7 Years Divorced but God RESTORED Their Marriage—and Family! | TML Ep 17 Joe & Denise Flynn

today on the miraculous life a couple whose marriage was essentially dead and God brought it back to life find out how it can happen for you [Music] [Music] welcome to the miraculous life Ramiro Steve hannett today we're gonna be talking about a topic that is reflective of what the miraculous life is all about you know a lot of people go to church and they read their Bible but they never experience the miraculous power of God now sometimes it's because people have something happening in their body and they need a healing sometimes they need a financial miracle sometimes it's with their marriage and today we're gonna talk about a miraculous movement of God's grace and the power of his love and the power of prayer to restore a marriage that was essentially dead and make it alive again now if you're watching with us today I want you to make sure that you understand that though the show is gonna highlight God's provision to restore a marriage the principles that you're gonna learn today can be applied to every area of your life and I'm very excited to have my good friends Joe and Denise Flynn with us they're from New York they are servants in resurrection church located in Brooklyn New York and Staten Island and and you're gonna hear their story today and I just want to welcome you guys Joe is good to be with you Denise it's so great to have you here tonight and I want to help everybody listening to understand just maybe a small part of the miracle that took place in your lives and so what I'd like you to do is Joe I'd like you to kind of describe a little bit about your beginning I know that you were working with the New York City Fire Department yes you survived serving through 9/11 you had a very rich career with them and you've been married for 20 years around and that's already a lot more than a lot of other people even make it so many would say that you had a successful marriage but things started to go a little bit awry in your life could you tell us a little bit about what was happening to the marriage well you know like working in the fire department I was also kind of busy working other jobs too so I was kind of traded just on my work you know I wasn't really concentrating my time with my wife and my family you know I was always always busy and I kind of misdirected you know where I was supposed to really focus my time and I kind of missed the mark and I was always busy and you know Denise was busy with the children she worked - we had kids and then what happened was you know we she would I wouldn't be gone for maybe two days at Eclipse sometimes and come home and expect everything to be okay but she was busy with the children taking care of all the loose ends at the home and stuff so was very stressful for her as I when I came home thinking everything she was gonna be kind of normal mmm but you know I just just I just missed it because I was just kind of just not focusing on my family at that time now Denise tell us a little bit about when you were going through this time that you guys began to feel distant and and tell us a little bit about from your perspective that it was happening over a period of time I believe right that you guys started to drift maybe you could describe your perspective of that um well because he was working so much it was hard when he came back that it almost seems like an interruption because I was so busy with the kids and and keeping the house that it unfortunately my priorities were were not the way they should be and it became more of an intrusion and an interruption instead of my husband coming home so we grew apart we kind of had separate lives we lived in the same house but we really didn't share a lot you know one of the things that impresses me about this story so far and as you're about to hear there wasn't anything monumental that happened at this time there was not a sudden movement there was not a sudden disaster that came but it was a slow progression of separation and I want to want to teach you something that that God shared with me as I get to work with couples and I get to do some marriage counseling with people and he always points me to the wedge when you're cutting firewood and I don't know if anybody's chopped firewood before but you have this big strong log and you take this wedge and and you pound this wedge into this big log and it's amazing how this very tiny point of a tip is the thing that makes the inroad it gets in there just a little bit and as it further goes down it creates greater and greater separation so much so that this big log splits in two and they believe that's the way many mundane everyday circumstances are happening that priorities begin to get out of whack we begin to not care or nurture for this most precious relationship called marriage the way that we should well Joe tell us about 9/11 and what happened during that time you you shared something very very powerful with me about what happened to your attitude at that time you know at that point my life was already kind of drifting away I was already had strayed out of my family as I was having an affair and I became very dissatisfied my life you know because that wasn't happy at home and then what happened 9/11 happened I lost a lot of close friends that I work with and then I started saying myself is this what life's all about he's about just you know paying bills and work and all of a sudden a blinking of are you gone and that moment for me was it was a snap for me and I just I became very selfish I became very self scented and that's when I really kind of just I would came very just into family that's when I kind of and so this this distance that you described ultimately resulted in you having