Eventually, one day came and God brought out Joseph from the prison. He did not just bring him out, He became a ruler!
When he was called, he did something.
Then Pharaoh sent and called Joseph, and they brought him hastily out of the dungeon: and he shaved himself, and changed his raiment, and came in unto Pharaoh. –Genesis 41:14 (KJV)
Learn to dress for your future address as Joseph did. Ladies, learn to dress well without being seductive. Don’t be overly spiritual and be careless with your dressing. The fact is that men are moved by sight, even the very spiritual guys. So learn to dress well.
Wear clothes that fit you very well. Joseph shaved and changed his raiment in order to prepare for where God is taking him. Before you complain that there is no husband, go and fix that hair, dress well and be particular about your appearance.
6. Finally, Joseph was a forgiver!
He forgave his brothers. He didn’t try to fix them or deal with them.
Now, therefore, be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither: for God did send me before you to preserve life. –Genesis 45:5 (KJV)
He allowed the overall plan of God to gain ascendancy over hurts and past wounds. If your relationship, and inevitably marriage will work, you must be a quick forgiver. An unforgiving spirit can hinder you and stop God’s blessings in your life.
The one that violated you while you were little, the one that raped you, the one that took advantage of you, the one that deceived you, the one that used you and dumped you, the one that collected your money and later dumped you, the one that jilted you, the one that was double dating with you, the one that really hurt you badly, the one that slowed down your education.
The one that impregnated you and denied he never met you, the one that ditched you for a richer person, the one you sponsored out of the country and then forgot about you, the one that took your money and your esteem away, the one that stole your dignity, the one that robbed you of your innocence, the one that forcefully violated you, the one that toyed with your emotions, the one that you trusted as a pastor but manipulated you….the list goes on…forgive all of them!
Why forgive? Four reasons:
a. So that God in heaven will also forgive you.
b. So that your heart can be unclogged and you can move on.
c. So that your prayers can be answered.
d. So that the adversity will eventually become an advantage!
Mention their names, and say, so so… I forgive you!
That seems difficult, but do it! That is how to move forward in life. Let go and let God!
I pray for you this morning that God will help you to forgive those you need to forgive! Free yourself. Let your soul escape like a bird out of the snare of the fowler.
If you need to cry to do that, please do, but forgive! God will wipe your tears away and you will forget the shame of your youth!More Lessons From The Life of Joseph
CONFESSION FOR THE DAY I forgive. I am a forgiver! I will not clog my heart with hurts and bitterness
PRAYER FOR THE DAY Pray and ask God to give the grace to be a quick forgiver
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY So now it was not you that sent me hither, but God: and he hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt. –Genesis 45:8 (KJV)
Let’s look at this scripture below well. We will see the faith process. Whether you are believing God for babies, contract, prosperity, or general well-being the process of faith must be completed.
For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith. –Mark 11:23 (KJV)
Let me analyze the faith process here.
1. You must speak to your mountain. Don’t speak about it, speak to it. Address it because you have authority.
2. Speak and give direction to the mountain.
3. Don’t allow doubt in your heart.
4. Believe that you have what you SAY.
5. Then, You will have what you say.
6. Thank God in advance. The faith process is not complete until you thank God by faith for your answers.
The big question is, what are you saying about the situation you are trusting God to see changes?
Do you pray? Declare God’s word and then begin to worry?
Its time as believers to begin to exercise our faith against the attacks of the enemy. Any issue the enemy brings our way is an attack on our faith.
We can deal with the enemy by exercising our faith.
Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. –Ephesians 6:16 (KJV)
With our shield of faith we quench every fiery darts the wicked one throws at us.
When we have issues in our marriage, issues with our spouse, or our in-laws, it is not the person that is the issue. It is the wicked one stirring up issues to steal your joy, peace, prosperity and health.
Rise up in the authority of the Lord and hold up the shield of faith against the fiery darts of the wicked one. There is victory on the other side of faith.
God bless your marriage in Jesus name.
