Message of Hope & Voice of Fire.
2006 - Our Year of Overcoming Laughter
& Enlargement Breakthroughs; Ps2:4; Ps
71:21; Eph.3:20
The Prophetic Picture of the Year 2006.
Dr. D. K. Olukoya.
The year 2005 was a year of
serious rage of the enemy. There was rage in the waters, land and
the skies. There was rage by fire and wind. It was a terrible year of
wastage of lives, properties and other resources. Unfortunately, the word given
by the Lord for last year is still valid for this year. And unless there is
consistent and serious prayers this year, last year’s occurrences would be like
a child’s play compared to what the enemy is planning to do this year.
The
year 2006 is practically a year of twenty-five things but I will talk about
only twenty-three in this message:
1. It shall be a year
of mysterious conflicts. There would be unexplainable conflicts; nobody will
know the cause and how they started.
2. There shall
be strange appearances to men from the spirit realm. Those who are fond of
attending night parties and roaming the streets at night will be in for a
special surprise if they do not stop.
3. It shall be a year
of the fight of the he-goat and the she-goat. And those around the he-goat and
the she-goat will suffer.
4. It shall be a year
of plenty of strange occurrences that will stupefy people.
5. Any peace-loving
government must make conscious effort to invest in prayers this year. The Lord
has a controversy with the nations of the world, and these nations are doing
many things, which are not pleasing to the Almighty God. All the natural
disasters that occurred last year was a proof that
indeed man is powerless. There is no science or human intelligence that can
arrest natural disasters. All that the elements need is a command from heaven
to move and they will promptly obey; they cannot be stopped by any human
effort.
6. It shall be a year
of unbelievable surprises.
7. It shall be a
year of disunity amongst people, even those from the same clan, tribe, town,
etc.
8. Prayerless
politicians and government officials will by themselves cause their removal
from office this year.
9. This year,
the secret behind spiritual and physical terrorism that harassed many people
will be revealed. Secrets that some people believed would never be exposed
would be revealed.
10. This year, the powers
of the heavenly shall be thoroughly shaken up. So, you need to soak yourself in
prayers.
11. It shall be a year of
strange suicide cases. People, whom no one believed could do such a thing would
go ahead and take their own lives.
12. It shall be a year of
increased attack on people’s brains. There will be a lot of cases of insanity,
unless arrested by prayers.
13. This year, the heavens
shall wage war against the mighty and the wicked. It shall be a very bad year
for wicked men unless they repent.
14. There shall be a divine
defence of the poor, widows and the fatherless. Anyone who participates in
cheating these groups of people will end up in tragedy.
15. It shall be a year the
nakedness of many kings, that is, rulers shall be uncovered.
16. It shall be a year that
all the enemies of Nigeria shall be in serious
trouble.
17. It shall be a year of
massive failure of occult powers. Those who believe in them shall experience
failure and disgrace. It is only the power of God that cannot fail or be
disgraced.
18. It shall be a year many
great and new things will begin to happen in the lives of children of God who
worship Him in spirit and in truth.
19. It shall be a year God
will teach the hands of many of His children to prosper. And those who have
been using evil tongues to arrest their prosperity shall be arrested.
20. It shall be a year of
miraculous intervention for God’s children. Seemingly impossible cases and
situations shall receive divine intervention.
21. It shall be a year of
super abundance for those who are not stingy with God. Those who are stingy
with God, even what they have shall be taken away from them since they are not
utilizing it well.
22. It shall be a year of
the beginning of a new era and a new order.
23. It shall
be a year of accumulation of good things, advancement, strength and power for
children of God who worship Him in spirit and in truth.
24. Not revealed.
25. Not revealed.
The Lord has given three scriptures to the members of Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries
for this year. These scriptures shall be their watchword for the year 2006.
They are:
a. Psalm 2:4: “He that sitteth in the heaven shall laugh
the Lord shall have them in derision.”
b. Psalm 71:21: “Thou shalt increase my greatness, and
comfort me on every side.”
c. Ephesians 3:20: “Now unto him that is able to do exceeding
abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh
in us.” I encourage you to memorise these scriptures.
So, for the members of Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries,
it is a year of, “Overcoming
laughter and enlargement breakthroughs.” It is a year that the
children of God will laugh their enemies to scorn. Please, take notice that any
prophecy given that is totally devoid of a way out of mercy, is unlikely to
have come from the Almighty God. Therefore, God has strategies for success this
year.
STRATEGIES FOR SUCCESS THIS YEAR
1. You must break free from
every ungodly thought pattern of the past. The Bible says that as a man thinketh
in his heart so is he (Proverbs 23:7).
2. Do not blame others for
your failure. If somebody is attacked, and he feels it, the first thing he
should do is to find out why the attack was able to penetrate his body, and not
to blame those who are firing the arrow.
3. This year focus on God
and His unfailing promises. Remove your focus from men, prophets or men of God.
Don’t go to church to play politics but go there to look for God.
4. Do not nurse your
problems but nail them to the cross. Don’t fertilize them.
5. Do not embrace
your curse but curse your curse.
6. Ensure that this
year, you are always in the right company. If you go to the wrong company upon
which God has ordained destruction, you will be affected. For example, if a
first born of an Israelite was in the house of an Egyptian the day God asked
the Israelites to apply blood on their door-posts, he would die because the
angel assigned with that responsibility was not interested in who was inside.
7. Crucify your flesh this
year. Do not yield to the commandments of the flesh.
8. This
year, make Christ your model and leader. If you are in a position and need to
take a decision, the first question to ask yourself
is, “What would Jesus do if He was in my shoes now?”
9. Obey God’s word
completely this year
10. Live by faith and grow
in faith.
These are the strategies
for success this year. If you follow these strategies strictly, it shall be a
year of bigger testimonies for you.
PRAYER POINTS
Breakthrough
prayer for this year.
There
are at least 3500 miracles attached to each of these prayer points, therefore,
I encourage you to pray them aggressively.
1.
O God, arise and connect me with people that matter this year, in the name of
Jesus.
2.
Every arrow of infirmity, my life is not your candidate, therefore, die, in the
name of Jesus.
3.
My leg, hear the word of the Lord, carry me to my place
of destiny this year, in the name of Jesus.
4.
My body, reject every arrow of death, in the name of Jesus.
5.
This year, I will get to the right position, in the name of Jesus.
6.
O God, arise, bless those that bless me, and curse those that curse me, in the
name of Jesus.
7.
This year, the storms of life will not sweep me away, in the name of Jesus.
8.
This year, my enemy shall hear of me and tremble, in the name of Jesus.
9.
I declare that all my journey this year shall be safe, in the name of Jesus.
10.
Every grave dug for me this year shall scatter, in the name of Jesus.
11.
Every financial grave dug for me this year shall scatter, in the name of Jesus.
12.
Every power assigned to waste my life, you are liar, die, in the name of Jesus.
13.
O God, arise and put me in your envelope of fire, in the name of Jesus.
14.
