5 PREREQUISITES FOR MARRIAGE

To study medicine in the higher institution in Nigeria, you are required to have credits in at least 5 important subjects; Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Mathematics and English. These subjects serve as the foundation for your intended course of study. They are the major science subjects, they seem difficult and challenging to most people. However, our ability to have a credit in this subjects show the possibility of our doing well in Medicine or any other science course in the University.

Similarly, there are 5 (Five) important prerequisites for marriage. These prerequisites have its basis on MATURITY. What is Maturity?

Maturity is a state where our minds have been fully and positively developed by our experience of life. Maturity has absolutely nothing to do with how old we are, how much degree we have obtained, how much skill we have acquired etc. maturity is based on our ability to use our experiences (Good or Bad) in a positive way to develop our mind fully. Most problems encountered in relationships and marriages are as a result of immaturity. The mind is not fully and positively ready for upgrade.

When I was in Secondary School, our population in my class was between 25 and 40. Our teachers know us by name hence we are well behaved. I understood what I was taught in class because I could easily get my teachers attention at any time and they are sincerely interested in us understanding the subjects.

My first lecture in the university brought me to tears. We were over a thousand in class, Students were blabbering and the lecturer cared less- he was just talking to himself. My passion to learn and the excitement of being in the University vanished like an ice thrown into a boiling water.

There was a need for me to learn how to stop depending on what I get from classroom alone- I learned to read my text books, handouts, and notes at home. Why? I needed to upgrade. I did not allow my experience give me justification to fail my courses.

What are the 5 (five) Prerequisites for Marriage?

PHYSICAL MATURITY

This is a visible or tangible form of maturity. We must be physically matured for marriage. Imagine a 12 year old getting married. She is not yet physically matured. In the Northern part of Nigeria, young girls get married and you realize that a number of them die at child birth. This is because she cannot yet endure the excruciating pain that comes with labor.

SPIRITUAL MATURITY

The physical is controlled by the spiritual. As long as we live we are at war. We will always be challenged and these challenges are mostly spiritual challenges. War is meant for soldiers. If you go to war as a farmer, teacher, motivational speaker etc. you won’t last long on the battle field. We must be spiritually ready for marriage. If you don’t mind the devil, the devil will mind you and look for your trouble. Job was minding his business when the devil poked nose into his matter (Job 1:6-12).  We must be spiritually ready like David to fight the Goliath sent to disrupt our marital bliss (1 Samuel 17:45).

EMOTIONAL MATURITY

According to Joshua Harris, Emotion is a physical expression of how we perceive the status of something we value. For Example, a child who wants to wear particular socks but couldn’t because it is dirty cries profusely while the mother feels he could easily wear another socks. For the child, he is upset while his mum is indifference about it. Anger, Joy, fear, gladness, and hatred are all combination of our perception and our values.

Joshua Harris said in his book ‘Boy meets Girl’ that;

‘In a relationship, if our values are godly and our perception of what we value is accurate, our emotions will be appropriate and healthy. But if either is out of sync with the truth, our emotions will be inappropriate and unhealthy. Our goal should be to be properly excited about what is really important.’

We must have emotional stability. Emotional stability is the ability to manage our emotions effectively. We will not always have everything we want. We have to learn compromise. Let us be like Mary who attached all her emotions to Jesus’ feet (Luke 10:38-41) because that is the only place where to find value.

MENTAL MATURITY

This is the state of the mind. We must have the right mindset about marriage. For example, some ladies believe that the husband should provide everything from the furnishing to the spoons in the house while she build her house behind his back while some men believe that the woman have just three functions- To cook his meal, To satisfy him sexually and To nurture his children.

What is common to these examples is the SELF CONSCIOUSNESS. Such mindset is wrong because the focus is not on God. It is only God that can change our mindset. Until we Know God, we cannot Love even our husbands or wives. It is only through the life Christ lived that we can learn what true love is. It will not be easy for wives to submit to their husband and husbands love their wife without them understanding what Christ did for the Church (Ephesians 5:22-33).

Some people have developed mental maturity fault due to the experiences of people around them and earthly wisdom that they have acquired over time.

