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by A. Gene Veal

All of our counseling is based on the authority of the Scriptures.

Here are some of the Scriptures that show the basis of our counseling:

Jesus said:
“The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. But if thine
eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great
is that darkness!” Matthew 6:22-23 Click here for complete exposition of this scripture.

Jesus also said:
“Blessed are the pure (unmixed) in heart: for they shall see God.” Mt. 5:8

“But blessed are your eyes, for they see and your ears, for they hear.” Mt. 13:16

“Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” Mt. 4:4

The Apostle Paul said:
“Unto the pure (unmixed) all things are pure (unmixed): but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure; but
even their mind and conscience is defiled. They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate.” Titus 1:15

The Apostle James said:
“A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.” James 1:8 “Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.” James 4:8

The Prophet Isaiah said:
“Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind (imagination) is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.” Isaiah 26:3

The Psalmist David said: (Ps16:8; 25:15 ; 119:18-37; 123:1; 141:8)
“I have set the LORD always before me: because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.”

“Mine eyes are ever toward the LORD; for he shall pluck my feet out of the net.”

“Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law.”

“Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity; and quicken thou me in thy way.”

“Unto thee lift I up mine eyes, O thou that dwellest in the heavens.”

“But mine eyes are unto thee, O GOD the Lord: in thee is my trust, leave not my soul destitute.”

Paul also said about the mind:
“Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus …” Phil. 2:5

“This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk in the vanity of their mind …
And be renewed in the spirit of your mind” Eph. 4:17&23

“For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.” Rom. 8:5-7

“And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” Rom. 12:2

See our album DEALING WITH YOUR MIND.

Click here to follow Scripture Counsel on the mind.

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Also, note these verses regarding counsel:
“Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly.” Ps. 1:1

“The counsel of the LORD standeth for ever, the thoughts of his heart to all generations.” Ps. 33:11

“Where no counsel is, the people fall but in the multitude of counselors there is safety.” Prov. 11:14

“The way of a fool is right in his own eyes: but he that hearkeneth unto counsel is wise.” Prov. 12:15

“Without counsel purposes are disappointed but in the multitude of counselors they are established.” Prov. 15:22

“Hear counsel, and receive instruction, that thou mayest be wise in thy latter end. There are many devices in a man’s heart;
nevertheless the counsel of the LORD, that shall stand” Prov. 19:20-21

“Every purpose is established by counsel: and with good advice make war.” Prov. 20:18

“For by wise counsel thou shalt make thy war: and in multitude of counselors there is safety.” Prov. 24:6

“Ointment and perfume rejoice the heart: so doth the sweetness of a man’s friend by hearty counsel.” Prov. 27:9

There once was a very just and honorable man who had a reputation as a caring and good person. He loved God and hated evil. He was true in all his ways, a good family man, wealthy and envied by all that knew him. Many felt that such a man deserved only the best things in life.

One day everything came crashing down on his head. It proved to be the worst day of his life. He received notice that all of his financial assets had been seized. The same day a fire destroyed most his physical assets and they were not insured. He was totally bankrupt, but that wasnt the worst of it. The lives of his ten children were snuffed out in a freak accident.

Could anyone encounter such suffering and still have faith in God? Where was God when all of this was happening? How could he believe that God loved him? How does a man worship a God that allows such tragedy?

Could anything else go wrong? Yes. He came down with a serious illness that left his body wracked with pain. He couldnt move without experiencing excruciating pain. So heaped on top of all his emotional grief and financial loss was this struggle with his physical health.

I can tell you what he was told to do. His wife, who would not be comforted in her grief, told him to just curse God and die. She was fed up with her husband, his God, his faith, his lot in life. She was destroyed by the sequence of events.

I can tell you what he did do. He said, “I came into this world with nothing and I will leave this world with nothing. It was God Who gave it and it was God Who took it. Shall I expect to just receive good from His hand and not evil? No, everything comes from Him Who loves me and I will praise the Name of God in it all. May His Name be praised forever.”

This is a true story. It is the story of a man named Job.

What do you think? Did Job do wrong to say that he “saw” God in all that happened? Was he wrong to say that God did this and that God was to be praised? The Bible says of him, “In all of this, Job sinned not with his lips, nor charged God foolishly.”

In His last statement Job tells of his development in the SingleVISION principle which corresponds to the New Testament Scripture about the “eye”, Matthew 6:22-23. He says in Job 42:5, “I had heard of You only by the hearing of the ear; but now my spiritual eye sees You.” Amplified Bible

Yes, Job was commended for “seeing God in all things.”

Another man was hated by his brothers. His father loved him, but his brothers couldnt stand the sight of him. They actually plotted to kill him, but instead, they sold him as a slave. His name was Joseph. You can hear about him choosing to “see God” when you order our album entitled “A SingleVISION Life-Style.”

When Joseph referred to his trip to Egypt, having been carried in a cage tied to the side of a camel, he says, “God was with him.” When he was later framed by his masters wife and sent to prison unjustly, he says that “God was with him.” “God was with him” became the most common expression of Joseph describing his tortured existence.

What do you think? Was Joseph a fool to say such a thing? Was he crazy to “see God in all things?”

No. Joseph was actually used by God to deliver Egypt and Israel from a horrible seven-year famine. In fact, when Joseph was reunited with his brothers and also immediately after his aged father Jacobs death, he expressed his SingleVISION this way. He said, “You meant this for evil, but God meant it for good.”

Joseph, are you sure? After all that you have been through and all you have suffered, can you just say, “Praise the Lord! God works in everything for our good?” Yes. He told his brothers that, “God sent me into Egypt to preserve our lives.”

Did you catch that? “God sent him.” If you went by appearances, it sure looked like his brothers sent him into Egypt.

Like Joseph, the end of Jobs life proved more gloriously blessed than the beginning. Job ended up with twice as much of everything he once had and the same number of children, ten more. Actually, if you consider the resurrection, Job had twice as many children, too.

No matter what your circumstances are, no matter how difficult and painful, there is a way to look “through” the problems and “see God.” We have dedicated over 20 years to teaching Christians to discover this beautiful life changing principle. Perhaps you too could benefit from these teachings.

If you would like to learn how to deal with your situation in much the same way as Job and Joseph did, perhaps our SingleVISION Teaching Cassettes could help you. They have helped so many in so many different situations.

You can discover a peace that passes all understanding and a calm, care-free life-style to see our loving God in all things. The joy of the Lord can be your strength. Let us help you. Order our teaching cds today!

Learn how Joseph lived the SingleVISION Life, order our teaching cd entitled: “A SingleVISION Life-Style”

Click here to read article on SingleVISION Living

Click here to read SPURGEON ON SINGLE VISION

Click here to read article on PAUL’S SingleVISION

Click here to read about the Dr. James Boice example of “seeing God in ALL things.”

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Click here to read articles on HEARING GOD.

