A Good Wife?

    Okay, I was stumbling earlier and found this site here. It's called Robin's Web and I really didn't look at the site so I don't know what it's about. But the post actually is just a repost of an article from Houskeeping Monthly (a magazine from the 50's). In this post, it simply lists ways to be a better wife. Of course all of them are reflective of the 1950's culture.

    Now, a lot of them are just disrespectful to women (and men if they have any sense). But some of them, although they seem crazy and stupid to today's culture and society, aren't too far from the truth. After all, consider the state of the family and society in the 50's with some of these "guidelines for wives" in comparison with what we have today from wives and the state of our society.

    In the fifties abortion, divorce, and crime (along with a few other statistics/issues) were a lot lower than today. Now does that fall on the shoulders of the wife? No. In fact, crime to a degree falls on the shoulders of the father not being present in the home. Studies have proven this.

    But the wife does play a part, both as wife and mother. Let's take this one for example: Your goal: To try and make sure your home is a place of peace, order, and tranquillity where your husband can renew himself in body and spirit. To the wife that does not work, the one who stays at home and raises the children and "keeps the home." This statement is dead on, as research has shown. To feminist, this statement, theirs and mine, are a slap in the face and blasphemy. To those who seek the truth and those in the counseling and psychiatric profession, they're as true as can be.

    Studies have shown that the men see their home as a place of rest and peace, and when there is no peace and it is unrestful, they tend to want to stay away: to go out, to stay at work, even find other women. And that's one way marriages fall apart.

    Let's look at another one. Have dinner ready. Plan ahead, even the night before, to have a delicious meal ready on time for his return. This is a way of letting him know that you have be thinking about him and are concerned about his needs. Most men are hungry when they come home and the prospect of a good meal  (especially his favourite dish) is part of the warm welcome needed. Again, this one is dead on. If that's what your husband likes, if he works until dinner time, greeting him with dinner on the table (or close) is one way of saying "thank you for working hard for your family." Things like this really are welcoming to a husband.

    Now there are some things that are just way out there that everyone should agree on. Listen to him. You may have a dozen important things to tell him, but the moment of his arrival is not the time. Let him talk first - remember, his topics of conversation are more important than yours. This one is right one and right off. Listen to him? Oh yes. And the moment of his arrival is not the best time to tell him all the problems of the day. No man or woman wants to come home and the first thing that they hear is the problems they're facing. More so, they'd like to hear a nice welcome. One time in school, it might have been a communication or leadership class, I heard a teacher say that a good way to get someone to talk to you about what you want to talk about is to talk to them about what they want to talk about. That works not just for couples, but everyone. For one, it's like a 'you owe me' for sitting through listening to you.

    Of course the last part is not on the mark. His topics of conversation are more important than yours? Whatever. The only place that this might ring true is if his topics are of more importance to the couple or are higher priority than the other. There are others. You can go check them out at the link above.

    Next time I'll let you in on a little secret for woman that apparently is all the rage halfway across the world. Although I think it's quite stupid. Be blessed.

    

The Internet Renewed

    I am a big fan of Firefox. It's my favorite browser. Internet Explorer has nothing on Firefox to be honest with you. If you really know me, you know that I'm a Mac person. I really do not like PCs. I think the stupid commercials Microsoft has started putting out are a poor excuse in response to some very creative and funny commercials by Apple.

    Even so, I still prefer Firefox over Apple's Safari. Of course, the reason isn't really because of the actual browser. That's okay. Firefox has some good things, Safari has some good things. Both have there plus and minuses. But Firefox really beats Safari and every other browser when it comes to the add-ons and plug-ins. Some of them are just awesome.

    In fact, I wanted to share on with you. If you don't have Firefox, first—get it. You won't be disappointed if you start using all the awesome add-ons. But first you have to get the browser so you can get the add-ons, specifically the one I want to tell you about.

    StumbleUpon is an awesome add-on that helps you surf the internet like never before (well, never before that I've known). Of course the sites been up for a while now, I just now discovered it. Basically what you do is get an account with them and then they ask you all sorts of things about your interests, kind of like a date, but somewhat more rewarding.

    You fill out all this information and then on your browser you get a toolbar that's marked "Stumble." What does that mean? Well, you push it and stumble upon all sorts of sites tailored to your interests that you probably never even heard of. In just a few days my bookmarks folders has gone from a handful of sites to bursting open with sites of coolness (and oddities). Plus you can rate the sites it gives you with whether or not you like it and that will help narrow what it gives you so you get even better sites.

    So I think for now on, besides my rhetoric and remarks on the state of life in general, I'm going to talk about some of the sites I find, because I've been finding some really weird ones lately. Before I found this cool add-on, the internet was starting to get boring. But now, I've found enough junk, good stuff, helpful sites, and everything else, to keep me satisfied for a little bit longer. Anyway, go download the browser if you don't have it, and then download the add-on. You might just be amazed at what you get.

