When I surrendered to the ministry I was already married to my sweet Andra and the ministry effort became a team effort. Andra stepped right into the ministry as a help mate and we were stronger and more effective TOGETHER!! She could have chosen to react to this ministry call in a different way, because I gave my LIFE, and all that entails to the call of Jesus. That meant being dependent on the churches we serve to take care of our needs, and that didn't always happen, but God brought us through it all. I moved Andra all over the country and we had one adventure after another, all the time raising four children. This is what it means to be one in the Lord and our relationship with Jesus heightens our relationship with each other because we are first brother and sister in Christ and then a married couple.
Priscilla and Aquila had this type of relationship and usually they were never mentioned alone in scripture. They were always working together as a team for Jesus. If you want your marriage to take another step forward, just make a joint commitment to serve Jesus as two people who serve as one and it may surprise you how effective that union can be. Christian marriages will go from just getting by to marriages of purpose and ministry. One of you doesn't have to have a full-time ministry calling, though. Marriages allow two believers to be called as one into ministry, just like Priscilla and Aquila.
Acts 18: 1 Then Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. 2 There he became acquainted with a Jew named Aquila, born in Pontus, who had recently arrived from Italy with his wife, Priscilla. They had left Italy when Claudius Caesar deported all Jews from Rome. 3 Paul lived and worked with them, for they were tentmakers just as he was. This precious couple did everything they could to help Paul, and he depended on their faithfulness, and they came through. Even when Apollos came to Ephesus from Alexandria, they realized he needed some help in understanding the ways of the Lord, and they did that together, too. They were a powerful team, and your marriage can produce a powerful team if dedicated to the cause of Jesus. I would venture to say that marriages based on the greater purpose of serving Jesus together will have less tendency for divorce. I would call them purpose-driven couples, and God will use them in extraordinary ways. The marriage stats would surely be changed if our oneness was given to Jesus. Develop that powerful team and watch God use you in a mighty way. I know my ministry calling had greater effect for the kingdom because Andra and I were one in that calling!!
Vesselogical Out,
David Warren
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