In as much as your post make plenty of sense. Do we question God? Aren't we suppose to have a devoted and complete relationship with the Lord prior to anythng else here on earth?
All the things you have listed are motivated by emotions. Our capacity for loneliness make us jump to irrational conclusions and puts us in situtaions where we may regret them later. The list you present would do well on a secular site, those not guided by the Holy Spirit, not trusting of God.
If we are introduced to someone who would be a potential lifetime companion wouldn't it be easier to pray for guidance from God?
It is interesting that the bible doesn't tell us what to look for when chosing a mate, but there are many passages that guide us after we form a personal bonding. What it does tell us is how we are suppose to present ourselves, how we are to mold our character respectful to the world and the Lord. I believe an earthy relationship is a God given blessing, one worth the wait. While we are waiting we are to build ourselves into being the Lord's blessing to someone else. Develop our gifts, obtain knowledge and wisdom. Why would the Lord put two strong individuals together? There is no room for growth, no one to be the leader.
We are to compliment eachother in the relationship, our strength is the other's weakness. One may have the capacity and the drive to provide for the relationship while the other has the wisdom to distribute the funds. Then you have Proverbs 31, which show how a woman could be the strong companion.
For those who are prone to dating, your presentation is a good outline for experimentation. But for those wanting an earthly companionship, go along with your feelings first, let the Holy Spirit move you. Then pray to the Lord for guidance and if it still feels right go with it. Be that blessing for another. Trust yourself as you trust the Lord.
Everyone here on this site would be committed to the Lord, to follow God's will and do what is pleasing in His eyes.
We all would prefer to be paired up with a companion here on earth to bring joy and comfort in our lives. But how committed could we be to them? Could we show the same devotion to them as we do to the Lord? If they were Guided by the Holy Spirit to drop everything and follow a plan set by God would we make ourselves a part of that?
A quandary:
You have been an earthly companion with someone for some time. Together you have built a life following the word of the Lord and established comfort here on earth. One day your better half has a few coins on them and buys a lottery ticket. That evening the numbers come up and you find out that you are the winner of the "mega" jackpot worth millions of dollars, truly a blessing from the Lord. Come the next morning, as excited as you are, your mate tells you a vision had come to them and God had instructed them not only to give the proceeds away to specific groups and individuals, but also the rest of your possessions God had blessed you with.
Now we know the fortune cast upon us would be easy to give away, it was never really ours in the first place, but the rest of the things gathered while in the relationship? If you prayed about it and got know specific answer from the Lord but they keep insisting that is what needed to be done, would you be committed to both God and them to go along with it? To restart life with nothing?
Just something to ponder, being a Christian and in a God given relationship it could come to past. How devoted could you be?
48 Ways to Be Nice and Improve the World Around You
Forty-eight almost effortless ways you can do a little good in the world
Robyn Lehr: How to Be Nice to Your Friends, Family, and Those Who Need a Little Extra
Channel your second-grade teacher and playfully give out gold-star stickers to all the people in your life � young and old � who somehow make your day a little easier.
If you know someone is going out to dinner to celebrate a special occasion, call the restaurant in advance and say you�ll pick up the cost of her wine or dessert.
When someone is moving to a new city, supply friends and family members with stamped, preaddressed postcards. (Hand them out at the going-away party.) By the time the family pulls into the new driveway, there will be warm wishes awaiting them.
When you run across a newspaper or magazine article you think someone you know would find interesting, take a moment to clip it out. Attach a Post-it note that reads �Thought you�d enjoy� and drop it in the mail. This takes less time than writing a letter, but the gesture still shows the other person you�re thinking about her. Laura Noss, who owns a public-relations firm for nonprofits in San Francisco, says her father, who lives in Cleveland, does just that. �It means so much that when he�s reading something, he�ll rip it out, fold it, attach a message, put the postage on it, and send it to me,� she says. �I save almost all of them.�
Similarly, when a young person in your hometown does something to merit a mention in the newspaper (the high school quarterback saves the big game in overtime or your neighbor gets elected student-body president), clip out the photo and article and send it to the person�s family. Chances are, they�ll want to collect every copy they can. (One notable exception: the police blotter.)
