I almost regret that I have started blogging. The way that I approach blogging puts a lot of pressure on me. I do not want to write about what I am doing. I want to write about what God is saying to me. I HUGELY enjoy reading other's blogs about what they are doing because it is a way of seeing how God is working in their life. I have simply not felt that that is how I want to write my blog. Therefore, I dread each time that I have to write because of the pressure of what to say. No slacking whatsoever!
That being said, I loved, loved, loved what I read this morning in Psalms 147. Let me also add a parentheses here and explain something. Mark and I read through the Bible every year. One of the main reasons that I love June is because I am out of school and because I am reading through the book of Psalms during the month of June...every year...for about 25 years. Okay, back to Psalms 147.
It says "The speed of a horse is nothing to him. How puny in his sight is the strength of a man. But his joy is in those who reverence him, those who expect him to be loving and kind." Doesn't that blow you away? You want to see God smiling? Reverence him and simply expect him to be loving and kind.
We all have different expectations of God. I have said this several blogs ago but it bears repeating. The most dangerous thing you can do is to make up your own version of God. Back in Psalms 135 it says,"The heathen worship idols of gold and silver made by men - idols with speechless mouths and sightless eyes and ears that cannot hear; they cannot even breathe. Those who make them become like them. And so do all who trust in them." When we expect God to be weak(like us) to be limited in knowledge(like us) to be limited in strength(like us) to take safe, predictable risks(like us) then that is what our life will be like. When our god is weak and human, then we settle for a life that is boring, depressing and at best, manageable. When we catch a glimpse of His glory and realize that He is NOTHING like us, we will pray differently and expect great things because we asking God Almighty to intervene.
We were reminded yesterday in our church service of the important of putting the Word of God as the highest priority in out life. Satan has lulled us into a false sense of security when we think that we can get by without reading God's word. When we don't read God's word, we do not ever figure out who God is. So when we pray to God we imagine him to be human and limited like us. In fact, if you are reading this blog, and do not know Christ as your Saviour, I would like to tell you why you may not be taking that step of faith. You imagine God as like you. You cannot imagine that he could add anything to your existence because he is just like you. You think that he thinks like you and provides out of a limited budget, with limited power and limited knowledge like you have. You reason that if you can't figure out your life's problems, how can God figure out your life's problems. I say that with tenderness and compassion because we are all like that to some extent. By God's mercy, he showed me that he is not at all like me. By spending time in God's word, I am constantly learning how He really is and not how I imagine him to be.
So back to the original thought. The more we read about God and how he operates, the more we understand that he is loving and kind and not a god who is ready to pounce on us at the slightest mistake. I would be heartbroken if my two sons viewed Mark and I as parents who cannot be trusted. If they came to us with a request or a problem, we would move heaven and earth to try to help them out. I hope that they expect us to be loving and kind to them. Since we are imperfect parents, how much more so will God hear my cry for grace and mercy and be loving and kind towards me. In Psalms 56, it says,"You have collected all my tears and preserved them in your bottle! You have recorded every one in your book." I can guarantee that Mark does not collect my tears and record every one in a book and Mark loves me a lot. So God is infinitely more loving and kind than my own husband.
I could go on and on about how important it is to stay in Gods word so that we can read about how loving and kind he is. I desire that this idea is so immersed in my mind, that God looks on me with joy because I EXPECT Him to be that way and not just because I hope he is that way!
Monday, June 30, 2008
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Trust Him in Times of Trouble
"No I don't need your sacrifices. What I want from you is your true thanks; I want your promises fulfilled. I want you to trust me in your times of trouble so I can rescue you and you can give me glory." Psalms 50: 13-15(TLB)
Even though difficult, I believe I can almost handle the first two...giving true thanks to God and keeping my promises. However, without a doubt, to trust God in times of trouble is a little like jumping off a cliff with no assurance of what the jump will bring. What exactly is a "time of trouble?" I believe that it is a time of testing.
As a classroom teacher, I use testing to assess if any learning has taken place. I may spend a week on a topic in math and then I will announce the dreaded test that we will be having in a few days. There will be several different responses. There are always a few kids that do not dread the test at all. They have had lots of positive successes in the past with math. They always ace the math test so they do not fear a test. They may fear a science test but never math.
There are other students who become sick with fear. They have mostly failed their math tests and do not expect that this time will be any different. They may know much of what is on the test but they freeze up on test day and cannot perform.
Then there is the response of the majority of the class. They simply do not care. They hope they do well but it is not the end of the world if they don't. I love all the different responses and like to think about the reason behind their thinking. I love teaching 8th grade so much, in case I have not mentioned this!
