Finding A Christian Man

Undercover Love

September 25, 2017

Spiritual Preparation for Marriage Lessons

Moses taught the Children of Israel in Deuteronomy 6:3-4 (NLT), “3 Listen closely, Israel, and be careful to obey. Then all will go well with you, and you will have many children in the land flowing with milk and honey, just as the Lord, the God of your ancestors, promised you. 4 “Listen, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. 5 And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength.” This is God’s commandment, and it has not changed. Heavenly Father tells us in Numbers 23:19 that He does not change His mind, His nature, or the way that He operates. At times, we make the mistake of allowing this truth to slip to the back of our minds.

God is a sure thing. His Word is unbreakable and unshakeable. He is faithful to it beyond our comprehension. So when He tells us to do something, or that something is required of us in order to sustain and maintain our relationship with Him, then our complete allegiance is necessary. In the Old Testament, Moses made it clear that the way we’re supposed to love God is the highest and greatest degree achievable; it is total, and it requires our whole being. In Matthew 22:37 (NLT), when Jesus Christ was asked what is the greatest commandment, he reiterated God’s commandment and replied, “You must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.”

With all that we are, we are to love God. Lip service is not going to cut it. There must be an acute flavor of goodness that wreaks of His love in everything that we do and touch. God’s love transforms darkness to light and brings harmony, and we are the royal ambassadors of it. This level of living is not a fantasy; it is our reality as God’s divine offspring. We are supernaturally endowed with power on high to live and influence this way. Our only responsibility is to trust that we can do it through Christ.

Our souls belong to God, but when we become born again, our souls are not made whole. We often confuse these three and think they are the same, but the Holy Spirit, the human spirit, and the human soul are all very different. They are not the same. The Holy Spirit is a part of the Godhead, and God gives him to us as a gift to lead, guide, teach, comfort, and direct us as we navigate the earth’s terrain and train to become like Christ. We are made in the image of the Godhead, and are therefore three-part beings; spirit, soul, and body. Because of the work of Christ on the Cross of Calvary, we become a completely new creation. This is because our human spirits, which were dead to God before we accepted Jesus Christ as Lord, are recreated through Christ. Becoming born-again means that our human-spirits become alive to God.

God created humanity and all other living creatures in such a way that seed produces after its own kind. This seed is given through the father parent, and not the mother. In order for a human to be reproduced, the seed of a biological father is required. God set this pattern, and He is faithful to it. So it stands to reason that in order for us to be His spiritual and eternal children, we have to have His seed. His seed is higher than the physical, corruptible seed. His seed is spiritual, and it cannot be destroyed.

1Peter 1:23 (NLT) tells us, “For you have been born again, but not to a life that will quickly end. Your new life will last forever because it comes from the eternal, living word of God.” Through the Holy Spirit that indwells us, we have God’s seed. He, the gift of Holy Spirit, lives inside our human spirit. Because of Christ, our newly recreated human spirit is a clean place for the Spirit to hang out, but the soul is another story. The soul is transformed as we put on the Word of God in our hearts and minds. And the degree to which we put on the Word and WALK in it proves the depth of our obedience and allegiance to God. Our soul work testifies of our love for Him. So the degree to which we put off sin and put on the love of Christ proves our love for Heavenly Father.

God will not do this work for us, because He will never violate our free-will. He has told us in Ephesians 4:24 and Colossians 3:10 to put on the new man. This means we are to make sure the old man ways vacate the premises. These old ways are those mean and nasty attitudes, negative thoughts and behaviors, and bad judgment we had before we accepted Christ. They’ve gotta go so we can walk in the newness Christ offers, and put on his love in our minds and hearts. Again, God wants all of us. He tells us in Romans 12:1 that our whole being is to be presented as a living sacrifice to Him, but a lot of us sisters are holding the most private part of ourselves back, and we’re trying to be undercover about it.

Some of us are involved in a kind of undercover action, and we’ve tricked ourselves into thinking God neglects, overlooks, or doesn’t see it. It’s this covert business of sexual promiscuity, where some sisters are robbing God of the love He deserves from the depths of their souls. Some of the sisters that we’ve counseled in this area are hardened in their resolve to continue to sex outside of the union of marriage, and they have not seen this as a violation of God’s commandment to love Him with their souls, but indeed it is.

In Romans 6:6, God tells us not to serve sin. In 1Corinthians 6:18 (NLT), He tells us “Run from sexual sin! No other sin so clearly affects the body as this one does. For sexual immorality is a sin against your own body.” You want the kind of man that will deserve a woman who does not have a fragmented soul, a soul that is cut off and chipped away because of multiple sexual partners. We lovingly beg you sisters, let the Lord into your heart in every way. Give Him the time and space to heal your soul by abstaining from sexual sin. Let God love you to life, and don’t continue to fall for the enemy’s plot to trick you to death. ■

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.

