A Life that Seeks

We all seek after different things but the Lord is looking for the one who will seek after Him.

Psalm 14:2 The Lord has looked down from heaven upon the sons of men To see if there are any who understand, Who seek after God.

The Lord wants you to seek Him so much that He says that if you will do this then you will not lack any good thing. Do you need anything? Then you must seek Him. His promises are true.

Psalm 34:10 The young lions do lack and suffer hunger; But they who seek the Lord shall not be in want of any good thing.

He made us to seek Him because it is in Him alone that we live and move and exist.

Acts 17:26-28, 30-31 and He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation, that they would seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live and move and exist…

Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent, because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead.”

 

The Bible says that only the fool lives as if there is no God.  He also says that if we seek Him with all of our heart we will find Him. The Lord tells us to seek Him continually. He is declaring to us through Jesus Christ that we need to repent and seek Him. He is not far from us.

Deuteronomy 4:29 But from there you will seek the Lord your God, and you will find Him if you search for Him with all your heart and all your soul.

The God of the universe, who made all things, wants to have a relationship with you and fellowship with you. This is much greater than any king or president and yet if someone of great importance were to contact you then you would make every effort to accept their invitation and in all likelihood you would share what has happened with everyone you know. Yet…He who is the King of kings and Lord of lords is seeking you!

Psalm 138:6 For though the Lord is exalted,
Yet He regards the lowly,
But the haughty He knows from afar.

 

 

 

A Life that Understands What Allows a Marriage to Succeed

Marriage is not easy but it is very much worth overcoming any obstacles in order to succeed. Marriage is the blending of two lives into one and for a marriage to succeed it must have the blessing of God. The word “blessed” means “happy” and it also means having “the favor of God”. Everyone wants to be happy and when someone is happy in their marriage then they are considered blessed. The Lord tells us in His Word how to be blessed by God. His blessing is available to every person on earth.

in every place where I cause My name to be remembered, I will come to you and bless you. Exodus 20:24b

The Lord says that in every place where His name is remembered that He will come to those where His name is remembered and bless them. If you want your marriage to succeed then the Lord must be central in your marriage. For the Lord to be the center of your marriage then He must be the center of your life. For the Lord to be the center of your life then He must be the Lord of your life.

How blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, Whose hope is in the Lord his God, Psalm 146:5

The word God is a reference to the Lord being a person’s Savior. When the Lord is Lord in a person’s life then He will also be their Savior and He will save them from whatever trouble that they are in. The Lord hears those who call on Him to be their Lord and their Master. He will save you and will save your marriage.

But I, O Lord, have cried out to You for help, And in the morning my prayer comes before You. Psalm 88:13

Ask the Lord for help every morning. When a person cries out to the Lord in prayer every morning then they are remembering Him every day. Call upon the Lord and He will help you. He will help you in your life and He will help you in your marriage. He will show you His ways and teach you how to live according to His ways.

Help me, O Lord my God; Save me according to Your lovingkindness. Psalm 109:26

The Lord will help you and He will save you according to His lovingkindness. The Lord loves you and He wants you to succeed in life and He wants to bless your marriage and cause it to be successful. The Lord is good and He longs to be gracious to you.

Therefore the Lord longs to be gracious to you, And therefore He waits on high to have compassion on you. For the Lord is a God of justice; How blessed are all those who long for Him. Isaiah 30:18

Learn to long for the Lord. The Lord longs to bless you and He is waiting for you to come to Him. The Lord is gracious and compassionate.

Behold, God is my helper; The Lord is the sustainer of my soul. Psalm 54:4

When you look to the Lord and call on Him then He will come to you and bless you. You will see His love and kindness and you will love the Lord more and more. You will want to give thanks to Him and bless His name.

For You have been my help, And in the shadow of Your wings I sing for joy. Psalm 63:7

The Christian life is sweet and there is great joy in seeing the Lord’s love and faithfulness. When a person comes to Him and gives their life to Him then He makes Himself known to them. He becomes their Lord and their Savior. His love is perfect and there is no fear in trusting Him to be the center and Lord of your life. He truly becomes your Good Shepherd and He will guide and lead you through the storms and trials of life and you will see His favor shine on you and your marriage. You will see how perfect His love is for you. Those who look to Him will truly see His help and His faithfulness and He will be their hope and their salvation. When a person calls on Him and puts their trust in Him then they are blessed and they want to bless the Lord.

