MOM AM STRUGGLING,BUT NO ONE SEEMS TO UNDERSTAND MY PAIN.

A mother passing by her daughter's bedroom was astonished to see the bed was nicely made and everything was picked up. Then she saw an envelope propped up prominently on the center of the bed. It was addressed, "Mom." With the worst premonition, she opened the envelope and read the letter with trembling hands:

Dear Mom,
It is with great regret and sorrow that I'm writing you. I had to elope with my new boyfriend because I wanted to avoid a scene with dad and you. I've been finding real passion with Ahmed and he is so nice-even with all his piercings, tattoos, beard, and his motorcycle clothes. But it's not only the passion Mom, I'm pregnant and Ahmed said that we will be very happy. He already owns a trailer in the woods and has a stack of firewood for the whole winter. He wants to have many more children with me and that's now one of my dreams too. Ahmed taught me that marijuana doesn't really hurt anyone and we'll be growing it for us and trading it with his friends for all the cocaine and ecstasy we want. In the meantime, we'll pray that science will find a cure for AIDS so Ahmed can get better; he sure deserves it!! Don't worry Mom, I'm 15 years old now and I know how to take care of myself. Someday I'm sure we'll be back to visit so you can get to know your grandchildren.
Your daughter, Judith

PS: Mom, none of the above is true. I'm over at the neighbor's house. I just wanted to remind you that there are worse things in life than my report card that's in my desk center drawer. I love you! Call when it is safe for me to come home

Do You Believe In The Replacement Theory Of Dating?

Do any of you believe in the replacement theory when you’re dating someone? Have you ever been in a relationship that is just not what you want it to be?
Maybe there isn’t a great sexual connection. Maybe you have an amazing sexual connection, but the emotional connection is lacking.
Maybe it’s one of those relationships of convenience. You know, one in which you spend weekends together but you don’t see each other during the week. Maybe it’s a long distance relationship, and you like that because it gives you time to work on the replacement theory.
The replacement theory does not work. I hope by now you have figured out what the replacement theory is. If not, let me define it for you.
The replacement theory is when you’re involved in a relationship and you’re looking for another one, but you don’t want to leave your current relationship while you’re looking. You want to be sure you will find someone better before you leave the person you’re currently dating.

Looking For Rebound Guy

This never works. Your energy is all wrong when you do that.
First of all, it’s not fair to the person with whom you’re currently in a relationship. To be blunt, it’s actually pretty sleazy because you’re not being honest with that person. You’re looking someone in the eyes and saying “I love you” to that person you are with on the weekends, while you are going out during the week looking for someone to replace them.
So the replacement theory doesn’t work because you’re creating an energy that’s bad both in your relationship and when you’re out looking for another one. You’re actually very desperate such that whenever you meet somebody new you think to yourself, “God I really hope that this person is somebody that could be my next girlfriend (or next boyfriend). I really hope it works out with this person.”
When you have this mindset and this kind of energy, you actually forecast the whole relationship at the time you meet someone and first exchange phone numbers. There’s thus a very desperate energy about people who are in the replacement theory mode because they is an air of neediness around them.
When you are in the replacement theory mode, you’re so afraid to be alone that you feel a need to constantly be with someone. So you climb from one person to the next, and you end up meeting the same person over and over again. Sting had it perfectly right when he wrote that song about if you love someone then set them free.
So if you have used the replacement theory, then you need to be honest with yourself and you need to be honest with the woman (or man) you’re with. You need to realize that the replacement theory does not work, and let that person go.
Go out and embrace who you are. Learn about yourself all over again. Be single. Be open. Learn things that you never before learned.
Most importantly, develop an abundance mindset. People who practice the replacement theory do not have an abundance mindset at all. All you think about over and over again is the lack of things.
If you actually had an abundance mindset, you would never practice the replacement theory in your life. You’d realize that there are plenty of amazing people in the world to be with and date.
It’s the same with jobs. How many of you want a new job, and yet you keep a job you hate until you find that new job? Then when you find a new job this way, the new job is only a little bit better than the old job. Why? It’s because you are living the replacement theory in your work.
Now I know right now that a lot of you are saying, “David, that doesn’t make sense. I need to pay my bills, so I have to do it that way.” You do have to pay your bills, but here is what you need to realize. You can keep your old job while you look for a new one, but realize that the longer you keep the old job the longer your search for a great new job will be.
We can talk more about jobs another day. For now, I want to leave you with a question: How many of you use the replacement theory in your dating life? By David Wygant

Do You Believe In The Replacement Theory Of Dating?

