SINGLES – One Thing You Need To Know As A Single Continued from yesterday
There are a few reasons why you should make up your mind to continually give praise to God and to always learn to stir up the joy of the Holy Ghost in whatever circumstance you find yourself.
1. We are instructed throughout the scripture to praise God
Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name; worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness. –Psalms 29:2 (KJV)
2. Rejoicing is a decision to make
Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls: Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation –Habakkuk 3:17-18 (KJV)
One Thing You Need To Know As A Single is that rejoicing before God should not be based on what we have or what we do not have. The writer above knows that despite the situation, all he needs to have a turn his situation around is that attitude of joy!
3. Joy affects prosperity
The vine is dried up, and the fig tree languisheth; the pomegranate tree, the palm tree also, and the apple tree, even all the trees of the field, are withered: because joy is withered away from the sons of men. – Joel 1:12 (KJV)
Let them shout for joy, and be glad, that favour my righteous cause: yea, let them say continually, Let the LORD be magnified, which hath pleasure in the prosperity of his servant. –Psalms 35:27 (KJV)
Make up your mind never to allow your joy to wither! If you can maintain your joy in the midst of that relationship/life issue, God will surely make a way for you!
CONFESSION FOR THE DAY I am grateful for every little thing in my life.
PRAYER FOR THE DAY Father, I ask in the name of Jesus that you give me the grace to praise and thank you at all times.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY I bless GOD every chance I get; my lungs expand with his praise. –Psalms 34:1 (MSG)
ACTION PLAN FOR THE DAY Choose a convenient hour during the day to just praise God and do that daily.
COUPLES – There are certain challenging situations that may arise in marriage. One of this is handling an affair. There are two sides to this situation; there is the part of the erring spouse and that of the other spouse.
In an affair or adultery, the bulk of the work lies on the spouse that had an affair, the responsibility is on him/her. The responsibility of the other spouse is just to be supportive and to forgive.
The erring spouse has the responsibility of being brutally truthful, sincere and repentant.
There are some scenarios that the spouse is under demonic influence and finds it difficult to be sincere or truthful. Prayers to God for healing by giving him/her a new and clean heart will be necessary; this is because to successfully handle an affair squarely requires sincerity and truthfulness.
Let’s see some practical steps in handling an affair.
1. Confrontation
The first step to handling an affair is confronting it. What you don’t confront, you can never change. The erring spouse should come to a place where he/she knows that having an affair is an attempt of the devil to steal, kill and destroy you.
You should call it a sin and not just a mistake; it is not confrontation when you still make excuses or when you explain.
2. Ask For Forgiveness
There is no forgiveness until there is a willingness to turn around from your sins. The erring spouse should acknowledge that he/she needs to be forgiven.
3. Seek Help And Support
That an affair has taken place shows that there are principles you don’t know, or there are principles you are taking for granted. You need to be educated and informed.
This is the time to search for books that talks about how to handle lust, how to handle affairs, how to set healthy boundaries, how to love and satisfy your spouse, etc.
What reading along this line does is that you get enlightened; when light comes, ignorance vanishes. It is also good to learn how you fell, because recognizing the pit-fall will help you avoid such next time.
CONFESSION FOR THE DAY I choose to honor my marriage vows.
PRAYER FOR THE DAY Oh Lord, help me to Bea faithful spouse.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY I bless GOD every chance I get; my lungs expand with his praise. –Psalms 34:1 (MSG)
ACTION PLAN FOR THE DAY Follow the above steps of you are guilty.
Hi dear, yesterday I told you how that God watches you. God keeps watch over us his children and his angels are constantly watching over you and I.
The fact that God watches over us also means that he sees all that we do, and that means everything we engage in whether good or bad, the things we do in secret, and the ones that are open to everyone.
Take for instance, your parents might not know if you disobey them, or when you make faces at them when they correct you, but God sees you, and that is because he doesn’t turn his face away from you for a second.
For a man’s ways are in full view of the Lord, and he examines all his paths, the evil deeds of a wicked man ensnare him; the cords of his sin hold him fast. He will die for lack of discipline, led astray by his own great folly. –Proverbs 5:21-23 (NIV)
I want you to pay close attention to today’s devotional as I will be shedding more light on our focus verse.
Asides that God sees you when you do good things, and of course bad things, another reason you shouldn’t get yourself involved in bad things is that, they will get you in trouble.
There is never an escape route after choosing to do something wrong, the truth will always be exposed and you will get in trouble. It’s even worse when you are caught in the act or you are found out.
