And this I speak for your own profit; not that I may cast a snare upon you, but for that which is comely, and that ye may attend upon the Lord without distraction. – 1 Corinthians 7:35There are so many great things that come with the single life. One of the greatest of all is to live a life in undivided devotion to the Lord. In this place, our minds are clear of worry, we are sure of our purpose, and are actively pursuing it. We are the most hopeful in this place, and there is lots of joy.
Satan’s main goal for the single believer is to distract us from this place of total devotion and attention toward the Lord. I looked up the phrase attend upon the Lord without distraction in the Greek.
It’s definition mentions, “without distraction, without solicitude, anxiety, or care.”
Solicitude: “a: the state of being concerned and anxious b: attentive care and protectiveness; also: an attitude of earnest concern or attention (Merriam Webster Online Dictionary.)
Have you ever experienced anxiety as a single believer? Have you ever experienced a very distracting concern that seemed to overshadow your joy, peace, and hope?
Satan desires to put us in a position where we take our eyes off of Jesus and replace them with circumstances. One of the common ways that he does this is through offence.
You see, there are certain benefits that come with undivided attention upon God. Things like: Affirmation of our identity, vision, the direction and revelation of the Lord in a manner of clarity. It makes us sharper, better, and whole.
Offense on the other hand causes us to stumble and fall.
And if your eye offend you, pluck it out, and cast it from you: it is better for you to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire.. – Matthew 18:9
Offend in the Greek means “to put a stumbling block or impediment in the way, upon which another may trip and fall, metaphorically to offend. To entice to sin. To cause a person to begin to distrust and desert one whom he ought to trust and obey. To cause to fall away. To be offended in one etc. (Strong’s Lite Dictionary)”
Offence often works in those closest to us. The seeds are planted, and if we do not deal with them; they can lead us to doubt, viewing ourselves the wrong way, viewing God the wrong way, and disobedience.
Jesus in scripture opened up to those close to him—his disciples. He shared with them some of the things that he would have to suffer. Peter, then rebuked Jesus sharply exclaiming that he did not have to go through. At that moment, Jesus chose to deal with it telling Peter to get behind him and referencing Peter’s words as those coming from Satan. He told Peter that he cared for the things of man, and not the plan of God (Matthew 16:21-24).
Like Jesus’ experience with those close to him; we at times can experience those close to us such as friends, and family, who do not understand the higher calling on our lives to be joyful singles who are whole in Christ.
They view our singleness as suffering alone and state that we do not have to go through it. If only we lowered our standards a bit, we’d be delivered out of our poor state. Like Jesus, we may have to deal with this plainly stating how hurtful this can be in hopes of eliminating this as a distraction from our complete devotion to the Lord.
Recently, I had to address this in my own family. In doing so, I have been able to close the door to any wondering about things spoken against me that would cause me to stumble. Often, our families mean well, but do not understand that they may be being used by the enemy to cause us to stumble. Ask God to give you wisdom concerning any and all distractions that would keep you from focusing totally on him as the leader of your life.
Finally, for balance sake, make sure that what you are standing on is truly God. We will know this by his word. God’s standard for our lives is found in his word.
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5 Key Points Women Should Know About Men:
I just finished reading an awesome book from Cornelius Lindsey called, “Decoding The Silent Man’s Language: What Men Are Saying When They Are Not Saying Anything.” In it, Lindsey shares key elements as to how women can foster an environment that makes men feel comfortable opening up.
He offers advice for women when they have done everything they know to create that environment, and the man still does not open up. Finally, he shares stories that provide great insight to the vulnerabilities and insecurities of men that they often attempt to hide from women. I’ve taken 5 key things from the book to share with readers and encourage them to read the book for themselves.
Be Intentional about Focusing on the Positives that Your Man Does
Often when women are bothered by the behavior of our men, we focus on that poor behavior until it changes, and completely lose sight of the good things that made us interested in our man in the first place. Lindsey shares a story of a man who grew silent with his wife after hearing constantly about what he did wrong. He felt as though he had lost the glimmer of respect and appreciation from his wife. He felt as though he could only do wrong in her eyes, and he completely shut down.
In counseling, his wife was asked what she loved about her husband, and she went on and on about the things she loved about him. The husband began to cry. Why? Because he never heard her speak so well of him. Cornelius called this the 99% to 1% ratio. Where many married individuals focus on the 1% of their marriage they do not like and lose sight of the 99% that they do like. He warns that this behavior can lead to divorce and the loss of a good man.
