Ministry of Reconciliation - UBM [David Eells]

My wife, Lisa, was infected with the Brownsville and Toronto spirits as a result of attending one of their meetings. Our relationship began to deteriorate as she lost respect for the Word. We separated for what I originally blamed solely on these manifested spirits in Lisa. But, The Lord has impressed upon me in the midst of this trial that there is a better way of reconciliation. And as a Christian, it is my duty to be a minister of reconciliation. And, I not only abrogated my responsibility to minister to my wife, I was a purveyor of the bad report by confessing to brethren my desire to leave my wife as a result the manifesting spirits. I was so effective in speaking anti-faith to my friends that they may feel the need to argue with me concerning Lisa and me reconciling our relationship.

Since Lisa was still my wife, I took authority over those Brownsville spirits and according to scripture, commanded those spirits to loose my wife in the name of Jesus Christ. The spirits did leave. Lisa went back to school and got a job. She did not exhibit the signs of the Brownsville spirits and she requested reconciliation with me on a couple of occasions.

The Lord has recently revealed to me that He loves reconciliation and we should also. Though Lisa tried to reconcile with me, I kept her at arms-length due to mistrust and weighing her spiritual growth according to my standards, rather than the righteous standards in which our Father weighs my spiritual growth. He sees the end from the beginning. As her husband, I denied Lisa the patience, grace and mercy my Father in heaven granted me. It is no surprise that Lisa recently confessed to me that I make her feel she can never reach my expectations. This is when The Lord impressed upon me that I needed to repent of the way I viewed our marriage. I first had to reconcile my mind of how our Father viewed our marriage and see Lisa from an entirely different perspective. I was not walking by faith but walking by sight. As a result, I was judging Lisa. I was denying our Father the opportunity to work His perfect will in our relationship by putting the onus on her and not on my faith in our Father's Word. Ephesians 5:25 Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself up for it. Our Father reminded me of His long suffering, quickness to forgive and forget. If He can do that for me through Jesus Christ, then who am I not to do the same in regards to my wife. I failed to see my wife for what she will be by faith but saw her as she was. Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is assurance of things hoped for, a conviction of things not seen.

I compared myself to how Christ deals with me and found myself lacking. I Cor 7:10 But unto the married I give charge, yea not I, but the Lord, That the wife depart not from her husband 11 (but should she depart, let her remain unmarried, or else be reconciled to her husband); and that the husband leave not his wife. Lisa felt rejected by me which was perfectly understandable. Instead of speaking faith I made the gulf wider, pushing her into the arms of another man. But The Lord heard my prayers concerning the other man that he should be removed immediately and this happened in such a way that both Lisa and I knew was from The Lord. That is when we began talking to each other and confessing our faults. She confessed she didn't even want to be with that man but felt desperate and unloved. I confessed I was not doing right by her because I was not speaking faith. I was more intent on pointing out her past faults than in realizing the love Jesus Christ displayed for us through His victory at the cross. I didn't realize I was doing this. When I repented and changed the way I conversed with Lisa, I began to see a great change over time in Lisa. She not only became far more receptive to me but to the Word also. She is now like a flower blossoming in the desert.

When I speak to any brethren who are going through a similar trial I tell them, remember, we are to love our spouses as Jesus Christ loved the church. Because that is what their troubled spouse needs. They need to see the love of Christ in us. All it took on my part was to obey the Word of God and lay down myself so Lisa could see true forgiveness and grace. Now I know reconciliation is The Lord's best way. Seeing that we are ministers of reconciliation, I now see my marriage as a part of this ministry. So remember, brethren, speak the end from the beginning for your spouse and speak of things that are not as though they are, because we have the authority in Christ to do this. And my prayer is that our Father restores the spiritual house of all my brethren in similar trials and situations.

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