Transcription
My wife and I, many years ago, will attend a friend's wedding. And during the Thanksgiving, you know, people go around and dance around to go and do Thanksgiving. Is that okay? Can I have a, can I have a couple here in church? Any couple sitting near each other, come to me quickly. Okay, come here. Is that okay?
They were dancing. They just got married. They were dancing. You're a good wife. She was climbing up the stairs. She didn't find her husband. She stopped and looked back. I didn't ask you to clap. Come here. Here in friends of these guys getting married are very spiritual guys. And they were all around in the wedding. And suddenly there was a prompting in the spirit that one of them should stay behind the couple dancing for Thanksgiving. You know, time when you just got married, you're excited, you are not conscious of your environment, just dance and dance. So they were dancing and they created a little gap to allow them dance very well. And there's this strange woman, she was dancing also, joining other people. And she wanted to dance in between them. This brother that God had prompted him, stood here. As she was dancing to pass by, he also dances and pushes her back. Are you getting the picture?
And then she went round three times. She went around three times. And she comes again and dances and laughs to them. Once to pass through, that brother dances back and pushes her out again. After the wedding, that woman went to fight the brother and said, "On a wedding day, why are you stopping me from the assignment I was sent to do from the coven?" Can I pray with you? Every spiritual arrangement against your home will fail. So you must be strong in the spirit because somebody is not even happy that you are married. I to talk of having children, having grandchildren, and living very well. They just want to mess you up. But he that is spiritual judges all things.
Friends, marriage is not about kisses and emotions alone. That's part of it, but that's not all that interprets marriage. Marriage is very spiritual. And I can tell you, my wife followed one great man to go and do the wedding in Aitt somewhere. They went to do wedding. E call and they were saying, "Let's do quickly." So 5:00 AM they woke up to start cooking rice. Rice. Now they cook rice from 5:00 AM till 9:00. What kind of rice are you cooking? The rice didn't cook. They put fire under it. They were burning it. Water was there. Rice was on fire. Now it's 8 hours. Rice didn't cook until a brother came and said, "Hey, can't you guys know the enemy is doing something here?" And so stood there and rebuked and spoke to the fire, spoke to the rice, say, "Don't share." Do not trivialize the spirituality of your relationship. Is that a wise counsel for anybody? In UC, a lady fell into labor and she was not going to be able to deliver. And it was tough. It was a prolonged, painful labor. And a brother came and said, "Doctor, please help me. Ask this nurse to go and get something. Not in America. You to go and get something if it's for one minute." So the doctor said, "No." So, "And so, please help us get kica kica." And then she went out. Before she came back, the lady delivered. Can I pray with you? Every spiritual arrangement to make your journey hard, that arrangement fails today. Everything you said to do, your marriage will be peaceful, your marriage will be pleasant, your child delivery will be pleasant, your progress will be definite. God will watch over you and we will rejoice with your family. You will make good progress in the name of Jesus. Say talking on spirituality, this is me and my wife where God married. I have always loved my wife. And then we notice God give us grace to help people in their relation, relationship. No matter how clumsy the marriage problem is, all once we are involved. I today, I can't explain. I don't know how many people on divorce ground God has helped us. We need to do Mar Thanksgiving back for them. Just by canceling. Are you getting my story? Then initially, when we started having this laboring over people's homes and what have you, I will notice me and my wife, we're not quarreling. We are fine. We are friends, really. And then we talk. And then we go and counsel one family and their problem gets solved. And then before we get home, we start quarreling for nothing. I said, "Now, wow." So I said, "Maybe we should not get involved in people's family matter again because me and you on our normal ground, we are happy people. We are doing very well. So what is this issue of of solving somebody's problem?" Then me and my wife start fighting. I I would rather choose my wife than to solve anybody's problem. I, me, let me have peace at home. Who knows what I'm talking about? And the one I told fav, when you look at what you are quarreling about, it's nothing. You can't trace it to anything. Who knows what I'm talking about here?
