vitality22004

Sometimes things are not clear from the outside so I think in these situations, unless the couple themselves come to you for counselling, it is better not to judge from the outside and to remember that forgiveness is available for all who miss the mark.

The doctrine pf submission cannot be elevated to a position of being above everything. Wives will generally have no problem in submitting to a husband who loves them as Christ loves the church. When there is differences of opinion and conflict with what God says, what the law of the land is and one's own conscience says, the other principles of God take precedence. There is just common sense: God does not require any woman to submit to something illegal, unlawful or unscriptural. If there is an unbelieving husband and a believing wife, the onus is on the wife to love her husband and lead him to the truth if he chooses to stay with her despite her faith, however, when she is asked to do something contrary to her faith, she needs to seek God's counsel on the way forward. I have seen God create miracles in situations like that.

Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ in your heart, confess it with your mouth and you will be saved

The Father is faithful to complete what He started in you and even though we fail Him, His unconditional love never fails us and like the Father in the parable of the prodigal son, He waits for us to come to our senses and return home.

Agree with you: yoga is based on Eastern philosophy so it isn't for Christians.

I have had friends that that has happened to you and it is terrible cos you feel God doesn't feel you are good enough. I have also seen the situation where guys say that God gave them a Word that you are their wife and it's just their flesh talking or when well meaning people think that two people in church belong together and there is no chemistry. It's difficult when spiritual things get mixed up with matters of the heart, yet this is the most important decision anyone can make and so it's natural to want God's input in your life.

Well if the family is the unit of society, then the absence of marriage from a society threatens its existence...because underpinning the family is a parental unit that is stable, committed and enduring...and marriage as a pattern cannot be topped as a formula for the kind of covenant relationship that is necessary. The high divorce rate aside, marraige is the best protection afforded to spouses and children alike and it is these bonds that foster a sense of belonging and contribute to the cultural value system of any society.

I think they worship on Saturdays, believe in predestination and an elect chosen.

Good post Candi. Always good to remind ourselves why we are here in God's kingdom...takes us out of our self-absorption.

A labourer is a worker and if its harvesting we are talking about, then obviously its those who bring in the harvest...that includes everyone in the Body of Christ who works to bring in souls...whether it is praying, witnessing, preaching, visiting, caring, financing, administrating....helping... if the result is souls won for Jesus...you're a harvester!

Just start praying everyday for your husband..that he would have a good day...that he would have favour....and delight in the Lord for he will give you the desires of your heart...love grows in friendship...the best kind of love, the love that lasts...so trust God to work it out.

It's a question of choices: the unconditional love of God is not an excuse for sin. If we love Him, we choose to please Him in all we do. Even though there is forgiveness for backsliders, sometimes, God cannot protect you from the consequences of your sin so it is better to choose to live right. He's worth it. You have to love Him more than your sin and you have to choose to give up your sin. Its never easy but it's worth it.

Thanx Ronald for your frankness. I have met several Christians who are in that same situation and have ministered to so many women who spend 90% of their time praying for God to change the situation regarding their spouses that there is no time to do anything else, let alone become all God intended them to be. It is hard for these young people to wait though because it's lonely and they get tired of the wait and they try and make things happen. You also have well meaning Christians out there who start to put pressure on them lest they 'sin' if they are not in a relationship and that makes things a lot worse.

Hi Seraphimbride I've read all the postings to your question and I'm sure you have all the Word you need on the subject. I just want to encourage you in your walk with God. You've come to this place of asking the question because God has led you here and He is faithful to finish what He has started. If you've surrendered your life to Him and seek Him daily and want to please Him and you know that that has changed you because your reason for doing everything and anything is a love relationship with Jesus, then I can tell you that the old you is no longer there, and the new you is! So continue to seek Him and you will find Him and call on His name and He will answer you and show you great and mighty things. He knows the plans He has for you, plans to give you hope and a future and He will direct your path as you trust Him.

