womenretreat-vcws-us.org

9-3-08

Definition of Turmoil: [noun] disturbance usually in protest

Synonyms: agitation, excitement, upheaval, hullabaloo

What does Turmoil mean? (Noun)

1. Violent agitation. Perturbation, upset, disturbance - an unhappy and worried mental state; "there was too much anger and disturbance"; "she didn't realize the upset she caused me"

2. Excitement - the state of being emotionally aroused and worked up; "his face was flushed with excitement and his hands trembled"; "he tried to calm those who were in a state of extreme inflammation"

3. Disturbance usually in protest: disturbance - activity that is a malfunction, intrusion, or interruption; "the term `distress' connotes some degree of perturbation and emotional upset"; "he looked around for the source of the disturbance"; "there was a disturbance of neural function"

Having taken a look at the meaning of turmoil and the implication of its meaning Agitation, excitement and disturbance. The next question will be what can cause the life of a Christian to be in turmoil?

Like every human being living, life throws a lots of stuff at us sometimes we see it coming sometimes we don’t. We should remember that the fact that we are Christians does not exclude us from experiencing “natural phenomenon of life”. Example Sickness, Death, Quarrels with love ones, financial problems, Childlessness, Marital problems, Desire to be Married, Stability in Relationships, Promotion, and Disagreements etc.

As a Christian how do you stay calm if you find your self in one of these situations?

First of all, we must recognize the fact that turmoil is not a pleasant or leisure experience for any one to go through, so we agree that this is a very difficult and hard experience for any one to go through. To address this issue we must look at what the word of God says about this.

In Romans 8:13 “Put to death the misdeeds of the body” means disregard the power of sin in our body, when we regard the sin’s appeal as death and lifeless, we can ignore temptation when it comes.  As a child of God what ever that causes agitatesion in your life can be term as “temptation”. And God told us in Romans 8: 15 “You did not receive a Spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of son ship. And by him we cry “Abba, Father.” So then, we should only bear in mind that our suffering (temptation) will pass. We must resist the pressures to conform to the world.

In the face of this trial, because of the state of mind which we might be at the time, our first reaction some times is that of anger, excitement, and confusion feeling of retaliation. The first reaction is our flesh plays the upper role. We react in our human nature…. Our reaction could be that of, excitement, upheaval, upset or fear depending on the circumstances.

In first 1 Samuel 1:6, we see a clear picture of how far our faith / believe can be tested. Hannah’s rival kept provoking her in order to irritate her. And this went on year after year, though we were not told Hannah’s response to her rival, yet those provocations made her cry to the point that she could not eat. One remarkable thing in all this is that Hannah prayed and prayed about her circumstances, she did not cease in prayer. At last, what her rival might mean for mockery was turn to blessing, for God heard Hannah’s prayer and gave her a son.

In some occasions, because of the spirit of impatience, desperation we want to go ahead to handle things our own way, we feel either that the answer to our prayers is taking too long or out of doubt in God we allow our human nature to take the upper hand and act out of our impatience

1 Samuel 13: 9-13 verse 13 “You acted foolishly, Samuel said. “ You have not kept the command the Lord your God gave you; if you had, he would have established your kingdom over

for all time”.  

This shows that as Children of God, we must learn to maintain spirit of calmness in difficult situation that will other wise get us agitated or excited. And also learn to be patient as we seek God’s guidance. When we decide to take things into our own hands, retaliate against people that want to hurt us, we might make things worst and at the end results in un happy consequences.

The story of David and Goliath is a remarkable example what Children of God should take into consideration when faced with insurmountable problems and situations, those giants in our lives can be over come, if we put our complete trust / faith in God. Like Goliath who felt because he was big and has defeated so many people, he felt that David a small boy coming to challenge him was an insult, so he cursed David “Come here, and I’II give your flesh to the birds of the air and the beasts of the field.

