God Loves You, But Does He Like You?

When we were at camp meeting the other night, Brother Tom Sexton preached a message titled God Loves You, But Does He Like You?

The title alone was enough to make you stop and think. It was a great sermon! His text was I Chronicles 28:1-4, but the text verse was verse 4, "Howbeit the LORD God of Israel chose me before all the house of my father to be king over Israel for ever: for he hath chosen Judah to be the ruler; and of the house of Judah, the house of my father; and among the sons of my father he liked me to make me king over all Israel."

Why did God like David?

1. God liked David because David had faith in God. Psalm 40:1-3 "I waited patiently for the LORD; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry. He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings. And he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God: many shall trust in the LORD." He gave his testimony of his faith in Christ.

2. God liked David because David was willing to follow. II Samuel 7:8 "Now therefore so shalt thou say unto my servant David, Thus saith the LORD of hosts, I took thee from the sheepcote, from following the sheep, to be ruler over my people, over Israel:" David was a good leader because he had learned to follow God. God will never use us as a leader if we do not learn to follow Him first.

3. God liked David because David found a purpose to life and a reason to live. God has a plan for each of us. What is God's plan for you? I Samuel 17:46 "This day will the LORD deliver thee into mine hand; and I will smite thee, and take thine head from thee; and I will give the carcases of the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air, and to the wild beasts of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel." David was going down to kill Goliath. The purpose was that God wanted the whole earth to know there is a God in Heaven!

It's not looking for God's will in
life that matters. What matters is giving our life for God's
will.

Romans 12:1-2 "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God." Are you going to keep that life of give it to God?

4. David was liked by God because David was willing to fight. We need to fight the good fight of faith. When we've done all we can do to stand, stand some more! And do NOT stand behind the man of God. Stand WITH him. We should rather die than compromise.

5. David was liked by God because David didn't want to end his life as a failure. The devil may have gotten in David's life, but he found forgiveness. Psalm 51 was written by a broken man that found forgiveness and he knew he would die knowing God liked him.

This is Brother Sexton's son-in-law singing We'll Walk Through the Gate.

Repentance...What Is It? Part IV

Acts 11:18 "When they heard these things, they held their peace, and glorified God, saying, Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life." I haven't done enough study on this, but someone mentioned to me that Peter was at the house of Cornelius and that it was he and his family that were saved and baptized this day. There are two things to be aware of in this verse. Cornelius already had physical life. So when this verse says the Gentiles were granted repentance unto life, he was most likely referring to eternal life. And in verse 17, Peter did not use the word "repentance" but "believed." He was making sure that the Jews understood that repentance to life was equal to believing for the remission of sins and eternal salvation.

Mark 1:4 "John did baptize in the wilderness, and preach the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins." Remission means forgiveness. Without repentance, there is no forgiveness of sins.

Ezekiel 18:31 "Cast away from you all your transgressions, whereby ye have transgressed; and make you a new heart and a new spirit; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?" When we repent and CAST our sins away from us, there are two things we achieve in the process. A new spirit and a new heart. Our spirit becomes sweet and loving, humble and meek. And our heart is clean and looking to the Lord.

Luke 15:7,10 "I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance...Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth." I have a wonderful Christian friend that is probably the most giving and most selfless person I have ever met in my life. She loves the Lord, desires to do what is right, has a heart to serve others. I am continually amazed at how she quietly gives of her time and efforts for others. And for all the good that she does, all of Heaven rejoices more over one person that falls to their knees in repentance. When there is true repentance in the life of one that has gone astray from the Lord, it brings joy to Heaven. It brings joy to us who have prayed for someone living in their sin, and there is joy in the presence of the Lord. If the angels are rejoicing, think of how God must rejoice.

Repentance...What Is It? Part III

2 Peter 3:9 "The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." From what I see, there are three things that lead us to salvation. One is God's longsuffering. Bruce and I have been told by family before that we are not tolerant enough of people. But it's hard to be tolerant of people who refuse to live the way God plans. They ask you for advice or tell you their troubles, and when you give them good advice, straight from the Bible, they won't take it. They want the humanistic advice because it fits into their comfort zone or they begin seeking out scripture to justify their behavior. That's actually pretty tolerable. People make bad decisions. Their worlds fall apart and as Christians, we are to be there to help restore them back to the family of God. But when they don't learn from their actions and repeat the pattern over and over, well, that's pretty INtolerable! But God, in all of His grace beyond our imagination, sees us falling farther and farther from His glory, and waits. Waiting for us, the prodigal son, to come home. Sometimes we end up in the very middle of the hog pin, but He is ALWAYS waiting for us to come home in true repentance.

Romans 2:4 "Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance." The second thing I see leading us to repentance is God's goodness. When I look back on my life and the times I was doing things I shouldn't, I am amazed at how God continued to be good to me, even though I didn't deserve it. There were times when He could have taken things away from me. There were times that God protected me when He really didn't have to. He could have snuffed out my life in an instant. But He didn't. And all the while, although I refused to admit it to anyone, in my heart I knew I was wrong. And yet His goodness kept me in reach of His amazing grace. I wonder how many blessings I missed during those times. True repentance will shine a light on God's goodness to our life.

Acts 2: 37,38 "Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost." Peter was explaining Pentecost when the people were pricked in their heart. They were convicted. If we have ever been convicted of anything, we have experienced that same pricking. It doesn't feel good, does it? It feels like something has to be done in a hurry or we're going to bust at any moment. But what can be do? Well, Peter said it in verse 38...REPENT! Things seem different in the light of repentance. All of those restless days and nights leading up to it seem so distant. Nothing else matters. We've come home to the Father.

