Good evening, brethren. 1. Evening devotion for today. ED.i. *DAILY WALK WITH CHRIST* (COCIN DEVOTIONAL) *DATE:* SATURDAY 11TH JULY, 2026. *SUB-THEME:* THE CONSEQUENCES OF REJECTING GOD'S GRACE. *TOPIC:* SPIRITUAL BLINDNESS. *TEXT:* 2 CORINTHIANS 4:4-5. 4. The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 5. For what we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. *TOPIC:* SPIRITUAL BLINDNESS. *THE MESSAGE:* Spiritual blindness is the inability to see and understand spiritual matters. According to today's text, Satan is responsible for blinding the hearts of unbelievers against the truth of the Gospel of Christ. They do not only oppose the gospel message but reject and deny the servants of Christ any opportunity to preach. Spiritual understanding comes when we encounter Christ. It is only then that one can see and appreciate the things of God. In our time, there are many people, even in our churches, who are spiritually blind, like Saul, who was killing Christians thinking he was serving God until the scales of blindness fell off his eyes (Acts 9:18). Today, Christians are being beheaded by Jihadists, Fulani herdsmen, Bandits, and Boko Haram in the name of religion. What spiritual blindness! So, do not be like them. *REFLECTION:* Rejecting God's grace leads to Spiritual blindness. *PRAYER:* Merciful God, open my spiritual eyes to see you in Jesus' name. Amen. *MEMORY VERSE FOR THE MONTH:* HEBREWS 10:29. How much more severely do you think one deserves to be punished who has trampled on the Son of God, profaned the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and insulted the Spirit of grace? *TODAY'S BIBLE READING PLAN:* ECCLESIASTES 7-12. ED.ii. *MEDITATIONS ON DAILY* *ⓂANNA* SATURDAY, 11TH JULY, 2026. *HANDLING INCOMPATIBLE LIFE PARTNER THROUGH GOD SENT MINISTRY PARTNER* *TEXT:* EXODUS 4:24-31. 24 And it came to pass by the way in the inn, that the LORD met him, and sought to kill him. 25 Then Zipporah took a sharp stone, and cut off the foreskin of her son, and cast it at his feet, and said, Surely a bloody husband art thou to me. 26 So he let him go: then she said, A bloody husband thou art, because of the circumcision. 27 And the LORD said to Aaron, Go into the wilderness to meet Moses. And he went, and met him in the mount of God, and kissed him. 28 And Moses told Aaron all the words of the LORD who had sent him, and all the signs which he had commanded him. 29 And Moses and Aaron went and gathered together all the elders of the children of Israel: 30 And Aaron spake all the words which the LORD had spoken unto Moses, and did the signs in the sight of the people. 31 And the people believed: and when they heard that the LORD had visited the children of Israel, and that he had looked upon their affliction, then they bowed their heads and worshipped. *Timeless Truth:*_"Can two walk together, except they be agreed?"_ (Amos 3:3). *INTRODUCTION* What a pain, what a clog in the wheel of progress, what a frustration, what a limitation and what a life of unfulfilled dreams when someone gets entangled with an incompatible life partner in marriage? What a joy, what a pleasure, what a fulfilment in life and what an accelerated progress when a saint is fortunate to get a compatible life partner and a God sent ministry life partner. Moses had a shave of what it means to marry someone who was not compatible with his life and ministry. However, he was comforted and divinely assisted by getting a compatible ministry partner who happened to be the elder brother , Aaron. We might be tempted to excuse Moses that he had no choice than to marry a Gentile contrary to the command of God to Israelites. He should take full responsibility. His case was the case of one miss step or mistake leading to another. He had never met God personally and by experience as of then. Yet he decided to force himself into the service of God without any personal encounter with God. He eventually had to run away and hide himself for 40 years due to self management. He eventually, got involved in a marriage that might appear he had no choice. Fortunately, what he lacked in marriage, he was able to correct and make up in ministry. He encountered God and heard his voice and was guided as to who his ministry partner should be. If he had missed that too, he would have well forgotten about his ministry in life. His getting it right in the ministry partnership helped him to stand above the storms of wrong and incompatible marriage. John Wesley and Apostle Joseph Babalola are among the witnesses that joined Moses telling us that an incompatible partner in marriage is extremely painful, but no one should allow that to be an excuse for not being what God wanted him to be in life and ministry. *1. Divine Intolerance for Profanity* a. The command of God on circumcision is the issue here. Circumcision of every male born child in Israel was a confirmation and seal of the covenant of God with Abraham and his seed. *"Every man child among you shall be circumcised... And the uncircumcised man child... that soul shall be cut off from his people; he hath broken my covenant"* (Genesis 17:10-14). Refusal to circumcise the male child or be circumcised was profanity and there was always divine anger on such lack of irreverence for the command and things of God. Breaking any law of God that is connected to God's irrevocable covenant of blessings always attract divine hot displeasure because it is both disrespectful to God and a foolish self rejection of God's blessings attached to the covenant. *"And it came to pass by the way in the inn, that the LORD met him, and sought to kill him"*. b. Esau was accused of being profane because he despised divine blessings and rejected his double blessings of being the first born. God was angry at him for his carelessness with his birthright. *"Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright. For ye know how that afterward... he was rejected... though he sought it carefully with tears"* (Hebrews 12:16,17). God refused to overlook his profanity. The blessings of the firstborn in the Old Testament are akin to the blessing of salvation in the New Testament. Any saint who refuses to appreciate and jealously keeps his blessing and experience of salvation is a profane person and will definitely incur the wrath of God in this world and in the world to come. Gambling with any of the given gifts of God and gifts of grace will definitely invite the wrath of God and getting the divine blessings back will not be easy. *Question* Do you take the Word of God very seriously or are you a profane person who takes some of His Word for granted? *2. Danger of Incompatible Partners* a. Moses put himself