Friday 22 August 2014

The Essence Of Showing Respect To Your Spouse (2)

I am so very glad to be sharing the word of God again this beautiful morning. It's worth all the praises we can give to God to be alive again today. Today's post will be a continuation of the last post a shared on the essence of couples showing respect to one another. By the grace of God the last post was directed to the women, but its not that the Lord does not require the men to show respect to their wives, so in today's write-up I will trust God to open the hearts of men to the need to show respect to their wives.

1 Peter 3:7
Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers.

Ephesians 5:25
Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.


In truth, the word of God is always balanced. The Lord created the man and also the woman and He is not bound to favour one gender above the other. So when He gives an instruction to one gender requisite to fulfilling their assignment effectively, He gives also the other gender instructions requisite to fulfilling their assignment effectively.
In the passage above, the Lord will want the husbands in the same way to be considerate and treat their wives with respect. When we look at the instruction God gave through Peter, He wants the husband to be considerate with their wives and treat them with respect, and then He gave the instruction through Paul that the husbands should love their wives in the manner in which Christ loved the church. From these two passages, we can now conclude that the kind of respect the Lord requires from the husband to his wife is one raped up in love.
It is important for the husbands to realize and understand that their wives are the personification of God's favour in their lives. Proverbs 18:22 says "He who finds a wife finds what is good and receives favour from God." So when as a man you understand that your wife is the symbol of God's favour in your life, you will learn to value her more, your will learn to be considerate with her and respect her and you will learn to love her. Doing these things over time will develop in you a sense of great value for your wife that you will be willing to give yourself for her just as Christ gave Himself for the church.
Do you desire a change in the character and attitude of your wife? Try show her some love and respect and with the hand of God on your effort, it will not be long before you start to see some changes in her. I have heard it said that women have the gift of multiplying whatever seed that has being sown in them. When you learn to saw the seed of love and respect in your wife then you should expect to reap a harvest of greater love and respect from her.
Peter concluded that verse by saying "so that nothing will hinder your prayers," and this appears to me as a warning for the men to show that failure to be considerate and treat their wives with respect can lead to God not paying attention to their prayers.
This same warning is seen in the book of Malachi 2:13-14 "Another thing you do: You flood the Lord's altar with tears. You weep and wail because he no longer pays attention to your offerings or accept them with pleasure from your hands. You ask, 'Why?' It is because the Lord is acting as the witness between you and the wife of your youth, because you have broken faith with her, though she is your partner, the wife of your marriage covenant." It really looks to me that God is not taking this issue lightly at all. God requires that the husband will treasure his wife and this should be evident in the way and manner in which he shows her love and respect. Failure to do this will make the Lord turn His face from the man.
When I wrote the post for the women two days ago, I felt the Lord might be asking for a little too much from the women on this issue of showing deep respect for our husbands. But by the time the Lord opened up His word to me today on what He requires of the man to his wife on the same matter, I kind of feel God is treading softly with us women. We will have it all good when we learn to show our husbands deep respect. It brings great love and peace in the home.
A man will work into his blessings faster and better when he has learnt to treasure God's favour in his life. He becomes a richer man in every area of his life as he shows God his ability to handle well God's first point of favour in his life. May the Lord help us build a home and a relationship that delights His heart.

Wednesday 20 August 2014

The Essence Of Showing Respect To Your Spouse (1)

A beautiful evening to the wonderful people of God. I pray that the Lord will shine down with favour on your and all yours in Jesus Name. It's being a while I wrote on the marriage topic, not that there is nothing to say, but I always have to write as the Spirit of the Lord leads. But I am trusting the Lord that the next few posts on this blog will be an encouragement for married couples.

1 Peter 3:1-2
Wives, in the same way be submissive to your husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behaviour of their wives, when they see the purity and reverence of your lives.

