Preparation #36 (Dating, The What ?)
Brian
Kocourek
I would like to continue today with our mini series on
Dating and courtship and move on from the "Who should I" to the
"How do I know" question. That is the big question today. We have
already established by God's Word that the Who has some qualifiers. First of
all, we must look at the first qualifier, and it comes in the negative. And it is actually a disqualifier… The
question then as we examined it in the scripture is "who not to
court" And we found our answer in
II
CORINTHIANS 6:14, Be
ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath
righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with
darkness? 15 And what concord hath Christ with Belial?
or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? 16 And
what agreement hath the
Therefore we established that you should never even
consider an unbeliever.
Today we want to take the
courtship of "Who should I" one step further.
Now most of you have known
friends who thought they were in love and were meant for each other. And over
time you have seen those same people end up going their own separate ways.
Sometimes it has been after they were married before they realized they were
not meant for each other and they split.
The next question we must
ask is the "How" question… No!
Not how do I court, but once you have asked the Who question, then you must ask
the HOW DO I KNOW THIS IS THE RIGHT ONE FOR ME question. That is the HOW question we will look at this
morning.
How do I know the Lords
will? You can ask young people in love how do you know that this is the Lord's
will in your life and you will hear so many different answers.
You hear things like, "From the moment I saw her I knew she
was special. We used to look into each other's eyes and ask each other if we
were really supposed to be together and we literally would get this real tingly
feeling, the both of us together at the same time. It's hard to explain. It
gave chills through my whole body."
That sounds just like a
fellow who had been in this message for 20 some years and had been married for
as long a time. He divorced his wife and a few years later came to me and asked
me if I would marry him to another woman. I told him there was no way, and he
said, "I know it's God's will. We were riding on my motorcycle down the AA
highway and when I looked up there was a shooting star going across the
heavens, and my soul was riding on that star. Then he told me that when he got
her home, he kissed her good night and when he did the holy Ghost welled up
inside and his entire body tingled. I told him that was lust, not the Holy
Ghost. I couldn't believe what I was hearing from someone who had clamed to
believe the Message for so many years.
Another one you might hear
is this, "I knew she would be good for me. Her personality
really complements mine. The things that I am weak in she is strong in. She is
a godly woman and I just felt like she was the one for me, I guess. I can't
point to anything concrete besides the fact that we spent time praying together
about it, but at a certain point the timing was just right and we were just
relying on God's timing. I felt like I didn't have a red light from God. He
didn't stop me."
And again we sometimes hear,
"We hit it off as such close friends, I felt like I had known her for my
whole life. Also, she was a Christian. At that time, I thought I was a
Christian and I wanted to marry someone that I knew believed as I did. So I
knew it was God's will."
As you can see from these
examples, people who believe themselves to be Christians have many different
ideas about how to know God's will. The problem is that sometimes we receive mis-information, especially on the subject of choosing a
mate. For example, many Christians have
a feeling of peace if they are following God's will. Yet sometimes, following
God's will may lead you to have to go over to someone you have offended and
humble yourself and ask forgiveness. That doesn't fill your heart with peace,
but it is the will of God. Feelings and
emotion can be so fickle and deceptive, that if we depend on them as an indicator
of God's will, we could go down the wrong track and end up with the wrong mate.
Then you'll be real sorry
you did. Can you imagine your getting up each morning and deciding whether or
not to go to work today will depend on how the weather is outside?
Another common belief that
young people and old alike is, "God will do something to keep me from
making a mistake in choosing the wrong marriage partner." The reality however, is they may be looking
for His voice in the wrong places. They
may not be accustomed to listening to the Spirit in their own hearts.
I remember when I was 24 and
I had a few friends down at the
EPHESIANS
There are three basic elements
which make our up knowing the Will of God. These are first of all, God's Word.
That is number one and foremost. Second is being quickened to that word in our
Spirit, and thirdly watching it come to pass. If all three things happen, then
you will know it is the Word of the Lord for you.
It is always in three's. God
moves in three's. Brother Branham taught
us that works in three's. In the
Message, "Why Some people can't have victory pp 50, 57-0324, he said,
"God had to give you a new spirit so you could get along with His
Spirit. A New heart, a heart of flesh so you will re4ceive it; then a new
spirit in that heart, and then I'll put my Spirit in that. You see? New Heart,
new Spirit, and My Spirit," Three things He spoke of. " and in
Ezekiel we read, EZEKIEL 36:26 A
new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I
will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart
of flesh. 27 And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my
statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do [them].
