Actually, the Bible is the most authenticated ancient text known to man. What does that mean? A lot of things actually…
The Bible has the smallest time gap between the time it was first written and the earliest manuscripts we have. That is VERY important when we are dealing with ancient documents because it greatly increases probability of reliability. We are going to take a few moments to compare the New Testament to other ancient historical accounts that are considered trustworthy and reliable.
I usually just link to this whole video but I felt like throwing in pictures this time because I’m Extra like thatBy historical comparison, the earliest manuscripts we have of the New Testament were written in a shockingly short time span from when the original document was penned - a mere 50 years. But there is so much more…
Every single manuscript out of the 24,633 we have of the New Testament alone matches up virtually perfectly, which means they were copied, not edited. They were not perpetuated like a game of telephone, they are true to their original content. How does that compare to the works of other ancient text? Look how many we have of Caesar, Plato, and Tacitus in comparison to the New Testament:
The next closest in regards to the number of manuscripts we have would be Homer’s Iliad with a total of 643 manuscripts
That still leaves the Bible leading by 23,990 manuscripts.
The foundational points of Caesar’s life, the preservation of the Iliad, and the reliability of Tacitus’ writings are considered rock solid. We believe those events happened, we believe the stories told are ones the authors wrote. So why do we doubt the Bible which is FAR more trustworthy than anything else we have? 643 x 38.31 to be exact.
So internally it’s accurate, but what about externally? How do we know it is not simply the writers perpetuating a lie? Glad you asked! Next slide…
Apart from the Bible, we have 9 non-Christian outside sources and 33 Christian outside sources. That brings us to a total of 42 outside sources affirming the events and authenticity of the Bible. Compare that to the second place who would be Caesar of which we only have ten outside sources documenting his life.
We don’t doubt the events of Caesar’s life, we don’t say that there is no evidence to prove the words about him are true, we don’t claim that these other books are so heavily edited that we can no longer believe anything they say is accurate. So why do we doubt the Bible is true?
The Bible blows everything else away. It passes every test of authenticity by a massive amount. If we disregard the validity of the Bible, we have to discard everything we claim to know about ancient history because the Bible is the absolute highest standard for historical accuracy. That’s a fact. (You can watch the whole video including why the four eye-witness gospel accounts are important here)
Our dear Heavenly Father, we come before you to ask for Your protection against these terrible raging fires in California. We pray that you show people who are stuck in these fires a safe way out. We pray that You keep their loved ones, homes, woods, animals, and fields safe from this scourge. We pray that You will bring rains and slow the winds down so that the firefighters can put these fires out. We pray that you keep them safe as they fight this fire.
We also pray that people find a saving fear of the fires of hell. We pray that through these horrible fires that people will come to You and find your saving grace and love. So that no matter what happens they can have Your Peace that passes all understanding and walk in the light of Your Love. In Jesus name, we pray, Amen and Amen. God bless you… Maranatha!!!
The emerging, or emergent, church movement takes its name from the idea that as culture changes, a new church should emerge in response. In this case, it is a response by various church leaders to the current era of post-modernism. Although post-modernism began in the 1950s, the church didn’t really seek to conform to its tenets until the 1990s. Post-modernism can be thought of as a dissolution of “cold, hard fact” in favor of “warm, fuzzy subjectivity.” The emerging / emergent church movement can be thought of the same way.
The emerging / emergent church movement falls into line with basic post-modernist thinking—it is about experience over reason, subjectivity over objectivity, spirituality over religion, images over words, outward over inward, feelings over truth. These are reactions to modernism and are thought to be necessary in order to actively engage contemporary culture. This movement is still fairly new, though, so there is not yet a standard method of “doing” church amongst the groups choosing to take a post-modern mindset. In fact, the emerging church rejects any standard methodology for doing anything. Therefore, there is a huge range of how far groups take a post-modernist approach to Christianity. Some groups go only a little way in order to impact their community for Christ, and remain biblically sound. Most groups, however, embrace post-modernist thinking, which eventually leads to a very liberal, loose translation of the Bible. This, in turn, lends to liberal doctrine and theology.