If you travel a lot on business, record yourself reading your children�s favorite bedtime stories; they can listen to your voice as they flip through the book. Finish each night�s reading with a countdown of the days until you�re back home with them.
Every day for a year, jot down one thing you love about your child/husband/friend (he has a crooked smile; she snorts when she laughs). At the end of the year, give the person your one-of-a-kind, 365-item list.
When you develop photos from a vacation or a major life event that an elderly relative missed, get an extra set of prints and send them to her.
When guests are leaving, escort them to their car, not just to the front door. If you�re driving someone home, wait until she�s inside the house before you pull away.
Hide messages for your family to find throughout the day, like �Thanks for doing a load!� in the dryer, or a silly joke in your child�s lunch box.
If someone you know is going through a difficult time, call to let her know that you�re thinking about her, but make sure your message doesn�t leave her with a sense of obligation: �Just wanted you to know I�m thinking about you, but don�t worry about calling me back.� When a friend was being treated for cancer in a hospital outside her home state, Sandy Donaldson, a community-relations coordinator in Newport News, Virginia, rented her friend a beeper and entered the names of the woman�s friends in its contact list. Whenever her friend got beeped, she could look and see who was sending kind thoughts her way. �The only rule was that she was not allowed to call anyone back,� says Donaldson, who didn�t want her friend to feel any more burdened during her illness.
When a neighbor is grieving, leave a basket on her front porch, filled with blank thank-you cards she can send to people who have brought flowers or made donations.
When stocking up on school supplies, pick up a few extras and give them to your child�s teacher to pass on to students whose families might not be able to afford them.
Donate two tickets to a major sporting or theatrical event to an organization like Big Brothers Big Sisters. That way, a Big Sis can take her Little Sis to something out of the ordinary that she otherwise might not be able to afford.
How to Be Nice to Your Neighbors
Make a list of local shops, restaurants, hair salons, and other services for new neighbors. When her friends Anna and Matt Dowling moved to her city of Portland, Oregon, Erica Heintz put together a binder of information, including MapQuest driving directions to various locations from their new address. �It was the perfect housewarming gift,� says Anna. �For the first few months, we kept that binder with us in the car at all times.� If the neighbors have kids, draw a street map and highlight the homes of families with children around the same age.
Take a dozen fresh-baked cookies to your local fire or police station. Bring the kids along to say thank you for their constant service.
When someone leaves a pie plate or a casserole dish at your house, return it with something tasty inside.
When a guest brings a bottle of wine to a party you�re throwing, jot her name on the label. Down the road, when you finally pop the cork, dial up your friend to let her know you�re having a drink in her honor.
Shovel the snow from your neighbor�s driveway after you�ve tackled your own.
Send a note to a former teacher, telling her how much she inspired you. (If she�s no longer at the same school, the office may be able to tell you where she is now.)
Invite someone who has moved here from another country to share your holiday feast. Pinky Vincent, who came to New York City from India three years ago, still remembers how lonely she was at first. �I had no family members here or family friends,� she recalls. �But people I met invited me over for Christmas or Thanksgiving and made me a part of the familyHow to
Be Nice to People on the Job
When the temperature dips, offer your mail carrier or the teenager shoveling your walk a fresh cup of coffee or hot chocolate. Buy lidded disposable cups so they can have it �to go.�
If someone goes beyond her job description to help you, call or send an e-mail to her supervisor praising her. The employee will get a small career boost, and the boss will probably be thrilled to hear something other than complaints.
Avery Horzewski, a communications consultant in San Jose, California, likes to give chocolates or Starbucks gift cards to grocery clerks, delivery people, and others who are especially friendly or helpful.
Bring in a box of doughnuts for your building�s maintenance staff. Just don�t consume all the jelly-filled ones before you pull into the company parking lot.
When you make an in-person donation to a nonprofit organization (such as an animal shelter), also drop off something to brighten the day of the people working in the trenches.
Lindsey Schocke, an administrative assistant in Atlanta, knows how stressful starting a new job can be. So whenever her company hires somebody, she makes a point of extending a lunch invitation. �I can answer some questions for them,� she says, �and then they have a friendly face to say hello to until they get to know everybody.�
Overtip your breakfast waiter. He probably put forth just as much effort as someone on the evening shift would, but his take-home pay is probably lower.