And Brother Branham said, 88 FELLOWSHIP
BY REDEMPTION -- 55-0403 You know, and they said there,
"God made a mistake, when He
said `A man thinketh with his heart.' There is no such a
thing. And no mental
facilities in a man's heart, that he can think with. It's his mind that he thinks
with." But no more than about two months ago, they found out God was
right. They went to fooling in the human heart, and they found a little
bitty compartment in there that hasn't
even got a blood cell around it, or nothing.
It isn't in the animal heart, or the bird heart, or
no other heart but the human heart. A little bitty place, and it's
called, "The occupation of the
soul." So God does say right. It's in the heart man thinketh.
E-37 THE INTER VEIL -- 56-0121 Notice.
There is an intellectual faith. And there's a
faith that comes from
the heart. The old unbeliever said years ago, when the Bible said, "As a
man thinketh in his heart... Said,
"That's crazy. There's no mental facilities in the heart."
Said, "You think with
your mind. There's no mental facilities in the heart." But last year, they found that's
wrong. God was right. Right down in the
heart, in the center of the heart, there's a little compartment where there's
not even a blood cell in it.
It's not in the animal heart, only in the human heart. And
they say, it's the occupation, or the occupant of the soul. The
soul lives in the heart. Then,
after all, God was right, when He said,
"As a man thinketh in his heart."
E-42
IMPERSONATION OF CHRISTIANITY
57-0120M E-41 Now, notice the order of the Scripture; it's
perfect. God said first "I'll take away the old stony heart." You
can't receive nothing. Then He said, "I'll give you a new spirit."
Now, that ain't the Holy Spirit. There's where the
mistake's been made. A lot of people, many people, rather, come to the altar to
pray, and they get down there to praying and praying, they get to feeling a little
better. They might get up and go on, and jump around a little while, and after
awhile you find out they just bounce, bounce, bounce...?... back again. They
never received the Holy Spirit. No matter how much they bounce, or how much
they screamed, or how much they--oil had run out of their hands, or they had
bloody faces, or how much they spoke in tongues, or how much they shouted,
or--or what they did, that has nothing at all to do with it. That was only
human emotions. They got a new spirit, and they rejoiced with it. I'm going to
say something, and I want it to sink deep, and may God help. There is the--the
emotional side of the so called Holy Ghost church today. They get a lot of
build up of fanaticism, and run off out there, because they disregard the Word.
They go only together, "Oh, we had a great meeting. Hallelujah,
hallelujah, hallelujah." Now, when you do that, and don't bear the fruit
of the Spirit, then you're in the new spirit. You didn't use to do that; that's
right. But God had to give you a new spirit. Why, the spirit you had, you
couldn't even get along with yourself. So how are you going to get along with
God? So God had to give you a new
heart, not a patched up one, a new heart. That's your intellects that you think
with, a new way of thinking. Then He give you a new way of thinking, "Yes,
that's right. The Bible looks to be reasonable. I use to didn't believe that. I
believe it now." Now, there's your great revival. See? They say, "Yes, sure I don't want to
go to hell. I want to accept Christ." That's all right. That's good.
That's just your first...?... Then He
said after that, "Then I'll give you a new spirit." What's that? A new desire, "I want to do
right." "Now, I know I'm a Christian, I got to... I'll smoke one more
and then I'll throw it away. See? And I'll--I'll--I'll just see... I--I--I'll
just stay home tonight, and you know, I'll just..." all these little just,
just, that's exactly... Eve stopped just for a moment. That's all she had to
do. But now, that's the new spirit.
Then notice the order of the Scripture. After you get a new heart and a new
spirit, He said, "Then I'll put My Spirit..." See? Oh, what? That's
the what the Scripture says here. That's the order, the numatics
and numerical order of the Scripture: a new heart, a new spirit, and then My
Spirit.
E-44 Then God's Holy Spirit... God's new
heart that He put in you, sets right in the center of you. That's your--your
impulse, where you--you--your--your emotions goes out. And the new Spirit sets
right in the center of the new heart. And God's Spirit, the Holy Spirit, sets
right in the center of your new Spirit, and there It controls your
emotions. It's just like the--the
mainspring in a famous watch, and it's self-winding. You don't have to wind it
everyday. God's wound it once for all. And it sets right in the middle of
the--of your life--your new life. And as the mainspring, as it relieves and
ticks away the watch, it controls every little organism of that watch to
perfect time.