Repentance...What Is It? Part II

Acts 11: 16-18 "Then remembered I the word of the Lord, how that he said, "Forasmuch then as God gave them the like gift as he did unto us, who believed on the Lord Jesus Christ; what was I, that I could withstand God? When they heard these things, they held their peace, and glorified God, saying, Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life." In this chapter, Peter was questioned by the brethren in Judaea when they heard that the Gentiles had received the word of God also. Peter defended his ministry to the Gentiles, making it clear that we are all granted, by God, repentance. We are all equal in God's eyes and we are all given opportunity to repent. No matter how steeped in sin we may be, there is a way out if we will trust God and repent, turning away from our sin.

Acts 5:31 "Him [Jesus] hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins." Here the apostles were preaching to the council and again, making it clear that repentance is given to us by Jesus Christ.

Zechariah 12:10 "And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn." You may get something else from this verse, and if you do, I'd like to hear, but what came to my mind when I read it was that there was great conviction that fell upon the people for what their sin had caused. Conviction is a great tool used to bring repentance. Without conviction there is no repentance. Conviction is being convinced that what you are doing is wrong. Until we reach that point, we will not and can not reach repentance. This verse also made me think of how our sin hurts the Heavenly Father. Sin affects those around us. For someone who murders, all of the families and friends of both the murderer and the deceased are affected. For someone who is caught in adultery, family and friends are affected. For those who are liars, their lies affect those they are lying about and lying to. Etc, etc,...Sin affects everyone around us, no matter what it is. But the saddest part of it all, is how it affects our Heavenly Father. If we are only concerned about hurting our loved ones, and have no thought of how God is being affected, that is not conviction.

Repentance is granted by God, given by Christ, and felt of the Holy Spirit. It is a precious gift that, all too often, is ignored.

Repentance...What Is It? Part I

I've been doing a lot of thinking on this subject recently and wanted to do a little study on it. So over the next week or so, Lord willing, I'll be doing posts on it.

There comes a time in all of our lives when repentance becomes a necessary part of our spiritual walk. Well, it's always necessary in the spiritual walk. Whether it is the beginning of our spiritual birth or a stepping stone to spiritual growth. Understand, though, you can not grow spiritually with God until you have been spiritually birthed. There is always order in GOD'S plan. And by the way, without God, there is no spiritual birth or growth. Just thought I'd throw that in there.

Acts 9:35 "And all that dwelt at Lydda and Saron saw him, and turned to the Lord." Peter had just came to Lydda and found Aeneas who had been sick of the palsy for eight years. Peter looked at him and said, "...Anneas, Jesus Christ maketh thee whole: arise, and make thy bed." At that moment, Aeneas arose IMMEDIATELY. No doubt in those eight years, everyone had seen this poor man struggle through with his sickness until the man of God came on the scene, with the power of God in his words, and he was instantly healed. Because of that healing, he was made whole and all those that saw him repented and turned to the Lord.

Acts 8:22 "Repent therefore of this thy wickedness, and pray God, if perhaps the thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee." To repent is to turn away from your sin and never look back. We've all seen people go to the alter, week after week, asking the Lord to help them with the same sin they've struggled with for years. But never once have they repented of that sin and given it completely over to the Lord. Never to return to it again. The burden of sin we carry begins in our heart. We can make our plea for forgiveness until the day is long, but if our repentance is only in our head, there is no true repentance. Repentance must come from the heart and there, God forgives us.

I Samuel 7:3 "And Samuel spake unto all the house of Israel, saying, If ye do return unto the LORD with all your hearts, then put away the strange gods and Ashtaroth from among you, and prepare your hearts unto the LORD, and serve him only: and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines." Looking up Ashtaroth (feel free to correct me if I'm wrong) I found that he was a god in demonology, a prince of Hell. Samuel was telling Israel that God would deliver them if they would RETURN to the Lord with all their HEARTS. Not their head. Not their bodies. Their HEARTS. We can physically return to the Lord. On the outside, people see us living for the Lord. Doing our reasonable service for Him. But the Lord sees how we're living in our heart. He sees if we are turning to God or if we are holding on to Ashtaroth. If our hearts do not return to Him, He can't deliver us from our sin. If repentance is only in our head, we will fall back again. If repentance is in the heart, God can and will deliver us.

Acts 15:3 "And being brought on their way by the church, they passed through Phenice and Samaria, declaring the conversion of the Gentiles: and they caused great joy unto all the brethren." When I read this, one thing came to mind in reference to repentance. The church rejoiced. Granted, there were Pharisees in the midst. There were ALWAYS Pharisees. Unfortunately, they're still around in our churches today. But we can't worry about the Pharisees. The church should be rejoicing when one converts or returns to God through true repentance. If we would quit wondering if "they really got it" and just rejoice in the moment, God will take care of the rest.

What Is Your Value Compared to the Ruby?

Lately, more than ever, I have been reflecting on my role in the home and I wonder if my value as wife and mother surpasses that of the ruby. I do not believe there is anyone who will rise to the value of the virtuous woman. I do believe, however, that those of us who have been blessed with this role, should try to emulate her as much as possible. I fall short of her in different areas. We all do. But God can help us, through His Word and through much time spent in prayer. Take time to carefully read this passage on the Proverbs 31 woman. Pray that the Lord will help you strive to be like her in your daily walk as a wife and mother.

Proverbs 31:
10Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies.
11The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her, so that he shall have no need of spoil.
12She will do him good and not evil all the days of her life.
13She seeketh wool, and flax, and worketh willingly with her hands.
14She is like the merchants' ships; she bringeth her food from afar.
15She riseth also while it is yet night, and giveth meat to her household, and a portion to her maidens.
16She considereth a field, and buyeth it: with the fruit of her hands she planteth a vineyard.
17She girdeth her loins with strength, and strengtheneth her arms.
18She perceiveth that her merchandise is good: her candle goeth not out by night.
19She layeth her hands to the spindle, and her hands hold the distaff.
20She stretcheth out her hand to the poor; yea, she reacheth forth her hands to the needy.
21She is not afraid of the snow for her household: for all her household are clothed with scarlet.
22She maketh herself coverings of tapestry; her clothing is silk and purple.
23Her husband is known in the gates, when he sitteth among the elders of the land.
24She maketh fine linen, and selleth it; and delivereth girdles unto the merchant.
25Strength and honour are her clothing; and she shall rejoice in time to come.
26She openeth her mouth with wisdom; and in her tongue is the law of kindness.
27She looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness.
28Her children arise up, and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praiseth her.
29Many daughters have done virtuously, but thou excellest them all.
30Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the LORD, she shall be praised.
31Give her of the fruit of her hands; and let her own works praise her in the gates.