“The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. But if thine
eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great
is that darkness!” Matthew 6:22-23

Let the following expositors of Scripture explain the text.
Adam Clark – Albert Barnes – Matthew Henry
A. T. Robinson – William Burkitt

Adam Clarke

Matthew 6:22 – If-thine eye be single] aplouv, simple, uncompounded; i.e. so perfect in its structure as to see objects distinctly and clearly, and not confusedly, or in different places to what they are, as is often the case in certain disorders of the eye; one object appearing two or more-or else in a different situation, and of a different colour to what it really is. This state of the eye is termed, Mt 6:23, ponhrov evil, i.e. diseased or defective. An evil eye was a phrase in use, among the ancient Jews, to denote an envious, covetous man or disposition; a man who repined at his neighbour’s prosperity, loved his own money, and would do nothing in the way of charity for God’s sake. Our blessed Lord, however, extends and sublimes this meaning, and uses the sound eye as a metaphor to point out that simplicity of intention, and purity of affection with which men should pursue the supreme good. We cannot draw more than one straight line between two indivisible points. We aim at happiness: it is found only in one thing, the indivisible and eternal GOD. If the line of simple intention be drawn straight to him, and the soul walk by it, with purity of affection, the whole man shall be light in the Lord; the rays of that excellent glory shall irradiate the mind, and through the whole spirit shall the Divine nature be transfused. But if a person who enjoyed this heavenly treasure permit his simplicity of intention to deviate from heavenly to earthly good; and his purity of affection to be contaminated by worldly ambition, secular profits, and animal gratifications; then, the light which was in him becomes darkness, i.e. his spiritual discernment departs, and his union with God is destroyed: all is only a palpable obscure; and, like a man who has totally lost his sight, he walks without direction, certainty, or comfort. This state is most forcibly intimated in our Lord’s exclamation, How great a darkness! Who can adequately describe the misery and wretchedness of that soul which has lost its union with the fountain of all good, and, in losing this, has lost the possibility of happiness till the simple eye be once more given, and the straight line once more drawn.

Albert Barnes

Matthew 6:22-23. The light of the body, etc. The sentiment stated in the preceding verses–the duty of fixing the affections on heavenly things–Jesus proceeds to illustrate by a reference to the eye. When the eye is directed singly and steadily towards an object, and is in health, or is single, everything is clear and plain. If it vibrates, flies to different objects, is fixed on no one singly, or is diseased, nothing is seen clearly. Everything is dim and confused. The man, therefore, is unsteady. The eye regulates the motion of the body. To have an object distinctly in view, is necessary to correct and regulate action, Rope-dancers, in order to steady themselves, fix the eye on some object on the wall, and look steadily at that. If they should look down on the rope or the people, they would become dizzy and fall. A man crossing a stream on a log, if he will look across at some object steadily, will be in little danger. If he looks down on the dashing and rolling waters, he will become dizzy, and fall. So Jesus says, in order that the conduct may be right, it is important to fix the affections on heaven. Having the affections there–having the eye of faith single, steady, unwavering–all the conduct will be correspondent.

Single. Steady, devoted to one object. Not confused, as persons’ eyes are when they see double.

Thy whole body shall be full of light. Your conduct will be regular and steady. All that is needful to direct the body is that the eye be fixed right. No other light is required. So all that is needful to direct the soul and the conduct is that the eye of faith be fixed on heaven, that the affections be there.

If therefore the light that is in thee, etc. The word light, here, signifies the mind, or principles of the soul. If this be dark, how great is that darkness! The meaning of this passage may be thus expressed: The light of the body, the guide and director, is the eye. All know how calamitous it is when that light is irregular or extinguished, as when the eye is diseased or lost. So the light that is in us is the soul. If that soul is debased by attending exclusively to earthly objects–if it is diseased, and not fixed on heaven–how much darker and more dreadful will it be than any darkness of the eye! Avarice darkens the mind, obscures the view, and brings in a dreadful and gloomy night over all the faculties.

Matthew Henry

We must take heed of hypocrisy and worldly-mindedness in choosing the end we look at. Our concern as to this is represented by two sorts of eyes which men have, a single eye and an evil eye, Mt 6:22,23. The expressions here are somewhat dark because concise; we shall therefore take them in some variety of interpretation. The light of the body is the eye, that is plain; the eye is discovering and directing; the light of the world would avail us little without this light of the body; it is the light of the eye that rejoiceth the heart (Pr 15:30), but what is that which is here compared to the eye in the body.

1. The eye, that is, the heart (so some) if that be single aplouv free and bountiful (so the word is frequently rendered, as Ro 12:8; 2Co 8:2,11,13; Jas 1:5, and we read of a bountiful eye, Pr 22:9). If the heart be liberally affected and stand inclined to goodness and charity, it will direct the man to Christian actions, the whole conversation will be full of light, full of evidences and instances of true Christianity, that pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father (Jas 1:27), full of light, of good works, which are our light shining before men; but if the heart be evil, covetous, and hard, and envious, griping and grudging (such a temper of mind is often expressed by an evil eye, Mt 20:15; Mr 7:22; Pr 23:6,7), the body will be full of darkness, the whole conversation will be heathenish and unchristian. The instruments of the churl are and always will be evil, but the liberal deviseth liberal things, Isa 32:5-8. If the light that is in us, those affections which should guide us to that which is good, be darkness, if these be corrupt and worldly, if there be not so much as good nature in a man, not so much as a kind disposition, how great is the corruption of a man, and the darkness in which he sits! This sense seems to agree with the context; we must lay up treasure in heaven by liberality in giving alms, and that not grudgingly but with cheerfulness, Lu 12:33; 2Co 9:7. But these words in the parallel place do not come in upon any such occasion, Lu 11:34, and therefore the coherence here does not determine that to be the sense of them.

2. The eye, that is, the understanding (so some); the practical judgment, the conscience, which is to the other faculties of the soul, as the eye is to the body, to guide and direct their motions; now if this eye be single, if it make a true and right judgment, and discern things that differ, especially in the great concern of laying up the treasure so as to choose aright in that, it will rightly guide the affections and actions, which will all be full of the light of grace and comfort; but if this be evil and corrupt, and instead of leading the inferior powers, is led, and bribed, and biassed by them, if this be erroneous and misinformed, the heart and life must needs be full of darkness, and the whole conversation corrupt. They that will not understand, are said to walk on in darkness, Ps 82:5. It is sad when the spirit of a man, that should be the candle of the Lord, is an ignis fatuus: when the leaders of the people, the leaders of the faculties, cause them to err, for then they that are led of them are destroyed, Isa 9:16. An error in the practical judgment is fatal, it is that which calls evil good and good evil (Isa 5:20); therefore it concerns us to understand things aright, to get our eyes anointed with eye-salve.

