When God Says No

I’ve never been in the situation, but sadly I know of many who have. It’s a situation that Christians go through and sometimes it can be truly heartbreaking, even just to witness it.

When God says no to something, it sucks. But when God says no to something that you’re invested in and you think is what He wants, it can be shattering.

Sadly, this often occurs with relationships.

Even just thinking about it, I know of a couple people who have been in godly relationships for a number of months and even years only to go their separate ways after God has clearly told them to leave.

You’re probably wondering, “Then why didn’t they pray about it in the first place??”. Maybe they did, maybe they didn’t. How God works is a mystery to all.

What I want to focus on today is what to do when God tells you no to something you want.

Firstly and the most obvious, you meditate on it just to be sure and definitely get into the word. Look into why God is saying no. A lot of the times it’s because of sexually immorality and different dreams for the future. On top of that, we also need to remember that Satan tries to disguise himself as God so we need to know the difference and discern accordingly. It’s a rare occurrence, but I know of marriages that have ended after one spouse thinks God has told them they’re with the wrong person. I can straight up tell you now that that is incorrect. God HATES divorce. He would not instruct something contrary to the Word. That’s why it’s so important we have a firm knowledge of it.

Secondly, have faith. According to Romans 8:28, God has promised to turn all things into good for those who love Him. God wouldn’t ask you to give up something unless He has something better in store for you. Maybe you find it hard to accept it now, but try to look at things through Heavens eyes. Your pain equals something, and one day you’ll find that it’s all worth it. Have a firm foundation of God’s love for you so you can see the love in all circumstances you might be brought to.

Thirdly, surrender your pain to God. Sometimes God has ended relationships because they can be a distraction from Him. I don’t know about you, but I would say that’s perfectly fair. If you’ve been brought to this circumstance, maybe check what’s going on in your life that God has judged to make you unready. Use the new season to grow closer to Him and love Him even more then you already do.

I hope this was encouraging.

 

GOD BLESS XX

~ C

 

God’s Will > Your Will

When I first started courting J, I had been a Christian for about two years so I was pretty much a newbie. Plus, at the time we were attending a Church where personal spiritual growth wasn’t encouraged and we were all fed baby food.

What I’m saying is, I don’t really believe I was spiritually ready for when we started courting. There was a lot I did not know about God, let alone about His view of relationships so as you could imagine its been a bit of a struggle for us.

Something that’s particular hard is now, when I read the Bible, I might come across something that convicts me and makes me see that something we’re doing together might not be God honouring, but when you’ve been doing it a long time, it’s hard to stop. Not impossible, but hard.

So I guess the purpose of this blog post today is to help you out there, single, dating or married to seek out God’s will more then your own.

It sounds easier then it is. A lot of the time what God wants goes against everything our flesh wants. That’s why having the knowledge that we have authority over our flesh is so important. It makes me frustrated when I realise how that one truth could have helped my courtship from day dot to keep it God honouring. We struggled with something we held the answer to and now that we do know, we have to train ourselves up.

Firstly, get an understanding of this authority that God has gifted us with. It’s an authority over the things of this world (for we are from Heaven, not earth).

Here’s some scriptures to help:

 

“Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you.” – Luke 10:19

 

“Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” – Matthew 18:18

 

“Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” – James 4:7

 

“For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds.” – 2 Corinthians 10:3

 

“For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?” – 1 John 5:4-5

 

Whatever area you are in with your relationships, start using your authority over the flesh to follow God’s will and not your own. I won’t lie and say its easy, but according to Luke 1:37, “With God, all things are possible.”

 

GOD BLESS XX

~ C

 

Serve Like Christ

Jesus is our greatest model of how we should live and how we should be as Christians. Perhaps one of my favourite things about Him is His servant heart towards those around Him.

Marriage and relationships are a great place to start and grow to have a servant heart. A lot of people forget that marriage is not about your selfish gain, but serving each other selflessly and being a servant towards your partner/spouse.

Imagine a world where everyone lived to serve each other. No one would be lacking anything, right? Well, that’s exactly what marriage especially is meant to be: two people serving each other and in doing so, receiving everything in return.

I utterly love the principle of it all, but I know it’s also a very hard one to take on board. It’s against our human flesh and worldly desires to serve other people above ourselves. We want the goodies but we don’t want to give them in return. That’s why it’s so important that as born again Christians we not only talk the talk, but walk the walk. Actions are an outwork of our faith. Jesus spoke many times of this and the renewing of the mind. As we still live in this world,. we are going to be subjected to its temptations, but through our renewal which comes by God’s Word, we are able to overcome them and follow the truth.

Our answer and key to everything lies within the pages of the Bible. Jesus Himself quoted that man does not live by bread alone. The Bible is meant to be apart of our day to day life, but I don’t believe Jesus just meant reading it, but also living it.

As Jesus is our greatest example of how we should be, I strongly suggest getting into the first four books of the gospel for starters and study how Jesus lived and start applying it to your lives. Is it hard? Yes, but it’s totally possible and totally worth it. After that, the epistles (letters to the Church) are great to study and outwork as well.

I think a lot of people fail to understand just how powerful the Bible is and how much it can help us in life. It really is a survival guide for Christs children living in a world ruled by Satan.

As you study more and more and seek to obey and follow Christ’s example, your mind and your thoughts will also start to change. This is the renewal many speak of. You will still face temptations, but as you’re building your knowledge of the Word, you are also building a barrier between you and the attacks of Satan.

I encourage you all today to grow closer to the Lord and start walking the walk along with talking the talk.

 

GOD BLESS XX

~ C