A Christian Guide To Voting

    Now at first glance at the title, I know what you might be thinking. It's the same thing I would be thinking if I saw this. Who are you to tell me as a Christian how to vote? Of course my answer would be no one. On the other hand, God is someone to tell the Christian how to vote. And the problem with that is that too many Christians today would rather vote how they want than even listen to God as an option. That is why decided to type this up, knowing that I'm just human and could miss it, knowing all to well that I'm not God, yet seeing a big problem in the body of Christ today.     

    Now there are some people out there who don't know who they should vote for. They're still praying. Then there are others who are just spiritually blinded by the devil and can't see the truth. How do I know this? I've heard to many Christians, including those trained to be in the ministry, say that they are voting for a candidate that is standing directly opposed to the values and character of God and the teachings of the Bible.

    Of course some of my brothers and sisters have the attitude of "I can vote for whoever I want to. It is a free country." And they're right…partially. If they weren't saved, if they didn't call Jesus Christ Lord and Savior (although some of them leave the 'Lord' part out) they would have all the rights in the world to go off and do whatever they want to. However, they gave up their life and every choice when they decided to allow Jesus Christ to be their Lord, their Savior, and the price He paid on the cross and in Hell, to be the price for THEIR sins.

    However, by examining these fellow believers' lives, it is clear to see that they have allowed Jesus to be Savior, but not Lord. They still hold their lives in their own hands, making the choices they want, picking and choosing what to believe and what to follow. By looking at the fruit of their lives, you can see that they are still carnal, fleshly beings that prefer to walk in the flesh rather than the spirit. And for them, it is their choice, not God's. For these people, it is a matter of growing up spiritually, dying to oneself so that not just their vote belongs to God, but their entire lives.

    Then there are other people who make their choice of candidate on issues that have no bearing whatsoever. I was sitting at a youth camp watching kids next to a TV during one of the Bush elections. Sitting in front of the TV was a fellow Christian who was watching coverage of the election on one of the cable news stations. He started talking and sharing his opinions with whoever would listen and said that he would not vote for Bush because he didn't like the man's viewpoint on economic issues. Thus, he was going to vote for the other man.

    Let me remind everyone that Bush has been an outspoken Christian, while both of his opponents have not. Thus, we had a fellow believer running for President and two non-believers (whichever election it was). With this single statement, this man made it clear that 1.) he did not believe in the truthfulness of the Bible and 2.) God was not his source. As Christians, God is to be our source in all things, no matter what—not the economy, not the President, not our jobs or our bosses—no one. If there is someone or something that is your source other than God, it will fail and you will be left wanting. The Bible also states that when the righteous reign, the people rejoice. However, this man decided this scripture was not true and that when the man with the best economic plan reigns, the people rejoice.

    From this example, please take away that God is your source, no man, no President, no economic plan, nothing.

    There are other people, other fellow believers, that decide that they will vote for whoever seems more charismatic, whoever is a better speaker, a certain race or gender, or whoever has a better plan for this or that. When a Christian decides to cast their vote for natural reasons, they are choosing to cast their vote in ignorance, and in contrast to the way God would have them vote. As Christians, we do vote for a person because they are a certain race or gender, because they are a good speaker or charismatic (after all, it is said the anti-Christ will be both of those). We do not vote for them because they will pull out troops no matter how much we miss them. We vote on spiritual principles and by the Word of God and direction of the Holy Spirit.

    I once heard a speaker say that God gave him instructions on how to vote. For those fellow believers that may not even believe God will speak to people in such a way, then you must have a hard time believing you will go to Heaven simply because God came to Earth and died as a man just to reconcile you to Himself. But this preacher said that God gave these instructions on voting. You find out where the purveyors of sin go, those that promote homosexuality, abortion, crime, pornography, etc; find who they back and then you back the guy opposing them. It doesn't matter if the one candidate is actually for those things, but if those who are for the sins do back him, then you back the other guy.

    The Lord said, you vote for the one who will make it harder for sin to take place in this country. Too many Christians just believe in what they see, and don't even think twice about the spiritual world around us. Sure, they'll believe in God and Jesus, maybe even the devil, but not necessarily demons and angels. Many would laugh at you if you said that a demon was helping a candidate to win an election. They would call you a fool for saying a demon was blinding them spiritually so they would vote for who they wanted them to vote for.

