Accepting God's Love, Whether You Are Married or Single

By Michael Dothard

Our choice to accept God can be the turning point in our lives. This choice can allow God to express the best that is within us. God is the ultimate answer to everything that we may need in life. Along with his love, he lives in every human heart, regardless of ethnicity, age, life situation, or marital status. He patiently awaits us to receive him throughout any and every point in our lives. He is immeasurable. He is infinite. He is wisdom. He is the peace that we find, and he is also the good potential that we all possess. He existed before all else and holds all creation together with his love, from which we can never be separated. He is who we should all accept to be spiritually healthy. He is the light that makes all things visible, and only by His Presence are we capable of expressing true love. God is truly the one and only spirit that we all need to breathe, and he is real whether or not we believe and accept him!

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Sep 2, 2011
• ISBN: 9781449724115

Michael Dothard

Michael Dothard grew up in the small town of lincoln Alabama where he's been a barber for seventeen years. Michael has always been eager to serve God, and has an absolute passion for studying the Word of Truth. By grace he is privileged with the ability to not only teach and explain the Truth, but give wise advice as well which he loves doing with enthusiasm. While possessing this sacred trust, he strives to maintain and demonstrate true humility to everyone. Although he is a servant of God who takes his responsibilty serious, he is also a playful and lively husband and father, that enjoys spending time and planning activities with his family.

Book preview

ACCEPTING GOD’S LOVE, WHETHER YOU ARE

MARRIED OR SINGLE

MICHAEL DOTHARD

logoBlackwTN.ai

Copyright © 2011 Michael Dothard

The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright 1996, 2004. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked NASB: taken from the New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. (www.Lockman.org)

Scripture quotations marked NIV: taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 Biblica. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.

WestBow Press books may be ordered through booksellers or by contacting:

WestBow Press

A Division of Thomas Nelson

1663 Liberty Drive

Bloomington, IN 47403

www.westbowpress.com

1-[phone]

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

ISBN: 978-1-4497-2411-5 (e)

ISBN: 978-1-4497-2409-2 (sc)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2011914364

Printed in the United States of America

WestBow Press rev. date: 09/27/2011

Contents

DEDICATIONS

EPIGRAPH

FOREWORD

PREFACE

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

PRAYER

CHAPTER 1

CHAPTER 2

CHAPTER 3

CHAPTER 4

CHAPTER 5

CHAPTER 6

CHAPTER 7

CHAPTER 8

CHAPTER 9

CHAPTER 10

CHAPTER 11

CHAPTER 12

CHAPTER 13

CHAPTER 14

CHAPTER 15

CHAPTER 16

CHAPTER 17

CHAPTER 18

CHAPTER 19

CHAPTER 20

CHAPTER 21

AFTERWORD

PRAYER

Au%20Photo%20for%20Interior.jpg

DEDICATIONS

I GIVE TO God, Jesus, and The Holy Spirit, who are one, for enlightening my understanding of His Word, which is the only truth, and enabling me to explain a portion of that truth by His underserved grace. To my wife and friend, Selena Dothard, for her growing trust in me as I trust in God, for her integrity, love, and support. To all who has ever come to me for words of encouragement Those who came were considered as a door of opportunity for me to impart some spiritual gift into their lives, while at the same time being strengthened and encouraged myself. And to my beloved brother Cedric Dothard, for that unrevealed faith that lived in your heart, that I have always notice. I am convinced that, this faith in your heart, and my heart, will one day reunite us together again. I promise to never forget you! I think about you more than anyone knows. I miss you Cedric, with tears in my eyes I write to say that, the first book is now finished. I promise to care for Sanna as I do my very own children. Without question, you had a bigger heart than I. I’ll never forget me telling you I Love You and you telling me the same in return, but the most joyful part was you had begun to beat me to the start. I hope that I was a positive big brother to you, by never turning my back on you. You and I were definitely different, but we had respect and love for each other. Until That Day rest!!!!

EPIGRAPH

"For I fully expect and hope that I will never be ashamed, but that I will continue to be bold for Christ, as I have been in the past and I trust that my life will bring honor to Christ, whether I live or die" (Philippians 1:20).

