The Bible says we should judge ourselves so that we are not judged. We see in the Bible,
For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged.
1Co 11:31 (KJV)
The Message Translation puts it this way:
If we get this straight now, we won’t have to be straightened out later on.
1Co 11:31 (MSG)
So, this morning, can we be the judge and the judged, to avoid judgement
1. What has my prayer or devotional life been like? To a large extent, this determines what your relationship with God is like. Have you been consistent? If you haven’t, then you need to make new commitments towards doing that.
If you want your relationship with your lover to work, you had better fall in love with God first! That is a lot of wisdom for you!
2. Have I been walking in love? You are human. You have toes. There are other humans. They have mistakenly stepped on your beautiful toes. But you must forgive and move on.
Are you holding anybody in unforgiving mode? You have to let go. Don’t let anybody slow your journey in God down, because that is what an unforgiving attitude does.
What have they done for you that is new? How much hurt have they wounded you with that Jesus didn’t go through? Don’t you know the devil fights who he fears? Don’t you know it is your glorious destiny that is in contention? What about being thrown into the pit by your family? What about being sold to go and be a house boy/house girl by your family? But, Joseph had to forgive!
My dear, forgive and let go. Better days are ahead of you. Refuse to be bitter. Jesus said if you don’t forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive you as well.
3. Have I been compromising? You sometimes miss your footings. God made allowances as long as it is a mistake. Perpetual life of sin will ruin you. But if it was just a mistake, you just need to ask for forgiveness from God and move on.
If you have found yourself committing a particular sin over and over again, you need to press the stop button. You cannot continue like that. I admonish you in the name of the Lord, decide to stop today!
CONFESSION FOR THE DAY I walk in love towards everyone. My walk with God is getting better.
PRAYER FOR THE DAY Pray for consistency in your walk with God.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY 1Co 11:31 (KJV)For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged.
At every point in time, we will always need people around us. We need people to do certain things for us. No one was created to be an island. We were made to live and work with people.
Kings are surrounded by chiefs and elders. Governors are surrounded by advisers and special advisers. Some special advisers also have special advisers, who will critically look at situations and proffer solutions.
In the bible, we see a scene between two kings, which ought to have ended well, but for those around one of these Kings.
The king of the children of Ammon died and David, king of Israel, sent his servants to pay condolence to this son of the late king.
Naturally, this wouldn’t have been an issue, but for those surrounding the king.
But the chiefs of the children of Ammon said to Hanun their lord, Does it seem to you that David is honouring your father by sending comforters to you? has he not sent his servants to go through the town and make secret observation of it, and overcome it?
2 Sam 10:3 [BBE]
This goes to tell you that you can’t allow just anyone into your space. You can’t submit your destiny to just any random guy.
All through marriage, you will be making decisions, so you want to be careful who you align with because a wrong decision can affect you for the rest of your life.
A supposedly harmless condolence visit led to two bloody wars, loss of lives and properties.
Another scenario we see is in the life of King Ahasuerus. He gave an instruction that Queen Vashti should come out and entertain his guests. For reasons best known to her, the Queen refused.
Now Ahasuerus was a good man. He probably would have forgiven her, but for those surrounding him.
If it pleases the king, let a royal decree go out from him, and let it be recorded in the laws of the Persians and the Medes, so that it will not be altered, that Vashti shall come no more before King Ahasuerus; and let the king give her royal position to another who is better than she.
Est 1:19 [NKJV]
What is my point this morning?
Watch those who surround you. Watch those you allow into your personal space. Watch your association. They will influence you in the long run.
That is why the bible says light and darkness cannot walk hand in hand.
You cannot claim to be Christian and be moving freely with unbelievers.
You cannot claim to be a child of light and be surrounded by sons and daughters of baal. It doesn’t work that way.
To you, who need to make the right decision as regards who to settle with, receive illumination!
To you, who need to pull out of that wrong relationship, receive strength!
Shalom!
CONFESSION FOR THE DAY I will not end up with the wrong man/woman
PRAYER FOR THE DAY Pray that God will lead and put you in the right association.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY 1 Cor 15:33[KJV] Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners.
How do you know a potential spouse that will be unfaithful when you are not married yet? There are tell-tale signs. When you double date, you are simply in a rehearsal for adultery. Simple!
Why is this so? You see, it takes the same heart! The heart that can accommodate and justify double dating will also glide into the dangerous terrain of adultery and extra-marital affairs effortlessly!
Adultery is a killer. It looks sweet initially, but the consequences are undesirable.
Now, let’s look at some scriptures in the book of Proverbs.
When Solomon starts talking to you about adultery, you had better listen. He had it all and you will never be able to break his record! He had so many women in his harem that he must have used tallies or numbers to identify them.
Stolen waters are sweet, and bread eaten in secret is pleasant.
Pro 9:17 KJV
Adultery seems sweet, but what happens afterwards?
Bread of deceit is sweet to a man; but afterwards his mouth shall be filled with gravel.
Pro 20:17 KJV
You sure don’t want to be served a plate of gravel for food, but that is what a lot of people are cooking for lunch and dinner!
Unfaithfulness in your marriage will also reduce you. It will reduce you to what can be swallowed by the devil. See it here:
For by means of a whorish woman a man is brought to a piece of bread: and the adulteress will hunt for the precious life.