How to Be Nice to Strangers and the World Around You
At a tourist spot, ask people if they would like you to take their picture in front of a beautiful view or a historic monument.
Subtly alert people when they have food in their teeth, an undone zipper, or toilet paper stuck to a shoe. They�ll be far less mortified than if they find out two hours later.
Pay for the drive-through order of the car behind you.
Leave your extra change in the soda machine for someone else to find. Better yet, leave enough change for a soda.
Athena Williams-Atwood, the president and CEO of Inspired Action, a consulting firm in San Francisco, carries rolls of quarters with her for parking. �If I see someone else�s meter running low,� she says, �I just pop a couple of quarters in. I may have saved that person $30 or $50 � all for 50 cents.�
Stop your car to let someone merge into traffic from a side street, or wave someone into the parking spot you were both eyeing.
When an elderly person is crossing the street slowly, walk alongside her at the same pace the whole way across. She�ll feel less embarrassed when the light changes if you�re in the intersection with her.
Trade your low ticket number at the deli counter for that of someone who seems to be in a hurry (or is shopping with children).
If you�re at an event or a party where you know lots of people, look around to see if anyone is there alone. If so, introduce yourself � and then introduce her to others.
When someone looks lost, stop and ask him if he needs directions. �I�ll never forget the people who have helped me when I was traveling,� says Real Simple staffer Melinda Page. �One man in Italy saw me looking at a map in confusion, asked if he could help, then walked five minutes out of his way to show me the place I was looking for, because it was hard to explain.�
Give blood. To find out where to donate, go to the website of the American Association of Blood Banks, at www.aabb.org.
Carry plastic bags when you�re hiking or camping, and pick up litter that you find along the way.
Instead of tossing magazines and old books into the recycling bin, drop a stack off at a local women�s shelter or your gym.
If you use public transportation on your commute to work, offer a fellow passenger your newspaper rather than tossing it in the trash.
�Adopt� an animal (via donation) from your city�s zoo or aquarium. You�ll get a photo and a bio of your new family member, and you can take your kids to visit it.
Plan a �kindness field trip,� such as driving around town handing out cold drinks to people working outside, or sending flowers through the deposit tubes at drive-through banks.
Just a few ideas I came across from a daily email message. Hopes it helps you when the Holy Spirit moves you to bless someone. When giving something, best to add a note of scripture to show how much God love's that person(s).
16All people were forced to put a mark on their right hand or forehead. Whether they were powerful or weak, rich or poor, free people or slaves, 17they all had to have this mark, or else they could not buy or sell anything. This mark stood for the name of the beast and for the number of its name...
I had an epiphany, why would Christians, who are not suppose to be directed by the desires of the flesh, trying so hard to fill a longing that should be filled by Christ? I know that's off topic but I had to post that. Now to the matter at hand.
I ran across this "You Tube" video. For the sake of all Christians out there I felt the need to post the link.
Copy and paste, this may shed some like on this subject. If it is true, then I hope to see you all in Heaven in a few years. I know one thing. We will be protected from God's wrath.
It was a blessing that this was revealed to me, I felt the need to share it on this topic. From Galatians 5 (CEV):
6If you are guided by the Spirit, you won't obey your selfish desires.
17The Spirit and your desires are enemies of each other. They are always fighting each other and keeping you from doing what you feel you should.
18But if you obey the Spirit, the Law of Moses has no control over you.
19People's desires make them give in to immoral ways, filthy thoughts, and shameful deeds.
20They worship idols, practice witchcraft, hate others, and are hard to get along with. People become jealous, angry, and selfish. They not only argue and cause trouble, but they are
21envious. They get drunk, carry on at wild parties, and do other evil things as well. I told you before, and I am telling you again: No one who does these things will share in the blessings of God's kingdom.
22God's Spirit makes us loving, happy, peaceful, patient, kind, good, faithful,
23gentle, and self-controlled. There is no law against behaving in any of these ways.
24And because we belong to Christ Jesus, we have killed our selfish feelings and desires.
25God's Spirit has given us life, and so we should follow the Spirit.
26But don't be conceited or make others jealous by claiming to be better than they are.
How many do we know say they are Christians yet still live of the world. Make them aware you are concerned with this salvation and give them this passage.
19I am not anyone's slave. But I have become a slave to everyone, so that I can win as many people as possible.
