Peek inside my journal...

HOW'S YOUR LOVE LIFE?

While I was meditating on God, my life, my circumstances, etc. God started to speak to me..He put the magnfying glass on me and exposed an issue I needed to deal with and could possibly be the reason why Im suffering in a particular area in my life..I journaled and felt it neccessayr to share with some of you..the bible says that we are delivered from the blood of the lamb... and from their testimonies... take heed... The Lord asked me...Do you love me? I said Lord God YES I love you..The Lord said, " Do you love me for Who I Am or for what I can do for you"? of course i began to search my thughts and evaluate my relationship with God and discovered that my plea was more about me then it was about Him...I went in, worshipped the Lord, repented, and the Lord began to minister to me.. when we're in relationship with people, is it really because we enjoy them to the full or is it for what we can get out of them. Have you ever noticed the people closest to you and their behavior when they want something from you..they are extra sweet, kind, and even generous..but is it authentic? Do we lust them or do we LOVE them? What's the core of the problem... Do I know how to love? Can you identify someone you ever truly loved? What is love... God is Love 1 John 4:16 Love is... patient and kind. Love is not jealous, it does not brag and it is not proud.Love is not rude, is not selfish, and does not get upset with others.Love does not count up wrongs that have been done. Love takes no pleasure in evil but rejoices over the truth. Love patiently accepts all things. It always trusts, always hopes, and alwas endures....1 Corinthians 13:4-8 Have you ever loved someone? I can say that I have...maybe partially loved them and partially lust them.Even towards my children..im emotional as i write this because we really don't have a clue. The reason why our relationships suffer is because we don't take the time to figure out the cause is the effect... We don't take the time to get to know them, therefore, we can't properly love them. God told me, once you spend more time getting to know me then you'll learn to love me and consequently you'll learn to love others and then the love revolution begins... We love because God first loved us...1 John 4:19 so, we cannt love if we don't know God! If people say, " I love God", but hate their brothers or sisters, they are liars. Those who do not love their brothers and sisters, whom they have seen,cannot love God, whom they have never seen. 1 John 4:20 Loving God means obeying His commands. 1 John 4:19 Those who live in love,live in God,and God lives in them. 1 John 4:16 This is how we can be sure we are living in God. Whoever says that he lives in God must live as Jesus lived. 1 John 2:16 Ask Jesus to help you..study the life of Jesus..get to knw him better today!!! peace and LOVE :)

