What Is Really Wrong With Sex Before Marriage?

What Is Really Wrong With Sex Before Marriage?

It is becoming clearer day-by-day that the world we live in is morally sick. Moral values seem to be lost among the youths in this generation because of so much misconception about sex and relationships.
It is even more saddening that the issue is as bad in the secular world as it is in the church. Our culture has complicated the situation such that the topic is not open for practical discussion especially with parents and spiritual leaders. This has resulted in the growth of a generation with the wrong orientation on issues about sex and relationships.sexbeforemarriage

The question every single should ask is this: Who would be in the best position to know how to operate a machine effectively? Is it the user of the machine or the manufacturer? Obviously, it is the manufacturer because he will have a broader view about the functionalities of the machine than the user who will definitely have limited knowledge.

Do you know that it is not romantic films or novels that brought about relationships in the first place? It was GOD who looked at Adam in the very beginning and decided that it is not okay for him be alone. God saw the need for Adam to have a ‘babe’ in his life and then decided to form Eve out of him. Adam did not even see the need himself. You will thus agree with me that it is improper to allow romantic movies and novels teach us about relationships. The people who wrote those things are ignorant people themselves on the issues of relationships. They are not the manufacturer; they are fellow users who have corrupted the real purpose the Manufacturer had in mind when HE established relationships in the first place. Hence, the most authentic manual for any relationship between members of the opposite sex is the Manufacturer’s manual i.e. the Bible.

The reason many people misbehave in relationships by having sex is because they think the only thing wrong with sex before marriage is just because God says it is a sin. The truth is that God said it is a sin because it is practically wrong to indulge in sex before marriage.

Many ladies have come to see sex before marriage as normal because they do not place real value on themselves. Know this as a lady, no guy will treat or value you above the value you place on yourself. The value Mr. Bigg’s  eatery places on common Scotch egg is such that as little as it costs, no matter who you are, you must pay before you taste it. This is so because the Company has decided to place value on it. So, how come a whole human being (lady) whom God has fearfully and wonderfully made in His own image can be tasted (kissing/smooching) before proper payment (marriage) is made? Is it not sad to know that the value many ladies place on themselves is less than the value eateries place on the smallest of the snacks they sell to the public? We all know that anything that is unused has a much greater value than one that has been used even if it was used only once. This same principle applies to your sexuality. This is why a man will naturally have more respect for a virgin wife on the wedding day than one who has been deflowered before then. Practically speaking, it is not possible for a guy to sleep with a lady before marriage and still respect her. Sex before marriage reduces the value of a lady before the guy – although most guys would prefer that ladies not know this truth.

Moreover, have you ever given this a thought: if sex is a way of expressing love to ladies, why do fathers and brothers always feel irritated or disgusted whenever they suspect that their daughters and sisters are sleeping with a guy they are in a relationship with? The truth is that they know that what they feel for their daughters/sisters is real love; the thought of sex in relation to these ladies would be irritating and disgusting. But when it comes to their girlfriends, sex is then redefined to mean a way of expressing love. This is done only for selfish reasons on the part of the guys.

One day, while speaking with a man, he was seriously complaining about how his girlfriend has made things difficult for him by not allowing him to sleep with her. This is despite all the love he has been showing to her by showering her with assorted gifts. After his lamentation, I asked him a question: how would you feel if your daughter (he had a daughter who was 16 years old at the time) walks up to you and asks what she should do if a friend of hers who is a boy is asking for sex from her. Immediately after my question, you needed to see the way the man’s countenance changed. You could almost see the disgust written all over him. Honestly, my perception of what happened that day is that if he had a gun with him that day, he would probably have gunned me down and I would not be here today.

The question now is this: why was the conversation involving sex with his girlfriend an interesting topic but the moment the scenario changed to that of his own daughter the topic of sex became a disgusting one? The truth is that the man knows that what he feels for his so called girlfriend is lust but what he feels for his daughter is true undiluted love. The major difference between them is that while the former is always looking for what to take without giving anything tangible, the latter is all about unconditional giving. No wonder he will naturally not want any man to touch her until she is legally married. Meanwhile, he will tell his own girlfriend that sex is a major way of expressing love to one’s partner, whether married or not. What a false statement. So as a man, you really need to begin to show true love to your partner/fiancé i.e. the very type of love you will want anybody to show to your own younger sister (if you had one) or to your own daughter (when you eventually have one).

