[Music] for Clues your desire for someone is from God not from yourself sometimes you meet a person and you start Desiring to be with them you may even start picturing your life with them and how your relationship with them will go it may be an instant attraction when you first meet them or an attraction that grows over time with every conversation you have with them God ordained the institution of marriage and is not against you finding someone you will spend the rest of your life with but because he is a good father he can also
lead you in the area of marriage just like God can instruct you and lead you on other areas of life he can lead you on who you should choose as a life partner of course he will not force this choice on you but it is wiser to follow God's guidance one of the ways God may lead you on who to choose for marriage is through your desires God created your emotions and it is important that whoever you will be with is someone you are drawn to emotionally so God May place the desire in you to
be with someone he may make you be drawn to someone because he knows that such a person will be good for you God is interested in your relationships he is interested in your marriage Jeremiah 29:1 says for I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord plans to prosper you and not to harm you plans to give you hope in a future your marriage is part of the future and this is why God may lead you to who you should marry desire is a way he does that but sometimes you may question how
do I know when this desire is from God and is his way of leading me or my desire not all desires we have are from God some are simply a product of our emotions or will but this does not mean that God cannot lead us through our desires Philippians chap 2:3 says for it is God who works in you to Will and to act according to his good purpose God can work in us to have a certain desire in accordance with his purpose if you want to be sure of when your desires towards someone are
from God and when they are not here are four tests you can place your desire on one when the desire is in line with the principles in the word of God and does not draw you to sin against God every time you hear God's voice see a vision have a dream or feel that God is speaking to you in any other way the first thing you must check is if whatever you have heard is in line with the word the word shows us the character of God and God will not contradict the character of his
word so whatever desire that you are having towards a person that is not in line with God's word is not from him if that desire is drawing you towards a sinful relationship then you know that it is not from God if the person you have such desire toward is someone who believes in having sex before marriage you know that that contradicts God's word so that desire cannot be from him the Bible tells us that our bodies are the Temple of the Holy Spirit therefore we should honor God and flee sexual sins sex before marriage is
a sin according to the Bible no matter how cool Society wants to paint it and no matter how much the media wants to whitewash it it is a sin another example of a desire that contradicts God's word is when can you have such desires towards a married person I think this is clear you should not be Desiring marriage with a person who is already married you do not even need to ask God if that desire is from him it is clear it is not another standard in the word that should not be overlooked is 2
Corinthians 6: 14-15 which says do not be yolked together with unbelievers for what do righteousness and wickedness have in common or what Fellowship can light have with Darkness what Harmony is there between Christ and bile what does a Believer have in common with an unbeliever is the person you are sensing a desire towards a Believer are they of the same Faith as you the standard of the word is pretty clear you should not be Desiring such a relationship you may be thinking but why the Bible describes such a relationship as unequally yolked this is is
usually used as a term to describe when two oxen that are not compatible in strength with one strong and the other weak are yolked together they will not be able to perform the task before them but may be at odds with each other this is what usually happens in a relationship between a Believer and an unbeliever you have different beliefs and even when they seem not to matter at first it could lead to a lot of issues in the future so this instruction is for our benefit if whatever desire you have is not in line
with God's word or will cause you to sin it is not from God but when it is the opposite then it may be from God two when there is an opportunity to fulfill your desire with this person another sign that your desire may be from God is when you can have an opportunity to fulfill that desire you should not be Desiring someone who is currently in a relationship or someone who is married whatever desire you have should be towards someone single like you also an opportunity to fulfill that desire will exist where the person has
mutual feelings towards you God will not force you on anybody just like he will not force anyone on you if the feelings are not mutual then there is no opportunity to fulfill your desire with the person you can also experience such an opportunity when the person is single and so many coincidences put the two of you together so that you can talk when these three things Mutual feeling singleness and opportunity to talk are present then it may be God who placed that desire in you but before you proceed pray about it and wait on God
to be sure about it three when your desire for this person and possible relationship with this person will not cause harm to your relationship with God whatever will harm your relationship with God is not from him the question will be if that person will help you grow your relationship with God or will cause you to become distant from God if that person will cause you to be distant from God trivialize your faith in God and ultimately influence you to let go of your faith or values of your faith that desire is definitely not from God
