Gratitude to God

Genesis 6-8 and Genesis 19 are two Bible passages that shows us so well the importance of showing God gratitude. Our ability to say Thank You to God for mercies received and grace untold shows God our readiness to receive more grace from Him.
First I want us to consider the story of the man named Noah, whose story is found in Genesis 6-8. Because of the length of the passage in consideration, I will not be able to write it out, but will encourage that we all take a little time out to know a little more about Noah from this passage.
Genesis 6:9 tells us that Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time and so he found favour in the sight of God. His character as a man who feared God endeared him to the heart of God and so the Lord decided to spare Noah from the great destruction coming to earth and through him repopulated the earth.
But what I want us to focus on was Noah’s attitude or rather response to the grace of God on his live. The Bible records in Genesis 8:13-22 that immediately Noah got out of the ark, he got some clean animals, built an altar and sacrificed to God. The aroma of the sacrifice pleased the Lord to the point that God entered into a covenant with Noah, his household and the entire world. This covenant was a covenant of provision, increase, multiplication.
On another note, Genesis 19 tells us the story of how God spared Lot from the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. When the angels of the Lord arrived at Sodom, it was Lot who met them and took them into his home. He took care of them, shielded them from the attacks of the villagers and even offered his daughters for molestation in place of the visiting angels.
This act made the angels spare Lot from the impending destruction. Lot and his household were literarily hulled to safety by the angels when he hesitated to leave the city. Except for the wife of Lot who disobeyed and looked back at the city, Lot’s household left the city of Sodom safe and sound. But unlike Noah, Lot did not remember to show appreciate for what God did for him. Lot took the grace of God for his life for granted. He just went on with his life as though nothing spectacular had happened to him. No record in the Bible shows that Lot gave thanks to God after that incidence.
Other than the fact that Lot’s daughter got him drunk and had sex with him in turn thereby committing a detestable offence before God, nothing else was said about that man called Lot again. I just try to imagine if Lot had remembered to show gratitude to God for the kind deliverance shown to him and his family?
Many of us take the grace of God for our lives for granted. The Bible says “the race is not to the swift nor the battle to the strong, but time and chance happens to them all.” Your intellect really didn’t get you this far in life; Steve Jobs in all his achievements is dead and gone. It’s not your ability that has helped you; there are a lot of people with better ability and more hardworking than you, yet they are still wallowing in poverty. It is just the grace of God and nothing but the grace of God.
When you learn to appreciate God for the ASSUMED little things He is doing in your life, you show Him your readiness for greater and better things. Whatever you have, you have received from God. Even the breathe that you breath really does not belong to you and it is worth thanking God for. When you have mastered the act of appreciation, then like Noah you show God a man worthy to receive an everlasting covenant from Him.  

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The Ripple Effects of Your Actions.

It’s been a few days since my last post, about 5 days to be precise and I must say that I miss writing on my blog. But I had some network issues with my internet and was also held down preparing a daily devotional guide for my children, but I am really glad to be back. 

As the Lord will help me pen down today’s post, I want to call our attention to the ripple effects of our actions or in-actions on our children and our descendants after us. In one of my previous post I wrote about the covenant of God, and one truth of the covenant of God is that it does not start and end with the particular person whom the Lord actually made the covenant with. Their descendants and further generations after them, people they will never know will also benefit from that covenant. Deuteronomy 7:9 speaks of God as the faithful God Who keeps His covenant of love to a thousand generation of those who love Him and keep His commands. So we see God not just limiting His love to those who love Him alone, but also their children and children’s children after them.

David in Psalm 37:25 says “He was young  and now old, yet he has not seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging for bread.” What I want us to focus on in this post is the fact that whatever we do good or bad has an effect or impact on our children. The realization of this is sort of a wake up call for all parents. And the thought I want us to hold dear is this: “Is it really right to put the future of our children at risk due to what we are doing wrong and the things we are not doing right?”   

One fact about God that really calls for caution in the lives of we the Christians is what I found in the story of David and Uriah’s wife Bathsheba. David committed a sin by sending a man to an early grave and taking his wife for himself. He committed a grievous sin before the Lord for which we all know he should be punished. But in 2 Samuel 12:13, we see David realizing his mistakes, and immediately Nathan the prophet told him the Lord has taken away his sin and he was not going to die. But because by what he did he had caused the enemies of God to show utter contempt, the son born to him will die.

This son that was been punished for the sins of his father never knew anything about the sin. He was not even in existence when the sin took place yet he died for the sin of his father. And still in this judgement we cannot say God is unjust. If we continue to read through to 2 Samuel 13, we will see the children of David operating under the curse brought about by the sin of their father doing very wrong things that eventually led to their death. God didn’t punish David directly; David never stopped to be a man after God’s heart, but the punishment of his sins were borne by his children. The knowledge of this truth calls for parents to be on the alert with their lives and the things they do, your sins may seem to go unnoticed or unpunished yet your children will have to reap the punishment of a sin they didn’t commit. 

