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  • Trust In The Promise

    The Israelites wandered in the wilderness for 40 long years because they didn’t believe and trust God. He told them to go in, and to possess the land He had promised, but the spies that were sent to survey and check out the promised land brought back a bad report. They told the Children of Israel that the inhabitants of this land were huge like giants and very scary. Most of the spies held the opinion that they wouldn’t be able to overtake the inhabitants, and this is what they reported back to everyone. God’s people cowered in fear because they were afraid, they thought they’d be squashed like grasshoppers. They had been up against the giant of Pharaoh’s evil rule in Egypt, and God brought them out, but they chose to forget this. It’s pretty unbelievable to fathom that after all the extraordinary things God had done for them in the past, they doubted Him still. Instead of clinging to His unlimited ability and willingness to bless them, they chose to cling to fear. Some of us are making this same choice today.

    In Deuteronomy 11:8-9 (NLT), Moses told the Children of Israel, “Therefore, be careful to obey every command I am giving you today, so you may have strength to go in and take over the land you are about to enter. 9 If you obey, you will enjoy a long life in the land the Lord swore to give to your ancestors and to you, their descendants – a land flowing with milk and honey!” One of the things that we see right away in verse 8 is that the people would need strength to go in and claim what was theirs. Some of us have an attitude of a kid in a candy store. We see all of this yummy stuff that God has made available, and we want it all, but we can’t forget that spiritual strength is a requirement. Cultivating strength is the first order of business in a take-over.

    Moses told them exactly how to keep their strength up. He told them to obey God’s commands. If they did this, they would be strong enough spiritually to move in victory. When they were in the wilderness, one of the first telltale signs about their condition is that they were full of fear. They had not yet sufficiently put on a mindset of faith in God. If they had, they would not have allowed the evil report of the spies to deter them.

    God had promised the Children of Israel something great. The Creator of the Universe and all that we survey had spoken to them through Moses. Heavenly Father made a divine commitment to bless them in an amazing way. During their deliverance from bondage, God caused the Red Sea to open so they could cross to the other side. He fed them manna from heaven in the wilderness and blessed them to come out of Egypt with vast riches of the Egyptian’s treasures. They had gold, silver, and all kinds of beautiful and valuable things. This is what God did for them, yet, they would not press themselves to remember how Heavenly Father had delivered them.

    God wanted us to know this record in His Word so that we would have a firsthand account of what unbelief looks like; so we can witness how doubt and fear will cripple our efforts to move forward in strength. When we are not fortified spiritually, our faith isn’t where it needs to be, and we’re not in a position to take what God has given us. So many of us fail to get into position and assume the posture of a winner because our eyes are focused on all the things that provide an excuse for our immobility. We see God’s willingness to bless us in a very limited way, and this causes our faith to fail.

    I remember hearing a story of a man that had all sorts of physical ailments. He had a bad back. His knees were continually sore, he had a heart condition, and he also had several allergies. A well-known Christian healer came to his city, and the sick man made his way to see him. He told the healer, “Pastor, I’m a very sick man, but if you will ask God to just heal my back, I’ll be satisfied.” This may seem like a very humble request for an ailing person, but actually this man was refusing to stretch forth with the full brunt of his faith. He was asking God to do only a small fraction, because in truth the sick man only wanted to BELIEVE in a small fraction.

    Jesus Christ told us in Mark 9:23 (NLT), “Anything is possible if a person believes.”  Our God is so much bigger and greater than we can imagine. Ephesians 3:20(NKJV) tells us, “Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us,” Heavenly Father deals in the exceedingly abundant. He goes above and beyond anything we can ask or think. In the case of the sick man, you might say that maybe he didn’t know any better, but God has made a way for us to always know better. He’s given us His Word, and it is available just about everywhere we look. So, ignorance is not an acceptable defense. It is an excuse for not studying and trusting His Word.

    Heavenly Father wanted to heal every part of this man, not just his back. This is what the healer told him. We need to prepare mentally, emotionally, and most importantly, spiritually to receive from God the kind of husband that will bless us wonderfully. If you are prepared, you’ll have faith that you have everything you need to take possession. If you are not prepared, you’ll acquiesce to believe that God isn’t going to bless you. This is fear at its worse. I encourage you to study God’s Word so that you know what is available through His amazing grace, then you will grow in spiritual strength and get more excited by the day about what Heavenly Father has in store for you.■

    Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.

    “Trust In The Promise”, written for findchristianman.com©2019. All rights reserved. All done to the glory of God through Jesus Christ, our Lord!