Instead of Focusing on The Negative Use Words of Affirmation to Highlight the Positives
Cornelius shares how building a man up with words of affirmation would produce a desire in him to begin to deal with the things that the woman may see as a negative in their relationship. He shares that for many men their nourishment is encouragement and this encouragement will cause them to grow in areas where they are weak.
Cover Your Man With Respect
The book talks about how a gentleman was hurt that his wife divulged negative information about him to others. He felt that it was a reflection of her disrespect for him and he grew silent. Another woman in the book insulted her husband over the dinner table eating out with friends.
She chided him for not allowing her to order first as she is the woman asking why he would do such a thing. She essentially belittled him as a child. If she did not have enough respect for him to protect him in front of others in speaking well of him; it points to a greater problem that needs to be addressed. Please, don’t ever follow this woman’s example.
Some Men Avoid Confrontation
Cornelius shared how there are some men who grow silent due to avoiding confrontation. “Many men, we think in a linear sequence: problem-process-solution. We hear the problem and want to find the process that will bring about a solution. Many men become silent when they do not know the solution or when the process confuses them.” Whereas, women want to discuss the solution. His silence in short communicates frustration with the process.
A Man Can Use his Relationship With His Woman to Avoid Dealing With Deeper Issues
Cornelius, in the book, had gotten together with several men who were married, unmarried, and of various ages. One of the unmarried men had picked up a girlfriend on the rebound to fill his void of loneliness. He was now ready to break up with her as he did not sincerely want to be with her, but he felt she was emotionally unstable and could not handle it.
Others, in the room who were married warned the young man not to marry her as he did not really want to be with her. The other men in the group also felt miserable in their situations. While they bought women into their issues to make themselves feel better and realized that these women could not fix them; they were ready to drop the women or blame the women when in actuality the women were being used to distract from the deeper issues.
Cornelius pointed out two main issues that the brothers had:
Each brother had a broken relationship with God. “They had abandoned, God, their first love, to find satisfaction and fulfillment in other people and things.”
“Unfortunately, they were using a “love” relationship to fill a void so they would not have to deal with the issues of their heart.”
I would encourage you to read more of this interesting and eye-opening book. It is available at Amazon.
Ten Scriptures Showing God’s Trustworthiness:
The scripture talks about how the truth makes us free. Just before this was mentioned in scripture, Jesus said if we abide in his word; we will be his disciples. What does this tell us? God’s word and abiding, meditating on, and believing it is the truth that makes us free.
Because there are many lies that believers often face, it is essential to ready ourselves to abide in freedom through abiding in God’s word. Below are 10 scriptures that will help us to continue to trust in the Lord during times where our situations would appear to present a different picture.
So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” – John 8:31-32 (ESV)Ten Scriptures showing God’s trustworthiness through his promises
1. As for God, his way is perfect: the word of the LORD is tried: he is a buckler to all those that trust in him. – Psalms 18:30
2. With the faithful, God shows himself faithful. – Psalms 18:25
3. He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all–how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? – Romans 8:32
4. And he said unto his servant: quick get me my robe and place it on him. This showing inheritance despite our goodness. We inherit the goodness of God; we do not earn it. – Luke 15:22
5. He enlargeth our feet under us so that our feet do not slip. We don’t have to worry about falling because he holds us up. – Psalms 18:36
6. Syrophoenician woman: Woman, I have not seen such great faith in Israel. God does not limit his goodness to his people but spreads it abroad to all. He is faithful and trustworthy to respond to our faith. If he did it for someone who did not have an inheritance with him through covenant, how much more will he do it for someone who is in covenant with him through birth into the kingdom of Christ through his son Jesus. – Mark 7:24-29
7. Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him, and he will act. – Psalms 37:5 (ESV)
8. Trust in the Lord and he will strengthen your heart. God understands that it gets hard to trust in him sometimes. That is why he has strength specially reserved for his children who trust him. – Psalms 31:24
9. Trust in the Lord and do good. – Psalms 37:3 God understands that sometimes it appears that those who do good get the rough end of the stick; while those who choose to do evil get a break, but God still requires us to trust him. He is so confident in his faithfulness, trustworthiness, and also what he has invested in us that he expects us to still do good in the face of opposition. Besides, if we fall, he has already prepared a way for us to stand back up. Trust him.