3. The eye, that is, the aims and intentions; by the eye we set our end before us, the mark we shoot at, the place we go to, we keep that in view, and direct our motion accordingly; in everything we do in religion, there is something or other that we have in our eye, now if our eye be single, if we aim honestly, fix right ends, and move rightly towards them, if we aim purely and only at the glory of God, seek his honour and favour, and direct all entirely to him, then the eye is single; Paul’s was so when he said, To me to live is Christ; and if we be right here, the whole body will be full of light, all the actions will be regular and gracious, pleasing to God and comfortable to ourselves; but if this eye be evil, if, instead of aiming only at the glory of God, and our acceptance with him, we look aside at the applause of men, and while we profess to honour God, contrive to honour ourselves, and seek our own things under colour of seeking the things of Christ, this spoils all, the whole conversation will be perverse and unsteady, and the foundations being thus out of course, there can be nothing but confusion and every evil work in the superstructure. Draw the lines from the circumference to any other point but the centre, and they will cross. If the light that is in thee be not only dim, but darkness itself, it is a fundamental error, and destructive to all that follows. The end specifies the action. It is of the last importance in religion, that we be right in our aims, and make eternal things, not temporal, our scope, 2Co 4:18. The hypocrite is like the waterman, that looks one way and rows another; the true Christian like the traveler, that has his journey’s end in his eye. The hypocrite soars like the kite, with his eye upon the prey below, which he is ready to come down to when he has a fair opportunity; the true Christian soars like the lark, higher and higher, forgetting the things that are beneath.

III. We must take heed of hypocrisy and worldly-mindedness in choosing the master we serve, Mt 6:24. No man can serve two masters. Serving two masters is contrary to the single eye; for the eye will be to the master’s hand, Ps 123:1,2. Our Lord Jesus here exposes the cheat which those put upon their own souls, who think to divide between God and the world, to have a treasure on earth, and a treasure in heaven too, to please God and please men too. Why not? says the hypocrite; it is good to have two strings to one’s bow. They hope to make their religion serve their secular interest, and so turn to account both ways. The pretending mother was for dividing the child; the Samaritans will compound between God and idols. No, says Christ, this will not do; it is but a supposition that gain is godliness, 1Ti 6:5. Here is,

1. A general maxim laid down; it is likely it was a proverb among the Jews, No man can serve two masters, much less two gods; for their commands will some time or other cross or contradict one another, and their occasions interfere. While two masters go together, a servant may follow them both; but when they part, you will see to which he belongs; he cannot love, and observe, and cleave to both as he should. If to the one, not to the other; either this or that must be comparatively hated and despised. This truth is plain enough in common cases.

2. The application of it to the business in hand. Ye cannot serve God and Mammon. Mammon is a Syriac word, that signifies gain; so that whatever in this world is, or is accounted by us to be, gain (Php 3:7), is mammon. Whatever is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life, is mammon. To some their belly is their mammon, and they serve that (Php 3:19); to others their ease, their sleep, their sports and pastimes, are their mammon (Pr 6:9); to others worldly riches (Jas 4:13); to others honours and preferments; the praise and applause of men was the Pharisees’ mammon; in a word, self, the unity in which the world’s trinity centres, sensual, secular self, is the mammon which cannot be served in conjunction with God; for if it be served, it is in competition with him and in contradiction to him. He does not say, We must not or we should not, but we cannot serve God and Mammon; we cannot love both (1Jo 2:15; Jas 4:4); or hold to both, or hold by both in observance, obedience, attendance, trust, and dependence, for they are contrary the one to the other.
God says, “My son, give me thy heart.”

Mammon says, “No, give it me.”

God says, “Be content with such things as ye have.”

Mammon says, “Grasp at all that ever thou canst. Money, money; by fair means or by foul, money.”

God says, “Defraud not, never lie, be honest and just in all thy dealings.”

Mammon says, “Cheat thine own Father, if thou canst gain by it.”

God says, “Be charitable.”

Mammon says, “Hold thy own: this giving undoes us all.”

God says, “Be careful for nothing.”

Mammon says, “Be careful for everything.”

God says, “Keep holy thy Sabbath-day.”

Mammon says, “Make use of that day as well as any other for the world.”

Thus inconsistent are the commands of God and Mammon, so that we cannot serve both. Let us not then halt between God and Baal, but choose ye this day whom ye will serve, and abide by your choice.

A. T. Robinson

Matthew 6:22 Single (haplous). Used of a marriage contract when the husband is to repay the dowry “pure and simple” (tn phernn hapln), if she is set free; but in case he does not do so promptly, he is to add interest also (Moulton and Milligan’s Vocabulary, etc.). There are various other instances of such usage. Here and in Lu 11:34 the eye is called “single” in a moral sense. The word means “without folds” like a piece of cloth unfolded, simplex in Latin. Bruce considers this parable of the eye difficult. “The figure and the ethical meaning seem to be mixed up, moral attributes ascribed to the physical eye which with them still gives light to the body. This confusion may be due to the fact that the eye, besides being the organ of vision, is the seat of expression, revealing inward dispositions.” The “evil” eye (ponros) may be diseased and is used of stinginess in the LXX and so haplous may refer to liberality as Hatch argues (Essays in Biblical Greek, p. 80). The passage may be elliptical with something to be supplied. If our eyes are healthy we see clearly and with a single focus (without astigmatism). If the eyes are diseased (bad, evil), they may even be cross-eyed or cock-eyed. We see double and confuse our vision. We keep one eye on the hoarded treasures of earth and roll the other proudly up to heaven. Seeing double is double-mindedness as is shown in verse Mt 6:24.

William Burkitt

Matthew 6:22 In the foregoing verses, our Saviour acquainted us what in our affections and judgments we should esteem as our chief treasure: now this judgment concerning our chief treasure, is by our Saviour here compared to the eye; as the eye is the candle of the body, that enlightens and directs it, so our understanding and judgment of the excellency of heaven, and the things above, will draw our affections towards them, and quicken our endeavours after them.

Note thence, that such as our judgment is concerning happiness, such will our desires and endeavours be for the attainment of that happiness. Our affections are guided by our apprehensions; where the esteem is high, endeavours will be strong.

Taken from our album of the same name.
Transcribed by Lynn Margason

Dealing with Stress

The days in which we live are filled with stress: all kinds of stress. It seems there is more to deal with today than ever before. Have you experienced the stress building up to such a pitch that you feel you just cant take it anymore? Are there days when you just lose it and scream at the children or your wife or your husband, and you know as you’re doing it that what they did doesn’t warrant that kind of reaction from you?

Such days can change everything between you and your spouse and result in irreparable damage. That is what this message is about; it is about dealing with stress.

A NARROW PLACE

I Samuel 30:6 “Moreover, David was greatly distressed because the people spoke of stoning him, for all the people were embittered, each one because of his sons and daughters. But David strengthened himself in the Lord his God.”

David has been involved in war. He has a small band of men and they are on their way home after some bloody losses. They are almost home, their horses are tired, they are tired: bone tired. Their nerves are on edge; they havent slept properly in weeks.

They havent had a decent meal in as many days. They are on the edge of physical, emotional, and mental burnout. The one thing that keeps them going is knowing they will soon sleep in their own bed with their own family.

THEY KNOW THEY ARE GOING HOME. They have kept going by saying, “Just a few more days… just a little longer… and we can eat a square meal and rest all we want. Then we will be with our wives and our families. Even if we must go out again, at least we can have a time of refreshment.”

Now the day has come. They can scarcely hold their horses back; they sense they are almost home. Just over one more hill… But as they approach that last hill, they see smoke spiraling upward into the sky. They get that sinking feeling in the pit of their stomachs. There is something wrong.