  • Making the Right Decisions and Choices

    In James 1:13-14 (NLT), God tells us, “13 And remember, when you are being tempted, do not say, “God is tempting me.” God is never tempted to do wrong, and he never tempts anyone else. 14 Temptation comes from our own desires, which entice us and drag us away.” Temptation of the worse kind is a prompting to do something wrong or unwise. Some Christian leaders and teachers have taught for many years that God tempts or tests us in order to see how we will respond. We have been led to believe that He will do this in an effort to reveal exactly what we are made of. In truth, the scriptures tell us that God is all-powerful and all-knowing. He has all power in His hands, and He knows everything there is to know; this includes every detail of our past, present, and future. He created us and made us new creations through our new birth reality. So, He already knows what we’re made of, and it is our great privilege to affirm it boldly through Jesus Christ every day!

    God is never tempted to do wrong. This is a tremendous source of comfort, and it speaks to His omnipotence and goodness; but the truth that He never tempts anyone to do wrong is beyond an awesome piece of loveliness. It’s wonderful to have this truth in our arsenal of knowledge, so that we know exactly where temptation comes from. It comes from the devil. Some of us have attributed the stuff that comes from God as that which comes from satan. And vice versa; we have attributed darkness from the depths of hell as that which comes from Heavenly Father. We have greatly underestimated the importance of clearly discerning the source of that which is good from that which is evil.

    Our responsibility as Christians is to take by faith all that God says we can have, and then we are to disburse it or give it out, because everything that comes from God will bless, expand, increase, and continue to move forward. That which comes from satan causes a reverse reaction of the worse kind. Out of ignorance and immaturity, some of us will disburse and dole out what comes from satan. When we do this, it boomerangs! It comes back to us, and instead of blessing us, it smashes us in our faces. The hit is often devastating.

    Many of us have seen this boomerang effect in our relationships. It’s no secret that the enemy knows that when we put something negative out there, something negative is going to come back to bite us. That’s his whole game with this temptation business. Temptation will cause this boomerang effect. Many of us Christians have faced or will at some point in our lives face a challenging decision. It may not be apparent to us, or it may not be presented in a way that shouts ‘TEMPTATION’, but sometimes that is exactly what it is. It’s a web the enemy has spun to ensnare us.

    We have to be careful because sometimes this temptation is in the form of a fine specimen who’s charming as all get out, has dimples and a killer smile to boot, and he knows all the right things to say. There’s only two ways to handle it; either we will choose God’s way or the way of the enemy. And we can’t get it twisted, giving in to temptation will always end in regret. Heavenly Father has given us a way to avoid this, and all we need to do is ask for His help. The Holy Spirit that indwells us will give us guidance and direction so that we make good choices and decisions. But if we forfeit the patience and wisdom to heed his direction, the end result is going to lead to more confusion, heartache, and distress.

    In Genesis 39, we have a record of God’s favor on the life of Joseph, one of the 12 sons of Jacob. God caused Joseph to be successful in everything he did. Because of God’s favor, folks took notice of Joseph, including Potiphar, who was Pharaoh’s Captain of the Guard. Now, Joseph was a handsome and well-built young man, and Potiphar’s wife wanted him for herself. She didn’t hold back her advances towards him and tried to seduce Joseph by pressuring him to sleep with her. She allowed herself to be used by the devil to tempt Joseph, but He did everything to stay out of her way and never gave in to the temptations she presented.

    Joseph didn’t have the indwelling Holy Spirit like we have today, but he was committed to stand upon the righteousness he knew. How many of us will be so brave and courageous? Well, God demands that we are strong and persistent in our conviction to honor Him, no matter what the circumstances may be. We must have a made-up mind and heart to live and do what is right. Our stand for God’s way will always lead us down the path of His goodness and bring us closer to the blessings we desire.

    James 1:14 says that temptation comes from our own desires. This tells us that the tempter, the devil, makes a study of our desires, so that he will have something to trick us with. We must never lose sight of this and keep a careful watch for it. Our weaknesses and propensity towards poor judgement furthers his plots and plans.

    We don’t have to walk around being afraid of what the enemy will do. 1John 4:4 declares that the Holy Spirit that is within us is greater than the prince of darkness and his demonic cohorts. Jesus Christ declared in John 16:13 that the Holy Spirit will guide us into ALL truth, and God commands that we walk by the Spirit and follow his guidance. When we do, we can be confident that he will help us make right decisions and choices so that our lives are blessed and pleasing to God.■

    Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.

    “Making the Right Decisions and Choices”, written for findchristianman.com©2019. All rights reserved. All done to the glory of God through Jesus Christ, our Lord!

  • Matching Apples to Oranges Won’t Work!

