The Weapon of Delilah Today. We started on this yesterday. We will conclude today. The next question is how did Delilah get Samson eventually despite that Samson knew she wanted to deliver him to his enemies? You see it right there!
Jdg 16:16 KJVAnd it came to pass, when she pressed him daily with her words, and urged him, so that his soul was vexed unto death;
She pressed him with words! This is The Weapon of Delilah Today
The lesson here is simple. Once you can see that a person is not the type of person to relate with, disconnect fast. If you give some allowance, you will be pressed with ‘words!’
See The Message Translation
Jdg 16:16 (MSG) She kept at it day after day, nagging and tormenting him. Finally, he was fed up—he couldn’t take another minute of it.
Words are spirits! The moment you start going out on an innocent date with that inappropriate person, you will be pressed with words. Your soul will be so much vexed and before you know it, you’ve started eating what you know will kill you!
If he or she is not a child of God, run! If he or she is not your spouse, run! If you allow yourself to be pressed with words, you will compromise!
The second card that Delilah played is here: Jdg 16:15 MSG She said, “How can you say ‘I love you’ when you won’t even trust me? Three times now you’ve toyed with me, like a cat with a mouse, refusing to tell me the secret of your great strength.”
How many times have you heard that from folk demanding sex in a courtship?
“If you really love me, bla…bla…bla.”
I have shown you two strategies that were used to ‘finish’ The Weapon of Delilah Today. Samson’s destiny! Delilah here can be a guy or a lady.
Learn from that wisdom. A word is enough for the wise. May God grant you the wisdom and strength to run away from every ‘Delilah’ in your life!
CONFESSION FOR THE DAY I am protected
PRAYER FOR THE DAY Lord, shield me from enemies who say they are friends
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY Joh 15:12 (KJV) This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.
Ten Good Habits of Great Couples. A lot of married couples are often caught up in the hustles and bustles of life and become distracted. Here is a reminder list of what you should do regularly to each other and how to go about it.
Ten Good Habits of Great Couples. 1. The Praying Couple
Pray for her. Let it be genuine. This helps you to harness the help of God to come to bear for you.
2. The Calling Couple Whether you will see each other later in the day is not the issue, the issue is that communication is the live wire of any relationship or marriage that will survive. Keep in touch. Send SMS. Use chats.
3. The Exchanging Couple It doesn’t have to be expensive! But let it be touching. Notice what I wrote, exchange gifts; not collect gifts! Those little gestures help to keep the fire of your relationship and marriage aflame.
4. The Sharing Couple Share with him or her what God is dealing with you in His word. Whatever God tells you in your devotion or in your personal walk with God, will also bless him or her as long as it blesses you.
5. The Encouraging Couple You are his number-one fan. You are her number-one fan. Don’t discourage each other. Don’t dissipate your energy on criticism. Be aware that your input goes a long way because you are the closest person.
6. The Forgiving Couple Forgive each other so that your heavenly father will forgive you also. You are not perfect, are you? So don’t become a judge, rather lovingly overlook and forget any mistakes that are meant to show up.
7. The Correcting Couple Do you know it takes up to nine affirming statements to be able to accommodate and see one criticism as it should be seen? But you know what people do is give nine brutally critical statements and one of none of affirming statements. It will not yield any positive result like that.
8. The Obedient Couple Seek to help each other in obeying God’s instructions. You are the greatest influence. Don’t encourage him or her to sin. Stand on the path of truth and help him or her to resist temptations.
9. The Balanced Couple Don’t feed each other’s weaknesses. Rather, you should balance him or her out, because you will always have strength in areas where he or she is weak. Be available to help him stand. Be there to help her say No to iniquity. Don’t be seen as a partner in crime, or partner in iniquity. Let him or her be able to say, I trust my spouse; he will never compromise. Trust one another and protect your trust.
10. The Accountable Couple Be accountable together. Make sure you have a mentor you talk to from time to time. Sometimes, very intense issues and disagreements are dissolved with a few statements. Well, that is the grace of God upon our lives and upon this ministry; to provide positive intervention in crisis-laden marriages and to provide godly counsel for those in courtship. Accountability to those who have done what you are trying to do is a lot of wisdom. Stay close to these devotionals that have been succor to a lot of marriages and relationships across the world, discuss them from time to time and keep on making adjustments! So help us, God! These are the Ten Good Habits of Great Couples.