    But the truth is that the spiritual realm exists. Demons and angels exist. And God has a plan for the country and this world and He is wrapping it up. We are in the end times and God is doing something big and this coming election is a part of it. Do you know why homosexuality is so big in America? Do you know why abortionists continue to kill babies? And do you know why Bill Clinton was allowed to remain in office for 8 years allowing those things to continue and get a stronger, deeper hold in this country? It is because Christians did not pray, did not seek God, and did not do things how He wants us to. And when our day in glory comes, we will have to give a reason why we didn't. You hear many people talk about how this is the most important election in years. Well, it is. But for those who are not Christians, all they have is a vote and a voice to the other voters. As Christians, we have a vote, a voice to other voters, but more importantly, we have an open door to Heaven. God said that we have not because we ask not. So as Christians, get on your knees and seek God, not just for your choice, but for His choice and His plans to be carried out in this election, this country, and this world.

 

God Bless

 

Truth By Whatever Name

    I've been looking at the news lately, mostly political news, and I've noticed something going on in the campaigns. Now, if I sound favorable towards one or the other, I don't mean to. But I've noticed that it's funny when some issues come up that seem unpleasant, unfavorable, disagreeable, make you feel bad, look bad, wrench at your heart, your stomach, your ego; that instead of going at it and dealing with it, you decide to call it something else and push it aside. This isn't just for politics, but that's what I've seen it applied to at late.

    For example, the McCain/Palin side has levied the charge that Barak Obama has associated with terrorists. Of course, it's not just the McCain/Palin side, but also some media outlets. How does the Obama side respond to this? Does he come out and deny the charges and even levy his own charge that their side and the media outlets are liars and should be looked at for immoral accusations? No. Instead, he cries out that they are using smear tactics, muckraking (although I have started to hear that the Obama campaign has started to call them liars now). But for the most part, all we hear are allegations of the other side running a smear campaign. In fact, I don't even think I've heard the Obama campaign give a reason why it might even appear that he associated with terrorists. After all, if you were going to build a lie, you would start it with a bit of truth in it. They didn't state that Obama was a drug dealing congressman. Why? Because there is no basis whatsoever to make the lie out of (that we know of).     

    They say that you can't kill a dog with poison alone. You have to mix it with some steak or something else. That's the case with lies. There's a bit of truth in all of them, if nothing else than the smallest bit of fact (like Obama was in the same city as the person he's accused of associating with).

    Now I've confined this to politics because that's what I've seen it in as of late. But this issue of denial of truth goes far beyond politics, enter the entire world. Truth by any other name is still truth.

    In today's culture, it's popular for relativist to tell Christians, "That's all good and fine for you, but not for me. I can be true for you, but it's not for me." Today, truth is pushed away be one excuse or another. The popular on for those who have grown up in the morally relative culture is that truth is relative and it is not absolute. The only problem is that truth is always absolute. It doesn't matter if you say that "it may true for you but not for me" or if you say "I don't believe that" or if you say you can't believe that, whatever excuse it is, it's just that—an excuse.

    Of course it is one thing if you honestly don't believe in God or Jesus because of 'lack of evidence' and then go and research it, but it's another (and the most common) if you push it off to the side due to some sort of bias. After I accepted Jesus Christ as my personal Lord and Savior I decided that I was going to research the whole issue of Jesus' divinity and Christianity's credibility. After much research, I came to the same conclusion mentally that I came to 2 ½ years earlier spiritually.

    Aldous Huxley once said, "I wanted to believe the Darwinian idea. I chose to believe it not because I think that there was enormous evidence for it, nor because I believed it had the full authority to give interpretation to my origins. I chose to believe it because it delivered me from trying to find meaning and freed me to my own erotic passions." Like Huxley, many of us choose to believe or disbelieve in something not because of evidence, facts, or convictions, but because it gives us a reason to do what we really want to do or because it makes us feel bad about what we are doing.

    Truth is not dependent on our likes and dislikes. Truth is truth. It comes from a higher source that neither your likes nor dislikes depend on. And rather you want to accept it, truth is truth and you can't change it by not wanting to believe.

Propaganda

    You know, if you watch TV enough, you'll see enough "spin" or hear enough keywords to know that the person delivering the news to you, just doesn't care what you think and in all honesty, may think your opinion is the stupidest thing they've ever heard.

    Back during the World Wars, they had a word for this that was continually going around-propaganda. The Germans had it when they made movies degrading the Jews and trying to turn their countrymen against the Jewish people. America responded with movies like Why We Fight, a film that was intended to encourage national patriotism and pride to bolster the war effort.

    No matter what side it came from, the films presented a message and tried to sway the people's mindset and view on a certain issue. Over Fifty years later, propaganda has become more subtle and more productive. I'm not just talking about the news media with their constant "spin" of the "truth" of what's going on around the world. If that's all the propaganda that there was, that would be great. Of course because there is that, people have decided to get their news from other places besides the television and print news sources. They have gone to the internet, to the radio, and to smaller, independent presses.