in a very difficult situation that made it difficult for him to marry an Israelite. He ended up marrying a woman that was a stranger to the covenant of Abraham. There are those who have married incompatible wives before they knew the Lord or His will. Such simply married according to sight since they had no relationship with God then. Zipporah could not understand how Moses would want to inflict a painful circumcision on her loved son. The woman had to yield by force when she saw the Angel of God appeared to kill Moses. Reluctantly, *Zipporah took a sharp stone, and cut off the foreskin of her son, and cast it at his feet, and said, Surely a bloody husband art thou to me"*. The attitude of the woman showed that Moses might not have told her or succeeded in convincing her of the sacredness and importance of circumcision. Or does it mean Moses told her, but the woman rejected outright? b. There is danger for those who just pick up somebody to marry other than praying to know the will of God and marrying a covenant person that also have a personal experience with God. First the sacred laws of God would be despised by those people like Zipporah despised the law of circumcision. Consecration to God and fulfillment of God's purpose for the believing spouse would be judged by the unbelieving as too high and even as foolishness. As a result, rather than supporting the man or woman of destiny, the partner would be a hindrance and a ready tool in the hand of Satan. The wife of Moses ended up calling Moses a bloody man as incompatible partners would also use names and words that are not encouraging. *Question* What are the other dangers of marrying an incompatible partner? Are you also suffering it too? *3. Distinguished Through Inspired Partnership* a. Moses knew that Zipporah would be a great distraction to him and the wife also opted to stay back from that calling. Actually, there is no way an incompatible partner will be a blessing to the ministry except the person is helped to repent and get converted. Moses preferred to go it alone and the woman agreed to that too. *"he let him go: then she said, A bloody husband thou art, because of the circumcision"*. Obviously, the woman was not forced along, but rather made to return home to avoid further distractions. There is danger in forcing a partner who has no relationship with God to be part of the ministry of the spouse especially, if the unconverted spouse also wants to have her share in the ministry. That will be an unequal yoke in ministry. Moses put a dividing line between the home and the ministry. When the unconverted is allowed to share in the ministry of the spouse, the influence of the unconverted will not be helpful. However, the New Testament does not permit divorce because it is for better for life according to the Bible. The consecrated spouse needs wisdom to ensure the home front is peaceful, cared for and at the same time the ministry is not compromised or put as secondary. b. Moses at this time had learnt his lesson the hard way. He allowed God to guide and lead him in getting the right ministry partner and this was able to help him absorb the problems associated with incompatibility in marriage. *"And the LORD said to Aaron, Go into the wilderness to meet Moses. And he went, and met him in the mount of God, and kissed him"*. A lot of joy, fulfilment and happiness also follow doing the will of God and being yoked together with a person of like precious faith in ministry and conviction. The influence of Aaron helped Moses to achieve great things in the absence of his wife. *"And Moses and Aaron went and gathered together all the elders of the children of Israel... and did the signs in the sight of the people...And the people believed"*. God also raised Miriam to be a prophetess to assist Moses in the absence of the wife. Later Jethro brought the wife to join Moses in the wilderness, spousal incompatibility should not be used as an excuse for not serving God effectively. God's grace is still sufficient to fulfil the purpose of God even when the partner is not performing his/her role as partners in service. *Question* Do you use marriage as an excuse for compromising the Word of God or reducing your consecration? *Prayer Points* 1.Pray to God to help you to get it right in marriage (if not yet married)and ministry and remove every form of profanity from all the members of your family 🙏. 2.Ask God for wisdom to manage the challenges in your marriage and ministry so that you will be at your best in God's service 🙏. 3.Pray for your spouse that God will move in him/her to be an asset to you in the service of God🙏. 4.Pray for divine visitation of peace to families of church leaders that the partners are not cooperating 🙏. *HYMN:* O brother life's Journey beginning *BIBLE IN ONE YEAR:* GENESIS 32-34. 2. Evening Prayer fir toady. EP.i. Evening Prayer Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if [there be any] wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. ⏤ Psalm 139:23-24 God delights to answer the prayer of faith. ⏤ Samuel Chadwick Dear heavenly Father, our hearts are filled with gratitude tonight as we think about how wisely You’ve led us this week. It’s been a week full of loving-kindness and tender mercy. You’ve walked with us every day and guarded us every night. You’ve brought us many blessings that will make this week bright in our memory. We’ve met new friends, read new books, had prayers answered, and found new joys. For all these things, we are very grateful. Look over the record of this week, which is now laid out before You. You see the spots and stains—things we did that we shouldn’t have, and things we left undone that we should have done. Speak forgiveness to our hearts. We also ask for the grace to make the coming week better than this one. We can’t change the past, but we want to make the most of what’s left. Prepare us for the Lord’s Day, and may Sunday prepare us for the new week. Let Your Word search our hearts and reveal anything that’s not right—then make us clean. Tonight, we pray for Your ministers who are preparing for tomorrow’s work. Fill them with Your Spirit, and lead them to the truth they need to share with Your people. Give them messages that bring life, peace, and comfort. Teach them what You want them to say. Hold them close to Your heart tonight so they’ll be ready for their sacred work. Give them empathy, so they can connect with those they’ll serve. Baptize them with a sense of human need, so they can truly help those who are hungry for the bread of life. We ask all this in Jesus' precious name. Amen. https://www.youdevotion.com/daily-prayer/miller/06/evening #taptapstudio #youdevotion.