Another illustration I like to give is as follows. Let us imagine that a guy comes to a lady some weeks to their wedding, telling her of a particular tradition in his home town that expects the wife to eat a small quantity of faeces some days to the wedding. What do you think the lady will say about such a disgusting tradition? Would she say that because she loves him very dearly she is willing to eat faeces? I do not think so. This is because she has a very personal conviction that eating faeces is completely wrong. The reason why many young people do the wrong things today, particularly engaging in sex before marriage is because of the lack of this inner and personal conviction that sex before marriage is completely wrong. Many believe, even though they say it is wrong, that it is a necessary evil. This is not necessarily so.

As a guy, you need to realize that sex is not what you should be thinking of perpetually if you really love the lady. Otherwise, you will naturally feel irritated once you are done with the lady. Something deep inside you will tell you that there is nothing to look forward to again in the relationship. The deepest form of rapport you can have with the opposite sex is to indulge in sex with him/her. This is why the excitement about what should naturally happen only during the honeymoon period in a marriage relationship has seriously died down in our world today. How many young people really look forward to their honeymoon night these days? Very few, is the sincere answer to that question because most singles today have eaten and almost finished the ‘honey’ in their ‘moon’ long before the wedding day. No wonder many marriages today looks like ordinary ceremonies since there is sincerely nothing new that begins as a result of the formal solemnization of the relationship between the new husband and wife.

As a guy, ask yourself this question: would you like people to treat your daughter or sister the same way you are treating the lady you refer to as your girlfriend today? Using sex as a way of expressing love to her, knowing fully that you are not officially married to her? If you are honest with yourself you can be sure the answer is not likely to be positive for many people today.

Now back to ladies, I do not think there is any lady that will not get offended if you refer to her (even if it is mistakenly) as a whore. If you sleep with a guy before marrying him, under the guise that he is your fiancé / boyfriend, even though it may sound rather harsh but the hard truth is that there is not much difference between a whore and the one who cheapens herself by indulging in sex before marriage. One thing is common to the whore and the ‘decent lady’ sleeping with her boyfriend: both have very low sense of value and self-worth. Please do not misunderstand the point here. Nobody is saying you should be unnecessarily pompous or proud; neither is anyone saying that relationship with guys is bad since it was God who brought the idea of relationship with the opposite sex in the first place. But if you have to be in a relationship, please let it be a respectable one where you will be valued and respected as a lady. The least you can do for yourself in order to become a more responsible lady in this generation is to create value for yourself. Nobody can do this for you.

As a guy, please be reminded again that you are supposed to increase the value of any lady you are in relationship with and not to reduce it by having sex with her. At this point, I know some people begin to wonder if it is possible to live a life without having sex as a single person. The correct answer is that it is very much possible but you must have some guiding principles that will help on this seemingly tough decision of yours.

First, one of the factors responsible for making singles think sex before marriage is normal is their mindset. Your mindset should be such that, the same disgust you have just thinking about eating feces should be the same disgust you have towards having sex before marriage. It is written very clearly in the scriptures that “as a man thinks in his heart so is he”.1So if you really want to live a life with the right mindset on sex, you need to practically renew your thoughts on sex before marriage. This is because if your mindset is not right, it will only be a question of time before your actions will obey what is exactly in your mind.

If you are going to change your mind set on sex before marriage, you need to take the second point very seriously. If the society must live in the reality of putting sex where it really belongs, there is a strong need to radically change the kind of mindset we presently have towards sex. Otherwise, things will only go from bad to worse in the years ahead.

