Thursday 7 January 2016

Understanding Sex and Emotion In Marriage

1 Corinthians 7:3-5
The husband should fulfill his marital duty to his wife, and likewise the wife to her husband. The wife’s body does not belong to her alone but also to her husband. In the same way, the husband’s body does not belong to him alone but also to his wife. Do not deprive each other except for mutual consent and for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer. Then come together again so that Satan will not tempt you because of your lack of self-control. 

In today’s post I believe the Lord wants me to share on an interesting topic that a lot of people always want to hear about, and it is a very important and significant element of marriage. And this topic is on sex in marriage. I have noticed that sex in marriage is becoming a trending gist on social media and I have received quite a lot of voice and video messages on my phone that has dealt with the issue of sex. About three years ago when I first wrote a blog post on the topic of sex I got the most number of page-views from that post and then I realized that really people are eager to have this topic discussed.
But for this blog post today, I trust the Lord to help us understand and be able to deal with the relationship between our emotions, whether anger, hatred, love, joy, excitement, happiness and our sex life. I am tempted to believe that when either the wife or husband is not happy with his/her spouse, it is most likely that sex between them will be a non-issue. Also it will be difficult for a wife who is not happy with her husband to willing submit her body to him for sex and if she attempts to out of a sense of duty it will be most assuredly a miserable experience.I have heard a lot of women say that if they ever discover their husband is committing adultery then they can never allow such a man access to their bodies again.
I am also tempted to believe that most men don’t attach emotions to sex and so it’s not going to be a serious issue if the husband, though not happy with his wife but he still able to have sex with her (I might be wrong on this as I am not a man). But this cannot be generalized in the case of all men. So I am tempted to conclude that sex and emotions are closely knit together. And this explains why it is unhealthy for a man and his wife to have prolonged disputes as this will affect their sex life and since sex and nature are also intertwined then we have cases of either party going outside their marriage to obtain the sexual satisfaction that their body yearns for. This ultimately leads to great sin.
Now that I have been able to struggle through identifying the problem, I trust the Lord to help us through a solution. Since everything God made is beautiful, all of His ideas are unmatchable and they are there for us to enjoy as the Lord has declared this to us in Jeremiah 29:11, so how marriage is designed by God for us to enjoy and not endure, and also sex in marriage is God’s idea for the man and his wife to enjoy and feel a sense of warmth, love and oneness and not manage through the act.
So these are some of the things I will advise when you are faced with this kind of situation; when you are angry with your spouse and your spouse is showing you signs that he/she would love that you both make love, first try to understand that whatever is the cause of the issue that is making you angry or causing the hatred you feel only affects you and not your spouse and in that case you need to quickly deal with the issue within you and move on. Don’t bother to wait for a verbal apology; the interest shown by the longing for sex with you should be sign enough to you that your spouse is sorry.
Also you can do a quick internal prayer that the Lord would help you overcome whatever it is that bothering your mind and get in the right mood for a passionate love making with your husband. Don’t be embarrassed to pray about such, because God is not embarrassed answering you that request. And by the time you get in the right mood with your husband/wife every other issue bothering your mind fades away. And again I will say never allow a dispute to last longer than necessary, give it the shortest possible life span and free yourselves of the burden of anger and hatred that can possibly plague and injure your marriage.
It’s natural to have a mix of sex and emotion, but when the emotion begins to overpower the sex in the negative then you need to prayerfully make a conscious effort at reversing the trend. If sex with you souse is subject to you feeling happy and good, then ensure that you are always feeling happy and good so that your emotions does not affect your duty to your spouse as the Lord demands that you do not deprive each other. If as a wife you have come to the understanding that your husband’s mood determines his sex drive, please ensure at all cost that you make him happy, if possibly you should prayerfully do so. And if as a husband you have come to realize that showing love to your wife and pampering her helps her sex drive, please prayerfully try not to let the love lack.
Intentionally depriving your spouse of sex just to get at him/her for a wrong done is something that does not have God’s approval. The 1 Corinthians 7:5 says “Do not deprive each other except for mutual consent and for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer.” So prayer is the only excuse for a couple to abstain from sex and it should have mutually agreed by both and only for a time. Depriving each other of sex as a form of vengeance is a sin, since it does not have the consent of God. Forgive one another of any wrong done and move on with the good health of your marriage as a goal to be achieved by the two who has become one in flesh and spirit. God will be the judge of any wrong done and will make appropriate sentencing if and when necessary.  May the Lord bless our homes.     

