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I caused some brothers to stumble.

May6

Not too long ago I wrote a post about modesty. The other day I was at the building where my Church gathers, and on two occasions  I noticed different brothers looking at me.

As I drove away from the building, I began to pray, and in my time of prayer, God revealed something to me: I had been practicing vanity. Although I wasn’t showing skin, or cleavage  my tight shirt and jeans did show off my curves, and my extra makeup (mascara, lip-color, and some eye shadow), had made me more attractive, and hence, I was causing my brothers to stumble.

The Apostle Paul (the man whose letters make up more than half of the New Testament), says in one of his letters to the Church in Rome:

 ”It is good neither to eat meat nor drink wine nor do anything by which your brother stumbles or is offended or is made weak.”-Romans 14:21

And then to the Church in Corinth:

“Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never again eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble.”-1 Corinthians 8:13

And how much more so should we sisters be mindful of what we wear in order to look out for our brothers? See, in my vanity (my desire to look good), I had caused brothers to stumble. Had I simply settled for presentable, with no extra makeup and clothes that did not hug my hips and outline my curves, they probably would have been alright. But really, you ladies know that the skin-tight jeans you wear show off your butt, and what man needs to see that? The only man who can and should is your husband. If you ain’t married, you shouldn’t be flaunting and making both single and married men stumble.

If you’re saying right now, “Oh please, brothers just need to control themselves and not lust. It’s not my fault they’re lusting,” you are not obeying Christ’s command to walk in love. Love does not provoke nor is it self-seeking, but as Paul says, you look out for the interests of others, not just yourself.

Christ is our example. While on this earth, He was all about others, number One being His Father (now for us who believe, our Father), then sinners, and lastly, Himself. We are to have the same mindset: God the Father first, others second, and ourselves last. Jesus said:

“If anyone desires to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all.”-Mark 9:35

May we stop sinning against God by serving ourselves, and start walking according to His commands. This is possible by confession and repentance. We get honest with the Lord, and then stop wearing things that cause our brothers to trip up. We pray for God to break our vanity and/or insecurity, and to help us be 100% satisfied all the time by His love and acceptance of us just the way we are.

Ladies, know that your worth doesn’t come by how good you look on the outside, and how appealing you are to men. It comes from the fact that Jesus thought you were worthy enough to die for. May you come to grasp the fullness of His love for you, and be filled by it everyday.

With love,

Natasha

Daughter of the King, Stop Conforming!

Mar21

“Do not be conformed to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.” -Romans 12:2

In other words …

You don’t have to dress provocatively and get lustful attention from men.

You don’t have to move in with a guy and have sex with him before marriage.

You don’t have to get married just to divorce and then remarry again and continue the viscous cycle.

There’s a best way to go about life and relationships: God’s way.

Instead of dressing provocatively and drawing in men that just want to have sex with you. Dress modestly and draw in guys that think you’re pretty and would like to get to know you better for you.

“Women are to dress themselves in modest clothing, with decency and good sense; not with elaborate hairstyles, gold, pearls, or expensive apparel, but with good works, as is proper for women who affirm that they worship God.” -1 Timothy 2:9-10

 

Don’t believe the hype: being overtly sexy isn’t liberating, it’s enslaving. You will always be enslaved to pleasing a man’s lustful appetite and competing with every other girl who puts herself on display. And if your main tool in drawing in men is your looks, as time works with gravity, and your beauty starts to fade, you’re gonna encounter some serious issues.

Instead of moving in with your boyfriend and giving him your body, wait for the man God brings you; who will respect and honor you and God by waiting for you until marriage.

Don’t believe the lie that men in our day and age just don’t wait till marriage anymore, because I know plenty of men who have–one of them being my husband.

Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body. -1 Corinthians 6:18-20

 

Now concerning the matters about which you wrote: “It is good for a man not to have sexual relations with a woman.” But because of the temptation to sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife and each woman her own husband. The husband should give to his wife her conjugal rights, and likewise the wife to her husband. For the wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does. Likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does. -1 Corinthians 7:1-4

 

Notice it doesn’t say, “For the girlfriend does not have authority over her own body, but the boyfriend does.” The HUSBAND has authority over your body. Get it together ladies!

If you’re having marital problems you don’t have to divorce like this world advises you to do.

