“Wives, submit to your own husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. Husbands, love your wives… Children, obey your parents in all things, for this is well pleasing to the Lord” (Col 3:18-20)
The Biblical duty of the wife is to submit to her own husband. The Biblical duty of the husband is to love his wife ‘as Christ loves the church’. The biblical duty of the children is to obey their parents ‘in all things’. The difference between submission and obedience is spiritual. The wife’s submission is a godly choice to stay under the spiritual authority and leadership of her husband. This submission is not because she is less intelligent or less worthy of respect. It is because God is a God of order, peace and beauty. For the glory of God and for the good of the family, God commanded that the wife should submit to her husband and that the husband should love her sacrificially. Submission is not easy and it is not natural. Submission is not pretending to respect your husband. It is a deep holy behavior springing up from a spiritual, wise and pure heart. The road to Biblical submission is paved with many tears. Submission is fitting in the Lord Jesus Christ. It is beautiful and pleasing to God. The wife visibly submits to her own husband as a form of worshiping the invisible Lord Jesus Christ.

What is the difference between submission and obedience? For the wife, submission means the freedom to act in between the general boundaries, guidelines and principles given by her husband. A child’s obedience to his parents does not have this freedom. He must obey his parents’ commands without adding or removing from them.

OUR TESTIMONY
We are happily married for 44 years. We have made many mistakes and we have learned from them. The Bible is our ‘marriage manual’. As a wife, it is my duty to know the general principles of life by which my husband ‘operates’. These principles are not legalistic, cold or rigid. As my husband matures spiritually, these ideas change. It is my duty to study him and analyze his way of life. I prayerfully listen when he talks. I want to know ‘from where he comes from and where he is going’. I want to know why he says this or that. If I hear something I consider ‘wrong’, I pray for wisdom, to understand ‘his point of view’. What I may see as wrong may be something he considers as good. The truth is that family and social background influence our choices. For example, if my husband tells me how he expects me to behave in a particular situation, if I agree with him, then it is easy. But if I see things differently, it is hard for me to submit to what I see is wrong. As a young wife I used to correct him immediately saying: ‘Sorry, I do not agree with you. What about my way?’ Then we argue to and fro for some time, provoking and becoming angry with one another. It will take a long time to forgive and forget the hurt cause by such arguments. But as time went by, I learned to be more patient with him and with myself. I learned to humble myself and to see things from his perspective too. I now know that I do not have to be right all the time. These days, if he says something I disagree with, I keep calm and quiet. I meditate on his proposal trying to find the good in it. Then I go and pray. I ask God to show me why does my husband sees this matter so differently than me. God helps me to submit and to love him even when it is hard. Marriage is work. Lazy people should not marry. Prayer is more important than food or sex. The reason why I take all this trouble to understand my husband is not because I want to submit and please him only for today. I want to understand him as a person, for things to be easier between us in the future. For me, each pain must go to God in prayer and become a seed of love and wisdom, for a deeper knowing of my husband. Submission is my harvest of wisdom and love. To God be the glory!

Let me be more practical to explain submission … For example: my husband tells me that for this week we have twenty thousand naira to spend on food. He does not tell me the type of food to cook. He gives me the freedom to use that money the way I think it is best. He gives me the liberty to buy what I want knowing the food we both like to eat. I do not have to write my menu on the wall every day. I do not have to tell him that the pepper is now 50 Naira and not 20. I use my discretion to spend the money as I think is best for the two of us. What is important is that we eat good food every day and we are happy with each other. If there is any ‘change’ left for me, I can spend it on what I like. I do not have to tell him that I used 50 naira to buy powder for myself. I am not his daughter. I am not his cook or house servant. I am his wife!!!! For me, submission is this freedom to be myself within my husband’s principles of a happy home. But the child’s obedience is not so. If I give my daughter 20 naira to buy biscuits she is to tell me how much she has spent and she should give me back all the change. That is how we trained our children. Once they became adults it was easy for them to function as husbands, wives and parents.

As most of you know, we come from very different backgrounds. We see things differently. We have different strategies of solving problems. That is ok. We are not twins. We do not have to foolishly imitate one another. Each one of us must be who God called us to be. But as a wife I need to know both my husband’s weaknesses and his strengths; his pains and his joys. I need to understand what type of wife he wants me to be. I need to pay the price and change to become his ‘dream wife’. I need to yield to his idea of ‘a perfect marriage’. This is not easy… I may not become all that he dreams of in this life time, but I can try… He should see that I am trying… For it is my responsibility to contribute to our mutual happiness. It is my honor to help him fulfill his destiny as a man of God, as a husband and father. As a wife, I need to know his mind and my boundaries of submission. I need to accept them and submit to them. Then I am free. Sorry, we both are free and happy… Glory to God!

HAPPY WITH CHURCH TONIGHT

The Saturday evening prayer meeting was very good. We prayed for the Holy Spirit to come, to pour fresh oil on us, and in us. He did just that. In the name of Jesus we destroyed the bondage of depression, backsliding and empty religion. A door of spiritual breakthrough was open to us by the Holy Spirit. The ones who had faith to enter, they did so. We received the Joy of the Lord which is our never failing strength. Full of thanksgiving, adults and children, we sang: “This God is too good-oo…”

“Moreover He called for a famine in the land;

He destroyed all the provision of bread.