And then God said to me, "You think the devil is a joke? That you are recovering people's home and you think he would attack your own home? You better build your spiritual defenses." So we started praying every day. Ah, my wife enjoyed praying. And so when she got pregnant, that's why our baby. That time we, one of her name is Adura. L, prayer is profiting. I will hold my wife's hand like this every morning with her big tummy, three hours intercession. Tire, three hours. So from that time, only God knows how many homes God has recovered by our counseling and input. Broke. When I say broken, I mean legally divorced for years. One lady finished hearing me teaching about marriage. I say, "Sir, I am divorced. It's now 7 years." You know the lady, it's now 7 years. But listening to you, I want my husband back. I think I was foolish that I broke my marriage. I said, "You can have her back. You can have him back." He said, "But we are legally divorced." So, and both parents gave their consent that we we are safer apart. As and then we prayed with her, counsel her. And and she has a restriction order because this is not in Nigeria. She has a police restriction order that that guy must not come near his environment, our environment at all. But you know what God did? This God is amazing. God now start moving the heart of the husband to the wife and was moving the heart of the husband, the wife to the husband. And to Mako. And after I prayed with her, I told her said, "In 3 months, your marriage will be back." He said, "Seven years divorce will be back in 3 months?" He said, "I'm waiting to see." Said, "Just take all the counsel we have given you." And then the guy called and said, "I know we're divorced. I know that, um, I shouldn't come near you. In fact, he's not permitted to even call her on the phone. I know calling you now is an offense. But I beg you, my heart have desired you of late. I just find myself lost in your love. Is anything possible?" Then the lady called me and said, "Let me do for." I was, "Is it your strength that moved his heart?" I said, "You better respond." And said, "Even my own heart too has been looking for you." Because long story short, they had to do another marriage Thanksgiving, went back to court, remarried the second time, and today they are living as though they never had a problem. You won't believe it. But until we fought to save our own marriage in that initial phase, every time we counsel a couple, we will counsel for nothing, for nothing. So we pray that and we won. Now, I don't know how many people have cancered. No shaking. We've gotten to another level. Is that okay? No shaking. Praise God.
Spirituality of your relationship. When you pray together as a couple, you will see things the same way. Spirituality of your relationship. When you pray together, Bible say two is better than one. And if two agree as touching anything, anything that bothers me, the word anything, if two agree touching anything, they will have what they have requested for. That's amazing. You want to enjoy the spirituality in your marriage? Pray with your spouse. Talk with your spouse. Be a friendly person to your spouse. Don't car this mentality and said, "Stop announcing you are the head of your home." Headship is not by announcement, it's by responsibility. Be a responsible man and your wife will honor you for life. Grow in wisdom. It is wisdom never to think divorce. Because everybody is a product of his thoughts. Are you hearing me? Everybody is a product of his thoughts. So you be a wise person to say to yourself, there are things I will not think about in this marriage. No matter what happened, I won't think divorce. I won't threaten my spouse. Is that okay? If I don't have an answer, I will keep quiet until we in a better frame of mind to talk. Because you are a product of your thoughts. Never beat your wife. Wives, never beat your husband. Because it's in Nigeria or in Africa that men beat their wives. Overseas, it is wives that beat husbands. He will slap you and say, "I will call police." Are you hearing me? So both ways, don't beat each other. Don't threaten each other. Don't harass each other. Are you getting my counsel? Wisdom will help the way you manage your family finances so that you don't get stranded. Where's your notebook? Go and get your notebook and be writing. Are you getting it? Wisdom will help you not to allow unnecessary interference in your home. It takes wisdom. It takes wisdom. Any vision anybody gives you that breaks your marriage is not from God. God does not break people's marriage. My wife knows this story. When M started family life conference, we call it healing season. You remember what happened many years ago? Many years. Can remember how many years now? A man had divorced his wife because he went to see a prophet. And the prophet told him, "This is a very wealthy man." The prophet told him that your enemies are within your house. For for, and I should watch his wife. He should watch his wife. That's why I keep warning some of you. You can't sit with the word of God. His vision and prophecy you are looking for around. May you not confuse yourself. Bible study life, zero. Prayer life, zero. Everything, zero. But you are looking for visions around. May you not confuse yourself. This is a life story I'm telling you. This man, because he's wealthy, is careful. He doesn't eat outside. So every time he wants to eat, he goes back home. The driver takes