Find A Christian Man

Category: Devotions

Christ-centered devotions for the everyday places where faith meets real life. Find biblical encouragement, practical wisdom, and reminders of God’s truth to help you grow in Christ, trust Him more deeply, and live out your faith wherever this season finds you.

  • Never Go Hungry, Never Be Thirsty

    Never Go Hungry, Never Be Thirsty

    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!

  • When No One Is Watching

    When No One Is Watching

    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!

  • Bone of My Bones

    Bone of My Bones

    Genesis 2:23(NIV)
    “The man said, “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called ‘woman,’ for she was taken out of man.””

    Adam was the first man, and our Heavenly Father gave him all dominion and authority within the earth. Adam was very intelligent, and named the species within the earth’s realm. This was no small feat. There were many living beings; those in the sky, water, and those that walked upon the earth. They all knew and kept their place within God’s creation and under the authority of Adam. God’s man was lord in the earth, and it’s not difficult to understand that keeping watch and tending to God’s creation was busy work for Adam, the first and only human being.

    We should observe, and not allow it to slip by us, that God’s intelligence cannot be measured. Surely He knew that Adam would become lonely, and instead of creating one unit, He might have made two from the very start. God didn’t do this. He is so loving and preeminent in His foreknowledge that He made sure to give us a record of His sensitivity and willingness to take care of our every need. Even though Adam had dominion over the earth, and plenty to do, he had a need. God created him with the full intent to take of this need by making two from one, at the appropriate time.

    Heavenly Father caused a great sleep to fall on Adam. He then took a rib from his side and made Adam a wife. In Genesis 2:23 (NIV), Adam said, “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called ‘woman,’ for she was taken out of man.” Heavenly Father beautifully met Adam’s need, and did so in a way that was beyond Adam’s imagination. This is a pattern that God demonstrated for us. Taking care of our hearts and our desires is a part of His plan; it has been from the very beginning.

    “Bone from my bones” may not be the way that you and I would describe marriage in modern terms, but it conveys a unity and partnership that God created and ordained, and no better words could describe it. It is so real and meaningful that thousands of years after the first couple, all of us still feel the tug of destiny on our hearts to partner. We know that being a spouse is a beautiful part of our futures. Just as God met Adam’s need, we can have every confidence that He will do the same for us.

    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.

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

    “Bone of My Bones”,  by writers for FACM, Finding A Christian Man.Com ©2017.  All rights reserved. All done to the glory of God through Jesus Christ, our Lord!

  • The Magnet of Your Love Pulls Him In

    The Magnet of Your Love Pulls Him In

    Proverbs 31:10-12 (NLT)
    “Who can find a virtuous and capable wife? She is more precious than rubies. Her husband can trust her, and she will greatly enrich his life. She brings him good, not harm, all the days of her life.”

    Just this week, all over the country folks celebrated International Women’s Day. There was literature galore about women that are trailblazers and symbolize equality for all women. This is wonderful, but we can’t take our eyes off the mark. The world has its standards, and God has His.

    Proverbs 31 is God’s standard of a virtuous woman; therefore, it should be one that men seek when looking for a wife, and it should also be the standard that women strive to meet in their own brand of womanhood.

    One of the assurances that God makes about His standard is that it will cause His goodness to manifest in our lives. He created us, and He knows what we ought to be doing in order to have the more than abundant life that Jesus Christ made available. He made us in such a way that if we allow His Word to saturate our hearts, occupy our minds, and guide us through life; blessings will flow our way.

    God doesn’t make mistakes. He doesn’t overlook details, so we can rest assured that He did not forget about the needs and desires of His daughters.  There is a plethora of good men out there, and they are looking to find good women as marital partners. The problem in today’s society is that the adversary has tricked many Godly women, and camouflaged the sweet aroma that their new creation gives off. She is saved by the blood of the lamb, but behaves in a way that cancels out the virtuous fragrance that a good man is sensitive to. So he’s not able to pick up her trail.

    God’s desire is for us to be completely sold out on His love. We are to be such faithful stewards of our spiritual gifts that our confidence in God and our love for Him behaves like a magnet. Not only does it draw out the blessings we so earnestly desire, but it causes us to be the kind of blessing that will greatly enrich our husband’s life. Devote yourself to God entirely. Become a magnet for His goodness, and He will continue to transform you into a precious ruby that your new husband will treasure.

    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 Boomerang Effect

    The Boomerang Effect

    Very soon, the one day of the year that we have chosen to supercharge love and put it on blast will be upon us. For some people, it is a very happy day, and for others…not so much. If it is a day that makes your blues even bluer, I have a suggestion. Why not let it be a day where you bask even more in God’s love and let the expectation of meeting someone new take your faith to a whole other level! This is absolutely doable, and it is something that single Christians should embrace. On the one hand, yep, the holiday can get super worldly and commercialized to the hilt; but on the other hand, as Christians we walk by faith and not by sight, so we can always see the light of Christ where others may not.

    All the beauty that any of us can ever offer stems from the Lily of the Valley, that bright and morning star, Jesus Christ! Because of him, we are able to offer our love to others, and have the greatest expectation that this love we offer will have a positive impact, and that it will return to us all the hope and joy in which it was given. Without the love of Christ, there really isn’t ever anything to celebrate; but with him, we have the fullness of joy.

