Relationships with Mr. Creflo Dollar

Alright, today's post is an amazing video about singleness, marriage, and everything in between by Creflo Dollar. I know if you're anything like me it's hard for you to just sit and watch a 10 minute video, but if you'll just play this video on your computer while your putting on your makeup, cooking, or searching Facebook, I feel like it will bless you. Creflo has some amazing points and some great reminders for our relationships. Besides who couldn't improve on their relationships a little? :)

Your Desire Will Be for Your Husband

Every woman has a desire deep within to love and be loved by a man.

She also has the desire to be pursued and protected by a man.

However, when fathers and other significant male figures over-dominate or bow out completely, abusing their God-given roles--this is when she seeks love and protection from desperate places.

In Genesis 3:16 God tells Eve what her curse will be for

sinning. He says, "...Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you." For this reason it can be said that ALL women have a desire deep down to be loved and pursued by a man. Even the roughest, toughest, and most indipendent women I know still want the love of a man deep deep down.

Because this is our curse I think it explains lots of things.

1. Our constant craving for romance. No wonder it's a girl thing to watch romance movies, read erotic books, and hope for Prince Charming to come sweep us off our feet. (See more in point 3)
2. Fantasy. Guys may fantacize about sex every point second or so, but girls definitely fantacise about marriage, weddings, and children just as much. Many girls openly admit that the moment he said "I like you," she had already pictured them walking down the aisle, changing her last name, and living in a 2 story house on main street.
3. The heart of little girls. This also helps us understand why little girls are the way they are. While the boys are off shooting guns, saving planet earth, and building bridges (I can explain this type of play later,) the girls are inside dressed in Mommy's old dresses playing tea party, house, or weddings.

As you can see, we were born with this innate desire for our husbands. God gave it to us as a curse for our sin, and it is a struggle we will deal with until we leave this earth. But take heart princess, there is positive to learn from this too!

First of all this should confirm to you that you are not a freak! I know lots of times its easy for us girls to get down on ourselves after a break up or rejection. Think of Jessica Biel in the movie Valentine's Day when she can't even get people to show up to her anti-Valentine's Day party. Often times at this point girls are asking themseleves why noone loves them, what's wrong with them, and who needs men anyway? I think Satan uses that to trick us into thinking we are the only single people in the world and that we are the only single people who struggle being single!

This is simply untrue as Gen 3:16 explained previously. ALL women struggle with the desire to love and be loved by a man.

I'm not going to sugarcoat this though--it IS a curse. That is why it is often so painful and uncomfortable for women to be single. We were born with a desire for our husbands. The effects from this range anywhere from eating excessive amounts of chocolate, to depression and bitterness. You are not alone, and yes most people struggle with this, it is in fact, a curse.

So that's all for today, we're all doomed unless we're married. Thanks for reading! :)

Just kidding!! That would obviously be terrible, and I serve a God who has done far to much for us than to make us suffer a life without love forever. If you've been mislead by your desire for love, if you feel incomplete without a man by yourside, or if you feel as though marriage is the only escape from the troubles of life--let me tell you, Satan is steeling your joy and there if far greater things available to you in this life.

In John 10:10 Jesus said, "I have come so that they may have life and that they may have it to the FULL!" That doesn't mean he came and died for you so you can lay on the couch feeling miserable for yourself. That means that he came, suffered, died, and rose again so that YOU sister can live an exciting and amazing life found through him!

As I explained in my post Made in His Image, God has amazing and wonderful plans for you--plans that ONLY you can fulfill! He's waiting on you to ask him so that he can show you this full life of love and adventure he has planned for you.

As for love, he's got you covered there too. 1 John 4:8 says GOD IS LOVE. So chase after him, fall hard after him, seek him, and all your wildest dreams will come true. Jeremiah 33:3, Jeremiah 29:11-13, Ephesians 3:19-21 Girls let me tell you, I've tried all the different loves the world has to offer, and NONE of them compare to the love that our God has for us! He made as after all didn't he? Why wouldn't he love us as his children? as his spouse? as his BRIDE? Song of Songs 4:7, 2 Corinthians 11:2, Revelations 19:7-9

Matthew 6:13

"But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness,

and all these things will be given to you as well."

Chasing Success

If I don't make it to the big leagues,

If I never win a Grammy
I'm gonna be just fine
'Cause I know exactly who I am

--Julie Andrews “Who I am”

My whole life I have been very success-driven. Part of this is probably because I am the oldest child and therefore I have something inside me that pushes me to want to please my parents, but it is also probably a mixture of pride, the American dream, and security. So throughout middle school and high school I wanted to be in everything and I wanted to be the best at everything (not in a competitive nature, but just out of a drive for success.) I then chose to come to the top school in my state, in order to receive the top education so that I could land the best job with the highest salary. In fact, last year one of my friends asked me what my biggest fear is and I replied, “Growing up and not being successful.”

