The Girlfriend’s Guide to Divorce?

Posted on December 4, 2014 by rebeccabruner

I was sitting in the doctor’s office when I saw the full page ad on the back of a magazine for an upcoming television show entitled “The Girlfriend’s Guide to Divorce.” The photo featured a woman flipping off the viewer with her naked ring finger. The sales hype implied that life begins when marriage ends, that, for women at least, divorce is the first step on the road to self-actualization. It made me sick to my stomach.

Sure, divorce happens. So do traffic fatalities. Both are realities about which we ought to mourn, rather than celebrate. But our culture has bought Satan’s lie that marriage somehow stands in the way of a woman’s freedom and liberty.

There’s nothing glamorous or fulfilling about divorce. Ask any divorced mother struggling to keep her children out of poverty on a single income. Ask any child who’s become the rope in a tug-of-war custody battle between his parents.

The truth is, Satan hates marriage because it is a threat to him and his agenda. He loves to steal, kill, and destroy. God, on the other hand, wants husbands and wives to stand united, giving preference to one another in honor. Instead of each one selfishly pursuing his or her own way, God wants to join us together as one flesh.  Husbands and wives who seek God’s will above their own have the potential to be exponentially stronger together than they could ever be apart.

It’s time we adopted God’s attitude and turned our backs on the lies of our culture. I say, along with Jesus, “What God has joined together, let no man separate.”

 

 

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Fast for Me

Posted on November 27, 2014 by rebeccabruner

“Fast for me.” This was Queen Esther’s impassioned plea to her Uncle Mordecai and all the Jews of Susa when she was faced with the greatest spiritual challenge of her life.

In my own life, a significant deadline is looming, just as it did for Esther. I need my message to find favor in the eyes of influential people, just as she did. While I won’t be presenting myself before the King of Persia, on December 1, I’ve been informed that my book proposal is scheduled to go before the publisher’s review board.

There is much at stake. While lives may not hang in the balance, I’m convinced that my book, A Wife of Valor: Your Strategic Importance in God’s Battle Plan, could mean the difference between life and death for many Christian marriages. I believe it holds the keys to husbands and wives standing united and effectively battling together for the advancement of God’s kingdom, rather than battling against one another.

Therefore, I’m asking that you pray and fast for me. I’ll leave it to you and God to determine what kind of fast you decide upon. You might choose to abstain from all food, or to eat only vegetables. You might choose to fast all day, or to skip a single meal. You might decide to fast from social media. Every time you would normally check Facebook, Pintrest, or Twitter, you could say a prayer for my book proposal instead.

Do whatever God leads you to, but please join with me in interceding for the success of this project. Pray this decision won’t be postponed. Nothing of eternal value is ever accomplished on earth apart from the prayers of the saints. Please, please stand with me in prayer on this critical day.

May God bless you all.

Posted in Fasting, Marriage, Nonfiction, Prayer, Spiritual Warfare, Spirituality | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Waiting on God

Posted on November 20, 2014 by rebeccabruner

Why is waiting on God such an integral aspect of serving Him? Because it takes faith. Our trust in Him is most essential during those in-between times, those dark moments before dawn, when our problems are all too evident, but we cannot yet see how God will resolve them.

During such times, I’m always tempted to play out “What if?” scenarios in my head.  What if God says “No”? What if God abandons me? What if I have to solve this problem for myself?

As I wait on the answer from the publisher about my book proposal, I have to constantly battle this sinful impulse. Not because I think God will be constrained to grant my wishes if I have enough faith, but because it’s such an insult to God. When I act as though He’s likely to disappoint me, my thoughts and actions proclaim that I believe He’s unreliable.

I don’t want to go there. Not this time. By God’s grace, I will stand fast in my unwavering trust that God will not abandon me. No matter what lies ahead, He will guide and direct my steps. I will place my full weight upon the trustworthiness of God, instead of bracing myself for disappointment.

He has proven Himself over and over in my life. It’s time for me to act in full assurance that God always, only does what is best.

“But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.” Isaiah 40:31

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Fast for Me

Posted on November 18, 2014 by rebeccabruner

Today is the big day. Please keep my book proposal in your prayers.

rebeccabruner's avatarRebecca D. Bruner, Author

“Fast for me.” This was Queen Esther’s impassioned plea to her Uncle Mordecai and all the Jews of Susa when she was faced with the greatest spiritual challenge of her life.

