Find A Christian Man

Category: Encouragement and Inspiration

Biblical encouragement for the seasons when you need strength, hope, perspective, or simply a reminder that God is still at work. Find Christ-centered inspiration to help you keep moving forward, stand firm in your faith, and face everyday life with renewed confidence in God and His Word.

Eat the Bitterness or the Sweetness of Life

Before I moved away from my old neighborhood, I was blessed with very loving and kind neighbors, an elderly couple that lived across the street. They were married over sixty years and had raised two very successful sons that moved to other states to establish their respective families. I learned so much from this couple about unity, marriage, and raising a family. They talked frequently about how much they valued God’s peace and their love for His standards. With two years between them, when they first met, she was twenty-one years old and he was twenty-three. She said she fell in love with his quiet spirit and the consistent manner in which he pursued her. They’ve passed on from this life, but the lesson I learned from them about the standard of consistency is one I pray will bless you as much as it did me.

My grandmother would say, “God don’t bless no mess.” She would say this when church folk would behave unGodly, yet they expected to move in the blessings of God. As many of us go through our everyday lives, we don’t give this much thought, but we must never forget that God holds us to a standard. As part of our spiritual discipline and practice, we must constantly hold ourselves to the scrutiny of the example of Christ contained in God’s Word.

2Corinthians 13:5(NIV) tells us, “Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you—unless, of course, you fail the test?” This testing of ourselves isn’t offered in 2Corinthians 13:5 as a suggestion. It’s a requirement. Our journey in Christ is one of learning, forgiveness, humility, and correction. Our blessings are tied to these four, and learning, forgiveness, humility, and correction all breed the kind of consistency God is looking to see in us. We must examine ourselves using them as our barometer, because this can point to why our blessings might be delayed.

Nothing in a person’s life happens randomly. God allowed this couple to be in my life to teach me spiritual lessons I needed to learn for my journey in Christ. It is impossible to grow in Christ and excel in his faith without saturating our minds with knowledge about him. The more we know about him, the more like him we become, and this is God’s goal and standard for our lives. If we get away from this, we step outside the boundaries of God’s plan. And if we step outside the boundaries of God’s plan and purpose, instead of being attracted to us, blessings are repelled.

Heavenly Father blesses His Word. Whenever and wherever His Word is obeyed and trusted, His blessings will abound. James 1:5(NIV) tells us, “If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.” Some of us never think to ask Him to show us where and when we’re not clinging to His Word, but this is where we should place a great deal of focus. And not only should we ask Him to reveal how and when we’ve gotten off track, but we should position ourselves to receive the truth of what He will reveal. Sometimes this truth isn’t comfortable. In fact, in most instances it convicts us, but the conviction is good for our souls because it shows we are humble and teachable. It shows we are willing to correct ourselves in the areas where we’ve fallen short.

Romans 10:17 tells us that faith comes by hearing the Word of God. Faith cannot come by any other means. We must hear and digest the knowledge that is going to help us correct those habits and behaviors that keep us from walking in faith and truth. Proverbs 1:31-32(NIV) tells us, “31 they will eat the fruit of their ways and be filled with the fruit of their schemes. 32 For the waywardness of the simple will kill them, and the complacency of fools will destroy them;” This passage shows us that our lives are molded and shaped based on the patterns and behaviors we have. Our attitudes, thoughts, conversations, confessions, and behaviors will increase either our blessings or our bitterness. We eat the fruit from our choices, and the bellies of our lives will be filled by the plans we hatch to do good or wrong. So, we can’t afford to let the lessons of consistency in our allegiance to God slip by. These lessons give us spiritual strength and help us in all our relationships, especially marriage.

The couple I loved so dearly told me that even when they were both so young, they had a strong sense of right and wrong. They valued treating people the way they wanted to be treated. As God’s people, we can never venture too far from the purity of this standard. As women of faith, we can’t afford to sleep on the reality that a man will show us his standard right from the very beginning. He will pursue us consistently and cling to the Godliness we have cultivated in our womanhood. This is why we must be ever so careful to seek God now and work this out within our hearts and minds, because doing so makes sure we are laying up treasures in heaven and setting ourselves up for the sweetness of God’s rewards. ■

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

“Eat the Bitterness or the Sweetness of Life”, written for findchristianman.wordpress.com. Copyright©2022. All rights reserved. All done to the glory of God through Jesus Christ, our Lord.

September 5, 2022
Balance Requires the Right Measurement

When the Children of Israel were in the wilderness, God fed them manna from heaven. 2Corinithans 3:5 tells us that God is our sufficiency. He takes care of our every need. He does this for each of us, and He did it for His people that were living during Old Testament times. The scriptures tell us that the manna God rained from heaven completely nourished the people. None of them got sick and they had plenty to feed their families. The truth we need to digest from this wonderful record of God’s provision is that He hasn’t changed. He’s the same yesterday, today, and forever. Modern day thinking has caused some to conclude that when it comes to His provision, marriage is excluded, but this isn’t the truth. If there’s any semblance of this notion in our minds and hearts, we need to abolish those thoughts and renew our minds to God’s Word.

God has given us His Word so that we can walk with Him and learn to structure our lives so that we walk in His truth and not become blinded by the tricks of the devil. Numbers 23:19(NLT) tells us, “God is not a man, so he does not lie. He is not human, so he does not change his mind.” Modern times may bring higher levels of intelligence and convenience, but God is not moved by any of it. We are modernized only to the extent that He allows us access to His wisdom through Jesus Christ. History has proven that as we know more, we think of more clever ways to destroy one another and turn our backs on God. As believers, we can never allow humanity’s advances to cause the truth of God’s goodness and sovereignty to slip in our minds and hearts.

