Who are you voting for? The Batists, the Artikulates, or the Obidients? In Nigeria’s political landscape today, we have three main contenders and they have creatively given themselves brand names, as derived from the names of the presidential aspirants.
The populace is divided into these three camps, and sentimentally too.
So, Who are you voting for?
Whoever you vote for or whoever has the most votes will become the president of this nation. His ideas would be foisted over 200 Million people.
His policies will be given the time of day! He will decide for us. He will rule over us.
The populace will leave through his ideas and policies. We will be constrained by his intellect and thought patterns.
He will decide for us. He will sign papers that might be beneficial or detrimental to us and our generations!
Before you vote, think!
But that is not where I am going this morning, the Nigerian political landscape is just helping me to arrive at a spiritual landscape.
Who you vote for takes control of your life via police and decisions at the National level.
So this is where I am going. Who are you voting for?
Rom 6:12 (MSG) That means you must not give sin a vote in the way you conduct your lives. Don’t give it the time of day.
Don’t give sin a vote! If you do, sin will take control of your life! Sin will dictate the direction of your life and will keep you bound, often leading you to where don’t want to go! You remember “They are carrying me to where I want to go o!”
That is exactly what sin does. It holds you by the jugular and leads you into dark areas of life.
But I want to be free! I want to leave my life! Let me freely vote for who I want.
Well, here is the response:
Romans 6:16 (MSG) Hardly. You know well enough from your own experience that there are some acts of so-called freedom that destroy freedom. Offer yourselves to sin, for instance, and it’s your last free act. But offer yourselves to the ways of God and the freedom never quits. All your lives you’ve let sin tell you what to do.
Voting for sin becomes your last free act, just as voting for aspirants becomes your last free act for the next four or eight years! They take charge after that. That is what sin does!
God wants you back! Will you consecrate yourself afresh this morning? Will you stay away from that sexual sin? Will you focus on your spouse and stop dining with the devil on the adulterous dining table?
Who are you voting for?
I choose to vote for God like Joseph did when Mrs. Potiphar wanted to fry his destiny! He ended up in the palace.
I choose not to vote for sin as Samson did and his freedom was taken when his eyes were gouged out! He ended up taking his life!
Don’t Lose Hope Now! Hey, dear Singles and Couples! So, God has helped us and it has been over two decades of marriage! But to tell you the truth, it has not been one straight road. There have been bends, curves, potholes, and more! But His goodness, love, and benevolence never left us once!
So many crooked ways along the way, but God did promise to make the crooked places straight! Don’t Lose Hope Now!
Isa 45:2 (KJV) I will go before thee, and make the crooked places straight: I will break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron:
So much heat along the way, enough heat to dry up every ounce of marital ecstasy, but God did promise that the heat will not smite us!
Psa 121:6 (KJV) The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night.
Marital waters so deep we thought we would be drowned and completely submerged but God did not allow it!
So much fire, so intense and fiery we thought we will come out completely baked into some burnt loaves that couldn’t be served, but we are still fresh like the five loaves, Jesus was still handing us out to be blessings because he said the fire would not burn us! Don’t Lose Hope Now!
Isa 43:2 (KJV) When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.
Turns, twists, and meanders that navigated into the wilderness, and all ways seemed blocked, but they were momentary, the GOD GPS system worked right there, and the course was charted!
Isa 43:2 (KJV) When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.
I can go on and on, but I am simply here this morning to let you know, that God is with you and will not leave you alone.
The challenges as a single are overwhelming, I know, the situation as a couple is intense and fiery, yes I know, but do not lose hope in Him. His love for you is eternal, His assurance for you is steadfast, His grace for you is unlimited and His mercy is everlasting! Don’t Lose Hope Now!
Heb 10:35 (KJV) Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompence of reward.
Call upon Him now! He promised to listen! Yes, He promised to listen! Have a conversation with Him. Consecrate yourself this morning and start over with Him. He will hold you by the right hand, strengthen you from within, and carry you into victory! Don’t Lose Hope Now!