There are many different responses to a time of testing in our life. It depends on the nature of the test and how comfortable the material is to us. If Mark and I faced a time of financial testing, it would not bother us as much as it might someone else. We do not value material things and have lived with much less than we have now. We are more comfortable with a financial test than a test involving our children. When God allows my children to be tested, I want to fear and not trust God with the outcome. I want to control the outcome and not allow God to receive the glory. I have to fight past the fear and take captive every thought that comes into my mind from Satan that would cause me to doubt the ability of God to handle the situation.
An interesting thing to realize is that God brings the test into our lives that we need the most help with. He is the perfect teacher because he understands my strengths and my weaknesses. He wants me to trust that he is good all the time and will allow times of trouble in my life because he is interested my holiness and not my happiness.
I remember this event as if it was yesterday. I was so in love with Mark in college and I was not sure where our relationship was heading. He asked another girl to homecoming, instead of me and I cried for two days. Then I had a light come on in my head. I realized that I wanted to trust God with the outcome of this relationship. I wanted to trust him BEFORE the outcome was known. I wanted to be thankful and allow him to decide, not me. It was the beginning of a lifetime of trusting God in the "unseen and not the seen." I have been through some times of trouble that are too personal to share on a blog. Let me assure you that I struggled with this request of God to "trust him in times of trouble so he could get the glory." I wanted to handle it myself. I am glad that he keeps testing me and helping me to learn how trustworthy he is.
I wanted to go back and talk about the group that do not care if a test is being given. Many Christians are not interested in the test, in being tested, in passing a test, etc. They blame God if they fail, they ignore God if they pass. If you find yourself in this category, give me a call. You are missing the point. It is a paradox. The Abrahams of this world who pass the biggest tests are the ones who gain the whole world.
Even though difficult, I believe I can almost handle the first two...giving true thanks to God and keeping my promises. However, without a doubt, to trust God in times of trouble is a little like jumping off a cliff with no assurance of what the jump will bring. What exactly is a "time of trouble?" I believe that it is a time of testing.
As a classroom teacher, I use testing to assess if any learning has taken place. I may spend a week on a topic in math and then I will announce the dreaded test that we will be having in a few days. There will be several different responses. There are always a few kids that do not dread the test at all. They have had lots of positive successes in the past with math. They always ace the math test so they do not fear a test. They may fear a science test but never math.
There are other students who become sick with fear. They have mostly failed their math tests and do not expect that this time will be any different. They may know much of what is on the test but they freeze up on test day and cannot perform.
Then there is the response of the majority of the class. They simply do not care. They hope they do well but it is not the end of the world if they don't. I love all the different responses and like to think about the reason behind their thinking. I love teaching 8th grade so much, in case I have not mentioned this!
There are many different responses to a time of testing in our life. It depends on the nature of the test and how comfortable the material is to us. If Mark and I faced a time of financial testing, it would not bother us as much as it might someone else. We do not value material things and have lived with much less than we have now. We are more comfortable with a financial test than a test involving our children. When God allows my children to be tested, I want to fear and not trust God with the outcome. I want to control the outcome and not allow God to receive the glory. I have to fight past the fear and take captive every thought that comes into my mind from Satan that would cause me to doubt the ability of God to handle the situation.
An interesting thing to realize is that God brings the test into our lives that we need the most help with. He is the perfect teacher because he understands my strengths and my weaknesses. He wants me to trust that he is good all the time and will allow times of trouble in my life because he is interested my holiness and not my happiness.
I remember this event as if it was yesterday. I was so in love with Mark in college and I was not sure where our relationship was heading. He asked another girl to homecoming, instead of me and I cried for two days. Then I had a light come on in my head. I realized that I wanted to trust God with the outcome of this relationship. I wanted to trust him BEFORE the outcome was known. I wanted to be thankful and allow him to decide, not me. It was the beginning of a lifetime of trusting God in the "unseen and not the seen." I have been through some times of trouble that are too personal to share on a blog. Let me assure you that I struggled with this request of God to "trust him in times of trouble so he could get the glory." I wanted to handle it myself. I am glad that he keeps testing me and helping me to learn how trustworthy he is.
I wanted to go back and talk about the group that do not care if a test is being given. Many Christians are not interested in the test, in being tested, in passing a test, etc. They blame God if they fail, they ignore God if they pass. If you find yourself in this category, give me a call. You are missing the point. It is a paradox. The Abrahams of this world who pass the biggest tests are the ones who gain the whole world.
