: If I were to tell Josh, Josh, come up here and grab this guitar, and I want you to just strum and play a note.

[SPEAKER_01]: And if I told him at the same time, if I said, no, well, I want you to come on this keyboard, and on the count of three, you're going to play a chord.

[SPEAKER_01]: I guarantee you the two of them, if they had no communication, would not play the same thing, and it would sound really, really bad.

[SPEAKER_01]: because they're in two different places.

[SPEAKER_01]: They're playing two different things.

[SPEAKER_01]: And that's what happens is in our marriages.

[SPEAKER_01]: Is that the husband thinks I'm gonna just play my song.

[SPEAKER_01]: I'm gonna do my thing.

[SPEAKER_01]: And so the wife says, okay, well then I'm just gonna play my song.

[SPEAKER_01]: I'm gonna just do my thing.

[SPEAKER_01]: And then all of a sudden you've got this.

[SPEAKER_01]: junk of sound, of all kinds of stuff that just, it's not right.

[SPEAKER_01]: It doesn't flow right.

[SPEAKER_01]: It doesn't work together.

[SPEAKER_01]: It doesn't make sense.

[SPEAKER_01]: But if I were to say, Josh, I want you to play the key of C, U2, and on the count of three, and if I instruct them, and I said, okay, we're going to do all this to get in boom, it's going to sound wonderful.

[SPEAKER_01]: Why?

[SPEAKER_01]: Because they're

[SPEAKER_01]: And that's where God wants us in our marriages.

[SPEAKER_01]: In order for us to do it, God's way, we got to do it together.

[SPEAKER_01]: We got to have the same song, the same sound.

[SPEAKER_01]: We got to go to the same rhythm.

[SPEAKER_01]: We got to flow together.

[SPEAKER_01]: I don't know if you've ever tried to dance with somebody who could and dance.

[SPEAKER_01]: Anybody?

[SPEAKER_01]: I mean you go this way and they thought they were going that way it's like well wait a second you know it's like we got a we got to like flow together like we got to we got to go together like I love dancing with my mother and all like we'll turn on the we'll turn on some like you know what do we take on music and stuff and we'll turn it up nice and loud and we'll just start we'll just start dancing to get and it's fun but we know like we have we know where we're going we know where we're going thank you Melissa

[SPEAKER_01]: Melissa can't do that okay she didn't get that part from her mom all right and that's okay and so if I'm like all right babe let's go and then it's gonna be one of those things it's like you know right and I love to dance with my mother-in-law because like we we get we get going and it's fun and it looks cool because we know where we're going

[SPEAKER_01]: We know each other's rhythm, we know the footsteps, we know the direction, we know when to turn.

[SPEAKER_01]: I know when to spin her around, I know when to take her back and pull, I get that, like we know how to do all that, right?

[SPEAKER_01]: Shall we dance?

[SPEAKER_01]: Shall we give a demonstration?

[SPEAKER_01]: No, it's okay.

[SPEAKER_01]: Um, I know I do want to.

[SPEAKER_01]: I do want to.

[SPEAKER_01]: But with these boots on this carpet, I just can't, I can't move that well.

[SPEAKER_01]: Um, so, but that's the way it is in our marriage is like, like, we, we, if, if we go this way, like, right, we need to go together.

[SPEAKER_01]: You know, if the husband is saying, hey, let's, let's go this way now, then we go together, like right in it, and you stay in one accordion, you stay in seeking connection because it's so important.

[SPEAKER_01]: And so if marriage is God's idea, if it's God's plan, then I want to do it his way.

[SPEAKER_01]: Otherwise, if we do it our way, that wasn't created by us.

[SPEAKER_01]: Marriage was not created by us.

[SPEAKER_01]: So if we try to do it our way, then we won't know the plan and strategy.

[SPEAKER_01]: But if we do it via the one who created marriage,

[SPEAKER_01]: then we'll get the strategy, we'll get the plan, and we'll be able to move and operate and do things together.

[SPEAKER_01]: So if you're dealing with marriage issues today, relationship issues today, and it's due to you not doing it God's way, then let me tell you, your marriage, your relationship, it will always be miserable.

[SPEAKER_01]: Why?

[SPEAKER_01]: Because marriage was never intended to be done

[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, Gali, you need help just to pump gas these days.

[SPEAKER_01]: Hello, I mean, we need help just to make the right choices in the grocery store as to what to buy and not buy.

[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, come on, I mean, the kids run up to you like, please, please, please.

[SPEAKER_01]: You know, I talked about that last week.

[SPEAKER_01]: No, you know, like not today, right?

[SPEAKER_01]: Like, you know, you just, you need God's help, like, in every area of our life.

[SPEAKER_01]: You add another person to the mix.