“Undercover Love”, written by FACM, Finding A Christian Man.Com ©2017. All rights reserved. All done to the glory of God through Jesus Christ, our Lord!

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Perfect Love Will Never Disappoint

September 18, 2017

Encouragement and Inspiration

Psalms 59:16(NLT) tells us, “For you have been my refuge, a place of safety when I am in distress. 17 O my strength, to you I sing praises, for you, O God, are my refuge, the God who shows me unfailing love.” Where on earth will you ever be able to say this about another human being? You won’t and you can’t. Psalm 59:16 speaks of God’s unfailing love, and there’s nothing like it. Heavenly Father loves us so much, but many of us question God’s love. A broken relationship, the loss of a loved one, or the disappointments we face in life can leave us feeling broken and depleted. It is possible to experience a level of pain that takes us so low it feels like death, and we have no idea how to pull ourselves out of its hurt. Everywhere you turn, there’s emptiness and lack. When you go through this—when you are so severely disappointed and heartbroken by people and situations in life, you might wonder why God would allow you to endure it, or why He didn’t prevent the situation from happening.

Hosea 4:6 tells us that people are destroyed because they don’t know enough about God’s Word to keep themselves out of harm. The knowledge about the Good News of Jesus Christ that we do not have in our arsenals is the very information that will usher in our victory. Our ignorance gives the devil what he needs to wedge a crack in the exterior of our existences and reap havoc. When we don’t know enough about Heavenly Father, and we don’t understand His ways, we often assume that He does things that He does not do, or that He doesn’t do things that He in truth does do. We have assumptions about what love is and how it operates, and often those assumptions are not in line with God’s Word.

The Love of God is perfect. This is truth! There are no ifs, ands, or buts about this one. God’s love cannot fail, but the love that you and I put out there sometimes has a few holes in it. We come to the table with our share of shortcomings, weaknesses, and imperfections. Failed relationships of the past teach us that no matter how much you wanted to please someone, there were areas of the relationship where you fell short. Not for a lack of trying, but merely for the simple reason that we can’t be everything to everybody. From this, we should learn another very valuable lesson, and it is that words alone are not enough to prove or back our love.

Love is the greatest action word there is. Love is a commitment that requires consistency, honesty, communication, and faith. These are qualities on which our relationship with God through Christ must be built before we can successfully execute them in a relationship with anyone else. We need to train ourselves to view love through God’s lens, because when we do, we understand better the commitment to the example of Jesus Christ that He requires. We’ll hold ourselves to a higher, greater standard. And holding ourselves to a greater standard also develops within us the courage and unwavering commitment to only accept a love that equals or exceeds the love we are able and willing to give.

Last week, while walking downtown, I witnessed a man belittling the woman he was with. It was as if she retreated in a corner like a trembling puppy. It broke my heart to see this. What stood out was this man’s demeaning tone and repeated question to her, “Why don’t you ever listen to me?” His tone conveyed an attitude that she was inferior, and incapable of responding as the mature and strong woman she looked to be. She tried answering him calmly, with a docile voice, but it didn’t seem to deescalate his behavior in any way. As a matter of fact, it seemed to anger him even more! I thought to myself, “If only this woman knew how true love behaves.”

Our identity is in the Lord Jesus Christ. Colossians 3:3 tells us that we are hidden with Christ in God. This means that when God looks at us, He sees the love of Christ that covers our whole being. God is so patient and kind to us, and He is waiting for our COMPREHENSION of who we are in Christ to catch up with the REALITY of who He’s made us. The more we get to know God’s perfect and unfailing love through His Word, the more we will know who we are in Christ.

Knowing who we are in Christ allows us to love strong, and not love wrong. We need the love of God in our hearts because only God’s love can hold a relationship together beautifully. Not only this, but God wants us to learn to love Him well, so that we can love ourselves well, and then love others well. This process can take quite a bit of time, and it is not without its bumps and bruises, but we will get better as we are perfected in Christ. As we grow and learn to love God’s way, He will be our refuge. He will be our Protector, the safety net we can run to when things do not turn out as we expect, but we must trust that learning to operate through His perfect love is our mission, and it will not fail us. ■

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

“Perfect Love Will Never Disappoint”, written by FACM, Finding A Christian Man.Com ©2017. All rights reserved. All done to the glory of God through Jesus Christ, our Lord!

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A Seasonal Shift

September 10, 2017

Devotions

Spiritually preparing for marriage, Christian Advice for Singles, Growing in the Holy Spirit, Growing in Christ, the Mind of Christ, Spiritual Encouragement for Christian Women, Christian Women Ministry, Christian Women Organization

Proverbs 3:5-9The Message (MSG)
“Trust God from the bottom of your heart; don’t try to figure out everything on your own. Listen for God’s voice in everything you do, everywhere you go; he’s the one who will keep you on track. Don’t assume that you know it all. Run to God! Run from evil! Your body will glow with health, your very bones will vibrate with life! Honor God with everything you own; give him the first and the best.”

