Strength in Times of Uncertainty

Posted on July 8, 2024 by daaorg1214

Psalm 23:4-5(NLT)
“4 Even when I walk through the darkest valley, I will not be afraid, for you are close beside me. Your rod and your staff protect and comfort me. 5 You prepare a feast for me in the presence of my enemies. You honor me by anointing my head with oil. My cup overflows with blessings.”

God tells us in His Word to be wise and have spiritual discernment, and to achieve these by reading and studying His Word. In Hebrews 4:12, He tells us that His Word is alive! It’s sharper than a surgeon’s scalpel, or any two-edged sword. It’s so sharp, exact, and precise that it pierces through, dividing the soul and spirit, and joints and morrow. This verse goes on to tell us that God’s living Word judges the thoughts and intentions of our hearts. It lays us wide open before God, so that at any and all times, we are completely bare before Him. This is the piercing level of wisdom and knowledge that God has placed at our fingertips through His Word. He’s done this so that we will know Him in all His magnificent glory, power, and love. He’s also done this so we will comprehend and expect that He will use His power to achieve His purpose and do so profoundly in our individual lives.

Genesis 1:26 tells us that our Heavenly Father made us in His very own image. We are intelligent beings with a mind and heart that cannot be touched with human hands or seen with human eyes. We are His created spiritual beings, specifically tailored to experience an abundant life on earth. We are blessed beyond measure, because at one point in human history, people thought it was impossible to know God or to understand His thoughts. Even with all their philosophies, they missed out on Him because they had no way to know Him. All praise to our glorious Heavenly Father that this isn’t the case with those of us living today. We have His Word, and because we do, we have the keys to His Kingdom!

Our issue is that life can throw some serious curve balls our way, and sometimes it does this when we’re at our most vulnerable. God tells us in Hosea 4:6(ESV), “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge; because you have rejected knowledge.” Because we haven’t sharpened our discernment and wisdom by reading and studying God’s Word, the enemy uses tricks and plots to deceive us. Many of us have chosen the wrong partner because of this. We connect with a person that is responding to our fears rather than choosing a person that responds to our faith. Although it may not seem like it, through Christ, we can turn our worst decision into a steppingstone for our success. We can do this through the power of the Holy Spirit.

When we give our lives to Jesus Christ and became born-again, the Holy Spirit comes to live inside us. He is a part of the Godhead. He is the Spirit of God, and God has given him to each of us as a gift. Philippians 2:13 tells us that the Spirit is working on the inside of us, giving us the desire and the effort for God’s good pleasure. However, we must know that the Holy Spirit never forces or pushes. He works only to the degree that we allow him. Because of the finished work of Jesus Christ through his sacrifice and resurrection, the Holy Spirit is here with us, and if we allow him, he will work in, with, and through us. So, the greatest thing that we can do for ourselves is to let him be at work.

Jesus Christ said in John 16:13(ESV), “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.” The Spirit guides us into the truth, where liberty in Christ is found. Jesus Christ told us in John 8:32(NLT), “And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” We cannot be free by believing a lie. We must know the truth of God’s Word to be free.

If we don’t know God’s Word, and we are not allowing God’s Spirit to guide us, we might walk into a trap. When this happens, our lives can send us into a dark valley very quickly. We begin to feel as though nothing can help us, but this is not the truth. Rather, it is the lie that the enemy wants us to believe so that he can continue tricking us. We have a choice. We can continue in fear and doubt, or we can trust that God is with us, that He has not left us alone, nor will He.

God’s desire is that our cup, our lives, overflow with blessings, and He has given us the gift of the Holy Spirit to help us live abundantly, but we have a part to play as well. The situations and circumstances of life can leave us feeling uncertain and afraid, but we have a friend who has all the wisdom, power, and strength we will ever need. Jesus Christ told the disciples in Acts 1:8(ESV), “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” The Holy Spirit is our friend, and he lives within us. He will help, comfort, teach, and guide us, but we must partner with him by reading and studying God’s Word.

We are not weak, as some would have us to believe. In Exodus 15:2(ESV), Moses and the children of Israel sang, “The LORD is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation;” Romans 8:31(ESV) reassures us of God’s great love and declares, “If God is for us, who can be against us?” And Philippians 4:13 tells us that we can do all things through Jesus Christ because he gives us strength. So, lets get on board with God’s Holy Spirit who dwells within us. Let him guide you out of the valley and into the truth where you can walk in God’s wisdom and have strength and confidence in times of uncertainty. ■

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.

English Standard Version (ESV)
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

Rejoice in Your Inheritance!

Posted on July 1, 2024 by daaorg1214

James 2:5(NLT)
“Listen to me, dear brothers and sisters. Hasn’t God chosen the poor in this world to be rich in faith? Aren’t they the ones who will inherit the Kingdom he promised to those who love him?”

As His people, the Lord calls us to always keep our eyes on the greatness of His glory, love, power, and majesty. He is a sovereign God, and no other in all of eternity can compare to Him. He requires us to keep our minds on His goodness, and this prompts us to stay in the present, and not get ahead of His guidance. God knows the end at the beginning, and the events of life and history unfold the way they do because every Word that proceeds from His mouth is true. It’s a done deal. If God says something is going to happen, it is going to happen. He is not moving us about like robots, but His prophecy will unfold exactly as He has spoken, and every drop of what He has spoken in His Word has either already come to pass, or it will do so in the future. He knows everything there is to know about everything, so we can place our total trust in His protection, provision, and care, because our future is in Him, and indeed our future belongs to Him.

God said in Jeremiah 29:11(NIV), “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” You and I don’t know our futures, but God does. We can’t predict what is going to happen, but even before the foundation of the world, God knew every detail of our existences. Nothing we do is a surprise to Him. What is important to God is that we are with Him and have faith in His love, strength, and power.