[SPEAKER_01]: Now you're not just dealing with you, now you're dealing with somebody else.

[SPEAKER_01]: Like, you really have to do it, God's way.

[SPEAKER_01]: Because you're dealing with two different personalities now.

[SPEAKER_01]: Two different people that grew up two different ways.

[SPEAKER_01]: that grew up in two different kinds of homes, that the structure might look completely different.

[SPEAKER_01]: Their parents might have raised them a certain way, opposite of you, or who knows.

[SPEAKER_01]: And so in order to have a good marriage, a good relationship that's heading towards the path of the marriage or whatever, you've got to do it, God's way.

[SPEAKER_01]: Or else you're going to always be miserable.

[SPEAKER_01]: You're going to always fight.

[SPEAKER_01]: You're going to always gripe with one another.

[SPEAKER_01]: You're going to always complain.

[SPEAKER_01]: You're going to always have to argue and deal with this and deal with that stuff from the past and to keep getting brought up and brought up and brought up a never-ending cycle because you're not doing it God's way.

[SPEAKER_01]: So we've got to do it God's way.

[SPEAKER_01]: And how do we do that?

[SPEAKER_01]: We keep him at the center of our marriage.

[SPEAKER_01]: which we need to do, 100%, but you need to keep Jesus at the center of your marriage at the dead center.

[SPEAKER_01]: Before we make any major decision, what would God say about this?

[SPEAKER_01]: What is God leading us to do?

[SPEAKER_01]: Do we have peace in this?

[SPEAKER_01]: Do we not?

[SPEAKER_01]: You know, or whatever it may be?

[SPEAKER_01]: And we gotta keep Jesus at the center.

[SPEAKER_01]: You gotta keep Jesus at the center of your home.

[SPEAKER_01]: You gotta keep him at the center of your home.

[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, you can't live your life doing all this kind of stuff and then try to work together in a marriage and have all the junk and then try to sort out that junk or move that junk away.

[SPEAKER_01]: No, the junk follows you.

[SPEAKER_01]: And when one person with a bunch of junk comes together with another person that's got a bunch of junk, now you've got double the junk.

[SPEAKER_01]: And you've got a whole bunch of problems.

[SPEAKER_01]: And now you thought you had problems just by yourself.

[SPEAKER_01]: And now you married into problems.

[SPEAKER_01]: And now you're not just having your own problems, but you got their problems to deal with, too.

[SPEAKER_01]: You had a little bit of debt.

[SPEAKER_01]: You got married.

[SPEAKER_01]: They had a whole lot of debt.

[SPEAKER_01]: Now all of a sudden you're dealing with a whole bunch of debt.

[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, this is life.

[SPEAKER_01]: y'all laugh in and giggle in and do all this up because it's true.

[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, this is just life, right?

[SPEAKER_01]: And so if we have all of these factors to think about and all these things to factor in, like doing it without God, it's impossible.

[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, it will end up not very well, you know?

[SPEAKER_01]: And so we gotta do things God's way.

[SPEAKER_01]: So if you're taking notes this morning,

[SPEAKER_01]: There's two areas that I want to talk about today, to stay in rhythm and marriage, okay?

[SPEAKER_01]: Two areas to stay in rhythm and marriage and even just relationship, you can just call it.

[SPEAKER_01]: But number one is this, is spiritual rhythm.

[SPEAKER_01]: If you're gonna do things God's way,

[SPEAKER_01]: If you want a blessed, successful, marriage, relationship, whatever, you got to be on the same page spiritually.

[SPEAKER_01]: This is so important because you see a lot of times of the husband will only be serving the Lord in the wife's womb or whatever, you see all different kinds of stuff like that.

[SPEAKER_01]: wife will come to church and the husband says I'm never going to church you know I mean it's like all these different kind of things like you have all you have all of these variations if you will but being on the same page spiritually speaking is probably the most important element so God says in Ephesians 531 right we read it already but that the two will leave their

[SPEAKER_01]: and they will be joined together.

[SPEAKER_01]: That word there is the word cleave, okay?

[SPEAKER_01]: Some of your versions may say that they will cleave together, okay?

[SPEAKER_01]: And the word cleave there, I'll be on the screen for you is, is the Hebrew word, Kalyo or Kalyo, have you would say it?

[SPEAKER_01]: Which means to join together to glue to cement.

[SPEAKER_01]: That's a really big deal.

[SPEAKER_01]: You will leave your father and mother, and you will cleave, you will be joined together, you will be glued, you will be cemented together with your spouse.

[SPEAKER_01]: Now, if you're glued and cemented together, the first thing that tells me is that you should never separate.

[SPEAKER_01]: That divorce should never be the answer.

[SPEAKER_01]: Right?