Wednesday 6 January 2016

Your Marriage And Money

Hello beautiful people of God, I trust that the Lord who is always faithful is keeping you safe under His divine watch to protect you and yours and make you flourish in the land of the living. My prayer is that there will always be a timely word from God for a life that needs it on a daily basis on this blog in Jesus Name. So I am trusting God that daily there will be something tangle and relevant from God through this blog everyday of this year for a life and marriage needing it. So I plead with you to always put me in your prayers for the spirit of fervency, consistency and diligent and to always expect to hear from God daily through this blog for a word to bless your life and marriage in Jesus Name.
There are a lot of things the devil can possibly use to destabilize your marriage and one that is most often used by him is money. That element called money has been the root cause of break-ups or break-downs of many marriages. And just like the stories shared in my previous post, we can see the extent to which money has caused grievous damage in promising lives and homes. It is true that money answers all things but the fact remains that not all monies answers all things because money gotten outside of God is also the root of all evil.
In today’s blog we will look at the relationship that exists between marriage and money. How income should be generated and expended. Who should be generating the money for the running of the home and what control does each spouse have over the family income. And I trust the Lord to help us have a clear understanding of His will for our marriages when it comes to the issue of money.  


1 Timothy 5:8
If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially his immediate family, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.

2 Thessalonians 3:10
Foe even when we were with you, we gave you this rule; “If a man will not work, he shall not eat.”

Proverbs 31:13-19
She selects wool and flax and works with eager hands.
She is like the merchant ships, bringing her food from afar.
She gets up while it is still dark; she provides food for her family and portions for her servant girls.
She considers a field and buys it; out of her earnings she plants a vineyard.
She sets about her work vigorously; her arms are strong for her tasks.
She sees that her trade trading is profitable, and her lamp does not go out at night.
In her hand she holds the distaff and grasps the spindle with her fingers. 


The passages above are the basis of our discussion in this post. A lot of women are with the mindset that only the husband should provide for the home and even if they get to work, their income is theirs alone and not for family use. So to say that their husbands do not have any control or say over what they earn as income. Some other category of women believe that all their needs should be provided for by their husbands. And they make their husbands look so much like a failure if he is unable to meet up with the never ending requests of the wife not to mention the children.
And just like the stories shared in my previous post, we have some men who sit and do close to nothing in form of serious work just because they are rest assured that their wives are earning good income and so they don’t need to worry. This category of men live off their wives and they are just okay that way. They depend on their wives for money and if for any reason she is unable to meet up with their never ending demands she becomes a bad wife and in some cases they get violent and beat up the favour of God for their lives (their wives).
But from what the Bible is revealing to us in the passages above, both men and women who have this mindsets are wrong. The culture or tradition they have imbibed in their homes and marriages is totally faulty and not of God. 


Jeremiah 17:5-8
This is what the Lord says:
Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who depends on flesh for his strength and whose heart turns from the Lord. He will be like a bush in the wastelands; he will not see prosperity when it comes. He will dwell in the parched places of the desert, in a salt land where no-one lives.
But blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.   

God does not desire that a husband or a wife depends solely on the other spouse for a means of livelihood or sustenance. The Lord expects that each of them will engage in work in order to generate income. It is very right that God expects a man to take care of his relatives and especially his immediate family, but God also expects that the wife will engage in work also to generate income to provide for the family.
I always marvel and the foresight of the living God; in today’s generation we hear this common saying that every family needs a multiple stream of income in order to be financially stable, yet this had been the design of God right from the time He originated marriage. There is always a time down in the life and finances of everyone that God has created and God knowing this has provided a help for the man in his wife to absorb any shock of challenge whenever necessary and that includes those times when the husband is financially down. So when the husband and wife are both generating income for the family and with God as their anchor, there won’t be a time when there will be a severe financial crisis in their home and cases of husband beating up his wife as a result of lack of money will not arise.
Again and again the Lord has opened up our hearts to the importance of submission from a wife to her husband. Ephesians 5 says a wife should submit to the husband in everything and that includes the submission of money. Although I am totally against a man bullying money out of his wife, yet the Bible says to the wife SUBMIT. When I praying wife faithfully obeys her husband and commits the situation that she is in into the hands of God then she can be sure that when a husband forces money out of his wife and does not spend same in a judicious manner, that husband is answerable to God, and the wife can be sure that there is nothing she can do to her husband that can supersede what God will do to him in vengeance for the injustice that he has done to her. But you have to obey first and let God handle the rest. 
For the man who is not taking care of his wife like he should is dancing in the possible wrath of God. If you as a man expect that your wife uses her income to take care of the needs in the home while you spend your money not providing for your family but on frivolous activities, then you are toying with God's anger. 1 Peter 3:7 says "that your prayers may not be hindered."  
I have been blessed by the revelation of God’s word shared today, and I trust that you are leaving this post with a valuable lesson on who to source income in the family and how to utilize that income. As you put to use what you have learned here, I am hopeful that God will bless your home immeasurably.    