E-45 And when the Holy Spirit, not the new
degree, not the new church, not the new thought, not the new emotion, not the
new oil, not the new dance, not the new lips, not the new tongue, not the new
this, not the new hat, but when God places His Spirit in the middle of your new
spirit, then you don't have to act meek; you don't have to act like a
Christian. It controls everything that's within you. It puts you in decent,
makes the church act orderly, makes the gifts work perfect. And if you have to
be taken from a place where you think you should be and put down somewhere
else, it controls you. Not...?... "I'll never come back again. Mmm, no, sir." That shows that the mainspring is not
in there.
E-46 When you blow up at every little thing that
happens, causes that disposition, and when the pastor happens to hit something,
that's in the Word, and you, "[Brother Branham makes a spitting
noise--Ed.] I don't believe that," look out, old cowhide. See? Watch out.
The new mainspring hasn't been set in there right yet. But it controls; it
makes you believe; it makes you act in such a way till you become salty. And
the whole world thirsts to be like you. That's the Holy Spirit setting in the
middle of your Spirit. It's the Mainspring. It's then that the yoke that you're
yoked with... "Oh, I just hate to go to church tonight. I don't... If that
preacher, if he wasn't so long-winded, I'd like to hear him a few minutes. But
I tell you what; the last time I went, when I went down to the card party,
Susie said to me, 'Do you mean to tell me the very audacity, that you have
belittled yourself to take your hair down? You mean to tell me that you're not
going to wear those shorts anymore, Lydia?'" Well, you see, the thing of
it is, if you just got a new spirit, it'll just kill you. That's right.
E-47 But when you got His Spirit, it makes every
emotion tick just right to the Word of God. It'll tick right with the Word.
You'll say, "Well, now, Susie, just a moment. The Bible said, 'It's an
abomination before Him to do that. And the love of Christ has come into my
heart, and I love Him too much to do it. I love Him.'"
"John, do you mean to tell me, that you been
associated with that bunch of fanatics, and you won't take a cigar because they
was a new boy born in my house?" "But you see," John, "it
says that we must... The Holy Spirit in my heart tells me that we should
abstain from all filth of the world." See, see? Not, John,
"Hallelujah, John. Glory to God, John. Pray for us, get oil on my hands.
Glory to God, now I can speak in tongues, Hallelujah, I'll..." Now, the heart is in the center of the
emotions of the human being. Your heart is the middle of you. That's exactly
right. So God puts a new heart in the middle of the old man, then He puts a new
spirit in the middle of the new spirit, or heart, and puts His Spirit in the
middle of the new spirit.
WHAT.DOES.TAKE.MAKE.CHRISTIAN.LIFE.title
CHICAGO.IL SUNDAY 57-0113
E-33 Now, He taken, and what did He do? Give you a
new heart, give you a new spirit, and then He puts His Spirit, His Spirit in
you. It's just like... You don't have to go around and pretend that you're a
Christian man. That new spirit brings new life. The Holy Spirit in your new
spirit, in your new heart... Your new heart, your new spirit and the Holy
Spirit goes right in the center of your new spirit, and your new spirit goes
right in the center of your new heart.
WHY.SOME.PEOPLE.CAN'T.KEEP.VICTORY.title OAKLAND.CA
SUNDAY 57-0324
E-50 Yes. That's what we need today is experiences
of the new birth. Now, I want you to watch the order that Ezekiel brought it
in. He said, "I will give you a new heart, and I'll give you a new spirit,
and I'll put My Spirit in you." I want you to watch; there's three of it.
A new heart. "I'll take the old stony heart away." That's that old
different heart you have. "And I'll give you a new spirit." Now, many
times, and there's been a terrible mistake, the people has thought sometimes
that that new spirit was the Holy Spirit. But it isn't; it's a new spirit. God
gives you a new... Why, you couldn't even get along with yourself with your old
spirit; how you going to get along with the Holy Ghost? God had to give you a
new spirit so you could get along with His Spirit. And sometimes people...?...
"A new heart, a heart of flesh, so you will receive it; then a new spirit
in that heart, and then I'll put My Spirit in that." You see? New heart,
new spirit, "and My Spirit," three things He spoke of. E-51
Now, many times we try to make
that thing just say... Well, as soon as you get the new spirit, you quit your
stealing, you quit your lying, things like that. You say, "Oh, hallelujah,
I got it." And you find out the first time anyone crosses your path a
little bit, oh mercy, what a difference. Sure. You blow up like a frog eating
buckshot. But let me tell you, brother. That's the reason you never got God's
Spirit. That's true. "Oh," you say, "he stepped on my toe; I'll
just not put up with that." All right. That shows what you got in you.