Bless the Lord, O my soul,
And all that is within me, bless His holy name.
Bless the Lord, O my soul,
And forget none of His benefits;
Who pardons all your iniquities,
Who heals all your diseases;
Who redeems your life from the pit,
Who crowns you with lovingkindness and compassion;
Who satisfies your years with good things,
So that your youth is renewed like the eagle. Psalm 103:1-5

The Lord will crown your life and marriage with love and compassion. He will satisfy the years of your life and marriage with good things. The Lord is good and blessed are all those whose help and hope is in Him.

A Life of Humility

If you want to be great then the Lord says you must be least. If you want to be exalted then He says that you must humble yourself. He knew that His disciples wanted to be great and wanted to be somebody. In our hearts we are the same. So, as they walked with the Lord Jesus He taught them a different way of life. A way that leads to life and to life abundantly.

Proverbs 18:12 Before destruction the heart of man is haughty, But humility goes before honor.

If we don’t live life God’s way then we will have sorrow and pain.

Proverbs 10:22 It is the blessing of the Lord that makes rich, And He adds no sorrow to it.

Many people will get riches and honor but with it will come sorrow and destruction. Jesus Christ gives us the picture of what it means to have humility. We are to consider others more important than ourselves and to not merely look out for our own personal interests but also for the interests of others.

Philippians 2:3-5 Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus,

Humility is the inward expression of total dependence on God and the outward expression of total obedience to Christ. Moses was called the most humble man on earth before Jesus Christ was born of a virgin, came to live and die and rise again from the dead. The phrase that characterized Moses’ life was he “did according to all that the Lord commanded him”.

Exodus 40:16 Thus Moses did; according to all that the Lord had commanded him, so he did.

Humility and obedience go together. Jesus was obedient to the point of death and then the Father highly exalted Him above every name that is named.

Philippians 2:8-11 Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Jesus is Lord of all. Every knee will bow before Him. You can either bow now voluntarily or you will bow against your will in hell because you did not bow willingly on earth.

I Peter 5:5,6 … all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, for God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble. Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time,

Yes, He will life up those who clothe themselves with humility and obey Him during this life. He says that we will reign with Him when He comes in His glory. Don’t be foolish and think that you can wait until tomorrow. Tomorrow may not come but eternity will.

 

 

A Life that Understands the Power of Your Words

Understanding the Power of the Words You Speak

It is crucial that a young lady learns the power of her words. Her words will either build up and encourage her husband or they will destroy him. A man needs his wife’s affirmation, encouragement, words of comfort, words of praise and kindness through the words that she speaks to him. A man will become what his wife says about him. If she builds him up then he will be built up and if she tears him down then he will feel torn down and defeated. Her confidence in what God is doing in and with him and believing in him will make a difference in his confidence in what God is doing in and with him and the confidence that he needs as he goes out into the world. A man’s wife should be and needs to be his biggest cheerleader. She needs to believe in him when he does not even believe in himself and when he feels that no one else believes in him. The Lord said that she is to be his savoir. Not a Savoir like the Lord Jesus Christ but a savoir for him when he is discouraged and down. She needs to point him to the One and only Savoir and the only way that she can do this is if she, herself, is looking to Jesus Christ to be her Savoir.

Then the Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him.” Genesis 2:18

Understanding What It Means to Help Your Man through Your Words

The word “helper” in this verse literally means savoir. This is the only time that it is used in reference for a person. Every other time that it is mentioned in the Bible it is in reference to God. One of the ways that God saves us is through His Word. The Bible says that “He sent His Word and saved them”. In the same way, the words of a wife to her husband can make such a difference in his life that they will save him from great discouragement and despair. Her words will keep him from depression and from being dismayed. Her words have the power to life him up, to keep him from doing something wrong and from making a bad decision. Her words will motivate him to higher goals and make him want to be the man that her words tell him that he is. He will become what she says to him. Her words will make her husband a better man or her words will, in the same way, destroy her husband. Her words can keep him from stepping out in faith and her words can make him feel worthless. Her words can literally take the life out of him and take away his desire to live.