O God, arise and let my story change, in the name of Jesus.
15.
O God, arise and let my Goliath die, in the name of Jesus.
I SAID AMEN. JUST SAY
"AMEN".
As we begin our moves in this New Year, of new beginnings may the Lord
guide and guard us.
May HE uphold our faith and make this a more glorified new year.
Because you will see the invisible, You will do the
impossible...
Because you will touch the intangible you will achieve the incredible.......
Because you will hear the inaudible, You will have the unimaginable...........
Because of you, your family will not know poverty You will go in and out of
your house in peace,
Violence and crying of sorrow shall not be heard in your camp...
Because you are God's Idea and God cannot fail, you shall not fail this year...
Favour shall overwhelm your endeavours, 2006 will be your year of unlimited
greatness
You shall not struggle to be recognized, Your gift shall announce you.
You are entitled to daily fruitfulness
Every darkness in your life shall give way to the light of God
All your lack will give way to abundance
You shall enjoy uncommon marital bliss in the year 2006
The rejected shall become the selected
People shall hear your testimonies and follow you to God, In everything you do,
you will succeed...
What you have never done before for good...you will do in the new year...
By the time this 2006 ends, you will look back with joy and ahead with great
expectations....
You will take charge of your life as you master your time...
You will discover how to maximize your time and add value to it....
You will become the star of your family....and the hope of your generation....
Because you know where you are going....the whole world will step aside and
follow u .....
May you find favour with God and men...
May you grow in wisdom and stature....
May you walk in dominion over every circumstance and situation....
May every day in the new year be for you, days of success and purpose....
In the new year 2006 never forget to act as if it were impossible to fail..
Because for people like you and me, the word failure does not
exist.....
Your success is non-negotiable....
2006 will be the greatest year of your life and the beginning of unprecedented
success in your life!
Those who laughed at you before shall come to laugh with you.
However bad it has been with you till this point, you shall from henceforth
enter into the rest and God shall take you to the place of your greatness and
destiny.
You shall have visions that are clear, virtues that are right and victory that
is certain.
You are blessed beyond curse, raised above terror and established beyond
oppression.
You shall not lack counsel and ideas.
You shall have eyes that see, ears that hear and a heart that understands.
In place of breakdown you shall have breakthrough, In confusion, you shall be
Enlightened,
In weakness you shall be strengthened.
There shall be for you beauty in place of ashes, the oil of gladness in place
of spirit of heaviness.
Every closed door against your goodness, greatness and destiny shall open of
their own accord.
You shall be instructed and illuminated within by the Spirit of God.
You shall do the right thing at the right time.
You shall rise above every obstacle and be carried on the wings of eagle.
God will remember you for good.
You shall fulfill and not frustrate destiny.
Christ shall live in you. Amen
Alphabet
of Success in Year 2006.
Happy New Year to you all,
Happy that the Lord had grant us the opportunity to see another Year in the
land of the living. God is worthy of our praises and thanksgiving, glory to
God. Our theme for this year is:
My year of overcoming laughter and enlargement
breakthroughs Ps.2:4; Ps. 71:21 & Eph. 3:20.
Briefly, let us see how to make
this covenant possible in your life this year.
I will call it the
‘alphabet of success in year 2006’
A-admit that only GOD is your source of help for anything this year.
B-boldness, be bold to tell people about Jesus. Do not shy away your faith form
people.
C-courage, be courageous to forge ahead in all your plans this year.
D-discipline, be discipline this year in all aspect of your life, do not gamble
with your faith.
E-endurance, do not give up easily, stay glued to Jesus Christ, seeing the
glory of God needs endurance.
F-faith, you must put your faith into action.
G-goals, set goals for your self each day of the month and each month of the
year, and pursue the goal until fulfilment.
H-honesty, be honest and transparent in all your dealing with people.
I-integrity, live behind a good thing to remember of you in all your dealings
with people.
J-joy, do not allow Satan to capture joy, know that the Lord is with you.
K-knowledge, seek knowledge of the word of God this
year, read, meditate on the Bible, design a scheme for reading the Bible this
year.
L-love, love your neighbour as yourself, love your enemies also, make sure you
hate no one and hold no grudge against anybody this year.
M-motivation, motivate yourself to go ahead and never give up easily.
Motivation is power of self-discovery.
N-non conformity with the world, do away from the new commonly practiced norms
and values of the world that does not conform with the word of God. Do not be
follow, follow.
O-obedient, obey in totality the laws and commandment of God.
P-persistent, do not give up.
Q-quality, put in your best in everything you do, you will be blessed this year
through your handiwork.
R-righteousness, constantly check your stand with God.
S-steadfastness, be unshaken in your faith and believes in God.
T-time consciousness, manage your time well, reduce the time for gossips,
backbiting, time you spend watching unnecessary programs on TV, films and
videos. Create time to read the Bible and pray.
U-uniqueness, have a life pattern that will glorify the Lord in your life.
V-vision, receive vision and pursue it.
W-wisdom, seek the wisdom of God and apply it in all your dealings with people.
X-excellent, pray and program excellent things in your life this year.
Y-yield, give the whole of your life to Jesus Christ.
Z-zeal, have the zeal for the work and things of God. Do not be a bench warmer
in any ministry you belong. Be active in the work of God, in so doing you will
experience the year of overcoming laughter and enlargement breakthrough.
God bless you.
Let My Morning Come.
Psalm 30:5 “For his
anger endureth but a moment; in his favour is life: weeping may endure for a
night, but joy cometh in the morning”. After going through the rigour of a busy
day, one retires at night to rest and or sleep. It is at this time that a
person sometimes thinks about all that he or she went through during the day.
There could be regrets. It is possible for there to be pains. Sometimes, there
would be a need for succour, consolation and solution to problems, which are
not easily attainable at this time and so, one has to wait. This wait could be
very strong. It would incite a desire to see the early hours of a new day, when
solution and soothing will come to the pains that went on throughout the night.
From the text above, we can draw out eight (8) lessons:
1. Night of darkness represents weeping. It says: Weeping may endure for a
night” Perhaps, as you are reading this message, the enemy has been making you
to cry, l decree and prophecy upon your life, that your period of sorrow is
over in the name of Jesus. Amen. The night is a convenient period for the
powers of darkness. Darkness is a convenient environment for wickedness and it
is a period weeping and grumbling takes place.
2. The morning represents joy. I decree and prophesy into your life, that if
you are reading this message and the enemy has stolen your joy, it shall be
restored to you today in the name of Jesus.
3. God Himself has not ordained that any night should endure forever. Whatever
your situation might be today, there is no signal from heaven that will go on
forever. The text says: “Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the
morning. It will not be long.
4. After every night, comes a glorious morning. I pray
that your morning of joy will come in the name of Jesus.
5. The enemy does not have the last say on your life. In fact, nobody has the
last say on your life. No condition is permanent. There is a God called the
Almighty, the Greatest on. His power is the greatest. God is the only one that
has the last say concerning your life. Once God says: “Let there be light”, It
is finished; there will surely be light. All that is required is His command; a
word from Him will make every stubborn situation to bow.