CONFESSION FOR THE DAY I respect my spouse out of respect and honor for God.
PRAYER FOR THE DAY God, I receive grace to love my spouse in my relationship.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY Eph 4:27 (KJV) Neither give place to the devil.
ACTION PLAN FOR THE DAY Find practical ways to be a great couple
How To Deal With Delilahs Today. The story of Samson and Delilah will never cease to amaze me. Samson was called by God, anointed, and appointed. He was one of the privileged few whose birth was announced by an angel! His birth and assignment were that significant.
However, he had a terrible weakness, and that is women! Samson was a womanizer. He would see a woman and completely lose his bearing. His erection would become his direction.
Jdg 16:1 KJV Then went Samson to Gaza, and saw there an harlot, and went in unto her.
He was uncontrollable when it came to girls! Despite that he was anointed and appointed, he eventually became a disappointment because he would not deal with his weakness.
He was so undisciplined that all he needed to lose his bearing was just to ‘see’ a woman. At one time, he saw a lady and he could not speak his language correctly! He said, “…get her for me to wife!”
Jdg 14:2 KJV And he came up, and told his father and his mother, and said, I have seen a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines: now therefore get her for me to wife.
This is the kind of person Samson was. The result? His eyes were gouged out and he was caught off in the midst of his days.
How To Deal With Delilahs Today. Delilah wanted to find out the secret of Samson’s power with the intent of killing him. Samson knew Delilah wanted to set him up and yet he refused to disconnect from her. Three times, Samson deceived Delilah about the secret of his power, and those three times, the Philistines came upon him to kill him, so Samson knew really well what was Delilah’s intention. Yet he clung to Delilah and would not let go.
How many of us are in this kind of scenario today? We find ourselves in an ungodly relationship, that we know is heavily compromised and yet we would not let go! You find yourself to be in love with a person that constantly abuses you and yet you did not run for your life. You find yourself in love with the one that is not in love with you. You find yourself to be in love with a person that does not value you. You find yourself in love with a person that beats you up at any little provocation and yet you cling to that relationship.
You can see that the person you are amorously in love with is leading you straight to hell, yet you cling to the person. You can see that the person you love is about to introduce you into the world of illicit drug use, and yet you stay there professing your love! You can see that the person you met in the church is not really a child of God by virtue of what he or she has done to you and with you and yet you refuse to heed warnings.
My advice to you this morning is simple. Don’t become another Samson. You are gifted, don’t let it end with asking God to let you die! Don’t let it culminate in you being delivered right into your enemies’ hands. Don’t let it get to the point where your spiritual eyes are dismembered, and you can longer behold the perfect law of liberty! Don’t let it be that the brother or sister that has been greatly used by God is now a pitiable sight to behold.
Run for your life! If Samson had run, maybe he would have been saved. But his undisciplined life led him to his death. Flee! That is what the scripture says. When the scripture says run, do not say ‘let’s reason together!’ This is How To Deal With Delilahs Today
CONFESSION FOR THE DAY I am kept by God’s power
PRAYER FOR THE DAY Lord, protect me from evil
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY Psa 119:22 (KJV) Remove from me reproach and contempt; for I have kept thy testimonies.
Identifying The Wrong Voices In Marriage. God is a good God. God speaks to us. The devil is a bad devil. He also attempts to speak to us. That is why the scripture declares:
Joh 10:4-5 (MKJV) And when he puts forth his own sheep, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him. For they know his voice. [5] And they will not follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.
As children of God, God speaks to us as a father will speak to his children. When we listen to His voice, we will not get into problems. When we disregard His voice, we start listening to another voice. The moment we don’t flee or run away from that voice, we get into a serious mess.
When we make up our minds to listen to God and fill our hearts with His word daily and consistently, we will not listen or take heed to the voice of the evil one. That is why the way Jesus refuted and refused to listen to the voice of the devil during the temptation was to speak out God’s word. Three times he was tempted, three times he said, ‘It is written…’ What if he doesn’t know what is written?
This morning, by the Spirit of God, I want to identify ten areas where we might have been listening to the wrong voice. It comes in subtle ways mostly.
The devil often uses people and situations to speak to us. We must be careful. Here are the people and voices the devil often uses.
Identifying The Wrong Voices In marriage.