    One of my favorite passages of scripture is Jeremiah 17:7-8(NIV). It says, “But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.” I absolutely love this scripture, because it holds jewels of truth. The diamond of it cuts right down to the core of what happens when we have a sold-out trust in Heavenly Father. I always try to visualize the kind of person this passage is referring to. What must a person go through in order to obtain a level of confidence like this in the Lord? I believe it’s the kind of confidence where God would stamp him or her with a brand of ‘fearless!’  How does one stay fresh and always hopeful? When everyone else is experiencing drought, how does this person continually bear fruit? These are questions to which you and I must seek the answers, because not only is this God’s standard for you, it is His blueprint for the person He desires as your spouse.

    It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that this is a spectacular person. The truth is that we’ve seen such erosion of Godly principles in the world, that some sisters have allowed a very cynical mindset to takeover when it comes to finding the right man. They have been so disappointed in the past that they won’t fully trust in God’s provision in this area. God won’t take us higher than we are willing to believe. But if we are fully persuaded and completely sold-out on His goodness, the extraordinarily wonderful thing about Heavenly Father is that He will exceed our expectations.

    Ephesians 3:20(KJV) tells us, “Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,” Oh how I pray that you can get this into your heart. God works in the exceeding abundantly. This is His trademark, but He is also a God of consistency and order. With God, it is Spirit to spirit; Holiness to holiness; Faith to faith. It’s not apples to oranges. It’s apples to apples. He does the exceeding abundantly ACCORDING to the exceeding abundantly that is working in us. If you are not raising your sights to this level of faith, then you’re not going to see all that is available for you to see.

    This is why so many Christian women are disappointed in their desires. They are sometimes in the wrong place, talking to the wrong people, conversing about the wrong things; seeing the wrong things, thinking the wrong thoughts, and expecting right results. It doesn’t work this way. Faith to faith. You’ve gotta give God something to work with. Your arena has to change so that you can see a different picture—a higher picture than the one you’ve been seeing.

    The beautiful brother that is hardworking, pleasant to be around, pleasing to the eye, confident and strong, fearless, and continually energized by the power of the Holy Spirit—guess what? He’s not an abnormality in the realm of God’s treasures. He exists, and he is not in short supply. He’s a jewel of God’s truth!

    The Apostle James wrote in James 1:2-4(NIV), “2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”  The spiritual lessons and preparation to become a wife may prove to be a test of your faith; it is for many single Christian women. It requires us to pull down strongholds of negativity and doubt, and to see the areas of our lives that need to be strengthened in Christ before we move forward to the blessing of matrimony.

    What happens is that some of us make the mistake of being a little bit too desperate or hasty for love. We want the prize without the prep. We want oranges to match apples; and we ignore the advice God gave us in His Word.

    Changing arenas means that we move higher to a heavenly view, where our trust in God regarding marriage is unwavering. This is what makes a person like a tree planted by the waters. It’s when your confidence is in God’s provision, and you just know that He’s going to do what He promised.

    It may seem a far distance from where you’re standing today, and if you were to look at switching lanes on your own…forget about it. Thank God that Jesus Christ is the head of our lives! He’s Lord! He knows where we’re supposed to be, when we’re supposed to be there, and how to get us there. We need to relinquish the steering wheel altogether and let perseverance finish its work. The way to get this done is to ask Heavenly Father for the guidance of the Holy Spirit through the Lord Jesus Christ. John 16:13 tells us that the Spirit will guide us through Christ and tell us exactly what we need to know, so that we can tap into God’s treasures. Trust that God’s goodness never runs dry! Get yourself pumped for a change of scenery on higher ground. The Holy Spirit will help you move up supernaturally, so that you not only see all the wonderful blessings God has for you, but you’ll be able to reach out and grab them.■

    Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

    “Matching Apples to Oranges Won’t Work!”, written for findchristianman.com ©2019.  All rights reserved. All done to the glory of God through Jesus Christ, our Lord!

  • What’s Wrong with This Picture?

    Matthew 5:43-45 (NLT)
    “You have heard the law that says, ‘Love your neighbor’[a] and hate your enemy. 44 But I say, love your enemies![b] Pray for those who persecute you! 45 In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven. For he gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust alike.”

    Jesus Christ was a paradigm shifter to say the least. He started his statement in Matthew 5:43 with “you have heard…” This allows us to know that the popular teaching during the time he came on the scene was completely contradictory to the knowledge and wisdom that he laid out. How absolutely mind blowing it must have been for those listening. To think that they had made a pattern of hating their enemies and loving only those who loved them. Jesus Christ blazed a new trail by speaking of a higher, more enlightened, and spiritually intelligent way of handling enemies. He said love them, then you’ll draw a line in the sand between those that are representing God’s love and those that are not.

    It must have sounded preposterous to those who would absolutely refuse to move away from their old way of thinking and behaving. Not only did he tell them to love their enemies, but he took it a step further. He said pray for them who persecute you! What!!! Make no mistake, Jesus Christ knew exactly the uproar his revolutionary words would cause. He came to shake things up and to set a new, higher standard for living a spiritual life. You can’t do this without knocking down the error first, so that newness has a fresh place to land.

