Emmanuel Okoro (aka MrLift)

That a husband is supposed to love his wife does not mean that the wife cannot love but rather submit. Love and submission are not mutually exclusive between a man and his wife. It can be either way. But the instruction to the husband is to go all out in his love for his wife. Meaning nothing should be held back, even to the point of death as Christ did for the church. If you understand what Christ did for the church, then you can begin to measure the extent Io which you are to love your wife. I remember when I was getting ready to marry my wife and I had gone to visit a pastor friend of mine to inform him of our decision. He looked at me and asked if I was ready to die for my wife. Because the bible says I should lay down my life as Christ did for his bride, the church.  "Husbands, go all out in your love for your wives, exactly as Christ did for the church--a love marked by giving, not getting." (Eph.5.25 MSG) This kind of love seeks to give and not to get. L...

The husband is not a figurehead, he has the responsibility to provide leadership to his wife. The King James version says "the man is the head of the wife". It is interesting how this has been interpreted to mean that a man is the head of every woman. You, man, are not the head of every woman, but your wife. And the reason the man is head is to provide leadership by cherishing. "The husband provides leadership to his wife the way Christ does to his church, not by domineering but by cherishing." (Eph.5.23 MSG) We will all agree on one fact, and that is, no one likes a bossy leader. Hence it says "as Christ does for the church". How did Christ provide leadership for the church? He did this by example, not by domineering but by cherishing. Gary Thomas in his book: "Cherish, the one word that changes everything for your marriage" talks about how when we get married and exchange our vows, we say, "to love and to cherish, till death...

That things are bad is no longer news, what is news is that in the midst of this somewhat wilderness experience, we are requested to be grateful to God for everything. We are not asked to give God thanks because everything is good but because 'we know that all things work together for our good because we love the Lord and are called according to his purpose.' (see Rom:8:28) This is critical knowledge - the knowledge that all things work together for our good. Do you have this know-how? "Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;" (Eph.5.20) Giving thanks always for all things - all things include the good, bad and ugly. The reason we give thanks for all things, is our knowledge of Who our God is. He is the one who is able to work all things after the counsel of his will because we are predestined according to the purpose of his will. "In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predest...

I have often wondered why alcoholic beverages are called spirits? Is it because it intoxicates? Maybe one day I will find out. But my question to you today is, which spirit are you drinking? "Don't drink too much wine. That cheapens your life. Drink the Spirit of God, huge draughts of him." (EPH.5.18 MSG) Our text says you should not drink too much wine. It implies you can drink some wine but not too much. And it says the reason you should not drink too much is that it cheapens you. In other words, too much wine reduces your value, it belittles you. Little wonder you see a drunk on the street and he is not himself, not coordinated, walks and falls, and speaks as though insane. He has been reduced by too much wine. Proverbs tells us that "it is not for kings to drink wine; nor for princes strong drink:" (Prov.31.4) But instead of wine, the verse admonished us to drink of the Spirit. It says drink huge draughs of him. How do one drink of the Spirit? Jo...

The primary reason God created man was to fellowship. The man was a replica of God on the earth and a pleasing partner, one with whom He can have a mutually beneficial relationship. Man is very important to God. Hence, the devil tried to derail him in trying to get at God. In the cool of the day in the garden, God will come and fellowship with man. But this was not enough, God wanted more and after man fell and was restored, God made it possible for man to stay in constant touch with Him. Hence He said, that He put His laws in man's heart so they're both constantly in touch. "Then you will sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, making music to the Lord in your hearts" (Eph.5.19 NLT) Paul the Apostle says we can now stay in the place where we can constantly make music to the Lord in our hearts. The heart is from where true worship emanates. Jesus puts it this way, "true worshippers worship in spirit and truth" (see John:4:2...

"Therefore do not be vague and thoughtless and foolish, but understanding and firmly grasping what the will of the Lord is. (Eph.5.17 Amp.) The Apostle Paul instructed us in our text to not be vague, thoughtless, and foolish. The antidote to being vague, thoughtless, and foolish is to be thoughtful, understanding, and firmly grasp the will of the Lord. The Lord Jesus taught us that it is from the abundance of a man's heart that his mouth speaks. (see Luke: 6:45) Thoughtfulness is a state of being full of thought. It is important to differentiate thoughtfulness from anxiety. God is not against our being thoughtful but being anxious. Philippines:4:6 says "be anxious for nothing" but verse 8 says, "think on these things..." To think is to be imaginative, to mentally build structures, to paint pictures of possibilities akin to the word of God. It means to take the word of God and fill your heart and mind with it. Little wonder the Psalmist tells...