Family...Which Role Is Yours?

*How the family began ~ Genesis 2:18-25 "And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him. And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof. And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field: but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him. And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of the ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; And the rib which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. And Adam said, This is now bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man. Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh. And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed." God saw it was not good for the MAN to be alone. So He created the woman, crafting her only the way God can, from man himself. There were all of these animals that God had given Adam to name and don't you think Adam must have looked at the animals and noticed that they each had mates? And don't you think he wondered why he didn't have a mate? He was most likely a lonely man. Come to think of it, he was the loneliest man on earth! And this is when the first recorded surgery took place. God put Adam in a deep sleep, opened him up for a rib, and closed him back up. VOILA! A woman! Women were created FOR man, FROM man, to be a help meet TO man.

*Three Essentials for a Christian Home ~ Deuteronomy 6: 4-9 "Hear O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart. And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thy hand, and they shall be as a frontlets before thine eyes. And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on they gates." We should love God as a family together. Love Him with ALL of our heart, ALL of our soul, and ALL of our might. If we don't love Him with ALL that we have, our family is setting itself up for failure in our Christian walk. How do we instill that love for God in our children? Verse six says we are to DILIGENTLY teach and talk to them when we sit in the house, lie down, and rise up. Our children have enough worldly influence around them without parents placing it in front of them. Teaching them to love God is an ALL day process. It's not just taking them to church on Sunday and maybe Wednesday if it's convenient. It is an all day process.

*The Role of the Wife ~ I Peter 3:1-6 "Likewise, ye wives, be in subjection to your own husbands; that, if any obey not the word, they also may without the word be won by the conversation of the wives. While they behold your chaste conversation coupled with fear. Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel; But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price. Even as Sara obeyed Abraham, calling him lord: whose daughters ye are, as long as ye do well, and are not afraid with any amazement." Subjection...the most hated word by women, in the English dictionary. It is our nature not to want to be told what to do. When we think of subjection that is the first thing that comes to mind. But subjection is more attitude than action. I can obey my husband, but if I do it with a contrite spirit, I am not in subjection. (by the way, if you're not my husband, I don't have to obey you, so don't even bother. Unless of course, God has given you some other authority over me. i.e...Pastor, etc.) It is important for Christian women to have a sweet spirit of subjection because men watch us. Yep, that's right. They watch us! They are creatures driven by sight. We know this and that's why it is important to dress right, giving them no cause to stumble into lust. But they watch our conduct and attitude too. If we have Christian friends with unsaved husbands, these husbands need to see that meek and quiet spirit from us. They need to see it in their own wife so that the Word of God, through our subjection can be seen and prayerfully win that lost husband to Christ. Our outward appearance of whether or not we look just right is important, but that shouldn't be the focus. Verse five says that the HOLY WOMEN adorned themselves, being in subjection to their own husband. Just before that, it says they trusted God. Why is it important to trust God when being in subjection? Because there is a chain of command instituted by God. When we follow that chain of command and are obedient to what God has laid out before us, He will keep His word! We may not understand or agree with the situation, but just obey in subjection and God will bless it.

*The Role of the Husband ~ Colossians 3:19 "Husbands, love your wives, and be not bitter against them." Husbands are to love their wives. I kind of feel weird talking about this one because I know men read my blog and I don't want to sound like I am usurping authority over the man, so you of the male persuasion, feel free to skip this one! But ladies, our husbands are commanded to love us. That's it! They are not here to rear our children, cook our meals, rub our feet, etc. If your husband does these things on his own, that is WONDERFUL and KUDOS for him!! He is putting his love into action by doing these things and that is just great! But if he's doing these things because you're a nag and won't stay off his back, go back to The Role of the Wife again and take note of the "meek and quiet spirit." Your husband may let you nag for a while, but that nagging is building up inside of even the most patient man like a tea kettle over a fire and eventually, he's going to blow his steam and whistle his dislike to that nagging. We were placed here for HIM, not him here for US! Oh dear, I should probably close comments on this, shouldn't I?

*The Role of the Children ~ Proverbs 1:8 "My son, hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy mother:" Children, your role in the family is very important also. You're not just the kid. When you follow your parents rule, you WILL be blessed! Even if your have unsaved parents or parents not living for the Lord, you can be a witness through your obedience. You could be a tool in turning that parent back to God or an instrument in leading them to the Lord. Just through obeying! And if you have godly parents, think of how much of a blessing you will be to them by your obedience.

*The Role of the Parent ~ Ephesians 6:4 "And ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord." Earlier I mentioned that our children are surrounded by worldly influence. It is so important for us, as Christian parents, to stay focused on the Spiritual things. It is our job (both mom and dad) to see to it that our children are being brought up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. What is "nurture and admonition"? We hear these words at every baby dedication, on Mother's Day, Father's Day, etc, but what do they mean? Nurture means to feed and protect. But it also means to bring up, train, and educate. So we are to train and educate our children in the things of the Lord. It is not solely up to our Pastor, Youth Pastors, etc. They help in that area, yes, but it is OUR job as parents to see they are being spiritually educated. Admonition means we are to counsel, advise, caution, and render reproof. No where in the Bible does it say we are to be friends with our children. We are to train them. There will come a day when they are all grown up and on their own and then they will make good friends. But now, we are their authority figures. NOW is the time to educate them in spiritual matters. Right now, they are CHILDREN! That's why God gave them PARENTS. It is our responsibility to guide them. If we don't, they will be a spiritual failure, but by God's grace.