an extramarital extramarital affair and relationship with somebody and then Denise you you began to discover this but you really felt like it doesn't matter you could be gone in a day just live for the moment of joy exactly well now this led ultimately to a divorce you described how long did that take place from from the time that you were having those separation problems to ultimately getting a divorce and we were separated for about two years and and things didn't really change so we had to do I mean I felt that I had no options at that point because nothing had changed so actually we were legally separated for after the second year and we were like that and then I think five years into it then we got divorced and it was a total of seven years over seven years actually but we did get legally divorced I think it was in 2011 so we made that so it's still a lot of time that passed that this marriage essentially was dead you were divorced this was something that many would consider beyond repair yes yes now denisa this time you knew who Jesus was you knew Jesus personally as your Lord and your Savior and Joe during this time you did not know I didn't so you're here to live in what many would call the life of pleasure going after this other relationship and trying to pursue happiness how happy were you well I kind of thought I was happy because I was finally you know I finally got to a place that I thought you know I I was very self-centered like I'm saying before I finally found something that made me happy but you know as time went on it just I found that it wasn't thing I thought it was yeah now here's the miraculous part of the of the history that you shared with me is Denise you shared with me that in your home church people were praying it's his home church that was praying I did they were total strangers to me but they were praying Wow ma I JA let's back up I want to talk about how you receive Christ here because that's important so what was the road to doing that because you're separated so you're going to church and then Joe what's happening to you that that caused you to find Jesus okay what happened to me was I left the home you know we had a very nice home we had cause with the vacations we looked from the outside we look like you know this great family but when I left home and we separated I lost everything I found myself in a one-bedroom apartment in the basement I had no money left I was in debt and I I started having a lot of anxiety depression and a close friend of mine asked me you want to come to a men's meeting I didn't know what a men's meeting was and I said you know what I'm in because I just felt like I had to do something so he invited me to his house and I was supposed to be 10 to 12 men there nobody showed up just me my close friend and Bishop Joseph matera and that night Bhishma tarried led me to Christ on man yeah so during this time that you are thinking you're gonna be happy you're hitting rock bottom you don't have money you don't have friends you're you're you're just hitting a terrible place in your life so the happiness didn't pan out no oh isn't just like Satan to promise something good something better than you have and then you wind up having the thief come to steal kill and destroy yes you know this is an important point that I really think it's it's it's worth highlighting here that we we often don't see the work of the enemy slowly day by day little by little stealing from us it may begin with a lack of the right priorities or beginning to feel discontentment in your life even beginning to have life experiences but not seeing them through God's eyes I mean I'm thinking about 9/11 and and you saw all this death and you saw all this destruction and you're saying you know let me just live the let me just go after my happiness but people who would have had Christ and may have said well I've got to redeem the day's because they're evil I've got to live my best for God but in that state you didn't know God no and so you just live in for self and and Satan will always lie to tell us that it's better that the grass is somehow greener on the other side and you know the grass isn't greener on the other side is just ordered more you know it's just taken care of more but this is an important lesson that I think we have to hear that that you were lied to yeah by the enemy you you ended up with nothing and then by God's grace he brings you to find who Jesus is Joe tell us about the shift I want to hear about how you heard God how did God break into this okay um you know what I knew was gonna come a day that Jesus would tell me that she met somebody it was you know years have gone by and I just kind of felt like it's reaching whew she found somebody we can take that responsibility away from me you know because I'm still worried about her I guess and then she called me to have a meeting and we sat in a restaurant and she told me that she met a man a Christian man in the church that fell in love with them and as Samaria you know in prior to that I would think you know okay that's this is good this is maybe this is God's plan that she gets taken care of and um and I started to cry in a restaurant uncontrollably well and I asked her if we could date and she was reluctant she at that point she said no now you're divorced yeah so you're asking the woman that you divorced to begin to date yes and you said no okay keep going so then what happened was um you know I was always praying to God as I would say to him you know I surrender I surrender I surrender to your will because I was in such a bad place and but God knew I wasn't surrounding you at that point my life he knew was your slip service he knew it and then one night I just I prayed with all my heart and I said God I surrender I surrender with