 Many at times we might be faced with situations like David, and people might curse us with such hurtful words that will reduce us to nothingness. As Christians, we should learn to hold our peace and not curse back, and if we must response, learn to do so with words of God, Knowing that we can not boast of destroying another life. Eph 3:20-21, Php 4:13. And as Children of God, we should not use words carelessly that will inflict pain on others; we can not do any thing by our power to solve or get victory over any situation. We must trust in God for our victories Ps 33:16-17, Hos 1:7, 1 Samuel 17:33, 45-47.

Looking at 1 Kings 3:16 -27, the story of the prostitute who mistakenly killed her child and wanted another’s child to replace hers. There are people like that in the world today, which will make mistakes and do their best to frame another for their mistakes. Verse 26 “The woman whose son was alive was filled with compassion for her son and said to the king, “Please, my Lord, give her the living baby; don’t   kill him” but the other said, “Neither I nor you shall have him. Cut him in two”

God said that the mind of man is desperately wicked, and for people who are that wicked will go to any length to want to destroy you, however as a child of God you stand to gain victory if you will only commit your situation to God. Because by so doing God will grant you victory. When faced with difficult situations, we should learn to focus on God, instead of on the situation and circumstances. When we focus on the situation, we will be desperate, agitated, upset, excited and in such frame of mind, we will be more confuse and un capable of praying, listening to God and solving the situation the way God will want us to.

 Jesus apostles were persecuted, Acts 5:17-42 thrown in jail, how did they react?  They stood on the word of God, fearless for their life. “Verse 39 Gamaliel spoke “But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God”. In any thing we do as children of God, we must make sure that our hands are clean, and that we can not be faulted by human standards. If we continue to look up to God and believe in his Holy name, he will surly make a way for us. Agreed, we might suffer and go through pain; at the end God will vindicate us.

In the mist of turmoil when we respond back with love, gentleness and truthfulness, we will win over our enemies, God said when a man’s way pleases the Lord, and he will make his enemies to be at peace with him.

Acts 8:18-24.

Our mind should be controlled by the Spirit that we might have life and peace and be able to submit to God in time of turmoil  (suffering, quarrel with loved one, lost, financial difficulty, separation, divorce , marriage etc Romans 8:5-8 ), Submit to the Holy Spirit’s direction and enablement, and to concentrate one’s attention on the things of God.

If we live in accordance with sinful nature than ,our minds will be set on pleasing selves , this only leads to hatred, selfish ambition, outbursts of anger, destruction etc. Gal 5:19-21.

There fore as Christians we have Obligation to put to death sinful nature and be led by the Spirit of God, which frees us from the spirit of fear. We know that even when we suffer, that Jesus Christ will not let us suffer for nothing instead we will share in his glory at the end. Know matter how difficult it may be to focus in the mist of turmoil, ( It sure can be very difficult especially when you seem to suffer for something you believe its not your fault, all you need do is keep breathing Jesus and THE HOLY SPIRIT WHO KNOWS OUR MIND WILL INTERCEED FOR YOU IN ACCORDANCE WITH GOD’S WILL.                                                            

October 1st, 2008.

"As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord" 

We seldom hear Christians use this word these days. But the reality is that the word is not often used because people do not recognize / acknowledge fully whom the Lord is, and the over all fact that God is the one that sustain them through and through.

No wonder, Joshua assembled all the tribes of Israel, summoned the elders, leaders, judges and officials of Israel and remind them of whom God is and how he has continuously made away for them right from the time of the fore facts , everything God did was facts and their was no denying the hand work of God in their lives.

At the end of the long speech, Joshua who understood fully well who God is and all that God is capable of, felt a great need to summaries his speech and put it to the people of Israel, that today, he has decided that him and his household will serve the Lord and it is left for each of them to make their decision.

Seeing the magnitude of Joshua’s statement, the Israelite immediately concluded that yes indeed, it is God that saved and led them out of

and therefore they too will serve the Lord. And Joshua said them not too fast, because he knew that it is a great decision for any one to make to serve the Lord and it comes with a host of responsibilities, which must be taken and kept other wise it becomes less of a blessing for any one that will decide to step in and step out as the case might be.