Do You Believe In The Replacement Theory Of Dating?

The Lord The Perfecter

"I will cry unto God most High; unto God that performeth all things for me" Psalm 57:2.

"The Lord will perfect that which concerneth me" Psalm 138:8.
"Being confident of this very thing, that He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ" Philippians 1:6.
"For of Him, and through Him, and to Him are all things: To whom be glory for ever" Romans 11:36.

We read that David once succumbed to unbelief, and said, "I shall now one day perish by the hand of Saul" (1 Samuel 27:1). So even the Christian may indeed fear that he will one day perish. This is because he looks at himself and what is in him, and does not set his trust wholly on God. It is because he does not yet know God as the Perfecter. He does not yet know what is meant by His name, "I am the Alpha and the Omega: the Beginning and the End: the First and the Last" (Revelation 21:6; 1:8). If I truly believe in God as the beginning out of whom all comes, then I must trust Him as the continuation and the end, to whom all goes.
God is the beginning. "He which hath begun a good work in you"; "Ye have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you" (John 15:16). We are to be thankful for God's free choice, made before the foundation of the world, that we became believers and have the new life.1 Those who are still unconverted have nothing to do with this election--for them there is the offer of grace and the summons to surrender.

Outside, over the door of the Father, stands the inscription, "Him that cometh unto Me, I will in no wise cast out" (John 6:37). This everyone can see and understand. No sooner are they inside the door than they see and understand the other inscription, "All that the Father giveth Me shall come to Me" (John 6:37).2 Then they can understand how all things are of God--first, obedience to the command of God, then, insight into the counsel of God.

But then it is of great importance to firmly hold onto this truth--He has begun the good work. Every thought of God will strengthen the confidence that He will also perfect it. His faithfulness, His love, His power, are all pledged so that He will perfect the good work which He began. Please read how God has taken more than one oath regarding His unchangeable faithfulness. Your soul will rest and find courage in this.
And how will He finish His work? What has its origin from Him is sustained by Him. It will one day be brought to Him and His glory. There is nothing in your life, worldly or spiritual, for which the Father will not care, because it has influence on you for eternity.3 There is no moment of day or night in which the silent growth of your soul is not to go forward. The Father will take care of this, if you believe.

There is no part of your destiny as a child of God that the Father will not continue and complete His work in--even in things which you have not yet given thought to.4 There is one condition--you must trust Him for this. You must in faith allow Him to work. You must trustfully say, "The Lord will perfect that which concerneth me." You must trustfully pray, "I will cry unto God that performeth all things for me." Christian, let your soul become full of the thought--The whole care, for the continuation and the perfecting of God's work in me, is in His hands.5

And how glorious the perfecting will be. In our spiritual life, God is prepared to exhibit His power in making us participants of His holiness and the image of His Son. He will make us fit, and set us in a condition for all the blessed work in His Kingdom that He would have from us. He will make our body like to the glorious body of His Son. We may wait for the coming of the Son Himself from heaven to take His own to Him. He will unite us in one body with all His chosen, and will receive and make us dwell forever in His glory. How can we think that God will not perfect His work'? He will surely do it He will gloriously do it--for everyone who trusts Him for it.

Child of God, please say in deep assurance of faith, "The Lord will perfect that which concerneth me." In every need say continually and with great boldness, "I will call on God, that performeth all things for me." And let the song of your life be the joyful doxology, "For of Him, and through Him, and to Him are all things: To Him be the glory for ever." Amen.

Lord God, who will perfect that which concerns me, teach me to know You and to trust You. And let every thought of the new life go hand in hand with the joyful assurance--He who began a good work in me will perfect it. Amen.

Discover why prayer is an indispensable part of a healthy relationship with God.

“But when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words. Therefore do not be like them. For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him” (Matthew 6:7-8).

IDEA: Prayer enables us to live in communion with our Father in heaven.