In Jeremiah 29:11, He tells us that He wants us with Him for a very, very, very long time. He is the only One that can give us a future, and He reveals His plan to us. His plan will not harm us, but instead give us hope and a future with Him. He secured that future for us when He sent His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to earth to give his life as a sacrifice for our sins, and then He resurrected Christ from the dead. Through the sacrifice and resurrection of Jesus Christ, God made good on His promise to give us a future and a hope. He’s given us an inheritance in Christ, so He has even more treasures to share with us? His giving and goodness never ends!

God’s Will and desire for us is to have a wonderful present and future, enjoying our relationship with Him. In the past, before we gave our lives to God through Jesus Christ, we were in rough shape. Ephesians 5:8(NIV) tells us, “For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light.” We were in the dark before we knew the light of Christ, and for some of us, that darkness was one struggle after another.

A while back, I read the testimony of a woman in an abusive marriage. After an adulterous affair, her husband left her and their three children, but refused to give her a divorce because he didn’t want to pay support. Afraid of what he might do to her, she felt imprisoned in a home she couldn’t afford on her own. She was afraid that he could come in at any time and reap havoc on their lives and abuse her even more. She was desperate, and for the first time in her life, she prayed and asked the Lord Jesus Christ to come into her heart. After that, things were very challenging for a while, but she discovered that through Christ, she was much stronger than she thought, and many doors began to open for her and her kids. They escaped that terrible situation, and now they no longer live in fear, but in the light of Christ.

We must believe and trust God that we can come out of the darkness and into the light where His love and strength abides. He doesn’t want us to struggle and live a painful existence; that’s not His Will. Jesus Christ said in John 14:6(NIV), “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” Jesus Christ is the way, and if we will allow him, he will lead us out of darkness so that we can see the blessings that God has for us. In the dark, we can’t see, but when we accept Jesus Christ into our hearts and as our personal Lord and Savior, the light gets turned on. We leave the old in the past and welcome the new!

God is showing us what it means to be wrapped in His love. It means that He gives us the bounty of His spiritual goodies now, and He still has an inheritance waiting for us to receive even more. 1Peter 1:3-5(NLT) says, “3 All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is by his great mercy that we have been born again, because God raised Jesus Christ from the dead. Now we live with great expectation, 4 and we have a priceless inheritance–an inheritance that is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay. 5 And through your faith, God is protecting you by his power until you receive this salvation, which is ready to be revealed on the last day for all to see.”

In our relationship with Heavenly Father, He wants us to enjoy the communion and fellowship we share with Him. We can’t do that if we’re worried, anxious, and afraid about our futures. If we’re panicked with uncertainty, we wouldn’t delight in Him in the way He deserves. In Peter 1:3-5, He lets us know that He’s taken care of all our worries about the future. He guarantees a wonderful inheritance for all those who love Him and have accepted Christ, and to give us assurance of this, He’s placed His Holy Spirit inside us. Ephesians 1:13-14(NLT) says, “13 And now you Gentiles have also heard the truth, the Good News that God saves you. And when you believed in Christ, he identified you as his own by giving you the Holy Spirit, whom he promised long ago. 14 The Spirit is God’s guarantee that he will give us the inheritance he promised and that he has purchased us to be his own people. He did this so we would praise and glorify him.”

Romans 8:17 says that we are children of God and fellow heir with Jesus Chris, our Lord. We are in Christ because we accepted the salvation God offered us through him, and Christ is in us because his Spirit lives on the inside of us. God is showing all the treasure that is in Christ because through Christ, He is dwelling in us. Our Heavenly Father wants us to know that when we look in the mirror, we are seeing His best because we are seeing Christ. God is not hiding away. He’s in us! And there’s so much more on the way. So, let’s never give up hope. Learn about all that God has given you and rejoice in your inheritance. Your completeness is in Christ, and as you awaken your mind and heart to your reality in him, his brilliant and everlasting victory on the cross will transform your life! ■

Everything You Lost, Returned!

Posted on June 24, 2024 by daaorg1214

Zechariah 9:11-13(NLT)
“And you, because of my blood covenant with you, I’ll release your prisoners from their hopeless cells. Come home, hope-filled prisoners! This very day I’m declaring a double bonus – everything you lost returned twice-over!”

If something precious to you is lost, or worse, it’s taken or stolen from you, you’ll probably try to get it back. It’s not a stretch to say that in the future, you will also take a few measures to ensure this doesn’t happen to you again. It’s no secret that in life, we lose things that are very important to us. Whether it’s material treasures, a job, house, car, or a relationship, these losses can be devastating. Sometimes, despite our best efforts, it can appear as though we’re not going to get these treasures back and that is a challenging thing to accept. God reminds us in Zechariah 9:11-13 that when we lose a treasure, we are not without hope. He is our hope! When our trust is firmly placed in God, He restores, replenishes, and gives us back everything we’ve lost twice-over.

Trust bigger
Ephesians 3:20(NKJV) says, “Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us.” This verse tells us that God’s power and willingness to help us is exceedingly abundantly above anything that you and I can think or imagine. Therefore, we should never measure a problem by our own ability to deal with it. Our losses, troubles, and obstacles should be measured according to who will be handling them. Our all-powerful, brilliant and perfect God is the One that handles everything that seeks to hold us back or keep us down, and our faith should be firmly planted in Him.

2Corinthians 9:8(NKJV) says, “And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work.” The job, house, car, money or relationship is not the source of our happiness. If we think that, we’re sadly mistaken. God is the Source of all good things. He’s our sufficiency and Provider, and we need to fully grasp this truth so that our faith is increased. Again, our Heavenly Father is all-powerful and all-knowing, and His love for us is unconditional and unlimited. He is always on our side, and no problem is too big for Him to solve. God can do anything, and He doesn’t want us to make the mistake of going to other sources. He wants us to lean totally and completely on Him.