For example, because experience is valued more highly than reason, truth becomes relative. Relativism opens up all kinds of problems, as it destroys the standard that the Bible contains absolute truth, negating the belief that biblical truth can be absolute. If the Bible is not our source for absolute truth, and personal experience is allowed to define and interpret what truth actually is, a saving faith in Jesus Christ is rendered meaningless.
Another area where the emerging / emergent church movement has become anti-biblical is its focus on ecumenism. Unity among people coming from different religious backgrounds and diversity in the expression of corporate worship are strong focuses of the emergent church movement. Being ecumenical means that compromise is taking place, and this results in a watering down of Scripture in favor of not offending an apostate. This is in direct opposition to passages such as Revelation 2:14-17, Jesus’ letter to the church of Pergamum, in which the Church is warned against tolerating those who teach false doctrine.
False doctrine seems to abound within the emerging / emergent church movement, though, as stated previously, not within every group espousing emerging / emergent church beliefs. Because of this, care must be taken when deciding whether or not to become involved with an emergent church group. We all need to take heed of Matthew 7:15-20, “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thorn bushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.”
While seeking new ways to witness to a changing culture is admirable, utilizing ways which compromise the Truth of the Gospel in any way is nothing more than promoting false doctrine and leading others away from Christ instead of to Him. I hope that this helps you. god bless you!!! Maranatha!!! :):)
You just have to count it all joy. Haters gonna hate and the only thing I know that can change hearts is the love of Jesus. I have been called terrible things here and I just love on them. I don’t get angry because it is a waste of my energy. I have always looked at this blog as the Lord’s. it is NOT mine. So I just give it to him. I had a young man call me every horrible thing in the book. but he was suffering. He was a homosexual and he was in the struggle of his life. The Lord was moving and it seemed like the more the Lord moved the meaner he got. I just loved him and didn’t fight him and about a year later he wrote to me and told me that he found Jesus and today he is happily married and is a Pastor.
No one can tell me that God doesn’t change people because I have seen it right here on Tumblr. When I went through lung cancer and the Lord allowed to live I just take one day at a time and I am so grateful for each day that I have and I love to just allow the Holy Spirit to move I just sit back and watch and I have to say that I am blessed!! Every time I get a hater I just go to my knees and pray for them. My God is able and time is short. I truly believe that Jesus is coming soon and we all have to be about our Father’s business in the time that we have left here. I hope that this helped you dear one. God bless you!!! Maranatha!!!:):):)
It is sometimes a disconcerting truth for many Christians that even though we belong to God through faith in Christ, we still seem to experience the same problems that plagued us before we were saved. We often become discouraged and bogged down in life’s cares. The fact that both the Old and New Testaments address this problem the same way indicates that God knows problems and worries are inevitable in this life. Thankfully, He has given us the same solution He gave in both Psalms and Peter’s letter. “Cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous fall” (Psalm 55:22), and “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you” (1 Peter 5:7).
Contained within these two verses are several amazing truths: God will sustain us, He will never let us fall, and He cares for us. Taken one at a time, we see first that God declares both His ability and His willingness to be our strength and support—mentally, emotionally and spiritually. He is able (and best of all, willing!) to take everything that threatens to overwhelm us and use it for our benefit. He has promised to “work all things together for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” Even at times when we doubt Him, He is still working for our good and His glory. And He has also promised that He will allow no trial to be so great we cannot bear it and that He will provide a means of escape (1 Corinthians 10:13). By this, He means that He will not let us fall, as He promised in Psalm 55:22.
The third statement—“he cares for you”—gives us the motivation behind His other promises. Our God is not cold, unfeeling or capricious. Rather, He is our loving heavenly Father whose heart is tender toward His children. Jesus reminds us that just as an earthly father would not deny his children bread, so God has promised to give us “good gifts” when we ask Him (Matthew 7:11).
In the spirit of asking for good gifts, first we must pray and tell the Lord that we hear what He’s saying in John 16:33, where Jesus says, “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” Then we should ask the Lord to show us how He has “overcome” our problems, our worries, our anger, our fears and our guilt.
The Lord reveals to us through His Word, the Bible, that we can be of good “cheer,” that we can
1) rejoice in our problems because God will use them to our benefit. “Knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope” (Romans 5:3-4);
2) see our “worries” as an opportunity to practice Proverbs 3:5-6, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths”;
3) counteract our anger by obeying Ephesians 4:32, “And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you”; and
4) deal with any sinful feelings by believing and acting upon the truth of 1 John 1:9, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” All of our problems can be dealt with through simple faith in God’s Word.
