Stephanie Herzog - God Is Your Matchmaker

GOD IS YOUR
MATCHMAKER

Copyright 2008Stephanie Herzog

All rights reserved. This book is protected by the copyright laws of the United States of America. This book may not be copied or reprinted for commercial gain or profit. The use of short quotations or occasional page copying for personal or group study is permitted and encouraged. Permission will be granted upon request. Unless otherwise identified, Scripture quotations are from the Amplified Bible, Copyright 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lock-man Foundation. Used by permission. Scripture quotations marked NLT are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright 1996, 2004. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked TM are taken from The Message. Copyright 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of Nav-Press Publishing Group. Scripture quotations marked NIV are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION, Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked NKJV are taken from the New King James Version. Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Please note that Destiny Images publishing style capitalizes certain pronouns in Scripture that refer to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and may differ from some publishers styles. Take note that the name satan and related names are not capitalized. We choose not to acknowledge him, even to the point of violating grammatical rules.

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ISBN 10: 0-7684-2720-7

ISBN 13: 978-0-7684-2720-2

For Worldwide Distribution, Printed in the U.S.A.

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F irst and foremost, I dedicate this book to my three daughters, whom I love with an everlasting love. May they learn, above all else, how to live out their singleness for God and receive their identity and fulfillment solely from Him. If the Lord wills that they each marry, may they trust Him to choose only the best man for His divine purpose.

Finally, to all who are single in the family of God, may you take pleasure in and prefer Gods ways and standards in finding fulfillment and true happiness in life. I pray that you let God choose His best for you and for what He has planned for your life. I guarantee that you will never regret it, regardless of the trials and pressures you go through. By doing things Gods way, you will see that your future is greater and brighter than your past and present.

T hank you, heavenly Father, for Your love, goodness, guidance, faithfulness, and most of all, for fathering me throughout my entire life. Thank You for loving me before I ever loved You and for making me part of Your precious royal family. Your wonderful principles and ways that You tenderly and lovingly instilled into my life have brought great treasures beyond what I could ever imagine. Thank You for the honor and privilege of being a conduit of Your love, inspiration, and wisdom to the singles who will read this book. May their hearts be open to Your truth, Your ways, and Your blessings as they discover that the only key to true happiness, life, and fulfillment is having a real and deep intimate love relationship with You.

Great thanks to David Herzogwhom God chose and gave to me as His most precious and perfect gift, my dearest husband, my partner in life, my encourager, the greatest male cheerleader and supporter, my best friend throughout lifes journey and trials, and next to God, the greatest love of my life. David, I enjoyed writing my book simultaneously as you wrote yoursThe Ancient Portals of Heaven. I will never forget the long nights spent writing our books together until we dropped, helping each other out, praying together, and birthing together things in the Spirit for what has now come to be finished products. I enjoyed the little breaks in the wee hours of the night, although I think you took way more breaks for snacks than I did. What an unforgettable and amazing experience! Always remember that, even after almost 17 years of marriage, you still rock my world! Thank you for your ever-increasing love for me, for believing in me, and for encouraging me to write and finish this book.

To Dawn Scott, a precious friend and powerful minister along with her husband, Randy, from Denver, Colorado. I am so glad that an awesome outpouring of the Holy Spirit broke out when we were at your place. David, the children, and I cherish and love you and your family. Thank you so much for all of your help in proofreading the book in the middle of revival. You are such a great blessing!

To Megan Allison for providing me the feedback that I needed and for believing in the message and the messenger of this book. It encourages me to see singles like you going all the way with God, living your singleness according to His standards, and enjoying it. May many more singles learn to enjoy a completely fulfilled singleness as you do.

To Olivia Pearce for taking great care of my babies, the house, and the ministry, especially during the writing of this book. Your help allowed me to fully concentrate on my writing. Seeing my precious girls under your care gave me such peace and joy because I knew they were in good hands. Thank you for your great service.

To Dennis Trout for the wisdom shared in his Against the Grain manual. His knowledge on the subject of dating truly exposes dating for what it really is.

To Dr. Don Raunikar and his book Choosing Gods Best, which confirmed many of the concepts and principles that are the foundation of my beliefs regarding dating.

T ransparency and honesty! Wisdom and counsel! God is Your Matchmaker is a book every single and married person should be required to read! There is a crisis in the Body of Christ concerning relationships among singles and married people. Outside of salvation, marriage is the next most important decision anyone makes in their life, and yet so little is written about it.

Stephanie Herzog has lived this message, so she is well qualified and equipped to share many golden nuggets of wisdom and truth, coupled with the Word of God, to expose blind spots and flawed thinking in the Body of Christ. She dismantles belief systems and lies of the enemy with candor and conviction, revealing the pitfalls and traps the enemy uses to ensnare singles with tolerance and compromise. These traps carry over into marriagessadly causing as many divorces between believers as nonbelievers.

This is a how to guide to receiving Gods best for your life, using godly principles as a plumb line along with the Word and the Lords heart as you walk out your singleness or prepare for marriage.

Jill Austin

President and Founder, Master Potter Ministries

National and international conference speaker and author

www.masterpotter.com

D ear friend, it is neither by accident nor by chance that you are holding this book in your hands. Reading what I have to say may have the impact of a bright light illuminating a dark room. At first the bright light almost blinds you, but eventually your eyes adjust, and you realize that you can actually find your way around the room as your capacity to see increases. Though your eyes may have adjusted to the darkness, the available light illuminates many details that you could not previously see. You begin to notice the very things that caused you to stumble and fall, the garbage that has been in your life for years. Finally you see it for what it really is and can eliminate it.