He sent a man before them—

Joseph—who was sold as a slave

They hurt his feet with fetters,

He was laid in irons.

Until the time that his word came to pass,

The word of the Lord tested him.

The king sent and released him,

The ruler of the people let him go free.

He made him lord of his house,

And ruler of all his possessions,

To bind his princes at his pleasure,

And teach his elders wisdom” (Ps 105:16-22)

We are in a prophetic season called ‘Shalom’. In Hebrew, it means peace, health, wealth, friends and favor. We are expecting great things from God. We now study the life of Joseph. We identify with his anointing. Joseph comes from a difficult background, a dysfunctional family. There is jealousy, kidnapping, hatred, plan to murder, division and inability to love among the family members. There is tension in the life of Joseph. It is created by the loving acceptance of the father and the hating rejection of his brothers. But no matter what, God is in change. God uses sinful people, imperfect men to accomplish His will. The word ‘brothers’ appear 21 times in Genesis 37. The name of God does not appear at all. The atmosphere is one of a difficult, divided, worldly and religious family that does not care about God. In this ‘dry ground’ God ‘planted’ His seed called Joseph. The brothers hate Joseph because of his father’s special love represented by the coat of many colors, because of his words, his dreams and God’s favor on him, revealing that he will be their leader. The brothers take Joseph’s dreams seriously. They plan to kill him so that the dreams will become useless and God’s plan aborted. By rejecting Joseph, they reject his dreams, they reject God’s Word. Only his father kept this matter in mind, thinking that God may be speaking to the family. But God does not leave Himself without a witness. The dreams of Joseph seem childish, simple, secular and superficially ambitious. But they were of God! This is the most important thing to remember! God’s Word and God’s plan can never be destroyed by men or devils! The dreams were prophetic words given by God to the family! At last, the dreams, the words, proved to be true. In God’s time, they came to pass! After testing Joseph, God’s Word proved him to be a man of God who spoke the truth!

Joseph had two powerful names. Each name was prophetic and significant.  His Hebrew name was Joseph (meaning Increase or Multiplication) (Gen 30:24). His Egyptian name was Zaphenath Paneah (meaning the Revealer of secrets, the Interpreter of dreams or the Wise One who understands the deep things of God) (Gen 41:45). Joseph represents our Lord Jesus Christ who has the power to multiply anything. He fed thousands by multiplying two loaves of bread and five little fishes (Mt 14:15-21). Our Lord knows the things that are in the hearts of men (Jn 2:24, 25). By faith, we applied these two prophetic names to ourselves. From this day on, we shall trust God to bestow on us the prophetic mantle of Joseph. God shall multiply our little resources, natural and spiritual. We shall not fear small money, small opportunities, small health or small resources. Because God shall bless us with divine increase! From this day on, we shall trust God to give us an overflow of divine wisdom to understand the deep things of God, to discern prophetically the Spirit realm and to make decisions based on revelation and not on common sense anymore. May the mantle of Joseph, Zaphenath Paneah be placed on our shoulders! In Jesus name, amen!  Glory to God!

“For God has not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind” (2Tim 1:7)

Today I was privileged to counsel and pray for two Christian sisters. These are born again committed serious women of God, married and with children.  In the natural they both looked good. But there were problems… Both of them had medical complains and were taken treatment in different hospitals. Both of them had spent a lot of money on medical procedures and medications. Both of them were attacked by the demon of fear but were ignorant of it. The word I gave to one was the same for the other. Both of them received their deliverance and healing instantly. Praise the Lord! Because every truth is established by two or three witnesses, I decided to write this letter, to encourage others who may need help too.

Behind some sicknesses may be spiritual issues. The doctors are trained to treat only physical diseases. They are not qualified or able to treat spiritual afflictions (except the doctors who are born again and Spirit filled, which is rare). The devil attacks both spiritually and physically. He is not choosy. He only wants to torment his victims, to ‘kill, steal and destroy’. He is God’s enemy and your enemy too. As a doctor I consulted many patients who had different health challenges, physical, mental or emotional. Each time I discerned that their ‘background’ problem was spiritual more than physical I had to confront the issue with them. The people who believed were helped. But those who rejected the word could not be helped because God needs your faith to work with you.

Fear is a primary attack. The devil uses fear as an injection of spiritual poison, to weaken your resistance, so that you cannot fight him. Tormented by fears are not able to reject further lies. When the devil attacks the children of God he uses deception. That is the only way he can succeed to influence their mind. Never forget that the devil is a liar!!! That means each attack of fear is also a lie!!! For example, one of the women was telling me that her mother died young, therefore she ‘feels’ that she will die young too. The other woman told me that her senior sister was diagnosed with cancer therefore she will be next in line. It is true that the doctors have a tendency to bully their patience with warnings about their future health. But if you are a child of God you should immediately reject any lying diagnoses. For the doctor is just a human being. He is not your creator and he is not your god. Doctors make mistakes. I am a medical doctor by profession and I worked as a doctor in Nigeria for about 20 years. By the grace of God I was called ‘a good doctor’ but I also made mistakes. I respected the Christians who had faith to reject my negative statements about their future. In fact, the Holy Spirit used these unpleasant confrontations between me and my patients who had faith, to humble me, to bring me to my knees and become saved. Praise the Lord!

