Find A Christian Man

Tag: Overcoming Obstacles

  • Out of Darkness and into The Light

    Out of Darkness and into The Light

    Jesus Christ said in Mark 4:22(NIV), “For everything that is hidden will eventually be brought into the open, and every secret will be brought to light.”  In this verse, our blessed Lord and Savior is teaching about the Kingdom of God, because he wants us to know what the Kingdom of God is like. It’s all light, and as God’s children, we share in this light. Our Heavenly Father is fully transparent. Everything with Him is out in the open. God doesn’t do things in the dark, but the devil is the exact opposite; he does evil deeds in the dark, and so do some people. They don’t want anyone to know or see these things, but as children of the light, we can’t operate that way.

    In Mark 4:21, Jesus asked, “Should a candle be brought into a place to be put under a basket or under a bed and not to be set on a candlestick?” Of course not! We should never hide the glory of the Lord that is in our hearts. No one having right mind would hide a burning candle under anything. A candle is meant to illuminate and bring light so that things hidden are exposed and so that darkness is dispelled. Such a bright and glorious thing as light is never meant to be hidden, but rather it is placed out in the open so that others may see the glory of it and come into the light themselves.

    When I was a kid, like many youngsters, I didn’t like being in the dark at bedtime. So much so, that I would ask my older sister to sing me a song so that I would hurry off to sleep and not have to face the darkness. I was afraid as a little girl that anything could happen. The fact that I couldn’t physically see in the dark, couldn’t stop whatever was out to get me, and couldn’t defend myself against it just overwhelmed my young mind. I understood, even at a young age, that ultimately, darkness is powerlessness.

    In darkness, what isn’t there can be just as painful as what is. It is a terrible place to be and many people are hurting because they don’t realize that our God has a life-changing solution for darkness and powerlessness through the Lord Jesus Christ. It’s not just those who are lost and don’t know Jesus Christ that are feeling the torment of darkness. Many believers that have accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as their personal Savior are suffering in torment as well. They feel as though no one understands their pain. They are looking for something real and desperately want to experience the joy of the light of Christ in their lives. Jesus wants to shed his light in our dark places. He stands at the door of our hearts and continually knocks. The question before all of us is “will we let him in?”

    Darkness represents the absence of light. In Mark 4:22, Jesus Christ said the thing that is hidden is meant to be disclosed. Nothing can be hidden from our Heavenly Father. He knows everything, and He knows the deep things of our hearts. One of the reasons why we experience so much pain is that we want hidden things to remain that way, but healing comes when these things are exposed to the love of God. Jesus Christ said in John 8:12(NLT), “I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life.” Our blessed Lord isn’t going to put us on blast, that isn’t what he means when he tells us that hidden things will come to light. He is really extending an invitation for us to allow his light access to every part of our being, because he knows exactly what we need, and he wants us to be the lights God has made us to be.

    1Thessalonians 5:5(NLT) says, “For you are all children of the light and of the day; we don’t belong to darkness and night.” We are not without responsibility and duty as sons and daughters of God. We have an obligation as children of the light to walk in the light. When you walk in the sunshine on a beautiful sunny day, you allow yourself to soak it up and take it in. It is exactly the same with the Lord Jesus Christ, and in Mark 4:23-24, he tells us how to soak in his light. He commands us to listen and pay close attention to what we hear from him, because the closer we listen, the more understanding we’ll be given. In verse 25, he said that for those that are not listening, even what little understanding they have will be taken away from them. So, listening to God’s Word with an intention and attention to hear and understand is an important part of letting God’s love and light in our hearts.

    Colossians 1:13 tells us that God rescued us from the power of darkness and translated us into the Kingdom of His dear Son. We have already been rescued from darkness. No more wandering around, not knowing where to go or what to do. We serve a living God and a risen Savior, and his Spirit lives on the inside of us. Philippians 2:15(NLT) tells us to “Live clean, innocent lives as children of God, shining like bright lights in a world full of crooked and perverse people.” God would not tell us to do something that He didn’t equip us to do. We have to see ourselves as bright lights shining in a world of darkness and continue to follow God’s Word so that our lights never dim.■

    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.

    “Out of Darkness and into The Light” written for findchristianman.wordpress.com. Copyright©2021. All rights reserved. All done to the glory of God through Jesus Christ, our Lord.

  • Want What God Has for You!

    Want What God Has for You!

    Edna woke up and got ready for work, just as she does every day. She made her regular stop to grab a cup of coffee, but for some reason the drive-thru was extraordinarily long. She didn’t want to be late for work and decided she’d make out better by going inside to purchase her coffee. This would be a simple decision for most people, but Edna avoided placing herself in certain situations. She was very insecure about her smile and certain parts of her body. Most people considered her to be an attractive woman in her 50s, but she didn’t see herself this way. Not ever being married or even coming close to it had done a number on her self-esteem. She thought she might not ever meet someone who would appreciate her just as she was.