Hi John. As everyone else has said...habits are difficult to kick. I've found that when you choose to stop because you love God more, it becomes easier. You have to stop the defeatist cycle of 'sinning' and then feeling sorry and the 'sinning' again cos that just keeps you in condemnation. Nothing will change unless you choose to give up the habit because YOU don't want it anymore. It's difficult when you say, I want to, but I can't...please help me. If you come to the place of truly not wanting to do this anymore because your love for God and wanting to please Him is more important to you, you will find that you will be able to make the choice and stick to it. God Bless

I have been confronted with this issue this past month when I've been asked to advise the young people in our group about dating. This raised questions in me that I found difficult to answer. SHould young people who know God and love Him, wait for God to bring someone into their life? The young people I spoke to had endless 'horror stories' of 30 year olds that have been waiting for 12 years for this to happen and they all felt very very strongly that they couldn't see this happening to them! Should they actively go out and date people, even other Christians, without knowing their level of commitment to their faith and risk all the other 'tragedies' of young people who were passionate for God who had to give up their dreams and calling because of bad relationships that they could not disentangle themselves from?

Well Bob and David...I'm so glad God doesn't see it that way. The church in South Africa across denominational barriers stood on that verse of Scripture for two years before the 1994 elections that freed our country from apartheid...to prevent the bloodshed that had been prophesied and expected and that should have taken place given the years of unrest, and pain and trauma of lives opppressed and families broken through aprtheid. After years of violence and racial hatred in the country, God heard from heaven and healed our land.We had the truth and reconciliation commission led by a minister, Bishop Tutu, who believed that same Scripture and brought many murderers and their victims families to a place of forgiveness and reconciliation that only could have come from God. I was part of the counselling team during that period so I know that it was God. Many of those affected didn't know why their hearts changed but it did. We had prayer meetings across the country in stadiums, all night prayer meetings and intercessory prayer teams based on that very Scripture....so I guess God made an exception for us cos I can assure you that only less than 0,5% of this country is Jewish!.

That's South African for.....zzzzxx!!#**zzZZxx!!!**xxxzzzzz***##!!!%%!!! ....lol....and i respect your view and look forward to the challenge of finding you Word to back up my experience!!!!!

David, it really saddens me to hear of your childhood experience surrounding the gifts of the Spirit and arrrrrrrggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhh!!!!! I get so mad when I think of the countless wonderful people who love God with all their heart who have been put off by our bungling and limited revelation of the experience of the Holy Spirit. Just for the record, I was raised in a Full gospel church....my dad didn't speak in tongues because at that time there was little teaching around it in our country, but he operated in the gifts very powerfully and there were many healings and miracles under his lay ministry. His relationship with God was sooooo awesome and long after he died, I realised that he was filled with the Spirit, could have spoken in tongues as the Spirit gave him utterance if he chose to but didn't know he could and so he never did. The Holy Spirit gives the utterance, we the ones that do the talking....the purpose of which is to deepen our prayer relationship with him and to stir up the gifts within us....and yes, tongues and interpretation were meant as a sign to the unbelievers. For me, it's not about the public display though...cos if we are still at the level of wanting the display of gifts to prove God's presence is there...we are immature in our faith...it is about my private relationship with the Holy Spirit..His and my language..when I don't know how to pray in a situation....i pray in the Spirit for a while, then in my understanding and it's always clearer for me....my children know nothing else...they worship through the day in their own special language with Him. I have watched them grow in revelation knowledge and understanding so I know it works. I spend most of my day counselling and I absolutely rely on the revelation gifts...word of knowledge, word of wisdom and the discerning of spirits every single day so that I can give Godly counsel and not my opinion. The gifts were never meant for a platform public display for an hour on a Sunday...they flow as a result of a love relationship with the Holy Spirit and were meant to empower you for ministry..... I love Him so much and it grieves me that He is so misunderstood and misrepresented because of our own carnality....don't get hooked on theological debate that plagued the Corinthian church and lose the essence of the precious Holy Spirit and His gifts for it is Him who changes us into the image of Jesus by His presence in our lives.