Child of God! You need to lift up the shield of faith and boldly quench the fiery darts of lies that come from the devil. Do not be sorry for the devil! Do not be gentle with the Liar! I am not saying that you should quarrel with your doctor. If the doctor is a child of God, that is a double blessing to you. But if the devil uses the doctor’s tongue, and declares death to you, then you just reject that diagnoses! Speak the Word of God over your life: “With long life You shall satisfy me… I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the LORD” (Ps 91:16; Ps 118:17). Stand up and pray! Reject the evil spirit of fear! Do it now! With a loud voice! With anger in your heart! Jesus loves you! Fight for your soul! Be jealous over your testimony! Ask the Holy Spirit to fill you afresh. Let the Spirit of Resurrection and Life invade the space that was occupied by the lying fears. Child of God, you can do it! I rejoice with you! Halleluiah! Glory to God!

“Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” (Mt 19:26)
Today we had a wonderful Holy Communion service. The presence of God was so real. The Holy Spirit helped us to see the Cross of Christ and to love our Lord even more. When the anointing is so strong, you don’t need much prayers before miracles happen. This evening a brother sent me this note. I use this testimony as a point of contact for others to be encouraged and healed! With God, all things are possible! May your faith increase! Be healed! In Jesus name, amen! To God be all the glory!

I am singing…
“My Jesus, I love Thee, I know Thou art mine;
For Thee all the follies of sin I resign;
My gracious Redeemer, my Savior art Thou;
If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, ’tis now.

“Brothers and sisters, pray for us” (1Thess 5:25)

My husband, Pastor Richmond Leigh and I have been married for almost 44 years. We got married as unbelievers and, by the grace of God we are now children of God. Our story is the testimony that grace is real and eternal life is sure. Both of us have tested that the Lord is good. Both of us have seen salvation. We are happily married giving thanks to God!

I am blessed beyond words that my husband married me. We met in the Medical School, Timisoara, Romania. He was a foreign student, trying to learn my language and to adjust to a strange culture. Both of us were very young. I was not the richest, most beautiful or intelligent woman in the campus. Why he chose to marry me is a mystery (to me) until today. But looking back, I can see that Almighty God was behind our timid steps of understanding life and learning to walk in love. We got married against much opposition. The Romanian Government at that time forbade its citizens to marry foreigners. We were persecuted in school. My parents did not understand my choice of a husband. Most of our friends rejected our marriage. But I made up my mind that I marry this man or I will die single. I fell in love with him even before I knew were Nigeria is on the map. He was learning to speak Romanian and I did not speaking English at all. We used sign language at the beginning. I made up my mind to marry him and follow him to his country. We came to Nigeria in March 1980.  We had trials and temptations. It was not always easy. But we survived and we became better, stronger and wiser. Once we surrendered our lives to Christ, everything ‘made sense’. The pain was no longer painful. The tears became worship. The rejection became ministry. Over the years we observed that all men who fought to destroy us, or our marriage, destroyed themselves at last. Glory to God!

I have never once regretted marrying this wonderful man. I know that many people are tired to hear sweet poems of love; they are angry when someone sings of hope, of romance and happiness. They focus their attention on politics, tribal wars and daily frustrations of life. I try to understand your pain and anger. I live in the same planet with you. But for me, in my little world, the light of God is shining, the grace of God is working and the love of God overflows its bounds. I am happy and I must declare it! To God be all the glory!

Let me say this: I can ‘manage’ any problem, but I could not have survived in Nigeria without the love, patience, help and guidance of my dear husband. He has blessed me as his wife, as the mother of our children, as a pastor and co-laborer with him in the Lord’s Vineyard. He covers me with prayers. He predicts my desires and goes ahead to fulfill them even before I am aware of what I need. He is my English teacher, my doctor, my lawyer and even my police. If you look in my heart, next to Jesus Christ, my Savior, you will find my husband.  He gives me the freedom to be what God wants me to be. He encourages me to stand and fulfill destiny! Today is my husband’s birthday. We do not want money, cards, cake, drinks, rice or fried chicken. We only desire your prayers. That is the best gift of all. Thank you! And God bless you in return! In Jesus name, amen!

“One Sabbath day as Jesus was teaching in a synagogue, He saw a woman who had been crippled by an evil spirit. She had been bent double for eighteen years and was unable to stand up straight. When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said, “Dear woman, you are healed of your sickness!” Then He touched her, and instantly she could stand straight. Oh, how she praised God!” (Lk 13:10-13; TLB)

This is a wonderful testimony, how Jesus teaches the Word, heals the sick and rebukes His enemies, all in the same time. Only our Lord can do all these things in the same time! It was the ‘Sabbath day’, the same as our Sunday service. Jesus was teaching the congregation the Word of God. He then sees a woman there who was very sick. She was bent over and could not stand straight. She has been in this condition for 18 years. Her family, the pastors and the members of her ‘church’, had no hope for her. They viewed her sickness as incurable. No one was praying for her or encouraging her to hope that one day she will be ‘normal’ like them, healed and happy. Nobody had faith that this unnamed woman can one day join the choir. Everybody who came to church ignored her or maybe gave her some food. That’s all. But this sad, sick, ugly, lonely and hopeless woman decided to continue to come to church. This is called faith! Her body was bent but her heart was getting straight. She knew that in the presence of the Holy Spirit anything can happen. For as long as she breathes, she will come to church! This was the key to her miracle! She knew that nothing is impossible for God to do. She knew that God does not discriminate. Staying at home or in the hospital was useless. Coming to the presence of God opened the door for the precious miracle. For 18 years this woman has been punished by the devil with a sickness that doctors could not cure. We don’t know why it was so. But we know that in the presence of God there is fullness of joy, the captives are freed and the hungry are filled…

