🥰🩵🍂PLANTED IN PLEASURE
A few days ago, I saw a video in which a man of God shared the story of his life before he became born again.
🏖️According to him, on the night of his initiation into a campus confraternity, they were drilled so severely that walking back from the venue of the initiation rites in the bush to the school hostel was impossible. According to the servant of God, the purpose of the deadly pummelling, as part of the initiation rites, was to turn the novice into a “man” so that, in the event of being arrested by law enforcement agents, he would not become fearful and begin to “sing” (that is, reveal secrets he should not disclose). The drilling, therefore, was intended to make them stout-hearted.

🥰🩵🍂WHEN GOD WANTED TO INSTITUTE MARRIAGE
But when God wanted to institute marriage, He didn’t look for what would instil hardness of heart in the couple. He sought, instead, what would make the instincts of love, compassion, affection, mutual desire, and romance He had built into them find their fullest expression, flourish, and increase.
🏫He therefore chose a special part of the earth called Eden to be their home. Eden means “pleasure.” And on that extensive expanse of joyous land, He planted a garden of juicy and nourishing fruit trees, as well as ornamental and aromatic plants, to be their home.
Why?

🥰🩵🍂MARRIAGE IS A LIFE OF LOVE
Because marriage is a life of love, beauty, affection, passion, romance, and sexual intimacy, it thrives best in an environment that evokes or stirs fondness, amorousness, and pure concupiscence.

🥰🩵🍂REPLICATE THE EDENIC LIFE
The Garden of Eden has long vanished, but marriage is still here with us.
🌹Archaeologists and researchers have sought the glorious garden but have not been able to trace it.
Thankfully, that’s not the end of the story.
🏇Even though that supremely beautiful physical garden that was home to the first couple is gone, you and I can still enjoy a marriage filled with the thrills of the long-lost Garden of Eden.
🧑‍🍼How?

🥰🩵🍂BRING THE ESSENCES OF EDEN INTO YOUR MARRIAGE
By ensuring that the qualities that characterised the Garden of Eden are daily present and intentionally perpetuated in your union.
🪶And that’s your assignment as a couple: to plant all the components of the old Garden of Eden in your marriage.

🥰🩵🍂GOD SITED THE FIRST MARRIAGE IN EDEN (PLEASURE)
Because God sited the first marriage in the land of pleasure, it’s proof that pleasure is fundamental and foundational to the success of any marriage.
🪗Where there is pleasure, there is joy, gladness, happiness, peace, serenity, bliss, and friendliness.
🛡️Pleasure is like oil: it makes the interactions between spouses harmonious and smooth, with minimal friction.
🎙️So, what are you to do?
You are to ensure that the beautiful components of pleasure that characterised Eden and which are mentioned in this devotional piece are present in your relationship every day.

🥰🩵🍂THE KILLJOY WILL COME
For sure, living joyfully together won’t come easily because the devil will fight both of you tooth and nail to see to it that he fills your relationship with things that will make it difficult for you to dwell together peacefully, pleasantly, and in pleasure.
🪘He will shoot the fiery darts of challenges, pain, strife, misery, discord, misunderstanding, and so on into your midst. But the Bible tells you to team up and withstand him. Read:
“And if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him.”— Ecclesiastes 4:12a
🪵You must jointly resist him.
“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: Whom resist stedfast in the faith.”— 1 Peter 5:8–9a
🌎Resisting the devil calls for soberness and vigilance from both you and your spouse, so that you can recognise when he is attacking and fight back by resisting him in united faith.

🥰🩵🍂GIVE NO PLACE TO HUNGER
Another quality of the pleasure in the original Eden that you must ensure in your home is plenty of food.
🌌Let’s look at the verse:
“And out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, AND GOOD FOR FOOD.”— Genesis 2:9a
🌠In the ancient Garden of Eden, there was a superabundance of food in the form of fruits of diverse types and tastes. The couple had more than enough to eat and to spare. There was also plenty of water from the four rivers that coursed through the garden.
🌫️Why?
Because these are basics for a pleasurable married life.
In your marriage, ensure that there is sufficient food always. Even though love is at the very heart of marriage, hunger can trigger rebellion and discord.
🪐As a couple, always ensure that your priorities are right. Don’t place the acquisition of anything above food. The Bible says:
“And having food and raiment let us be therewith content.”— 1 Timothy 6:8
🫧Food is a must in the home. Don’t aim at acquiring the newest model of Jeep on the automobile market while you, your spouse, and your children are starving. When you do, don’t be surprised when tempers flare up some days.
🐞Here’s another Scripture that shows the basics that must be ensured in a marriage:
“If he take him another wife; her food, her raiment, and her duty of marriage, shall he not diminish.”— Exodus 21:10
🍓In this verse, God makes it clear that food, clothing, and sexual intimacy are matrimonial basics that a husband must provide for his wife and must never neglect for any reason. They are all components of the pleasure of marriage.
🍉And this brings us to one of the foremost components of the pleasure on which marriage is built. That component is sexual intimacy.

🥰🩵🍂SEXUAL INTIMACY: A CORE COMPONENT OF EDENIC LIFE
The pleasure of Eden wasn’t only about tasty fruits and nuts. It included sensual and sexual pleasures.
🍊Remember that Adam and Eve were completely naked. They enjoyed the sensual pleasure of seeing each other’s nakedness.
🍒In your marriage, let there be an abundance of sensual and sexual pleasure. The fact that the world has bastardised sex should not make you see it as filthy.
🍎In marriage, sex remains a glorious blessing and one of God’s finest gifts to married couples.

🥰🩵🍂CONCLUSION: BEAUTY AND PLEASANTNESS
The last element of the pleasure in the original Garden of Eden that you must graft into your marriage is personal as well as environmental beauty and pleasantness.
🌶️Let’s look at the Scripture again:
“And out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight.”— Genesis 2:9a
🍍Eden was full of beautiful trees, shrubs, plants, and special grasses. It was breathtaking.
🌽Emulate that.
🥑By all means, be always clean and attractive for your spouse.
🫒Make your home, and most especially your bedroom, clean, beautiful, and inviting. You will find that its beauty will ignite your spirits and make you walk into each other’s arms and embrace again and again in the course of the day.
🫛And this is just as it should be!🍇🍄‍🟫

💕♥️🩷Tonight’s Bedroom Assignment:
Re-read this devotional together just before bedtime and discuss it with open and sincere hearts.

✝️Altar Call: Jesus Christ is calling you! Come to Him today in genuine repentance. Believe in Him and be saved!

🌡️🧪⚗️Scientific Info To Boost Your Marriage:
“The best fruits for heart health include berries, avocados, and oranges, which provide powerful antioxidants, healthy fats, and essential fiber to protect your cardiovascular system”

🎷🪘🎙️🪗 HALLELUJAH!
📢PRAISE THE LORD!