The Samaritan woman had met so many men… but then when she met the man, the lover of her soul, she couldn’t but express the difference that turned her life around!
The woman then left her waterpot, and went her way into the city, and saith to the men, Come, see a man… -John 4:28-29 (KJV)
Respond to God’s love today. Refuse the emotion of guilt! You see the moment you have asked your father to forgive you, He forgives and forgets. The devil tries to bring guilt so that you can feel unworthy and thereby prevent you from coming into God’s presence boldly.
But you see, this issue is a family affair! If your earthly father has forgiven you of an offense, what else can the servant in the house say? You simply tell him to shut up!
That is the way you handle the devil. It’s none of his business. God forgave you, period.
Tell the devil to shut up, it’s between you and your father, it’s a family affair and it is settled! He should stop poke nosing.
The blood of Jesus handled it already! If he tries to remind you of your past, remind him of his future, it’s the bottomless pit! Make sure you stop sinning.
That is what God does not want, continuous and habitual sins. Grace cannot abound when sin continues! Only hearken to what Jesus said to that adulterous woman caught in the act.
… And Jesus said unto her, neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more. –John 8:11 (KJV)
The fact is that you did something wrong.
The lie is that you will never be forgiven.
The truth is that you are already forgiven and it is forgotten! Embrace the truth today and let it set you free! Truth is superior to the fact!
CONFESSION FOR THE DAY Sin will not have dominion over me. I am able to follow God’s injunctions. I put my body under. All my sins are forgiven. I am a new a creature
PRAYERS FOR THE DAY Lord, strengthen me in my inner man. Help me to comprehend with all the saints what is the length, breadth and height, and depth of your love for me.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY He touched my mouth with the coal and said, “Look. This coal has touched your lips. Gone your guilt, your sins wiped out.” –Isaiah 6:7 (MSG)
Having to start your day by asking God for forgiveness daily can be very frustrating, especially when you know you are going to commit the sin again.
Self-condemnation comes once we violate God’s principles. This self condemnation will surface at unexpected times. Most times, young folks get involved in premaritalee before marriage in order to express their freedom or liberty.
In the end, the purpose is defeated, because the very freedom they seek to express will be lost to emotional captivity and slavery. Freedom from a guilty conscience will be gone.
Years ago, a lady sat before me. She was genuinely troubled. She felt God would never forgive her because she was involved in pre-marital sex. She wept bitterly.
She said she has asked God to forgive her severally and she was not sure God heard her.
Another lady actually lost her mind after indulging in this same act because she believed she had committed an unpardonable sin. She couldn’t recognize anybody again.
She embraced the devil’s lie that she has committed the unpardonable sin because of pre-marital sex. She was talking gibberish and making faces. When we were called (alongside another pastor) to pray for her, all our attempts failed until we started to address the issue of guilt by the Spirit of God.
As we began to speak to her about God’s love and kindness, that demon left her, she calmed down, sobered up and tears began to flow. It was only then she was restored. It was then she told us what really happened. The negative emotion of guilt is a terrible experience. Guilt can be so real to the point of being suicidal.
When troubles ganged up on me, a mob of sins past counting, I was so swamped by guilt I couldn’t see my way clear. More guilt in my heart than hair on my head, so heavy the guilt that my heart gave out. –Psalms 40:12 (MSG)
I’m swamped by my bad behavior, collapsed under gunnysacks of guilt. –Psalms 38:4 (MSG)
You wouldn’t want to live with guilt all your life for violating God’s law. However, no matter how guilty you feel right now; God can always send help if you call upon Him and trust in His Word. That’s the way out.
It could be a sin of fornication or adultery or any form of sexual perversion, the blood of Jesus took care of all!
Then I let it all out; I said, “I’ll make a clean breast of my failures to GOD.” Suddenly the pressure was gone– my guilt dissolved, my sin disappeared. –Psalms 32:5 (MSG)
I want you to know that there is a lover of your soul that is different from any lover who might have disappointed you. You might have been disappointed by men, abandoned by men, used and dumped by men, treated shabbily by men…but when you meet the man, He will restore your soul!
CONFESSION FOR THE DAY Sin will not have dominion over me. I am able to follow God’s injunctions. I put my body under. All my sins are forgiven. I am a new a creature
PRAYERS FOR THE DAY Lord, strengthen me in my inner man. Help me to comprehend with all the saints what is the length, breadth and height, and depth of your love for me.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY He touched my mouth with the coal and said, “Look. This coal has touched your lips. Gone your guilt, your sins wiped out.” –Isaiah 6:7 (MSG)
God wants and desires husband and wife to naked and not ashamed. The covenant of marriage is meant to be 100% transparency.
God is honored when the husband and wife see themselves in the light of what God ordained marriage to be.
Sincerity in marriage could be defined as the absence of pretense, deceit or hypocrisy.
We do so many things in marriage that doesn’t add up to being sincere. There are lots of half-truth, outright lies, insincerity, hiding things, pretense and being hypocritical.
When there are lies, we build our marriage on falsehood. One degree away from the truth is falsehood and this can be dangerous to the wellbeing of the union.
It is the truth that sets free. The degree of openness is the degree to which there is power available for the couples to be in agreement.
And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. – Joh 8:32
It is high time couples learn to be sincere with themselves. Let truth be said in all things. Let’s have zero tolerance for insincerity.
If anything happens, we should be courageous enough to say it as it is. Let’s cast out the spirit of fear from our lives. It is fear of what your spouse will say or do or how he or she will feel disappointed that most of the time, keeps us from saying the truth.
You can ask yourself this simple question; ‘If you say the truth, will he or she kill you?’ He /she may be angry at first but I am sure he/ she will respect you more for the truth you said.
