Preparing Single's for the Future

It was after church service last summer, and I found myself holding a precious little treasure in my arms. This treasure was about 6 months old and she owned a pair of blue eyes that I'm sure could steal anyone's heart. In my conversation with one of the moms, I mentioned just how much I desired to be a mother of my own precious little treasures one day.

She began to reply, and I was sure she was going to give me the "contentment speech." You know, "be happy and serve God where He has placed you and in His time He will bring along 'Mr. Right'." Thing is, I am truly happy with my life; I feel full. I only want the next phase when God says it's time. Overall, I am content. But she surprised me--she didn't discredit that desire, instead she encouraged me. She told me that those were God given desires and she truly believed He would fulfill them. It was neat to hear that. It was so different for that desire to be affirmed.

Like any girl, I've carried big dreams about my knight in shining armor. I've known some girls to write very extensive lists on what they want their husbands to be. Oh sure, it'd be nice if he could sing and play instruments well, if he were a good writer, spoke several languages, was romantic, and was really athletic--the list could go on and on. But what my heart has craved and my prayers have echoed is that he would be a passionate lover of God; that he would have a dynamic relationship with the Lord.

For if a man loves God--truly loves and follows after Him and has a humble and teachable spirit, then everything else will fall into place. No, he won't be perfect, he will fail just as much as I do. We won't be perfect, but we will grow and learn together. That's part of the beauty of it.

Occasionally I would put myself in the place of the kind of man I would like to marry and make a list of the kind of woman he would want to marry and then I work on those things. Do you desire a man of prayer? Become a woman of prayer. Do you desire a man that meditates on God's Word? Start meditating! What about a man that is involved in ministry? Become a woman that serves and ministers to those around, in her own neighborhood (I'm writing as a girl to girls, but it works the same way reversed).

We can daydream, we can wish about our Knight in Shining Armor. But would we be the kind of woman he is looking for?

And this doesn't only apply to our "spiritual side." Wouldn't the man of your dreams appreciate an organized house and a well-cooked meal?

It really boils down to this: become the kind of person you'd like to marry.

No, we won't be perfect--we'll fail. I can promise you that. But the season of singleness is so precious. We are given such a precious gift from God. We have time to prepare, time to develop our walk with the Lord, time to reach out to others... If you'd like somewhere to get started, Proverbs 31:10-31 has some great pointers. *smile

Verses 10-12 says:

Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies. The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her, so that he shall have no need of spoil. She will do him good and not evil all the days of her life.

Will we do our husbands good all the days of our lives? Even before we know his name? Are we preparing for him, being faithful to him, and building a foundation of trust now?

That's where I was last year, before I met Josh.-to become the woman my Knight would be seeking for. And truly, if we are living fully for Jesus now, obeying Him, seeking His face, loving Him and allowing Him to change us, then we will become the person our spouse needs. As we focus on Christ and lose ourselves in Him, I believe everything else will fall into place.

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We Forget Because We Don't Remember

This post was written by Mark Robinette, on his Ministry site: http://missiontomyanmar.com/
I enjoyed it so much, I thought I'd re-post it. :) Enjoy!

     Rich people like us are so busy taking care of all our many blessings we forget the God who gave them to us. When we give to our brothers and sisters in need, we remember the giver of all things.

     We have a catechism question here at Foundation Church that developed from one of my sermons years ago. I ask the church, “Why do we forget?” and they respond, “Because we don’t remember.”

      Simple enough? We are a forgetful people and we need to be intentional about remembering or we will forget. From Joshua’s stones of remembrance on either side of the Jordan to sacrifices, feasts, Sabbaths, washing's and even their every meal, God built a life of constant remembrance for His elect people, lest they forget.
     God’s imperatives of Deuteronomy chapter 6 almost seem ridiculous as they hammer this point home. It could have said, “teach your children my commands.”
     But as we well know, God told them to do this as they sat in their houses, when they walked by the way, when they laid down to sleep and when they rose up in the morning. Then he told them to bind them for a sign upon their hands, make them as frontlets between their eyes and write them upon the posts of their houses, and on their gates.

     The imagery here reminds me of the ever forgetful man who ties a green string around the pinky finger of his left hand, to remind him of the red one around the forefinger of his right hand, that reminds him of the blue one around his thumb telling him he’s supposed to remember something, but he can’t remember what it was.

That’s us. The more we have, it seems, the more forgetful we are. God told them and he is telling us to “beware lest we forget the Lord.”

Giving is a constant reminder God is the source of everything we have.

Jay Leno reminded people for Doritos to “eat all you want, we’ll make more” and I’d like to remind you and me to “Give all we want, God will make more.”

Every time we give away what God has given us it is an intentional way of remembering the one who gave the gift as well as faith that he’ll give us more tomorrow.

God taught this when he would not allow the Children of Israel to collect more manna than they needed for each day and later after they had come to the Promised Land not to harvest the corners of their fields but to leave them for the needy among them.

At our home, we know we are forgetful too. We have to work at remembering.