*The Prescription for Rearing Children ~ Proverbs 22:6 "Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it." The prescription for rearing children is not difficult. I've heard people say many times that babies don't come with instructions. Well, yes, they do. It's called the Holy Bible! If you are not sure your child is on the right path, read the instructions for a re-route!

Personal Requirements of Prayer

I have always been one to pray while a prayer is being said by someone else. Usually I'll be listening and be in agreement with them, or I'll be praying about the same things at the same time and other things that come to my heart and mind at the time. You probably do that too. But once in a while, I'll just listen to someone's prayer. I remember when Bruce and I started going to Faith, we struggled with knowing for sure that this was where God wanted us. It took a long time for us to join, even though after the first visit we couldn't imagine being anywhere else. Then 9-11 happened and that Wednesday night Pastor Goodman had a special alter call before prayer service. I will never forget gathering around that alter with God's people and as I finished praying, I just listened to all the men of God raising their cries to the Lord. But I also remember hearing a prayer coming from the platform that sounded muffled and anguished. I looked up and saw my Pastor flat down on the platform with his body completely stretched out and his face on the carpet. I had never seen anyone pray like that before. I had never heard anyone pray like that before. It blessed my heart to know that the man who would most likely become our spiritual leader was that close to the throne of God. Not perfect, mind you, just close to the throne. He was a praying man! I have GREAT respect for the man of God that KNOWS how to pray and humbles himself before the Lord, taking no pride in himself on what he says or how eloquently he says it. He's just praying and talking to God!

There are several general requirements in the Bible on how to pray, but I wanted to focus on some personal requirements of prayer mentioned in the Bible. These have helped me to stop and examine my prayer life.

*Purity of heart ~ Psalm 66:18,19 "If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me: But verily God hath heard me; he hath attended to the voice of my prayer:" Have you ever heard something like, "The way they live their prayers won't pass the ceiling?" In other words, their life is full of sin that we all know of and see. We know God is not hearing their prayers! But you know, sometimes we have sins hidden in our hearts that keep the Lord from hearing our own prayers. On the outside we look like Christians and we act like Christians, but in our hearts there are things that hinder our relationship with the Lord. We need to let those things go and keep our hearts pure. He longs for our fellowship and it is our own fault when something hinders that.

*Believing ~ Matthew 21:22 "And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive." I can not tell you how many times I have prayed for something, not believing that the Lord would answer that prayer. It seemed so unreachable for me, but you know, nothing is unreachable for God. He can do ANYTHING! He created the world in six literal days, saved the Hebrew children from the fiery furnace, fed Elijah by using the ravens...and my requests are too big for Him? And yet, I still have a hard time believing. Why is that? Because I bring Him to my level of humanity instead of seeing Him as the almighty God that He is. What an insult it must be when we do not believe He can answer our prayers! There's an old saying that says, "If you're going to pray for rain, carry an umbrella."

*Praying in Christ's name ~ John 14:13,14 "And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it." I have a really difficult time with those who just end their prayer with a simple "Amen." I want to ask them just who exactly are they praying to? Jesus? Buddha? Mohamed? Make yourself plain to me and to those who don't know any better. If it wasn't important for us to pray in His name, it wouldn't be in our Bibles. Can you imagine the prayers that would be answered by men of God if they would just pray in His name instead of being stubborn about it? I ask them, please show me in the Bible where we are not to pray in Christ's name. Do you not respect Him enough to do that? Do you think yourself equal to Him? Can you tell this one gets under my skin a little bit?

According to God's will ~ I John 5:14 "And this is the confidence that we have in Him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us." Prayer was always confusing to me as a child. "...ask in His name and He'll do it...ask for His will to be done." Well, what if my request for Him to do something didn't line up with His will. The two go hand in hand. When our hearts are pure, we want God's will in all things. Regardless of the outcome. If we continually seek His will, He will hear us. If we just keep pestering Him for something, even though it's painfully obvious that it is not His will, He may just go ahead and give it to us. When that happens, it always ends up being a bad thing. The Bible has many stories that end up like that. God is good all the time and we need to trust His will for everything in our lives. He sees what is ahead of us. Trust Him to lead and guide.

Somebody Hold Up My Hands!

We were in our Missions Conference this week and it was so good. But I could just KICK myself for not taking pictures of the two men that preached! *rolling eyes*

Brother Luther Spivey was there giving his testimony of how he was a Pastor when God called him to be a missionary to Mexico. They have seen 8000 souls saved there since he surrendered to go a few years ago. Isn't that a blessing? Bruce and I were privileged to hear him preach at his former church before he resigned to go into missions. He's quite the preacher, let me tell ya!


Brother Wendell Runion is the founder of IBOM (International Baptist Outreach Missions) and one of the kindest men you'll meet. He is also the General Manager of WKJV radio, which you can listen to at any time. Just scroll down their websit and click the little radio to listen online. Brother Runion has a heart to see souls saved here and around the world. It was a blessing to have him in our church.


Brother R G Smith, church planting in the Middle East, was a blessing also. I wish I had video taped what he said on missionaries and them being seperated no matter where they were. Wow! He hit the nail on the head there. I would love to hear him preach a sermon.


This young missionary is Brother Spencer Smith. He and his wife are going to Kenya. He is a graduate of Crown College and grew up in the church where my Pastor got his start in the ministry. He had a sweet testimony of how God called him and how he was ready to go.


Here are a few displays...




Brother Jack Shook preached Monday night, on "Somebody Hold Up My Hands." This, was probably, one of the best sermons I've heard on prayer and those standing in the need of it. Here are my notes:

Exodus 17:12 "But Moses' hands were heavy; and they took a stone, and put it under him, and he sat thereon; and Aaron and Hur stayed up his hands, the one on the one side, and the other on the other side; and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun." (KJV)

First of all, Missionaries need to:
* Be Born Again!
*Seperated - The Bible is full of seperation. If you get saved, get out of the world!
* Be Totally Surrendered - If you are not totally surrendered, you will never make it on the mission field or in any ministry.
*Preach from the King James Bible - If it reads different, it is NOT the same!
*Pray - We'll never do anything for God until we have a prayer life. We will give an account for our prayer life. We're whining about losing good IFB Pastors and Missionaries, but it's our own fault because we aren't praying for them!