There are several attributes of time. It cannot be stored, it cannot be retrieved, etc but it can be maximized and that is our focus today. How do you make the most of your time? Time is tied to life. The more of your time you spend, the more of your life you spend. If you make good use of your time, you make good use of your life. If you waste your time, you waste your life. "Making the very most of the time [buying up each opportunity], because the days are evil." (Eph.5.16 Amp.) Opportunity is measured by time. If time is the greatest assets man has, then man must measure opportunities in terms of how much time man invested rather than how much money or profit man gets out.  If you use less time to achieve more, then the opportunity is greater because it leaves you with more time to achieve more extra. Little wonder, the Psalmist says "Teach us to number our days so that we can apply our heart to wisdom. (see Ps:90:12) How much time do you spend on you...

We live in an age of the weapons of mass distractions. Everywhere you turn there's something stationed to distract you but it is also true that if you have a discerning heart and you are not unwise, you also may find the reasons to live purposefully. If there are distractions in every twist and turn, it is sufficient reason to focus your energy and live purposefully. "Look carefully then how you walk! Live purposefully and worthily and accurately, not as the unwise and witless, but as wise (sensible, intelligent people)," (Eph.5.15 Amp.) "Look carefully how you walk!" This is not a call to be selective, careful, and fearful, doubting and second-guessing your every move. It is a call to make the most of every opportunity purposefully. We are told, "live purposefully and worthily and accurately, not as the unwise and witless, but as wise". This brings to mind the story of an art class where the teacher divides his students into two. And t...

When Jesus told the story of Lazarus to his disciples, he mentioned that Lazarus was asleep and that they were on their way to wake him up. But the disciples were like if he was asleep let him sleep; he will sooner than later be awake. But Jesus had to make it plain that Lazarus was dead and he was on his way to raise him back to life. (see John:11:11-15) That paints a picture of two of the words used in our text today awake and arise. "Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light".(Eph. 5.14) Awake as used here denote something that one can engage in by one's self-effort but arise on the other hand requires assistance. If you were asleep, lackadaisical, in a state of inactivity it is time to awake. To become active. But to arise suggest to go a step further. As to move from one level to another. It appears that for you to be able to arise you must first awake. It requires light for you to be able...

Practice makes perfect they say. The more time one commits to a cause, the better one gets at it. There is almost nothing you give time to that you do not excel at. Learning to please God is not an exception. We can truly learn how to please God. The Psalmist says "Come, my children, and listen to me, and I will teach you to fear the Lord". (Ps.34.11) Whatever can be taught can be practiced. The fear of the Lord can be taught and if it can be taught, it can be practiced. And whatever can be practiced can be perfected. Little wonder the Apostle Paul tells us in our text to learn how to please God. This is heavy. "And try to learn [in your experience] what is pleasing to the Lord [let your lives be constant proofs of what is most acceptable to Him]. (Eph.5.10 Amp.) When you learn the fear of the Lord, learning by experience what is pleasing to the Lord becomes second nature. This is not some moral roller coastal but rather it is you listening to the Lord. ...

God has a three-way action test. This tests the actions we take as believers. A wise man said the unexamined life is not worth living. Now and then we must examine our actions. Our thoughts become our actions. So instead of judging from our actions maybe we should start from our thoughts. "For this light within you produces only what is good and right and true." (Eph.5.9 NLT) You are a product of light, therefore you must radiate light, for light is within you. Your actions reflect your thoughts. And this is a simple test to help you examine your actions. Paul says that your thoughts must be good. Good actions only proceed from good thoughts. You cannot think ill of others and expect your actions toward them to be good. If your actions will be good, your thought must first be good. The Psalmist talks about a "pure heart". (see Psalm:24:4) Pure hearts, pure thoughts, pure thoughts, good actions. The next test bothers on the right actions. This is a st...