Death and life are in the power of the tongue, And those who love it will eat its fruit. Proverbs 18:21

Understand that the hardest thing in the world is to control your tongue. The Bible even says that no one can control the tongue. However, you can control what you listen to and what you listen to and what goes into your heart is what will determine the words that come out of your mouth. Do not allow yourself to be with women who talk negatively about men or their husbands, if they are married. Make friends with women who have a healthy view of marriage and men. Have an older married woman who is wise, in your life who you can go to, should you find yourself struggling in your marriage. You must learn to see your husband through God’s eyes. Don’t ever compare your husband to your father. Your father was young and immature at one time and it takes a lifetime to become the person that God designed us to be. A young man is like a young woman and he is still maturing just as a young woman is still maturing. In fact, don’t focus on your husband, rather concentrate on you becoming the woman and wife that you need to be and that is a wife who builds her husband up. Your husband needs you to be that faithful believer in what the Lord is doing in his life. He needs your words of love, your comfort and your encouraging words. He needs your respect and there is no greater way to communicate respect than in the way you talk to him and in what you say to him. He needs you to be a blessing to him.

By the blessing of the upright a city is exalted,
But by the mouth of the wicked it is torn down. Proverbs 11:11

A Married Life Overflowing with Love

Everyone who is married longs for there to be true love in the marriage. Love is the sweet fragrance of a great marriage and the if you have love in your marriage then it truly cuts your sorrows in half and doubles your joys. Without love then life and marriage is much harder and eventually can become bitter or lifeless. Love softens the blows that life sometimes brings that are out of our control. Love is the oil in relationships and without it relationships are a grind that can wear us down. Most marriages begin with good intentions but many do not know how to live out the desires and dreams that were there at the beginning.

I John 4:7,8 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love.

God is love and there is no love a part from God. We do not know love a part from the Lord and we can not love a part from the Lord Jesus Christ. There may be duty, obligation or even a selfish love a part from the Lord but there will never be an agape love which is an unselfish, unconditional love apart from Jesus Christ. God came to us through Jesus Christ to show us what true love is and how we can experience it and know it. You must have Christ in your life to love and to be loved. We are untrusting creatures and don’t even know how to receive or give love. When we come into an encounter with Jesus Christ and receive Him then we are loved just the way we are and we can learn to love others just the way they are.

Romans 5:8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

God loves us. Christ died for us when we did not love Him and had turned our back on Him. Jesus Christ loves us just the way we are with an unconditional, agape love. We are complete in Him and do not need the approval of others. He will always have our back and will never turn His back on us. He will never leave us or forsake us, even when it feels as though all others have and we are alone.

Hebrews 13:4,5 Marriage is to be held in honor among all, and the marriage bed is to be undefiled; for fornicators and adulterers God will judge. Make sure that your character is free from the love of money, being content with what you have; for He Himself has said, “I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you,”

We do not need to have the “boastful pride of man” nor do we need to fulfill the lusts of the flesh or the lusts of the eyes when we have Christ. He is our glory and He will never leave us. We do not have to ever be lonely again. Being lonely is not His will and He wants His people to have a home. He wants you to have a home.

Psalm 68:6 God makes a home for the lonely;
He leads out the prisoners into prosperity,
Only the rebellious dwell in a parched land.

Rebellion is simply wanting to go your own way. If you have gone your own way and you are lonely in your marriage then turn to the Lord with all of your heart. He will fill your loneliness and fill you with love for your marriage partner. He will teach you how to love His way.

Galatians 6:9,10 Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary. So then, while we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, and especially to those who are of the household of the faith.

The word “good” means the “highest form of love”. The Lord will show you how to “do good” to your spouse. In due time you will reap if you do not grow weary. He will show you the opportunities to do good. The Lord will teach you.