    Edna had been praying for God to bless her with a man that would see her and not her imperfect smile and large hips. We all know what it feels like when we want something so bad, we’d do just about anything to get it. You may stay on your knees all night and pray all day just to see a certain thing come to pass in your life. The truth of the matter is that every day presents us with an opportunity to do something different than the day before. Lamentations 3:23 tells us that God’s mercies are new every morning. This means we need to make sure our fellowship with Him is flourishing, so we can know and respond to what He’s up to in our lives.

    1 Corinthians 15:58 The Message (MSG) says, “With all this going for us, my dear, dear friends, stand your ground. And don’t hold back. Throw yourselves into the work of the Master, confident that nothing you do for him is a waste of time or effort.” Our Heavenly Father never changes, but we do. God tells us that we should be always growing and going higher in Christ. Because of the race we’re in down here on earth, this makes change a constant dynamic in the life of a believer.

    When Edna was in her late 30s, she became so desponded about not being married that she closed off parts of herself from everyone. She hardly ever switched up her routine and didn’t go places outside of those common to her. She wasn’t renewed in the spirit of her mind about the blessings of God or her responsibility to walk in His love. Instead, she became pessimistic about her existence. This is never helpful. It closes doors to the very opportunities we need to see.

    Colossians 3:12 (NLT) tells us, “Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.” Our God is brilliant! There’s a purpose and reason for everything that He tells us to do. We don’t always understand the transformation that believing His Word ignites, but things change for us when we are firmly committed to living for God through the Lord Jesus Christ. It took a while, but Edna humbled herself and begin to pray to receive only what God wanted for her. Pleasing Him became her primary motivation.

    Her day had started out like any other, but as Edna stood in line at her favorite coffee spot, the next gentleman in front of her asked if she wanted to go ahead of him; he was waiting on his order to be corrected. She obliged, and they began a conversation that led to an exchange of numbers. He phoned later that evening and they talked over an hour.

    God knows the doors that need to be open in our hearts so that we begin to attract the blessings we desire most and draw ourselves closer to them. He’s not in heaven moving us around like puppets. He created the universe in such a way that it responds favorably to our faith in Him. When we humble ourselves and take even the smallest step to put Jesus Christ in the driver’s seat of our lives, his light will guide us. He will make sure that we’re in the right place at the right time to receive what He has for us.

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

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

    “Want What God Has for You!” written for findchristianman.wordpress.com. Copyright©2021. All rights reserved. All done to the glory of God through Jesus Christ, our Lord.

  • The Promise of Victory

    The Promise of Victory

    1Corinthians 15:57 tells us to give thanks to God, for He gives us victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. This isn’t a victory that takes us to the half-way mark and drops us off. It’s overwhelming victory that applies to every aspect of your existence. It’s a huge arena, because the victory we have in Christ covers the expanse your entire life, every nook and cranny of it. So, underestimating the flexibility that God requires of us is a mistake. We have to walk by His divine guidance and direction every moment of every day, because spiritual training is never ending, but it’s the best thing that could ever happen to us, because victory in Christ is guaranteed. Again, this doesn’t apply to just one area of our lives; through Jesus Christ, we can have victory in every area. However, when it comes to victory in marital partnership, some of us are still warming up for the race. We’re learning how to maximize faith by beginning at a slower pace. Heavenly Father is making sure we don’t burn out in the middle of the race.

    Victory means that you’re going to be uncomfortable. For many of us, this discomfort comes from being patient longer than we’d like and not knowing exactly what we ought to be doing during the wait. Well, one of the things we must do during the wait is prepare for what a marital future will hold for us. In consideration of this, my pastor reminds me to make sure Romans 8:37 is firmly etched in my heart. It tells us that we are more than conquerors in the Lord Jesus Christ. This is one of those verses that demonstrates the exceedingly abundant way in which God delivers on His promises. Most of us would have been thrilled to pieces about just being a conqueror—being able to tackle a few hefty challenges in life, but Jesus Christ has made us more than this. He made us more than conquerors because we need to be.

    Being a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ will cost you something—victory always does. You can’t be more than a conqueror without having something to conquer. We’re going to have to go through some things, and we don’t have the luxury of skimming the surface. There’s a cross to bear, and the Apostle Paul was talking about this in Romans 8. During the biblical time in which he lived, believers were always in life or death situations. Ephesians 6:12 (KJV) says, “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” Believers in Paul’s time were up against this in a very real way because they were constantly under attack. By inspiration of the Spirit of God, Paul had to remind them who they were; they were more than conquerors through Christ and so are we.