PURPOSE: To help listeners think about what happens when they pray.
Have you ever wondered whether our prayers are really unnecessary?
Do you find it comforting to know that God knows our needs better than we do?
Doesn’t that lead to the question, “Is there any real need for us to pray at all?” – It’s nice but unnecessary?

I. Can you think of other reasons for prayer besides getting things from God?
Through prayer we enter into communion, into a personal relationship with God the Father.
In human relationships speech is a necessary element in fellowship.
What happens in marriages in which couples no longer to speak each other? Why?
Does the importance of speech in a friendship mean that friends need to be talking with each other all the time? What is the difference in a friendship where friends walk together in silence and one in which they refuse to talk with each other?
What is the significance to the assertion by the apostle John, “In the beginning was the Word . . .”?

II. Although God has spoken to us, we must cultivate fellowship with Him by speaking with Him.
Only when we come before Him and express in our words everything that distresses us can we really experience His peace.
Have you ever thought about making a list of what you want to talk to the Father about?
Have you ever discovered after you have prayed that you have been changed by the experience?
When we stop talking with God and cease living in communication with Him, then all we do is end up talking about God. After a time we might talk neither with God nor even about Him.

Is prayer for our benefit, or for God’s?

“And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly I say to you, they have their reward. But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly” (Matthew 6:5-6).

IDEA: Not all praying may be prayer.

PURPOSE: To help listeners pray with the right attitude and in the right way.
Someone has said that there are as many reasons given in Scripture why God will NOT answer prayer as reasons that He will.
Do you agree with that?

I. We may pray to be seen by other people:
Matthew 6:5-6 – “And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly I say to you, they have their reward. But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.”
Why would anyone do that? What would they gain?
Do those “performance prayers” ever get answered?

II. Is it possible that we may pray in a manner that betrays the fact that we don’t know what we are doing when we pray?
Matthew 6:7-8: “But when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words. Therefore do not be like them. For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him.”
Why do some people pray prayers that say the same thing or use the same phrases over and over?
The Prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel prayed over and over again, “O Baal, answer us!” (1 Kings 18).
The people of Ephesus shouted the phrase “Great is Diana of the Ephesians!” for two hours (Act 19).
Have you ever felt that you must badger God into taking notice of you when you pray? Why?
Are “all-night prayer meetings” more effective in getting our prayers answered? Is there any benefit to such prayer meetings?
Do you think that God times our prayers? Are short prayers as effective as long prayers?
The model prayer Jesus gave us has only 52 words in English and 50 words in the Greek text. Does that mean anything?
Do you think Jesus said these things to discourage us from praying?

III. What is the issue Jesus is getting at?
It can’t be the frequency or the repeating of a prayer. What do you make of Matthew 26:36-42?
It can’t be that He warns against long periods of prayer (Matthew 14:23-25).
What is the issue?

Prayer is a key ingredient in nurturing a relationship with God.

“But when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words. Therefore do not be like them. For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him” (Matthew 6:7-8).

IDEA: Prayer enables us to live in communion with our Father in heaven.

PURPOSE: To help listeners think about what happens when they pray.
Have you ever wondered whether our prayers are really unnecessary?
Do you find it comforting to know that God knows our needs better than we do?
Doesn’t that lead to the question, “Is there any real need for us to pray at all?” – It’s nice but unnecessary?

I. Can you think of other reasons for prayer besides getting things from God?
Through prayer we enter into communion, into a personal relationship with God the Father.
In human relationships speech is a necessary element in fellowship.
What happens in marriages in which couples no longer to speak each other? Why?
Does the importance of speech in a friendship mean that friends need to be talking with each other all the time? What is the difference in a friendship where friends walk together in silence and one in which they refuse to talk with each other?
What is the significance to the assertion by the apostle John, “In the beginning was the Word . . .”?

II. Although God has spoken to us, we must cultivate fellowship with Him by speaking with Him.
Only when we come before Him and express in our words everything that distresses us can we really experience His peace.
Have you ever thought about making a list of what you want to talk to the Father about?
Have you ever discovered after you have prayed that you have been changed by the experience?
When we stop talking with God and cease living in communication with Him, then all we do is end up talking about God. After a time we might talk neither with God nor even about Him.