6. The powers of the night flee before the morning. This means that their
activities are limited to the night and once the morning appears, they are
exposed. So they prefer to flee.
7. If you have been weeping, stop crying. Stop it because your morning has
come. That is what the scripture says, Beloved, get this fact right, crying
will not appease the enemy neither will it move the hand of God. In fact, it
could worsen the situation because it is a display of unbelief that strengthens
the enemy.
8. Discouragement is a destroyer. It sees the obstacle but faith sees the way
out. When you are discouraged, you are telling God that He cannot help you.
Joshua sent out spies to spy out the promise land they brought back a report
that discouraged the Israelites; they saw the people of the land as giants that
they could not overcome. They had forgotten that it was God who said they
should go and possess the land. They should have known that since He said they
should go, He would be with them because the battle is the Lord’s and He will
fight it. These people eventually provoked God to anger and they all perished
in the wilderness. They did not get to the promise land. Only their children
did. God would rather prolong the day, than the night. He will not prolong your
darkness, Joshua 10:11-13 And it came to pass, as they fled from before Israel,
and were in the going down to Beth-horon, that the
Lord cast down great stones from heaven upon them unto Azekah, and they died:
they were more which died with hailstones than they whom the children of Israel
slew with the sword.
[12] Then spake Joshua to the Lord in the day when the Lord delivered up the
Amorites before the children of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel,
Sun, stand thou still upon Gibeon; and thou, Moon, in
the valley of Ajalon. [13] And the sun stood still,
and the moon stayed, until the people had avenged themselves upon their
enemies. Is not this written in the book of Jasher?
So the sun stood still in the midst of heaven, and hasted not to go down about
a whole day.
Joshua was fighting a battle and he was winning. When he saw that the day was
advancing and it would soon be evening when evening would be dark, he commanded
the sun to stand still and it did. That day continued and darkness was
restrained. He did that because he wanted to obtain victory and God sanctioned
it. As the day was prolonged on his side, the moon stood still on the other
side of the continent. So, there was a prolonged night there. God allowed
Joshua to prolong the day and this shows us that God is ready to sacrifice
anything for the sake of His children. He did it with His only begotten son;
and that has redeemed man back to Him. God does not mind destabilizing
unbelievers to satisfy His children. While His children had daylight, the
unbelievers for His children. While the Egyptians were being troubled by the
plagues, the Israelites had no problem in Goshen. If the joy of the children need a longer day,
He will grant it, even if it means darkness to unbelievers. God does not mind
killing, removing, sacking, sweeping away anything or anyone to satisfy His
children.
Isaiah 43:3-4 For I am the Lord thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour: I
gave Egypt for thy ransom, Ethiopia and Sheba for thee. [4] Since thou was
precious in my sight, thou hast been honourable, and I have loved thee:
therefore will I give men for thee, and people for thy life.
There was a woman who had a school and she found out that her pupils were
leaving for other schools. The children found her school boring; the other
schools were thriving. One day, she attended M.F.M crusade, where she heard a
message like this and found out that God could do what he did for the
Israelites in Isaiah 43:3-4 for her. She made up her mind to receive it. On that
day, she prayed the kind of prayers that l am suggesting below and something
happened. It was on a Friday. She prayed violently, by the following week, the
two other schools had started having problems with the government and they were
closed down. The pupils from these schools rushed to hers and she now had a new
but pleasant problem; she could not take all of them and she needed more
teachers. The Lord God Almighty, who did hers, is ready to do yours. He has not
changed. We serve a God who has no respect for human logic. The problem with
many people is the fact that they allow their brains to get involved in their
faith. They allowed what they have learnt in school to affect their reasoning
against faith. When you want to trust God, you have to forget about logic or
normalcy. When God begins to work in your life, what He will do, will be
strange to you and it will look like pure insanity to your neighbours.
I worked in a laboratory where l was the only black man in the midst of
Britons. As a scientist in that university, l could not minister, l could
hardly witness, so l started praying that God should make a way for me. The day
the opportunity came, the Lord was exalted. God is a god of signs and wonders.
There was a lady who used to serve us tea and coffee in the mornings. She would
go through the corridor with her tray, announcing her arrival by saying “Anyone
for coffee, anyone for tea?” On that day, we heard her voice as usual and
suddenly we had a big bang, with the clanging of teacups and saucers on the
floor. She had fallen. By the time we got there, she had given up the ghost.
The hospital doctor was sent for and he certified her dead. Everybody was
puzzled; the lively lady that used to serve us tea was dead. Suddenly, I
stepped forward as they bent to pack her up. I said I wanted to pray .It
sounded ridiculous. They said l called myself a scientist and l said l wanted
to pray for someone who is obviously dead. They asked if l had forgotten simple
Biology that once there was supply of oxygen; the person was dead. If l
examined why they said, they were right, but l did not mind them. I then prayed
a simple prayer point: Let the resurrection power of the Lord Jesus Christ;
fall upon this body now, in the name of Jesus. Suddenly, the lady sneezed and opened
her eyes. She sat up and said she heard the voice of Daniel (me) calling her
from afar. I had not done that physically, but that was what she heard as the
Lord revived her. The other people now flocked around me, asking if that was
black magic. I told them that it was the power of the Holy Ghost. For the first
time in their lives, some of them heard the Gospel they had never even bothered
to listen before. That is why we always encourage people to get grounded in the
Lord before travelling abroad. They could end up in the midst of people like
that and before they know what is going on they have backslider. Spiritual
death is very easy over there because most of them do not even know who the
Lord Jesus Christ is, but they know the names of all the footballers in their
national teams.
Beloved, weeping may endure for the night but joy cometh in the morning.
There was a woman who started coming to our services. Suddenly, her husband
came home with a lady and asked the wife to prepare a meal for her. The wife
wanted to put up a fight but she remembered our messages on brokenness. She
kept quiet and saw them go into her matrimonial bedroom. She spent the night on
a sofa in the sitting room. (I wonder how many sisters can do that today). The
following day, the man came with another lady. Later, she sat him down and told
him it was wrong to do what he is doing. He told her that it was his new style
that she could either take it or leave it. After sampling a few women, he
eventually settled for one, who moved in permanently. This wife continued
praying and keeping her calm. That year, after the anointing service, she
anointed the house and after they had gone to work, she anointed the bed on
which they were committing their atrocity. She continued sleeping in the
sitting room. That night she suddenly heard her husband’s voice, calling out to
her. She ran into the bedroom and found the strange woman on top of her
husband, dealing terrible blows on him. The wife started begging the strange
woman to leave him alone. Eventually, the strange woman got up and said her
husband was a foolish man and she left. That was the end of the relationship.