So many women have come to see marriage as a coming together of two individual who they regard as mates and equal partners in the relationship. In as much as I do not wish to comment on the hierarchy of marriage, it is important to emphasize the importance of a wife showing respect to her husband in marriage.
Based on the English Dictionary, the word reverence is defined as 1) a feeling or attitude of deep respect tinged with awe; veneration, 2) a gesture indicative of deep respect, an obeisance, bow, or curtsy. From what Peter says, the reverence which is a sign or gesture of deep respect from the wife to her husband is a tool in the hands of God in winning over an unbelieving husband to Himself.
Several times women will complain that they are not bound to show respect to a husband who does not respect them in return. I totally agree that respect is earned and cannot be forced, but as a woman of God based on what the Bible is teaching us in the passage above, if by any chance you desire a change of attitude in the life of your husband and wish him to know the Lord and develop a relationship with God, which will in turn develop in him the realization of your value in his life thereby making him love and respect you, then you need to reverence him first, which based on the English dictionary means you need to show him deep respect tinged with awe.
The kind of respect that the Lord demands of the wife to her husband is not just any kind of respect, but deep respect and in fact based on what the dictionary is making us to understand, it is a deep respect that is accompanied with gestures. True, a wife might have developed a great level of closeness with her husband that might not require her to bow or curtsy to him, but still the respect from the wife to her husband should be deep respect.
I have learnt over time to reverence my husband and by the grace of God I have enjoyed the benefits of doing so. I have learnt to treat my husband like a king and he has also grown to see me as his queen. So when he has issues that he needs advise on, he talks to me and in most cases adopts the advise I give to him.
Once I was with a friend who is not a Christian and she heard me talking to my husband over the phone. After a while my husband came to meet me and my friend and she said it was not until she saw my husband that she realised that he was the person I was talking to on the phone. She had thought I was talking to my father noting the level of respect with which I was talking on the phone. She then said, now she has learnt something new in marriage and from that day on she will show better respect to her husband. I so blessed God that day that at least from my attitude I have been able to touch a marriage for the better.
The book of Esther chapter 1 tells the story of how queen Vashti was deposed as queen just by reason of her lack of respect for her husband. You should not expect to be queen in your home when you have not learnt to make your husband the king in the way and manner in which you show him respect. When you have learnt to respect your husband, then you lay a good example for the rest of your household to follow and emulate.
It is only when you have made your husband the king of your territory in your mannerism towards him that you also become the queen of that territory. Also not that the change your desire in your husband will come to be when you have contributed your own input and let God contribute His. May the Lord bless our homes in Jesus Name.

Thursday 14 August 2014

Achieving The Impossible

Luke 5:1-10
One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret, with the people crowding round him and listening to the word of God, 2he saw at the water's edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets. 3He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from shore. Then he sat down and taught the people from the boat.
4When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep water, and let down the net for a catch.”
5Simon answered, “Master, we've worked hard all night and haven't caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.”
6When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. 7So they signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink.
8When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus' knees and said, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!” 9For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken, 10and so were James and John the sons of Zebedee, Simon's partner.
Then Jesus said to Simon, “Don't be afraid; from now on you will catch men.”


A very beautiful morning to the wonderful people of God, I really bless God for my on-line family and pray that the Lord will pay attention to you and grant you the desires of your heart.
In my last post I wrote about my big dream and tried by the special grace of God to encourage all those who dare to have big dreams including myself. It was a post that really encouraged me and I was glad to share those words with someone out there who is also daring to achieve something far bigger than him/her.
The passage above is one that has helped my faith. This passage is loaded with lessons that will turn the lives of those who dare to have faith in God around for the best. Dreaming big is a beautiful thing and you will get encouraged and it's easy to have hope when all is going as planned or anticipated. But that is not the case when everything looks blink and unrealistic and if the one who dreams lack the will to persist to push against all odds to attain and achieve the desired goal then dreaming big becomes a waste of time.
I have learnt a lot of lessons from the passage above which is a very good encouragement for those who have tried hard to work at the realization of their dreams and are already thinking of giving up. Peter was a very good fisherman, he understood the techniques of fishing so well, but on that fateful night, he had tried all that he could based on his own ability but he could not achieve anything.
Just when he was about to give up and retire for the night, the Lord Jesus needed his boat for use. The Bible tells us that Peter was already washing his net which is a sign that he was done with any attempt at his trade for the day. But just at that time Jesus needed to sit in his boat. After the Lord Jesus was done with His sermon He said to Peter "launch into the deep for a catch". In order words, just when Peter was finishing with his own attempt and he had exhausted his own ability, the Lord was coming into the situation and taking Peter through an experience he would never be able to accomplish on his own effort and with his own ability.
The good thing Peter did that is worth emulating was that he obey Jesus. He acknowledge the fact that he could not achieve the goal alone, Luke 5:5 says Simon answered, “Master, we've worked hard all night and haven't caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.” But the beautiful thing about the story is that Peter dared to obey Jesus.
Now the lessons I have learnt and will like to share are these:
1) It was not until Peter had tried and was about to give up that the Lord noticed his boat and wanted to make use of it. Had Peter being busy still that night, he will be in the deep waters and his boat will not available for Jesus to use. So I learnt to make myself available for Jesus to use and in doing so, give Him room to help me accomplish my very big and many dreams which I can't achieve based on my ability and effort. Psalm 37:4 says "Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart."
2) Although Peter had worked hard all through the night and caught nothing, yet he obey the Lord as Jesus asked him to let down the net for a catch. So no matter how hard you have tried to make those dreams a reality, there is still an ability that far outweighs your ability. Don't give up, hand that dream over to God and be ready to obey his voice as he directs your steps. He his able to help you make the millions that your limited ability cannot make for you.
3) The Bible tells us that when Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus knees. Falling at the knees of Jesus is a sign of worship, Peter worshipped at the marvelous catch that he would otherwise not have caught by himself. So we should learn to worship and praise God as He opens heaven for us and pours on us the desires of our hearts. Those things we would not have been able to do ourselves. Remember when praises go up, blessing come down.
Proverbs 12:24 says "Diligent hands will rule, but laziness ends in slave labour", and Proverbs 10:4 says Lazy hands make a man poor, but diligent hands bring wealth. Diligence is not excessive hard work at achieving nothing, but diligence is a persistent hand that does not give up until the goal is reached. But you don't have to work the road alone. Let God lead and you follow and you are sure to achieve more than the catch of fish that Peter caught as a result of obedience to the voice of God.

