Before you can begin your journey into marital life, you must have acquired some important skills to prepare you and help you weather the storms that comes with your new status.
Before you can be called a graduate in any field of study, you must have gone through school and passed the course in flying colours.
So also, before you can begin your journey into marital life, you must have acquired some important skills to prepare you and help you weather the storms that comes with your new status.
Here are four important pieces of marriage advice that you need to know before you say “I do”:
Emotional self-regulation: Little children often throw tantrums, cry, or even hit their siblings. Adults, on the other hand, mostly live their lives in the calm zone. The good news is that adults who get overly emotional, especially with anger, can learn how to overcome their anger tendencies. If you find that you raise your voice and get angry more than once every several months (or get so angry that you say and do hurtful things), you’ve got some important learning to do.
Communication: Some of the qualities that are essential to any marriage is talking tactfully, especially when the issue is something that distresses you and listening in a way that sustains cooperation. Talking in a way that’s complaining, critical, or otherwise hurtful will get you in serious marriage trouble. Dismissing what your partner says, negating what you hear with “but”, or ignoring instead of digesting what you hear, is sure to cause extreme marital problems.
Conflict resolution: All couples have differences no matter how in love they are. Successful couples know how to start with a “his-way” and a “her-way” and end up with an “our-way” that they both feel good about. That’s true whether the issue is a simple one, like what movie to to see on Saturday night, or big issues like where to live, how to handle money, and how to keep your sex life passionate.
Positivity: Each time you share a smile, laugh at your partner’s jokes, agree with a comment your partner said, express appreciation, thank your partner for something, or express affection, you are offering “drops” of positivity. The more drops you give, the happier you both will be.
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Return to your stronghold, O prisoners of hope; today I declare that I will restore to you double. — Zechariah 9:12
Hope is a powerful force that will bring you through any storm. Our hope is in God; therefore, we can hope without any natural reason to do so. Hope is a positive expectation of good.
Practice saying, “Something good is going to happen to me today, and something good is going to happen through me today.” God is good, and He wants to shower His goodness on you.
There are times of difficulty, loss, illness, and disappointment in life, but if we will endure with hope in our hearts, we will be rewarded with a double blessing for our former trouble.
Let me strongly encourage you to refuse to be hopeless. Put your hope in God and things will always come around to being right in due time. I can’t guarantee how long it will take, and it may not be quick, but hope will strengthen you to face life with joy even in the midst of trouble.
Live daily thinking, Today may be the day of my breakthrough. It could happen suddenly…at any moment.
Hope is the anchor of our souls. It keeps us from giving in to wild emotions that attempt to lead us to do things we will regret later on. The wise man puts His hope in God. He listens for God’s voice and follows it, knowing that there is always a light at the end of the tunnel. God is that Light, and He is urging you to be a prisoner of hope.
Prayer Starter: Father, anytime I feel discouraged or weary, help me remember that there is always hope. Help me to be filled with hope in You and positive expectation. You are good, and I believe You want to be good to me. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
You are watching the Thursday LIVE Service tagged “Covenant Hour of Prayer, October 18, 2018 with Bishop David Oyedepo at Living Faith Church, aka Winners’ Chapel, Faith Tabernacle Canaan Land Ota Nigeria. (Please, reload this page for the latest live event)
Memorise: “But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.”– Hebrews 12:8
Read: Hebrews 12:4-11 (KJV)
4 Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin.
5 And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him:
6 For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.
7 If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?
8 But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.
9 Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live?
10 For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness.
11 Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.
Bible in One Year: Jeremiah 5-6, Luke 8:4-21
MESSAGE:
Discipline is the act of training a person to obey rules and follow instructions, which sometimes involves corrective punishment for wrongdoing. The Bible clearly establishes that God expects parents to discipline their children (Proverbs 23:13-14, Ephesians 6:4). Parents who failed in this responsibility suffered grave consequences, as seen in the example of Eli (1 Samuel 2:27-34). Being a just God, He cannot require discipline from earthly parents and fail in His responsibility to discipline His own children, as the Heavenly Father. All acts of disciplining God’s children ultimately come from God, and the methods used are determined by Him. However, His motive is always love, while His goal remains making us partakers of His holiness (Hebrews 12:10). God disciplines His children as part of His covenant with them. Consequently, only disciplined children of God have access to His covenant blessings. Job 36:10-11 says:
“10 He openeth also their ear to discipline, and commandeth that they return from iniquity. 11 If they obey and serve him, they shall spend their days in prosperity, and their years in pleasures.”
Interestingly, God in His infinite wisdom has set discipline as the number one criteria for ascertaining true children of God. Hebrews 12:8 says,
“But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.”