As they reach the top of the hill they see it. What used to be their town (they occupied the whole town) is a charred out skeleton. It is still burning in places. Every home has been burnt to the ground. What can they say? They are speechless. Their town is razed to the ground.

They go through the ruins searching for bodies, but there are no bodies. Nobody was killed in the fire. Nor are their possessions in the ashes. They begin to realize what has happened. In their absence their town was invaded by a bunch of desert thugs, the Amalikites. The Amalikites were a bunch of wandering gangs that would come upon communities like this and steal all the possessions of the inhabitants and put all the captives in chains to sell them on the slave market in Egypt and Iraq. After such forays, they made off as fast as they could.

Now as David’s men view this tragic scene, suddenly they snap. This is the last straw and the camels back is broken. Not only have they come home weary and tired, but they’ve come home to a major crisis. They have lost everything: their wives, their children, their possessions GONE!

The only thing in their favor is that the embers are still hot. It means whoever did this is not far away. Maybe they can catch up with them before they hit the slave market. But they don’t leap back on their horses and chase after the marauders. Instead, they just fall apart. It is just too much for them.

Stress Upon Stress

You know, there is a time when the mind just snaps. Because they were us “tough guys” in the West it says, they wept until they could weep no more. These great men who were the champions of David, sat down and sobbed and sobbed. THAT IS STRESS.

They had “bitterness of soul” : deep, deep pain and grief. It means pain of mind .. it is not a headache; it means our thoughts hurt. Embittered in soul is not just sadness, but agony of emotion. And within it all there is a rage, a helpless rage; it is as if everything inside is screaming, “No, No.” Why did we leave? or why was there not a man in the place to help them? They blame themselves, beating themselves up.

Of course, David has had it, too. Their great charismatic leader is there with his head in his hands like everyone else. He succumbs to that helpless depression that comes over a man: the sort of depression that paralyzes you, when you are not doing anything in your grief, you just want to blame somebody.

Despondent David makes a magnetic target. David’s men begin to shift the blame to him, after all, they had just done what they were told. This wasn’t their fault, (they are coming out of it now). They have to blame somebody, and the name that comes to everybody’s lips is “David”.

He is the one who commanded them to go off and leave their families. He is the one. Aren’t they incredible? These men, just a few days earlier, would have laid down their lives for David. They adored him. But, when you are flat on the floor without an emotion that works properly, it is amazing who you will blame and lash out at. They lashed out at David.

They wanted to vent their rage on a human scape goat. So they began to sound like a lynch mob. They were saying, “Stone him.” Not that anybody actually got up and did anything, but they talked about it. They spoke it.

David could hear them talking. David sat there and felt helpless. He probably thinks, “Can anything else go wrong? I have lost everything and now the only friends I have left are blaming me for what a bunch of thugs did.” He has lost everything. It was STRESSFUL.

Distress

It says he was distressed. Understand what this word means. DISTRESS is the word of the 1990s. In Hebrew it means to be overcrowded. They used it with Elisha when he had the Bible school and the students came and complained everybody was in their face.

There was no room to sleep. Everybody was on top of everybody. The word used there is distress, but it was used to describe being overcrowded. I feel overcrowded. Everything is coming at me. Everything is in my face. I dont have any room to breathe. I dont have any private space.

Also, this word is used by the Hebrews to describe walking into a canyon where the sides get pretty close to you. It is a narrow place. As you walk on in it gets narrower and narrower. Finally the sides are touching you on either shoulder. You try to turn around but it is too narrow. You’re in a narrower and narrower place.

If you want one word to describe stress, it is a NARROW PLACE. It evokes feelings of claustrophobia. It is when life completely overwhelms you. It is when people are all coming together to get in your face. It seems that every enemy has found your address. They all arrive at the same moment. You are overcrowded, overwhelmed. It is too narrow, too tight to breathe. You want space, so you go lashing out: get out of my way!

Sometimes it is translated surrounded. Same idea. Pressing in. It describes a mind that is in torment because my thoughts are crowding me. You cant think straight because as fast as you try to think along this line, other thoughts come to you from the other direction.

Obsession

Would you understand the word obsessed? That word in ancient English meant to be haunted by ghosts. So when we say the mind is obsessed, we mean there are shadowy fears, anxieties and stress. Sometimes I dont even know what they are. I just feel I am obsessed with fears, anxieties and stress. Grown men feel like whimpering like little children. Have you ever been there? I know I have. Crying and sobbing uncontrolled. Life becomes too big to live. I want to run away but there is no place to run.

David had a time like this and wrote a Psalm and said, “Oh, that I had the wings of a dove that I might fly away and be at peace and get out of here!”

That is all wrapped up in the meaning of this word. In one place it is used to describe being attacked by a swarm of bees. When problems come like a swarm of bees. Everything is coming at you. At the office or at home; everything is coming at you at once. It is like the beginning of a panic attack.

There are many levels of distress, various degrees. He said, I am greatly distressed. He is in the narrow way; overcrowded with problems. The canyon has crushed him. The light at the end of the tunnel is an oncoming train.

The Spiritual Secret

What David did at this time could be the foundational Spiritual secret of Davids life, because it tells us what he did in this situation, while he was in the narrow way. It says, David strengthened himself in the Lord.

Here are ways the word strengthened is used in the Old Testament: (1) picking up a little child and holding it, because the child doesnt have the strength to stand by himself; so I hold it and by so doing I am imparting my strength to him. (2) Or to hold on to; you may want to go out that door, but my strength holds onto you and I empower you to stay by imparting my strength.

Remember, Pharaoh hardened his heart; it means that it became strong, immovable in saying No. He didnt say, “Well, no.” He said NO! And there is no discussion. He was stubborn, obstinate, strong, and immovable.

Another place the word appears is in a bankruptcy, where a person does not have the money to pay his bills and a rich brother comes and bails him out, “gives him relief.” But the Hebrew word used there is strengthened. If you have bills that you cant pay and someone comes along and pays your bills, he takes the pressure off your shoulders and strengthens you financially. Your weakness is carried into strength by someone else giving you his or her strength.

In Other Words

One last use: suppose I told you that if you are the last person to leave this place, be sure and turn all the lights out. That is: be strengthened that the lights are all out. Dont just say, “Well, I guess they are out”, and just go on. It means you will not let one room get past your notice, not one switch will be unchecked. That is to say you will be strong in this matter. You say to the kids, BE SURE TO DO THIS. You mean no ifs and no buts.

David strengthened himself in the Lord. That is, David was strengthened; he received Gods own strength imparted to him: Divine strength, the unbegun, infinite strength of God, which was specifically needed for this moment, was actually imparted to the humanity of David.

Did you get that? No ifs, no buts, no areas of weakness. He was held on to by Gods strength. God actually put into David His strength so that Davids bankruptcy disappeared in the strength God gave him.

Now, that didnt just mysteriously happen. It isnt that as David sat there weeping, distressed, and broken, he was suddenly zapped with the Spirit and became strong. NO! He was not an uninformed church member; he knew how things worked.

Overhearing

Note: It says that David strengthened himself in the Lord his God. What does that mean? We overhear this in Davids life all the time.

Let me tell you a few places we overhear it.