In my own life, a significant deadline is looming, just as it did for Esther. I need my message to find favor in the eyes of influential people, just as she did. While I won’t be presenting myself before the King of Persia, on November 17, my book proposal will go before the publisher’s review board.

There is much at stake. While lives may not hang in the balance, I’m convinced that my book, A Wife of Valor: Your Strategic Importance in God’s Battle Plan, could mean the difference between life and death for many Christian marriages. I believe it holds the keys to husbands and wives standing united and effectively battling together for the advancement of God’s kingdom, rather than battling against one another.

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Fast for Me

Posted on November 13, 2014 by rebeccabruner

“Fast for me.” This was Queen Esther’s impassioned plea to her Uncle Mordecai and all the Jews of Susa when she was faced with the greatest spiritual challenge of her life.

In my own life, a significant deadline is looming, just as it did for Esther. I need my message to find favor in the eyes of influential people, just as she did. While I won’t be presenting myself before the King of Persia, on December 1, I’ve been informed that my book proposal is scheduled to go before the publisher’s review board.

There is much at stake. While lives may not hang in the balance, I’m convinced that my book, A Wife of Valor: Your Strategic Importance in God’s Battle Plan, could mean the difference between life and death for many Christian marriages. I believe it holds the keys to husbands and wives standing united and effectively battling together for the advancement of God’s kingdom, rather than battling against one another.

Therefore, I’m asking that you pray and fast for me. I’ll leave it to you and God to determine what kind of fast you decide upon. You might choose to abstain from all food, or to eat only vegetables. You might choose to fast all day, or to skip a single meal. You might decide to fast from social media. Every time you would usually check Facebook, Pintrest, or Twitter, you could say a prayer for my book proposal instead.

Do whatever God leads you to, but please stand with me in interceding for the success of this project. I know that nothing of eternal value is ever accomplished on earth apart from the prayers of the saints, so please, please stand united with me in prayer on this critical day. Pray that this decision won’t be postponed again, and pray for God’s will to be done.

May God bless you all.

Posted in Fasting, Marriage, Nonfiction, Prayer, Spiritual Warfare, Spirituality | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Day of Decision

Posted on November 7, 2014 by rebeccabruner

After many months of waiting, I’ve been contacted by an editor about my proposal for A Wife of Valor: Your Strategic Importance in God’s Battle Plan. His publishing house is quite interested in my book idea. My proposal will go before their review board on November 17. Please pray along with me that God will open this door and enable my work to get into the hands of readers.

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Crafted for Battle

Posted on October 30, 2014 by rebeccabruner

We live in a spiritual war zone. Paul makes this clear in Ephesians 6:12-13 where he says, “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground….”

What many Christians fail to recognize is that we haven’t just fallen into this spiritual battle. We were created for it. While the opening chapters of Genesis do not recount the creation of the angels or Satan’s rebellion, several facts within the story indicate that it must have happened prior to the creation of humanity.

For one thing, in Eden there was a tree of the knowledge of both good and evil. How could that be possible unless evil had already come into existence?

For another, when Adam and Eve were driven out of the garden after choosing to eat the forbidden fruit, God posted an angel with a flaming sword to prevent their return. Why would God dispatch a threatening, heavily armed angel unless a) He’d already created the angels and b) the heavenly realms had already been plunged into spiritual war by the rebellion of Satan and his followers?

Even before the fall of man, Satan had already declared his independence from God, and thus kicked off the cosmic struggle between good and evil. Originally, Adam and Eve’s allegiance had been to their Creator. Through their sin, they joined forces with His sworn enemy. The earth, which God had entrusted to humanity, fell completely under the power of the evil one. When Adam and Eve fell, they didn’t really start the spiritual battle. Instead, they changed sides in a war that was already in progress, and surrendered their dominion in the process.

We were created to serve as allies to Jehovah Sabaoth, the Lord of Hosts, the God of angel armies. We won’t clearly understand the world we live in or our purpose here until we recognize that this is true. We also won’t be aware of how well-equipped we, as His redeemed followers, can become to combat the enemy.

If we think we were created to merely enjoy paradise, then when we encounter spiritual opposition, we will act like civilians caught in the cross fire. We’ll tend to regard spiritual warfare as an irritating intrusion on the “good life.” Once we understand that we were created to be warriors for God, we will be much more willing to suffer hardship for His cause, and far better prepared to, “…put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.” (Ephesians 6:13)

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God’s “Very Good” Design

Posted on October 23, 2014 by rebeccabruner

“Now that same-sex marriage has been legalized, how will that effect your book?” My friend Diane sounded quite concerned. “Do you think it might hurt your chances of getting published?”As a member of the focus group who had helped me refine the ideas for A Wife of Valor: Your Strategic Importance in God’s Battle Plan,  Diane had a pretty clear grasp of my views on biblical marriage.

