For some days now I have been thinking about writing on the topic of love, but instead I am going to try to tackle a much more intense topic that is rarely discussed from a Christian spiritual frame of thinking. It will probably take more than one post to really begin to unpack this topic, because there are a lot of variables that can play out, both naturally and spiritually.
Sex is not often talked about by Christians as a positive. Most of the time when it is discussed in church, it is from the list of dont do. So even when Christians get married, they enter into marriage not knowing much about how sacred the sexual act of intercourse really is for both of them.
There needs to be more clarity given to the difference in the sacred act of intercourse in marriage and the physical sport of casual sexual behavior that is so common in our culture today. The bible is constantly talking about the flesh in the New Testament. This is for a very good reason.
You need your senses to be aware of the natural world around you as well as to be aware of the spiritual world around you. If you allow your senses to control you, then you will become desensitized to what is going on around you, both naturally and spiritually. You have to be the controller of your flesh, you can not allow your flesh to control you.
In the context of a monogamous marriage, the senses are strengthened and not depleted. This is because the man and the woman are sharing a sacred sexual experience. They are becoming unified and this level of unity manifest in every aspect of their lives as individuals and as a couple. This is why you will hear married people begin to use the same vocabulary and phrases, and even begin to communicate much more non verbally, as they become in tune with each other.
Pastors can look at the couples in their congregation and see which couples are truly unified and which couples are trying to pretend to be unified. When a couple is not equally yoked it is obvious, it shows in many ways, but most importantly it shows in what they are able to accomplish in their walk with Christ, and in their individual callings.
Sexual intercourse is not only the sharing of the physical body, but it is also the sharing of that person's spiritual self. So the person who has multiple sexual partners is becoming sexually schizophrenic. When you share your essence with someone, you are basically giving and receiving. You are giving away some of who you are spiritually and receiving some of who that person is spiritually. So when you are sexual with a person who does not view their own body as sacred and spiritually connected to God, then you are devaluing your own body and spirit.
In church, the message is to avoid being 'unequally yoked', or a more modern way to say it to say dont be tied to someone who is not a spiritual match. The yoke is an apparatus that is used to tie two working animals together so that the strength of them both can be used to increase the productivity by powering the load to be pulled by the strength of the unified effort. If one is too much stronger than the other, the stronger one will tire too quickly from taking too much of the labor load, and will eventually be dragging not only the weight of the load, but of the other animal too. This will not only make the progress take longer, but will eventually bring the work to a complete stop, much sooner than if the two animals are more equal in strength.
Take that and apply it to a marriage, and you can have two people who are on the same path and level of awareness spiritually and they can accomplish much more, and much faster than they could as individuals working solo. But if one of the people in the marriage is spending all of their prayer life and the spiritual awareness trying to drag someone along the path to spiritual growth, they risk becoming tired and unable to accomplish very much for the Kingdom because their spouse is lagging behind and as a team, they cant go any faster or any farther than the weaker, slower person is able or willing.
In seminary, one of the counseling classes that I had to take was Spirituality and Sexuality. This class was a lot of information about the functions of the body and how to minister to people who were dealing with various sexual issues and concerns. But when the instructors started talking about how you must understand that you are who you share your body with because you are sharing spiritually because sex is a spiritual act, I realized that in my upbringing this had not been discussed, but on some level it made total sense.
This is why those who are the most depleted as individuals are those who have given themselves away freely, and who are also the most empty spiritually and emotionally. The constant search for what can only be found in God is what the they are actually trying to find in another empty person. And two empty people can only share their emptiness. And the more empty the individual feels, the more they seek after someone to make them feel better, to feel full. It becomes a sad and dangerous cycle.
For a person to value your body, they must value their own. The person must see their sexuality as a sacred expression, not to be shared with just anyone and not to be shared with someone who is not on the same spiritual path. If a person shares their body with some who is spiritually schizophrenic, then the individual is welcoming all of those spirits that the other person has into their being as well. When this happens, all the spirits become familiar. When the spirits all become familiar, then the senses dont become alarmed and are no longer alert to the danger. As a matter of fact, because the spirits seem familiar, they will also seem to be safe. In other words, the spiritual attack is not an aggressive or violent one, but a gentle sensual one.
The bible lets us know that the marriage bed is undefiled, because the expectation is of respect for the body as sacred, and respect for the sexual experience of the marriage to be free from the residue of other people's spiritual residue. Therefore sacred sexuality is in the context of a monogamous marriage between spiritual equals. Even if they are not equals, they become equally what each person brings into the covenant bond. In this way , the marriage changes both the man and the woman into the version of self that is enmeshed with what they share with their spouse.
