2
Jan
Posted by AgapeFocus in faith in action, Positive Declarations. Tagged: declaration, Deut 33:26-29, drop down dew, dwell safely, enemies found liars, excellency, faith in action, God, Israel, Jeshurun, land of corn and wine, on the sky, people saved by the LORD, refuge, sword, thrust out enemy. Leave a comment
GO ON WITH AFFIRMATION OF VICTORY: IT IS A NEW MONTH, NEW YEAR AND A NEW DECADE: THE LORD IS ON YOUR SIDE AND MINE.
Because you do believe; make declaration thus:
There is none like unto The God of Jeshurun. Who rideth upon the heaven in thy help, and in his excellency on the sky.
The Eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms. And he shall thrust out the enemy from before thee; and shall say Destroy them.
Israel then shall dwell safely alone. The fountain of Jacob shall be upon a land of corn and wine. His heavens also shall drop down dew.
Happy art thou O Israel: who is like unto thee O people saved by the LORD; the shield of thy help and who is the sword of thy excellency. And thy enemies shall be found liars unto thee; and thou shalt tread upon their high places. Deuteronomy 33: 26-29.
AS FOR THIS VICTORIOUS DECLARATION, (Claim it as your own); Insert your name, situation and locations at the appropriate places. Walk on from victory to victory in the mighty name of Jesus. Loving regards.
3
Aug
Posted by AgapeFocus in Positive Declarations. Tagged: arms, corn, destroy, dew, dwell, enemy, eternal, everlasting, God, happy, help, Israel, Jeshurun, LORD, people, refuge, Safety, saved, sword, wine. Leave a comment
Deuteronomy 33:26-29.
There is none like unto the God of Jeshurun, who rideth upon the heaven in thy help, and in his excellency on the sky.
The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms: and he shall thrust out the enemy from before thee; and shall say, Destroy them.
Israel then shall dwell in safety alone: the fountain of Jacob shall be upon a land of corn and wine; also his heavens shall drop down dew.
Happy art thou, O Israel: who is like unto thee, O people saved by the LORD, the shield of thy help, and who is the sword of thy excellency! And thy enemies shall be found liars unto thee; and thou shalt tread upon their high places. Deuteronomy 33:26-29.
25
Oct
Posted by AgapeFocus in BIBLE PASSAGES ON MARRIAGE, Sexual Fulfilment. Tagged: 1Corinthians 7:1-5, bride, bridegroom, Christ, Church, defraud ye not one the other, every man, every woman, fasting and prayer, God, her own husband, his own wife, Israel, love in action, purity, render due benevolence, Song of Solomon, Song of Songs, to avoid fornication. Leave a comment
1 CORINTHIANS 7:1-5;
1. Now concerning the things whereof ye wrote unto me: It is good for a man not to touch a woman.
2. Nevertheless, to avoid fornication, let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband.
3. Let the husband render unto the wife due benevolence: and likewise also the wife unto the husband.
4.The wife hath not power of her own body, but the husband:and likewise also the husband hath not power of his own body, but the wife.
5.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. (1 Corinthians 7:1-5)
SONG OF SOLOMON
2. Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth: for thy love is better than wine.
10. Thy cheeks are comely with rows of jewels, thy neck with chains of gold.
12. While the king sitteth at his table, my spikenard sendeth forth the smell thereof.
13. A bundle of myrrh is my wellbeloved unto me, he shall lie all night betwixt my breasts.
14. My beloved is unto me as a cluster of camphire in the vineyards of En-gedi. —(Song of Solomon 1:2,10,12,13,14)
- I am the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valleys.
- As the lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters.
- As the apple tree among the tree of the wood, so is my beloved among the sons. I sat under his shadow with great delight, and his fruit was sweet to my taste.
- He brought me into his banqueting house, and his banner over me was love.
- Stay me with flagons, comfort me with apples: for I am sick of love.
- His left hand is under my head, and his right hand doth embrace me.
- I charge you, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, by the roes, and by the hinds of the field, that ye stir not up, nor awake my love, till he please. …(Song of Solomon 2: 1-7).
1.How beautiful are thy feet with shoes, O prince’s daughter! The joints of thy thighs are like jewels, the work of the hands of a cunning workman.
2.Thy navel is like a round goblet, which wanteth not liquor: thy belly is like an heap of wheat set about with lilies. 3.Thy two breasts are like two young roes that are twins.
4.Thy neck is as a tower of ivory; thine eyes like the fishpools in Heshbon, by the gate of Bathrabbim:..
Song of Solomon 7: 1-4..
7. Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it: if a man would give all the substance of his house for love, it would utterly be contemned. 8. We have a little sister, and she hath no breasts: what shall we do for our sister in the day when she shall be spoken for ?9. If she be a wall, we will build upon her a palace of silver: and if she be a door, we will inclose her with boards of cedar.
10. I am a wall, and my breasts like towers: then was I in his eyes as one that found favour.
Song of Solomon 8:7-10.
Please, read and meditate on the whole of Song of Solomon. Grace be with you.
.
12
May
Posted by AgapeFocus in On Relationship, Relationship with In-laws. Tagged: boundaries, cordial, daughter-in-law, distant family members, epistle to the hebrews, extended family, Genesis 2:24, Hebrews 12:14. Psalm 34:14, honour, human-rights, in-laws, Israel, Jesus Christ one of Ruth's descendants, Jethro, King David, marriage, marriage institution, Moab, Moses, moses wife, mother-in-law, Naomi, not put asunder, peace, religion, respect, Ruth, siblings, son-in-law. Leave a comment
By in-laws we mean the parents, siblings, and both close as well as distant family members of your spouse. In most parts of the Western world, especially in the United Kingdom, the extended family members are excluded. This is not so in Nigeria and many parts of Africa. What should be the relationship between a man, his wife and their in-laws? It should be cordial. However, the experiences of many people built from first-hand interactions, plus verbal and written reports of others, have proved that some relationships could be far from being cordial. As Christians we are to seek peace and pursue peace(Psalms 34:14). That means we should do everything within our God-given abilities to be at peace within ourselves individually and between ourselves and other persons. In the Epistle to the Hebrews it is written: Follow peace with everyone and holiness without which no person would see the Lord(Hebrews 12:14).
Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife(united with her and cleave together)and become one flesh[Genesis 2:24]. – And the woman too. There is nowhere in the Bible where permission is given to the woman to remain with her father and mother after getting married. Does that imply a break up with one’s parents and siblings or cousins? Not at all. It is the drawing up of boundaries and the recognition of such boundaries by all the parties involved. It is the giving of respect and honour to the rights and independence of the new couple as another unit created by God for companionship, for pure and holy mutual sexual pleasure and fulfillment; and for procreation and the raising up of disciplined children.
We see the examples of Moses relating well with his father-in-law. Jethro counselled Moses in administration when he was over working himself. Thus he was able to delegate part of his duties and work more efficiently. Jethro earlier on brought Moses’ wife Zipporah and their two sons whom Moses had left behind when he went to meet Pharaoh. The relationship between Ruth and her mother-in-law, Naomi, was very cordial. If Naomi had been nosy and critical or unfriendly, that responsible, loving and highly respected daughter-in-law of hers would never have opted to leave her homeland of Moab for Israel; more so after their bereavements. She chose to remain with her mother-in-law after her father-in-law and later her own husband have died. She was a strong and faithful supporter and source of comfort. She got rewarded with a loving husband in the end. In fact both King David and our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ were in her lineage!
Examples also abound in this generation. There is the example of initial misunderstandings between the writer’s mother and his wife. These were later resolved to the extent that the two women became friends and confidants till the old woman died. During the period of misunderstanding, the writer stood his ground and protected his wife without being disrespectful to his mother. We have seen other examples where the husband or the wife chose to be rude to elders, whilst protecting their spouses. That is not proper.
Writing under the topic ‘The Expected’ and ‘The Unexpected’ in our marriage journey; and making references to parents-in-law, Drs. Thomas and Agnes Odejide wrote in their book
40 YEARS AFTER I SAID
I do
, published by Jesus Joy Publishing, 2011; pages 33-34
:
-my father died in 1990 at the age of 75. We did not regard his ‘home call’ as a tragedy even though we would have wished he had lived longer. It was expected that we would survive him so we celebrated his life during the burial ceremony. My mother followed about a decade later in 2000; she was 80 years old. My mother-in-law followed in 2001; she was over 80 years old. My father-in-law was the last to pass on in 2005 at the age of over a hundred years! We felt happy at the ‘home callings’ of our parents at very ripe ages We were particularly happy that God gave us the opportunity to take care of them. Although none of them lived with us permanently, we were not far from them and our home was always open to them. To God be the glory.
That is another example of honouring our in-laws as well as keeping necessary boundaries.
We cannot afford to lose our focus. God and posterity depend on us. The marriage institution must not be toyed with. Therefore those whom God has joined together, let no man; let no woman, let no legal, social, cultural or governmental policy or establishment toy with nor put asunder! Amen.
