Topic: Handling Family Challenges (4)

Dear Reader,

You are welcome to the concluding part of this series for the month. It is my prayer that by subscribing to the remedies prescribed to these common challenges in families, you will experience the sweetness ordained for your family!

However, in concluding this series, I will be teaching on the Challenge of Keeping Wrong Company. The Bible says: He that walketh with wise men shall be wise: but a companion of fools shall be destroyed (Proverbs 13:20). A man doesn’t have to be foolish himself to be destroyed; all he needs to do is walk with the foolish and soon, the folly of his friend would rub off on him. Walking with a foolish man is as bad as being foolish. It is clear from the above scripture that the company you keep either makes or mars you; it doesn’t leave you the same. A wise man once said, “You will remain what you are today in five years’ time, except for the books you read and the company you keep”.

The major cause of problems in some families today is wrong association. Family members keep wrong companies, receiving counsel from people that stir up trouble perpetually in their homes. I believe strongly in an adage that says, “Show me your friend, and I will show you who you are”. It has a scriptural antecedent. The Bible says: Can two walk together, except they be agreed? (Amos 3:3). Your friend is a reflection of you. A wrong association will affect you negatively. It will make you do things that you may ordinarily never do on your own. You must detach yourself from any child of Belial. Anyone that constantly provokes your spirit and gives you wrong counsel against your wife, husband or family’s wellbeing, will destroy your family. The Bible says: Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners (1 Corinthians 15:33). Evil association corrupts good manners! The story of Amnon and his evil friend Jonadab is a good example (2 Samuel 13:1-34). My husband believes that every wrong friend you keep is your enemy. Amnon paid for it with his life. After his death, Jonadab, the same “friend” who gave him wrong counsel was the one who announced his death.

How Then, Can You Disassociate from Wrong Company?

Agreement should be the basis for any association (Amos 3:3). Only agreeable people can relate profitably with one another. Also, separate yourself from wrong friends. Who is your wife’s friend? Who is your husband’s friend? Who are your children’s friends? You have no business associating with anyone that brings tension to your family. Stop that association before it stops you! Receive grace to dissociate yourself from evil company, in Jesus’ name!

Remember Abraham had to separate from Lot before he could enter into the great things God had prepared for him. The Bible says: Is not the whole land before thee? separate thyself, I pray thee, from me: if thou wilt take the left hand, then I will go to the right; or if thou depart to the right hand, then I will go to the left (Genesis13:9).

There is a need to be selective in your association. Select your friends in wisdom, as friendship is not by force but by choice. Even Jesus warns us to beware of our association (Matthew 10:17). No matter how long you have been married and how rough the journey has been, you can still lay hold on God’s treasure in your family and give God a chance to use it to show forth His glory this end-time. Every achievement in life is worked for. Nothing works by itself, just as no problem solves itself. For instance, a student who wants to pass his examinations but spends all night praying, instead of doing his assignments and studying, will definitely fail. Prayer does not actually take the place of studying; it only complements it. Similarly, your obedience to what is required of you is how you initiate your desired success in marriage.

To be too smart to follow God’s Word is to opt for a life of misery. Your home can be harmonious, peaceful, joyful, etc., if you do whatever God tells you to do from His Word. God has not changed, and He will not compromise His standard. If you don’t want crises and challenges in your family, do what He tells you to do. When God’s Word is not given its place of priority in the family, there are bound to be challenges. When a man disregards God’s Word, a time will come when he cries out for God’s intervention, God will simply fold His arms, unperturbed (Proverbs 1:28-30).

A family founded on the Word of God enjoys challenge-free home. Satan is rendered powerless, when a couple stands firmly on the Word of God and operates by its principles. Marriage is very exciting if Biblical injunctions are adhered to, because the knowledge of the truth is what puts a man on top.

Marriage was designed for pleasure. From the beginning, the Bible says: And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed (Genesis 2:8). A garden stands for pleasure, abundance and fulfilment. Marriage is a type of garden, planted by God Himself for your pleasure, abundance and fulfilment. However, this garden is not ordinary; the Word of God makes us understand that it is full of treasures, which are valued objects. These valued objects have one way or the other been lost to improper handling of challenges in the family. But these treasures of peace, joy, fulfilment and satisfaction can be restored back to your family, if only you can assume the responsibility of locating and handling the root cause of what destroyed them.

To adhere to all that have been discussed in this series, particularly as it relates to your family, you need grace. This grace is only available to you if you embrace God by accepting Jesus as your Lord and personal Saviour. Say this prayer to be saved: Dear Lord Jesus Christ, I come to You today. I am a sinner. Forgive me my sins and cleanse me with Your Blood. I accept You as my Lord and Saviour. Make me a child of God today. Thank You for delivering me from sin and satan to serve the living God and thank You for accepting me into Your Kingdom.