Our trust in God should be bigger than our fear and doubt. Our faith in Him should be bigger than any other reality in our lives. This is an important lesson to learn. In the past, instead of relying on God, we have relied on ourselves and that is not a successful strategy. God’s Holy Spirit is in us, and he is working on the inside, supplying us with the strength to do God’s Will. So, we must decrease in the flesh, and allow the indwelling Holy Spirit to increase so that we are cooperating with the Will of God for our lives.

Be thankful for what you have
God does not take away our blessings or cause us to lose them. Our blessings are stolen or hindered because we have an enemy, the devil, and Jesus Christ tells us in John 10:10 that the devil’s game is to steal, kill, and destroy. When the enemy plays his tricks on us, our response must be a strategic one. Ephesians 6:12(NLT) teaches us, “For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.” This war that we’re fighting is spiritual warfare, and we can’t use weapons of the flesh to fight a spiritual enemy. We must put on God’s spiritual weaponry, so that we are fully equipped.

The Word of God is the Spirit’s sword, and we must put it on in our minds and hearts to remain spiritually strong. 1Thessalonians 5:18(NLT) tells us, “Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.” Rather than being worried, upset, or angry about what you’ve lost, thank God for what you have. Thankfulness is an attitude that pleases God. It conveys our trust in Him, and in the reality that no matter what has gone wrong, He alone will make it right.

Confess and affirm God’s Goodness
One thing that I learned many years ago was to speak life over my circumstances by confessing and affirming the promises of God. I taught myself to focus my mind on the victory I would receive in my situation. Even though things looked like that weren’t going to work out, I make the choice to place my faith in God and to trust Him no matter how things looked. This is always the choice before us when we’re dealing with problems, loss, and other issues. We can sink low in our minds and hearts and give up, or we can have faith in God, which is what Jesus Christ has commanded us to do.

God tells us in Proverbs 18:21(KJV) that “Death and life are in the power of the tongue.” We are made in the image of our Heavenly Father. Genesis 1:3(KJV) tells us, “And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.” God spoke light into existence by the power and authority of His Word. He has given us this same ability. When it comes to the tricks and plots of the devil against us, we must make a habit of saying the same thing that God says. We must come into agreement with God through the power of His Word. He tells us in the passage of Zechariah 9:11-13 that He will return what we have lost when our faith is in Him. Therefore, our continual confession should be, “Thank You, Heavenly Father, for blessing me beyond my expectations. You are good and glorious in every way, and according to Your promise, I declare that nothing I have lost will compare to what You will restore and return to me. You are the God of the exceedingly abundantly, and I will increase my faith to expect Your portion of unlimited supply. I receive it all according to Your promises, in the wonderful and powerful name of Jesus Christ!”

God is so good that even those in cells, imprisoned by their circumstances or wrongdoing, are prisoners of hope, because their hope and faith in God will always be rewarded. Romans 5:5(NKJV) tells us, “Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.” Our hope in God through the Lord Jesus Christ will not fail. If we are committed to put God first and understand that He is a God of the exceedingly abundantly, our hope in Him will yield the manifestation of His promises and power in our lives.■

Prayer and Praise

Posted on June 17, 2024 by daaorg1214

Psalm 144:7-10(NLT), the psalmist, King David wrote, “7 Reach down from heaven and rescue me; rescue me from deep waters, from the power of my enemies. 8 Their mouths are full of lies; they swear to tell the truth, but they lie instead. 9 I will sing a new song to you, O God! I will sing your praises with a ten-stringed harp. 10 For you grant victory to kings! You rescued your servant David from the fatal sword.” This passage was written after David had risen to assume the throne as king over the nation of Israel. He had lots of enemies and recognized that God was his rescue and made this plea in Psalm 144:7-10 for help. In our times of trouble, this is what we must do as well.

We have nothing like the responsibilities and trouble that King David had, but God is willing and able to help us with any obstacles and tribulations we face. Many of us are suffering mentally and emotionally from the pressures of life, and sometimes we feel that God is far from us, but this is not true. Psalm 145:18(ESV) tells us, “The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.” Our Heavenly Father loves us so much that He gave His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ to sacrifice his life for our sins. He wants to help us, and He instructs us in Philippians 4:6-7(NLT), “6 Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. 7 Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand.”

God tells us in Philippians 4:6 not to worry about anything, and this is what many of us do. We worry about the situations that diminish our peace and well-being, but God offers us the very best way of handling troubles and problems. He tells us to pray to Him about everything, and everything means we are to take before God all things, without exception, that are pertaining to our lives. We must also have faith that God hears us and that He is willing and able to help us.

Prayer

Hebrews 11:6(NLT) says, “And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him.” Anyone that comes to our Heavenly Father for help must believe that He rewards us, but we must be diligent to pursue Him in the way that He requires. Diligence is a careful, steady, and devoted undertaking or pursuit. It means that when we pray, we really mean it. So, our prayers should not be one and done. We should view prayer to God as meaningful and consistent communication with Heavenly Father. It’s one of the important ways that causes our relationship with Him to grow in intimacy, and this is what He wants.

Our diligence in the practice of prayer must also acknowledge God’s sovereignty, love, and power. Jesus Christ tells us in John 4:24(NLT), “For God is Spirit, so those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth.” God must be worshiped in spirit and in truth. Worshiping in spirit means that we are not concerned with outside realities of places and looking a certain way, but we are recognizing the spiritual realities of Jesus Christ. We recognize that his sacrifice and resurrection has made it possible for us to be children who totally lean on our Heavenly Father for everything.

Worshiping in truth means honoring the truth of who God is. He tells us in Revelation 1:8(NLT), “I am the Alpha and the Omega—the beginning and the end,” says the Lord God. “I am the one who is, who always was, and who is still to come—the Almighty One.” There is no one in all eternity that will compare to our Heavenly Father. He is all-powerful and all-knowing. Everything about Him is overflowing with love, truth, and perfection, and in like manner, His Word is overflowing with love, truth, and perfection. Understanding this about God and His Word will help us embrace the appropriate attitude of prayer.