    Even though many single sisters are Christians, and have been for years, they still cling to old paradigms or patterns; some of which Jesus Christ has specifically told us to kick to the curb. We’re still complaining about how hard good men are to find, when we know from God’s Word that they are the ones to do the finding. We’re playing around with the temptations that dating often leads to, when God has called us to use our time as singles to tighten our relationship with Him. Patterns like these must be eradicated if we’re to step into a greater level of love, and thereby draw out a greater love from the one who will ultimately be our partner in life.

    Jesus Christ told us that our Heavenly Father rains down blessings on both the just and the unjust. In your mind, you might see yourself as a woman that is living right; on the other hand, you see a woman that isn’t nearly as dedicated to the faith as you are, and she’s engaged to be married. “What’s wrong with this picture?” you ask yourself. Stuff like this may have you feeling a little like those who first heard the message of love that Jesus taught in Matthew 5:43-45.

    The truth is that God doesn’t love the saved person more than He loves the unsaved person. He loves all of us, which is why Jesus instructed us to love and pray for our enemies. So we can’t focus on some of the things that we see, but don’t quite understand.

    Your focus must rest in the reality that God has specifically called you out from among the world. This means that there are some things that you are required to do in order to fulfill your destiny in Christ. You can never underestimate God’s allegiance to see you become all that He has called you to be. You may see others enjoying the blessings that you desire for yourself, but you cannot be deterred. God is perfecting something in you. James 1:4 (NIV) encourages us, “Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”

    Always remember that Jesus Christ has called us to a higher, more enlightened, spiritually intelligent way of life. Not to make us better than anyone else, but he has called us to light the path for those who have not yet beheld his glory in the way that we have. Your future husband will be all that you desire and more, but he will need you to be strong in ways that you don’t yet realize. Trust that God is grooming you to receive this tremendous blessing. Help Him to knock down those old paradigms of error that have gotten in your way. Represent God’s love always, and trust that the Holy Spirit will prepare you for what is to come as you do.

    Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.

    “What’s Wrong with This Picture?”, written for findchristianman.com ©2019.  All rights reserved. All done to the glory of God through Jesus Christ, our Lord!

  • Don’t Break His Heart

    Many people live their lives from the outside in. They allow what is happening in their environments to dictate what is happening internally. For instance, if something happens at work and someone does something they don’t like, they allow this person’s actions to ruin their day. People often find themselves reacting negatively to situations and events that are going on outside of themselves. They become enraged if someone cuts them off in traffic, or if a person says the wrong thing to them. No longer do we, as a society, bypass simple offenses. In today’s environment, many of us are easily offended and wear our feelings on our sleeves, so to speak. When it comes to this tendency of reacting to the negativity in our worlds, the list goes on and on. We’ve approached a level of extremes, and people have adopted a very negative outlook on life because of it. So many are ill-tempered and constantly in a bad mood. This kind of pessimism is corrosive; it hinders the blessings that many of us desire to flow our way. A happy life with a wonderful spouse is absolutely achievable for the woman of God that desires it, but it’s not going to square with a negative outlook on life.

    God is opening His heart to us in amazing ways. Wonderful things are happening in the body of Christ. Our privilege and responsibility is to take on more of God’s nature and continue to renew our minds to His Word. This is required to grow in spiritual strength and have the relationship with Him that He desires. Looking at this in very basic terms, if you and I have love in our hearts for someone, we are concerned about their well-being. We want them to be happy, to grow, and to be productive in life. If we are at a level of abounding in the things of God, and we are witnessing His wonderful abundance, we want this for everyone else that we know. Wanting the best for others is a very important attribute of how the love of God in Christ behaves.

    The love of God in Christ will motivate us to want to see others rise to greater levels of growth and prosperity. This is multiplied to uncalculatable levels when it comes to God’s heart and what He wants for us. We are His children! We’re Kingdom Kids, so it makes sense that Heavenly Father desires that we grow in His nature. In Ephesians 4:13, He makes it clear that the end goal is that we measure up to the full and complete stature of Christ. In other words, the more of God’s nature that we take on, the more like Christ we become. Heavenly Father can then share more with us; and not only this, but spiritually we get to a level where there is such an ease in our communication and fellowship with Him.

    When other things, situations, and people are dictating our mood, it means that we are developing a habit pattern of internalizing potentially hazardous stuff. We’re allowing fear and all its cousins to get cozy in our hearts. That’s no good. Our bodies are the temple of God. The Holy Spirit abides inside of us. We must remember that marital partnership is a ministry, and if we’re not ministering to our own hearts properly through God’s love and power, we probably won’t have the spiritual strength to do it for someone else. When we guard our hearts and feed them a diet of positive thoughts and the promises of God’s Word, we’ll be amazed by the blessings we begin to attract.