    Being a child of God means everything! If you weren’t a daughter of the Most High, you would probably choose a different kind of man, but because God has a plan for your life and your husband’s life, as a couple more is at stake. It is incredibly important that we demonstrate a pattern of making our relationship with God through Jesus Christ our number one priority. This guarantees that we’re increasing in spiritual strength. It means we can hear the directives God communicates regarding how to protect and maintain our marital unions.

    It is also essential that we elevate the ministry of marriage above our physical and emotional desire for companionship. The institution of marriage belongs to God. He established it for His purpose. If our thinking about marital partnership doesn’t jive with a primary desire to please God first, and please our spouses second, our hearts will send the wrong signal, and the wrong person will pick it up.

    God said in Isaiah 43:15-19(NLT), “I am the LORD, who opened a way through the waters, making a dry path through the sea. I called forth the mighty army of Egypt with all its chariots and horses. I drew them beneath the waves, and they drowned, their lives snuffed out like a smoldering candlewick. 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?”  This is the God we serve. He’s a God of promise! He is a God of victory! There’s nothing that compares to the plan He has for us and the victory He has already set in motion for our lives.

    Things will not always be easy. There are evil forces working against our happiness and plotting to intercept our future marriages as well, but God has already worked this out. He’s already begun a new work within us, and He is sure to finish what He started. Let’s not make the mistake of overlooking the obvious. It will take an elevated way of behaving, thinking, and being to continue warming up your faith muscles. Walk with it until you can run with it. Be patient as the Lord prepares you. Pray and ask Him to tell you what you need to strengthen, and what you need to release so that you walk in the victory that Christ has already won. And if you seek the Lord with all your heart, you’ll be able to help your future husband do the same.■

    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 Promise of Victory” written for findchristianman.wordpress.com. Copyright©2021. All rights reserved. All done to the glory of God through Jesus Christ, our Lord.

  • Don’t Let Your Excitement Dwindle

    Don’t Let Your Excitement Dwindle

    Hebrews 11:1 tells us that faith is the substance of things hoped for, and it is the evidence of things not seen. We can’t reach out and touch the substance of faith, but it is more powerful than anything you and I can imagine. Faith allows us to step into our destinies in the Will of God, and it opens the door by which His blessings flow into our lives. Jesus Christ said in Matthew 17:20 that all we need is faith the size of a mustard seed, and we can speak to a mountain and have it move. From this we can see that our minds and hearts create the environment for faith to flourish. This means that our thoughts and emotions play an important role. So, when we’re looking to further ourselves in our ambitions and goals, particularly those involving marriage, our thoughts and emotions can help propel us forward or bring us to an abrupt halt.

    Psalm 37:4(NKJV) tells us, “Delight yourself also in the LORD, And He shall give you the desires of your heart.” This verse is an invitation for us to delight ourselves in all that God’s Word says He is, but many of us don’t keep the fire that fuels this delight burning in our bellies. Not only have some of us allowed the quest for marital partnership to disappoint us, but we’ve allowed this disappointment to impact the way we view the goodness of God. When I think of this, I’m reminded of my daughter when she celebrated her last birthday. She made a calendar for the month and crossed off every day until she got to her big day. I’d never seen such an enthusiastic and excited child on her birthday than my daughter. It is a blessing to witness this child-like joy. It is exactly the kind of joy we must hold for our Dear Sweet Heavenly Father every day of our lives. He deserves this.

    We decorated her bedroom while she was asleep. That morning she woke up to birthday banners and streamers everywhere. She was so joyous and happy that I didn’t need to prod her at all for school that day. The next morning, I walked into her room, still decorated from the day before, and I asked her, “How’s the birthday girl the day after her big day?” She said, “Not as excited as I was yesterday.” Her excitement had dwindled because there was no anticipation of gifts and goodies the day after.

    As believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, we must know that God never ceases to give us goodies. However, we should also see very clearly that our faith in God can’t be only driven by what we receive from Him, but by who He is. Life will not hold much gratification from day to day if we are not thrilled beyond belief for the privilege of being His children. 1John 1:5 tells us that He is light, and in Him is no darkness at all. We are His very own, His children of light, because He rescued us from darkness through the Lord Jesus Christ.

    We must grow to a point that the revelation of what God has done through Christ fuels our heart with joy continually. We can never know the degree to which this joy helps us to cross paths with our future spouses, but it makes all the difference. The genuine quality of our delight in God places us squarely on the path to His goodness. Every day should carry the joy of a birthday for the believer. We can wake up with excitement in our hearts because of what God has done for us through Christ, and what He will continue to do to bring blessings and abundance into our lives.■

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

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

    “Don’t Let Your Excitement Dwindle”, written for findchristianman.wordpress.com. Copyright©2021. All rights reserved. All done to the glory of God through Jesus Christ, our Lord.