The man never tried having strange women again. That was how their marriage was
restored. The period of the night could be difficult to bear, it could be long
but hold on to the Lord, the morning will soon come. Do not get weary, do no be
discouraged; there shall be joy in the morning. When you continue to feed your
discouragement, it will sap you to death. If you continue looking at the
blackness of the night, you may not live to see the morning. Many people die
not because of their problems but because of the state of their minds. Some
people leave the Christian fold to seek solution from herbalists; such people
are just aiding their household wickedness to finish their agenda on them.
Discouragement sees the darkest night but faith sees the appearance of the day.
Discouragement is a sin. Make up your mind that you will encourage yourself in
the Lord.
The story was told of Satan having wares to sell, pride, envy, deceit,
talkativeness, all sorts of disease etc. Of the wares, discouragement was the
most expensive and most demanded. When asked why Satan said it was the most
useful and with it, he could operate easily in the lives of people especially
Christians.
Make up your mind today that you will not give in to the wooing of the enemy.
Can you consider asking a motor mechanic to work on your car and when you get
back there to collect your car, you meet him discouraged, lamenting and worried
that the car is in such a bad state, that he does not think he can do anything
about it. You would not want to leave your car with such a person. So also, God
cannot commit anything serious into your hands, if all you can see is the dark
side of life and not the light at the end of the tunnel. The same applies to a
sick person who goes to the hospital and finds discouraged doctor. If he stays
there long, he is likely to die in his illness because that discouraged doctor
cannot help him. You must make up your mind that your morning must come. Make
up your mind that you will not wage war against yourself.
How can the morning come?
What to do.
1. Focus on the lord Jesus Christ: remove your eyes from your situation and
circumstances. Know that as you take prayer points
bellow, God will arise for your sake. Know that God can go thousands of miles
away to trouble the hearts of those that will help you. They will be restless
until they have helped you.
2. Cast away every spirit of discouragement. Jesus tells us in John 14, that we
should not allow our hearts of those that will help you. We should believe in
God and in Him.
3. Wage war against the powers that does not want you to prosper. The prayers
that l am suggesting below will surely bring results. They are not for the
feeble-hearted. A sister was about 39years old and was not married. . One day,
she took part in a “power must change hands program where there was word of
knowledge concerning a person who had been kept in bondage by the three
strongmen of their family. The word was a warning that if they did not let go
of her the three of them would die one after the other. As at then, this word
of knowledge did not mean anything to her. However, when she got home, she made
a cup of tea to break her long fast. As she finished praying, her phone rang
and she was told that her mother just died. She hung the phone and wept herself
to sore. She could not even break her fast again. As she was there sobbing, the
phone rang the second time and she was told that her uncle in the USA just died. It was then that it dawned on her
that there was a word of knowledge concerning family strongmen. She now
consoled herself and said it was God at work. She got up to drink her tea.
Shortly afterwards, her phone rang informing her that another prominent member
of her family had just died. By the end of that year, this sister, who had
every comfort in life but was unmarried at the age of 39, got a proposal for
the first time and within a short time, got married. Close your eyes and pray
these prayer points:
1. Every power of my father’s house that has refused
to let me go, your time is up die in the name of Jesus.
2. Every power of my mother’s house that says l will die in this condition what
are you waiting for die, in the name of Jesus.
Beloved, these are serious prayers and must of a necessity bring results. How
ever, if you are yet to be born again, you are still in darkness and you cannot
command your morning to come. If you had never at one time or the other asked
the Lord to come into your life, you are not yet His. If you are ready, you can
surrender your life to Him, right there where you are. All you need to do is
acknowledge the fact that you are a sinner and that you cannot approach God in
your sinful state. Confess your sins to Him, ask Him to forgive you and cleanse
you from all unrighteousness. Claim the redemptive power in the blood of Jesus
that was shed on the cross at Calvary, for the remission of your sins. Invite the Lord Jesus
Christ into your life and ask him to come in and become your personal Lord and
Saviour. Renounce the world of sin and Satan and make sure that you not go back
to them. If you did that seriously, the Bible says you are now in Christ and as
such, you are a new creature, old things have passed away and all things are
become new. I congratulate you on this important decision that you have just
taken. It is the most important in life and I pray that it shall be permanent
in your life in the name of Jesus. I pray that the Lord will uphold you and
will not let you fall in the name of Jesus. I pray that your name will be
written in the Book of life and it will never be blotted out in the name of
Jesus. I would like you to make this confession out loud, before you start
praying
Isaiah 8:9
Associate yourselves, O ye people, and ye shall be broken in pieces; and give
ear, all ye of far countries: gird yourselves, and ye shall be broken in
pieces; gird yourselves, and ye shall be broken in pieces. Take counsel
together, and it shall come to naught; speak the word and it shall not stand,
for God is with us.
Beloved, I want you to examine your life and identify those things that the
enemy has stolen from you. Make up your mind that you want them back and make
sure you get them. Meditate on those things that should be your lot and be sure
that you get them. Be sure that you get in touch from the Lord. Now, take the
following prayer points with all the aggression that you can gather;
Prayer points
1. My helpers in captivity come out by fire, in the name of Jesus.
2. By fire, by thunder, O God arise and disgrace my
confusion in the name of Jesus.
3. Every clock and timetable of poverty working against me,
be buried today in the name of Jesus.
4. The enemy will not drag my life to the ground in the name of Jesus.
5. Every ancestral wall, built around my glory crumble in the name of Jesus.
6. My glory under bondage, receive deliverance in the name of Jesus.
7. Every bird of darkness holding vigil against me die
in the name of Jesus.
8. O God my father, change my present speed to divine
speed in the name of Jesus.
9. Every witchcraft agent of my father’s house die in
the name of Jesus.
10. Every witchcraft agent of my mother’s house die in
the name of Jesus.
11. Every battle against my destiny from my foundation die,
in the name of Jesus.
12. Every architect of affliction from my foundation die
in the name of Jesus.
13. Stones of fire, locate the forehead of my foundational Goliath in the name
of Jesus.
14. Every foundational strongman causing problem for my life die in the name of
Jesus.
15. Every familiar spirit stealing my virtue scatter
in the name of Jesus.
16. Every strange power, gathered against my advancement die.
17. Every satanic panel set –up against me scatter unto desolation in the name
of Jesus.
18. Every evil decree passed upon my life, release me and die in the name of
Jesus.
19. Every embargo of stagnancy upon my progress, disappear in the name of
Jesus.
20. My glory, arise and shine in the name of Jesus.
21. O God of Elijah; fight my battles today in the name of Jesus.
22. Earthquake of deliverance shake out the evil covenant and curses in my
foundation in the name of Jesus.
23. Foundational strongman release me and die in the
name of Jesus.
The school of blind Bartimaeus
One of the most difficult works in the world today is that of the pastor. Every
day as a pastor, we are exposed to the problems of men. Sometimes when I hear
people tell their stories, I excuse myself to go and cry somewhere before
coming back to attend to them. It is always sad to see some people suffer for
things they know nothing about. Knowing that the person standing before you is
really innocent, yet he is suffering for something he is innocent of and there
is nothing he can do, the person will still suffer.
