We must accept the uniqueness of our spouse and that of our marriage. No two marriages are the same and no two spouses are the same. There are no two people who have gone through the same things, in the same way, the same measure, and come out the same way.
Apply the principle of Jesus and His word to the uniqueness of your marriage.
In counseling, glean the principles and apply it to your situation putting in mind the uniqueness of your spouse.
Did you miss out on yesterday’s devotional, we’ve got you covered kindly go HERE. For KHC video Devotionals kindly go HERE
Every walk with God is a personal journey, so know God for yourself. Also, note that what worked for spouse A may not work for spouse B.
Don’t compare your marriage or spouse to another spouse. Only fools compare rather than accept the uniqueness of their marriage
8. Love
Love is the conclusion of the law. The whole subject of marriage is about love. If you don’t love your spouse, then why get married to them?
1 Cor 13 sums up what love is. Check your life and daily see how much you are walking in love with your spouse.
Marriage is about those who can love as Christ loves the church, giving Himself for it.
You cannot love and cheat on your spouse. You cannot love your spouse and not take care of Him/her.
May God grant us more understanding.
CONFESSION FOR THE DAY My marriage will be glorious.
PRAYER FOR THE DAY Lord, help me to forgive my spouse, no matter how difficult it may appear.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY 1 Corinthians 13:13 (KJV) And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.
Decide to be better in the coming year. As the year runs out, it’s time to take stock of how you have spent the year. Look at what you have achieved and what you have not achieved.
It is time to start preparing for another year and how to be better.
Areas to prepare for include:
a. Your spiritual life:
How did it go? How was your relationship with God? How much of fellowship with the Holy Spirit did you have? How much of God’s word were you able to store up?
b. Academics:
Did you improve in your grades? Did you make more friends in school? Did your teachers commend you over your general wellbeing?
c. Health:
How often did you see the physician? Were you conscious of your food intake? Did you fill your stomach with junks and unhealthy foods?
Other areas include personal growth, social endeavors, and so on.
Do a breakdown or get the help of an adult to do so.
Her needs are specialized and peculiar. They are different from your own needs. From spiritual needs to physical needs and emotional needs, you have to find out!
You will immediately discover her preferences, that what excites you on Television doesn’t not tickle her fancy! Find out and seek to meet those needs!
3. Understand her Language
Her language is like her password. It could be gifts, words of affirmation, quality time, physical touch or acts of service.
You don’t communicate to her on your own terms but on her own terms.
Find out her definition of “romantic” and go after that. The definition of the word “romantic” is not what you find in a dictionary, but there is a dictionary in her mind with its own definition like no other, authored by her, and you have to find a way to retrieve that dictionary and check the definition which would often be different from what you think.
4. Understand her pressures
She usually has pressures. Most times, she is not even seeking for those pressures to be taken away, because they are often necessities of life.
She just wants to know that there is somebody who understands what she is going through.
Many years ago, my wife explained this to me. She was pouring her hearts to me, and expounding her pressures and at a point I bursted out;
“Hey! I am not the Holy Spirit. I cannot take these things away!”
“And then she looked at me and said,
“I know you are not the Holy Spirit. I am not asking you to solve these issues, I only want to have a feeling somebody understands what I am going through!
Wow! That is what that lady in your life wants! An understanding heart and that takes the pressures off.
She just wants an understanding, loving and caring man!
Unfortunately, most times, single ladies look for this in wrong places and often fall into the hands of men who are only looking for sexual gratification.
If you are a single lady, make your needs known to God and never offer your body in exchange for some care that will vaporise the next minute!
Wait for the process of meeting that right man who will love you appropriately and will take care of you!
May God grant you strength in your inner man to cooperate with God.
CONFESSION FOR THE DAY I choose to understand my partner.
PRAYER FOR THE DAY I receive wisdom to understand my partner.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY Eph 3:17-19 (KJV) That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love.
We have been looking at the topic “Tips To Having A Graceful Marriage” for two days now and we will continue today.
God wants our marriages to be graceful. He wants us as husband and wife to glide on the wings of Grace.
There is an unforced rhythm of grace that belongs to every couple if we learn to watch Jesus, learn how he behaves and follow after Him.
The marital life is lived just by following the outline in His word.
The principle is ‘whatever He tells you to do, do it’ John 2:5
Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.” – Matt 11:29-30 (MSG)
God wants us to walk with Him and work with Him. He wants us to keep company with Him and not be distracted in any way. As we do this, our marriages begin to enjoy the unforced rhythms of Grace.