THE RIGHT ONE

THE RIGHT ONE First we must allow our Heavenly Father to do the picking. And second, the decision for a mate must be made on a spiritual and intellectual basis before it's made on an emotional one. "What about love? Shouldn't that be the third?" you ask. No, and I'll tell you why. "The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? (Jeremiah 17:9). The heart is willful and is driven by its own agenda. It does not consider things rationally and intelligently - it just loves to love! Therefore you have to point it in the right direction: "Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life" (Proverbs 4:23 ). Whenever you meet a man or woman, you need to get clearance from God, check out his/her attributes, and then allow your heart to engage. Dating exists not for mating; it exists for collecting data. I believe that the biblical design would be friendship, courtship and then marriage. Friendship is two people walking together in agreement and accountability, learning and growing together. Courtship follows the mutual agreement to commit to one another exclusively - it is the decisive turning toward the agreed-upon goal of the marriage altar. It is a period of laying a foundation and preparing your life together after marriage. But dating? Well, if you do date, use the time wisely to gather these facts. 1. Check out the fabric. Is the person mate material? Does this man or woman have an intimate relationship with the Father through Jesus Christ? Does he/she care what God thinks about their behavior? Are they accountable to God as well as another co-laborer in the faith? Accountability is an important factor. It is imperative to maintaining a committed relationship. Is your potential spouse a member of the same family - the family of God? You need to have common interests and values and agree on the essentials of living day to day. You have a similar spiritual walk. You eat the same spiritual diet. You enjoy a lot of similar things. You have like interests, like goals in life, like opinions on basic life issues. You have had like experiences in your background. Though there is some truth to the idiom that opposites attract, like-minded folks fare better together. Furthermore, does he/she want to get married? If you want to be married and your dreamboat isn't interested, don't waste your time. Remember, women fall in love and get married. Men decide to get married and then look for a wife. Note the difference in order. So if a guy says he's not looking for anything serious, take his words seriously. If he's not going in your direction, get off the bus and wait for the right one. 2. Does this man want you? Is he pursuing you? The man who is right for you will pursue you, and God's hand in the relationship will be clear. No guessing, no fleeces, no dead ends. Scripture says: "He who finds a wife finds what is good and receives Favor from the Lord" (Proverbs 18:22 ). Note -who finds whom? THE MAN FINDS THE WIFE. From the beginning of time, God has transported men and women across the world in order to put them together. At the RIGHT TIME, He will bring that man (or woman) on the scene. In God's perfect design, the man is the one who recognizes his mate. Adam has no problem recognizing that Eve was his missing rib. You do not need to strategically place yourself anywhere. You don't have to help a guy out because he's shy! Men will do whatever they have to do to get what they truly want. The Man in your life should recognize you as the pearl of great price in his life and be willing to do whatever he must in order to gain your hand. If he is passive about gaining your affections, take it as a sign that he is not interested. Many a woman's mother has suggested that it is a good idea to marry a Man who loves you more than you love him. As cold as that sounds, it actually might be scriptural if you stop to think about it: "We love him because he first loved us" (1 John 4:19 ). Until then, take the ultimate chill pill. You don't need a bunch of men in your life to make you feel all right about yourself. You need only one man - your man, the one God has selected to select you. And trust me, the right man at the wrong time can be just as awful as the wrong man at any time. So trust God's timing in this. He is the ultimate matchmaker. Relax, sit pretty and allow you to be found. Again - WAIT until the man voices his intentions. He should take the lead in establishing the relationship. You may have inkling that he is the one, but God will use the man to set the tone of the relationship. Allow him the opportunity to woo you - this is your first act of submission. Jesus set the standard for all men to follow. They should love us first. And they should lead the relationship. 3. The person in your life (especially the man) should not desire to move into your house, only into your heart. A man who prepares for your future has made his intentions clear. A man who is husband material has the means to take care of a wife. He is a responsible human being who understands he needs to have something to offer. In short, a man should have the means to be a suitable lover for you. 4. Check out his or her friends. Everyone knows birds of the same feather flock together, yet most men and women fail to see the connection between friends and the person. Whom a person chooses as a friend tells you things about them that you may not have seen yet. They reveal things about the person's character that might be hidden when they are on their best behavior. Everyone knows how to put his or her best foot forward. Don't stay focused on the foot, check out the rest of the body as well! 5. Check out their parent relationships. How does he treat his mother? What kind of relationship did she have with her father? This is your preview of how he or she will treat or interact with you. There are lots of men who, because of a negative relationship with their mothers, really don't like women, yet say they do and visa versa for women. Unresolved issues between mother and son, son and father, daughter and mother and daughter and father continue between husband and wife. 6. Remember that the person’s family reveals the cloth from which he or she is cut. Take note and decide whether you want your future to look like the persons present family situation. Not to say that this will be the case, but it's always good to understand where a person came from and what they experienced because some of those past family experiences can impact their present day reality as it pertains to relationships. 7. Check out the patterns of life. Do you see repeated cycles of drama? Broken relationships? Do they have problems making commitments --including in the job market? Mood swings? Is a problem always someone else's fault? Does the man embrace responsibility or shirk it? Does he or she keep promises? Is he a man of good reputation? Remember all garments look wonderful hanging in the store, but with wear, some begin to unravel. Give yourself time and space to check out the person. Time will always reveal whether or not he or she is made of the right stuff. 8. Does this man have a vision for his life? Is he running with that vision? Remember, God decided Adam needed help once Adam got busy DOING his assignment. As we saw Adam, a man doesn't need help until he is busy doing what he was created and called to do. Is the man in your life guided by sense of destiny and purpose, or does he just allow life to happen around him? A man who is not certain of his mission can be a most miserable person - and you'll be miserable too if you know where YOU want to go in life. A woman whose mission statement is clear does not intimidate a man who has vision. He will be your best ally, cheerleader and assistant because he wants you both to make it! A man who cannot be supportive of your achievements because he is floundering in a sea of uncertainty over his own life is not a healthy partner to have and to hold forever. Creating dependencies or feelings of obligation is not the way to get the best out of your man. Somewhere along the way, he will resent you and flee from the smothering burden of obligation he associates you with. You want a man who is firmly anchored in his identity in Christ. Remember, we are looking for a man who will be priest and leader of his home. His first instinct should be to want to cover you, redeem you, and provide for you. Your job is to decide if this is the man God has ordained for you to complement. 9. Complimentary. Do your talents and gifts complement each other? Do his gifts compliment yours? What about your temperaments? Do you see the two of you as an effective team capable of bringing blessing to the lives of those around you? Do your futures mesh? Can you coordinate your gifts in an attractive and effective way? This is why knowing your purpose is so important. Make sure your hearts beat for mutual causes. If the person you meet makes you feel that you need to completely reinvent yourself, something is wrong. This is where I ask you to consider the relationship in terms of cost. Is this relationship expensive spiritually, emotional or physically? Does your longing for a mate make you willing to forfeit who you are in the process? Or does he or she see you as the gift that you are? The man or woman in your life should consider you a rare find, a priceless jewel-because of you he or she is getting ready to get blessed big-time! Any relationship that causes you to feel unworthy, unlovely, unacceptable, undesirable or makes you think that you have to work for love, is too expensive! God has called the man to cover, protect and provide not only materially for a woman, but also emotionally and spiritually as well. And the woman is to be a compliment with her own strength and abilities. You should both be richer in mind, body and spirit because of your union. 10. Does he (or she) have a healthy love and acceptance of himself (herself)? Make sure the man/woman in your life has taken time to heal from past relationships and has made peace with them. How he or she cares for himself or herself is how he or she will care for you. A person’s relationship with God is crucial here. Love for oneself will only be as strong as their love for God. This is not something that you can impart. You cannot be his or her savior or teacher. That is out of spiritual order. A man's rightful place is as the priest, he should be leading you to a richer relationship with Christ. A woman's rightful place is along his side. If the man or woman is causing you to compromise your faith destabilize your walk, if he or she is leading you into sexual sin or causing you to be distracted from your commitment to Christ, the relationship is too expensive. Offending the Lover of your soul, who promises you eternal love, is too high a fare to pay for a ride that has a limited run. If you and your man or woman can't soar in the Spirit, when the force of your love for another is tested by the pull or gravity of the world, your union will not be able to survive. YOU ARE NOT FOR SALE!! So you decide. How much is your life worth? How much is your love worth? You will be able to accept only what you believe you deserve. God himself calculated the worth of your love and decided it was worth His life. He now pledges you His love for eternity Yes, Jesus sets the example for all others to follow when He paid a ransom for His bride. Should you expect less from a mortal man or woman? Throughout the Biblical age, men were willing to pay the cost for what they truly desired. The truth of the matter is, everyone knows that anything worth having, costs. And no one gets a ride in this life for free. Our prayer: Dear Heavenly Father, I confess that I have not always been as careful as I should've been with my heart. From time to time, my desire for love has caused me to leave my heart in the wrong hands. I now commit my heart into Your hands for safekeeping. Please help me to stop being so impulsive with what you deem so precious. As I learn to celebrate Your love for me, let me learn from Your example what a bridegroom and bride should really be like. Help me to never settle for less than what You desire for me. As I embrace You as the Lover of my soul, keep my affections in the haven of Your own heart. As I rest in Your love, make me more discriminating of those who approach me. I ask that You take over this area of my life. Keep me from those You know would hurt my heart. I invite You to set a hedge around me and keep me from all who would draw me into unfruitful relationships until the day you present me to the mate that You have selected for me. Grant me the discernment to recognize him or her as they recognize me. Cleanse me from the temptation to typecast the men or women I meet according to what I see. Help me to trust in Your knowledge and lean not on my own understanding. I know that You know what is best for me; therefore I yield to Your choice. In Jesus Name. Amen. Never think that God's delays are God's denials. Hold on. Hold fast. Hold out. Patience is genius. PASS THIS ON TO ALL YOUR SINGLE FRIENDS SO THEY’LL HAVE A BETTER IDEA OF THE IDEA MATE!

