Tag: the Mind of Christ

Life is constantly proving that in the blink of an eye, everything can change.  The unexpected can potentially cause a shift in our circumstances so swiftly that it can literally take our breath away. The notion of change or any of its cousins like transformation, correction, adjustment, or modification, will sometimes bring us to a place of anxiety. Very few of us realize how comfortable we’ve become in our present situations until we are confronted with an issue that refuses to cooperate with business as usual. We react to this in a bevy of different ways, and sometimes we abandon the very thing that anchors us, which is our relationship with God through the Lord Jesus Christ. God knows our propensity to do this, and its why evidence of our diligence must be apparent before we take that walk down the aisle.

When a storm arises, no matter the magnitude, there’s going to be pressure. Many of us respond to this pressure with anxiety first, and then with desperation following somewhere in the not too distant vicinity. Some of us find ourselves making all kinds of promises to God, thinking that He will bargain with us, and accept our meager offering for the goodness of His grace and mercy. He doesn’t operate this way, but we will still try to use this tactic. Whatever we’re dealing with, God already knows about it. He allows the constant changes of life, both highs and lows, because they force us to grow in faith. If everything was always smooth sailing, most of us would choose to remain comfortable where we are, and never learn to walk by faith and not by sight.

Marriage is God’s institution. It is one of His ways of providing for His people. It is a bond of unity, and we know how much the enemy hates unity; he seeks to divide it on every turn. We can see evidence of this in real time, and it is one of the major reasons that God wants us strong, confident, and anchored in His love and wisdom BEFORE we get married. Now is the time to demonstrate our faith and trust in God’s Word. Our patience in waiting for the right person, and our diligence to stand strong through the challenges of life reflects our commitment to be full of God’s grace. Then our faith will withstand the strategies of the enemy.

In 2Corinthians 12:9(NLT), the Apostle Paul spoke about a troubling situation he was forced to face in his life. He called this issue a thorn in his flesh—a messenger from satan that was sent to torment him. Paul asked the Lord to take it away, and God’s response to him was “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” Some people have interpreted God’s response to mean that Paul would have to continue to suffer the torment of the thorn, so that he would be humbled by the pressure of it. This is not an accurate interpretation.

Transporting you to new levels
God’s response to Paul reveals a spiritual strategy that would both transport and transform him. Make no mistake that life is a spiritual journey, and you are on it. God knows the path you should take, because He alone has planned your destiny. Sometimes we stray away from the path that we should be on. We make decisions and choices that don’t honor God, and therefore those decisions and choices do not honor us or what is best for our lives. We desire marriage with the person that God has ordained, yet, our actions move us in the opposite direction. The storms rage when this happens, and we find ourselves panicking in the middle of the ocean.

Many of us have endured broken relationships, numerous heartaches, and disappointment after disappointment. We can sympathize with Paul because our quest for marriage often leaves us with this panicking feeling. It’s a thorn in the flesh, but God has told us that His GRACE is ALL that we need. Confidence in His unmerited favor is an infallible spiritual strategy. It’s the answer to our troubles. In other words, God is telling us that instead of focusing on the problem, FOCUS ON THE SOLUTION. Focus on His goodness. Focus on His power and strength, because it works best in weakness. Instead of feeling as if you’re in the middle of nowhere without your bearings, let the Lord Jesus Christ be your guide; for Proverbs 3:6(NLT) tells us “Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.” God knows where you ought to be, and He’ll show you which path to take if you’ll let Him.

Be Transformed
In Romans 12:2(NLT), God also tells us through the Apostle Paul, “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.” The thing we focus on will increase and grow. We can’t afford to focus on negativity when we’re trying to stay on the path of destiny and have what God says we can have. We must be transformed by the renewing of our minds to His Word. We have to change the way we think so that we are not shaken by plots and tricks that seek to undermine our faith. Instead, we must remain secure in Christ, with confidence that God’s grace will transport us to new spiritual heights as we are transformed into the spouses He desires us to be. ■

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

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

“A Confident Spouse” written for FindingChristianMan.com©2018.  All rights reserved. All done to the glory of God through Jesus Christ, our Lord!