We begin to glide and we find our relationship sweeter than ever.
Did you miss out on yesterday’s devotional, we’ve got you covered kindly go HERE. For KHC video Devotionals kindly go HERE
It is in marriage that we get hurt the most. We don’t get as hurt with our colleagues at work, and our friends don’t hurt us as deeply as our spouse.
Because we live together and are committed to each other, our spouse hurt us so deeply. The issue is while we are trying to understand each other and minimize the hurt, we must forgive.
It is a must in marriage. We must come to a point where we practice advance forgiveness.
Settle it in your heart that there is nothing my spouse can ever do that will be difficult for me to forgive.
Most of us hold on to the error of our spouse. We must learn to forgive quickly and move on.
When we refuse to forgive, it is like a breach in the spirit. With unforgiveness in our marriage, we open the door for the devil to afflict us.
May the devil not have access to our homes in Jesus’ name.
To be continued tomorrow.
God bless our marriage.
CONFESSION FOR THE DAY My marriage will be glorious.
PRAYER FOR THE DAY Lord, help me to forgive my spouse, no matter how difficult it may appear.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY Matthew 11:29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
You have to set goals for the new year. 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.
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.
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.
Women are generally emotionally complex than men. Their emotions are endlessly and intricately intertwined!
Women are deep. That is why they can hold a baby for nine months without bulging. Have you ever left a baby alone with a man for thirty minutes?
That is why God listens to them because they understand what it means to travail. They know what it means to hold a growing life and then birth that life at the right time.
Understanding a lady is a journey!
A guy who had been in courtship for seven months sat in my office and said he knows everything about his fiancé. I chuckled. He probably doesn’t understand anything about her.
I have been married to my wife for twenty two years, and yet I am not quick to want to say I understand her.
I once heard a man who had been married for fifty years saying he just discovered one new thing about his wife! Lobatan!
So, how do you begin the journey of understanding a woman? I am just going to give you ideas ni o!
1. Understand her God
One of the most sure ways to understand that special lady in your life is to seek to understand her maker.
Nobody understands a product like the manufacturer of that product.
Nobody, no human being will ever understand her like God would.
So, the beginning of the journey is when the man develops a conscious relationship with God. When you are rooted in God’s love, God will now cause His love to be shed abroad in your hearts.
As you begin to understand the breadth, the length and the depth and height of this love, this will give you a wisdom that surpasses every effort in trying to understand her, and you will know how to do the right things that will unlock her creativity and make her feel loved.
That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God. – Eph 3:17-19 (KJV)
To be continued…
CONFESSIONFOR THE DAY I choose to understand my partner.
PRAYER FOR THE DAY I receive wisdom to understand my partner.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY Eph 3:17 (KJV) That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love.
Yesterday, we looked at two of these tips, which are 1.Giving 2.Respect.
We will continue on this topic this morning.
3. ACCEPT
There is a great need for accepting your spouse. There is a difference between not accepting your spouse and loving them as they are.
Every character issue or difference our spouse’s show now have always been with them when we were courting. The difference between now and then is that we accepted those character flaws because we were in love.
Love truly is blind but in marriage, our eyes are opened, hallelujah.
Accept your spouse for who they are. We are not giving to change our spouses. Only God’s word and His Spirit can change them. So pray.
You mean I don’t have to talk? Well, yes. At least you minimize your talking and ranting.
But if I don’t talk, how will he/she change? You can talk but not angrily. Because you trust God is the enforcer and the one to change your spouse.
So you give your spouse the gift of ‘accepting’ them. That love you demonstrate can even make them want to change.
4. COMPROMISE
In marriage, we must learn to compromise. We live a successful married life when we learn to live a little to the left, a little to the right.
In marriage, you stop living for yourself and start to live for your spouse. Don’t you ever insist on your own if you want your marriage to be graceful.
Did you miss out on yesterday’s devotional, we’ve got you covered kindly go HERE. For KHC video Devotionals kindly go HERE
My husband, when we were courting, loved beans. He could eat beans three times a day and still eat it the next day. But I was a rice person. On campus then, we always ate together. So he will be like beans and I will be like rice. But we both compromised. Today, we don’t have any issues of whether to eat rice or beans.
Beans provide a high source of protein, so I even opt for beans atimes. My Husband also prefers rice now and hardly does he eat beans. He complains it makes him bloat.