Numbers 14:18 reads, “The Lord is slow to anger, abounding in love and forgiving sin and rebellion. Yet He does not leave the guilty unpunished; He punishes the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and forth generation.”  When we know the God that is merciful, loving, forgiving, gracious and caring, we should also be mindful of the fact that this same loving God is the God that punishes the children for the sins of the father. This is exactly the God we see in the story of David in 2 Samuel 11-13. The God that punishes the children for the sins of the father. But the truth is that this has not made God unjust, it has not made Him unfair, unloving, ungracious, uncaring, or unmerciful. It has only called for caution on our own part to live right not just for our own sake, but also for the sake of the children He has given into our lives and that we love and care for.

You and I who are true children of God, born of God through our faith in Jesus Christ are also called the seed of Abraham, heirs to the promise of God to Abraham just because Abraham kept the laws, commands and requirements of God (Genesis 26:5). One thought I want us to bear at the back of our minds is that “What if Abraham didn’t not keep the requirements, commands, decrees and laws of God?” I am sure you will agree with me that their will be no promise for you and I to inherit and enjoy. Now, such is the case when you refuse or fail to keep the requirements, commands, decrees and laws of the Lord. You not only forfeit the benefit of a promise for your life, you leave your children and descendants after with no promise from God to inherit. 

We all know that in order to inherit and retain the promises of God for our lives we need to walk before the Lord and be blameless (Genesis 17:1) But our blameless walk also guarantees for our children a promise from God that will not go unfulfilled. 

Numbers 25:12  reads “Therefore tell him I am making a covenant of peace with him. He and his descendants will have a covenant of a lasting priesthood, because he was zealous for the honour of his God and made atonement for the Israelites.”  This is the promise of God to Phinehas the grandchild of Aaron for appeasing God on behalf of the Israelites and removing the accursed one from the camp of the Israelites. But the content of the covenant is what caught my attention. God did not just make a covenant of priesthood with Phinehas, He made an everlasting covenant with Phinehas and his descendants after him. Those he never will know will benefit from the actions of Phinehas that pleased God to the point of making a covenant with him. 

The Lord is still in the business of making covenants with men in our generation who have distinguished themselves in righteousness before Him. This attribute of God is not limited to Bible days. What are the things you are doing that pleases God? In what way have you been able to make a mark of excellence in your walk with the Lord that will move Him not just to enter a covenant with you but also with your descendants after you? Now is the time to start to build lasting treasures in heaven for your descendants to inherit. A covenant that guarantees God’s grace for your descendants as an everlasting covenant. 

Proverbs 13:22 says “A righteous man leaves and inheritance for his children’s children, but a sinner’s wealth is stored up for the righteous.” If you have not been able to build mansions and buy luxurious cars or get impressive share certificates  as inheritance for your children’s children. Please ensure you leave a covenant of God for them to inherit. That is a better guarantee than all the worldly stuff I have just highlighted. The Lord will help us as we walk with Him.  

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Building a Peaceful Marriage (Stories That Teach)

The story that I am sharing in today's post is a true life story of about one of the many issues we face in our marital life. This story is one of the few stories shared on my webstite www.thewordthatsuits.com. It is a story that we need to learn from to help us build a masterpiece of a home in marriage. Please read, enjoy and learn from it.

The Issue:

For me marriage is a thing of misery more than the joy you have been describing it to be. I am married with children but happiness is a far fetched luxury for me. My major problem in marriage is my mother-in-law and even though I will not ascribe all the problems in my marriage to her, but will say she is the genesis of most of my woes. My husband is an only child since his brother was shot dead by unknown gunmen. And so my husband has become the heartbeat of his mother who is also a widow. We live in the same building with my mother-in-law for reasons I am yet to come to terms with. My husband had a good paying job, but just a few years back he lost his job and his mother was able to convince him not to bother looking for another job but rather join her in managing the family business and since then our financial life has been a reek as we now live off the crumbs that falls off my mother-in-law’s table. My relationship with my husband has now become so estranged; he now drinks a lot, engages in extra-marital affairs and just what his mother says is law in my home. I am just managing to hang on to the marriage, I am seriously contemplating a divorce. I have prayed, gone for deliverance session to no avail. What beats me in all these is that my mother-in-law has a church that she pastors and runs, so she also carries on the spiritual head of my husband’s life and invariably my home. I am lost, I am confused and drained, I don't even know what to make of my miserable life. The only hope I have resides in my children and I don't know how far that can carry me. To crown all of my problems, I do not have a job or a means to earn income, truly I am suffering.   