Marriage is the institution God set up from the very beginning, with Adam and Eve. Marriage belongs to Him, and He has given it to us because it serves His plan and purpose. Heavenly Father is not like us. We vacillate constantly with our plans, intentions, and desires; but God never does. Marriage is a blessing, and again, like all blessings, it belongs to God. We are absolutely in right standing to pray in the powerful name of Jesus Christ for this blessed union to come to pass in our lives.

Some of us think and pray for marriage as if it’s a new thing that God has to do in our lives. Marriage has already been established in His Word as part of His Will. It is as organic and natural to life as breathing. Many have tried to take marriage outside the boundaries of God’s plan, and they are missing the blessing altogether. It would be absurd to think for one moment that God doesn’t know the best person for our lives and hasn’t included this in His plan for us. He knows us far better than we could ever know ourselves, and there are some qualities in our personhood that have yet to mature. There are areas where we should have grown beyond the baby’s milk stage, but we haven’t. It impossible for God to fail and He never makes a mistake. Marriage will naturally come into our lives when walking in His Will through Jesus Christ is the greatest desire of our lives. This is the level of spiritual maturity that puts out the welcome mat for God’s treasures.

In many instances, many single believers are out of balance when it comes to their expectations for marriage. They want to receive much but give little, and of course, none of us will ever admit to such a thing, but the reality is that being out of balance in this way will not allow for the kind of spiritual maturity marriage requires. In Exodus 16:16-20(NLT), God has given us a tremendous example of how He views balance. This passage tells us, “16 These are the LORD’s instructions: Each household should gather as much as it needs. Pick up two quarts for each person in your tent.” 17 So the people of Israel did as they were told. Some gathered a lot, some only a little. 18 But when they measured it out, everyone had just enough. Those who gathered a lot had nothing left over, and those who gathered only a little had enough. Each family had just what it needed. 19 Then Moses told them, “Do not keep any of it until morning.” 20 But some of them didn’t listen and kept some of it until morning. But by then it was full of maggots and had a terrible smell. Moses was very angry with them.”

An understanding of God’s Will and Word regarding His provision is absolutely critical. Singledom comes with all kinds of lists, tips, questions, and analysis, and these all claim to move the dial further along. Some of them might actually be helpful, but the reality is that faith comes by hearing the Word of God. Faith requires truth, and only the truth will bring the victory Christ has given us. When we lack the humility to deliver everything over to God, we are prioritizing our agenda over His. We begin asking for all kinds of qualities and characteristics in the person we will marry, when we ourselves are not equal to what we’re asking for. We want someone loving, compassionate, loyal, and generous, when some of us haven’t worked those fruits into our own lives sufficiently.

God told the people, “Gather what you NEED.” It’s obvious from their actions that they couldn’t be trusted to be true to their own needs. They took more than they needed, and this brought about a stench that the Father would not tolerate. Here’s the thing we can’t afford to miss; God knew their needs, and this was spiritually and perfectly calculated into His provision. Please make sure you don’t miss the revelation of this awesome truth. Because God’s provision could in no way be manipulated, those that gathered a lot, had nothing left, and those that didn’t gather enough had just what they needed.

The gratitude and understanding of God’s perfection and sovereignty cannot be out of place when we are desiring marriage. The desire for marriage is not outside of God’s Will. It is a benefit of being in His Will. He, and He alone, takes care of what’s in His Will. ■

English Standard Version (ESV)
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

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.

“Balance Requires the Right Measurement”, written for findchristianman.wordpress.com. Copyright©2022. All rights reserved. All done to the glory of God through Jesus Christ, our Lord.

August 29, 2022
Looking Like A Trick Or A Blessing

I heard a young man talk about his perception of how a Godly woman behaves verses how a woman of the world behaves. A woman of the world is a woman that adopts society’s standards over God’s standards. She loves what the world loves, and she hates what the world hates. A Godly woman is a woman who lives according to the standard and example of Christ; she loves what God loves. Well, this young man said he believes social media plays a major role in a woman’s identity these days, even down to the way she dresses. He believes that many Godly women are abdicating God’s standard and allowing them to be eroded in their lives. Like me, I’m sure you’ve heard these criticisms. Some of our veterans have complained that Christian women are wearing revealing clothes that suggest they are everything but a woman of God. It’s not a new practice to allow clothing to make a statement about who we are or how we want to be perceived. However, we can never escape the reality that the benefits of being and looking Godly will forever outweigh those of being and looking sexy.

1Peter 2:9-10(NLT) tells us, “9 But you are not like that, for you are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light. 10 “Once you had no identity as a people; now you are God’s people. Once you received no mercy; now you have received God’s mercy.” Heavenly Father makes it clear that we are to present ourselves in such a way that our appearance matches our identity. He accepts us as we are, but He’s also happy when we look our best, and He wants us to have the best. Our mission should not be to glorify the flesh, but to glorify God in all that we do. We are commanded to show others the goodness of God. As God’s daughters, the world’s standard should not be dictating how we dress when it comes to pleasing God with our appearance. We should be leaning on the Spirit, and our hearts should be sensitive enough to perceive the Spirit’s conviction when we’re not on point.

In the Old Testament, when God established His tabernacle on earth, He set apart a high priest. This high priest was designated and responsible for bringing the people’s sins before the Lord, he would seek God’s forgiveness on their behalf. The Old Testament outlines how very specific God is about the details, and they had to be followed to the letter, or else the priest would die instantly. God’s instructions specified the duties, requirements, and even the clothing for the priest, right down to the colors of purple, scarlet, and blue. The artisans had to be skilled and they had to capture the majesty that God specifically wanted to be conveyed. The message is clear that how we represent ourselves to the world means something to God, therefore, it ought to mean something to us as well.

