Who you truly are:how character is revealed!

 In The Story of Redemption, Ellen White wrote of a conversation Satan had with Jesus after being cast out of heaven. In that conversation, Satan claimed he "repented of his sins and wished to be readmitted into heaven, into the presence of God." Jesus wept at Satan’s woe but told him—as the mind of God—that he could never be readmitted because the "seeds of rebellion" were still in him. I have often been puzzled by that phrase: "the seeds of rebellion." It suggests that God allowed the devil and his angels to live so that their true characters could be revealed to all. In heaven, Satan had been so deceptive that even the holy angels could not fully understand his nature; therefore, time was required for his character to mature and be seen for what it was.

The issue of character development is fascinating. What is a "seed" of character? How do we acquire these seeds, how is character developed, and how is it revealed? Character is who you are. It is the makeup of your whole being—your emotions, thoughts, and actions. It is your true identity. Character development began when God created intelligent beings. He gave holy beings righteous seeds to develop righteous characters, but Satan introduced evil thoughts into his own mind—the first evil seeds in the universe. These evil emotions and thoughts allowed for the development of an evil character.

The fall of Adam and Eve introduced these evil seeds into the human race. Now, every person faces an individual struggle: will they cultivate the righteous seeds from God or the evil seeds from the devil? We inherit many of our character "seeds" at birth. We take on many traits from our parents, including a sinful nature and perhaps tendencies toward anger or other weaknesses. As we grow, we acquire more seeds by watching our parents, absorbing what society teaches, and fostering certain thoughts in our minds. As we age, we may not even realize it, but we are making daily decisions that settle our character.

The Process of Character Development:

1. Thoughts and feelings lead to actions.

2. Repeated actions lead to habits.

3. Habits lead to character.

4. Character leads to destiny—in this life and the life to come.

Each person is accountable before God for the character they develop; we cannot blame others for who we have become. While we may be born into the same household, we each experience life differently and develop unique characters based on the thoughts we choose to entertain. Character development takes time.

You can try to deceive others about who you truly are, but circumstances will eventually arise to test and reveal your true nature. A man may claim to be loving, but his true character is revealed by how he reacts when wronged. A woman may claim to be patient, but her character is revealed in slow-moving traffic. A man may claim to love God, but his reaction to the "fiery trials" of temptation reveals his heart. Trials reveal what we truly value. How you treat others—especially those under your power and influence—reveals your true character.

In heaven, Lucifer began to foster seeds of jealousy, envy, self-exaltation, and hatred. Publicly, he professed to seek the good of the universe and the freedom of others, but in his heart, he wanted to rule and be worshipped. He knew he was lying against God’s government, yet he presented himself as a promoter of righteousness. Time was given to demonstrate his true nature, and over time, he was revealed to be a liar, a tyrant, and a murderer. Likewise, God gives us time to reveal our true characters.

We can profess many things to people, but sooner or later, God allows testing situations to reveal our hearts. He allows trials so we can see the evil seeds festering within us and bring them to Him for uprooting. If we bring them to Jesus, He can replace them with righteous seeds. Unfortunately, many make excuses for their evil traits and refuse to seek help. All who continue to water evil seeds and excuse evil deeds are developing their characters in partnership with the fallen angels.

As the saying goes: "True character is revealed in the choices a human being makes under pressure—the greater the pressure, the deeper the revelation." If you want a glimpse into a person’s true character, pay attention to how they react under stress, how they treat others, and which promises they keep. Character cannot be transferred to another. The only thing we take with us to heaven is our character. Only those who have allowed God to develop a righteous character within them will be saved.

In conclusion, while God gave us our nature and we did not choose our sinful tendencies or our parents, our character development remains our sole responsibility. God gave Lucifer a perfect nature in a perfect place with perfect seeds, yet Lucifer chose to develop an evil character. Conversely, being in a sinful world with sinful tendencies is no excuse for failing to develop a righteous character. With God’s help, we can make right decisions in every area of life, small or great.

How to Start Righteous Character Development:

1. Begin your day with right thoughts by spending time in God’s Word.

2. Bring all emotions and thoughts to God in prayer, bringing them into captivity to Christ.

3. Recognize that thoughts and emotions lead to actions.

4. Ask for the Holy Spirit to help you make right decisions daily.

5. Formation: As you make right decisions, you form a character in the image of Christ.

6. Seal the Work: Ask God to seal you in righteousness.

Sooner or later, our characters become fixed and our fate is sealed. Ask God to fix your character in righteousness today, and your destiny will be eternal life. You will be a child of God forever.

You are not invincible: lesson from Gabon's coup d'état

"Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall." (Proverbs 16:18)

If you think you are better, more important, or wiser than others, something will eventually happen to make you look foolish. The former president of Gabon has just discovered the dangers of pride the hard way. Military coups have been making a comeback on the continent of Africa; there have been approximately eight military coups in Africa in the last three years. A military coup is the overthrow of a government by a country's army or security forces.

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — The president of Gabon, Ali Bongo Ondimba, knew well the threat of military coups in his part of the world, but he swore one wouldn’t happen to him.

“While our continent has been shaken in recent weeks by violent crises, rest assured that I will never allow you and our country, Gabon, to be hostages to attempts at destabilization. Never,” Bongo declared this month as the Central African nation marked 60 years of independence from France—almost all of that time with his family in power.

Now, according to a group of mutinous Gabonese security forces who spoke on state television early Wednesday, he is under house arrest, accused of “unpredictable, irresponsible governance.” The soldiers who claimed authority said people around Bongo had been arrested for “high betrayal,” embezzlement, and corruption, though it was not clear whether the president himself faced those charges.

“I don’t know what’s going on,” Bongo said in a brief video shared with media outlets hours after the soldiers’ predawn announcement. In the richly carpeted room where he sat, an image of former South African President Nelson Mandela sat on a bookshelf.

A longtime politician and one-time funk musician, the French-educated Bongo, 64, is a member of one of Africa’s political dynasties. He took office in 2009 after the death of his father, who ruled oil-rich Gabon for 41 years.

His family’s longevity, perhaps, gave Bongo a false sense of confidence in the face of the military coups shaking other parts of French-speaking Africa. Ali Bongo thought he was different from the other leaders who had been overthrown. He thought he was wiser and stronger, even though his country was facing similar problems, such as economic inequality.

The man who claimed political chaos would never happen under his watch now says, "I don't know what's happening." Such is the frailty of human strength. Ali Bongo trusted in himself and his family history; he had misplaced confidence and is now under house arrest by his own soldiers. This is the result of pride.

Many of us have faced, or will face, similar falls unless we repent and put our trust in God. We may see our neighbors getting into trouble and conclude that we are wiser than they are, believing such things could never befall us. But pride goes before a fall!

