Kimberly, I have heard arguments for and against a rapture so believe me when I say that I understand your confusion. Finally I resolved it this way...
When the Lord comes, who is He coming for? If He has counted every hair on your head and you Trust in Him, has He not promised that He would not forsake you? Kimberly, I know you love the Lord, your Love for Him shows. He will not forsake you. He is coming back for you because this evil entity in the world is so vile and so malevolent that we cannot survive against it. Be not afraid of your Savior. Keep your focus upon Him for He comes for His Children, and you ARE His Child.
Knowing this, are you willing to die for Him? You know it is written that it is for us to die but once. These bodies were never designed to live forever, but our new bodies will be designed for His Realm. Knowing this, any suffering we may endure here is temporary, and the Lord has promised to wipe every tear from our eyes. Death cannot claim us, for we are His. He is coming back for you.
The Day of the Lord is not something for you to fear. In fact, what are the first words angels say when they come? "Fear Not, the Lord is With you."
So be Bold and be Brave in Him and Stand for Christ, and He will not forsake you. The rest doesn't matter, for if your focus is like that of a Child on Him, you will know when He comes, that He has come for you.
Search your heart my Sister, you know this is True.
This is a Bible verse that has been rolling around in my head for the last couple weeks. I think I am finally starting to understand how we so often take this for granted, as we go through life trying to write our own scripts.
So many times as single people, we contemplate a verse from Genesis where God decides that it is not good for man to be alone and creates Eve.
Can't tell you how many times I have asked the Lord, "if its not good for man to be alone, then Lord, what of woman?" I have been single for many years now as I wait upon the Lord, and I do not need to tell any of you, its not easy.
But I am starting to think that maybe my way of thinking is not His Way of thinking on this at all.
God said that it was not good for man to be alone, He did not say that it is not good that man is not married. Yes, He gave Adam a wife, but then what happened? They populated the earth. Man was no longer alone.
Is it good for us to be without friends? No, we are told to fellowship. Why? Because it is not good for us to be alone. Is it always good for us to be married? No, many of us have discovered, it is not. Much of this I believe is due to the wickedness of the time we live in.
In fact, Paul tells us that it is good for us to remain single if we can. Paul does not tell us to be alone, for he, too encouraged fellowship in the churches.
Yet there it is again in my thoughts, time and again...."My Grace is Sufficient for you." I have to wonder if perhaps I have been looking at this all wrong.
Looking back on my life, the Lord has taken me Miraculous places and done Wondrous things that often I truly did not understand at all until after we were through them, and now looking back, I can see exactly what He had in mind that I never knew, and truly had no clue about.
Contemplating that His Grace is Sufficient for me, I have to wonder if maybe, just maybe He can do greater things through me alone, than He can if I continuously force my desire over adjusting that thought process and concentrating on my Walk in Service to Him.
Do I Trust God to take care of me? I don't think I used to at all, not really, but I think maybe I do now. What if there is not a man that can amplify my Walk in Him? Can I give up that voice that keeps saying, "You are not getting any younger, and you don't want to grow old alone!" Is that the Voice of God? No, that does not sound like the Voice of My God, that sounds like the voice of a darker one that wants me to concentrate on MY Wants and MY Needs and MY Desires.
Am I not who God Says I am? Yes I am, and He Says "My Grace is Sufficient for you!" Is it really enough? Yes, it is.
Is it enough for you too?
Don't get me wrong here, I am not saying that it is the Will of God that any of us remain single, but it is certainly His Will that some of us will not marry again in this realm. If we are in either category, is it within us to accept His Will and understand that His Grace is Sufficient, or are we so bent on our own paths and goals that we ignore the importance of what we could be doing in Him if we would simply redirect our focus on His Work?
Can you Trust God enough to Walk your Walk on your own, knowing He is With you and will not forsake you in that Faithfulness? Or are our thoughts so self focused that we miss the opportunities to do Great Things Through Him unto His Glory?
If His Answer was "No" or "Not now", can I be okay with this?
Ten or Twenty years ago, I am not so sure I could have, for I didn't have so much to look back upon and understand. But I am beginning now to believe that I can accept the Walk in Him, and enjoy the Journey Through Him and enjoy and love people for who they are and not so much for who I might hope them to be in Him, for we all have so very much to learn in our journeys, and that learning in Him is something that never ceases.
