"Daily Dates With God" - Your Invitation

"DAILY DATES WITH GOD"
Your weekly pathway for loving on your Lord

INTRODUCTION TO DATING:
So you need to know how to go on a Date with God? Well, I can’t remember my very first date, but I do remember my most significant date as a young adult woman. I was full of anxious and fearful emotions, because I didn’t know what to expect and was quite worried about doing or saying the wrong thing. In fact, I actually canceled one date with a very promising candidate, because I just couldn’t pull it together emotionally. Regret haunted me for years to come; however, I had to learn the art of interacting with men in a personal and intimate setting. No, I don’t mean sexually, but I am speaking in terms of conversation and giving a person your full attention and focus. Here are just a couple of “rules” that can help any date you have be productive and purposeful. No one should ever waste time with another person.

Rule #1: You cannot go on a date and be consumed with yourself. If your intention is to get to know this person with the possibility of beginning a relationship, then you must learn how to give. Give praises and compliments, give attention by asking questions about them, give them tokens of your friendship, give your heart away over time… but learn how to give and don’t focus on receiving. People love to spend time with givers! The very foundation of love is giving! Remember the most critical scripture of Christianity is John 3:16, “for God so loved… He gave…“

Rule #2: You should go on a date expecting to be revealed in some way. If your intention is to cover up and hide your true self, you will not have a successful date. You must spend time with a person with the expectation of showing them a piece of your heart and revealing a segment of your soul. The point is for them to learn you. This is the journey of dating. You begin with limited information, but you spend time together to enhance knowledge and bonding. A gentleman once said to me about a woman he came to love and why, “she got in my head and not my bed”. This is important, because you can reveal so much without the flesh involved if you use words and depth of character. Helping a person solve a crisis or listening to a problem they may have is revealing to them your level of patience, compassion or trust.

Rule #3: The sign of a good date is that you leave at peace, enriched, or encouraged. If your interaction on a date leaves you confused, perplexed or worried, then you may need to rethink the investment of time you are making. The presence a person brings to your life should enhance you, not defeat you. You should be able to give and reveal in a safe environment that ends up refreshing you. Don’t lie to yourself and make attempts to excuse away behavior. Dates offer data; therefore, if the data received is negative, you need to move on and out.

Now, with all these “rules”… how does this apply to your “Daily Dates with God”? Many people avoid time with the Lord as I once did dating, because they don’t know what to expect, say or do. Dating someone you see can be hard enough, so how do you date someone you can’t see? How are you motivated to love an invisible presence?

Good questions and here’s some helpful answers! Let’s go back to the factor of “intimacy”. Many modern day biblical teachers have broken this word down to mean “into–me-see”. This is what you should be searching for from God during a date with Him. Go back and read the rules, and then apply them in terms of your dates with Him! Give to Him – reveal yourself to Him – and you’ll walk away enriched! You need someone to not be consumed with your looks, your appearance, your clothes or your hair. In order to have the perfect Date, you need a time of “inner vision”. What better person for this than the one that created you? If he created you, then there’s no need for fear or agenda or facades. You should be excited to run to the Lover of your Soul! Now if you are focusing on inner vision, then you don’t need to be able to “see” God’s physical appearance! You need to see the heart of God, which is not defined by a presence. He has often said in scripture “who can you liken me unto”.

He is incomparable; He is matchless; He is a being far too supreme for a human frame. Catch the power and vision of His awesomeness! He holds oceans in his hands and flings stars with his fingers… He is so completely boundless and endless. And most of all, He wants to have a date with you!

This is where the rules set in for a magnificent time with the Lord… Rule #1 reminds you that it’s not about you, but all about Him. So you should be running to spend time with the Lord, because He knows all about you. Don’t start of a private personal time with the Lord handing him a list of things you want in a man, a job, a house, or a car. Focus on Him. God is not a jeanie in a bottle! Come up with what you want to tell and give to Him. Talk to about how you’ve been blessed by his glory. Rule #2 reminds you that you must come in to his presence willing to expose your faults, sins, feelings or whatever. His inner vision knows it all anyway, but He wants to know if you can come in with a naked soul, not a naked body. Rule #3 reminds you that with God, after you first focus on Him and second reveal yourself, then you will leave His presence enriched and refreshed.

How will Daily Dates with God work for you on a weekly basis?
1. You will do most of your devotionals online maintaining notes on your computer in Word files. If you feel more comfortable, you can get a journal and write your daily notes in there. Title your computer file or journal, “Daily Dates with God”.

2. Each week you’ll receive a “Daily Dates with God” outline for that week with a specific theme, including your Monday-Friday “Dating Tips” and your Saturday-Sunday “Weekend Love Notes”.

3. There will be a daily scripture “Words of Love” given for focus on Monday-Friday.

4. Saturday will be your “Day of Reflection” to review what you’ve learned.

5. Sunday will be your “Day of Preparation” to prepare for what’s to come.

6. You will have daily questions, “Talking to my Lover” & “Talking about my Lover” that will encourage you to write personal notes to the Lord and blogs about what you’re learning to your sisters as they go on their Daily Dates with God.

7. I suggest that you simultaneously save Word files of scriptures and notes to yourself.

8. This blog page has a link to an online Bible on the home page that will offer a quick nearby source of various Bible translations. So if you are somewhere with a computer, but without your personal Bible, you can still have your Date.

9. I will moderate all blog spot entries and offer answers, direction, and prayer for you along your journey of relationship building with the Lord. For more insight, questions and prayer, email to SistersDatingGod@gmail.com. Please allow me the right to share non-personal email comments on the blog if I believe it will help others.

10. You should invite other sisters to begin dating Him as well, so you all can journey along together no matter what stage your relationship with Him is.

With all that said, let’s roll with week #1!

May it be said of you as you progress with "Daily Dates with God"...

"Who is this coming up from the desert leaning on her lover?"

Song of Songs 8:5 NIV

Rev. Theresa Adam McFaddin