Joshua reminded the Israelite that God is a holy, he is a jealous God, and He is God of justice who will not forgive their rebellious and sinful ways. Especially after they had tasted of his goodness and decide to turn away from him. Making sure that the Israelite understood what it meant to commit and enter into a covenant with the Lord, Joshua led them into a binding contract which states that God is committed to care and provide for the needs of the Israelite while they in turn will forsake other foreign gods and serve the Lord with all their hearts.

The question for each of us today either as Christians or non Christians is whom do we believe in? Do you know your Lord?

 Have you experience the Lord? And lastly are you willing to forsake all the foreign gods in your life and enter into the covenant to commit yourself /household to God?

 Joshua had no doubt at all about what God is able to do at any given time in his life. He is absolutely sure of God’s power and commitment to provide and take care of his needs both in good and bad times.

What is your decision today? Like Joshua said do not be too hasty in making any decision yet consider carefully whom God is, at most because he is a jealous God, he requires that you give up all the foreign gods in your lives. (Foreign gods is different to each person, it could be what you worship, example riches, material stuff, your husband or wife, drugs, prostitution, robbery, power, etc.). 

IT BREAKS YOU FROM WITHIN (STRUCTURED PRINCIPLES)

AND MOULDS YOU FROM  WITHOUT (ACCOMMODATE SPOUSE DIFFERNCES)

BOTH PARTIES HAVE TO BE WILLING TO GO THROUGH TRANSITION

TO GET  TRANSFORMED

ARE YOU WILLING TO BE TRANSFORMED?

YOU NEED GOD TO ACHIVE TRANSFORMATION IN MARRIAGE

YOU NEED PATIENCE

YOU NEED AN OPEN MIND

YOU NEED TO MAINTAIN SILENCE

YOU NEED TO LISTEN MORE AND TALK LESS

YOU NEED TO LEARN TO ENDURE 

YOU NEED TO LEARN TO “PLAY THE FOOL”

YOU NEED TO LEARN TO LOOK BEYOUNG NOW

LOOK INTO THE FUTURE 

LET GOD CROWN YOUR EFFORT WITH A BLESSING.

Dear Sisters,  I Thank God Almighty for my life, families, sisters in Christ, friends, co-workers and all sisters all over the world. I can not let this Special occasion past by, without proclaiming the goodness of the Lord. 1 Thessalonians 5:18 says “Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus”. Some of us may be tempted to say we have nothing to be thankful for, but the truth remain that we must be thankful  - there is this popular saying that a man was crying that he had no shoes to wear, till he met someone who had no legs. I ASK YOU, DO YOU HAVE A REASON IN YOUR HEART TO BE THANKFUL? IF YES, I encourage you not  only to be thankful, cook, eat, party, give gifts but to find time to speak out ( Thank God for his mercies and faithfulness)Psalms 35:18 says “ I WILL GIVE YOU THANKS IN THE GREAT ASSEMBLY.

Ordinarily when you receive favor from some one, you don’t go to thank the person, only to get there and stir at the person, no, you show your appreciation through an action.

So sisters, let us do it right- let your children, family ,friends, co-workers , any one you sit with this thanksgiving know one or two reasons why you are thankful.                     

HAVE A WONDERFUL THANKSGIVING

Relationships that we enter into can affect our faith in a positive or negative way. In either way it is obvious that relationships affect our faith. Ezekiel 18:3”As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, you will no longer quote this proverb in Israel. For every living soul belongs to me, the father as well as the son-both alike belong to me. The soul who sins is the one who will die.

As Christians, our fist obligation to uphold our faith is not to walk into any relationship that will affect our faith negatively, we should also be mindful that some people profess that they are Christians but at the end, their actions which is contrarily to Gods commandment speak louder than their believes. Nothing is hidden under the sun, these means that no one person can pretend to be what he is not for too long(Acts 19:13-15, in order words if someone profess that he or she is a Christian, it is only a matter of time.