That is a simple one, but we solved that issue by learning to compromise. We were both willing to compromise.
5. EMPATHY
In marriage, we are to show empathy towards our spouse. Where there is no empathy, love is absent. You love your spouse when you are able to empathize with whatever they are feeling.
Empathy simply put is to put yourself in your spouse’s position and feel what they feel. When you are in your spouse’s shoe, you become like they are and feel for them.
Don’t just stay in your position as a male and make decisions. Sometimes, feel what it means to a female and just understand, and vice versa.
Wives, try to be husband for a while with the burden of leading the home and see that it is not easy. So learn to empathize with one another.
There is still more to talk about in this topic. Join me on the concluding part tomorrow by God’s Grace.
God bless your marriage.
CONFESSION FOR THE DAY My marriage will be glorious.
PRAYER FOR THE DAY Lord, help me to respect my spouse at all times.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
ACTION PLAN FOR THE DAY Reach a compromise with your spouse on certain issues.
At every meeting, each party comes with something to ask, share, or do. Meeting with God is much the same thing. So, what are the things to bring along to this meeting?
1. Your time:
The first thing that you need to bring is your time. This is very important. If you don’t give God enough time, you won’t get the best of Him. Do not come into God’s presence with the intention of hurrying away. God has all the time in the world for you, why not give Him enough time as well.
2. Your heart:
At the place of meeting, ensure that your heart is there connected to God and not distracted. That’s why you need to meet in a place that distractions will be absent. A distracted heart won’t connect to God’s heart and the purpose of the meeting won’t be achieved.
It’s not the time to start thinking of other things. Constantly check your thoughts and drag them back to the meeting at hand in case you find yourself distracted.
Another thing is to ensure that there is no sin in your heart. Ask for forgiveness because God won’t answer you if there is sin in your heart. The Holy Spirit can reveal to you, certain wrong acts while in His presence. Do well to yield to this revelation by asking for forgiveness immediately.
If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear: Ps 66:18, ASV
The one you marry will either make or mar you. She can ignore and frustrate you, if she is the wrong woman. If she is the right one, she kneels to pray and intercede for you.
She loves you genuinely. She cares for you. She makes your house a home.
Marriage is destiny wedged together. Blessings are shared. Afflictions are intertwined. Family problems and lineage issues mingle together. Family demons from both families meet and re-strategise. Thank God for the blood of Jesus!
You had better marry a man who is romantic and who can also cast out demons.
You had better marry the one that cannot only speak phonetics but can also speak in tongues.
May your marriage and family not be subject to weak and beggarly elements who had been conquered in Christ.
There are issues and troubles where money becomes useless…and the only thing that stands sure is a relationship with God, and knowing your rights in Him.
You are not married yet, he is stressing out your life asking you to compromise, what are you still doing with such a person?
Don’t you know that whoever sins against your God will sin against you? And don’t you know that whoever you sin with will sin against you? It takes the same heart!
Calm down! Review that relationship! Talk to someone! Seek counsel! Isolation leads to desolation.
When the devil wants to deal with a man, he isolates that man!
What are your godly friends saying? What is your pastor saying? What are your patents saying?
You cannot be right while all the authority figures in your life are wrong! Press the Pause button!
What if I lose him or her? Then he or she is never yours in the first place! God is not an author of confusion.
I will stop here this morning!
I pray that God will strengthen you to do the right thing and do the needful.
In the name of Jesus, I put a stop to all manipulative, sick, demented and distressed relationships.
Have a great day!
CONFESSION FOR THE DAY I will not marry wrong.
PRAYER FOR THE DAY Lord, help me to get it right in marriage.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY Romans 8:14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
It is God’s presence that makes all of the difference and His guidance by His word. Joseph was in the prison, but bible declares that he prospered because he was a carrier of God’s presence.
Carry God along in your marriage and let God carry you on your marital journey.
Marriage is very hard and difficult when you go through marriage in your strength and wisdom.
Here are some tips I learnt from one of my mentors sometimes ago.
1. Giving
Every couple must be willing and ready to give and even sacrifice in their marriage. You must both give your spirit, soul and body. Let nothing be too big or too small to give to your spouse. Let your giving also be constant.
Give your time, attention, affection, your body unhindered to your spouse, money, energy, intellect. Don’t withhold whatsoever you have from your spouse. After God, your marriage comes next.
