Open Heavens Daily Devotional
DATE: TUESDAY 17th NOVEMBER 2015
THEME: FRAUD IN RELATIONSHIPS
Memorise:
Thou art snared with the words of thy mouth, thou art taken with the words of thy mouth.
Proverbs 6:2
Read: Exodus 22:16-17
16 And if a man entice a maid that is not betrothed, and lie with her, he shall surely endow her to be his wife.
17 If her father utterly refuse to give her unto him, he shall pay money according to the dowry of virgins.
Message
In different areas of human relationships, offences arise in the course of interacting with one another. These offences can sometimes bring physical and emotional injury to people, especially in relationships between the opposite sex. One offence that is pronounced in relationships today, which was foretold by the apostles of old, is covenant breaking. Apostle Paul lists this among the ungodliness and unrighteousness of men in Romans 1:31:
"Without understanding, covenant-breakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful:"
It is also listed as treachery in 2 Timothy 3:4. In relationships between the opposite sex, covenant breaking is a situation where one party makes a promise to the other party concerning a future commitment, but later fails to keep his or her promise. As a Christian, God expects you to restitute such acts. In our Bible reading, God said if a man deceived a lady by promising to marry her, and as a result had sex with her, he had to marry her, unless her parents refused to give her to him. In such a case, the man would be required to pay her bride price, even though he may not be given the bride. These principles still apply today. Today, there are instances where a lady agrees to marry a man, and as a result, he invests a lot on her education, sets her up in business or helps her get a good job; but by the time he expects her to become his wife, he receives the shock of his life when she elopes with another man. He will then realise that all along she was not really in love with him. This is fraudulent! Such a man would never have made those sacrifices if he knew she would not eventually become his wife. If you find yourself in such a situation, go and restitute. What you received was by fraud and must be returned. If you are not prepared to be bound by a written or unwritten agreement, why feign consent? Today's memory verse warns against this.
There are cases where a lady would ask a man to send her abroad to school or to work, and in some cases, the man may even acquire a property abroad in her name as proof of his love and commitment to her, all with the understanding that there will be marriage down the line; only for her to dump him after getting abroad. That is a terrible seed that will deliver the fraudster an evil harvest. If you are in that situation, immediately go and restitute your ways. These scenarios could also happen the other way round. There are men, who with the promise of marriage were sponsored by some women to become somebody, only for them to dump these women for some other ladies. Go and restitute! Everything obtained by fraud must be returned.
Key Point:
Any good thing that is built on lies and deceit will definitely crash at an unexpected moment.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: JOB 29-31 and 1 TIMOTHY 3:14-5:8
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