FINANCIAL MATURITY

This is the state of your wallet. Money is an important factor that cannot be neglected. A lot of marriages have gone down the drain because of financial issues. A man will leave is father and mother and be united to his wife… meaning that he will no longer eat from his mother’s pot and no longer live in his father’s house but will take a wife, get an apartment, put food on the table etc. he has to make a living. Even Jacob that did not have anything worked 14 solid years to earn his wives (Genesis 29: 15-29) He kept on working until he was rich enough to be on his own. Rebekah was not idle when Abraham’s chief servant saw her for Isaac (Genesis 24: 15- 19). Rachel was a Shepherdess (Genesis 29:9). If you speak in tongues but unable to provide for your immediate family, an unbeliever is better than you (1 Timothy 5:8). It is important to be matured financially before getting married. You don’t need to have everything you want but at least you must be independent financially.

If you have all these five categories of maturity, then you are good to go into marriage.

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The Beauty Of Purity- Joshua Harris

After the picture above of Bre and her husband, Josh, went viral, Bre decided to start a blog called The Power of Prayer to share the story behind the picture. Sexual purity isn't easy today. But God calls us to save sexual intimacy for the covenant relationship of marriage. Hebrews 13:4 says, "Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral." For those who have disobeyed God's command there is grace and forgiveness through Jesus. And this same grace should motivate all of us--regardless of our past mistakes--to be holy as our loving heavenly father is holy (1 Peter 1:15-16). If you're dating or engaged and struggling to honor the Lord in your physical relationship I pray Bre and Josh's story will encourage you. Obeying God is always best!

The Story Behind the Photo
Moments before I was to walk down the aisle my soon to be mother in law came in the dressing room where my bridesmaids and I were all gushing with giggles and fluttering about finishing last minute details.

"Sweetheart, your groom has called for you!".

In a nervous tizzy I said, "What?! I'm not ready! I have to get my shoes and..." She had already taken my hand and led me to a corner, where my groom was waiting. I barely sat down; I was filled with so much anticipation! So much excitement! So many nerves!

"Is he going to like my dress? Does my hair look pretty? Can he see me?!"

Right around the corner sat my soon to be husband, I so was nervous he might see me yet secretly hoping to catch a glimpse of him. In my excited state I was the first to speak,

"Hi sweetie! We're getting married today!"

"I know baby and I want to pray with you before we do."

There we sat around the corner hand in hand, and together we bowed our heads. People were rushing about; the wedding coordinator directing people here and there, the photographers snapping photos and the bridal party enjoying each others company. Yet in that moment, in the quietness of our hearts and minds, my husband and I were alone in the presence of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

My husband prayed that God would bless our marriage, that through thick or thin together we would never lose hope in one another. That instead of focusing on each others imperfections we would always rely on Christ's perfection. That we would wake up every day and chose to love one another not through our own strength but by the power of Christ's perfect love.

With our hands clenched tightly to one another together we said "Amen", both with shaky voice and just like that I was whisked away to blot the tears off my face and put on my veil.

After my bridesmaids, mother, mother-in-law and every other girl in the room had finished zipping, curling, tucking and blushing me up I looked in the mirror. There I stood wearing my pure white wedding dress, ready to walk down the aisle to my Prince Charming.

See, he is not only my Prince Charming because of his incredibly handsome looks, or wonderful humor, or the fact that we have so much in common. He is my Prince Charming because he helped me protect the most precious gift that I owned, my purity.

Soon after we had started dating I nervously told my Prince that I was a virgin and planned to be until the night of my wedding; to which he replied he would have it no other way.

Throughout our dating relationship and engagement we constantly fought, what at times felt like a losing battle. We fought temptation with prayer, scripture and accountability. I had friends checking up on me if they knew we were together late at night and he regularly met with other Godly men to pray for strength. At times, especially as the wedding grew closer, we thought we were attempting to do the impossible.

"Why are we doing this?" I would ask in my weakness, and he would remind me, that it's because God had told us too.

"I can't do it, I can't... this is too hard!" he would confess to me and I would pray for his strength.

When I walked down the aisle in my white dress, I looked straight into the eyes of the man that had laid himself down to protect and honor the wife that God had given him.

When his eyes first caught mine he looked into the face of the woman that had waited for him, the woman that would support him and love him for the rest of His life, through good times and bad.

I share all of this because in that prayer we prayed, which was captured here on camera we asked the Lord to use our wedding to bring Him all of the glory that He rightfully deserved. We had not gotten where we were by our own strength, but by His hand of protection on our relationship.

God has used this photo to inspire hundreds of thousands of people already and for that we are humbled and honored! I wanted to take it a step further and give God praise and thanks for how we arrived at that quiet corner, holding hands and ready to begin our lives together.

(Photo by Kim Burke.)