[SPEAKER_01]: It should be the last resort.

[SPEAKER_01]: Absolutely last resort.

[SPEAKER_01]: Right?

[SPEAKER_01]: Because what God has brought together, the Bible says, let no man separate.

[SPEAKER_01]: So if he brings you together and you cleave together and you're literally glued together, the only way that you can become unglued is if you make that choice to become unglued.

[SPEAKER_01]: Right?

[SPEAKER_01]: To literally break that and

[SPEAKER_01]: But it also goes to tell me that when you cleave together, you cleave together for life.

[SPEAKER_01]: It's not just, well, we're cleaving together for a year and we're gonna see how it works, you know?

[SPEAKER_01]: We're gonna, maybe a couple years will try it out and just see how things go.

[SPEAKER_01]: And that's not what Scripture teaches us to do.

[SPEAKER_01]: That's not how Scripture demonstrates it for us.

[SPEAKER_01]: When you cleave to one another, you become glued together for life.

[SPEAKER_01]: And so when you get married and you cleave to one another, you join together, that's designed to be for a lifetime, which is exactly why the enemy will do anything and everything he can to separate that connection, that relationship, that marriage.

[SPEAKER_01]: Because now he doesn't, he knows that he doesn't just see something that's temporary, but they have been cleaved together, that's for life.

[SPEAKER_01]: And if I'm the enemy, I would say, uh-oh, I don't want none of that.

[SPEAKER_01]: I don't want a long-term plan there.

[SPEAKER_01]: Uh-oh, I want to try to destroy that thing, right?

[SPEAKER_01]: So, how do we know?

[SPEAKER_01]: that all of this is true when it comes to being on the same spiritual level and the same spiritual connection with our spouse.

[SPEAKER_01]: Because at the end of Genesis chapter two says Adam and Eve, they were good and it says this, it says that they were naked and they felt no shame.

[SPEAKER_01]: At the very end of Genesis chapter two is the last verse that's there.

[SPEAKER_01]: The devil shows up and notice that the devil showed up as soon as Scripture says that they were good.

[SPEAKER_01]: The enemy shows up right away in the form of a serpent and what does he do?

[SPEAKER_01]: He doesn't, he doesn't say do this or do, no, no, he first gets in their head.

[SPEAKER_01]: And he causes and he tries to create separation

[SPEAKER_01]: in them individually before he does anything else.

[SPEAKER_01]: And that's where it will start.

[SPEAKER_01]: The enemy will come in and he'll whispers lies into your head.

[SPEAKER_01]: Like, you don't know what they're saying.

[SPEAKER_01]: You don't know what they're doing.

[SPEAKER_01]: They've done this.

[SPEAKER_01]: They've done that.

[SPEAKER_01]: You remember that one time?

[SPEAKER_01]: And the enemy will constantly constantly whispers lies, constantly whispers deception.

[SPEAKER_01]: And that's exactly what he did all the way back in the garden when the first couple ever created, the first Mary couple that were ever established.

[SPEAKER_01]: They didn't know nothing yet, but the enemy shows up and he got in their mind

[SPEAKER_01]: Did God really tell you?

[SPEAKER_01]: That's what he said.

[SPEAKER_01]: Did God really say?

[SPEAKER_01]: And all of a sudden, you go from them being good, having no shame being together to all of a sudden the very next verse, the enemy shows up and tries to cause the separation.

[SPEAKER_01]: Separation will obviously lead to isolation.

[SPEAKER_01]: And that is the worst place to be in.

[SPEAKER_01]: because it will lead to the most problems in your marriage.

[SPEAKER_01]: You know, people joke around about, well, he's going to be on the sofa tonight, you know, stuff like that.

[SPEAKER_01]: And you know, it's, it could be funny.

[SPEAKER_01]: You can, you know, joke around or whatever, but you can't take that serious, too.

[SPEAKER_01]: I don't care how mad or upset or whatever.

[SPEAKER_01]: And isolation will never lead to good communication, but it will always lead to problems in your marriage, right?

[SPEAKER_01]: It will always lead to problems in your marriage.

[SPEAKER_01]: So if you don't walk together in every area, you're gonna be at a sink, but if you don't walk together spiritually, you're gonna be out of rhythm.

[SPEAKER_01]: So walking together is not just agreeing on things and making decisions together, but if spiritually speaking, you're off from each other, it's gonna lead to problems.

[SPEAKER_01]: This is why the Bible teaches us about being unequally yoked with one another.

[SPEAKER_01]: And I know people don't like hearing that.

[SPEAKER_01]: People don't like coming to church and hearing this kind of message.

[SPEAKER_01]: I get it, but if I don't teach you this,

[SPEAKER_01]: I might as well not teach you a lot of it.