That's true. "I'll put a new spirit in you, and then I'll put My Spirit in
you."
Now, the heart is in the
center of the emotions of the human being. Your heart is the middle of you.
That's exactly right. So God puts a new heart in the middle of the old man,
then He puts a new spirit in the middle of the new spirit, or heart, and puts
His Spirit in the middle of the new spirit.
LEADERSHIP.title COVINA.CA
V-7 N-7 TUESDAY 65-1207
328 Now,
let's each one pray for the other. Dear God, as we stand here tonight, a dying
people, our faces are turned towards the earth, the dust. We just... You have
give us this cutting sermon, Lord. We see the example of two men. One of them,
being a religious man, went to church but rejected the leadership to Eternal
Life. And the other rejected the worldly fame and turned to Eternal Life. And
we see both of their conditions tonight according to the Bible: the rich man is
in torment, and Moses is in glory. Father, we want to be like Moses. We want to
be led by Your holy Son Jesus Christ to Eternal Life. Give It to our hearts tonight,
Lord. Tear out the old stony heart; place into us the new heart, the heart of
flesh, the heart that you can talk to and deal with, and we will not be haughty
or different. May the Holy Spirit never leave, Lord. May It come and ordain
this people. Speak to them; tear up their stony will, and put in the will of
God. Save every one, Father. Give us of Thy love. Get us to a place, Lord, that
we'll get away from all the--the emotional part, to the real solid part of the
feeling, the heartfelt part, the deepness of the Spirit, the riches of God, the
Kingdom of the Spirit in our hearts. Grant it, O great Leader, great Holy
Spirit, before You take Your flight into the skies with Your church.
He said there's three things
a minister has to watch out for, Money,
Popularity and Women. There are three
symbols that we must do: the Lord's
Supper, feet-washing and water baptism.
He brought forth Justification, sanctification and the baptism of the
Holy Spirit. John said there are three
things
I JOHN 5:7 For
there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and
the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.
8 And there are three
that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and
these three agree in one. 9 If we receive the witness of men, the
witness of God is greater: for this is the witness of God which he hath
testified of his Son. 10 ¶ He
that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that
believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the record that
God gave of his Son.
So if you do not believe
God's Word you make God a Liar.
Now, let's look at what this
means…
Well, let's start with
Deuteronomy 29:29 for example… How do we know that this the will of God?
God himself said in
Deuteronomy 29: 29 The
secret [things belong] unto the LORD our God: but those
[things which are] revealed [belong] unto us and to our children for ever,
that [we] may do all the words of this law.
Therefore, if I want to know
what things belong to me, I will find it in God's Word. That's the number one
thing to look for.
Number One,
is it revealed to Me in God's Word.
That's how I
know the Will of God. If I want to know your will, I ask you what you think,
and If I want to know what God thinks, I ask him in prayer, and He reveals to
us His Thoughts, He speaks to us through
His Word.
GOD KEEPS
HIS WORD # 1 57-0306
Now, in the Old Testament there was about three ways of knowing the
will of God. Of course, one the them was the written law; the next was by a
prophet; the next was by a dreamer. And when a prophet prophesied or a dreamer
dreamed, they let that speak before the Urim Thummim, and that was the breastplate that was on Aaron's
breast. And in there was stones that represented each tribe. And if that
prophet was right, or that dreamer was right, there come a sacred light over
that breastplate, and was called Urim Thummim. And no matter how real it seemed... I want you to
get it. No matter how real it seemed, if those lights didn't flash on the Urim Thummim, God had refused the
message. Any Bible scholar knows that.
009 The Urim
Thummim has been done away with, 'cause that
priesthood ended. But God's Urim Thummim
today is God's Word. The Word is His Urim Thummim.
Number two,
it will be confirmed or quickened to your spirit. And what is that? It will be
confirmed through your desire.
PARADOX 61-1210
124 062 Now, if that man's heart is hungry to know the will of
God, there's got to be a will of God somewhere.