Love is such a strong word, even stronger when one is told to love as God loves. We know that God loves unconditionally, God loves extravagantly and God loves ceaselessly. This is a tall order, tall task to say the least but we are shown how we can love as God loves. One way bank tellers are taught to spot and recognize counterfeit banknotes is by exposing them long enough to original notes so when a fake or counterfeit is presented, it easily stands out. This is the same principle that we are exposed to in our text. "Mostly what God does is love you. Keep company with him and learn a life of love. Observe how Christ loved us. His love was not cautious but extravagant. He didn't love in order to get something from us but to give everything of himself to us. Love like that." (Eph.5.2 MSG) The Apostle tells us that what God does is to love us on a regular but it went a bit further to say we should keep company with him and learn a life of love. What does a l...

The story is told of a mother who couldn't get a handle on her two sons. She reported the matter to a Pastor who invited the boys to his office. The younger is said to be more notorious and as a result, was asked to come in first to see the Pastor. When he entered the Pastor's office, with a stern face the Pastor asked him, where is God? He responded, "I don't know. And the Pastor repeated the question, "Where is God"? The boy ran out and in seeing him the older one approached and asked what the matter was. He replied by saying, this is bad. What's bad, asked the older. And he said we are in serious trouble this time, God is missing and they think we are responsible. "Therefore be imitators of God [copy Him and follow His example], as well-beloved children [imitate their father]. (Eph.5.1 Amp.) God is indeed missing. This generation does not seem to see a lot of God these days. It has, therefore, become difficult to imitate a God that t...

My eleven-year-old son walked up to me just this evening and reported to me that he read through the book of Revelation yesterday and he was scared. Why were you scared I asked and he explains that it was like a horror movie that wasn't really scary but was also scary in a way. And I laughed. He went further to say that since then he hasn't sung any secular song just gospel, and that really cracked me up. It was as though that was what qualifies one in the sight of God. God is kind, tenderhearted, and forgiving. "And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you". (Eph.4.32) Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another as God forgave you for Christ's sake. These are attributes that describe God and we are encouraged to emulate them. There is something that is just plain wrong with piety that is not kind, tenderhearted, and forgiving. Some people appear holy but ki...

"Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers." (Eph.4.29) We live in a dispensation where we do not take the words coming out of our mouths seriously. We joke and jest as though our lives depend on it.  The Apostle Paul says, 'Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth...' As important as the words 'corrupt communication' are, the operative word here is, 'let'. Let is a word that shows permission. It suggests that you can decide to not let corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth. It is up to you to put a guard over your lips. But rather what we should permit to proceed out of our mouth is 'that which is good to the use of edifying'. To edify means to build up, charge, and encourage. That is what God wants the words coming out of our mouths to do. He said in so doing, we  ''may minister grace unto the...

Wine is called spirit for a reason. It intoxicates. Growing up I was told the reason a Christian should not drink alcohol was that it draws one in and before long you were under its influence. And that in Acts 2 when the believers spoke in tongues for the first time, the people accused them of being drunk, and the argument was that if they did not drink before now, there won't be grounds for such accusation. The same argument holds for anger. It is not in your best interest to be angry but if you get angry for any reason whatsoever do not stay angry. Why not you may ask? "Go ahead and be angry. You do well to be angry--but don't use your anger as fuel for revenge. And don't stay angry. Don't go to bed angry." (Eph.4.26 msg) When God spoke to Cain just before he killed Abel, God asked him why he was angry and in the next verse God says to him "sin lies at your door." (See Gen:4:7) "And the Lord said to Cain, Why are you angry? An...

One of the forms of modern slavery in today's world is doing something because everyone else is doing it. There is no individuality, no independent thinking but a constant "going along with the crowd, the empty-headed, mindless crowd". The crowd out there is mindless and even when it is not mindless, at best it is empty-headed. We must beat the group thinking. That everyone else is doing it is not a good enough reason for you to do it. The Prophet Moses admonished us to this effect. Exod.23.2 tells us to "...not follow a multitude to do evil; neither shalt thou speak in a cause to decline after many to wrest judgment". No doubt Social Media has made this even more difficult in this day and time. Everyone thinks everyone is making it but everyone knows that everyone is faking it at some level, yet we are all flowing and following the tide. "And so I insist--and God backs me up on this--that there be no going along with the crowd, the empty-he...

