MARRIAGE: A KEY TO PURPOSE

BY
KAYODE ADEBIYI (KAY LORD)

Marriage is a covenant shared between two souls, who tie the wedding knot after promising to be companions for a lifetime. It is the physical, mental and spiritual unison of two souls. It brings significant stability and substance to human relationships, which is otherwise incomplete. It plays a crucial role in transferring the culture and civilization from one generation to the other, so that the human race is prospered. The institution of marriage is beneficial to the society as a whole, because it is the foundation of the family, which in turn is the fundamental building block of the society and most importantly the Church.


I will submit at this juncture that marriage itself is a misery. I also want to declare that marriage is an institution that only God understands, and for us to make success of marriage here on earth we need to continually pray for His grace to see us through. No one has a monopoly or the “I know it all” knowledge about marriage. Moreover, no two marriages are the same. Every marriage has its peculiar characteristic therefore it is ignorance for anyone to want to pattern his/her marriage after that of any other person. Be that as it may, there are some basic biblical principles that is worthy of note for all Christians in order to build a godly marriage institution.


Before Genesis 3, biblical work ethics has been sounded by God. In Gen. 2, God created two institutions: (a) The Law – To teach one to live under authority and (b) Marriage – To teach one to live for someone other than himself. Ability to determine what is good and evil was by God, its God’s prerogative alone. He never delegated moral authority to man or any of His creatures. It is God who determines that it is not good for man to be alone. There was no indication in the Bible that Adam was dissatisfied with his circumstances (Gen2: 18-25). After making His evaluation, God proposes a solution by providing a “helper”. God was already his helper but a superior helper; the animals could not satisfy the position either because they were inferior helpers. The helper must then be one that will be equal to him. She’s to be “suitable” for him, that is, they must be spiritually compatible. In Hebrew “suitable” means – something that completes a polarity i.e north pole to South Pole. One without the other is incomplete.


Now this brings us to the question of “helper”. Who is a helper? A helper is the one that provides what is necessary to accomplish a task or satisfy a need; contribute strength or means to; cooperate effectively; to make easier or less difficult; facilitate, profitable to/in carrying out a task. In other words, there must be an ongoing task that would need the assistance of another person in order for the work to be accomplished. God already gave Adam the blueprint of his life and the work he was created to do. At the point the bible recorded in Gen 2: 18 that God realised it is not good for man to be alone (to carry out the work alone). There was need for a “helper” suitable for Adam to assist him to fulfil the purpose of God for his life. As earlier said above, that helper must be “suitable” for him because the destiny of Adam and the “helper” is intertwined. It is in helping Adam that Eve will derive her purpose and destiny. The NKJV says; “....a helper comparable to him”.


Therefore, if a man does not have a “work” at hand he is not qualified to seek for a “helper”. God planned that a woman would find fulfilment and accomplish purpose by being a helper of destiny to her man. A man must therefore first of all seek the face of God to know his purpose/work on earth before seeking to get a wife. A man that gets into marriage without knowing his purpose is endangering the life of the woman. It is a disaster waiting to happen and two destinies that are about to be truncated. Women should be spiritually alert not to fall into wrong hands in marriage. The virtuous woman in Proverbs 31 was able to fulfil her God given destiny because she was able to be a “helper” to her husband. In verse 23 of Proverb 31, it was recorded that; “Her husband is known in the gates, when he sits among the elders of the land”- (in the Jewish tradition, the nobles, elders and the most important men in the society converge at the gates to deliberate and from there rule over a city).
This was a marriage perfected in purpose. The husband was distinguished among the elders at the gate; he’s not just one of the elders but a noted one for that matter because of the activities of the wife. I believe if the wife would also be described, she would be referred to as the wife of the “notable elder” at the gate. This is the hallmark of a godly marriage!


I hereby admonish both Christian men and women of marriageable age to be very spiritually alert when it comes to chosen a life partner. Marriage is part of fulfilling purpose, it’s not outside purpose and it’s not to be taken with levity as we now see in our society today. When marriage is contracted outside purpose there would be no fulfilment and there would be destiny diversion. Marriage has nothing to do with the flesh; care must therefore be taken not to base marriage on physical attraction and materialism but on spiritual compatibility. It is a lifetime commitment; you cannot separate yourself from it just like you cannot separate yourself from your bone. May we not miss purpose in Jesus name! Shalom!!!

SEEK HIM

SEEK HIM

The Lord is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seek him- Lamentations 3: 25.

Father let this word bring illumination to the spirit of your people just like it has done to mine. “Your word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.” There shall be a performance of your word in the life of your people. Amen!
The verse of the word of God above is an assurance with a condition, reiterating the fact that when we play our part, God will play his own part. Often times, we refuse to play our own part, that is why it seems that God’s word is not coming to fruition in our lives.

Let’s take note of the first part of the verse; ‘...good unto them that wait for him’. That is, for God to be good to us, we have to learn to wait for him. I have discovered that we are always in a hurry; meanwhile God will only work by his timing and not ours. He might not act/answer at the time we wanted or at the time we feel it’s good but God will always act/answer at the right time, only if we are ready to be patient and wait upon him.