More Causes of Marital Delay. We started on this yesterday and we will continue this morning
3. You have taken over God’s business
Again, you can bring delay when you try to take over God’s job in your decision of who to get married to. God wants to lead but when you decide to lead yourself, you can bring unnecessary delays.
There are some jobs that are meant for Jehovah, but you are human. Only God knows the right spouse for you. It is good to seek His face and then trust His direction because most of the time, what God is telling you does not settle with your reasoning.
This is not to say that God will lead you to somebody you dislike or you hate and you will now be forced to marry somebody you don’t like. There is nothing like that. God is not an author of confusion. You may not like the person God shows you the very first time you set eyes on him or her, because he or she is still a stranger. But as you get close and become friends, you will come to love this person. Don’t ever marry somebody you dislike or you don’t love because God is “leading” you. There is nothing like that.
4. You have unrealistic wishes
When you have unrealistic wishes, it can actually cause delays. Too many romantic novels, Korean movies, Indian films, and all that can actually drive you to a place of wishful thinking and desires that are unrealistic.
Marriage comes with pressures and frictions caused by temperamental differences and personality disparities, which are visible even at the friendship stage. If you keep getting out of relationships out of the slightest provocation, then you are causing delays. Once you are led by God, the person is born again, Spirit-filled, has the fear of God, has a vision and a purpose, and you are attracted to the person, leave the rest to God!
5. You disregard and disrespect people
People are easily turned off when you have a negative attitude, or you are not courteous. It can actually turn away a potential suitor. Nobody wants to marry an angry, negative-attitude person. It is good to work on yourself when your parents, pastor, friends, and siblings have complained about the same thing. They are not all wrong, you are the one that needs to make amend with the help of the Holy Spirit
6. The purpose and sovereignty of God
Finally, there can be some form of delay because of the sovereignty of God. The purpose of God actually transcends your personal desires. Interestingly, the same purpose of God can speed up marriage when you are not even thinking of it.
If it is the purpose of God, what you see as delay will eventually bring smiles to you because you will rejoice at the end.
Conclusively, make sure you are not bringing a self-imposed delay on yourself with the aforementioned.
The other twist is those who are already married and feel God has not answered their prayers about their spouse’s salvation. Let me encourage you, God will answer your prayers. Keep praying, and never give up, until you see the travails of your heart. God is listening to every bit of your prayers and He will answer you with surety.
I pray that God will help you to make needed changes as a single and lead you into His plans for your lives. You will not be confused.
Singles Conference 2022 is some weeks away! Ensure you are around. The spirit causing the delay will be crushed! And we will be teaching you things you need to do from your end as well. The Spirit of Grace will come upon you and make things easy for you. Find links to register below!
Causes of Marital Delay. When I mean delay, I mean those that have been waiting for a while.
For some, nobody is showing up at all. For some, a few people are showing up and for some, too many people are showing up, just that they don’t seem to be the right people. For some others, it is always “un-marriageable” people. Here are a few scenarios that you need to check to know that all is well from your end.
Causes of Marital Delay
1. You are looking for the perfect person
If you are looking for the perfect person, there will always be some form of delay. You want that person that is totally packaged from heaven, spiritual, sound, can dissect the scriptures, can quote the scriptures and can engage you in spiritual discourse.
The reality is that you will never be able to know that perfect spiritual person because everybody is a project in the making. Knowing a spiritual person is not by the tongues such a person is speaking or by the activities in the church, all that can be successfully staged.
Again, there are many people who sound and appear spiritual as singles but become the most carnally minded after marriage because of the pressures that come with marriage.
Your judgment of who is spiritual and who is not may cause delays, because people usually come as raw materials and not finished products.
This is not to say that you should settle for an unbeliever, but if you are going to eliminate this tendency, you will need to appreciate the people that God sends into your life and not discard them like a piece of paper because they fell short in a certain area.
I still remember the brother who broke up with a sister because all her tongue was “sandal, sandal, sandal… the brother wondered when she will get to buy shoes!
Causes of Marital Delay
2. You are looking for the handsome or beautiful person
Attraction is necessary for deciding who to marry and I always say you should make sure you are attracted to the person you will eventually marry.
But when you are looking for that perfect person in terms of appearance that you have in your mind, you can actually delay yourself.
