AFTER SUBMISSION, THEN WHAT?

We were talking about women holding leadership positions in church and SOMEHOW, one of the guys kept talking about women submitting to their husbands. One of the ladies had to say "Bros, we're not talking about husband and wife matter na".
It appears that all the Scripture some men know is "Wives, submit to your husbands"... Ish...
One of the "Evangelical Feminists" I know doesn't miss a beat in responding with "Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the church and died for her"... Hehehehe

One of the guys made perfect sense, though. As we were talking about the David/Goliath battle, he told us that it was the promises attached to killing Goliath much more than his love for God. One of the guys today said something similar as he was trying to sell one Ponzi scheme like that to me.

The scheme seemed fantastic but he was unable to tell me how the organization makes the money they are dashing out...#PonziScheme. Then I asked "Google" and I realized that the founder had been convicted in his host country.
Any scheme where you cannot see the PRODUCTS/SERVICES that are being traded is a Ponzi / Pyramid scheme. You don't have to believe me, though. Please note the words in CAPS.

How has your day been?

Today's Lesson 16062016

Acts 11
1. The disciples were "holier" than God and were annoyed that the Gospel was preached to Gentiles. We need to constantly review our lives for times when we're "holier" than the Most High and make adjustments.

2. Everyone was avoiding Saul but thank God for Barnabbas that reached out to him. I wonder what would have happened to the Epistles if there was no Barnabbas in the picture.

To Stay or To Leave

Repeat after me, "The choice to stay with or leave a cheat resides with the cheated spouse"....

On one hand, you have those that will tell you "Divorce is not an option, you MUST stay and prevail in prayers". On the other hand, you have those that mock the cheated spouse who chose to stay and work things out. I disagree with both sides...

If someone chooses to walk away from a philanderer, IT IS OKAY...I prefer that to staying and committing murder, abeg. And if someone chooses to stay and work things out, I hope they don't harbour bitterness. I also hope they allow themselves heal and take care of themselves.

The choice and guilt resides with the cheating spouse, not the cheated spouse. If there are things you could have done better, by all means fix them. Please, don't let your spouse's choices take away your joy and peace. You are still valuable to God and to humanity. Don't let your story end with "he/she stopped living because his/her spouse cheated".

All those who have opinions on what the cheated spouse should (not) do, perhaps if you wait long enough, you may be able to wear the shoes and take your own advice? Ouch, I just stepped on my own toes...

That's  my message tonight. Feel free to quarrel, I'll be gone till September, lol. Good night....

Lessons from Rahab

This (Joshua 2) is the beginning of how Rahab ended up in the genealogy of Christ.
Her country was facing an enemy invasion and it was the same attack that wiped out her country that gave her a new lease of life.

You DON'T have to go down with that "sinking ship". The flood that destroyed the world lifted Noah's ark. You can stay afloat in these times. Let God show you the path of life (Psalm 16:11). He is the Ancient of Days and the Monarch of the Universe. He knows where the "fishes" are.

Will You Be My Personal Washing Machine?

Now to the matter of national importance of whether a wife should wash her husband's clothes or not, here is my verdict...

I love washing. We have a washing machine I don't use. Why? 1) No light and 2) I am too archaic for washing machines.
When I had my baby via a C/S and my husband was told that I shouldn't do any heavy duty work for 6 weeks, he bought the washing machine. I thought, "Err Oga, shouldn't you be packing my clothes and hand washing them as a sign of your undying love?" Mba, the love no reach to wash. It took me a while to adjust to my husband's disdain for washing. When drycleaners started featuring in our conversations, I decided to wash my clothes myself. I put the bucket on a stool so I won't have to bend and I hand washed my clothes. I did it before the man came back from work.
When he came back from work and saw what I had done, he scolded me. Eventually, he left the matter. He cannot understand my love for hand washing.

For me, hand washing is my opportunity for "Me time". I sing to myself, dream and strategize. I get inspiration when I'm washing. My hands in water makes me happy. I don't understand how so many people can hate washing.

So, as an ardent lover of washing, I think a question like this is making much ado about nothing. However, what concerns me is the fact that a man is sitting somewhere putting on clothes and getting them dirty, expecting (sorry demanding) that the "slave" he bought will wash the clothes and that's a shame. For the records, I don't wash my husband's clothes. I would have loved to but he prefers giving them to drycleaners. He claims I can't scrub his collard and sleeves the way he would love them to be scrubbed so my services are not required. I will still continue to tender my proposal...

I think if the man is treating his wife well, she will not feel resentful about washing his clothes. As hard as it is for me to say, if washing is not your wife's thing, wedding vows will not miraculously make her a "washing machine". If you expect your wife to wash your clothes, sir, include it in your proposal when you're asking her to marry you. "Will you take this journey of life with me? Will you become my personal washing machine?" If she says "Yes, I'll love to"... good. If she hisses and stones you with your ring, sorry, try another lady. Lol.