    We are planted in this world, and we grow up with thorns all around us, but we have to be so careful that our blossoms are colorful, full, and fragrant with the sweet aroma of Christ. We can’t be dry and rough to the touch, and sometimes the bitterness of a dry patch of loneliness will do this to a woman’s heart. Instead of focusing on Christ, and allowing his love to water her soul, she might focus only on the hurt and disappointment of the past; or she might allow doubt to spring up in her heart. She might convince herself that God is not going to bless her with a wonderful partner. These kinds of thoughts and feelings keep us from abiding in the love of Christ the way that he desires.

    There’s something about the prospect of a new relationship on the horizon that can suddenly make a person feel brand new. God designed us in such a way that when we draw near to the person of our affection, we get all giddy inside as the butterflies begin to flutter in our bellies. This is how Jesus Christ feels about us. We bring to him this level of anticipation and adoration, and this is one of the reasons why God calls us the bride of Christ. In Song of Solomon 2:11-13 (NLT), we can see his heart. It says, “Look, the winter is past, and the rains are over and gone. 12 The flowers are springing up, the season of singing birds has come, and the cooing of turtledoves fills the air. 13 The fig trees are forming young fruit, and the fragrant grapevines are blossoming. Rise up, my darling!”

    You might not live in an area where the winters are brutal, but I have a little experience in that area. Let me tell you that when winter is over, and the flowers begin to spring up, many people are very thankful that the brutal cold air and harsh conditions have passed. The introduction of spring wakes up your body in an indescribable way, and you feel a tinge of something invigorating happening. A person that is pessimistic or sad might immediately squash that tinge of hopefulness and tell themselves that nothing is going to be different, but that isn’t how a Christian should respond. Jesus Christ wants us to come alive to him and the tremendous hope that he brings to our lives in every season—with every day that goes by.

    In Song of Solomon 2:11-13, we have a taste of the affection of Christ towards his bride, the church. The newness and humility of this expression can’t be lost on us. We train our minds how to think and our emotions how to feel. Heavenly Father wants us to allow the indwelling Holy Spirit to help us to retrain ourselves with the mind and heart of Christ, so that we are eager for him and all that he brings. We should breathe in his wonder, and exhale the most earnest and dear affection for him.

    The Apostle Paul affirms in Acts 17:28(NKJV), “for in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also His offspring.’”  The meaning and fulfillment that we get out of life comes from knowing that we belong to the Father, and from matching our Lord’s example. Jesus Christ is not pessimistic and unhopeful, and we shouldn’t be either. Our groove should be in step with his, because he is always in rhythm with the Will of the Father.

    The holidays, the change of seasons, both are reminders that nothing harsh last for long, and life is truly worth celebrating. We may not feel giddy inside about a new person, but we certainly ought to feel that way about our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. We should choose to use the approaching day of love to celebrate our love for God in Christ through the Holy Spirit. We should also expect that as we do, at some point it’s going to boomerang back to us from a most endearing man of God. ■

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

    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.

    Written by writers of FACM for FindingChristianMan.com copyright © 2017. All rights reserved. All done to the glory of God in Jesus Christ.

     

     

  • “Anger Labels You A Fool”

    “Anger Labels You A Fool”

    Ecclesiastes 7:9 (NLT)
    “Control your temper, for anger labels you a fool.”

    Relationships can be very delicate, particularly while they are in the beginning stages. It is a time when you want the person of your affection to see you in the most positive light. Many of us think very highly of ourselves. We think we’ve got it all figured out, and therefore, we want the significant person in our lives to believe this as well. The truth is that there are a great many things we haven’t figured out. There is a side to us that we haven’t yet explored.

    One of the reasons why relationships blow up is because many of us sabotage them through our own fears, and our issues with self-control and lack of trust. We explode in ways that we never imagined we would. It could be because we are insecure or jealous. It could also be because we feel trapped, but we haven’t yet admitted it to ourselves. It could be any one of several internal factors that can cause us to work against ourselves in a relationship. This is why we desperately need the guidance of the Holy Spirit. It is also why we should know ourselves well enough to be able to confront and admit our trouble spots.

    The optimum situation for any two people who come together in a relationship is for them to have allowed themselves the time to mature in Christ. They need to know a bit about their strengths and weaknesses. God instructs us to be wise. Being wise is allowing God’s Word to instruct us. This is particularly true for the areas where we’re not as strong as we’d like to be or should be.

    Wisdom dictates that we become very careful observers of ourselves. In a conversation or interaction, most of us can sense when a potential for something to strike our chords the wrong way is mounting. You can feel the reaction boiling up within you. The worse thing in the world is to allow yourself to explode in anger. God warns us in Ecclesiastes 7:9 (NLT), “Control your temper, for anger labels you a fool.”

