Tuesday, September 24, 2013
Sex! | Institute of Love
The Bible says that because there is so much sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife, and each woman should have her own husband. In other words, Gods answer and provision to counter sexual immorality is to get married and have frequent sex! The husband should fulfill his wife’s sexual needs, and the wife should fulfill her husband’s needs. It simply means finding out what your spouse needs, when and how. That's why it says not to deprive each other of sexual relations, unless you both agree to refrain from sexual intimacy for a limited time so you can give yourselves more completely to prayer. Afterward, you should come together again so that Satan won’t be able to tempt you because of your lack of self-control. It is Gods will, who created sex, for you to satisfy and protect your spouse! (See 1. Corinthians 7:2-5)
Monday, September 23, 2013
Reason For Divorce For Ministers | Institute of Love
Here is the reason why so many Christian marriages in the ministry break down or end up in divorce; it is because the husband lives like an unmarried man, prioritizing all his time doing the Lord's work, only thinking of how to please God instead of thinking about his earthly responsibilities of how to please his wife. The same thing can be said about the wife, who lives like an unmarried woman, busy devoting herself to God and ministry only, instead of thinking about her earthly responsibilities of how to please her husband. (See 1. Corinthians 7:32-34) Because of not having their marriage priorities in the right place, you often see that couples like these end up depriving each other of sexual relations and they ultimately become easy prey for Satan, who is able to tempt them to commit adultery. (See 1. Corinthians 7:5) That is why God says that we should give honor to marriage and remain faithful to one another in marriage, because He will surely judge people who are immoral and those who commit adultery. (See Hebrews 13:4)
Monday, September 16, 2013
Why Jesus Spoke On Tithing | Institute of Love
Tithing is being referred to in the New Testament a couple of times as a historical fact when it talks about Abraham paying a tenth of all he had won in the battle and gave it to Melchizedek, priest and king of the city of Salem, and also how the Levites under the Old Covenant were to receive the tithes of the people. (See Hebrews 7:1-2, 4-5) The other times when tithing is mentioned in the New Testament are when Jesus warns against the hypocrisy of the teachers of religious law and Pharisees who tithed and yet ignored other important parts of the Law of Moses. Jesus clearly spoke in accordance to the “Old Covenant” laws, since the Law of Moses was still in force during the lifetime of Jesus here on earth. It would have been “sin” for Him at this time to teach against it. Jesus was just reinforcing that tithing was a requirement under the Old Covenant, and therefore He commanded a man, that He had just healed from leprosy, to uphold the pertaining requirements of the Old Testament law. (See Matthew 23:23-24 and Matthew 8:3-4) That is why neither Jesus nor His disciples ever taught that a New Testament born-again believer should pay tithes!!! NEVER!!! Instead, we are being taught that we as Christians must each decide in our own hearts how much money to give, and that we should never give reluctantly or in response to pressure. For God loves a person who gives cheerfully. And God will generously provide all you need. Then you will always have everything you need and plenty left over to share with the poor. (See 2. Corinthians 9:7-8) The Bible even goes as far as to say that your giving should not make life easy for others and hard for yourselves! (See 2. Corinthians 8:13)
Friday, September 13, 2013
God’s Thoughts | Institute of Love
This morning I was reminded by God to prophecy over His people, telling them that He says; My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,
and my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts. I will give you the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep My love is and experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. I will make you complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from Me. I am able, through My mighty power at work within you, to accomplish infinitely more than you might ask or think! Because what is impossible for people is possible with Me, says God!!! (See Isaiah 55:8-9, Ephesians 3:18-20 & Luke 18:27)
Monday, September 9, 2013
Why The Devil Attacks Godly Marriages | Institute of Love
Satan knows that a godly marriage reflects Christ and His bride, the Church, where the husband, who is the head of his wife, loves his wife just as Christ, who is the head of the church, loves His church. Just like Jesus who gave up His life for the church to make her holy and clean, washed by the cleansing of God’s word to present her to himself as a glorious church without a spot or wrinkle or any other blemish, holy and without fault, the husband ought to love his wife as he loves his own body. For a man who loves his wife actually shows love for himself. No one hates his own body but feeds and cares for it, just as Christ cares for the church. In addition to the husband and wife submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ, the wife should respect and submit to her husband in everything, just like the church submits to Christ. (See Ephesians 5:22-33) The main reason the Devil attacks godly marriages is because such holy covenants produce generational godly offspring and are extremely effective examples and testimonies, which threatens his evil kingdom. He will want to make sure that none of this happens by striking preemptively, seducing and tempting godly men and women to marry the wrong the person. Be aware!!!
Saturday, September 7, 2013
False Prophets | Institute of Love
False prophets are per definition liars who prophecy according to the idols in the heart of people (See Ezekiel 14:4) and give visions and predictions from their own imagination. These false prophets discourage the righteous with lies and make them sad and disillusioned, just like these false women prophets did in the book of Ezekiel. At the other hand, they encourage the wicked by promising them life and all sorts of blessings and breakthroughs, even though these people continue to live in their sins. (See Ezekiel 13:17-23) Jesus specifically told us how to discern these false prophets when He said; “Beware of false prophets who come disguised as harmless sheep but are really vicious wolves. You can identify them by their fruit, that is, by the way they act. Can you pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? A good tree produces good fruit, and a bad tree produces bad fruit. A good tree can’t produce bad fruit, and a bad tree can’t produce good fruit. So every tree that does not produce good fruit is chopped down and thrown into the fire. Yes, just as you can identify a tree by its fruit, so you can identify people by their actions.” Matthew 7:15-20 NLT
Friday, September 6, 2013
Be Careful With Temptation | Institute of Love
You need to be careful not to fall into the same temptation when you are trying to help another believer who fell into some (sexual) sin back onto the right path. It has to be done through a gentle and humble attitude of sharing each other's burden, and not through a prideful and arrogant attitude of thinking that you are flawless and too important to help someone, because you would only be fooling yourself. You are not that important! (See Galatians 6:1-3) Therefore, “if you think you are standing strong, be careful not to fall. The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience!” 1. Corinthians 10:12-13 NLT Instead, you ought to watch and pray that you yourself will not give into temptation. Remember, the spirit is willing, but the body is weak! (See Matthew 26:41) That is why Jesus taught us to pray to the Father the following; don’t let us yield to temptation!!! (See Matthew 6:13)
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