God is bigger than all our worries and problems put together, and we must realize that if we are to have any victory in our lives. Everyone suffers with these difficulties, because the Bible teaches that temptation is “common” to mankind (1 Corinthians 10:13). We must not let Satan deceive us into thinking that all our problems are our fault, all our worries will come true, all our anger condemns us, or that all our guilt is from God. If we do sin and confess, God forgives and cleanses. We need not feel ashamed, but rather take God at His Word that He does forgive and cleanse. None of our sins are so heavy that God cannot lift them from us and throw them into the deepest sea (see Psalm 103:11-12).
In reality, feelings come from thoughts, so, even though we can’t change how we feel, we can change how we think. And this is what God wants us to do. For example, in Philippians 2:5, Christians are told, “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.” In Philippians 4:8, Christians are told to think on things that are “true,” “noble,” “just,” “pure,” “lovely,” “of good report,” and “praiseworthy.” In Colossians 3:2, we are told to “set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.” Therefore, as we do this, our feelings of guilt diminish.
So, each day, taking one step at a time, we should pray for God’s Word to guide us, read or listen to God’s Word, and meditate on God’s Word when the problems, worries, and anxieties of life come along. The secret to giving things over to Christ is really no secret at all—it’s simply asking Jesus to take our burden of “original sin” and be our Savior (John 3:16), as well as submitting to Jesus as our Lord in day-to-day living.
Some days, when life is beating us up left and right, it seems impossible to find things to be joyful. The Bible gives us a different story though. James 1:2-4 says, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” The Bible says that not only is it possible to find things to be joyful about during trials, but it actually commands us to do so!
Unfortunately, part of being a Christian means that we will face times of difficulty. Why? Because even though we are Christians, we are still human beings and that’s part of the plan. Jesus went through rough times during His earthly ministry, and if we want to be like Him, (which is what the Christians life is all about), we too will have some hard knocks.
The Bible talks about people who endured some really, really tough situations and yet found joy in the midst of their pain. Take Job for example. Now there’s a sad story! He had everything taken away, and he didn’t even do anything wrong! He lost his family, his health, his career, everything he had ever worked for, and he still found things to praise God for (Job 1:21). Can you imagine losing everything yet still praising God?
There are plenty of other examples throughout the Bible of people who went through awful things that we can’t even imagine, but they all still praised God. Their perseverance made their faith stronger. First Peter 1:6-9 says, “In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.”
Shift Your Perspective
Following God’s command to be joyous in the midst of trials is really a matter of perspective. If you really look and think hard enough, you will always find something to be thankful for—even if life seems too hard to go on. Be thankful for your relationship with God, thankful that you do not have to spend eternity in Hell, thankful for another day of life. Be thankful that your situation is not worse than it is.
If you step back, you can find the joy and encouragement that God is sending to you. Be thankful for something as simple as a bird that suddenly flew by and made you smile. Being thankful leads to praising God for those things. After all, “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows” (James 1:17). If we are thankful for something, no matter how small, we should turn that into praise for our Lord.
A Spiritual Workout
Trials are no fun, but the Bible says God uses them to make us stronger. There is no spiritual gym we can obtain a membership to so we can go and workout our spiritual biceps. We must be “worked out” and strengthened through God’s methods. Trials are one way He develops our character and our endurance. We don’t wanna be wimpy Christians with weak faith, do we? No way! We want to be tough and resilient warriors for God who can endure the tests of the flesh.
Okay, so how exactly does a person go about being joyful during terrible, awful, gut-wrenching times?
Joy vs. Happiness
Well, first things first, let’s clarify that “joy” does not mean the same thing as “happy”. Happiness is something that is temporary—one minute, you’re soaring because the teacher forgot to collect last night’s homework assignment that you forgot to do…until Mr. A+ sitting next to you reminds her. Aw, snap. Happiness = gone.