No one wants to pray. Prayer is our strongest weapon in battle. We must make ourselves die daily to the flesh in order to pray.

Amalek is a picture of the flesh. We are all in constant battle with our flesh, including missionaries and pastors. The devil fights them the hardest because of their ministries. Missionaries need someone to hold up their hands. They need prayer warriors! Pastors need someone to hold up their hands. They need prayer warriors!

Prayer is essential for anyone in the ministry. Everything hinges on prayer. Nothing can take the place of prayer. You have access to the throne - USE IT!

You need a place and a time to pray. Our chilren need to hear us pray. Our spouses need to hear us pray. Salvation hinges on prayer!

Every great man of God in the Bible was a praying man. Daniel, Job, Elijah, etc.

Luke 18:1 "And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint. (KJV)

When we pray, we gain power in preaching, passion in our souls, and burdens in our hearts.

Prayer is a privilege that we abuse and neglect all too often because we fail to realize the importance of it.

Prayer gets you in the place to worship God. You can NOT worship God if you do not have a prayer life.

Do you hear the pastors crying, "SOMEBODY HOLD UP MY HANDS!"
Do you hear the missionaries crying, "SOMEBODY HOLD UP MY HANDS!"

Whose hands are you holding up in prayer today?

You Can't Have It...My Father Gave It To Me

We took our teens to Gateway Baptist for a Youth Jubilee tonight to hear Brother Tommy Steele. I had never heard him preach and I have to say, I was really blessed to hear him tonight. When we first got there, we were invited into the fellowship building for a supper of pizza, salad, macaroni salad, and dessert. I liked the verse they used for their fellowship building, "Jesus saith unto them, Come and dine."


After supper, we made our way into the auditorium for the service.


The "R" family was there with little Jacob, who was quite content to rest on his mommy.



Here's Brother RJ standing with the other preachers and Youth Pastors introducing himself and what church he was from. He was the very last one called on.


Shaking hands


Some of the youth singing specials. I believe these girls were from Love Valley. SUSAN, I believe your brother goes to Love Valley...Brother Philbeck's church.


The youth from Gateway and all the visiting youth were asked to come sing a few songs together. They did a great job.


And then it was time for the preaching. Brother Steele preached on "You Can't Have It...My Father Gave It To Me!"
*You can't have my KJV Bible! My Father gave it to me. ~ Don't let the devil take you away from the true Word of God. He gave it to us and the devil will try to take it away from you.

*You can't have my purity! My Father gave it to me. ~ God made you to be pure. Don't give that up. A story he told was of a girl that was being made fun of because she would not give up her purity like the other girls she knew. Her reply to them when they asked her why was that she could be like them any time she wanted to, but they could never go back and be like her. She wanted to keep her purity because it was precious to her being given to her by the Heavenly Father.

*You can't have my parents! My Father gave them to me. ~ Obey your parents. Live by their standards and by their rules. Don't make them worry about you. The devil loves to see a Christian parent walking the floors at night, crying out to God and worrying about their wayward child. Honor and love your parents.

Great sermon!


A pleasant surprise was when we saw Brother Russell Jones and his brand new bride. He attended our church while a student Ambassador Baptist College and we just loved him dearly. He was always a blessing and a fantastic preacher! He and his lovely wife, Amanda, have only been married since December. December 22nd, to be exact. That's mine and Bruce's anniversary. Isn't that neat? They were so funny. You could tell they were newlyweds. I was beginning to think their hands were welded together. ha!


On the way home, I received the greatest blessing of all, talking to a young lady on our bus. She desires to be used by the Lord and she was very much an encouragement to me.

It was a wonderful evening and I'm so glad the Lord allowed me the time to go.

Home Sweet Home ~~~ Sherry Camperson

Saturday morning of the ladies conference, I decided to go to Sherry Camperson's session on Home Sweet Home. Sherry is the first born daughter of Dr. Curtis and Geri Hutson. She's always a favorite of mine. Here are my notes from that session...

Home is the beginning and the end of the day. Home is where your story begins....

Women guide the atmosphere in the home. Every home has an atmosphere and "mom" is mainly responsible for that atmosphere. We have the ability to influence our family's attitude toward home. If we enjoy our home, our family will enjoy the home.

Biblically, we are to keep the home. If the home is in disarray, we blaspheme God.

Here are five senses to make your heart at home:

Sight ~ Look around your home. Notice your family. Take time to decorate pleasing to the eye, but take time for your children too. Be attentive to your husband.
Have inspirational things for them to read and look at.
Don't throw your keepsakes away. Use them around the house and display them attractively. For instance, she said she had a basket made of popsicle sticks she made when she was a child at VBS. She painted it black and now she serves bread in it at the dinner table.
Decorate for comfort. When someone enters your home they should feel comfortable and relaxed. Not like they've just entered a mansion and can't touch anything.
Decorate so that people will know that the Lord is there.
We miss opportunities to fellowship with others because we don't have things in order or because we don't have "wonderful" things. People could care less about what we don't have and just need our fellowship.

Hearing ~ The home should be a place where sweet words are heard. Proverbs 25:11 "A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver."
A~appropriate words
P~Pleasant words
P~Pure words
L~Lovely words
E~Encouraging words
S~Soft words
Sometimes people just need a listener. We don't always have to give advice or come up with an answer. Sometimes it's good just to listen. Our home should be a place of therapy for others.

Smell ~ Our home should have pleasant smells. Smells that make memories for our families. Maybe it's smells from the kitchen or familiar candles. The home should be filled with nice smells.