Ps. 3, 18, 23, 27 come to mind.. Have you ever heard this phrase before? “THE LORD IS MY ”

My shepherd, my light, my life, the lifter of my head, my tower, my shield, my rock, my salvation

Who is saying that? David is saying that. He is strengthening himself in the Lord. He is taking of all the resources of God and he is actually making them his own. He does it with that phrase “THE LORD IS MY”

What’s in a Name?

“THE LORD is my ” That means the name of God: LORD: Jehovah: YAHWEH. It is the name Moses asked about when he said, “Who are you?”

A name described a persons character. Asking for your name meant one wanted to know everything you are. Moses was asking God to give him a complete course in Theology in ten minutes. If we were to paraphrase the gist of Gods reply, “I am”, conveyed, “Moses, you want to know who I am. What a joke.

“You cant know who I am. I am the limitless God; there is no end to me. In a trillion years you could not know who I am, but I will tell you who I am. I AM the one who will become to you in your history. That is, I wont give you a theological textbook on this and say read page 44.

“I wont have you study theology to know me, but you will come to know me as you live out your life, Moses, in every experience that you have; I will show myself to you in a way that you have never seen me before. You can write that in your book and say, ‘Now I know who that is who He is because God has become to me who He is.’ ”

The whole of the Old Testament is the story of God BECOMING. From every story in the Old Testament, we know something about God that we didnt know before. I think your life is that way. You dont read about this in a book, you make the book. If you read it in a book, it is still not yours, you dont know it for sure, you heard it second hand, because God still is Yahweh, the becoming one. He becomes to us who He still is.

David encouraged himself in the BECOMING ONE.

I am at the pit of despair. I have never been this low and I am looking to God. That is, I am saying that He is going to become to me WHO HE IS in this situation that I shall discover my God as I have never discovered Him before in this experience that I have never lived before. He will become to me this.

The Holy Spirit

This is the role of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit connects me to God. The Holy Spirit makes God real to me, unites me to Him in my situation. So David says, the Lord, Yahweh, the I am that I am, the Lord is my that He is now revealing Himself to me, but He is revealing Himself in me, the Lord is my strength, my shield, my high towerHe is revealing Himself to me, and in me and by me. So, the LORD is my fortress, my rock, my _____ in my experience, in my life. The Lord shall be revealed.

What to Expect

I know that He is love: unconditional love. He is limitless wisdom. He is absolute goodness. He is almighty power. He is ALL of that. And He has given Himself to us in covenant and He has promised, given His Word, that He will be our guide and our protector and our Wisdom in all circumstances.

That He will be love to us at all times, that He will be our caregiver, provider, and comforter, He promised all that. You see there is general truth that God is Love, but David is saying that He is love to “me”. It is generally true that God provides for His own, but he says He provides for me. It is generally true that God protects His people, but he is my shield, my tower, my refuge. He is becoming to me in a most specific, personal way that which is generally true. “The Lord is my”

I want you to notice something else about him encouraging himself in the Lord, David doesnt pray. It doesnt say, Oh, Lord, please be my shield, be my protector. It is a statement: it is a declaration. The Lord is My David is taking a leap of faith; from being conscious of his need into conscious supply. He is not saying, God please bridge the gap; I know you are the answer, please bring the answer over here. He doesnt do that. It is a leap of faith. He says, I am aware of the need. Therefore, the Lord is the supply. Whatever the need is, He is the piece of the jigsaw that fits in perfectly as the supply.

He makes it a statement: “The Lord is my .” He declares that God is joined to him by the Holy Spirit and in so doing God becomes to him all that He is.

The Great Exchange

I am always conscious of need and he is always the supply. The Christian life is always saying here is the need, You are my supply. Thank You. It is done. The Holy Spirit makes it happen.

You confess He is Lord of the situation and you are saved. The Lord is my strength and He brings it together by the Holy Spirit. The Christian life is the continual fact that He is my life, whatever life is for me is at this point. It is not asking Him to be that; it is daring to believe He said He is it: so He is it. And I declare it: the Lord is my

David did not do this out of his feelings. No! He did it in spite of his feelings, in the face of negative feelings. Faith is an act of will by which I choose to respond to the character from the Word of God. It is not a feeling.

You see my true self, who I really, really am, since I have been born again: Christ lives in me. He is my identity. I am joined to God in my inmost being and so are you. But we go through things like David did.

And my true self becomes flooded with feelings. Feelings that arise not from who I am, but from who I call my FALSE SELF, that is made of subjective feelings. It is not my life; it is the feelings about life. But they never tell the truth. They are incapable of telling the truth because they never include God in their summation.

Because you see, God is not seen and is not felt. So they have nothing to report on. They say, we are reporting on what we see: enemies are out there and they want your head. That is all they can see, but it is not the truth because they left God out of the equation. They leave out the fact that in my inmost being I am joined to God. My feelings report to me what they feel, and they want to become my identity. They want me to say that is who I am, but I am not.

Feelings or Truth?

I feel wiped out, washed out, a wretched person. My feelings are telling me thats who I am. Many Christians believe their feelings and that is where they live most of their lives.

David had feelings, but in the face of those feelings he chose to be present to his true self. He dared to declare his true identity with God even though he couldnt see and presently couldnt feel it. He overrode all of the feelings with their words and their pictures that poured through his mind and his emotions. He overrode them by declaring, the Lord is my strength.

I dont have a feeling in my body to support that, there is not a reason in my mind to say it is true, but I know it is true. And I stand into the truth and I declare the truth because it is the truth. He doesnt wait for his feelings to change before he declares the truth.

Some say they would be a hypocrite if they say that and they dont feel it. No! You are not a hypocrite if you live out of the truth. He didnt wait for his feelings to tell him that it is true. It is true. It is his feelings that are the liars. The Lord is my strength even though my feelings tell me otherwise.

He didnt wait till he felt more like a believer. Many days I dont feel like a believer. Today, our kids are being taught in school to live by their feelings. Those teachers are liars. We do not live by our feelings; we live by the truth. Many times my feelings are the opposite of the truth.

So David encouraged himself in the Lord and declared, I am not my feelings, I am who I am in my God. No apologies. No explaining. God knows how we feel. He planned that we would be weak. We have to be weak if we are going to contain His strength. David stands into the truth. And he did it by saying words that declare who he really was in God.

Confess with your mouth the Name of the Lord. The Name of the Lord is a strong tower and the righteous run into it and are saved. If you dont yield to the Holy Spirit you wont know what I am talking about.

Amazing Truth

This truth is amazing: that my humanity, at the point of its weakness, is united with divine strength. At that point, not at a general point, but at that point I am made a partaker of the divine image.

David said, “THE LORD IS MY STRENGTH.” Somewhere in that process, knowing that the Lord Who is utterly other than the creature, the Lord Who is not me, as I dare to stand in that truth and say, “The Lord is,” it happens! And that which is the Lords, is actually made manifest in my humanity. So, the Lord is my strength, my life, my salvation. Thou art my glory. The exchange has taken place. “The Lord is my ”

Not Stronger

Can I push it one point further. It doesnt say that the Lord has taught me how to be strong in myself. I dont learn strength; I learn who is strength. What I am trying to say is, you will never be strong in yourself. If you could only see that.