10. Trust in the Lord with all of your heart. Lean not to your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him and he will direct your path. God is so confident in his faithfulness and trustworthiness that he wants us to give up all of our trust to him, and not just some of it. – Proverbs 3:5-6
11. Bonus: None that place their hope in the Lord will be made ashamed. This means that the end result will be one that shows in victory and in our favor. Amen. – Psalms 25:3
When You Cannot See Me Just Walk by Faith:
We all grow up looking up to our parents. As we get older, they prepare us to be more mature than we were before by saying things like, “I’m not going to be with you always, and you are going to have to know how to handle yourself.” They taught us. They trained us because they loved us.
Just like our parents train us and wean us off of depending on their every move, so does the Lord train us, but the difference is that the Lord never leaves. He is always present just at times silent. He patiently waits for us to make the choice that we’ve been taught so that we can go on to the next level of maturity, learning, growing, and advancing in the kingdom of God.
As a child, it can seem scary, when our parents share that they won’t always be around, yet they are preparing us. However, our parents have such confidence in what has been taught that they proceed despite the hesitance of the child. Our heavenly father does the same with us.
It feels scary when God is silent as if he is distant, yet he is right there encouraging us like the parents who encourage their child to come on along to maturity. One of the best things that a parent can give their child is exposure to who Jesus is.
Although, my parents aren’t perfect in any form, I am so thankful for the inheritance that they gave me to know who Jesus is. As a child, we were made to watch Christian television. In particularly, my brothers and I were made to watch Frederick K.C. Price. Price is a faith teacher who at the end of every show had a theme song that he sang just after he said, “and we walk by faith not by sight.”
I had awakened one morning years ago while going through something; I heard the theme song and afterward the saying, “and we walk by faith and not by sight.” Afterward, I heard the Lord say when you don’t see me or feel me; walk by faith in those moments.
That bought about so much peace. God was in that moment training me with something that I would need to remember for the rest of my life.
In those moments where I don’t see God, feel God, or know how he is moving, I will need to walk by faith. Interesting that God used a fond memory Pastor Price’s broadcast to forever in grain that into me. It reminds me of my parents, and how they would make sure we paid attention while watching Price and other preachers. If we fell asleep while the teaching was on; we had to stand up until the broadcast was over.
Of course that was uncomfortable at the time, but it was much needed training for what I would face later. God is so good in that he doesn’t allow us to get too comfortable and remain in the same place, but he prepares us for our next level of maturity so that we can conquer everything that he has to set before us. Let’s continue to boldly walk by faith when we don’t see how, when, what, or feel how God will move knowing that we are in preparation by God for our next level of glory and maturity. Through faith in him; we pass every test.
A New Level of Consecration For A New Season:
There are some things that are not wrong, nor sinful, but they can be a distraction from setting our focus on the Lord. There are some promises that come with setting our focus on the Lord such as peace.
Isaiah 26:3 says that those who keep their minds stayed on the Lord will be kept in perfect peace.I am a firm believer in protecting my peace. Peace is a free gift that Jesus has given to those who have believed on him
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. – John 14:27There are many things that will act as distractions in our lives robbing us of our peace and causing us to take our eyes off of Jesus Christ. This can be very dangerous because if we have no peace, and we allow ourselves to be distracted; we can open the door to confusion, anxiety, and simply walking after the flesh. Thus, there is a need to be cautious about when God calls us to a new level of consecration during walking into a new season in our lives.
We don’t altogether know what that season will hold, but God does and he promises to supply our needs. Supplying our needs also include preparation for what’s ahead. Some things I’ve done to increase my consecration in this season is limiting the time on social media. Of course, I just completed a social media fast. Now, that I am back on social media I have set boundaries on how often I will go on. I simply do not want to lose the peace and sensitivity gained during the fast.
I am also going a period of time without listening to any secular music, and finally I’ve dedicated one day per week to fasting from food 6 a.m. – 6 p.m. All of these things will help me to intentionally look at the Lord. This will in turn cause me to become more sensitive to the Lord and help me to maintain my peace as well. When we maintain our peace; we can hear God a lot more easily and clearly. These are all small steps that will lead to a big outcome.
Feel free to join me in this new level of consecration for a new season of my life. I don’t altogether know what this new season holds, but I am excited that God would inspire me to began preparing for it in seeking him more.
