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The key to being ready for marriage rests in your ability to solve problems biblically. Here are three things you need to solve conflict.

The first key to solving problems biblically is pretty obvious — you have to know the Scriptures. While that seems like common sense, it never fails to amaze me how little people know about the Word of God. I heard one friend say the other day, “I know the gist of the story.” Well, he might know “the gist” of what the Bible says, but he’ll never be able to solve problems God’s way with such cursory knowledge.

Proverbs says, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.” Clearly, the Lord is holding up knowledge as a desirable goal here, and He’s also saying that it is built upon a fear of Him. If all you know about the Bible is “the gist” of it, there isn’t much fear of the Lord in your heart. And that means your problem-solving skills are probably geared toward getting your way. That leads us to our second key…

You’ve got to have the desire to solve problems according to God’s Word. Whether they know the Bible well or not, many people simply aren’t interested in applying it to their personal relationships. Some don’t believe the Bible is relevant to personal relationships. Others are just naive. But for most, it’s because of their selfish desires, which leads us to key #3.

You’ve got to be willing to put your ego behind you. Conflict almost always starts because of a selfish motive. It can come from just one person or it can come from everyone involved in the argument. But the core problem in almost every conflict is someone is trying to satisfy a selfish desire.

How can I be so sure? James 4:1 asks us: “What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you?” And then in verse 2, James says: “You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel.”

But if you can put your selfish ambition aside, and act in humility, peace will reign in your relationships.

One final tip: Every time you get into an argument, remind yourself that at least one of you (probably both) is being selfish — then always look at yourself long and hard before trying to identify the selfishness in the other person. The quicker you submit your desires to God’s Word, the quicker your conflict will end with a God-pleasing result.

Steve Kroening writes for Success magazine and also publishes Wisdom’s Edge. You can get Biblical tips on health, finance, relationships, parenting, and success, delivered to your email inbox every week. Simply visit http://www.wisdomsedge.com and sign up for this free e-zine.

Have you ever grown frustrated with your prayer life because it just doesn’t seem like God is answering your prayers? Does it sometimes feel like God just doesn’t hear anything you pray for? Maybe you even think He doesn’t care about your prayers. I know I’ve been there. Many of us have.

But what you’re about to read is what I believe is the number one reason our prayers fail. And what you can do to help bring success to your prayers.

Remember, your only priority is God. And that one priority determines how you treat everything else in life. When you love your spouse, it is because it’s God’s priority for you to love him or her. When you work hard, it is because it’s God’s priority for you to do so.

The same truth applies to prayer. When most of us pray, we have our priorities as the main topic of discussion. We ask for things that we want, that we hope for, that we need. However, few of us have learned to pray according to God’s priorities.

If you notice the Lord’s Prayer, the first request is for God’s name to be proclaimed holy (hallowed be thy name). And then it requests His Kingdom to come and His will to be done.

The key here is that the Lord’s Prayer is focused on God’s priorities. First, that His name be proclaimed holy. Second, that His Kingdom come. And, third, that His will be done.

All of those are God’s top priorities. And, so, they need to be our top priorities in prayer.

Of course, we are part of God’s priorities. We aren’t neglected in the Lord’s Prayer. In fact, we are told to pray for our basic needs, forgiveness and the ability to forgive, and our righteousness. These are all God’s priorities for us. And we should pray for these.

So any time you see a priority of God in Scripture, start praying that He would manifest that priority in your life. When you see that the greatest commandment is to love God, ask Him to enable you to love Him. You should also pray that He would enable you to love your neighbor. And, while you’re at it, ask for help to love your enemies.

God’s purposes will always succeed, and His priorities are based on His purposes. So when we pray according to His priorities, we are guaranteed success.

Steve Kroening writes for Success magazine and also publishes Wisdom’s Edge. You can get Biblical tips on health, finance, relationships, parenting, and success, delivered to your email inbox every week. Simply visit http://www.wisdomsedge.com and sign up for this free e-zine.

Unfortunately, many Christians fail to succeed because they have their priorities out of whack. But if you can get your priorities straight, everything else will fall into place. Here’s your starting point.

How many times have you heard a Christian say, “My priorities are God, family, church, work, etc.”? I hear it all the time. It sounds spiritual. But the reality of that statement is that God is just one of many priorities. In other words, God is just one of many gods.

If God makes one thing clear in Scripture, it’s that He is God alone and expects us to make Him the priority of our lives.

So instead of making a list of priorities — with God as one in a list — here’s how your list of priorities should look: God.

That’s right! That’s all there is to it. God is your sole priority.

Of course, we have a lot of other things we must attend to in life. These include family, church, work, etc. So how do these fit into this new priority? If God is your only priority, should you avoid all the other things? Of course not!

The secret is that you now work on these areas of your life as a priority given by God. It is, in fact, His priority, not yours. You are responsible to do certain things for your family — not as your priority, but God’s. You work not because it’s your priority, but God’s. And the same applies to church and every other area of life. Anything that is God’s priority is now your responsibility.