The question is; how do we wait for God to answer our prayers? Do we just sit down and continue to suffer or continue with our day to day lives while waiting? The answer to this question is found in the second part of the same verse; ‘...to the soul that seek him’. To wait for God is to continually seek him, and this is what a lot of Christians don’t do or don’t know how to do. Often, what we hear a lot of Christians say is; “have prayed and have fasted and yet there is nothing”. Your prayer and fasting does not change God but changes us! God is God; our prayer can’t change him. What our prayer, the study of his word and fasting does is to renew us from inside out to make us a better person.

Waiting on him is to seek him, and seeking him is by the study of his word, prayer and fasting. When we do this we are sowing a seed and you don’t do business with God and not reap the benefit. The waiting period is the time you sow the seed of prayer, fasting and the study of his word. His word (logos) will renew our spirit and we will begin to receive his word (rhema) directly, because only the deep can call unto the deep. His word will lighten your spirit, give you insight and you will begin to see possibilities where you’ve never seen it before, his word will grant you wisdom and understanding and you will begin to see solutions to the issues of life that have hitherto been an obstacle in your way.

Therefore, let us in spite of whatever the situation is or whatever it is we are going through, God is calling us to trust him by seeking his face continuously. He is not man that he should lie...let us come unto his throne of grace with a penitent heart and receive grace to seek him always. Amen!

MY CREED

MY CREED
I do not choose to be a common man.
It is my right to be uncommon, if I can.
I seek opportunity not security.
I do not wish to be a kept citizen, humbled and
dulled by having the state to look after me.
I want take calculated risks;
To dream and to build, to fail and to succeed.
I refuse barter incentives for dole.
I prefer the challenges of life to the guaranteed
Existence; the thrill of fulfilment to the stale calm
of Utopia.
I will not trade freedom for beneficence, nor my
dignity for a handout.
I will never cower before any master nor bend to any
threat.
It is my heritage to stand erect, proud and unafraid;
To think and act for myself, enjoy the benefit of my
creations
To face the world boldly and say “This I have done”.
All this is what it takes to be an upright and successful
Homosapiens.

NEW WINE AND THE NEW WINE SKIN-Mat. 9:17

NEW WINE AND THE NEW WINE SKIN-Mat.9:17 (Anchor Scripture for 2011)
Do you still want to carry the new wine inside the old wine skin? This is year 2011 and God is calling us to a higher place..."Come up here..." Rev.4:1. But you can not access that which God is calling you into in 2011 if you still carry the old wine skin...the old wine skin represents your past mentality,it's static & old. You can't remain the same and expect the new wine to flow into you. The new wine is the holy spirit, it is grace....it's anything flowing from the throne of grace and believe me you can't access it with your 2010 mentality because it is an old wine skin. God is expecting new things in you for new wine to work in you. God is not moved by your need, poverty or your sad face. God is only moved by his principles! When God sees a new skin, he will pour forth a new wine. Remain Blessed in 2011 as you heed his call to an higher place in Him. Joy Cometh!

PURPOSE

Have been wondering for so many years what PURPOSE is. I discovered that purpose is the discovery of your God given GIFT. The day you discover your gifting, you discover your purpose, that is your WORK. The first thing God gave Adam was WORK. Your PURPOSE is your WORK! Now, what is work? WORK means to manifest and to reveal. God created man to work, not to have a JOB. You can get fired from your JOB but you can't get fired from your WORK. Have you tried to find out why you get depressed every Monday morning? It's because you have to go to your JOB and not to your WORK. You can't fire Tiger Woods, Lionel Messi, Pastor Adeboye, Pastor Tunde Bakare, Ebenezer Obey etc. They are not at a JOB but at their work. The ace footballer, Jay Jay Okacha was once asked; what is your hobby? He said my hobby is my work and I get paid handsomely for what I love doing. This is the real purpose of God for man; WORK! Psalm 104 vs 23,

When a man encounter his purpose, he will become committed; when he's committed, he will be creative and when he becomes creative, he becomes productive. When he's productive, he becomes successful, and when outstandingly successful, he becomes impactful and he rules his domain.

God created man to dominate his environment. How? We are not to dominate each other but to dominate our environment. Leadership is not about dominating people but of self discovery. It is your "work" (gift) that will attract people to you and will make people to respond to you. When you discover who you are in God and what he has created you to do, men are naturally attracted to you, and you become an expert in your domain. That is how to rule over a domain. Who rules over a domain? A KING! The cattle rules and leads in the domain of milk production, that is what attract people to her. The Camel rules in the desert because of it's ability to carry heavy loads and go without food and water for many days. That's what attracts people to her.

PRAYER

Almighty God, Father of all mercies and fountain of all goodness, I thank you for the splendours of the entire creation, for the beauty of this world, for the wonders of life, and for the mystery of love.I thank you for the blessing of family and friends and for your loving care which surrounds me on every side.
I thank you for setting me tasks which demand my best efforts and for leading me to accomplishments, which satisfy and delight the people. I thank you for disappointments and failures that lead me to acknowledge my dependence on you alone.
I thank you gracious God, that by your grace, you have called me in this world to a Godly fellowship of faith; bless me, my wife, my children, my parents, family and friends, and all your people.
Grant that your word may be truly preached and truly heard, your sacraments be rightly administered and faithfully received. By your Spirit, fashion my life according to the example of your son, and grant me the will to show the power of your love to all among whom I live; through Jesus Christ our Lord and saviour. AMEN!!!