Wednesday 6 August 2014

Dare To Dream Big

A new month has began and with it comes new aspirations and new things to trust and hope in God for. I pray it brings with it a new beginning for many people aspiring new and beautiful beginnings in different areas of their lives.
I pray specially for me and my family as I trust God for something really big and massive which by human standard and my present financial state, appears like a big tall dream, but not so with my God. And I am sure I am not alone in the field of dreaming big and trusting God for massive projects which might be too mighty for them and so I will want to trust God to speak to people like me through this post.

Proverbs 16:3
Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and your plans will succeed. 

1 Chronicles 4:9-10
Jabez was more honourable than his brothers. His mother had named him Jabez, saying, "I gave birth to him in pain." Jabez cried out to the God of Israel, "Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory! Let your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain." And God granted his request. 

Some people profess to be realist because they only limit their dreams to what their realty tells them. They dare not go beyond what their limited capabilities are. For such people, dreaming big is like chasing shadows and burdening themselves with things that they have concluded can never come to pass. And in truth they will not go beyond the limit they have placed themselves in. They have by themselves limited their aspirations and if they are not aspiring it, then they might as well not pursue after it and invariably not get it.
But for someone like me, I dare to dream big. David said in Psalm 16:6 "The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance," and such is my confession. Just like David, I will not set my boundary lines close to where I am at the moment, I will allow God set my boundary lines far beyond my present reach such that He will have to hold me up to attain that which He alone can help me attain.
Some things I want to run with as I pursue my giant dreams and same I want to share with someone who like me dares to dream big.

1) I will commit my dreams to the Lord. I will commit what I want to do or better still what I want God to help me do to Him who alone can help me attain my dreams.

2) Then I will sow a seed, no matter how small it may be, towards my dream. Something small that the Lord can breathe on and make big in my hands. Remember the law of seedtime and harvest. The seed might not necessarily be in monetary form, but anything that you can sow, please do sow.

3) I will put myself to the pursuits of my dreams following only after the steps that the Lord will lead me through. Luke 5:1-11 tells the story of Peter and the miraculous catch of fish, and one lesson I learnt in the story is that when Peter obeyed the instruction of Jesus and launched into the deep when Jesus asked him to, he caught fish more than he ever did in his entire life of fishing. So what you are unable to do in your own strength, you can achieve even more when following strictly after the leading of the Holy Spirit.

4) And lastly when I have realized my dreams because with God I surely will, I will not take it for granted. I will acknowledge God who made it happen in my life.

Jabez made a request of the Lord, and just as he asked, same was granted unto him. Nothing was deducted from the request of Jabez. So I tell myself and I tell someone out there that "don't be afraid to dream big, don't be afraid to have huge aspirations, don't set limiting boundaries on yourself." One thing is for sure, when you commit that dream to the Lord, He will make them succeed, because heaven and earth will go away but the word of the Lord will not go without accomplishing that for which it has been sent. If the word says you should commit your plans to God and He will make them succeed, then be sure He will make them succeed irrespective of the time factor. He makes all things beautiful in His own time.


