5 FIVE V 21-Day Challenge

If you want to stand and withstand the challenges and storms that life has to offer, let me share some practical thoughts with you.

On 22 February 2013, it was the 2nd anniversary of the devastating Christchurch earthquake where 182 people lost their lives.  Everyone's lives were impacted in one form or another.  We all felt the impact of this catastrophic event.  But so many lessons can be learnt.  From a structural design point of view, a lot of buildings that came down or had to be demolished had very poor or inadequate foundations.  This compromised the stability of the structure above the ground.

I felt a stirring to encourage and challenge people to make sure that their foundations go deep into the ground so that when life's storms, challenges and earthquakes arrive you can stand and withstand whatever comes your way.  In Christchurch today, they are driving wooden pylons down into the ground until they hit the rock.  Alternatively, very deep holes are dug until rock is reached. Steel and concrete are poured to establish firm and a solid foundation.  This will then be able to support the structure above the ground.

Let me encourage you to go DEEPER in your relationship with God. It is only a solid foundation in Jesus Christ, His Love, His Presence and His Word, that will see you through. If you want to have a greater capacity above the ground of ministry and life, the foundation needs to be solid and firm. This provides stability.

During January 2013, I ministered a message about going DEEPER in God.

Click on the link and listen to the podcast. Going Deeper in 2013

I want to offer a challenge to all my blog readers.  Please spread the news.  It is called the ....

 FIVE 5 Five 21-Day Challenge

In order for us to go DEEPER in our walk with Jesus, we need to spend with Him DAILY and allow His word to become real and alive in our lives.

Here is the challenge.  For 21 consecutive days, I encourage and challenge you to spend with Jesus in the following way.

5 Minutes
Spend 5 minutes in praise and worship. Play a praise or worship song and worship with the singer and your praise and worship unto the Lord.  

FIVE Minutes

Spend FIVE minutes reading your Bible. Ask the Holy Spirit to speak to you. It is not about the amount of verses you read. You might only have time for three to five verses.  

V Minutes

Spend V minutes in prayer. Begin to thank God for all your blessings. Pray for whatever is in your heart. The Bible says you don't have because you don't ask. Start a prayer journal and watch God move in your life and situation.

  

DO THIS EVERY DAY FOR 21 DAYS

If you truly want to go DEEPER with Jesus, you need to be purposeful and intentional.  Its about spending meaningful time with Him on a daily basis.  

All it takes, 15 minutes a day.... YOU CAN DO IT

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WILL YOU - Marry Me?

I have so enjoyed this series.  This is the last one entitled Will you marry me?  The focus will be on marriage. The creator of the universe, God, always had marriage in mind when He created us.

Mark 10:6-9 (NKJV)

‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, ⁸ and the two shall become one flesh’; so then they are no longer two, but one flesh. ⁹ Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.”

God joins a man and a woman in a covenant of marriage and the two become one in every area and facet of life.  It's no longer ME, but WE.

FIVE IMPORTANT FOUNDATIONS OF A MARRIAGE

1. Covenant

God joins a man and a woman in a covenant marriage.  The opposite of covenant is a contract. Here are some basic differences between a contract and a covenant.

Contract:  agreement, protecting their rights, limiting their responsibilities, safeguarding their interest, break contract at anytime.  

Covenant:  relationship,  solemn and binding,  serving each other (as king and queen),  two partners and their God,  lifetime commitment.  Divorce is NEVER an option.

This is the first foundation of a marriage.  Its a covenant relationship until Jesus calls the husband or the wife home.

2. Communication

One of the greatest challenges in a marriage is communication.  What kind of hearing do you have in your marriage?

God has created us with two ears and one mouth.  I think He is trying to tell us something.

Stubborn hearing - you are just stubborn in every way and not prepared to listen to anyone's point of view or opinion.

Selective hearing - you choose what you want to hear or not hear.  You switch off if you find it inconvenient.     

Partial hearing - you misinterpret what has been said and you create a picture of what you think you have heard

Normal hearing - very few people have normal hearing 

Remember to listen - ask questions to check understanding and then respond in an appropriate manner.  Make this your goal every day with your husband or wife. 

3. Chemistry

What kind of marriage do you really want to have,  an overgrown garden?  Guess what, if you do nothing in your marriage, this will happen on its own.

Or do you desire your marriage to be like a beautiful garden?  This is only achieved by spending time, effort and money in cultivating a beautiful marriage.  

Lets get practical

1.  Spend quality time - DAILY
2.  Keep making deposits
3.  Use words of love and affirmation
4.  Date nights - be creative and take initiative
5.  Keep the fire of romance burning

4.  Character

What character traits are you displaying in your marriage?  Pray daily, that the Holy Spirit will be overflowing in your life because your husband or wife will experience the following in your marriage.