At the end of the day, we are all going to do what we want, and we wear what we feel is right for us, but we have to ask ourselves which do we want to be the focus, our Godliness or how our outfit accentuates our curves. Can we have it both ways? 2 Corinthians 5:10(ESV) tells us, “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.” We’re on the earth for just a little while, and we need to make it count towards the purpose for which God has assigned. If something isn’t going to help us achieve the goals and rewards of Godly living, what’s the point?

All of us want a blessing from Heavenly Father. And in our preparation of receiving one of His treasures, we must consider the reality that everything that looks like a blessing isn’t one. Sometimes it is a trick from satan to swindle us out of the real blessing that God has for us. We shouldn’t want to cast our poles in a big pond and hook the wrong fish. By the same token, we, ourselves, shouldn’t want to look like a trick rather than looking like the Proverbs 18:22 treasure God desires us to be. We must not be deceived, the enemy wants to kill, steal, and destroy God’s people, and he looks for an opening in our lives. And yes, sometimes it can be a worldly habit or pattern of behavior that we continually indulge that causes the doors to our lives to swing open, giving satan the opportunity to pounce and devour. We can be smarter than this, and we should.

The times have indeed changed, but God never changes, neither does His Word or His standards. God warns us in Philippians 2:3(NLT), “Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves.” There’s nothing wrong with being sharp as all get out, and having that hair and makeup game tight, but not to the point where humility has taken a backseat, and others can’t perceive God’s grace because of the noise of our appearance. No matter where we go or what we do, our appearance and how we dress makes a statement. We would do well to make sure that it’s a statement that magnifies the goodness, purity, and holiness of God. ■

English Standard Version (ESV)
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

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.

“Looking Like A Trick Or A Blessing”, written for findchristianman.wordpress.com. Copyright©2022. All rights reserved. All done to the glory of God through Jesus Christ, our Lord.

August 15, 2022
Only One Person Gets the Prize

1Corinthians 9:24(NIV) says, “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize.” All good athletes are disciplined when it comes to their training. One of the defining characteristics about an athlete is they all know they need to train. And they understand that they are not just training for nothing; they are training to win the prize. Even if they only achieve silver medal status, with everything in them, they are training to win the gold. This must be our approach as believers. The eyes of God are upon us, and we should do everything to the best of our ability to please Him. We are on this earth to win the gold, which is highest calling of Jesus Christ. So regardless of what you are believing God to receive, there are elements that He has laid out in 1Corinthians 9:24 that are pivotal to the mindset of pleasing Him and achieving victory in any area of our lives.

Strict Training
As we look around at what is happening in our world today, it doesn’t really give us warm, cozy feelings of sweetness; its hardcore stuff going down. As victorious sons and daughters of God, this should serve as a reminder to us that life is not a game. It’s nothing to take lightly. Spiritual warfare is real, and it is taking place before our very eyes. But even with the backdrop of chaos and confusion, God will keep us if we want to be kept. He will protect us, provide for us, and keep us in His perfect peace. He will place a hedge around us if we are faithful to His Word.

In 1Corinthians 9:25(NIV), the Apostle Paul said, “Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.” The earth is training ground for the child of God. This is STRICT training down here! It’s for an everlasting crown, so there’s no foolery tolerated. If a person makes the choice not to be guided by the Holy Spirit, and they refuse to obey God’s Word, their lives are in serious danger. Some people leave this earth prematurely, and it is because they will not recognize that strict equates to diligence, and a diligent commitment is something God requires.

Losing focus loses the race
Jesus Christ said in Matthew 6:8(NLT), “For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him.” When you pray repeatedly to cross paths with your future husband, and you pray that your future hubby will spiritually recognize you as his future wife, you must know that God heard you the first time you prayed. You are not praying repeatedly for the same request because you think God is hard of hearing. You are praying repeatedly to demonstrate your diligence and to get your own mind and heart lined up with the blessing you are asking to receive. God knows what we need before we even recognize the need ourselves. He doesn’t need to make any adjustments to give you what you’ve prayed to receive. We are the ones that must adjust.

Paul said in 1Corinthians 9:25(NIV), “Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air.” A boxer who beats the air never lands a punch towards his or her target. This is what happens when we’re not focusing on God by living the example of Christ. Your focus cannot be the man, it must always be God. Some women are only going through the motions of spiritual discipline to appease God temporarily, thinking this is how they will get what they want. Their hearts are far from Him, and He knows their true motives. The prize will forever and always be a life in the Lord Jesus Christ. Rewards and blessings come from honoring God for the true prize of living forever in Christ.

Hebrews 11:6(NLT) tells us, “But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.” Your mind and heart must be committed to God. This is what the training is all about. It’s learning to become like Christ; this is always the goal. As we grow in one area, another area where growth is needed will come into view. We must be diligent to recognize when we have erred in our feelings, attitudes, and behaviors. Then we must repent and pray to the Father to help us be better. This is diligence, and it must be a habit pattern.

Don’t be disqualified
The Apostle Paul understood what it takes to run the race God has set before each of us and win it. He knew that it is God who fights our external battles. Our mission is to stand, believe, and trust Him, so that when He tells us to move, we know exactly what to do and how to do it. You are the one to fight the internal battle in your mind and heart. You must fight to trust God, and this means that you might have to give up some things. You might have to leave some things behind. Letting go of some relationships, people, and other things in our comfort zones will back our faith. It demonstrates that you wholeheartedly believe that the blessing you will receive infinitely outweighs what you have let go.