1. The user’s voice I can marry her, but I don’t have to be committed to her
2. The deceiver’s voice I don’t have to let my spouse know everything, or else the marriage can be jeopardized.
3. The religious voice Everybody has a lover somewhere, God must accommodate that or we will all go to hell.
4. The foolish voice As long as I have a prophet somewhere that I consult and prays for me, I can continue with my lifestyle.
5. The sensual voice I am not sure of my spouse’s commitment. I can as well explore and also live my life.
6. The greedy voice I can collect money from him to help my spouse. After all, it’s for the family. It’s for us and that can be a secret. If I don’t do it, we will be hungry.
7. The unbeliever’s voice My family does not need Jesus. I have enough money. It is poor and hungry people that go around praying. Are you Identifying The Wrong Voices In Marriage already?
8. The self-righteous voice I don’t want my family to be fanatical. We don’t have to go to church. The church is full of hypocrites.
9. The carnal voice I serve God passionately and I give. But God knows that addictions cannot really go like that. I will keep on working on it and one day God might even give me a sign to stop.
10. The confused voice The only way to keep this man married to me is to allow him have his way with other ladies out there. As long as he doesn’t bring them home, he can do whatever he wants. Life is give and take, I can’t be policing him around, since he doesn’t disturb me from doing what I am doing.
Well, all the above statements are defective These types of statements are defective statements indicative and symptomatic of deeper spiritual problems. They are belief systems that are sure to crack and leave you cracked. That will not be your portion in Jesus’ name.
If you are married, and one or more of the above seems to be the scenario, you will need to pray a lot for God’s help and intervention and then seek counseling as well.
In life, God has laid out His principles and when we deviate from them, things will not work out however we try because the scripture cannot be broken! In any way where you seem lacking, God will forgive, forget, redeem and restore as necessary when you genuinely repent.
Why not call upon Him this morning?
CONFESSION FOR THE DAY I will not be confused
PRAYER FOR THE DAY Lord, give me a sensitive heart
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY Eph 4:27 (KJV) Neither give place to the devil.
ACTION PLAN FOR THE DAY Refuse to listen to or entertain the wrong voice
Tender Loving Care For Married Couples. In the below verse, there are three instructions that I believe every married couple should take cognizance of.
Eph 4:32 (KJV) And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.
1. Be kind to one another
2. Be tenderhearted.
3. Forgive one another
These three instructions will go a long way to help couples in relating with one another and also help in managing a lot of issues.
A kind husband living with a kind wife will minimize unnecessary quarrels. This is what Tender Loving Care For Married Couples is all about
Then it says to be tender-hearted.
That is, let your hearts be tender towards each other.
Do you know how a mother is tender towards a day-old baby?
How does she handle her, feed her, carry her and nurture her?
What if you are tender this way to your loved one?
You won’t shout at each other.
The husband will never lift his hands against his wife.
The wife will never use abusive words on her husband.
Then it talks about forgiving one another.
And this is powerful.
Don’t be bitter towards each other. Forgive easily and quickly.
Take a look at the Message translation:
Eph 4:32 (MSG) Be gentle with one another, sensitive. Forgive one another as quickly and thoroughly as God in Christ forgave you.
Be gentle.
Be sensitive.
Let forgiveness be quick and thorough.
Do not forgive halfway.
Finally, let’s take a look at the amplified Version:
Eph 4:32 (AMP) And become useful and helpful and kind to one another, tenderhearted (compassionate, understanding, loving-hearted), forgiving one another [ readily and freely ], as God in Christ forgave you.
Take a look at the words used.
Compassionate. Understanding. Loving.
This attitude will eliminate screaming at each other, shouting at each other, being at each other’s neck, being vindictive, being in strife, being violent at each other, and speaking wrong words at each other. This is Tender Loving Care For Married Couples
I pray that God will grant us more understanding.
I pray for your marriages, that God will abate every storm and crush every opposition in Jesus name!
The plans of the devil over your marriage are destroyed in Jesus’ name!
Be blessed!
CONFESSION FOR THE DAY I will love my spouse with tender loving care
PRAYER FOR THE DAY Lord, give us a tender heart
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY Luke 1:78 (CEV) God’s love and kindness will shine upon us like the sun that rises in the sky.
ACTION PLAN FOR THE DAY Give your spouse some TLC!