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Keeping Our Promises
If you read Tuesday's blog, you know that God wants some surprising things from us. Instead of the sacrificial things that we choose to offer, he says," I don't need those. Thanks anyway but I have everything I need already." This is against the common thinking of the Christian. It is against my thinking, to tell the truth. I love, love, love to be legalistic. Give me a rule, like go to church every Sunday, give 10% to the church, don't drink alcohol, don't do drugs, ...and I can mindlessly follow it. But this verse is telling me that God is not interested in those sacrifices. I am thinking "What in the world does he want?"
He tells us clearly in Psalms 50:14-15. He wants us to truly be thankful for all he has done, fulfill our promises and trust him in times of trouble so he can rescue us and we can give him glory.
Look with me at the second part of this request...fulfill our promises. I had to get up and walk around a lot when I got to this part. I told God that I was really going to look foolish if I could not come to grips with the reason behind that request. I believe the reason that this one is hard to wrap our minds around is because God is far beyond our thinking as far as making a promise and keeping a promise. In the Old Testament, his covenant with David to "always have his descendants on the throne" is mind-boggling. Who else do you know that can guarantee something like that? God makes an amazing promise with Abraham that he would give him so many descendants that they could not be counted. There are entire books written that compile all of the promises that God has made and he keeps every single one!
I think that most of us make very small promises and we keep them, unless we can't because of an unforeseen circumstance or maybe if we just don't feel like keeping that promise anymore. To us a promise is not that big of a deal.
I got to thinking about when does keeping a promise become a big deal to us. I will give you some clues. Think about the last time you saw a romantic movie and the guy goes off to war and promises the love of his life that he will return. He promises her that he will. He is going to keep that promise no matter what and then there is this tearful scene when he returns and he whispers to her,"I promised you I would return." Maybe you have heard a story about a father that promises their child that he will take care of them , no matter what. What do these two situations have in common? Why do you feel like you would keep your promise in these two situations? You probably guessed it...the depth of love that is involved in the person making the promise. The bigger the commitment to keep the promise, the deeper the love is of the promise-keeper. That is why God takes promise keeping so seriously. It shows the depth of his love. Love is dependable, faithful, unchanging. Our love for God should be like that, not up and down, love him only when convenient, etc.
You are probably seeing, like I am, that God is not interested in sacrifices that do not involve our heart. To be truly thankful and really interested in keeping my commitments to "love the LORD my God above all other Gods, to love my neighbor as myself" it will involve my heart. God is wise enough to know that sacrifices can be made without having a changed heart.
When we make a vow to wait on the LORD, to trust him with all our understanding, to let him direct our paths, it will involve a heart sold-out to the LORD. Again, we want to break our promise if we do not see God bringing a mate into out lives on our timetable. This is a heart problem. We decide to not wait any longer on the LORD. Heart problem. Stop trusting him. Heart problem. The solution is to get our heart problem fixed by the "heart-fixer" and not go back to the "meaningless sacrifices."
He tells us clearly in Psalms 50:14-15. He wants us to truly be thankful for all he has done, fulfill our promises and trust him in times of trouble so he can rescue us and we can give him glory.
Look with me at the second part of this request...fulfill our promises. I had to get up and walk around a lot when I got to this part. I told God that I was really going to look foolish if I could not come to grips with the reason behind that request. I believe the reason that this one is hard to wrap our minds around is because God is far beyond our thinking as far as making a promise and keeping a promise. In the Old Testament, his covenant with David to "always have his descendants on the throne" is mind-boggling. Who else do you know that can guarantee something like that? God makes an amazing promise with Abraham that he would give him so many descendants that they could not be counted. There are entire books written that compile all of the promises that God has made and he keeps every single one!
I think that most of us make very small promises and we keep them, unless we can't because of an unforeseen circumstance or maybe if we just don't feel like keeping that promise anymore. To us a promise is not that big of a deal.
I got to thinking about when does keeping a promise become a big deal to us. I will give you some clues. Think about the last time you saw a romantic movie and the guy goes off to war and promises the love of his life that he will return. He promises her that he will. He is going to keep that promise no matter what and then there is this tearful scene when he returns and he whispers to her,"I promised you I would return." Maybe you have heard a story about a father that promises their child that he will take care of them , no matter what. What do these two situations have in common? Why do you feel like you would keep your promise in these two situations? You probably guessed it...the depth of love that is involved in the person making the promise. The bigger the commitment to keep the promise, the deeper the love is of the promise-keeper. That is why God takes promise keeping so seriously. It shows the depth of his love. Love is dependable, faithful, unchanging. Our love for God should be like that, not up and down, love him only when convenient, etc.