CONFESSION FOR THE DAY I have faith in God, my words align with what I believe God for
PRAYER FOR THE DAY Pray and ask God to give the grace to be steadfast in faith
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith. –Romans 1:17 (KJV)
It is good to get people in your life. This is because no one is an island. In this life, you can’t do it alone, so learn how to have good associations.
What areas can you involve people?
We will look at goal-setting this morning.
You can tell others about your goals. Doing so is not to make you look holy or think less of those who don’t have goals like you.
When people know your goals, they could offer encouragement and support.
You want to start studying the bible and you tell your parents, they could offer to remind you daily to study, as well as ask you questions about what you have read – start up a discussion where you will learn more from them or offer you materials that could help you study well.
Goal setting is best achieved when you have the help, support, and encouragement of others. Why? When your goals seem unachievable, you aren’t too sure about them anymore and feel like giving up totally on them, you will need people to help you.
The Ethiopian eunuch was reading from the book of Isaiah and didn’t understand what it was about. It took the Holy Spirit sending Phillip to him before he could understand, after which he gave his life to Christ.
What do you think the eunuch would have done if Phillip hadn’t come? He probably would have just given up.
Phillip asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?’ He answered, “How can I understand? I need someone to explain it to me!” Then he invited Phillip to climb in and sit with him (Acts 30-31).
Do not go on a solo ride in goal setting. Involve God and others.
God bless you.
Prayer: Lord, help me to understand that I don’t have to do this alone. Help me involve others. Lead me to the right people and help me accept their advice and support. Amen.
Action point: Are there people who can support, encourage, and help you with your goals? If not, prayerfully ask God to show them to you.
Declaration:
I am surrounded by the right set of people. God helps me to set and achieve my goals.
This morning, we are looking at more things singles can learn from the life of Joseph
4. Joseph would not let go of his dream
Joseph held on to his dream despite contradictory circumstances. He refused to give up on God. He had hope. He knew God would not let him down!
I will like you to know this morning that your dreams will still come to pass. Never let go! God’s words will never fall to the ground and He is never too late. Hold on to the horns of the altar and refuse to resign to fate! He that has promised you is also faithful to bring it to pass!
5. Joseph was in the prison but the prison was not in him!
It is one thing to be bound physically, it is another thing to also be bound within! There are many people who are not imprisoned physically but are chained within. There are many people who are walking free but are actually in prison and there are people who are imprisoned but are free within!
Joseph never allowed the prison to enter him. He still went ahead and interpreted a dream for someone in the prison which was to be an act that would later facilitate his exit from the prison. That is something Singles Can Learn From Joseph
Joseph never allowed bitterness and offense to which he had every reason to succumb. He was still trying to help out others with the intent he became the leader in the prison. Despite that he has been sentenced to a special maximum prison where the king’s offenders were kept with no hope of coming out, he did not get bitter!
Never get bitter at God for any reason. You cannot fight your maker and win. You cannot blame God for any woes. God is not mocked. Bitterness at God will only worsen the situation
CONFESSION FOR THE DAY I forgive. I am a forgiver! I will not clog my heart with hurts and bitterness
PRAYER FOR THE DAY Pray and ask God to give the grace to be a quick forgiver
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY Gen 45:8 (KJV) So now it was not you that sent me hither, but God: and he hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt.
The message of faith is fast giving way to other popular messages, especially now. I think in my own opinion that we heard more of ‘how to live by faith’ messages than we do now.
Yet, faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. As a single lady when I was in the university, we were taught how to trust and believe God for stuff. Then we listened to Papa Kenneth Hagin, the Copelands, Creflo and Taffi Dollars, Jerry Savel, Jesse Duplantis, and Bishop Oyedepo. We saw living by faith as a necessity and we had no options but to live by our faith.
It seems to me that as we got married and life began to happen to us, we allow the message of faith to slip by. At that time, we were working-class people, so we didn’t believe in God for stuff as much as we did before.
We simply waited for the next paycheck.
When we felt symptoms in our bodies, we simply notify our HMO, and we get free access to health care. We even felt it was our right to use the hospital since it’s deducted from our salaries.