[SPEAKER_01]: Like, this is Bible, right?

[SPEAKER_01]: Like, this is truth.

[SPEAKER_01]: And so people don't like hearing about being unequally yolk that say, oh, I love them.

[SPEAKER_01]: God brought us together.

[SPEAKER_01]: You know, God brought that person into my life.

[SPEAKER_01]: Right when I needed them the most, I'm not letting go.

[SPEAKER_01]: And we come up with all these kind of excuses and ideas, but at the end of the day, if you're unequally yolk, you're gonna have problems.

[SPEAKER_01]: And so in a marriage, even before you get married, you got to make sure that you're equally yoked and that you're on the same page.

[SPEAKER_01]: So that spiritually you can walk together.

[SPEAKER_01]: You got to be able to do that.

[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, so it is.

[SPEAKER_01]: It's the way it is.

[SPEAKER_01]: I've known people that one believes in one God and one believes in another God.

[SPEAKER_01]: And then all of a sudden the next thing you know,

[SPEAKER_01]: One believes in serving the Lord, the other person doesn't believe in serving the Lord.

[SPEAKER_01]: And you try and try and try and then all of a sudden, it's a mess.

[SPEAKER_01]: You gotta do it together.

[SPEAKER_01]: And let me just say it this way, when you're spiritually and rhythm with one another, it makes things so much easier in life.

[SPEAKER_01]: It makes things so much easier.

[SPEAKER_01]: Like you won't struggle the way that you used to struggle if spiritually speaking, you're on the same page.

[SPEAKER_01]: You won't struggle with the same things you always have struggled with if spiritually speaking you're on the same page.

[SPEAKER_01]: So making decisions become easier.

[SPEAKER_01]: It makes following the voice and direction of the Lord so much easier.

[SPEAKER_01]: It makes the communication flow easier.

[SPEAKER_01]: Literally everything becomes so much better.

[SPEAKER_01]: So much easier when spiritually speaking you're on the same page.

[SPEAKER_01]: I have seen, I'm telling you, you probably have all known people that, you know, you get one of the spouses that, man, they come to church and the other one decides not to and then they don't want nothing with the Lord, but then this person does and they try and try and try and eventually the next thing you know, they're knocking on the door of divorce and

[SPEAKER_01]: You know, all this kind of stuff because spiritually speaking, they weren't together.

[SPEAKER_01]: I don't want that to ever be the case for us.

[SPEAKER_01]: Like, you know, and that's why if you have, the Bible says an unbelieving spouse, like you better be praying for them, like be praying, praying that the Lord gets a hold of them, that the Lord uses somebody to get a hold of them, because you need them on the same page with you.

[SPEAKER_01]: I'm not saying that you got to show up to church every single week together.

[SPEAKER_01]: someone I'm saying has nothing to do with church at the end of the day has to do with your relationship with the Lord.

[SPEAKER_01]: How can one person in the household have a relationship with the Lord and the other person doesn't care about God at all?

[SPEAKER_01]: That will never, never work.

[SPEAKER_01]: It just won't.

[SPEAKER_01]: And so spiritually speaking, we have got to get on the same page.

[SPEAKER_01]: Amen?

[SPEAKER_01]: The second one is this is emotional rhythm.

[SPEAKER_01]: Emotional rhythm.

[SPEAKER_01]: We have emotions as people, okay?

[SPEAKER_01]: We all deal with the emotions.

[SPEAKER_01]: We all let our emotions out differently from one another, right?

[SPEAKER_01]: Some people cry more than other people do.

[SPEAKER_01]: Some people get upset quicker than other people do.

[SPEAKER_01]: Some people, you know, will process things differently and maybe take it more personal than other people do, right?

[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, I've known, I've known people that you look at him and you say, you look great today and somehow they just thought that you were joking.

[SPEAKER_01]: Like, you didn't think I looked great and then all of a sudden they're mad at you.

[SPEAKER_01]: Like, no, I really meant that you look great today, like, you know?

[SPEAKER_01]: So everybody, everybody's so different, right?

[SPEAKER_01]: And you gotta, you gotta, you know, some people, you gotta try to real lightly and some people you don't, but everybody is so different.

[SPEAKER_01]: Everybody handles their emotions so differently.

[SPEAKER_01]: You know, some people get sat or quicker than other people do or whatever it may be and so you've got to know that especially when it comes into your marriage.

[SPEAKER_01]: And so let me begin by saying this and I want all the wives to listen or all the future wives to listen first.

[SPEAKER_01]: That if all you ever do is speak to and speak about the fool inside your husband, then the fool is all you're going to ever get.

[SPEAKER_01]: but if you speak to the king that God created him to be, then you'll get the king to stand up in your home.

