Man is a tripartite being. We are spirits, we live in a body and we have a soul.
The spirit communicates with God. The body communicates with the realm of the physical. The soul houses the will, the emotions and the intellect.
When we give our life to Jesus and we come to know Him, the spirit is regenerated, the soul is in the process of being renewed, but the body will be saved when Jesus comes back.
However, the voice of the body or flesh is loud. So loud that if left to operate, it will superimpose its lusts and cravings over the spirit, thereby leading into a cycle of failure and divers problems. The flesh has no gain or profit therein. None!
You will find that here in the scriptures.
It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.
Joh 6:63 (KJV)
Amplified Bible says the flesh has no benefit. Take a look:
It is the Spirit Who gives life [He is the Life-giver]; the flesh conveys no benefit whatever [there is no profit in it]. The words (truths) that I have been speaking to you are spirit and life.
Joh 6:63 (AMPC)
Living in the flesh and taking instructions from the body conveys no benefit. That is quite instructive.
The next probable question is what then do we do to the body?
We are to discipline the body. And we do that by putting the body under!
But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.
1Co 9:27 (KJV)
You put the body under by not listening to its cravings and instructions. If you keep listening to the voice of the body, you can point others to God while not making it! That will not be our portion in Jesus name.
Decide to stop all habitual sins. Listen to your spirit rather than take instructions from the body.
May God grant you more understanding in Jesus name, Amen.
CONFESSION FOR THE DAY I put my body under.
PRAYER FOR THE DAY Help me to put my body under oh Lord.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY 1 Corinthians 9:27 (TPT) but I train like a champion athlete. I subdue my body and get it under my control, so that after preaching the good news to others I myself won’t be disqualified.
It takes the grace of God for you accept discipline with humility. The most natural way you would likely react would be to reject it instantly. Maybe, you spent longer than you should at a friend’s place and your mother grounds you.
“But, it was just 30 minutes” you say to her. Instantly your brows build up a storm on your face, your mouth shoots out, you fold your arms and turn an almost 180 degree away from your mother. This is not how to accept discipline with humility.
“Not just 30 minutes only, you also didn’t wash the dirty plates in the sink before you left,” your mum replies.
Just 30 minutes, but you stayed longer than you should and didn’t wash the plates also.
The first thing you should have said was “I am sorry, mummy.” That’s how to accept discipline with humility. That alone would first make your mother calm down.
“I will wash the plates immediately.” Another sentence that will douse the situation again. Then you can start to give your reasons for staying long, that is if they are tenable. If they are not don’t say anything. Accept discipline with humility.
Saying sorry is a sign of true humility. It shows you are sorry for your actions and are open to making amends for what you have done.
Here is what the bible says about people who are humble
“The Lord hates those who are proud. You can be sure that they will be punished. Psalms 149: 4 ICB.
“God is against the proud but he gives grace to the humble” James 4:6 ICB.
God doesn’t like pride because it is a sin. Pride in your salvation through Christ and as a God’s creation is good. Learn humility; accept discipline with humility.
Being proud is saying that you are above mistakes and therefore can’t and shouldn’t be corrected. As a child, you need to be always corrected.
May God give you a heart that is open to correction. Amen.
Prayer: Lord, give me the spirit of humility through Your Holy Spirit. Teach me to accept discipline with humility. In Your mighty name I pray, amen.
Action point: Remember to always apologise first before giving excuses.
Now that you know what you should do, do it! Do what you should do! What is the change that you need to embrace? What is that thing or those things you need to start doing?
Knowing what to do and not doing it is a sin. Look at it here in the book of James
“And when a person knows the right thing to do, but does not do it, then he is sinning.” James 4:17 ICB.
Refusing to do the right thing shows both arrogance and ignorance of the things of God. Like we learnt in the last post that God hates the proud, God also hates feigned ignorance. So do what you should do.
Sometimes you can pretend to be ignorant of what you are supposed to do so as to fool the other person. You may fool the person, but not God. Remember that He knows and sees all things.
You are also telling God that you are not a sinner and saying God is a liar. But God doesn’t lie
If we say that we have not sinned, then we make God a liar. We do not accept God’s true teaching. 1 John 1:10 ICB
Making the changes that are needed is a sign that you value and respect the other person. Therefore learn to do what you should do.
When you apologise and start to do what you have promised to do, it builds more love between you and the other person. It also speaks well about you. You are seen as truly repentant and humble.
A word of caution though – don’t just do what you should do because you are asked to. Do it because it is the right thing to do. Don’t do it physically while in your heart you are rebelling, grumbling and hating every minute of what you are doing.
