During the taping of Having a Purpose Driven Marriage, an audience member asked the Right Decisions' panel, " How do you win [over] an unsaved spouse?"

When I think of this question, I think of Smith Wigglesworth's wife, Polly.   Let me explain, Smith Wigglesworth, who was a British evangelist, is known for numerous, thousands of divine healings.   Christ used Wigglesworth's Ministry to heal people instantly from cancer, tumors dropping, etc.  Wigglesworth communed with God day and night. In fact, he would not let newspapers or other worldly thoughts in his house because he wanted to consistently have the thoughts of God (and those things can be a distraction to your soul).  He is known as a general of the faith, but of course, he was not always like that.   In fact, he used to be mean.  One story that is shared, Wigglesworth told Polly not to go to an evening church service, but she went anyway.  Well, upon her return, Wigglesworth had locked her out of the house and would not let her in the house.  Polly spent the night outside in the cold.  The next morning when Wigglesworth let her in, Polly carried on as if nothing had happened.  She cooked him breakfast and was just as kind as before.

Polly won Smith Wigglesworth over with her love.  She apparently recognized that we do not wrestle with flesh and blood but with principles in high places.  She won Wigglesworth over with the love of Christ!   By Polly's example of being loving and kind, she impacted the world through making her husband a godly man who in returned impacted thousands even to this day.  Wow!

The Bible says Colossians 1:10 New Living Translation (NLT): "Then the way you live will always honor and please the Lord, and your lives will produce every kind of good fruit. All the while, you will grow as you learn to know God better and better. "

Polly pleased the Lord and produced good fruit of this pleasing. 

How do you win over your spouse?  Submit to the Father's will and please God; you can't go wrong.   You will win your spouse over to the Kingdom of God through the love of Christ.

Psalms 91 verse 1

Written by guest blogger Nehemiah Johnson

Psalm 91:1(a) “He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High …”

We have comfort and assurance in knowing that God, the Most High, is “possessor of heaven and earth”, which is first revealed to Abram in Genesis 14: 17-23. As the possessor of heaven and earth, God the Most High has and exercises authority in both the realm of heaven and earth. Accordingly, HE purposefully arranges all physical circumstances, and history before creation, which guarantees every scene of life works to HIS eternal purpose. In Ephesians 1:11, Apostle Paul writes “…being predestined according to the purpose of HIM who worketh all things after the counsel of HIS own will.

Psalm 91:1(b) “…shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty”

 As the Most High, God is possessor of both heaven and earth, working all things after the counsel of HIS will. What about God the Almighty? Just as Abram, God wants us to also “know” HIM intimately as the Almighty. To know HIM is to experience HIM. Working all things after the counsel of HIS will, HE, through providence orchestrates situations in our lives that provide proof of HIS presence. Nowhere in the writings of the Books of Ruth, Esther, and Nehemiah we find God speaking to either of them. However, in each, the main character faces personal crisis, in the natural, that causes them take action to see the eventual salvation of God.

For Ruth, it was the loss of husband; for Esther, risking life to go before the king; and for Nehemiah, the destruction of the walls of Jerusalem. In each, God remains silent, but that silence does not mean absence, as we know how HE through HIS providence brought about a spiritual end higher than either of them could fathom. Likewise, for us HE is omnipresent as the Almighty, working things for our greater good, as we abide under the comfort and reassurance of HIS shadow.

Psalm 91:2 “…my God: in HIM will I trust”

written by guest blogger Nehemiah Johnson

Spiritual understanding of trust in God means to not have been corrupted through the acquiring of knowledge of another.

Through subtle deception, the church, in general, unknowingly partakes from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, as oppose to only the tree of life (Christ), as God intends. For instance, holding fast to ideological reasonings, described in James 3:15 as wisdom that is earthly, sensual (natural), and devilish, causes one to have strong opinions of or emotional ties to and, therefore, trust in another. i.e., particular president, political party, money, education, culture, religion, morals, etc. Apostle Paul writes in 1 Cor 2:2, ”For I determined to not to know any THING among you, saving {except} Jesus Christ and him crucified”. Oppositely, for the body of Christ, this is the double-minded man, one who proclaims trust in Christ but, through actions, “walks out” affinity for or trust in world systems.

For the “true” church, to spiritually trust in God is living the standard of a chaste virgin: one whose mind, will, or emotions have not been with the world. Again, to trust in God is to “know” no other.

