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Answer from Mark: Good works do not earn salvation; they flow from salvation. Ephesians 2:8-9 teaches that we are saved by grace through faith, not by works. However, the next verse (Ephesians 2:10) says we are created in Christ Jesus for good works.

Good works are:

• Evidence of genuine faith.
• A response of gratitude to God's grace.
• A way of loving God and serving others.
• A means through which God works in the world.

We are not saved by good works, but a saving faith naturally produces them. It becomes part of who we are and what we naturally want to do as a new creature in Christ!

Answer from Ps Christine:

1. Seek God more than a spouse!

The next nine answers are in no particular order but seeking God more than a spouse is your first and most important step!

2. Get yourself ready.

If there are things you’re struggling with, whether they are character flaws or issues of the heart, now is the best time to seek God and to grow in Him. Adding a spouse into your life won’t make your character flaws disappear. Often, they can highlight them! So use this season to prepare your heart, nature, and life.

3. See yourself as God sees you.

Realise that you are not “half a person” because you’re not married; you are a whole person! You don’t need someone to complete you because you are a complete person with God.

4. Live, dress and behave with expectation.

You don’t need to “dress to impress”, but dress and live each day as though that’s the day you’re going to meet your spouse.

5. Have a clear vision of what God’s calling is for your life.

Having a clear vision of God’s calling for your future means when you meet someone, you’ll be able to recognise whether they are part of that calling (i.e. I knew God had called me to ministry in my local church and to have a family and be planted in Melbourne, so then if I’d met someone who was called to be a missionary in Africa and to travel the world, I would’ve known that our assignments and visions didn’t align.).

6. Make the most of this season.

Recognise that once you are married, once you have a family, and once you are sharing your life with someone else, your time and responsibilities will change. It’s a wonderful change. But recognise that you also have an opportunity in your current season to do things for God, your church and your community that you may not be able to do in the same way in your next season. So make the most of it! Purposely sow time into projects for God and the church, knowing that when this season ends, your time will ‌now be more limited. 

7. Reach out to other people who are in the same situation as you.

Encourage them in their walk with God. Get together and provide fellowship! If it’s ladies, get together with the other ladies in the church who are in the same season as you… not to lament, but to encourage each other in the Lord. If it’s men, get together with the other guys who are in the same season and strengthen each other’s faith.

8. Stay in a state of contentment.

You don’t need to be married or have a family to be content. Paul says in Philippians 4 that he learnt to be content in every situation because he could do all things through Christ! Content doesn’t mean you’re not pressing forward in faith and believing in God, it simply means you’re believing from a place of contentment, not desperation.

9. Fill yourself with teaching on “the waiting season”.

How you behave between “amen” and “there it is” is so important. These sermons are powerfully encouraging and challenging:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ALUSwTKGUM&t=1254s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-zc8ytdSoP4

10. Surrender the desire to God!

When Abraham offered Isaac up to God as a sacrifice, it wasn’t because he’d lost faith or was giving up on the promise… just the opposite! But Abraham had to obey God’s command and surrender all his desires to God, ensuring that God was always number 1. In the same way, make sure you surrender your heart’s desire to God, keeping Him in first place, and enabling God to provide how, where and when He knows is best.

Answer from Mark: If your identity is rooted in Christ, then your worth is not determined by your circumstances.

• If you lose a job, you are still God's beloved child.
• If you become ill, you are still accepted and treasured by Him.
• If relationships fail, you are still secure in Christ.
• If plans disappoint, God's purposes for you remain.

An “in Christ” identity provides stability because it rests on what Jesus has done, not on what we achieve or possess.

This doesn’t remove pain, but it changes how we walk through it. We rejoice in hope (a confident expectation in all His promises), we are patient through tribulation, and trust that our suffering does not define us but strengthens us and perfects us.

Identity in Christ Scriptures:

• I am a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17)
• I am God's child (John 1:12; Galatians 3:26)
• I am chosen by God (Ephesians 1:4)
• I am adopted into God's family (Ephesians 1:5)
• I am redeemed and forgiven (Ephesians 1:7)
• I am accepted in the Beloved (Ephesians 1:6 [NKJV])
• I am sealed with the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:13)
• I am God's workmanship (Ephesians 2:10)
• I am seated with Christ in heavenly places (Ephesians 2:6)
• I am saved by grace (Ephesians 2:8-9)
• I am a citizen of heaven (Philippians 3:20)
• I am free from condemnation (Romans 8:1)
• I am more than a conqueror (Romans 8:37)
• I am loved by God (Romans 8:38-39)
• I am a temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19)
• I am bought with a price (1 Corinthians 6:20)
• I am Christ's ambassador (2 Corinthians 5:20)
• I am holy and blameless in His sight (Ephesians 1:4)
• I am complete in Christ (Colossians 2:10 [NKJV])
• I am God's fellow worker (1 Corinthians 3:9)

Because you are in Christ:

• You are accepted (Ephesians 1:6)
• You are secure (Romans 8:1, 38-39)
• You are significant (Ephesians 2:10)
• You are loved (1 John 3:1)
• You are forgiven (Colossians 1:13-14)
• You are empowered by the Spirit (Acts 1:8, Ephesians 3:16)
• You are an heir of God (Romans 8:17)

One of the clearest identity passages is, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new." (2 Corinthians 5:17)

And one of the most foundational is, "For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God." (Colossians 3:3)

The New Testament's answer to "Who am I?" is ultimately not found in personality, achievements, failures, career, relationship, status or circumstances. It is found in being "in Christ".

Mark Hankins wrote a wonderful book called The Power of Identification with Christ, which is full of lessons and analogies that really help give you a strong foundation for understanding your true identity.

I love, love, love this topic and could spend days talking on this subject! I think we are always learning who we are and because God is infinite, I think there is no end in learning this! It is so exciting!

Answer from Mark: In Matthew 6:33, Jesus says, "Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you."

The context is God's provision for our needs, not a guarantee of wealth, comfort, or freedom from hardship.

Throughout Scripture, many faithful believers suffered greatly. The apostle Paul experienced hunger, imprisonment, persecution, and hardship.

God's promise is that He will be faithful to provide what we need to accomplish His purposes and sustain our faith. Sometimes that provision comes through abundance. Other times it comes through strength, grace, community, endurance, and daily bread during suffering.

The Christian hope is not that believers will avoid suffering, but that God will be with them in it and ultimately bring them safely into His eternal kingdom.

Rejoice in hope, be patient through tribulation and be constant in prayer.

I have personally experienced God's amazing provision in what looked like it should have been a very lean period in my life and my family. We decided that we were going to do Matthew 6:33 and not pay any attention to the things we thought we needed, and I can say that my God has taken us through with abundance. We are constantly looking at who God wants us to bless and how can we bless someone, giving God all the glory for He is the one who makes it possible in the first place!

It takes faith to do anything God asks of us, and it is an adventure. I have personally seen Him turn devastating situations around and make it feel like a blessing!

Romans 8:28 (ESV): And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

James 1:2-4 (ESV): Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

I have learnt to appreciate trials and tribulations, as they have helped me develop great character. I recognise that my strength comes from resting in my Lord and God, continuing to serve where I can, and knowing He never leaves me nor forsakes me. I’ve learnt to continually talk to Jesus and my heavenly Father and not wait until I'm in peril... He is my first and last go-to in good and bad times. I see Him laughing at me sometimes in a loving way, like a father may laugh at his young child when they do something silly.