Then suddenly ‘Jesus saw her’! Oh, the blessed look of the Master! May Jesus see you! He interrupted His sermon and called the woman forth. In the full view of the congregation, she came crawling like a worm. She came to Jesus!!! This is faith! If Jesus commands you to do anything, do not excuse yourself. Just obey! Faith has no excuses! Jesus said: “Dear woman, you are healed of your sickness … You are loosed from your infirmity!” Then He touched her and instantly she could stand straight. Immediately she started praising God! She sang and she danced! If she was in Warri, she could have said: “Oghene – Doh…Migwo – Doh…”

This is what I called a holy disturbance in the church! I love that! Jesus loves people more than we love our church protocol. Jesus looks at the heart! Her body was bent and nobody saw that in her heart she made a vow: ‘God, if You heal me, if I can stand straight, I will praise and worship You forever!’ Her praise was released from the crippled tight and suffocating vessel. “Imela e…”

Jesus said: ‘you are loosed from your infirmity’. This word ‘loosed’ means to completely free someone from any bondage or to divorce that one from the devil. Her sickness was ‘an infirmity’, a spiritual bondage that manifested as a crippling condition of the body. Her ‘spiritual husband’ was an evil spirit. He bent her! He tried to possess her! He tried to conquer her body and her soul. For 18 long years the demon tried to force her to kiss his ugly face. But he failed! Dr. Jesus healed her! Judge Jesus separated her from the criminal spirit husband and ‘married’ her Himself. She became a born again, free, healthy, strong, happy member of the Bride of Christ. Hallelujah!

What are the lessons for us? These are simple lessons but very powerful. Come to church! Serve God in the church! Even when you are sick, have faith that by coming to church, you can encounter Jesus Christ and you shall be healed. Child of God, even if your situation seems hopeless, there is always hope with God! Jesus said that when two or three of us gather in His name, He will be there, in our midst, doing wonders. Do not stop praying! Do not stop believing in Jesus! What do you lose if you believe in Him? Nothing, only your doubts! God hears your prayers. God answers your prayers. No matter how long it takes, continue to have faith in God. One day, Jesus will see you, call you and touch you. In the midst of many, Jesus will find you and bless you. Let your faith rise. Finally, bless God if the church you attend is a living church where the pastors preach the Word of God. But if the church you attend is more like a night club, business center, bank, comedy show or entertainment place, run away from there! Go to God’s House! Go to Jesus! Look unto Jesus! He is not dead! He is risen! He is alive forevermore! Jesus is the Lord!

(In the picture, one of the sisters in our church, praising God with dancing)

“Then He (Jesus) spoke a parable to them that men always ought to pray and not lose heart… Shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them? I tell you that He will avenge them speedily.  Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?” (Lk 18:1-8)

This is one of the parables of Jesus. He says there was a poor woman, a widow, who had a big enemy she could not fight by herself. In the Bible, symbolically, a woman stands for the church. A widow means a believer in Christ who has no human helper and is facing strong opposition. This woman knows that she has no strength and no resources to fight her strong enemy.  But she wants vindication and victory. The only man who can help her is a judge in that town. But this judge is very harsh. He does not fear God and he cares nothing about anybody. But he is her only hope for a breakthrough. This woman is not intimidated by the difficulty of her position. She decides to go to see the judge and to plead with him as often as she can. For fear that he will get ‘weary by her continual coming’, the judge finally grants her plea. What is the lesson for us?

Jesus said that we should learn from this woman and pray to God until there is an answer. God always answers His children. His answers can be: Yes, No or Wait. If the answer is yes, then your miracle will manifest immediately. If the answer is no, you will lose ‘the push’ to pray. But if the answer is ‘wait’, then you are to pray until the answer changes into a ‘yes’. Jesus says that ‘the elect cry to God day and night’. The sign that you are a child of God is that you pray until God answers. If you get tired of waiting and praying, it may be that you are not a true believer or that you are backsliding.

Why do believers stop praying? The danger is to become over-involved with the cares of this world. Being too anxious about your ordinary natural life (about your marriage, children, job, school, money…) will quench the spirit of prayer. Knowing that God alone can truly help, you have no excuse to stop praying before God answers you. The prophet Samuel said that to stop praying or to stop teaching others the Word of God is sin. “Moreover as for me, God forbid that I should sin against the Lord in ceasing to pray for you: but I will teach you the good and the right way” (1Sam 12:23).

Jesus connects prayer and faith (verse 1 and 8). When you pray for a particular blessing, as you pray, your faith will increase. Then you use your higher faith to pray even more. Both faith and prayer shall become stronger, helping one another. But if you stop praying, your faith will become weak and you shall faint spiritually.  The lesson: continue to pray and ask God for your heart’s desire!  You know that you pray well when you sense your faith increases. That is the time when God answers! Christianity is not easy. You must read the Bible and you must put into practice the Word you have read. This is the way to spiritual maturity. May God open your spiritual eyes, open your spiritual ears and touch your heart to be more sensitive to the Holy Spirit! Go back to the prayer room! God is waiting for you! Glory to God!