  • Straighten It Out before Marriage, Or After?

    Straighten It Out before Marriage, Or After?

    Old habit patterns, bad attitudes, and negative ways of thinking can keep us from reaching our full potential in the Lord. These are the things that the devil uses to keep us stagnant, spinning our wheels, so that we lose out on the blessings God has for us. It is important that we know that Heavenly Father most assuredly has blessings He wants to give us. He desires to bring to manifestation the prayer request we’ve been praying about for a long time, but for some of us, our eyes are blind to what God is doing. We can’t see all the opportunities He’s placed within our paths. They are designed to strengthen us spiritually, but because we can’t see these opportunities to be strengthened in our inner man, we lack the spiritual strength to reach out and grab the blessings with our names on them. This is something that we absolutely must change.

    Regarding the complexities and challenges we endure in life, the Apostle Paul prayed this prayer in Ephesians 3:16(NLT), “I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit.” Paul is letting us know that we don’t have the strength on our own to endure the stuff the devil throws our way. Jesus Christ told us very plainly in John 15:5 that apart from him, we can’t do anything. Of course, we can accomplish lots of things in the earth through human effort, but Jesus Christ is letting us know that these things won’t amount to anything if he’s not in the equation. They won’t further God’s agenda, and if they don’t further God’s agenda in the earth, then they are not worth doing.

    Jesus Christ said in John 6:44(NLT), “For no one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them to me, and at the last day I will raise them up.” We don’t come to God on our own. He draws us! He chose us long before we knew about Him, and He’s given us a holy calling. God has something for us to do, and no one can do what He has called you to do quite the way you’ll do it. Your calling is unique just as you are unique. It is your purpose within the destiny God has ordained for your life. It is your identity and speaks to the very core of your existence. This is what you must be committed to do and seek as a follower of Christ.

    God also wants us to be clear that we can’t fulfill our purpose without the strength that He gives us. It’s impossible without His help. Paul prayed that believers would be filled with the Holy Spirit so that the Spirit would work within us to will and do of God’s good pleasure. We need the Spirit’s strength to overcome everything that is being thrown at us. It is God who empowers us to be a blessing, and without His empowerment, our lives will not be in alignment with His Will.

    Many single believers are struggling with the temptation of pre-marital sex and other sexual immoralities. There are sisters who have a deep yearning to be married to the right man, but they have sex with every man they date. God means it when He tells us not to engage in sexual sin. In 1Corinthians 6:15-18(NLT) He tells us, “Don’t you realize that your bodies are actually parts of Christ? Should a man take his body, which is part of Christ, and join it to a prostitute? Never! And don’t you realize that if a man joins himself to a prostitute, he becomes one body with her? For the Scriptures say, “The two are united into one.” But the person who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with him. Run from sexual sin! No other sin so clearly affects the body as this one does. For sexual immorality is a sin against your own body.”

    God knows this is a challenging area for many people, and this is why He tells us very plainly that we can’t rely on our own strength. Our strength won’t cut it. We must lean on His strength through the power of the Holy Spirit. We can’t effectively and earnestly pray for God to present us with the treasure of a marital spouse if we have no intention of trusting Him to help us abstain from sexual sin. That would be double-minded. It’s an unstable request. Our prayer must be to grow in the Holy Spirit so that we walk according to his directives and guidance. That should be our main priority.

    We can’t do anything without the strength of God in Christ. We need the faith that comes from witnessing the transformation in our lives from our full surrender to the Spirit. We need to see how God responds to our prayers when we ask Him to help us maintain Godliness. And we need the confidence that comes from knowing we can receive instruction from God about our purpose, as He helps us carry it forth like clockwork. So, understand that Heavenly Father isn’t looking for us to straighten our crooked paths before we get married, He’s looking for us to allow Him to do it from within. ■

    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.

    “Straighten It Out before Marriage, Or After?” written for findchristianman.wordpress.com. Copyright©2021. All rights reserved. All done to the glory of God through Jesus Christ, our Lord

  • Committed to the Commitment

    Committed to the Commitment

    Recently, I heard a famous person say that the reason why his marriage didn’t last was because neither he nor his ex-wife were committed to the commitment of marriage. This blew me away! I’d never heard someone pinpoint the issue in their broken relationship so candidly. There was no blaming, hiding behind excuses or dodging responsibility, just a realization of the truth. Most people that get married, or those that have a deep desire to marry, don’t go into the commitment thinking they won’t remain committed. They go into it with an expectation that feelings and emotions they’ve experienced during the initial stage of their relationship will sustain them through any obstacles, and that these feelings will continue to grow and deepen. Many of us never really think through the possibility or inevitability that our feelings will change, and we need to manage this change in order for the relationship to thrive.

