Find A Christian Man

Tag: Spiritual encouragement in Christ

  • Please Help Me Remain Obedient to Your Will

    Please Help Me Remain Obedient to Your Will

    Dear Heavenly Father,

    Thank You for placing people in my life that know Your Word and can offer me words of Godly encouragement and wisdom when I need it most. Recently, I had a very informative conversation with a close family member. Her counsel was so spot on and razor-sharp that it cut through all my reservations and doubts. It revealed the heart of Your desire for my life. In Proverbs 27:17(NLT), You said “As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend.” You’ve made a way for us to be friends like this—friends that sharpen. I’m so thankful that You’ve provided us with truthful wisdom and knowledge that never fails.

    As sisters in Christ, we need people that will be honest with us, and tell us the truth when we might not want to hear it. This is especially true when it comes to new guys that we meet. We can become so excited about someone new that we lose our way. We forget that the Lord Jesus Christ will guide us through the right relationship with the right person. As a young woman, not only am I blessed to witness women of God that are obedient to Your Word, but I have also witnessed the blessings they receive because of their obedience to You.

    The Godly woman whose counsel I sought was single for a while, but has recently been blessed to meet a man that does many kind and generous deeds for her. On some occasions, she has been moved to tears by his acts of kindness. In our conversation, I asked if she was emotional because he made her feel so special. She answered by telling me that she was overwhelmed by how You moved through the man to bless her. It’s the favor You’ve shown her by working through this man that delights her heart. She is witnessing Your favor and Your faithfulness to Your promises.

    Psalm 5:12 (NLT) declares, “For you bless the godly, O Lord; you surround them with your shield of love.” Thank You, Father, that Your favor is a reward of obedience to Your Will. This is what happens when we please You—when we seek the help of the indwelling Holy Spirit to make decisions and choices that honor You. Please help us to remember that the way to have the life we desire is to follow the example of Jesus Christ, because he is the way, the truth, and the life!

    Some of my other friends make compromises to please their boyfriends. In many ways, they are idolizing the man, making him their everything. This is never okay. It injures our relationship with You and causes us to go backward instead of forward. You want us to be loving and kind to those we care about, and You want us to show them our gratitude, but we must do so according to Your loving standards, not our own. Matthew 6:33 tells us to seek You first in all things. This is the way to make sure that our new relationships become lasting ones. All blessings flow from You! Please help us, Heavenly Father, as women, to trust that obedience to Your Will and Word will always be rewarded.

    Thank You, Holy and Glorious Heavenly Father for helping us to be a blessing to Your Kingdom. In the precious and powerful name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

    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.

    “Please Help Me Remain Obedient to Your Will” written for Finding A Christian Man.Com ©2018.  All rights reserved. All done to the glory of God through Jesus Christ, our Lord!

  • The Blessed Roles of Husband and Wife

    The Blessed Roles of Husband and Wife

    Dear Heavenly Father,

    The world has an agenda that is very different from Yours. It has distorted the roles of the man and the woman. It has done so to such a degree that the blessedness of their unique gifts is no longer held sacred. I remember the first time I heard the word ‘chivalry’. Even after I learned the definition, it seemed foreign among the people my age. My mother taught me that things like holding the door open, giving up a seat, and paying for dinner on the first date are all a part of chivalry towards women. These are courtesies of kindness demonstrated by the man, not because he thinks women are less, but exactly the opposite; he appreciates that women are a gift from God.

    On the other side of the coin, many women today think that the way into a man’s heart is to compromise their bodies. They don’t believe they are obligated to obey Your command in 1Corinthians 6:18(NLT) that tells us, “Run from sexual sin! No other sin so clearly affects the body as this one does. For sexual immorality is a sin against your own body.” Many of Your daughters do exactly the opposite of this verse, because they believe it is the way to get a ring on their fingers.

    Romans 12:1(NLT) tells us, “And so, dear brothers and sisters,[fn] I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him.” Heavenly Father, You’re telling us what to do with our bodies. We are to present them to You as a sacrifice that is alive and thriving, fully engaged in worshipping and glorifying Your Holy Name.

    In Romans 12:2, You told us not to copy the behavior of this world, but we’re so mixed up in it that we don’t even recognize Your agenda. You told us to be transformed by the renewing of our minds to Your Word, but we’re not doing this, and that’s why we’re so confused about the roles of men and women. We are forgetting how wonderfully You’ve sanctioned, anointed, and appointed these roles for the uplifting of Your Kingdom. Many of us Christians have allowed Your Word to be watered down in our hearts, and we are not examining ourselves based on what You have called us to do. We’ve got to make a change, so that Your peace and blessings will abide over us.

    2Thessalonians 3:5(NLT) says, “May the Lord lead your hearts into a full understanding and expression of the love of God and the patient endurance that comes from Christ.” Please bless us to wake up and realize that this is where we need to be. Father, unity is an expression of Your love. We must pray this prayer in 2Thessalonians 3:5, so that we bring ourselves back to the unity of purpose that You ordained for men and women.