You are probably seeing, like I am, that God is not interested in sacrifices that do not involve our heart. To be truly thankful and really interested in keeping my commitments to "love the LORD my God above all other Gods, to love my neighbor as myself" it will involve my heart. God is wise enough to know that sacrifices can be made without having a changed heart.
When we make a vow to wait on the LORD, to trust him with all our understanding, to let him direct our paths, it will involve a heart sold-out to the LORD. Again, we want to break our promise if we do not see God bringing a mate into out lives on our timetable. This is a heart problem. We decide to not wait any longer on the LORD. Heart problem. Stop trusting him. Heart problem. The solution is to get our heart problem fixed by the "heart-fixer" and not go back to the "meaningless sacrifices."
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
What God Really Wants
There is a scripture passage in Psalms that always arrests my attention when I read it.
It in Psalms 50. In this chapter God is summoning all mankind to hear something that he has to say. He is bringing charges against them. The picture is that of a judge in a courtroom. Let me add something here. The reason you need to read the Bible over and over again is because if you don't, you will have some misconceptions of who God really is. You will form your opinion based on other people's opinions or even worse, your own warped ideas of what you think he is like. You need to know the truth about His character.
One of the most vital truths is that he is a perfect judge. In Daniel chapter 7, the Bible speaks of him as the "Ancient of Days," as he sits down to judge. To be the ancient of days is to be a judge that knows the past, present and even future of every person is is to be judged. Just think of that...He is the PERFECT judge. He knows EVERY fact about everything.
Back to Psalms...he begins by stating that he has no complaint about their sacrifices that they regularly bring to the altar. For us the sacrifices may be our regular church attendance, the Bible studies that we have joined or just the sacrifices that we perceive that we have offered up to him when we came to know Christ. However, just as we are getting smug about God's lack of complaint, he blasts us out of the water of our pride. He points out that because he owns the cattle on a thousand hills, he actually does not need their sacrifice. So what in the world does God want from us if not our sacrifices? We have "given up" our habit of gossiping, anger, lust, revenge, 10% of our income if we are tithing, partying with our friends...you name it. So why is he not pleased with that?
Look further to verses 14-15 and you will find that what God really wants is "our true thanks, our promised fulfilled and he wants us to trust him in times of trouble so that he can rescue us and we can give him glory."
First, he wants your true thanks. When I think of people that I like to be around, I usually leave the complainers off the list. There are some people that always complain and never stop to think about all that they have instead of all that they don't have. The best exercise that you can undertake is to exercise your gratitude. Right now just stop, take a deep breath and think about all that God has done for you in the past month. If you start thinking negatively, let me point out why. Satan will bombard you with thoughts like he did Eve in the garden. He whispered doubts about God. He hinted that God may not have her best interests in mind and that he was holding out the best when God commanded them to not eat the fruit. He is good at this...so good because you don't even realize that it is the voice of Satan and not the voice of your heavenly Father. Do not give an audience to this. Instead, back up and start over with that exercise. Name all the incredible things that God has done for you. That is the way God wants you to live...with true thanks, instead of a small miserable, twisted heart that thinks everyone else has a perfect life except you. Singles, do not for a second be listening to the LIAR when he says, "You can't trust him with a potential marriage partner. He is holding out on you. Things aren't working out by waiting on God so you need to manipulate the odds a little."
I want to share about the "keeping our promises" the next time I write. I feel compelled to tell you that I am praying for the readers of this blog. So whether you like it or not, your name is being mentioned to the "Ancient of Days." :):):)
It in Psalms 50. In this chapter God is summoning all mankind to hear something that he has to say. He is bringing charges against them. The picture is that of a judge in a courtroom. Let me add something here. The reason you need to read the Bible over and over again is because if you don't, you will have some misconceptions of who God really is. You will form your opinion based on other people's opinions or even worse, your own warped ideas of what you think he is like. You need to know the truth about His character.
One of the most vital truths is that he is a perfect judge. In Daniel chapter 7, the Bible speaks of him as the "Ancient of Days," as he sits down to judge. To be the ancient of days is to be a judge that knows the past, present and even future of every person is is to be judged. Just think of that...He is the PERFECT judge. He knows EVERY fact about everything.