Response:

One truth that remains unchanged is that the Lord will not tempt you more than you can bear, and for every challenge that you face in life, with God there is always a means of escape. Let this truth remain at the focus of your life and knowing that even though tears may last for a night there is always joy in the morning. In this situation I believe the Lord will want to begin his renewal mission starting with you. From all that you have said, it appears you don't have any fault in the matter, but one question I need you to ask yourself deeply is: what is your relationship with God like? At this point you need to make a very important and acceptable sacrifice to the Lord requisite to the healing of your life and home, this sacrifice is first necessary in dealing with your life and then moves on to renew your  marriage. This sacrifice is found in Psalm 51:16-17 “You do not delight in sacrifice, or I will bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. The sacrifice of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God you will not despise.” The offering of this sacrifice as stated in Psalm 51 precede all that the Lord will do in your home and your life. It is true that you have prayed hard, but the Lord sees beyond our prayers and searches the deep things of our heart. The prayer of a sinner the Bible says is an abomination to God and so what you carry within you as you go on to pray matters a lot. If you abhor impurity in you, those your prayers, plenty and hard as they may seem have absolutely no effect. I know for sure you are hurting and your life feels like a misery, but you need to be broken before the Lord and let God wage war against your challenges. You need come before the Lord with a broken spirit and a contrite heart; you need to give God free access into your life to deal with every form of sin and every inclination towards sin in your life, including the sin of hatred. Sin hinders prayer and that you need to let go off in order to pray effectively. Indeed you have every reason humanly conceivable to be resentful towards your husband and his mother but that will not help you in this situation. The Bible says we live in the world, but we are not off the world, this is the time to display heavenly traits that shows you off as a child of God, and show LOVE and care towards your husband even in the midst of his hostility towards you. The Bible says if you only love those who love you, and you hate those who hate you, then you are not different from the tax collectors. The test you need to pass in order to be certified a child of God is to be able to love in the midst of hostility (Matthew 5:44-48). This might appear as a tough thing to do but the Lord will grant you the grace to live right according to His will.  In Matthew 6:9 the Lord Jesus taught us to pray asking the Lord to forgive us our sins as we forgive those that sin against us and in verse 14 He said “for if we forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly father will also forgive you.” Forgiving your husband plays a very important rule in the healing of your home as it plays a part in your sacrifice of brokenness before God required for effective prayers and also in your assignment as a suitable help in the deliverance of your husband’s life.  This is not a problem that the Lord cannot handle and pull you through it such that you will smile again. Despite all that you are going, you still need to submit to your husband, 1 Peter 3:1-2 reads “Wives 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.” The Lord will cause your purity to shine forth like gold that draws your husband to the Lord and rekindle his love for you. Your husband has given in to some wrong advises and decisions which obviously has caused a sense of regret and inadequacy in him and he does not know how to handle it and so he has taken to the street, living life in a carefree manner. At this point, he wants to just drown his misery and the frustration he feels, he can only take it out on you as his wife. So you are both to help him recovery from his misery and still absorb the shock of his frustrations. Indeed as a woman you are built by God to accommodate it all. The shock you have to absorb should create in you a sense of urgency to need and want to help your husband  rather than create hatred and resentment for him. Your problem solving role starts with you connecting firmly with God with a broken and contrite heart, ask the Lord to help you live above sin and any inclination of sin capable of hindering your prayers. Pray to God for a life of righteousness and holiness and as God helps you to conquer and live above sin, you then start to step in for your husband and children. 1 Corinthians 7:14 says “the unbelieving husband has been sanctified through the believing wife,” so you see that your righteousness plays a role in the sanctification of your husband. And so you understand why I said the healing starts with you. Gradually as you remain steadfast in the Lord with your effective prayers and right attitude in submission, purity and reverence to your husband, you will gradually start to see positive changes in him and your home will soon become a haven for your family. With you and your husband in good standing your mother-in-law will not pose a problem again. But with her also you need to show her respect and give her the honour due to her. God has instructed that we respect and honour our parents and that includes your parents-in-law. Romans 13:7 says “give everyone what you owe him: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if you owe revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honour, then honour. Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another for he who loves his fellow-man has fulfilled the law.” In the bid to fulfill the requirements of God, you need to love your mother-in-law, honour and respect her. If she is still hostile to you, then she has God to contend with. Romans 12:14 says “bless those who prosecute you; bless and do not curse.” Again Romans 12:17-19 says “do not repay evil with evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: ‘it is mine to avenge; I will repay’ says the Lord.” The things you have learnt from these passages should be your guiding principle as you relate with your mother-in-law and I assure you they will yield positive results to the glory of God. As you serve God diligently I am positive the Lord will not leave out your financial problems; as He restores your home, He will surely restore your finances as He is the God that rewards those who diligently seek Him. Once you have firmly connected with God there are bound to be testimonies. I know you feel drained and well spent, but the journey to a beautiful home is just beginning. Like the story of Elijah in 1 kings 19:1-8, you have contended with your struggles enough, now is the time to eat the Lord’s food which is the word of God and get strength for the work ahead of you. Make your Bible your closest companion and you will find revelations from the word of God to run with to victory.  