Not one of us can know what He has in store for us. It is truly important to self examine our Walk in Him constantly. Is this His Walk and His Way or my will be done my way?
Is His Grace Sufficient for you?
It is definitely a thought to contemplate in your walk with Him, and I hope if it speaks to you, that you will give it as much thought as I have.
Is it wrong biblically for a woman to get a sperm donor?
Posted : 7 Dec, 2009 02:25 AM
Just a thought Kimberly, but many Christians believe that obedience in the Word of God is the Way toward a Prudent live in Christ, for the God of the Bible does not change and if we don't choose to follow His direction here, what would make us think that we will have a desire to follow Him in the future? He will never change to suit our ways, nor will He change to appreciate our lack of desire to follow the Way that is Best, which without a doubt is most definitely His Way. If we refuse to Trust in His Word, then it says we do not Trust Him to lead us. What exactly is it that we want for eternity? What any one person may or may not believe does not matter. Only what God has told us is His Way matters, and for those who seek, the blanks are filled in, you do not need to look far to see God's Plan for He makes it clear if you take the time to read it, and study it. I hope you will, for our ways are not His Ways and when we try to force His Will, rather than trust it, things never seem to turn out as well as we plan.
Many times I have to stop and ask myself if my wants are really His Wants for my life, for often what I want from God, is not what God wants from me, and that's hard cuz I really want the things I want, and my wants are not bad wants either, but those wants and desires may have a place in His timing, and they might not, but I have to Trust Him that if its not in the plan now, He will add it when it is time, or He will take me on a path more fulfilling that is best for me.
Forcing our ways always has consequences and often they are not easy or wonderful like we are deceived into believing they will be. So let each man, and woman, make their choices carefully for if we choose not to follow His ways here, why would we be willing to follow them in His Kingdom?
Another question worth considering might also be if a mother will make a good parent if it is not in her heart to trust men or trust God?
I realize you and your friend are going to go forward on this anyway, though I cannot for the life of me understand why you would seek wise counsel to ignore it completely.
It is my prayer that the Lord will bless you with what is best for you, Kimberly, for often in our youth, we have much to learn, and I was no exception. I pray your walk will not be so difficult as mine was before I learned what it means to really Trust God.
I learned to self examine why it was that I was always attracting the wrong men, for we do tend to advertise for exactly what we want, or maybe I should say, for what we actually feel like we deserve. If you find a really good counselor, they can help you resolve some of that so you can find that man that you want, and then there really will be nothing more rewarding than having that child together, for when you really love that husband, I don't think its about having a baby, its about having that child together, and often when that happens, a child from a previous relationship never feels like they measure up. Nobody ever has a child believing this will happen, but it does happen frequently anymore and its very sad when a child feels that parents don't want them now that they have a "new" family.
God Bless you Kimberly. I worry about you. I want the Lord to Bless you with a path you can live on and be happy with.
To heck with the grocery store, I be looking for him at Menard's or Handy Man cuz if I could find the right one, he would definitely be a home improvement down the road. lol
Truly Eric, if it were that simple, I think we ladies would have had that figured out a long time ago! Last I checked, it was all still pretty mutual, and if you think I'm off on that, imagine the most obnoxious woman you know having a crush on you, and tell me that would not be just a little scary.
I don't doubt for a second that women that are looking for a sugar daddy and men that are looking for a sugar mama have a lot in common. I think both are shallow, insecure, and want someone to take care of them, and yes, both are probably somewhat lazy or they would go out into the world and make their own way.
Unfortunately there are a lot of people like that out there of both genders. In fact, I had to have a conversation with the Pastor today about one that is making me feel very uncomfortable, the guy is 16 years younger than me, and we have little to nothing in common, and he zeros in on me at services now and tries to talk to me, while I am interested in worship, today, when I brushed him off gently, he fell asleep before within the first fifteen minutes of service and I slipped away when services were over and our associate pastor gently woke him up and sent him on his way.