Friends, anything that happens to others can easily happen to us if not for the grace of God. The Bible says, "God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble." Do not put your trust in yourself or your lineage; put your trust in God. Only God can keep you safe in this world; only He can keep you on the right path. Seeing that there is no safety in pride or in the "self," let us flee from all evil paths, lest the Lord forsake us and we fall. Let us walk humbly with our God, and He will keep us in perfect peace. "Lord, remove pride from my heart" is my prayer.

https://apnews.com/article/gabon-bongo-mutiny-soldiers-president-a3322deaf184616dddc0314c61d79f03

A blessing to the world

What is my purpose in this world? Why am I here?

These are vital questions that many are currently asking themselves. Some are even praying, "Lord, what is my purpose in this world? Why was I born?" These are excellent questions. However, for many, the conclusion they reach is: "I need to get a job, make money, build a large savings account, and be secure from financial ruin." Others conclude, "I am here to find love; if I can find someone who will love me just as I am, I will fulfill my purpose." Still others believe life is about fun and a good time, doing everything in their power to find the next thrill or the next high.

Do you really believe that God put you on this earth to pursue selfish goals? Do I really believe God put me here so I can simply have a large bank account? Do I believe He gave me intelligence, health, and many other gifts so that I can selfishly use them to further my own ends? Friends, the answer is no.

Herein lies the root of much of our depression. We seek to live life for the "self," promoting our own interests even at the expense of others. But a life lived solely for self-promotion and selfish goals will always be unsatisfactory and miserable. God is love, and love is about doing good for others.

So, why am I here?

I am here to serve God and to be a blessing to others. This is the purpose of your life; this is the goal of existence. Everything we have comes from God—your beauty, your talents, your intelligence, and your health. God did not give these to us to use selfishly; He gave them to us so we could bless others. If you have money, you are to help further the work of God on earth by returning your tithes and offerings. You are also to use your resources to help those who are less fortunate. Give to the poor and needy; be a blessing.

If you are skilled in finance, teach others how to be good financial stewards. If you are a musician, use your music to bring glory to God and to be a blessing to others—playing music that will elevate their souls and bring them closer to Christ. If you are a teacher, use your gifts to instruct the young and the uninformed, and bring those skills to the church. No gift is too small. As you use whatever gift you have to bless others and bring glory to God, the Lord will enlarge it and lead you to the next step. Many of us are lost regarding what God wants for us because we are too focused on using our gifts selfishly.

If we are not using our gifts to bring glory to God, they will become a burden. This is why many of our prayers go unanswered. Imagine a man who uses his charm to seduce or his money to tempt others—isn't he using his gifts as a curse to the world? What about a brilliant scientist who uses their knowledge to create things that destroy lives? Will God bless them with more? More would only make them a greater curse.

God often does not bring us to a higher place in life because we are already using the little He has given us for selfish means. Greater blessings would only reveal greater unfaithfulness. Sharing your gift with others will not diminish it; it will increase your abilities and your blessings. Don’t think you have to wait until you have "more" before you can start being a blessing. Use what you have now to make the lives of others better, and the Lord will increase you.

Giving is the great principle of life. God gives to Christ, who gives to us, so that we may give to others—and the glory returns to God.

Those who refuse to use their gifts to bless others break the circle of life and bring a curse upon themselves. Friends, let us pray and ask God for the strength to use our abilities to be a blessing. When you start living to bless others, you will find yourself worrying less about yourself. To give is to live. Because God loved, He gave His only begotten Son. Because Jesus loves, He gave His life. When we love, we will give, God will be glorified, and the Lord will continue to increase our blessings.

What is the purpose of life? To serve God and to be a blessing to others. God told Abraham, "I will bless you... and thou shalt be a blessing." He wants to do the same for us today. Let us start being a blessing by the grace of God.

Insane to the world : The ministry of reconciliation

 A major story in the news recently is the presumed death of the Russian mercenary warlord Yevgeny Prigozhin of the Wagner Group and his deputy, Dmitry Utkin. The Wagner Group is a mercenary organization of soldiers and convicts who fought in Ukraine on the side of the Russians. They were instrumental in some of the key Russian victories in that theater of war and have also been vital to the Russian government's efforts to increase its influence on the African continent. The Wagner Group, a mixture of military and business ventures, was once very important to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

President Putin and Prigozhin had been very close since the early 1990s, but they eventually had a falling out. On June 23, 2023, the Wagner Group staged a rebellion after a period of increased tension between the Russian Ministry of Defense and Prigozhin. Putin called it "a stab in the back" and labeled the Wagner leadership as traitors. Though a deal was eventually brokered and the Wagner Group abandoned their "march on Moscow," experts cautioned that Putin is not a man who forgives those who have wronged him.

According to many Russian political experts, Putin is a vindictive man. He has stated that the one thing he cannot forgive is treachery, and he accused Prigozhin of treason. The question on many minds was not if, but when Putin would "cut off" Prigozhin. The answer seemingly came this past Wednesday when a plane carrying Prigozhin and other top Wagner leaders crashed in Russia. Many point the finger at Putin, believing he finally "cut off" his former friend as many expected. In Russia, many who cross Putin end up "cut off" in some way—thrown from windows, poisoned, or arrested. Putin does not seem to believe in forgiveness or reconciliation.

Putin’s behavior is predictable for a man focused on earthly power. To the ungodly, forgiveness and reconciliation are often viewed as signs of weakness. Tragically, many Christians in the church act no differently than Vladimir Putin. They believe in "cutting off" anyone from their lives who wrongs them. When we cut people out of our lives over minor grievances, we are, in essence, doing exactly what Putin does. Cutting someone off is equivalent to killing the relationship. In fact, God uses the phrase "cut off" in the Bible to imply the death of a person who persisted in gross transgression against Him. Yet, we know that God is fundamentally merciful.

God is merciful, but we often are not. Many Christians are quick to cut one another off for the silliest things. We had a misunderstanding, so I cut you off. We had an argument; I cut you off. You said something wrong about me; I cut you off. We see certain doctrines differently; I cut you off. These minor issues lead to the breakup of Christian relationships, ministries, and churches. We claim to be loving followers of God while we go around "permanently removing" our spiritual neighbors just as Putin removes his political enemies. At least Putin’s enemies might threaten his life; we cut people off simply because they "threaten our mental health."

How pitiful have we become? I praise the Lord that many of us do not have Putin's level of power. Can you imagine how many people we would destroy if we did? "Cutting people off" for trivial reasons is, in principle, no different than what tyrants do. But I am here to tell you today that God has not called us to a "ministry of cutting off," but to the ministry of reconciliation. God wants to reveal His love to the human race through us. What did God do when we sinned against Him? Did He cut us off? No! He sent His Son to reconcile us to Himself.

"Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee; Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift." (Matthew 5:23-24)

Jesus is saying that if I have an issue with someone and I do not even try to reconcile, God will not hear my prayers. There are many "little Putins" in the church today, cutting people off for every slight while still expecting to go to heaven. Vladimir Putin himself claims to be an Orthodox Christian, yet his behavior tells a different story.

A true Christian may appear "insane" or like a "doormat" to the world because they do everything in their power to make peace. The Bible says to talk to your brother privately, then bring witnesses, then the church. If he still refuses, treat him like a "publican"—meaning, do not harass him if he doesn't want to reconcile, but keep praying that the Lord will change his heart. A Christian who loves their enemies and dies to "self" in order to reconcile is displaying the character of Jesus.