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Where Is The Love?

Every time I read through the daily newspapers, 50% of the news for the day is characterized by one kind of disaster or the other. But of all the disasters that has been most prominent in the news lately is the rate at which human beings kill each other. There seem to be a major disregard for human life in recent times. The shedding of human blood aimlessly is really on the increase. One man gets angry with his brother and without any form of recourse he picks a gun and snuffs out the life of his fellow man. But what bothers me most in all these is how these present day cannibals find sleep and rest in their evil act. Where is the love of God in our present day generation?  

While discussing this subject with my husband, what he said to me was that "we are presently in the devil's world." We all know that we are in the end times now and though I would rather not preach salvation solely because we are in the end-times, but would rather preach salvation because death can come knocking at any point in time. If Jesus tarries much longer, death can't be kept waiting beyond the appointed time. 

With this said, there is the need to prepare, more need to prepare now than ever before. Quite a lot of people say that they have heard that Jesus is coming decades before now, and still He is yet to show up, but one fact that never fails to show up is death. Life-expectancy has dropped from being 70years and above to being in the rage of 40-60years and so the few living up to 80years and above are really in luck.

1 Corinthians 13:1-10, 13

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have a gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and suurender my body to the flames, but not have love, I gain nothing.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophecy in part, when when the perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. 

And now these three remains: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

Like I said earlier, it is time to prepare for eternity. More than ever before, the times are very evil. If  we don't as much anticipate the return of our Lord Jesus Christ, we need to prepare in anticipation for death, the inevitable visitor who comes calling unannounced and uninvited. 

The most important thing to consider and possess in abundance as we prepare for eternity is that thing called Love. Now this is not the love that exist between a man and his wife, but the Love which is a characteristic of God and one important factor that shows forth that we are sons of God. That is the love Paul described above which never fails.

Paul tells us that prophecies can cease, tongues may be stilled and knowledge will pass away, but one thing that sure stands the test of time in this world and beyond is Love; the agape love of God. The love that is patient and kind, the love that does not envy or keeps record of wrong, the love that is not easily angered, the love that delights in truth, that is the Love that stands the test of time. This kind of love does not breed heart failure, this kind of love is not characterized by anxiety, with this kind of love, you eliminate worry. This is God's kind of love. When you possess this kind of love, then truly you are a child of God.

Matthew 5:43-48

"You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbour and hate your enemy.' But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

No imperfection is eligible to enter into heaven. The kind of perfection that tells the world the son of Whom you are as a child of God is the perfection characterized by the Love described in the two passages above. If you are yet to possess this kind of love, then you are yet to be true sons of God and you are yet to be qualified for heaven at death. By this I do not stand to judge anyone, this is just the word of God.

Jesus said we should be perfect as our Father in heaven is perfect. That is the perfection that reigns in the Kingdom of God. The perfection of the love that keeps no record of wrongs and thus breeds no enemies. The perfection of the love that does not envy and so there is no unhealthy competition or rivalry. The perfection of the love that is not proud, not self-seeking and not boastful and so there is no unhealthy and unholy life ambitions. It is not rude, it is a kind of love that breeds respect for others and for authorities. It is not a kind of love that is easily angered, and so it is characterized by self-control and it is temperate. This is the kind of love that God wants us to have. 

Without this kind of love, eternity is heaven is not so sure. And so we can understand why Jesus will says that a lot of people will do many miracles in His name yet they will not make heaven. This is because they lack the love that qualifies them for a placement in the kingdom of God. Their life has been smeared by some form of imperfection that can only be corrected by the love that is described in the passages above. 

We all need to go back to the drawing board and re-evaluate our walk and relationship with God. We need to search our very form of existence and place our lives in the light of the revelation of the word of God found in the two passages above. If I have to tell you the truth, I also need to do the same. As I put down this message, I do not speak to my readers alone, but I speak to myself. That the Lord helps me to follow the leading of His Spirit in my life and that His Spirit will work out in me the perfection of what is revealed to me in these passages above. 

