Charisma Magazine

In the Scriptures, Abraham's territory was limited only by what he could envision. When it comes to your spiritual inheritance, how far can you see?

Every new season from God seems to have a theme, catch phrase or byword that characterizes it. In the most recent season, that catch phrase has expressed a particular hunger in our hearts and has become the theme of many of our prayer lives: "Increase our territory."

The widespread appeal of that phrase and its message—that God wants to increase the territory of those who call out to Him—has been apparent in the almost frenzied popularity of a slim, simple little book by Bruce Wilkinson called The Prayer of Jabez. The book expounds on Jabez's prayer, recorded in 1 Chronicles 4:10, which included a cry for an increase in territory. The Bible says that God granted his request.

When we get our sexuality right, we bring God glory and put the gospel on display. When we get it wrong, we dishonor Him and fail to tell the story that the world so desperately needs to hear. Watch Mary Kassian talk about the quiet counterrevolution of women who love Jesus and delight in God's design for gender.

To a woman, whether single or married, what matters most is knowing her worth in the eyes of God.

What do you think of yourself? How would you describe yourself to someone if you were being objective? Would you want to get to know you if you met yourself walking down the street? Well, it’s time to get under the skin you’re in.

I’ve told the story of the time I was deeply hurt in a relationship—so deeply I had a party with the devil who served me Unbelief Tea and Resignation Pie topped with “Why Me?” sauce. Well, the man got married and divorced. He became a Christian. He came back to me. I was thrilled.

Then we had a major disagreement. He married someone else without telling me. (Can you believe he got married on me twice? What was I thinking?)

With so many dating options today, waiting on the Lord for a mate has taken on a whole new meaning.

Marijean (not her real name) had just broken her engagement to a successful businessman, who turned out to have serious moral failings. She was 31, and looking for real solutions to some of the relationship dilemmas many singles face, so she began regularly visiting a home Bible study I attended that addressed singles issues.

One evening on the drive home, she coyly asked me this question: "What is the procedure if someone is attracted to another person in the Bible study?" Gulp. I searched my mind for a file called "procedure," but found none. "Well," I said, finally, "they could try and mingle over cookies and juice at the end of the evening." That was the best I could offer, and I knew it was lame.

Your way to God begins on the day of your conversion, for conversion marks your soul’s initial return to God. From that moment you begin to live and have your being by the means of His grace.

After your conversion, your own spirit—the human spirit (which is deep within your inmost being)—is touched by God and is made alive and functioning. Your spirit—in turn—invites your soul to compose itself and to turn within, there to find the God who has newly come to reside at the center of your being.

Your spirit instructs your soul that, since God is more present deep within you, He cannot be found anywhere else. Henceforth, He must be sought within. And He must be enjoyed there, alone.

When Jesus died on the cross, He opened the way for us to get personal with almighty God.

Ask any believer if spending regular quality time with God is a challenge, and he or she will almost always say yes. We manage to make time for lots of other things—entertainment, work, school and church events—but we find it difficult to spend daily time in fellowship with God by praying, worshipping and reading His Word.

I too experienced this difficulty until God taught me a valuable lesson on crisis management. I used to spend time with God once in a while or when my life was in big trouble. Then the Lord told me to seek Him continuously, or diligently. Eventually I learned that if I ever wanted to stop living from one emergency to the next, I needed to seek God every day as if I were in desperate need of Him—even during times of tremendous prosperity and blessing.