Taste ~ Men spell love F-O-O-D. A warm welcome for family and friends always includes food. Learn to cook! You don't have to become a chef, but learn to make familiar dishes your family will love and remember. Set a gracious table. Don't save the good china for company. Let your family know they're special too.

Touch ~ Touching announces to your family that you're there for them. It lets them know they're loved and makes them feel secure.

The Sweetness of the Lord ~~~ Reba Bowman

Our first speaker for the conference was Reba Bowman. If you Pastor's wives are ever looking for a wonderful speaker, here she is! She was funny and inspirational. She was an excellent speaker and the Lord used her to speak to my heart and many others. She was a blessing. Here are my notes from that session.

Do you enjoy your life? If not, what will it take to enjoy your life?

There will be times to laugh and cry in our lives. When the trials come, the Lord will do one of two things. He will either knock the trial out of the way, or He will walk us through it. Either way, we can enjoy life knowing and resting that He is in control. If we trust Him, He will show us that He is, I AM!

The trials we go through in life are things He uses to help us grow and beautify us. Everything is beautiful in His time. He is still faithful and good. Life is a gift. Enjoy it! Heaven will be a wonderful place, but don't walk around in the doom and gloom until you get there. Enjoy life now. Show others that you can enjoy life with Christ. Faith will change your walk and attitude and maybe take smoeone to Heaven with you. Life is hard.....but God is GOOD!

Be occupied with enjoying life. Don't live in the past or dread the future. The past is the past and God is already in the future. To enjoy your life, you must enjoy the Father. Your sweet time comes from time spent with Him in His word and in prayer. When we enjoy our life with Him, we honor Him.

He doesn't always give us what we want, but he ALWAYS gives us what we need. So stop griping about what you don't have and rejoice over the things you do have!

Do you have a distorted view of God? The prodigal son viewed his father as a law giver. But instead returned to a father full of grace and mercy. The eldest viewed his father as performance based. He felt he had to earn or win the fellowship of his father. How do you view your Heavenly Father? Do you view Him full of grace and mercy or are you constantly trying to earn and win His fellowship. He is not performance based. He loves us unconditionally. We can not earn or win His fellowship. All we have to do is seek it out. When we do that, His love pours out of our life. And when His love pours out of our life, that is when life is sweet.

I Have Not Forgotten

These are videos of my Pastor's sermon at the Heritage of America Bible Conference Monday night at Springmore Baptist Church. Please keep in mind that the quality of sound is not great because I was using my little camera. HOWEVER! Brother Chad did give Pastor one of those lapel mics, and that helped a lot. Pastor has a tendency to move around and out from behind the pulpit. He can't just stand there. So if he goes out of view, I promise he'll come back. Also, there are three links to click. I knew blogger had a limit on video length so I had to video in segments. But at one point I forgot I was video taping and left the camera running too long and blogger refused it. So I went to YouTube and they also rejected it. I don't know why, I've seen much longer videos on there. ANYWAY! My last resort was Photobucket and they just happen to have a brand new feature where you can cut and edit your video clips. YAY! So the links are there to continue on with the sermon. If you have about thirty minutes to 45 minutes to watch these, I think it'll be a blessing to you!

Click here for Part 6

Click here for Part 7

Click here for Part 8

The Girl In The Mirror Part II

I know I said I wasn't going to blog because I couldn't think of anything to blog about, but here's a post anyway. I don't have to think about this one. Just share my notes. If you remember, I posted the first part of a series our Youth Pastor's wife, Mrs. Liz, is doing with the girls in the youth group. Last week, she did Part II and I completely forgot to blog it. I found my notes a few minutes ago and decided to blog it tonight. If you missed Part I, you can find it in my sidebar under The Girl In The Mirror. This series is on the Problematic Girl vs the Praiseworthy Girl and is excellent to share with your daughters. As Pam, from Midnight Musings, said in the comments from Part I, you might like to print it off for your youth Pastor and his wife to do with your teen girls too.

Proverbs 31:10-31

Part II-Problematic Girl

and her Speech

The problematic girl found in Proverbs 29:11 and 30:32

Prov 29:11 "A fool uttereth all his mind, but a wise man keepeth it in till afterwards."

Prov 30:32 "If thou hast done foolishly in lifting up thyself or if thou hast thought evil lay thine hand upon thy mouth."

A. Speech comes from the heart.

1. Pride is a main cause for problematic speech

a. flattery

b. disrespectful to authorities ~ You should not disrespect your parents, your teachers, or ANYONE that is in authority over you.

2. God's feelings toward pride

a. abomination

B. Types of problematic speech

1. Perverse-filthy and dirty Prov 10:32 "The lips of the righteous know what is acceptable: but the mouth of the wicked speaketh frowardness." Prov 15:4 "A wholesome tongue is a tree of life but perverseness therein is a breach in the spirit."

2. Deceitfulness - joking around Prov 26:19 "So is the man that deceiveth his neighbor and saith, Am I not in sport?"

3. Contentions - always arguing and causing fights - Prov 27:15 "A continual dropping in a very rainy day and a contentious woman are alike."

4. Loud and Stubborn fighting - Proverbs 7:11 "She is loud and stubborn, her feet abideth not in her house." Prov 21:9 "It is better to dwell in a corner of the housetop, than with a brawling woman in a wide house."

5. Hastiness in speaking, in other words, she speaks and THEN thinks. Prov 10:19 "In the multitude of words there wanteth not sin: but he that refraineth his lips is wise." Prov 29:20 "Seest thou a man that is hasty in his words? there is more hope of a fool than of him."

C. Recipe for Change

1. Ephesians 4:29-32 "Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers. And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice. And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you." Put off corrupt communication-bitterness, wrath, and anger

2. Put on an edifying tongue and a forgiving tongue - lift each other up!

II The Praiseworthy Girl

and her Speech

James 3:1-18 " My brethren, be not many masters, knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation. For in many things we offend all. If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body. Behold, we put bits in the horses' mouths, that they may obey us; and we turn about their whole body. Behold also the ships, which though they be so great, and are driven of fierce winds, yet are they turned about with a very small helm, whithersoever the governor listeth. Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth! And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell. For every kind of beasts, and of birds, and of serpents, and of things in the sea, is tamed, and hath been tamed of mankind: But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of God. Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be. Doth a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter? Can the fig tree, my brethren, bear olive berries? either a vine, figs? so can no fountain both yield salt water and fresh. Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom. But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth. This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish. For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work. But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy. And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace."