Tuesday 5 January 2016

How Did I Get Myself Into this Mess Called Marriage

It’s just by grace that we are privileged to be among those who will see the beginning of another year. One truth about the fact that we are still alive is that we are still relevant in God’s plan, we still have a purpose to fulfill for God, there is an assignment from God for our lives that is yet to be fulfilled and I pray that we will not leave the face of the earth without emptying ourselves of that which God has deposited in us for use on earth. I also pray that by the special grace of God, this time next year we will gather together to celebrate God’s goodness. None of us shall be missing.
So the time for rest and holidaying is over and we are back to work. And for us in God’s business, it’s time to kick start the year. And I trust the Lord that His word will not be scarce on this blog site, and more lives will be touched by the messages that comes from the throne of God through this blogsite in Jesus name.
In the course of the holidays I was in touch with a friend of mine that I seldom get in touch with and she told me how she has been using the messages that from this blog to bless many lives. As we chatted on several issues; we discussed about marriages and she forwarded several stories of abuse in marriages in different forms and degree to me, and sincerely I realized that there is so much still to be said and done to assist couples as they strive for better marital lives and experience. I pray that the Lord will use me in doing great things in the homes and marriages of many people in Jesus Name.
Some of the stories my friend shared with me included wives whose husbands married them just because they had money and they are the ones paying their husband’s bills and not the other way round. Any attempt by the wives not to make available funds to their husbands on request or demand was accompanied by abuse of different forms including physical abuse such as beating. In some other cases the husband will start to give negative report about the wife saying she is unfaithful to her marriage vows.
One instance that sounds so interesting was that the said wife had exhausted all her income and savings on her husband and when the man realized there was no money left he asked her to go sell her parents belonging and bring the money to him. And when she refused he walked out of the marriage.
 Another story of abuse saw the husband beating the wife to death all because she had no money to give him. Another case of marriage abuse led to the separation of the husband and the wife with the wife going back to beg the husband and having to give up on her career for her husband.
These are stories that I trust the Lord to help us find solutions to and hope and pray that people will similar problems such as this or if possible those whose stories have been shared will read this and get a lasting solution to their marital problem.
First I want to sympathize with wives experiencing such intense abuse in marriage such as this, but still I will say that this problem is there because their marriages were built or established on a wrong foundation. I am tempted to say that these people got married for the very wrong reasons. God will not place His beloved ones in harm’s way in the name of getting married. People who have gotten married out of desperation or in the name of love without divine consultation with God before entering into marriage are most prone to the kind of stories I have shared above. But nonetheless, whatever the marriage situation you are in at the moment, it is not beyond the ability of God to remedy and making a beautiful end out of the mess called marriage that you have as long as you are wise enough to run to Him and drop your mess at His feet.
Nobody can help you in this kind of mess but Jesus. Nobody can bring about the change in the life of your husband except the Lord who made him. Proverbs 21:1 says “The king’s heart is in the hands of God; he directs it like a watercourse wherever he pleases.”  If anyone tells you your husband will change outside the touch of Christ he/she is only lying to you, only the Lord can direct the heart of your husband as He pleases. And if anybody tells you your husband cannot change and the best and safe thing to do is to leave the marriage, they are also lying to you. And so again I’ll trust the Lord to help us find a lasting and beautiful solution to this problem.
As a wife the first thing is to recognize that your husband has a problems and he requires your help. It’s not by draining yourself financially and dumping your life savings at his feet to waste away as he likes, that you’ll be helping him, but by genuinely running to God on his behalf and seeking the face of God to make him the ideal responsible husband who is not lazy but diligent at his work and able to provide for his family as the Lord has destined him to be. A man who will work diligently and take care of his family rather than being lazy and bullying his wife into meeting his frivolous wants.
In Genesis 2:18-25, we read and understand that a wife is the suitable helper placed in the life of a man as God’s divine provision for the man in times when he needs help. So a man who is abusive to his wife and an extortionist rather than a protector of his wife is a man who obviously needs help. He needs help to overcome his abusive life style and he needs help in the area of laziness. And from the revelation of the Bible his wife is God’s ordained help for his life even in this area of his need.
A woman married to such a man like this needs wisdom, prayers and understand. This woman first needs to run to the throne of God and remain there. This wife needs to ensure that she has truly established a relationship with Jesus Christ and she lives a righteous and holy life before the Lord, then she will be able to approach the throne of God on behalf of her husband and marriage and be sure that she will get an answer. As she continues to stand in the gap for her husband in prayer and faith, it is just a matter of time for her to begin to enjoy the beautiful results that she has always yearned for.
As she listens to God and obeys His word for her life and that of her husband and marriage, she will learn to submit to her husband even though he has issues. 1 Peter 3:1-3 says that if a wife is married to an unbelieving husband, it is through the purity and reverence of her life that the husband will be won over to God. Your attitude towards your husband is a tool in the hands of God in bringing about the change in him that you desire. Even when you have to decline your husband’s request on his never ending demands for money, do it will politeness and reverence rather than being confrontational or sound insulting. Proverbs 15:1 says “A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.” So even in your refusal, try and be gentle. Your presentation matters a lot.
I mentioned earlier that those who marry out of desperation or out of love rather than divine consultation with God before getting married are more prone to this kind situation, but this is not limited to those who married for the wrong reasons. But running out your marriage is not a solution, running to God and learning to trust Him to help you handle your marital mess is a surer and lasting solution that will give you peace of mind and you will enjoy the beauty of marriage as God intends it to be. May the Lord bless your homes in Jesus Name.