Source: www.joshharris.com

"Though You Slay Me" (featuring John Piper)

A Flexible Spirit To Know God's Will- Watchman Nee

You must have a flexible spirit. That is one of the first principles of revival. A meeting that cannot become elastic and subject to the movements of God, becomes a dead block in the way of the Spirit. The human spirit must be so sensitive to the Holy Spirit that just as He spoke to Philip, and said "Join yourself to this chariot," so He may make known His will to you, and get as ready a response.

An adaptable spirit is essential to fulfil the will of God. Christ's spirit was adaptable enough to respond to the needs and questions of Nicodemus. The will of God will be known in your spirit according to the attitude of the person who comes to you. If your spirit is closed, you can pass on no living truth to that person, probably because they are not ready.

If you traced and followed the delicate sense of your spirit it would become acute, and God could then make His will known to you—all in harmony with the written Word, for the Holy Spirit revealing in your spirit God's mind cannot contradict Himself in God's Word. It would mean a great deal if we all walked in the spirit and knew when we were speaking from the spirit and when merely from the mind, and therefore empty of spiritual power.

The spirit should illuminate the mind, but when the spirit drops out of co-operation with the Holy Spirit, the mind is left without the needed assistance, and its product is very poor. When you are in the spiritual plane and know the Holy Spirit in your spirit, you recognise there are grave consequences attached to all you do. You cannot go back from the spirit life without stepping into a pathway of failure. The moment you drop from the plane that you have reached you begin to lose spirit strength, and if you do not recover your place quickly you will ultimately sink into deeper failure. The loss not only affects yourself but everyone with whom you have to deal. You may wrongly interpret or reject the words of a servant of God, and that would cause you to go back without knowing it. This hindrance to your spirit life will be maintained while that wrong thought or attitude is held.

If the Holy Spirit has once had the quickening of your mind so that your mind becomes capable of doing what it could not accomplish naturally, then in order to maintain that you will be obliged to live up to the highest point you have attained, and be satisfied with nothing below.

If, after reaching an altitude in the spirit life, you descend, even without knowing it, you will find yourself in the realm where the powers of darkness can buffet you almost as they like. God only manifests His Divine power when you are living and acting at the point to which you have already attained (see Phil. iii. 16).

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Nigeria- One of the 7 terrible countries for Christians

Even in this century, there still exist Martyrs. Christians who are willing to face discrimination, harassment, arrest, jail time and even death for what they believe. 

Nigeria, a non- Islamic Country known for freedom of worship has found its way into group of countries where The Gospel of Truth is restrained.

Here's a look at seven terrible countries for Christians:

North Korea

For the 12th year in a row, North Korea tops the list of places where Christian persecution is most extreme, according to Open Doors, a group that ranks countries in order of persecution.

The organization estimates as many as 70,000 Christians are imprisoned in labor camps.

"The God-like worship of the leader, Kim Jong-Un, and his predecessors leaves no room for any other religion, and Christians face unimaginable pressure in every sphere of life," the group says on its website.

"Forced to meet only in secret, they dare not share their faith even with their families, for fear of imprisonment in a labor camp. Anyone discovered engaging in secret religious activity may be subject to arrest, disappearance, torture, even public execution."

Among those imprisoned is Kenneth Bae, a Korean-American.

Pyongyang sentenced him last year to 15 years of hard labor, accusing him of planning to bring down the government through religious activities.

He is widely reported to have been conducting Christian missionary work in North Korea.

Kenneth Bae worried about his health in North Korean camp.

Sudan

Since 1999, the U.S. State Department has tracked the world's worst abusers of religious rights. Sudan has been on the list since its inception.

The country has arrested and deported Western Christians suspected of spreading their faith, according to a State Department report.

Recently, Sudan also arrested and sentenced a woman to die for refusing to renounce her Christian faith. The 27-year old woman was released after weeks of international controversy over her conviction.

She was later detained with her husband and two children, accused of traveling with falsified documents and giving false information.

Eritrea

Just four religious groups are officially allowed to openly practice their faith in this African nation; the rest are subject to detention or worse.

So if you're not an Eritrean Orthodox Christian, a Sunni Muslim, a Roman Catholic or an Evangelical Lutheran, life could be tough for you here. Harsh detentions for religious dissenters are the norm, according to the State Department report.

Members of various religious groups, including Jehovah's Witnesses, face retaliation for refusing to participate in military portions of mandatory national service, the report reads. The government is said to penalize Jehovah's Witnesses by denying them government services and entitlements.

As of November, 52 Jehovah's Witnesses were imprisoned in Eritrea, according to the Jehovah's Witnesses website. It says none has been formally charged or tried.