    Marriage can be as beautiful and fulfilling as God ordained it to be, but He didn’t create us to be robots, so He won’t overstep or manipulate our feelings and emotions when we’re headed for trouble. This is an area that He’s given us the authority and dominion to govern by walking in the example of Jesus Christ. The reality is that we will make mistakes, and for many of us, our greatest relationship mistakes rests within the realm of our emotions.

    We are born with sin in our bodies, and we are born into a sinful world. It is 100% guaranteed that we will have issues at some point. We’ve got some ingrained shortcomings passed down to us through generational sin, and these things can quickly spawn negative habit patterns. They can eventually turn into strongholds as we mature and develop into adults. A whole lot of us are oblivious to this. We don’t think about the impact of entrenched patterns, nor do we think about the emotional fall-out from having someone infringe upon them, or how we will be changed by a person continually posing the threat of triggering something we don’t like.

    In Job 3:25, Job said that the thing that he feared most had come upon him. This is a lesson for us, whether we’re interested in marriage or not. Internal sore spots and wounds are ways of describing the condition of what the heart carries. The heart has storage capacity. It’s a treasury; it holds stuff, and sometimes it holds the wrong stuff. Remember when Adam and Eve sinned, and when God asked him about it, Adam said, “It’s the woman you gave me, she made me do it!” Sin ushered in shame. Before they sinned, there was no knowledge of shame and no experience of it. Their sin caused them to have this emotion, because the knowledge of evil was in their hearts and minds. This knowledge opens the door for all kinds of remnants of fear. This is what shame is, it is a derivative of fear.

    Adam deflected to Eve because he didn’t want to go to the place of accountability and responsibility. It was painful, and he didn’t want to experience pain. He didn’t want to own the reality that he had violated God’s Word, bowed to the devil, and disappointed Heavenly Father. The darkness of his action was just too heavy for him to deal with. This is how those of us living today handle our baggage as well. Part of our self-preservation tactic is to deflect, blame or lash-out when a nerve is struck so that we don’t have to revisit or touch the sore place in our hearts.

    This is one of the reasons God gives single people that are praying to be married a good bit of time these days prior to marriage. He wants us to deal with some of the issues that might hinder us from choosing the destiny partner He has ordained. Many of us are raised with values that don’t lend themselves to accepting responsibility and acknowledging our stuff. We don’t surrender it to the Lord Jesus Christ. Instead, we cover it up and make excuses. God has commanded that we renew our minds to the mind of Christ. This means cultivating a different way of viewing and dealing with remnants of fear.

    Ephesians 5:33(NLT) tells us, “So again I say, each man must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.” A good friend of mine gave me some really good advice that will help keep God’s command in Ephesians 5:33. She said “Keep God at the center of your union, love on each other as much as possible, and don’t sweat the small stuff.” It takes prayer and a willingness to follow the leadership of the Holy Spirit to come to a place in our walk in Christ where we don’t sweat the small stuff.

    When two people become one, a process takes place. You just don’t get married one day and have your oneness solidified in your hearts and minds the next. You have to go through some ups and downs in life together, so that your commitment and faith in God is purified by the fire. The reality is that it’s possible and likely that your partner will hurt you in ways you can’t begin to imagine from where you’re standing today. They will know you best, and also know your most vulnerable places. Those places where fear is hiding out will be exposed in a marriage. It ain’t pretty, but we must be anchored in our commitment to God and be willing to allow His love to fill the place where hurt and fear resided. If we’re obedient, our commitment to Him will strengthen our marriages through challenging times.■

    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.

    “Committed to the Commitment”, written for findchristianman.wordpress.com. Copyright©2020. All rights reserved. All done to the glory of God through Jesus Christ, our Lord!

  • The Words You Speak Pack a Powerful Punch

    The Words You Speak Pack a Powerful Punch

    In Luke 6, Jesus Christ teaches us about the importance of having compassion for others. In Luke 6:36, he tells us that we must be compassionate, just as our Heavenly Father is compassionate. This cements the reality that we are to take on the nature of our Dad, and become like His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ in every way. Our Lord and Savior also warns us not to judge others, because if we judge others, we will be judged. If we condemn others, we will be condemned. Jesus tells us to forgive and we will be forgiven. He wants us to realize that the consequence of every negative we put out there will come back to us, and it will sting at a level far greater than our initial negative investment. Jesus Christ cosigns this in Luke 6:38(NLT) when he tells us, “Give, and you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full—pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, running over, and poured into your lap. The amount you give will determine the amount you get back.” This is the law for both good and bad actions.