The problem is that we are gradually losing our cutting edge in exercising our faith.
As believers, we need to exercise our faith daily.
For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith. –Romans 1:17 (KJV)
Our righteousness in God is revealed by our faith. To live a righteous life, to live victorious over fear, a disease, attacks of the enemy, and much more requires faith.
We can never be too mature to use faith. We can never graduate from the school of faith. We have to live by faith. Our existence must be by faith.
Our prayers get answered by faith. We receive our answer to our prayers by faith. There are some issues that will happen in marriage that your way to experience victory will be only when you learn to exercise your faith.
To be continued.
CONFESSION FOR THE DAY I have faith in God, my words align with what I believe God for
PRAYER FOR THE DAY Pray and ask God to give the grace to be steadfast in faith
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith. –Romans 1:17 (KJV)
Hello Champ, we are still on our wisdom series from the book of Proverbs, and there are quite a number of benefits of being wise. If you will agree with me, King Solomon was a very wise man; there is lots of wisdom embedded in his book.
Our focus verse for today is from Proverbs 3: 13-18, let’s see what the bible says!
Blessed is the man who finds wisdom, the man who gains understanding, for she is more profitable than silver and yields better returns than gold. She is more precious than rubies; nothing you desire can compare with her. Long life is in her right hand; in her left hand are riches and honor. Her ways are pleasant ways, and all her paths are peace. She is a tree of life to those who embrace her; those who lay hold of her will be blessed. –Proverbs 3:13-18 (NIV)
Wisdom is one of the best things you can get in life; a person who has wisdom will always be at the top.
Today I want to identify for you the benefits of having wisdom.
1. A person with wisdom is blessed; an example of a blessed man in the bible is Father Abraham.
2. Wisdom is more profitable than silver and gold, these are one of the most valuable things on earth, and the bible still says wisdom is more profitable.
3. You will have long life when you are wise.
4. Wisdom will bring riches to you.
5. Wisdom will make you honourable.
6. You’ll have peace if you have wisdom.
Now you see why you need to be wise. Continue learning from God’s word and keep listening to your parent.
PRAYER: Father in Jesus name, I receive the help of the Holy Spirit to be wise. Amen
ACTION PLAN: Read your Bible today
DECLARATION: I am wise, I am obedient, and I am a good child.
This is a major one! He was offered free intercourse, but he ran away! He refused to get bitter about God because of his experiences and did not allow depression and conflicting emotions to push him into the clutches of available compromise with Potiphar’s wife!
(7) As time went on, his master’s wife became infatuated with Joseph and one day said, “Sleep with me.”(8) He wouldn’t do it. He said to his master’s wife, “Look, with me here, my master doesn’t give a second thought to anything that goes on here–he’s put me in charge of everything he owns.(9) He treats me as an equal. The only thing he hasn’t turned over to me is you. You’re his wife, after all! How could I violate his trust and sin against God?”(10) She pestered him day after day after day, but he stood his ground. He refused to go to bed with her.(11) On one of these days he came to the house to do his work and none of the household servants happened to be there.(12) She grabbed him by his cloak, saying, “Sleep with me!” He left his coat in her hand and ran out of the house. – Gen 39:7-12 MSG
Joseph said; I cannot sin against God! He had the fear of God. This is one of the reasons he became the greatest in Egypt! From prison to a ruler! What Singles Can Learn From Joseph
You see, righteousness exalts! Never ever allow the devil to tell you that you are missing out because you are a child of God. Never envy those who don’t have a relationship with God. David made that mistake too and he envied unbelievers, but he said when he got into God’s presence, then he understood their ends.
Joseph ran away! This is what you do in the face of sexual compromise! That is not the time to start speaking in tongues when he or she has removed his or her clothes! Run away! Flee! That is why God created legs for you!
Don’t come around and say somebody seduced you. Run! Five minutes before the compromise, you will always know what is about to happen. Don’t wait there trying to see what will happen when all the angels have already fled so that their eyes will not behold evil!