[SPEAKER_01]: If you only speak about the fool and the mistake and the bad choices and the things that they've said if that's all you speak about, then that is what you're going to get.

[SPEAKER_01]: But even if they aren't making the best choices, even if they said some things that were hurtful, even if they did some things that wasn't right, you still call them by the king that God created them to be, and you will see the king rise.

[SPEAKER_01]: So husbands listen to me in the same way.

[SPEAKER_01]: If all you ever do is speak to or speak about the inability inside your wife, then the inability is all you're going to get.

[SPEAKER_01]: It's all you're going to get.

[SPEAKER_01]: But if you speak to the queen that God created her to be, come on somebody, then you'll get the queen with in her to stand up.

[SPEAKER_01]: You'll get the queen, the royalty that is within her to come forth.

[SPEAKER_01]: Even if you're disagreeing or even if things are perfect right now, whatever it may be, if you speak to the queen, the queen will listen.

[SPEAKER_01]: There is royalty inside of each and every one of us.

[SPEAKER_01]: And when it comes to your relationship with your spouse, there is a king within your husband and there is a queen within your wife.

[SPEAKER_01]: And you gotta speak to those things.

[SPEAKER_01]: You gotta speak to who they are on the inside, not the decisions that they've made, not the stuff that they've said, even if it was just two hours ago, is irrelevant, you gotta speak to who they are.

[SPEAKER_01]: And I got to say this because this is what kills marriages all the time in relationships all the time, quit bringing up the past.

[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, literally shut up about the past.

[SPEAKER_01]: If you bring the past up one more time, you might lose your marriage.

[SPEAKER_01]: Just stop.

[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, come on.

[SPEAKER_01]: This is, I don't need Melissa to constantly remind me of the stupid stuff that I did.

[SPEAKER_01]: Two years ago, five years ago, 10 years ago, it does not matter anymore.

[SPEAKER_01]: We're over here now.

[SPEAKER_01]: Hello.

[SPEAKER_01]: And the same way, I'm not going to remind Melissa of the junk of her past and the things that she said and the things that she's done, why would I even bring those things up?

[SPEAKER_01]: You're only adding more turmoil and more mess into the situation.

[SPEAKER_01]: Who cares if five months ago they said such and such about you?

[SPEAKER_01]: They said I'm sorry.

[SPEAKER_01]: They repented now.

[SPEAKER_01]: Pull up your big girl and your big boy pants and move on.

[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, come on.

[SPEAKER_01]: Like we got to have some tough skin and as believers, if we don't have some tough skin, you know, you, you're going to get run over.

[SPEAKER_01]: You're going to get run over.

[SPEAKER_01]: The enemy will have an absolute heyday if you constantly constantly rewind and bring up the past.

[SPEAKER_01]: The past is in the past for a reason, it's in the past so it never gets brought up again.

[SPEAKER_01]: You move forward because there's a future, right?

[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, there is a reason why the windshield is way bigger than the rear view mirror.

[SPEAKER_01]: When you are driving and all you ever do is look at the rear view mirror, you will crash in burn, you will die.

[SPEAKER_01]: The window, the front window is very large, it's so that you can always see what's in front of you.

[SPEAKER_01]: And in your marriage and in your relationships, quit looking in the rear view mirror.

[SPEAKER_01]: It is small, it's there, but it is small, it is not for you to look, it's for you to glance at real quick to make sure everything's going good as you move forward.

[SPEAKER_01]: Is it, are y'all okay?

[SPEAKER_01]: I kind of feel like, yeah, you know, sorry, like, oh, I'm getting real tense right now.

[SPEAKER_01]: No, it's good.

[SPEAKER_01]: Everything's good.

[SPEAKER_01]: Like, everybody's taking deep breath.

[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, it's good.

[SPEAKER_01]: Praise the Lord.

[SPEAKER_01]: And so, let me just say it this way that you will never get to your purpose together as a married couple if you can't first encourage one another.

[SPEAKER_01]: You'll never get to your purpose if you can't first edify one another.

[SPEAKER_01]: If you can't speak kindly to one another.

[SPEAKER_01]: So on and so forth.

[SPEAKER_01]: You got to be able to do those saying, you got to be able to constantly encourage and edify and speak good things over, you might not like what they said.

[SPEAKER_01]: But it's okay.

[SPEAKER_01]: You constantly speak in that loving action, the loving mind and just constantly go in the positive direction of moving forward.

[SPEAKER_01]: Because listen, if all you ever do is yell at each other, if all you ever do is operate in strife,

[SPEAKER_01]: Division, disagreement, after disagreement, after disagreement, then you will never be able to pull the greatness out of one another.

[SPEAKER_01]: You never will.

[SPEAKER_01]: Therefore, your marriage won't be great.