Your must prioritize your home and spouse above everyone on this earth. Not even your family members. Don’t give to any friend at the expense of your spouse.
Did you miss out on yesterday’s devotional, we’ve got you covered kindly go HERE. For KHC video Devotionals kindly go HERE
2. Respect
Marriage is about respecting each other. The husband is not to demand respect as the head of the marriage. He earns it by being a servant leader.
The husband should also respect his wife. Respect your wife’s opinions, husbands. The way you show respect to your wife is peculiar to who she is. Respect her as a joint heir together of the promises of God. Respect is reciprocal and respect begat respect. So respect each other.
We will continue tomorrow by God’s grace.
God bless your marriage.
CONFESSION FOR THE DAY My marriage will be glorious.
PRAYER FOR THE DAY Lord, help me to respect my spouse at all times.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
ACTION PLAN FOR THE DAY Give your spouse a wonderful gift
Why do you need to meet with God? The reasons are many and can never be overemphasized, nor are they clichés. Let’s see a few.
1. God created you and only He can provide His reason for creating you
Facebook is a social media platform created by its founder to help people connect socially online. So also God created everything and everyone for a reason. As you read the word of God regularly, you will begin to understand the reason behind your existence, know if you are living according to your purpose of existence and if not, how to start walking in that purpose.
Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations. – Jer 1:5, KJV
2. Time spent with God increases your spiritual muscles
Constantly being in God’s presence is one way to deal with the move of the flesh. You put the flesh under the check of the spirit. Learn to meet with God.
3. Helps you know what matters to God
Spending time with God reveals to you what truly matters to Him. God cares about people a lot. He doesn’t want anyone to perish and wants you to tell people about Him.
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. – John 3:16, KJV
4. You get an understanding of your identity as a child of God and the type of God you serve.
You are the child of a King – a mighty king, who made the earth so beautiful and full of many wonderful things for your benefit.
May the Lord reveal Himself more to you at every meeting time. Amen.
Prayer: God, thank you for the benefits of spending time with you. Help me spend more time with you and at every meeting time, reveal more of you to me. Amen in Jesus name.
Action point: Think of other benefits of being in God’s presence. Which do you like the most?
Declaration: I am decided for Jesus. I spend quality time in his presence.
Why is that prayer important? It is so important because if you marry wrong, everything can quickly go wrong and awry.
I tell young folks, be patient. Do not be in a hurry! Calm down!
Psa 46:10a (KJV) – Be still, and know that I am God…
The Message Translation is more apt.
Psa 46:10a (MSG) – “Step out of the traffic!
Farabale!
In English, Farabalestic!
Patience has virtues. Waiting works with time, and with time, intentions and motives are exposed.
Walk down the aisle, don’t run. Do not chase anybody to the altar, and do not be coerced into matrimony.
The wedding is ring is not supposed to be handcuff. It is a token of covenant, not an item of bondage.
Dear singles, never ever get involved with a man who doesn’t know God. He must not only know God, but he must also be a God chaser. He must be filled with the Holy Ghost.
Somebody or something would always fill him, he cannot be void, so you had better be sure it is the Holy Spirit. That way, your risk is minimized, because the love of God shed abroad in a man’s heart does wonders to his decisions and dispositions.
After the wedding, you are subject to his wisdom or to his whims and caprices. You are subject to his love or his lust. You are subject to his creativity or his perversion.
He becomes your head in reality and in imagination. The oil flows down, or the blows!
He lays hands on you to pray for you or lay blows on you to prey on you.
He stops you from attending church or stops you from missing church.
He takes you to the club or takes you to God.
He becomes your head or your headache.
She becomes your help or your hell.
She becomes your inspiration or your frustration.
She takes sexual stress off you or pushes you into the waiting hands of adultery.
She honors you or becomes your horror.
She nags you until you feel like a rag.
To be continued…
CONFESSION FOR THE DAY I will not marry wrong.
PRAYER FOR THE DAY Lord, help me to get it right in marriage.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY Romans 8:14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
How To Be Thankful As A Couple. There is so much we can be thankful about especially for those who are married.
We all are to be full of gratitude.
I remember in the early years of our marriage, I just decided to give God thanks and before I know what’s happening, two hours have passed.
We need to be creative with our thanksgiving and be grateful for things we normally overlook and take for granted. God moves in our midst when we are truly grateful and offer Him thanks for those things we see Him doing in our lives.