Wednesday 30 July 2014

The Diligent Hands

Good to share a word with the beautiful people of God again this evening. May the Lord always bless someone with His word shared on this blog in Jesus Name.
The last post I shared was a little reawakening word for us on the issue of time as we come to the realization that this year is fast approaching its end. For some, quite a lot of expectations have been met, while for others there are still a handful of issues to wait on God for and I pray that you will not wait on the Lord in vain because those who put their trust in God are never put to shame.

Colossians 3:23
Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men.

Proverbs 12:11
He who works his land will have abundant food, but he who chases fantasies lacks judgement.

Proverbs 12:24
Diligent hands will rule, but laziness ends in slave labour.

Proverbs 10:4
Lazy hands make a man poor, but diligent hands bring wealth.

By the grace of God, I am trusting the Lord to speak to someone through today's post on the importance of not giving up. When you read through the words of Solomon in the passages quoted, one would have interpreted diligent in those passages to mean hard work, since it is used in direct contrast to laziness. But I am persuaded to check up the meaning of diligent from the dictionary. So I found diligent to mean the following: (1) Constant in effort to accomplish something: attentive and persistent in doing anything. (2) Done or pursued with persevering attention; painstaking.
With this truth in mind, let us consider the words of Solomon again. First it says "diligent hands will rule" and second, it says, "diligent hands  bring wealth." So we have two things that are synonymous to diligence and they are wealth and leadership. These are the two end gains of those who are diligent in the work they do. They will be able to gather wealth and rule in their field of work.
Now one thing we need to bear in mind is that diligent hands are not working hard hands, but they are hands who do not relent but persist in their pursuit and persevere when they meet obstacles in the way of their dreams until they reach their goal.
If one works so hard but gets tired along the way and gives up the pursuits, they are not guaranteed of the end result or goal of their pursuit because they did not see it through to the end. Don't work as though it is a crime to rest, but that you pursue your dreams and work at your goal one step at a time, not giving up but learning from your mistakes and be ready and willing to try again.
One secret that can help you become diligent with your work is when you work at it as if you were working for the Lord. When you make God the boss of your work, it enables you work with all your heart. It also keeps you going when you come across obstacles and feel like giving up.
I do not advocate that a man overworks himself, but in the pursuit of your dreams, be persistent, be committed, learn to persevere and lastly be attentive. The word of God will never lie, if you put all these attributes to your work, surely it will bring you wealth and you will rule in the field of your expertise because by the time you approach the finish line you would have learnt enough to make you a master of your trade.
Just as I share this, I also learn from it and will not give up on my dreams.


Friday 25 July 2014

The Time Factor

Good morning beautiful people of God, I trust the Lord that we've all had a wonderful week, now it weekend again. It's so nice when we eagerly wait for the weekend to come and we can relax and rest from the busy schedule of the week gone by. But in as much as we look forward to the weekend, one important truth is that time is ticking and the days are going by.
Not too long ago it seemed like, that we began the year 2014, and today we have gone past half of the year and the month of July is rolling to an end. In no time at all the year 2014 will be regarded as history. As time is ticking and moving fast, our individual journey on earth is also marching on. Our days of existence is moving, and the question that we need to always remind ourselves of is if we are making good use of our time.
The Bible tells us that we should learn to number our days, that we might apply our hearts to wisdom. That tells us the importance of being conscious of time and making the most of it. Time is a factor that is very independent of all other factors. It does not recognize anyone and respects no-one. Those who have used their time wisely have the rewards to show for it, while those who are yet to take full advantage of time as a factor are still in the business of foolishness of envying those who use their time wisely and they are busy criticizing other people's success.
One truth that I have found out with the time factor is that it can be easily neglected, and in some cases totally disregarded to our own detriment and disadvantage. Also it so happens that very unnecessary and unimportant issues can so easily steal our time away while we are not watching and if we do not check this quickly we might have lost very valuable opportunities that life holds for us.
Time is so valuable that it should not be spent chasing shadows. In pursuing your genuine and godly dreams, don't waste any time on failed projects. Be wise enough to recognize your mistakes early and make necessary corrections before the factor called time runs off with your valuable opportunities.
If you are one who is lazy and unconscious of time, then you need not complain when hunger and lack becomes your trademark. Proverbs 10:4-5 says "Lazy hands make a man poor, but diligent hands brings wealth. He who gathers crops in summer is a wise son, but he who sleeps during harvest is a disgraceful son." This passage shows me something interesting and that is: there is a time factors attached to wealth. So diligent hands doing the right things at the right time are assured of wealth. You can't sleep during harvest (harvest time and time factor) and expect to gather wealth. So if you have not invested your time in doing something productive, then you should not expect to earn returns on work not done.
So if we have spent the first seven months of the year not being conscious of time and putting our time into productive purpose, then its time to make a change. The Lord will bless the work of our hands, and the crops of our field, He will also bless our kneading trough and so many other promises found in Deuteronomy 28:1-13. But one thing the Lord will not bless is our waste of time.