all my heart for a restoration of my of my of my family and on June 7 2014 I woke up at 5 o'clock on one now prior to all this every day it was like Groundhog Day I would feel anxiety depression I would have an ache in my stomach for seven years every single day I woke up that morning with the peace that surpasses all understanding and I didn't want to get out of bed it felt amazing I never felt that way my whole life even as a kid so I heard God's voice he said get up and go see Denise I got up at five o'clock in the morning got dressed I got in the car i sat in her driveway till 6:30 to one so she woke up Wow and I asked and I told her what God had done and we hugged him he cried and that was the beginning of our restoration so you heard God can you tell us what that exactly meant a lot of people say they hear God what what what did you experience it was like a gentle voice he just said get up and go see Denise did you hear it within you or did you hear in the audible voice I heard an audible voice I've never heard it before I never I haven't heard it heard of since and I'm okay with that so God broke in yeah God broke in to hear you and the church was praying and you were praying and to these we spoke you did not give up even though it was not an immediate fix it wasn't immediate turn around yeah I mean this is you were you were divorced more than seven years this was done finished another man's pursuing you ride you shared with me at one point that he wanted to have a relationship you said no to dating him it wasn't the right time and then God speaks and then there's a shift I love the idea that you hear God's voice audibly you get in your car early in the morning you wait there until she awakens and then it begins the restoration yeah yeah I I want to tell you that God he knows exactly what you're dealing with whether you're the man whether you're the woman whether you're the one that's been cheated on or you're the one that did the cheating father God he knows exactly where you are and God will break through you know upon hearing the story and and what God did with you it just it again it shows me the that God is not limited that God can work outside the box Joe never heard God speak audibly you don't know the day the moment the hour that God is gonna break in and he said go see Denise that was a god-ordained God created moment that Joe is able to listen to the voice of God we cannot underestimate needing to hear the voice of God now sometimes people will wait to hear the voice of God audibly and I love that God spoke audibly and I believe that God still speaks audibly to this day but the Bible tells us many things that he speaks many words and in Luke chapter 18 God says men always ought to pray and never lose heart love that you never lost heart this is so powerful guys because you sign paperwork that says you divorced and it's as if God was like anyway it was as if God didn't care what the paperwork said the Bible says let not man separate that which God has joined when men give up God is relentless his love is relentless the hope in Christ is relentless talk with me I know it took some time for for the relationship to become restored but you guys eventually renewed your wedding vows didn't you we got married I think it would have been a 33rd anniversary so we got married October 3rd two years ago so it would have been our 33rd anniversary Wow so God brought something that was dead back to life tell us how is your marriage today now you both are serving Jesus what's it like tell us the truth Deniz tell us what Joe is really like well it's you know in the beginning it's really a decision to honor God I think every day we wake up and make with a decision that you know we're gonna honor God and the blessings sometimes you know we didn't feel it you know you could really say that it's you know we can't we'll always go on our feelings but knowing that God is in this and the blessings are is hard to even describe we our children I mean birthed out of the pain and and and the separation and the divorce but our relationship with our children is wonderful all of our children know the word they know the power of God now and and they tell people that our son is amazing it was in the Army for four years and now he's going to be serving in resurrection church as well our daughters got married we were together for that which was just a blessing and you know when we walked in as Mr and Mrs Flynn you know for the wedding we knew you know between our children and our family and our extended family and friends it was they saw the miracle you know the father when when father God forgives when I began to learn how deep how wide a complete how secure his forgiveness is it really changed my life I mean I received Jesus but then it was in time that I began to understand how complete his forgiveness is I would say that the father still teaching me how complete the sons forgiveness is a lot of times it's easy to go back to our Worth based on our works but the father when he forgives he washes clean he has no memory of it being with you guys hearing the testimony of your story but then also witnessing what's happening in your life in in your local church and how you're serving God and you're helping other couples I see the work of God and he says forgive other people the way I forgive you and you're really the recipient of this tremendous grace and you're the recipients of this tremendous grace from God and and I'm always sharing with people the part of the miracle design of marriage is that that the husband is supposed to experience the love of God through his wife and the wife is supposed to experience the love of God through the husband and God knows that we make mistakes but there is no mistake there's no problem there's no