    The man is Your gift to women, and the woman is Your gift to men. Our roles are different, but they are equally important to You. Your Word so clearly tells us the order that You’ve set up. Help us to open our eyes and recognize that Your Word and Will is the best way. You have a plan for our happiness, but we must be obedient and humble, and not think that we know best. As sisters in Christ, help us to be respectful of our temples, to honor our commitment to Christ, and to recognize and appreciate the gift of a man whose heart is pure towards You. Help our brothers in Christ to walk in obedience to Your Word, to fulfill their obligation to Christ, and to value the gift of a Godly woman. Help us to be committed and spiritually strong in our Lord Jesus Christ, so that we are fit for the roles of husband and wife.

    Thank You, Holy and Glorious Heavenly Father for helping us to be a blessing to Your Kingdom. In the precious and powerful name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

    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 Blessed Roles of Husband and Wife”, written by FACM, Finding A Christian Man.Com ©2018.  All rights reserved. All done to the glory of God through Jesus Christ, our Lord!

     

     

  • Are You Ready to Hit the Reset Button?

    Are You Ready to Hit the Reset Button?

    The countdown is over and the New Year is here!  Some of us are seriously excited, and others of us…not so much. That’s not exactly the mindset God wants us to have. If you give it some thought, you’ll see that Heavenly Father has woven a few reset buttons within our existence, and a lot of us don’t use them to their fullest advantage. We set certain limitations in our minds and hearts. Most of us are okay with a little bit of change, but seldom do we allow ourselves the luxury of imagining a total transformation not only for ourselves, but for others as well.

    In Isaiah 43:13-15 The Message (MSG), Heavenly Father said, “13 Yes, I am God. I’ve always been God and I always will be God. No one can take anything from me. I make; who can unmake it?” 14-15 God, your Redeemer, The Holy of Israel, says: “Just for you, I will march on Babylon.  I’ll turn the tables on the Babylonians. Instead of whooping it up, they’ll be wailing. I am God, your Holy One, Creator of Israel, your King.” In this passage, God is telling and showing them (and us) who’s BOSS! He’s our Keeper, Protector, Shield, Provider, Maker, and King! He’s our everything, and there isn’t anything that He can’t do. He’s willing and able to help us fight any battle and win. Our privilege and responsibility is to trust Him, and remove the shackles of limitations from our minds and hearts.

    Lamentations 3:22-23(NLT) tells us, “22 The faithful love of the LORD never ends! His mercies never cease. 23 Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning.” We are never too old to begin again, and God’s mercy allows us a continual fresh start. Every 24 hours God gives us a new day, and He’s been blessing us this way for longer than you and I can know. In like manner, every 365 days, He gives us a new year. Major reset there. We get to end each year by celebrating the birth of our blessed Lord and Savior. And we can also reflect, reevaluate, and unload some stuff that didn’t serve us well during the previous year.

    One of the major setbacks overshadowing the reset we all desperately need is forgetting to be thankful and remembering what the holiday season is all about. It’s meant to get us to take a breath so that we can refresh and get our minds anchored in the goodness of God. Instead, many of us have allowed the world to burden us with its agenda, and the season becomes riddled with anxiety and pressure. We lose the chance to reset according to the seasons and timelines that God has allowed.

    The start of the New Year is most definitely God’s wake up call to believers to leave the old behind and embark on a new chapter in life.  Most people get this, and that’s why just about everyone has a New Year’s resolution that they try their best to stick to every year. Some are successful, but a lot of us kick that resolution to the curb when we find it isn’t as easy as we thought it might be.

    We start off trying to take big bites, when a lot of the times we’re meant to just nibble our way through. But big chucks or small bites, in the end the whole point is that positive change is good! People are transforming themselves all the time, and Christians should have a mindset that believes transformation is possible for anyone who loves and knows Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.

    God has given us our marching orders in Romans 12:2. He tells us to renew our minds to the truth of His Word, so that we will be transformed through and through. If we look only at our stick-to-it-ness, and don’t factor in God’s overwhelming love, willingness, and ability to help us make changes, we might give up. We won’t believe in our own ability to change for the better, and therefore, we will also be skeptical of others; but when we trust in God’s power, we will prove what His good, acceptable, and perfect Will for us is.

    Hitting the reset button in our minds and hearts gives us an opportunity to be renewed in faith, and to believe in our ability to go higher in Christ. That’s what is most important, because when we believe the best in ourselves, it will spill over into believing the best in others as well. It’s not so much about how we look or the relationships we forge; it’s about understanding that change begins in our hearts first. There must be a spiritual transformation in us, and it can only happen if we’re making time to grow and know God better.

    Isaiah 43:16-21(MSG) tells us, “This is what God says, the God who builds a road right through the ocean, who carves a path through pounding waves, The God who summons horses and chariots and armies—they lie down and then can’t get up; they’re snuffed out like so many candles: “Forget about what’s happened; don’t keep going over old history. Be alert, be present. I’m about to do something brand-new. It’s bursting out! Don’t you see it?” How awesome is this?!!! Change is good! It’s a necessity in order to grow in any area of your life. Through the Lord Jesus Christ, God has given us a chance to keep getting better and better. In 2018, let’s be committed to hit the reset button by making positive changes. We can start with small bites like changes in our attitudes and thoughts. As we make progress on the small things, God will continue to help us with the big things. If we’re alert and present, we won’t miss it when He pulls out all the stops and makes 2018 a monumental year of growth and blessings. ■

    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.