GOD'S TIMING DEMANDS OUR PATIENCE.

We are often not that patient. We want our church to grow quickly, our young people to mature right away, and our problems to be fixed today.

Maybe we need to be reminded that some things take time—God’s time. For instance, when the Israelites first left Egypt, God sent them on the long route to the Promised Land (Ex. 13:17-18). During that time He prepared them, taught them, and challenged them.

In our microwave world, we want everything done instantaneously. But sometimes that’s not God’s plan. Let’s seek God’s help and learn to accept His timing.

                         He does not lead me year by year,
                         Nor even day by day;
                         But step by step my path unfolds;
                         My Lord directs my way. —Ryberg

Truth Truimphy Over Fear Factor.

"God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.” (2 Timothy 1:7)

The reality TV show Fear Factor features people who are willing to face their worst fears for notoriety and financial gain. In fact, my discomfort with watching for any length of time probably has something to do with reminding me of things and events that I fear or at least find uncomfortable.

There is no doubt that fear is no friend of our effectiveness for Christ. We are often fearful about witnessing, giving our money away, saying no to our friends, forgiving a cruel offense, saying yes to a short-term missionary assignment, or risking being misunderstood if we speak up for biblical values at the water-cooler. If Satan can get us stymied by fear, he doesn’t have to do much else to shut down our spiritual progress and usefulness.

Beware of the Least Likely Temptation

If you had known . . . in this your day, the things that make for your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes —Luke 19:42

Jesus entered Jerusalem triumphantly and the city was stirred to its very foundations, but a strange god was there-the pride of the Pharisees. It was a god that seemed religious and upright, but Jesus compared it to “whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness” (Matthew 23:27).
What is it that blinds you to the peace of God “in this your day”? Do you have a strange god-not a disgusting monster but perhaps an unholy nature that controls your life? More than once God has brought me face to face with a strange god in my life, and I knew that I should have given it up, but I didn’t do it. I got through the crisis “by the skin of my teeth,” only to find myself still under the control of that strange god. I am blind to the very things that make for my own peace. It is a shocking thing that we can be in the exact place where the Spirit of God should be having His completely unhindered way with us, and yet we only make matters worse, increasing our blame in God’s eyes.
“If you had known . . . .” God’s words here cut directly to the heart, with the tears of Jesus behind them. These words imply responsibility for our own faults. God holds us accountable for what we refuse to see or are unable to see because of our sin. And “now they are hidden from your eyes” because you have never completely yielded your nature to Him. Oh, the deep, unending sadness for what might have been! God never again opens the doors that have been closed. He opens other doors, but He reminds us that there are doors which we have shut-doors which had no need to be shut. Never be afraid when God brings back your past. Let your memory have its way with you. It is a minister of God bringing its rebuke and sorrow to you. God will turn what might have been into a wonderful lesson of growth for the future.

Readiness

God called to him . . . . And he said, ’Here I am’ —Exodus 3:4

When God speaks, many of us are like people in a fog, and we give no answer. Moses’ reply to God revealed that he knew where he was and that he was ready. Readiness means having a right relationship to God and having the knowledge of where we are. We are so busy telling God where we would like to go. Yet the man or woman who is ready for God and His work is the one who receives the prize when the summons comes. We wait with the idea that some great opportunity or something sensational will be coming our way, and when it does come we are quick to cry out, “Here I am.” Whenever we sense that Jesus Christ is rising up to take authority over some great task, we are there, but we are not ready for some obscure duty.
Readiness for God means that we are prepared to do the smallest thing or the largest thing— it makes no difference. It means we have no choice in what we want to do, but that whatever God’s plans may be, we are there and ready. Whenever any duty presents itself, we hear God’s voice as our Lord heard His Father’s voice, and we are ready for it with the total readiness of our love for Him. Jesus Christ expects to do with us just as His Father did with Him. He can put us wherever He wants, in pleasant duties or in menial ones, because our union with Him is the same as His union with the Father. “. . . that they may be one just as We are one . . .” (John 17:22).
Be ready for the sudden surprise visits of God. A ready person never needs to get ready— he is ready. Think of the time we waste trying to get ready once God has called! The burning bush is a symbol of everything that surrounds the person who is ready, and it is on fire with the presence of God Himself.