We can’t help but look seriously at all that is happening around us. It’s occurring at a rapid pace. The weather patterns are beyond unpredictable, people are in panic mode, and the urgency of change is almost palpable. We went from the excitement of a total eclipse to the fear of dangerous hurricanes. These events seem to be out of order because they are such deviations from what we’ve come to know as the norm. The contrast and immediate transition in our emotional response to these events is stark. It should cause us to recognize that things are lining up, and through this contrast between excitement and terror, God is preparing us for an even greater shift.

God tells us in Genesis 8:22New Living Translation (NLT), “As long as the earth remains, there will be planting and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night.” He makes it very plain that there will be changes, so we should expect that change is going to be a part of life. Seasons of life will shift, and you and I do not decide how, when, and where those shifts occur. People may blame one thing or the other for these changes, but the truth is, it’s all in God’s hands. He does not cause calamity or the devastation that we see, but make no mistake that He is in control, and His timing is perfect.

Through everything that is happening the message is clear, we can no longer count on the certainty of our comfort zones. I believe many Christians are coming into this realization, and we’re going to have to make some changes to plan for what is to come.

In Genesis 11, the bible tells us that the whole earth spoke the same language. The ‘Sons of Men’ came together and decided to build a city and a tower, so that they would be gathered together in one place, and not scattered about the earth. This sounded like a good plan to them, but it was not the plan that God had in mind. Genesis 11:6-9 tells us that God garbled their speech so they would not understand each other. Then He scattered them all over the world.

For a person who does not know the Redemption Plan of Christ, they might look at this record, and be totally confused by what God did. Proverbs 3:5-9 (MSG) is always going to be the remedy for any confusion we have about God’s mysterious ways. We must trust Him with all our hearts, and not try to figure out all the details on our own. We need to lean on Him and allow Him to direct our paths. As Christians, we must also understand that Christ was destined to come to the earth to redeem humanity. God has so orchestrated creation that every detail, plan, person, spirit, and thing will ultimately bow to His Son, Jesus Christ. Nothing will prevent this, and we must be eternally grateful for it, because His Son is our Savior.

Romans 8:28 assures us that all things are working together for the good of those that love God and are called according to His purpose. This verse is speaking directly to us, God’s people. We are His elect! We are His called-out ones! So, we don’t have the luxury to cower in a corner, or to allow fear to paralyze us to inaction. We must wake up to the reality that nothing in life just happens. God is giving us a glimpse of what occurs when we allow fear to run the show. He’s revealing to us what the absence of love looks like. Some people will see this as doom, gloom, and apocalyptic. Other’s will see it as an opportunity to mobilize. They will use it to cast off the dust from life as it has been, and usher in something from the Lord that is amazing, fresh, and exciting.

We cannot behave as if God’s Word hasn’t warned us of certain things. In many ways, we let our guards down. Now is the time to pick them up. How do we do this? In Matthew 22:37-40 The Message (MSG), Jesus Christ tells us exactly how to go about it. He said, “Love the Lord your God with all your passion and prayer and intelligence.’ This is the most important, the first on any list. But there is a second to set alongside it: ‘Love others as well as you love yourself.’ These two commands are pegs; everything in God’s Law and the Prophets hangs from them.”

It isn’t about the big things that we do. Very often it is those little acts of kindness that show the greatest love. God is combing through the earth looking for men and women whose hearts are pure towards Him. These are those that will not allow their need to dictate how they love God. They will not put up religious acts as a sign of love for Him, and think that their giving equals love. These are saints that have a genuine desire to obey His Word and serve Him.

We need to get to a place where we crave fellowship and communion with God, where we desire to talk to Him often, to meditate on His Word, and to listen for His voice. This season we’re in will be like no other we’ve experienced, and it is just the beginning. We don’t know all the details, but we do know that like everything in God’s creation, this shift will make room for a greater revelation and revolution of Christ!■

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 New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

“A Seasonal Shift”, written by FACM, Finding A Christian Man.Com ©2017. All rights reserved. All done to the glory of God through Jesus Christ, our Lord!

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Not by Faith Alone

August 27, 2017

Encouragement and Inspiration

James 2:21-24 (NLT)
“Don’t you remember that our ancestor Abraham was shown to be right with God by his actions when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? 22 You see, his faith and his actions worked together. His actions made his faith complete. 23 And so it happened just as the Scriptures say: “Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith.”[g] He was even called the friend of God.[h] 24 So you see, we are shown to be right with God by what we do, not by faith alone.”

Regardless of what your past may look like or what your current set of circumstances may be, nothing can compare to the love of God being activated by right actions and faith in Him. It’s like what happens when we put the key in the ignition and turn it; the motor begins to run and we start moving in the right direction. Trust and believe, it will never be enough for us to go to church on Sunday, pray, and then go back home inactivated. We should be learning to activate our faith through doing what God requires of us. This is such an important step to tapping into the flow of His blessings. Many of us are becoming disillusioned and disappointed, and it is because we are looking to others to do what God has assigned as our responsibility. It’s unpopular to say, but we are not hitting our stride by coupling our doing with our faith. This is one of the reasons why we’re not seeing things move in the direction we want.