Happiness is fleeting, but joy sticks around. For example, if your grandparent who was a Christian passes away, you may feel tremendous grief and sadness; there would be no room for happiness there. But you may find joy in the fact that they were a Christian and now live eternally in Heaven with no pain and no sorrow. This type of joy can only be provided by God. Happiness won’t get us through hard times in the long run, but joy from God will.
If we think hard enough on the things of God, we can always find something to be joyful about. Maybe not something that’s going to make you “happy” per se, but you can still find deep joy.
Choosing Joy that Lasts
The great thing about joy compared to happiness is that joy can’t leave us any more than the Holy Spirit can. It may seem to have disappeared sometimes, but because we are Christians, we have been given the Holy Spirit to continuously work inside of us. Joy is an automatic part of the package! John 15:11 says, “I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.” Also, Acts 13:52 says, “And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.”
Yes, you and I both know that hard times will come. That’s just life. But for the believer, God promises that those trials have a purpose (see Jeremiah 29:11). Let’s look to Him during those difficulties and remember that no trial lasts forever, but our God-given joy does!
Experiencing God’s joy is a choice. During dark days, when we think we just can’t make it another step, let’s remember that Jesus never leaves us no matter what we are going through. “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:2).
Keep truckin’ in the midst of trouble and remember that even while you are suffering, you are being perfected for a greater purpose. There is a reason for all the hurts and pain. Remember James 1:12 in those tough times, “Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.”
Our dear Father we pray that this person will choose to open their heart to You Lord and allow the Holy Spirit to move so that they can get through this hard time and grow closer to you in the midst of it. Give this person Your strength so that they will get through this very hard time so that You may be glorified through this person. In Jesus Name, We pray, Amen and Amen.
Hang in there, and choose joy one day at a time! God bless you!!! Maranatha!!! :):)
History is full of examples of Mass Hysterias. They happen fairly often. The cool thing about mass hysterias is that you don’t know when you are in one. But sometimes the people who are not experiencing the mass hysteria can recognize when others are experiencing one, if they know what to look for.
I’ll teach you what to look for.
Are you ready if Jesus called us home tonight? Would you like to have Jesus as your Lord and Savior today? If you would like to ask Him into your heart I would love to pray with you. God created us in His own image so we can know Him personally and have a joy-filled life. He did not make us as robots to automatically love and obey Him, but gave us a will and a freedom of choice. Since the beginning of time, we have chosen to disobey God and go our own willful way. We still make this choice today. This results in separation from God and ends in misery. The Bible says that disobeying God results in being separated from Him.
Our attempts can never unite us with God. Through the ages, people have tried many ways to bridge this gap and reach God – without success. I believe that each one of us has a little puzzle piece in each of our bodies that only the love of God can fill. We try to fill it with all kinds of things like sex, boyfriends, children, drugs, alcohol, education, clubbing, partying and everything else that you can think of. The thing is nothing fits right in there. Only God can quench the longing of your soul.
3 Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.” 4 “How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second into their mother’s womb to be born!” 5 Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. 6 Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. John 3:3-6
If you want a new life in Christ Jesus, ask Him into your heart today. Simply pray this:Lord Jesus Christ, I believe that You took the pain and the sins of world on the cross to give me new life. I ask You to come into my heart and to give me Your peace and joy. I confess that I am a sinner that I have gone my own way and have done wrong. Please forgive me for my sins. I receive You now as my Lord and Savior. Today I come home. Please fill me with Your Holy Spirit. Help me to follow You and to serve You all the days of my life. Thank you so much for loving me and forgiving me, in Jesus name I pray, Amen.
If you prayed that prayer you are a new creature in Christ Jesus! You are Born Again! If you need help finding a good Bible based church or just want to talk message me. God bless you!!! Maranatha!!! ♥
if there are only dementors and prisoners in azkaban then who makes the food??? is there a dementor in the prison kitchen wearing a kiss the cook apron and making pancakes for the inmates? jkr explain yourself
I wanted to draw the dementor cook.