A Life that Understands When to Make a Commitment to Love

Understand the Timing of When the Woman Makes a Commitment to the Man

Timing is very important in love relationships. In all love relationships there needs to be an initiator and a responder. Just as in our relationship with the Lord. The Lord is the One who is the initiator and we are the responder. We respond to His love and His choosing to love us. In the same way, the man is the initiator and the woman is the responder. The man must take responsibility for the relationship and therefor the woman must wait for the man. If the man only initiates to a certain level then that is where the relationship remains. If the man only wants a friendship and you want more then do not try to make the relationship into something that it is not. A man does just what he wants to do. If he wants a commitment relationship then he will pursue one. If a man wants to marry a girl then he will pursue her. The man is the one who asks the girl out for a date and he is the one who pays for the date. Do not pay. If he can not afford an expensive restaurant then let him take you to one that is not so expensive. Money does not make love and if it is important to you to go to expensive places and he can not afford it nor want it then you need to move on and he also needs to pursue someone else. Do not pay for the dinner. A man will get the money for what he wants and needs. A man appreciates what he works for so do not “give” to him. The man is to be the lover and the one who takes responsibility for where he takes you, when he takes you and how much it cost. He does not need your help. This is important to understand because one of the lies in the world is that the woman should spend her money also on the man. Absolutely not. If he gives you a Christmas present then yes, you can give him one if you would like, but do not spend more money on him than he has on you. Do not tell a man that you love him until he has asked you to marry him. Love is a commitment and he should not be telling a woman that he loves her until he is ready to commit his life to her. Do not be physically intimate with a man until after marriage. Many a man will stay engaged forever to get what he wants but never take the step of marriage. A man makes the commitment to marry, he asks the woman to marry him and then he plans and pays for the honeymoon. He also is the provider for the family. There is no problem with the wife working if it is agreed but even then, it is best to live off of the husband’s income. This creates gratitude in the wife and a oneness in the marriage. When a man gets married then he must be ready to give up everything for his wife and then after marriage the wife is to give up everything for her husband, but not before marriage.

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, Ephesians 5:25

Understand What is Wise and What is Foolish

Understand that a wife is a gift to a man and most men want to get married. Most men are looking for the “right” one and want a wife. However, men understand that marriage is a responsibility and men will sometimes put off responsibilities as long as they can. If they can get what they want without the responsibility then they will often not take the responsibility at all (“If the milk is free, why buy the cow?”) or if a woman will assume the responsibility in a relationship then many men will let her and will never take any more of the responsibility. He may stay with her in this dysfunctional relationship forever, even with her waiting for him to initiate, or until he gets tired of her. Meanwhile, she keeps hoping, initiating and spending her money on him and missing other opportunities with better men, who think that she is already in a relationship. A woman is foolish to give herself physically to a man before marriage or to spend her money on dates with him or gifts for him.

So husbands ought also to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself; for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ also does the church, because we are members of His body. For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and shall be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. This mystery is great; but I am speaking with reference to Christ and the church. Ephesians 5:28-32

Men love their own bodies and when a man loves a woman then he will commit himself to taking care of her as he takes care of himself. A man also will guard his investments. Let him invest in you rather than you investing in him. His heart will follow where he puts his treasure. A man appreciates what he works for and what he waits for. Don’t be in a hurry. Put your trust in the Lord and let the Lord choose your spouse. He will make a much better choice than you can make. As you wait for the man the Lord has for you then you will be waiting on Him and you will know when the Lord brings him along because your future husband will love you more than you will love him. Just as the Lord loves us more than we love Him and our love for Him is a response to His love for us. We love Him because He loves us.

For from days of old they have not heard or perceived by ear,
Nor has the eye seen a God besides You,
Who acts in behalf of the one who waits for Him. Isaiah 64:4

A Life that is Loving

There are three evidences that someone is a Christian. They are love for others, unity with Christians and holiness to God.

God is love and we love because He first loved us. To the degree that you can love others depends on the degree that you have experienced His love. He loves you intimately and unconditionally. His love is not based on how successful you are, how much you do for Him, how good you are, how bad you are or anything else about you. His love is all about Him. He loves everyone because He is love. The love of Christ for you cost Him His very life.

John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.

The Lord came so that He might have a relationship with you. He wants you to belong to Him, which means, He wants you to “be longing” for Him. He longs to be gracious to you and to show His love to you and for you.

Isaiah 30:18 Therefore the Lord longs to be gracious to you, And therefore He waits on high to have compassion on you. For the Lord is a God of justice; How blessed are all those who long for Him.

When Jesus came He gave a new commandment to His disciples and that is to love one another as He loved us.

John 13:34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another.

How did He love us? By laying down His life for us.

John 15:13 Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.

He calls to you through creation. He seeks you through His Spirit and He died for you and expressed His love for you through His Son, Jesus Christ. When you come to know Him then you come to know His love.

I John 4:8 The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love.