    Ephesians 4:30-32 The Message (MSG) tells us, “Don’t grieve God. Don’t break his heart. His Holy Spirit, moving and breathing in you, is the most intimate part of your life, making you fit for himself. Don’t take such a gift for granted. Make a clean break with all cutting, backbiting, profane talk. Be gentle with one another, sensitive. Forgive one another as quickly and thoroughly as God in Christ forgave you.” I know you have heard many Christians refer to the indwelling Holy Spirit as a gentleman. For some of us, it may seem odd to our ears to hear this, but with respect to sensitivity, compassion, and love, this statement is so true. The Holy Spirit is very gentle and loving. He rejoices in those things that delight the Father, and he is grieved by those things that do not.

    The Holy Spirit partners with us when our actions are those that represent heaven. These are the times when we really see his power in operation. The bottom line is that we can’t thrive when our hearts and minds are not conducive to the lively loveliness of the Spirit. God is interested in what is going on with our hearts, because that’s where the action is. It’s part of the reason that God placed the Spirit on the inside of us. It’s there that we need the most help.

    We’ve really got to come into consciousness about how we’re reacting to the world around us. If we’re in a bad mood all the time, and we’re angry or disappointed, God has a remedy for this. He tells us to renew our minds to His Word and to trust Him with all our hearts. We need to talk to Him daily, be very honest with Him, and then listen for His response. We need to pray and trust that He’ll help us reroute ourselves, so that we can begin to attract blessings and make the indwelling Holy Spirit feel right at home.■

    Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.

    Scripture taken from The Message. Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group. 

     “Don’t Break His Heart”, written for findchristianman ©2019.  All rights reserved. All done to the glory of God through Jesus Christ, our Lord!

  • Turn from Your Past and Usher in A New Joy!

    The Apostle Paul said in Philippians 3:13-14(NLT), “13 No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.” As workman of the scriptures, we are often warned to be sure to put verses of scripture in their proper context. It is helpful to know who the Lord has inspired the writer to write to, and why. Sometimes it is doctrinal, and other times it is rebuke and correction. Philippians 3:13-14 is a passage that is so timeless and far reaching in its encouragement that any context would be too small a box to contain it.

    From what we know about Paul, he laid it all out there for us. He talked about the challenges of being a Christian in such blatant terms, and he was so honest about the struggles of the flesh. He wanted to please God with all his heart, but he was at times bombarded with so many obstacles. This is always an area that really tugs at my heart, because I know what it feels like to take one step forward, only to be knocked two steps back. It can really do a number on you, especially when you don’t understand what’s happening and why. This is one of the reasons that I endeavor to encourage sisters in the Lord that might be going through some of the tribulations that I have experienced in life. I believe it is my calling to help educate, uplift, and encourage, because I know God will deliver us from all affliction. We just need to have faith.

    We must bear in mind that pain will thrive and increase in an environment that is void of faith; because sometimes, we are so distracted by what is happening in our lives that we forget about our faith and forfeit the hope it brings. The enemy sniffs out this waning, and then bombards us with one thing after the other, so that our senses are overwhelmed. We’re so busy trying to put the pieces back together that we wake up one day and find we have been overwhelmed to the point of numbness. We become numb to the Word of God, and we start to believe that our only recourse is to continue shutting down.

    If you’ve ever been abused emotionally, physically or mentally, this feeling of being numb seems very natural. We retreat to familiar patterns when anything like devastation or disappointment come into play, and we will often switch off emotions like hope, joy, and faith for fear that they will let us down. We feel like punching bags, and many of us are emotionally exhausted from the fight.

    The Apostle Paul’s Road to Damascus experience was a shock to his total being. If any of us had been in his shoes, we may not have survived it. As he recovered and pursued the work of Jesus Christ vigorously, he faced some pretty tough opposition and circumstances—some of which you and I can’t really imagine. He wasn’t a super human. He didn’t have super hero powers. He was just a man that knew in his heart that Jesus Christ is real.

    Again, he talked about the struggle of bringing his mind under the authority of Christ amid the danger and chaos he faced. He was a man that had committed unthinkable cruelty against the followers of Christ, but then he was converted; he became a believer of the Lord Jesus Christ! Can you imagine the emotional heaviness he must have felt when thinking about how cruel he had once been to Christians? He could have chosen to be numb, so that he wouldn’t think about it or feel those feelings. This is why the passage in Philippians 3:13-14 is so precious, because Paul admitted that he wasn’t where he knew he should be, but he was determined that his past was not going to keep him from running the race and receiving the prize. This has to be our stance as well.