[SPEAKER_01]: It'll be miserable.

[SPEAKER_01]: And God is not into miserable marriages.

[SPEAKER_01]: But He is into marriages that are in harmony with one another.

[SPEAKER_01]: And so if you've been living that way, if you've been handling your marriage that way, if your communication has looked that way, whether it's recent or up until this point or maybe it's been forever, who knows, then it's on you to fix it today.

[SPEAKER_01]: With God's help, he will help you.

[SPEAKER_01]: but it's on you to fix it today because he doesn't want you to live in constant strife and division.

[SPEAKER_01]: He doesn't want that.

[SPEAKER_01]: He doesn't want you to constantly constantly be yelling at each other.

[SPEAKER_01]: There is no reason for that.

[SPEAKER_01]: Church, let me tell you, there is no reason to live your voice at your spouse.

[SPEAKER_01]: I don't care if they did the worst thing.

[SPEAKER_01]: There is no reason to yell at them.

[SPEAKER_01]: God don't yell at you.

[SPEAKER_01]: When you make a mistake, God doesn't yell and scream at your face and tell you that you did wrong and that you shouldn't have done this or you shouldn't have said that.

[SPEAKER_01]: God don't do that.

[SPEAKER_01]: How dare we?

[SPEAKER_01]: How dare we treat the one that God blessed us with?

[SPEAKER_01]: and treat them that kind of way and raise our voice as if we have some sort of power and right, and some kind of authority to scream into the face of the person that God blessed us with.

[SPEAKER_01]: How dare we?

[SPEAKER_01]: And if we have done so, put it behind you, it's in the past, repent, and move forward and don't do it again.

[SPEAKER_01]: And people say, well, you know, there's no good marriages unless you, you know, you argue, you got to work things out sometimes, you know, you, you got to know you don't know you don't have to argue.

[SPEAKER_01]: If the only way that you can figure out something and come to a decision and come to a conclusion is to argue it out first, then you got problems.

[SPEAKER_01]: And that's beyond the other person.

[SPEAKER_01]: That's in your own heart.

[SPEAKER_01]: You got promise that you got to figure out within yourself that you got to get right.

[SPEAKER_01]: Don't blame them.

[SPEAKER_01]: That's not the way we operate, especially as believers.

[SPEAKER_01]: The Bible says to restore one another at a spirit of gentleness.

[SPEAKER_01]: And so somebody does something wrong, says something wrong, whatever it may be, we gently restore them.

[SPEAKER_01]: We say, yeah, I'm gonna say, I know you said that, but it's okay, I forgive you.

[SPEAKER_01]: And we move on, done, done enough with, don't bring it up again, buried, literally buried, right?

[SPEAKER_01]: Like, that's the way believers respond.

[SPEAKER_01]: That's the way we act, that's the way we handle situations, okay?

[SPEAKER_01]: Is that, if you need to talk it out, talk it out, I'm all for it.

[SPEAKER_01]: If there needs to be conversations, decisions, whatever, if there needs to be some adjustments that need to be made on one person's end or maybe both, by all means, please do it.

[SPEAKER_01]: Okay?

[SPEAKER_01]: But don't have screaming, fighting, matching battles all the time and expect to live in peace and write harmony and sync with one another.

[SPEAKER_01]: You know, people say, well, we just scream at each other until we're done screaming and then we just move on and we're good.

[SPEAKER_01]: Oh, don't scream and move on.

[SPEAKER_01]: Like, get it fixed, right?

[SPEAKER_01]: The Bible also says, do not let the sun go down and you're anger.

[SPEAKER_01]: Yes, it does say that.

[SPEAKER_01]: And so if you're mad at your spouse and you roll over and you go to bed and you don't, I'm not talking to you.

[SPEAKER_01]: You know, or whatever, you are literally disobeying the Word of God.

[SPEAKER_01]: You're disobeying what God says.

[SPEAKER_01]: Don't let the sun go down in your anger.

[SPEAKER_01]: In other words, fix it before you get a bed.

[SPEAKER_01]: If something's happened during the day, fix it before you say goodnight.

[SPEAKER_01]: Because you don't want to take that stuff and sleep on it.

[SPEAKER_01]: Because that's what people, oh, oh, oh, we'll just go to bed and we'll talk about it tomorrow.

[SPEAKER_01]: No.

[SPEAKER_01]: Today's today, tomorrow's tomorrow.

[SPEAKER_01]: I'm not carrying what happened today into tomorrow.

[SPEAKER_01]: No.

[SPEAKER_01]: Let's talk about it now.

[SPEAKER_01]: Because we don't need to the sun to go down in our anger, our wrath, our bitterness, our discouragement, our frustration, whatever.

[SPEAKER_01]: We don't need the sun to go down on it.