True love for God requires the heart and soul. All of it. The soul is made up of the mind, will and emotions. The heart is your innermost being.

Deuteronomy 10:12 …what does the Lord your God require from you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and love Him, and to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul,

By your love for others will people know if you are a Christian, for a Christian is one who has been born again as His child and has come into a personal knowledge of Him.

I John 4:7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.

If nothing can separate us from His love then why are we so fearful to love others? Why are we afraid to go out of our comfort zone?

Romans 8:37-39 But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Has the Lord prompted you to do something for someone else? Don’t wait. It is the Lord who wants to bless you and bless that person. If you close your heart to that person in need then you are closing your heart to Christ. Even though the Lord loves you, you may not see His love for you as long as your heart is closed.

I John 3:17 But whoever has the world’s goods, and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him?

He was rich but became poor that we might become rich. He did this that we might not indulge ourselves in His blessings or to hold on to the blessings but rather that we might become poor that others might know the riches of Christ.

II Corinthians 8:9 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich.

If He cares for the birds of the air and the flowers of the field, then how much more does He care for you. Do not have little faith? Live with abandonment to self and fully to Christ. He Himself said that He would never leave you or forsake you.

Matthew 6:26 Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they?

Matthew 6:30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith!

 

 

 

 

A Life that Understands Love Is a Commitment

Understanding How Love Begins As a Commitment

Love is a commitment. Love is a commitment that is expressed through actions. The feelings of love will come and go and come again if the commitment is firm in the lives of the two who are “in love”. The commitment of love is designed for marriage and God’s design for marriage is that the husband and wife will be “in love” and stay “in love”. God is love and the only way that two people in marriage can be and stay “in love” is if they are “in Christ”. Jesus Christ is God and He is love and His life and death fully expressed the meaning of love. We know love through Him and when our lives are in Christ then we will live in His love. When Christ is in us and we live in His love then His love will be expressed through our lives and those in our life will experience His love. However, when someone gives their life to Jesus Christ for Him to live in and through them it is the beginning of experiencing His love and of the transformation of becoming like Christ.

Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. II Corinthians 5:17

Understanding How to Live in a Committed Love Relationship

The new Christian is like a baby in the sense that they need to mature. Just as a baby is alive and must learn to do much so the new Christian is a baby in Christ and will mature as they grow in their new relationship in the Lord. A Christian may not always know how to love but they will want to learn. A Christian marriage, in the same way, needs to mature as each one learns how to love the other. As each partner in the marriage grows in their personal Christian life then the love in the marriage will also grow and mature. There needs to be much confession, forgiveness and grace shown to each other. If this is done, then the couple will learn to love each other even more and the love will not be quenched through selfishness and sinfulness. We are all basically selfish and sinful but when we give our lives to the Lord then He gives us a new heart and a new spirit to live an unselfish and righteous life, seeking to do what is right and loving.

Therefore, putting aside all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander, like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation, if you have tasted the kindness of the Lord. II Peter 2:1-3

Understand that a loving marriage can be the closest thing to heaven on earth. It is absolutely a taste of heaven to be “in love” and stay “in love” with someone for a lifetime. There is a sweet oneness of mind, soul, body and spirit. There is great comfort in the companionship and friendship of another who you intimately know and by whom you are intimately known. A great marriage does literally multiply your joy and allows another to share in your sorrows. You are not alone and never get tired of the other one. This is only possible through oneness. Just as you never get tired of being with yourself because you are one with yourself, in the same way, you have such a joy and thankfulness for the gift that God has given you through your spouse. However, all of this is only possible through Jesus Christ. Those who do not believe this is possible do not know the One who makes all things possible and who came that we might have life and love through Him. It is the devil that robs and destroys marriages and he does so through the lies that we hear that it is okay to do relationships according to what we want and how we want to live. God is not mocked. The marriage without Christ will never have the love and joy that He alone offers. God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to restore us to Himself and to restore the fellowship with each other that He designed from the beginning. It is possible and it can be real life.

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly. John 10:10

A Life Filled with Kindness

If you really want to soar in life then learn kindness and let it be a way of life for you. You will not only experience the kindness of others but you will see the kindness of the Lord.

Psalm 18:25 With the kind You show Yourself kind;

Kindness does not mock at, laugh at or make fun of someone else in unfortunate circumstances. The one who mocks the poor will find himself insulting the Lord and the one who rejoices at someone else’s trouble will be punished.