It is easy to judge those ten lepers in Luke 17:11-19. They were obviously being so ungrateful. This minute they were lepers and the next they were cleansed. If they were thinking, they should have first of all been grateful they were cleansed.
And as he entered into a certain village, there met him ten men that were lepers, which stood afar off: And they lifted up their voices, and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us. And when he saw them, he said unto them, Go shew yourselves unto the priests. And it came to pass, that, as they went, they were cleansed.
Luke 17:12-14 (KJV)
I guess they became overwhelmed with many other things that needed to be done, the years wasted, the relationships lost, all other things they have lost, etc. They allowed themselves to be overwhelmed in their thoughts and that stole their ability to give thanks to God.
Did you miss out on yesterday’s devotional, we’ve got you covered kindly go HERE. For KHC video Devotionals kindly go HERE
God is excited when we put Him in remembrance and remember where we are coming from, what we were delivered from and how God saw us through whatever challenges we had.
As couples, let us be grateful for each other. Thanksgiving precedes God’s interventions. If you want to see God’s hands over your home and marriage, thank Him for His fingers. When you are grateful, you bring God on the scene.
You have things you should be grateful for. Don’t take any of the goodness of God for granted. Be thankful and praise His Name.
God bless our marriage.
CONFESSION FOR THE DAY I am grateful and I praise God for my life and marriage
PRAYER FOR THE DAY Lord, I consciously set my heart to remember you for your goodness.
THOUGHTS FOR THE DAY Psa 6:5 For in death there is no remembrance of thee: in the grave who shall give thee thanks?
ACTION PLAN FOR THE DAY Set out to be creatively grateful for those ‘little things’ God has done.
How often do you praise the LORD? During family devotion in the morning? On the assembly ground at school? Sunday school?
“I will exalt you, my God the King; I will praise your name for ever and ever. Everyday I will praise you and extol your name for ever and ever.”
Psalm 145:1
You must have a personal time where you praise God.
There are so many ways to do this. Some ways are:
1. Reading psalms of praise from the bible. 2. Play and sing along to praise songs. 3. Sing from your heart praise songs. 4. Write love letters to God telling Him how much You love Him. 5. Write poems of praise.
When you praise God, you are exalting Him over everything and everyone in all the earth and heaven. You are acknowledging Him as your Lord. God enjoys our praises. He delights in them, and he wants us to continually praise Him.
Only God deserves your praise. Make it a daily habit of praising God. You don’t have to spend long hours at it unless you are led to do so. And ensure that the time you have put aside for praising God is used for that. Don’t allow distractions.
Focus on God and His mightiness and splendor. He wants to hear you praise Him always.
There was no Facebook or WhatsApp. No E-Mail. No phones. So, I resorted to writing letters.
Over twenty-five years, those letters are still with us. Letters are powerful. And it is easier today because you can communicate using several media.
Stay in touch.
When he has not called you in weeks, he is not in love with you. I can assure you!
When a guy is getting ready to drop a lady, he would simply stop calling. Communication will wind down.
If as a lady, you find out you are the one driving a relationship, he never calls and he never returns your call, it is time to wake up into reality. He has moved on! You are probably just in love with yourself.
9. I was willing to buy things for her at my own expense
Out of a meager income, I bought her what I could. I had to deprive myself some of the time to do that.
Love gives. Love delights in giving.
When he is in love, he would give without you having to ask anything.
I am scared of guys who had never given a dime and yet keep receiving all kinds of gifts. That is a one-way relationship. It is not mutual and it would not last.
10. I was constantly in touch
I knew what was going on with her every time. I assisted in writing her final year thesis.
A man that loves you will not forget to call you in three weeks. In fact, he would stay in touch with you till you feel it is too much.
When you say you are in love and yet you don’t even know his second name or where he works, something is not quite right.
I pray for you today, your precious time will not be wasted.
God will strengthen you and correct every relationship errors in Jesus name!
Be blessed!
CONFESSION FOR THE DAY I make the right choice in God.
PRAYER FOR THE DAY Lord, help me to be more creative in loving my partner
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY 1 Corinthians 13:4 Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,
Every marriage that God instituted is a blessing. It should be viewed as such.
That it is a blessing doesn’t mean it is going to be perfect with no ups and downs. All marriages have their own challenges and we all have to make up our minds to press on and don’t give up.
If we believe it is a gift from God then we need to treat it as such. Treat it with such dignity and honor. Treat your marriage and spouse with respect.