I was counselling a woman recently and I was feeling sad. Not basically, for
the woman, but for the son on her back. This woman came to narrate her problems
to me but while I was listening to her, my heart was bleeding about the
one-year-old boy on her back. The boy is experiencing hardship because of
problems he knows nothing about. I asked the mother for the father of the boy
and she said the father has denied him. I looked at the boy again and felt more sorry for him. He is experiencing problem right from
his early days. There are so many instances where people are in problems that
they are not supposed to be in.
When a man was being warned not to run after strange women, he said they should
let him be since he has the money with which to enjoy himself. Suddenly, the
man contacted the HIV virus and infected the wife with it. Both of them are now
facing it, after the man has brought AIDS home, he then decided that he wants
to be faithful to his wife. The woman is very innocent and heaven minded. A pitiful situation indeed. Such are the stories a pastor is
faced with on a daily basis. I have been wondering how people in our age
confront the situation and challenges of our time and one of the messages that
God dropped in my heart is that we should go to the school of blind Bartimaeus.
That is why you are reading this message.
Mark 10: 46
-52 “And they came to Jericho: and as he went out of Jericho with his
disciples and a great number of people, blind Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus,
sat by the highway side begging. And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out, and say, Jesus, thou Son of David,
have mercy on me. And many charged him that he should hold his peace: but he
cried the more a great deal, Thou Son of David, have mercy on me. And Jesus
stood still, and commanded him to be called. And they call the blind man,
saying unto him, Be of good comfort, rise; he calleth
thee. And he, casting away his garment, rose, and came to Jesus. And
Jesus answered and said unto him, What wilt thou that
I should do unto thee? The blind man said unto him, Lord, that I might receive
my sight. And Jesus said unto him, Go thy way; thy faith hath made thee
whole. And immediately he received his sight, and followed Jesus in the way”. Blind Bartimaeus was nobody in the society; he was living
at the mercy of other people. His residential address was the roadside. Nobody
in his turn expected him to overcome his problems. In fact, his problem was so
serious that people have forgotten his real name and have replaced it with his
problems. His name has been attacked unto it. Yet within a moment. Jesus Christ
changed the evil name that was given to him. By the power of God today, you too
will experience the type of miracles that Bartimaeus experience today in Jesus
name. I want to ask you these questions is life
treating you badly? Have they put your problem as our identity? Probably you
are now referred to as “that barren woman” “that woman whose husband ran away?”
or “That jobless man?” I have good news for you this morning; you can lean from
the school of blind Bartimaeus
What is a school?
1. A place where people are educated.
2. A place where people can study a particular subject either verbally or through
written means. The following are different types of schools that every human
may likely go through:
1. Life: The number one school in the world is life itself. My question to you
is this: Are you learning from the school of life?
2. The school of failure: Man should learn from his failures; are you learning
from yours?
3. Marriage: In the olden days, ladies were always told that the husband’s
house is a school. Are you learning from the school of your own marriage? Are
you getting better in your marriage with each passing day?
4. The school of problems: If you want to make progress in life, God may first
of all send you to the school of problems. In fact there is nobody who wants to
be great in life that will be able to evade the school of problems.
5. The church: This is a school in which we learn about God and the operations
of the kingdom of the satanic.
6. The life of men that have passed by. If you can sit down and start to learn
from the life of men, you will gain a lot. You can talk of the school of Brother Paul, the man that started out as an enemy of God but
ended up better than that of those he met in the church. The life of Joseph too
is a school. If only you can learn from his life, you will realize that it is
good to run away from sin; although you may suffer for it.
7. The school of Bartimaeus.
21
Lessons from the school of blind Bartimaeus
Lesson 1: Life presents different things to different people.
This means that what life presents to one is different from what it presents to
another. While you are shouting “Why, o God?” somebody else would be reacting
differently to his/ her own situation.
A man felt that his life was the worst ever and he decided to end his woes by
jumping off a bridge. Just before committing the act, he was a man who had no
hand (two hands had been cut off) who was dancing. This man looked at himself
and thought that if he that has two hands and two legs wants to kill himself,
what should the man without hands do? If that man could see a reason for joy
and dancing in life, then he should not kill himself. He then went down to
where the armless man was and spoke to him. He said “Mr., it was your
dancing that stopped me from killing my self”. The armless man replied “Me
dancing! I was not dancing. My back is itching me and I do not have the hands
to scratch it. That’s why I was shaking and rubbing my body against the wood”.
This is a case of life presenting different things to different people.
Beloved, that thing that life is presenting to you, God knows about it and can
help you to overcome it.
Lesson 2: There is no challenge that your life is facing now
that has no solution. Let me make a confession to you. I would have written
problem instead of challenge, but I made a discovery. I carried my Bible and I
was searching for the word “problem.” I discovered that the word ‘problem’ does
not exist in the Bible. I have checked my Bibles and even used the
computer to do this search but there is no ‘problem’ in the Bible. Therefore,
dearly beloved, those things you are calling problems are no problem in God’s
opinion. There is no challenge that your life is facing now that has no
solution. There is a solution somewhere.
Lesson 3: To overcome the challenges of your life, you need to
be desperate. Bartimaeus had a problem and he exercised holy desperation. So
get a solution. The Bible is full of men and women who were desperate for
solution to their problems. For you to overcome that challenges, you need
divine desperation.
Lesson 4: If you blind up your inner man, it will help you to
overcome the limitations of life. Can you imagine it, Bartimaeus was blind but
he knew what people who were not blind did not know. All others arise could
see, but only blind Bartimaeus knew that Jesus Christ is a God of mercy. Those
whose eyes were open did not realize that Jesus had the power to heal. Though he was to develop your inner man and blind up your spiritual
life.
Lesson 5: if you cry unto God, your cry can bring miracles.
This is why David said :when I cry unto God, so shall
my enemies turn back. This I know for God is with me, “I know that the early
training we were given in the church is that when you are praying don’t let your right hand know what your left hand is doing.
The school of Bartimaeus teaches that if you want a miracles, cry out
loud, do not mind who is listening to you.
Lesson 6 : If you want to succeed in
life focus on your goals and not on your enemies. The enemies told Bartimaeus
“Hold your peace; keep quiet”. If he had listened to them, Jesus Christ would
not have been attracted to him. The world we live in today is one in which you
cannot do without having enemies. They would want to stop, humiliate, hinder
and harass you. If you waste your time attending to them you will miss your
goal.
Lesson 7: There are some evil spiritual garments which you
must cast away from your life if you want to lives victoriously. When
Bartimaeus heard that Jesus Christ was calling him, the Bible states that the
first thing he did was to cast of his garments. That was the garment of restrictions.
If you want to live a victorious life, there are some garments that you must
first cast off e.g. garment of sin, garment of worldliness, garment of pride,
garment of anger, garment of adultery and fornication. Bartimaeus teaches that
if these garments are still in your life, you are not ready to live a
victorious life yet.
