Like a lily among thorns is my darling among women. Like an apple tree among the trees of the forest, so is my dearest compared to other men. I love to sit in its (his) shadow, and its (his) fruit is sweet to my taste. - Songs 2:2-3 (GoodNewsTranslation) REFERENCE Songs of Solomon 1:16-2:4 If you have a spouse with whom you can freely express such words as we find in our key verses today, you are indeed favored of the Lord; your thanksgiving should make angels blush. It is the desire of almost all young men and women...
Better is a neighbor (friend) nearby than a brother far away. - Proverbs 27:10 REFERENCE Proverbs 27:10 As you reflect on God’s goodness in 2016, you can see the significant roles that people you are in close relationship with made in your life. Think about who celebrated you on your birthday, who sent those encouraging text messages, who visited you in the hospital, who lent you their car to go on that important trip, who helped you in your financial crisis, who was there beside you at the hospital while your wife was inside the theater to deliver a...
When you have eaten and are full, then you shall bless the Lord your God for the good land which He has given you. – Deuteronomy 8:10 REFERENCE Deuteronomy 8:7-18 Hundreds of thousands are homeless and are starved of life’s basic necessities like good food and clean water. It seems the world is full of such imbalances - on one hand are people who have abundance and on the other, those who are in abject lack. We may never be able to fully explain why this seeming imbalance is so, except for the fact that we know there is...
Though the fig tree may not blossom, Nor fruit be on the vines; Though the labor of the olive may fail, And the fields yield no food; Though the flock may be cut off from the fold, And there be no herd in the stalls— Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation. - Habakkuk 3:17-18 REFERENCE Habakkuk 3:17-19 You don't have to strain too much before you hear the groanings of many Nigerians. There is much ado about the 'R' word and the state of the nation's economy. Our...
Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine in the very heart of your house, your children like olive plants all around your table. - Psalms 128:3 REFERENCE Psalm 128:1-6 What a great promise of God. The promise of a happy home where Christ is the center, and love is a hallmark. Understanding that it is not every roof that encloses a home should cause you to place value on the gift of your family. Home is meant to be a haven of peace, a bastion of security and an oasis of love. This gives today's key verse great...
Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. - Psalm 150:6 REFERENCE Psalm 150:1-6 Most times, life is the greatest gift we easily take for granted. It is one of God's most ignored gift. We get occupied by unpaid bills, unanswered prayers, unmet deadlines, broken relationships and unfulfilled dreams. We wonder at a number of unfair things around us, we get envious of our friends' seemingly better lives, we get worried about how we will accomplish goals and targets we have set. We get depressed just thinking about all these things, but we rarely pause to think about the...
But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day to save many people alive. - Genesis 50:20 REFERENCE Genesis 50:15-21 When bad things happen to us, or when we go through tough times, God is preparing us for a task ahead because nobody can truly help others solve their problems except they have been through those problems themselves. Problems don’t just come for problems’ sake, when God allows problems in our lives; it is because He has people in mind who need...
Nor was there anyone among them who lacked; for all who were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the proceeds of the things that were sold. – Acts 4:34 REFERENCE Acts 4:32-35 If you do not understand the morality of prosperity, you will never see a need to be rich. There is great need for great prosperity. It is not to buy a big house, a big car or to live large but to be a blessing to many. If you look all around you, you will see someone who can’t pay rent, pay children’s fees,...
Come therefore, let us now kill him (Joseph) and cast him into some pit; and we shall say, ‘Some wild beast has devoured him.’ We shall see what will become of his dreams! - Genesis 37:20 REFERENCE Genesis 37:5-11 Joseph's dream was a threat to his brothers; they could not understand how God could trust so much into so little a boy. They therefore thought to KILL him in order to stop the fulfillment of his DREAMS, but God restrained their madness. Reason - If your dream is from God, you will not die until you fulfill it...Jesus could not...
And the angel of the LORD appeared to him, and said to him, 'The LORD is with you, you mighty man of valor!' - Judges 6:12 REFERENCE Judges 6:11-16 God called Gideon, "Mighty man of valor," when all around him, things were not adding up but rather falling apart. It looked like a contradiction but God has a way of talking to us about where we are going to and not what we are going through. We saw that play out in the life of the patriarch Abraham; God called him “Father of all nations” even when it looked...