Any time that we go near subjects like this, sisters will tell us, “God accepts me just the way I am. I’m not perfect. He made me, and He looks beyond my faults.” His grace is amazing and all of us know it, but at what point do we look honestly at our lives and figure out that things have stalled. Heavenly Father is our sufficiency. He provides for us, but obedience is non-negotiable. So, when it comes to monuments of unity and love like marriage and family, God is beyond on point. No, He doesn’t expect us to walk around like zombies with the bible in our hands 24/7, but He created us with a purpose in mind. He expects us to be an on-purpose, proactive, vigilant people with a loving attitude when it comes to honoring Him and His Word. We expect this from all our relationships, so if we expect it, we’ve got to present it to our Creator first and foremost.

There is no way we can lose out if we put all our trust in God. In Psalm 91:1, David invites us to sit down in the presence of the Almighty God. Just the thought of this really knocks your socks off. To think that we can come before the throne of the Most High God and stand in His presence is almost too much to take, but because of Christ we have this great privilege and honor. David said that when we sit at His throne and hang out there in our minds and hearts, we’ll be enveloped by His shadow; and in His shadow, blessings fall like apples from a tree. There are more blessings than we would know what to do with. You want to make the most out of your life, this is how you do it. You stay at the throne.

In Psalm 91:2, David encourages us to declare “God, you’re my refuge. I trust in you and I’m safe!” Trusting Heavenly Father is everything, and we can’t say that we do, and then flake out on His Word. He wants a very intimate relationship with us, and tells us that the way to build this intimacy is to simply trust Him and what He says. Abraham was called a friend of God because of the honor he had for God’s Word. He received divine instructions, and followed them. What about you? Are you listening to God’s instruction? Are you following where He leads? Are you doing the things in your life that will crystalize your efforts and turn them into magnets for the blessings you seek?

This is not the kind of encouragement that is for those who are satisfied with things as they are. This is for the sister that knows there is so much more available to her and she won’t stop until the manifestation of her efforts are realized. Just remember that your faith must be mixed with the love of God, and love is the greatest action word in the human vocabulary. Love is not stagnant. It is active, and when you are activated in God’s love, things cannot help but change.■

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

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.

“Not by Faith Alone”, written by FACM, Finding A Christian Man.Com ©2017. All rights reserved. All done to the glory of God through Jesus Christ, our Lord!

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The ‘Wandering’ Syndrome

August 19, 2017

Encouragement and Inspiration

The “Wandering” Syndrome

The Word of God teaches us how to live in a way that keeps God’s blessings flowing in our direction, but sometimes, we do things that hinder the flow. This is a critical truth that can be very helpful for single women. We hear from many of you. You tell us how exhausting it is to keep pressing, and how disappointed you’ve been with the men you’ve dated. Many of you talk of giving up the quest. You say that you don’t know what you’re doing wrong, and you can’t figure out why the Lord hasn’t blessed you. It’s too frustrating to keep trying, you say.

We all know the verse in Matthew 6:33 (NKJV), where Jesus Christ tells us, “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” God wants to add to you. He wants to increase you, and He wants the truth of this scripture to sink deep within your heart. When it does, a revelation will be deposited in your soul.

This revelation will be so consequential to your journey forward because it holds a key piece of practical knowledge that will aid your faith, and turn your exhaustion into fuel. In Deuteronomy 2:3 (NLT), God told the Israelites, “You have been wandering around in this hill country long enough;” The people of God were wandering about aimlessly, and it is clear that it did not please God. Think about that. Let it marinate a bit.

Heavenly Father is an on-purpose God, and He created us to be an on-purpose people. Wandering without purpose, direction, and conviction should not be a part of our make-up. We should steer clear of this kind of lifestyle because it isn’t pleasing to the Lord.

God reveals much about Himself through His promises. Our response to His promises not only requires our faith, but it requires action. Salvation is a free gift. It is not based on our works, but faith is a response of gratitude to God for all that He’s given us. He expects that it will be backed with the energy of our conviction and a demonstration of our love.

James 2:26 affirms and reminds us that faith without works is dead. We forget sometimes that ‘dead as a doorknob’ is how God views a faith that isn’t backed with good works. The people of Israel in the Old Testament wandered aimlessly in the hill country because they refused to execute God’s provision. He gave them the promise of inhabiting a land of milk and honey, but fear kept them bound.

In Deuteronomy 1:22 (MSG), Moses reminded them of how it all went down. He said “But then you all came to me and said, “Let’s send some men on ahead to scout out the land for us and bring back a report on the best route to take and the kinds of towns we can expect to find.”” This was a stall tactic, and it is what some of us do when our commitment and faith isn’t where it should be.