    That's all good for news sources, but what about the big propaganda machine. This may shock some people, others will find it as a down right lie, but the biggest propaganda machine out there is the music and movie industries. Anything that carries a message, a worldview, a belief, is propaganda. Some people would say Christianity is propaganda, and using the definition I just did, I would agree. (however, I prefer not to lower God's love for a hateful human race to something as simple)

    Music, no matter what kind, carries a message. Movies, no matter what kind, carry a message. Think of the latest blockbuster movies, how many sex scenes did they have in them? How many half-naked women did they have in them? How many scenes of violence did they have that have helped to desensitize their audience? Or what was the message? In Harry Potter, did kids learn that lying was okay as long as it got them out of trouble? That's what Harry taught them by his actions.

    What about the music we listen to? How many 'hoes' or 'b****es' can you count in your playlist? Oh wait, that's just rap? Okay, how much infidelity, rebellion, adultery, hatred, etc can you count? Seriously. You may think I'm taking things way to far or one of those people that want to blame every little thing on the media. Well, I'm not. The world will be the world.

    As a Christian, as a human, we have the right to decide what we put into our bodies through our eye-gate and ear-gate, that regurgitates itself through our vocal cords, our thought-process, and our actions. I promise you, if you do not have a guarded thought life and listen to and watch music and movies that continually curse, and portray acts of lewd sexuality, violence, hatred, etc, then you will soon be doing likewise. It may not be to the degree that you may think I'm talking about, but you'll soon start to curse yourself (more so if you already do) and start to say, do, and think things you used to not.

    I preached a sermon a while back and I stated in it that Satan has taken this world and like a rubix cube, turned it, perverted it, and changed it all around, designing it to take our eyes off of God, to do, say, and think things that are contrary to God's Word and law. And because he has, and we fall into the trap of doing those things that he wants us to, we get out of the will of God for our lives and miss out on the blessings of God.

    Everything may be propaganda, but thank God, some of it is propaganda of the truth. That's the propaganda you should be listening to, and that's the Word of God.

    

Do What You Know To Do

I was watching a documentary the other day and the guy doing the documentary went up and asked these people at this college why they liked this speaker they were standing in line to go see. If I said the guy's name, most people in America would know who it was. I listened to the responses that these people in the line gave and for the most part, they were shallow answers. "I agree with what he says….He speaks for me…He gives a voice to what I want to say but can't." They gave some other answers that more so triggered in my head the question, "Why are they really going to see this person?"

There has to be something more to it than that-something deeper. And I started to honestly think about it, not saying that those people's answers weren't valid, but there had to be something deeper. And it came to me, whether or not it's true in every instance, it still came to me. This person validated all of these people's reasons why they hated what this man spoke out against.

They hated this and that and this guy gave them a reason to hate those things, besides the reason that they simply just all this different stuff this guy was talking about. And all of this got me thinking, as a Christian, what's my, what's our reason, —what validates us in our current condition.

If you remember when I spoke last time (before the issue about dating) I talked about how Christians are perishing, and by perishing, I'm referring to the downtrodden state that so many Christians are in. Now apparently some of us haven't gotten a hold of this, so I'm going to talk about it more. And even if we have gotten a hold of it, we still need to be reminded of it.

The Apostle Peter told all of us, because he was writing to those "who have obtained like precious faith" that he would not be negligent to remind us always of the truth, even though and even if we were already established in it. That word "establish" means that we're fixed and going firming in what was taught. Thus, even if you have it, you still need to be reminded of it. Peter wasn't the only one to do this. Paul did it, the other leaders of the early church did it and any good teacher and preacher of the Word does it because they know like you I'm sure, that faith comes by hearing and hearing and hearing. And you get it in you and rooted and established by repetition. Even the world knows that.

But in case you didn't read my last post (you should), what's this condition of perishing I'm talking about. You may say, "I'm doing fine." Well, can't you be doing better?

You see, Jesus said that He came that we might have life and have it more abundantly. He used the word 'might' there. Which means you may have it and you may not. Now don't get confused or lied to. Some one may say, well but He's talking about in the next life, when we get to Heaven. I beg to differ. 2 Peter, chapter 1 says that we should have all things for this life and godliness-for this life and the next. Jesus wants you to have the abundant life here on this earth. Here! Now!

Jesus made it available to you. He paid the price. He died upon the cross, rose the third day. He took the keys to Hell, death, and the grave, and brought them back. He's sitting at the right hand of God, purchased our salvation, our redemption, and He's given us authority over everything in this earth, through His name and through His blood! Amen!

He's dropped the most powerful weapon on the face of this earth, on the face of Heaven, and on the face of Hell right in our lap. He's opened up a plethora of power and authority and he's given it to us. He's said to us-death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it, will eat of it's fruit. He's said, 'by your words you shall be justified and by your words you shall be condemned.' He's said to us, whoever says to the mountain 'be removed and cast into the sea' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes those things he says will be done, he'll have whatever he says.