Friends, we are all imperfect. Mistakes will happen, and we will wrong one another. But let us not be vindictive. Let us be like Jesus and seek to reconcile. If the other person refuses, do not force them, but do not stop praying for them. Engage in the ministry of reconciliation and make peace as much as it is possible. Many relationships would be healed if we simply put pride aside.

Lord, help me to be like You. Help me to seek reconciliation with anyone I have wronged or who has wronged me. Help me reveal Your character of love. Friends, if you have a problem with anyone today, do not let the sun go down until you have sought peace. Remember, without a heart for reconciliation, your offering to God is meaningless. You may look "insane" to the world, but to Jesus, you are a child of God.

Enchanted ground : the sinner is under Satan's spell

 There is a story in Greek mythology about Hercules, the great hero, coming home to his wife and children. To his horror, when he opened the door, he saw what he thought were little monsters. He chased them and killed them, only to see more monsters and kill them as well. As soon as Hercules finished, his eyes were opened; he realized the "monsters" he had slain were actually his own wife and children. Hercules had been placed under a spell by the goddess Hera. He was spiritually blinded, and those he thought were his enemies were actually his family. Hercules was on "enchanted ground," and his actions proved disastrous.

We, too, are under a spell. Humanity is under a spell. Ever since our first mother, Eve, stepped onto Satan's enchanted ground in the Garden of Eden and ate the forbidden fruit, the enemy of our souls has placed a dark covering over our eyes. If it were not for God's intervention, we would forever remain his captives. Praise be to God for putting enmity between us and the devil! Have you ever wondered why you do the things you do? Why you have conflict with those you claim to love? Why human beings hate one another even though we are one family? It is because we are under the spell of Satan.

You want to do what is good, but you find yourself doing what is evil. You want to say what is sweet and kind, but you find yourself saying what is hateful and damaging. Friends, we do these things because we are under a spiritual "blindness." Sin is not merely a natural phenomenon; it is a spiritual power. The sinner is under the influence of Satan, blinded into doing his will. Like Hercules in the myth, many of us see each other as monsters or enemies. We go about destroying one another, not realizing we are hurting a fellow creature of God—someone who is meant to inherit the kingdom of heaven with us.

Sin is blinding! The devil has obscured our vision of what is true, leading us into self-destruction and the destruction of others. Have you ever done something and then thought to yourself, "What have I done? How could I have been so foolish?" The truth is that you were blinded. It is often easier to see the madness in others than in ourselves. We look at the mass shooter or the serial cheater and say they are insane, but it is hard for us to see our own blindness. Who shall deliver us?

The reality is that once you step into Satan's enchanted ground—which is sin—you are in trouble. Once you commit sin, Satan places a veil over your spiritual eyes and takes you captive at his will. He guides you from one act of destruction to the next. You may see the path, but you will feel unable to escape it. People often say, "I don't know what came over me." The truth is that a more powerful, evil mind overpowered their own will. Sin is dangerous.

Understanding that we are under a spell makes praying to Jesus for deliverance more urgent. It also makes having compassion for others essential. When people hurt you, remember that they, too, are under a spell. When those close to you wound you, it is the devil leading them. Unless we pray for them and show compassion, we may drive them further into the arms of the wicked one. Our friends, families, and coworkers are all struggling against this same influence. The more we sin, the deeper the spell becomes. We need deliverance!

I thank God for Jesus Christ. He alone can deliver us from this blinding spell; He alone can set us free from Satan's delusive infatuation. But to remain free, we must flee from sin. We must stay off enchanted ground by being careful about what we watch, listen to, or do. As Jesus opens our eyes, we must pray for the Lord to break Satan's hold over others. When you understand that people are blinded, you will spend more time interceding for them than cutting them off.

As we near the end of time, we can see this blinding influence increasing. Humanity is becoming more destructive. But God is calling us to flee from sin and stay in prayer. Now I understand more clearly why Jesus told us to love our enemies and pray for those who abuse us. It is because they are being used by the devil. If we show them love, Christ is revealed in us, and the spell may be broken. Let us pray earnestly for sight, for "Give me sight, Lord" is my prayer.

Forsaking the Lord : God or my desires

 Being forsaken is tough and painful. Being forsaken by someone who claims to love and care for you is heartbreaking and devastating! You often read those Hollywood divorce statements where people say, "This marriage wasn't working for us anymore, and we have chosen to go our separate ways, but we still have deep love for each other." It sounds like a joke, right? But at least those statements are more straightforward than the way many of us as Christians treat God. Many in the church have forsaken the Lord while still claiming to love, cherish, and worship Him.

What does it mean to forsake the Lord, and how can you tell if you are in the process of forsaking Him?

God is love! He is the source of all love. We all seek someone to love us, so why would we forsake the Lord, who is the very fountain of love? Why would we "shoot ourselves in the foot"? In Jeremiah 2:13, God says: "My people have committed two evils: they have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, and have dug out cisterns—broken cisterns—that can hold no water."

We forsake the Lord when we start to believe that He cannot satisfy our wants and desires. We forsake Him when we begin to think our problems are bigger than His abilities. There are many in the church who have no trust in God's ability to provide for their needs.

In our walk with Christ, we face the temptation to choose our old desires over Him. At different points, we are tempted to believe that someone or something else will finally bring us the peace and joy we lack. Consequently, many are praying, but they aren't praying to draw nearer to Christ. Instead, they are praying for God to give them the very idols that were separating them from Him in the first place. To forsake the Lord is to choose our own desires above Him. If seeking a spouse, a career, or status is what consumes your mind, then your heart is slowly departing from the Lord; you are in the process of forsaking Him.

Many are in the church, but in their hearts, they are already "divorced" from the Lord. You can be married to someone, live in the same house, and sleep in the same bed, yet in your heart, you have forsaken them. It is the same with the Lord. If the Lord is not the priority in our lives—if we are not daily bringing our wants to Him so that He may rule over them—we may be the preacher, the praise leader, the deacon, or even the Pope, and yet in the eyes of the Lord, we have forsaken Him. If my desire to make money is stronger than my desire to spend time with God in prayer and meditation, then I have forsaken the Lord for "broken cisterns."

All who are too busy for prayer and meditation on God's Word have already forsaken the Lord in their hearts. Over time, their true nature will be revealed. Some will leave the church for an unbelieving partner. Others will leave because of work requirements on the Sabbath. Still others will leave the faith because God didn't give them what they desired. When that happens, do not be surprised; know that the individual had already forsaken God in their heart. They simply grew tired of the hypocrisy and allowed the inner reality to come out.

There will be a shaking. God will shake out of His church all who have forsaken Him to cling to their idols and broken cisterns. God will not take anyone to heaven whose heart is not wholly committed to Him. Our choice today is clear: we must either forsake our sinful desires, or our desires will cause us to forsake the Lord.

