Greetings to you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

I am very thankful to God for the opportunity he has given in our lives to worship Him and to enjoy the fellowship. It is important to remember the good things that we have received from Jesus Christ and be thankful for it. We are a chosen generation to praise His Name. Hence, we must be thankful to know His name, the way, and the truth. Many times, we do not realise how blessed we are to know Him. So, I encourage the Church to rejoice in the Lord and to help others grow in the Lord.

So far, we have covered three important points under the topic, Relationship. These are, 1) It is evil to say yes to everything the other person says without conviction to please them. 2) Fearing the other person is not a relationship. 3) Importance of having conversations. Under conversations we saw that, a) Argument is not healthy or Godly. b) Importance of listening to others’ opinions. c) Giving others their space and time to realise their shortcomings. d) Do not judge. e) Importance of corrections in a conversation. In this newsletter we are going to see the fourth important aspect in a relationship, which is, ‘Testing the relationship.’ Many times, we make a wrong decision in choosing a relationship because we have developed the habit going against the word of God. Every relationship needs a testing, so if we judge a relationship without it being tested, we are making that decision in our flesh.

Knowing the will of God

Many times, we have great thirst to know the will of God about a relationship. Accordingly, God also makes us sensitive to realise the truth, and He does reveal it to us, but we are blind to see it. We are unable to see it because our knowledge is deceiving us and is directing us towards ‘knowing’ instead of ‘realising.’ Therefore, the will of God can be understood only through our repentance. Will of God is vital to understand our past, present and future relationships. It is crucial for us to evaluate if a relationship from the past should continue in our lives. Likewise, we also need to evaluate if the memories or experiences from our past are influencing the present relationships and decisions. It is important to know if the past is blinding us to the present. Next, we also need to judge the present and the future of a relationship. It is important to understand if a present relationship is worthy of our sacrifices and if it is in right standing with God. Moreover, we need to understand if a relationship is worth pursuing, and how its future will turn out to be. While analysing all these, we often arrive at decisions based upon the actions, words, and deeds of the person in the relationship. Therefore, we end up interpreting based on superficial manifestations and not intentions. This is a wrong method of analysing; therefore, it yields wrong results. The Bible gives a solution for this, i.e., repentance, through which God will reveal the truth to us. Regarding this, in 1 John 4:1 we have been given a commend to test every spirit, “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world.” While evaluating our past, often, we believe in our past experiences, and based on that we are stubborn to realise the reality of the present. In the past, a relationship may have been smooth or rough, people could have behaved in a certain way, and a relationship could have created certain memories and experiences, either good or bad. However, it does not mean that the relationship will always follow the same pattern. A good relationship could turn bitter. Even when the situation changes and the relationship becomes a weapon against us, certain good memories in that relationship from the past influence us and do not allow us to realise the weapon of the present. Our past experiences make us compromise even when the relationship fails. On the other hand, based on our bitter experiences of the past, we judge that the future will also be bitter, and this hinders us from tasting the possible goodness of a future relationship and realising the will of God. Through repentance, we will be delivered from the deception of believing the past, and we can see that the situations are not always the same. Next, to judge the present and the future of a relationship, God alone can see what is in a man’s heart. Man can only see the face and the temporal things. He cannot understand the true nature or intentions of others. Just because a relationship seems pleasant at present, there is no assurance that the future will be the same. For a man to know this, the relationship should go through testing. Only through testing, the future of a relationship can be understood. Testing will help us see the relationship from the right perspective. It will give us the sensitivity to see if the relationship is in the right direction, which is faith. Through testing, the fire will reveal the Gold and the dirt, and prepare us for the future. Also, the deception of the past will be removed, and we will become sensitive to understand God’s guidance for the present. Thus, when you pray for the repentance, He will remove the stony heart and deliver you, and make you understand the truth.

What is testing?

When you want to test a spirit before forming an opinion, you must give that relationship to God. Then God will test the relationship. The biggest deception in this process is instead of allowing a relationship to be tested, we see the good side of the relationship and form an opinion already. In 1 Corinthians 3:13 each one’s work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is.  Two important aspects need to be considered in testing. First, is the timing. It does not follow our timeline or expectations. Second, is the way it will be revealed. Many people assume that the peace they have, the signs they see, and the prophecies they received through the Servants of God will help them to form an opinion about a person or the relationship. It is not the right way. The right way is to wait for the Lord, and to allow the testing time to be fulfilled. If you do not submit a relationship to God, you will not go through the testing time. Instead, you will try to hold on to the relationship. So instead of holding on to the relationship, allow the testing, do not stop the testing time; it requires waiting. Fire is the tester. So, every relationship has to go through the fire. This includes your salvation also. Many people hate the testing times. Nevertheless, it is a blessing, and it will give answers to many questions and expose the gray areas of your life. Testing is not for the other person; it is for you. In James 1:12-15 Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him. 13Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. 14But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. 15Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death. So, the test is to reveal your sinful nature, and not to form an opinion about the other person. He alone set the fire and if needed he will compensate the damage. Exodus 22:6 “If fire breaks out and catches in thorns, so that stacked grain, standing grain, or the field is consumed, he who kindled the fire shall surely make restitution. So do not worry about the damage of the testing. In Deuteronomy 8:1-3 “Every commandment which I command you today you must be careful to observe, that you may live and multiply, and go in and possess the land of which the Lord swore to your fathers. 2And you shall remember that the Lord your God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not. 3So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord. Here we see the relationship with God is put under testing. All relationships should be tested, and that testing will reveal your evil motivations and if you allow the evil motivations to be destroyed, the peace of Jesus Christ will come and rule that relationship. This does not mean that testing always ends up in unity. If you are attracted to the other person in flesh, you will come to know that there is no relationship, and repentance will help you to take the right decision. Recently, I got an opportunity to counsel a sister who is being abused by her husband physically and mentally. He is having an extra marital affair.  So, I counselled her to repent because only then she could realise that the person whom she is thinking as her husband, though legally is her husband, is actually not her husband because he is not doing the works of a husband. Secondly, many people are deceived by the thinking that the wedding ceremony makes up the husband-and-wife relationship. It is their commitment to one another that makes them a husband and wife. Once that commitment is broken, may be legally you may think it is married life, but it is not. So, when the sister repented, the mistakes of her husband were not revealed, but her idol worship, i.e., the stubbornness of her heart was revealed to her.

The moment we repent, we will realise the problems in the relationship. After knowing the problems, submit them to God so that he can lead you in the right direction. Dear Church, remember one thing, i.e., His Godhead. He created everything from nothing. In the life of Lazarus, Jesus Christ made him to live again after four days, so nothing is impossible for God because He is the creator.

To conclude, in Jeremiah 3:1, we see the Love God has for us. They say, ‘If a man divorces his wife, And she goes from him And becomes another man’s, May he return to her again?’ Would not that land be greatly polluted? But you have played the harlot with many lovers; Yet return to Me,” says the Lord. So instead of allowing our desire and thoughts to rule us, let us give our lives into the hands of our groom who shed His blood to save us.

May His peace, mercy and grace be with you.

Stay blessed. God bless you.