It is not good enough to refrain from pronouncing negative words in our children’s lives; we need to take an extra and much-needed step in pronouncing positive declarations over them. A field with no weeds remains a fruitless field if no seeds are planted in it. It is the planting of good seeds that causes it to produce good fruits. As life is spoken to our children's hearing (not just in your private prayers), it becomes the hum in their lives. 

A farmer knows that if he/she wants a harvest (certain outcome), good seeds need to be sown in advance in order to generate a harvest. Likewise, to generate a joyful and glorious atmosphere in your home and marriage, there are seeds that need to be planted prior, to acquiring the desired atmosphere outcome. This is where aphrodisiacs come in!

In our last blog, ‘Vulnerable- Part 1’, we talked about what it looks like to be vulnerable. In today’s blog post, we will examine some hindrances that prevent people from being vulnerable with their spouses and explore how to deal with such barriers.

“And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.” (Genesis 2:25, NKJV)

This was what happened after God created woman (Eve) out of man (Adam) and presented her to Adam and he confirmed her as the bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh (Genesis 2:21-24). The first time I truly understood this above passage in Genesis 2:25 was when I got married. You see, normally as humans, we are not keen to show our nakedness to the world but when a man and a woman get married, that is meant to change. Nakedness is not just physical but spans different aspects of a person’s life including emotional, mental, and spiritual aspects of their lives. Let’s look at some practical examples of what it means to be vulnerable in these different areas

In the last blog, we discussed some wisdom nuggets in dealing with in-loves (aka in-laws) from the perspective of daughters/sons-in-loves. Today, we will be focusing on how parents/siblings-in-law should treat and relate to their in-loves.

I remember in high school when a senior female student mentioned hoping her mother-in-law was not alive when she wanted to get married. I had not experienced difficulties with mothers-in-law firsthand but I had seen movies where it depicted animosity between the wife and the mother-in-law with most portraying the husband’s mother as a “monster-in-law”. In today’s blog, we will explore some wisdom nuggets that can be applied by daughters/sons-in-law in relating to their in-laws.

We have a gas cooker and I was happy enough to have it to cook our regular meals. One day we had a friend visit that was so ecstatic about it and honestly, I didn’t understand why she was so excited about the cooker because it was “just” a cooker until she mentioned it had racks that help with grilling or barbecuing food items. I became way more excited about it because I could visualize several fun ideas I could do with our meals. It moved from being just a regular cooker to a super cooker in my mind. In the very same way, when God created each and every person in a family, they weren’t “regular” people but “extraordinary” people/carbon copies of God (remember we were made in the image and likeness of God- Genesis 1:27).

The perfect storm or circumstance allowed the true nature of Hagar to be revealed. Hagar was a woman that had the seed of covetousness but just like every seed requires the right condition for it to grow, in Hagar’s case, the perfect storm of Abraham and Sarah being desperate provided the seed of covetousness to germinate. Covetousness is a deadly seed that if allowed to grow, causes a lot of damage and all sorts of evil. Covetousness stems from envy and jealousy of another person (another’s possession, another’s friend, another’s attention/time, another’s position, another’s vision, etc). Where there is envy or jealousy, there are all kinds of evil and confusion (James 3:16).

Let’s examine how covetousness grows and how to deal with it!

Signal jammers are devices and software utilized in blocking the flow of information from a device or place. Take for an example a mobile phone jammer or blocker, this device will deliberately transmit signals on the same radio frequency as the mobile phone it wants to jam, thereby interfering and disrupting any communication between that cell phone and the cell’s tower or base station, thereby successfully disabling that cell phone or any cell phones within the range of that jammer and effectively preventing such phones from receiving any signals and transmitting any signals from them. Likewise, in a home, there are some signal jammers that we need to ensure are not allowed access into our home, as this can interrupt us from receiving signals from God. Let’s examine some signal jammers and how that can affect the destiny of a home or people in a home.

The bible reminds us not to be ignorant of the devices of the enemy (2 Corinthians 2:11) and we need to be mindful that our home and family are at war with the devil. He has a target on your family and home. A family consists of a father, mother (marriage), and children. Marriages and children are target points for the devil and it requires divine strategies from God to effectively neutralize the schemes of the enemy. Studying materials on effective parenting, having a godly home, etc are very good and highly encouraged, but it takes discernment and specific wisdom from the HolySpirit to know which of these weapons and strategies need to be employed when tackling specific attacks on your home.