Consequently, if you notice that you are getting away with sin and immorality without any type of warning or discipline from God, then you can be sure that heaven does not recognize you as a true child of God. As soon as a person accepts the Lordship of Jesus Christ, he or she becomes a genuine member of God’s family, and the love of God will immediately kick-start the process of discipline in order to bring the new convert in perfection in due time. May you always cooperate with God for the purpose of receiving proper discipline in Jesus’ Name.
As a child of God, receiving divine discipline with humility comes with great benefits. Discipline prevents children of God from going astray and brings us to perfection. It also makes us humble, wise and successful, helping us acquire spiritual growth and maturity. Disciplined Christians easily overcome temptation. They are like smooth stones in the hands of God and are mightily used by Him against the kingdom of darkness. Open your heart to receive Godly discipline and correction today.
OPEN HEAVEN 18 OCTOBER 2018 THURSDAY PRAYER POINT:
Father, as I commit myself anew to Your discipline today, help me to humbly receive Your correction in Jesus’ Name.
THURSDAY HYMN 2: I NEED THEE EVERY HOUR
1. I need Thee every hour, most gracious Lord;
No tender voice like Thine can peace afford.
Chorus:
I need Thee, oh, I need Thee;
Every hour I need Thee;
Oh, bless me now, my Savior,
I come to Thee.
2. I need Thee every hour, stay Thou nearby;
Temptations lose their pow’r when Thou art nigh.
3. I need Thee every hour, in joy or pain;
Come quickly and abide, or life is vain.
4. I need Thee every hour; teach me Thy will;
And Thy rich promises in me fulfill.
5. I need Thee every hour, most Holy One;
Oh, make me Thine indeed, Thou blessed Son.
Open Heaven 18 October 2018 Thursday Daily Devotional guide was written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye, the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, one of the largest evangelical church in the world and also the President of Christ the Redeemer’s Ministries. The Open Heavens devotional application is available across all mobile platforms and operating systems: iOS, Android, Blackberry, Nokia, Windows Mobile and PC. Open Heaven 18 October 2018 Thursday Daily Devotional.
Topic: Understanding What It Means to Give One’s Life to Christ
Scripture: And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it. Luke 9:23-24
Thought For The Day: A life outside Christ is a life full of crises; a Christ-less life is a crisis-full life.
In our churches today, many people give their lives to Jesus when a call is made to do so but take their lives back from God by the way they live. This is because they do not understand what it really means to give one’s life to Christ. The way they live outside the church contradicts their profession of Christianity. Hence, it is very important to know what it really means to give one’s life to Christ.
Now, what then does it mean to give your life to Christ?
1. Saying NO to Sin and All forms of Unrighteousness
To give your life to Christ is to say NO to sin and all forms of unrighteousness. It is to embrace the Godly life of holiness, righteousness and uprightness in conformity to the life of Jesus Christ.
2. Relinquishing the Control of your Life to God
This is coming to a point where you completely hand over the control of your life to God and you cannot claim to own yourself any longer.
3. Allowing God to have the Final Say
To give your life to Christ is to allow God to have the final say over your life; it is coming to a point where you can take no decision in life without God.
4. Ceasing to Live for Yourself but for God Alone
To give your life to God is to cease to live for yourself; you start living for God. It is coming to a point like Paul the Apostle who said, ‘For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.’ (Philippians 1:21).
Beloved, a life outside Christ is a life full of crises; a Christ-less life is a crisis-full life. But that shall not be your portion in Jesus’ Name.
Remember This: A life outside of Christ is a life full of crises; a Christ-less life is a crisis-full life.
Assignments:
1. Handover the totality of your life to God by making up your mind to give your life to Christ today (if you have not done that).
2. Decide to develop a quality spiritual life of prayer and study of the Word of God.
Prayer: Lord, I surrender the totality of my life to You. Give me the grace to be a Christian not by confession but by character, Lord, in Jesus’ Name.
FOR FURTHER UNDERSTANDING, GET THIS MESSAGE: GIVE YOUR LIFE CHRIST
Quote: Disconnection from God is disconnection from good. Culled from 365 WISDOM CAPSULES by Dr Paul Enenche
Daily Reading: Jeremiah 31:27 to 32:44, 1 Timothy 3:1 to 16, Psalm 88:1 to 18, Proverbs 25:20 to 22
Amazing Fact: Chameleons change colour not to camouflage; they change colour according to their mood or health
Today In History: 18/10/1922, British Broadcasting Company (BBC) founded, later called British Broadcasting Corporation
Today’s devotional was written by Pastor Paul Enenche of the Dunamis International Gospel Centre (DIGC), headquartered at Abuja, Nigeria, with Pastor Paul and Becky Enenche, as the Senior Pastors. It is a power-packed arena where God’s Presence, Principles and Power are at work for the salvation, healing and restoration of human destinies and dignities
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