Unfortunately, we are beginning to see some bad signals. About a year ago, there was a video that went viral on internet: a four year old boy having sex with an eleven year old girl. It was a very disgusting and disturbing footage because they were both too young for the kind of perversion they were involved in. To worsen the situation, from their mannerism, it did not look like they were beginners in the act. It actually looked like they had been actively engaged in sex for a long time. This is really a very sad story. There is therefore an urgent need to realign our minds as singles. Else, the level of perversion and moral decadence as highlighted above will be minute compared to what will happen in the future generation.

.(Check other stories and inspirational  articles on this blog: Who is Right for Me? THE MARRIAGE SHOE (Single & Searching Series)Single & Pregnant, Sex and Feelings, 4 things you MUST know before getting married  e.t.c go to the home page or scroll down to see some other articles) Remember to drop your comment.….continue reading

Secondly, do you know that the mindset you have is primarily dependent on the kind of stuff you take into your system? So ask yourself: what kind of books do I read? What kind of music do I listen to? What kind of films do I watch? Sincere and honest answers to these questions will let you to know why you have the kind of mindset that you presently have. If, for example, as a single you spend time reading romantic novels, watching romantic films and also listening to suggestive music about sex where kissing and smooching are suggested ways of expressing love either as a single or married, then you can be sure that you are not likely to have the right mindset. You would have filled up your entire system with junks that will not help you to have the best attitude on the matter. As a result, anytime you are with the opposite sex, the things you have filled your system with will suddenly jump out and you will want to obey what your mind is telling you. This is the reason many youths and singles indulge in kissing, smooching, sex and all types of perversions today. This explains why the guy would desire that his hands go to the wrong places on a lady’s body the moment he is alone with her. Those are the things he has filled up his system with. Also, for a lady who has done the same, when she finds herself alone with a man who tries to fondle her body, rather than call the guy to order, she finds herself telling the guy to stop the act but at the same time, she moves her body closer to the guy. Another thing is that all those materials will give you a false impression that sex before marriage is normal, with no negative consequences. Romantic novels like Mills & Boons would have us believe their constant lies – “and they lived happily thereafter”.

Hence, it becomes essential for you to begin an audit of these things: the books you read, the type music you listen to and the kind of movies you watch. Never stop asking yourself this question – all these things I have exposed myself to, how have they helped or how are they helping my life?

Thirdly, after ensuring that you have eliminated reading the wrong books, listening to the wrong music and watching the wrong movies, the next step is to find a replacement for those things you have discarded. We live in a world where it is now relatively easier to live the real Christian life -for those that really want to live the life. This is unlike many years ago when it seemed practically impossible to live the Christian life because of the severe drought materials. Now, there are so many types of Christian music one can listen to that really have nice rhythm and beats, along with words that edify. So we cannot truthfully say that the reason we do not listen to edifying music is because they are not available. The same applies to the number of Christian movies we have around us today. These have the capacity to really help many Christians who are movie lovers not to derail. The films are quite interesting and yet they pass across concrete messages to the audience. This is unlike when you watch all those other romantic or unedifying films. You will discover that the unedifying films will not add anything of significance to your life. In fact, it will make you worse than you were before you watched the film. We must ensure we take time to read the word of God and meditate on it daily. When we now begin to read edifying books, listen to edifying music and also take time to watch edifying Christian films, very soon we will have the right mindset as a Christian single. Our lives will no longer be filled with junks but with things that make us better Christian singles on a daily basis. Another thing that creates wrong mindset is the kind of things we see all around us.

Today, quite a number of television adverts seem to prefer the use of scantily dressed or practically naked ladies to do such adverts. The question that readily comes to mind therefore is: why is this situation like this? That is to let us know that almost everything we do now suggests that sex is a very important aspect of our lives, either as singles or as married. Please do not be misguided on this issue. When we come to the subject of the married people, sex is one of the most important aspects of marriage. It physically increases the bond between husband and wife within the context of a proper marriage. In the case of the singles, sex brings a lot of disrespect, unfaithfulness and lack of trust into such relationships. When a couple who are not married engage in sexual activities, they are not likely to trust themselves when they eventually get married. Particularly when either of them needs to travel, lack of trust easily sets in. That can start the process that may ultimately lead to the collapse of such relationships in the future.