    Another way of saying this is that for every action there is a reaction. Believers have sat on the sidelines of this truth for many years because they didn’t understand it. Many thought it was new age gobbly-gook, and this is why they didn’t pay close attention to their deeds and words. Now we know better. Everything, from the least to the greatest deed and word that we do and speak will yield a consequence that will impact the kind of future we have. For some, this is too much truth to process. For others, it is simply one more of God’s laws that they will ignore, but for the believer it should represent the ginormous potential that God has given us to access and build for ourselves a more than abundant life. We can help shape our tomorrows by the words we speak today!

    James 3:5-6(NLT) tells us, “5 In the same way, the tongue is a small thing that makes grand speeches. But a tiny spark can set a great forest on fire. 6 And among all the parts of the body, the tongue is a flame of fire. It is a whole world of wickedness, corrupting your entire body. It can set your whole life on fire, for it is set on fire by hell itself.” To see the reflection of this in your own life, think back to a time when someone said something to you that may have hurt your feelings. Whether it was gossip or negativity from a family member, close friend, or co-worker; think about how it made you feel. Then contrast this with an occasion of hearing words from someone that inspired you, or maybe you received a compliment that made you feel good on the inside. In these instances, a person added or subtracted from you based on something as small as their tongues. They either spoke words of fire from hell or words of love from heaven. Their words may have altered something in your life for all time.

    Words have impact! They pack a powerful punch for the Kingdom of God or for the kingdom of darkness. This is why God tells us to be ever so careful to speak the positives of His Word over our lives, and do not speak death. It’s because words have transformative power! We see this very clearly with the gift of salvation. To receive it, we must believe in the sacrifice and resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and we must confess that he is Lord of our lives. Coupled with the belief in our hearts, the words we use to confess that Jesus is Lord and to ask God’s forgiveness transfer us from death to life!

    Many single Christian women have not used their words effectively, because they’ve not understood how their past confessions have either helped or hindered them on the path to marriage. They’ve doubted God’s provision, and we should never do this. We must repent if we have spoken words of unbelief or made wrong confessions. If you have not made a habit pattern of speaking life, now is the time. Purposely allow your conversations to be filled with truth and never as a tool for destruction.

    Our tongue is something to be reckoned with because it’s such a powerful weapon. One mistake you don’t ever want to make is to allow your emotions to get the best of you, to the point you hurt others intentionally with destructive words. This is a habit that must be broken before marriage. Not breaking it means that God’s love isn’t fully developed in our hearts. Our magnet for pulling love to us is greatly hindered when we haven’t renewed our minds in this area.

    Proverbs 18:21(NLT) says, “The tongue can bring death or life; those who love to talk will reap the consequences.” As born-again Christians, we have a responsibility to be vigilant about what we speak, when we speak, and how we use our words. If we’re not careful, the words we say can cut deeper than any weapon. It will injure others, and then boomerang right back on us. Find ways to speak life over your own existence, and into the lives of the people around you by uplifting and inspiring them in the goodness of God. Hold fast to the promise of matrimony should you desire it, and continually declare God’s Word, because it will come to pass according to the words you speak to back up your faith.■

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

    “The Words You Speak Pack a Powerful Punch”, written for findchristianman.wordpress.com. Copyright©2020. All rights reserved. All done to the glory of God through Jesus Christ, our Lord!

  • Is a Flaw Keeping Your Blessing Hostage?

    Is a Flaw Keeping Your Blessing Hostage?

    Aisha grew up in New Jersey, with three brothers.  Even though she’s the oldest, her younger brothers were always very protective, and they still are today. She’s 43, has never been married, and has been in and out of relationships most of her adult life. She wants a man that makes her feel as protected as she’s always felt with her brothers, but inevitably, she ends up being disappointed. In her view, the men she’s dated haven’t been able to live up to this standard. She swore off dating for a while but is now open to it again. I had a conversation with her a little while ago. She had met someone new at her job and they went out on a date. She told me she experienced a really awkward moment on the date when he asked her a question, and she really struggled to answer it. He wanted to know, “What is a beautiful woman like yourself still doing single?”

    Driving home that night, all Aisha could think about was why she had such difficulty answering this question. In her conversations with girlfriends, she had been accustomed to blaming character flaws in the men for her past failed relationships, but there was something about the manner in which this man asked the question that left no room for blame. She would have to look within for answers, and this was something she hadn’t done to any great degree before.

    Aisha is undeniably a beautiful woman, but her manner at times can be likened to putting a bull in a china cabinet. She has a negative filter when it comes to a lot of things, and she views many people and situations through a very critical lens. Things that would be better left unsaid, she says them; and her criticisms are almost never tempered with love. The thing is, she doesn’t put herself through this same scrutiny.