Establishing Personal Relationship With God

WHAT DO WE NEED TO KNOW ABOUT GOD?

GOD LOVES US AND WANTS US TO HAVE A PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP WITH HIM

God loves us even if we haven’t loved him.
“In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us.” (1 John 4:10)
God wants us to know him.
The Bible says God is at work in everyone’s life. “So that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us.” (Acts 17:27)

WHAT IS WRONG WITH US?

OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD HAS BEEN BROKEN BY SIN

We have all made choices showing we are inclined to be:
Passively indifferent to God
“All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every one, to his own way; and the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” (Isaiah 53:6)
Or actively opposed to God
“And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.” (John 3:19-20)
The result of our choices to resist or ignore God results in spiritual death (separation from God).
“We are dead in trespasses and sins.” (Ephesians 2:1)
“And thus death spread to all men, because all sinned.” (Romans 5:12)

WHAT DID GOD DO FOR US?

GOD HAD PROVIDED A SOLUTION FOR OUR LOST RELATIONSHIP

Jesus Christ came to do what we could not do for ourselves.
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)
He came into the world to bring us to his Father.
“Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.’ ” (John 14:6)
He died in our place to pay the penalty for our sin.
“For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit.” (1 Peter 3:18)
He rose from the dead to show that his claims were true.
“For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve. After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep.” (1 Corinthians 15:3-6)

WHAT DO WE NEED TO DO?

WE MUST EACH PERSONALLY TRUST JESUS CHRIST AS OUR LORD AND SAVIOR

Our own efforts to earn God’s acceptance are inadequate.
“Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit.” (Titus 3:5)
We must admit our need for forgiveness.
“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23)
“And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as lift his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner!’ ” (Luke 18:13)
We must receive Christ and his offer of salvation as a gift.
“But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name.” (John 1:12)
“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9)

WHERE DO WE BEGIN?

A PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD BEGINS TODAY

You can begin your personal relationship with God by putting your faith in Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord. You may find it helpful to express your new faith in words similar to these:
Dear God, I know that my sin has separated me from You. Thank You for sending Your Son to die in my place. I now trust Jesus to forgive my sins. I invite Him into my life as my Savior and Lord. Thank You for receiving me into Your eternal family. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

WHAT’S NEXT?

YOUR TRUST IN JESUS CHRIST BEGINS AN EVERLASTING PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD

God’s commitment to you:
God assures you that if you have trusted Jesus as your Savior, He has given you eternal life. “These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God.” (1 John 5:13)
God promises to never leave you. ” I will never leave you nor forsake you.” (Hebrews 13:5)
God has forgiven all of your sins, past, present, and future. “And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.” (Colossians 2:13-14)
God has given you His Spirit to enable you to live in a way that pleases Him. “If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.” (Galatians 5:25)

Helpful or Heartless Toward Others?

It is Christ who also makes intercession for us. . the Spirit makes intercession for the saints.-Romans 8:34, 27

Do we need any more arguments than these to become intercessors-that Christ “always lives to make intercession” (Hebrews 7:25), and that the Holy Spirit “makes intercession for the saints”? Are we living in such a relationship with others that we do the work of intercession as a result of being the children of God who are taught by His Spirit? We should take a look at our current circumstances. Do crises which affect us or others in our home, business, country, or elsewhere, seem to be crushing in on us? Are we being pushed out of the presence of God and left with no time for worship? If so, we must put a stop to such distractions and get into such a living relationship with God that our relationship with others is maintained through the work of intercession, where God works His miracles.
Beware of getting ahead of God by your very desire to do His will. We run ahead of Him in a thousand and one activities, becoming so burdened with people and problems that we don’t worship God, and we fail to intercede. If a burden and its resulting pressure come upon us while we are not in an attitude of worship, it will only produce a hardness toward God and despair in our own souls. God continually introduces us to people in whom we have no interest, and unless we are worshiping God the natural tendency is to be heartless toward them. We give them a quick verse of Scripture, like jabbing them with a spear, or leave them with a hurried, uncaring word of counsel before we go. A heartless Christian must be a terrible grief to our Lord.
Are our lives in the proper place so that we may participate in the intercession of our Lord and the Holy Spirit?