    Paul encouraged us in love to never get tired of living for Christ. The enemy will try and use the complexities of our pasts to exhaust us, to paralyze us in hopelessness and fear. This can make a person want to remain in a cocoon, but God’s love will cast out this kind of fear if we let it. No matter how down we are, no matter what has happened in our lives; no matter what pains we are carrying in our souls, we can look to God and know that the Holy Spirit is within us working to will and do of God’s good pleasure.

    Our walks in Christ are being perfected. This means that we turn our focus away from the past, just like Paul did. We should hold on to God with both hands, trusting that His work within us will be a good one. We can release those emotions that are holding us back, grab on to the hope of Christ, and usher in a new joy in our lives. ■

    Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.

    “Turn from Your Past and Usher in A New Joy!”, written for findchristianman.com©2019. All rights reserved. All done to the glory of God through Jesus Christ, our Lord!

  • Overcoming the Hurt of Betrayal

    God doesn’t cause the problems that tear relationships apart. 1Corinthians 14:33 tells us that He is not the author of confusion, but of peace. He wants us to be happy in our relationships, and this is why He has set His very own standard for the way we should care for and support one another in a marriage. In His Word, Heavenly Father tells us that the husband should love his wife as Christ loves the church, and the woman should honor her husband out of her love for Christ. This is God’s standard. It guarantees to preserve a marriage through any challenges. So, neither God or His Word has failed us in any respect, but all of us must admit that we don’t always hold to His standard of love in our marriages and relationships. For this, we need to seek God’s forgiveness.

    God’s heart is not for us to wallow in self-condemnation. We ask for forgiveness because it demonstrates our humility and desire to put God first; and to recognize that His Word cannot fail. Forgiveness puts us in right standing, and it opens us to receive more of God’s instruction in righteousness as we are spiritually strengthen through His love.

    The standard of love that God has set is personified in Christ. We are the bride of Christ, and he is our bridegroom. He loves us so much, and his passion is to care for us and support us in every way. We make mistakes and we get hurt, but even in the middle of our disappointment, we must remember that we are the light of Christ. The pain we may experience feels very dark and heavy, but we will overcome it through the power of the Holy Spirit that indwells us.

    A woman said to me that when first dating her husband, something on the inside of her felt wrong every time they met, but he treated her so well. She fell in love with him a few years ago, and they were married. He has betrayed the marriage through infidelity, and she feels that she is now experiencing such loss because she ignored her instincts. The truth is that most of us are willing to take such risks on love because deep down we know that when love is right it’s totally worth it. We shouldn’t condemn ourselves for taking the leap. We should, however, put ourselves in the arms of the Father and ask Him to teach us how to better guard our hearts, so that we’re in a prime position to both give and receive love His way.

    If you have been betrayed by your husband or the person you love, know that you are more than a conqueror through Christ. You will overcome through his strength. We know that we will experience tribulations in life, but God has told us to persist and endure through them. We might get knocked down, but we get back up. God is developing in each of us a posture that helps us run this race with endurance, always looking ahead to victory in Christ and never looking back; no matter how bad or hurtful things may appear. Our hope, our confidence, must always be in Christ.

    The bottom line is that in whatever form it is that we are broken, and no matter how it is that we have come to be that way, God will heal us. We will breakthrough our storms, tribulations, and wilderness experiences through Christ, our Lord. And one day, we will come to see that God’s deliverance has given us greater authority in Christ, and through it we will help someone else come into healing, just as we have.■

    Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.

    “Overcoming the Hurt of Betrayal”, written for findchristianman.com©2019.  All rights reserved. All done to the glory of God through Jesus Christ, our Lord!

  • Go for the Gusto and Don’t Lose Steam!

    It truly is a discerning time—a time to get pumped and motivated to do some things differently. Numbers too great to count are those who still find themselves without a good man to call their own. This isn’t God’s Will, and it is so wonderful that many sisters in Christ are coming to this realization. You recognize that you do not have to sit idly by, paralyzed by doubt. You can mobilize the resources that God has extended to change the outcomes of your life. This is good news indeed.

    For many single women, it may seem that you’ve experienced this level of motivation and excitement before, and it appears to you that nothing was accomplished. This isn’t true. Whether or not you acknowledge it, you moved yourself closer to what God has promised.

    If we will be completely honest with ourselves, we have to admit that for a brief period we determined to go for the gusto, but then, when things did not turn around as quickly and clearly as we had hoped, we lost steam.

    Gusto is defined as great enjoyment, energy, and enthusiasm. All three of these, enjoyment, energy, and enthusiasm, are jewels. They are invaluable when it comes to holding our desires in our minds and hearts with faith and focus. Losing steam is exactly the opposite. It is a state of mind that is down, droopy, and doubtful. Unfortunately, this is where a lot of single Christian sisters end up. They spend just a short amount of time with gusto, and then quickly become deflated and unhopeful when there isn’t an immediate outcome of their efforts.