I am just trying to imagine if the whole world will live by the standard of the love described in 1 Corinthian 13. Surely there will not be chaos at all on the face of the earth. Still I try to imagine what heaven will be like if all those who enter and remain there are those who have attained the level of perfection characterized by the love in the passages above. No matter your level of hard work in Christ, if you are yet lacking in the love described above, then you are assumed to have done nothing. And so in order not to labour in vain, it is of utmost importance that we work at what we do for God in the light of the Love of God described above. Your measure of approval is by the standard of the love described above.

This level of love is not attained in the flesh. Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot measure up to the level of love that God desires and approves of in the passages above. This kind of love is only attainable in Christ. It is the truthful and diligent following of the leadership of Jesus through His Spirit that He gives us that can help us attain this level of love. When you walk in Christ and follow His leading without looking to the right or to the left, then you truly walk in Love. Love in the very true sense of it as in the Love of God can only be found in Jesus.

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Living the Life of Christ

A lot of people find it difficult to believe or accept that it is possible to live a righteous life in this present generation. I have also come across a lot of people with the believe that it is when you look sober in appearance (not wearing earring, make-ups, hair extensions and the likes) that you start to live the life of Christ. Well in as much as I will not attempt to raise an argumentative discussion, we will try to understand what the Lord expects of those who are His with regards their daily lives.

Living the life of Jesus is an outpouring of what we have been able to receive in the course of our walk with God. It is impossible to live like Jesus when you still have the sinful nature operating within you and you do not have a relationship with Christ Jesus. It is the Christ in you that project out of you in your character, your thoughts and your words.

Romans 8:5-8

Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God.   

So what we are learning here is that the ability to live the life of Christ is determined by who controls your mind. You can only do the desires of God and live like Jesus when you have your mind is controlled by the Spirit of God. It is a very big impossibility to do the will of God, walk in righteousness and live like Jesus when you still have the sinful nature dominating your live and controlling your mind.

Above your physical appearance, who controls your mind determines how much you are able to live like Jesus. In this matter, there is no lukewarmness, it either that you are controlled by the Spirit of God or controlled by the sinful nature. Once you discover that all you do is the desire of the sinful nature, then it is obvious that it is that nature that controls you.

Roman 8:9-10

You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit; if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ. But if Christ is in you, your body is dead to sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness.

The only possible means to attain the life of Christ here on earth is to have the Spirit of Christ dwell richly in you. The more of Christ you have in you, the more of Him you have working in you. Living a life of Christ is not attained by self effort but by the Spirit of Christ that dwells in you to Whom you have submitted the authority of your life. The Spirit of Christ in you takes the lead and you just follow when you have truly given over yourself to His leadership.

What men see in you as righteousness is not birth by your human effort but by the leadership of the Spirit of God Whom you diligently follow. There is no point making self effort at righteousness, the Bible tells us that flesh and blood cannot please God. But when you submit the authority of your life over to Jesus, His Spirit that dwells in you does the work while you only submit to the leadership of God’s Spirit in your life and follow as He leads.

The next question that needs to be answered is: “How do I receive the Spirit of God in my life which in turn works out righteousness in me?” Well it is not a hard process at all, it is all a matter of a truthful decision on your part to receive Jesus Christ in your life at no cost. The cost of your salvation He has paid on the cross at Calvary over 2000 years ago.  

John 1:12-13

“Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God – children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.”

Ephesians 1:13-14

And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession – to the praise of his glory.

The moment you receive the message of salvation through the perfect finished work of Christ on Calvary and you believed in the name of Jesus you are marked with a seal which is the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God that dwells in you and guarantees your inheritance in God. That same Spirit is the One who controls your life and works in you the righteousness of God. As long as you submit to the leadership of the Holy Spirit in your life you are guaranteed of a life in the likeness of Jesus Christ here on earth. No longer will you succumb to the dictates of the world but you live a life pleasing only to God.

Worry

Like I have always said, it is much easier to read the lines of the Bible than to practice what it says. But by the grace of God it is not impossible to practice the instructions of the Bible, it’s all about where our focus is and our ability to trust God to help us through been able to do what He ask and wants us to do.

One important thing that keeps coming to mind is that: “Is it a sin to do what God hates?” There are a lot of laws and instructions and requirements in the Bible that are totally separate from the 10 commandments. So is it only the 10 commandments that are regarded as sin or every don’ts of the Bible should be regarded as sin?

Well permit me to express my own view at this point as the first to share her thoughts. For me I will say that it is not just the 10 commandments that are regarded as sin but every word that comes out of the mouth of the Lord prohibiting us from taking a step or doing a thing contrary to the desire of the Lord. Eve at the beginning ate the forbidden fruit and sinned, then the 10 commandments were not in existence yet she and Adam sinned. So we will not be wrong to say and put a stamp of approval as sin on doing anything that the Lord hates or prohibits us not to do.