Lesson 8: General prayers bring little but specific
prayers bring much. “O God, bless me and my family” is a general prayer, which
is as if you have said nothing in particular. Bartimaeus cried into Jesus “Thou
son of David have mercy upon me.” The truth is that there are many mercies in
the Bible. Jesus had to ask Bartimaeus what specific blessing he wants. Then he
said, “That I might receive my sight”. In the school of
Bartimaeus, we
are taught that we must be specific. If you want a miracle from God, name
it specifically unto Him because general prayers bring little but specific
prayers bring much.
Lesson 9: For
you to succeed in life, you must take responsibility for your life. Those who
fail to do this remain trampled underfoot by others. If you are still blaming
your life on your father or mother, you are not helping yourself. Blind
Bartimaeus took his destiny in his hands and shouted for attention. A man
called us to pray for him, he said he was reaping the harvest of adultery. I
asked what he meant and he said in 1966 his wife went to London for a course. Before she came back, he had put
one of his teachers in the family way. The boy that resulted from this action
is now about thirty years old. This boy is the cause of the father’s present
problem. At age thirty, the father still feeds him clothes him and give him
“pocket money”. Any time he fails to do this, the boy will get hold of a
cutlass and threaten to kill the man. Truly, this man is reaping the harvest of
adultery.
Are you over twenty years yet you do not know where you are going in life? Or
you are above thirty years yet you are still waiting for someone to tell you
what to do; you have no direction? Are you waiting for a rich member of your
family to come and help you? Your life will just be wasted if you are waiting
for this.
Lesson 10: Any opportunity that comes your way please do not
waste it. If blind Bartimaeus had said “I’ve heard about this Jesus of
Nazareth, when he comes next week, I will call upon Him”, it would have been
another story. The Bible makes it clear that, it was the last time that Jesus
passed by that way because He was on His way to the cross. Bartimaeus would
have been blind for life. Any good opportunity that comes your way, grab it!
Lesson 11: You must believe that whatever condition you may be
in right now, there can be a better change. No matter the condition you may be
in right now, there is still opportunity to be better than what you are.
Those who sit comfortably, assuming they have achieved all they can are not
helping their lives.
Lesson 12: I f your enemies succeed in silencing your prayers
they have overcome you. What Blind Bartimaeus did that day may not seem like a
prayer to you but it was. He said: “Thou son of David, have mercy me: Then his
enemies spoke out, don’t pray again and keep quiet. Your prayer is disturbing
us; this is not the time for prayers.” If they succeed in silencing your prayer
life, they can overcome you. At this time, I want you to look at your own
prayer life, has the enemies succeeded in silencing it? Is the way you pray
today better that last year’s version?
Lesson 13: If you know that your life is right with God, you
can ignore the crowd. If your life is right with God, you will not be with the
crowd. Those who want to please others -‘the crowd pleasers’, are definitely
moving away from God; the two cannot go together.
Lesson 14: These who look back after setting their hands on
the plough always end up in the school of failure. If
Bartimaeus had looked back, he would not have received his miracle. Those who
have decided to live a totally Christian life, if they look back, will end up
in total failure. A sister came to me one Sunday and said “I want to send you
to God”. I was surprised but I asked what her message was. She said “Tell God I
am giving Him just threes weeks. If within three weeks I fail to get pregnant,
I will do what my colleague in the office did.” What did her colleague do. She said “The two of us were the only barren in our
office before she went to the herbalist and she is now pregnant”. What do I
tell her? I told her I was not going to give God such a message if she wants to
backslide. This Christian life is a life in which you cannot afford to took back.
Lesson 15: Prov 16: 7 “When a man’s
ways please the Lord, he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him”.
When you make your ways right with God, those who are mocking you today will
surely come back to bow before you. When Bartimaeus was shouting unto Jesus,
those who were mocking him were the ones who later told him,
“rejoice, he calleth thee”. They may be shouting you down or mocking you
now, the time is surely coming when they will bow down to your Joseph.
Lesson 16: God sometimes needs your faith before He can
connect you to your miracles. That is why Jesus Christ sometimes says “Your
faith healeth thee”. God is asking you today “Where is
your faith?” Hebrew 11: 6 says “Without faith, it is impossible to please God”.
Lesson 17: If you do not know what you want in life, you will
short-change yourself before God.
Lesson 18: Ps 6: 2 “Have mercy upon me, O LORD, for I am weak:
O LORD, heal me; for my bones are vexed”. God does not resist the cry for His
mercy. He will not resist your cry today in the name of Jesus.
Lesson 19: Mark 9:23,
“Jesus said unto him “if thou canst believeth”. With
God and your believe in God Almighty, all things are
possible.
Lesson 20: Prov 10: 22 “The blessings of the LORD, it maketh
rich, and he added no sorrow with it”. When God blesses your life, he will not
add any sorrow to it. The opposite is the blessing Satan which will only harm
your life more than you can imagine. Why not decide that you will only take the
blessings and miracles of God.
One woman woke up one day and vowed thus “I have been waiting upon God for a
long time. Even if God does not give me a baby, I will keep on serving him.”
Within one year thereafter, she became pregnant.
Lesson 21: The last sentence in Mark 10:52 says,
“And immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus in the way”. For you
to keep your miracles, keep on following Jesus.
My prayer is that you will keep on learning from the school of Bartimaeus.
Prayer points
1. O God arise; have mercy upon my life today in Jesus name.
2. O God
in this month, Locate me the way you located Bartimaeus in Jesus name.
3. The
miracles that men cannot stop, O God send it unto my life in Jesus name.
21 Prayer points for Christians today
(A)Prayer
against the spirit of fear and depression
1. Anything
planted in my life to make me to be afraid die.
2. Any power that wants me to be afraid of tomorrow be paralyzed
3. You spirit of depression, I eject you out of my life.
(B) Paralyzing the Spirit of untimely death
4. You spirit of death delegated to pursue me, be paralyzed
5. Any power that wants to kill me before my time, fail.
6. I fire back to the sender, every arrow of death fired against my life.
(C) Praying Against the Sickness and Infirmity
7. O God arise, protect me from every sickness of the
Egyptians.
(Lay your right hand on your chest)
8. Every seed of sickness and infirmity that is growing in my body now die.
(D) Power against fetish attackers
9. Every fetish power targeted against me die
10 Every sacrifice of darkness made against my life, fail.
11. Every incantations uttered against my name by my enemies be paralyzed by
fire
(E) Praying against spiritual robbers.
12. Every agent of darkness arresting my goodness, be
paralyzed.
13. Any power conspiring against my destiny scatter in Jesus name.
14 Every spiritual robber that has attacked itself to my destiny be exposed, be
paralyzed.
(F) Praying against the force of evil conspiracy
15. Every power conspiring against my destiny scatter in Jesus name.
16. Every arrangement of my enemies to turn my life upside down, fail.
17. O God arise; deliver my life from the conspiracy
of men.
(G) Prayer against witchcraft attack
18. Any witch wizard that wants to attack me die in Jesus name.
19. From this morning, every witch/ wizard around my life, receive the torture
of fire.