You may have a vision of how your relationship should be. You might have a picture in your mind of how the man will look, but every detail of your agenda must be swapped out for God’s agenda. He knows what is best, and your faith in this is non-negotiable. Don’t disqualify yourself from the race by putting limits on God. Don’t yield to your flesh because you think the person is the right fit. Yield to God with humility and a commitment to do what He asks of you. He is in charge of the prize. He has told us how to receive it, and it is guaranteed when we run in such a way as to receive it. ■

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

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.

“Only One Person Gets the Prize”, written for findchristianman.wordpress.com. Copyright©2022. All rights reserved. All done to the glory of God through Jesus Christ, our Lord.

August 1, 2022
Baby Steps Will Yield Big Results

There was a time in my life when I celebrated the blessing of a new year with a long list of resolutions. Why did I put all that pressure on myself? I missed so much of the joy of newness by overwhelming my efforts with unreasonable expectations. Things like getting back into the gym, traveling more, and learning a new language were just a few things on my list. They were admirable goals and aspirations, but by the end of the year, many of my resolutions had not materialized in the way I expected. This felt like failure to me, and that’s not a helpful outlook. The truth will always come to us when we demonstrate that we are ready to hear it. So, after years of doing resolutions with minimal results, I sat down with pen and paper in hand, and prepared to ask myself some brutally honest questions. I didn’t have all the answers, but I knew they would come. When they did, it hit me like a ton of bricks. Baby steps was the way to go, and I needed to pray and ask the Father for guidance about which ones to take.

One of my friends shared her New Year’s Resolutions List with me and preparing to meet her future husband was in the number one spot. I could be wrong, but I don’t think baby steps are anywhere on her radar. She wants to take a deep dive plunge, and my hunch is that many single women are right there with her. They are looking to meet their future husbands, but like my friend, they probably haven’t given a whole lot of thought to exactly what it will take to make this a reality. Our approach to resolutions is typically about what we can do externally. We rarely think about the mental, emotional, and most importantly, the spiritual practices required for change. There’s an old saying that you can’t get different results by doing the same things you’ve always done. No doubt most of us have heard this statement, but God says it best. He tells us in Ephesians 4:23(NIV), “be made new in the attitude of your minds.”

When it comes to preparing for newness of any kind, our minds are key. Before there can be a change in our hearts, there must be a change in our minds. We must always remember this because everyone that we encounter will either respond or not respond to us based on what’s in our hearts. In other words, if we haven’t changed the way we think, then we haven’t changed what’s operating in our hearts. Many women may have already crossed the path of their future husbands, but because the woman’s heart hasn’t changed, he does not respond to her in the way that he could. So, we have to address the condition of our hearts, and we need to do it through God’s guidance and direction.

In truth, the first place to prepare to receive a blessing from the Lord begins in our hearts. This is where resolutions take root. It’s where our blessings begin their journey to manifestation. Baby steps are the ones we take to find our best course of action to build our faith, so that our confessed desires can become a reality. These steps begin within, they start with our willingness to be guided by the Spirit.

Jesus Christ said in John 16:13(NLT), “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own but will tell you what he has heard. He will tell you about the future.” The Holy Spirit lives inside every born-again believer, and his occupation is to comfort, guide, and teach us the truth. He is going to give us information that is from Jesus Christ, and this information is beneficial for the purpose for which we were created. When it comes to your desires, hypothetically, it is possible that you wanted to be a Rocket Scientist. You may have held this desire throughout your youth, but after you finished nursing school, as an adult, you realized that being a Rocket Scientist was not your destiny. God’s Will for your life was to become a nurse, so that you could help those He ordained you to minister to. This is His call upon your life being fulfilled. As admirable as the profession maybe, you were led by the Spirit to become a nurse, not a Rocket Scientist. The Spirit led you according to the Will of God for your life, and you humbled yourself to be led. Resolution should work the very same way.

Resolutions represent ambitions and aspirations that are not yet realized. They are unrealized because we have surmised that they will require a more focused and consistent effort to transform from an idea to a reality. They will require more from us, Jesus Christ tells us this in Luke 12:48, where he said, “When someone has been given much, much will be required in return; and when someone has been entrusted with much, even more will be required.” So, if we’re asking more of life, we should also be asking ourselves how to prepare for it, because it will require more from us. We will have to give and do more than we have in the past, and we must get our minds and hearts on board.

Some of us try to make our minds do things they are not designed to do. We try to make them change and expand without the spiritual mechanisms God designed to accomplish this. Romans 10:17 tells us that faith comes from hearing and perceiving the Word of God. A spiritual transaction occurs when we hear God’s Word and believe it. Our minds change and our hearts swell. This is the way to spiritually make room for newness, and there is no other way to increase our faith.

Jesus Christ told us in Matthew 6:8 that God knows what we need before we ask for it. He knew our need before we even had a hint that we would desire it. Likewise, God knows our resolutions and the desires of our hearts, and He is calling us to attention. We are not to place all our focus on the resolution. Instead, our focus must be on God alone. He will guide you to the Word you need to hear to build your faith, so that you have great success.

There’s spiritual work that God has called us to. Reading our Bibles, praying and meditating, and talking often to Heavenly Father are essential to staying spiritually strong so we can be and do what He’s called us to become and get done. Our Lord and Savior tells us in Luke 16:10(MSG), “If you’re honest in small things, you’ll be honest in big things; If you’re a crook in small things, you’ll be a crook in big things. If you’re not honest in small jobs, who will put you in charge of the store?” From the words of Jesus Christ, we can confidently know that making baby steps can be a successful approach to sharpen our spiritual strength and increase our relationship with God.