Now is we have been able to get this fact straight that it is a sin to do what God hates and has expressly instructs us not to do, then you will agree with me that it is a sin to worry. Please do not wow at this, I didn’t give that instruction, the Lord did.

Matthew 6:25-34

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?

“And why worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labour or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendour was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. 

With this passage it is very well understandable that the instruction not to worry isn’t given by any man but by God Himself. But in truth it is easier to say the words “don’t worry” than to actually not worry, most especially when the challenges of life seem too much to bear.

When God instructed against worry, He very well understood that worry never stops the problem or create a path way to the solution of the problem. But rather what worry does is to invite fear that works contrary to our faith requisite to obtaining a solution to the problem. Worry also works contrary to our well-being and has become the root cause of quite a number of health problems that do not go away with a tap of the finger. Worry is the mastermind of sicknesses like hypertension and high blood pressure.

In truth it isn’t so easy not to worry but when we are able to trust God’s ability to solve our problems then we are miles ahead of the challenges that are overwhelming our lives. The Bible tells us in Roman 4:18-25 that Abraham believed the promise of God to give him a child because he knew that God had the power to do what He has promised.

Romans 4:21 reads “being fully persuaded that God had the power to do what he had promised to do,” the focus for Abraham was not as much on the promise given as it was on the One who made the promise. You might tend to worry when you are yet to be aware of the ability of God to solve your problems, but when you have a revelation of the awesomeness of God, your confidence in Him is awakened, and your faith boast up and you are able to trust that what you are going that otherwise should have ignited worry in you is just a temporary passing face that God is mindful of and is in the process of taking you out of it. Do you know of the awesome mighty power of God? If you do not know then pray for God to show you just a bit of Himself, I am positive He will be glad to do that.

The Lord Jesus in Matthew 6, tells us not to worry, this instruction was given because God knows that worry paralysis faith. And yet never get the problem solved. But one instruction that Jesus gave that we need to always remind ourselves of is that instead of worry we need to seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and all other things will be added to us. To seek the kingdom of God is to delight ourselves in pleasing God. As children of God, the Bible tells us that our relationship with God should be of topmost priority to us. When our relationship with God has been firmed up and looking good, all other things will be taken care of by God.

Our relationship with God determines our true knowledge of Him, and once we know God well enough, we will know the magnitude of His power and then trusting Him will not take an effort. Once we are able to trust God well enough, He pours Himself out for us and meets all our needs in the fullness of His power that we have come know and embrace.

David said in Psalm 37:4 that “Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart.” This sounds very similar to what Jesus said in Matthew 6:33 “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all other things will be given to you as well.” When you have a relationship with the Lord then your life is very well covered; those challenges of your life that appears big and impossible are all just a word away from being over.

The Roman Centurion in Matthew 8:5-13 understood the truth that his problem was just a word away from being over. All he needed was a contact with Jesus, then a word from Him and all will be well. He didn’t request for much from Jesus, all he asked the Master was the He speaks the word and his servant will be well. And all that Jesus told the centurion is to “Go! It will be done just as you believe it would.” By the time the centurion got home, it was done just as he believed it would.

Matthew 7:7-11

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.

“Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!  

I really like the arrangement of things in the Bible, just as Jesus was finishing with the instruction of not to worry, He spoke about criticizing others and immediately gave the next instruction on asking. It is as if the Lord is telling us that instead of worrying ask. As a child of God knowing, understanding and embracing the truth of the awesome power of God then instead of worrying and fretting, God wants you to ask Him for anything and He is ready and willing to do as you have asked.

He did not limit our ability to ask, He didn’t tell us what to or not to ask for, but said we should ask and we shall receive. John 15:7 reads “If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you.” John 16:23-24 reads “In that day you will no longer ask me anything, I tell you the truth, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete.” Jesus didn’t tell us we are only allowed to ask for specific things or make some definite requests alone, but that we should have for anything in His name and we will receive. No limit, no restrictions, no barriers, but that we should ask for anything.

But this open check of withdrawal from heavens resources is only open to those who are God’s children. Those who belong to Christ and remain in Him; this largesse is not extended to unbelievers, neither is it open to pagans, but to the true sons of God.

If you are yet to give your life to Jesus, I suppose you know that you are just subjecting yourself to unnecessary hardship. Why not look around you and know that you can truly overcome those challenges and struggles only by the power of God made available only to the sons of God. It is not possible to claim the goods or enjoy the inheritance of a Father who is not yours.