Why Dating a Person With a Religious Spirit is Just as Bad as Dating a Worldy Person
The religious person has the appearance of being in Christ. However, instead of abiding in Christ which means to be so submitted to Christ that a person commits to the process of being a true believer. This process includes a willingness to be led by the Spirit of God and the word of God.
Also, it means allowing refinement and growth to take place through submitting to the word of God continually. The religious person still operates according to the standards of the world. He picks and chooses what he will submit to in God’s word making his own standard of righteousness. Here is the worst part. This man is so prideful in his religious spirit that he sees no need to change.
Consequently, the person who operates in the above manner is not fit for marriage because marriage is all about growth for both the man and woman. Humility is also very much so required for the married couple to grow. Without it, the marriage will become stunted and die.
The person who chooses to walk in a religious spirit instead of allowing God’s process of sanctification, preparation, refinement, and freedom through submission to Christ has also stunted his own growth. He thinks he is the bomb, but he is really spiritually dead and nothing will be able to properly grow from him even a healthy and stable marriage until he truly hooks himself into the giver of life—Jesus Christ. Anything outside of the true vine dies.I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.
If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. John 15:5-6The person who builds from a religious spirit becomes responsible for the success of what he builds, but the thing is, a religious person is not equipped to bring success to a marriage, relationship or any such thing.
The foundation cannot be stable because the foundation should always be Jesus Christ and nothing else. We build upon the foundation that Christ has already laid in his word. Any other structure has to come down.Unless the LORD builds a house, its builders labor over it in vain; unless the LORD watches over a city, the watchman stays alert in vain. – Psalms 127:1This religious person is like the one in the below scripture.
Having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people. – 2 Tim 3:5Run from him. Cut him off. Cut him loose. Flee into another direction. For your own sake, leave him alone.
Have You Been Proven?
For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith. Romans 1:17 (KJV)
The righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith. Revealed means to be shown as in to be proven, or placed clearly out into the open. Our character of whether we are walking this Christian thing out by God’s righteousness or our own is revealed through the circumstances that test our faith.
Are we going from faith to faith? When circumstances happen outside of our control that test whether we trust in God or not; are we found trusting in him? Are we growing in faith or faltering in faith. If we are going from faith to faith; we are showing that we have been proven. We are showing that we are truly believers that depend on Christ.
Job was a believer who had been proven. During going through his trial, he remained resolved to continue in faith trusting in God. He made famous the line, “Though he slay me, yet will I trust him. I will defend my cause before God, and this will end in his deliverance for indeed no godless man would be so bold as to plead their cause before God. (Job 13:15-16)”
Job declared with boldness that he was fed up with his friends judging him. He was no longer going to put up with being judged in the courts of men and their limited understanding. He made up his mind that he would plead his cause before God who would judge righteously. He knew that it would turn out that the Lord would deliver him because the Lord is faithful.
Men were judging him according to how things looked. It looked like Job had done something wrong. Why would God allow a man of God to suffer so much? This is often the case in the body of Christ today when believers go through uncommon circumstances that causes them to suffer.
They are often accused of doing something wrong. If we aren’t careful, these accusations can make us want to do wrong. However, Job in the King James Version says in the same scripture that he would maintain his ways before God (Job 13:14). In other words, he has been righteous, and will continue to be righteous, and because of that he isn’t afraid to approach God. He had been proven.
His friends did not note that the Lord was proving Job in the fact that Job was consistent through suffering. You see, when we continue to walk by faith through suffering, it shows that we have been proven. We have been proven that what is inside of us that is causing us to hold on is not of the flesh, but of the Lord. It is the righteousness that springs from God’s work in us himself.
If you are in a proving process or have been in a proving process; don’t be discouraged. Be bold and continue to walk by faith like Job knowing that the end of this thing will result in your deliverance, vindication, and double the blessing of the Lord.
How to Deal With Those Who Devalue Us:
I thank God that the Bible acknowledges the challenges that women of God face with being valued as women of God. Below are just a couple of scriptures in the Bible referencing a woman’s worth.
Who can find a virtuous woman? Her price is far above rubies. – Proverbs 31:10
Whoso finds a wife finds a good thing, and obtains favor of the Lord. – Proverbs 18:22
Despite the mantras clearly stated in the Word of God; many women struggle to hold on to the fact that their rarity and wifely characteristics are something to be celebrated when they consistently meet men who do not see them as such.