On our kitchen table we have a jar with a picture we made of our brothers and sisters in Myanmar. They are very poor. We put the jar on our table for several reasons. First to remember to pray, then to remember to put money in the jar for them and next to remember we have so very much at every meal. We also eat rice one meal each week to remember rice is sometimes all they have to eat. This has been good for me and my family.

God’s ways are so wise. Not only has it been good for us, it has been good for them. Yes they are blessed by the gift for it’s actual value in what they can buy, but they are blessed with several much needed reminders too. God answers prayer, they have brothers and sister in Christ who love them and pray for them and that all they have comes from God. This is truly a gift that keeps on giving.

It’s like the washer and dryer someone gave a young couple in our church. The rear entrance of their home goes through the laundry room and every time they walk by them they became much more than appliances. Not only do they wash and dry clothing, they hum a sweet tune. The words of this song testify of the truth God cares for them like he does for the lilies of the field and he does this through the church.

Have you remembered to give lately? Don’t be afraid you don’t have enough to give. When you don’t because of this you are saying God will not provide.

Trying to remember this years ago, my sweet wife spent many hours stitching these words into what is called a “sampler,” framing it, and hanging it on our wall. It says “The Lord Provides."

Fear or Pride

This past Sunday, I was asked to play Piano for our Church Service. I politely agreed, and was extremely nervous, that I'd "mess up", and that people would laugh at that, and make fun of my "messing up", I started to turn selfish, and thinking thoughts about what people thought about "me". I started to realize, that it wasn't about me! This was all for God and about God!... or was it?! I was starting to make my Piano playing more about me playing, than about giving God the glory... no matter the outcome!

God was the one who gave me the gift to play Piano. It's up to me, to CHOOSE to give God the glory, and to play in honor and admonition of Him! God knows our hearts! He knows if we say, "To God be the Glory!", but our hearts say, "Yeah, I'm good at ____ " (fill in the blank) So often, we find ourselves in the trap of this world, and we fill our mind with pride. We may start out with fear... but it can easily turn into pride. That's what Satan comes to do... "... to steal, and to kill, and destroy..." (John 10:10)
So, after praying to God to give me a humble mind, and a heart full of Him, I showed up at church, ready to play... even if it meant that I might make a couple mistakes. But... when I asked if the Piano was hooked up yet, I saw a mom of 7 children getting ready to play Piano. To much of my astonishment, I was somewhat bummed... I was bummed that I spent all this last week preparing for worship, only to be early for church to find a mother playing Piano. It turned out there was a mis-communication, and I wasn't going to be playing for the month of June. :) I kind of chuckle at it now... little did I know what God was about to teach me! :)

The service started, and I felt at peace. At peace knowing that I was going to be blessed by the sermon, not having to worry about when to play and what to play. A peace knowing that God knew the whole time I wasn't going to be playing. A peace that passes all understanding!
I got to witness, this mother make some mistakes, and pretend, like nothing happened. I got to witness, that it's okay to mess up. People aren't going to laugh at you! I got to witness, that in the midst of playing Piano, you can still worship God! ...go figure, right?! God knew that I wouldn't be playing Piano yesterday, because I needed to learn a couple things! :) Wow! The things that God puts in our lives to teach us! So, yes, I had fear, and yes, I had pride. However, it's up to us, to repent of those sins, and to give God the glory He deserves! Forever may He be praised! :)

Change: A time for everything

In the times when friends leave, or you leave your friends, what do you do?
Is change good? Is it bad? What happens when our faith is put to the test?
Yesterday, was the last time we attended our Church... we are going with some families and doing a church plant. While this is such an exciting time, it's also sad! While I'll make new friends, and continue to be friends with those coming with us, I'll be leaving the old ones. It didn't hit me until Saturday... I'll no longer see my friends weekly now... which brings to my point: Is Change good?

Some people enjoy change, some people don't.
Back several years ago, when I found out that my best friends were going to move out of the state, I couldn't believe that the change was for the better! I didn't think that I'd ever have friends who understood me again! It turns out, during this time, God took me, and filled in all the empty spots... with Himself!

So, what happens when we're put on trial? What happens when family and friends are taken away? What happens when you take your friends for granted? What happens when you're faith is challenged? Is our faith put to the test? Do we trust God in these moments of change?

I can't answer every question, but I do know that God tells us in Ecclesiastes 3:1-8, "To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven: A time to be born, And a time to die; A time to plant, And a time to pluck what is planted; A time to kill, And a time to heal; A time to break down, And a time to build up; A time to weep, And a time to laugh; A time to mourn, And a time to dance; A time to cast away stones, And a time to gather stones; A time to embrace, And a time to refrain from embracing; A time to gain, And a time to lose; A time to keep, And a time to throw away; A time to tear, And a time to sew; A time to keep silence, And a time to speak; A time to love, And a time to hate; A time of war, And a time of peace."

There are many times that change is for the better, but God will always see us through, and He will always be with us! What are some of the ways that God has shown you that change was for the better? I'd love to hear! :) Blessings!