As a Christian if you get entangle with some one who either is not a Christian or who profess to be a Christian but his behavior proves other wise……….. You should be careful because sooner than later, their behavior will start to rub off on you.

W e must protect our faith by being faithful to the one who has called us.

As a child of God if you get hook with one that always call you names, before too long you will be tempted to retaliate by calling same person names.

If you get entangle with one who says he is a Christian and does not go to church from Sunday to Sunday, very soon you might be looking for excuses not to go to church,

If you get entangle with one who is always telling lies to cover for wrong doing, soon you might be tempted to tell similar lies or worst.

Relationships can either make our faith in God, weaker or stronger.

The question is Are you strongly rooted in the Lord?

What do you do when you see signs contrarily to God’s will? Do you correct it, talk about it, reaffirm your faith in God and pray for strength from God or do you sweep issues under the carpet?

We are told by the word of God that the Word is near us, it’s in our mouth and heart. If we profess “that Jesus is Lord” and believe in our heart that God raised him from dead, we will be saved. However there is condition for this to happen. Faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ, but of course not every one that hears the word believes. So also not all relationship is beneficial.

Some people have given up their faith because they want to “maintain relationship or give it more time” Example the story of Ananias and Sapphira Acts 5:11, shows that Sapphira made her decision to lie along with her husband. Though we were not told what kind of person she was, still she had the chance to be honest.

When in a relationship that might affect our faith negatively, we must try not to destroy our testimony about Christ.

In 2 Timothy 1:5 we see how relationship can affect one positively; we see how a grandmother Lois passed on to her daughter Eunice sincere faith, which in turn is passed from one generation to the other. This reminds us (Christians that Christ has not given us the Spirit of timidity, but a Spirit of power, love and of self discipline). In other words as Christians we can not make excuses for getting entangle into relationship that will ruin our faith in God. And even when we unknowingly find our selves in such relationships, we should be self discipline and on our knees. 2 Timothy 2:15 encourages us to do our best to present our selves as workman approved and does not need to be a shame and handles the word truth correctly.

Finally we should humble ourselves under God’s Mighty hands while standing firm on the word of truth.

1. BE THANKFUL TO GOD FOR THE SITUATION

1 Thessalonians 5:18 requires us to “give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. Knowing that everything work for good for those that believe /trust in the Lord. God will always glorify himself in your situation because what will mean for evil, God will turn it around for good. We should give thanks to God, knowing that he will never abandon or forsake us. Instead, he makes his grace to be sufficient on to us to pull /see us through all our circumstances.

2. PRAY TO GOD FOR WISDOM & DIRECTION

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One grants you understanding. Wisdom lets us understand the situation that we are in, it helps us put the situation in the right perspective (Proverbs 9:10-11)… Wisdom is life; who ever have it finds favor in the presence of God. Having wisdom means the willingness to walk by God’s will & directions. Wisdom enables you to pursue peace in hopeless situation.

Wisdom teaches you to do God’s will and not your own, it helps you recognize God’s power to redirect your life and restructure your priorities for good, having at the back of your mind that life is short (Ps.144:3).

Wisdom will help you select purpose that has lasting value (living for God). Because He alone can make your life worthwhile, purposeful and meaningful.

3. BE WILLING TO GIVE PEACE A CHANCE

Matthew 5:9 states that “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they be called sons of God. It is very hard to initiate peace in the process of quarrel, especially when you are being persecuted. Again, that is what God wants of every Christian to make peace. Peace is one out of various traits of a Christian. Christians get trialed in various ways and the only way we can escape the evil one is to remain faithful and wise by putting our house in order. Being willing to give peace a chance, means with holding yourself from doing wrong. (Proverbs 4:14 “Do not set your foot on the path of the wicked or walk in the way of evil men. Avoid it, do not travel on it. This calls for one to be mindful of acquaintances or friends who might lure you to abandon your peace mission and do wrong. While with friends, we should seek healthy skepticism. When you feel you are being boxed into the corner of wrongdoing, you should proceed with caution and not allow your friends or anyone make you fall into sin.