FOURTH.SEAL.THE.title
JEFF.IN 63-0321 288-4
{67} 028 The Word Itself is Spirit; it's Spirit in
Word form. And then, you see, when It is quickened or brought to Life, the
Spirit of the Word goes to work and acts. See? Because that... Now, look here:
A thought has to be a thought before it can be a word. And then when a thought
is presented, it is a word. Now, this is the--God's thought that He has placed
in the Word, and then when we receive it from Him, it becomes a Word. God
revealed to Moses what to do. Moses spoke it, and it happened. See? That's it,
when it's really comes from God... Now, we find out that--that it--it
stimulates, and it gives joy, because it is God's Word, and the new wine--the
new wine stimulates the--when it reveals the Word; then brings joy beyond
measure sometimes (We went through that.), that it brings such joy till you get
over-flooded. 029 Now, I know there's a
lot of fanaticism and people carrying on. I know sometimes they do it when the
music's jumping up and down and everything. And I know that goes, and I--I
believe that too. I've seen people in the day when the--as long as the music's
playing, everybody was jumping and screaming, but when the music stopped, they
stop. See? I believe... Well, that--that's still all right, as far as I'm
concerned (You see?), as long as people lives right and... But now, what... You
start bringing the Word. Now, that's the thing that actually brings Life is the
Word, and that brings the joy of stimulation of new wine. See? That's... And
that's what it was on Pentecost when the Word was vindicated.
368-5 RESUME
OF THE AGES - CHURCH.AGE.BOOK.CPT.10 We learn in no uncertain
terms that this false vine is the vine of Satan. Their gathering is of him
(Satan). They meet in the Name of God and lie that they are Christ's. They
preach, they teach, they baptize, they worship, they partake of various rites
given by Christ to the church, yet they are not of God. But since they say they
are, God will hold them responsible and in each age He speaks of them and to
them. They remind us exactly of Balaam. He had the prophetic office. He knew
the proper approach unto God as demonstrated in the sacrifice of the clean
beasts. Yet he was not a true WORD PROPHET for when God told him not to go to
honor Balak with his presence he sought to go anyway
for he was motivated by his lust for gold and prestige. So God let him go. The
perfect will of God gave way to the permissive will of God because of the
"heart desire" of Balaam. God actually said, "Go ahead."
Did God change His mind? No sir. God had His way regardless of Balaam going.
Balaam did not annul the will of God. God had His way regardless. It was Balaam
who was the loser for he by-passed the Word. And today we have that very
same thing. Women preachers, organization, false doctrine, etc., and people
worshipping God, manifesting in the Spirit and going right on as did Balaam,
claiming that God has spoken to them even when the commission received is
opposite to the revealed Word. And I will not deny that God spoke to them. But
it was just like when He spoke to Balaam that second time. As He knew that
Balaam wanted his own heart desire above the Word and He gave it to him, yet
all the while in the end having HIS OWN way; even so today God tells folks to
go ahead in their own hearts' desires for they have already rejected the Word.
BUT THE WILL OF GOD WILL BE DONE REGARDLESS. Amen. I hope you see this. It will
not only clear up much of what is seen in all ages but it will especially help
in this last age which has so much manifestation and external blessings when
the whole period is so against the `Word-Revealed-Will' of God.
LOOKING FOR
JESUS
54-0228E E-37 Now, listen what Jesus said now, 19th
verse of the 5th chapter. "Verily, verily (that's absolutely, absolutely)
I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father
doing: for what things the Father doeth, He showeth
the Son." And He will show you greater than the healing of this man with
the--this prostate trouble, or diabetic, or whatever it was. "He will show
you greater than--things than that, that you might marvel. For the Father worketh and I worketh
hitherto." Is that right? That's the reason He didn't heal the multitudes.
God didn't tell Him. Now, If Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever,
He will have to work in that scale, is that right? He will have to. Now, I
believe it would... He would've done it. But first He must know the will of
God. Now, listen. Jesus never in Himself, performed one miracle. Jesus said,
"I can do nothing of Myself. But what I see the Father doing, that doeth
the Son likewise." How many has read that in the Scripture? Let's see your
hands. Sure, Saint John 5:19...
PAUL A
PRISONER OF CHRIST 63-0717 26-4 Forsake
his own, he had to forsake everything that he knowed,
forget all of his training and everything in order to know the will of God and
to follow God. He can't follow anything that man's got to do and God, the same
time. It's too contrary, one to another. You can't be going east and west at
the same time; you can't be going right and left at the same time; you can't be
doing right and wrong at the same time; you can't be following man and God at
the same time. No, sir, you're either following God or following man. Now, then
if you're following God and have submitted yourself to God, then you become a
prisoner to that God, to that Word, to that will. No matter what anything else
is, you become a prisoner to it.