Tuesday 7 April 2015

After Many Years The Dream Is Coming True

A very beautiful day to the beautiful people of God and I hope you had a beautiful Easter celebration. May Jesus continually be alive in our lives daily as we live to please God everyday of our lives.
Managing a website and a blogsite concurrently can be a big task with the added responsibilities of being a wife and a mother with additional assignment of been a pen in God's hands in writing life changes books as the Lord desires to meet the needs of His people and have them walk blamelessly and uprightly before Him. So I beg you to please bear with me if I am unable to share a post everyday, I trust God to at least give me grace to share His word three times within a week. All blog posts are also available on http://www.thewordthatsuits.com/ in addition to other inspiring articles that I trust the Lord will bless your life and calm your nerves and you trust God to lift you up daily and give you victory in all of your life's challenges.
In today's post I think I will move a little off core marriage issues and try to discuss something else of equal interest. Less than two weeks ago the presidential election held in my very own dear country Nigeria. It was adjudged by most people as free and fair, and based on my own conclusion it reflected the will of the masses. But all these  is not of serious interest to me, the lesson I learned in the outcome of that election was the determined, diligent persistence of the now president-elect of the country. This man had contested the presidential election in Nigeria four consecutive times and only emerging the winner on the fourth attempt. And so for twelve years, every four years, he puts himself up as a candidate and prepares better after every failed attempt for the next attempt, and finally on the fourth attempt he got it right.
Proverbs 12:24 says "Diligent hands rule, but laziness ends in slave labour." Based on the English dictionary, diligent is defined as the following: 1) constant in effort to accomplish something, 2) attentive and persistent in doing anything, 3) done or pursued with persevering attention; painstaking. When we look at what the Bible says in Proverbs 12:24 and the definition of the word diligent, what I can make of it is that if you want to attain that level of rulership in your desired dream, then you must be ready try and keep trying with persevering attention until you get to your goal. A confirmed loser is one who gave up on his/her dream with achieving the set goal.
How far a man will go in life is determined by how much painstaking effort he is ready and willing to put into the pursuits of his dream not minding the amount of times he fails or falls. For every time you meet with an obstacle in the pursuit of your dream, the more your increase and improve effort for the next attempt, correcting the errors of the previous attempt and improving on the tactics and techniques to be employed in the next attempt.
I have very close people to me who are not very good with risk taking. Once an attempt is made more than once and it has failed then that is a no go area of them such a pursuit is better dropped than it becomes a waste of resources. In as much as I am against waste, I am also a stubborn purser of a dream or course that I believe in. I don't give up just easily on my dreams and even though I have a pile of dreams and desires yet to be fulfilled, the story of Nigeria's president-elect is a reawakening motivator for me that with persevering attention and determined focus, it is just a matter of time for my dreams to come true for me.
The beauty of my own situation is that I have Christ as my anchor. I have infused my dreams and desires in Him, I have fine-tuned my will into His will for me based on what my Bible teaches me and I know that if I will just hang on much longer I will have the manifestation of what I am hoping for.

