Dear Partner,
Greetings in the Name of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.
It’s only the first quarter of the year, yet there is so much to be thankful for. We are running with the mandate of Expanded Influence, and God is already doing great and mighty things, birthing amazing testimonies in our lives. On the 29th of January 2021, we recorded our 1000th episode of Fresdew. Wow!! Such a great feat, and what makes it even better is the fact that you, Partner and I, enabled by God’s Spirit made this happen. Glory be to God. He who began and empowered this vision is faithful to give us much more grace to record and publish thousands more of Freshdew episodes, changing lives across the nations of the world.
This is expanded influence!
The consistent force behind this expansion is the blessing and this has been the plan of God right from the creation of man. The Scripture is replete with accounts of this force at work in the lives of the likes of Adam and Eve (Genesis 1:28), Noah (Genesis 8:21), Abraham (Genesis 12:1-3), Sarah (Genesis 17:16), and many others. Guess what, Partner? You made the list, for the Blessing – The consistent force behind this expansion is at work in you. Hallelujah!
Wow!!! It’s been seventeen exciting and enlightening episodes of my brand new series: Marriage 101: Ten Important Things About Marriage, and we are still counting. The Holy Spirit has poured out such a depth and wealth of astounding revelation into this series, beaming light on our marriages, addressing real issues affecting singles and couples alike, and bringing practical Word-based solutions to us. I am grateful for His grace and we are committed to serving the kingdom with the grace that He has deposited here.
You don’t want to miss the episodes unfolding, they are life-transforming.
Problem in the Body
A lot of couples are living below the Blessing line in their marriages. This is mainly because people are married for the wrong reasons: pressured by age, pressured by parents wanting to get grandchildren, some people even see marriage as an escape from their problems, a ticket to a dream job or career, or just another achievement. These and many more reasons, in the long run, cause Christian couples to “settle” for the mediocre instead of striving for scriptural and spiritual marriages. Today, a countless number of marriages are so affected that one can hardly tell the difference between Christian and unbelieving couples.
Why do we find the statistics of successful singles, married people, and families, many times, not different between the church and the world? Also, why is the statistics of divorce cases not so different between the church and the world? Personally, I believe that the root cause is ignorance.
6 Destruction has overtaken my people because they have no knowledge; because you have given up knowledge, I will give you up, so that you will be no priest to me, because you have not kept in mind the law of your God, I will not keep your children in my memory.
Hosiah 4:6 BBE
Many marriages are perishing for lack of knowledge. People tend to rush into marriage without thinking of many important things. Falling in love does not qualify you for marriage. Even teenagers fall in love. So, if you want to be married, and you are going to be married, then, it is important to learn some things about marriage. If you are already married, then, there are some foundational things about marriage you should know.
The solution is knowledge, and in this series, the Holy Spirit is inundating us with truths from His Word to bring clarity on issues bordering on our relationships. One of the truths we will learn in this series is that there is grace for marriage and grace to be single.
Grace
What is grace? While there are a lot of definitions, the simplest definition of
grace is God’s unmerited favour. Or as we have learnt so many times in our
local church: Grace is God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense.
- – Grace is a gift from God.
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,
9 not of works, lest anyone should boast.
Ephesians 2:8-9 NKJV
7 I wish that all men were like myself, but I realise that everyone has his own particular gift from God, some one thing and some another.
1 Corinthians 7: 7 PHILLIPS
Gift: charisma (khar’-is-mah);
A (divine) gratuity, i.e. deliverance (from danger or passion); (specifically) a (spiritual) endowment, i.e. (subjectively) religious qualification, or (objectively) miraculous faculty: (free) gift.
God’s grace is a free gift. It cannot be earned, so it cannot be taken away. You do not have to do anything to earn it and no one has the right to take away this gift from you.
- – Every believer lives by the grace of God.
17 For if by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.
Romans 5:17 NKJV
10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.
1 Corinthians 15:10 NKJV
Partner, you live every day by the grace of God. His grace stabilizes and strengthens everything in a Christian’s life. Make no mistakes, everything that you do in life is empowered by the grace of God poured out by His Spirit, Who dwells within you. God gives you His grace, His ability, to accomplish anything and all things in your life.
There are people like Paul who are successful as singles. If they make the choice to be single, they should not be looked upon like they were incomplete or never lived life to the full.
3 My defense to those who examine me is this:
4 Do we have no right to eat and drink?
5 Do we have no right to take along a believing wife, as do also the other apostles, the brothers of the Lord, and Cephas?
1 Corinthians 9:3-5 NKJV
It has to be a choice that gives you joy like Paul had. Paul knew he had a right to be married like Peter but he chose not to be. If single-hood is a grace gift, then, it means that grace is needed to be married too. It is that grace that helps to bring out your completeness as a child of God whether you are single or married.
11 Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content:
12 I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.
13 I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
Philippians 4:11-13 NKJV
9 For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily;
10 and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power.
Colossians 2:9-10 NKJV
9-10 Yet it is in him that God gives a full and complete expression of himself (within the physical limits that he set himself in Christ). Moreover, your own completeness is only realized in him, who is the authority over all authorities, and the supreme power over all powers.
Colossians 2:9-10 PHILLIPS
Paul found his completeness not in his family, career, or achievements; neither should you. He found it in Christ. We are complete in Christ Jesus.
Today, let us intentionally grow in the grace of God available to us to be complete singles or married people with our completeness being found in Christ Jesus.
To receive my gift, Four Kinds Of Love in Marriage (Part 1) to all partners this month, click here. This message is loaded with truths from the Word that will change your life and bring a freshness to your marriage. I hope you enjoy it.
What’s more? Great news!! It’s my pleasure and excitement to announce the release of our Word Mobile App SPOUDAZO!!! Partner, you can now access thousands of life-transforming audio messages by The Carpenter’s Ministry on Spoudazo. Freshdew episodes and other messages I preached at our local church, messages by my father in the Lord, Pastor Charles Omofomah, my Associate Pastor, Pastor Sola Akinwale and so many other anointed men of God are available right at your fingertips. Is this amazing or what? Spoudazo Mobile App is available on the Android Play Store, so, download the Spoudazo App now and begin an adventure with the Word of God.
It has been awesome talking with you as always. Great things lie ahead for us this year. Please update your Freshdew Partnership details with an active mailing address at this link: https://www.freshdew.tv/register/ to enable you to receive subsequent gifts from us. Our website, freshdew.tv is up and running for you to continue to engage, and explore the rich contents we have there. It gets better every day! Continue to broadcast what God is doing on Freshdew through us – the Circle of Partnership. “Our Season is now but it didn’t start now”.
You can contact us at info@freshdew.tv and
on our phone lines. The phone line for calls from within Nigeria is
0700-FRESHDEW, which is 0700 3737 4339. For calls from outside
Nigeria, the number would be: +234-700-FRESHDEW, which is +234 700 3737
4339. Our WhatsApp line is: 0809 111 1154. For calls from outside
Nigeria, the number would be: +234 809 111 1154. These lines are open from
9:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. daily, except on Sundays, when it is open from 2:00
p.m. to 11:00 p.m. daily.
Love and Blessings,
Pastor Nkechi Ene (Mrs.)