In Jeremiah 29:11(NLT), our wonderful Heavenly Father declares, “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” This verse is one that every Christian should know, because it builds a foundation in our hearts for understanding that God has a plan for every individual, and He has ordered our steps. This understanding about God’s plan also aides our prayer lives, because so often we go to God not realizing that we are trying to persuade Him to do what we want. Really what we should be doing is praying to understand His plan, so that we can do what He wants. As God’s children, we have the privilege of being in covenant with Him through the Lord Jesus Christ, and it is this covenant of doing what He desires of us that gives us greater access to His promises.

A covenant is a formal and binding agreement between two or more parties that is based on the performance of an action. Covenants have conditions, and they require a commitment from all those involved to hold up their ends. We should also understand that since there are conditions to a covenant, there are also consequences involved for breaking the covenant. In Old Testament Law or Mosaic Law, the conditions that people suffered for breaking covenant with God were so extreme that He calls them curses.

In Deuteronomy 28:15(NLT), Moses warned, “But if you refuse to listen to the LORD your God and do not obey all the commands and decrees I am giving you today, all these curses will come and overwhelm you.” He then went on to lay out exactly what those curses were, including disease, infertility, darkness, confusion, frustration, and extreme lack. God’s plan was to help and instruct His people how to stay in the territory of His goodness, safety, and provision; and to keep them out of the devil’s territory of curses, chaos, and terror. Many of them did not heed God’s instruction.

He tells us in Jeremiah 31:31-34(NLT), “31”The day is coming,” says the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and Judah. 32 This covenant will not be like the one I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand and brought them out of the land of Egypt. They broke that covenant, though I loved them as a husband loves his wife,” says the Lord. 33 “But this is the new covenant I will make with the people of Israel after those days,” says the Lord. “I will put my instructions deep within them, and I will write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.”

The New Covenant that God speaks of in Jeremiah 31:31-34 is one He has made with us through the Lord Jesus Christ. It is one of grace. He made a covenant with those He delivered out of Egypt, and they broke it, even though He loved them like a husband. This gives us our strongest message regarding how God feels about the marriage covenant, and how it should be bound in the unity of love. He’s made a covenant with us and has written it deep in our hearts through the Holy Spirit. He gave the world His only begotten Son to be sacrificed for our sins. He did this to secure His relationship with us, so that we are assured that He is our Father—our Source, Sufficiency, and Everything; and we are His people.

With God, covenants are very serious business. Psalm 105:8(NKJV) says, “He remembers His covenant forever, the word which He commanded, for a thousand generations.” This verse helps us to understand how important covenants are to God. He honors them forever. It demonstrates His incredible commitment to His promises. We must also recognize that not only is marriage God’s institution, it is also a covenant that we make first to Him through the Lord Jesus Christ, and then to our spouses. Once two people are joined together in marriage, Heavenly Father sees them as one person.

We are a covenant people. Covenants are a way for Heavenly Father to bless us. They back His allegiance to do what He says, and He always planned to establish them with His children. This is why marriage is so important to Him. It is an extension of His promise to take care of us in every way. As we go to Him in prayer for our quests to cross paths with our future spouses, we must also recognize that in His plan this is already provided. Our responsibility is to pray for a level of faithfulness, strength, and spiritual maturity that causes us to be as committed to the covenant of marriage as He requires. ■

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.

“The Covenant of Marriage” written by FACM, Finding A Christian Man.Com ©2018.  All rights reserved. All done to the glory of God through Jesus Christ, our Lord!

