The Next Step: Following Wherever God Leads You

I was camping once as a boy and—all by myself—had to get from a lodge to the cabin where my family was staying.

It was a foggy night and pitch dark in the woods far from civilization. My only light came from my flashlight.

I vividly recall picking my way down the path. In the falling mist, my flashlight illuminated only a few feet ahead of me at a time. I would watch my feet and try to keep from moving off the narrow dirt trail into the brush on either side. [Read more…]

The Key to a Great Marriage

Don’t just seek the Spirit’s influence in your own life; also look for a mate who is living in that same influence.

You already know that Christians are not supposed to marry unbelievers (2 Corinthians 6:14-15). But that’s just a minimal standard. [Read more…]

What the Spirit Does for Us

Guide, empower, protect. Isn’t it wonderful what the Spirit does for us? But let’s get practical. How can we access these blessings? Learning about what the Holy Spirit can do is not what we most want. Experiencing it is!

Are you operating in the Spirit’s power? How can you be sure? [Read more…]

The Spirit’s Protection

Is the fear of loss or potential pain keeping you from a successful relationship? What about the fear of failure? Or the fear of repeating prior mistakes?

If that’s you, you’re not alone. Most of us experience those fears in the beginning of a relationship. Sometimes they are so consuming that we won’t even allow ourselves to get into a new relationship. Hey, if there’s no relationship, we can’t mess it up, right?

What if we told you that you don’t need to be ruled by fear? It’s true. As the apostle Paul said, “God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline” (2 Timothy 1:7, NLT). [Read more…]

Help Is on the Way

We’ve got some bad news for you. After encouraging you to be ready for God’s best, it is our sad duty to inform you that you are incapable of getting yourself ready for God’s best in marriage—or in any other area of your life, for that matter. You just can’t do it. You don’t have it in you. Sorry.

We really mean it; you’re incapable of this. And so are we. And so is everybody else you’re going to meet today. But there is Someone who is capable of making you ready for God’s best, as you cooperate with this particular Someone. We’re talking about the Holy Spirit. [Read more…]

Seeing God as He Really Is

“What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us,” wrote A. W. Tozer. Could that be true? We think it very well may be. For if your view of God is distorted severely enough, it could ruin your spiritual health, your relationships, your decision making—even your whole life. And on the other hand, if your view of God is correct, then you know Who you are dealing with in the spiritual realm and can learn how to relate to Him properly.

This is why we believe that, if you want to make yourself ready for God’s best in marriage, you not only need a biblical worldview (as we discussed in the last blog); you also need what we might call a biblical “Godview.” You need to know who God really is. Without a true perspective on God, you could never have a true perspective on yourself and your love life desires.

So, what is an accurate view of God? [Read more…]

Does God Care About Me?

Many single people we know think that they haven’t found a soul mate yet because God doesn’t care about them. They may even think He is punishing them for something they did wrong in the past. [Read more…]

Your Identity and Value

Sadly, we’ve known many single people, especially ones who have been searching for a soul mate for a long time, who feel badly about themselves. Maybe they hate the way they look. Maybe they think they are no fun, don’t make enough money, or don’t have any personality. Since they haven’t found God’s best in the form of a mate yet, they have begun to assume that something is wrong with them. And they fear that they are thereby disqualified from ever having a soul mate.

Is this kind of feeling legitimate? [Read more…]

Following Truth

For a single person, having a biblical mindset is not just a nice option if you feel like it. It’s crucial to making the choices that will bring happiness later. You won’t know how to get ready for God’s best unless He tells you how. The choice of one’s worldview, and the other choices that flow from it, really make a difference.

The fact is, truth leads to blessing, while falsehood leads to pain. If you’ve been hurt in your dating life, we would just about be willing to bet that it was partly due to your believing falsehood instead of following truth. You don’t want to continue down that road, do you? Of course not . . . and you don’t have to. [Read more…]

Changing Your Mind?

Dating, courtship, and marriage can be confusing matters, can’t they? Wouldn’t it be great to know that the decisions you are making in these areas are based on real truth? That the perspective you hold onto is grounded in reality?

But what, in today’s world, can be a relied upon as source of truth? Friends? Family? The media? History? The Internet? [Read more…]