Becoming a child of God does not cost money; you don’t have to make absurd sacrifices to receive abundant life in Christ. It does not call for the shedding of blood, it is just a heart that is tired of this miserable life embracing a mighty power that saves and delivers. John 1:12-13 reads “Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God – children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.” This is all that is required of you to become a child of God. Nothing big, not bogus, just a heart that is yielded to the perfect finished work of Christ on the cross at Calvary; acknowledging that you are a sinner that needs a Saviour and receiving Christ into your life as your Lord and Saviour. Once you have been able to truly make this decision, I implore you to start reading this post over again from the beginning to know just in a minute part what grace you have found in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4:6-7

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanks giving, present your request to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

I want us to close this discussion with Paul’s words in the passage above. Just like Jesus, Paul said we should not be anxious about anything at all. Anxiety and worry are just two words implying or meaning the same thing. Paul says DO NOT BE ANXIOUS ABOUT ANYTHING. The sickness is there, but don’t worry is what God says; the debt is there, but don’t worry is what the Lord says; the bills are growing and there is no income to meet them, yet the Lord says don’t worry. It might sound strange but it’s the truth. Worry does not make a difference in the matter anyway, so even without God saying don’t worry, worrying makes no meaning in the solution we seek.

But instead of worry, God wants you to pray. Jesus says ASK, Paul says PRAY, two words point to the same thing. Paul adds that while praying, remember to thank God. Don’t wait for the solution before thanking God, thank Him while still asking because you believe like Abraham did that He has the power to bring a lasting solution to that problem you are praying for.

Then Paul said “the peace of God that transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” When you have stopped to worry and you have asked in faith knowing and believe that God has the power to answer your prayers and grant you the desires of your heart, that peace of God that flows from the throne of God and from the knowledge of what you believe will guards your hearts and minds. Now what is that peace guarding your hearts and minds against?

When I thought about this, what the Holy Spirit dropped in my heart is that the peace of God guards your hearts and minds against recurrent thoughts of worry and the anxiety that might reappear as you wait on God for your answers. Always let the thought of the power and ability of God to solve your problems block your view of the problem itself. The problem is there no doubt as it stares you in the face daily, but you need to let the power of God to solve the problem stare you in the face all the more. Then daily you will enjoy that peace of God that transcends all understanding.

With all that I have learnt, I will rather pray and trust God than to worry and be anxious. May the Lord help us daily as we walk with Him to a glorious end.

For more articles by Aderinsola Obasa, please click the link. They are mostly free view articles. http://www.thewordthatsuits.com/products

You can get one of the ebooks authored by Aderinsola Obasa that contains more words on the topic of Worry. https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/299094. This ebook can be downloaded on any of your devices

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Getting Practical With Marriage Issues.

I woke up this morning trusting God on the topic to write about for today's post. Didn't really want to discuss marriage as I have written extensively on that topic in this month alone. But then this topic just keeps coming to mind and I believe there is a seed the Lord will want me to sow in the life and marriage of someone somewhere that will make a positive difference. 

Because this is a Christian based blog and the principles of lifestyle projected from this blog is totally and wholly based on the teachings of the word of God in the Bible, I will inject very few Bible passages, but most of what will be discussed will be based on our everyday practical life in our marriages and homes. 

Going by the events the world over, we will notice the sharp increase in marital issues, the divorce rate is so interestingly skyrocketing, spouses killing each other and violence in the home as become a common occurrence that it does not sound strange or absurd any longer. And if there is any institution where satan is beginning to thrive, then I will say it's in the homes and marriages. Even in Christian homes the situation is not totally different. But God will surely frustrate his plot. 

In my previous posts we have learnt a lot about God's rules for the man and wife in marriage and we know that by the grace of God if we are able to abide by these rules we will have a successful and peaceful home. I always run with this slogan for marriage and it says "Marriage is to be enjoy and not endured," your marriage is suppose to be like a land flowing with milk and honey and not a land of misery or a battle ground. 

Going Practical

Sometimes we feel that Bible talks are just theoretical and not practical, it is much easier to read the lines that says "wives submit to your husband in everything as unto God," than to actually practice what it says. Well that is very true but not impossible. Whether you choose to obey the words of the Bible or not is a decision that one needs to make and be ready to enjoy the benefit of obedience or face the consequences of disobedience.

I once counselled someone on the phone who was in an abusive marriage and is a Christian, she was on the verge of loosing her head as she had been enduring the situation for over 10years. She got my number from my website and gave a me call. One of the first inquiry she made was to know if I had been in an abusive marriage and had overcomed it, for me to be qualified to speak to her. I confirmed that once I was in an abusive and miserable marriage. I was drained of hope in that marriage, but now I am most joyful in the same marriage, with my husband who was once a very short tempered and aggressive fellow now my very best friend and my love.