If we ask God to bless us in a certain area, and we haven’t seen any movement whatsoever, are we to surmise that God didn’t hear us the first time we prayed, or is He just not ready for us to have what we asked for? Someone posed these questions to me the other day. At first I was hesitant to respond immediately, because people are used to hearing the same answers to questions like these. We’re told “You need to keep the faith!” or “You need to be more patient…” And let’s not forget, “Sometimes God tells us ‘NO!’ and we need to accept it!” That’s the one I like least. The last thing any Christian would want to do is discourage someone from continuing to trust the mighty power of God. Proverbs 27:17(NLT) tells us, “As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend.” So, we very definitely should encourage each other as single Christians, but as some of us continue to wade through what can seem like a molasses of loneliness, how do we give answers that will bring real and lasting comfort?

Marriage is the most important decision any human-being can make in their lives outside of receiving our precious Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. It is not a simple thing or something we should ever take lightly, and the majority of us have made this mistake. Because we have not placed marriage in its proper spiritual context, our desire for it loses the Christ-element that God requires. It can be challenging to communicate this in a simple explanation.

It is beyond crucial that we make the right decision regarding marriage, and Heavenly Father makes this very clear. A critical aspect to marriage that we forget or overlook is the truth that it is God’s institution, and He set the standard for it. Jesus Christ tells us about this standard in Matthew 19, when Pharisees, trying to test him, asked if it was lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any reason. He told them that God made human-beings male and female; because of this, a man will be joined to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.

This is God’s standard, not ours, and the implications are so deeply and spiritually impactful that we would be shocked to know how much. We forget that marriage is a covenant in which the partners are ordained by God long before they are born. Yet, many of us chose to marry someone that isn’t the person Heavenly Father ordained to be with us. We do the choosing, have a ceremony, and then ask God to bless something He never ordained. That’s not working out too well for a whole lot of folks.

The reason why this is so important to get right is because of what Jesus Christ says in verse 6(NLT), “Since they are no longer two but one, let no one split apart what God has joined together.” These are the words of our Lord and Master, Jesus Christ. He said “LET NO ONE separate a union that God has joined together. Can you imagine the price one pays for separating what God has put together?

Jesus Christ said that adultery is the only grounds that are recognized by Heavenly Father for which divorce is an option. So, we can see that marriage in Heavenly Father’s eyes is very serious business, and as singles looking to partner, we should only desire the person God desires for us. Many singles don’t have this mind-and-heart-set, and this is why many marital unions today are not put together by God. Sometimes we see individuals that are just depleted in every way from an unhappy marriage, because they married someone that was never meant to be a destiny partner.

Maybe you’ve heard a dear sister say, “I’ve been asking God to bless me with a husband, and for whatever reason, I can’t get a man to even look my way. It must be that God isn’t ready to bless me yet, because I don’t believe it’s me.”  I’ve heard this many times, and each time it tugs at my heart, because I know the emotional struggle that comes with being single longer than you’d like. But sisters, we must be spiritually anchored in Christ to be ready to partner.

God knows our hearts. In Deuteronomy 11:22(NLT), Moses told God’s people, “Be careful to obey all these commands I am giving you.  Show love to the Lord your God by walking in His ways and holding tightly to Him.” This is the heart that God is waiting on us to develop. He has watched to see if we will wait for the man that He has ordained, or if we will be impatient and choose someone without getting His stamp of approval. Many of us have not proved our faithfulness in this area. We’ve sinned against our body-temples with men who were not ordained as our covenant partners, and we never truly repented for this sin.

Our Heavenly Father loves us so much. He gave us His Word, the example of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and the indwelling Holy Spirit, so that we can have a relationship with Him that meets His standard. When it does, all the other relationships we cultivate will flow out of a well of love so tremendous that blessings chase us down. This is what every single believer needs to know. Marriage is not necessary to live this kind of blessed existence, but if we desire it, we must walk in the way of God’s Word and hold tightly to Heavenly Father, so that our future marital union is an ordained and blessed one. ■

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 Union Ordained and Blessed by God” written for FindingChristianMan.com©2018.  All rights reserved. All done to the glory of God through Jesus Christ, our Lord!

