As sister Sube walked down the road, her mind was stormy and depressed. This is in contrast with the calm and unusual tranquil weather. Without was so peaceful, but within were rumblings of the murky waters of despondency!
Every step she took down the road was punctuated with deep-seated sighs. What is her problem? She feels something is wrong with her because nobody is proposing to her and age is no longer on her side!
On the other hand, Brother Zerubabbel too is so worried that he is almost bending over. What is his problem? Brother Zeru is angry with all the so-called sisters because he has proposed to thirteen sisters in the same church and each of them gave him a nail.
The nails, sorry, the spikes were so painful. It was as if the sisters all had a meeting on him, actually, they did.
The above scenarios are issues that bother on cultivating friendship the right and healthy way.
Never forget that how to get a friend is more important than how to get a lover. Lovers don’t drop from the sky; they are made from friendship as the foundation.
Loving is a process that should start with friendship. Don’t fall in love with someone who is not your friend. It is not advisable to toe the line of ‘love at first sight.’ Why? You can only love who you know! You might have some body chemistry at first sight, but certainly, it is not falling in love like we normally allude.
Love is a spiritual entity that happens not just in the intellectual realm but in the emotional and spiritual realms as well. When you have a one–night stand with a stranger, it is nothing but lust and lack of discipline. You don’t even know the person and yet the moment you are sexually involved, your histories become intertwined, afflictions and demonic influences are exchanged and dangerous habits creep into your life after such reckless sexual encounters.
To be continued…
CONFESSION FOR THE DAY I declare that my steps and relationships are ordered.
PRAYERS FOR THE DAY Lord, help to get the right friends in Jesus name
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY Job 19:19 KJV All my inward friends abhorred me: and they whom I loved are turned against me.
ACTION PLAN FOR THE DAY List the names of your friends.
1. God wants you to adore your wife and enjoy each other.
He wants you to love her wholeheartedly, protect her and be a shoulder she can lean on. He wants you to be gentle with her and exercise patience with her. God wants you to be all over your wife because you are one! God wants you to be satisfied with your wife physically and sexually!
In Proverbs, Chapter 5, God advises every husband to seek sexual fulfillment from their wives rather than look elsewhere.
Let her be as the loving hind and pleasant roe; let her breasts satisfy thee at all times; and be thou ravished always with her love. And why wilt thou, my son, be ravished with a strange woman, and embrace the bosom of a stranger? – Pro 5:19-20 KJV
The amplified version explains it better:
Let her be as the loving hind and pleasant doe [tender, gentle, attractive]–let her bosom satisfy you at all times, and always be transported with delight in her love. Why should you, my son, be infatuated with a loose woman, embrace the bosom of an outsider, and go astray? – Pro 5:19-20 AMP
I also love this advice for every man in previous verses:
Drink waters out of your own cistern [of a pure marriage relationship], and fresh running waters out of your own well. Should your offspring be dispersed abroad as water brooks in the streets? [Confine yourself to your own wife] let your children be for you alone, and not the children of strangers with you. – Pro 5:15-17 AMP
2. God wants you to follow the order
You are to put Him first place in your life, your family second, and thirdly your work/career.
That is supposed to be the rightful order. Don’t allow your work to ruin your marriage by neglecting your wife. If you know you have to be away, then, invest in the little time you are together by creating beautiful memories and deliberately depositing them in her emotional bank so she can have something to withdraw when you are not around!
To be continued…
CONFESSION FOR THE DAY God is my strength. He will guide me in the right path.
PRAYERS FOR THE DAY Lord, I ask that you open my eyes of understanding in Jesus name
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY Eph 5:33 KJV Nevertheless let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife see that she reverence her husband.
ACTION PLAN FOR THE DAY Take an inventory of your life in the light of God’s principles
Sally is caught in a cross-fire. She really wanted to submit to her husband, but then some of the things her boo wanted her to do clearly contradicts the scriptures. What should she do? Cooperate with her boo and risk losing God’s favour or hold unto God while her love life collapses and her homes boils?
Even in courtship, the lady is often caught in between pleasing him and pleasing Him!
Let’s take a look at the scriptures.
Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. – Ephesians 5:22 (KJV)
So we see clearly and succinctly here that a wife is supposed to submit to her husband. It never says that a lady should submit to her own fiancé!
So, when he says you must come over and spend weekends, you don’t have to obey and end up jeopardizing your relationship with God in your bid to “submit’
I am saying in essence that in a dating or courtship situation, you are to absolutely follow God and not man!
If whatever your fiancé wants done is as unto the Lord, there wouldn’t be any problem there. You should gladly submit, even if you are not married yet.
But when it clearly violates your conscience, makes you feel guilty, makes you cry and dissipates God’s anointing in your life, you are to leave that guy alone before he wrecks your destiny.
Now, let’s see some examples here.
He asks you to send your nude pictures or else he would end the relationship. Something is not quite right.
There is some level of perversion that is being shown there. There is some traits of a compromised heart coming up there.
In this case, let your “No’ be emphatic and clear. If he walks away because of that, let him walk, he is not your husband.
If you do it and listen to him, this is not submission in any way, it is more of foolishness. If he is asking for nude before marriage, what will he ask for if he ever gets to marry you?
If you go ahead and do it in a bid to keep him, it shows your own depth of devotion to God. it shows that somewhere in your heart, you don’t really trust God.
If you do, you will never do anything that displeases God in other to please your boo. If you do such things, you just sowed a seed into that relationship and opened the door for the devil to afflict.
To be continued tomorrow…
CONFESSION FOR THE DAY I will not miss it in marriage.
PRAYER FOR THE DAY Lord, help me to trust you.
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.
4. By being honorable yourself and being faithful to the commandments of your husband.
This is simply obeying his biddings. There are some instructions your husband will give you directly or indirectly. There will be things he does like, maybe based on his temperament or based on his background. If he doesn’t like something then obey and respect his wishes. Don’t talk down or look down on him because of what he loves or does not love.
You show honor to your husband by keeping his words in your heart so that you can obey them. There is nothing more dishonoring than your husband telling you he doesn’t like something repeatedly and you disobeying him.
5. You honor your husband by honoring people he honors.
You show honor to your husband by honoring relationship he holds dear. Even if you don’t feel like respecting them, you do out of your honor to your husband.
An example is respecting his parents, his mentors, his boss, his colleagues and any other person he holds dear.
6. You also show honor to your husband by giving to him
There is no honor without giving. You should give of your substance to the one you honor, especially the man that is ordained by God to be your head. You must see him as he is.
He is your lord, your glory. So you celebrate him with your seed. His birthday is a good time to shower him with some good things. Father’s Day is another good time.
May God grant you understanding. God bless you marriage
CONFESSION FOR THE DAY My marriage is a blessing
PRAYERS FOR THE DAY Oh Lord, do a miracle in my marriage today.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY Marriage is honourable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge. – Heb 13:4 (KJV)
ACTION PLAN FOR THE DAY Put the above points to use.
Look at another powerful, inspiring, and breathtaking verse in Psalm 139. Today, we are talking about holding God.
Psalm 139:14 – “I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.”
What is this verse telling you? How do you feel when you read this?
You should feel important and unique that your Yahweh says you are as wonderful as all His works.
Let’s break down this verse
“I praise you, for I am fearfully…
This means that you are meant to instill fear in the enemy’s heart because you are made of God.
“…and wonderfully made”
Never has the world seen a unique and one-in-a-lifetime person like you. The world has never experienced you before. Out of all the billions of people on the earth, none is like you.
“Wonderful are your works:”
Everything God made is wonderful, exquisite, and a blessing to all mankind. This same God made you.
“my soul knows it very well.”
The psalmist acknowledges that even his soul knows how great a creation he is. He knows that God didn’t make him ordinary. God made him be a special type of creation, different from all the other creations of God.
Write this verse down and memorize it. When people try to put you down and say you are nothing, tell them how the mighty God made you the most special of all His creations.
May the reality of how God made you always stick with you. Amen.
Prayer: Lord, thank You for how special You made me. I am special. I am special.
Action point: Reflect more on this verse and write down the wonderful things you know about yourself.