God has given us this incredible power, opened up this vast storehouse of supply and dumped it in our lap and said, "I leave it up to you."

Some of us have gotten it, some of us haven't. And by some of us, I'm talking about just us in the audience. I'm talking about the church-believers all across the land. Some of us have gotten it to some degree, some more than others. Some of us have let the world, the 'affairs of this world' come up and choke them and choke the Word out of them.

What do I mean by that? I mean, we have let the world get in our way of living for God and as God intended and specified, and now we're just existing…maybe not even living. (But hey, you're reading this, so you must be living and not just existing). This world has been turned around like a rubic's cube, designed by Satan, to get your attention off of God and His Word and His way of doing things. If it's not the bad things, it's the good things.

On one end we have the bad health, we have lack of finances, we have family issues, work issues-the negative. On the other hand, we have the good things in life, or this world. We have the internet with messages popping up and people wanting to talk to us, the TV with the newest shows and the new season just starting, sports with the game you can't miss, friends who always want to hang out, family that always want to do something, something that always "has to be done" and "cannot wait." Things aren't bad. It's okay to own things, it's not okay for things to own you-even if those things only own small parts of you and there's dozens of them that do so.

But you do this, you get caught in one side or another of these traps, and it's going to hurt something. It'll hurt God of course. At the same time, it will hurt your relationship with God and it will hurt you. God is in the business of helping you stay in the center of the lane, in the center of life-not where all the bad stuff is distracting you and hurting you and not where all the good and enjoyable things are taking up your time and hurting you.

I believe in my heart that most Christian, know what to do, they just don't do it. Things get them entangled. It's so easy to get caught up in everyday life and push God to the side. James 1:22 says to be doers of the Word. If you receive the Word of God, if you sit here and listen to all that I say and agree with it, and accept it into your heart of hearts, and do nothing with it, then there was no point of you hearing it. There was no point of you sitting down and reading it. It would have been better for you not to have read it at all. Because now you know it and when you don't do it, it will be counted against you.

God said he who knows to do right and does not do it, it's counted as a sin against them. James 1:25 says, "But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does."

The Amplified Bible says, "But he who looks carefully into the faultless law, the [law] of liberty, and is faithful to it and perseveres in looking into it, being not a heedless listener who forgets but an active doer [who obeys], he shall be blessed in his doing (his life of obedience)." And the Message, though I don't like the wholeness of how it states this, I do think there are some things to be gotten from it. It says, "5But whoever catches a glimpse of the revealed counsel of God—the free life!—even out of the corner of his eye, and sticks with it, is no distracted scatterbrain but a man or woman of action. That person will find delight and affirmation in the action."

You are blessed not because you go to church and listen, you are blessed when you take what you have heard and apply it to your life, when you do what needs to be done. I was taught this at my church back home, I was taught this when I went to Bible school, and I'm still being taught that Faith is an act. It's not some mystery thing that no one knows. Throughout the scripture it says, "…have faith…" What does that mean? It means, what ever you are believing, you get scriptures to stand on and you act on them. You confess those things, getting them into your heart, implanted into your deepest of being. When the devil comes at you-in the form of thoughts or the form of other people speaking against what you're believing you shout back "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." You shout back those scriptures you've been standing on. You act like the Word of God is true because it is!

I read a bunch of scripture early about quoting the word, about confessing. That's because the more you confess, the more you hear, the more you hear, the more faith comes, the more faith comes the more your prayers come to materializing and the closer you get to having what you asked for show up in your life in the natural realm. You already have it, don't try to get it. You're just waiting for it to materialize. God' not an idiot. He has rational, logical reasons for the things He's told us to do. I almost thought about writing a book on that one day. Because there are so many people out there, Christians included, who are just blindly doing stuff, or talking bad about other stuff, and they don't realize that God is a God of logic just as much as He is of faith, of love, and everything else He is. It may not be your logic, but that's because you're logic is either off, or you're ignorant of a few things. It's God that said to Isaiah in Isaiah 1, "come, and let us reason together."

But faith is act. You act on your faith. You act on your belief. What you do is a reflection of your beliefs. Jesus said out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaketh and a good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings good things and an evil man, evil things. Your beliefs, what you've embraced, what you've let grow in your heart, will determine how you act, what you do when situations arise. The only problem is that Christians, with their Bible-formed beliefs, that know they are to confess, to act in faith, to believe—they don't. Basically, we know what to do, but we don't. God said you do not have because you do not ask.

Everything is open for you, but you don't have it because you won't go after it. I have friends that want to go on it their own. They know God's truth, but they've pushed Him and it away to go on their own. And their lives are a pathetic excuse in some degrees. They aren't really living. They're just existing. For most Christians, that isn't the case. They know God's truth and they haven't actively pushed the truth away, but passively they have. They've let it get pushed away by everything that's gotten in their life.