What else will happen between a guy and a lady alone in the room, with no light and no candles around 9.00 pm? Run! That is how to preserve your destiny! Run! That is how to fulfill your destiny! Run! Pack out of the house, you are not yet married! Run away because your destiny is greater than the compromise you are entangled with! Free yourself by God’s Spirit and run!
Take a cue from Joseph. But if I leave him, he won’t give me money again! If I leave him, he won’t pay my school fees again, and so on and so forth. That was also the place Joseph found himself. He ran away, and then seemed to land in the prison! But God did not leave him and that is the important thing. Righteousness will eventually exalt you and give you a better platform than exchanging your body for some paltry sums!
CONFESSION FOR THE DAY I am a dreamer. I will not stop dreaming!
PRAYER FOR THE DAY Pray that God will give the strength to say No in the face of compromise
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY Gen 39:2 KJV And the LORD was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian.
Marriage is the place where you will have to come to terms with the practicality of forgiveness. In other relationships, forgiveness is also essential but it may not be as that of marriage.
In marriage, you will have to forgive for the relationship to be healed. You and your spouse cannot avoid each other. You live together, have children together, for the sake of peace and progress, forgiveness is very necessary.
The standard of the Word of God is so high. That’s why it is a narrow road that leads to heaven.
The Bible does not mince words when we are told to love our enemies. Hmmm. I thought we should love our friends and well wishers and stay clear and avoid our enemies.
The bible tells us to love them, and bless those who curse us. That is pretty hard. A hard pill to swallow. I believe that is why we have to live in the spirit so we do not gratify the lust of the flesh.
We need Holy Ghost power. We cannot do it in our own natural strength.
But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; – Matthew 5:44 KJV
Our differences will most often act as threat to our marital union and our mandate as couples. It will pose a problem to our becoming one.
The natural man tends to be selfish and only one that is submitted to Christ and His word can love genuinely.
It is easier for women to hold on to hurts and have difficulty in forgiving. Women hurt deeply essentially because they are emotional being and because they analyse more.
Whichever way, let God be true and every man a liar. The standard of God’s word must be followed. A different gospel is not for men and another for women. We are to follow and obey the same word.
We should allow the Holy spirit to rightly discern the situation and analyse it for us.
God is not saying we should not be hurt, angry or need time to heal. We should do that and then get over it and move on.
That’s where power lies. That’s where victory begins. The Word says we should be angry but we are not permitted to sin.
We sin when we over analyse. There is a spirit way to analyse things that instead of being bitter, we become better.
When we allow bitterness, we open the door for other demons to enter our lives and afflict us. Disobedience opens the door for the enemy of our souls. We open the door for sicknesses, diseases, poverty, disfavor etc.
Joseph could have wasted his life being bitter. He could have lost years by being bitter. He could have lost opportunities. But he choose to enjoy where he was on his way to being better and to where God was taking him to.
Joseph saw his brothers who sold him into slavery and he analysed the situation well by the help of the Holy spirit.
He said what they meant for evil, God used it to preserve many lives. Can you allow that situation to become a tool in the hands of God?
I’m not saying it will be easy. That’s what taking up your cross daily and following God is about.
Couples, learn to give that situation to God. You are reviled, persecuted, unjustly treated, abused, afflicted, cheated etc. Surrender it to the Lord. Give it to Him.
Allow the Holy spirit to make you see what it really is. Until Joseph saw correctly, he could not forgive and forget.
Jesus was able to pass through the cross because he saw well. For the joy set before Him, He endured the cross.
He could say father forgive them,for they know not what they are doing.
God is able to turn things around and make your mess a message that will liberate thousands.
Don’t fight your spouse, forgive and move on. Learn what you are to learn. Don’t be afraid of being misjudged or treated unfairly. Jesus was wrongly and falsely accused. He shut His mouth and didn’t answer back. It was tough, but at the end, He was justified and glorified
Ask the Lord to help you see well and He will come to your aid.
There’s a way to be expectant as children. Do we all remember the story of the blind man in the Bible?