Sunday 20 July 2014

Trials May Be Good Afterall.

I bless the Lord for another opportunity to put his word on this blog site. It feels real good to share the word of God, and in truth it comes with it's reward because all that we do for God comes with a reward.
Today, I will trust the Lord to help me send a word of comfort to someone out there going through any form of challenge or trial and feels the end has come. The surprising truth is that the Bible says in James 1:2-4 that we should consider it pure joy, whenever we face trials of many kinds, because we know that the testing of our faith develops perseverance which must finish its work so that we may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
The passage in James 1:2-4 and another passage I will share later shows us a beautiful reason that brings out a meaning from the trials we have to go through at the stages of our lives. There must be a rewarding end to the trials you are going through at the moment for James to implore us to consider it pure joy and nothing else but joy to be facing those trials and challenges.
I totally agree that facing trials is not easy in anyway because I have been through that road over and over again, but yet the Bible says it is a joyful thing to have to face those difficulties of life because it is those who have gone through the process and have learnt to trust God to see them through it that get the reward that accrues to champions.
James says that those trials are designed to produce perseverance in us, which when it has finished its work will make us mature and thus we are complete and lacking nothing. But how do we allow these trials produce perseverance in us? Let us look at another passage of the Bible in Hebrews 12:7-8, 10-11. It says "Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father? If you are not disciplined (and everyone undergoes discipline), then you are illegitimate children and not true sons. 
Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. 
What we are learning from the book of Hebrews 12 is that discipline which comes in the form of hardships, trials and challenges are designed for those whom the Lord loves and desires to train so that they may share in His holiness. The Lord is using your trials and testings and hardships (whatever name you call it) to produce Himself in you. No wonder James will say that we should consider it pure joy to have to go through these trials of many kinds. Painful as those trials may seem, it is God's own way of legitimizing our sonship and it is designed to produce the nature of God in us as we allow ourselves to be trained by them.
The products of this painful training course includes, perseverance, holiness, righteousness and peace to mention a few. It is a disciplinary session that is borne out of God's love for us and even though we feel pains as we go through the training course, God is not having fun at it also, but it is a course that needs to hold for us to attain maturity in godliness.
As parents we don't feel good having to discipline our children because of the love we feel for them, but if we want the best for them in life and want them to grow being the best in life, then they need to be put through strict and though discipline in love. As it is with earthly parents, so it is with God.
One important truth that I want us to hold on to is that it is God's duty as our heavenly Father to discipline us, but it is our own responsibility to be trained by the trials and challenges with which the Lord disciplines us. So when we face hardships and a few road-blocks in our life's journey, it is not helping us to complain and conclude that God has been unfair to us, but that we pick up the lessons the Lord desires that we learn and get ready to move on to the next level. We are the only ones who will determine how long we remain in those trying situation because the earlier we pick up the lessons God wants us to learn, the faster we are able to get out of that level of training.
Roman 8:18-19 says "I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing to the glory that will be revealed in us. The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed." The sufferings may be many, but the glory is much more once we have been trained by them, once the nature of God has been produced in our lives. Now Paul says that all that God has created waits eagerly for our manifestation as we shine forth in the glory of God adorned on us as we march out in the maturity of God's nature in our lives.
The hardship is not an effort in futility, it's God's discipline of your lives designed to produce His nature in you that you might shine forth in His glory and through you the entire creation of God might give Him all the glory. So don't despair, God is with you even as you pass through those challenges, He is watching you and will not tempt you beyond what you can bear. It is well with you.

Why Do We Worship God

Many people feel like they should only praise God when they have received a blessing from God. Honestly, I was in that category too, so I am...