However, after a year at this amazingly successful school, God has changed my heart and shifted the direction of my dreams. Recently he has really showed me that success can’t be my main goal in this life. Success is not guaranteed to anyone, no matter how hard they work. I know people who have worked their butt off for years, taking teams to state play-offs and students to new levels, but still lost everything in the end. No one can promise you a successful and secure life—it simply does not exist.

So as I sat back and pondered all of this I thought, well God if awards, money, and praise is worthless, then what do I pour myself into? “Me, you dear child!” God was probably giving me the “duh” look once again as he had to walk me back through his promises of being eternal. If you are a regular reader your have probably heard me say the three things that are eternal: God, God’s people, and God’s word. Over and over again this becomes more and more important to me. EVERYTHING ELSE IS USELESS—A CHASING AFTER THE WIND!! (Ecclesiastes)

What good will it do to have all the money and awards in the world if you miss watching your children grow up? And what are you going to do with that big house if you have no one to share it with? What’s God gonna say when you get to heaven and he asked you what you did and you say, “Well I have a real nice bank account.” Jesus said in Matthew 19:24, “Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”

He also said in Luke 16:13, “No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”

I don’t know if you have seen the wonderful new movie Country Strong featuring Gwyneth Paltrow, but the underlying theme of the movie emphasizes on this. In the movie, Kelly Canter (Paltrow) is a super famous country singer who spends the entire film going in and out of drug abuse and rehab.

(SPOILER ALERT) At the very end of the movie you finally think she’s gotten her life together. The audience's hope rises as you see her perform an astounding show in front of millions of happy fans cheering her name. Her husband tells her he loves her finally, and she makes peace with her younger rival. However, at the peak of her success, she kills herself with substance abuse.

It’s heartbreaking to watch this happen to famous people. I know you can think of tons who have, or supposedly have taken their own life despite their pinnacle of success. (Michael Jackson, Anna Nicole Smith, Marilyn Monroe, Elvis Presley) You would think if anyone could be completely satisfied with this life it would be the rich and the famous. After all, that’s what we’re all aiming for right? But if that’s what it takes to be fulfilled and content with life, why are they all turning to drugs, alcohol, and death for relief?

Please, by all means chase your dreams and do what your heart desires, but don't let these dreams become an idol. Keep God first and foremost and all of your desires will match his. Psalm 37:4 "Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart. "

Chase after God. He won’t let you down.

Psalm 119:32

“I run in the path of your commands, for you have set my heart free.”

Secrets and Regrets

Your secrets and regrets

Are keeping you from going very far

And you can't let all this get you down

And keep you living in the dark

I don't know if any of you have heard this song by Pillar, but it has so much truth to it. You can apply this to so many different areas in life--the lesson here is transparency. God has been teaching me about this all semester--it just keeps coming up. I feel like Christians have lost the raw truth of Christ and are stuck in the rut of trying to master a holy outward appearance while neglecting the inside.

James 5:16 says "Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. the prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.

Colossians 3:13 says "Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you."

1 Thessalonians 5:11-"Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are

doing."

1 Peter 1:22- "Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart."

How can we expect to find healing, true friendship love, and encouragement when we never share the truth with anyone. Sisters that's what best friends are for. We are all weak. We all sin (Romans 3:23.) We all need help, truth, and encouragement. But if you don't open up you will never find that freedom and peace.

Be careful to understand that I am not advocating sharing your deepest secrets with all of Times Square. I am however recommending that you have at least one or two strong Christian women in your life whom you can pour into and receive godly wisdom from.

Do you have a dark past? One of pain, guilt, and shame? Does that thing you did way back when haunt you every day of your life? Does the devil play mind games with you over this sin still? Perhaps it's your family life. Maybe it's a sickness you are embarrassed about. Or maybe it is sexual sin that you are too ashamed to share with other Christians.

Whatever it is, you need to find a confidant and share that with them. But why would you go through this humility?

1. Because it's biblical! The list of verses above should have already pointed that out to you. We are social creatures created to interact and love one another (Gen 2:18.) By being fake who are your friends and family actually loving? A nobody? True friends and true family are going to love you know matter what you have done. So come clean and confess your secrets to them.
2. Prayer changes things! The power of prayer is obvious, amazing, and supernatural. Prayer can heal! When my friends pray over me and for me I can instantly feel a peace come over my soul. God wants us to pray for one another! This is one of the ways he works! But girl, how can you receive the awesome blessings of heartfelt prayer from other people if you don't tell them what's going on?
3. Encouragement. When my friends come to me with a problem I immediately try to offer them some encouragement, a relevant bible verse, and prayer. Often times when I am doing my quiet time in the following week I will find other verses that apply to their situation. When I send these to my friends, more often than not, it is exactly what they needed to hear from God. I say this because if my friends didn't open up to me I couldn't encourage them and give them the messages from God they needed to hear.

