He Has You

Today is my wife Mary and my 40^th wedding anniversary. She has been a great blessing to me all through the years. She is a safe place to come home to and a source of encouragement for all that I do. My prayer is that more people will find love as Mary and I have.

We had a vow renewal ceremony yesterday. I love to write, and I looked forward to what I would tell her in front of our friends and family. I ended up turning to the Word of God, for most surely, it is in His divine order that the wedding vows should be founded.

My hope is to encourage the young men of this generation and the old men in my generation to learn the great blessing of having a wife and loving her as Christ loved the church. We need to pray for men to be godly men in an age where the idea of manhood is being destroyed.

Here are the verses and the vows from yesterday. I skipped a few in the ceremony, but here is everything I wrote below.

“A man’s greatest treasure is his wife— she is a gift from the LORD” (Proverbs 18:22 CEV).

The Word of God has some wonderful words that express how I feel about you:

• “…I have found the one whom my soul loves…” (Song of Solomon 3:4).

• “You are altogether beautiful, my darling; there is no flaw in you” (Song of Solomon 4:7).

• “You have captivated my heart, my sister, my bride; you have captivated my heart with one glance of your eyes, with one jewel of your necklace” (Song of Solomon 4:9).

• “A wife of noble character who can find? She is worth far more than rubies. Her husband has full confidence in her and lacks nothing of value” (Proverbs 31:10-11 NIV).

The Word of God instructs the husband with many words about how they should be with their wife.

• “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her” (Ephesians 5:25 NKJV).

• I promise to always love you. I know that I can love you as Christ Jesus loves us because His life reigns in me.

• “Let your fountain (wife) be blessed [with the rewards of fidelity], and rejoice in the wife of your youth” (Proverbs 5:18 AMP).

• I promise to be faithful to you.

• “Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate” (Mark 10:9 NIV)

• I promise to fight fiercely to keep our marriage strong and pure. I will be with you forever.

• “…you husbands must give honor to your wives. Treat your wife with understanding as you live together. She may be weaker than you are, but she is your equal partner in God’s gift of new life. Treat her as you should so your prayers will not be hindered” (1 Peter 3:7 NLT).

• I promise to honor you, bless you, and cherish you for all the days of my life.

That was it. We had a wonderful day. We are eternally blessed.

Won’t you, in whatever way you can, and with whoever it is that you might influence, help to raise men to become who God can help them to be?

Only God can make you into who you were meant to be. “May the God who gives peace make you holy in every way. May he keep your whole being—spirit, soul, and body—blameless when our Lord Jesus Christ comes. The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do this” (1 Thessalonians 5:23-24 GW).

Perhaps you are in a marriage where you are unhappy. My prayer is that you will be able to find happiness and make the changes that are necessary to do so. Don’t ever give up on what God can do, but be sure to get the help you need along the way.

Want a better marriage? Ask God to change you.

Marriage is a spiritual bond between two separate bloodlines that become one family before God. It is the same spiritual power that grafts us into the Jewish nation, and it is the same spiritual power that makes us family with our Father in heaven.

Marriage is the earthly natural pattern for your heavenly spiritual relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. It is the most intimate union with no natural bloodlines that establishes a spiritual bond never meant to be broken. “And hasn’t He made [them] one [flesh] in order to have spiritual blood-relatives?…take heed to your spirit, and don’t break faith with the wife of your youth” (Malachi 2:15 CJB).

Too many seek pleasure in everything except those precious things that God has planned for us to follow. We all have choices that we can make: to either seek pleasure in our own ways and never be satisfied or seek His ways, which will fill us for all of eternity.

Our world would be so much better if men would just love their wives. Men, “…rejoice with the wife of your youth…always be enraptured with her love” (Proverbs 5:18-19 NKJV).

If you are not married yet, or perhaps you have just ended one, then know that the Lord Jesus is always with you. Never lose hope for what you can do in your life, for He is the God who can do anything. Trust Him with His plan for you.

Blessings to you always,

Paul Balius