Jesus Christ said in John 15:8(NLT), “When you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples. This brings great glory to my Father.” Notice the distinction that Christ made between disciples, and ‘true disciples’. The added adjective ‘true’ makes a big deal. It singles out the fact that there’s an undeniable quality of truth that distinguishes those in the faith that are producing fruit and those that are not. You can’t be in the producing business without knowledge, and this is why this teaching is so incredibly and immensely important to the single Christian woman that is desiring to partner.

I pray with everything in my being that you will take the time to read this teaching, because the Word of God that it contains can impact your endeavors to partner in such a major way. As you know, knowledge is one of the golden keys to exercising the power of Christ in our lives. The more you know about the Word of God, the more you increase in every way imaginable. The truth, if believed, will always yield positive results. And that’s really what a formula is all about—achieving results.

Is There a Formula?

In everyday life, from the workplace to recreation, if we follow protocols, procedures, and directions; ultimately, we will yield the thing of which we’ve sought to achieve. God has blessed us with the wherewithal to comprehend this. Most of us have an expectation that if we do what is required, a result will be achieved. If we expect this in everyday life, why would we expect less from God’s Word.

God’s Word works with a mathematical precision. He’s exact and so is His Word. We can count on it with razor sharp specificity, and its promises will never fail us; not ever! So with this being said, is there a biblical formula for meeting a solid brother—a good dude in the Lord—and then partnering up?

Just about any dictionary will tell us that a formula is a concise or exact way of expressing information, to the end that a concise or exact result is achieved. A formula is something that we humans use to break down information so that it makes sense to us, and so that it can then be used as a building block for greater insight and understanding. God doesn’t need formulas. He’s omnisciently perfect and knows everything there is to know. We, on the other hand, need ways to dissect and break down information so that we can take it in bit by bit. Throughout history God has been incredibly patient as we’ve done this with His Word.

He designed our brains to compute and extract the fundamental components of learning in many, many ways. So, you might not like the word ‘formula’, but it doesn’t matter what you call it, the knowledge of God’s Word activates our faith in Christ to such a degree that we can ask the Father for anything according to His Will, and He will do it. If you’ve asked, and asked, and asked—and you’re still locking lips with toads, at some point you’ve got to deduce that something in your faith arsenal is missing in action.

These missing pieces are pieces of information that you’ve yet to discover about God’s Word and the person of Jesus Christ. These are missing pieces of the formula that your brain and heart need in order to trigger an avalanche of new revelation and comprehension. Once discovered, learned, and put into practice, these pieces of the formula will stir up the gift within you and elevate your faith to such a degree that you can’t help but to walk with greater vigor and power. This is the place where you are poised to run smack dab in the face of your future honey.

What It Takes…

Running in to someone cute and new doesn’t automatically mean you’ll be skipping down that aisle real soon. You’ve got to keep on saturating your mind and heart with truth. Listen, you may cross path with a ton of dudes, and one of them may be Mr. Right—he just may be the one, and that’s wonderful, but you have no idea at this point the amount of spiritual growth, tenacity, love, and faith that it will take. To move things from “Sure like you a lot” to “I LOVE YOU!”, you need the glue of the Holy Ghost, because without it a relationship can turn to dust in less time than a blink of an eye, especially if you make the wrong moves, and make them too quickly.

The bottom line is that you’ve got to produce! If you haven’t produced fruit for the Kingdom, how can you produce fruit that sustains a marriage? God is a God of order. First things first. Nothing happens without faith, and God requires us to exercise it first on HIS business, then the other things come easy to us. Faith is the stuff God used to create, and He has given it to us to build something wonderful for His kingdom. He wants you to partner so that you and hubby can create something beautiful together. But right now, your faith needs to be strengthened in the Lord.