I know it's super hard and super humiliating to open up and share dissapointments, pain, and failures with the people you love. But you must defeat these lies from the devil and hold tightly to God's promises of freedom, courage, and healing. By doing this you will also see your relationships become stronger and deeper between you and your friends.

Love you and praying for you,

Haley Marie

You're Beautiful

"You're beautiful. You were made for so much more than all of this."

Ephesians 2:10

For we are God's workmanship (masterpiece,)

created in Christ Jesus to do good works,

which God prepared in advance for us to do.

Made in His Image...

Genesis 1:26-27

“Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over the each, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”

So God created man in his own image,

in the image of God he created him;

male and female he created them.”

I share this with you from the creation story found in Genesis 1-3. This part of the story should more than anything, confirm your identity in Christ and replenish your self-worth. To be made in God’s image is the highest compliment you can ever be paid. God is holy, perfect, beautiful, and just. We are sinful, guilty, crooked, and sad. To think that the creator of the universe loved us enough to create us in his image is mind blowing!

God obviously thinks of you as someone very special, someone who was placed here to do his work while he momentarily remains in heaven. Did you hear that sister?! GOD, who created the world—created YOU to be like HIM and do HIS work! That’s beautiful. Our father thinks so highly of us that he trusts us with the rest of all creation, and the work that needs to be done!

I don’t know if you’ve ever applied for a job—but they don’t just hire anybody. Only those who seem worthy of the job, honest, and dependable will get to do the work. The same way with God! He didn’t make EVERYTHING in his likeness; neither did he give authority to everything to do his work. He didn’t say, “I have made the birds to love people like I do.” NO, that’s what he made us for!

Another illustration—think back to a time when you created something; whether it be a painting, a dessert dish, a collage, a piece of jewelry—anything! Think about how much time and effort you spent working on it…chances are you carefully planned it out, each brush stroke or turn of the spatula was done with passion and excitement. You worked really hard on what you made. Then think about afterwards—did you step back and look and ask your special friend to come look at what you had made? Did you serve your family in hopes that they would delight themselves in the deliciousness you created? Chances are you did! Even if you didn’t ask them straightforward, you still deep down sought their appreciation for your masterpiece.

How much more then does God want to show us off and use us for his glory!? He spent 24 hours creating our species, who knows how long planning out you and your life, 9 months preparing your form, and a lifetime for you to complete his good works! And afterward he will lead you into glory where you will shine with him for all eternity! (Ephesians 2:10, Psalms 73:23-24)

Beautiful child, the Lord has designed you so intricately. Ever design, ever pattern, every curve, nitch, spot, wrinkle…every part of you was sculpted to perfection in the eyes of the creator. He loves you dearly and he has created you for a wonderful purpose that only you can fulfill on this earth. Don’t let the enemy or the voices of the world steel this truth from you. Be joyful and praise your creator for giving you this opportunity called life.

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“Knowing that we are made in God’s image and thus share many of his characteristics provides a solid basis for self-worth. Human worth is not based on

possessions, achievements, physical attractiveness, or public acclaim. Instead it is based on being made in God’s image. Because we bear God’s image, we can feel positive about ourselves. Criticizing or downgrading ourselves is criticizing what God has made and the abilities he has given us. Knowing that you are a person of worth helps you love God, know him personally, and make a valuable contribution to those around you.”

--Life Application Study Bible (NIV) p.6

Marriage Post by Jon Werner

http://scarynuns.blogspot.com/2011/05/marriage.html

I found a new blog I like! This guy had a great post on Marriage and so I thought I would share it with all of you. The link to the actual blog is posted above. Hope you all get as much out of this as I did!

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Marriage

Today I spoke to my roommate about many various things, one of which was the topic of marriage. We started talking about how we thought marriage would be one day, even though you may find that weird for two single guys to talk about, it was vary interesting and insightful.

We started by talking about the beauty of marriage and the complexity, but also the simplicity of that entity. (Guess that rhymed :D) We started asking each other about what kind of person we would want to spend the rest of our lives with and if we actually were ever going to get married. That quickly turned into us talking about what God's plan was for our individual lives, and how we thought marriage would fit into that overall plan.

There were a few points we covered that I thought you may want to hear.

What is the mindset and what are the lies that the single youth believe about relationships/marriage?