him home to take lunch, then he goes back to office. You that kind of routine. So he was coming home. The wife didn't know anybody has prophesied anything to him. You understand? He was making the man's food. Vegetable. The man likes eating a lot of vegetable. And it was running late. You know the way our mothers used to do in those days that you would drop Maggi inside the hot soup that it would be melting because you needed more time to do other things. So she dropped Maggi inside the soup. So it would be melting. And she was turning it and what have you and getting the other things ready. Set the table. The husband drove in. The woman serving the vegetable, serve the undissolved Maggi with the vegetable. The man seated to eat, saw the Maggi and said, "Ah, this is confirmation." The wife said, "What are you confirming?" Said, "They already told me you want to kill me." See, see. The wife said, "The wife took it and put it in her mouth." I said, "It's my now. I put it to dissolve because you are almost home." He said, "No, no, no, no, no, no. This is the confirmation I've been waiting for." And from that day, the marriage broke. For 25 years. I'm involved. So I can, I'm telling you life story. 25 years the marriage broke. And then somebody invited them separately. When we have meeting and we ask to invite people, may you be wise enough to invite people. Somebody invited that woman separately. Somebody invited the husband separately. And they came into the same meeting. Family Life Conference. I remember we did it somewhere in Samanda that time. H, yes, we had that conference there. And the people came, large crowd. And I was teaching that day, the mystery of forgiveness. That a man can kill somebody else, shed his blood, and he bows to God, and God treats him like he never offended anybody. I say, "It's a mystery." Because normal human being will not do that. And as I was preaching, and I make statement, "If you can forget, forgive your wife, you have made yourself greater than God because God forgives men. Who are you not to forgive your spouse?" So I made utter call. Anybody in this meeting that wants to forgive the spouse and make peace, no matter what has happened, you are saying, "I want to have the nature of God. I want to forgive my spouse." I said, "Come to this altar." Big drama. People were coming to the altar. That woman was in one end in the conference. The husband was in one end in the conference. They too were moving towards the altar. As they were moving towards the altar, they sighted each other. See, this is where pastors suffer at times. They sighted each other. Instead of moving towards me, they started moving towards each other. Make call. They moved towards each other, embraced themselves, wept like a baby. That man was so blessed for what God used us to do that he gave us a land. And I gave that land to a church who was desperately looking for land. And I said, "You take it." And since I have given land, one day somebody will give MV big land. Life is sowing seed. Is that okay? It's amazing. But what led me to that story is the power of forgiveness. Wisdom. Don't break your marriage. I'm done.
Something is wrong with you. Done with who? Investment of how many years you've been married for 10 years, 20 years, you want to walk away from it? You are not wise. Why people solve problems in their homes, they don't create problems. They don't scatter their homes. Europe people says there is no matter big enough that we use knife to cut it. What do we use to do it? We use our mouth to talk about it. Talk about it. You talk, you didn't have a headway. Stop. Go and drink water, sleep, wake up the following day and continue talking. You will solve the problem. Is that well understood? God, what are the three things that must keep growing in your life? Number one, keep growing in the spirit. Don't miss church. Grow your spiritual life. Come and hear the word of God that helps you to make wise positions and decisions. What number two that must keep growing in you? Wisdom. Wisdom. Be wise not to break your marriage. Don't go and join somebody who is a who does not have a home is the one canceling you. Don't mind that man. Come out of that marriage, please. Don't come out. Stay there. It could be tough. Stay there. It could be challenging. Stay there. Ah, God bless our mothers. Have you had this languages, this language from our old mothers in those days when they marry impossible husband and they will begin to say, "Have that language before because of my children, let me remain there. Let me." It's not because of your children alone, because of your husband too. Because it's because you are fighting that's why you are telling stories. I don't like this man. I'm finished with him. No, don't finish with him. Am I helping anybody here? Huh? Are you happy you came to church today? So this is very critical to note. Last point, the grace of God. Keep growing in the grace of God. Never allow the grace of God to fail in your life. Paul says, "I do not frustrate the grace of God." Grace can be frustrated if you are not careful. Is that okay? And he said, "Don't let the grace of God be in vain over your life." Don't let the grace of God be what? In vain. Please. Grace allows you to offer forgiveness. Grace allows you to to move forward. Grace give you strength in a difficult moment. That's what grace does. That's what grace does. It is well understood. H. So the Lord will help you.