The Fruit of the Holy Spirit
Love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, kindness, faithfulness, gentleness,self-control.  Let this Fruit be evident in your life on a daily basis.  With God all things are possible.  

5.  Christ

Ecclesiastes 4:12

Though one may be overpowered by another, two can withstand him.  And a threefold cord is not quickly broken.

Jesus Christ must be the third cord in your marriage.  

Some practical advice

1.  Pray daily for each other.  Couples who pray together stay together.

2.  Make Jesus the center of all that you say and do.

3.  Attend church, small group, and start to serve in the church family.

4.  Share the word with each other

A blessed and happy marriage is possible, if you choose to do it - God's way.  

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WILL YOU - Be My Valentine

I have so enjoyed preparing for this series "Will You".   Read the summary of the first message entitled Will You Be My Friend as this lays a foundation to the message Will You Be My Valentine.

Proverbs 18:22 He who finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favour from the Lord.

What a powerful verse.  It gives us some insights into friendships and relationships. It says that he (male) must find a wife (female) which results in favour from God.  Men are suppose to take the role of a hunter and go and find, look for or pursue a lady that he will eventually take as his wife.  If he is the hunter, then the lady is the hunted.  In other words, women need to take every opportunity to release the fragrance of who they are around the hunters.  This is not only their outer beauty, but the most important is their inner beauty.

The key question for Christian men is 'where must I hunt? and for Christian women is 'where do I need to place myself to be hunted?'  As Christians, we need to find someone of the same faith.  Someone who truly loves Jesus with all his/her heart, soul and mind.  Someone who is fully committed to Jesus Christ and is involved in a local church.

As you develop friendships along the friendship funnel, investing time and effort in deepening these friendships, here are some questions that are worth discussing with someone you are 'hunting' or being 'hunted'.

FIVE DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1. This is the most important to discuss.  Your relationship with Jesus Christ.  What you believe in?  Church commitment and involvement.  Has he or she been discipled? Will he be able to lead me spiritually?  Does he/she truly embrace Matthew 6:33 which says "Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be added unto you."?

2. Visions, dreams, goals and callings.  What do you want out of life?  What are your values?  Are we going in the same direction?  Are our callings so different that it will drive a wedge in our future marriage?

3. Cultural.  With the migration of people around the world, the chances of you marrying someone that is different culturally, is on the increase.  The key is to communicate and try to bring understanding on these differences.  

4. Intellectual.  Are you able to engage someone intellectually?  Some men pursue women because of their external beauty only to discover and sometimes too late that they cannot engage each other in any form of conversation.  Likewise with some woman, they fall for a man to the right body with all the abs in the right place, to discover that the only words he knows is yes and no.  Very sad, but that is reality.  Are they able to discuss and have a conversation with you.

5. Financial. Are you able to work with money?  Budgeting, saving and living within your means.  Be aware of potential problems if one party comes from extreme wealth or poverty.  It could be a potential conflict area in a marriage.

Courtship/Bridge of Preparation

The time will come when he will ask you "Will You Be My Valentine".  This period is about courtship.  As you enter this period, your goal is marriage.  I love to call it the bridge of preparation,  when you prepare for your great and special day called 'wedding'.

This period can be a real challenge for couples as they prepare for their special day.  The challenge is the physical side of their relationship.  The Bible gives us clear guidelines on how to conduct ourselves during the period of preparation.

Read 1 Thessalonians 4: 1-8

Remember the following phrase, 'structure drives behaviour'.  In Thessalonians, Paul provides us with a structure that should drive our behaviour during this bridge of preparation season.

1.  Live a life pleasing to God

2.  Avoid sexual immorality

3.  God's Word is the final authority.  Don't argue with it or change or manipulate it.

4.  Learn self-control

5.  Lust is wrong

6.  Don't defraud someone

I often get asked by couples in this season of preparation, 'How far can we go?'

1 Peter 5:2 says treat older woman as mothers, younger woman as sisters, with all purity.

In other words, how far would you go with your brother or sister?  

Don't light the fire.  When the fire begins to burn, it is very difficult to put out.  If you are currently involved in sexual immorality, the word for you is STOP IT.  HUMINTO (Filipino).  Keep yourself pure for the special day when you say, 'I do' to your best friend.

I can offer you a box of chocolates or a bunch of flowers, but the best gift I can give you is to offer you a nail.  Jesus Christ suffered and died for you. He was nailed to the cross, He died in our places and our sins were placed on Him.   Jesus is asking each one of you 'will you be His Valentine?'  Jesus is coming back to fetch His bride and there will be a marriage between Jesus and His Church the bride.  Praise God.

Jesus is asking, "Will you be My valentine?"

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