4. FOCUS ON PROCESS OF MAKING PEACE

You have to trust in the Lord in your mission to achieve peace. Psalm 37:4 tells you to delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart. . Once you trust in the Lord, He says he will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun. This means, that so long as you are in the path of peace process, you will be covered and protected by God. You have to turn away from the spirit of anger, especially when it seems your spouse is getting away with so many.

Ps. 37:37 tells us that there is future for the man of peace, this requires us to be patient, humble ourselves and in due time according to (one Peter 5:6) God will change your circumstances.

Avoid acting on quick temper; it is cable of destruction and drawing you away from your mission. Temper is like a wild fire out of control, it destroys everything in its path. It will make you make hasty selfish destructive decision, which will cause bitterness and guilt at the end. Anger in itself is not wrong, but it is the reason behind it and how it is exhibited that needs to be controlled. You need to pray for God’s direction to the right response toward situations (Proverbs 14:29).

5. DO NOT RECOUNT COUSRES OF QUARREL

Words are very strong, they can build or destroy, make or unmake. In already bad situation, recounting or remembering the hurtful words, your partner have said to you will make bad situation worst.

Instead of furthering peace, such words will make you harden your heart. Proverbs 10:19 tells us that when words are many, sin is not absent. The best thing to do in times when you remember the hurtful words of your spouse is to turn it over to God, by doing that, you will end up building a healthy relationship and avoid inviting ruin by retaliating.

Most importantly keep at the back of your mind that, he who guards his lips, guards his life. In seeking peace, you must learn to be self-control; you must control what you say. In pursuing peace, you must stop; think before you say anything, knowing that the tongue is the small part of the body that has the power to destroy (James 3:5, 2 Timothy 2:14).

6. DO NOT DWELL ON WHO IS WRONG AND WHO IS RIGHT

Often in a relationship, we always want to rationalize reasons why we are right and the other individual is wrong. In essence, this means we trust ourselves and believe in the cause we are fighting. Some times that might be the case. For a Christian , Proverbs 3:5 tells us not to lean on our own understanding of justifying our actions but to acknowledge God in all our ways, then will he establish our paths.

Matthew 6:33 states “Seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these will be given you to you as well“. We are carried away in our situations, fights, quarrels and how to do or fix it ourselves that we completely neglect God. By doing that, things will definitely get worst because we are leaning on our own understanding. But we are told in Matthew to seek first the Kingdom of God, meaning to hand over to God our problem by going to him in prayers , reading his words asking, what He will have us do in our situations, be obedient to him when he guides and direct your paths. That way you will have a sound mind, you will be focus and respond appropriately to your circumstances.

7. BE DETERMINE TO REACH YOUR GOAL (PEACE)

The righteous will never be uprooted. As long as you continue by the grace of God to pursue peace and walk by the will of God, You will be delivered. Your spouse may do or say something that will make you very mad and want to abandon your mission. When this happens, remember to act in wisdom, over look the insult, keeping in mind that only fools that show annoyance at once.

To reach your goal you must put away pride as it breeds quarrel. You have to be able to admit to yourself that you are wrong in areas where you are wrong and ready to accept it and move forward. It is a very difficult thing to do because it requires humility. It is important to remember that each decision you make to live or do right according to God’s word will bring greater sense of order to your life.

To be determining to reach your goal does not mean that you set a time limit on when you achieve your goal, remember that you are dealing with fellow human who have their own emotional, psychological and mental issues to deal with. Above all remember that when it comes to issue of time , “only God have the power to decide” (Ps.144:3) when the dust will settle, meaning you have to keep doing what you are doing, praying, and holding on to God to bring change into your situation.

