11-04-2019, 09:35 AM
OPEN HEAVENS DAILY DEVOTIONAL
DATE: MONDAY 4TH NOVEMBER 2019
THEME: HIDDEN BLESSINGS OF MARRIAGE.
MEMORISE:
How should one chase a thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight, except their Rock had sold them, and the LORD had shut them up? Deuteronomy 32:30
READ: Ecclesiastes 4:9-12
9 Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour.
10 For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up.
11 Again, if two lie together, then they have heat: but how can one be warm alone?
12 And if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken.
MESSAGE
There are certain blessings attached to marriage which we may be ignorant of except the Holy Spirit reveals them to us. One of such hidden blessings is revealed in today’s memory verse and Bible reading. From these scriptures, God’s verdict is that two are better than one, and according to Ecclesiastes 4:9, the reason is:
“……..because they have a good reward for their labour.”
This indicates that divorce is not the correct solution for marriages that are challenged, because divorce robs couples of maximum victory and rewards. Speaking further on the benefits of companionship derived from marriage, the Holy Spirit explains in Ecclesiastes 4:10:
“For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up.”
Helping each other out in times of need is another great blessing of marriage. This was part of God’s design when He established marriage as an institution. When God was going to create a companion for Adam, He stated His reason for this, saying in Genesis 2:18:
“It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.”
Man needed a companion in the form of a kind-minded person who could help him fulfil his God-given assignment. I’m left in awe whenever I consider the wife God blessed me with, long before I knew His plans to use me in reaching the world with the Gospel. Indeed, He knows the end from the beginning, and so He makes everything beautiful in His own time (Ecclesiastes 3:11). As a beneficiary of God’s blessing in marriage, I make bold to say that only a person who is blessed with a God-given spouse can cope with the hazardous challenges of being a minister of God.
Couples should do everything possible to stay together because God honors their unity by fighting their battles for them. However, this unity must be of a godly sort, and not like that which existed between Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5). Couples should key into power of the Lord’s promise in Matthew 18:19, which says:
“Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven.”
This is another valid reason why couples should fear God and not offend Him. He is the author of marriage, who created it for couples to receive maximum blessings from Him. Beloved, whatever it may cost you, keep your marriage intact, because there are great blessings attached to holy matrimony.
PRAYER POINT:
Father, give us the days of heaven on earth in our homes, in Jesus’ Name.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Nehemiah 7-8
Hosea 7
AUTHOR: PASTOR E. A. ADEBOYE
HYMN 16: GOD GIVE US CHRISTIAN HOMES.
1. God give us Christian homes!
Homes where the Bible is loved and taught,
Homes where the Master’s will is sought,
Homes crowned with beauty Your love has wrought;
God give us Christian homes;
God give us Christian homes!
2. God give us Christian homes!
Homes where the father is true and strong,
Homes that are free from the blight of wrong,
Homes that are joyous with love and song;
God give us Christian homes;
God give us Christian homes!
3. God give us Christian homes!
Homes where the mother, in caring quest,
Strives to show others Your way is best,
Homes where the Lord is an honored guest;
God give us Christian homes;
God give us Christian homes!
4. God give us Christian homes!
Homes where the children are led to know
Christ in His beauty who loves them so,
Homes where the altar fires burn and glow;
God give us Christian homes;
God give us Christian homes!
DATE: MONDAY 4TH NOVEMBER 2019
THEME: HIDDEN BLESSINGS OF MARRIAGE.
MEMORISE:
How should one chase a thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight, except their Rock had sold them, and the LORD had shut them up? Deuteronomy 32:30
READ: Ecclesiastes 4:9-12
9 Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour.
10 For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up.
11 Again, if two lie together, then they have heat: but how can one be warm alone?
12 And if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken.
MESSAGE
There are certain blessings attached to marriage which we may be ignorant of except the Holy Spirit reveals them to us. One of such hidden blessings is revealed in today’s memory verse and Bible reading. From these scriptures, God’s verdict is that two are better than one, and according to Ecclesiastes 4:9, the reason is:
“……..because they have a good reward for their labour.”
This indicates that divorce is not the correct solution for marriages that are challenged, because divorce robs couples of maximum victory and rewards. Speaking further on the benefits of companionship derived from marriage, the Holy Spirit explains in Ecclesiastes 4:10:
“For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up.”
Helping each other out in times of need is another great blessing of marriage. This was part of God’s design when He established marriage as an institution. When God was going to create a companion for Adam, He stated His reason for this, saying in Genesis 2:18:
“It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.”
Man needed a companion in the form of a kind-minded person who could help him fulfil his God-given assignment. I’m left in awe whenever I consider the wife God blessed me with, long before I knew His plans to use me in reaching the world with the Gospel. Indeed, He knows the end from the beginning, and so He makes everything beautiful in His own time (Ecclesiastes 3:11). As a beneficiary of God’s blessing in marriage, I make bold to say that only a person who is blessed with a God-given spouse can cope with the hazardous challenges of being a minister of God.
Couples should do everything possible to stay together because God honors their unity by fighting their battles for them. However, this unity must be of a godly sort, and not like that which existed between Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5). Couples should key into power of the Lord’s promise in Matthew 18:19, which says:
“Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven.”
This is another valid reason why couples should fear God and not offend Him. He is the author of marriage, who created it for couples to receive maximum blessings from Him. Beloved, whatever it may cost you, keep your marriage intact, because there are great blessings attached to holy matrimony.
PRAYER POINT:
Father, give us the days of heaven on earth in our homes, in Jesus’ Name.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Nehemiah 7-8
Hosea 7
AUTHOR: PASTOR E. A. ADEBOYE
HYMN 16: GOD GIVE US CHRISTIAN HOMES.
1. God give us Christian homes!
Homes where the Bible is loved and taught,
Homes where the Master’s will is sought,
Homes crowned with beauty Your love has wrought;
God give us Christian homes;
God give us Christian homes!
2. God give us Christian homes!
Homes where the father is true and strong,
Homes that are free from the blight of wrong,
Homes that are joyous with love and song;
God give us Christian homes;
God give us Christian homes!
3. God give us Christian homes!
Homes where the mother, in caring quest,
Strives to show others Your way is best,
Homes where the Lord is an honored guest;
God give us Christian homes;
God give us Christian homes!
4. God give us Christian homes!
Homes where the children are led to know
Christ in His beauty who loves them so,
Homes where the altar fires burn and glow;
God give us Christian homes;
God give us Christian homes!