The Lord was witness between you and the wife of your youth, to whom you have been faithless, though she is your companion and your wife by covenant. Did he not make them one, with a portion of the Spirit in their union? And what was the one God seeking? Godly offspring. So guard yourselves in your spirit, and let none of you be faithless to the wife of your youth. “For the man who does not love his wife but divorces her, says the Lord, the God of Israel, covers his garment with violence, says the Lord of hosts. So guard yourselves in your spirit, and do not be faithless.” -Malachi 2:14-16

Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. 23 Forthe husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. 24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands.

 Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, because we are members of his body. “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband. -Ephesians 5:22-32

 

Notice a trend? It’s a command to love one another, not an option.

I know of couples who were already divorced–some thirteen years!–and God brought them back together! Check out this amazing testimony.

http://www.iamsecond.com/seconds/the-scruggs/

 

So enough conforming! Not only are we breaking God’s heart when we justify sinning, but we place ourselves in an unsafe place spiritually.

For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries. Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses. How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace? For we know him who said, “Vengeance is mine; I will repay.” And again, “The Lord will judge his people.” It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. -Hebrews 10:26-31

 

Know your worth,

Natasha

Ladies, Stop Makin’ Brothers Stumble!

Mar17

I’ll be sitting in church behind a girl who’s upper back and shoulders are out; no straps, just bare backs. Now I’m a girl, however, I know that bare backs can be alluring to men. I can just discern the men around me, forcing their eyes on the pastor, likely trying to not imagine this sister’s naked backside.

Call me over-the-top, but men are such creative visualizers. You give ‘em a little tease, and their minds are painting you nude!

Now, this is serious. Why? Because of your willingness to be a, “little sexy,” (aka to compromise God’s standard of modesty), you are causing a brother to stumble before the LORD.

May I remind you dear princess, that our Heavenly Father is holy, and His inspired Word says:

 Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.

We cannot think our God overlooks sin. He doesn’t. His desire is that we confess and forsake it by turning to Him and resolving to do what is right in His sight. But many in our modern-day Westernized Church are like babes being fed milk–God is love, He is loving, He loves unconditionally–and they’re not being fed meat–Just as God is love, He is also just, He hates sin, and avenges wrongdoers unless they repent.

Just ’cause we’re believers doesn’t mean we can get away with compromise.

For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins,  but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries.  Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses.  How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace?  For we know him who said, “Vengeance is mine; I will repay.” And again, “The Lord will judge his people.” It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. -Hebrews 10:26-31

Jesus even went as far as commanding us to deny ourselves because He knows we’re prone to doing evil, thus to hurt Him, ourselves, and others!

Now, God is gracious and long-suffering; He knows we’re mere dust, but after warning us, when we don’t heed His voice but harden our hearts, He says:

because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.

He will render to each one according to his works:  to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life;  but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury.  There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek, but glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek. For God shows no partiality. For all who have sinned without the law will also perish without the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law. For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified. -Romans 2:5-13

So Christian, do not take your walk with God lightly. Yes, we serve a loving God, but just as much as He is loving, He is holy, and we must strive for holiness if we wish to stand before Him for all eternity.

On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’ -Matthew 7:22-24

How to discern a shark from a real man of God

Mar2

So, I’m at this conference and there’s a guy here close to my age, admittedly not bad-looking, and at first I didn’t get any weird vibes from him. But yesterday, when he demanded in a “fun” way for me to sit with him, my God-given discernment kicked in. Then today, when he made a comment that ended with, “And I love that about you,” red flags started flappin’ around my brain and I scurried outta dodge!

See princesses, even if you’re married, men (sometimes even married themselves!), can and likely will try to make subtle passes at you. Sure they have the Christian title, maybe even work in a Christian-owned company, and MAY even be saved, BUT if he isn’t *surrendered* to the Lord, he can be a wolf in sheep’s clothing, or as I like to call them, a shark.

How you discern these sharks from genuine fishermen for Jesus is by the little things they subtly slip into conversations. If any man besides your husband, father, or uncle tells you he, “loves” something about you, that could be a red-flag. If he wants to be around you with no real need to, that can be another indicator of wrong intentions.

Here’s what you do when you’re sensing a man may be attracted to you and secretly trying to lure you:

  1. Pray him away.
  2. Purpose to avoid him.
  3. If he is persistent, put your heel down and let him know you think he’s behaving inappropriately and needs to stop.
  4. If he’s psycho and step number 3 fails, ask your husband to step in.
  5. If even number 4 doesn’t work, immediately call the police department.