another thing you should consider is if the desire you are having is distracting you from God if you are so consumed with the desire for a relationship that you no longer spend time seeking God then that relationship has become an in your heart whatever desire in your hearts that you raise above your relationship with God may end a harming your relationship with him you have to ask yourself am I willing to submit this desire to God trusting his decision if God tells you to let go will you struggle with him or will you willingly surrender
it marriage is beautiful and the relationship that leads to that is also very important God wants the best marriage for us but we must never get to the point where we lift it above the know knowledge of God nothing should be more important than our relationship with God so let God help your heart you may need to take some time to reflect on that desire and how it affects you if you are obsessed with it and it has become an idol to you then you may need to let it go your relationship should draw you
closer to God and not away from him four when your motivation behind the desire is not selfish or lustful but love why do you want that relationship your motivation for doing anything is as important as the thing you do you have to figure out why you are Desiring that relationship people desire a relationship with a particular person for different reasons some desire it to prove a point to others some desire it because the person is wealthy and they do not think they will have to work hard again and some desire it because they cannot control
their attraction towards that person these may all be regarded as the wrong reasons and motivations for entering a relationship your desire for a relationship should not be based on lust to prove a point to others or even because you want the person to take care of your financial needs it should be because you have seen that you can love this person or you can grow to love this person a relationship should not only be about satisfying your desires or using the other person you should mutually enjoy being with each other love should be the motivation
for Desiring a relationship with a person and not selfish Desires in a relationship you will have to be selfless you will have to adjust to some things and you will have to grow this will be hard when you enter the relationship for all the wrong reasons when your desire is for all the wrong reasons that desire is not from God another thing that you should consider with your desires is testing it with time especially when you are not sure of your motivation you may need time to discover that you are Desiring that relationship for all
the right reasons sometimes it is just wise to wait it out and check if that desire does not die over time time reveals many things and it gives you the chance to get to know that person better to be sure that your desire is not actually for a version of them that you have made up in your head but for who they truly are if your motivation is right and the desire has remained for sometime it may be a sign that the desire is from God even after you have confirmed these four signs in relation
to your desire it is wise for you to spend time praying and waiting on the Lord to be sure that he is leading you towards that person God wants to lead us and guide us and when we seek him he does exactly this the Bible says in 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 will make your path straight when you acknowledge God in all your ways by seeking his will on some things he directs your path and
makes it straight being in the right relationship can be a benefit but being in a wrong relationship can hurt you in ways that you cannot imagine this is why it is wiser to be sure that the desire you have towards someone is from God and to spend time seeking God's counsel in most situations that we face on earth when have to make decisions or are at a crossroad there are usually two desires at work in our hearts one is our desire our will and the second is God's desire God's will for our lives there is
always that conflict within us on whether we should yield to our desires or to yield to God's desire experiencing this struggle does not make you less Christian Jesus our lord and savior also experienced this when he was about to be arrested and crucified when he was praying he asked that the cup may be taken away from him but he did not end there he also said nevertheless not his will but the will of the father be done the cross was not attractive but that was God's will for him Jesus realized that there was a struggle
within him to yield to God's will or to yield to his own will he did not pretend as if he was not troubled he did not ignore the struggle but took it to God in prayers he then prayed that God's will would be done instead of his he found the strength to yield to God's will in the place of prayer when you finally discover whether the desire that you are feeling is from God or not then you need to choose to yield to God's desire there may be a conflict within you but follow the example
example of Jesus and take it to the place of prayer stay in the place of prayer till you are sure of God's will until you are sure that you will yield to his will we all have our personal desires and we may feel that we know what is best for us the interesting is that we do not always know what is best for us only God knows the future and he is the one who knows the heart of each person so if God places a desire in your heart it is probably for a good reason
he wants the best for you never forget if you realize that the desire is not from God but from yourself submit it to God surrender it to God totally this may be hard especially when you have imagined a future with that person but you have to trust that God knows what is best for you if you are finding surrender difficult ask God for help God will strengthen you to surrender to his will pray with me father I thank you because your plan for me is a good one thank you because my future is in your
hands thank you for the emotions and desires that you have given me thank you for your grace at work in my life Lord I pray that you will help me surrender to your will give me a Discerning heart that knows when a desire is from you and when it is not help me to submit my desires to you please remind me to always seek you before making decisions help me to follow your will rather than mine let your will be done in my life and my future marriage in jesus' name amen [Music]