Saudi Arabia

The oil-rich monarchy doesn't even pretend to respect religious rights for any faith other than Islam.

Sunni Islam is the official religion, and the country's constitution is based on the Quran and the teachings of the Prophet Mohammed.

The public practice of any other religion is prohibited, according to the State Department.

Open Doors says most Christians in Saudi Arabia are expatriates from Asia or Africa. Last year, Christian migrant fellowships were raided, and worshipers were detained and deported, the group says.

Nigeria

Nigeria is split between a majority Muslim north and a mostly Christian south.

Boko Haram, an Islamic extremist group, vowed in 2009 to rid the nation's north of all non-Muslim influence, including Christians, according to The Voice of the Martyrs, another group that tracks the persecution of Christians.

More than 3,000 people have been killed since then, the organization reports.

Boko Haram translates as "Western education is a sin" in the Hausa language. The militant group says its aim is to impose a stricter enforcement of Sharia law across Nigeria, Africa's most populous nation. Boko Haram's attacks have intensified in recent years and have included the kidnapping of more than 200 schoolgirls.

Somalia

Pressure is increasing on Christians in this country, according to Open Doors.

"Islamic leaders and government officials publicly reinforce that there is no room for Christians, and there is a strong drive to purge Christianity from Somalia. The militant Islamist group, al-Shabaab, targets Christians and local communities," the group says on its site.

The terror group is notorious for prohibiting recreational activities and has banned films, dancing and watching soccer in the past. It had also barred foreign aid organizations from southern Somalia, describing them as Western spies and Christian crusaders.

Iraq

Religious minorities, such as Christians and Yazidis, make up less than 5% of Iraq's population.

Since 2003, attacks against these minorities by insurgents and religious extremists have driven more than half of the minorities out of the country, according to the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees.

According to Open Doors, attacks and threats against Christians rose last year as Islamic terrorist groups gained more influence.

Militants from the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, or ISIS, are in the midst of an offensive in Iraq.

In the northern city of Mosul, the site of one of the first major ISIS victories, witnesses told CNN the group used vehicle-mounted loudspeakers to announce that it had decided to form Islamic Sharia courts in the city.

The group also reportedly removed statues of the Christian Virgin Mary, Arab poet Abu Tammam and singer Mulla Othman, witnesses said.

source: CNN

Watch the Official Trailer of the Latest Faith Based Movie- The Song

Tony Young, the movie's producer told The Christian Post in an email this month.

"Our film is a redemptive tale inspired by the life and writings of Solomon,

on his quest for fame, fortune, love, acceptance and ultimate

satisfaction and certainly our film is made by people of faith, but I

think the term 'faith-based' film means different things to different

people," explained Young. "I believe when most people hear that term

today, they think of films that are more 'conversional' in nature as

opposed to 'conversational,' which is what we are trying to create in

our films."

Young and director Richard Ramsey are both committed to aiming for the

latter, though the inspiration for the film's story comes from a

familiar place: The Bible, specifically the life of Solomon. The film

follows the music career of aspiring singer songwriter Jed King as he

rises to fame following the release of a hit song, which he writes,

inspired by his love for his wife. As he finds his stock rising, King,

who has long struggled in the shadow of his father, the musically

successful and ethically troubled David King, soon finds himself and his

own career at a crossroads.

"The Song," the latest faith-based film to hit theaters and set to open

this September. With a soundtrack which evokes the Grammy award winning

British band Mumford and Sons and a protagonist who struggles with

greed, fame and staying faithful to his wife, "The Song" may challenge

audience notions of a stereotypical Christian film.(The Christ Post)

Sudan Mother sentenced to Death Recieves Freedom

The Sudanese mother condemned to die for refusing to renounce her Christian faith has been set free, according to her attorney.

The day after the protest, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry issued a statement saying that the United States condemned her imprisonment.

"She and the children should be reunited at home with her family rather than held in prison on charges of apostasy," Kerry said, calling Sudan to repeal it's anti-human rights laws.

He also suggested that Sudan repeal any Islamic laws that go against basic human rights.

There is no word of reaction from the White House to Ibrahim's release.

Her husband was born in South Sudan before it gained it's independence from Sudan and has dual citzenship with the United States. He was living in the United States but visited Sudan in 2011, met Meriam and married her there.

Meanwhile, Ibrahim's lawyer, Elshareef Ali, said her husband is elated over his wife's release.

"We are very, very happy about this - and we're going to her now," Ali told the BBC. "They have released her... she's on her way to home."