Precious princesses, please be wise and discern when a man is being inappropriate toward you. And PLEASE do NOT entertain it. He will get the wrong message and pursue you all the more, and it’s sharks like these who sneak in and if we allow them to, can very well destroy our marriage and families.

Boundaries are extremely important, and when it comes to maintaining fidelity in your marriage, you can never be too cautious.

Until next time, know your worth.

With love,

Natasha

A must see on sex, love, and relationships!

Feb23

This past Wednesday me and Sir Jonathan were blessed to have a surprise speaker at our church, Chip Ingram from Living on the Edge ministries. He spoke about Hollywood’s prescription for lasting relationships versus God’s.

Hollywood’s

  1. Find the right person.
  2. Fall in love.
  3. Fix your goals and dreams around this person.
  4. If steps 1-3 don’t work, repeat cycle with someone else.

God’s

  1. Become the right person.
  2. Walk in love
  3. Fix your hope on God (Seek to please Him)
  4. If failure occurs go back to square 1 and ask yourself, “Am I the right person, am I walking in love, etc.

 

This man hits it on the head way better than Sir Jonathan and I ever could, so please give this message a lesson. This is the video from the night he visited our church. It is a must see! Click on the message entitled: Sex, love, and relationships.

http://myeikon.com/teachings/topical-messages/?sid=1064#top

Know Your Worth.

Much love,

Natasha

 

Sex before marriage. I gotta word or two.

Feb19

TrianaRosePhotography.com

Premarital sex Fornication.

The purpose of marriage is to exemplify Christ’s love relationship with His church, His people. The Bible refers to Christ as the “Bridegroom” and the church as “His bride.” This relationship is to be a representation of Christ’s faithfulness to us, His commitment to us and likewise ours to Him, His unconditional love and sacrifice for us, and our obedience and submission to His guidance.

“Wives, be subject to your own husbands, as to the Lord.  For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church, He Himself being the Savior of the body.  But as the church is subject to Christ, so also the wives ought to be to their husbands in everything.  Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her,  so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that He might present to Himself the church [q]in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless.  So husbands ought also to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself;  for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ also does the church, 30 because we are members of His body.  For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and shall be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.  This mystery is great; but I am speaking with reference to Christ and the church.” -Ephesians 5:22-32

When you have sex outside of the holy covenant of marriage, you are being number one, unfaithful to God. You are disobeying His command because you are indulging in a body that has not yet been given to you by Him.

“Flee immorality. Every other sin that a man commits is outside the body, but the immoral man sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.” -1 Corinthians 6:18-20

Only when you have committed your life to a person through marriage does God share their body with you.

“The husband must fulfill his [sexual] duty to his wife, and likewise also the wife to her husband.  The wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does; and likewise also the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does.” -1 Corinthians 7:3-4

Notice it does not say, “The boyfriend must fulfill his sexual duty to his girlfriend and likewise the girlfriend to her boyfriend.” Only when husband and wife are you to submit your body to the other person.

There is no real accountable commitment in a relationship outside of marriage.  You can move in with a guy and if things go sour, he can kick you out (I know several girls who have had this happen to them). You can cheat on your boyfriend or girlfriend, but in most cases you don’t have a family with this person so there’s not that extra pressure of hurting your entire family if you get caught.  In a marriage it’s a lot harder to up and leave. You gotta go through courts, judges, lawyers, money. You have to end things with the person you committed your life to in front of loved ones and God Himself.

When you’re fornicating you’re not displaying unconditional love. Your love is clearly conditional: you have to have sex with this person. If your love wasn’t conditional, prove it by refraining from using this person for your sexual desires until after you’ve walked them down the aisle.

When having sex with this person before marriage there is no sacrifice. You are getting everything you want from this person: full access. There is no sacrifice on your part, no holding back. Sacrifice by pledging your life and signing it away to this person till death do you part, being held socially accountable by loved ones and God, and legally accountable by the government. That holds so much more weight and is such a bigger sacrifice because you literally have to pay to get out of it.

Christ laid His very life down. He gave everything for His bride. If you have not committed your life to another person through God’s covenant of marriage, yet are touching them sexually, you are not representing Him well, and are hurting Him, yourself, the other person, the other person’s future spouse, and your future spouse. You are acting unfaithfully and selfishly. Yes, these are powerful words, but I say them to you in love.