Luke 1: 5-7, 13, 36-37
In the time of Herod king of Judea there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah; his wife Elizabeth was also a descendant of Aaron. Both of them were upright in the sight of God, observing all the Lord's commandments and regulations blamelessly. But they had no children, because Elizabeth was barren; and they were both well on in years.

But the angel said to him: "Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayers has been heard. Your wife will bear you a son, and you are to give him the name John." 

Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month. For nothing is impossible with God.

I will like to close this article with the miracle in the life of Elizabeth. The Bible tells us that Zechariah and his wife Elizabeth served the Lord and they observed the commandments of God blamelessly till old age while still praying for the gift of a child. They were diligent in service to God in the wake of barrenness. They sought for a child with perseverance and persistence not shifting focus from God but served Him blamelessly.
I can't tell how many years it took for their dreams to come through, but the Bible tells us that in their wait on the Lord for the manifestation of their prayers they had become well on in years. They were already getting old. Another fact about them was that they were already tagged barren, because the angel God sent to Mary told her that even your relative who is said to be barren is in her sixth month.
I don't know what your dreams are and at what level of accomplishment you are at this point in time, I don't know for how long you have been waiting on the Lord for answers to those prayers or how many failed attempt you have recorded in your pursuits, the truth of the matter is that the vision is for an appointed time and even though it may tarry, please wait for it. It will come and will not delay.
The president-elect of my country had three previous failed attempt on the presidency but without giving up on his dreams he is a fulfilled man today. And Zechariah has prayed many years for a child but yet at the appointed time his prayers were heard and answered. So please I beg you to prayerfully not give up on your dreams because diligent hands really does rule.

Monday 23 March 2015

Helpmeet Not Helpmate. Interesting Story To Read

I am so sorry if it appears as if I speak to the women more on marriage issues, but on the backdrop of the fact that the woman has been assigned as the home builder by God, it's important that we do all that we can as wives to build a successful home worthy of God's commendation. As always I'll say it's a privilege to share God's word with His people again on this blog. I thank God for His word that is always shared on this platform, and I appreciate everyone who takes the time to read them.
A few hours ago I heard a story of a couple who had a fight, and because I have a keen interest in marriage issues I took my time to hear out the entire drama that unfolded. And the story goes like this:
A young couple were living happily together, when the wife had their first child, the wife's mother and the husband's sister came around to help out in nursing the new-born as the child was their first. The husband's sister didn't spend much time as she had her own family to take care of but she just had to be their because their mother who would have carried out the task was late.
But rather than the wife's mother spending a short while and leaving too, she decided to stay-put and live large on her son-law's hard earned money. She has just been separated from her third husband and so she has no husband to report to. She was also not there alone but came in the company of other relatives in the name of cousins, brothers and  sister. Soon their home became an extended family home with total lack of privacy for the husband. The wife really didn't mind as those around were her family members.
When the husband could no longer take the intrusion on his privacy in the name of helping to nurse his son, he asked the wife to find a means of telling her family members to return to their home. When he noticed the wife was not doing a good job of the assignment he gave her, he took it upon himself to show the intruders the exit door, with his attitude indicating they should not bother to come back.
Just recently the husband was expecting his young cousin who was coming to spend a few nights with them. This he told his wife ahead of the time of the visit so that she came prepare for the visitor coming. But rather than the wife preparing for the visit, she picked a fight with her husband saying if he would not allow his mummy stay over in their house, then his cousin is also not welcomed in the house.
Initially the husband thought the wife was joking until she began to push him and insist he cannot leave the house as he had promised the visitor to come pick him up for the visit. She broke his eye glasses, and in fact left some bit marks on his body. When she went to the toilet to ease herself the husband sneaked out of the house to park his car properly in the garage as he had already called the intending visitor to postpone the visit. On returning to the front door, the wife had locked him out and he had to pass the night in his car.