Praise

God also tells us in Philippians 4:6 that the attitude of gratitude and thankfulness are also important to foster the honor and reverence we must have in prayer. Faith is the title deed to what we’re asking Heavenly Father to receive. This is vital to the right mind-and-heart-set of prayer. We should know when we pray to Heavenly Father in the name of Jesus Christ that the answer is on its way. With joyful expectancy of praise and thanksgiving, we demonstrate to God, heaven, and everything beneath it, that we have full confidence in our Heavenly Father, and this pleases Him.

When tribulation paints the opposite picture of the more than abundant life that Jesus Christ came to earth to make available to us, we must not run in the opposite direction of God’s love and protection. Philippians 4:13 tells us that we can do all things through Christ who gives us strength. God wants us to get it in our cores that He has empowered us through Jesus Christ. When we pray to God, we can and should praise Him for the receipt of what we’ve asked for even though it hasn’t shown up yet. This kind of response and effort toward His goodness is what maintains the closeness in our relationship with God, and it demonstrates the kind of the honor and reverence that He so richly deserves.■

Victory Comes with Letting Go

Posted on June 10, 2024 by daaorg1214

Joshua 1:9(NLT)
“This is my command – be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

The Samaritan woman at the well in John, Chapter 4, was a broken woman. She had gone to the well to draw water for her family like many other women that were living during that time. So, when she met Jesus at the well, it might have seemed like any other day for her, but it wasn’t at all. She was at such a place in her life that God chose to work through her to help many others come to Christ and be set free. Her woundedness had caused her to step outside cultural norms of that Biblical period, and this was a very difficult choice for any woman living during that time. It meant a challenging life of constant stares, backbiting gossip, and shame. This was her condition when she met Jesus at the well, and the words he spoke broke the chains that had kept her bound.

Escaping the heat of summer days in Samaria, most women would come to the well in the early morning hours to draw water. The Samaritan woman that met Jesus at the well came late, and many believe it was to avoid the other women who would ridicule, stare, or be mean to her in other ways. Jesus Christ said to her in John 4:10-14(NLT), “10 If you only knew the gift God has for you and who you are speaking to, you would ask me, and I would give you living water.” 11 “But sir, you don’t have a rope or a bucket,” she said, “and this well is very deep. Where would you get this living water? 12 And besides, do you think you’re greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us this well? How can you offer better water than he and his sons and his animals enjoyed?” 13 Jesus replied, “Anyone who drinks this water will soon become thirsty again.14 But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life.”

This woman understood thirst. She knew intimately what it meant to be empty inside, and to try to fill a void with love from those who had no real love to give. John 4:15-18(NLT) tells us, “15 “Please, sir,” the woman said, “give me this water! Then I’ll never be thirsty again, and I won’t have to come here to get water.” 16 “Go and get your husband,” Jesus told her. 17 “I don’t have a husband,” the woman replied. Jesus said, “You’re right! You don’t have a husband– 18 for you have had five husbands, and you aren’t even married to the man you’re living with now. You certainly spoke the truth!” Having five husbands was very unusual for the times in which she lived and surely branded her with shame.

We could suppose that the woman at the well was working toward her sixth marriage because she thought, “If I can just be with this man, my life will be different. If I can get him to love me, I will be whole and satisfied, and I will be at home in his arms.” This was probably her thinking before each of the five marriages she had. Being alone for any length of time was a state she couldn’t accept. Whether it was overly romanticizing relationships or just boredom, it’s clear that her heart needed to be healed.

It’s not hard to imagine that she had grown used to living in the shadows, trying to find love and security in these men. If she had not met Jesus at the well, her fears and emptiness would have continued to rob her of love and light, but God had a plan. When Jesus began to talk to her about living water, she didn’t understand what he meant. She hadn’t thought of her soul as being starved and desperate to know real love. She didn’t think that anyone or anything could elevate her out of the pit of shame, insecurity, and self-punishment. For the longest while, it was all she knew, and letting go of them seemed out of the question.

There were plenty of women in Samaria that were considered by others to be good and upright wives. They knew the well and many of them used it, but it was the broken woman that had been married five times that God handpicked to meet Jesus that day. God wants you to know this, so that when you come to Him, you do so with the knowledge that He will heal all your woundedness if you let Him. We can let go of the shame, the insecurity, and all the pain we’ve endured through the storms of life that we have faced. Through whatever struggle, we can experience the peace of God. He will never leave us alone, and He will help us in our times of great struggle. Let go and let God. Have faith in Him, and He will turn your tribulation and trouble into a testimony of your victory in Christ. ■

Our Responsibility to God

Posted on June 3, 2024 by daaorg1214

I recently heard about an incident where a man argued with a Christian believer that was endeavoring to tell him about Jesus Christ. This man firmly believes that hell is nonsense and that all good people go to heaven. Salvation and the high price our Lord and Savior paid to make it available to us meant nothing to him, and he was adamant that the believer he was arguing with was wrong about God and wrong about heaven. It is inevitable that we are going to meet people that do not believe what the Bible says, and they are vehemently opposed to the truth. They think their opinions, thoughts, and beliefs outweigh what God has said in His Word. They have their own interpretation of the truth, and as much as we want them to know God through Jesus Christ, they will not let God’s truth into their hearts.

We are saved through God’s grace. The gift of salvation that Jesus Christ offers us is an extraordinary gift from God, and Ephesians 2:8-9 tells us that He gives us this gift by His grace; we can’t or didn’t do anything to earn it. Romans 10:9-10(NLT) says, “9 If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved.” Our Heavenly Father is a God of order. He sets the conditions, requirements, and methods by which we must accept, worship, serve, love, and honor Him. He is so ordained that in order to be saved, we must open our mouths and declare out loud to others that Jesus Christ is Lord. And not only this, we must believe in our hearts, in the deepest part of our beings, that God raised Jesus Christ, His only begotten Son, from the dead.