8. DO NOT RESPOND TO NEGATIVE ATTITUDE FROM SPOUSE

When some one insults or says hurtful words to you, it is natural to respond or retaliate, however you should know better, retaliating would only make bad situation worst. And will not solve any thing, instead it will encourage bitterness, hatred etc. If you must respond, you should do so with kind words in a gentle manner. Proverbs 15:1 says, “A gentle answer turns away wrath.

You should always seek to use words that bring healing instead of using reckless words that will destroy.

9. ACKNOWLEGDE POSITIVE ATTITUDE WITH APPRECIATION

In difficult situations, try to acknowledge positive attitude or actions with kind words. This will cheer up your spouse.

10. KEEP PRAYING /ASKING GOD FOR DIRECTION

It is easy to have a broken fence but takes time and energy to put it back together. When couples begin to have misunderstanding, it takes the grace of God to get back on track. This is the reason why one needs to keep praying , asking and seeking God out to mend the broken heart, give each party involve peace and the grace to seek peace and maintain a healthy relationship(Matthew 7: 7). Some might easily give up in the face of trial and test of Faith but knowing that God does not work with our time, we have to have Faith, follow through in prayers and put into action the peace we seek. While we pray and seek for God’s help, we have to put into action good behavior toward our spouse as God is more interested in our walk with him than in our talk about him, this means doing the Will of God (Matthew 7:21 “Not everyone who says to me “Lord Lord, will enter the Kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my father who is in heaven“. Moreover, God’s will for us is to live in peace and pursue it.

FINALLY BE OBIEDIENT UNTO GOD’S COUNSEL

Sisters let us pay attention and listen to the sayings of the wise; applying our hearts to true teaching.

What shall it profit a man to gain the whole world?

And loose his soul.

A dangerous trend is looming around the world and Christians are put in the fore front of these temptation and trend. The world is getting to a serious point of crisis which will detect for survival of the fittest. Man will be hedged on all side, pressed through every angle, attacked from family, by siblings, spouse, employer, employee, church unbeliever believers and the like. Will be a time of chaos.

When man’s source of basic needs is attacked, what happens? Man will be desperate to survive.

These art of chaos trickle down from the Top as its almost obvious in our world, Financial houses are being closed, companies are folding up, Job’s being taken, Houses going on for foreclosures, Sickness, Young men willing to work have nowhere to go; Families breaking, High rate of divorce; Teenage pregnancy, killings, Drugs, etc THESE AFFECTS CHRISTIANS AND NON CHRISTIANS ALIKE.

WHAT IS THE IMPLICATION OF THESE FOR CHRISTIANS?

These create an atmosphere of tenseness and uneasiness, alertness and desperation.

For the unbeliever it becomes intense, the spirit of manipulation intensifies at all cost; for the believer  his prayer life is weaken, the day to day hardship and art of wickedness seem to overtake the prayer less Christian and the urge to throw wisdom to the trash intensifies. The lost of job, foreclosure , credit card debt , the urgency of what do I do ,where do I turn to , what do I do  etc built pressure that sends hearts bounding & the impatience of waiting  defiles the Christian good sense of reasoning.

Serious manipulation in the spiritual realm is going on at this hour.

The spirit of “if you cannot beat them join them” intensifies. This is completely time of trial especially if you find yourself in position to make decision regarding doing right or wrong. Deficit is the other of day, Most CEOS, Directors are on the cliff of tumbling down or out for mismanagement, and  will do anything to remain standing. These highly placed individuals become rude less in the name of protecting their image, good name and keeping their jobs. The question for the Christian is “As an individual what do you do when approached to participate in such dirty games? When approached and asked to help falsify figures, lie or come up with reason to lay off innocent employees that has worked for yrs, what do you do? If you are in school, do you steal answers, cheat to pass, sell question papers? As a mother, to what length will you go to help your child do the right or wrong thing? As a father to what extend will you go to provide for your family, will you steal be dishonest in order to do the right thing? As a young lady what is your challenges, will you sell your body or soul for money? As a young man will you do drugs or steal to opt out for easy way out? As a pastor, will you give false prophesy or throw in the towel and say you have enough trouble of your own?.