Similarly, many upstanding men get the brush off from women because they are not the mean hardcore type. What are we to do in such instances? One of the first things that we can do is to expect it. We can expect the fact that not everyone will love us, nor honor us for who we are and that is okay because God has those that will.
We can conclude within ourselves that no matter what obstacles we face, we will keep going without modifying our standard given to us by God. We can leave up to God those who treat us wrongly knowing that he is the righteous judge and he will deal with them while we forgive. Jesus, the Christ who was tempted in all points yet without sin experienced similar devaluing of himself. Some people will never value who we are no matter how good we become. Let’s look at an account of Jesus being devalued in Matthew 11.
Jesus had done many miracles in the towns of Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum yet many in those towns did not believe in Jesus. Jesus began to correct the people of those towns saying that if he had done the miracles in other towns they would have believed. He shared that on the day of judgment, more mercy will be shown to those who did not see his many miracles and take him for granted as the other towns did.
Jesus was clearly taken for granted. How could they take Jesus for granted? He was the Son of God. He raised people from the dead and healed many that were sick. There were many who heard of the fame of Jesus and would have loved to have had him in their towns up close and personal during that period, but the above towns took Jesus for granted.
Jesus’ Response
He chucked the experience up for what it was, corrected the people and moved on. Where did Jesus move on to? He moved on to those who would value him. He is found just after this experience saying to anyone who will hear to come to him if they need rest.
“Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” – Matthew 11:28-30
I made bold the part about being meek and lowly in the heart because it is a natural temptation to allow life circumstances to allow us to become hardened. After being bluntly disrespected as Jesus was, he could have become hardened and closed himself off from all people. He could have become prideful and very selfish in saving his gifts for only himself, but he instead maintained his humility and invited others in who would value him and what he had to offer.
This is an excellent example of how we are to handle those who dishonor us. Instead of allowing it to cause us to become hardened, locking up who we are, or devaluing ourselves into a woman or man of a lower standard; We learn to move on like Jesus entrusting those who devalue us to the judgment of God.
In doing so, we will keep our hearts soft and pliable toward the Lord, and those that he has assigned to our lives who will value us for who we really are.
The Sacrifice of Praise:
I am thankful to the Lord for his protection. Many of my followers know my testimony that God has preserved me from going through unnecessary drama in relationships. He has preserved me from having to be a babymama, and given me wisdom and discernment to acquire his best. Something that he offers to everyone who will follow him.
Just recently, I had met a brother online who I’ve followed for years. During, our first conversation his character and lack of preparation to be an appropriate spouse was revealed immediately. In fact, he was the type of guy, who would be abusive, controlling, and domineering to a woman. All of that was exposed immediately through his conversation. That is the goodness of God at work showing me not to enter a relationship with him and that moving forward with this particular individual would be moving in the wrong direction.
God has always protected me when I’ve been interested in men, and men interested in me. God has been there for me tremendously. He healed my daddy issues prior to marriage so that I would not take those negative things into a relationship. All of the hardships that I did have to walk through; God has walked through with me. I was never alone, and I am still here in sound mind and hope for the future only because the Lord has built me up. God built me up with his word and his presence. Truly, he is our everything.
What is the point of all of this? The point is to learn to be thankful when things aren’t going the way that we would like for them to go. There is always something to be thankful for. Sometimes being thankful will be a sacrifice. I absolutely adore Psalms 56:12 that says:
I will fulfill my vows to you, O God, and will offer a sacrifice of thanks for your help. – NLT
David in the midst of going through hardship, people talking about him, and pressure on every side decided not to give up, but to continue his faithfulness toward the Lord, and offer thanksgiving to God even though it was hard.
There will be times where it will get so hard as a believer where everything around us will appear to be going in an unexpected way. However, those times are when we are to offer the sacrifice of praise. Sacrifice meaning: something that isn’t easy to give, and something that really affects us. The sacrifice may even be very painful. That is what makes it a sacrifice, but we decide to offer it to the Lord anyway because the Lord is good.
David not only offered to the Lord the sacrifice of praise, but he thanked the Lord for what he had promised even though it had not been manifested yet.