My prayer today is: "Lord, help me to forsake all desires that lead me away from You. Help me to cling to You alone, for You are my fountain of living water. In You alone will I find true and lasting satisfaction. Help me, Lord, and give me the victory. In Jesus' name, Amen."

Christ is our only hope

Self-help books and motivational speakers have their place in life, but when it comes to the regeneration of the human race, they are helpless. Mankind is in need of help, but no amount of our own effort will lift us out of the pit of corruption into which we have sunken. If you look at our society, you can clearly see that conditions are worsening. Mental health is declining, divorce rates are high, and homelessness is increasing across the land, especially on the West Coast. Miseries of all types are on the rise, and thinking men and women are perplexed as to the solutions to these problems.

Throughout history, philosophers and thinkers have realized the human condition is dire and have sought different solutions to uplift humanity. Buddha believed that if humans sought enlightenment, the world would be a better place. Plato and Socrates thought philosophy would uplift the race. Karl Marx believed communism was the solution to the human problem. The founding fathers of the U.S. believed capitalism and democracy—with the slogans of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness—would lift man out of his downward spiral. These things appear to work for a moment, but soon decay; disillusionment sets in, and human efforts prove vain.

Human efforts, while good in many earthly ways, cannot uplift the human race from its downward spiral because they fail to address the root cause of the issue. Humanity’s problem is not a lack of education, money, or unity. Our problem is that we have been cut off from God, the source of strength and life. To be cut off from God is to be cut off from life, and the result is sinking deeper into despair, misery, and ruin. No human effort, no matter how noble, can connect man back to God. God is infinitely high and infinitely pure; unless He reaches down to us and lifts us up, we are hopeless.

When man sinned, we were cut off from God. In Adam, we died spiritually. Spiritual death led to moral and physical death. God had said, "In the day you eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you will surely die." On the very day Adam sinned, humanity died spiritually, and the seeds of moral death were implanted in the soul. Corruption had begun, and man was hopelessly lost. But God, in His mercy, gave His only begotten Son to come down from heaven and reach us in the pit of despair with His long arm of mercy. He came to wash us in His blood and seat us in heavenly places, returning us to our lost dominion. Christ is our only hope.

Jesus Christ is our only hope. The human race is in need of regeneration, and only Christ can regenerate us. I am in need of recreation, and only Jesus can recreate me. When I come to Jesus and accept Him as my personal Savior—my only hope—the Holy Spirit begins the work of regeneration in my heart. When I realize that without Jesus my case is hopeless, I truly become wise. By myself, I am destined for destruction, but with Jesus, I am destined to reign with Him. Jesus is humanity’s only hope; let us seek Him daily and abide in His love. Lord, save me from my sins and my corruption, for You are my only hope of restoration.

A cursed ground: life's difficulties are lessons for our spiritual maturity

 Things break down! We break down. "The second law of thermodynamics describes basic principles familiar to us." It is a universal law of decay. Everything ultimately falls apart and disintegrates over time. Everything appears to change eventually and chaos increases. Humanity is on a downward spiral, mental illnesses and difficulties of all types are increasing. Stress and anxiety are increasing and many are asking why doesn't God do anything? Does God care of what's happening with my life, whats happening in the world ? My life is full of difficulties and I am stressed out. Why so much difficulties 😣?

You buy a new car and motor is soon messed up. Buy a new house and soon there are leaks, mold etc.. and you have to fix things. You have relationship that are good one time and the next moment there is a break down in the relationship. You work out to be in shape but during the work out, a muscle is torn and now you at the hospital. Life seems like vanity, everything in life seems like a constant struggle, a constant attempt to stop the inevitable second law of thermodynamics, that everything disintegrates over time into chaos. No matter how healthy you are, sooner or later death will come and you will disintegrate. Life is difficult and the difficulties of life are lessons to help us mature .

After Adam and Eve had sinned, God cursed the ground for Adam's sake. God declare that from now on things will be difficult, work will be difficult. And then God established the second law of thermodynamics, when He declared to Adam in Genesis 3:19," dust thou art, and unto dust thou shall return." God established the law of decay, the law of dissolution.  From that moment on, everything in nature was subject to decay. Everything in the physical universe, including the sun, moon ,stars and the planet itself was subject to decay. Ever heard of climate change 🤔? That's the planet decaying. Decay is the norm in our universe. We build things up and unless we maintain them, decay will prevail.

God made things hard because we had made things hard for Him and God designed to teach us lessons in what it means to be like God. The human race is God's workmanship, God made us and designed us to live forever, but we rebelled against Him and choose decay and death. While God can do all things, He has chosen to limit Himself by giving us the power of free will. With our free will, we can choose to obey or disobey God. When man sinned, the human being who the scripture called, "temples of the Holy Spirit," became broken down. A leak was found in the house of God, decayed was set in the house of God. And at once God set about to restore His decayed building, workmanship.

Everything is easy for God, but the restoration of the human soul. Successive generations continue to choose sin and decay and as a result life on this earth has gotten harder, nature has gotten harder. Nature shows our dull senses what we are doing to God spiritually.  God can fix one of us today, cleans us from the sins that were  destroying us, and the next day we choose sin again. Then the Lord has to bring us back to His mechanic chamber and use the blood of Christ to clean us up again. It's a patient and persevering work for the Lord. The Lord has to maintain even the best Christian, so that he doesn't fall into sin, decay. But the Lord loves us, because we are His handy work. 

"God cursed the ground for our sakes." The physical things we deal with are a revelation of spiritual realities. The difficulties we face in this life are meant to help us develop the patience and the long suffering of God. When our houses break down, remember when you sin its like breaking down God's house. And what do you do when there is a leak in your home 🏡? You call people to come fix it. When there is a leak of sin in my heart, I need to call God to come fix it. The more you allow the leak to remain without fixing it, the more the decay in your home. The more you allow sin to leak in your heart, the more decay in your life ,the more difficult to fix you.

Each time you face a problem in life and it stresses you out, to some small degree you are experiencing the pain that God is experiencing when we choose sin. Remember Jesus was sweating great drops of blood in the garden of Gethsemane. He was under extreme stress because of the breakdown of His creation and the cost required to fix it. But He patiently went about fixing it in the strength of the Lord, and He is continually working to fix our brokenness each and everyday. Jesus gave us the model on how to deal with problems. We deal with problems by praying to God, asking Him for strength to endure the different difficulties that we face in life .

Problems in this life are inevitable, because sin has created a big problem for God. But the Lord is patiently working through the problem of sin and will soon put an end to all sins. When we face different challenges in life, let us patiently work through them like God, let us rely on God and He will soon give us the victory. God cursed the ground for our sakes, to teach us that sin leads to decay, spiritual, moral and physical decay. Just like we go to the mechanic to fix our car decays, let us go to God to fix our spiritual and moral decay and soon, very soon the Lord will fix the physical decay of our body and this universe and the second law of thermodynamics will be no more 🤗.

What do you bring to the table ?

 Man and woman are both made in the image of God.