In life, we must all strive to make our best mistakes. The reason for this is simple, we are all special and it is in putting our best foot forward at all times that we all become the best version of ourselves. Do your special work. Everyone in the body is a part of the whole and every part is special, no part is more special than the other. It is what each part supplies that cause growth of the other parts. "Under his direction, the whole body is fitted together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love." (Eph.4.16 NLT) The body is under the direction of Jesus Christ the head of the body and under his direction, each part of the body is fitted together perfectly. This reminds me of the great army that arose from the dry bones in Ezekiel 37. Every bone was fitly joined, the ankle bone did not join the elbow bone. But every bone knew its place and when they wer...

"Rather, let our lives lovingly express truth [in all things, speaking truly, dealing truly, living truly]. Enfolded in love, let us grow up in every way and in all things into Him Who is the Head, [even] Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One)." (Eph.4.15 Amp.) The expression, 'let our lives lovingly express truth' is unique in that it reveals the real intention of what the King James version expressed as "speaking the truth in love". What it means is that truth should not only be communicated in words but with our very lives - the way we live. Hence it continues "in all things, speaking truly, dealing truly, living truly". That means as much as it is important to say 'I love you', even more so should be expressed in our dealings and our living. We cannot say one thing and live differently. We will get more results in dealing lovingly than in just speaking. The saying "people don't care how much you know until they ...

I have heard the saying, every man for himself, God for us all. I wonder what the world will be like if this saying reads, every man for his brother or sister, God for us all. God has good enough sense to be for us all but we do not have enough sense to be on the lookout for the interest of our brothers and sisters. We've been selfish for far too long, it is time to put others' interests into consideration and be selfless. "and there is only one God and Father, who is over us all and in us all and living through us all." (Eph.4.6 NLT) I believe it is possible. If the God who is over us now lives in us, then we can put the need of others in proper perspective. We can consider others because God considers us and he is in us so we can consider others also. God is not just over us but he is also in us. And finally, he wants to live through us all. Imagine what it will be like if the God that is in you lives through you?  In other words, he thinks and acts t...

This is a very important analogy that we need to truly grasp. The body is one but has many members. If you are the eyes, see, if you are the feet, walk, if you are ear, hear. As the eyes, don't expect the ear to see. You see and let the ear be comfortable enough to hear. We are not many bodies but one and we are not one member but many. Let every member do their part. "We are all one body, we have the same Spirit, and we have all been called to the same glorious future." (Eph.4.4 NLT) Secondly, as a body, we have a head and that is the person of our Lord Jesus Christ. This body is not headless. He is the head from whom we draw direction and strength. It is important to know that as the body is joined to the head so are we joined to our Lord Jesus Christ. We go where He leads. We also have one Spirit. If you are truly a member of the body, we have but one Spirit. And we have been called to one glorious future. If Jesus Christ is the head of the body and he i...

Sometimes we just do not put in as much effort as we ought. We give up just before we ought to and fall short. There is so much more than we can take, there is so much more that we can do, and there is so much that we can give, we just need to endeavour to... The verb  endeavour  dates from around the 14th century and is derived from the phrase ‘put in dever’, where ‘dever’ represents ‘duty’ as in the Old French. This, in turn, was taken from the Latin ‘debere’ meaning ‘to owe’... (www.macmillandictionaryblog.com/endeavour) If you put that together, you will come to this realization that you owe a duty. "Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace." (Eph.4.3) You owe it a duty to try hard to achieve the unity of the Spirit. The amplified version makes it clear that it is the Spirit that produced this unity but as believers, we must endeavour to keep It.  "Be eager and strive earnestly to guard and keep the harmony and oneness of...

"I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called,(Eph. 4.1) The life we have been called to live as Christians is one of a divine calling, hence Paul the Apostle admonished us to walk worthy of this vocation. It is one thing for you to be worthy of the call and yet another thing for the call to be worthy of you. We have heard of people running away from the call. The story of Jonah readily comes to mind. And as they say, hindsight is a twenty-twenty vision. When we look back we could see the reason why God, it seems was pursuing Jonah. Jesus need Jonah to go through that experience because he was going to need it to give as a sign. He said no sign except the sign of the prophet Jonah "But He replied to them, An evil and adulterous generation (a generation morally unfaithful to God) seeks and demands a sign; but no sign shall be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah." (Matt.12.39) W...