May 22, 2017
May 16, 2017
Success is Relative
Success is relative. Each person has their own idea of success and each person has their own measure for where one is in the journey to accomplishment. One of the biggest mistakes that anyone can make is to measure one's own level of accomplishment by someone else's accomplishments in a different area or field.
Most of the time when envy and jealous occur it is because of comparing apples to oranges, not comparing the same skills and the same types of success to each other. One thing that I have noticed is that people who are striving for their own excellence dont really have the mental energy for such comparisons anyway. The most critical opinions come from the most stagnant people. And when I say stagnant, I dont mean this to imply that the person or persons have not accomplished, but that they realize their own limitations and have some sort of regret because of how their own life choices created those limitations.
The choices that a person makes can totally shift the events of the rest of one's life. The truth is that we can not see into the future and at the time that we make the decision, we feel it is the best decision or the right decision based on the current information that we have at the time. And in most cases, there are ways to adjust or modify the decision, but some times the decisions that we make just have to walk out and live with, accepting what it brings with it.
A spirit filled Christian should always be prayerful about major decisions. In this, one must be willing to be obedient to what the Holy Spirit is guiding one to do. When it comes to living out one's calling, this really cant be determined by anyone else. We live in a world that says that you must get the approval of others, but in truth, people may not always understand or agree with your calling. This can be challenging for the person who needs the affirmation of others to feel comfortable taking certain steps in life. It is normal for each of us to want to be loved and accepted, but we may not always get this from the people that we look to provide it for us.
Finding the love and support that one needs to nourish one's human need for affirmation and a sense of community can be challenging for us all, and especially for those who dont fit in with mediocrity. So may people who have gifts and callings to go farther and higher in areas of success dont do so because of the need for a sense of community, and the fear of being isolated in the process of reaching for more within the context of one's goals.
The truth is that one can not truly flourish and reach the fullest potential of one's own goals until one is really ready to let go of the atmosphere of mediocrity. Getting uncomfortable is what pushes one forward, gives one the determination to proceed regardless of the opinions of those who are comfortable in mediocrity. Along the way, one begins to meet others who are on similar journeys, and this provides a more natural and organic sense of community, a community of people who can understand and affirm the journey.
Let's be honest, everyone is not built for the same types of success. And some dont have the drive to go out into the unknown with the courage that it takes to face what others cant imagine. Most of the time, the people who discourage others from working toward their vision do so because it is not their vision. You cant expect people to understand what they cant see or imagine. Anyone who does not understand the vision will have a hard time being a part of your journey towards accomplishing it.
It is my prayer that the God given vision will take you into the fullness of following the calling and the gifts that God has place in this time and space for a reason. I pray that God surround you with people who understand what it is like to step out of the routine and reach for all that God has for you. True happiness is living affirmed in what God created you to do and to be.
Most of the time when envy and jealous occur it is because of comparing apples to oranges, not comparing the same skills and the same types of success to each other. One thing that I have noticed is that people who are striving for their own excellence dont really have the mental energy for such comparisons anyway. The most critical opinions come from the most stagnant people. And when I say stagnant, I dont mean this to imply that the person or persons have not accomplished, but that they realize their own limitations and have some sort of regret because of how their own life choices created those limitations.
The choices that a person makes can totally shift the events of the rest of one's life. The truth is that we can not see into the future and at the time that we make the decision, we feel it is the best decision or the right decision based on the current information that we have at the time. And in most cases, there are ways to adjust or modify the decision, but some times the decisions that we make just have to walk out and live with, accepting what it brings with it.
A spirit filled Christian should always be prayerful about major decisions. In this, one must be willing to be obedient to what the Holy Spirit is guiding one to do. When it comes to living out one's calling, this really cant be determined by anyone else. We live in a world that says that you must get the approval of others, but in truth, people may not always understand or agree with your calling. This can be challenging for the person who needs the affirmation of others to feel comfortable taking certain steps in life. It is normal for each of us to want to be loved and accepted, but we may not always get this from the people that we look to provide it for us.
Finding the love and support that one needs to nourish one's human need for affirmation and a sense of community can be challenging for us all, and especially for those who dont fit in with mediocrity. So may people who have gifts and callings to go farther and higher in areas of success dont do so because of the need for a sense of community, and the fear of being isolated in the process of reaching for more within the context of one's goals.
The truth is that one can not truly flourish and reach the fullest potential of one's own goals until one is really ready to let go of the atmosphere of mediocrity. Getting uncomfortable is what pushes one forward, gives one the determination to proceed regardless of the opinions of those who are comfortable in mediocrity. Along the way, one begins to meet others who are on similar journeys, and this provides a more natural and organic sense of community, a community of people who can understand and affirm the journey.