 Man and woman are both valuable and equal in worth but are not the same.I repeat, man and woman are not the same. There is an attempt in our culture to make man and woman the same, it's nothing but a Satanic assault to destroy the beauty of God's creation . Man and woman are different for a reason. Each reveal different qualities of the Godhead. When a man and woman come together in the way of God, real beauty will be revealed.


Man and woman offer different things in a relationship. What do you bring to the table 🤔?  Is the question many are asking when it comes to choosing a spouse .
According to the Bible the man is to provide for the woman and the woman is to be a help meet to the man. A help meet is a perfect match for someone. The woman is to match her husband,  completing him, making him stronger, being strong where he is weak .

The man is supposed to provide financially, security,  stability. The man is to provide emotional security and stability for the woman. Keep her safe in every way possible. The man is to protect the woman and cherish her .

What does the woman bring to the table 🤔? One thing we notice about women is that they are beautiful. The external beauty of the  woman stand for something deeper. Women are to bring beauty and grace to the man. Tenderness, meekness, sweetness to sweeten the man's life and make his life beautiful. A woman who is tender will make the heart of her man tender. Women bring nurturing qualities to the table, take care of the home. The woman is supposed to uplift her husband, strengthening him with her words, her cooking 😁 etc..


We now have men who don't want to provide financially,  emotionally for their women but just want to provide physically. Such a man bring nothing to the table really. Ladies, stay away from men who don't want to work, men who don't want  to be a provider .And we have women who don't want to provide tenderness, grace and the sweet femine qualities.  Many women want to be like men, they want to dress like men, behave like men and in doing so destroy themselves. For God did not design the women to be like a men or a men to be like a women.  God wants women to be feminine and men to be masculine.

The Lord has revealed clearly the different gender roles and how they complement each other. The man goes out to provide comfort for his wife, financially, emotionally, and physically. The woman support her husband in the way he needs her. In different  family it can  mean different things based on the family's needs.It could be financial, emotional, physical etc.. The man provides the protection needed to allow his wife to live life with less worry and stress by being a shield for her. The woman provide the tenderness and grace that help minimize the stress from her husband's life of being a provider . Together they make each other's life beautiful.


The man and the woman are to work together, complementing one another and make the life of each other a blessing. As each seeks to give to the other, the home will become a  piece of heaven on earth. Man, strive to be like man, strong and caring .Woman, strive to be like women, tender, beautiful and lovely in character.  The man is called to be the head, to be strong, to provide guidance for his wife, to lead his family  to God, stability for her emotions, anxiety and fears. The woman is called to be tender,  nurturing , submissive and provide beauty to the life of her husband. With her tenderness removing the roughness of a man's life . 

The first thing we should try to bring to table is ourselves to Christ. God prepared Adam before he was ready for a wife and the Lord prepared Eve before she was ready for a husband. Before we think of courting anyone, seek the Lord first, let Him heal you of past wounds, traumas, let him make you ready for the spouse He has prepared for you . When we it comes to the table, we have to bring all of our being, for a man ought to love his wife like Christ love the church and the wife ought to submit to her husband like the church should submit to Christ .

 When you are ready for courtship, pray and look for someone you are compatible with, someone who is strong where you are weak, someone who will help you grow stronger in God and in this life. Don't just chose someone out of desperation or good looks, but chose someone who will be a help meet for you and bring what you lack to the table .

Friends, let us seek to abide in  Christ, for only in Christ will a man learn how to be a true masculine man, a woman will learn a true feminine woman and together we will bring the right thing to the table according to will of God. Once the man each abide in Christ, the relationship will blossomed, love will grow and the home will become a piece of heaven on earth .

Practice make perfect: practice loving others

 What is the problem with this world ? Lack of love. The hearts of many are cold from lack of love. From youth up many are not accustomed to love. Many parents while proclaiming to love their children never uttered words of love, kindness and appreciation to them. So many of us grew up with cold hearts. We are accustomed to words of criticism but when it comes to love we are deficient, bankrupt. As we get older we  behave like our parents, showing no love because love is seen as a weakness. And when we come to the church and refuse to allow the Spirit of God to melt our hearts we become even worse than before. We act righteous but show no mercy. A loveless Christian is worse than an open sinner .

A good friend of mine once told me about a story he read from a book. A husband was planning on divorcing his wife 🤵🏾💔👰🏽. He went to a counselor or a friend, and the counselor told him to give her 30 days. He said during those 30 days,  each day he should look for something good in his wife that he likes, something about her that he appreciates and at the end of the 30 days he can get the divorce he wanted. So the husband began to look for something he likes about his wife each day and I think he showed her appreciation for that one thing and at the end of the 30 days he told the counselor he doesn't want to divorce anymore, for he loves his wife ❤.

After 30 days of looking for the good in his wife he fell in love with her again. This is the key to love. We all are imperfect, we all have flaws. If you make it your business to find the flaws in others you will never be able to love them, for you will find what you are looking for, you will find plenty of flaws. But if you make it your business to look for the good in others, you will find that even some of the people you think are unlovable have good things in them and can be loved. Adolf Hitler had a girlfriend who loved him and married him. Adolf Hitler, a mass murderer had plenty of people around him who loved him as a person. Anyone can be loved if we will look for the good in them.

Now I understand even clearer why God said love your enemies and even those who persecute you. When you start looking for the good in others, you will even start to have compassion and tender love for those who hate you and persecute you. You will get to understand they are misguided and are doing the things they are doing because they have their own pain and wounds in life and are just lashing out at you for their own deep pain. When you look for the good in others, you will try to a healing balm even to those who hate you, praying for them, asking for God to bring healing in their lives. Looking for good in others will grow love in your own heart .

Practice looking for the good in others. Before you criticize and condemn someone, ask yourself do I really know this person? Have I really invested love in them ? What do I  like about this person ? As you start pondering about the things you like about them, your own heart will begin to soften.  You may start to see things like her smile, she has a beautiful smile, he is very intellingent, she is very caring, he is very organized, he is a good musician, she is a good cook, he is always there for me. As you start thinking about the good things you like about the person, things will begin to shift, your mind will start open up to even more things you like about them .

And when you see good in others, practice telling them about it. We are quick to tell people the things we don't like about them, but very slow to tell them of the things we love about them. The world would be a different place if we spend more time looking for the good in others and telling them about it. The hearts of many would become warm if they were to hear words of appreciation from those who claim to love them. We shouldn't wait until someone is dead to show love and appreciation ,because then it means absolutely nothing to them . 

Practice telling people how much you love and appreciate them. Practice speaking words of kindness and tenderness on a daily basis. Make the language of love familiar to your tongue. Words like I love you, I appreciate this about you , I love it when you do this etc.. Practice telling God what you love about Him, how much you appreciate Him etc..To worship God is to love God, to love God is to appreciate Him and telling Him how much it means to you. We are quick to be mad at God when things don't go our way, always coming to Him and asking for things, but rarely do we practice showing our affection to Him, show our gratitude to Him .