Congratulations! If you prayed this simple prayer of faith with me, you are now born again and a child of God. He loves you and will never leave you. Read your Bible daily, obey God’s Word and seek Christian fellowship (John 14:21).

With this, you are guaranteed all-round rest and peace in Jesus’ Name! Call or write to share your testimonies with me through [email protected], 07026385437 OR 08141320204.

For more insight, these books authored by me are available at the Dominion Bookstores in all Living Faith Churches and other leading Christian bookstores: Marriage Covenant, Making Marriage Work, Building A Successful Home and Success in Marriage (Co-Authored).

Pastor Faith Oyedepo is the wife of Bishop David Oyedepo, the founder of the Living Faith Church Worldwide a.k.a. Winners’ Chapel, and Senior Pastor of Faith Tabernacle, Canaanland, Ota, Nigeria.

Topic: Stand On The Truth [TREM’s Daily Wednesday January 31st, 2018]

“Teach me thy way, O Lord; I will walk in thy truth: unite my heart to fear thy name.” Psalm 86:11(KJV)

Your positioning in Christ is the truth!  Your circumstance is not the truth! Your circumstance is a fact; it is not the truth. The truth is superior to the fact. For instance, the fact may be that you don’t have a job now but your positioning is that God supplies all your needs. And that is where you should stand. That is where you should focus on. And the Holy Spirit will take it and begin to work out your getting a job and getting promotion and getting an increase. That is how it works!  As long as you are looking at your circumstance, the Holy Spirit who is your helper is impotent. He will not help you because you are not standing in the truth.

The truth is that by His stripes you were healed. But your body is experiencing some pain or some discomfort and so the devil will say if you are saying you are healed how come you are experiencing discomfort? But the Holy Spirit will help you when you stand on the truth. The truth is by His stripes you are healed, though the fact is that you are experiencing discomfort. And so, when you stand in the truth, the Holy Spirit takes this truth and begins to work out the manifestation in your life. And after some time, you will just discover the pains are gone. The circumstance is no more there; the obstacle is removed. Why? The truth will always triumph over the circumstance.

You must be conscious of what the Lord has done. How do you become conscious of it? By celebrating the truth every moment of your life. Thank Him for the truth. The more you hear the truth the more you think it. The more you think it the more you see the image. And the more you see the image the more you talk it. The more you talk it the more it is producing. That’s how it works.

Further Reading: Philippians 4:15-19, 1 Peter 2:23

Daily Bible Reading: Morning- Exodus 25-26 / Evening- Matthew 20:17-34

Written by Dr. Mike Okonkwo; Is the Presiding Bishop of The Redeemed Evangelical Mission (TREM); a versatile man of God with over 30 years of dedicated service unto the Lord.

Topic: White as Snow [Our Daily Bread 31st Wednesday January, 2018]

Read: Isaiah 1:16–20, Bible in a Year: Exodus 25–26; Matthew 20:17–34

Though yours sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. Isaiah 1:18

Last December, my family and I went to the mountains. We had lived in a tropical climate all our lives, so it was the first time we could see snow in all its magnificence. As we contemplated the white mantle covering the fields, my husband quoted Isaiah, “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow” (Isaiah 1:18).

After asking about the meaning of scarlet, our three-year-old daughter asked, “Is the color red bad?” She knows sins are things God dislikes, but this verse is not talking about colors. The prophet was describing the bright red dye obtained from the eggs of a small insect. Clothes would be double-dyed in this bright red so the color became fixed. Neither rain nor washing would remove it. Sin is like that. No human effort can take it away. It’s rooted in the heart.

Only God can cleanse a heart from sin. And as we looked at the mountains, we admired the pure whiteness that scrubbing and bleaching a piece of cloth dyed in scarlet red can’t achieve. When we follow Peter’s teaching, “Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out” (Acts 3:19), God forgives us and gives us a new life. Only through Jesus’s sacrifice can we receive what no one else can give—a pure heart. What a wonderful gift!

Prayer: Father, thank You for forgiving our sins and wiping them clean.

When God forgives, He purifies us too.

Insight:

Sometimes we believe that once we’ve gone down a certain path in our lives, there’s no turning back. And, obviously, if it’s too late to go back, we think we might as well keep going that way. It’s easy to think this way about sin. We may believe we’ll always suffer for our sin, that nothing can heal us from its effects. If we believe this, we may sink even deeper into patterns of destructive behavior, thinking it’s too late to come back to a life of joy and peace with God.

In Isaiah 1:16–20, it’s as if God, through the prophet Isaiah, tells His people Israel, “You can go back.” The Israelites were suffering terribly because of their sin (vv. 4–5), but Isaiah pleaded with them to repent, promising them that if they turned from their sin and lived justly (vv. 16–17), God would cleanse and restore them, no matter how impossibly deep the stain of their transgression (v. 18). God makes truly new beginnings possible, not just once, but every day. His forgiving love is “new every morning” (Lamentations 3:22–23).