Let's be honest, everyone is not built for the same types of success. And some dont have the drive to go out into the unknown with the courage that it takes to face what others cant imagine. Most of the time, the people who discourage others from working toward their vision do so because it is not their vision. You cant expect people to understand what they cant see or imagine. Anyone who does not understand the vision will have a hard time being a part of your journey towards accomplishing it.
It is my prayer that the God given vision will take you into the fullness of following the calling and the gifts that God has place in this time and space for a reason. I pray that God surround you with people who understand what it is like to step out of the routine and reach for all that God has for you. True happiness is living affirmed in what God created you to do and to be.
April 19, 2017
I Haven't Ask God For Enough
This evening I had a conversation with a friend who is a single parent like myself, and we were talking about the challenges of even meeting a potential companion. We are both single parents and our lives are built around the activities of church and our children. We attend a large church, that is probably about 85% or more married couples, and most of the singles are females.
In our conversation we both agreed we didnt have any brilliant ideas about where to add meeting new people to our lives. I mentioned some of the possible activities that we might explore to meet new people in general, activities that would be co-ed and not just full of more single women. We tossed around a few thoughts, but didnt come up with anything that would be an Aha! moment. So we left the conversation with continue on as usual as the stopping point of our discussion.
I went home thinking about all that I needed to do to settle in for the evening and to get ready for tomorrow. As I reflected on our conversation, in my mind, I went through what was wrong with the last person that I attempted to consider allowing into my life. I thought about all of the disappointment and the betrayal that was the package that this person brought with him. I had tossed and tossed in my mind about what was the problem, because after all he was saved. So a saved man would be trustworthy and dependable and full of integrity - or so I thought.
This is when it dawned on me. This was when I had the AHA! moment. I had been making an amateur's mistake in my prayer for a life companion. When I went down through all of the thoughts in my mind about what I didnt want to have to deal with at this phase in my life, it occurred to me that I was making the assumption that someone considering himself a Christian, meant that he was the whole package. I was absolutely wrong! This actually only meant that he had completed step one, in a life long, three step process.
What I was not asking for in my prayers was someone who was more than saved. No, I am not taking about his material gain, or his education level, or even what was in his past. But what I was missing was something extremely essential to his present state of being in his walk with Jesus Christ = Sanctification and being filled with the Holy Ghost. I have been around the church world of Pentecostals most of my life and these three works of Grace are considered essential for maintenance of a Christian Life of Holiness. I had forgotten, that everyone who considers to be Christian is not trying to become more like Christ. Some people are willing to take the just enough approach to having a relationship with Jesus Christ. I dont want someone in my life who is taking the minimalist approach to Christ.
It takes wanting to go to another level in relationship with Christ, to live Godly and walk away from the sinful nature, giving up the things in life that are contrary to a life of holiness. I am not claiming to be perfect, so I dont expect my future companion to be perfect, that would be unrealistic and self deception. But do want someone who is working on being a better man, and who in his heart, truly wants to live a life that is pleasing to God. For that to happen, he will have to want more of God, more of God's Holy Spirit. The person has to have a hunger for the things of God. The person has to realize that everything else that he has tried has not cured the uneasiness in their being. It is when the person has come to the conclusion that there has to be a better way, and be willing to give up everything that hasnt worked, for what God has to offer. He will have to have already come to the conclusion that what he is thirsty for can not be found in a sinful lifestyle, but only in the 'wells of salvation' where there is joy and peace beyond compare to anything that sin has to offer. He has to have a thirst for what is right. He has to want to be right with God. This is the place of no longer wanting to struggle to maintain a life of sin, a life that goes against God plan for LIFE.
All of the things that I dont want to deal with in a relationship, and especially in a future companion wont be a problem with a man who wanting to go in the same direction that I am going, and who has no interest in going backwards spiritually. So I now realize that I have been very minimal in my prayer. I don't just want someone in my life who is saved. I want a man in my life who is SAVED, SANCTIFIED, and FILLED with the HOLY GHOST. I want the whole package. I want God's best for my life.
In our conversation we both agreed we didnt have any brilliant ideas about where to add meeting new people to our lives. I mentioned some of the possible activities that we might explore to meet new people in general, activities that would be co-ed and not just full of more single women. We tossed around a few thoughts, but didnt come up with anything that would be an Aha! moment. So we left the conversation with continue on as usual as the stopping point of our discussion.
I went home thinking about all that I needed to do to settle in for the evening and to get ready for tomorrow. As I reflected on our conversation, in my mind, I went through what was wrong with the last person that I attempted to consider allowing into my life. I thought about all of the disappointment and the betrayal that was the package that this person brought with him. I had tossed and tossed in my mind about what was the problem, because after all he was saved. So a saved man would be trustworthy and dependable and full of integrity - or so I thought.