You see, there is a downside to everybody. Nobody will perfectly fit into the exact picture and definition of “completely handsome” or completely beautiful” in your mind. You will need to eventually drop some of your “stiff and strict” qualities if you really want to get married. After all, it is not as if you are perfect in your own appearance as well.
I will give you an example. You have always wanted a tall and fair lady. Now God sends Sister Sube into your life and she is tall and fair. She matches exactly the picture you have in mind, but the only thing is that she doesn’t fit into one of your desired qualities, which is the fact that she doesn’t have a straight nose. Her nose is flat, but you wanted somebody whose nose is straight like the lady you saw in that film as a teenager! For that reason, you concluded it is not God’s will. You may be wrong!
Another example, Brother Zerubabbel is the exact picture of the husband you’ve been praying for. He is spiritual, he has a hunger for knowledge, he can pray, he is a graduate, he has a good job, he has the exact height you want, he is dark and you have become close friends. The only thing is that his pronunciation is not polished. For example, He pronounces “three” as “tiri” and that irritates you. He pronounces “computer” as “kon-poo-taa” and that irritates you more. For that reason, you said it couldn’t be God!
Well, you may be wrong! Insignificant issues that can be conquered with some learning, polishing, fine-tuning, and adjustments should not be turned into gargantuan reasons for not getting married to a particular person
I will conclude on the Causes of Marital Delay tomorrow. Good morning!
Singles Conference 2022 is some weeks away! Ensure you are around. The spirit causing the delay will be crushed! And we will be teaching you things you need to do from your end as well. The Spirit of Grace will come upon you and make things easy for you. Find links to register below!
5 Reasons Why She Is Emotional. Women are simply emotional beings! They are sentimental. Their way of thinking is miles apart from that of a man and they can be very illogical. You must understand and embrace this part about them and help bring the much-needed balance without creating issues.
That was how I got married and then any little thing somebody would be crying. I was like, what’s this? Lol…
By the way, today is my wife’s birthday! Some of you will be used to that now….anniversary yesterday, birthday today. Help me say a word of prayer for her!
Back to our topic, why are the womenfolk sentimental? I will be writing about women, both singles and married, so that men can understand who they are dealing with. 5 Reasons Why She Is Emotional
Their Instincts
Yes, their instincts are responsible for why they can be very emotional. Particularly, the maternal instinct can make them overly protective and have exaggerated responses to something a man will be cool with.
Every man has to understand this or else there will be unnecessary issues here and there.
5 Reasons Why She Is Emotional
2. Past Traumatic Event
If there has been some traumatic experience while growing up, especially if it has to do with some form of abuse, this can affect responses to people and issues. It would be so subtle that it wouldn’t be noticeable, but it would be there.
As the man, you must be willing to lovingly help out till there is total healing in the emotions.
5 Reasons Why She Is Emotional
3. Their Hormones
Estrogen hormones can cause fluctuations. When there is a surge of this hormone, several emotions can run, fly, swim and do all together at the same time.
They become even more emotional during their cycles and there are different things that happen during this time. Some women can be in pain for a whole week because of this while some just breeze through like nothing is happening! Hormonal imbalance can add more to the waterworks.
5 Reasons Why She Is Emotional
4. Women use their brains more
Men use the left side of their brains, which is why they are logical. Women use both sides of the brain! They can interpret situations in more depth than men!
They feel more, they sense things more, and little things affect them more.
Rather than the man saying something like” Why would this small thing make you cry or withdrawn? The wise man should show empathy.
5 Reasons Why She Is Emotional
5. Their Stress Level
When someone is feeling stressed, the Oxytocin hormone is released. When a man is stressed, their testosterone reduces the effects of oxytocin, which makes them aggressive and angry.
However, women have Estrogen, which enhances oxytocin. When this happens, the effects make her feel calm and caring.
Men hardly express their feelings and thoughts, so they react with anger or aggression. Instead of solving things by talking, they are always ready to “fight.”
On the other hand, women tend to want to talk it out so they can express their feelings that way.
Men feel like fighting their way out of their problems. Women want to talk their way out of any problem.