Have respect for marriage. Always be faithful to your partner, because God will punish anyone who is immoral or unfaithful in marriage.
Heb 13:4
It is a special gift from God so have respect for it and treat it with some honor. Part of the respect and honor you give to marriage is being faithful to it as a covenant.
How faithful are you to this gift God gave you? It is a privilege being married and like any gift, you will give an account of how you used it.
Did you miss out on yesterday’s devotional, we’ve got you covered kindly go HERE. For KHC video Devotionals kindly go HERE
How faithful are you in thoughts, words, and actions? How faithful are you in ensuring you trade with this gift and multiply it? You start out in your marriage being small in every way. By being faithful, you multiply.
Faithfulness is not just limited to being moral and avoiding adultery. It is about being accountable and prudent with it. Like a wise businessman, trade with whatever God has given to you.
Do business and make sure you profit with the spouse God gave you. Till your marriage. Focus on making the most of it. Build your marriage and spouse.
Whatever good you desire and admire in other couples is also available to you. Be ready to work hard with your marriage. God is not promising there won’t be pressure, but don’t give up.
Dave Meyer was faithful in working at staying married to Joyce Meyer. It was very tough initially. It went through a lot of difficult times.
Being faithful is sticking with your partner no matter what. Working at it no matter what it takes. It is such a dogged attitude and a bulldog approach to marriage that God rewards.
Tell yourself and your spouse, we are in this for life and for the long haul.
May God grant us the strength to do His will.
God bless your marriage
CONFESSION FOR THE DAY I have a faithful heart. I don’t give up on my it no matter what
PRAYER FOR THE DAY Lord grant me the grace to keep keeping on in my marriage
THOUGHTS FOR THE DAY Heb 13:4 Have respect for marriage. Always be faithful to your partner, because God will punish anyone who is immoral or unfaithful in marriage.
ACTION PLAN FOR THE DAY Keep tilling the ground of your marriage
Hanging out with your friends can be a great way of having fun, especially if they are friends that bring out the best in you and help you to smile when you feel down.
You also have to be a good friend to others. If you make hanging out with you interesting, then you will probably have loads of friends wanting to be friends with you.
Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.
Prov 27:17, KJV
There are cool ways to have a great time with your friends. One of such is playing bible games with them.
There are loads of games you can get from the bible. It’s a book filled with many characters that did some fabulous and not too fabulous things.
You could try learning the books of the bible alphabetically and say what each book is about. For example, the book of Proverbs talks about wisdom, Genesis is about creation and how man began to fill up the earth.
You could also have a game of bible heroes- discussing what these heroes did, how they did it, where it happened and so much more.
Another fun game from the bible is searching for who said what in the bible, why they said it, and what it meant.
Acting out events from the bible is also a great way of having fun. Think of the story of David and Goliath – you could act that out with your friends. What about the story of Elijah, Elisha, Gideon, and loads of other characters? Think of costumes, props, lights, and action.
You are not only having fun by doing this, but getting to know your bible back to front, and learning the bible in a fun way.
Also, you are acquiring more knowledge about God.
You are learning about how things were in the bible, how people dressed, what they ate, what they did, and more.
It’s also a good way of bringing unbelievers closer to God. Think of it as a mini form of evangelizing.
So, the next time your friends come around or you go visit them, how about suggesting one of these games to them?
Merry Christmas! This season will bring the seasonings ordained by God into our lives in Jesus name!
Continued from yesterday.
4. I was creative in my expression of love to her
I studied her to find out what makes her happy, and then I went out of my way to create some of those things like cards, paintings, and so on. I have a way with words, so I made full use of that.
He should be willing to sacrifice some things for your happiness.
5. I was willing to wait and not compromise
I was content with waiting. I was not a pastor then, but I knew sexual compromise was wrong. I wouldn’t want to push her into sin.
There is a problem when he is insisting you should sin with him. Whoever sins with you will eventually sin against you!
It is one thing if he is an unbeliever, but if he is a child of God and he is telling you to do that, something is really wrong somewhere.
6. I prayed for her more than I prayed for myself
I found it easy to pray for her. I was fulfilled doing that. All my personal prayer points were done, but hers were prioritized. I just prayed for her and I was okay with that.
If he loves you, he would always mention you before God. Something is really amiss when someone who says he is in love with you prays for himself regularly and forgets to mention your name!
7. I wanted her to grow spiritually
I bought her books. I got her enough material that would help her spiritually. We shared books. We had Word vigils alongside others of just studying God’s word. (Don’t go and do vigils alone o!)
