October, 2003

SIN PROMISES THAT WHICH
IT CANNOT PRODUCE
by Dr. Ken  Savage

This is the second in a series of articles for couples by Dr. Ken Savage. Ken and Lauren Savage have a healed marriage. Listen to their testimony on a audio tape in the six-tape set, “Been There…Done That!”

AWAKENING

In the twilight hours between consciousness and slumber I found myself dreaming. Fraught with the guilt and despair of buried feelings and misplaced anger, I wandered to pleasant memories of a calmer time. I recalled the births of my children, and relived all four births in the type of detail reminiscent of a Steinbeck novel. The joys, the tears, the laughter, the smells and the bonding, all raced through my mind in a heartbeat of eternity.

I awoke to an empty apartment, in a state 1200 miles from my family, alone in my sin. Sin always promises that which it cannot produce. It promised me freedom, and gave me the chains of bitterness. Sin proclaimed self-fulfillment and fullness. I received a spirit of suicide and emptiness. I longed for acceptance and a freedom from condemnation but received self-doubt and assurance of my place in hell. I had bought a package of lies and found myself in debt to the Hater of my soul, and the Destroyer of my dreams. I had left my family in pursuit of greener pastures, and now was eating the straw of the wilderness in the barren land of deception.

GOD’S FAITHFULNESS

God was faithful and my bride called forth my name in intercession. I came to my senses and returned to the wife of my youth and the family of my loins. Sin promises that which it cannot produce, but God promises that which He has already given in His Son, Christ Jesus. In the restoration process, the struggle between the false promises of sin and the active promises of God must be understood. For once one has been deceived with the false claims of sin, that propensity remains and must be dealt with.

THE BATTLE IS IN THE MIND

The battle is in the mind, in the thought process that comes from deep within your heart. Are you believing lies about your mate? Are you entertaining thoughts that are counterproductive to the restoration of your marriage? “Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good report, if there is any excellence and if anything is worthy of praise, let your mind dwell on these things.” (Phil 4:8) The first battle for restoration must be fought and won in the mind. God promises that which He has already given in His Son. Keep your mind fixed on this fact and deception will have no place in you. The victory has already been paid for; you simply must receive it by faith.

GOD PROMISES THAT WHICH HE HAS ALREADY GIVEN
IN HIS SON, CHRIST JESUS.