Trojans or moles such as the daughter of the king of the north, are not only just restricted to spouses but can be friendships we open our home to, materials we see and hear that gain access to our heart and begin to corrupt the foundation of our marriage or relationship. Eve listened to the voice of the serpent in the garden of Eden and moved from dwelling in a place of bliss to one of toiling. (Genesis 3). She moved from having a marriage of peace to one where blame and shame took over.

Any God-ordained relationship or marriage is an entrustment from God, where He is bringing a man and a woman together with the aim to fulfill a vision of His. Marriage is way more than “I like you, you like me” and it goes deeper than that. God has found two people that He can trust, and I mean trust, to fulfill His divine purpose. This is the reason why God releases a special kind of favor when a man finds a wife, which is considered good in the sight of God.

Wounds have a way of interfering with so many things in a person’s life. When you look at a physical wound, it has the potential of taking your attention from other important issues and causes you to focus on the pain at hand. If untreated, it doesn’t just end there but can begin to get infected, causing more havoc, pain and depending on the severity of such wound, it can eventually lead to amputation. The same goes for wounds in marriage.

In the previous blog post titled, “The S Word- Part 4: Displays of Submission”, we examined how “honour” is at the root of submission and how that can be displayed through our thoughts, speech, and actions/conduct. In today’s post, we will go deeper in submission and explore some practical steps you can take in adapting to your husband. In Peters 3:1 (AMPC), it likens submission to “adapting” to your own husbands.

At the root of submission is honor. According to the Cambridge dictionary, honor is celebrating or showing great respect for someone or something. Honor is a thing of the heart that gets expressed first in the thought realm and eventually gets expressed outwardly in our speech and actions. This is depicted in Luke 6:45, which says: “A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks” (NKJV, Emphasis in bold). Join me as we explore honor in our thoughts, speech and actions.

Submission entails a lot of sacrifice/ dying to one’s flesh but you may be wondering, what is in it for me? When you examine the root of any conscious sacrifice, you will discover that the benefits derived from such sacrifice outweighs the costs of that sacrifice, making it worthwhile. The same goes with submission in marriage. Join me as we explore some of the perks/ benefits of submission.

In a relay race, one of the runners in the team passes the baton to the other team member, all to achieve one prize as a team. It doesn’t make sense if one of the runners decides to run on their own and neglect the other members. Such a team would be disqualified. Knowing you are one, solidifies your union in marriage and allows for a greater reward.

In our last blog on The “S” word- Part 1, we explored what true submission is, and one of the truths mentioned is that submission is a choice. It is not something that is forced but comes from a place of love. We further discussed how submission is a display of strength and not weakness. In the words of someone, submission is “strength put under control”, which is a depiction of wisdom and character. Lastly, we explored how submission is meant to be expressed towards your own husband and not your fiance, your boyfriend, or another lady’s husband. Today, we will be exploring the 5 different requirements for submission.

The “S” word: “Submission” is almost an abomination to many ladies today and one of the reasons for this is because there is a lack of understanding of what true submission means and the benefits attached to it. It is unfortunate that some have painted a wrong picture of what it means to submit. In some cases, it has been portrayed from a slavery perspective, where the woman has no voice in our own home and is stepped upon like a floor mat.

In some other cases, it is wrongfully believed to mean a woman is subdued by any man they encounter in their lives, whether their husband or any man on the planet earth. As such, many ladies have a stern hatred and I mean hatred, for the concept of submission.

Today, let’s take a deep dive into what true submission is.

The Black Friday Sale is a well-anticipated sale of the year, where stores have one of the lowest prices on different items. In fact, some people end up fighting with other shoppers over items they want, in order to possess it as their own. How much more, your marriage!

Are you getting tired of a marriage that you know God-ordained for you but it just seems like nothing is changing but instead getting worse? Don’t give up! It is worth fighting for your marriage! Paul said in 2 Timothy 4:7 “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, and I have remained faithful” (NLT). Not all fights are good but marriage is one that is good and definitely worth fighting for. Now, I don’t mean physically but in other ways that we will explore today.