How does God’s promise of new beginnings give you hope today? Monica Brands

This message was written By Keila Ochoa [Our Daily Bread Ministries.]

Topic: He Can Use Anyone [Billy Graham’s Daily Wednesday January 31st, 2018]

For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. — Philippians 1:21

Helen Keller, who is a classic example of handling life’s handicaps, said, “I thank God for my handicaps, for through them I have found myself, my work, and my God.” Some people with handicaps drown themselves in self-pity, and thus limit their usefulness and service to mankind and to God. The Apostle Paul knew the pangs of suffering. He used his infirmity rather than allowing his infirmity to use him, and he used it for the glory of God. He seized everything, even death, to glorify his Lord. No matter which way fate turned, he was one jump ahead of it, and using it to magnify his Savior.

Prayer for the day: Even my handicaps can be used by You, Lord Jesus. Like the Apostle Paul, let me rise above them for Your glory.

Written by Billy Graham, Founder of Billy Graham Evangelistic Association(BGEA). BGEA exists to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ by every effective means and to equip the church and others to do the same.

Topic: Do What He Says [Andrew Wommack’s Daily Wednesday January 31st, 2018]

John 2:5, “His mother saith unto the servants, Whatsoever he saith unto you, do [it].”

Text: John 2:1-11

Mary knew Jesus as no one else did at this point. The Bible supplies no details of the childhood of Jesus except his trip to Jerusalem at twelve years of age, but it is certain that Mary knew Jesus was no ordinary man. Her request of Jesus to provide the guests with more wine reflects her belief that He could do things others could not.

Her instructions to the servants were, “Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it.” This shows that she not only knew Jesus could work miracles, but she knew His way of doing things did not always conform to conventional thought. Sure enough, Jesus told the servants to fill the pots with water and then take it to the governor of the feast.

This defied logic! Everyone there knew the guests wanted more wine, not water. Yet these servants, at Mary’s bidding, did exactly what Jesus told them and the results were wonderful. This miracle would not have taken place if the servants had not done what seemed foolish to them.

The Lord’s ways are not our ways and His thoughts are not our thoughts (Isa. 55:8). To see His miraculous power in our lives, we must do “whatsoever” He tells us to do regardless of how foolish it may seem. The foolishness of God is wiser than the wisdom of men and the weakness of God is stronger than men (1 Cor. 1:25). Today, whatsoever He says unto you, do it!

This message was written by The Association of Related Ministries International (ARMI) is an extension of Andrew Wommack Ministries (AWM). ARMI is a unique partnership committed to providing resources to help like-minded ministers succeed in a spirit of excellence and to draw from the experience and expertise of both the AWM and Charis Bible College staff. (www.awmi.net).

Topic: Four Words That Work [Kenneth and Gloria Copeland, Wednesday January 31st, 2018]

Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them. – Mark 11:24

Believing. That’s the key to everything in the kingdom of God. It’s the way we tap in to the very power of Almighty God. Most of us know that. But few of us are sure exactly how to do that kind of believing. We don’t know how to put it into action.

Actually it’s so simple, it’s startling. It’s as simple as saying, “I believe I receive.”

Something happens in your spirit when you say those words. I don’t understand how, but it does. I don’t understand how my digestive system knows what to do when I swallow something, but it does. All I have to do is take a bite of food and it goes to work. I don’t have to make it happen. I don’t have to feel it happen. It just happens. That’s the way the body is made.

In much the same way, when you feed on God’s precious promises and “swallow” them into your spirit by saying, “I believe I receive,” faith is released. You don’t have to make it happen. You don’t have to feel it happen. It just happens. The reborn spirit is made that way.

When you constantly say with your mouth, “I believe I receive my healing” or “I believe I receive my financial needs met,” and then quote the scriptures that back those things, faith is released to bring power to bear on those needs.

As Dr. Kenneth Hagin says, you need to “keep the switch of faith turned on.” And Gloria and I have discovered that speaking out that phrase, “I believe I receive,” is one way to do it. We say it when we pray. We say it when we praise God. We say it when we read the Word.

We especially say it in the face of darkness when it looks like we’re not receiving. When everything looks the worst, we say it the loudest. I believe I receive!

Do you want to activate your faith today? Then make these four key words the most important words in your vocabulary. Use them every day. You’ll soon discover, just as we did…they work!

Scripture Reading: Mark 11:12-24

This message was written by Kenneth and Gloria Copeland, the leader of the Kenneth Copeland Ministries (www.KCM.org) that specializes in teaching principles of bible faith – prayer, healing, salvation and other biblical topics.