“AND THEY SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH”

MEMORY VERSE: For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh. Genesis 2:24

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Genesis 21-25

Genesis 2:24 says: “For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh.” There are several lessons to learn from this verse; for instance, marriage – as recorded in the Holy Scriptures - is a union between a man and a woman not a man and several women, Steve and Steve, Mary and Mary or man/woman and an animal. Also, marriage is a union between a man and a woman not a man and a girl or a boy and a woman or worse still, a boy and a girl. There are many brothers with full grown beards who are still boys. Someone once threatened to kill himself because a lady dumped him. You know for a fact that such fellow is a boy. Also, there are many sisters with full developed bodies who are still girls. A man has to leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife.

 Unfortunately, many cultures frown at this. It is seen as a sign of weakness for a man to cleave to his wife.
“They shall become one flesh”, what does this mean? Man (and woman) is tripartite in nature. In other words, man has three parts; namely, spirit, soul and body. 1 Thessalonians 5:23 says, “And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” The spirit is the part of man that relates to the unseen spiritual world; viz, God and Satan. The soul is the part of man that relates to the mental realm; viz, his reasoning and intellectual powers. The body is the part of man that deals with his physical environment . In a nutshell, man is a spirit who possesses a soul and lives in a body. To become one in flesh means to become one in spirit, soul and body. What does it mean to be one in spirit? It simply means to agree in matters relating to spirituality and God; i.e. biblical doctrine and practices. It is advised that husbands and their wives attend the same church, listen to the same sermons, read the same books, attend the same seminars, have the same spiritual parents or disciplers, etc. 1 Corinthians 7:5 says: “Defraud ye not one the other, except it be with consent for a time, that ye may give yourselves to fasting and prayer; and come together again, that Satan tempt you not for your incontinency.” Some deliberately fast to punish their husbands or wives. This is not a good practice. Besides,such fast is a hunger strike and nothing worthwhile will come out of it. To be one in soul means to agree in matters relating to vision, purpose, ambition, goals, etc. To be one in body is quite straight forward. Many marriages fail because the man and the woman that are joined in Holy Matrimony refuse to become one in flesh; viz, spirit, soul and body. The husband is heading north and the wife, south. The husband has his goals and the wife has her goals too. They are not united in their vision, purpose or goal. Some couple agree on everything except finances. The husband has his money and the wife has hers.

NOTE: Dear single brother/ sister, if you are not one in spirit with the person you want to marry; i.e. you disagree in matters relating to spirituality and God, please seek counselling before you go to the altar. If you believe in holiness, righteousness or tithing and the person you want to marry does not believe in them, I will advise you tread carefully.

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Bro Samuel | Reaching the world.

KNOW YOUR ENEMY

MEMORY VERSE: For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Ephesians 6:12

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Revelation 21-23

Who is an enemy? According to Merriam-Webster dictionary, an enemy is someone who hates another: someone who attacks or tries to harm another. We have an enemy and it is important that we identify that enemy. We need to identify him in case we want to plan an attack against him or defend ourselves. Once we have identified this enemy, identifying other things - his weapon, tactics, strengths, and weaknesses – becomes easy. It is difficult, if not impossible, to defeat an enemy you have not identified. God is not your enemy. The Most High God is for you. He is on your side. Your mother-in-law is not your enemy. Your husband’s brother is not your enemy. That neighbour who complains every time you pray aloud at night is not your enemy. Besides, you should not be disturbing your neighbors with your prayers. Jesus, in other not to disturb His neighbors, would wake up very early in the morning, go to an isolated place and pray. Mark 1:35 says: “And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed.” That manager, at place of work, who refused to grant your annual leave request, is not your enemy. Neither is the traffic warden who gave you a parking ticket for parking wrongly.