20. I fire back to the sender, every witchcraft problem directed at my life.
21. I cover my body, my soul and my spirit with the blood of Jesus.
MARRIAGE!
MARRIAGE PRINCIPLES
1) WHAT DOES
THE BIBLE TEACH ABOUT MARRIAGE?
BIBLE READING:
Genesis
2:1-25
KEY BIBLE VERSE: This explains why a man leaves his father and mother
and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one. (Genesis 2:24)
MARRIAGE IS A COMMITTED PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN A MAN AND
A WOMAN.
God’s creative
work was not complete until he made woman. He could have made her from the dust
of the ground, as he made man. God chose, however, to make her from the man’s
flesh and bone. In so doing, he illustrated for us that in marriage, a man and
a woman symbolically become one flesh. This is a mystical union of the couple’s
hearts and lives. Throughout the Bible, God treats this special partnership
seriously. If you are married or planning to be married, are you willing to
keep the commitment that makes the two of you one? The goal in marriage should
be more than friendship; it should be oneness.
MARRIAGE IS A COOPERATIVE EFFORT BETWEEN EQUAL
PERSONS.
God forms and
equips men and women for various tasks, but all these tasks lead to the same
goal-honouring God. Man gives life to woman; woman gives life to the world.
Each role carries exclusive privileges; there is no room for thinking that one
sex is superior to the other.
MARRIAGE IS A GIFT FROM GOD.
God gave marriage
as a gift to Adam and Eve. They were created perfect for each other. Marriage
was not just for convenience, nor was it brought about by any culture.
MARRIAGE WAS DESIGNED BY GOD.
The marriage relationship
that God designed has three basic aspects:
(1) The man leaves
his parents and, in a public act, promises himself to his wife;
(2) The man and
woman are joined together by taking responsibility for each other’s welfare and
by loving the mate above all others;
(3) The two become
one flesh in the intimacy and commitment of sexual union that is reserved for
marriage. Strong marriages include all three of these aspects.
MARRIAGE IS
INTENDED TO BE A RELATIONSHIP OF GROWING OPENNESS.
Have you ever
noticed how little children can run naked through a room full of strangers
without embarrassment? They are not aware of their nakedness, just as Adam and
Eve were not embarrassed in their innocence. But after Adam and Eve sinned,
shame and awkwardness followed, creating barriers between themselves and God.
We often experience these same barriers in marriage. Ideally a husband and wife
have no barriers, feeling no embarrassment in exposing themselves to each other
or to God. But, like Adam and Eve (3:7), we put on fig leaves (barriers)
because we have areas we don’t want our spouse, or God, to know about. Then we
hide, just as Adam and Eve hid from God. In marriage, lack of spiritual,
emotional, and intellectual intimacy usually precedes a breakdown of physical
intimacy. In the same way, when we fail to expose our secret thoughts to God,
we break our lines of communication with him.
BIBLE READING: Ephesians 5:21-33
KEY BIBLE VERSE: This is a great mystery, but it is an illustration
of the way Christ and the church are one. So again I say,
each man must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her
husband. (Eph 5:32-33)
MARRIAGE REQUIRES SUBMISSION BY BOTH PARTIES.
Submitting to
another person is a concept that is often misunderstood. It does not mean
becoming a doormat. Christ-at whose name “every knee will bow, in heaven and on
earth and under the earth” (Philippians 2:10)-submitted his will to the Father,
and we honour Christ by following his example. When we submit to God, we become
more willing to obey his command to submit to others, that is, to subordinate
our rights to theirs. In a marriage relationship, both husband and wife are
called to submit. For the wife, this means willingly following her husband’s
leadership in Christ. For the husband, it means putting aside his own interests
in order to care for his wife. Submission is rarely a problem in homes where
both partners have a strong relationship with Christ and where each is
concerned for the happiness of the other.
MARRIAGE IS A CHALLENGE TO EACH PARTY.
Why did Paul tell
wives to submit and husbands to love? Perhaps Christian women, newly freed in
Christ, found submission difficult; perhaps Christian men, used to the Roman
custom of giving unlimited power to the head of the family, were not used to
treating their wives with respect and love. Of course both husbands and wives
should submit to each other (5:21), just as both should love each other.
MARRIAGE IS A RELATIONSHIP IN WHICH BOTH PARTIES ARE
SERVANTS.
In Paul’s day,
women, children, and slaves were to submit to the head of the family-slaves
would submit until they were freed, male children until they grew up, and women
and girls their whole lives. Paul emphasized the equality of all believers in
Christ (Galatians 3:28), but he did not suggest overthrowing Roman society
to achieve it. Instead, he counselled all believers to submit to one another by
choice-wives to husbands and also husbands to wives; slaves to masters and also
masters to slaves; children to parents and also parents to children. This kind
of mutual submission preserves order and harmony in the family while it
increases love and respect among family members.
MARRIAGE IS A DIVERSITY OF ROLES WITHIN PARTIES OF
EQUALS.
Although some
people have distorted Paul’s teaching on submission by giving unlimited
authority to husbands, we cannot get around it-Paul told wives to submit to
their husbands. The fact that a teaching is not popular is no reason to discard
it. According to the Bible, the man is the spiritual head of the family, and
his wife should acknowledge his leadership. But real spiritual leadership
involves service. Just as Christ served the disciples, even to the point of
washing their feet, so the husband is to serve his wife. A wise and
Christ-honouring husband will not take advantage of his leadership role, and a
wise and Christ-honouring wife will not try to undermine her husband’s
leadership. Either approach causes disunity and friction in marriage.
MARRIAGE IS HELPING EACH PARTY GROW.
The union of husband
and wife merges two persons in such a way that little can affect one without
also affecting the other. Oneness in marriage does not mean losing your
personality in the personality of the other. Instead, it means caring for your
spouse as you care for yourself, learning to anticipate his or her needs, and
helping the other person become all he or she can be. The creation story tells
of God’s plan that husband and wife should be one (Genesis 2:24), and Jesus also referred to this plan
(Matthew 19:4-6).
MARRIAGE PROBLEMS.
WHAT SOLUTIONS DOES THE BIBLE OFFER FOR
COMMON MARRIAGE PROBLEMS?
BIBLE READING: Ezra 9:1-15
KEY BIBLE VERSE: The men of Israel have married women from these people and
have taken them as wives for their sons. So the holy race has become polluted
by these mixed marriages. To make matters worse, the officials and leaders are
some of the worst offenders. (Ezra 9:2)
MARRIAGE MUST BE A SPIRITUAL AS WELL AS
EMOTIONAL AND PHYSICAL UNION.
Some Israelites
had married pagan spouses and lost track of God’s purpose for them. The New
Testament says that believers should not marry unbelievers (2 Corinthians 6:14). Such marriages cannot have unity in the
most important issue in life-commitment and obedience to God. Because marriage
involves two people becoming one, faith may become an issue, and one spouse may
have to compromise beliefs for the sake of unity. Many people discount this
problem only to regret it later. Don’t allow emotion or passion to blind you to
the ultimate importance of marrying someone with whom you can be united
spiritually.