I praise God for what he has promised; yes, I praise the Lord for what he has promised. Psalms 56:10 (NLT)
his is the character that God wants to bring forth in us his people. This character says no matter what it looks like, I will not deny the Lord. I will continue to offer my sacrifice of praise to the Lord. I will continue to reverence and fear the Lord for who he is. For one, we do not give our lives to God for what he does, but for who he is and what he already has done.
There were times where I’ve felt like I was being a bad example for dedicating my life to the Lord and his will encouraging singles and yet not having any fruit in the form of a godly relationship with a man. However, I have come to the realization that the lessons that I have learned along the way through enduring with God and his plan are far better than the fruit of simply having a man.
As a matter of fact, because of the way that the Lord has done things in my life; my expectation now is far greater than what it used to be. I believe my thinking was too small in believing God to produce the desire that he put in me for a spouse. God will bring his promise of a spouse to me, and so much more.
yes have not seen. Ears have not heard. Neither has it entered into the heart of men what God has prepared for those who love him, but he has revealed it by his Spirit. 1 Corinthians 2:9
What God has in mind for me is far greater, and my character, discernment, and intimacy with him needed to be so developed in order to handle where he is taking me. I write this to encourage those who have been consistent and faithful in walking with the Lord, and still have not yet seen their desire come to pass.
Know that your desire will come to pass. That is the easy part. The hard part is enduring to allow the character God desires to be birthed in us; while experiencing the disappointment of how things appear again and again, and yet still saying that God is good. This is the sacrifice of praise believing God despite what it looks like, and this is how we please God through faith.
When We Sacrifice to The Lord He Exceeds Our Expectations
For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us. Romans 8:18
One of the major things that God has been doing in me is building my expectation. I had walked into church one morning recently, and the Lord was dealing with me about increasing my expectation. I was reminded of the above scripture as God directed me to keep my eyes on him and not what I see.
Have you ever been in a place where you had made such a big sacrifice, and you did not see a return on what you had sacrificed? It makes you feel like you are sort of at a loss. Well, in Christ when we decide to lose our lives for the sake of Christ and the gospel all we can do is win.
For whosoever will save his life shall lost it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. Matthew 16:25
Both of the above scriptures speak of an expectation that the believer should have who has given himself to the Lord. Those who sacrifice their very lives for the sake of Christ can have a knowing, expectation, sureness, and peace that God intends to make good on his promise. However, before we can receive his promise our expectation must be elevated.
God says in his word that he will not allow himself to be mocked what we sow we will reap. I can remember making a sacrifice during the year 2015. God had put an urgency on my spirit to write and immediately come out with my book, “The Single Christian Women’s Guide.” I wanted to help other women to overcome the things that I have been blessed to overcome as a single woman of God through Christ.
I took my vacation money that I had planned to go to Atlanta with, and used it to get the book out. I had prioritized the cause of the kingdom of God above my own. When we do that God honors it every time. A few months later, in 2016, I was blessed to go to Atlanta for free with all expenses paid including a nice hotel downtown, money for food and spending, and whatever I needed. Why? Because when God repays us for our sacrifice it is beyond what we have sacrificed.
Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine , according to his power that is at work within us. Ephesians 3:20
God has created other situations to bless me beyond my sacrifice as well. What I have given in total toward the book has all been repaid, and I am in a better position. I am writing this to encourage those who have made sacrifices to the Lord, and have not yet seen a return on them. Satan will often attempt to deceive us into believing that God is not just for allowing us to sacrifice without us having yet seen a return, but some returns will take longer than others because the sacrifice was greater, which means that the reward will be greater. Remember the current suffering cannot be compared to the glory that is to come. Our expectation should always be up toward Christ Jesus and his immovable word.
During, the times where we can easily become discouraged for doing the right thing for long periods of time without getting desired results; we have to continue to build ourselves up on the Word of God.
But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost, Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. – Jude 1:20-21
There are some other sacrifices that I have made that are much bigger than the one that I made to get the book out. The sacrifices were sown in much tears of obedience, and self-denial to my own hurt, pain, endurance, and personal growth. I just have a great expectation that the Lord sees those tears and those sacrifices, and that he is taking so long to answer me concerning them because there is such a big reward that he is preparing for me. God’ answer to my sacrifice will cause me to forget absolutely all of the pain. He gives us beauty for ashes.
And provide for those who grieve in Zion—to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor. Isaiah 61:3
Despite, what things look like, our God is faithful, and the results of our sacrifices to the Lord will be far greater than the suffering endured in the middle of our sacrifice.