Open Heaven for Today 23 December 2017: Saturday daily devotional by Pastor E. A. Adeboye

MARRIAGE: COMPANIONSHIP - Saturday December 23^rd 2017

Memorise: “And the Lord God said, it is not good that the man should be alone;
 I will make him an help meet for him.” Genesis 2:18

Read: Genesis 2:15-18 (KJV)

^2:15 And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.

^2:16 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:

^2:17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

^2:18 And the Lord God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.

Bible in one year: Proverbs 17-20, Zachariah 11:1-14, Sing Hymn 16

MESSAGE:

Quite a number of people today enter into marriage for all the wrong seasons, which is why we need  to ask ourselves this question: Why marriage? The first reason is companionship. To full understand God’s purpose, let’s take look at the beginning. After God created the firmament, the seas, all the plants and animals, He afterwards made man in the Garden of the Eden. However, as He watched life unfold, He realized that of all the creatures, it was only Adam who had no one of his kind. The trees could produce through their seeds; the animals also had male and female species and thereby multiply. Adam only was the lone ranger in this earthly paradise. Yes, he was in charge. Agreed he was the god of the whole earth as that time. Indeed, all animals, birds and fish submitted to him, and true he had great relationship with them all, but God still saw that there was an issue of loneliness with Adam that no pet or animal could solve. In Genesis 2:18, the Bible says,

“And the LORD God said, it is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.” 

God categorically said it is not good for a man to be alone. It is great to go through bachelorhood and spinsterhood during your youthful days. It is an experience you may never get back after going past that stage in life. Nevertheless, at some point, God wants you to be married. He wants you to have worthy companion. Today, in many homes, companionship is still lacking even after marriage. This is quite unfortunate! Couples marry and stay far apart from each other, this is recipe for disaster and negates basis for marriage in the first place. A marriage relationship cannot be what it was meant to be as long as the vital ingredient of companionship is missing. For this reason, if a couple who have been married for 30 years become separated  for some 10 to 15 years, by the time they come together again, they would be like total strangers to each other. Are you married? Is your spouse your companion? Some people are ashamed to attend social outing with their wives; why then did you marry her? Do you spend time in each other’s company? Do you enjoy the company of your spouse or do you prefer to keep company with other people? Your legally wedded spouse should be your ideal companion! Is it so with you?  

Key point:

Pets are fast replacing human spouses as companions! We are really in perilous times.

Open Heavens Daily Devotional Lessons was written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye, the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, one of the largest evangelical Church in the world and also the President of Christ the Redeemer's Ministries.
iOpenHeavens is the electronic version of the Hard Copy. 

SingHymn16

GOD GIVE US CHRISTIAN HOMES

Verse 1:

God give us Christian homes!
Homes where the Bible is loved and taught,
Homes where the Master’s will is sought,
Homes crowned with beauty

Thy love hath wrought;
God give us Christian homes;
God give us Christian homes!

Verse 2:

God give us Christian homes!
Homes where the father is true and strong,
Homes that are free from the blight of wrong,
Homes that are joyful with love and song;
God give us Christian homes;
God give us Christian homes!

Verse 3:

God give us Christian homes!
Homes where the mother, in caring quest,
Strives to show others Thy way is best,
Homes where the Lord is an honored guest;
God give us Christian homes;
God give us Christian homes!

Verse 4:

God give us Christian homes!
Homes where the children are led to know
Christ in His beauty who loves them so,
Homes where the altar fires burn and glow;
God give us Christian homes;
God give us Christian homes!