This is the only way to be saved. There is no other way to become a child of God. We must accept Jesus Christ as our personal Lord and Savior, and we must have faith in God’s resurrection power to be born again. Jesus Christ tells us in John 3:3(NLT), “I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God.” This is God’s truth, and what He says goes.

Salvation is an extraordinarily great gift from God and with it comes responsibility. This is the part that many people neglect. As God’s children, we can’t live any way we choose and call it holy, we must live the way God’s Word tells us to live. We must follow the example of Jesus Christ, and we are obligated to do the things he did.

In Matthew 28:18-20(NLT), Jesus Christ told the disciples, “18 I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. 19 Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. 20 Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” As believers, we have a responsibility to Jesus Christ to share his Gospel. Sharing the Good News about him and the salvation he offers is sharing his love with others, and there is no greater task or reward in life.

2Corinthians 5:20(NLT) tells us, “So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!” This is our commission. We are to be ambassadors for Christ, and to share his love and light in this dark world, but there are many Christians living today that have never introduced anyone to Jesus. They have not recited a Bible verse to anyone, nor have they labored in prayer for their families and friends to be saved. They do not associate their neglect to act upon their call with the loss of momentum and stamina on this Christian journey, but they should. Hebrews 10:24 tells us that we should be thinking of creative ways to influence and inspire one another in doing good things that help and minister to others. When we are not doing our part ourselves, we are not truly able to influence others in this way.

James 2:26(NLT) says, “Just as the body is dead without breath, so also faith is dead without good works.” God designed things in such a way that our faith works together with the Christ-like works that we perform. In other words, a fully developed faith is more than just words, it’s action! It requires that we back it up, and this is where many of us get derailed. We must have it clear in our minds that Jesus Christ is where the action is. Anything that we do to follow his example and spread the Gospel is going to take us higher in the things of God.

There are many religions and many ways of believing that people have developed, but if those systems are not rooted in the Gospel of Jesus Christ in God’s Word, if they do not teach people about their responsibility to God, they are not pleasing to Him. Hebrews 10:22(ESV) echoes God’s requirement. It says, “Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith.” Well, how do we acquire a true heart in the full assurance of faith? Romans 10:17 tells us. It affirms that faith comes by hearing the Word of God.

Many people are in error by thinking they do not have to follow God’s Word. They don’t think they have to back their faith or fulfill their call, but they are sadly mistaken. Ephesians 1:3 declares that we have been blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places because of our union with Christ. We are packed to overflowing and oozing over with God’s bounty, and He expects us to do something with all that He’s given us. He expects us to impact His Kingdom by bringing glory to it.

Faith in God requires diligence in our commitment to please and honor Him. We can’t get away from that no matter what. We are obligated to share the Good News about Christ and not everyone will receive our witness. Some may be argumentative, but we must not be offended. Instead, we should be encouraged by every opportunity to speak the truth. Hebrews 11:26(NLT) says of Moses, “He thought it was better to suffer for the sake of Christ than to own the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking ahead to his great reward.” This is exactly the heart and mind that God wants each of us to have. Hebrews 11:6 declares that our God is a Rewarder! He will reward us for sharing His Gospel and for any persecution or ill-treatment that comes with following our call. We must fulfill our obligation to God through the example of Jesus Christ and know that God will bless and reward us for doing so. ■

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.

Pay Attention When Something Feels Wrong

Posted on May 27, 2024 by daaorg1214

When we give our lives to Christ and become born-again, the Holy Spirit, God’s seed, comes to live inside us. Jesus Christ said in John 16:13(NLT), “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own but will tell you what he has heard. He will tell you about the future.” The Holy Spirit helps us to pray and to grow closer to God. He is the One who establishes the intimacy between us and our Heavenly Father that we desire so much. The Holy Spirit also communes with us spiritually, and when the enemy has plotted against us and we’re about to step into a trap, the Spirit is the One who warns us. This is why, more than any other time in history, it is crucial that we pay attention when something doesn’t feel quite right.

Watch what you say
Your confessions are a powerful instrument towards your wholeness and happiness in life. Some people hear this and think it is too radical to believe. They think that way because for a while now, believers have been taught certain things about faith, and it causes people to try to treat the goodness of God like a kid in a candy store. That’s not faith, that’s fantasy, and it leads to disappointment.

The reality is that we can’t please God without faith. Hebrews 11:6 tells us this. Faith is a fully persuaded, sold out belief in what God has promised in His Word. All blessings come from God and abide in the realm where He lives. Faith requires the full faculty of our minds and the words of our confession. Both must work together to transfer blessings in the spiritual realm into our natural realm. This is the way God set things up.

Without our confession and believing, we could not be saved. Romans 10:9(NLT) affirms, “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” 1John 4:15(NLT) declares, “All who confess that Jesus is the Son of God have God living in them, and they live in God.” Our salvation is received by the confession of our believing, and God’s forgiveness is received by the confession of our sins. Proverbs 18:21 declares that death and life are in the power of the tongue. We must open our mouths and speak words of life.

God created us in His image. He designed us in such a way that our minds and hearts must be aligned with His thoughts in order to bring His bounty from the spiritual realm into our physical realm. We do this through prayer, by the confession of truth, and by continuing to renew our minds to what God has said in His Word. Many of us don’t do this. We have made a habit pattern of speaking words that are against what God says. Just in the span of a casual conversation with a friend, we can nullify the blessings that were slated to come our way because we failed to confess the truth. Instead, we gave into negative and unfruitful talk because this is what our friends are used to hearing and it’s how they are used to speaking. We have got to change this if we want to step into greater levels of blessing.