Proverbs 17:5 The one who mocks the poor insults his Maker, and one who rejoices over calamity will not go unpunished.

Kindness can begin with you and it influences the entire sphere of influence of the kind person. It is like the ripple effect when a rock is thrown into a pond and touches everyone. The godly woman is kind and is one whom the Lord praises, her husband praises her and her children also praise her.

Proverbs 31:20 She extends her hand to the poor,
And she stretches out her hands to the needy.

Kindness is part of the fruit of the Spirit. We do not produce it but He produces it through us.

Galatians 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness

If you really want to soar in happiness in your marriage then marry a man who is kind. The opposite of kindness is anger. Kindness thinks about the other person. Anger thinks about himself and is self centered.

Proverbs 19:22 What is desirable in a man is his kindness,

If a man has an edge or always has to be right or has anger issues then run from that man if you are not married to him.

Proverbs 22:24 Do not associate with a man given to anger; Or go with a hot-tempered man,

Often a man who has anger or rage issues also struggles with pornography since they come from the same root word. A man who struggles with these issues will seek to cover it up when he is pursuing a girl so this is why it is crucial that you ask your father what he thinks of the particular young man.

I Corinthians 7:38 So then both he who gives his own virgin daughter in marriage does well, and he who does not give her in marriage will do better.

It is the father who gives his daughter away and he will want to give her to a man who will love her. Often, if he does not express his opinion then it is because he may feel as though you have made up your mind already. If he is not supportive of the relationship then you would be wise to back away. Either the young man is not the one or it is not the time.

Proverbs 20:5 A plan in the heart of a man is like deep water, But a man of understanding draws it out.

Your father has a lot of wisdom. You need to listen to him and especially when it comes to young men. If he feels that you really want to know what he thinks then he will share insights with you. Women can not see through men and men can not see through women. For this reason it is crucial that a father meets very early in the relationship a prospective young man for her daughter and a mother meets early on a prospective your lady for her son.

Proverbs 18:4 The words of a man’s mouth are deep waters; The fountain of wisdom is a bubbling brook.

The Bible says you will be a winner in life and you will be a winner in marriage if you hear your father’s instruction and do not forsake your mother’s teaching.

Proverbs 1:8,9 Hear, my son, your father’s instruction
And do not forsake your mother’s teaching;
Indeed, they are a graceful wreath to your head
And ornaments about your neck.

A wreath is what they used to adorn the winners in the Olympic games. Even now, the winners will wear a medal around their neck which is an ornament. You will be a winner in life if you listen and do your mother and father’s teaching.

 

A Life that Understands the Need for Confidence

Understanding the Need for Confidence

There is something very attractive about a confident woman. Confidence is the opposite of fearfulness. A fearful woman is hesitant in everything. Fear is paralyzing and keeps a person from experiencing life. When a woman is confident then she can be decisive when opportunities come along. A confident woman knows what she wants and is willing to wait for what she wants. She is not double minded nor does she settle for second best. Men and women are drawn to a confident woman and she will never lack friendships. When a person exudes confidence then others will have confidence in her. Her husband will have confidence in her and her children also. A confident woman knows that the Lord is with her and no one can thwart or destroy God’s plan for her life.

Do not be afraid of sudden fear
Nor of the onslaught of the wicked when it comes;
For the Lord will be your confidence
And will keep your foot from being caught. Proverbs 3:25,26

Understanding Where Confidence Comes From

How can a person have this kind of confidence? Confidence does not come from beauty, from riches, from intelligence or from heritage. Confidence comes from being with the Lord. Peter and John were fishermen and yet they were able to take a stand for Jesus Christ in the midst of older and more educated, more trained and wealthy men. They had confidence because they had been with Jesus and knew who they believed in and that He would be with them.

Now as they observed the confidence of Peter and John and understood that they were uneducated and untrained men, they were amazed, and began to recognize them as having been with Jesus. Acts 4:13

When a person spends time with the Lord in His Word then that person learns God’s ways. Another word for God’s ways is righteousness. The right way to live is God’s way and the person who learns to live by God’s righteousness will have confidence.

And the work of righteousness will be peace, And the service of righteousness, quietness and confidence forever. Isaiah 32:17