    All of us have flaws, but we can’t afford to use this as an excuse. There are certain flaws that impede our destinies, cause us to walk outside our purpose, and they cause us to miss out on the blessings God has stored up for us. Ultimately, these particular flaws take us so far outside the Will of God that they harm our relationship with Him severely. These are the flaws and weaknesses that we’re in the earth to address. They spawn the lessons that continue to cycle back until we either learn them or die. Arrogance will always keep us blind to this, but through humility, God will give us the grace to see it.

    Romans 10:9-10 (NLT) tells us, “9 If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved.”  Believing in our hearts and confessing with our mouths are required for the new birth reality. It is the only way to receive salvation. God makes it clear that it is the heart that makes the difference, for this is where love abides. We must swap out the heart that causes harsh judgement and undue criticism against others and exchange it for a heart that welcomes kindness and compassion.

    Ephesians 5:25 tells us that God’s standard is that a man loves his wife just as Christ loves the church. Christ loved the church so much that he offered up his life for her. This allows us to know beyond a shadow of doubt that truly a man can love a woman this way, because God has told us it is so. The question for the woman is whether her heart draws this level of love. It will be challenging to do so if her heart is filled with remnants of fear and darkness.

    Demonstrating the love of God must be at the top of our agenda in life and in relationships. Once we are anchored in it, this love then becomes actively engaged as we give it out, but you can’t give something you haven’t practiced within yourself. When Aisha was asked why she’s still single, she came up with, “I’ve been patiently waiting for the right fit.” It sounds good, but it didn’t feel authentic to her soul, and she couldn’t hide it. She very much wants things to work out with the man who asked the question. So, she has begun to confront some things that she has hidden behind for many years.

    God doesn’t want us running away from the truth ever. And the truth is that, to the extent a flaw keeps our blessing hostage, we must confront it and do the work to get it handled. It can be very uncomfortable, there’s no mistake about this. Aisha must learn to lean on God for her protection, and not look to a man to be something more than what he is. God will often work through the man, but all protection comes from Heavenly Father, and we should never think anyone can do it better than Him. There must be room in our hearts to accept that the right fit for us may not be strong in all the areas we expect, but they will help to build us up as we seek to fulfill the purpose to which we are called.

    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.

    “Is a Flaw Keeping Your Blessing Hostage?”, written for findchristianman.wordpress.com. Copyright©2020. All rights reserved. All done to the glory of God through Jesus Christ, our Lord!

  • The Right Instructions for the Right Results

    The Right Instructions for the Right Results

    In the Gospel of John, Chapter 5, Jesus Christ had gone to Jerusalem for the Passover. He came to a pool called Bethesda, and it had five porches. On certain seasons, an angel would trouble the water, and whoever went in the pool first after the troubling of the water would be healed of their affliction. Large multitudes of those who were sick, diseased, blind or afflicted would wait on the porches for the opportunity to be healed. John 5:5-6 tells us that Jesus saw a man lying there near the pool. This man had been sick for 38 years, and Jesus, knowing he had been sick a long time, asked him, “Would you like to get well?”

    The question Jesus Christ asked the disabled man may have seemed like a foregone conclusion to some of us. He was there at the pool, where many sick people gathered, and he had suffered with his condition many years. Imagine what the man must’ve thought after hearing our Lord and Savior ask him this question. In our minds, we might think he’d say, “I’ve been struggling to get to this pool and waiting by it every day for as long as I can remember, of course I want to get well.” The truth of the matter is that Jesus Christ not only knew the man’s situation, he knew the man’s heart. The sick man was looking for healing to come from a change in conditions, and not from power.

    There is tremendous power in the faith of Jesus Christ. He said in Mark 9:23 that all things are possible to the person that believes. Faith can activate a work of God on our behalf, but often the point of connecting to the element that energizes our believing is missing. For the people at the pool, the thing that energized their believing was the troubling of the water. Based on prior history of God’s healing power, they conditioned their minds to believe that they would be healed if the waters were troubled, and if they entered the pool first. On the unfortunate flip side of this, they also believed that healing would NOT come unless the waters were troubled. Because of this, they limited their faith.

    Some have said that the man lacked faith entirely, but this can’t be true. Romans 12:3 tells us God has given every person a measure of faith. At the end of the day, the sick man’s faith placed him in the right place at the right time—the time when he would make a point of contact with the Master Jesus. You might ask, “Why did it take so long?” Well, you and I must know as mature believers that how bad we really want something is going to be tested. The sick man wanted to be healed, but his answer to the question Jesus asked him tells us about his state of mind; and he had held this mindset for a mighty long time. He had not quite made the leap between wanting something and believing that he could actually have it.