Be equipped for the battles of life...

The Battle of the Mind

Dr. Frederick K.C. Price

Everyone has to fight the battle that goes on in the mind. Our thought life determines where we are in the things of God. When people meditate on what is wrong or the negative side of a situation, they become blinded by the problem and never see the escape available to them. Our Heavenly Father has given us a way to bring forth light, and that is through diligent study and meditation of the Word of God. In Hosea 4:6 God tells us, "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge." As Christians we are going to have to learn how to apply Bible knowledge to our lives, if we want to win the battles of life. God instructs the Believer on how to control their thought life by utilizing His whole armor. Ephesians 6:10-17 says, "Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God;" The Apostle Paul uses armor, the battle dress of the first-century Roman soldier, as a metaphor for God's spiritual armor. Clearly, the military metaphor is intended to show that we are engaged in an active battle. Therefore, Believers must recognize that they are in warfare everyday, and that the battlefield is our minds. The whole armor of God has been provided to help us guard against the enemy of our mind--Satan. Satan's only weapon against us is through the mind. If he can put thoughts, ideas and suggestions in our minds, then he can control our actions. We must come to understand that ignorance of the Word and victory over life's battles are impossible roommates. If we desire the overcoming life of Jesus then we will need to "take up the whole armor of God." We are not to focus in on only part of the armor to the neglect of the other combat coverings, if we do so we will find ourselves defeated. It is the whole armor-knowledge of the Word of God-that gives us the victory. We need to take each piece of the armor as illustrated by Paul and apply them to our life so that we can benefit from its protection. Family, it is critical that we acknowledge that the warfare is not against physical forces but against powers that have authority in the spirit realm. Paul not only warns the Believer of a clearly defined demonic structure, but also instructs us to take up the whole armor of God in order to maintain a battle stance against these unseen forces. Satan's mode of operation has not changed. He continues to use the same mind game that he used on Eve in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3:1). We are going to have to recognize his deceptive ways and stand against them with the Word of God. Our battle is clearly spiritual. Satan launches assaults on the mind in order to affect the spiritual aspect of our lives. The mind is like the door through which the enemy has access. If Satan can influence our thoughts, he can control every aspect of our lives. Therefore, we must examine every thought that comes to our minds. Are they the fiery darts, the evil day and or the wiles of the devil? Every thought has either a life or death component attached to it. Once a thought is allowed to have access in our lives, it begins its subtle work. This is the reason God tells us in Romans 12:1-2: "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God."