Fourthly, the issue of dressing is another important issue to be addressed. There is a very common saying that it is the way you dress that you will be addressed. The uniqueness of a lady is in the design of her body. It was specially formed in such a way that it should be properly packaged; otherwise it will be seriously abused. Unfortunately, many ladies do not seem to understand why they need to cover up properly. This is because private parts are supposed to remain what they actually are – private. This means that it should be for your (i.e. the owner of the body herself) eyes only and not for public consumption.

Excessively tight dresses should also be avoided. Guys are naturally attracted to what they see in the opposite sex, so if a particular dress is excessively tight it will not be much different from when the lady is completely naked since her dress will completely outline her figure. The best you can achieve with such dresses is to make guys lust after your body, not the person beneath. As such they will be willing to do anything to be in relationship with you, all in a bid to eventually touch you and sleep with you. After that, they will look down on you and probably runaway thereafter. With this kind of dressing, you may never get true love.

This is article is a chapter from the book “5 Important Questions for Singles” by Olanrewaju Kehinde.

You can contact him to get a copy of the book :  Email: firstlanre@yahoo.co.uk

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Single and Virtuous – a must read for ladies

How to Attract the Right Guy!…(For Single Ladies)

How to Attract the Right Guy!…(For Single Ladies)

“How do I attract the right man into my life?”…  Exclusively for mature single ladies that want to hook up with the right man!…

I have in the course of counseling single Ladies discovered that many of them have a dream husband in their hearts but don’t really know how to get them or attract them into their lives. Lots of girls are curious to know how to attract the right guy into their lives, so they won’t have to be wasting time with guys that are not serious whose only mission is sex,  The dilemma is that the right type of man they really want to marry seems not to notice them. Wrong guys keep hitting at them!

“How do I attract the right man into my life”… if this is your heart cry then….. Let’s ride on in this journey of discovery! as we look into this common dilemma affecting many ladies that have reached marriageable age.

Here are 10 steps (not exclusive) to follow if you want to attract the right guy to your life .

  • The law of attraction: To attract the right guy you must first of all be a right girl yourself, you can’t be a wrong partner praying for a right partner, to marry the right person while you are a wrong partner will be unfair to the right person. My own definition of the law of attraction is simply “you attract persons of like mind”. The scent of a flower determines the type of insect that will be attracted to it.
  • Be the Right Person: what qualities do you want in your dream husband? From my interview of some ladies, their top priority is that the man must be God fearing, so the first thing for you is to ask your self are you God fearing yourself? Have you surrendered your life to Christ? Are you born again? You must first establish a right relationship with God before you can have a right relationship with a child of God you intend to get married to. It is much better to find wholeness and completeness in God.  That way, you are focused on your own contributions, rather on what you need.  It is often true that when you are complete in God all by yourself, you become more attractive and appealing to a broad range of personalities, including the type that you want!Then list out all the qualities you want in a man (remember outward appearance does not define a man, it is the virtues, non tangible things that really defines us) then begin to add those qualities to your life. Ask God to work on you through the help of the Holy Spirit so you can have the fruits of the Spirits according to Galatians 5, this will make you stand out.

.(Check other stories and inspirational  articles on this blog: Who is Right for Me? THE MARRIAGE SHOE (Single & Searching Series)Single & Pregnant, Sex and Feelings, 4 things you MUST know before getting married  e.t.c go to the home page or scroll down to see some other articles) Remember to drop your comment.….continue reading