These is completely time, an hour of trial

This is an hour to hold firm to who you believe in, your first love, you have to persevere   hold on to your faith.

It is not a time to renounce your faith, or think no one is seeing you or I can help myself.

Each Christian need to keep focus and hide the word of God in their heart, mediate on it day and night. With the Most High God, There is no room for heresy and moral impurity which includes pornography, sexual sin, cheating, gossiping lying etc.

Revelation 2:8 “These are the words of him who is the first and the last, who died and came to life again. I know your afflictions and your poverty- yet you are rich. I know the slander of those who say they are Jews and am not, but am a synagogue of Satan

Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer, I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days (implication of consequences comes in various forms).

The book of revelation tells us (Christians) to be prepared for hard times, no hard time or suffering is joyous at the time, suffering and pain is part of life and we are bound to go through every experience, make decision in life, decision to remain faithful, not to be involved in all kinds of evil. God has already given himself for our sins to rescue us from the evil age, according to the will of our God and Father to whom be glory forever and ever (Gal 1:4) No one has an excuse to continue to live in sin except for him who chooses to do so and will end up making excuses to justify his action or decision.

As a Christian, you should know that God knows you intimately and has chosen you to be his servant even before you were born (Ps 139); He wants you to draw close to him and to fulfill the purpose he has for your life. However, IT IS YOUR CHOICE. May the good Lord help you and me to resist the devil and all that he stands for?              

Article date

SUBMISSION

MEANING

How many women desire to have a happy home?

How many women desire to have a chaos home?

How many of you will totally agree that God made woman using the rib from the man? (Ge2: 20).

Woman from Man

Man Submit to God

Woman submit to Man

God made man and also created instructions on Christian Marriage.

God said it is not good for man to be alone, God made man and commanded they rule over the fish, birds, life stock, creatures that move along the ground (Gen 1:26) The relationship between man; living creature; earth and all they rule its

The word submit suggests helper, assistant, Servant...........

In the word, God called woman suitable helper Gen 2:20, this suggests serving someone above you example Vice president, Assistant CEO, ASSITSNAT DIRECTOR these status suggests a "Helping Position” the role of a woman in marriage is naturally to be the spouse helper " These connote natural submission. In the business world you negotiate the amount that is suitable for the position of an Assistant, vice, etc.  Marriage submission is non negotiate because it is already assigned with the origin of the word marriage". The mystery behind submission is by God. And Our God is so faithful and love man equally and will not stand for any man who will misinterpret his words "

In Gen 2:24 it states that a man will leave his Father and Mother and be united to his wife and they will become one flesh.

Marriage has three basic aspects

1. Public Act- promises himself to his wife- strong tide

2. Join together by taking responsibilities for each other's welfare and by loving the mate above all others

Financiers -

Commitment

Satisfaction

3. Become one flesh in the intimacy and commitment of sexual union            

PRATICAL MEANING OF SUBMISSION

WILLING MIND TO Listen; compromise; please; share; nurse back to health; forgive;over look imperfection; weakness; bear Borden; prayer warrior; Care; accept spouse and all that is attached or comes with spouse; uphold partner in prayer especially when you are both  in aggreement; willing mind to love spouse even when things are going wrong. 

In Genesis 2:18-24 marriage is God's idea and in Genesis 24: 58-60 commitment is essential to a successful marriage and submission is one of the basic ingredients to successful marriage.

Song of Songs 4:9-10 holds  times of great joy.

Malachi 2: 14,15 marriage creates the best environment for raising children.

Matt 5: 32 unfaithfulness breaks the bond of trust; the foundation of all relationships.

Matt19: 6 Marriage is permanent

Rom 7:2: 3 ideally only deaths should dissolve marriage

Ephesians 5:21-33 marriage is based on the principle practice of love, not on feelings.

Ephesians 5:23,32 is a living symbol of Christ and the church

Hebrew 13:4 Marriages is good and honorable.