Out of bounds
The standard of faith set by our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, is extraordinary, and God expects us to utilize the faith we’ve been given. Jesus Christ said in Mark 11:23(NLT), “I tell you the truth, you can say to this mountain, ‘May you be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and it will happen. But you must really believe it will happen and have no doubt in your heart.” We’re so used to listening to what society says and doing what society does that for many of us, this phenomenal truth that Jesus spoke seems radical. Some of us simply don’t believe what he’s telling us about having faith and speaking to our circumstances through the confession of our faith.

Jesus said in Mark 11:24(NLT), “I tell you, you can pray for anything, and if you believe that you’ve received it, it will be yours.” Believing and trusting God when we pray is the appropriate mindset for the believer. Nothing less will do, but most people simply do not believe they can have what God says they can have by the power of their confession. We need to get it into our minds and hearts that faith is the norm. Doubt and fear are abnormal, because 2Timothy 1:7 tells us that God didn’t give us doubt and fear; He gave us a spirit of love, power, and sound mind.

It’s our responsibility to exercise faith, and if we don’t, our lives will not be as blessed as they could be. Our lack of faith positions us further away from God. It moves us out of bounds, and this is where we experience feelings that tell us something is wrong. Often, we don’t realize it, but these are warnings that we are too far outside the boundaries of where God says we should be. We’re confessing and thinking the wrong things, and they are taking up too much space in our hearts. Our lives are heading in the wrong direction. We feel it, but because of all the noise in the background, we can’t hear the message that was spoken to our spirits.

That feeling is telling us that something is going to happen as a result of what we’ve been saying and believing, and it isn’t going to be well with us. Know that the Holy Spirit is speaking to your spirit and warning you to begin to renew your mind and change the way you think and speak. Do not allow this warning to fall on deaf ears. Often when something feels wrong, it is wrong, and we need to pay attention. Through our faith, prayers, and confession, the Holy Spirit will help us turn things around. Then, the only thing we will feel is incredible gratitude to God because He warns us when we’re out of bounds, and He is always willing to help us find our way back to Him.

Jesus Calms the Storm

Posted on May 20, 2024 by daaorg1214

Leslie’s youngest daughter, Vanessa, had been a very quiet and reserved child until she turned 14 years old. She began to date boys and skip school, all the while her mother and two older siblings were completely oblivious. It wasn’t until her grades began to slip that Leslie caught a glimpse that something was wrong. Their father passed away shortly after Vanessa was born, so Leslie was a single parent with three children and two jobs. She couldn’t believe the things the teachers were saying about her child, and after two years of struggling to help Vanessa to get back on track, Leslie was tired and still very worried about her youngest.

She was so thankful that Vanessa had made it to her senior year, but her grades were not what they could have been. Vanessa had fallen deeply in love with Reggie, a boy that had barely made it through school himself. He foolishly used drug money to lavish Vanessa in the extravagant prom dress she wanted, and this had placed her whole family in jeopardy. When Leslie found out about it, she was beside herself. All too familiar with news stories about what happens when you mess with the wrong players, she hustled to come up with the money to make things right. The last few years had taken a toll. Her fears and anxiety were at an all-time high, and she was worried about what Vanessa might do next.

Some of the issues that many of us are facing today are nothing like those of the past. Situations that we never once imagined can land on our heads in a blink of an eye, and life as we know it is forever changed. Troubles and challenges like the ones Leslie have faced with her daughter can bring life and death consequences. The emotional weight of continuing uncertainty is also a huge burden. It can feel as though our backs are against the wall, and there’s no way out, but this simply isn’t true. Matthew 11:28-30(NLT) tells us, “28 Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.”” We need Jesus, plain and simple. He can and will take our burdens and replace them with his love and light. We must have faith in this.

When we come to that big whammy of an issue in life, we must understand that it’s spiritual warfare. Ephesians 6:12(NLT) tells us, “For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.” It is very easy to attribute our troubles to a flesh and blood individual, a person that comes against us and perhaps those we love. We think that if we can handle the person through our own solutions, we’ll be all set. But often, when we try to do this, we find that the person continues to plague us in other ways.

Romans 8:7(NIV) says, “The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so.” A mind that is governed by the flesh will always look to the flesh for solutions. A mind that is governed by the flesh is consumed with fear and tied to responses dictated by fear. This creates an unstable foundation, and very little can be built on it. Jesus Christ is continually knocking at the door, asking to come into our hearts, minds, and lives in a greater way so that a sturdy foundation can be built on him. He’s the One with power and authority, and our trust in him allows us to use it.

Our children learn faith or fear from us. They practice what they see us doing, both good and bad. If we don’t believe deep down that God is our salvation, that we have nothing to fear because He will provide and protect us, they will pick up on this. We must be ever aware that this can be a great hinderance in their lives.

A carnal mind is hostile to God, because it is rebellious against fully believing and trusting Him. A spiritual mind is the mind of Christ. It is the mindset of faith and this is the mind that God requires us to have. There will be storms in life, on this we can depend. We will endure hardship, but the solution is Jesus Christ! He taught the disciples this, and they had to learn the spiritual reality of faith in Christ during scary situations. In Matthew 8:23-27(NLT), we learn about one of those times.

This passage says, “23 Then Jesus got into the boat and started across the lake with his disciples. 24 Suddenly, a fierce storm struck the lake, with waves breaking into the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. 25 The disciples went and woke him up, shouting, “Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!” 26 Jesus responded, “Why are you afraid? You have so little faith!” Then he got up and rebuked the wind and waves, and suddenly there was a great calm. 27 The disciples were amazed. “Who is this man?” they asked. “Even the winds and waves obey him!””