    To keep hope alive and gusto charging with full steam ahead, one of the most important transformations we must engage is a change in our expectations. God tells us in Romans 12:2 to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. This isn’t something we do once and then stop. It isn’t something we do for a short while, and then give up. Renewing is a perpetual process. It never stops. The sheer nature of the word ‘renewal’ demands that we recognize the things that are no longer working for us. Then we change them and institute things that the Word of God guarantees will work for us.

    If we’ve hit a snag, stall, or wall, the misfire is clue#1 that renewal is in order. This realization is truly necessary when we seek to change our expectations. We have to understand that what used to work for us is no longer doing the trick, or it could be that things we thought were working actually didn’t work at all. Whatever the case, we need to be clear that renewing means we’re willing to go back to square one and throw out what didn’t work. Then we need to reassess, reprioritize, and begin to rebuild. This allows us to realign our expectations in a way that places Jesus Christ at the helm.

    The reality is that it took time for us to get to where we are today in our walk with Christ and in our lives overall. And it will take time to give our faith the processing time it needs to yield different results—results that are within the wonderful destiny that God has predetermined for our lives.

    Again, going for the gusto means that enjoyment, energy, and enthusiasm are top notch in your mental and emotional state. It means understanding that you can’t sink to the bottom rails of sadness, apathy, and doubt. You are the master builder of your life. God didn’t give any of us the power and authority to rule over another human being. He gave us power and authority through Jesus Christ to rule and reign in our own lives. If you are a mentally healthy individual, you can decide what you are going to think, feel, do, and say. You can effectively change your thoughts and feelings to receive exponentially successful results. Know that this is not only doable; it’s your destiny to work this out through the power of the Holy Spirit!

    Once you decide that this is the time for you to go for it, recognize that faith does not respond to a whim or a quick notion. Faith responds to the authority of Jesus Christ. This means that your heart and mind must be fully persuaded in the goodness of God. This full persuasion is the thing that causes you to be happy in the face of setbacks and adversity. Being fully persuaded is the thing that causes you to have warm flutters of optimism in your spirit, because you know beyond knowing that God is going to back His promises in your life.

    Hosea 14:9 (NLT) tells us, “Who is wise? Let them realize these things. Who is discerning? Let them understand. The ways of the LORD are right; the righteous walk in them, but the rebellious stumble in them.” When you recognize that this is a discerning time in your life, and that it’s time to go for the gusto, understand that you have the great privilege to measure up to the standard of Christ by matching your emotions and thoughts to the emotions and thoughts of the Holy Spirit that indwells you. When you do this, gusto is achieved, steam will continually flow, and the locomotive of your faith will be in full effect. Never lose heart. You can have what God says you can have! Keep the faith!■

    Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.

    “Go for the Gusto and Don’t Lose Steam!”, written for findchristianman.com ©2019. All rights reserved. All done to the glory of God through Jesus Christ, our Lord!

  • Small Things Matter

    As we mature in Christ, we will notice certain correlations or parallels in our journeys forward. One of those involves our level of fulfillment and satisfaction in life. It will match our confidence level regarding our own ability to impact the Kingdom of God. 1Peter 4:10-11 (NLT) tells us, “10 God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another. 11 Do you have the gift of speaking? Then speak as though God himself were speaking through you. Do you have the gift of helping others? Do it with all the strength and energy that God supplies. Then everything you do will bring glory to God through Jesus Christ. All glory and power to him forever and ever!” Some of us feel a little insecure in this area, and we really do need to get this one under our belts before we embark upon marriage.

    A good place to start is to think about what you feel are your best qualities. Consider what makes you unique and special. The qualities that you are willing to cosign on your own behalf are also ones that will lead you down a more purpose-driven path. We will often make things more complicated than they need to be. Jesus Christ told us in Matthew 11:30 that his yoke is easy and his burden is light, but we still make the reality of walking in our purposes such a difficult thing. God never intended it to be.

    Romans 12:6 (NLT) tells us, “In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well. So if God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out with as much faith as God has given you.” God created us, and predestined us according to the purposes of His own Will. He’s not slack in any way, and never misses a beat, so we can have confidence that we are uniquely specialized to carry forth something He has ordained. He made sure that we were born with everything we need to be a blessing and to influence and impact those we know and love for His Kingdom.