Submission plays a key role in building up a home. A wise woman builds her home while a foolish woman with her own hands destroys her own.

What stops women from submitting?

The following are few things that stop women from submitting.

1.Some women enter the marriage with great expectation from the man, while courting a man can spent his last cent on the woman and say any and all sorts of sweet thing to get the woman. When the marriage is on, things changed, it becomes a total new game, the infatuation and frivolous spending is out and reality sets in.

2.when a man fails to meet up with his responsibilities, you feel that he does not deserve a thing from you

3. When a man fails to respect his wife or talk down on her, she gets to the point where she puts her leg down and decides that the man is not worth her loyalty.

4.When a man does not satisfy or care for your feelings

5. When he does not desire you feel unwanted -you might not voice out your feelings, however the inner thought of your mind influence your out word attitude which definitely will be negative resulting in lack of submission

6. When there is too much interference from spouse family especially when you feel they are against you.

7. When there is too much interference from Spouse Friends, you will feel you cannot submit to your spouse least you will be seen as a weakling.

8. When your spouse does not agree with your opinion or wants to impose on you.

The truth is from the day you said, "I do accept…... As my wedded husband in health; sickness; riches; poverty- is the day you got yourself bound to “submit” this means as a married woman you are bound to be concerned about the affairs of this world (how you will please your husband). For you to live right in undivided devotion to the Lord "This spells submission, submission, submission. 1 Cor 7:1-35.To pleases the Lord you have to strife to please your husband (man) he placed directly above you.

Keep in mind that Submission is not a magic word, which means once you submit all your marital problems will be solved. it will be naive to think like that. In all you need to put your trust in God.

An appropriate helpmate is one that submits and posses the qualities as described in the word.

The family that prays together stays together, it is easier for submission to be obtained or achieved in a Christian home. In Eph 5:21-22 we are called as Christians to submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. Wives are called to submit to their husbands as to the Lord, for the Husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church.

Submission does not mean that you loose your self-identity, it is often misunderstood concept.

Jesus submitted his will to the Father Philippians 2:10, we honor Christ by following his example. When you fully submit to God, you become more willing to submit to others. A wife is supposed to willingly follow her husband’s leadership in Christ. The husband is not to Lord it over the wife , instead he is to love his wife like he loves himself. Paul emphasized the equality of all believers in Christ(Gal 3:28).

Submission by choice promotes and preserves order, harmony ,love and respect among couple.

A wife is suppose to learn/ know her husband’s weak and strong points. Men can get on your last nerves and might push you to act negatively, if you have not prayed and ask God to help you accept things you can not change in your husband, you will always get in to it. You need to learn to count one to three to avoid the avoidable.

We need the grace of God to submit, it is something that we cannot do on our own. In Eph Wives , are called to submit to their husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body ,of which he is the Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ ,so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything. Submission bears a lot of weight and is an important ingredient that must not be neglected. What is the church with out Christ? So also what is a marriage without submission. God has given the wife the task of helping the husband achieve his full potential as a man, husband and father. A wife duty includes love (Tit 2:4), respect 1 Pe 3:1-2),assistance (Ge 2:18), Purity Tit 2:5) submissiveness (1Pe 3:5) development of a quite pure spirit (1Pe 3:4) being a good mother(Tit 2:4) and homemaker (1Ti 2:15). A wife’s submissiveness to her husband is seen by God as an actual part of her obedience to Jesus “as to the Lord” Gal 3:28.     

I encourage all wife’s to step out in faith to love, respect and submit to their husbands. This is the only wise thing to do. Initially you might think that submitting will put you in a venerable position and that your spouse will take advantage of your good will, remember that first of all you are obeying God’s command. With prayers and supplication you will turn a new leave and win a difficult husband over. Husbands also have important role to play in making a happy home which includes loving their wife as they love themselves, providing for the family’s spiritual and domestic needs Ge 3:16-19,1Ti5:8.