A relationship doesn’t survive only because you went out, went to cinemas, and had a lot of fun. There are spiritual exercises that are needed.
For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.
Rom 14:17 (KJV)
To be continued tomorrow…
CONFESSION FOR THE DAY I make the right choice in God.
PRAYER FOR THE DAY Lord, help me to be more creative in loving my partner
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY 1 Corinthians 13:4 Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,
Dealing With In-Laws In Marriage. Our parents and the parents of our spouse are very much part of our family. In fact, we should be grateful to them for bringing up our spouse.
No doubt, their sacrifices have contributed to making our spouses who they are. Whether they brought them up well or not is another thing, that God used them to preserve the life of your spouse is enough to be grateful for.
Most times, our parents and in-laws are a blessing. They give advice and help us with babysitting. The question then is how do we deal with their excesses? Grandparents and Grand In-laws are usually less busy with work, so they tend to be busybodies.
When they become a pain in the neck, how do we handle things? When they seem to go out of their boundaries, what do we do? When they become a distraction to us and our marriage, how do we handle them, without hurting them?
When their demands are affecting our finances, what do we do? When our religious beliefs are different and at loggerheads, what do we do? When because they are humans, they tend to come between us and our wife or husband, what do we do? When they want us to do things opposing our conscience, what do we do?
When we have a sick parent-in-law or parent, should we reject and abandon them? When we face pressures from in-laws about responsibilities they put upon our shoulders, what do we do?
Did you miss out on yesterday’s devotional, we’ve got you covered kindly go HERE. For KHC video Devotionals kindly go HERE
All these questions and many others are what we face daily and these affect our marriages in no small way. They affect our relationship with our spouse.
Basically, no two situations are exactly the same. We need wisdom from God to handle these issues. Prayer is very important and relationship with the Holy Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit that will show us the true picture and give us the solutions we need.
He will tell us the right words at the right time to speak to them. The Holy Spirit will even tell us the right gifts to get.
Here are some wise tips to help you handle in-law issues
1. Know God’s order; it’s your spouse first before the family 2. Don’t hurt the feelings of your spouse because of some in-law 3. Live within your means and budget 4. Have an account for emergencies from which you take care of such needs. 5. Let parents and in-law know that you and your spouse are inseparable and nothing can separate you. 6. Protect and defend yourselves before your in-laws. 7. Love your parents and in-laws but let them know that you have a responsibility to your own family first.
God bless our marriage!
CONFESSION FOR THE DAY I live considerably with my in-laws
PRAYER FOR THE DAY Lord, give me wisdom to handle my in-laws
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY 1 Corinthians 13:4 Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,
The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God. He is our friend and comforter. In the place of prayer, He enables us, especially in tough situations.
You need Him to function perfectly as a child of God. When Jesus was going to leave the earth, the disciples were sad to hear this. He said that he had to go for the Holy Spirit to come. The Holy Spirit had to come for us to receive the spirit of God.
How do you receive the Holy Spirit?
The first thing is to accept Jesus Christ as the Lord and Saviour of your life. This means that you confess all your sins because you believe God sent Jesus to die for your sins. After this, you renounce all sins and make a decision not to go back to them again.
That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
Rom 10:9, KJV
The next step is receiving the baptism of the Holy Spirit either by the laying of hands or by the Holy Spirit himself coming on you. The manifestation of this is the evidence of tongues. Some kids might choose not to speak in tongues, probably out of fear of what their friends or classmates might think or say about them. Others could just be afraid of what is happening to them.
Who, when they were come down, prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Ghost: Then laid they their hands on them, and they received the Holy Ghost.
Acts 8:15, 17, KJV
I beg you not to be afraid of what people around will say or think of you. Do not be afraid of what is happening to you. The Holy Spirit is not harmful in any way.
After this, you need to start practicing the tongues you have been given. Do so as often as you can. This is a great way to pray as it enables you to weed out distractions. It helps your spiritual muscles grow.
For which cause I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God, which is in thee through the laying on of my hands.
2 Tim 1:6, ASV
Having the Holy Spirit is one of the best things that will happen to you as a Christian.
May the Spirit of God bless you with tongues. Amen
Prayer: Sweet Spirit, come bless me with tongues. Thank You. Thank You.
Action point: Try to speak in tongues for 30 minutes today if you have received the Holy Spirit.