See what the bible says;
the evil deeds of a wicked man ensnare him; the cords of his sin hold him fast.
If you continue disobeying what you are told to do, your actions will get you in trouble.
The only way out, and the solution to not getting in trouble is following instructions, and if you follow instructions, it shows that you are disciplined.
Choose to be a disciplined child at all times, obey your parents, do what is right at the right time, and you will be glad you did.
PRAYER: Father in Jesus name, I receive grace to do the right thing all the time; Amen
ACTION PLAN: Choose to be deliberate about what you say
DECLARATION: I am a good child, I am wise, and obedient.
There are a few things you cannot do at the same time. One of such is being a ‘Praiser’ and a ‘Complainer’ at the same time. You may feel justified or even have a seemingly legitimate reason for complaining, but the truth is that complaining does not solve the problem.
Complaining is a negative attitude that will make things worse and leave you feeling sorry for yourself. It steals your joy, happiness and excitement. It can even repel people from relating with you.
You may feel your relationship is not what it ought to be right now. You might even feel your partner is not good enough, however one thing is certain, complaining will not solve the problem.
Start appreciating the good in them because what you appreciate will increase in value. Start praising God for that relationship.
Praise God in that situation. If you are hurting or have lost something, God is the reason you have not lost everything.
You might say God did not do everything you asked for, what about what God did that you did not ask for. Have a thankful, grateful attitude and you will see God step into that relationship.
God is still in the business of turning water into wine. Stay in joy, be a God ‘Praiser’ and he will turn your colourless and tasteless circumstances into joy, gladness and laughter.
CONFESSION FOR THE DAY I have a lifestyle of thanksgiving.
PRAYER FOR THE DAY Father, I ask in the name of Jesus that you give me the grace to praise and thank you at all times.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY I bless God every chance I get; my lungs expand with his praise. –Psalms 34:1 (MSG)
ACTION PLAN FOR THE DAY Choose a convenient hour during the day to just praise God and do that daily.
Our part in the marriage covenant is to obey every instruction in the word of God. This should be your resolve, that your marriage before God is obeying Ephesians 5: 22-26, whether you feel like obeying or not, is not the issue. See what it says;
For wives, this means submit to your husbands as to the Lord. For a husband is the head of his wife as Christ is the head of the church. He is the Savior of his body, the church. As the church submits to Christ, so you wives should submit to your husbands in everything. For husbands, this means love your wives, just as Christ loved the church. He gave up his life for her to make her holy and clean, washed by the cleansing of God’s word. –Ephesians 5:22-26 (NLT)
We also despise whatever we feel or think, which keeps us from obeying the scripture above, just as Jesus despised the shame of the cross. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne. Necessity is laid on us to carry our cross of fulfilling our marriage covenant.
The Bible says;
If you refuse to take up your cross and follow me, you are not worthy of being mine. –Matthew 10:38 (NLT)
We become worthy of the sacrifice of Jesus when we carry our cross daily and follow Jesus. We carry our cross by obeying Him despite how or what we feel like or don’t feel like doing to and for our spouse.
Our marriage is a responsibility that we must not fail to fulfill, it is spelled out in Ephesians 5: 22-26. What husbands should focus on doing as well as what wives should focus on doing, each party must focus on his/her part of the deal.
We owe our spouse to appropriately respond to our part in our covenant with them. To make sure we provide a conducive environment that will not leave our spouse vulnerable to the attacks and lies of the devil.
We owe our spouses to conduct ourselves in such a way that makes them comfortable in our presence; we do this by being submissive, loving, caring, forgiving, available, etc.
We owe our spouses to be covenant partners in all ways and all aspects of our lives and existence, whether spiritual, in the soul realm, or physically.
We owe our spouses to surround them so that we shut the door against the senseless and foolish sin of adultery and every form of emotional affairs.
I pray God grants us understanding.
God bless your marriage.
CONFESSION FOR THE DAY: I will not fail God and my Spouse, I keep the covenant of marriage, and I am a good wife/ husband
PRAYER FOR THE DAY: Father in the name Jesus, I declare that I have the help of the Holy Spirit concerning my life and marriage
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: For wives, this means submit to your husbands as to the Lord. For a husband is the head of his wife as Christ is the head of the church. He is the Savior of his body, the church. As the church submits to Christ, so you wives should submit to your husbands in everything. For husbands, this means love your wives, just as Christ loved the church. He gave up his life for her to make her holy and clean, washed by the cleansing of God’s word. –Ephesians 5:22-26 (NLT)
ACTION PLAN FOR THE DAY: Make a list of the things you need to make amends on and start working on them.