Moses then said in verses 29-33, “I tried to relieve your fears: “Don’t be terrified of them. God, your God, is leading the way; he’s fighting for you. You saw with your own eyes what he did for you in Egypt; you saw what he did in the wilderness, how God, your God, carried you as a father carries his child, carried you the whole way until you arrived here. But now that you’re here, you won’t trust God, your God—this same God who goes ahead of you in your travels to scout out a place to pitch camp, a fire by night and a cloud by day to show you the way to go.””

To encourage you in your quest to be married is an extreme privilege for us. We keep at it even though sisters don’t always respond the way we hope they will. We’ll never let up as long as the Lord tarries, because we are solidly convinced and fully persuaded that you can be who He says you can be, you can do what He says you can do, and you can have what He says you can have. It’s God great pleasure to see you happily married, and it is absolutely available to you. The truth that many sisters have a hard time facing is that, when it comes to partnering, you are either your best friend or your worse enemy.

The record in Deuteronomy 1 shows us that God’s people lacked the gumption to move with sheer determination and intention to claim the promise. Even after Heavenly Father had done so much for them, their minds and hearts were not elevated to a level of supernatural expectation. We live from the inside out. A lack of faith caused God’s people to have a wandering mind-and-heart-set. Because of it, they were scattered on the inside; therefore, they were scattered on the outside. This is the condition a lack of faith produces.

God’s reaction to their disobedience and lack of trust was equal to their fumbling and inaction. He told them in Deuteronomy 1:36 (MSG), “Not a single person of this evil generation is going to get so much as a look at the good land that I promised to give to your parents. Not one—except for Caleb son of Jephunneh. He’ll see it. I’ll give him and his descendants the land he walked on because he was all for following God, heart and soul.” This is the question that all of us must ask and answer for ourselves. Are we all for following God, heart and soul? Because if we are, we will never give up. We’ll keep pressing ourselves to back our faith with good works, and do so with the confidence that God will fulfill the promise. ■

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

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.

“The “Wandering” Syndrome”, written by FACM, Finding A Christian Man.Com ©2017. All rights reserved. All done to the glory of God through Jesus Christ, our Lord!

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Never Go Hungry, Never Be Thirsty

August 14, 2017

Devotions

Isaiah 55:1-3 The Message (MSG)
“Hey there! All who are thirsty, come to the water! Are you penniless? Come anyway—buy and eat! Come, buy your drinks, buy wine and milk. Buy without money—everything’s free! Why do you spend your money on junk food, your hard-earned cash on cotton candy? Listen to me, listen well: Eat only the best, fill yourself with only the finest. Pay attention, come close now, listen carefully to my life-giving, life-nourishing words. I’m making a lasting covenant commitment with you, the same that I made with David: sure, solid, enduring love.”

From the moment we are biologically born into this world, as babies the first thing we look for is nourishment from our mother’s milk. Heavenly Father created us to seek this nourishment, and from it we begin to grow. Slowly we learn to bond with the physical world. There’s no way we could live a physical life without proper sustenance. The same is true when it comes to food for our souls.

Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ extends a never-ending invitation to us to come to him. We can be fed in a way that fills us up—that satisfies our every hunger, and quenches every thirst. God gives only the best; He offers only the best. Many people struggle, because they think they know what’s best for their lives and for their own souls. They are hungry and thirsty, but seek to fill their hunger and thirst with love and affection from all the wrong places.

After we feed our physical bodies, the food is digested and provides nutrients to all the other organs and parts. It is really wonderful how God created the human body to function. Well, God created the soul to respond to food the same way. Hebrews 6:16 schools us by telling us that it was a customary practice for people to swear by someone greater than themselves. This would confirm that an oath was binding and true this way. There is no one higher than God. So, when He made promises and covenants with us, He swore by His own name that His Word is true. We know that it is impossible for God to lie; therefore, we can have every hope in Him and be encouraged that His Word will never fail us. Hebrews 6:19a (NIV) says, “We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure.”

We should be feeding our souls with God’s Word, because it is an everlasting nourishment, and it will cause us to be filled with the finest. Jesus Christ said in John 6:27-29, 35(NIV), “27 Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.” 28 Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?” 29 Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.” 35 Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”

We walk by faith and not by sight. We are spiritual beings having an earth experience, and in order to maximize the most of our time here, we must maintain, protect, and nurture our connection to God, our Source of Life and Creator. Our spiritual life must have spiritual food. We can in no way live a godly and fulfilled life without coming to God for what He has to offer, which is a bountiful, limitless nourishment that will fed our souls and keep us thriving in every way.■

Scripture taken from The Message. Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

“Never Go Hungry, Never Be Thirsty”, written by FACM, Finding A Christian Man.Com ©2017. All rights reserved. All done to the glory of God through Jesus Christ, our Lord!