I believe that Hollywood, media and peers have a huge negative effect on the mindsets of today's youth in regards to relationships/marriage. However, I won't go into what I think the youth believes about this topic. I will instead tell you what I believe the truth is.

I believe that marriage was designed by God and is a great thing. I believe that it is something that should be shared by ONE MAN and ONE WOMAN until death separates them. I also think that it is something that God ALWAYS should bring about. What I mean is that I believe that God can, will and should direct a man and a woman in marrying one another. I do not think that an individual should pursue an intimate relationship with another person of the opposite gender, without the leading of the Holy Spirit. I also believe that when God has given you that direction, it is okay to pursue (as long as you follow the Holy Spirit).

I believe that marriage should be carried out with the goal of furthering God's kingdom. I believe there are other things in scripture that give good reason to be married, but that advancing God's kingdom should me the primary goal in marriage. In other words, if your reason for getting married is solely based on feelings or "a love for that person", I do not think that is an okay reason to get married. I think this happens all the time and God is faithful to redeem that situation, but marriage shouldn't be done because of just feelings or attraction.

So, those are a few things that I believe personally about marriage. I believe these things are right and that they are important for all of us to consider.

I also wanted to say that we discussed one more thing. I feel as though this is important for young single people to know and to hear from the heart of a single man.

My greatest desire for my future wife is not the amount of money she will have, or the beauty of her outward appearance, or the way she makes me feel. My deepest and most heartfelt desire is that my wife will love the Lord Jesus Christ more than me and any other person. That Christ would be her passion and her desire. That Jesus would take first place in every area of her life. That the Lord would be her everything. I want a wife who is willing to look me in the eye and tell me that she would rather be found dead, then to love me more than the one who saved her soul. This may be completely foreign to some who read this. It may be completely out of the norm. But I just want people to know that I believe this is the heart that every single man should have. Really and truly, this is the heart that EVERY person should have. I think the most romantic thing in the world is someone who is sold out for Jesus and is willing to do whatever he calls that person to do.

This was the heart of one of my modern day heroes, Keith Green. He wrote a song that describes my heart and I think that it would be appropriate to post the lyrics to this song. Thanks for bearing with me. I just thought that it was necessary to address an area that may not be talked about enough. So now you know my heart on this. If you have anything you would like to ask or say about this just leave me a comment.

"Well I pledge my wife to heaven, for the Gospel. Though our love each passing day just seems to grow. As I told her when we wed, I'd surely rather be found dead, than to love her more than the one who saved my soul". Song written by Keith Green - Pledge my head to heaven - Verse 2

Is Kissing Toads Necessary?

"Before you meet your handsome prince, you have to kiss a lot of toads."

I'm sure you've heard this old saying a time or to in your lifetime, especially if you group up watching the Disney princess movies. I always loved this quote and thought it was perfect for single ladies like myself. However, as I was reading it last week I really thought about it, and I decided that I disagree.

I mean, is it really necessary that each of us go and date a lot of "toads," or losers before we find prince charming? Not at all. We have to understand that God already has our husband picked out for us

. Dating all the wrong people, kissing them, and giving our emotions away to them--has absolutely NO effect on changing God's mind or persuading him to reveal your prince to you sooner.

It can however lead you to settle for a toad rather than the prince set apart for you.

Now if you have kissed a few toads don't worry, God still has a marvelous plan for you, just as long as you don't mess it up and settle for less than God's best.

When I think about all the husband stories I've heard from young women, three things always stand out in their stories. Before God blessed them by revealing their mate to them they had to:

1. Find confidence and peace with themselves. This includes being content with their looks and body--knowing that the way they are is a masterpiece from God and he meant for every part of them to look the way that it does. This also includes knowing their personalities and understanding their spiritual strengths and how they can use that to serve in God's kingdom work.
2. They gave their dating lives over to God. Praying and seeking his will in every area of their life, dating was no different. They stopped pursuing, manipulating, and trying. They simply said, "Here God, this is yours now. Do whatever you want to do with it, I have no power over you." They realized that their love story would be better written by God than by them (See: Give God the Pen.)
3. Finally, they stopped being consumed with dating, marriage, and boys--and they shifted all of their focus and attention to doing kingdom work--the work of God. Serving at their churches, discipling younger girls, consistently seeking God in every morning's quiet time. I always see God work soon after women fall completely in love with God, trusting him in EVERY area of their life.

I'm not presenting these things to you as the gospel, I am simply saying this has been the pattern for many girls around me who are now engaged or married. I really think it is God showing us to trust him more and worry less. We must not forget the work of his wonderful hands! :)

Psalm 145:4-5

"One generation will commend your works to another;

they will tell of your mighty acts.

They will speak of the glorious splendor of your majesty,

and I will meditate on your wonderful works."