Some ask me to pray that they will be strong. Sorry, the Bible says, we have this treasure in earthen vessels. I will always be the earthen vessel which will always send up to me these surges of weakness telling me I cant do it.

Look: I have a cup that contains coffee. I dont care what the cup is like. All I care about is what is in it. You are just a cup: an earthen vessel; some of us are cracked, but you have within you the treasure.

When you ask to be strengthened you are saying, you want to be the coffee. Sorry, you will always be weak and in your weakness you will express His strength. Some think as they mature they will be stronger. No.

Maturity in the Christian life is that you realize how weak you are. I know my weakness better today than ever in my life. We are ashamed of weakness, but I find that a mature Christian is one that not only knows he is weak, but rejoices in his weakness.

Paul says I boast in my weakness because I found that when I am weak then I am strong. He said to me, “My strength is made perfect in weakness.” God doesnt teach you to be strong.

So you see this is not a process. David sits there on a burnt log, wiped out, and then he says, the Lord is my strength. Now he can rise up from that log in Gods strength. He didnt go to school in between. This isnt something he learned in the natural, this is the impartation, this is the divine exchange of his weakness for Gods strength and that takes place like that. Immediately.

Me – Him?

The first time I really struggled with this I was taught you have to do a work FOR God. It was like a person is over here and another person is over there. I was taught that while God is UP THERE, I am going to work FOR Him DOWN HERE.

The Scriptures said very plainly that it is HIS strength and that He is doing it IN ME. I would ask, “How do we do that? How can God be inside of me?” Another Scripture said, “I live and yet not I, it is Christ who lives in me.” How does that work?

“FOR ME TO LIVE IS CHRIST.”

The Mirror

There was a fellow walking by a great cathedral. He was in a deep shadow. Suddenly he was blinded by the sun and yet he was still in the shadow. What is happening, he wondered? Then he saw a little kid with a mirror. He was catching the rays of the sun and systematically blinding everyone as they walked on the sidewalk in the shadow.

That is it. A mirror is made to reflect other. A mirror: all that was needed was to be in a right relationship to the sun. Wow! The mirror didnt go to school to learn how to shine, nor, if it could speak would it say that the sun taught me to shine. If it gave testimony, it would say, the sun is my light. See?

The mirror wasnt shining. It was in a position to contain the light of the sun and then be as the sun. We dont live the Christian life in the sense that we are trying with our will power to be like Jesus. The Holy Spirit unites us to Jesus and we respond to Him who is the center of our true self and we say, “The Lord is my .” (fill in the blank).

Don’t Try

When you feel every nerve of your body screaming, when you feel life is too much for you, when you are stressed out with decisions you cant decide, when you dont know where to turn, when every enemy has found your address, when that canyon is crowding you in that narrow place; dont try to handle it and be a good Christian.

No, dont try to be a good Christian, just simply be still and recognize that every feeling that is flooding your being is a subjective feeling from your false self and it is trying to make you think that it is you. You are not that. You are the one in whom Jesus lives. You are the mirror of Christ in you.

Speak in that situation the truth: “The Lord is my” (whatever you need in that situation:) the Lord is my wisdom, my strength (strength of emotion, strength of mind, strength of will)

You may be a salesman who is on the road a lot, and you may be ashamed to tell your wife or pastor what you are tempted to do while you are out on the road all alone. I commend you that you wrestle against it till a cold sweat runs down your back; I do, I commend you. But the real way is not to wrestle with it, but to say that the Lord is the strength of your life; the Lord is the strength of your will, the Lord is your true love (love for your wife, love for others, which forbids you to do this thing.) It is not struggling to become, It is declaring that in Christ you are able and the Holy Spirit makes it happen as a reality of your confession.

In such an experience the Lord became to me what I had heard by rumor. I had read second hand, I had heard it on a tape, but He has become to me in each situation: I have been strengthened, I have been encouraged in the Lord. It has happened and I am living it. I make these choices myself everyday.

One Thing More

It is all of God. Why did David suddenly stop bemoaning his circumstances and begin to encourage himself in the Lord? What started that? If he was uneducated in spiritual things he would say, a thought came to me, why dont you do that? But, I think he was more educated in the things of God.

The very thought, the nudge down inside of you, “turn your eyes on God, declare who you really are”, isnt your thought. Christ inside of you, the real you, is told (and He really is your life). He drops His word into your head in the middle of your temptation and HE says, “I am your strength. Invoke my name; confess that I am Lord of this situation.” And you say, “What a marvelous idea.”

David did that; knowing it was all of Him. You are joined to God because He came to you in Christ. He saved you. He now lives within you. In the deepest trial He urges you to declare who you really are and how He is your strength. And when you declare it, He becomes who He is, only this time you know He has become to you who he really is.

Not Being Like Jesus

Some who hear this will really hear this. To live is Christ. This is CHRISTIANITY. Christianity is not that nonsense struggle to try and be like Jesus. It is recognizing He is.

Remember when his disciples asked Him, “Who then can be saved?” In Mark 10:27 it says, “He looked on them.” As if to say, you arent going to believe this, “With man, it is impossible.” I wish we would hear that. You say, “How can I live the Christian life?.” It is impossible.

It isnt you doing it FOR God. It is you continually – a thousand times a day bringing your weakness and declaring His strength for your weakness. You dont go and say, “Well, God, I was a bit better today, wasnt I?”

No, you are saying, “I am the coffee cup. I perfectly contain the coffee. Christ in me completely express my life for me.” You spend your day encouraging yourself in the Lord.

The Message

Well, there it is. In a sense it is a message for the battle. You know what I mean. If you are not in the trouble, then God will not become to you. You cant read this in a book of theology and have it become reality to you.

Do you want to be raised from the dead? Well, you have to die first. The experience: that is what I am talking about. Wouldnt it be marvelous to know the peace of God that passes all understanding? Well, yeah, but you have to be in a position of living hell first. God wont become to you peace unless you are in a state of disquiet and non-rest. Do you follow that?

Wouldnt it be great to know the Love of God better? Well, He may arrange for the most unlovable wretch to move next door so you will know the love of God. God becomes to me in my history. That is, God says He will never be theory to you. He will never be theology to you. You will know Him in your history. Just declare Him for He is the “I AM” for whatever the need is- He is.

The Blessing

Now God bless you and keep you and lead you and mature you, especially if you are in that narrow place, in whatever stress you are dealing with, let him be your supply in that situation and be who you are. Amen.

The Prayer

Our Father, from whom the whole family of believers in heaven and on earth derives its name, I pray that out of your glorious riches you may strengthen your people with power through His Spirit in their inner being, so that Christ may dwell in our hearts through faith.

I pray that we being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide, and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses mere intellectual knowledge that we may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. AMEN.

As Christians begin to discover who they are in Christ, many are asking, “What should I read?” or “What can I study to know more?” Of course, our answer is for you to get into your Bible. With most of the Sunday morning sermons always telling you how to get saved, it appears that the Christians that go to those services over and over again, think the only issue that is important is if they are going to heaven.