How does this bring success? First of all, it helps you keep the right priority in all things. If you have a list of priorities, it’s oftentimes difficult to determine which one is most important. But if God is your sole priority, then everything always comes back to Him. It starts and ends with Him.

Second, when you go to make up your list of priorities for the day or the week, you can now ask, “What are God’s priorities for me today (or this week)?” Suddenly, a lot of the not-so-important things you want to do will drop off the list. And you’re able to focus on your most important responsibilities.

For instance, God’s priority for Sunday is that you worship with other believers. So instead of working or sleeping in on Sunday morning, your responsibility is to attend worship. On Monday, however, attending worship is not God’s priority. Work is His priority.

And, finally, the greatest way this contributes to your success is this: You can have full confidence that God’s purposes will succeed (Prov. 19:21). And His priorities are geared to make sure that happens. When you walk in God’s priorities, you know they will ultimately succeed.

Steve Kroening writes for Success magazine and also publishes Wisdom’s Edge. You can get Biblical tips on health, finance, relationships, parenting, and success, delivered to your email inbox every week. Simply visit http://www.wisdomsedge.com and sign up for this free e-zine.

Worry has a lot of power over your health. Unfortunately, it’s a lot easier to say, “don’t worry” than it is to actually follow the advice. That’s because a lot of people try to avoid worry without putting anything in its place. We discussed last week how dependence on the Lord is the first place to start. And doing so gives us two ways to refocus our attention — and radically change our health in the process.

The Scriptures give us two ways to keep our focus off of worry and onto far more Godly ways of thinking. Both of these concepts bind up much of what God calls us to do. And it just so happens that they can keep us far healthier until the day the Lord calls us home.

The two ways to stay healthy are simply discipline and purpose. You’ve undoubtedly heard the verse, “Where there is no vision, the people perish” (Prov. 29:18). That verse is obviously talking about purpose. It’s referring to a plan for the future. And it also encompasses hope — hope that there’s something better coming down the road.

But there’s more to this verse than just purpose or vision. The rest of the verse reads: “but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.” This part of the verse speaks to discipline. Its focus is on our living life according to God’s Word. If you read Paul’s description (in Galatians and elsewhere) of how he lived as a Pharisee, you see the description of a very disciplined man.

Even after Paul realized that his rigorous works had no power to save him, and came to Christ through faith, he remained a very disciplined man. Moreover, he called us to be disciplined, as well. In 1 Thessalonians 4:4, Paul says, “each one of you (should) know how to control his own body in holiness and honor.”

So how does all of this help your health?

If worry and stress break your health down, purpose and discipline help to build it up.

If you read a lot of the studies done on what brings good health, you’ll see that many of them have to do with these principles. You’ll see that exercise, eating right, not smoking, and living in moderation with regard to how much you eat and drink all are part of discipline. Even the disciplines of prayer, meditation, and fasting are great for your health.

There are also studies that show how people with hope, purpose, and vision will stay healthier. People who have these characteristics have fewer sick days away from work. They also have less depression and fewer chemical dependencies. And, frankly, they have a reason to live.

How many times have you seen people die shortly after they retire? They simply weren’t able to find any purpose beyond their work. But some people thrive after they retire because they find a new sense of purpose that gives them a reason to live.

So if you’re looking for great health, the place to start is not in a pill bottle. Start with your mind. Is your mind solely dedicated to Christ? Is your mind disciplined? Have you thought of your purpose? If you can find someone with a need, it’s easy to find purpose.

And a great gift you can give your children is to teach them discipline and purpose while they’re young. It’s a great way to help them live a healthy, long life.

Steve Kroening writes for Success magazine and also publishes Wisdom’s Edge. You can get Biblical tips on health, finance, relationships, parenting, and success, delivered to your email inbox every week. Simply visit http://www.wisdomsedge.com and sign up for this free e-zine.

A luminous world appeared in perfect splendor. It was all a flutter with beautiful angels darting back and forth excitedly proclaiming the Greatness of God. Suddenly a Being more beautiful than all of the rest stood before the exuberate crowd dressed in clothes that shone like lightning. All activity stopped and focused on the words that flowed elegantly and persuasively directing the angels to important missions for God’s chosen children on earth.

The time had come for the harvest of the earth and each supernatural being was directed to their charge. Their mission was to gather together the faithful and position them for the great and mighty day of the Lord Jesus’ return. They were ecstatic with joy that the time of destroying the evil off the face of the earth had now come.

When I looked at the vision and understood what it meant, truth flooded my mind with understanding. Our world had become so corrupted by evil that God had shorted the time of the end.

I was astonished at how simple minded people had become to their lives and how easily they were influenced to do bad. How could so many people be deceived? Why weren’t they striving to do right?

Matthew 24: 21-25, “For the trouble at that time will be far more terrible than any there has ever been, from the beginning of the world to this very day. Nor will there ever be anything like it again. But God has already reduced the number of days; had he not done so, nobody would survive. For the sake of his chosen people, however, God will reduce the days.
Then, if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Messiah!’ or ‘There he is!’-do not believe him. For false Messiahs and false prophets will appear; they will perform great miracles and wonders in order to deceive even God’s chosen people, if possible. Listen! I have told you this ahead of time.”