The Potter Family
-The Marauder’s Map
-Secret Keeper
The Malfoy Family
-Draco Malfoy
-Pure-Blood
The Original FortyThe Hogwarts Express
-King’s Cross Station
-Platform Nine and Three-Quarters
The Sorting Hat
-Hatstall
-The Quill of Acceptance and The Book of Admittance
Hogwarts School Subjects
Potions
-Polyjuice Potion
-Cauldrons
Extension Charms
Dementors and Chocolate
Boggart
Vampires
Hogwarts Ghosts
-Ghosts
Peeves
Hogwarts Portraits
-Sir Cadogan
Hufflepuff Common Room
The Sword of Gryffindor
The Great Lake
Professor McGonagall
Professor Kettleburn
Professor Quirrell
Remus Lupin
-Werewolves
Gilderoy Lockhart
Sybill Trelawney
-Naming Seers
Dolores UmbridgeDurmstang Institute
Beauxbatons Academy of MagicMr. Ollivander
Wand Lengths and Flexibility
Wand Cores
Wand WoodsMinisters For Magic
Order of Merlin
Azkaban
The Daily Prophet
The Leaky Cauldron
The Knight Bus
Portkeys
Florean Fortescue
Celestina WarbeckHistory of The Quidditch World Cup
Firebolt
Scottish Rugby
GobstonesThe Floo Network
-Floo Powder
Pensieve
Illness and Disability
TechnologyThe Philosopher’s Stone
-Nicolas Flamel
-Alchemy
-The Mirror Of Erised
Chamber of Secrets
InferiVernon and Petunia Dursley
-Number Four, Privet Drive
-Marge Dursley
-CokeworthGhost Plots
Clothing
Colours
MeasurementsAs of now this is every “Writing by J.K. Rowling” available on Pottermore. Enjoy as both a reference and knowing you’ve read all the additional info she has put out on Pottermore!
“Is she crazy?” I shouted at the television in total exasperation. “Women can act so stupid. The moment our heart gets involved, we flip the stupid switch!” There was an old spy movie playing on TV and the woman of questionable sanity was the girlfriend of a criminal. Of course, she refused to admit that he actually was a criminal because he wasn’t all bad and she loved him…
She ignored unfaithfulness, criminal activities and his attempt to end her life, all because she loved him.
And as crazy as that girl seems, I can relate. No, I’ve never dated a criminal, but I have been that girl who ignored unbiblical behavior, rationalized red flags away and scratched things off my “list” because the object of my emotional attachment didn’t have those qualities.
As women, when our heart gets involved, we tend to lose all sense of logic. We all know of, or have ourselves been, the woman who dates the cheaters, the beaters, and the jerks. But she sticks with him because she loves him. She tells herself that he has such potential, she can help him change and then she believes her own lies because she is emotionally connected to him.
Who is this jerk… Proverbs calls him a fool
- He doesn’t fear God – Psalm 53:1
- He is arrogant, ignoring the instruction, teaching and counsel of godly people – Proverbs 1:7
- He is complacent (not convicted) by the sin in his life – Proverbs 1:32
- His words cannot be trusted (because of lies, slander and gossip) – Proverbs 10:8, 10, 14, 18; 18:6-7
- He does not honor his parents – Proverbs 10:1, 15:5, 15:20, 17:21, 17:25
- He laughs at sin, it is amusing to him – Proverbs 10:23, 14:9
- He is reckless and careless – Proverbs 14:16
- He has a quick temper and argues over anything – Proverbs 14:17, 20:3
- He does not learn from his mistakes – Proverbs 17:10
- He has lots of opinions, but they are not founded on the wisdom of Scripture – Proverbs 18:2
- He trusts in himself – Proverbs 28:26
Reclaiming Your Heart
If you read the above list and realized that you are dating, living with, engaged to, in love with, or have a crush on a foolish man, then the Bible is very clear. If you are not married to him, you need to end the relationship. Period. If this guy/man is not running after Christ in his own life, then he is not a good influence. And soon he will begin to pull you down to his level, if he hasn’t already.
“Do not be deceived: bad company ruins good morals.” [1 Cor. 15:33] He may call himself a Christian, a bible study leader, or a member of a church staff — but if his behavior does not honor God, you should not be with him.
I can empathize with the panic that is welling up in your throat as you read these Scriptures. I know that the very thought of ending things with the guy makes you sick to your stomach. I know that you cannot fathom how you’ll cope or what your future would be like without him.