Psalm 19:14 "Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in thy sight oh Lord my strength and my redeemer."

A. Speech comes from the heart

1. Wisdom and the fear of God is the main factor in a praiseworthy speech.

2. Whatever is inside of you will eventually come out.

B. Types of a praiseworthy speech - James 3:17-18

1. Peaceable - not stirring up strife - Be an easy person to get along with.

2. Gentle - not threatening - Be loving with your communication

3. Be approachable

4. Full of mercy - not giving what is deserved

5. Show the fruits of the Spirit

6. Without Partiality - not taking just one side of the story. - Don't get involved in other's arguments.

7. Without hypocrisy - telling the whole truth - Little white lies are STILL lies!

C. Recipe for Change How do you go from a problematic speech to a praiseworthy speech?

1. The Lord - He is your Redeemer - you owe it to him to speak the way that He would desire.

2. The Lord - He is your strength - He will give you the ability to speak in the way that is pleasing to Him.

Just pray. He will give you the ability to be a praiseworthy girl!

Good Day!

We've had a good day today. The kids were up and going at 6:30 this morning getting ready for school. They were so quiet. I listened to them shuffle through the hall, door to door, and they never said a word to each other that I know of. Usually there are giggles and playful antics going on, but not this morning. They seemed to be focussed on getting busy. Either that, or their bodies are still on holiday time, if you know what I mean.

I really love cooking lunch instead of supper and being able to sit together as a family to eat since Bruce is at work during supper hours. Today I fixed fajitas with sauteed peppers and onions, topped with grated cheese and sour cream. Harrison said he wanted those for his birthday lunch with his grandparents.......in APRIL! I think I have time to plan that, don't you?

We finished lunch in time for Bruce to stretch out on the couch for an hour before work. Justin is cleaning the kitchen, Hannah is working on her laundry, and Harrison is working off his lunch, boxing with his Wii. His little arms fly, but he only hits something about every few seconds. Which is kind of funny. He's tuckered out when he's finished.

I wanted to share my notes from Pastor's sermon Sunday night and I hope it's a blessing to you as it was to me. I lost a lot of time last year worrying about things God already knew about and had under control. Too many times last year I allowed the devil to steal my joy. However, I am thankful for 2007 because it was a time of spiritual growth for me. This sermon helped me so much and I'm anticipating a new year of trusting God more in 2008. We always have a slogan for the new year and this year's slogan is More blessings await in 2008. I'm looking for those blessings. How 'bout you?

Worry Is Sin

Psalm 127:2 "It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows; for so he giveth his beloved sleep."

Philippians 4:5-7 "Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand. Be careful for nothing; but in everything by paryer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."

Everything is so trivial to God. We literally worry ourselves sick. Here are five things that worry is.

*Worry is a harassing, a trouble, and a teasing to your spiritual condition and physical condition. We lose sleep, we can't eat, we become emotionally distressed. We develop ulcers, headaches, stiff muscles, and other physical conditions related to worrying when all we have to do is place the problem in God's hands.

Luke 21:26 "Men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of Heaven shall be shaken."

*Worry accomplishes nothing. Why do anything if it doesn't do anything?

Matthew 6:25-26 "Therefore I say unto you, take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?"

You don't see a bird having nervous breakdowns, do ya? How many mountains have you moved by worrying? How many souls have you led to Christ by worrying? How many deaths has your worrying stopped?

*Worry is the devil's wrench to turn your head away from Jesus Christ.

Hebrews 12:2 "Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God."

Worry is the biproduct of selfishness, thinking of ourselves and how we can't handle the situation when it's not up to us to handle it. It's up to God!

*Worry is 90% of what we worry about never happening. One day at a time is how we need to make it. Sometimes a minute at a time. Worrying will rob you of your joy!

*Worry is an insult to the Holy Ghost.

John 14:16 "And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever."

Worry is when the Comforter comes by to take our burden and we say, "NO! I'm keeping it to myself." That is an insult to the Holy Spirit.

We are to please God in all things, 24/7, and we can not please Him by worrying.

The Golden Compass

Have you heard of this movie? I had not heard of it until this morning when I read about it in an email. There are so many false emails that circulate, from "Help me find my child" to "George Carlin Said This..." So I usually don't follow up with the "forward this to everyone on your contact list." But after checking this out I am certainly sending out a warning about this movie, The Golden Compass, which was made to kill God in the minds of children, by children killing God in the story. Of course, they don't advertise that part when they promote the movie.

There are excerpts taken from circulating emails that Snopes.com has come across. You can read the entire page yourself by clicking here, but this is what they says is the origin of this movie. And of course I encourage you to do some research on it yourself. Epsecially if you are planning on buying the books or taking your children to see this movie.

The Golden Compass is a fantasy film starring Nicole Kidman that is scheduled to be released into theaters on 7 December 2007, has been drawing fire from concerned Christians. The film is based on Northern Lights (released in the U.S. as The Golden Compass), the first offering in Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy of children's books, a series that follows the adventures of a streetwise girl who travels through multiple worlds populated by witches, armor-plated bears, and sinister ecclesiastical assassins to defeat the oppressive forces of a senile God.

Books of the trilogy have sold more than 15 million copies around the world, with Northern Lights winning the Carnegie Medal for Children's Literature in 1995 and in 2007 being awarded the 'Carnegie of Carnegies' for the best children's book of the past 70 years. The Amber Spyglass, the final book of the series, won The Whitbread Prize in 2001, making it the first children's book to do so.