This is the Word of God:

“Rejoice evermore.

Pray without ceasing.

In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.

Quench not the Spirit.

Despise not prophesyings!

Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.

Abstain from all appearance of evil.

And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Faithful is He that calls you, who also will do it” (1Thess 16-24)

“If I stand or I should fall
You know me well, You see it all,
My darkest nights, my deepest fears
I cry to You and You will hear

HAPPY WITH CHURCH TONIGHT

“Joseph—who was sold as a slave…

They hurt his feet with fetters,

He was laid in irons.

Until the time that his word came to pass,

The word of the Lord tested him” (Ps 105:17-19)

The Saturday night prayer meeting was very good. The Holy Spirit helped us to do warfare in preparation for worship. In the name of Jesus we totally rejected all evil spirits that hindered our worship of God. We had to make a choice: do we seek God tonight or not! In the unity of the Spirit we chose to seek God, His presence and His Word! Therefore we rejected every contrary spirit of religion, double mindedness, doubt, control, lust, fear of the future, bareness, poison, depression… In the Name of Jesus! At the name of Jesus Christ every knee must bow! At last, we welcomed the Holy Spirit with thanksgiving in our hearts and lips. We sang a new song of love to the Lover of our souls. The atmosphere changed and gently, we were ushered into the Most Holy Place. Glory!

Prophetically, we are in a season called ‘Shalom’. In Hebrew, this word means peace, health and wealth, friends and favor with God and man. In 2018 we shall experience all these spiritual blessings in a higher level! To the glory to God! The Word was taken from Isaiah 55: 8-12 and Psalm 105:16-19. God’s Word is not like an ordinary word. It is not just a sound or a letter. It is eternal life and it comes with overwhelming power to change hearts and circumstances! The rain and the snow water the earth and produce vegetation. In the same way, the Word of God read or preached under the anointing of the Holy Spirit produces spiritual ‘vegetation’, better said ‘fruitful eternal life’ in our spirits. You cannot hear the Word of God and remain the same! You must change! And change radically!

We began to study the life of Joseph. He was the favorite of his father. When Joseph was just 17 years old Jacob made a beautiful coat of many colors and gave it to him. This coat is a prophetic sign. It tells everybody that Joseph is the ‘heir to the throne’, the future leader and the savior of the family. It is a royal coat telling people that Joseph is a prince and he will not do manual labor. He will sit on ‘the throne’ and others will work for him.  As Joseph started dressing with that beautiful royal coat. God gave Joseph two dreams. In them, Joseph is seen as the head of the family and all others will bow to him. By these dreams, God confirms Jacob’s choice of leadership among his sons. These dreams look childish. The name of God does not appear in Genesis 37. But God speaks to the family and to the nation thru these ‘secular’ dreams. Therefore the dreams are the Word of God. His brothers are very jealous and want to kill Joseph. They hate him because of his coat (leadership, promotion), because their father loves him more than them (God’s sovereign choice), because of his words and his dreams (the Word of God). By hating Joseph, they hate the Word of God. By killing Joseph they want to kill the Word of God (who is Jesus Christ, our Lord). But nobody can kill the Word of God! Even if you kill it, the Word of God shall resurrect! And judge the sinners! The two dreams will be fulfilled later. In between the receiving of the dreams and the fulfillment of the dreams, Joseph must pass thru painful trials of rejection, manual labor, slavery and prison. But nothing can stop the Word of God from manifesting. At last, the Word of God spoken by him proved him to be true and not a liar!

Application: think of your life! Remember when God spoke to you thru the Bible, thru the Holy Spirit or thru prophetic utterances. Since then you have not seen any manifestation of that Word you have received. But be encouraged! God who gave you the Word many years ago, watches over that same Word to perform it! Your prison of circumstances, your trial and pains are only temporary. Like the rain comes down from heaven and produces vegetation on earth, so that Word shall be fulfilled in your life! It cannot go back to God ‘void of power’ but it shall perform the pleasure of God in your life! God is faithful! God’s Word can never fail! For example…Were you happy on your wedding day? You and your spouse now quarrel and have misunderstandings? They shall pass away! Your marriage will be happy at last! When your baby was born, did you rejoice or did you weep? If you rejoiced, then no matter the sickness and troubles that may come your child’s way, your child will be a blessing to you at last! Did God say that you are healed! Then the sickness cannot talk where God talks! Has God said that you shall buy a land and build a house? Even if all the cement sellers in Nigeria go on strike, you shall be a landlord (landlady). This is the Word of God! It can never fail! Give praise to God for He alone will do it!