“Faithful are the wounds of a friend, but deceitful are the kisses of an enemy.” -Proverbs 27:6

So if you’re having sex outside of marriage, repent. Turn away from that. Confess to God and truly surrender your will and desires to Him. You won’t be chained now by His “rules” but rather, you will be free to walk as the prince or princess He created you to be. You’ll be free from guilt and shame, free from addiction, free to walk in self control and purity and right standing with God, and that dear friends, is more enjoyable and pleasurable than any orgasm you’ll ever have. And when the timing is right, and God blesses you with a spouse, your sex life will be all the more blessed by Him because you obeyed Him beforehand. He blesses obedience, but disobedience reaps many consequences–some you’ll have to live with your whole life. Do yourself, others, and God a favor by choosing to follow Him, by His strength and with His might.

“For it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.” -Philippians 2:13

“I labor for this, striving with His strength that works powerfully in me.” -Colossians 1:29

If you’ve given your life to Jesus and asked Him to come into your heart, He has given you His Holy Spirit. His Spirit abides in you, and gives you the power to live out His commands (so you have no excuse). Depend and rely upon Him, not yourself, and you will be able to wait until marriage.

Much love to you, and please know your worth.

Natasha

Give in to His love

Feb4

I had an appointment for a free leg wax today and honestly wasn’t too excited about going, but just decided to go through with it. So while I’m in the room, somehow or another we get to talking about how I knew Jonathan was the one (oh right, she said I looked young to be married), and then she’s like, “Oh my goodness, you sound just like my mother! She’s 100% Christian. The past four years she’s just become so Christian, and she’s always telling me about these amazing things God’s doing, etc. etc.” And I’m thinking man, this girl hears it all the time from her mom, about how amazing it is to be in a love relationship with the Lord, now here He is, bringing some random girl to tell her the same thing, and I’m like, “Man, God just knocks and knocks and when you sense Him knocking, He just gets louder and louder. He’s such a stalker!” And another girl there started opening up at how she just bought her first Bible last week and how she wants to really start following Him as well and telling me how He’s been calling her and we both were like, “Wow, it truly is amazing that the God of the Universe cares that much to have a relationship with us.”

I also began to share with her what the Lord had told me to read this morning from the book of Hosea; how Hosea was a prophet the Lord told to marry a prostitute because at the time, the nation of Israel, His people, were “playing the harlot,” that is, worshiping other gods. And how in the first chapter He’s very upset, calling Israel “Not His people” and a harlot. It deeply hurts Him that they have now given their love and attention to false gods, the gods the other nations worshiped, and how they had completely forgotten about Him. He’s so mad, He talks about how He’s going to give them over to their enemies and no longer have mercy on them, but then immediately, it’s like His love for them is so great, He just can’t–despite for how much and for how long they’ve been ignoring Him and showing other gods their love and devotion–completely cut them off. He says in verse ten that yet still, He is going to so multiply the children of Israel and that in the place where it was said to them, “You are not my people,” it shall be said to them, “You are the sons of the living God.”

I’m just blown away by His love and grace. These people have completely turned their backs on Him, doing disgusting things: having sex with temple prostitutes of the false gods, sacrificing their children to these gods by burning them in fire and YET God says, ‘One day, you’ll be called My sons.” To be a son of a king means to be the heir of their throne. God looks at us, having premarital sex, going wild at clubs and parties, or just completely shrugging Him off, and yet He desires to make US His sons? The heirs of His kingdom? The kingdom where there’s no more pain, sorrow, or death, but just complete righteousness, joy, and peace?

Think about that.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………

In chapter two His love for rebellious people just further blows my mind. He begins to talk about how Israel was His wife, and He her Husband. That’s how intimate He sees His relationship with His people; He compares it to the most intimate relationship one can have on earth: marriage. And again, He talks about the punishment He’s going to bring on them; destroying their crops, taking away their joy, but just like in chapter one, right after He pronounces the well-deserved punishments, He starts talking about how He’s going to bless them again after these things (see He knows that unfortunately, all the prophets He sent before were to of no avail; they didn’t bring about a change of heart in the people. Israel could care less that God was sending them warnings through prophets so now He says, ‘I’m gonna take away all the things that cause you to prosper and have joy, because only then will you recognize that I was the One who gave them to you in the first place, and then you will return to Me). So He says after these punishments:

“Therefore, behold, I will allure her,
Will bring her into the wilderness,
And speak comfort to her.
 I will give her her vineyards from there,
And the Valley of Achor as a door of hope;
She shall sing there,
As in the days of her youth,
As in the day when she came up from the land of Egypt.