I have trouble understanding how anyone could fall asleep in our services, for there is nothing dull about them. I think the guy was messed up. I prayed with the Pastor about him, but frankly, I think he sees me as someone that would just take very good care of him, while I do not see myself being married to anyone that isn't as taken and on fire with the Lord as I am.
Pastor tried to lighten things up a bit by telling me I should be flattered that a young man would find me attractive. Perhaps I should be, but it is difficult to deal with someone when you have already made it clear that you are not interested in them on that level.
So that just leads to another question, why is it when you tell someone exactly how you feel, that they will NOT believe you, like somehow you do not know your own mind?
Hi Sister, and welcome to the forums. I understand you completely. I love having friends of all ages and genders on the forums here, but a serious interest? A serious interest is someone within ten years of my age and close enough to date.
Sorry people, it is what it is as jjar said I guess, which means all the old guys that keep hitting on the young girls probably aren't going to get the favorable response they want, unless its like arch says, there are shallow reasons attached, cuz face it guys if you aren't interested in a gal twenty years older than yourself, why should we be.....okay, you know the real answer there so if you want to tell yourself we are more evolved and don't care as much about imperfections as men, keep telling yourself that but you don't see the poor old men with the hot young chicks either.
I personally like to stick to my ten year rule as I like someone I can keep up with, that can keep up with me, and can comprehend what I am talking about when I describe things that I remember growing up etc. I once seriously did date a guy a little older than that range once, but was left heart broken when I figured out he was seriously dating two other women (and how many more not as seriously, I am not sure) and all were younger then me. I came to realize that the entire thing was pretty sick and disturbing. Thank the Lord our God is not one to give up on us, for I was really hopeless and pathetic back then, and so very naive. Wish only that I had known then all the things I know now and that my faith had been there to save me from myself, but praise God I have that now, and am better for the scarred badges of courage we all acquire along the way.
Please note also, that that site too, was a Christian website. Apparently scammers think that Christians are an easy mark or something, so do be careful, and never give out personal information, and also make sure that your passwords are not the same as your user name or easy to figure out from your profile or forum post.
Thank you my Friend, and women take heed to this warning as well for many times such people operate under numerous identities are do not keep them gender specific for their goals and motives are not at all like that of the average member. On another site my identity was once stolen and when I was finally able to convince the site I was the victim of foul play on the site, they restored my identity. When I was able to access my profile again, I was 15 years younger, I'd dropped close to a hundred pounds, lost four inches in height, and was now a cute little black gal with a new profession that described myself as "a nice looking black man".
So remember, a person can claim to be anyone they want to be on the internet, especially when they have malicious intent to begin with.
Sorry to offend you Ole Cattle, by the looks of the responses on the other thread, it would seem such things are so ingrained with some of the men that they have not even noticed, and believe it is just a simple way to say "Hi, I'd LIKE to get to know YOU!" And yet not one person addressed that casual little flirt play that goes on with these women, which is inappropriate and only encourages them. I would hate to think that would be a valid reason to step up and defend it.
Maybe its kind of like porn. According to the porn industry, their most successful consumer lists come from Christian websites. Sometimes statistics speak volumes that otherwise go unsaid. Not one man had the courage to say that they cannot resist a jezabelle, yet if you pay attention its true.
It is not my intent to blatantly scream, but just to to say "hey, put your clothes on." and "Behave with dignity and respect as the Bible teaches" Because what it attracts even on a Christian website, might not be what they hope to find. I have seen the same behavior a local Christian singles events. One night a girl complained of being cold and was given a table cloth to cover up with for the result was disturbing at least, but the attention was pathetic.
It is offensive, not only to look at, but to see men that claim to be Christian all over it, and not for the reasons they would like to profess.
Maybe if they see themselves in this post they will consider changing their photos. But likely not if men defend them, for that is the very reason they use those photos.
So if you truly believe, men, that women should not present themselves this way, then stop encouraging them. For I guarantee if one of us more reserved women asked some of the same things these people ask, we would not be treated in the same "flirty" manner.
The truth is not always pretty, but sometimes it can be pretty disturbing. Maybe we all need to self examine and adjust our behavior. I have waiting a long time holding my tongue on this, and perhaps I should have held it longer. I by no means feel we need to go back to burkas, but if women on here did, the men wouldn't speak to them, they would still be all over the bikini brigade.