Back to Psalms...he begins by stating that he has no complaint about their sacrifices that they regularly bring to the altar. For us the sacrifices may be our regular church attendance, the Bible studies that we have joined or just the sacrifices that we perceive that we have offered up to him when we came to know Christ. However, just as we are getting smug about God's lack of complaint, he blasts us out of the water of our pride. He points out that because he owns the cattle on a thousand hills, he actually does not need their sacrifice. So what in the world does God want from us if not our sacrifices? We have "given up" our habit of gossiping, anger, lust, revenge, 10% of our income if we are tithing, partying with our friends...you name it. So why is he not pleased with that?
Look further to verses 14-15 and you will find that what God really wants is "our true thanks, our promised fulfilled and he wants us to trust him in times of trouble so that he can rescue us and we can give him glory."
First, he wants your true thanks. When I think of people that I like to be around, I usually leave the complainers off the list. There are some people that always complain and never stop to think about all that they have instead of all that they don't have. The best exercise that you can undertake is to exercise your gratitude. Right now just stop, take a deep breath and think about all that God has done for you in the past month. If you start thinking negatively, let me point out why. Satan will bombard you with thoughts like he did Eve in the garden. He whispered doubts about God. He hinted that God may not have her best interests in mind and that he was holding out the best when God commanded them to not eat the fruit. He is good at this...so good because you don't even realize that it is the voice of Satan and not the voice of your heavenly Father. Do not give an audience to this. Instead, back up and start over with that exercise. Name all the incredible things that God has done for you. That is the way God wants you to live...with true thanks, instead of a small miserable, twisted heart that thinks everyone else has a perfect life except you. Singles, do not for a second be listening to the LIAR when he says, "You can't trust him with a potential marriage partner. He is holding out on you. Things aren't working out by waiting on God so you need to manipulate the odds a little."
I want to share about the "keeping our promises" the next time I write. I feel compelled to tell you that I am praying for the readers of this blog. So whether you like it or not, your name is being mentioned to the "Ancient of Days." :):):)
Saturday, June 14, 2008
The Can't Stands
One of the comments on my blog said "these lists that we make for our future mates are pretty selfish in nature. We can get to the point where we really limit God on what He can offer us single folk. I know its a little hard to pull dating/courting/whatever views from scripture, but I don't really see any places where people who are fully submitted to the Father go and put conditions (i.e. lists)on things. Obviously there are some deal breakers -- or at least one -- like they must be going hard after Jesus. Other than that, I'm not so sure things matter. So long as they're surrendered to Him, things should certainly be able to work themselves out (assuming you are too)."
I gave that a lot of thought yesterday. I must admit that this book was not even published when I married Mark so I did not make a list before I met him. However, I know what my heart longed for and I had an understood "list" of the type of person I wanted to marry.
I had made a decision that the LORD was ALL I needed. I remember thinking that I wanted to marry someone who felt that way. So the top of my list would have been a guy that loved the LORD more than me. Reading through the list, I would have chosen to marry an emotionally healthy person, someone with strong character, what they valued would have been important, and I must admit I wanted to marry someone who wanted to have children.
One may argue that at long as they have the first thing on my list, the other things would have been there, as well. I would love to hear comments from singles on what you think. I feel strongly, that to take the opposite view and not give this incredible thought about the type of person you want to marry, would be foolish. You need to know yourself and what
is important to you. If looks or financial security are important to you, you will probably marry someone with those qualities. You will miss out on the very best if that is the top of your list!!!
"Who, then, is the man that fears the LORD ? He will instruct him in the way chosen for him." Psalms 25:12 God will give you wisdom to choose if you fear (honor) him.
Well, I am going to tell you the list of can't haves.
I gave that a lot of thought yesterday. I must admit that this book was not even published when I married Mark so I did not make a list before I met him. However, I know what my heart longed for and I had an understood "list" of the type of person I wanted to marry.
I had made a decision that the LORD was ALL I needed. I remember thinking that I wanted to marry someone who felt that way. So the top of my list would have been a guy that loved the LORD more than me. Reading through the list, I would have chosen to marry an emotionally healthy person, someone with strong character, what they valued would have been important, and I must admit I wanted to marry someone who wanted to have children.
One may argue that at long as they have the first thing on my list, the other things would have been there, as well. I would love to hear comments from singles on what you think. I feel strongly, that to take the opposite view and not give this incredible thought about the type of person you want to marry, would be foolish. You need to know yourself and what
is important to you. If looks or financial security are important to you, you will probably marry someone with those qualities. You will miss out on the very best if that is the top of your list!!!