 “And it shall be, in that day,”
Says the Lord,
“That you will call Me ‘My Husband,’
And no longer call Me ‘My Master,’
 For I will take from her mouth the names of the Baals,
And they shall be remembered by their name no more.
 In that day I will make a covenant for them
With the beasts of the field,
With the birds of the air,
And with the creeping things of the ground.
Bow and sword of battle I will shatter from the earth,
To make them lie down safely.

“I will betroth you to Me forever;
Yes, I will betroth you to Me
In righteousness and justice,
In lovingkindness and mercy;
 I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness,
And you shall know the Lord.

 “It shall come to pass in that day
That I will answer,” says the Lord.” -Hosea 2:14-21

 

See ladies, the affection and attention you crave from men, it is a desire God gave you, but a desire only He could fulfill. These men breaking your hearts, or maybe even treating you like silver (not gold, unless he loves and honors the Lord), but it not being enough, that’s just because a man cannot satisfy and fill that need that you have for love. Only God can. Only the Lord who so desperately wants your attention and love, only He can complete you. Before Sir Jonathan was placed in my path, I was complete. For the first time in my life I didn’t care about having a boyfriend. I didn’t even want one! Why? Because I had finally allowed God to fulfill that void in me. And my, did He satisfy me! (My friends and family can tell you; they thought I was nuts!) But you know how when you meet a guy you think is just so hot and amazing, and you can’t stop talking about him to your friends? Well, that’s just how it was and still is to this day with Jesus. He is so amazing and treats me with such incredible love that I can’t help but tell others about Him. My husband is great, but like I’ve said MANY times before, Jonathan doesn’t hold a candle to my Lord. No man on this earth comes close to how wonderful God is.

Beautiful princesses, I plead with you, allow God to love on you, to pour out His love on you. It is His desire to just drown you with love. The Bible says like how parents decide to have kids just because they desire them and want to love them, God made all of us for, “His good pleasure.” It just pleased Him to have sons and daughters. It’s time to come home to Him. Only then will your heart be at rest, and your joy complete.

“These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full.” -Jesus (John 15:11)

How did I know Sir Jonathan was the one?

Jan29

Photo shot by Triana, TrianaRosePhotography.com
Graphics by Peter Honore

Many people ask me, “How did you know Jonathan was the one?”

This may sound shallow, but the first thing I noticed was the attraction (bear with me). To me, Jonathan was the most gorgeous guy I’d ever seen. He had everything I wanted; pale skin, black hair, and light eyes.

Now, I know Satan can very well bring you counterfeits so attraction is obviously just a minor clue, and most certainly not the only one. (Side note: If the guy isn’t a believer, scratch him off the potential-husband list immediately).

Next: He shared the same calling. Sir Jonathan, like me, is an actor, writer, and director (though I’m pretty sure God’s not calling me to be a film-director, He has called me to direct theatre actors).

Thirdly, and very importantly: My prayers regarding him and our relationship were consistently, unfailingly, being answered.

I prayed behind Sir Jonathan’s back that he’d really begin reading the Bible, listening to music by Christian artists, going to Calvary with me, make friends with godly brothers who could pour into him, get baptized, leave the Catholic church, and not wanna wait so long to marry me (early on in our relationship, he’d say he wouldn’t be ready probably until he was twenty-five! Mind you, we were nineteen at the time!) Every single one of those prayers got answered. And I was there when Jonathan finished reading the New Testament for the first time, and I witnessed his baptism. Oh, and these prayers got answered without me forcing them to happen (in the very beginning I did talk to Jonathan about how important reading the Bible was, but he’d get upset at me telling him what he should do so I quickly learned, and God confirmed through a random recently converted old friend, that I needed to shut up and pray).

Then there was a crucial moment four months into our relationship on the day I got back from a ten day mission trip to Romania. God told me something I thought I’d never hear Him say: Break up with him.

I was confused, I admit, because I really thought Jonathan was the one, but I knew God wanted me to break up with him, so I did.