We live in a world where deception is present in everyday life. For example, we are constantly bombarded with advertisements from fast food restaurants compelling us to eat fatty hamburgers and french fries. The media has persuaded our children to eat unhealthy cereals and beverages loaded with sugar by their favorite cartoons through TV commercials and advertisements on the boxes. As consumers and parents we have lost our ability to know what kind of food is best.

We sit and watch television all day. We are addicted to video games and the internet. We don’t clean our homes or exercise because we are way too busy with our electronic gadgets and working at our jobs so we can fuel our desire for things.

Our doctor offices are full of patients who are prone to constant sicknesses and major diseases because of unhealthy lifestyles from the indulgence of fatty fast foods and lack of exercise. People are taking pills for high blood pressure. They are filling their bodies with antidotes when the right medicine can be found by eating the right kind of foods.

Hospitals are springing up everywhere in order to meet the excessive demand of sick people. These people have lost there ability to tell the difference between right and wrong in what they eat and how they should take care of their bodies. These people rely on doctors and never call to God for help!

We fill our homes with big screen televisions and entertain ourselves with fast cars and expensive boats. Never thinking of anyone but ourselves. Always planning the next vacation that will bring excitement into our lives.

We don’t understand when floods come and sweep away our homes. “Why would God take our things from us?” “God must hate me.”

We don’t understand because we are so preoccupied with our own lives that we have abandoned our churches and we have neglected our faith so we can indulge in our luxuries. We have become children of the world taking care of our own needs while the poor become poorer and the rich build bigger and bigger homes.

A tornado wipes out houses and peoples securities and all the people think about is what memories they have lost, they console themselves with expectations of what new things they will buy with the insurance check. They don’t think about the poor in their community, who don’t have insurance, and have lost their jobs as a result of the storm? Who will help them?

Our world is a game. A battle between good and evil. A world where people are either for ‘God and good’, or for the great deceiver Satan and what they can get from the world. We must choose a side and fight! We must look at our world differently or we will lose ourselves in the activities of the world.

The seasons are changing, it is hot where it is suppose to be cool. It is cool where it is suppose to be hot. It rains when it is suppose to be dry. It is dry when it is suppose to be wet. Look at what is happening and you will begin to understand that ‘The Time Is Now’ and the ‘End of All Things Are About to Happen’.

Daniel 12: 1-3, “The angel wearing linen clothes said, ‘At that time the great angel Michael, who guards your people, will appear. Then there will be a time of troubles, the worst since nations first came into existence. When that time comes, all the people of your nation whose names are written in God’s book will be saved. Many of those who have already died will live again: some will enjoy eternal life, and some will suffer eternal disgrace. The wise leaders will shine with all the brightness of the sky. And those who have taught many people to do what is right will shine like the stars forever.”

Our world is a game meant to teach people the difference between good and evil. The wise will learn the lessons of the world and they will pray for help when the storms of life come. The wicked who have been deceived by Satan, will blame God and abandon their faith for their worldly pleasures.

Why are the people running to doctors and administering the medicine to their constant wounds? Why are they so preoccupied with making a living for their pleasures? Why do they build bigger houses and larger banks for their money?

We have given into evil and we are blind to our sins. We don’t care about our mother or father in their old age. We don’t care about the financial status of our children. We don’t think about the homeless and the poor. Our only interest is about ourselves and what makes us happy.

Mark 13: 32-37 “No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Be on guard! Be alert! You do not know when that time will come. It’s like a man going away: He leaves his house and puts his servants in charge, each with his assigned task, and tells the one at the door to keep watch.
Therefore keep watch because you do not know when the owner of the house will come back-whether in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or at dawn. If he comes suddenly, do not let him find you sleeping. What I say to you, I say to everyone: ‘Watch!’”

When we are preoccupied with this world then we are at risk to storms, sicknesses and violence of all kinds. We are at war against evil and when we are sleeping on the job and not asking God to protect us and help us fight we have surrendered to the world.

God’s chosen children need to stop sleeping and start using their power of prayer to activate God’s angels. They need to put on the armor of God and fight Satan and the evil he has the power to inflict upon men. When we aren’t fighting for good then evil is given permission to dominate the world.

The Angels eagerly gathered together to fight. They no longer had to wait upon the call of God’s chosen people. Now they had the authority from God to stop evil in the world. They no longer had to restrain their will to fight against Satan and all people who choose evil over good. The End has Come!

Unfortunately for the people of the world The time is Now! Look at all of the deception forced upon all people through false advertisements! Look at the climate change! Look at all the sicknesses of the world! Look at the wars that are escalating and leading closer to a nuclear bomb!

Wake up sleepers and start preparing for the end!

Linda C Dipman author of THE GAME OF LIFE IT’S ALMOST OVER http://outskirtspress.com/gameoflife presents AND HIS LOVE SHONE DOWN my true life story! It describes all the persecutions I endured. It will put you on the edge of your seat as you read each vivid detail. You will feel terror and experience love like nothing you have ever read before. lovinghandsministry.com