The disciples were called by Jesus Christ to follow him. We have that same calling. He walked with them daily and taught them the Word of God. In Jesus, the disciples had the overwhelming privilege to witness the living Word of God up close and personally. They saw the miracles, power, love, authority, and truth that he demonstrated in his life. They witnessed the perfection of his walk on earth, but when they found themselves facing the storm, they forgot about that. This was no ordinary storm. It was sent by satan to destroy them, but Jesus Christ was asleep. He could sleep through the storm because of his faith in God, but many of us will not practice the peace and calm that he did.

The disciples ran to Jesus Christ shouting “Save us!” How is it that they could run to him to be saved, and still be afraid? This was unstable thinking, because we cannot have faith and fear at the same time. Jesus straightened out the waves, and he straightened them out as well. He calmed the storm and demonstrated his power to help the disciples. He will do the same for us.

We don’t have to hide the reality of our trials, troubles, and tribulations from our children and those we love. However, our faith in Jesus Christ must be louder than the problems we face. So often we show our loved one a mentality of disappointment, sadness, and defeat. We can’t fake it, and they know us better than anyone. They see our lack of faith because deep down, that’s what we’re feeling. We must renew our minds to God’s Word and have faith in Him. We must recognize that our very lives are a testimony of the love, power, and victory of Jesus Christ. God knew about the storm way before it occurred. He’s already solved it. All He requires from you is that you really and truly believe it. ■

Changing Our Hearts

Posted on May 13, 2024 by daaorg1214

When thinking about the human heart, most of us first consider the vital organ of the human body that is necessary to keep the body alive. In the physical sense, the heart is a large muscle. As it beats, it pumps blood around the entire body, carrying oxygen and nutrients throughout all the parts, while also getting rid of unwanted wastes. Its design allows us a glimpse of God’s masterful and brilliant handiwork in creating this intricate organ that supports our lives. It also paints a detailed and precise portrait of how important the spiritual heart is to the survival of the human soul. Just as the body has a heart that keeps it alive and thriving, the soul has a heart as well. The condition of the heart of the soul is the determining factor as to whether we will live an eternity with our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, or whether our souls will be tormented by eternal darkness.

In the Gospel of John, Chapter 3, Jesus Christ had a conversation with Nicodemus about God’s Kingdom and the requirements to become a citizen of it. He said in John 3:3-6(NLT), “3 I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God.” 4 “What do you mean?” exclaimed Nicodemus. “How can an old man go back into his mother’s womb and be born again?” 5 Jesus replied, “I assure you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit. 6 Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life.”

Humans are three-part beings. 1Thessalonians 5:23(NLT) says, “Now may the God of peace make you holy in every way, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ comes again.” We are human-spirit, human-soul, and human-body. Without any of the three, we would not be human, we’d be something else. Our Heavenly Father was meticulous in our design. Genesis 1:26-27 tells us that He created us in His own image. We are of His kind, for in His brilliance, He made all living creatures after their own kind. Elephants can’t have giraffes, and kangaroos can’t give birth to whales. God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and He made us spirit, soul, and body, after His kind.

God made us spiritual beings that are housed in a body. As His created spiritual beings, we are having an earth experience, but heaven is our home because it is where our Creator lives. God’s requirement is that in order to be His children, we must be born twice. Jesus Christ said in John 3:5 that in order to enter God’s Kingdom, we must be born of water, which is referring to the birth where humans are incubated in water in a mother’s womb, and we must be born spiritually, which is to receive God’s seed through spiritual conception.

Through our faith in Jesus Christ, our dead human-spirit that was severed from God through Adam’s sin, is recreated by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is God’s seed, and he comes to dwell inside us when we accept Jesus Christ as Lord of our lives. 1Peter 1:22-25(NLT) tells us, “23 For you have been born again, but not to a life that will quickly end. Your new life will last forever because it comes from the eternal, living word of God. 24 As the Scriptures say, “People are like grass; their beauty is like a flower in the field. The grass withers and the flower fades. 25 But the word of the Lord remains forever.” And that word is the Good News that was preached to you.”

The Holy Spirit made us alive in Christ, but our hearts and minds are completely under our jurisdiction. God has given us free-will, and He will not force us to bring our hearts and minds up to the standard of our new life in Christ. This He leaves totally up to us. The Holy Spirit will give us a new heart, but our invitation to him must be clear and contain a willingness to be submissive under his guidance.

God warns us in Proverbs 4:23(NLT) to, “Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.” Get a visual on this, see yourself standing outside the gates of your soul’s heart, manning the post, ensuring that nothing evil or sinful gets past the gate. This is the vigilance you must have about your soul’s heart. You must guard it with the Word of God, so that you will have a heart that pleases Him.

When we give our lives to Christ, guarding our hearts is just about the most important task we can undertake. Standing guard requires us to examine our emotions, thoughts, and words, and determine who is the source of them. Are they giving life and inspiring others to love God, or are they seasoned with the negative and selfish buzz of the world? Our commitment to God is demonstrated by what is in our hearts and what we let out of them. This is why God said to His prophet, Samuel, in 1Samuel 16:7(NLT), “Don’t judge by his appearance or height, for I have rejected him. The LORD doesn’t see things the way you see them. People judge by outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.” No one other than God can look into an individual’s heart, and our hearts tell Him what is most important to us and who we really love.

Jesus Christ commanded us in Mark 12:30(NLT), “And you must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.” This is a heart that is sold out to God, and if we have even a hint of doubt that our hearts are not fully committed to Him, now is the time to change them. We need to be praying that God will give us a new heart so that when our Savior returns, we will be ready.

Ephesians 5:26-27(NASB20) says, “26 so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27 that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless.” Jesus Christ is going to rapture his church. We are his bride and he is coming back for us. It is up to each of us to be without spot or wrinkle. He took care of the sin issue when he gave his life on the cross as a sacrifice for our sins. We are born-again and covered by the blood, and he tells us to remain blameless. It’s not about being polite or nice. It’s not about looking sharp on the outside. The inside is what God cares about. We’re not perfect. Yes, we all make mistakes, but despite our errors, our hearts must be loyal to God through the Lord Jesus Christ. If they aren’t, now is the time to get into God’s Word, surrender to His Spirit, and allow the Spirit to help us change our hearts and get right before God. ■

How Do I Make a Man Love Me?