You've got to check your
will with God's will, then you will do the right thing.
QUESTIONS.AND.ANSWERS.title
JEFF.IN COD 61-1015M 651-24
014 And now, Lord, feeling this
morning that there is many sick and needy, I would pray for them, Lord, that
You'll give faith to these especially in the Tabernacle this morning that will
come into the prayer line, that they will lay aside every little weight,
every--all unbelief, get away from it quickly, and flee to the Lord Jesus in
faith to believe. I pray for those that's in the hospitals and in the
convalescent homes. And, Lord, I pray for my mother. As yet, Lord, Thou has
kept her with us, and we are thankful to You for this. And with faith we reach
out with wanting hands, first to know the will of God, to see that if it's His
will for her to go. If it's His will, then we are--that's our will; but first
we want to know if Satan has did this evil and it's working together for good
to them that love us to give us a trial. Then, Lord, we want to stand gallant
at the post of duty.
BE NOT
AFRAID e-33 61-0224 Human sympathy is not
compassion. Know the will of God is compassion.
Number
three, it will come to pass.
The Decision - Making
Process
Now, there are 5 steps in our decisin
making process that must come to pass in order for our decision to be right.
Once you know the framework of a biblical decision, it
is time to work through a process to make your decision.
The first and foremost way in which you must make this
decision is to set aside some time where you can get alone with God, where
there will be no distractions or interruptions. Therefore, you must find a
place where you can go where you will not be interrupted by phones or people.
Step Number One: Spend time Alone with God.
Make sure you are alone where it will be just you and
God alone. Begin to fellowship with him through Worship, praise and song, read
the Word and Meditate on what he says to you in His Word. Then before you begin
to ask Him anything , make sure you have confessed your sins and ask His
forgiveness, and pledge to do whatever he tells you to do concerning
restitution in that offense.
Psalm 66:18
says, "If I regard wickedness in my heart, the Lord will not hear my
prayer."
Then, Once you know that you are in fellowship with
God, Then ask your Father for His mind concerning the matter.
Step Two: declare your willingness to follow God's
will, no matter what it is.
George Mueller said, the great man of faith who often
prayed food on the table said, "I
seek at the beginning to get my heart into such a state that it has no will of
its own in regard to a given matter." That means you've got to get
yourself in neutral. 9/10's of peoples
trouble lies here. 9/10's of our difficulties are overcome when our hearts are
ready to dot he lord's will, whatever it may be. When one is truly in this
state, it is usually but a little way to the knowledge of what His will
is."
Step Three: Make an honest evaluation of your
relationship.
Perhaps the most common cause for divorce today is irereconcilable differences. Two people who entered
marriage with stars in their eyes find that after a few years of trying, they
just can not get along any more.
The real tragedy is that many of these marriages would
never have occurred if the couple had been honest about their relationship
before they made their binding commitment to each other. Their emotions were so
strong, and their desire to marry so overpowering, that they failed to look
deeply at the questions of character, personality and background.
Step Four: Consider whether this person is God's
provision for You.
Start by writing down 5 reasons why you think this is th right person for you to marry. Consider your responses,
the feedback you've received from godly counselors, and the impressions you've
received from the Holy Spirit, especially any Word which God may have given you
concerning this relationship. Plan a time to talk these over with your fiancé.
Keep the following questions in mind as you discuss your doubts.
Step Five: Make a Decision and then Act on it by
Faith.
Once you decide how God is leading in your
relationship, your responsibility is to obey by Faith.
If you decide to become engaged, move forward with
confidence. If doubts arise, discuss them openly and honestly. Ask God to
continue to confirm your decision over the weeks and months ahead.
If you decide not to get engaged, move forward with
confidence. Though this choice will entail incredible heartache, you can act by
faith, knowing you made the right decision through a biblical framework.
Remember, God's will is not something that is lost so
that you need to find it. It is not something that He is keeping for you,
leaking out hints along the way or keeping you guessing so that you never quite
know what to do.
On the contrary, God's will is clearly revealed to you
in His Word. He has given you the holy Spirit to guide you into all truth. And
To give you understanding and insight. The most important thing you can do in
determining God's will is to walk closely with Him, cultivating and developing
your relationship with him moment by moment.