"Who, then, is the man that fears the LORD ? He will instruct him in the way chosen for him." Psalms 25:12 God will give you wisdom to choose if you fear (honor) him.
Well, I am going to tell you the list of can't haves.
- Lying
- Cheating
- Dominating
- Financial Irresponsibility
- Anger Issues
- Pornography
- Drinking or Drug use
- Smoking
- Gambling
- Sexual Obsessiveness
- Sloppiness
- Laziness
- Procrastination
- Gossiping
- Inappropriate Behaviour
- Penny-Pinching
- Foul Talker
- Dependent on others
- Arrogance
- Extreme Shyness
- Differing Musical Preferences
- Spiritual Intolerance
- Political Correctness
- Reckless Driving
- Fanatic(sports, politics, saving the environment, etc)
Decide what ten things would be the ones that you just could not tolerate for 50+ years of living with a person. Most of these I would not care about. However, there a few that I could not live with, no matter how much I think I love the person.
I spent some time in prayer this morning, asking God to help me to only speak truth...no Pat Cooper opinions, no secular wisdom, no popular statements...no one needs to hear that. Cliff-hanger...my next blog is going to reveal what God really wants from you.
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Ten Must Haves!!!
"The king is enthralled by your beauty; honor him, for he is your lord." Psalms 45:11
If you have ever heard me share about dating, you have heard me share this verse. I weep whenever I read it actually. It is a reminder to me that NO ONE will ever love me like the king of kings, Jesus Christ himself. No one will ever love you more than you are already loved by your Saviour. Leave me a message if you need to know more about that. None of this stuff matters more than your relationship with Christ.
That being said, I want to tell you about this next list. I will tell you the 25 most popular must-haves. Again, the credit belongs to Neil Clark Warren, who wrote Two Dates or Less.
You will have to choose only 10 of these to be the things YOU consider the must-haves in your mate. This is so exciting!!!
1. Emotionally healthy.
2. Strong character.
3. Same Energy level.
4. Intelligence.
5. Chemistry.
6. Financial Security.
7. Verbal Intimacy.
8. Conflict-Resolution Skills.
9. Personal Habits, like grooming, punctuality, dependability, orderliness and remembering important dates.
10. Spirituality. Not just are they a Christian, but are they on your level?
11. Shared Interests, Hobbies,etc.
12. Political and Social Views.
13. Interest in Parenting and Apparent Ability to do it Well.
14. Personality.
15. Values.
16. Skills(taking care of household, taking care of automobile, athletics, dancing, etc)
17. Ambition.
18. Age
19. Race.
20. Religious Affiliation(Jewish, Catholic, Baptist, etc).
21. Level of Education.
22. Sexual History(purity, for example).
23. Height and Body Style.
24. Facial Features(how attractive).
25. Clothes Style(dresses in-style or out of style, expensive clothes or not, etc.)
Here is the hard part...you can only pick ten! After you have picked only ten, put them in order of importance, most to least important. If you are sincere in picking your list, then everyone you date should meet most of those requirements. Do not change just because you feel like that person will change or because you may not met anyone better and you need to settle for this person. Tomorrow will be the list of "can't-stands." Is this fun or not? If you are not sure what one of these mean, leave me a message. Of course, I don't know how to reply to a message.:):):)
If you have ever heard me share about dating, you have heard me share this verse. I weep whenever I read it actually. It is a reminder to me that NO ONE will ever love me like the king of kings, Jesus Christ himself. No one will ever love you more than you are already loved by your Saviour. Leave me a message if you need to know more about that. None of this stuff matters more than your relationship with Christ.
That being said, I want to tell you about this next list. I will tell you the 25 most popular must-haves. Again, the credit belongs to Neil Clark Warren, who wrote Two Dates or Less.
You will have to choose only 10 of these to be the things YOU consider the must-haves in your mate. This is so exciting!!!