20When I am with the Jews, I live like a Jew to win Jews. They are ruled by the Law of Moses, and I am not. But I live by the Law to win them.
21And when I am with people who are not ruled by the Law, I forget about the Law to win them. Of course, I never really forget about the law of God. In fact, I am ruled by the law of Christ.
22When I am with people whose faith is weak, I live as they do to win them. I do everything I can to win everyone I possibly can.
23I do all this for the good news, because I want to share in its blessings.
It is not a sign of weakness in faith to take oneself to a different level when witnessing or sharing the word of God. We should also not take offense when a brother or sister consuls in particular statements that are made. It is part of fellowship and being a disciple of the Lord. For isn't the root word for "discipline" "disciple"?
I respect everyone who participates on the forums. It is an exercise our walk with God. It causes us to see the world and search the scriptures to spread and gain knowledge. I have posted items on a secular site in their religious forums. Very brutal. It makes one appreciate the feeling of unity on this site. I feel that, if anything, this site gives one a chance to develop a greater walk with the Lord. Who is not a true friend if they see something that may cause confusion in your spiritual life and is compelled by the Holy Spirit to correct you. We as brethren should never feel as if we are being judged. Yes, and sometimes we may have to step back and evaluate what we mean to say.
I am thankful of you all, from those who have been here the longest to those who are fresh. We all take the opportunity to share subjects we wouldn't share with our closest friend or relative. It is much of a relief to find answers not biased to physical connections. We are connected through the Spirit.
I mean no piety in things I post. I hope that some of the sites I reveal help everyone in their spiritual life. If you really want to test your faith, go to You Tube and reference some of the atheist postings there. Try to sit and watch without anger, learn how those not in Christ think, exercise your Spirit and know that these are ones you will run into one day. You will have their answers on why they don't believe, it will be you task to know the questions they will ask so you will have convictions in the answers you shall provide. Our battles are not within these confines, but out there in the world.
I'll let you in on a clue. They are tired of hearing the term "God's Plan". The true answer is we are all sinners, and God gave us "Free will". Why blame God when we know that Satan takes part in what is bad. If one doesn't have God in our life, that only leaves another entity to lead one.
God does not ask us to seek converts; He simply asks us to disciple. Discipleship is the modeling and teaching to Christians the precepts of the Bible�mainly prayer, doctrine, and Christian living. All will lead to the main thing�the reason for our being, the meaning of life�worship. It is not the services on Sunday; it is having an attitude and a heart that worship Christ! Yes, we are still to evangelize, but that is not our main mission and call! When we evangelize, we must realize that it is the role of the Holy Spirit to bring people into an intimate relationship with God. This is an act of divine intervention and grace. He uses us as the tools, but He is the means! We are to care, and share with others His love and character. We are to obey and reach out, but we cannot lead people anywhere. He is the One who leads! Our goal is to worship and model to others our worship�not just the service in the church, but the lifestyle of a heart surrendered and poured out to His (Gal. 2:20-21; Phil. 3:10).
The word, Spiritual Gift, comes from the Greek phrase chrismata or sometimes referred to as Charisma, and is defined as, "a gift of grace." This means we, as Christians, are given a �favor� or a �special gift� to do the work of ministry on behalf of, and empowered by, our Lord Jesus Christ. In ancient Greek, it was a phrase that a conquering general, giving a gift to the people he had just conquered as a symbol of their dependence upon the conqueror, would use. We are not conquered in spirit, but our Will as a Christian becomes less as He becomes more. Thus, Gifts are also a reminder of our dependence upon Christ as Lord.
It is each Believer�s responsibility to find, develop, and exercise the Gifts given to him/her!
Some of the Gifts include leadership, teaching, pastoral care, mercy, giving... there are over twenty of them! How we are to behave and interact with one another is governed by the Spirit working through each of us with these Gifts. We must acknowledge our role in the Body; there are no lone wolves in Christ! We have a duty to fulfill, and a role to play. When we refuse to find and use our Gifts, we not only hurt ourselves, but each other and our Lord! The Church is greatly diminished, the work of the Lord given to us is left undone, and opportunities are missed!
Satan does not want you to discover your Gifts; he wants you to ignore your responsibility and nurture of one another!