  • Talk to God: prayer is key in getting the right relationship, pour your heart to God and let Him lead you aright, wait on Him and trust Him for the best, delay is not denial, God is working out the best for you, so take time to always talk to Him about every aspect of your life. Break every satanic yoke that may be afflicting your life.
  • Be yourself: As a Christian, your true self is that person you see when you look at Jesus Christ!  He is your mirror.  Never allow the world push you around and tell you who you’re supposed to be. Putting on a false social mask just to please everyone else, is unnecessary if you’re looking for a lasting relationship. Be who God has said you are!
  • Tell yourself the right things: To attract the right man for marriage, tell yourself the right things. What do you believe about yourself?  What are you telling yourself? You may be programming yourself for failure with negative thoughts. For example, if you’ve told yourself that “all good men are taken,” then you’ve labeled the people coming to you as ‘left-overs’ even before they make their appearance! Your pre-determined beliefs, which you may not even be conscious of, can be destructive.  Seven percent of communication is what you say, and the other 93 percent is non-verbal. That 93 percent screams your “personal truth,” what you really believe about yourself when nobody is looking. If you’re carrying baggage — insecurities, fear, desperation — people can tell.
    So change the things you tell yourself about yourself, so that you can begin to attract the right man for marriage.
  • Don’t be desperate: Desperation is a repulsive quality – it puts people off.  Don’t act desperateTo attract the right man for marriage, don’t put pressure on yourself.
    Stop telling yourself you have to get a ring on your finger.
    Send a message that you “want to” be in a relationship — not that you’ve “got to.”
    Even if you hear your biological clock, it need not tick loudly enough for every eligible man to hear it! Don’t allow your age mount pressure on you. You are never too late to get married. Keep in mind that if you are desperate to get married, you could be giving out signals that are actually scaring away the opposite sex. Seven percent of communication is verbal and the other 93 percent is nonverbal. What kind of nonverbal signals are you sending out regarding commitment?
    When you feel the pressure of time, you can make mistakes, overlook important details, or misjudge someone.
  • Avoid unrealistic expectations: Most ladies are unable to attract the right man for marriage because their expectations are unrealistic. This is often as a result of lack of understanding of what exactly it is that they want.  In order to attract the right man for marriage, avoid unrealistic, conflicting, paradoxical, and utopian expectations.
  • Package yourself appropriatelyMind your signalsOnly 7 percent of communication is verbal. Be conscious of the signals you are sending out.  Don’t send the wrong signals.
    How you package yourself affects the kind of people that you attract.  For instance, there is a way you dress and you begin to send the signal, ‘I’m cheap…I’m available.  Consequently, you begin to attract irresponsible and promiscuous personalities, in spite of yourself. If you dress to ‘show off’ you will discover that most men that comes to you will be interested in sex mainly because they are attracted to your sexy look! Promiscuous men are firstly attracted to ladies who appears ‘sexy’
    So be very careful about the kind of signals that are emanating from you. Remember the law of attraction; you attract people of like minds!
    The issue of how you package yourself is therefore of paramount importance if you must attract the right man for marriage.
    If you package yourself appropriately, you’ll begin to attract the kind of men that are compatible with what you want.
  • Move into the right ‘habitat’, be in the right place: To attract the right man for marriage you must think about it this way: if you want to get a shark, where do you go to?
    If you want to get a tiger, where do you go to?
    So you must realize that where you are matters as far as who you attract is concerned.  It is easier to attract a shark in an ocean, than a tiger! And you don’t look for a whale in a swimming pool!
    Lots of ladies don’t attract the right man for marriage because they are in the ‘wrong’ habitat.
    To attract the right man for marriage, be in the right environment.
    If you’re looking for a man who loves the Lord, go to places that such people flourish.
    And if you’re not looking for a drunk, don’t go to a bar or night club to meet someone!
    You must position yourself strategically if you want to attract the right man for marriage.
  • Cultivate a pleasant personality: To attract the right man for marriage, make out time to meet people – be more available. Cultivate a pleasant, warm personality, be cheerful and cautious.

This message was written By
Paul Ojomu.

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Let him DO THE CHASE!