The series' author Philip Pullman, is an avowed atheist who has averred that "I don't profess any religion; I don't think it's possible that there is a God; I have the greatest difficulty in understanding what is meant by the words 'spiritual' or 'spirituality.'" Critics of Pullman's bookspoint to the strong anti-religion and anti-God themes they incorporate, and although literary works are subject to a variety of interpretations, Pullman left little doubt about his intentions when he said in a 2003 interview with The Sydney Morning Herald that "My books are about killing God." (Conservative British columnist Peter Hitchens labeled Pullman "The Most Dangerous Author in Britain" and described him as the writer "the atheists would have been praying for, if atheists prayed.")

Psalm 14:1 "The fool hath said in his
heart, there is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works,
there is none that doeth good

Psalm 53:1 "The fool hath said in his
heart, there is no God. Corrupt are they, and have done abominable
iniquity; there is none that doeth good."

Proverbs 10:8 "The wise in heart will
receive commandments: but a prating fool shall fall."

Prescription for a Healthy Marriage

We went back to the gym for a snack Friday night, which consisted of assorted cookies, pastries, chips and dip, coffee, hot cider, pepsi, and diet pepsi. It was yummos!

This is Brenda and Kelly T. Kelly's daughter is holding up the bunny ears. Boy! The lack of respect for parents today......;)


A group of our ladies...


A group of our girls....Hannah, Jessie, and Cassie


Elizabeth (bunny fingers girl)



LeAnna being crazy



Dana enjoying a chat with her mother, Mrs. Carolyn



Mrs. Ava, Crystay, and Tammy



Cammi...Remember the video of the boy singing I'm Going Higher? This is his momma.



Kellie R trying to hide from my camera.....HA! Keep tryin' Kellie!



April....bless her heart. Pregnant and so very tired that night. She enjoyed her time, but she was ready to lay down and get some needed maternity zzzzzz's.


Pam



The next workshop I attended was with Sherry Camperson. She is the oldest daughter of the Hutson's. She has got to be one of the SWEETEST ladies! She ADORES her family and it just radiates off of her.




This workshop was called Prescription for a Healthy Marriage. She had a handout with blanks to fill in, so I'm going to copy that. She also had an EXCELLENT tip about pumpkin pie. If you'd like to know that tip, ask me later. ;)

Sometimes conflicts in marriage are created when couples make each other unhappy by deliberately hurting one another. But most often conflicts in marriage are caused when couples fail to make each other happy simply because they are not aware of each other's vastly different needs. So, who needs what? We'll focus on the needs of the husband.

What is love? Love is the unselfish desire to meet the needs of the cherished object. Know your husband's needs and make it your goal to meet them. This is love.

Exchange the GOLDEN Rule for the PLATINUM Rule.

Instead of doing unto others as you would have them do unto you, do unto others as they would have you do unto them.

Deuteronomy 10:12,13 "And now, Israel, what doth the Lord thy God require of thee, but to FEAR the Lord thy God, to WALK in all his ways, and to LOVE him, and to SERVE the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul, to KEEP the commandments of the Lord, and his statutes, which I command thee this day for thy good?"

RESPECT (FEAR)

While you long for family commitment, he desperately needs your admiration. You need him to be proud of his family; he needs you to be proud of him. Your husband is vulnerable to your opinions of him.

I got tickled when she said this because it is so true. Every once in a while Bruce will say something like, "I think I could be a doctor" or "I think I would be good at skydiving" or "I could be a sculptor." And I always answer back, "You can, baby!" or "You WOULD be good at that." Now, whether or not I truly believe that, he believes I believe it. And that makes him feel good to know that I have confidence in him. He knows I have a high opinion of him.

All relationships need respect and starts with it. He wants a sweet spirit from us. Respect his property and his privacy.

If he wants to talk, stop whatever it is you're doing and listen to him.

Choose to overlook his faults.

It wasn't the apple on the tree, but the pair on the ground that brought sin into the world.

"She" needs a protector. "He" needs a companion. Make him a leader by being a follower.

Recreation (WALK)

While you have a great need for conversation, your husband has a great need for you to be his recreational partner.

Learn to walk together. To play together. Find time to have fun together!

Men like their quiet time. They all have a "cave" and like to go to that "cave."

In our case, Bruce's cave is his workshop or sitting on the couch with his guitar.

Respect the cave, but he's ready for recreation, play with him.

Romance (LOVE)

While you can't do without affection, your husband cannot survive without s*e*x*u*a*l fulfillment. (I added the stars so people googling wouldn't think this was a perverted site. Thanks for that tip, Pam!) While you are attracted to his honesty and openess, your husband is drawn to your physical attractions and differences. Titus 2:4 "That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children." We need to taught how to love our husbands. When we say our marriage vows, we promise to obey. If we live by our vows and obey our husbands, we will love him. Show him physical affection. Be pretty for him. An attractive woman is made....not born!

Regard (SERVE)

While you need financial support, that is enough money to live comfortably: he needs peace and quiet, that is domestic support. While the home is your world, the home is his castle, his occupation being his world.
He is at work more than at home. When he comes home, he doesn't want to be bombarded with what's falling apart in the house and how the children disobeyed all day. He wants to be served. Greet him at the door with a kiss. Try homecooked meals for a change instead of frozen dinners or eating out. Men LOVE a good homecooked meal. Figure out his favorite recipes and make them for him.

Restrain (KEEP)

"Keep" is a military term, meaning the "last line of defense." While you need his protection, he needs your obedience of submission. Submission is not your punishment for being a woman; submission is your passport to happiness. View God's commandments as expressions of His love and protection, rather than restrictions to your happiness.

I remember someone saying once that submission is 1% action, 99% attitude. This is so true!

Submitting to another = for the glory of God. Learn what makes him tick and things that tick him off!

IF YOU KEEP ON DOING AFTER YOU GET MARRIED WHAT YOU DID BEFORE YOU GOT MARRIED IN ORDER TO GET MARRIED, YOU WON'T GET UNMARRIED!