January is a time that many people and churches go on a fast. If you are fasting, be mindful that it is not just the abstaining or refraining from something, but more importantly it is the spending more time with God. Fasting is a time dedicated to reading the Bible more and praying more. Fasting is not doing your normal routine while not eating. It has to be different routine. We are consecrating ourselves before the Lord, spending more time with Him, spirit to Spirit.

Let me encourage you to develop your spiritman as you are fasting.  Our goal is to be led by our spirits and not by our bodies.  Fasting when conduct with all major components helps us grow spiritually so that our spirit is leading us.

If we are merely just not eating, than we are on a diet.  For example, during your lunchtime, instead of running errands or talking with a coworker, spend time along and read the Word.

Remember, fasting is a time to spend more time with our heavenly Father.

A great resource regarding fasting is Jentezen Franklin's book entitled Fasting:

Fasting, a great practice to develop our spirit and to create a more intimate relationship with God.

I know on this Palm Sunday the world has received some tragic news, some very evil news that has taken place in God’s House. Please understand we have always had and will always have good and evil. We have had bombings in churches and killings in churches throughout time. Let’s choose to focus on good and not evil. Let’s not be distracted from the works of the enemy. Let’s continue to pray for those who have been impacted and let us revisited the significance of Palm Sunday.

Palm Sunday signifies the triumph entry of Jesus (Yeshua) into Jerusalem. The crowd gathered to worship the Messiah. They cut down palm branches to wave as form of worship, and they spread the branches and their cloaks onto the road to give Jesus the royal treatment.

They realized that Jesus was the Messiah, the coming King—but what happened? What was really in their hearts? According to Gotquestions Ministries, “The crowds looked for a Messiah who would rescue them politically and free them nationally, but Jesus had come to save them spiritually. First things first, and mankind’s primary need is spiritual, not political, cultural, or national salvation.”

As we go to our place of worship this Palm Sunday, are we missing it? Are we recognizing that the Savior has come to save the world, but not committing to Him spiritually first. Are we sold out to the building of Christ’s Kingdom to the sake of crucifying the deeds of the flesh? Or do we worship Christ one day, and hang Him on the cross the next, as we give in to the lusts of our flesh. Wanting to please our flesh is putting Christ on the cross and crucifying Him over again. We are saying we know you are the Savior, but Christ, you are not coming in the way we want you to come so I am just going to live like this……

I encourage you on the Palm Sunday to get to know the Savior for who He truly is, don’t just go through the motions of worship, the routine of going to church. I encourage you to be full of the living Spirit daily. On this Palm Sunday, commit to spend time with the savior daily…. Jesus (Yeshua) has come to save us spiritually……

Feel free to add your thoughts to the topic. If you would like to contact me, feel free to email me at [email protected] , or you can simply fill out a form on my website.

I am sure some parents are still talking with their children about saving themselves (remaining a virgin) until marriage (another topic to write about ), but how many parents are discussing dressing modestly?

If we do not discuss dressing modestly or covering up certain body parts with our daughters, then we are leaving it to the world to show them how to dress.

We can't leave it to the stores, media, or society in general to say what is appropriate and what is not.

We, as parents, must say "if your fingertips are touching your thigh, then that skirt is too short."   "Don't have your breasts showing, change that blouse."

It may have to come to buying a bigger size and having it alter so the dress or skirt will not be too short.

Just as important, we need to have those discussions that we don't want young men and older men attracted to them for the wrong reason. (Save "showing your body" for your husband.)

We should have conversations such as this:

"Men/ males are turned on by sight,  females help them out.   If you are showing breasts, thighs, buttocks, curves, etc., how will you know that the males are attracted to who you really are, your inner selves vs. your bodies?"

Parents, let us help our daughters by having these appropriate clothing conversations.

Start today with discussing dressing modestly.

Some areas of clothing to discuss:

Leggings

Short skirts/ shorts

Low cut blouses

Dresses that cling to every curve

Jeans/pants that cling to every curve

A scripture to meditate on 1 Timothy 2:9:  

"And I want women to be modest in their appearance.  They should wear decent and appropriate clothing and not draw attention to themselves by the way they fix their hair or by wearing gold or pearls or expensive clothes."  (New Living Translation)

Feel free to add to the conversation below.    If you would like to contact me, feel free to email me at [email protected] or you can simply fill out a form on my website.