Yesterday we began to look at discipline. Today, we will see how you as a child should accept discipline. The first thing you need to know is that your parents love and want the best for you. It’s only a child that is loved by a parent that is corrected and disciplined. So you need to accept discipline as a show of love.
Think of it like this; why would your parents remind you to brush your teeth every night before going to bed? They are not asking you to brush your teeth or that of your sibling or even theirs. It’s your teeth and you will carry them for the rest of your life in whatever condition you put them in.
So, if you brush them twice daily, you will enjoy perfect dental health in future. And if you don’t listen to their advice, you will have bad dental health as well as reap the consequences of it. The consequences include: a bad self-image, rotten teeth and gums, bad breath and more. You see that? So you need to accept discipline as a show of love.
Your parents discipline you out of the love they have for you, not hate like you would like to think. Just like God telling us not sin because sin in the end has consequences that can never benefit us in any way. It can only harm and destroy us.
“If you do good, I will accept you. But if you do not do good, sin is ready to attack you. Sin wants you. but you must rule over it.” Genesis 4:7 ICB
Also, knowing discipline is done from a place of love (when you accept discipline as a show of love) gives you the power to grow from being a person that doesn’t know how to do something to someone who does now. When you learn how to arrange and keep your clothes well, you have grown into a well-organised person.
“I correct and punish those whom I love. So be eager to do right. Change your heart and lives. Rev. 3:19 ICB.
Reciprocate the love of your parents by releasing yourself to discipline. And by doing so, you are creating for yourself an adult life filled with excellent values that help add to your society and church. Say to yourself right now: I accept discipline as a show of love.
I pray that your heart will be open and ready for discipline. Amen.
Prayer: Lord, help me to see the actions of my parents towards me in light of the love they have for me. Help me to also obey you and receive your discipline because I know you love me too much to see me remain in sin.
Action Plan: How about apologizing to your parents for disobeying them and thanking them for their love for you.
So here is the concluding part of our series on Handling affairs in marriage. Let me just delve into today’s teaching and get it over with.
Like I said earlier, the Grace of God needs to be embraced in an abundant measure to effectively help with handling affairs in marriage.
4. A lot of teachings
It is good for the spouse of the erring couple to surround the spouse involved in an affair with a lot of good teaching materials. It is the truth from inside those books that God will use to set him/her free. It is the truth that set free
Joh 8:32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
No matter your good words it will not be as effective as God’s word. Let good lead you to specific materials and tapes of anointed men and women of God. There is virtually every book on every topic you are looking for on telegram, books on handling affairs in marriage inclusive. Download them and let the spouse involved in an affair, read them.
Transformation only comes by renewing the mind.
Rom 12:2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
It will also be helpful if the erring spouse can have some time of sober reflection, this has a good part to play in handling affairs in marriage.
This becomes very important. Intercession must be going on for the spouse involved in affair as much as the erring spouse should also be doing a lot of prayer for himself or herself.
Prayers for the help of God, Mercy, forgiveness, Grace to crucify the flesh and not yield to its dictates must be said as often as possible by the erring spouse. Faith and hope must also be kept alive because if the devil succeeds in getting the erring spouse to a point of defeat, this will help in handling affairs in marriage. A point where he/she feels despondent or a feeling of ‘there is no point’, ‘ let give up’, the battle has been lost.
But keep hope alive and encourage the erring spouse that with God all things are possible. The grace of God can make strong. The flesh cannot have dominion over you because Christ has already died for you. Prayer is a game-changer when it comes to handling affairs in marriage
We are not of them that give up. Christ never gave up even though the pain and the price he paid was so much. He won the victory. He won the battle. So we have the victory. We are only enforcing our victory because the devil is a liar.
The devil seeks to kill, steal and destroy. The erring spouse must just be encouraging to stand his ground.
Psa 30:5 For his anger endureth but a moment; in his favour is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.
There will be great joy, if you endure the discipline of enforcing your victory and you’re finally able to handle and put a stop to affairs in marriage.
Jas 4:7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
When you learn to submit to God and his principles and ways of doing things, you will resist the devil and he has no choice but to flee, and this will help a great deal in handling affairs in marriage.
Resist him no matter how strong the temptation is or long the addiction has been. You resist him in the name of Jesus. Use every weapon to resist him. The blood of Jesus, communion, the word, prayers and he will flee.
God bless you.
May God grant us more understanding and give us grace to do. God surround our marriage in Jesus name.
CONFESSION FOR THE DAY I will be faithful to my partner.
PRAYER FOR THE DAY Father, help me to keep my marriage vows.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY James 4:7 (ESV): Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
ACTION PLAN FOR THE DAY Open up to your spouse, if need be.