1. Emotionally healthy.
2. Strong character.
3. Same Energy level.
4. Intelligence.
5. Chemistry.
6. Financial Security.
7. Verbal Intimacy.
8. Conflict-Resolution Skills.
9. Personal Habits, like grooming, punctuality, dependability, orderliness and remembering important dates.
10. Spirituality. Not just are they a Christian, but are they on your level?
11. Shared Interests, Hobbies,etc.
12. Political and Social Views.
13. Interest in Parenting and Apparent Ability to do it Well.
14. Personality.
15. Values.
16. Skills(taking care of household, taking care of automobile, athletics, dancing, etc)
17. Ambition.
18. Age
19. Race.
20. Religious Affiliation(Jewish, Catholic, Baptist, etc).
21. Level of Education.
22. Sexual History(purity, for example).
23. Height and Body Style.
24. Facial Features(how attractive).
25. Clothes Style(dresses in-style or out of style, expensive clothes or not, etc.)
Here is the hard part...you can only pick ten! After you have picked only ten, put them in order of importance, most to least important. If you are sincere in picking your list, then everyone you date should meet most of those requirements. Do not change just because you feel like that person will change or because you may not met anyone better and you need to settle for this person. Tomorrow will be the list of "can't-stands." Is this fun or not? If you are not sure what one of these mean, leave me a message. Of course, I don't know how to reply to a message.:):):)
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
How to Get to Know Yourself
"O LORD, you have searched me and you know me." Psalms 139:1. Have you ever said, "I don't even know who I am?" There is a lot of truth to that statement. I don't think anyone really knows fully who they are. Thank goodness that God truly knows us, inside and out. So before you proceed any further, ask God to help you discover who you really are. You need his wisdom, not your own limited understanding.
There are many factors which make up who we are. I do not feel qualified to give anyone counsel. I'm sure that someone else's blog can help you with this.:):):) However, the book (remember Two Dates or Less?) lists some questions to ask yourself. I will put my favorites here.
1. Who is the most important person in your life and why?
2. What is your life's dream?
3. Who makes you angrier than anyone else and why?
4. Who makes you feel loved more than anyone and why?
5. When do you feel most afraid?
6. How important is money to you? Do you need a certain level of income to feel secure?
7. What is the role of God in your life?
8. How important is food in your life? Are you healthy in your approach to food? (only girls may understand the need for this question!)
9. Do you think of yourself as an emotionally healthy person?(this is where some people may not realize that they are emotionally unhealthy and need to get well before pursuing ANY relationship)
10. How do you approach conflict? Hide? Avoid? Confront?
I love these questions!!! Spend a long time thinking about how your answers to these questions. I think married couples, including myself, would benefit from self-analysis. This is not just for singles. When God reveals a painful area, we need to hear His voice on the subject and not listen to the voice of the Liar, Accuser, Satan himself. I am certainly not saying to wait until you are perfect until you marry. Mark would have never gotten married. Just kidding. NONE of us would have gotten married.
Tomorrow is my favorite part...10 must-haves and then Friday is 10 can't-stands. Or should I give you a day to examine yourself and then tell those? No way. You are dying to know, aren't you? Okay, Thursday it will be.
There are many factors which make up who we are. I do not feel qualified to give anyone counsel. I'm sure that someone else's blog can help you with this.:):):) However, the book (remember Two Dates or Less?) lists some questions to ask yourself. I will put my favorites here.
1. Who is the most important person in your life and why?
2. What is your life's dream?
3. Who makes you angrier than anyone else and why?
4. Who makes you feel loved more than anyone and why?
5. When do you feel most afraid?
6. How important is money to you? Do you need a certain level of income to feel secure?
7. What is the role of God in your life?
8. How important is food in your life? Are you healthy in your approach to food? (only girls may understand the need for this question!)
9. Do you think of yourself as an emotionally healthy person?(this is where some people may not realize that they are emotionally unhealthy and need to get well before pursuing ANY relationship)
10. How do you approach conflict? Hide? Avoid? Confront?
I love these questions!!! Spend a long time thinking about how your answers to these questions. I think married couples, including myself, would benefit from self-analysis. This is not just for singles. When God reveals a painful area, we need to hear His voice on the subject and not listen to the voice of the Liar, Accuser, Satan himself. I am certainly not saying to wait until you are perfect until you marry. Mark would have never gotten married. Just kidding. NONE of us would have gotten married.
Tomorrow is my favorite part...10 must-haves and then Friday is 10 can't-stands. Or should I give you a day to examine yourself and then tell those? No way. You are dying to know, aren't you? Okay, Thursday it will be.
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Two Dates or Less
Another powerful verse...
Psalms 37:34 "Wait for the LORD and keep his way. He will exalt you to inherit the land." I like the second part. I don't like the first part. Plain and simple. Waiting is my least favorite thing to do. In so many areas of my life, I would rather go ahead and do it myself, if I have to wait for someone else to do it.
However, God repeated this command more times than I can count in the Bible. He is constantly asking us to wait on Him and NOT go ahead and do it ourselves. The waiting is a sign that we trust him. I think it is like emailing a best friend vs a casual acquaintance. If I did not hear back immediately from a best friend, I would not panic. I trust that person. We have a relationship with each other. I would assume that my friend is giving careful thought to whatever I said before they respond.