Your relationship with God must be tighter. Jesus Christ said in Matthew 6:33 that seeking the Kingdom of God and His righteousness must be first on our priority lists. This must always be our first action-step in any formula. God’s Will comes first! You need to see Him greater and you may also need a greater revelation concerning the person of Jesus Christ. So the formula for meeting Mr. Right is the same formula for spiritual growth. You’ve got to stay in the Word, understand what you read and study, believe it with your whole heart, and then act upon it! That’s a formula that never fails. ■

“Is There A Formula To Meeting Someone New?”written by FACM, Finding A Christian Man.Com ©2018.  All rights reserved. All done to the glory of God through Jesus Christ, our Lord!

One of the most sound pieces of advice that I can give to single women is to be as discreet and private as possible when it comes to your personal life; especially at the very beginning of a new relationship. I’ve counseled many women in this area, many of them have lived to regret being so open and candid to their friends about the new man in their life. If you heed my advice, it’s very possible that you may come across as secretive to some. That’s ok! Discretion is very important to God. We know this because there’s a lot He has placed in His Word for us to know, but there are many more mysteries that He hasn’t revealed; and He has good reason.

Jesus Christ gave us a warning in Mathew 6:1-4(NLT). This passage tells us, “Watch out! Don’t do your good deeds publicly, to be admired by others, for you will lose the reward from your Father in heaven. 2 When you give to someone in need, don’t do as the hypocrites do—blowing trumpets in the synagogues and streets to call attention to their acts of charity! I tell you the truth, they have received all the reward they will ever get. 3 But when you give to someone in need, don’t let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. 4 Give your gifts in private, and your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.”

The context of this passage is about giving, sharing, and being of service. That sounds a whole lot like marriage, doesn’t it?!! Our Master Jesus cuts right down to the meat of the matter as he warns us about our motives for putting our kind deeds on blast. We’re very often motivated out of a need to be admired by others. We want them to be impressed with what we’ve got going on. Jesus has stamped this practice with a serious “NO!”

Marriage is increase! It’s the most substantial investment in another’s life that a person can make. As a good steward, we should endeavor to show ourselves worthy. Part of this good practice is keeping quiet about certain details regarding what God is doing in this area of our lives. Jesus tells us that if we’re continually spilling the beans and showboating, that’s all the reward we’ll get. This is not what we want, Sisters. We should want God to reward us by preserving our relationships and causing them to flourish in every way.

Jesus instructs us not to let the left hand know what the right hand is doing. The wisdom of this is breathtaking. Jesus knows that the enemy can’t steal what he can’t see. As Godly women partnering with the Lord to protect our unions, we should not let our business slip out in the open; then we won’t let the devil see what is unspoken. A person can give the enemy eyes to see and ears to hear if they’re always speaking about their hidden treasures. The longer you keep it quiet, the more chance you give yourself and the relationship to grow.

We also have to make sure that what we’re dealing with is truly a presentation of the Lord. There’s always a possibility that the person we think is Mr. Right is actually Mr. Right for Now, but not for the future. We need time to access and test.

Being discreet about our new relationships has nothing to do with fear. God tells us in 1John 4:18(NLT) that “Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced his perfect love.”  Love obliterates fear, but we have a responsibility to walk in a spiritually mature Christ-kind-of-love. This means we must comprehend that being discreet is a discipline that goes with love. Again, being discreet helps us to build a relationship, and keep it strong. If you’ll pray about this, the indwelling Holy Spirit will help you stay on the right path. So make a conscious effort to have self-control in this area. Let the Spirit guide you regarding what you can, can’t or shouldn’t say regarding your new relationship. If the Spirit doesn’t release you to speak it forth, keep it quiet.■

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.

“Building Love and Keeping it Strong” written by FACM, Finding A Christian Man.Com ©2018.  All rights reserved. All done to the glory of God through Jesus Christ, our Lord!