From or For?
Then trying to live the Christian life with only a knowledge of the Cross, they find themselves in our office wondering why their life or their marriage is falling apart. They say things like, “I just want to do a workFOR Christ” or “I think I should do something FOR God.” Poor God. If we don’t do something for Him, how will He get things done?

We suggest that you forget about doing something FOR God and learn who you are in Christ so you can do something FROM Him. The things you will do are described in Ephesians 2:10 as those works that “God prepared before hand, that we should walk in them.” That verse says we were “created in Christ Jesus for good works.” The power to do those good works is His Spirit within us. That power is described as the same power that raised Jesus from the dead.

So our counsel is for you to discover who you are in Christ and “walk in the Spirit and you will not fulfill the lusts of the flesh.” “If we draw our life from the Spirit, let us stay in step with the Spirit.” Galatians 5:16,25. Our clients are discovering that Christ in them does not have a problem with lusts, addictions, or any other sins. Discover who you are and be it in all the circumstances of your life.

Bible Helps
Should you read books other than your Bible? C. H. Spurgeon said, “The man who will not use the thoughts of other men’s brains, proves he has no brains of his own.” Reading Spurgeon’s sermons is an excellent practice that will improve your knowledge of who you are in Christ and what we have in Him. No one can present Christ so beautifully as Spurgeon.

To help you learn the Word of God, it would be beneficial to have a few good helps. We recommend a good concordance like Strong’s Concordance.You will want to own a copy of Vine’s Dictionary of New Testament Words for a true interpretation of the original language of the Scriptures.

Everyone should make a thorough study of the book of Romans in your Bible. Get a copy of Romans by Robert Haldane. It is one of the best helps for a clear understanding of this epistle.

To learn Who God is theologically, get Attributes of God by Stephen Charnock. This will knock your spiritual socks off!!! And you will want to acquire the book Justification by James Buchanan for a good foundation in this important doctrine.

Body of Divinity by John Gill is a must if you really want to read one of the greatest theological minds. We recommend Systematic Theology by Augustus Strong if you want to read about subjects like repentance, faith, justification, sanctification, etc. You will find SingleVISION in this book. It is called Ethical Monism. There are several references to this under different headings.

Spurgeon recommended Body of Divinity by Thomas Watson for the most instructive reading. We like anything written by Watson. He just had a way of saying things that always makes us go back and read certain lines he wrote again and again. They are worthy of memorization.

Be Warned
If you read your Bible with the helpful tools we have suggested and Spurgeon’s sermons as often as you can, you will be amazed at how much you will grow in the Lord, but WATCH OUT. You just might outgrow your present ecclesiastical choice. A pulpit that presents sound doctrine is harder to find than you might imagine. Numberless times in the counseling room our clients have responded with, “I have never heard that before. I didn’t even know it was in the Bible.”

Not only have the things that we counsel been around for centuries, everything we counsel is from your Bible. You may feel your situation is much like the Ethiopian eunuch when asked by Phillip if he understood what he was reading in his Bible when he replied, “How can I unless someone guides me.”

That is what we do, we guide or counsel. You may not be able to come into our office for counsel, but there is One Who can guide you, Whose help we must rely on when we are counseling, the Holy Spirit. He will guide you. If you are a Christian, He lives inside you and will guide you into all truth. After all, He wrote the Bible. Who better to guide you than the author of the Book?

Bob L. Ross, Publisher and Author
You may want to know where you can get these helps that I have just recommended. Well, the place we always go for all of our Christian reading is the Pilgrim Bookstore in Pasadena, Texas. Our dear friends Bob and Michael Ross stock these and many other wonderful Christian books.

Bob L. Ross is also the Director of Pilgrim Publications which publishes all of the works of Charles H. Spurgeon. Bob Ross is not only our dear friend of over 30 years, but he is a genius in theology and the most knowledgeable of Spurgeon’s writings of any one you will ever meet.

If you would like to order any of these books, or a catalog, or talk theology with Bob, just call 713-477-2329. You may want to go to their web site: http://members.aol.com/pilgrimpub/

A Word of Caution
Please do not think we are suggesting that knowing theology is knowing Father. Study is good and you should “be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, handling accurately the word of truth” that you may always be “ready to make a defense to every one who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you.” But knowing theology is a poor substitute for knowing our Lord Jesus Christ.

Peter challenged us to “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Paul counted this “knowing” to be of more value than anything. He said, “I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.” This “knowing” is so very intimate. This “knowing” is more intimate than when “Adam knew Eve” and she became pregnant.

This “knowing” is the powerful magnetic drawing that drove men like Charles Spurgeon. To know Him is more gloriously thrilling than anything on earth. “Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good.”

“Glory to God whose power, working in us, can do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine: Glory to Him from generation to generation in the Church, and in Christ Jesus for ever and ever. Amen.”

After decades of successful marriage counseling and application by hundreds of delighted couples, we are now offering the teaching that is calledPositional Truth in Marriage.  This is an application of Biblical truths that have made significant healthy changes in married couples’ lives.

God created marriage and He intended it to function properly.  We must learn His way in order for us to have the fulfillment that He intended for us in marriage.  Just as you must co-operate with the laws of gravity, so there are certain laws of the marriage relationship. Just as you cannot expect God to suspend the law of gravity so you won’t hurt yourself, we can’t expect Him to suspend the way He intends marriage to function so that we might be happy.

We use the term “law” in the sense of the way a thing operates, like the law of gravity, the laws of physics, etc.  If you bought a new car, you would not be very pleased if you laid in the trunk of the car expecting to drive it.  The manufacturer did not make the car to be driven from the trunk.  You are in the wrong position in the car to drive it.  The “Manufacturer” of marriage intends certain things to be in order for that marriage to operate successfully.

There is a position or role for the husband to assume and a position or role for the wife to assume in the marriage relationship.  That position is necessary for there to be harmony and fulfillment in marriage.  These teaching cds may help you discover God’s plan for your marriage.

This album contains four hours of valuable teaching.
The cds in the album are:

Cassette One: THE BIBLICAL BASIS
Cassette Two: THE ROLE OF THE WIFE
Cassette Three: THE ROLE OF THE HUSBAND
Cassette Four: THE ROLE OF SEXUALITY

NOTICE:  NOW AVAILABLE ON CD.

We are prepared to send you these valuable teachings when you support our ministry.  When you send us at least a $50 donation, plus $5 for shipping and handling, we will send you the album that will give you $100′s worth of counseling.  How much is your marriage worth?  If these teachings have helped so many over the years, you too should expect to be blessed in your marriage.

A Few of the Issues this Album addresses:

What is the purpose of marriage according to Jesus and Paul?
What are the differences in the sexuality of the woman from the man?
In what areas is the woman superior to the man?
What is the least important thing in a marriage?
How can a Christian wife win her husband over to God’s way?
What can a man do if the wife is contentious?
How are the curses of Genesis chapter 3 really blessings?
Why does the Bible say a woman to be taught “how” to love her husband?
Why does the Bible caution a husband not to be harsh with his wife?
What importance is sex in a marriage?
What is the most important thing for a husband to do in his marriage?
Why does Paul say not to marry?
How do two people become one in marriage as God intends?
How can a wife insure her husband’s success before God?
What does loving the wife as Christ loved the church mean?
AND MUCH, MUCH MORE.