And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out, and say, Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on me. And many charged him that he should hold his peace: but he cried the more a great deal, Thou son of David, have mercy on me. – Mark 10:47-48
What if the blind man had not asked what the surrounding ruckus was about? What if he had just continued begging and minded his business?
Something in him must have stirred him up to ask what was happening. He probably had been nursing a desire to have his sight, and when he heard that Jesus was around, it aroused his expectation.
Quickly, he opened his mouth and screamed the most he had ever done in his life. He knew it was now or never.
He had to have heard of the acts of Jesus to have done what he did. Even when they tried to shut him up, he screamed the more. This was the day he had been waiting for, and nothing or no one would stop him from getting what he wanted.
This was the same Jesus that had been healing people, and someone wanted him to shut up. He gave it his all and never regretted doing so.
Are you expecting to have what you are praying for? Are you listening to the voices telling you your prayers won’t be answered? Allowing people or circumstances to shut you up?
Be like that man and scream the more. Jesus is ready to command you be brought before him. And when you get in front of Jesus, know what you want.
You will never regret calling on Jesus.
Prayer: Lord, give me an expectant heart. Teach me to expect answers to my prayers. Amen.
Action point: Visualize your prayers as answered. See yourself in the light of prayers answered.
Declaration: I am expectant. My miracle will not pass me by.
Well, some people would say he was careless and that if he had hidden his dream, he would not have gone through the ordeals of the pit and then being sold into slavery.
However, I also want you to know that if he had not verbalized his dream, he might not have been sold into slavery and he might not have been transported into Egypt from where he eventually fulfilled his destiny! Talk about God using perceived enemies to fulfill His counsel over your life!
Hear me well this morning! God is using some of the people you hate right now and you think don’t like you to achieve His overall plans for your life! In the end, you will see how everything will eventually add up! Before you fight the person that jilted you, why don’t you wait for the unveiling of the new person God is bringing your way? You will thank him or her later for breaking your heart!
Learn to talk faith and not doubt. Learn to say what you want God to do and not what you are going through in your relationship or as singles. It is a spiritual principle! Say what you will like to happen and not just what has happened or what is happening!
CONFESSION FOR THE DAY I am a dreamer. I will not stop dreaming!
PRAYER FOR THE DAY Pray that God will give the strength to say No in the face of compromise
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY Gen 39:2 KJV And the LORD was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian.
COUPLES – How To Show Respect To Your Spouse – Part 2
What are the practical ways to show respect to yourselves in marriage?
1. Know that your spouse is so very special before God. Your spouse is bought with the precious blood of Jesus. Jesus would have come to die for your spouse alone.
2. Do not yell at your spouse. You may be angry but never yell.
3. Allow freedom of expression. It is okay to be different. That’s why you married in the first place. Men and women are meant to be different.
4. Let your spouse feel safe, secure, and trusted by building mutual respect.
5. When you have opposing opinions which will happen most times, you listen. Your listening shows respect.
6. Respect that your spouse is worth listening to. He/ she has something vital to bring to the table.
7. Allow healthy space when it is needed, it shows respect. Let your spouse be by him/herself, have her own friends, her own things etc
8. Do not control one another. Your relationship is unhealthy when there is the slightest control. God asks us to love, not control. Jesus never controlled the church.
9. Both spouses should admit once they are wrong and sincerely seek forgiveness. Swallow your pride and admit you are wrong and apologize.
10. Never treat one another shabbily, in private or public. Show appreciation for every little thing your spouse does. Don’t take each other for granted.
God bless our marriage.
CONFESSION FOR THE DAY my marriage is blessed in all ramifications.
PRAYER FOR THE DAY Pray that God will enable you to pay the price for the fullness of His blessings in your home.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY Heb 13:4 [AMP]Let marriage be held in honor (esteemed worthy, precious, of great price, and especially dear) in all things. And thus let the marriage bed be undefiled (kept undishonored); for God will judge and punish the unchaste [all guilty of sexual vice] and adulterous.
Dear child, today I write to you on behalf of your mom and Dad. Mom and dad loves you. They want you to always know that they care about you, and they love you from the depth of their hearts.