HAPPY WITH CHURCH TONIGHT

The Women’s Fellowship was very good. Today was our first meeting this year. We had a full house. We shared testimonies of God’s goodness and power. We praised God with songs and dancing. We prayed and prophesied over our lives, marriages, children, businesses and ministries. We did warfare: we rejected the evil spirits of empty religion, depression, barrenness, fear, doubt, poverty, sickness and sorrow! We prayed two by two, one for another. We prophesied that the single sisters above 30 shall marry this year. We prophesied that the married women who pray for the fruit of the womb shall be pregnant and have children! In Christ we declared that God has opened a new door for us in 2018. It is a good and great, surprisingly sweet new platform for ministry and family blessings. No devil and no man can shut it. Our testimonies will increase! Our joy shall be full! In Jesus name, amen! Then the sermon came. It was about the joy of an ideal godly marriage. It was inspired from the Song of songs. Our marriages must be better! There is always room for improvement! Amen!

THE WINE, FIRE AND ECHO OF THE SONG OF SONGS

“The Song of Songs, which is Solomon’s” (SS1:1)

The Song of Songs is the most romantic Book in the Bible. Most Christians ignore this book because they either do not understand it or they feel uncomfortable reading it. The Song of Songs is a poem written by King Solomon, the son of King David. He describes how he deeply fell in love with a simple shepherd girl, even when he already had hundreds of wives and concubines in his harem. Symbolically, the poem describes the love between Christ and the Church. The same poem perfectly describes the ideal love found in a godly marriage, when both husband and wife are mature believers in Christ. This holy love in marriage has four attributes: Passion, Self-control, mutuality and eternal life.

*LOVE IN MARRIAGE IS PASSIONATE

“Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth—

For your love is better than wine

Because of the fragrance of your good ointments,

Your name is ointment poured forth;

Therefore the virgins love you.

Draw me away! … The king has brought me into his chambers…” (SS 1:2- 4)

Passion is described as a strong and barely controllable emotion. Love in marriage must be romantic, exciting, full of interesting gifts and sweet surprises. Like wine, it must be intoxicating to the heart and to the brain. Its source is the sacrificial passionate love of Jesus, who died to save His sinful Lovers. This love is jealous and very protective. It fights to death the enemies of love. In this Song, the passionate love in marriage is described in many ways: kisses on the mouth, fragrant ointment poured forth, getting drunk with wine, getting sick with love, going out in the night searching for the offended lover to make peace with him and many beautiful intimate praises poured out between husband and wife. This passionate love involves their bodies, souls and spirits. There is no shame in this love. Their love is a reflection of the original purity designed by God for marriage when:  “a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed” (Gen 2:24, 25). The fire of love burns all guilt, all shame and all inferiority complexes. They feel happy and safe to love each other. They are generous with the best they have. There is no fear of betrayal, deception or divorce. Their sexual life is passionate but limited to marriage. There is no wasting drainage to adulterous affairs. The ‘strange woman’ must be disappointed. If your love is holy and passionate then ‘your fountains will not be dispersed abroad and your streams of water will not flow on strange dark streets’ (PV 5: 16). Love’s passion is an anointed overflow able to destroy all the evil plans and opposition of marriage. Lukewarm love is dangerous. It is on its way to defeat. Keep the fires of holy love burning! Quench not the Spirit of love! Let the fire burn, day and night! Be drunk and be filled with the Holy Spirit!

*LOVE IN MARRIAGE IS CONTROLLED

“I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem,

By the gazelles or by the does of the field,

Do not stir up nor awaken love

Until it pleases” (SS 2:7; 3:5 and 8:4)

The beauty of true Christian love is that it combines great passion with great self-restrain. Only the Holy Spirit can produce this unique combination. Flesh is a coward. It always looks for escape in one way or the other. Flesh loves until it destroys itself. It quenches the very life of passionate intimacy. Fleshly love oscillates in between erotic lust and frigid vows. But the love of Christ is both hot and controlled in the same time. Two of the fruits of the Holy Spirit, the first and the last, are ‘love and… self-control’ (Gal 5: 22, 23). Mature love is spiritual and balanced. That is why it does not break and it lasts forever.  The Bride tells ‘the daughters of Jerusalem’, her friends, to be patient with the manifestation and harvest of love. Lust boils immediately and burns the kettle. But ‘love is patient’ with itself (1Cor 13:4). The passion of love in marriage must increase gradually. Love is wise. Love knows when to say ‘yes’ and when to say ‘no’. Like driving a car, love has one speed pedal and two breaks. There is a time to love more and times when you love less, so that you can rest your soul (Ecc 3:8). Going on the high hills and the deep valleys of life, even when stumbling, it must go on, for ‘love never fails’ (1 Cor 13:8).  Love in a godly marriage is ‘A garden enclosed… A spring shut up… A fountain sealed’ (SS 4:12). This love has a secret address and a codded password. It is separated from the eyes of strangers. The fence of holy fire around the marriage bed keeps its passion safe. Marriage is a mystery protected by God Himself (Eph 5:32; Mal 3:5).