MFM Daily Devotional 13 November 2018

MFM Daily Devotional 13 November 2018

TOPIC: Desperate Hunters 

FIRE SCRIPTURE-: Mark 6:24-29

MEMORY VERSE: “Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.”- Luke 10:19

The MESSAGE:

A hunter is a person who chases and kills wild animals for food or pleasure. The weapon used by humans are usually deadly, and they include machetes, guns, arrows, etc. For physical hunters, their targets are animals, but for spiritual hunters, their targets are human beings, especially the children of God. This is because their master, the devil, is our enemy who is determined to destroy the glorious destiny we carry. A good example of their activities is captured in the Fire Scripture. This was recorded in the Bible for us to know that these kind of satanic activities are happening in the spiritual realm. The spiritual hunters are desperate; they see human beings as spiritual animals and Christians as their biggest targets. In Matthew 2:13-16, baby Jesus was desperately hunted for and so many male children were killed as a result of the enemy’s desperation to terminate His destiny.

Beloved, their weapons are spiritual and powerful and in many cases their targets are the heads, the blood, the bones, and organs of their victims. They are in desperate pursuit because they do not want these people to fulfil their destinies and to also depopulate the kingdom of hell. The number of captors they have and the number of victims they have succeeded in destroying determine their promotion in their evil kingdom. Because they do not want their victims to fulfil their destinies, they hunt and kill people’s helpers and children in the womb just to get God angry. They are wild and reckless because in their creed, promotion only comes by the extent of their desperation and wickedness. Their assignment is a “do or die” affair. That is, they work with the spirit of “make sure” and they do not want to report failure to the devil.

So many Christians have fallen victim and we should not be ignorant of this. We have heard reports of how a husband and his wife were driving carefully in their car within town and suddenly, an oncoming vehicle collided with their car. All people in the vehicles lost their lives. We have also heard of bomb blasts that killed several people in some of our cities. How about reports of people complaining of pain in the head or leg, or neck and before getting to the hospital, they died. We have heard of some avoidable air plane crashes that took place because the passengers were targets of these desperate hunters. Why not get angry in your spirit so as to attack them before they hunt you down. If you have seen them pursuing you in the dreams, it is time to reverse the situation around and turn the battle against them and utterly destroy them. Remember this Scripture: “Behold, I give unto you power to thread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.” You are well equipped to destroy them and YOUR TIME IS NOW.

MOTIVATIONAL QUOTE:
NO MATTER HOW TOUGH YOUR ENEMIES MAY BE, THEIR STRENGTH CAN NEVER BE COMPARED TO THE VENGEANCE OF GOD.

PROPHETIC WORD:
From today, you shall receive power to turn against your pursuers and destroy them.

PRAYER POINTS:

MORNING
1. Carelessness in my life assigned to hand me over to the devil, die, in Jesus’ name.
2. Every weakness in my foundation that the enemy wants to use to destroy me, I destroy you, in Jesus’ name.
3. Every power that wants to advertise my obituary at all cost, die now, in Jesus’ name.

EVENING
4. Witchcraft powers, that want to use my life for promotion at all cost, die, in Jesus’ name.
5. Song: “O Lord my God arise, let my pursuer flee, into desert today, let my pursuer flee”, in Jesus’ name.
6. Physical and spiritual hunters working with the spirit of “make-sure”, hunting for my life, you are a liar, die, in Jesus’ name.
7. Sword of the hunters, raised to cut off my head and to shed my blood, not my head, not my blood, therefore, arise, cut off the head of your owners and shed their blood, in Jesus’ name.

MOUNTAIN TOP LIFE is a daily devotional by Dr. D.K Olukoya (General Overseer, Mountain of Fire and Miracle Ministries, Worldwide)

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Open Heaven 13 November 2018

Open Heaven 13 November 2018

Topic: This Book of the Law

Memorise: “But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.”– James 1:25

Read: Deuteronomy 30:10-14 (KJV)

10 If thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which are written in this book of the law, and if thou turn unto the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul.

11 For this commandment which I command thee this day, it is not hidden from thee, neither is it far off.

12 It is not in heaven, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go up for us to heaven, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it?

13 Neither is it beyond the sea, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go over the sea for us, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it?