You have probably guessed how this fits in with the title...Two Dates or Less. We justify, rationalize or just outright rebel against this request to wait on God to bring the right mate into our life. We don't trust that he is taking care of things in our timetable.
I picked up a great book last weekend called Two Dates or Less. I want to share with my college group some great advice on choosing the love of your life. I will start general and then add some specifics tomorrow...the cliff-hanger, remember?
1) You have to get to know yourself so well that you can precisely identify the kind of person you will need to marry.
2) You need to figure out the ten most important items on your must-have list and the ten most important items on your can't-stand list. I will tell you some choices to help out here.
3) You need to learn how to read people so you can determine if this person is the right choice for you.
One more thing, a bad mariage is a 1000 times worse than no marriage at all. Repeat that to yourself 20 times a day.
Psalms 37:34 "Wait for the LORD and keep his way. He will exalt you to inherit the land." I like the second part. I don't like the first part. Plain and simple. Waiting is my least favorite thing to do. In so many areas of my life, I would rather go ahead and do it myself, if I have to wait for someone else to do it.
However, God repeated this command more times than I can count in the Bible. He is constantly asking us to wait on Him and NOT go ahead and do it ourselves. The waiting is a sign that we trust him. I think it is like emailing a best friend vs a casual acquaintance. If I did not hear back immediately from a best friend, I would not panic. I trust that person. We have a relationship with each other. I would assume that my friend is giving careful thought to whatever I said before they respond.
You have probably guessed how this fits in with the title...Two Dates or Less. We justify, rationalize or just outright rebel against this request to wait on God to bring the right mate into our life. We don't trust that he is taking care of things in our timetable.
I picked up a great book last weekend called Two Dates or Less. I want to share with my college group some great advice on choosing the love of your life. I will start general and then add some specifics tomorrow...the cliff-hanger, remember?
1) You have to get to know yourself so well that you can precisely identify the kind of person you will need to marry.
2) You need to figure out the ten most important items on your must-have list and the ten most important items on your can't-stand list. I will tell you some choices to help out here.
3) You need to learn how to read people so you can determine if this person is the right choice for you.
One more thing, a bad mariage is a 1000 times worse than no marriage at all. Repeat that to yourself 20 times a day.
Monday, June 9, 2008
What I would like for my blog to be about
I have a wonderful sister who lives in Tupelo, MS. She has the most adorable grandaughter named Marin. One time when Marin spend the night with her, Pam was trying to get her to stop talking and get some much needed sleep. Marin said,"But Nana, I have too many stories left in my mouth!"
I guess that is my problem. I have too many stories left in my mouth at the end of the day. I need a venue to express some of these thoughts. Those who know me well will tell you that I express myself even when not a soul cares about the topic. Blogging will be a way for only those who are interested in what I think about life to hear and I won't bore the vast majority of others who don't!
Most of the thoughts will have something related to the LORD. The ones that don't are not worth reading, believe me.
Today I want to share one of my favorite verses, Psalms 27:4. "The one thing I want from God, the thing I seek most of all, is the priviledge of meditating in his Temple, living in his presence everyday of my life, delighting in his imcomparable perfections and glory!"
My earnest prayer for this blog is that I reflect this in what I say.
I want a cliff-hanger so that you will want to check in tomorrow. I bought a book in Houston this weekend called ,"Two Dates or Less." My favorite topic is marriage advice so I am going to tell secrets to my college kids that I have the priviledge to work with at church. How fun is that!
I guess that is my problem. I have too many stories left in my mouth at the end of the day. I need a venue to express some of these thoughts. Those who know me well will tell you that I express myself even when not a soul cares about the topic. Blogging will be a way for only those who are interested in what I think about life to hear and I won't bore the vast majority of others who don't!
Most of the thoughts will have something related to the LORD. The ones that don't are not worth reading, believe me.
Today I want to share one of my favorite verses, Psalms 27:4. "The one thing I want from God, the thing I seek most of all, is the priviledge of meditating in his Temple, living in his presence everyday of my life, delighting in his imcomparable perfections and glory!"
My earnest prayer for this blog is that I reflect this in what I say.
I want a cliff-hanger so that you will want to check in tomorrow. I bought a book in Houston this weekend called ,"Two Dates or Less." My favorite topic is marriage advice so I am going to tell secrets to my college kids that I have the priviledge to work with at church. How fun is that!
Saturday, June 7, 2008
A new blog!
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