Begin today friends, begin to show love to those in your life. Start with God first, then your spouse. Tell your spouse how much you love him/her and why you appreciate them. Tell your family, a friend, a co worker how much you appreciate them and what they mean to you. Show love and you will become lovely, show appreciation and you will be appreciated. A sweet and tender word is able to revive a depressed soul. A sweet and tender word is able to water a desolate and dry heart. Practice makes perfect and the more we begin to practice love and loving words, the more lovely we will become and the more those around us will feel loved. Make your surroundings a little piece of heaven on earth, practice love and "be ye perfect like your Father in heaven is perfect. "

Preparing for heaven but lacking in love

 America is an individualistic society! A society in which everyone look out for themselves,  a society in which everyone is preoccupied with themselves,  with their goals and aspirations and have little concern about others. Yes, in America we speak about love a lot, but the reality of love is lacking in our hearts. The American way of life is like this," me first, then my immediate family, then maybe some friends and that's it." "As long as me and my family are good, I could care less about the wellbeing of others." Then we wonder why is the world so evil 🤔?

As goes the world, so goes the church 😔. The church is supposed to be a light to the world, but sadly the church as a whole follows the culture. There are individuals here and there who follow Jesus, but the majority of the church follows the world and when it comes to the individualism, many of our church folks are following the culture. The people in the world care mostly for themselves and many in the church care only for themselves. In no area is our individualistic mindset more reveal than in the area of love .

Many are preparing for heaven while lacking in the most basic principle of heaven, love ❤. We change our diet, change our clothing, change our entertainment, move away from the Sodom's of the world, we do all that we think will make us more holy, we do all we think will keep us spotless from the world. We are so focused on our own salvation that we have no time for those around us. We have no time to minister to others like Jesus did, no time to make disciples, which is close friendship, close fellowship with others because we are too busy making preparations to be saved.

Many people in the church will see you on sabbath and say happy sabbath my brother, my sister, show much love with their lips but in reality there is no love in their hearts. There is no love in their hearts because they were too busy with their affairs throughout the week to check on others, too busy making sure they are saved that they neglect the suffering souls in their midst. Many people at church only speak to one another on sabbath and that's it. They have no clue how their brothers and sisters spent their week, but they think they are making preparations for heaven .

Many people who are " preparing for heaven" will only text or call you if they need something. They are too busy to just text you to see how you doing, to see if everything is okay, to show love. Love is about action, loving someone is demonstrated in the way we treat them. It is self deception to think you are preparing for heaven while neglecting to get involved in Christ like ministry, laboring for others. Some people think they will be saved by hiding themselves and family from others. Our homes wherever they may be are supposed to be outposts to welcome others, to fellowship with others. 

If you only text or call others when you need them you are not making true preparations for heaven. Heaven is a place of love and love requires efforts, constant actions for the benefit of others. All around us people qre suffering. In the church people are suffering from lack of love, lack of true friendship, true fellowship. Don't be deceived because people show up with a smile on sabbath, many a smile are only a mask to hide deep pain and misery. And you will never know what people are going through unless you are willing to focus less on yourself and minister to others. The individualistic mindset is a curse to the cause of God. 

Jesus said when He returns He will separate the goats from the sheep. The goats are those who preached the Word, did miracles but neglected the poor and suffering. Jesus said you did not visit me in prison, you did not clothe me etc.. In America people are not really in need of food, but people are in need of love, of true friendship. Those who are preparing for heaven doing everything but neglecting to minister to those God put in their lives will find themselves to be goats 🐐 in the end, cast out from the presence of the Lord.  They were so busy "preparing for heaven," that they neglect what heaven care about the most, showing love to others, uplifting others .

So friends, we must prepare for heaven by showing love to others. Check up on others, send a text to someone throughout the week, visit someone, call someone. Don't wait until there is an emergency or you need something to reach out to someone but make showing love to others your daily habit and you will reveal true Christian character. Also don't wait for others to reach out to you before you can reach out to them. Many are complaining about the lack of love in the church while they  themselves show no love to others. If you want to be loved, you must show love to others. If you want others to reach out to you, you must reach out to others. Do unto others as you would want them to treat you.

And so it is friends that individualism and selfishness are as rampant in the church as in the world. The difference is in the church people cover their selfishness with Christian words. Souls are dying around us. Jesus is calling us to be loving and lovable Christian.  We must get out of our comfort zones and show love to others. Check up on others, text others, call others, ask them how is their week going?how is their day going? You never know how much they will appreciate it.  Let us prepare for heaven by showing love to others .

A watered garden : sow love

 Ezekiel 28:16," By the multitude thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones  of fire."  I love the book of Ezekiel, love its imagery, and their vivid portrayals. This verse right here is a verse I meditate on a lot. This verse is speaking about Lucifer. Chapter 28 speaks of the creation and fall of Lucifer. But one thing that always stuck out for me is the mention of "violence." The Bible said because of the multitude of Lucifer's "merchandise" in heaven, he became fill with violence.

Lucifer in heaven became a merchant, a seller of merchandise. What was he selling? Falsehood and deceit. He was spreading lies about the character of God and the Bible said he became filled with violence. One thing we notice immediately is the things you do impacts you, the things you do to others have a great impact on who you are and are becoming. The more Lucifer was spreading lies about God, the more violent he became. We use our words to speak, the words we speak are like seed sowing and our words will bring a sure harvest in our lives and the lives of others. 

God is love ❤.The second thing I learned from meditating on this verse is that when a person choose to separate himself from the Lord, inwardly the individual becomes to be filled with violence. Therefore the lack of love in our hearts lead to a violent spirit within. Lucifer used to be a loving being, but as he began to separate himself from God and focused on himself he became violent. He became violent because his sole desire was now to exalt himself above God. He entered into competition with God, into war with God. The lack of love will always lead to competition, violence and war .

And so it is friends our world is filled with violence because our world is filled with beings with no love in the heart, desolate within. Lack of love in our hearts shows up in different ways. Do you know that some of the greatest and most successful people in our world are people who are desolate within 🤔?  Lack of love will drive you to compete with others, to becone greater than others so that you can earn the praise of others. Many of the world's great conquerors, businessmen are people who were destitute of love as youngsters and strove to earn the praise of others by exalting self above others using whatever means necessary. Lack of love causes us to be insecure, ambitious and competitive.

Power struggles are evidence of lack of love. Wherever love 💔 is absent, violence and competition will exist. You see it in the family. Husband and wife fighting each other for power . A wife who doesn't feel loved will try to control her husband so as to feel safe. A husband who doesn't feel love will try to control his wife so he can feel safe. You see it in ministry. Friends fighting each other for position and power to control the narrative. You see in the church, believers fighting each other to control one another, to rule over one another. Wherever love doesn't exist, the heart will be filled with violence and a chief aim of a violent spirit is a desire to control things, people, events.

And now it makes sense that it was Cain's descendants who built great cities, make names for themselves while the children of Seth dwelt in the country side, planting gardens and living humbly. The more your heart is filled with love, the less you have to prove, the less you seek to make a name for yourself. But the more destitute our hearts is of love, the more we are filled with violence and the more we strive to be better than the next person. Our world is competitive, filled with violence because we are destitute of the merchandise that truly matters, love .