Proverbs 21:9
Better to live on a corner of the roof than share a house with a quarrelsome wife.

Proverbs 21:19
Better to live in a desert than with a quarrelsome and ill-tempered wife.

I have to confess that this story is a little beyond me but did it happened real life. I have heard so much about a wife been maltreated by her husband, but the case of a wife been physically confrontational towards her husband and been the originator of the fight is pretty rear and this confirms what Solomon said in Proverbs 19:13b that "a quarrelsome wife is like a constant dripping." A wife such as the one whose story is told above cannot add value to her husband, she is a constant dripping to her husband. 
If for any reason the husband had decided to react negatively, the aggressor will not be the wife, but the husband yet the wife is the originator of the fight, a quarrelsome and ill-tempered wife. That a woman will comfortable sleep in the house with her husband sleeping in the car in the garage by her doing makes me wonder what kind of a woman she is and what report she intends to give God over her assignment in the life of her husband assigned to be by God.
Dealing with the issue that caused the fight which originated from the wife; The husband is the head of the home, and in marriage the interference of parents and parents in-law, sisters, brothers, cousins, nephews and nieces are not allowed. That is why the Bible says marriage is about leaving and uniting.
Secondly, if the husband has invited his family member over to spend a few nights and as his wife you do not approve of it, there are better ways to deal with it rather than a fight. There are ways and timing to air your views such that your attitude will push your husband to apologize to you rather than fight him. And in this case you are actually fighting for your mother to live with you rather than prevent your husband from bringing in a visitor. As a married woman your number one assignment and priority is your husband above your mother This might sound cruel, but the Lord ordained it so. You are to support and help your husband and not prove equality with him in the home. The Lord formed the wife to be a suitable helper to her husband. She is a helpmeet in his life and not a helpmate.
This story has generated so much thought in me, and I will appreciate that as you read this, you leave a comment and tell me your view on the matter is.

There are other interesting stories and articles to read and learn from on my website http://www.thewordthatsuits.com/. For my Nigerian readers, you can not pre-order any of my books by filling out the pre-order form on http://www.thewordthatsuits.com/books excerpts from the books are available on the page of each book title on the dropdown of the books page. Thank you so much and God bless you.

Friday 20 March 2015

The Woman And Her Many Demands.

Good evening my beautiful people. I bless God for grace to be given another opportunity to share a word again on this blog. It's going to be another word of wisdom for the married women and I trust the Lord that what is read and learned on this blog site will impact lives and homes positively in Jesus Name.
Yesterday I went for a meeting with the head of the publishing unit of my church, and rather than talk about the main business of the meeting, as women we began to discuss marriage. One interesting aspect of the discussion was the assumed perception of women that their husbands should meet all of their needs/wants. Failure of the man to do this amounts to big problems in the home. And beyond just mere discussion, this scenario plays out in so many home and so there is a need to search the word of God to know the mind of God on this matter.

1 Timothy 5:8
If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for his immediate family, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever. 

Proverbs 31:13-18
She selects wool and flax and works with eager hands.
She is like the merchants ships, bringing her food from afar.
She gets up while it is still dark; she provides food for her family and portions for her servant girls.
She considers a field and buys it; out of her earning she plants a vine yard.
She sets about her work vigorously; her arms are strong for her tasks.
She sees that her trading is profitable, and her lamp does not go out at night.

These passages are places in the Bible where I can find something said on the topic of providing for the home. I am yet to come across a place in the Bible where it is said that the husband will meet all the needs/wants of his wife. Although I also agree that the man is to provide for the needs of his home. By God's design, the husband is responsible for his family. 1 Timothy 3:4 says a man aspiring to be an overseer of a church must be one who has managed his family well. But I am yet to see anywhere in the Bible where it is said that a woman should be solely dependent on her husband to meet her financial obligations.
A wife as a suitable helper, one of the areas where the wife is to come in and assist her husband as the Lord has ordained it is in the area of providing for the home. In Proverbs 31 as the passage above shows, a wife among other things is expected to work with eager hands. She is expected to provide food for her household, she is expected to bring her food from afar. These are the qualities of her wife of noble character that has been groomed by the Lord and placed in the life of her husband as a suitable helper.
With these in mind, it can be truly said that two are better than one. It is not all the time that a man is in good financial standing. And so during the financial down times of the man, his wife is the God provided shocks absorber placed in his life to help him at these times.
A wife is not placed in the life of his husband to make endless unrealistic demands just because he married her, rather she is in his life to HELP and SUPPORT him to be all that God has called him to be. A wife is also a vessel in hands of God in providing for the needs of the home. No wonder Solomon said in Proverbs 31:12 that a wife of noble character brings her husband good and not harm all the days of her life.
I very much acknowledge the fact that some men get laid back and do not want to provide for their families once they are aware that their wives is financially capable to do so much in the home. The ignorance of such men in that they jeopardize their own prosperity when carry on with that mind set. A man who does not provide for his family, especially his immediate family, the Bible says is worse than an unbeliever. But when the husband genuinely lacks the financial means to meet up with his obligation in the home, then it is just ideal that his wife steps in to help until things get better again for her husband and this the Lord expects her to do in humility and total submission to her husband.  