    In John 5:7(NLT), the sick man answered Jesus by saying, “I can’t, sir…for I have no one to put me into the pool when the water bubbles up. Someone else always gets there ahead of me.” This was his answer to “Would you like to be healed?” It was not an emphatic “YES!” as most would expect, but an explanation for why it hadn’t or couldn’t happen. He was waiting on the conditions to change instead of connecting to the One who changes conditions. This is what many of us are doing today.

    Jesus told him, “Stand up, pick up our mat, and walk!” A revelation regarding the authority of Jesus Christ is the point of contact all of us need, and it was evident when the man heard these words of authority come from Jesus’s mouth. He was healed instantly, rolled up his mat and began to walk.

    It can’t be lost on us that the man’s faith was activated when he received the right instructions. He took the right action at the right time because he responded to the authority of Christ, and then he received the right results. Everything flowed according to God’s purpose because this man obeyed the instructions he heard from Jesus Christ. Heavenly Father knows exactly what it will take to bridge the distance between our desires and the faith to bring them into fruition. I believe one of the most important things we can do today is spend time learning how to respond to and live by the authority of Jesus Christ. A habit pattern of hearing and obeying must be firmly in place. Then, when it’s time for Jesus to give us the right instructions for our desires, they will connect with our faith and achieve results that honor and please God.■

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

    “The Right Instructions for the Right Results”, written for findchristianman.wordpress.com. Copyright©2020. All rights reserved. All done to the glory of God through Jesus Christ, our Lord!

  • A New Heart Brings New Blessings!

    A New Heart Brings New Blessings!

    The Prophet Ezekiel delivered a powerful Word of Prophecy from the Lord, our God, to the people of Israel. In Ezekiel 36:26-27(NLT), God told them, “And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart. And I will put my Spirit in you so that you will follow my decrees and be careful to obey my regulations.” It is important for us to know that the people of God living during this time had gotten themselves in quite the pickle, and it was because of their disobedience. They made a conscious choice to turn away from God’s regulations and do their own thing. This was a terrible mistake, and they found out the hard way. In this regard, they were like many of us living today who get weary of waiting to see a change in our circumstances. Like them, some of us think about taking matters into our own hands. Our God cautions us against such actions, because He has a much better solution.

    When God looked at His people living during Old Testament times, He saw the future. Back then, they were really doing the most with all that idolatry and evil darkness they were dabbling in. But despite their non-sense, despite their disobedience, God blessed and delivered them. When they saw what a mess they’d made and cried out to Him for help, He came to their rescue. The record of mercy and grace He bestowed on them is a testimony to those of us living today. It builds a foundation of truth regarding God’s love that anchors our relationship with Him even more.

    Their hearts were hardened against God and they consistently ignored His commandments. The same spirit of rebellion that gets into some of us was rampant in them. Instead of bringing glory to God’s name, they brought shame to it and glorified the devil. Talk about needing a new heart, they certainly did. Great hygiene and a good bath couldn’t clean the filth they harbored in their hearts. A work had to be done internally, and only God could do it.

    The thing that you and I must keep in mind is that God’s people living in Old Testament times were servants, they were not children. They could not have His seed in them because Jesus Christ had not yet come and made the infilling of the Holy Spirit available. For believers today, it is an incomparable treasure to know that God will restore us utterly and completely. If He would do it for His servants, He most certainly will do it for His kids.

    There isn’t anything that our God can’t and won’t do for His people. His promise of a new life brings hope when we’re struggling with pain, shame and disappointment. Relying on His power, and His love instead of our own is the only way to usher in the newness we need. Heavenly Father assured the Israelites that He would give them a new heart, that He would remove from them a heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh. This is the heart that believers can have through the Holy Spirit, a heart that delights in pleasing God.

    Our desires to partner in marriage, to have loving families and relationships, are desires that God has placed in our hearts. For many of us, this wonderful dream represents the newness we desire, but it must be matched by newness in our commitment to obey and trust God’s Word in a greater way. The prophecy that He gave Ezekiel was a foretelling of the redemption He planned for His children through the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ. Through Christ we have a new covenant with God, and Hebrews 10:16 tells us that God has placed His laws and regulations in our hearts and written them on our minds.

    We can have every confidence that God wants us to fulfill His purpose, but He also teaches us through the prophecy given to Ezekiel that a stubborn, stony heart doesn’t please Him. We must respond to Heavenly Father by doing the things that honor His name and doesn’t bring shame to it. Through Jesus Christ, God has given us a clean heart. He’s given us a new and right spirit, and we must do our very best to stay faithful to Him so we’ll be prepared for the new blessings He brings into our lives.■

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

    “A New Heart Brings New Blessings!”, written for findchristianman.wordpress.com. Copyright©2020. All rights reserved. All done to the glory of God through Jesus Christ, our Lord!