The way we fight against the violence within our hearts and the hearts of others is by sowing the seed of love. It is easy to criticize others, to bring others down but it is hard to genuinely praise and appreciate those in our lives. A word of appreciation and love can do wonders to a person's wellbeing being. A kind word can do wonder to a person's mental health. Many marriages collapse because after a while it becomes solely about what you are not doing right and less about the good being done. Many friendships collapse because we never show each other how much we loved them and care for them. We must learn to water the hearts of those around us with deeds, words of love and affection. 

We must sow seeds of love in the hearts of those around us and then water them as often as we can 🚿. A person who feel genuinely loved will have a higher quality of life. And as we show love to others, our own hearts will be transformed, our own hearts will be watered with love. The violence and desolate atmosphere of our spirit will be changed into a warm and beautiful garden of love. We can begin to make a change in the world by doing our best to show love to those in our homes, our friends, our families, our co workers and anyone God put in our lives. You reap what you sowed. Show love, water the hearts of others and you will become a loving and lovable person.

The true value of a life is not found in how much money you have, but in how much you have loved others, uplift others and show the Christ in your own life. To love and be loved is the goal of life. But you can only be truly loved wheh you learn how to love others, to bring hope to others and make their lives like a watered garden, like the garden of Eden. We can have paradise on earth, we can have a piece of Eden at home, if we are willing to be like God and plant seeds of beauty, goodness and love in the hearts of those we come close to. Lord help me to water the hearts of those around me with your love ❤🙏🏾

Christ the great center

 Idolatry is the worship of idols. When we think of idols, many of us think of statues in a catholic church, a Buddhist or Hindu temple. These statues are the more crude form of idolatry.  Idolatry is much more than that. The essence of idolatry is putting someone or something in the place of God in our hearts, in our life. The essence of idolatry is to replace Christ as the great center and to put a person or a thing as the center of our lives, notre raison d'être , our reason for being.

Idolatry began in heaven when Lucifer believed he could do a better job running his own life than God could. Lucifer believed he should center his life around his own will and not God's will. Lucifer replaced Christ as his center 🔘 and replaced it with self. Then Lucifer went and convinced 1/3 of the angels that he could do a better job than God, he could bring them more joy than God, he could bring them more satisfaction than God. These angels then replace Christ as their great center and put in its place Lucifer who became the devil and he led them into ruin, eternal ruin . To replace Christ from the center of our lives for any other created being is to set yourself up for failure and ruin.

Idolatry is widespread in the world and in the church. Satan has continued that same policy of deception, convincing us that someone or something other than God is able to bring us more satisfaction in life. He convinced Eve the fruit could bring her more satisfaction than God and Adam was convinced that losing Eve was a greater calamity than losing God . So Adam chose his wife above God and made Eve his great center and look at where we are now as a result of idolatry? To make someone else other than Christ your great center is to be an idolater and sooner or later you will experience ruin.

" The heart is an idol factory," and the heart will seek to make anything or anyone other than God its center. We even have many Christians praying for God to help them serve their idols.  Many Christians pray for a spouse more than they pray for Christ to abide in their hearts, pray more for wealth and health than for holiness and purity of hearts . And when God doesn't give them the idol which they crave, are discouraged, bitter and give up the faith .

Christ is to be our great center. In these last days of betrayals, unfaithfulness etc.. to put anyone other than Christ as the center of your life is to set yourself up for disappointment and ruin. Imagine making your spouse 👰🏽 as the center of your life and she cheats on you 💔, what will you do then ? What if your spouse leave you, abandon you for someone else, what will you do then ? Many people do crazy stuff because their spouse leave them for someone or their spouse dies , then despair,  depression overwhelmed them and they soon die after . The Bible says " cursed be the man who put his trust in man, and makes human being his protection and whose heart departed from the Lord." Jeremiah 17:5

Christ must be our great center! Human beings, even those with the best intentions will fail you, disappoints you. Only Christ is able to truly satisfy us. Matter of fact we disappoint and fail ourselves and this is the reason we seek to make others our center, we are not able to satisfy our ownselves and why do we think none others but Christ can satisfy us 🤔? Christ must be our great center, our lives must revolve around Him. No one who puts others above Christ in their lives can truly worship Christ. Jesus must the reason we live for, not our spouse ,children, job etc.. Jesus and Him alone must be the center .

Mental illness is widespread in the land because many are putting people or things in the center of their lives instead of Christ and are unable to deal with sure disappointment that comes as a result. I remember reading the story of a young man who committed suicide because his girlfriend had committed suicide a while before. He couldn't see himself living without her, she was his great center 😔. The story of Romeo and Juliet which many people think of as love is nothing but idolatry. Romeo committed suicide because he thought she had died. Idolatry being presented as love. The young man destroyed himself because he lost his idol, his center. 

Friends, you will only enjoy true peace in life when Christ and Christ alone is your great center. Let no one and nothing get between you and Christ. Your spouse, your child, your friends may leave you but Christ will never leave you nor forsake you.  You don't have to worry about Christ cheating on you for He is ever faithful. You don't have to worry about Christ dying and leaving you alone , for He ever live to make intercession for us. Christ must be our great center. Never disobey Christ to please someone else, including your spouse and children. Never forsake Christ to gain someone else, including a spouse or a job.

Let Christ be your great center and you will have true peace in life, for He will keep you in perfect peace. I am never lonely even when I am alone physically because Christ is my great center. Forsake all for Christ , never forsake Christ for any. When God calls you may have to leave children and spouse behind ,but never forsake Christ for spouse or children. Lot made Christ his great center and and so he was able to leave his children behind in Sodom and his wife when she turned back. Let Christ be our great center, only way to life eternal . Lord be my center always is my prayer 🙏🏾

The idolatry of marriage: a recipe for disaster

 People are suffering, loneliness is rampant in the land. Many people in the world look to marriage as a savior, an institution that will rescue them from their loneliness. They think finally i will have someone I can call mine, someone who will love me with all their hearts until death do us apart 🤗. But the increasing divorce rates tell a different story. A story of marriage being difficult, a story of many married people being miserable , lonely , bitter and see divorce as a viable option to escape the misery they find themselves in. A story of many preferring to live together instead of getting married. 

Marriage has become a scary thing in the land. Marriage for many has become synonymous with losing half your wealth and your children. But why has marriage become so destructive to many ? Why has something as beautiful as marriage become such a terror to many 🤔? It is because marriage has become an idol to many. Marriage has become a god to many in the church and in the world. Satan is a brilliant strategist and he lay his plans way before you find yourself caught in his snare and Satan has been laying his plans to destroy marriage from the beginning ,but has intensified his work in the last few decades. Today we will just look at a few areas of his assault on marriage .

Seduce the woman, destroy the man. Satan's modus operandi is the same as from the beginning. His goal is to seduce, deceive the woman and destroy the man. Let's see how this impact marriage. God commmanded that a man should love his wife and the wife should submit to her husband. Satan understanding that there is a desire created in the woman to receive love from a man goes about doung his work to pervert the woman's understanding of what marriage is about. Satan uses the love songs 🎵, the romantic movies of the world to make women believe that they are the center of a relationship, that the man should revolve his life around her. The man is here for her happiness. 