Wednesday 18 March 2015

Trust Vs Betrayal, How Do You Deal With This

I am so very sorry not to have been able to share God's word on this blog in about two days. It's due to the fact that I am running another platform a little broader than this and since the website is been redesigned from what it used to be, my attention is a little divided, but all efforts are towards sharing the word of God and supporting individuals to be better in what the Lord has assigned them to be and do.
One major factor that is assumed to be a success ingredient in building and retaining a successful marriage is TRUST. I shared a story on my website http://www.thewordthatsuits.com/stories-that-teach about a lady who was freaking out because she says she feels betrayed by her husband. And so I'll trust God to open our minds to the issue of trust in marriage.
The first truth that I want us to understand is that humanly speaking, without the grace of God it is difficult to keep faith when the issue of trust arises. There are some who are faithful with their spouses on sex related matters, but are not faithful in other areas such as finances, extended family issues etec. For a man to be totally faithful to his spouse then he must be a man that the Spirit of God truly dwells inside of him.  

Jeremiah 17: 5-10
This is what the Lord says:
“Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who depends on flesh for his strength and whose heart turns away from the Lord. He will be like a bush in the wastelands; he will not see prosperity when it comes. He will dwell in the parched places of the desert, in a salt land where no-one lives.
“But blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.”
The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?
“The Lord search the heart and examine the mind, to reward a man according to his conduct, according to what his deeds deserve.” 

If it is true that it will take only the grace of God for a man to be truly and completely faithful to his wife in all areas and the same theory applies to the woman, and going by what God said in the passage above, then the next thought that comes to mind is: How is it possible to carry on with marriage where trust is highly required? This question now leads us to how we can build trust in our marriage in a healthy way.
I once shared a post on building trust in marriage http://derinsolaobasa.blogspot.com/2013/06/building-trust-in-marriage.html, and I will still discuss today's post on the same line of reasoning. God said, "Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who depends on flesh for his strength." So God does not expect that for any reason at all you should trust any man or depend on any flesh for strength. Although I don't mean this in a negative way, but please follow me closely as we discover more from the word of God.
I very much agree that trust is essential in marriage, but it will be wise if you can channel your trust to your spouse through the route of God. In truth, your spouse will disappoint you, yes, he/she will betray you. Not because he/she wants to hurt you, in fact some betrayal will be conceived as a means to protect you, but yet you are being betrayed. They will betray you because they are just being human and probably cannot help the situation. 
God said the heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. And so to invest your trust in man whether your husband or wife is a risk too costly to take. If I will come to this conclusion, then there is the need to know how to handle the issue of trust in your marriage. And what I will recommend (same I have applied in my marriage) is that rather than trust your spouse, you trust the Lord. Proverbs 21:1 says "The king's heart is in the hand of the Lord; he directs it like a watercourse where he pleases." If the king's heart is in the hands of God, then your husband/wife's heart is also in His hands. Whatever changes you desire to see happen in the life of your husband or wife, it is safer to trust God to make it happen in him or her, than to believe your husband or wife will change by his/her own doing or just because you want him/her to change. 
It is the Lord who form your spouse, He alone searches the heart and examines the mind of your spouse. Beyond where you can ever reach in the heart of your spouse God has been there and know what resides there. If you ever need to trust your spouse on any issue, place the matter before God. Hear Him speak reassuringly to you on it, and just relax and watch your spouse display the majestic power of God that gives you peace in your soul. When you learn to do this, you will have no reason to freak out over a betrayal by your spouse because the Lord whom you trust above your spouse will ensure that you are never betrayed.

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