*LOVE IN MARRIAGE IS MUTUAL

‘My beloved is mine, and I am his…’ (SS 2:16; 6:3; 7:10)

In a true godly marriage the husband and wife are free to be themselves, free to talk and free to manifest their love to each other. Love is a two way street. Love is a duet. Love is like tango dance! Love is a mutual feeling experienced by both of them. In this poem you see that both the Lover and the Beloved initiate speeches and actions. The leadership of the husband and the submission of the wife were curses placed after the fall, to restrain sinful behavior in marriage. But in this poem we see that agape love equals both players and brings them together unto ‘the hill of incense’ to dance for joy. In a golly marriage there is no violence, wickedness, manipulation or oppression. There is love, trust, purity and peace. Both husband and wife are free in each other’s arms. They give themselves one to the other in a happy and safe surrender. Each one teaches the other how to live, love and laugh. They weep together and they rejoice together. No one is left behind. No one is lonely. The blanket of Love is wide enough to cover both of them. True love is hated by many. In the forests of this world you will encounter many ‘little foxes that try to spoil the tender shoots of springtime love’ (SS 2:15).  Both husband and wife are ready to fight the enemies of marriage. They are both jealous over their love and they protect it unto death. ‘Love always protects’ (1 Cor 13:7).  Spiritual warfare done in the name of Jesus, in the unity of the Spirit, in a godly marriage is always successful. The devil has no chance here! The monster of adultery dies immediately when marriage covenant partners hold hands in prayer and worship their God.

*LOVE IN MARRIAGE IS FOREVER

“Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm;

For love is as strong as death, Jealousy as cruel as the grave;

Its flames are flames of fire, a most vehement flame.

Many waters cannot quench love, nor can the floods drown it.

If a man would give for love all the wealth of his house,

It would be utterly despised” (SS 8: 6, 7)

The marriage covenant is done in the presence of God, among witnesses in heaven and on earth. It lasts a life time. After death, the surviving spouse is free to live single or remarry. But the love they had for one another endures beyond the barrier of death. The fruits and effect of their holy love will survive the destruction of their bodies. Their children and friends have been touched by their true passion. Their love will continue to sing its song in the hearts of many, forever!  This love cannot be destroyed, quenched or sold for money. It is a proof that Jesus Christ is the Husband of the Church. It is a sign post directing seekers to the sacrifice on the Cross done by our Savior, King and Lover! The color of true love is red for the Lover’s Blood payed its way to the heart of His Beloved. ‘God is Love” (1 Jn 4:16). God always ‘keeps the best for the last’ (Jn 2:10). May your love be fruitful and free!

This is the testimony of agape Love found in Christ alone!  May we worship the God who loved us first! May true agape love be found in our hearts! May the Song of Songs echo in our marriages, now and forever! In Jesus name, amen!

“For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant,

And as a root out of dry ground…

He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days,

And the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand.

He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied” (Is 53)

What does it mean that our Savior was a tender plant growing in a dry ground? How Jesus did survive so much opposition? Why did He not die before His hour came? What is the secret of His holy eternal success?

When Jesus was born everything was against Him. Herod the Great hated Him. He killed all the boys but Jesus escaped. Mary and Joseph were poor people. There was no other place for Mary to have her baby except the stable where animals stayed. There is no doubt that during her labor Mary experienced feelings of rejection and loneliness. No woman, however poor she is, wants to deliver her baby in a stable. I believe that it was also cold and she had to endure the unpleasant smell of animals. The pictures of Christmas may look romantic but the reality is different. Then they became fugitives in Egypt. Eventually, they come back and settle in Nazareth. Nathaniel said about that village: “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” The childhood of Jesus was in a place where nobody saw any good thing coming from it. Jesus did not go to a regular school He learned the trade of carpentry from his father, Joseph. It is true that He was from the royal lineage of David. That could have been something good, but Israel did not have a royal dynasty anymore. It was the Romans that now chose their kings who had nothing to do with David. When Jesus entered ministry, the disciples that followed Him were poor un-educated people. The religious leaders hated Him and rejected His teachings. The religious leaders arrested Him and brought Him before their tribunal. Jesus did not have any lawyer. He did not even defend Himself. He did not write any book. He was a king but He did not have any army. He was eventually killed on the Cross. Humanity killed their Maker on Mount Calvary. He was buried in a rich man’s borrowed tomb. The Roman soldiers guarded the burial place. That should have been the end of the story… But Jesus rose from the dead and He lives forever!

All these factors against Him describe to us the ‘dry ground’ of the life of Jesus. There was nothing in His environment that helped Jesus survive or succeed. There was no place where He could lay His head… There was no man who can take the credit of saving His life.  How then did this Jesus survive all the hatred and negativity against Him? Not only survive, but how did He succeed to become the most famous Man all over the world?  Why is His name on our lips, more than 2000 years later? Why so many people call Him their Savior? Why do so many people worship Him, in every city, every country? What is the secret of His Holy success? The answer is that He is God! He is Jehovah, I AM, the self-sufficient God, who does not need anything man has to offer to live eternally. If you are a child of God, think about your Father…

This evening I say: If you are ‘trapped’ in an unloving marriage and your spouse does not encourage you at all… if you are a missionary and, with all your labor of love you see no visible fruits… If you live in an area where churches are all lukewarm, you desire to mature spiritually but there is no mentor, no Spirit filled pastor…If you are alone and afraid or even hopeless, then go to Jesus Christ, the hope of Glory! Go to Jehovah, the self-sufficient God who does need His creation to live eternally! Go to the Holy Spirit who will give you the strength to live and succeed even if the whole world is against you! For no ground is as dry as the one that held the roots of the tender plant called Jesus Christ! Allow the Holy Spirit to enlarge your vision to see how that Lonely Seed planted in that dry ground, against all the odds and plans of the devil, became the King of the Kingdom of God! If you are born again then you are part of the lonely painful travail that has satisfied the Son of God! This is the work of God! If God has started a work in you, nobody can quench it! No circumstance, no enemy, no devil can destroy the work of God! Once the zeal of God is involved in a work, nothing can destroy it!