[SPEAKER_00]: Am I helping anybody?

[SPEAKER_01]: Okay, glory to God, but He put you together to operate in a spirit of unity, and it's a depiction of what Jesus is looking for in His church.

[SPEAKER_01]: He's looking for a unified, we read it, and Ephesians, chapter 5, He's looking for a unified, spotless bride.

Ephesians 5 · chapter mention

[SPEAKER_01]: That's why He talks about the marriages.

[SPEAKER_01]: He addresses wives, He addresses husbands, and He says, I'm saying all this to talk

[SPEAKER_01]: So he says at the end, say in all of this, to talk about the church, in other words, this is how Jesus treats the church, this is how you should treat one another.

[SPEAKER_01]: Now we know that men and women are wired differently.

[SPEAKER_00]: Can I get an amen?

[SPEAKER_01]: The women are grateful that they don't think the way the men do.

[SPEAKER_01]: We don't have to think all of the ways that fit.

[SPEAKER_01]: Anyways, but we're wired differently.

[SPEAKER_01]: And one of the ways that we're wired differently is what we call our love languages.

[SPEAKER_01]: Our love languages.

[SPEAKER_01]: And if you don't know your love language, you need to find what your love language is.

[SPEAKER_01]: And just look it up five love language tests online.

[SPEAKER_01]: Put it on the screen for us there.

[SPEAKER_01]: Here's the five love languages.

[SPEAKER_01]: Quality time, words of affirmation, gifts, physical touch, and acts of service.

[SPEAKER_01]: Now leave this up here for a second.

[SPEAKER_01]: When you study this and you go online and you take your five love languages test, you will discover what your top love language is.

[SPEAKER_01]: And this will help you in the area of your relationship with your spouse because you'll be able to know what matters more to them than what you may know or what you think matters most.

[SPEAKER_01]: So if your spouse's number one thing is acts of service like my wife, then that means and I shouldn't wait for her to say, hey, would you mind doing the dishes?

[SPEAKER_01]: Hey, can you go fold the laundry?

[SPEAKER_01]: Hey, can you, no,

[SPEAKER_01]: And so am I going to miss it sometimes, of course.

[SPEAKER_01]: But whenever I recognize it, I need to go and do what I need to do because I know that that speaks to her more than the other things on that list.

[SPEAKER_01]: I can try to butter up and buy her gifts all day long, but I ain't going to do a lick of nothing.

[SPEAKER_01]: She ain't going to care actually because I know that this is her number one, right?

[SPEAKER_01]: So once you learn this about each other, it helps you to be able to communicate well, but it helps you to be able to operate well on the area of your marriage.

[SPEAKER_01]: These things are very important to understand, okay?

[SPEAKER_01]: And so, a lot of times, you know, the ladies will lean more so on the sides of acts of service or words of affirmation.

[SPEAKER_01]: You know, they wanna hear,

[SPEAKER_01]: They want to hear from you that you love them, that you care about them, you know, all of the things they want to hear those words, your words matter, right?

[SPEAKER_01]: You know, the guys lean more so on the side of physical touch, hello brothers, and that's okay, that's okay.

[SPEAKER_01]: And so, you know, like, but we also have our other love languages as well, right?

[SPEAKER_01]: And your love languages, here's the unique thing about it.

[SPEAKER_01]: They will change over time.

[SPEAKER_01]: Like, I remember where, like, it used to be my number one was physical touch.

[SPEAKER_01]: Now it's not.

[SPEAKER_01]: My number one is words of affirmation.

[SPEAKER_01]: I'm not that kind.

[SPEAKER_01]: Like, I'm not a, like, words guy.

[SPEAKER_01]: I'm not.

[SPEAKER_01]: I'm really not.

[SPEAKER_01]: Like,

[SPEAKER_01]: If Melissa gives me a card for like, you know, upcoming father's day, for example, like, I just tell her, like, don't get me a card, actually, right?

[SPEAKER_01]: Because those are somebody else's words, so to me, they don't, they don't matter, right?

[SPEAKER_01]: So I'm not a words guy in that way, but if my wife tells me how much she loves me, how much she cares about me, you know, she's thankful for this, she's thankful for that, you know, whatever, then that makes me feel good.

[SPEAKER_01]: Right, and so when you understand these things, it will change the dynamic of your relationships.

[SPEAKER_01]: So I want to encourage you, and maybe you've done it before, but you need to do it again, because this will constantly change as your relationship evolves over time, but as you change as an individual as well.

[SPEAKER_01]: And your number one won't be your number one anymore.

[SPEAKER_01]: You know, it might be the fifth thing that was on the list, as all of a sudden, now number one or number two, and you're like, whoa, what has changed?