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The Constant Fight

July 30, 2017

Encouragement and Inspiration

“16 So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves. 17 The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions.” Galatians 5:16-17(NLT)

The struggle is real, there’s no doubt about it. It’s a fight to keep our flesh in check and to make sure we’re not valuing what it wants higher than what our soul needs. God doesn’t keep the fight a secret. He makes it very clear in Galatians 5:17 that within our physical bodies, our own sinful nature will fight against the Holy Spirit within, and the Spirit only wants to do good and help us. The sinful nature wants to do those things that are at odds with the things God wants us to do. He is always going to want the best for us. He wants us to live the kind of life that preserves us, and keeps us living optimally.

Essentially, we have two wills working against one another all the time. So, as God’s children we have an important choice to make on a daily basis; who is going to win, the flesh or the Spirit? This seems like a very simple choice, but it is not. We have an enemy, the devil, who has tactics that can be very subtle and undetectable. We are often tricked by him to give in to what our sinful nature craves. As single Christian women, one of the ways he does this is to get us to begin valuing our desire to partner higher than we do our desire to please God.

This is a highly contestable fight, because on the one hand is our great desire to partner, and on the other hand is the Spirit’s desire to guide us, so that we partner in a way that is pleasing to God and fulfilling to us as well. One of the ways that we can resist the devil and gain momentum towards the manifestation of our desires is to recognize a few things about the way in which the Spirit guides.

John 16:13 tells us that the Spirit will guide us into all truth. For you and I, the truth will always lead us back to God in Christ, and the call He has placed on our lives. We will never escape the reality of this, and we shouldn’t want to, because our continued journey towards higher heights and living a great life is contained in the reality of our destiny in Christ. A half-hearted trust in this will not cut it; we must be fully persuaded in the truth that God wants the best for us, and by following His direction, we can have it.

Like many of us, you may not know all the details of your destiny, but you can be assured that the indwelling Holy Spirit knows, and this is why it is so important to let him guide you. He knows who your husband is, and he knows where he is. Most importantly, he knows what you should do in order to prepare to partner with your future husband. He will reveal these things to you, but you have to pay attention. Through your everyday experiences, he will give you promptings and information that is extremely useful towards your quest to be a spouse.

This season that you’re in may feel like a drag-down, knock-out. You might be weary from the wait, and you may be emotionally exhausted from all the stuff you’ve gone through in past relationships. Yes, it’s a constant fight, but it is a fight you can win, and have won through Jesus Christ! God knows your pain, and He wants you to give yourself a fighting chance by leaning totally on the Spirit. You’ve leaned on your flesh. You’ve leaned on your emotions. You’ve leaned on the men you thought were the one. It’s time for a better approach. Let the Spirit guide you, and trust totally in the reality that he knows where you ought to be, and who you ought to be with. ■

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.
“The Constant Fight”, written by FACM writers for FindChristianMan.Com ©2017. All rights reserved. All done to the glory of God through Jesus Christ, our Lord!

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The Right Fit

July 23, 2017

Spiritual Preparation for Marriage Lessons

Puzzles are a very enjoyable hobby for some people. They love the idea of examining all facets of the missing parts, and then looking in a box filled with several pieces for the one piece that will fit. Sounds a bit like being single doesn’t it? Except finding the right person can be much more challenging. Those of us desiring marriage are looking for the person who will fit into our lives snuggly and comfortably; we wish it were as easy as picking a puzzle piece out of a box, but if it was that easy, we might not be as thankful to God as we should be for the gift of a spouse, and it’s also possible that we wouldn’t appreciate the person that we’ll ultimately marry nearly as much as we should.

With each intellectual and technological advance, life seems to become more complex. People are more complicated, and yes, there are layers that we have to go through to find out if the person is a compatible mate. After looking under a few layers of a new person we’ve met, sometimes it is overwhelmingly apparent that they’re not a good fit. Other times, we surmise that he has qualities we think we can work with. So, the puzzle piece isn’t perfectly aligned, but close enough we think. When it turns out that even this was a bust, and our willingness to make it work with someone that wasn’t quite the right fit backfires, the thought of going back to the box can be exhausting.

As a single sister in the Lord, you want to get to a point where you’re not exhausting your emotional energy in a relationship that God has not put His stamp on. Never forget that Jesus Christ knows where you’re supposed to be, when you’re supposed to be there, and how to get you there. Heavenly Father knows the person that is going to help you to be your best self in Christ. He is more concerned about you marrying the right person than you are. When God is in the mix, there’s no half-stepping—no second best—it’s the absolute best for the level of spiritual maturity we’ve obtained in Christ and for the call that God has placed upon our lives.

We have been very sketchy when it comes to this. We’ve doubted God’s attentiveness to detail when it comes to finding the right fit. This is why we sometimes end up in a world of emotional pain. We do the choosing and then expect God to cosign. This approach will almost always leave us at a disadvantage.

