wLL 30 “Countenance Fallen”

Two weeks ago I ended my message by hoping that you would each experience (again or for the first time) unbridled joy as a lovesick bride. Claiming this verse as your own, “My Beloved is mine, and I am His” “For I am lovesick.” Song of Solomon 5:8, 2:16

Darling bride, were you able to overcome the temptation of being deceived by the tempter? Have you remained under your HH? Being lovesick is, as I said, where I long to remain.

Without the joy in my heart, there is no doubt that the “glow” or the “beauty” others comment on, (that has nothing to do with my looks but Whose face I am reflecting)— that the opposite most certainly will occur— when you give in to temptation after looking too long on a lie. If I chose to look at and focus on lies, instead of focusing on His face, I would without any doubt be left with a countenance fallen, which is what I want to share in this week’s message.

Going back to the Bible in Genesis 3, after the woman was deceived and the husband willingly sinned, we know they are banished from the Garden. The fellowship they once had with God is gone, and it’s reflected immediately in the relationship between the man and his wife (which is the first time man blames God and his wife for his sin).

Then sadly, this lack of relationship they had in the Garden with God, when they roamed with Him, is passed onto their children, their sons. Soon after in Genesis 4 we see God calling attention to the countenance that has fallen in Cain and, as we know, the warning He gave wasn’t followed. Yet, I am confident that each of us needs to realize the wisdom in God’s warning and heed it. A countenance that has fallen, due to our faces reflecting our hearts, will lead to sin. Sin committed.

This is something I trained my children to do. I would never allow bad attitudes or a face that reflected anything that needed to be dealt with in their hearts. Thankfully they’ve each benefitted from this training and have thanked me as have their spouses. 🙂 A bad attitude means a heart that is not right. Don’t allow this in yourself or your children. Forgiving will get rid of anger.

Let me also explain that sin is different than a mere transgression as we’ve learned in “Therefore, to him who knows the right thing to do, and does not do it, to him it is sin” (James 4:17).

Many of us may have missed really “seeing” or noticing when our husbands lost the love in their hearts—when someone may have pointed out the dripping faucet of our contentiousness. Or maybe we did notice their frustration was reflected in their countenance, but did nothing about it, but instead, dug in our contentious heels. However, this “look” of frustration and discontentedness is what I believe the adulteress woman is looking for, in order to pounce and the allure her victim to the pit the man has no idea he’s about to fall into.

But what about us?

Are we immune to also falling into despair; falling into sin? Do you know that many women who seek restoration for their marriages also succumb to lies from the enemy, from family and friends, that their marriage is “somehow” impossible when God’s Word states clearly that nothing is impossible with Him?

I’ve personally known several dear sweet friends who’ve given into believing the “little lies” that began when they “Peeked Out” and “Opened the Door.” When instead of “Sleeping in the Storms” they remained on the deck staring at and fearing the waves as they crashed over them. Never forget that “Eve Was Deceived” and that we are just as or even more vulnerable. I never want to realize that my “Eyes were Open” to the hopelessness that could leave me easy prey to marrying again, finding myself again as an adulteress or any number of sins that happen to “Christians” and especially to leaders who the enemy is most aiming to destroy.

Each day, throughout the day, moment by moment I am speaking to my HH in my heart. Whether it’s simply what to wear, what to have for breakfast or when it’s a decision I need to make or a problem I need solved—remaining close and continually being “in-love” will not just prevent a countenance from falling—but will allow our faces to GLOW reflecting His love to everyone!! 🙂

This week check your countenance. Are your eyes still as bright, your smile just as wide, the tone of your voice just as cheerful as the day you realized you had a HH who loved you despite what others said or saw in you? If it has all fallen or even diminished, I would urge you to begin remembering the days prior to meeting Him intimately and then counting each and every blessing. Do it throughout the day. Count them when you go to sleep and count them again when you wake up. Then look at the face you see in the mirror.