Let me catch a nap now. Enjoy your day.

LET REUBEN LIVE AND NOT DIE

"Let Reuben live and not die nor his people be few..."
Deuteronomy 33: 6

Reuben was Jacob's first child. He was the heir apparent. He should have become the custodian of the Abrahamic covenant by natural order.

One day, lust came knocking at his door. The object of his lust was his father's concubine. He had a choice - put his body under or let the lust prevail. He chose to let the lust prevail. Perhaps he thought "You Only Live Once" (YOLO).

I don't believe he thought sleeping with his father's concubine was such a big deal. I can imagine him asking if it was even proper for his father to have a concubine. I can imagine him rationalizing his sin with "nobody holy pass".

After his father found out about Reuben's "indiscretion", he said NOTHING. For many years, there seemed to be no repercussions of the "indiscretion" (some suggest that he actually raped her as she was older than he was). Then on his father's death bed, when he was probably expecting to be given a double portion of the inheritance and be named as the custodian of the Abrahamic covenant, his father told him instead that he would not excel. Huh? His lust for his father's concubine was not a harmless feeling at all. It came to steal his glorious future.

I remember a sessipn I facilitated where we discussed adultery. The question was actually how a woman should react if she learns that her husband is unfaithful. The responses were interesting. Since there was a few men in the session, I decided to ask them why men cheat. Their responses were equally enlightening. One of the men said that many men cheat because they don't realize that there are GRAVE consequences. That rang true and stuck! Of course, there is that one guy that got a blow job from a random stranger then claimed she was a sea witch and had to return his destiny that she swallowed when she swallowed his sperm. We all know that his village airforce are preventing him from greatness, right?

So, for many years, Reuben and his children lived under the deserved curse. His past was hunting him. I can imagine how difficult life was. At the time Reuben himself died, the curse was still reigning. All through Moses' lifetime, the Reubenites struggled under that curse, though they were God's chosen people. Then, just before Moses died, he pronounced a blessing upon Israel. He started with Reuben and proclaimed "Let Reuben live and not die nor his people be few". It was a change in the lineage of Reuben. The "curse" had been reversed.

Today, if like Reuben, you have had an indiscretion that no one is talking about and all appears to be well, I implore you to fall on your knees and ask the Lord for mercy. Ask Him to help you. If you have been laboring under a curse due to your (in)actions, it's time to go to the Throne of Grace and receive mercy.

If you are yet to come to a saving knowledge of our Lord Jesus, please get in touch. I can help. Please send me a message either here or in an email to womentellingafricanstories@gmail.com

"Earnestly, tenderly, Jesus is calling; Calling 'O sinner come home'"

Enjoy your day.

Lessons From Acts 8

1. Meet Saul of Tarsus who became Paul the apostle. His "first impression" was a terrible one but we all know that he went on to become a great apostle. The fact that you met someone in a terrible state DOES NOT mean that's all there is to know about them. See people through the eyes of the Father.
2. The church had been ignoring the Lord's instruction to go into all the world and preach the gospel. Persecution FORCED them to obey. I'm convinced that Nigeria is seriously hit by this wave of economic downturn because we have Jonahs in our ship that are rebelling against what God has called them to do.
3. There are many "Simons" in our midst that speak "Christianese" but their hearts are full of bitterness. As Peter admonished, REPENT BEFORE THE BITTERNESS CONSUMES YOU. SELAH
4. I always wonder what would have happened if Phillip decided to go to the way called Straight later in the day. I think he would have missed the eunuch. Some scholars believe that it was through that eunuch that the gospel first came to Africa. Imagine Philip going later, seeing no one and wondering if it was truly God that spoke to him earlier in the day. There is usually a SET TIME when God gives His instructions. The duration of the SET TIME is only known to the Lord and those He chooses to reveal it to. It's in our best interest to obey immediately we confirm that it is INDEED the Lord leading us. Delay may be dangerous.

Please feel free to share the lessons you learnt.

HAPPY SUNDAY!

ABOUT DISOWNING CHILDREN

All these parents that will be threatening to disown their children amuse me. The more amusing thing is that some of them don't even have any inheritance to give the children. Some are even dependent on the children.

Are you going to take the child's birth certificate back to the Registry and request that your name be taken off as the parent? Will you sponsor newspaper adverts to tell the world that you have disowned the child?

I think that as kids grow older, the parent-child should evolve such that even when there are disageements, mutual respect should remain intact. Parents and children should respect each other. It is a two way street....

"Fathers, do not provoke your children...Children, obey your parents in the Lord"... Na so Bible talk am, abi?
One brilliant man/woman should please help me find the passage in the Scriptures abeg...

Enjoy your day.