And what does the woman has to offer in return according to the deception of love songs and movies 🤔? Her beauty, her looks and that's pretty much it. So, what we end up having are women putting so much effort in looking good physically but neglecting their inner beauty of meekness, lowliness. Women dressing sexy, but character looking ugly. As a result many women become selfish in relationship. They want a man to love them, devote his life to their constant need, while they offer only their good looks in return. Disaster for a marriage. For sooner or later many men get tired of it and misery spreads

 Destroy the man. Satan destroy the man by making him focus solely on the woman's outward beauty. Many men see the women as an object of desire ,but not someone to love to cherish. Satan encourage men to have sex before marriage knowing that will corrupt their understanding of the humanity of a woman and make it difficult for the man to see the woman as a whole. So in marriage, many men find it difficult to love their wives because they see her as a sex object who is here to satisfy their sexual urges. The woman soon become bitter at the lack of love from her husband and soon she may start become vulnerable to another man's deceptive words of care and love. As a results affairs become a serious reality 

To believe that a man or a woman will satisfy your deepest longings and finally bring peace and love to your life is to set yourself up for disaster. Many young people are being deceived into thinking that marriage is the solution to their loneliness, marriage will make them whole and this is happening both in the world and in the church. To think a woman or man can satisfy your needs is to set yourself up to bring misery to the life of that person. To think you need a man or a woman to be satisfied is to make that man or woman your god and your disappointment will be bitter. Every false god eventually disappoints the worshippers. 

Marriage is not about your needs being met but to teach you how to be like God and meet the needs of another. Marriage is design to teach a man how to love like Jesus and to teach a woman how to submit like Jesus. Marriage is not women centered. A man must never make his wife the center of his life. Every man in the Bible who made their wives the center of his life was ruined. Adam, Samson, King Ahab, king Solomon etc.. made women the center of their lives and misery was the result. A man is to make God and God only the center of his life, only then will he able to truly love his wife .

When a man makes God the center of his life, he will receive strength to love his wife despite all her flaws and weaknesses. When a woman make God the center of her life, she will reveive the strength to submit to her husband despite his flaws and weaknesses and true love will flourish in the home. When you make your spouse the center of your life you will suffer greatly and you will try to control your spouse so they can do what you want. Trying to control your spouse will destroy his /her personality, make him feel unloved and bring misery to your relationship.  When God is the center of your life you will not seek to control other people so they can make you feel loved and appreciated. 

Marriage can be very difficult because marriage is the union of two selfish, self centered people coming together looking for the other to fulfill their emptiness, their needs. Marriage becomes loving, bearable when while we are single we look for God to be the One who fulfills our emptiness, our needs. Then we will come to a marriage seeking to give love to the other and not just coming to take. It is better to give than to receive and the only way we can give love to our spouses is if God is the center of our lives. Both in the church and in the world there is this attempt to believe that marriage will bring happiness to our lonely lives, this is idolatry

Men, do not look to your wife to be your source of satisfaction, she is too weak for that, look to God for your source of satisfaction and through God become a blessing to your wife, love her, cherish her for the glory of God.  Women, do not look to your husband to be your source of satisfaction, he is too beaten down for that, look to God for your soyrve of satisfaction and through His strength become a blessing to your husband by submitting to him, being tender to him and  a sweet flagrance to his life. Let us put away our idolatry of marriage, marriage was not meant to satisfy our selfish desires but to teach us how to be like Jesus, how to love and submit like Him. Worship God, cast off all forms of idolatry including the idolatry of marriage.

The modern woman: selfish, rebellious and naked

 As a nation, as a society we are on our way down towards destruction. Every nation eventually collapse. If you look at the great empires of the past you would see this fact clearly. All great nations eventually collapsed when madness becomes the norm. Our society right now is one where madness rules . 

No where is this madness more evident than in our women. In every great society women are protected. The body of a woman is treated as sacred, something to be hidden from the sight of the world. But when a society is on its way towards destruction, its women are devalued and treated as cheap. Nakedness is associated with sin and shame in the scriptures.  A woman celebrating her nakedness in public is a woman who is proud of her sinfulness. 

The modern woman has no self worth and so the modern women seek validation from the streets. The modern woman is very cheap and is for the streets for the most parts.  Many modern women are displaying their naked bodies on social media for everyone to see. You wonder what kind of husbands allow such things 🤔? Weak husbands .

A man who allows his wife to display her nakedness in public, on social media is a weak man and weak men play a major part in the hard times we are dealing with. A time in which women have no value, many women are going around sleeping around with anyone that say "I love you." As a result the modern woman can't be trusted because she is for the streets. 

The modern woman find it hard to find a husband because she is for the streets, been in the streets and have no conception of faithfulness or commitment. The modern woman is a sign of a dying society. 

The modern woman is selfish and rebellious.  You can tell her nothing. She will only do what she wants to do and that includes parading her nakedness for the streets to see. Getting into a relationship with a modern woman these days is a soul trying thing. She has no loyalty and expect herself to be the center of the relationship. She doesn't care about your wellbeing,  for everything is about her. Her joy, her feeling, her mood change. And she has an  independent, don't need no man attitude. Believing that you can always be replaced for someone better. The modern woman believe that she is the prize to catch 🏆 and therefore she feels no need to work on her character.  No need for inward growth. The modern woman will make you miserable. Matter of fact most divorces are initiated by women. 

For a marriage to work, the Lord commanded the man to love his wife and for his wife to submit to him. Submission is a bad word to the modern woman, she believes in " equality " and equality in her mind means no submission. Matter of fact the modern woman wants you as the man to submit to all her wishes and desires. When she says " jump , you answer how high dear."  The modern woman is the product of the usurpation of the role of the man in the family .

Flee from the modern woman and find yourself a woman who fears the Lord. Stay away from the modern women if you care for your mental health. For even if she is faithful, her nakedness will be on display for all to see, because she only finds validation from the streets. The modern woman is for the streets in mind, in spirit. 

Get yourself a woman who fears the Lord, who honors God with her mind, her heart, her body. Who doesn't seek validation from the streets by displaying her nakedness. And ladies pray that the Lord will help you to cover up and live a life that bring glory to His name.

The modern women is crazy, stay away from such. Marriage is already difficult, to marry a modern rebellious woman is to bring greater hardships to your life.

When looking for a wife don't just go for one who looks pretty outwardly, but pray for the Lord to choose for you. When the Lord choose for you, even though you will have hard times because we are sinners in a sinful world, but you will know that the Lord is with you and both you and your spouse fear Him. Stay clear of the modern rebellious and naked woman. Get yourself a woman who fears God and who respect herself . 

And ladies,  remember nakedness in the scriptures after the fall is always associated with sin. The Lord Jesus want to cover you up not only spiritually but also physically.  The Lord Jesus wants His children to know that they are royalty and a woman who is a child of God will behave as such. Ladies, cover your nakedness,  glorify your God .