14 But the word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it.

Bible in One Year: Ezekiel 1-2, Luke 21:5-28

MESSAGE:
The Bible is indeed a book of law. It is a user’s manual that gives instructions on how best to live our lives successfully. Imagine buying a device you have never used before, only to discover later that the user’s manual is missing! You will either go back to the manufacturer for the manual or try to figure your way around using it. If you go with the latter option, you will have no idea of what you are doing, and if by chance you get the gadget working after playing around with it, you will never fully understand it in its entirety, and so you will not be able to fully optimise its use. That is how it is with our lives. Our lives are like the gadget, and the Bible is the manual meant to give us a step by step guide on how to live our lives. Unlike earthly manuals that you can master within a short time and discard eventually, the Bible is a manual that you will need till you breathe your last breath. As Christians, our physical and spiritual lives are not meant to be average. God expects us to live life at its best, and He has given us the Bible to instruct us on how to achieve this successfully (2 Timothy 3:16-17).

The Bible is our book of solutions, containing answers to every problem we may face in this world. At a point in time, I was having issue solving a mathematical problem. I was on the right track, but I had so many equations and it was difficult finding a way to solve them all. I decided to take a break and read my Bible. The portion of the Bible I read was where Moses parted the Red Sea. There and then, God told me to solve the problem just as the Red Sea was parted into two. He opened my eyes to see that all the equations could be divided into two categories based on certain qualities. Going by this inspiration, I placed some of the equations on the left and some on the right, and having grouped them this way, the problem was easier to work out. I solved those on the left and those on the right independently, and then I brought them back together again, just as the Red Sea came back together. That was how I solved the difficult problem and got the correct answer.

The Bible was inspired by the Holy Spirit and can only be understood by His help (2 Corinthians 3:6). The more you chew on the word, the more you will see things like God and become like Him. You need to note however that it is not just about reading the Bible, but also about understanding it through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Whenever you want to study the Bible, ask the Holy Spirit to help you understand it, and before long, you will have deep insights and see things that no one else has seen. You also need to live by God’s instructions in the Bible, for it is only then that the anointing of good success can be activated in your life (Joshua 1:8).

Key Point:
This Book of the law should never depart out of your mouth: is it part of your daily communication?

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 Saviour;
I come to Thee.

2. I need Thee every hour;
Stay Thou near by;
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 fulfil.

5. I need Thee every hour,
Most Holy One;
O make me Thine indeed,
Thou blessed Son.

Open Heaven 13 November 2018 Tuesday 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 13 November 2018 Tuesday Daily Devotional.

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Open Heaven 12 November 2018

Our Daily Bread 13 November 2018 Devotional

Our Daily Bread 13 November 2018 Devotional

Topic: Dumb Sheep, Good Shepherd

Read: Ezekiel 34:7–16, Bible in a Year: Lamentations 1–2; Hebrews 10:1–18

As a shepherd looks after his scattered flock when he is with them, so will I look after my sheep. Ezekiel 34:12

My friend Chad spent a year as a shepherd in Wyoming. “Sheep are so dumb that they’ll only eat what is right in front of them,” he told me. “Even if they’ve eaten all the grass in front of them, they won’t turn to look for a fresh patch—they’ll just start eating dirt!”

We laughed, and I couldn’t help but think about how often the Bible compares humans to sheep. No wonder we need a shepherd! But since sheep are so dumb, not just any shepherd will do. Sheep need a shepherd who cares about them. When the prophet Ezekiel wrote to God’s people in exile, captives in Babylon, he compared them to sheep led by bad shepherds. Instead of caring for the flock, Israel’s leaders had exploited them, profiting from them (v. 3) and then leaving them for the wild animals to devour (v. 5).

But they were not without hope. God, the Good Shepherd, promised to rescue them from the leaders who exploited them. He promised to bring them home, put them in lush pastures, and give them rest. He would heal the injured and go after the lost (vv. 11–16). He would banish wild animals, so that His flock would be safe (v. 28).

Members of God’s flock are in need of tender care and direction. How blessed we are to have a Shepherd who is always leading us to green pastures! (v.14).

For more on the topic of spiritual growth, see christianuniversity.org/SF212.

Am I listening for the voice of my Shepherd?

This message was written By Amy Peterson [Our Daily Bread Ministries.]

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