FOREWORD

But whatever I am now, it is all because God poured out his special favor on me and not without results. For I have worked harder than any of the other apostles; yet it was not I but God who was working through me by his Grace (1 Corinthians 15:10). WITH A FOREWORD BY THE APOSTLE PAUL

PREFACE

WITHIN EACH CHAPTER of this book will be topics that I myself have experienced and observed throughout twenty years of observation. Discussions will also be made concerning some of our personal life issues that has occurred prior to and after a man and a woman have made that special commitment of marriage. Most of the topics are discussed to bring to attention: spiritual blindness from pride, wasted years, unforgiving behavior, and bringing baggage into the marriage, and those of us who may love our spouse but are not in love with them. Also discussed will be understanding the ultimate secret to a healthy marriage. Accepting God’s Love whether you are married or single, was inspired by The Word of God, and also contains many illustrations, and examples, of those particular topics that are necessary. Most of the information contained will be relevant, to most of us who have experienced, or perhaps still experiencing life ups and downs. There are also many Biblical facts that I have used to support majority of Accepting God’s Love that I strongly encourage every reader to refer to. In all, Accepting God’ Love was written to express my absolute passion of Love for God, by sharing my self-experienced advice to everyone. That above all God will be exalted.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

grayedacknowledgement%20page%20photo.jpg

I ACKNOWLEDGE MY friend, my true friend, the one who has never left my side, the one who is able to make what seems impossible possible, the very one who inspires me to write all that I have written. That friend is Jesus Christ. I acknowledge His presence that works through me, that anything good spoken of Accepting God’s love will be acknowledged as the good that comes from God. I secondly acknowledge my helper, partner, and lover, Selena Dothard, my wife of 12 years. I acknowledge her for correcting me when I am out of line, and for standing strong on what she knows is right. That honestly pushed me closer to God, and I am forever thankful that she helped me see myself. I acknowledge also the two gifts that God gave her and me; from these two wonderful gifts from Heaven, our love has grown to what I believe is its highest peak and those gifts are Kye and Seleah Dothard. To Rose Johnson, Amber Champion, Dr. Theresa, Robin Davis, and Natasha Terrell. Thank you for all your support.

PRAYER

God of Heaven, I honor you first for being the only God in my life. Lord, I pray that at least one, if not every individual, who reads the information of Accepting God’s love will be inspired by your words that I believe you’ve entrusted me with, to come closer to you as relating to a personal relationship with you. I speak, Lord, by faith, that Accepting God’s love, which contains your word, will also touch the hearts of those who were not even looking for you. And most importantly, I pray, God, that you are pleased with everything that I have written, which I believe by faith that you’ve given me.

In the awesome name of Jesus Christ, I pray.

CHAPTER 1

THE PURPOSE OF A MARRIAGE

ONE OF THE main reasons that most of us get married is to find that equal someone that we think will complete us. Just like the first man, Adam was not complete until God brought back to him what was originally from him. We too will be incomplete until we find that fitting helper whom God has made for us. I speak of this on behalf of men in finding their helper. Though one may be wondering, Can a person be complete without a husband or wife? And the answer would be, sure one can be complete without a husband or wife. Let’s take the Apostle Paul, for instance; he was complete from the Spirit of God within him. Paul had self-control, which came from the Holy Spirit. And in Him you have been made complete and he is the head over all rule and authority (Colossians 2:10 NASB). So in other words, we don’t have to marry to be complete.

AVOIDING SEXUAL SIN (FORNICATION):

This is what Paul wrote to the Corinthians: But because there is so much sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife, and each woman should have her own husband (1 Corinthians 7:2). So should a person get married just to avoid sexual sin? 1 Corinthians 7:9 says, If they do not have self-control let them marry for it is better to marry than to burn (NASB). But to be honest, some of us get married for all the wrong reasons. It is true that some of us only get married perhaps because we are persuaded by others to get married. Some of us get married only to keep ourselves from being lonely, or basically just to say that we have someone, while perhaps the whole time understanding that the person is not fitting or right for us.

My wife and I, once while house shopping, found a house that looked enticing to us. So we signed and closed on this particular house. Instead of being patient and seeking God’s will first, we only went on what we had seen. All we knew was that the house was what we ourselves wanted and not what God had planned for us to have. Within 3 ½ years, we found ourselves in a no-win situation. At that particular time, we believed that we were living in the will of God. When we found ourselves in this situation, we both knew that this particular house was not from God. Always know that God never sets us up for failure. My wife and I were the ones who made the hasty decision to rush into this particular house. My point in this story is that sometimes we make decisions without seeking and consulting with God first and end up with something or someone who God may have never intended for us to be with.

James 1:17 says, "Every good thing bestowed and every perfect gift is from above coming down from the father of