Heavenly Father said in Isaiah 43:18-19(NLT), “But forget all that—it is nothing compared to what I am going to do. For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland.” You are not in this thing alone. God is with you all the way. You don’t have to take big steps to achieve big results. God takes care of the big steps. So, this year, resolve to be as humble before Heavenly Father as you possibly can. Submit to Him, and if you follow wherever the Spirit leads, there’s no pressure and you will not be disappointed. ■

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.

“Baby Steps Will Yield Big Results”, written for findchristianman.wordpress.com. Copyright©2022. All rights reserved. All done to the glory of God through Jesus Christ, our Lord.

July 25, 2022
Holding on When You Should Let It Go

One of my dear friends is 70 years old and admittedly, she’s stubborn, skeptical and cynical; in her mind, all for good reason. She says she loves God, but she’s never considered the reality of getting close to Him. Most of her faith practices are based on what she was taught as a child, and she’s never deviated from the script. Her parents were devoted members of their faith community, but they never talked about Jesus Christ in their home. So, when she grew up to have a family of her own, they never talked about Christ either. Her mother had been a dutiful wife that kept her mouth shut about her own sadness, but she grew to become very bitter about it. My friend carries this same bitterness. It has shown up in every aspect of her life, but she refuses to see it. She was married to her husband for almost thirty years. He passed away almost twenty years ago, and she has refused to consider getting close to God. She believes He allowed her to be left alone.

Many women feel this kind of resentment, and even if they’ve not verbalized it, some of them believe God has caused them to be alone, without the companionship of a good man in their lives. Psalm 84:11(NLT) tells us, “For the LORD God is our sun and our shield. He gives us grace and glory. The LORD will withhold no good thing from those who do what is right.” As people of faith who honor God, we shouldn’t pick and choose what parts of His Word we think are true and discount the other parts. All of God’s Word is true. It’s our understanding and comprehension of it that’s sometimes faulty, but make no mistake, God commands us to believe the promises He makes to us. He requires that we trust His Word and that we trust who He says He is.

Any relationship will require two individuals to mutually agree that getting to know each other is a worthwhile endeavor. Both have to be interested in one another, and they must be willing to share information and communicate with each other about their qualities, character, likes and dislikes. Getting to know each other is a beautiful process that is built on mutual respect and honor. We must love and honor God for who He is, because He loves and honors who we are. He doesn’t have to honor us, because He’s God! He’s our Creator, and He could wipeout every living person in less time than a blink of an eye. He could erase even the faintest memory of all life and make it appear as though none of us has ever been on this earth. He doesn’t do this because 1John 4:8 tells us that God is love, and love does not destroy. Love redeems, restores, and builds up.

God has never violated our free-will choices, and He doesn’t interfere in our lives without our invitation. He’s showing us that we’re His masterpieces, and He honors us. He respects the relationship He wants to have with every person. No less from us is required. We must honor God, and if we’re resenting Him because we think He’s not cooperating with our desires, that’s not honor. That’s wrong believing. It’s doubt, and doubt will take us further away from what we desire, not closer to it.

Some of our doubt is passed down from those we cherished and loved. They did not mean to do it, but because they were not taught the truth of God’s Word, they too had doubt in their hearts and minds. There is no way to put a positive spin on doubt and fear. They cripple our faith, and the only remedy is to snuff them out. They must be eradicated so that faith and love can occupy the space that they took up. Some of us won’t get to a place of full surrender, because we’ve been a certain way so long, and we can’t imagine changing. It’s like with my friend, if I even hint that she would experience the joy of the Lord if she changed her attitude, she cuts me off or changes the subject before I can say anything further.

Proverbs 9:8-9(NLT) tells us, “8 So don’t bother correcting mockers; they will only hate you. But correct the wise, and they will love you. 9 Instruct the wise, and they will be even wiser. Teach the righteous, and they will learn even more.” The Word of God is more valuable than pearls. It’s the greatest treasure we can imagine, but not all will see His truth for the priceless treasure it is. Some will reject it, and it is useless to try to correct them. None of us should ever want to be like those who blatantly reject the light of God’s truth. Instead, we should desire to become wiser and to be sharpened by God’s Word. The Apostle Paul said in 1Corinthians 13:11(NLT), “When I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child. But when I grew up, I put away childish things.” It’s time! We must put away immaturity. We’ve been holding on to things we should have let go years ago. This speaks to our refusal to grow beyond the thing that ties us to the past. We must recognize that it’s holding us back and keeping us from what God has for us.

Grudges, resentment, bitterness, and anger about things that happened years ago, these will keep us from capturing the blessings we desire. If you’ve got an attitude of doubt in our heart and mind, and you’ve thought that God is withholding the blessing of marriage from you, repent. None of us can afford to have this kind of fear laid to our charge. Recognize that doubt and fear come from satan. God blesses and increases His Word. He will not bless a lie, and when we allow doubt and fear to surround our hearts and minds, and we wrap our thoughts and feelings in it, we’re using the tools of darkness to build our tomorrows. There’s no reward in that. God will not punish us for doing this, He will correct us if we allow ourselves to be corrected. Draw close to God. Study His Word and let the love of God in Christ increase in your heart and mind. When you do this, you’ll get rid of doubt, and you’ll only draw the blessings that God wants to give 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.

“Holding on When You Should Let It Go”, written for findchristianman.wordpress.com. Copyright©2022. All rights reserved. All done to the glory of God through Jesus Christ, our Lord.

July 18, 2022
God’s Plan for You Won’t Fail

“Why do grown folks always have to spoil everything?!!!” As a teenager dating my high school sweetheart, this is what I thought to myself every time my mother commented on my future plans for marrying him. I was absolutely sure of our feelings for one another, and you couldn’t tell me anything different. Daydreaming about us, I’d write the both of our names on a piece of paper, envisioning it one day on a wedding invitation. My plans seemed just perfect, and in my mind, love was all you needed, but my mother knew this wasn’t the case. She had the wisdom of love’s mistakes and successes, and my seventeen-year-old self couldn’t imagine that she had ever been in love the way that I was at the time. My mother saw the way I’d look at him. I smiled cheek to cheek every time we were together. I was in a daze, and she’d say to me, “Girl, you better get your head out of the clouds.”