But by asking you to end this relationship, God is trying to spare you, His precious daughter, from a great deal of heartache and negative consequences in the future. Proverbs warns of what will happen to someone who is the companion of a fool — they will get hurt. “Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm.” [Proverbs 13:20] Obey now and trust God to heal your broken heart.
Guarding Your Heart
Obviously, we as women will automatically trust the man we have an emotional connection with — whether or not his actions and character have earned that trust. So the wisest course of action, as a woman seeking God, is to guard our hearts of emotional attachment until he has proven himself a wise man. How do we protect ourselves from loving and trusting a man who isn’t good for us? What does guarding your heart look like? Scripture gives us some helpful guidelines.
1. Be content where God has you.
The woman who is content with where God has her in life, who is content in her singleness, is not vulnerable to the emotional persuasion of foolish men who wander through her life. But the woman who doesn’t trust God’s goodness, who doesn’t wait on God’s timing, or is controlled by feelings of incompleteness without a man in her life — that woman ignores red flags, lowers her standards, justifies a lack of godliness, and in the end gets hurt by the very man she wanted to love her.
In her book Fearlessly Feminine, Jani Ortlund says, “I am sometimes tempted to think that if God were really good, He would grant me my heart’s desire for a relationship because, of course, He wants me to be happy. But God is not good because He fulfills my desires. He is good because He is fulfilling His desires, and His desires are good for you and me. Goodness is His very nature.” As women we must trust in God’s goodness,“You are good and what you do is good.” [Psalm 119:68]. Trust that He has a plan for your current singleness. Trust that he has a plan for your life.
Leslie Ludy says, “Finding a godly guy and experiencing a God-scripting, lasting love story comes down to this: Build your existence around Christ. Jesus Christ – not finding the right guy — must be the focus of your life. He must be enough, even if no earthly love story ever comes your way. God may have given you the desire for a beautiful earthly romance, but remember to continually give that dream back to Him.”
2. Surround yourself with wise counselors/friends.
The woman who surrounds herself with godly friends and wise counselors will not be deceived by the smooth words and impressive gestures of foolish men. Proverbs tells us that in an abundance of counselors there is safety (Proverbs 11:14). It’s not enough just for her to have wise friends, she must also heed their advice. When they tell her that a guy seems shady — that his words don’t match his actions — she must listen.
3. Hold off on emotional involvement.
The woman who is serious about guarding her heart (Proverbs 4:23) protects herself from getting emotionally connected to a man until his character has proved him to be godly. She refrains from flirtatious behavior, talking about marriage too soon and spending excessive time alone with him. She observes his character and makes an objective decision without her heart being involved. She studies Scripture to know what a godly man looks like and commits to the Lord that she will not cultivate a relationship (in her head or in her life) with anyone who does not match those criteria.
Proverbs paints a clear picture of him – the wise man.
- A wise man holds his temper – Proverbs 29:11
- A wise man listens to advice and seeks the counsel of other wise men – Proverbs 12:15, 9:8
- A wise man honors his parents, even if they are not following God – Proverbs 15:20
- A wise man is a peacemaker – Proverbs 16:14
- A wise man learns from mistakes and receives instruction humbly – Proverbs 21:11
- A wise man is full of strength – Proverbs 24:5
- A wise man trusts in the wisdom of the Lord, not in himself – Proverbs 28:26
- A wise man keeps himself away from strife (aka DRAMA) – Proverbs 20:3
- A wise man has good sense and uses it – Proverbs 16:22
- A wise man seeks wisdom, knowledge and understanding – Proverbs 15:2, 14
- A wise man is patient and forgiving – Proverbs 19:11
- A wise man fears the Lord and turns away from evil – Proverbs 14:16
So, why do women love jerks?
Because jerks — men who Proverbs calls a fool — do and say things to establish an emotional bond quickly, before their true nature is known. They make emotional promises that are not theirs to keep and in doing so sweep women with unguarded hearts off their feet. And once the emotional connection is there, very little can make a woman leave a fool… because she loves him.
Just because there have been fools in your past does not mean there cannot be a wise man in your future. But you must cut off ties with fools and surround yourself with wise, godly people. Because “whoever walks with the wise becomes wise.” (Prov. 13:20)
“A woman’s heart should be so hidden in God that a man has to seek Him just to find her.” [C.S. Lewis]— article by Gabrielle Pickle