Joyce - If he doesnt deliver domestic violence in the religious home

Smashwords Edition
Copyright 2016 Marilyn Joyce

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ISBN 978-0-9634823-1-0

MJ MediaGrp
4115 Columbia Rd, Ste5359
Martinez, GA 30907 US
www.AuthorMarilynJoyce.com

All rights reserved under InternationalCopyright Law.

Contents and/or covermay not be reproduced in whole or in part in any form without theexpress written consent of the Publisher: MJMG, 4115 Columbia Rd, Ste 5359, Martinez, Georgia 30907

Unless otherwise indicated, allscripture quotations are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEWINTERNATIONAL VERSION. Copyright (c) 1973, 1978 by InternationalBible Society.

Some scripture quotations are taken fromthe King James Version of the Bible.

Some scripture taken from THE AMPLIFIEDBIBLE. Old Testament copyright (c) 1965, 1987 by The ZondervanCorporation. The Amplified New Testament (c) 1958, 1987 by theLochman Foundation. Used by permission.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

DEDICATION

This book is dedicated to those whohave wrestled with the hurt, confusion, pain, and betrayal ofabuse.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I will always be grateful for myprayer partner, Ezella Karnes Osborn. Those heartbreaking and frankconversations during our evening jogs inspired me to stopprocrastinating about writing this book.

While visiting his family inHawaii, Daniel Hilliard helped me with the grueling typing andproofreading tasks of the first edition of this book. Thank you,Daniel for the selfless investment of your time and talent.

Thank you, Tricia Ready for yourinspiration. Your words: Be change ready caught my spirit offguard, but has been the defining word of grace for this newseason.

My special thanks to domesticviolence shelters, church counseling departments, prisontherapists, and small business owners who have used this book overthe years to help the communities you serve.

I will always be grateful for DeanNazaru McCray. You have helped me deal with incredible challengeswith supportive attentiveness, encouragement, and tenderness never allowing me to forget the grace and power of God. Thank youfor encouraging me to dream big. Mere words cannot express how muchI admire, respect, and appreciate you.

INTRODUCTION

The last time I was slammed againstthe wall, I realized I was going to lose the baby. As I slid to thefloor, I watched him look down at me with what seemed to becontempt. I told him that I needed to get to a hospital, and that Iwas losing the baby. He simply ran out the door, jumped into thecar, and drove away.

I crawled through the den and downthe long hall to the bedroom. The children were screaming andcrying, but I didnt have the strength to even pick myself up. Myhead was swimming. I knew I losing consciousness. I didnt want thechildren to see this.

No, I didnt want an ambulance orany outsiders in my home. What would I say? How could I tellanyone, least of all total strangers, that my husband and pastorhad left me to bleed to death in front of our children? There wouldbe lights and police in front of the church parsonage - and thiswas such a gossiping little town. They would never let the childrenand I have any peace. There would be questions and whispers andprobing for explanations. How do you explain a violent, cruel, andabusive pastor, husband, and father?

As I lost consciousness across mybed, through my mind ran the hardest question of all: where wasGod?

When Christians take vows ofmatrimony, they enter a divine union. The marriage covenant createsa powerful bond. When someone who really loves God takes thosevows, theyve made a life long commitment to work as hard asnecessary to make that relationship successful, knowing that withChrist as the head, all things are possible.

Imagine what it must feel like tobegin to experience problems in that marriage, knowing that youronly hope is in God, and yet things are not getting better. Or,worse yet, perhaps your marriage has ended.

You have faith. You have prayed.You have fasted. You have taken authority over the devil. Yet, youfind yourself left to somehow try to live through the pain ofabuse, rejection, and maybe even death or divorce. This book iswritten for those hurting sisters and brothers in the body ofChrist who have experienced the pain of abuse and/or divorce AS ACHRISTIAN.

My hearts desire for you is thatyou come to know that the rest of your life does not have to fallapart because the situation may not have turned out the way youprayed it would.

This book is also written for thoseof you who may know someone who has had this experience and youdesire to know what to do about your hurting, disillusioned, (andquite possibly) backslidden sister or brother. Perhaps it isdifficult for you to understand why they may still be struggling intheir walk with the Lord. Perhaps it is even more difficult for youto understand how pain and confusion can linger so long withinthem.

In a recent sermon, my pastor said,One day God is going to ask you, what did you do about yourhurting brother and sister? If theyre not being helped in thechurch, they will go out into other places. This is so true.

I meet people all the time, usuallywomen, (but also men), who have given up on themselves and theirrelationship with God because theyve had a painful experience theycould not understand. For one reason or another they were not ableto find the answers they needed; nor could they find relief andrelease from the pain.

There are answers to the questionsin your heart. You can go on with yourlife in Christ. God has not abandoned you, and He has not failedyou; even though that may very well be what you are feeling. Infact, someone may have told you that you didnt have enough faith,or any of a number of things that may only have caused you to beafraid to even try trusting the Lord with your life again.

God is foryou . He really is. And I invite you back into a relationshipwith Him; a meaningful, workable, day-by-day relationship that willlead you out of the place of wandering and wondering. But, you willhave to be willing to allow the Spirit of God to bring you to aplace of healing in a very deep and personal way. And, you willalso have to be willing to fight for your own restoration.

You may say that youve prayedevery prayer, stood in faith, and confessed every promise in theWord of God that is available to you; and still things didnt turnout the way you knew they could have. Dont give up on God oryourself.

Read on!!!

CHAPTER ONE

T hestatistics on the number of reported battered and abused women inthis country are staggering. The National Center for Prevention ofSexual and Domestic Violence ( www.ncdsv.org ) reports thatevery 9 seconds a woman is affected by a violent incident. Of allthe causes of injury, domestic violence is ranked number one amongwomen. Every six hours, one woman dies as a result of a violentincident.

In light of these statistics, it isalmost impossible not to know someone who is, or has been, avictim of some form of abuse. With this in mind, it is imperativefor the Christian who desires to be an instrument of Gods healingtouch in the world around them, to come to understand the needs offellow Christians dealing with this issue.