It's been great for me to have the freedom of exploring ideas about our faith in a free forum where there is no condemnation for raising a question that often happens in religous circles.

I think the question I often ask couples in this situation is 'Why not?' Often the excuses that are piled up...are just excuses not to commit....marriage can be viewed as just a piece of paper ...or the legalising of relationships...in God's eyes....it is a covenant, an eternal one...that He instituted as a picture of Christ's love for the church...Old or New Testament...marriage is upheld....Jesus spoke of it....Paul taught on it.... So the question to these couples would be...if this is God's best for you, why not? Ultimately, it is a question of obedience for me. I am sure that they seek counsel and they ask the question because they feel an inner conviction that it is not right...not because of the judgement of others but because the Spirit of God gently leads them to that understanding. And then there's the fruit of marriage, the children....their greatest protection legally and spiritually lies in parental obedience to the Word of God.....the sowing and reaping....affects their lives too.... Our job as counsellors is to speak the truth in love despite the popular, social, cultural, humanly challenged and limited resaonings of the situation. As for the civil versus religous versus legal marriageargument...it is simple...render unto Caesar...if the law of the land says...this is marriage...then that's the way to do it. Finally, I think that God is a God of covenant and He is not interested in a legally binding agreement that forces people who cohabit to be married...when He said He hates divorce in Malachi..He was talking about the spirit of a marriage, the actual union between two people which is a love relationship...there are many married Christians living in the spirit of divorce with conflict and bitterness and distrust...the complete antithesis of God's intention. As for sex and relationships...well the marriage bed and only the marriage bed is sanctified... that's that...

Yes, it will Candi..God is faithful to His Word..if my people who are called by my name shall humble themselves and pray, I will hear from heaven....so keep pressing in for revival and it will come....

Butero,, thanx for clarifying that....although I do know many Baptists who speak in tongues....i don't think that the experience was meant to be confined to any denomination but I can see how with the Baptist church being established when the truth of water baptism was restored to the church, it was difficult to embrace the next move...with the restoration of Pentecost...there have been many more moves since then, lots of change....progressive revelation....don't you just love it when God upsets our applecarts?? My Pastor was firmly convinced that man would never land on the moon and preached vehemently against it in the 60's....and of course when man did land on the moon, he had to shift his viewpoint..but there are still those who think it was a scientific conspiracy and it never happened! So....i guess we have to be open in this walk with God so that He can lead us the way He wants to...if we close ourselves to the possibility of new revelation of old firmly-held beliefs, we remain the same....and that's our loss...

Cos I live it every day and Jesus is more real to me than the person next door!

David it's great that you have that kind of relationship with the Holy Spirit and i agree with you that the way it should happen is that when you get saved, you get the whole package. I think when the truth of Pentecost was being given back to the church, there was a lot of emphasis on the whole baptism being a separate experience by the laying on of hands and the evidence being the speaking with other tongues and the balance may have become skewed. I also know that countless Christians have got themselves into such a place of condemnation about not receiving the baptism of the Holy Spirit as taught by the church, and there is often frustration, copying in desperation, a feeling of not being good enough etc which was never the intention of God. I also know many tongue-talking people who did not have a genuine encounter with Him because there was never any resultant change in them. I, myself received the baptism, during worship one Sunday, very spontaneously. I like what you said about the many fillings cos that has been my experience, that it is a journey with Him, more of Him,less of you as you get to know Him. For me, the key is inviting the Holy Spirit into your life, gifts, fruit and all, respecting your body as His temple, developing an awareness of His presence moment by moment, cultivating a desire to know Him more, by recognising and understanding Him....the gifts are not Him, they are just gifts...and without Him and the agape love He sheds abroad in your heart, they are just noisy!!!