Your Marriage Is Your Primary Ministry

"that they admonish the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, ⁵ to be discreet, chaste, homemakers, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be blasphemed."   Titus 2:4-5 NKJV

Recently, I had watched a christian movie recommended by a very close friend and dear sister, and it ministered to me. I felt the Lord was trying to get me to understand something about ministry and patience and preparation.  For the most of this year, I have been going through a time of training and development for the assignment God has for me, and by His leading, I have taken some bold steps to prepare me for the Assignment.   So today my beloved sisters, I would like to share what the Lord has been ministering to me concerning Marriage and the home.  

As a wife and mother, I have strived to build my home, allowing the Lord to guide and counsel me along the way,  I have shared teachings centered around godly women taking care of their home, praying for their husbands, etc.  But it is only in recent times that I have come to know and understand how important the Christian home is to God,  to the body of Christ as a whole and the role it plays in our ministry to the Lord.   Over the years I have seen how many Christian homes had crumbled not because of adultery or money issues, but because many godly women with good intentions have neglected their responsibilities at home to do church.  What I mean by "doing church" is engaging in many activities in the local assembly that takes them away from their service at home.   The word of God reminded me in Proverbs 14:1 that we as women, it specifically says "wise" woman are the ones who build our homes.  The building and managing of our Christian homes which is an extension of the church, the body of Christ has been given to women by God as our number 1 assignment.  Yes, your marriage and home is your first and primary ministry unto God.  Your marriages and the way you hold them are a reflection of the way Christ loves His Church.  

Sisters,  the Lord God is not a God of confusion, He created marriage for a purpose and for that purpose to be fulfilled both the man and the woman have to play their role in the home and the family. The christian home is an extension of the church, so it is important your humble service to the Lord begins from there.  Even the world believes it, by this popular saying "Charity begins at home."
Like many of you, I have a calling upon my life, and I have waited on the Lord for years to release me to do the work.  I have received prophetic messages, word of knowledge, dream interpretations, open visions, etc. regarding my purpose and the assignment He has for me, and a lot of it involves me traveling around the world,  the mission fields teaching, counseling and doing outreach.   Sometimes I have found myself becoming impatient, asking God when will this great ministry take off because I have just been doing ministry part-time for years.  After all, He has spoken and all that keeps being revealed to me especially in recent months is to be patient,  I am still being prepared for the work ahead. One of the last prophetic messages given to me by a Man of God was that the Lord is taking me through a preparation process, I need to perceive how He is leading me.   And so when I watched that Christian movie the other day, my attitude towards my marriage and home changed.   I knew I could do better once I understood it to be my primary assignment.  

The movie showed two different scenarios,  both women loved the Lord and desired to do His work.  They were married with children and had a calling upon their lives, one sought God's leading and husband's permission, and the other did not.  She went ahead, and at the end of the day, there were consequences for the latter, but the former who followed the Lord's leading and guidance and listened to her husband, at the end of the day, everything fell into place for her.  Directed by the Holy Spirit, she faced the affairs of her home, her primary ministry and eventually, opportunities opened up to her for outside ministry work.  What a great lesson learned!!

Sisters, your primary ministry is your  loving and humble service to your husbands and children ,  keepers of the home, women of excellence who are caring, protective and supportive to your husbands and the children  God has entrusted in your hands,  godly women who  teaches her children the word of God, nurturing them and disciplining them with wisdom and care.  In Proverbs 31: 21-22, we are referred to as homemakers and also in our main text,  and are encouraged to be homemakers.   It states   "She fears not the snow for her family, for all her household are doubly clothed in scarlet.  "She makes for herself coverlets, cushions, and rugs of tapestry. Her clothing is of linen, pure and fine, and of purple [such as that of which the clothing of the priests and the hallowed cloths of the temple were made]."      In this ministry, your job is to create an atmosphere of the warmth of love for both your family and guests alike.  Even in times of difficulties,  you must be prepared and ready to embrace what comes next in  your life and that of your household; it is in those times that you will begin to develop the skills  (e.g., resilience, endurance, perseverance, etc.) that the Lord wants you to have as you also prepare for your outside assignments.   Beloved, the Lord has equipped women with the talents and spiritual gifts needed to establish and make fruitful your ministries, and your homes can be considered as a training ground to prepare you for the secondary ministry/assignment outside the home.  There is a time and a season for everything and the Lord who gave you the passion, the will and the strong desire along with the gifts to serve Him will reveal to you when the time is ripe to step out into other assignments and ministry work He has called you.  

 Beloved, as married women, the home is your primary ministry, the success in your home will determine your promotion in the mission field.  It is essential to understand your marriage and home as a ministry unto the Lord, handing it over to Him to help grow under His nurturing hand. He desires to bless the works of your hands, and your marriage is no exception.  Even though the Lord knows building a home in this fallen world can be quite challenging, as long as you are dedicated to keeping your homes, raising godly children and including God in every aspect of it, He will give surely give you good success.  Joshua 1:8b ESV. 

If you are reading this message today and you have neglected your ministry to your husband and children or husband, if no children yet, then it is time to repent and ask the Lord, your husband and your children for forgiveness.  Seek the Lord for guidance and wisdom in taking care of your home and also being able to balance your work life, responsibilities in your local church and your home life.   Your home must always come first in your service to the Lord.  If you hold a position of leadership in the church, in your workplace that requires being away from home for more than 8 hours a day, it is time to make a change, and the Lord shall help you do that in Jesus name.