One of the proofs of their love for you is that they have chosen to expose you the God’s word and the love of Christ at a very tender age, taking you through these devotionals every day is evidence of this fact.
I know you sometimes feel they don’t love you, especially when you are scolded for doing something wrong.
I am about to shock you!
The fact that they scolded and correct you is proof of how much they love you!
I know you won’t believe me, so I will be showing you what the bible says about correction and scolding, you will agree with me that the bible is the ultimate truth. Let’s see what our focus verse for today says.
My son, despise not the chastening of the Lord; neither be weary of his correction: For whom the Lord loveth he correcteth; even as a father the son in whom he delighteth. –Proverbs 3:11-12 (KJV)
Let me make this verse a lot simpler for you.
The bible is saying first of all that God corrects us as his children when his corrects come, we should pay close attention and take it as a warning, and that God corrects those he loves, as parents correct a child they are proud of.
So you see God corrects us, and so do our parents. The role of mummy and daddy is to let us know when we do something wrong and help us do better, even if we get flogged for it.
It’s a child that is loved that gets corrected, today embrace every scolding and correction that comes from your parent, and always strive to do better to make them proud of you.
PRAYER: Lord Jesus, help me to accept corrections at all times. Amen
ACTION PLAN: Tell your parents how much you love them
DECLARATION:
I love my mum and Dad, I cherish their sacrifices.
We all know the story of Joseph and I will like to bring out some salient truths by the Spirit of God as it relates to relationships and marriage.
What God did in the life of Joseph is what you could call a ‘crazy miracle.’ God did not just make him an important man in Egypt, a strange land, he actually became a father unto Pharaoh!
It is like God making you a father unto the King of Dubai! It is as crazy as that! How did Joseph get there? What kind of a person is he?
(4) And Joseph said unto his brethren, Come near to me, I pray you. And they came near. And he said, I am Joseph your brother, whom ye sold into Egypt. (5) Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither: for God did send me before you to preserve life. (6) For these two years hath the famine been in the land: and yet there are five years, in the which there shall neither be earing nor harvest. (7) And God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance.(8) So now it was not you that sent me hither, but God: and he hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt. – Gen 45:4-8 KJV
Here are things to learn
1. Joseph was a dreamer
Never stop dreaming about your life and future. After his first dream, the scripture says that he dreamt yet another dream! Don’t stop visualizing where you want God to take you to or where He has shown you that He is taking you to.
Keep hope alive! It is not out of place to visualize and pray about the kind of relationship, marriage, and home you will like to have. Don’t let the experiences of relatives and your environment suffocate or kill your dream. That nobody has enjoyed his marriage in your family does not mean that would be your experience! No!
To be continued…
CONFESSION FOR THE DAY I am a dreamer. I will not stop dreaming!
PRAYER FOR THE DAY Pray that God will give the strength to say No in the face of compromise
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY Gen 39:2 KJV And the LORD was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man, and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian.
Against contrary opinions, respect in marriage is mutual. People are of the opinion that respect for the husbands is a big deal. Yes, it is. Just as men do not want to be disrespected in private or public, so also do women need a dose of respect.
Men can readily tell what a bruised ego is and in this part of the world, an average man will not tolerate being disrespected in any form, method, shape, or size. In other to have a relationship that is healthy and mutually beneficial, respect has to be mutual.
Some of us don’t even know when we are being disrespected. The gospel of men’s dominance has been preached for so long that women feel they are not worth much, that they are just worthless, less than good, helpless, weaker vessels.
Contrary, women have tremendous strength, ability, knowledge, wisdom, and great dexterity. It takes great strength to be a mother and give birth to a child. To keep a home, multitask, submit to your husband and stay married. All these take great strength.
But if we are going to have a healthy marriage relationship, we would know that submission to one another in the fear of God is essential. A man not submitted to Christ is a difficult man and hard to submit to.
This is not teaching or telling wives not to submit to their husbands. It is addressing the fact that marriage is meant to be mutually beneficial to both the husband and the wife.