By saying the truth, you shut the door on the devil to keep you bound. You set yourself free. The problem with lies is that you will need more lies to cover up the first lie.
The most distressing thing to do is to be insincere. You belabor yourself trying to hide and cover up.
Another reason we need to be careful of lies in our marriage and home is because lies is in the domain of the devil. Jesus called the devil the liar and the father of all lies.
Let’s learn to say the truth always. It is the truth that sets free!
Little children, let us not love [merely] in theory or in speech but in deed and in truth (in practice and in sincerity). – 1Jn 3:18
May God help us all!
God bless our marriage.
CONFESSION FOR THE DAY I am truthful at all times
PRAYER FOR THE DAY Reject the operations of the devil in your marriage
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY After all, we don’t want to unwittingly give Satan an opening for yet more mischief – we’re not oblivious to his sly ways! (2Co 2:11 MSG)
ACTION PLAN FOR THE DAY Decide to be truthful no matter what
In today’sdevotional, we’ll be looking at the topic “Some Lies every married couple should avoid”. Let’s delve right into it
1. As a wife, looks don’tmatter Most wives with these erroneous beliefs and attitudes have had themselves to blame later. Once you are married, all other women out there don’t become ugly and your husband doesn’t become blind. Yes, the husband should look once and move on. But wives too should help your husband by taking care of themselves.
Men are moved by sight. Be feminine. God is not against making your hair, using cologne, and make-up. Watch what you eat. If you are already gaining weight and your husband is beginning to complain, it’s time to reduce your food intake.
2. Marriage is a necessary evil. I’m in it for my children. People with bitter experiences would say this. But another man’s experience does not have to be your own experience, and you don’t have to believe it.
Even though one of the reasons for marriage is procreation, it is not solely for that. Marriage is far more than childbearing and rearing.
3. I can be untruthful and deceptive; it’s all part of the game. Marriage is not a game. It’s a covenant that requires absolute truthfulness. It is “naked and not ashamed.” Naked means no mask, no dress, nothing covering your nakedness. It means what any other person cannot see, your spouse will. That includes your thoughts, past, present, and every in between.
Unfortunately, the world is making nudity a public show. Scanty dresses and little respect for the body only in marriage. Little wonder, there is so much fornication and adultery.
4. I don’t have to tell my spouse everything Some married couples still believe there is wisdom in not telling their spouse everything. Well, maybe the wisdom of this world that is sensual. But the wisdom that is from above, God’s own wisdom, teaches us to be open and tell our spouses everything.
Don’t make any investment without telling your spouse. Don’t buy a house, land, or give out any money without the knowledge of your spouse.
5. There is no fun in marriage as it is boring and full of pressures. Marriage might come with its pressures. Life itself comes with pressures. For the believers, God has promised us a way of escape. He told us He has overcome the world with its pressures.
There is all that is needed for fun and excitement inside marriage. You have to discover how to get the fun out of it. It’s a lie of this age that you have to go outside of your marriage to catch fun. Don’t fall for it.
God bless your marriage.
CONFESSION FOR THE DAY I learn the truth from God’s word about marriage
PRAYER FOR THE DAY Lord, teach me your way
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY I love them that love me; and those that seek me early shall find me. Riches and honour are with me; yea, durable riches and righteousness (Proverbs 8:17-18 KJV)
ACTION PLAN FOR THE DAY Avoid all these erroneous beliefs about marriage
No matter how long you have been single, never walk down the aisle because you are desperate to settle down.
When you are desperate, you are apt to make a lot of mistakes! The first thing you need to understand is that being single is not a disease. Yes, there are times you might need to work on some attitudes because wrong attitudes can actually make a man to run away! For example, extreme and unnecessary anger can make a man run away! That’s the truth. So as a lady, work on your attitudes and character.
However, no matter how single or how long you have been “singled” there are some men I will have nothing to do with if I were you.
You see, it is BETTER to remain single than walk down the aisle with a wrong man! Trust me, I am a counselor, and I can’t count how many times young ladies have called me and they want out of their marriage. Some of them have only been married for weeks and they are asking me if I know any good lawyers!
If I were a lady and single, these are the men I will run away from.
1. The man I am not in love with
Ladies, don’t get involved with the man you are not in love with! It is not going to work. Even the one you are in love with, there would still be issues, but because you are in love, the issues are quickly resolved.
But when you hate his guts deep down inside you and you only got hooked because of pressures from friends and families, issues can quickly become compounded and the fact that you don’t love him will haunt you for life.
When you marry the one you are not in love with, each time you wake up in the morning, and you see his face, your mistakes will stare you in the face and I tell, you, the absence of true joy in a marriage can be debilitating.
There is no point getting hooked up with an old, pot bellied man that you detest so much but got hooked up with because of pressures.
2. The man that tells lies
One of the most unfortunate choices a lady can make is to choose a confirmed, habitual and impulsive liar. Dear daughter, don’t ever make that mistake, or else you won’t enjoy that marriage. How can you live with someone you cannot trust? That is an affliction in itself.
You know he is lying and the liar knows that you know he is lying, what kind of life is that? Even in the little times he is telling the truth, you are unable to trust him because you don’t have an idea when he is telling the truth. As a matter of fact, if you are not a good believer, you might start telling lies as well in order to get back at him.
What about the possibility of giving birth to children who are liars because of transference of spirits? You see, at the end of the day, you always discover that it is not worth it! Run away from pathological, compulsive of obsessive lairs!
To be continued.
CONFESSION FOR THE DAY I know how to love correctly.
PRAYER FOR THE DAY Dear daughter, pray that the Lord helps you not to fall in love with the wrong person.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY Don’t turn your back on wisdom, for she will protect you. Love her, and she will guard you. Prov 4:6 (NLT)
ACTION PLAN FOR THE DAY Take an inventory of your love life as a daughter.