A better way is to give yourself the time and space to press into the Holy Spirit for leadership and guidance. There are things about yourself that you simply do not know, but God knows. He knows your future, past, and present. He knows exactly what will be a perfect fit for your life. You may have preconceived notions about what you must receive from a partner in order to feel that he’s the one. You may think you can determine what fits and what doesn’t, and this can be an issue for many of us, because only God knows best.

God requires us to have a certain amount of flexibility, and many of us haven’t cultivated it to the point of yielding and surrendering our desires fully to Him. You must consider that God may want you to become a different kind of person in certain areas of your life before you partner. You may need to alter your puzzle a bit, so that your future spouse will be a piece that fits. If this is the case, God will not keep you in the dark. He’ll tell you exactly what you need to know if you are willing to accept the truth, and if you are willing to allow Him to guide you in your quest.

Take a look back over the pieces that didn’t fit, the relationships that didn’t quite make it. Write a few questions down in your journal, and make the answers about you and not about the other person. Be extremely honest and ask yourself:

1. What impression did I leave on the person regarding God’s love?
2. What are the areas of the relationship where I could have done better?
3. In what ways did I demonstrate my gratitude to God for having the person in my life?
4. In what ways did I demonstrate my gratitude to the new person for being in my life?
5. Did I compromise the integrity of my temple, if so, why?
6. Did I deal with things I didn’t like about the other person in a Godly way? If not, why?
7. Was I able to balance my responsibility to the faith with the demands of a relationship? If not, what could I have done differently?

Sometimes, it is challenging for us to get out of our own way when it comes to our desires to partner. God wants to help us put Jesus Christ in the leading role, so that we are following His perfect plan. As you ask yourself the questions above, and answer them, be sure to also ask the Father to reveal the area that is hindering your faith the most. He’ll answer you through the indwelling Holy Spirit, and help you prepare for the person who truly is the right fit. ■

“The Right Fit”, written by FACM, Finding A Christian Man.Com ©2017. All rights reserved. All done to the glory of God through Jesus Christ, our Lord!

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NO PITY PARTY HERE!!!

July 17, 2017

Encouragement and Inspiration

No Husband, No Significant Other, No Prospects in Sight

…BUT YOU HAVE JESUS CHRIST!

In Old Testament times, it was not acceptable for a woman to earn her own living. It was not customary for her to call the shots about where she could go, what she could do, and how she could do it. As a child, her father kept a tight rein. Then, when it was time, a marriage would be arranged and her husband would pick up where her father left off. If a woman found herself in the unenviable position of fending for herself, she ran the risk of being labeled a harlot or a prostitute; even if sex was not involved. Inheritances passed from father to son in those days, so a woman who had no husband or son to lean on was in a very tough spot.

This is the position of which Naomi found herself in the Book of Ruth. She became bitter after losing her husband, then later her two sons. They were living in the country of Moab, but childless and a widow, she set out to move back to her hometown of Bethlehem. Initially, Naomi and her husband, Elimelech, left Bethlehem because of the famine in the land. They made a home in Moab, but after the death of her family members, in Naomi’s eyes Moab had become a symbol of tremendous loss.

We can relate, right? You’re in a new place with your husband and family, then tragedy strikes. Everything that you counted on to be safe and sure is snatched from beneath you. All you can think of is trying your best to escape the pain. It’s understandable, but Naomi made a mistake that many of us sometimes make when we take a hit. She forgot the goodness of God. Any time that we forget to be incredibly thankful for God’s goodness, we begin to focus on what we don’t have, start complaining about it, and then bitterness sets in.

We can see this in Ruth 1:20,21 (NLT). It says, “20 So the two of them continued on their journey. When they came to Bethlehem, the entire town was excited by their arrival. “Is it really Naomi?” the women asked. 21 “Don’t call me Naomi,” she responded. “Instead, call me Mara, for the Almighty has made life very bitter for me. I went away full, but the LORD has brought me home empty. Why call me Naomi when the LORD has caused me to suffer and the Almighty has sent such tragedy upon me?” This gives us a clue regarding Naomi’s mindset at the time.

God turned things around for both Naomi and her daughter-in-law, Ruth. He had a plan all along. What a lesson for those of us that are waiting on the promise of a Godly and loving marital partner. We spend a lot of time complaining and giving ourselves a pity party, but we need to take heart, be encouraged, and know that God has a wonderful plan for us.

No Husband Yet – It’s okay! Trust me, you’d rather wait on the Lord for a sure thing. We all know what it feels like when we want something so bad, that we’d do just about anything to get it. Rushing is a big no-no. You don’t want to skip a beat when it comes to preparing God’s way. God has set this thing up, and when we’re ready in our minds and hearts to partner, marriage is eminent.

No Significant Other – This is only a temporary part of being single. You’re in the weeding out process. Now’s the time to let heaven and everything beneath it really see that you’re prioritizing God in the number one spot. Go out of your way to prove your commitment to God; then committing to a significant other will fall right in line.