For two days I fasted and prayed. After praying for probably the thirtieth time, I rose from my knees and plopped onto my bed. Above me, part of book hung off my head-rest. I snatched Choosing God’s Best. See, a month or so before leaving for Romania, a big sister in Christ told me, “I feel led to give you this.” It was a book on courtship–the term I had first heard a month or two before on a Christian radio station. I had sensed that God wanted me to talk to Jonathan about courting, but I had completely forgotten to. So I finally opened the book to any page and began reading.

The entire chapter was about how damaging dating is to a relationship, and how if that’s what you were doing in your relationship, God was able to “restore the years the locusts have eaten.” Literally, I kid you not, right after I finished that last sentence, Jonathan called me. I answered and re-read the entire chapter to him. He didn’t know what courting was and after what I did to him, he didn’t know if he could trust me, and wasn’t sure he wanted to start over. So, I put my phone on mute and prayed:

“Lord, if You don’t want me with Jonathan, then harden his heart against me, but, if You do want us together, soften his heart, and let him forgive me, in Jesus’ name.” Right after I prayed that and took the phone off mute, suddenly, out of nowhere Jonathan says, “Natasha, I wanna grow old with you.” He decided to take me back, and agreed to court. Oh! Did I mention while in Romania God reminded me of a “spiritual father” a term I’d heard on that radio station so, on the bus in Oradea, I begin to challenge what I believed was God’s voice.

Okay, Lord. I thought, and then began seeking.

Me: Matt? 

God: No.

Me: Mike?

God: No.

Me: Pastor John?

God: Yes.

Okay, God, let’s see if this is really You. I got up from my seat–we had parked at a gas station–and approached Pastor John.

“Hey, Pastor John, do you know what a spiritual father is?”

“Yes.”

“Have you ever been a spiritual father?”

He chuckled. “Many times.”

“If me and Jonathan ever get to that point, would you mind being our spiritual father?”

“I’d love to. When we get back we’ll set up a meeting.”

After three times of running into Pastor John at our huge church, Jonathan finally decided he was ready to meet alone with Pastor John.

Real quick (I forgot one lol), two months or so before Jonathan was ready to meet Pastor John, he was still attending Catholic church and not reading much of the Bible. I wasn’t sure if we were equally yoked, so again, I prayed and cried out to God:

“Lord, if You want me to break up with him, tell me and I will! Please, confirm for me if Jonathan’s the one!” I flung my Bible open to Isaiah 43:19. I didn’t understand it, but God told me to read it in the Amplified Bible. This is what it said:

9 Behold, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs forth; do you not perceive and know it and will you not give heed to it? I will even make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.

20 The beasts of the field honor Me, the jackals and the ostriches, because I give waters in the wilderness and rivers in the desert, to give drink to My people, My chosen,

21 The people I formed for Myself, that they may set forth My praise [and they shall do it].

 

This hit home. God’s Word is likened to water, and Jonathan was in a dry place, a desert place due to his lack of consumption of God’s Word. So I knew this passage was talking about Jonathan, God’s “Chosen” for me. That he would one day really set forth God’s praise and be whole-heartily seeking Him.

Now, we both wanted to get married, and felt like we were the ones for each other, but we still wanted to be absolutely sure that God wanted the same. So we prayed for confirmation. The day I asked God to confirm for me if He wanted me to marry Jonathan, I was serving at a Christian foster care home and there were children there from the Haiti earthquake. One of them walks over to me and hands me a card from a game they were playing before I got there. The card she just so happened to place in my hand–again, the day I asked God to confirm if Jonathan was the one He wanted me to marry–was of a lifeguard with hair just like Jonathan’s and green eyes, with the title “Lifeguard” beneath him. At this time, Jonathan was a lifeguard at CB Smith park.

Finally, he proposes, and we take our first pre-marital course. And what is the passage of Scripture the pastor happens to open up with? You guessed it: Isaiah 43:19-21.

There were a few other little things, but these were the major ones that God used to tell me, “Yes, daughter, Jonathan is the prince I want you to marry.”

 

 

New video! When to ask where the Relationship is Going?

Jan28

In this video, Sir Jonathan and Princess Natasha answer the questions: How do I know when to ask where the relationship is going before one of the parties gets hurt, and: Is it even worth approaching men anymore?

 

How to fight lustful thinking

Jan24

Sir Jonathan and Princess Natasha answer viewer questions on relationships and God. In this video they answer the question: In a world consumed by sex, how do you fight lustful thinking? Send in your questions to BetterThanEdward@live.com