This is our testimony! This is the very faith that propelled my husband and I to have the boldness to start a church in Warri, Nigeria. The ground is dry but the seed is Holy! The faith in Jesus Christ proved to be enough for us! Let us be encouraged to trust God when all things go against us. Like Jesus, we do not need anything to survive and succeed, only God! Jesus is enough for me! I am satisfied!

In Christ I declare:

Even if the spiritual atmosphere in Warri- Effurun, Nigeria is as dry as a ‘bonga fish’, the Kingdom of God shall be established here! Many souls shall be saved! Father’s House Bible Church is blessed! All to the glory to God! In Jesus name, Amen!

A question is a sentence used to find out information from another. In an exam, a question is a problem that tests a person’s knowledge or ability: A question produces doubt about the truth of something, creating confusion in the minds. The devil was the one who asked the first question in the Bible. “Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?” (Gen 3:1). According to the definition of the word ‘question’ these are the motives in the devil’s mind when he talked to Eve: he wanted that she should open her heart to him. The devil wanted that Eve should give him more information about her relationship with God, about her marriage and her life in general. As you can see, a question provokes an answer. This is an invitation to intimacy, a manipulation to close friendship, stolen love…

This is a spiritual lesson: When the devil is asking you a question, you should totally refuse to answer him. You rebuke him instantly! Do not cooperate with him! For that, you need to know the difference between the voice of God and that of the devil!!! You should not give the devil any information about your life, not even jokingly! Secondly, when the devil is asking you a question he wants to test your knowledge about God and His Word. If you fail the test, the devil will be more confident to attack you further. For example, when Eve replied that God said they should not eat or touch the forbidden fruit, the devil immediately attacked her again, tempting her to disobey God’s command. This is because Eve misquoted God’s command. God did not say that if they touch the fruit they will die. Eve failed the test of the devil’s question. As a teacher, the devil ‘punished’ his student called Eve. All Eve’s daughters are still paying the price for their mother’s foolishness.

The devil’s question was designed to create doubt and confusion about God’s character and love towards men. This doubt is a poisonous arrow creating anxiety and inferiority complex. Eve started thinking that she is too foolish and she needs more wisdom so that next time she can impress ‘Teacher-devil’ with her intelligent answers. She forgot that God created her perfect and she needed nothing more than an intimate relationship with her Maker. Looking for that wisdom, she eats the forbidden fruit and convinces her husband to do the same. Sin and death entered their spirits and bodies that very moment. This is the story of the fall. The deadly effects of sin can only be destroyed at the Cross of Christ.

Since Eve’s deception, women in particular have struggled with (many) questions and (fewer) answers ever since. Many are still confused about who to ask and when to ask questions. They still struggle with doubts and confusion more than the men. They still have inferiority complexes about their intelligence and wisdom. They still want to impress men with their education and intelligence. That attitude makes them look childish. In the Bible there is a restrain upon women, not to ask questions in public. This is so that they will not reinforce their inferiority complexes and expose their foolishness to outsiders. “If they (the wives) have any questions, they should ask their husbands at home, for it is improper for women to speak in church meetings” (1Cor 14:35). For married couples, asking questions and giving answers is to be done at home, in a quiet, safe and loving atmosphere. The Holy Spirit is your Teacher.

MY TESTIMONY AS A WIFE

May years ago, based on my understanding of the Word of God, I decided that I will never ask my husband any question in public. I can talk to him in public on any subject. He can ask me any question he likes. I will answer him to the best of my knowledge. But my strategy is not to ask him back anything! (Of course, if it is matter of life and death, I will break my rule). Generally, when we are in public, I am very careful with my words, with the tone of my voice and with my body language. I made up my mind not to talk to him as I am his boss or judge. I will not query him. He is not my child. Even if what he says sounds terrible to me and I ‘die’ for an explanation, I will wait for us to go home. I learned how to wait… Inside, I can ask all the questions I want. We are safe from the world. I do not want to be seen to be his teacher, his older sister, his mother or his pastor. My voice does not go higher in tone, does not become harsh, demanding or threatening. My body language speaks of love and submission too. I do not stand ‘tall’ ‘towering’ over him, intimidating him or bullying him, not even jokingly. I know that many women ‘joke’ with their husbands’ feelings. This is their excuse to fight back. It does not work with me. My husband does not approve of jokes that make us look foolish, divisive or rude. I too have learned to behave well, to protect the ‘image’ of our marriage, not to give the devil any foot hold to use something against us. I am very protective of his reputation and honor. I trust him with my life and he trusts me with his. This trust has not come easily. Many tears of regret and repentance have flown under the bridge of God’s mercy. But we are so much better now… Dear reader, there is hope for you too. Our testimony as a happy married couple is one of our greatest accomplishments on earth. It has become a ministry for the encouragement of many people. To God alone be all the glory!

“Awake, O north wind,
And come, O south!
Blow upon my garden,
That its spices may flow out.
Let my beloved come to his garden
And eat its pleasant fruits” (SS 4:16)

“There are times when I feel despairing,
when all around seems dark
and my cry for help is unheard…