    A while ago, when my schedule was a little lighter, I’d stay up late watching cooking shows on TV.  Featured desserts were my favorite. I grew up around women that could sho’nuff burn in the kitchen. They didn’t need recipes. A pinch here, a sprinkle there; a cup of this, a teaspoon of that, and a masterpiece of southern cuisine was born. I never thought much about baking then, I was too busy enjoying the fruit of my kinfolk’s labor. My aunt’s pound cake would literally melt in your mouth, and I just always assumed the skill was beyond me, but one day something happened. My interest in those television shows had caught me by surprise, and I decided to give baking a try. Homemade Chocolate Chip cookies, Caramel Cake from scratch, you name it, I tried it.

    At first, my sweets were not such a treat, but after a while, I got the hang of it. “You put ya’ foot in this, girl!”  My family and friends often say after eating my homespun yummies from scratch. I’ll go through periods where I don’t bake, but something within me will say, “It’s time to get to it again.” The habit pattern of baking is now ingrained in my life because I’ve chosen to give in this way. Single or married, I’m committed to do it because it is one of the ways I endeavor to be a blessing. At one time I thought, “Father, being a blessing can’t be as simple as giving folks desserts.” But indeed it is. The Spirit reminds me constantly that I should never overlook the small or simple things, because they mean so much to others.

    Heaven rejoices when we honor God with actions to be a blessing. When we do things well and use whatever we’ve been given to bless folks, God receives the praise. This is why we can never hide what He has given us. A hunch or a casual interest can be expanded to an extremely important opportunity that positions us to live greater for God. So build your confidence in your gifts, talents, and abilities; use them for God’s glory, and watch how He causes them to greatly increase your fulfillment and satisfaction in life!

    Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.

    “Small Things Matter!” written for findchristianman.com/blog/©2019.  All rights reserved. All done to the glory of God through Jesus Christ, our Lord!

  • If You Know Your Worth, He Should To

    Call me old fashion, but I still truly believe in the courtship between a man and a woman. I’m vested in the ideal that a man is supposed to take the necessary steps to demonstrate to a woman, beyond a shadow of doubt, that he has more than a casual interest. And then the woman should be fully prepared to either accept his advances towards getting to know her better, or politely let him know that she’s not the woman for him. I understand that many women no longer think of relationships in this way but believe that they should pursue a man to the degree that men used to pursue women. At the end of the day, people will do what they want to do, but we have to ask ourselves as women if we’ve lost something far more valuable by compromising God’s standard in this area.

    I think we have. Self-worth isn’t something you can cultivate or advance by being assertive towards men. When we truly value ourselves, the right man will respond, and he’ll respond by doing everything in his power to be next to us. You can’t put a price on this. It’s golden, and it’s the way God set things up.

    In Matthew 16: 19 (NLT), Jesus Christ said, “And I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven.  Whatever you forbid on earth will be forbidden in heaven, and whatever you permit on earth will be permitted in heaven.” Take a moment and imagine how God’s Kingdom works. There is no struggle, no striving, and no drama. Everything there runs off of faith in God. No one has a need of which Heavenly Father does not attend to before they recognize the need. Angelic beings are constantly singing God’s praises, because they know that there isn’t an activity more wonderful than praising Heavenly Father. Heaven is a place more extraordinary than our imaginations can hold, and Jesus Christ has given us the keys to its Kingdom.

    The keys are no good to the dead. They can’t use them, but we’re living, and we can use the keys to tap into heaven’s resources in a dynamically spiritual way. Our Lord and Savior is schooling us on what happens when we set our minds and hearts in accordance with God’s Will. We’re unstoppable when we know who we are in Christ, and we begin to act like the ambassadors that he has made us.

    When we begin to make our relationships with God a priority by meditating on His Word daily, praying more, and learning to be led by the Spirit, we will grow and mature spiritually. Growth in the Spirit means that we rely on his inner resources more than we do the outer resources of the world.

    If we’re keeping it real, many of us choose the way of modern convenience because we think it is more expedient than growing in the spirit. We can whip out our cell phones, send a text or an email, and start an online relationship in less time than it takes to shower. We’d rather do this than to work on our souls. We lack the patience required to fast, pray, and meditate on God’s goodness; we don’t want to wait until He activates that part of us in the Spirit that causes us to step in alignment with the flow of the blessings we seek.

    There’s something about watching two people take vows before all of their family and friends, to love each other and spend the rest of their lives together; through good times and bad times. It’s just a beautiful thing to see, but too often we’re watching the union take place and then seeing it fall apart a year later. What can we learn from this? One of the things we learn is that in the end, we will not lose out by letting Jesus Christ have the steering wheel in this area of our lives. We don’t need to forgo our strength in the Lord out of a fleshly need or desire for comfort and pleasure. Know your worth, and let the Lord demonstrate it to you through a good man that is more than willing to pursue you as his future wife.■

    Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.

    “If You Know Your Worth, He Should To” written for FACM, findchristianman.com©2019.  All rights reserved. All done to the glory of God through Jesus Christ, our Lord!