Michelle McKinney Hammond - How to Get the Best Out of Your Man

HARVEST HOUSE PUBLISHERS

EUGENE, OREGON

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from The ESV Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version), copyright 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Verses marked NLT are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Verses marked NIV are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com

Verses marked NKJV are taken from the New King James Version. Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Verses marked TLB are taken from The Living Bible , Copyright 1971. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, IL 60189 USA. All rights reserved.

Verses marked MSG are taken from The Message. Copyright by Eugene H. Peterson 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.

Verses marked GNT are taken from the Good News TranslationSecond Edition 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by permission.

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Cover design by Koechel Peterson & Associates Inc., Minneapolis, Minnesota

Michelle McKinney Hammond is represented by the literary agency of Alive Communications, Inc., 7680 Goddard Street, Ste. 200, Colorado Springs, CO 80920. www.alivecommunications.com

HOW TO GET THE BEST OUT OF YOUR MAN

Copyright 2013 by Michelle McKinney Hammond

Published by Harvest House Publishers

Eugene, Oregon 97402

www.harvesthousepublishers.com

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

McKinney Hammond, Michelle.

How to get the best out of your man / Michelle McKinney Hammond.

pages cm

ISBN 978-0-7369-3790-0 (pbk.)

ISBN 978-0-7369-4266-9 (eBook)

1. Single womenReligious life. 2. Christian womenReligious life. 3. Manwoman relationshipsBiblical teaching. 4. Manwoman relationshipsReligious aspectsChristianity. 5. Bible. O.T. EstherCriticism, interpretation, etc. I. Title.

BV4596.S5M3447 2013

248.8'435dc23

2012036122

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical, digital, photocopy, recording, or any otherexcept for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher.

To every woman who has a heart for God and for her manmay you be reassured there is power in doing things Gods way .

To my long-term examples that Gods principles are not only true but workable

William and Norma McKinneywhat wonderful parents you have been! What a solid example of love and marriage you have shown me over the years. You set the bar high and proved its possible to have an amazing friendship and marriage with the partner of your dreams .

Frank and Bunny Wilsonyour marriage has always been a beacon of light to countless others and an oasis of sweet reassurance for me. Frank, you are sorely missed, but you left a legacy of love behind for us to treasure .

To all the othersyou know who you are! Watching you do love and marriage has been a pleasure as well as a confirmation that marriage can be a happy place and a real partnership .

To my Harvest House family. One thing about a good house is no matter what the weather in our lives, the house is still standing. So happy to be in the family after all these years, looking forward to many more.

To Barb, my trusty editor, thank you for hanging in there with me through all my various transitions. You remain the voice of reason .

To Dave Koechel, thanks for making my babies look pretty on the shelves.

To all those who work tirelessly to help me get the word out, Thank you!

Contents

W hen you look at your man, who do you see? The real man or the man you would like to see? Somewhere between a wonderful combination of both lies the true man, with all his hopes, fears, accomplishments, and disappointments. The man God created him to be, the man you hoped for, and the man he longs to be converge in different degrees in response to circumstances, stresses (real or imagined), love, rejection, fulfillment, and the search for what confirms his identity as a man. These things will affect his responses to you and the world at large on any given day.

Its been said that men are far less complex than women, and I believe that is true. When women understand the basics about men, well find it much easier to relate to them.

In the Bible, the first time man is mentioned has him in a remote place being fashioned by God. No wonder so many men think they are Gods gift to the world. They literally are. And later, God created woman for man, which makes us Gods gift to them.

God created man in His own likeness. This creative move on Gods part is our first telling hint for solving the mystery of a mans heart. If he is made in the image of God, then we must know that he will imitate God in unending ways, including emotionally and spiritually. He will be driven to reflect his maker from the core of his soul because he is an extension of the God who created him. (Yes, the same is true for women, but we are focusing on men in this book.)

God craves relationship, honor, worship, and victorythe same things a man craves. As we move through this book, well break these things down and deal with them one by one.

For now, keep in mind that God created us all for relationship. He doesnt need anyone other than Himself, yet He desires fellowship and a love relationship with us. He wants to know that He is appreciated and honored for all He has done and does for us. He delights in all His creation working well together and seeing His will accomplished in our lives. The ultimate tribute to His Lordship is the victory that is experienced when we submit totally to Him, forsaking all other influences and temptations.

Does that sound familiar? It sounds like all of usincluding your man! We will be taking an in-depth look at what this looks like in our relationships as we move forward, but suffice it to say that a man looks to his woman to provide a lot of those good feelings. The rewards for fulfilling his desires can be above and beyond what we can even imagine.

When God created woman, she was fashioned to meet the needs of her man. You see, God made man with a very specific assignment in mind. He was created not just for fellowship but also to supervise and manage Gods creation. He was created to be fruitful, to multiply, to subdue and have dominion over all that God had made. Small wonder man is driven to conquer in every area of his world. This stuff is in his genes by divine design. But guess what? He is only able to accomplish these things partially unless he has the help of a woman (and God, of course). Both man and woman were commanded to be fruitful, multiply, take dominion over every living thing and subdue evil, but this work would require a partnership between the man and the woman. These commands could not be accomplished alone. In this book, we will be focusing on the man as we move forward so we can better understand our men and their needs.