What are the practical ways to show respect to yourselves in marriage?
I will write about that tomorrow.
CONFESSION FOR THE DAY My marriage is blessed in all ramifications.
PRAYER FOR THE DAY Pray that God will enable you to pay the price for the fullness of His blessings in your home.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY Heb 13:4 [AMP]Let marriage be held in honor (esteemed worthy, precious, of great price, and especially dear) in all things. And thus let the marriage bed be undefiled (kept undishonored); for God will judge and punish the unchaste [all guilty of sexual vice] and adulterous.
Do you know how to honour God with your substance? It’s never too early to learn some things in life. Why do I say this? Every lesson we have learned from the book of Proverbs was written by King Solomon to his son!
He wrote to us little children, so that when we become adults, it will be easy for us to do things as God’s children.
Let’s see today’s focus verse!
Honour the LORD with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase: So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine. —Proverbs 3:9-10(KJV)
All of God’s instructions to us, is accompanied with a reward if we are obedient.
The Bible is teaching us as little children to Honour God, not just with our words, and in our hearts, but also with our substance and the first fruit of our increase! What does it mean to honour God with our substance?
Our substance is whatever we have. In this age the equivalent of our substance is money.
As children of God, we should learn to honour God with every token given to us by our parents.
It’s not too early to set aside your offerings from what Mummy and Daddy gives you.
When you get a token during the holidays from grandparents, uncles and aunties, learn to set aside what you will use to honour God.
The bible also says you should honour God with the first fruit of your increase.
It’s not too early for you to learn how to give a tenth to God. That’s another way of honouring God!
What does the Bible promise if we do this?
So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine. —Proverbs 3:10(KJV)
There will be blessings everywhere, for you and your parents, because they gave you what you are using to honour God.
Remember Abraham, he wasn’t the only blessed one, the people around him were blessed too because of him. That can be you, and everyone around you can be blessed because of you.
Prayer: Teach me to honour you at all times oh Lord. Amen
Action point: Set aside part of what you earn to honour God. Ask your parents to help you.
There is something about a person that is willing to wait. He wanted something more spiritual and enduring than some passing fleeting moment of physical pleasure or satisfaction.
He is not about to lose his testimony because he saw a girl that dressed somehow. He is not about to kick at the pricks because of lack of self-control. He is not about to jeopardize the salvation of his soul because of some pleasure!
You see, it is about value! She is not about to sleep with a man because of some money! She is not about to sell her body in exchange for school fees! The list goes on and on!
Esau syndrome is saying you cannot wait till marriage before having intercourse. Esau syndrome is sleeping with an Ex or with a colleague for whatever reason. Esau’s syndrome is sleeping with men in exchange for money to meet your needs instead of trusting God to meet your needs. Esau syndrome is sleeping with your boss to secure a position.
Verse 17 says “For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears.”
May we not be rejected when it comes to the fullness of God’s blessings! May our eyes be open to see the consequences of some actions that we feel do not matter. May we not exchange God’s blessings, support, and favour for some few minutes of pleasure that is sure to bring regrets later.
Before you are caught up in some guilt this morning over some things you might have done wrong, I want you to know that in God there is a place for repentance and restoration. That is the beauty of serving God. Jesus paid the price for all your sins, and you stand forgiven if you can embrace God’s love.
And that is what I want you to do rather than get into some pity party. Also, don’t allow the devil to tell you that it is too late or that you are too far gone. God is a rewriter of destinies, a re-molder of lives, and the one that can make you forget the shame of your youth! He is the one that can give you double joy for every trouble you have been through! Run to Him now!
I pray for you that you will not fail of the grace of God. God’s favour will work for you!
CONFESSION FOR THE DAY Lord, I receive the grace to wait for you
PRAYER FOR THE DAY Pray that God’s Spirit will help you to live right.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY Gen 25:32 AMP Esau said, See here, I am at the point of death; what good can this birthright do me?
ACTION PLAN FOR THE DAY Cut off your association with any person, place or thing that is influencing you negatively.