No Prospects in Sight – Listen, prospects can be very distracting. We have to be prayerful and wise about our time. It is important for us to use it by studying God’s Word and learning as much as we can about the Lord Jesus Christ. This is how we learn to know ourselves. 1 John 4:13-16The Message (MSG) tells us, “This is how we know we’re living steadily and deeply in him, and he in us: He’s given us life from his life, from his very own Spirit. Also, we’ve seen for ourselves and continue to state openly that the Father sent his Son as Savior of the world. Everyone who confesses that Jesus is God’s Son participates continuously in an intimate relationship with God. We know it so well, we’ve embraced it heart and soul, this love that comes from God.”

Ask yourself, have you truly embraced God’s love heart and soul? If you have, no husband; no significant other; no prospects in sight will not upset you in the least, because you’re confident that Christ is the head of your life, and he will bring the right man across your path at the right time. ■

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.

“No Pity Party Here!!!”, written by FACM, Finding A Christian Man.Com ©2017. All rights reserved. All done to the glory of God through Jesus Christ, our Lord!

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When No One Is Watching

July 9, 2017

Devotions

A friend shared a teachable moment she had with her teenage daughter while they were on vacation. They visited a store to purchase gifts to take back home for co-workers and friends. When they went up to the cashier to make their purchase, the gentleman was so distracted with other customers that he completely forgot to take their money. Without realizing the mistake, he gave them their merchandise and said “Have a nice day”. My friend immediately and discreetly said, “Sir, excuse me, but you didn’t ring us up. We need to pay for our purchase.” When they exited the store, her daughter said, “Mom, we could have walked out of the store with the merchandise and the money too.” She responded by telling her daughter, “Yes, but do you think God would have been pleased if we had done that?”

Keeping it real, many people would have walked right out of that store with the goodies and cash in hand, and wouldn’t have felt the slightest hint of guilt about it. But what we fail to realize is that our actions in situations like these are markers. They indicate our spiritual maturity level and our preparedness for greater blessings. God is always watching.

Proverbs 15:11(NLT) tells us, “Even Death and Destruction hold no secrets from the LORD. How much more does he know the human heart!” Heavenly Father knows everything under the sun about His children. He knows the choices and decisions we’re going to make before we even think about them. He knows our beginning and our end. He also knows that the human heart can be a pretty treacherous tool when used the wrong way. It can plot the vilest and most evil attacks, and it can also love intensely deep. God knows it all, and He expects us to know that it’s not enough to do right when everyone is watching. What counts are the choices and decisions we make when no one is watching or paying attention. These actions are the ones that speak to what is in our hearts.

One of the standards for this can be found in 1Corinthians 1:21(NLT). The Apostle Paul wrote, “Since God in his wisdom saw to it that the world would never know him through human wisdom, he has used our foolish preaching to save those who believe.” The truth that Jesus Christ was a King and the Messiah who died on the cross, was too hard to swallow for some people living during his time, and for many living today as well. They didn’t think that Jesus Christ lived up to their human wisdom regarding what a king should be and how a king should act. When our Lord and Savior came to the earth to reveal the heart of God, he was born in a manger, a place where the animals were kept and fed. There were no huge celebrations regarding his birth, and when he grew up to be a man, he did not wear fine garments and fancy jewelry as one would expect of a king, particularly a king who had all power in his hands.

God is wise beyond what any of us can fathom. If the majesty and excellence of Christ had been revealed through the spectacle of grandeur and trivial things like fancy clothes and jewelry, people would have responded to Christ differently. Many of them would have gravitated towards him and been on their best behavior for the wrong reasons. They would have been consumed with the outward appearances, and not with the liberty and light that he brought to liberate the earth. They would have lavished him with gifts, and pretended to love him, even though their hearts were crooked. In a nutshell, people would have received a superficial message about what is truly important to God.

1Corinthians 1:21(NLT) tells us that people wanted a human sign, something that spoke to their arrogance, to let them know that Jesus Christ was the Messiah, but God wanted to see their true hearts. Jesus did not come to appease those hungry for notoriety and arrogance. He restored sight to the blind, hearing to the deaf; he healed the sick and casted out demons from those that were possessed and oppressed by them. He came to show us the way, and to reveal the heart of the Father. His compassion, and the purity of his love and power is the thing that would awaken the hearts of his people and cause them to want to live right.

Jesus Christ is THE King, but he allowed himself to be brought low and suffered the cross for our sakes. Just as there was nothing superficial about Jesus Christ, God doesn’t want there to be anything superficial about our hearts for Him either. If we are true followers of Christ, we will be honest, loving, respectful, and have integrity especially when no one is looking or paying attention. We will guard our hearts with diligence. We’ll behave in a way that pleases God, and realize that His eyes are upon us every moment of each day.■

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.

“When No One is Watching”, written by FACM, Finding Christian Man.Com ©2017. All rights reserved. All done to the glory of God through Jesus Christ, our Lord!

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