    A fool is a person that acts unwisely, and uncontrolled anger makes a fool out of us. It undermines our authority in Christ, and causes us to move in reverse rather than forwardly. It can ruin a relationship and be very devastating to our lives. God’s wisdom will preserve us and help us to make sound decisions and choices. Proverbs 2:10-15 The Message (MSG) tells us, “Lady Wisdom will be your close friend, and Brother Knowledge your pleasant companion. Good Sense will scout ahead for danger, Insight will keep an eye out for you. They’ll keep you from making wrong turns,”. As we walk in the Spirit, this is what the discipline of Godliness will do for us. So be sure to pray that God helps you to work the fruit of self-control deep in your soul. Then, when you’re with the person you will ultimately marry, you can have confidence in your ability through Christ to strengthen and preserve your relationship.■

    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.

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

  • You Are More than Enough

    You Are More than Enough

    “Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.”
    James 1:2-4(NLT)

    Like many women across the globe, I have faced the hurt from a broken heart, and I know that when you’re hurting in that way, all you want is a remedy to make the pain go away. I’ve known this passage in James 1:2-4 for quite some time, but when I was going through this situation of heartache, I couldn’t imagine being joyful in the midst of my troubles.

    This passage encourages us to take a different approach to pain. God doesn’t tell us not to feel the hurt, but He commands that we take our focus off what has transpired and put it on what He will do for us in the final outcome.

    We can’t change the past, no matter how much we might want to. The absolute best thing that we can do for ourselves is to leave the past IN the past. Verse 3 is letting us know unequivocally that our faith is going to be tested. Be clear that God isn’t testing our faith, because He already knows what we’re made of. The enemy is the one doing the testing, because he wants to see how far we are willing to step outside our commitment to God.

    We know that the enemy meant to cause us harm, but our Great God will take what the enemy means for bad and turn it around for our good. Through our pain and heartache, we learn endurance. We learn to be patient and wait on God as He not only teaches us how to be strong, but also turns our situations around in the process.

    James 1:3 also encourages us to ‘let it grow…” In other words, God is telling us that we have a choice. We don’t have to grow in Christ, but it is to our overwhelming advantage to do so. When faced with adversity, God has given us a way to handle it. He’s telling us to let it be a steppingstone to higher spiritual heights. We do this by having faith in Him and making a deeper commitment to spiritually grow, but we don’t have to do this. As a matter of fact, many women don’t.

    Rather than looking up, they’ll look down and see the broken relationship that has hit the ground and broken into a million pieces. Instead of growing in endurance and rededicating themselves to Christ, they will use their time and emotional resources very unwisely by trying to pick up those broken pieces on the ground.

    This is almost always a waste. James 1:4 tells us that when we’ve grown and matured to full development, we’ll be complete in Christ. We will have gleaned a fuller understanding of God, a closer relationship with Him, and a better appreciation for our own worth and value. When you get to this place, you clearly see that truly you don’t need anything or anyone to make you more than what you are. You’ll understand that through Christ you are more than enough, and you are prepared to receive someone who will truly appreciate it.

    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.

    “You Are More Than Enough” written for FindChristianMan.com for the Glory of God through the Lord Jesus Christ! copyright © 2019. All rights reserved.

  • A Tender, Responsive Heart

    A Tender, Responsive Heart

    “And I will give them singleness of heart and put a new spirit within them. I will take away their stony, stubborn heart and give them a tender, responsive heart.” Ezekiel 11:19  (NLT)

    I know of a young woman in her twenties who, when asked about dating, constantly says that she wears her feelings on her sleeve. When it comes to dating men, she admits that she’s afraid of letting them get too close because of her fear that they will eventually break her heart.

    There is always going to be a risk involved with choosing to love someone, and this risk is one of not knowing whether the other person will disappoint or hurt you deeply. We will often want God to protect us in such a way that we never get our hearts broken, but if you’ll take some time to really think about it, you’ll see that this is not a realistic expectation.

    Human beings are not perfect. We come with deeply embedded dysfunctions and funkiness. Sometimes you don’t actually get to see this reflected in someone’s personality until you’re around them for an extended period of time. It is also possible that you can sense the real essence of a person within a matter of minutes. In either case, as singles desiring to be married, we’ll sometimes ignore these things, and doing so might lead to a hurtful situation down the road.

    God doesn’t want us to get hurt, but life brings with it both joy and pain. One of the ways that God equips us for the pain is to follow His instruction in Proverbs 4:23. It warns, “Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.’ Like the young woman I mentioned, many of us have tender hearts, but that doesn’t mean that our hearts have to be weak. No one had a more tender heart than Jesus Christ, but we also know that there wasn’t, or has ever been, a more strong-hearted individual on the face of this planet.

    His heart was tender with compassion, and was full with God’s love. He never allowed himself to become obsessed with people or things. The friends of Jesus Christ and people he should have been able to count on disappointed him more than any of us can imagine, but he never allowed emotions of discontent to overrule his allegiance to the things of God. His faith was not shaken by emotions, situations, or people. This is the way we must operate as well. As single Christian women, nothing can ever be more important than pleasing and loving God. That’s how we guard our hearts, and it is how we remain stable and confident in Christ regardless of the disappointment and hurt we might experience.♦

    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.

    “A Tender, Responsive Heart” written for findchristianman.com© 2018. All rights reserved. All praise and honor to God through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.