The Voice of Hope

While I'm Waiting

Kingdom Citizenship: Success Laws of Marriage

• We want to rediscover the authority of the marriage covenant.
• We are citizens of the Kingdom/Nation of God. As citizens, we must obey the laws of our Country.

The Paradox of Marriage

• Marriage is the greatest attraction and distraction in life. It can enhance or destroy your destiny.
• The most beautiful and dangerous thing in life is Marriage.
• The greatest source of joy and frustration is Marriage.
• Is the greatest dream but could also be a nightmare.
• Is the greatest source of hope and fear.

Marriage is an option given by God.

The Divine Option

1. Marriage was created by God.
2. It is a divine product.
3. It is a divine option. You should be preoccupied fulfilling God's will other than spending time chasing the prospect of marriage.
4. It is not necessary to fulfill God's purpose for your life.
5. It is a choice and not mandatory.

• Your education does not equip you for marriage.

The First Kingdom Institution

1. Marriage was the first institution God created.
2. The foundation of this institution is the single person.
3. Kingdom relationships are regulated by the standards of Heaven.
4. A successful marriage is only possible within Kingdom culture. 

• Cleave means to chase. Cleave to your wife - not just chase the woman and stop once she is married. Keep chasing her, learning her, with no one else in front of you. She is the only one you are to chase.
• The two shall become one flesh. This implies process.

Marriage-Foundational Institution

1. Marriage pre-dates all other institutions.
2. Marriage is the first foundation of the family.
3. Marriage is God's ideal context for human social development and relationship.
4. A nation is a collection of communities, which is a collection of families which is a product of marriage.
5. Destruction of marriage is the destruction of a nation.
6. Marriage is the context for successful human relationships intimately. You should only be intimate in marriage. Marriage is a safety net. He brought them together because he desired a godly offspring. Marriage is not for the people in it, it's for the product it produces.

The Principle to Marriage

1. A successful marriage has little to do with love.
2. Love does not guarantee success in marriage.
3. Love brings happiness but it does not make marriage work.
4. The thing that makes marriage work is [applied] knowledge.
5. Success depends not on what we know or what we feel.

What is Marriage

1. Marriage - "gameo" - "gem" - TO FUSE TOGETHER.
2. GEMS - diamonds, sapphires, rubies, emeralds are all products heat, pressure, time and fusion.
3. Marriage is the fusion of two distinct human elements into one. True marriage doesn't become weak under pressure, it becomes stronger.

Waiting

Those that wait on the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings like eagles. They shall run and not be weary. They shall walk and not faint.

Parade of the Ages

"It will cost something to walk slow in the parade of the ages, while excited men of time rush about confusing motion with progress. But it will pay in the long run and the true Christian is not much interested in anything short of that."

A. W. Tozer

Principles of an Eagle

PRINCIPLE 1

Eagles fly alone at high altitude and not with sparrows or other small birds. No other bird can got to the height of the eagle. Stay away from sparrows and ravens. Eagles fly with Eagles

PRINCIPLE 2

Eagles have strong vision. They have the ability to focus on something up to five kilometers away.

When an eagle sites his prey, he narrows his focus on it and set out to get it. No matter the obstacles, the eagle will not move his focus from the prey until he grabs it.

Have a vision and remain focused no matter what the obstacle and you will succeed.

PRINCIPLE 3

Eagles do not eat dead things. They feed only on fresh prey. Vultures eat dead animals, but eagles will not.

Be careful with what you feed your eyes and ears with, especially in movies and on TV. Steer clear of outdated and old information. Always do your research well.

PRINCIPLE 4

Eagles love the storm. When clouds gather, the eagles get excited. The eagle uses the storm’s wind to lift it higher. Once it finds the wind of the storm, the eagles uses the raging storm to lift him above the clouds. This gives the eagle an opportunity to glide and rest its wings. In the meantime, all the other birds hide in the leaves and branches of the trees.

We can use the storms of life to rise to greater heights. Achievers relish challenges and use them profitably.

PRINCIPLE 5

The Eagle tests before it trusts. When a female eagle meets a male and they want to mate, she flies down to earth with the male pursuing her and she picks a twig. She flies back into the air with the male pursuing her. Once she has reached a height high enough for her, she lets the twig fall to the ground and watches it as it falls. The male chases after the twig. The faster it falls, the faster he chases it. He has to catch it before it falls to the ground. He then brings it back to the female eagle.

The female eagle grabs the twig and flies to a higher altitude and then drops the twig for the male to chase. This goes on for hours, with the height increasing until the female eagle is assured that the male eagle has mastered the art of catching the twig which shows commitment. Then and only then, will she allow him to mate with her.

Whether in private life or in business, one should test commitment of people intended for partnership.

PRINCIPLE 6

When ready to lay eggs, the female and male eagle identify a place very high on a cliff where no predators can reach. The male flies to earth and picks thorns and lays them on the crevice of the cliff, then flies to earth again to collect twigs which he lays in the intended nest. He flies back to earth and picks thorns laying them on top of the twigs. He flies back to earth and picks soft grass to cover the thorns. When this first layering is complete the male eagle runs back to earth and picks more thorns, lays them on the nest; runs back to get grass it on top of the thorns, then plucks his feathers to complete the nest. The thorns on the outside of the nest protect it from possible intruders. Both male and female eagles participate in raising the eagle family. She lays the eggs and protects them; he builds the nest and hunts. During the time of training the young ones to fly, the mother eagle throws the eaglets out of the nest. Because they are scared, they jump into the nest again.

Next, she throws them out and then takes off the soft layers of the nest, leaving the thorns bare When the scared eaglets again jump into the nest, they are pricked by thorns. Shrieking and bleeding they jump out again this time wondering why the mother and father who love them so much are torturing them. Next, mother eagle pushes them off the cliff into the air. As they shriek in fear, father eagle flies out and catches them up on his back before they fall and brings them back to the cliff. This goes on for sometime until they start flapping their wings. They get excited at this new-found knowledge that they can fly.

The preparation of the nest teaches us to prepare for changes; The preparation for the family teaches us that active participation of both partners leads to success; The being pricked by the thorns tells us that sometimes being too comfortable where we are may result into our not experiencing life, not progressing and not learning at all. The thorns of life come to teach us that we need to grow, get out of the nest and live on. We may not know it but the seemingly comfortable and safe haven may have thorns.

The people who love us do not let us languish in sloth but push us hard to grow and prosper. Even in their seemingly bad actions they have good intentions for us.

PRINCIPLE 7

When an Eagle grows old, his feathers become weak and cannot take him as fast as he should. When he feels weak and about to die, he retires to a place far away in the rocks. While there, he plucks out every feather on his body until he is completely bare. He stays in this hiding place until he has grown new feathers, then he can come out.

We occasionally need to shed off old habits & items that burden us without adding to our lives.