The thing that my mother knew, and that I didn’t have a clue about, is that I didn’t have a foundation. I hadn’t thought about all the ways in which life could give you a good spanking if you hadn’t prepared for its ups and downs. Thank goodness for time, maturity, and life experiences, but most importantly, thank God for ordering my steps and leading me according to His wisdom. I was young, immature, and very vulnerable emotionally. As I look back to where I was then, I realize what a drastic mistake I would have made had I been allowed to do what I wanted.

There are young women I went to school with that married the guys they dated in high school. Some of them are together to this day, but there are others that I’ve spoken to that have said they’d do things differently. Given the chance all over again, they would have been more patient to see what God had in store for them. This is a lesson that none of us should want to learn the hard way.

Romans 12:2(MSG) tells us, “Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.” God instructs us to fix our attention on Him, and this is a skill that we become better and better at through practice. Relationships take a tremendous amount of focus and effort, but when we have developed spiritual, mental, and emotional maturity, we are able to handle the rigors of a relationship in such a way that it doesn’t detract from our relationship with God.

Keeping our relationship with God on point will keep everything else in our lives on point. We must never lose sight of the reality that we are products of God’s love. He tells us to flush our thoughts with His truth so that we wear His love like a uniform. Heavenly Father has commanded us to love through Jesus Christ, because the love of Christ is a fully developed, never ending love. Only the love of God in Christ has the glue to hold a relationship together.

Many of us allow our emotions to rule our choices and decisions, but God desires that the wisdom of His Word becomes the foundation on which we build our lives. His Word should govern our choices. God tells us in Jeremiah 29:11(NIV), “For I know the plans I have for you. Declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” We serve a sovereign God! There’s none like Him. No one compares, and no one can take His place. He created the universe and all that we see. It would be nonsensical to speculate for one tenth of one second that we can formulate a plan that is anywhere near as profitable and beneficial as the plan He has for us. God always knows best. The psalmist said in Psalm 40:5(NLT), “O LORD my God, you have performed many wonders for us. Your plans for us are too numerous to list. You have no equal. If I tried to recite all your wonderful deeds, I would never come to the end of them.”

Although many of us grow up and mature in every other way, sometimes our emotions get stuck. We are reminded of those days when butterflies churned in our bellies, and attachments were both sweet and all-consuming. Many of us carry those emotional impulses and responses of our younger years into our adult relationships. This means that we might make relationship choices from this same place of emotional immaturity. Instead of choosing someone who responds to our strength and confidence in Christ, many of us choose someone that responds to that part of us that isn’t as emotionally developed as it should be.

God knows we’re not perfect. He knows exactly where and how we need to grow so that we’re transforming into the men and women He desires us to be. This is one of the reasons He instructs us to let Jesus Christ guide us when it comes to choosing the person that is right for our lives. In Colossians 3:16, God commands us to let the Word of Christ dwell in us richly. We are to let the message of Christ sink into us so that we have the full vocabulary of God’s love. Then, our conversations will lead to peace and the Lordship of Christ will cause us to respond to our future spouses, and them to us, in the most loving way. God has this all figured out, and we must trust His plan for us because it will not fail. If we allow ourselves to be led of God, He will present a man that will strengthen the places where we’re weak. God knows this very moment the man that will minister and bless our lives the most. This is what He wants for us, and we should want this as well.■

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.

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

“God’s Plan for You Won’t Fail” written for findchristianman.wordpress.com. Copyright©2022. All rights reserved. All done to the glory of God through Jesus Christ, our Lord.

July 4, 2022
Remember, God is Watching

Why do two people decide to get married? I will venture to say that most of us will choose to utter those profound two little words, “I Do!”, because we believe we’ve met someone we don’t want to live without. Our wise mothers and grandmothers will school us on this topic. They will tell us that saying the words “I Do!” is the easiest part about marriage. They’d want us to realize that the decision regarding who we choose to walk with us through life is one we must be very careful about making. We don’t always understand that the person to whom we say those two little words will change, and so will we. Only God knows how and the extent to which we both will change. And Most importantly, only the Lord knows if we have actually chosen someone that is in our best interest, someone that He wants us to unite with. This piece of knowledge should make us see that we need God’s help, and we should seek it way before we begin planning that walk down the aisle.

Jesus Christ said in Matthew 16:19(NLT), “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.” All of us should realize that the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven are no small thing. This is a huge gift the Master has given us. In this verse, Jesus Christ tells us a little bit about these keys. He tells us that they both lock up and unlock some doors. He’s placed these powerful keys in our hands. This means that we decide which doors they will unlock and lock. We need look no further than our own lives to recognize that if we want to unlock a wrong door, the Lord will allow it. He placed the keys in our hands, and He will not take them back. But if we are patient and seek Him diligently, He will show us the right doors to open as well as those that need to remain locked.

You might be asking, “Well what’s the point of giving me the keys if I have to go through all this work of finding the right door? Why doesn’t God do this for me?” God has given us the gift of free-will. How we use it is up to us, but His greatest hope is that we will partner with Him in everything that we do. 1John 4:8 tells us that God is love. As we study His Word, we learn that His love never fails, and God’s love doesn’t restrict our choices. Just as He didn’t remove the tree of the knowledge of good and evil from the Garden of Eden, He doesn’t hinder, remove, or alter our ability to make our own choices. Love gives freedom, and we decide what we will do, who we will be, and how we will respond to the enormous gifts that God has given us.

