What God put together

Man should not separate what God joined together. Jesus spoke these words regarding marriage but it also refers to other areas of joint enterprise. The Pharisees always attempted to catch Jesus out and to prove that He was a false prophet and disobeyed the Mosaic Law. But Jesus came to fulfil the law not to abolish it. He quoted the law of Moses regarding marriage and explained why Moses allowed divorce.

From the beginning God made man and woman but because of the hardness of hearts Moses allowed a letter of divorce to be written.

A hard heart is like the rocky soil that cannot produce any fruit. When persecution comes the plant withers and dies. It cannot stand the heat of the situation because it has no root in itself. The soil is shallow because of the rocks underneath.

My sister Janine, once sang a chorus in our church in Mondeor,  Johannesburg, 'Jesus, your love has melted my heart.' I will never forget it. The Holy Spirit can soften a hard heart. Perhaps it is good to check our own hearts from time to time to find out if it has been hardened by troubles and sorrows. Only God can keep our hearts soft towards one another. 

When people do us wrong we tend to harden our hearts towards them. We want nothing to do with them. We avoid them. We don't even think about them. But Jesus taught in Luke 18 that we should go to a person that we think has something against us and sort it out. Very few people actually obey that instruction because we are afraid of confrontation and rejection. 

I have tried to do it on a few occasions and was amazed to find out that I was wrong in my thinking and that person really had nothing against me. It was all in my mind. It is humbling to admit you are wrong in your estimation of others. Our own hearts often deceive us.

Hard heartedness separates what God joined together whether it is in marriage, or business or enterprise.

Jesus said, 'where two or three gather in my Name there I am in the midst of them.' He also added, 'if two or three shall agree on earth it shall be done in heaven.' Unity is such a powerful force that the devil tries to break it up and separate.

A gossip or talebearer separates friends. It is the work of the devil. False rumours break up what God has been doing. Slander opposes God's work. But in the end Truth prevails. Truth is stronger than lies because Jesus is The Truth. (John 14:6)

' Ne séparez donc pas ce que Dieu a uni.' Don't separate what God has put together.

If you heart has become hardened towards someone, ask God to soften it again. Learn to forgive one another so that you do not separate what God has joined together.

Jesus prayed in His High Priestly prayer in John 17 that we be one as He and His Father are One. Unity is strength. Jesus gave gifts to men to bring us all into the unity of faith to become mature in Christ. Let us not give the devil any room to bring separation between us. God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit are One. This is a divine mystery, but it is true.

In our own lives we can learn to let our spirit, soul and mind be united and not be divided. Then we won't think one thing and say or do something totally different. Jesus did what He thought. His inner being was aligned with His Spirit. He said what He thought and did what was in His mind because He only did what His Father showed Him. (John 5:19) We can learn to bring our inner being into unity just like Jesus by taking thoughts captive and to obey His instructions daily.