SEND YOUR DONATION NOW TO RECEIVE YOUR ALBUM AS SOON AS POSSIBLE!

With a donation of at least $50 and $5 for shipping and handling, we will send you these valuable teaching cds (NOW AVAILABLE ON CD) in appreciation of your support of our ministry.  This could be the best donation you have ever made in the return you will receive from these teachings.

TO DONATE CALL 512-454-9779 - We accept Master Card and Visa or you can mail your check for $55.00 to:

SingleVISION Ministries, Inc.
7217 McNeil Dr, Ste 109
Austin, TX  78728

Even the best efforts of couples to work out their marriage problems on their own many times fail miserably.  It can be due to their lack of objectivity or that the problem has escalated beyond the couple’s ability. Sometimes you need the support and motivation that only a Christian marriage counselor can provide.

The purpose of a marriage counselor, from our perspective, is to guide you emotionally, motivationally, and creatively. All of this must be applied from a Spiritual perspective. Without operating from the Spirit of Christ in you, you are doomed to failure no matter how intelligent and workable a program may appear to be.

Emotionally, your marriage counselor will make you aware of the predictable, yet overwhelmingly painful experiences that many couples go through as they try to adjust to each other’s emotional reactions. Hurt feelings are the most common, but depression, anger, panic, paranoia and many others seem to pop up without warning. These emotions distract couples from their goal of creating Spiritual and romantic love, and often sabotage the entire effort.

A good marriage counselor helps couples avoid many of these emotional landmines and he is there for damage control when they’re triggered. He does this by understanding the enormous stress couples are under as they are facing one of their greatest crises. When one or both spouses become emotionally upset, he has the skill to diagnose and treat the emotional reactions effectively. A good counselor knows how to calm the couple down and assure them that their emotional reactions are not a sign of hopeless incompatibility.

Motivationally, your counselor will alert you of the feeling of discouragement that most couples experience. They often feel that any effort to improve their marriage is a waste of time. Over the years, one of our greatest contributions to couples has been encouragement when things looked bleak. Our clients knew that at least their counselor believed that their effort would be successful. Eventually, each spouse would come to believe it too.

Discouragement is contagious. When one spouse is discouraged, the other quickly follows. Encouragement, on the other hand, is often met with skepticism by the other spouse. So it’s easy to be discouraged, and difficult to be encouraged, when you are trying to solve marital problems. A marriage counselor should be there to provide needed encouragement when there’s none other in sight.

Creatively, your counselor will indicate to you the typical inability of couples in marital crisis to create solutions to their problems. Many marital problems require solutions that are unique to certain circumstances. A good marriage counselor is a good strategy resource. While you can, and should, also think of ways to solve your marital problems, a marriage counselor should know how to solve problems like yours. That’s why you came to him in the first place.

This strategy should make sense to you. In fact, your counselor’s strategy should encourage you in the belief that your problems will be over soon. SingleVISION Ministries can document a high rate of success in finding solutions to marriage problems.  Many of our clients had either given up and hired a divorce lawyer before coming for counseling or were already divorced and we were privileged to re-marry them. That was truly a resurrection type of experience.

If you can handle your emotional reactions, provide your own motivation and can think of appropriate strategies, you don’t need a marriage counselor.  In fact, we suggest that you try solving your problem on your own until you hit a roadblock. But if your efforts hit a snag, find a qualified Christian marriage counselor to help you. Marital problems are too dangerous to ignore, and their solutions are too important to overlook.  Call us at 512-454-9779

How to Make Your First Appointment

The phone book is probably one of the most common places to discover where to find marriage counselors. Your physician or minister may also be able make suggestions. But the most reliable sources of referral are people who have already seen a counselor that has successfully guided them to romantic love. Since couples are usually tight-lipped about their marital problems, that kind of referral is usually difficult to obtain. That is one reason we have shown anonymous Client Comments on this site. Perhaps what they report will be encouraging to you.

Begin by calling one counselor at a time, asking the receptionist to let you speak to the counselor you are considering by telephone. There should be no charge for this preliminary interview. You should ask the counselor some of the following questions:

• Are you a Christian?

• Do you believe the Bible is the Word of God and relevant for today?

• How many years have you been a counselor?

• What is your academic degree?

• Do you take an active role of communication during each counseling session?

• Do you use the Scriptures to support your methods and strategies?

You may wish to add other relevant questions. You may also try to let the counselor know what type of marital problem you have. Your issues may be beyond his expertise. More information exchanged between you and your counselor is usually better than less information when making this decision.

Most couples who see us are in a state of crisis. They don’t go to the trouble and expense of marriage counseling for marriage “enrichment.”   They are facing marital disaster!  With that in mind, time is of the essence. You cannot wait weeks for your first appointment. In fact, you should probably be seen the same day you call.  Call us at 512-454-9779

What Is the Cost?

Cost varies widely among marriage counselors. But before we talk about cost, we strongly advise you against counselors that cannot see you soon and often. That rules out most Health MaintenanceOrganizations which are free or low cost because their overworked counselors are usually weeks away from taking new couples, and they tend to schedule follow-up appointments weeks apart. Furthermore, their counselors are not likely to talk to you on the telephone prior to an appointment.

Insurance generally will not pay for marriage counseling unless the counselor finds you or your spouse suffering from a mental disorder. Marriage counseling is covered as treatment for the disorder, but not usually otherwise. If you see a counselor who uses your insurance, you can be almost certain that you’ve been diagnosed to have a mental disorder. It’ll be on your record for years to come and may prevent you from obtaining certain jobs or qualifying for certain types of insurance. Furthermore, if you really do not have a mental disorder, but it’s been diagnosed just to collect insurance, your insurance company may challenge the diagnosis leaving you responsible for the bill. If you’re offered counseling for what your insurance pays with no other cost to you, its illegal. Call your insurance company or your state’s insurance commissioner to report the attempt to commit insurance fraud.

It’s safe to assume that you may need to pay for therapy out of your pocket. So how much do marriage counselors charge?  Rates vary from about $75 to $200 per hour.  The average is about $100.  Since most marriage counselors see couples one session a week for the first three months, you can expect to pay about $1200 in that period of time if it’s at about $100/hr.

To help put the cost of marriage counseling in perspective, there’s nothing you can buy for $1200 that will give you the same quality of life that a healthy marriage provides. If you and your spouse love each other and meet each other’s important emotional needs, you’ll be able to do without many other things and still be happier in the end.  Besides, we have found that people seem to earn more and save more after their marital problems are solved. The money you spend to resolve your marital problems is money well spent.

SingleVISION Ministries has never turned a Christian away because they didn’t have the money for counseling. Our sessions are at least twice as long as other counselors and sometimes three times as long with no added costs to the client. We ask for a $125 donation per session, not per hour.

Unfortunately you will not be able to find many qualified Christian counselors who will be that generous with their services, but if you can repair your marriage through Christian counseling, it will be worth it even at twice our recommended donation rate.