Posted on May 6, 2024 by daaorg1214

The minds of many women are occupied with the question, “How do I make a man love me?” We want to know how to make him light up when we walk into a room, and we want him to absolutely adore us. We desire the ultimate commitment from a man, and we want him to make us feel secure in his love and devotion. It’s the real love that we’re after. From the top of his head to the tips of his toes, we want him to be oozing over with a Christ-like manhood. When we’re sad, he will do anything within his power to make that sadness go away. When we’re working on a project, he’s all-hands-on-deck. We never have to beg him to spend time with us because he makes us feel that being in our company is the highlight of his day. He’s loyal to the end, and this is the man we want to love us. We want him prepared and prepackaged with the capacity to return the quality of love that we give him.

Facts

I went to college with women that had been pumped and primed by their mothers to marry a college man of a certain breeding. They were told what to do and what not to do, and many of them followed the rules to a tee. Their studies were second to landing the right man and securing a wedding date and marriage soon after college. Growing up, all of us probably learned some portion of a formula-based thinking about how to get a man. It might have been primarily focused on the man’s physical desires. We were told to do this or do that to secure his affection. The reality that no one schooled us about is this; the way you begin a relationship molds the quality of it. So, if it isn’t beginning with the love of God in our hearts, and we don’t renew our minds to His Word and fill our hearts with His love, that relationship has nowhere to go but down.

It’s a fact that objectifying men based on preconceived notions of who they are and what they like is just as horrible as objectifying women. The reality is that there’s no way to hold a relationship together when physical attraction is used as a net to capture and keep someone tied to it. That’s never a successful strategy.

Marriage was sanctioned by God in the very beginning. He established it for His purpose, and we can never forget this if we desire to marry well. Through the marital union, God provides for our needs, and when Jesus Christ is the head of that union, the couple and their family unit is blessed and unified. If we take marriage out of the holy and appointed purpose that God has set, we’re setting ourselves up for failure.

As women who desire to partner with a man in marriage, we are deserving of someone that is capable of giving all the love and devotion of which we, ourselves, are capable of giving. This is both the mindset and the heart required for starting a solid relationship, because it sets the stage for mutual respect and unity. We can’t afford to neglect the words of Jesus Christ in Luke 12:48(NLT), “When someone has been given much, much will be required in return; and when someone has been entrusted with much, even more will be required.” So, out of respect and reverence for God’s institution of marriage and its purpose, we should never expect of someone more than we have proven willing to do and give ourselves.

God has equipped us through Christ to continually exceed the love of which we think ourselves capable. We should also understand that our personal commitment to pour into our spouses, to give, share, and serve them, is also a required mind-and-heart-set for God’s daughters. We should forever be willing to give and share at or above the level we expect to receive.

The right motivation

All human beings have needs, and all human beings that are capable of intelligent thought can perceive those needs mentally, emotionally, physically, and most importantly, spiritually. So, our needs are multi-faceted. As women, we should not expect men to be any different. Primarily, we all want to be loved. We want people in our lives that love and support us. Please be clear that God created us in such a way that His love, and the desire for it, is at the root of all our needs. This is basic for all human beings, but many deny it. Although they seek elsewhere to get their needs met, only God can fill our cups and make us fulfilled in life.

1John 4:8(NLT) clarifies any misunderstandings we might have about this. It says, “But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love.” God is our Creator, and He created us by, in, with, and through His love. He made us what He is, because Genesis 1:26-27 tells us that we were made in His image. So, we are made to both seek and give love, but not just any ol’ love. We’re created to seek and give God’s love.

Most people make the mistake of trying to separate God’s love from romantic love, but that is impossible. Romantic love is only possible through God’s love. So, don’t try to separate romantic or any other kind of love from the Creator who is love and created all that we survey. As God’s people, our love for God is the right motivation no matter what we might attempt to do. When our motivation isn’t to love God and share His brand of love, but to fulfill our own personal agendas, we run into problems and the blessings we seek escape us. This is where many single women are today. They want to find someone to love them, but do not have an intimate relationship with God, the Source of all love. Because of this, they can’t see the blessing even if it is standing right in front of them.

The power of love

God is love. He demonstrated His great love for us all when He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to give his life as a sacrifice for our sins. God’s love comes to live in us when we accept Jesus Christ as our personal Lord and Savior. The only way to have God’s love in our hearts is for Him to put it there through the new birth experience. The Holy Spirit comes to dwell inside us and gives us the desire to please God and love others. This is power, and without it, we are disappointed and defeated in our efforts.

We are incapable of making someone love us, and in truth, this is never something a child of God would have to do. 1John 4:16(NLT) tells us, “We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love. God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them.” When God’s love is in us, we will want to please Him by loving others through Jesus Christ. Despite our differences and backgrounds, we are all created by God and programmed to love and to be drawn to love. It’s in us, and it is a very spiritual reality. Those who live in love are drawn to others who live in love as well, because God is in them.

Trying to make a man love us is like trying to fit a square peg into a round whole. It’s an unnatural thing to do. Obedience to God’s Word takes care of all our needs in life. Sometimes we forget that love is power, because God is love and all power is in His hands. You and I don’t have any power of our own. It all belongs to God. He’s demonstrated the power of His love through His Word. Because of His wonder working power, we’ve seen up-close and personal that love is the power that motivates, attracts, transforms, and changes things for the better. So, making the right man love you requires no effort from you at all. God will take care of every detail of your marital union when your heart is full of His love and your desire is to do His Will and put Him first in your life.■

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