I will leave you with the words from a Christian actor & minister   " A married woman must humble herself and take care of her home. She must build her home before she can build the church of God and the nation."

I pray this message has ministered to you!!  If it has, please share with your fellow sisters and friends.

Recognizing Your Calling

   Romans 12:1, 4--8   
 by Kemi O.

What is your Ministry/Calling?

Beloved, what is your purpose on this earth? 

Why are you really here? I believe like me, that is the question most of us have asked ourselves at one time or the other. 

Well, beloved brethren, I am here to tell you that we are on this earth to serve 

the Lord God, His church and the world at large.God created man in His image and

 for fellowship as we see in the book of Genesis 2 through 4 until the enemy came in

 and destroyed that beautiful fellowship God had with our first parents. He created us 

for Himself to have an intimate relationship with us through praise, worship, 

communication etc. But thanks be to God for a second chance at fellowship with 

the Father, He sent His only Son, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ to restore 

that broken fellowship through His precious blood that was shed for our sakes.

And now, we, believers through the selfless sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ, 

now have a primary ( higher) calling and that is, to serve God using the talents, 

spiritual gifts, strengths etc, He has deposited in us for the propagation of His

 Kingdom. Sisters, aside from our secondary calling as wives and mothers, we

 are called to minister (serve) to God and others in various ways in order to 

fulfil the great commission Mark 16:15-20.

God had called us to be His servants on earth and it is not until we have been

 ordained by man's authority before we know we are called; for the moment

 we make the decision to follow Christ, we are instantly called to ministry. At first,

 we may not know what our ministry or role is in the body of Christ but over the 

course of our journey, it will be revealed to us. However, its quite unfortunate that

 many have died without realizing what their actual calling was.

There are so many believers today that are not doing what God has called them 

to do. Although, they are still serving in their various local assemblies or in

 para-churches etc, they are not doing what He has purposed for them to do. 

For example, you have individuals who are called to serve as teachers of the word,

 but instead are busy pastoring churches. There is nothing wrong with been 

available to serve in other areas of ministry in which you have skills or talents, 

should the need arise, but do it bearing in mind that this is not your God given 

ministry and so therefore not lose focus. So many including myself, have fallen 

into this situation and became so overwhelmed with the work or assignment 

especially in our local churches that we become ineffective and lose interest quickly.

We need to find out what God specifically has called us to do and do it well, 

for at the end of our race, we are going to stand before God and give account 

of our lives, what we did, and how we utilized the resources and gifts He had 

given to us. It is important to remember that our obedience to God will be weighed

 on that great day and that is what we are going to give account for and not our

 sacrificial good works 1 Sam 15:22 " To obey is better than sacrifice." The spiritual

 gifts and talents that God deposited in us is aligned with the ministry He has called

 us into. We were fearfully and wonderfully made by God and so we know he carefully

 took His time to mold us and fill us with what will help to serve Him effectively 

Psalm 139:14.

I believe at the time of conception, our talents (natural gifts) i.e music, creativity, etc

 were given to us and then when we became born again, He now deposited and 

assigned spiritual gifts to each of us and so having said this, I encourage you to

 trust God for your life, your calling, trust him who fashioned you, to sustain you

 in the ministry He has called you to, because He has equipped you with everything 

you will ever need to fulfil your individual ministry and purpose.

How do you know when you are already fulfilling your purpose?

I believe you know when you are operating in your ministry or calling when 

you go through trials or difficulties and you still remain standing. Nothing or no 

one can uproot you from where God has positioned you for by His strength you are

 able to complete the race set before you.

Do you ever wonder why some churches close down before they even reach their

 second or third year anniversary? A lot of times, they are not where the Lord has 

called them to be. It appears everyone wants to pastor a church but God has called

 them into other areas of service. So many times, I have seen servants of God starting

 churches which eventually crumble or remain stagnant for years and yes, it may not

 necessarily be because they are not positioned in the right area of ministry but who 

is to say, that is not the reason. I have heard of some who actually know the Lord has

 called them to be teachers, evangelists, or missionaries in the field, but refused to 

obey for one reason or the other and stay where they are, some times it could because 

of the monetary benefits they are receiving as a Pastor but beloved, this is sheer 

disobedience to God and there are consequences as we know for knowingly 

disobeying God.

Brethren, I encourage you today to be confident in God's choice for you, in John 15:16 ,

 He states that He is the one who does the choosing and not us. It is only Him who

 understands why He has chosen us for our particular ministry and so you have to 

trust him to see you through by His grace.

In conclusion, I will ask again " What is your ministry" Your specific purpose here

 on earth" Are you called to be a Children's Sunday School Teacher, Pastor, 

Evangelist, Administrator, Counselor, Music Minister, Helps/Welfare Coordinator etc ?

Do you have a vision or dream that you are yet to fulfil and you believe the Lord

 has given you this vision? If yes to these questions, pursue it with all your heart

 knowing the Lord has equipped you with the resources, gifts, skills that is required 

to fulfil your vision and ministry.

If you would like to know what your spiritual gifts may be, click on this helpful link below to take a spiritual gift analysis test so that you can begin to prepare your self for God's work using the gifts He has given you.  You are welcome to share this information or link with friends, family, members of your local church or fellowship etc.
http://www.churchgrowth.org/cgi-cg/gifts.cgi