I didn't attain this much peace, calm and joy in my marriage just by chance, it took a lot of hard work on self control, submission and prayers. I was lucky enough that my husband didn't attempt harmful objects on me back then, but I will not tell you he didn't get physical with me at some point. But that same man of many years is still my husband now, but a new, loving, caring husband and father. This was possible because I was able to let God hold my hands and lead me through the storm. I took steps when He asked me to and was still when He told me to be still.

In as much as I will not exonerate the men or stripe them of any blame in a faulty marriage, I will like to tell the woman who has the fear of God that she has a lot of work to do in the success of her home. Proverbs 14:1 says "The wise woman builds her house, but with her own hands the foolish one tears hers down." It is the woman that has been saddled with the responsibility to build the home and this responsibility is delegated by God to her and not by her husband and it is to God she will report.

Some of the personal lessons I learnt in my marriage like I said earlier is self-control. The grace to be wrong when you know that you are right, the grace to submit even when you know that the one whom you are submitting to is on the wrong. God never asked us to submit to our believing husbands alone, or the good husband alone, but to submit to your husband(unclassified) in everything. So whether he is a believer or not, whether he is good or bad, whether he is wrong or right, you are to submit. 

Sarah submitted to Abraham when he told her to lie of her status as his wife, and was then taken to be wife to king Abimelech in Genesis 20, and the Abigail was still very much supportive of her mean and surly husband Nabal in 1 Samuel 25. Your role as a wife is not determined or subject to the response of your husband, even though his attitude will go a long way in helping you perform your role effectively. Don't bother to seek gratitude from your husband for what God has assigned you to do irrespective of the fact that he benefits from the role you are playing. Seek gratitude and that nod of well-done my child from God. 

Other than to submit to my husband, I learnt the lesson of keeping quiet and letting my opinion go unheard. Whatever my husband said then was always fine by me, even though they were actually mostly never fine. Whatever I wanted done and in whatever manner I wanted it done, I prayed about it. I learnt to commit all to God. It was not easy I must say, but I found grace and abundant grace I must say from the throne of God. Whenever a discussion was heading towards an argument I knew it was time to withdraw. At all times I was always praying, even when talking to my husband, I was praying deep in my heart. I still tell people today that a submissive wife who is not prayerful is like one with a substance but lacks power.

In recent times when I am having a heart to heart discussion with my husband, he always tells me how proud he was of me. And then says one thing that changed him the most was my patience and bearing attitude back then in those negative years. And then I will remember that Peter said in 1 Peter 3 that it is the purity and reverence in the lives of the wives that God uses to win over the unbelieving husband. If your husband is still as bad, then you need to let the light of Christ in you shine the more to kill every darkness in his life .

Sometimes we wives always want to burden ourselves with the search for reasons why our husbands are not the best that God can give. Well in truth they are the best if you can through the goodness of God in your life wash off every dirt covering the preciousness of God in their lives. 

In my own marital trying times I must tell you that I was hurting, I really hurt so bad, I was most miserable and I contemplated divorce on very many occasions. I asked God questions that I didn't get answers to. I could not fathom what it was that turned my husband to an uncaring monster. I searched my life to see if it was what I did or didn't do that was the reason for him been the way he was and I asked him that much. I didn't find any fault in me and he also didn't accuse me of anything, but yet he was as he was. 

So then I got the revelation that I am a suitable help meet (fit) for his life and placed in his life by God. I then realized that this my husband needs help and I am the one assigned by God to help him, even though I am the one on the receiving end of negative attitude. I was reminded by the Holy Spirit that with my level of relationship with God, divorce or separation was not an option to consider. So I decided to put my hands in God's hands and start to do what I needed to do. Those who sow in tears will surely reap in joy.

In the midst of all this, you need to be of good composure, look your best for your husband. Never wear your problems on your face. It is very dangerous to harbour hatred for yourself, because if you harbour hatred for your husband, you harbour hatred for yourself, since the Bible says you are no longer two but one. Never look for solutions in your husband, he is the problem and not the solution and he needs a solution. That is why God has placed you in his life to seek out the solution for him. The source of the solution lies in God through you in your right attitude, purity and reverence. Just like all other works, building a master piece of a home takes hard work. The woman should work at it as if her life depends on it because it truth it does. 

For so many reasons you need to work at building a master piece of a home, first that you might enjoy peace, then that you might be able to raise godly offspring in a godly home and lastly that you might make a big and positive impact in the life of your husband that he will be grateful to you for. 

For more on this topic please click the following links: http://www.thewordthatsuits.com/_item?item_id=031001, http://www.thewordthatsuits.com/_item?item_id=032001, http://www.thewordthatsuits.com/_item?item_id=033001, http://www.thewordthatsuits.com/_item?item_id=066001

You can also get the ebook "Marriage God's Rules of Engagement." https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/300604