Who is this enemy? 1 Peter 5:8 says: “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:” The devil is your enemy. Ephesians 6:12 says: “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” Flesh and blood i.e. people are not your enemies. They sometimes act like enemies- but they are not. They are only relatives in darkness who are believing lies and are being influenced by the devil. That fellow is wicked towards you because he has believed the lies of the enemy. Why does the devil hate humankind? Firstly, he hates us because every time he sees us, he sees God. Man is the only creation made in the image of God, even the angels, who he (Satan) used to be, were not made in the image of God. Secondly, he hates us because we stole his job and we are better at it than he was. Satan used to be a worship leader in heaven; after he rebelled against God, he lost his job. So now, when you and i praise God, he gets jealous. Lastly, he hates us so much because God loves us so much. God provided a way for us to be forgiven but He never gave Satan a chance at forgiveness. According to Romans 5:8, God Himself paid our debt for us in the form of Jesus Christ, His son but He did not do that for Satan. All this put together makes him hate man. The main target of the enemy is our faith (1 Peter 5:9). Remember the bible says, without faith, it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6). The enemy attacks our faith with doubts and fear. Because we are involved in a fight of faith (1 Timothy 6:12), we must do everything in our power to hold on to faith in God’s word (Hebrews 4:14, 10:23), and not give in to fear and doubt.

THOUGHT OF THE DAY: We receive God’s provision by faith so we must believe what God says.

CONFESSION:  I refuse to believe the lies of the enemies, the devil, in Jesus Name. Amen.

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AND THEY SHALL BE ONE FLESH

MEMORY VERSE: therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh, Genesis 3:24

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Judg 10, Acts 14, Jer 23, Mark 9

How can two individuals from different academic background, family background, different cultures become one? How can two people with different mentalities, different life experiences, different perspective to life, different ambition, e.t.c become one? It takes more than flowers for them to become one. It definitely takes more than the chemical reaction in the brain or physical attraction for them to become one. It takes a lot of things like determination, patience, endurance and most importantly God.

When God created Adam, Eve was not there and when God created Eve, Adam was fast asleep so both of them had little or no knowledge of each other. When Adam met Eve, he had challenges understanding her and when Eve met Adam, she had a challenges understanding him also. The reason for this was that they were not created together or they were created differently. Yet Adam and Eve came together and became one despite these challenges. How did they do it? Despite the fact that there were challenges understanding each other and meeting the needs of each other, there was no record of God coming down to earth to settle fight between them, how did they manage to live in peace and harmony?

For two people to become one there are few things that need to be in place. For a brother and sister to become one there must be agreement between the two. Amos 3:3 says can two walk together except they agree? Many agree to come together but they do not agree to become one. When two people become one, my money becomes our money; my vision becomes our vision ; my resources becomes our resources, e.t.c. No one owns anything, everyone owns everything. Secondly, both of them must be humble. It takes humility for a woman to submit to her husband and it also takes humility for a man to love his wife (Ephesians 5:22-33). Thirdly, there must be communication. Communication is very essential because the only way to let the other party know how you are feeling is by talking about it. In a relationship don’t ever expect the other party to know how you are feeling, if you are not happy say I am not happy at least the other party knows and he can do something about it. Fourthly, there must be forgiveness. Disagreements are inevitable in relationships, people close to you will offend you but you must forgive or else bitterness will set in. Fifthly, praying and studying the bible together. The devil finds it very difficult to penetrate into a marriage where the husband and the wife are always praying together, studying the bible together, praying in tongues together e.t.c. sixthly, there should be no secrets. Openness and transparency in marriage helps unite couple together and build trust. Lastly, avoid third parties. One of the great dis-services you can do to your marriage is allowing a third party opinion in your marriage. The third party could be your friends or in-laws. Whatever happens in the relationship, settle it between yourselves. Once you allow third parties in your relationship, it becomes a union of three not two .Remember two is a company but three becomes a crowd.

PRAYER POINT: Father, please give me the wisdom to run my marriage in a way that is pleasing to you.