I was praying one day, and this has been a long time ago, but I got these word-"Do what you know to do." I know God's Word. I know how to get you healed, I know how to finances for my life, my family. I know God's Word. I went to a great church for year and then went to one of the best Bible schools in the world. I know how to do things. But do I? I'd like to say I do all the time. But like everyone else, I'm growing.

I give you this word today: Do what you know to do. If you don't know what to do, get in God's Word and find out.

But even though you and I may know what to do, we still don't do it. Do we. Honestly. Let's include everyone here. 100% of the time, do you do what you know to do? Of course not. We're in good company though. The Apostle Paul himself had the same problem. Paul wrote to the Romans and explained this quandary, this problem to them. In Romans 7:15 he says, "For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do." He was talking specifically about sin here. But like we said early, God says if we know to do good and we do not, we sin. He relieves us though, because we're all in this mess. There is no condemnation to us who are in Christ.

I tell you: do what you know to do?

And I ask myself and Paul himself asks, "How?" Does anyone else ask how? Does anyone else have this same problem or am I preaching to a tree? Are my words useless and fruitless? Do you want the answer?

First and foremost, you can't do it yourself. You were never intended to do it yourself. So stop trying to do it yourself, because that's all you will ever do-try. I like what Jesse Duplantis says, "I stopped trying a long time ago. Trying cost money." And it gets nothing done. God sent Jesus Christ to the earth to make available everything you would ever need for this life and Godliness. Jesus came, did His job, and went back to Heaven to await the next step in the plan of God, but after He left, another one was sent. Heaven sent the Holy Spirit, who is that? He's our counselor, or comfortor, and our helper. You want to do something, you do it with the Helper. You do it with the Spirit of God because God said you can do all things through Christ who strengthens you, the Greater one is living in you, you can do all things because God is with you and apart from him, you can do nothing. That's why we fail because we're trying to do it apart from Him.

You might say I'm doing it with God and I'm still not getting it. Well, either you're missing it somewhere and thus it's your fault and you need to get it straight and everything will be hunky dory or either you're a liar or God's a liar and I'd tend to believe God over you. So that's the first thing you need to know. Do it with God! And in the power of God!

The second thing: Romans 8:5-7.

For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be.

It says there that those who live according to the spirit set their minds on things of the spirit. And those people get life (the abundant life here on earth) and peace. You know who are the most blessed and happy and nicest and best people to be around? People that are constantly in the Word. Most of the time, these people are in the ministry because people that are in the ministry know these things and live by them. They don't have to be, but most the people I meet are. These are the people that are healthy, they're provided for, they're happy and nice—even when they're surrounded by the worst of circumstances.

People that are constantly feeding on the Word by reading it, having their daily devotionals, listening to teaching, watching the preacher on TV, DVD, or the internet, these are the ones that are the most blessed, the ones that have peace and have life and have it abundantly. And you know what, because they're hearing it so much, their faith is getting fed. They're obeying God's Word. They're confessing God's Word, not just top obey it, but because they know and see the benefit of it.

When I was here last time we went to Joshua. Because I want to put you in remembrance, let's go there now. You know Psalms 78: 41-42 says that the children of Israel limited God because they did not remember His power. We limit what God can do in our life and what we can do with what He has given us when we don't remember.

Joshua 1:8-9, "This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go."

If you remember, that word "meditate" means to mutter or confess. It's by getting the Word in you, confessing it, growing your faith, that you make you're way prosperous. God has already set the laws and the ways in which things work and this is one of them. Thus, in you obeying the law or way of confession, of faith, you will make your own way prosperous. Joshua got into the only Word that He had, read it, confessed it, and made His way prosperous.

He made a choice. Just like all the people I know that I'm talking about, they make a choice. We have choices in front of us every day-thousands of them. The people I know, they started small—you, you started small. Like everything else, you work at it. It's a process. It's just like developing a habit, which I've heard takes around 21 days or so. But the more you feed the on the Word and less on the world, the more you'll want to feed on the Word and starve the world. Just like feeding your faith and starving your doubts.

So I look back and wonder at times in my life, like those people that were standing in line way back at the beginning of this, "what's our reason?" Why are we in our current condition (for the most part)? It's because we have become hearers of the Word and not Doers as God intended. We have everything we need in front of us, and have no grasped a hold of it because we are not Doers of the Word. We don't do what we know to do. We do it ion our own power.

But now we know what the problem is, not just a symptom, but the root problem. And we know the answer. The answer is to be a doer of the word and not a hearer only. We know that we need to live our lives with the help of God, not doing it alone. We need to be constantly in the Word, as Joshua was. And then we will make our way prosperous. Then, not the good of the world, nor the bad of the world will entangle us. Then, we can do what God has called us to do.