BIBLE READING:
Matthew
5:31-32
KEY BIBLE VERSE: You have heard that the law
of Moses says, “A man can divorce his wife by merely giving her a letter of
divorce.” But I say that a man, who divorces his wife, unless she has been
unfaithful, causes her to commit adultery. And anyone who marries a divorced
woman commits adultery. (Matthew 5:31-32).
LOOK FOR
WAYS TO RESTORE A MARRIAGE RATHER
THAN LEAVE IT.
Jesus said that
divorce is not permissible except for unfaithfulness. This does not mean that
divorce should automatically occur when a spouse commits adultery. The word
translated “unfaithful” implies a sexually immoral lifestyle, not a confessed
and repented act of adultery. Those who discover that their partner has been
unfaithful should first make every effort to forgive, reconcile, and restore
their relationship. We are always to look for reasons to restore the marriage
relationship rather than for excuses to leave it.
BIBLE READING:
1
Corinthians 7:1-40
KEY BIBLE VERSE: Now about the questions you asked in your letter.
Yes, it is good to live a celibate life. But because there is so much sexual
immorality, each man should have his own wife, and each woman should have her
own husband. (1 Corinthians 7:1-2)
SEX WITHIN MARRIAGE PROVIDES STRENGTH
AGAINST TEMPTATION.
Sexual temptations
are difficult to withstand because they appeal to the normal and natural
desires that God has given us. Marriage provides God’s way to satisfy these
natural sexual desires and to strengthen the partners against temptation.
Married couples have the responsibility to care for each other; therefore,
husbands and wives should not withhold themselves sexually from one another but
should fulfil each other’s needs and desires.
Spiritually, our
bodies belong to God when we become Christians because Jesus Christ bought us
by paying the price to release us from sin (see 6:19-20). Physically, our bodies belong to our
spouses because God designed marriage so that, through the union of husband and
wife, the two become one (Genesis 2:24). Paul stressed complete equality in sexual
relationships. Neither male nor female should seek dominance or autonomy.
A CHRISTIAN SHOULD BE A POSITIVE
INFLUENCE ON AN UNBELIEVING SPOUSE.
Because of their
desire to serve Christ, some people in the Corinthian church thought they ought
to divorce their pagan spouses and marry Christians. But Paul affirmed the
marriage commitment. God’s ideal is for marriages to stay together-even when
one spouse is not a believer. The Christian spouse should try to win the other
to Christ. It would be easy to rationalize leaving; however, Paul makes a
strong case for staying with the unbelieving spouse and being a positive
influence on the marriage. Paul, like Jesus, believed that marriage is
permanent (see Mark
10:1-9).
*****MARRIAGE, GOD’S WORD ON*****
“I now pronounce
you man and wife,” the minister says. The bride and groom look lovingly into
each other’s eyes. Family, friends, even casual acquaintances feel like
cheering. Two people have found each other, pledged to each other a lifetime of
commitment, vowed to be devoted and loving, and promised never to leave or
forsake each other. Vows of faithfulness are the bedrock of marriage. Through
those vows two people, in a miraculous way, become one. Then
begins a lifetime of working together, worshiping together, playing together,
loving together, raising children together, building a home together, and
solving problems together. God’s loving relationship with his people is
so similar to the marriage relationship that he uses human marriage to
illustrate his covenant with his people in the Old Testament and Christ’s love
for the church in the New Testament.
WHERE DID THE IDEA OF MARRIAGE BEGIN?
Genesis
2:18-25 . .
. The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a
companion who will help him.”
Mark
10:6-9 . .
. This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his
wife, and the two are united into one.
Marriage was God’s
idea from the very beginning. It is as old as Eden yet as fresh as the last wedding. Marriage
is ordained by God, a sacred relationship, one not to be entered into lightly.
WHY DID GOD ESTABLISH MARRIAGE?
Genesis
2:18-25 .
. . The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a
companion who will help him.”
God established
marriage for companionship.
Genesis
1:28 . . . God blessed them and told them,
“Multiply and fill the earth and subdue it.”
Malachi
2:15 . . . Didn’t the Lord make you one with
your wife? In body and spirit you are his. And what does he want? Godly children from your union.
God established
marriage as the best environment for raising children. Marriage was designed to
help children learn about love by being born into a loving relationship. How
tragic when parents fail to model Christ’s love before their children.
Ephesians
5:31-32 .
. . As the Scriptures say, “A man leaves his father and mother and is joined to
his wife, and the two are united into one.” This is a great mystery, but it is
an illustration of the way Christ and the church are one.
God established
marriage as a symbol of Christ and the church. A marriage under God should
teach the couple much about how God relates to his church.
WHAT KIND OF RELATIONSHIP SHOULD A MARRIAGE
BE?
Genesis
2:18 . . . The Lord God said, “It is not good
for the man to be alone. I will make a companion who will help him.”
Ecclesiastes
4:9-12 . .
. Two people can accomplish more than twice as much as one. . . .If one person
falls, the other can reach out and help.
1
Corinthians 11:3 . . . There is one thing I want you to know: A man is responsible to
Christ, a woman is responsible to her husband, and Christ is responsible to
God.
Matthew
19:4-6 . .
. “Haven’t you read the Scriptures?” Jesus replied. “They record that from the
beginning ‘God made them male and female.’ And he said, ‘This explains why a
man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are
united into one.’ Since they are no longer two but one, let no one separate them, for God has joined them together.”
Marriage at its
best is a relationship so close and intimate that the two of you work together
as one. It involves mutual trust, mutual support, mutual defence, mutual
comfort, mutual vulnerability, mutual responsibility.
WHAT ARE THE KEYS TO A HAPPY, STRONG
MARRIAGE?
Joshua
24:15 . .
. Choose today whom you will serve . . . But as for me and my family, we will
serve the Lord.
*A united purpose to serve the Lord is a key
to a good marriage.
Proverbs
5:15 . . . Drink water from your own well-share
your love only with your wife.
Proverbs
5:18-19 .
. . Rejoice in the wife of your youth . . . Let her breasts satisfy you always.
May you always be captivated by her love.
Hebrew 13:4 . . .
Give honour to marriage, and remain faithful to one another in marriage. God
will surely judge people who are immoral and those who commit adultery.
*Faithfulness is a key to a good marriage.
Without
faithfulness there is no real trust or intimacy.
Matthew
19:4-6 . .
. Since they are no longer two but one, let no one separate them, for God has
joined them together.
*Commitment is a key to a good marriage.
Romans
15:1-2 . .
. We should please others. If we do what helps them, we will build them up in
the Lord.
*Sacrifice is a key to a good marriage.
Romans
15:5-7 . .
. May God . . . help you live in complete harmony with each other-each with the
attitude of Christ Jesus toward the other. Then all of you can join together
with one voice, giving praise and glory to God.
*Understanding each other’s differences and
celebrating them are keys to a good marriage.
Ephesians
5:21-33<
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