[SPEAKER_01]: It's because what you are looking for, what you're desiring, what you're expecting, changes over time.

[SPEAKER_01]: And so you gotta know how your spouse is wired, right?

[SPEAKER_01]: You gotta know how your husband's wired, you gotta know how your wife is wired.

[SPEAKER_01]: I wanna read Romans chapter 12 verse 15 as we begin to close here.

Romans 12:15

[SPEAKER_01]: Read Romans 12 through 15.

[SPEAKER_01]: It says this, rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep.

[SPEAKER_01]: You need to know when it's time to rejoice and you need to know when it's time to not rejoice.

[SPEAKER_01]: You need to know the direction that your spouse is going.

[SPEAKER_01]: If they don't want to celebrate that thing, then don't celebrate it yet.

[SPEAKER_01]: If they want to mourn over that thing, then mourn over it with them.

[SPEAKER_01]: Whatever it may be, don't leave your spouse to do things on their own.

[SPEAKER_01]: Oh, I'm not wired the way they are.

[SPEAKER_01]: That's right.

[SPEAKER_01]: But if they're rejoicing, rejoice with them.

[SPEAKER_01]: If they're mourning, mourn with them.

[SPEAKER_01]: don't leave them to try to emotionally do life on their own, because it's gonna, it's gonna all of a sudden bring about some other stuff, and it's gonna bring about baggage and hurt that you don't want.

[SPEAKER_01]: And so when you realize that you need her, and she needs you, or that you need him, and he needs you, things will be so much better.

[SPEAKER_01]: And here's what I believe that what you need to know when it comes to being an emotional rhythm in your marriage, that you've got to be concerned, compassionate, and Christ-centered.

[SPEAKER_01]: Emotionally speaking, when it comes to your marriage, when it comes to your relationships with one another, you've got to be concerned, you've got to be compassionate, and you've got to be Christ-centered.

[SPEAKER_01]: I'm concerned about the things that you're concerned about.

[SPEAKER_01]: If you're bothered by that, I want to understand why.

[SPEAKER_01]: I'm not going to just let you be bothered and brush it off.

[SPEAKER_01]: No.

[SPEAKER_01]: I want to know why you're concerned and that but I want to be compassionate.

[SPEAKER_01]: I want to love you and care about you and all the ways that you need me to and be compassionate and be Christ-centered.

[SPEAKER_01]: be concerned emotionally.

[SPEAKER_01]: If your spouse looks like they're having a bad day, don't just say, oh, they're having a bad day.

[SPEAKER_01]: No, acknowledge them, acknowledge the fact that they look like they're having a bad day.

[SPEAKER_01]: And then do whatever you can.

[SPEAKER_01]: It may be limited, it may be nothing and it may be a lot of things, but do whatever you can to help them get through their bad day or to help them talk through their bad day.

[SPEAKER_01]: If they had a rough time at

[SPEAKER_01]: Let them tell you about it.

[SPEAKER_00]: They'll say, I don't want to hear that.

[SPEAKER_01]: You know, or whatever, does I, I don't care about that?

[SPEAKER_01]: No, let them talk to you about it, right?

[SPEAKER_01]: Be compassionate, constantly extend and show grace, constantly extend and show love and forgiveness.

[SPEAKER_01]: Why?

[SPEAKER_01]: Because they need that just as much as you do.

[SPEAKER_01]: They need that grace just like you do.

[SPEAKER_01]: They need that love.

[SPEAKER_01]: They need that forgiveness.

[SPEAKER_01]: And lastly, be Christ-centered.

[SPEAKER_01]: It's simple.

[SPEAKER_01]: The only way you can support one another is with the help of Jesus.

[SPEAKER_01]: I can't support you if I don't have Jesus.

[SPEAKER_01]: I just can't.

[SPEAKER_01]: I can't love you.

[SPEAKER_01]: The way God is telling me to love you.

[SPEAKER_01]: And He wants me to love you if I don't have Jesus.

[SPEAKER_01]: Because how can I love you if I don't know

[SPEAKER_01]: who love is.

[SPEAKER_01]: The Bible says, God is love.

[SPEAKER_01]: And so if I don't know love himself, then I can never love you.

[SPEAKER_01]: I will always struggle loving you.

[SPEAKER_00]: Thank you for listening to today's message.

[SPEAKER_00]: We pray you were inspired, challenged, and marked by the word you heard.

[SPEAKER_00]: If this message blessed you today, we encourage you to subscribe to the Church of the City Podcast.

[SPEAKER_00]: There you can find more faith-filled messages to uplift you and help you on your journey of faith.

[SPEAKER_00]: For more information about Church of the City, head on over to www.cotcdfw.com.

[SPEAKER_00]: And until next time, remember this, the best is yet to come.