My book is aimed at Christian women in committed, heterosexual marriages. It has very little to say about homosexuality or same-sex marriage. Even so, Diane’s question made me realize that the basic biblical truths upon which my book is founded have recently become quite controversial.

The message that God intentionally created human beings to be both male and female, and that He considered that design to be “Very Good,” used to be considered self-evident. Now, it is being challenged at every turn. A multitude of voices clamor that we should regard any differences between the sexes as irrelevant, but I’m more convinced than ever that men and women were created to complement one another, covering each other’s greatest areas of vulnerability with their unique strengths.

In response to Diane’s question, I said, “I honestly don’t know how this might effect my  book’s publication. My hope is that there is still a Christian publishing house out there with the courage and the vision to support my book, even if it is controversial.”

In any case, I can’t abandon the message God has entrusted to me. I must boldly deliver that message to a world who may need to hear it now more than ever before. Some will undoubtedly consider what I have to say controversial. But then, isn’t that true of just about anything that’s really worth saying?

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God’s Surprises

Posted on October 16, 2014 by rebeccabruner

God’s ways are mysterious, and often that’s a great thing. I entered my science fiction novel, Welcome, Earthborn Brother,  in the Rattler Writing Contest for one reason: I wanted to make it to the final round. I knew that round would be judged by Steve Laube, the new editor of Enclave Press (formerly Marcher Lord Press), a well established publisher of Christian speculative fiction.

I figured that if I could get Steve’s feedback, I’d know whether or not my story had any chance of being published by Enclave. Since they receive so many submissions, it typically takes a year or more to hear back from them. By entering the contest, I hoped to shave several months off of that response time.

When I didn’t make it to the final round, I assumed that was the end of the story. However, God had a happy surprise in store for me, one that I could never have predicted.

One of the preliminary judges from the contest liked my story well enough to recommend that I contact her. She said that if I rewrote my first chapter incorporating her suggestions for improvement, she’d be happy to look at it again.

This judge turns out to be the editor of a small press that publishes Christian speculative fiction. After seeing my revised first chapter, she asked me to submit the full manuscript. God had a good plan for my entering the contest that I could not have conceived of before He brought it about.

This whole experience has reminded me that God sees all ends. Even when I think I know what to pray for, He sometimes has a great surprise in store for me.

Lord,  when things don’t turn out the way I’ve been praying they will, help me recognize that it’s because your answer is, “No, I have something better.”

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The Cure for Cancer

Posted on October 2, 2014 by rebeccabruner

I sat in my living room watching a famous pastor on the TV screen. “If you knew the cure for cancer, you’d be eager to share it with the world, wouldn’t you?” he gushed. This was how he believed Christians ought to feel about sharing the truth of Jesus’ love and redemption with the world.

“Well, of course,” I thought. But on further reflection, I found one major flaw in his analogy. Before people will enthusiastically embrace the good news about a cure, they have to be presented with the bad news: “You have terminal cancer.”

People never like hearing those words. That’s why we hesitate to say them. People don’t want to be told that sin is the spiritual cancer that will eventually claim their lives, that it’s riddled throughout their souls, a malignancy they are powerless to purge from their systems.

Only Jesus can perform the operation that will carry sin away eternally. Only by submitting to his orders, as a cancer patient would follow the orders of his oncologist no matter how painful, can the cure for sin be ensured.

Jesus didn’t come into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved (John 3:17). However, saving the world required giving humanity an honest diagnosis. Jesus proclaimed that we all suffer from the terminal disease of sin.  Left untreated, it will separate us from God forever.

Until I have the courage to tell people the bad news, they will never be willing to embrace the good news. Christ was despised and rejected because he carried the sobering truth to a dying world. If I come in his name, proclaiming his diagnosis, I should also expect to be despised and rejected. I know that some will label me a quack, but I must overcome my fear and have the faith to believe that some will have ears to hear. And those who  recognize that they are truly dying will joyfully accept Jesus as their cure.

Posted in Cancer, Faith, God's Grace, salvation, sharing your faith | Tagged , , | 2 Comments