Boy Meets Girl…then everything goes downhill

So in the past week or so I've had three different people come to me with relationship problems. A few years ago I used to be used to this. In fact, a few years ago it wasn't uncommon to talk on the subject of relationships with a bunch of people, and often. With these three different people though, I see a recurring pattern. In fact, with everyone I've ever talked to, I always see a recurring pattern.

I even saw that same pattern in my own life. That's of course because I didn't follow my own advice. Things I had known for years I blindly push aside. Girls will do that to you. Like one of my Deans said at school one year, the devil has blue eyes. What does that mean? The devil can come in the guise of a pretty face, nice figure, and sweet words (for us guys…girls, just think of your 'dream guy,' then let reality hit you square in the face).

Relationship problems start at the beginning of the relationship, before there is a relationship. It starts with the individual who is not mature enough to be in a relationship. Since, I get so many people who ask me, "why did this happen" or something along those lines, I'm going to explain it here so I can just forward them here and save my breath and typing skills for IMs and texts. Relationships fail because of the individual before there is even a relationship to build up to tear down.

Now many people may not agree with me (that's okay, they're probably used to being wrong anyway), but God is the one that created humanity, formed the man and woman-weaving all of our inward thought-processes and desires, structured the institution of marriage, and knows how it all is supposed to work. And because of that, he gave us guidelines for it all. When these guidelines are violated, problems arise, things fall apart, and relationships fail. Relationships are hard enough when we listen to and obey these guidelines, breaking them can do nothing but hinder us.

The very first guideline for any relationship is first a relationship with God Himself. God desires first and foremost to be the center of your life before any other, including a spouse. He desires it so much, that even when we don't want a relationship and can't have one, that He sent His son to make away, to bridge the gap, and clean up everything that separates us from Him. Without that relationship intact, we are leaving ourselves wide open for attacks from the enemy and no way to guard ourselves or fight back.

After we have that relationship going, growing, thriving, and God the center of our life, then comes the opposite sex. That pretty girl or handsome guy walks up and you jump for joy on the inside. I once heard a preacher tell me, when Satan wants to do something in your life, He'll bring a person into it. When God wants to do something in your life, He'll bring someone into it. That is so true. God and Satan both use people to work in our life-for good and for bad. We have to be careful to judge which is which, allow the good in and push the bad away.

That's why Jesus gave us the guideline to not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. (This is not just limited to dating and marriage, but for this purpose we will focus just on that.) The phrase "unequally yoked" means to join yourself together in union. This can refer to marriage or dating. Of course I've had another preacher friend of mine tell me that it's not even unbelievers, but Christians as well. As he says, one a scale of 1 to 10, what is your spiritual maturity level. Find that and date no one 2 notches below or 2 notches above. Now that may sound crude or judgmental, but then again, the crude and judgmental aren't having problems in this area on this specific issue. They're the ones that will not allow someone who potentially can draw them away from God to get so close to them that they will draw them away from God.

Now you may say, but because I'm so spiritually mature that I can pull the other person up to my level. No. You can't. The person at the lower level has more leverage to pull someone down off of a mountain than the one at the top to pull the other up. And the ones that are spiritually mature enough to do it, won't do it, because they know what can happen.

And that is what happens to people and how they get in the mess that they are in when they talk to me. Things are going bad, their relationship is going down the drains or already has and they want to know what happened or how to fix it. For the most part, the best way to fix is at the point it's at, is to let it completely break. The relationship shouldn't have existed in the first place.

Now let me tell you some examples from my past, because I have made some big mistakes in the past, ones that are worth learning from. On each occasion I was a pretty decently mature Christian for the amount of time I had been a Christian. The first illustration took place at college. I met a nice girl who said she was a Christian. First rule, just because they say they're a Christian, that doesn't make them a Christian. The fruit they produce will prove out if they are really a Christian (or if they live by what they preach or are supposed to live and act like). This girl liked to talk about the Bible and could talk the talk the first few times we hung out, but me in my stupidity rushed in and started a relationship of 'dating' before I really knew her.

Once I did know her, I was already dating her and thus, to encapsulated in the relationship to just break it off. Of course looking at it now, I could see that she definitely not as spiritually mature as I was, and thus, she brought me down to her level. I'm not knocking her, it just happened. I was to blame just as much as she was. Of course it ended with her in tears and me realizing my mistake, and seeing that the only way to truly break free of the chokehold that sin and Satan had on me was to tell her I never wanted to see her again. By the way, if you work together, that can get messy, as she went a little psycho.

The next illustration also happened at college (I've been in college for nearly 10 years [dear Lord] so I have a lot of stories). I met this girl and she said she was a Christian, we both went to church together and everything and all of our friends in our 'circle' were Christians, so why should I doubt her. But as we started to hang out and talk more and more she said stuff that gave off clues about her spiritual maturity. Of course, blindly by the pretty face and the lack that we had a lot of stuff in common, I walked my fly-bussing butt right into the center of her web to be eaten up. Don't get me wrong, she was and is a nice girl, in fact, we would have been great friends, just terrible girlfriend and boyfriend.