We decide the degree to which we will honor God with our choices. We choose whether we will trust in His Word, be led of His Spirit, and lean not on our own understanding, or we can make choices based on our own agendas. It’s up to us, but we will never get away from the reality that responsibility and accountability will always come with freedom.

Galatians 3:22(NLT) tells us, “But the Scriptures declare that we are all prisoners of sin, so we receive God’s promise of freedom only by believing in Jesus Christ.” Believing and trusting God is a choice, and He’s placed us here on this earth to make it. Sin will always be a trap that satan lays for the believer. Freedom is what we have in Christ when we believe with everything in us that choosing God’s love is always the best choice. Choosing God’s love is freedom! And therein lies the reality of free-will choice. Our choice to do what pleases God backs up our faith. James 2:26 tells us that faith without works is dead. Making the decision to commit ourselves to please God demonstrates our faith in His Word, and this faith will bring into fruition the promise of all He has for us.

2Chronicles 16:9 tells us that the eyes of the Lord search the whole earth. What is He searching for? He’s searching to find those who have a heart that is fully committed to Him. He has made it clear in His Word that we don’t have to be perfect to have a heart that is fully committed to God, but we must be humble before Him. We must be committed to surrender to His sovereignty. So, God is watching us. He is looking to see what we do with this extraordinary gift of free-will choice. He’s looking at what we do with the responsibility that comes with it.

From the very beginning, in the Book of Genesis, God told us about the first couple. He chose the union of marriage between a man and a woman to begin our understanding of His plan. This shows us that one of the most important responsibilities of free-will choice is caring for another person’s heart. 1John 3:18(NLT) says, “Dear children, let’s not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions.” So many of us are complaining about the wait, but we must remember that God is watching. Your willingness to patiently endure, to grow in Christ and increase your faith means that you understand the heft of what you’re asking for. Thank God that Christ has given you the keys, now let the Lord lead you to the right door.■

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.

“Remember, God Is Watching”, written for findchristianman.wordpress.com. Copyright©2022. All rights reserved. All done to the glory of God through Jesus Christ, our Lord.

June 27, 2022
Listen Carefully to the Truth

Hebrews 2:1(NLT)
“So we must listen very carefully to the truth we have heard, or we may drift away from it.”

After hearing her mother’s lighthearted but firm warning, a twenty-three-year-old daughter chuckled and told her over the phone, “You’re going to ruin my first date before it starts.” Her daughter had met a very nice guy from her job, and they were going out on their first date. The daughter had called her mom to ask the name of the restaurant she’d taken her to a couple of months ago. She thought it would be a good place to check out. While on the phone, her mother gave her a few reminder tips on the do’s and don’ts of Christian woman etiquette. Her daughter was a bit annoyed that her mom felt she needed to be reminded. Afterall, she had been walking the straight and narrow path when it came to dating and relationships, but it had been such a long time since she met someone new. She didn’t want high expectations and standards to make her seem overanxious or under confident.

We can read scriptures in the bible multiple times, but no matter how many times we read them, the revelation we receive is always fresh and new. When it comes to dating, hearing the Word and being reminded of it continually is absolutely vital. It’s just too easy to let our minds and hearts slip to those old ways. If we allow ourselves to slip back to old thinking, behaviors, and attitudes, we can be tempted to let down our guards. Our confidence and standards can be easily eroded, and this is why it is important for us to keep ourselves spiritually sharp and alert through God’s Word.

Hebrews 2:1 reminds us that we must listen very carefully to the truth we’ve heard. To listen carefully is to pay attention to the instructions that have been spoken. It’s to take them into our hearts and keep them locked away. The psalmist, David, spoke about this in Psalm 119:11 when he said, “I have hidden your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.” David understood that only God can rescue us, and only God’s Word can cause our eyes to be open so that we can see clearly what is before us. We are to look to God’s Word for guidance and counseling, but so many single people are willing to forego the standard of God’s Word simply to have a relationship. This is a recipe for trouble, because there is always a price to pay for not obeying God’s Word.

Having a relationship with a person we really like is wonderful, but as great as it is, it’s not on the same level as the privilege and treasure of receiving the revelation of God’s Word. The truth of God’s Word makes it possible for unity and harmony in relationships to be developed and maintained. God’s Word is the glue. If accepting God’s truth and living by it is not the basis of our faith as single people, we may not have the faith to maintain the relationship we seek. God tells us in Romans 10:17 that faith comes by hearing His Word. This means that what God has to say on a subject is more than a few sentences strung together. His Words carry His supernatural power! His Word is life to us! Faith will come and do its most perfect work where the God’s truth is honored and lived. Nothing will ever diminish the reality of this foundation.

We can’t afford to be asleep when it comes to relationships. Therefore, we shouldn’t take anything for granted. Ephesians 6:11(NLT) tells us, “Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil.” This verse makes it clear that we have a spiritual enemy, and God tells us that the way to stand against the devil is to put on every piece of God’s armor. We should never let ourselves forget that the enemy has his eyes on the unions we seek to develop, and he wants to tear those unions apart because he hates unity. God’s Word will keep us alert so that we cannot be outsmarted by the devil. God has provided this protection for our relationships, and they desperately need it. We must understand that remaining in God’s Word is the very best move we can make.

So, when the mother reminded her daughter to keep her guard up and maintain the standard of God’s Word she had been taught, she gave her daughter a jewel. She was helping her to protect what belongs to God, so that He would stay at His rightful place of honor in the daughter’s heart. To drift away from God’s truth can bring about heartbreaking circumstances that can sometimes take a long time to remedy. The consequences we face from bad choices and wrong decisions are often swift and painful. But staying true to Christ allows us to shine bright. We must trust and believe with everything in our hearts that the right man will adore our light and always respect our stand on God’s Word.■

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.