difficulty there's no pain there is no betrayal that God's blood cannot restore and he turns he turns our warning into joy and this is an example of this I want you to understand you should never give up yeah we know that there are biblical reasons in which a husband or a wife can so-called legally get divorced and separated we know the Word of God describes this fornication is one of them but we must look at the heart of God that he never never desires for marriage to become broken this is a work of Satan this is a work of the enemy and what I hear happened in your relationship was that God because of your willingness because of your faith because of your prayer because of his grace ed I'm not done even when you were done he wasn't done you know you can't be done until God's done you can't be finished until God's finished and God is relentless his love will pursue you for his best I want to share if you've been divorced before and you've been remarried have you gone through this pain I want you to understand that God is with you he'll hear your prayer and God will begin to work in your life and minister to you so that his best can come about in your life we only have a few more minutes and I would love for you guys to to share what would you say to somebody Joe who is thinking about getting in another relationship cheating on his wife what would you tell them well it's kind of funny you said that because I actually have shared with many men that I know who you know friends of getting divorced when a prosecuted divorce and I just try to I tell him it's like collateral damage you know it's like throwing a hand grenade in a crowd and not thinking nobody's gonna get hurt mmm no when you are in a prosecuting divorce I try to come from my perspective was it's a very selfish thing because I wasn't thinking about the knees I wasn't thinking about my children and when we did get divorced it affects everybody your siblings your your friends you know everybody gets affected and it's it's deeply hurts your children deeply hurts them so I would say to them I would tell them first I'll let them know that it would be like the reality of what divorce really is first and then just let me know and I have a habits conversation where tell them that you know no there was a better way there was there's there's ways out there's there's people to go see there's resources and then I do experience I did I do give him the my testimony of how God restored a marriage a man that you know when people say to me well I mean wife it's never gonna work I said me my wife was it was separating divorce for over seven years I said if you can't if God can't do that to us he can do you know everybody gay men oh you know I just um I I want him to know your map the amazing thing that happened for me in Denise I let him know that he'd always thought about us Denise what would you tell a woman and I've got to ask you to be brief because we're almost out of time but what would you tell a wife who suffered the pain that you suffered I think hold on to God I think I if it was a personal experience that they're not alone I think you really sometimes feel very alone but God is in your head in your thoughts in your prayers you're never alone and he is gonna make good at it even the hurts that you feel amen listen you've heard it today men if you are thinking if you're even contemplating if you are even entertaining one thought of being unfaithful to your wife and your children rebuke it in the name of Jesus if you don't know God you make sure you get on your knees and you ask God for help because you need to see the reality that it's for nothing but destruction in your life I love the powerful analogy that a hand graders hand grenades gonna go off it's gonna arm it's gonna bring your pain and if you've suffered with this pain you're not alone I want you to call on Jesus I want you to call on Jesus Christ for His grace and His mercy because he'll restore what you think can't be restored this is only one of literally millions of people who have recovered from this kind of destruction may God bless you we encourage you reach us and I want grace calm and you can reach out to us for prayer and may you be blessed in the Lord Jesus Christ god bless [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] hey god bless my name is steve Hannon and I'm the founder of every house the ministry that produces the miraculous light I like today to talk of you about prayerfully becoming a financial partner with our ministry to get the Word of God out to the nation's but we've got an amazing team that's dedicated to seeing lives change many people don't know that when they're a common financial partner that they're literally joining the work with us and literally becoming part of the family to produce fruit in the nations now we understand that your tithes belong to your local church and we encourage you to be faithful to your local congregation so we also understand that there are offerings that you can invest in ministries like every house to help support the work that we're doing simply go to every house now org click the give button and you'll be presented with a series of options of how to partner with us god bless you and we thank you in advance for your life we pray you've been blessed by the miraculous life and know the Lord Jesus desires his best in your life the miraculous life is a production of every house a missions ministry focused on releasing the power of God establishing strong churches and developing sound leaders who 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Channel: Steve Hannett

Views: 49,938

Rating: 4.9161906 out of 5

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Id: jFqgaemBldQ

Length: 28min 30sec (1710 seconds)

Published: Wed Jan 30 2019