But again, I went into it too fast and before I had fully gotten to know her, I was already dating her. That's something else that could keep a lot of us from having broken hearts and wasting our time and money. Our culture is so infused with the idea of dating people to get to know them, and we've lost the common sense to get to know a person before you date them. It's not just me, I know of a lot of people that have done that-Christian and non-Christian.

Not only that, but before we ever dated, in fact, I can remember it as clear as day now. I was in her living room about to walk out the door, I was waiting for her to go back into her bedroom to get her wallet or something, we were going out on our first 'date' or hang out or whatever, and I heard this voice in my spirit (for you who don't know what I'm talking about, let's just say it's your intuition) saying "no." Not being used to that a lot, I wrote it off as just me or something else, not a warning from God above. If I had listened to that voice, I would have been happier for two years, saved myself heartache, pain, money, tears, and had a lot more joy. Now I look back on it as a mistake that not only hurt me, but someone else I cared so much about.

That comes to another point-as Christians we think about prayer in a way to repair things. Like cars, there are two kinds of maintenance, preventative to keep things from happening, and then the kind you do afterwards to fix it after it's been broken. A lot of our prayers are to fix what is already broken. But if we would pray in a preventative way, before we even date someone, then we would save a lot of time, heartache, pain, and be able to accomplish God's will for our lives with greater ease.

I had a roommate in college that I admired for that. He would continually pray that if the girl he was dating wasn't meant to be his wife then God would show him so he wouldn't waste his time that could be better devoted to Him. I think all of us could use a little bit of that.

The last illustration I want to tell you involves my wife. We had dated twice back in high school and when I had just started college. Then we broke up and she moved away and we kept in touch, but basically went our separate ways. Well after I broke up with my last girlfriend before her, I got my life back on course with God, rededicated to focusing on Him and doing what He wanted me to. I broke up with my last girlfriend on Halloween (and went through the usual trauma of a broken heart), but by Thanksgiving I was already talking to and getting to know (again) the woman that would be my wife. But she wasn't saved at that time. So to me, she was 100% off limits. While I was stupid enough to fall for a girl who called herself a Christian yet didn't act like it, I wasn't so stupid to date a girl that had no interest whatsoever in God or His way of doing things.

But we talked a lot and hung out on the three occasions that we were actually in the same city. Then when I was home for Christmas she came to visit so we could just hang out (by then we had been talking enough to get to know each other-when you live 700 miles apart that happens-it can be a good thing as well as a bad). We went to see our old youth pastors (because when we had dated beforehand she went to church but I didn't, then we broke up and I went to church and then slowly she stopped). And after enjoying each other's company, our youth pastor spoke to her and she decided to give her life back to God to do with it what He wanted. As she said she wanted to do that, in my mind the thought that she was potentially becoming off the off-limits side. Of course that was just a thought.

We all gathered together to pray though, her, our youth pastor and his wife, and myself. And as we prayed, I heard that voice again on my inside (this time I recognized it and wasn't about to dismiss it no matter what it was saying). In the midst of all of this awesome moment of changing someone's life for all of eternity, the Holy Spirit said to me, "there is your wife." I didn't need to pray about it beforehand whether or not she was the one. I had heard from Heaven. I knew it was God, because 1) I recognized it because I knew Him and 2) what He said aligned up with what His Word says.

I waited a few weeks before I said anything to her about marriage, but we had been through so much over nearly ten years, so we were already close, already knew each other. I had a Word from Heaven so I could go forth and didn't have to listen to any of the cautions other gave me. I listened to them and their advice. And if something like that happens to you, by all means, go for it. But head this warning, you make sure it's 10000% God, because if not, there will be Hell to pay because if it's not your marriage or relationship could definitely turn into Hell.

In closing, the thing that I want you to take from this last illustration is this: I got my life straight again, focused on God desiring Him and what He wanted and His promise to me, the one He gives all of us, was fulfilled because He is a God of His Word. He said that if we would seek Him and put Him first He would take care of the rest and give us the desires of our heart. My wife was the desire of my heart for so many years and even after nearly ten years apart, she was still there, and still the measuring stick by which I judged all others I dated.

And if we will put God first, follow His Word, to seek His face and His counsel about our lives, especially in the area of relationship, then life will be so much simpler and with less heartache. If we will set our lives on the path He has for us, not to bend or bow to date someone who does not know God or care for His way of doing things, to get to know a person before we even date them, to put God first in all things, then not only will we save ourselves pain, heartache, and money, we'll even get the girl and guy of our dreams and prayers.