“Listen Carefully to the Truth”, written for findchristianman.wordpress.com. Copyright©2022. All rights reserved. All done to the glory of God through Jesus Christ, our Lord.

June 13, 2022
Do You Ever Wonder?

Do you ever wonder if the path you’re on is just not getting you where you want to go? Does it seem like you’re traveling rocky terrain and you can’t seem to build the type of momentum you expected? Many single believers feel this way about relationships and finding the right person. They’re wondering why it seems so challenging to meet someone who’s compatible and actually believes marriage is one of life’s treasures. Every day you wake up hoping it will be different from all the rest, and that you’ll meet the person that starts a new chapter for you. After a while, you start to wonder if things will ever go your way. There are folks that have gotten tired of waiting. They’ve stepped outside of Godliness and are doing whatever they want. You might be wondering if that’s a path you should take.

The first question you might consider asking yourself is “How important is it to me to wait on God?” Is this a requirement for a follower of Christ? Does God require those that are committed to Him to wait for the fulfillment of His promises? So many people have chosen not to do so. Especially in these times, more and more people are abandoning the spiritual discipline of waiting on God. Make no mistake, spiritual warfare is real, and the devil has used the desire for marriage to separate many singles from their relationship with God, and therefore, they are separated from the blessings He wants to give them.

This spiritual war began way before Adam and Eve were created. It began when satan, once a beautiful cherub, decided to rebel against Heavenly Father’s Will. The Lord said of satan in Ezekiel 28:12-15(NKJV), “You were the seal of perfection, Full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone was your covering: the sardius, topaz, and diamond, Beryl, onyx, and jasper, Sapphire, turquoise, and emerald with gold. The workmanship of your timbrels and pipes was prepared for you on the day you were created. “You were the anointed cherub who covers; I established you; You were on the holy mountain of God; You walked back and forth in the midst of fiery stones. You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created, till iniquity was found in you.”

Isaiah 14:12 tells us that God cut satan down to the ground because he destroyed the nations of the world and tried to exalt his throne above God’s stars. Isaiah 14:14 tells us that satan was full of arrogance and wanted to be like the Most High, so he was thrown out of heaven. The realm that satan oversees is utter destruction and darkness; he is trying to put us in that same bondage so that we will not fulfill the destiny in Christ that God has ordained for our lives. It is the battle of good versus evil, light versus darkness, faith versus fear, and God versus satan. The choice of which side we are going to be on is ever before us.

Psalm 27:14(NLT) says, “Wait patiently for the LORD. Be brave and courageous. Yes, wait patiently for the LORD.” The reason that we can be brave and courageous in the wait is because the Lord does not disappoint. The Lord doesn’t fail. He is faithful to keep His promises and we can lean upon Him with absolute confidence. After a certain amount of time has gone by, we might be tricked into thinking that the Lord isn’t going to answer our prayers. We might think He’s forgotten about our need, and that He’s unhappy with us. Nothing could be further from the truth. God is working both in us and in the person that will walk with us through life.

Think about where you are and all the emotional ups and downs you’ve gone through during the process of waiting. You’ve had doubts, you’ve made mistakes, and you may have resented the time it is taking. You might think to yourself, “I’ve already been patiently waiting on the Lord, and nothing is happening.” Life does not begin with marriage, nor should the fulfillment of it be dependent on marriage. Our life is in Jesus Christ! Heavenly Father doesn’t punish us for not coming to grips with this reality, but He absolutely expects that we will learn it so we can walk by faith.

God has called us to His purpose, and there is much we are called to do. Jesus Christ said in Luke 6:44 that a tree is known by the fruit it bears, and we will never escape this truth. We are in the fruit producing business, and it is a spiritual trade we must master before we think about marriage. Most of us spend so little time on Kingdom business. We’re on social media, our phones, at work or doing a million other things. Some of us spend 90 -95% of our time pursuing our own agendas, and then we get upset when God doesn’t reward our lack of attention to His purpose.

Significant relationships are probably one of the most rewarding ventures in life, but they are also very challenging. Spiritual maturity is a must to sustain them. And the truth is that if we have time to complain about waiting, we’re not busy enough with Kingdom pursuits. Each night, we should be so tired from running our races for Jesus that all we think about is praying and going to sleep. God cannot be an afterthought, and He will teach us to prioritize so that this is never the case in our lives.

2Peter 3:9(NLT) tells us, “The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent.” God’s timing is impeccable. It is so on point that it would blow our minds to know just how truly perfect His timing is. He doesn’t make mistakes, and He is not withholding our blessings. He is being patient for our sakes. He’s giving us time to sharpen our level of spiritual maturity so that we can handle the sometimes rocky terrain of marriage.

God doesn’t want us destroying one of His treasures, and He doesn’t want anyone harming us either. He doesn’t want us hurting someone and impeding their spiritual journey in Christ because we haven’t learned to be kind, compassionate, and unselfish. He doesn’t want anyone’s heart to be crushed by another person’s habit of carrying resentment, acting out in anger, and doubting His goodness. Heavenly Father is going to protect His treasures even when they don’t realize that this is what He’s doing. So, if you are wondering if you’ll have to wait longer, you might. But know that if you continue to do what He’s called you to do, and grow in Christ, He will answer your prayers and His timing will be perfect.■

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.

“Do You Ever Wonder?”, written for findchristianman.wordpress.com. Copyright©2022. All rights reserved. All done to the glory of God through Jesus Christ, our Lord.

June 6, 2022