1
Mar
Posted by AgapeFocus in GRACE. Tagged: all-sufficient grace, Almighty God, appease, atoning, bring, Calvary, Canaan, creator, cross, cruel, dirty nails, Egypt, escape, eternal, faithful disciples, find, grace of God, great salvation, greetings of the season, heart-cry, how shall we, Israel, Jerusalem, lent, life of jesus christ, mockery, now, only begotten son, paradise, place of the skull, pole, sacrifice, saved, say so, serpent, son jesus christ, tell, the blood of Jesus, the Holy Spirit, the redeemed, thorns on his head, trial, whipping post, whosoever, wilderness. Leave a comment
Greetings of the season to you all. Lent is the period from Ash Wednesday to Easter (40 week days) when adherents to the Christian faith observe a time of fasting and praying to remember Christ’s fast in the wilderness. This has been a very old tradition. It is very good. More important however, is the fact that Christ expects more than that from us Christians, if we truly claim to love him. What did Christ do for us? He emptied himself of his glory and came down into this rotten world of ours. He became human, took the position of a servant, went about doing good, lived a sinless live, submitted himself to human insults and indignities, got arrested, tried, tortured, slapped, spat upon, tied to a whipping post and flogged to the point of exhaustion and virtual death, with his innocent blood splashed all over him and all over the ground. His looks became disgusting and his form irreconcilable to his watching mother, Mary and other faithful disciples, who were too stunned to believe what they saw! It was spectacular enough that the CREATOR of the whole world submitted himself to his creatures. Jesus Christ, the WORD of GOD, through whom the world was created, did this for the purpose of rescuing humankind from sin, the greatest calamity that ever plaqued the human race! GOD ALMIGHTY could not be appeased and satisfied by any other means than through the life sacrifice of His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ. No other blood was clean enough for a ransome!No human effort could match up with the life of Jesus Christ! The Holy Blood shed on the Cross, fully satisfied The Holy Almighty God! The life of Jesus was given as his blood was spilled on that cross in Jerusalem, outside the city walls, on Calvary, at the ‘Place of the Skull’. Jesus was killed like a criminal, on a dirty, old cross, with dirty nails through his hands and feet and a crown of thorns on his head. The film ‘Passion of Christ’, is very good, but I hereby say that it was yet a simpler version of the actual pain and suffering borne by Jesus Christ, over 2000 years ago! As Jesus hung on that dirty cross, in great pain, he had time to listen to the sincere heart-cry of a criminal, crucified beside him. To the last-minute prayer and cry of that repentant criminal, Jesus said: ”Today you shall be with me in Paradise”. To that thief it was a narrow escape to Paradise! To every other person, it may not always be the same story. There is a time to respond to the love of God before it is too late. Jesus said: For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life (John 3:16). God gave his only begotten Son, when he was born as a human being(a baby boy) on the first Christmas. The giving was actually made complete when Jesus died on the cross! He gave his life by shedding his blood in my place and in your place. He did this even before we knew him. Jesus gave his life when we were so hopeless as a human race. He provided access to God through his atoning eternal sacrifice. Since then till NOW, there is hope for every person(WHOSOEVER). Jesus also said, by way of a simile: And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life(John3:14-15). He made reference to the children of Israel in the wilderness during their journey from Egypt to Canaan. The Israelites sinned by complaining against God and Moses. Snakes were sent to bite them to such a quick extent that many died! Being terrified, the Israelites quickly repented and pled for mercy. God then responded by insructing Moses: Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live (Numbers 21:8). Moses obeyed God and lifted up the brass statue of the snake upon a pole. He then called upon the people to look at the brass serpent. Indeed, as God said, so it was that ALL those who LOOKED at the serpent, lifted upon a pole, survived the poisonous venom of the fiery serpents and LIVED! More than any simile, JESUS CHRIST hung upon the cross for hours outside Jerusalem city wall 2000+ years ago, to pay the price that sin demanded (DEATH). Centuries before then, God spoke through Prophet Isaiah and said: Look unto me and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else (Isaiah 45:22). Jesus himself has said to you and me to look unto him in order to be saved. Paul said: How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him;God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to his own will?(Hebrews 2:3-4). My friend, are you saved?Please, be saved today. NO REASON FOR ANYONE TO BE LOST AFTER GOD HAS MADE SURE THAT SALVATION IS AVAILABLE THROUGH JESUS CHRIST! What more can and should we do for Jesus? TELL others what JESUS has done for you. Let the redeemed of the LORD say so. If you are saved, tell your family, friends and acquaintances. FIND them. TELL them. BRING them to JESUS. Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. There is grace upon grace. There is all-sufficient grace! Please, take action now! God bless you.
AgapeFocus 
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