Pro 6:26 KJV
God frowns at adulterous relationships! It is also a stupid sin because the consequences are staring you on your face and you still go ahead. You know it is wrong, yet like the proverbial dog which refuses to heed the hunter’s whistle, you go ahead.
Your conscience pricks you, yet you refuse to unlock yourself from the embrace of the strange woman or the evil man as the scripture aptly puts it. It is simply a stupid sin. See it here:
But whoso committeth adultery with a woman lacketh understanding: he that doeth it destroyeth his own soul.
Pro 6:32 KJV
See other translation:
Adultery is a brainless act, soul-destroying, self-destructive;
Pro 6:32 MSG
Let’s see one more translation
But whoever commits adultery with a woman lacks heart and understanding (moral principle and prudence); he who does it is destroying his own life.
Pro 6:32 AMP
What is my advice?
Let thy fountain be blessed: and rejoice with the wife of thy youth.
Pro 5:18 KJV
See it in the Amplified version.
Let your fountain [of human life] be blessed [with the rewards of fidelity], and rejoice in the wife of your youth.
Pro 5:18 AMP
What is God trying to say here? God is trying to identify one of the causes of adultery. What is that? NEGLECT! Don’t neglect your spouse in any way especially where your sexual life is concerned.
The greatest need of a man is jeru trip. The greatest need of a woman is communication and attention. Give this to each other and enjoy each other!
Protect each other by satisfying yourselves. Jeru trip is not a reward system neither is it a punishment tool! According to the amplified version above, when you satisfy yourselves as a married couple, you will be blessed with the rewards of fidelity.
May God grant us more understanding.
CONFESSION FOR THE DAY I am a wise spouse. I will not shoot myself in the leg.
PRAYER FOR THE DAY Pray against the spirit of lust in your family.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY Proverbs 6:32-33 (CEV) But if you go to bed with another man’s wife, you will destroy yourself by your own stupidity. You will be beaten and forever disgraced.
How much shouldhusbands and wives love themselves? They should be intoxicated with one another! That is how much!
We see this right in the scripture.
Son 1:2 (KJV) Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth: for thy love is better than wine.
Take a look at the Message Translation:
Son 1:2 (GW) [Bride] Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth. Your expressions of love are better than wine,
Love is to be expressed. And these expressions or actions are compared with wine and even much better.
What does wine do?
It gets you high and intoxicated, makes you feel happy and animated.
Here, the writer says, the expressions of your love is much better than wine.
As husbands and wives, you are to be intoxicated with each other. You should look forward to one another. You should constantly pray for one another from a genuine heart!
And you know what, you can only do this by focusing on each other.
Do not allow anybody to come in between the two of you. Do not allow a third party to sow any seed of discord into your love. Get drunk of each other.
The ploy of the devil is to cause irritations, quarrels, misunderstandings, animosity and the like. You must be sensitive to avoid all these in your marriage so that your marriage will not be hindered in any way.
Let God’s love rule in your marriage, and this will in turn regulate your actions and reactions and bring out the best in your marital relationship.
Demonstrate your love for one another through expression of kisses. Don’t let the wedding kiss be the last memory of a good kiss!
Get drunk with Holy Spirit, and get drunk with one another.
May God grant you more understanding in Jesus name!
CONFESSION FOR THE DAY I love my spouse and I focus on him/her
PRAYER FOR THE DAY Ask for the grace to focus on your spouse
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY Song of Solomon 1:2 (KJV) Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth: for thy love is better than wine.
ACTION PLAN FOR THE DAY Give your spouse a good kiss
1. Focus A great marriage is made of a couple who are so into themselves. They focus on each other’s needs. They love each other tirelessly. They are best friends of themselves.
For the Lord God will help me; therefore shall I not be confounded: therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed.
Isa 50:7 (KJV)
God will help, but you must set your face like a flint, which means to focus. Focusing on each other will help you to be faithful to each other in your marriage.
2. Forgive A fantastic marital journey is made up of two forgivers. In fact, there is such thing as advanced forgiveness. As couples, avoid bitterness like a plague. Runaway from strife and don’t touch it with a mile-long pole.
3. Forget Oh, you must learn to forgive the hurts of the past. Dear couples, help your spouse by not repeating what you promised you won’t do again. If you keep repeating a particular thing you promised not to do, you make it difficult for your spouse to forget.
Each reiteration of the act will be a painful reminder of that which has been buried.
Absolutely forgetting a thing is almost impossible, because that has to be a condition of amnesia, however, you can forget the pain that comes with it.
4. Forsake There are things to forsake as you move on in the marital journey. There are things your spouse does not like and which keep bringing conflicts from time to time. Forsake them, that is what growing is all about.
Don’t assume a fixated posture like you cannot change. It’s only God that changeth not, and you are not God.
You deal with the flesh. You put the body under. You remain disciplined. You get better by the day.
Good morning. God bless you.
CONFESSION FOR THE DAY I am getting better by the day
PRAYER FOR THE DAY Lord, help me to dutifully focus on my spouse
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY Isa 50:7 (AMP)For the Lord God helps Me; therefore have I not been ashamed or confounded. Therefore have I set My face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be put to shame.
ACTION PLAN FOR THE DAY Write out the word you are standing on