This is when it dawned on me. This was when I had the AHA! moment. I had been making an amateur's mistake in my prayer for a life companion. When I went down through all of the thoughts in my mind about what I didnt want to have to deal with at this phase in my life, it occurred to me that I was making the assumption that someone considering himself a Christian, meant that he was the whole package. I was absolutely wrong! This actually only meant that he had completed step one, in a life long, three step process.
What I was not asking for in my prayers was someone who was more than saved. No, I am not taking about his material gain, or his education level, or even what was in his past. But what I was missing was something extremely essential to his present state of being in his walk with Jesus Christ = Sanctification and being filled with the Holy Ghost. I have been around the church world of Pentecostals most of my life and these three works of Grace are considered essential for maintenance of a Christian Life of Holiness. I had forgotten, that everyone who considers to be Christian is not trying to become more like Christ. Some people are willing to take the just enough approach to having a relationship with Jesus Christ. I dont want someone in my life who is taking the minimalist approach to Christ.
It takes wanting to go to another level in relationship with Christ, to live Godly and walk away from the sinful nature, giving up the things in life that are contrary to a life of holiness. I am not claiming to be perfect, so I dont expect my future companion to be perfect, that would be unrealistic and self deception. But do want someone who is working on being a better man, and who in his heart, truly wants to live a life that is pleasing to God. For that to happen, he will have to want more of God, more of God's Holy Spirit. The person has to have a hunger for the things of God. The person has to realize that everything else that he has tried has not cured the uneasiness in their being. It is when the person has come to the conclusion that there has to be a better way, and be willing to give up everything that hasnt worked, for what God has to offer. He will have to have already come to the conclusion that what he is thirsty for can not be found in a sinful lifestyle, but only in the 'wells of salvation' where there is joy and peace beyond compare to anything that sin has to offer. He has to have a thirst for what is right. He has to want to be right with God. This is the place of no longer wanting to struggle to maintain a life of sin, a life that goes against God plan for LIFE.
All of the things that I dont want to deal with in a relationship, and especially in a future companion wont be a problem with a man who wanting to go in the same direction that I am going, and who has no interest in going backwards spiritually. So I now realize that I have been very minimal in my prayer. I don't just want someone in my life who is saved. I want a man in my life who is SAVED, SANCTIFIED, and FILLED with the HOLY GHOST. I want the whole package. I want God's best for my life.
March 9, 2017
STRONGHOLDS
I have had a lot on my mind the past few days. And for some reason, I went to bed last night thinking about the buoyancy of a duck. This lead me to wonder if a duck could actually drown. So I went to Google and Youtube to find out. It turns out that a duck can actually drown. Furthermore, other ducks can and do intentionally drown fellow ducks.
Now in my head, I had decided that ducks would not be able to drown because they are full of oil. If you have ever eaten duck, which I do highly recommend, by the way, if not prepared well it is greasy because the flesh of the duck holds a lot of oil. So in my mind, the duck was so full of anointing, if you will allow me, it would not sink. All though it sounds great, it is not accurate.
What actually keeps the duck afloat is a combination of a waxy coating on its feathers and air pockets that give ducks the ability to float. Ducks are not heavy birds, so they do have some advantages to this in their ability to float and swim.
This made me think about how often we take for granted what we think is holding us up in life. Most of us could do more in focusing on what we have on our outer layers that are keeping us afloat. Way to often, we let things outside of one's self have control and influence over our actions and motives. This is why recognizing strongholds is so important for the Christian.
Anything that has more power over you or influence on your behavior than the Holy Spirit and Word of God can become or already is a stronghold. It is important to put on the Whole Armor of God. This is the protective barrier that keeps outside forces from having control in one's life. Most of the time, the things that control the individual, whether it be addiction, or immoral behavior, is rooted in in unhealed hurts. It is rooted in a thirst for the healing that can only come from the Power of God being active in one's life. It requires surrender, not sort of or partially, but complete surrender. It requires wanting to be nourished by God and find healing to the point that nothing else matters as much. In this sense of crisis and urgency, one finds the desire to become sanctified, cleansed from things that are not right in the Eyes of God.
You can not take control over what has a hold on you. You can not take authority over what has authority over you. One can not take authority over what one feels sorry for - this will only cause you to make excuses for it. And one can not take authority over something that has the ability tempt one with an offer- this will cause you to be in fellowship with it. If you try to take authority over what has authority over you, at the same time that what has authority over you is trying to maintain authority over you, then you are wrestling with that stronghold.
(Ephesians 6:10-20).
As long as living sinfully appears to have more to offer than living for Christ, the individual is not at a place of surrender. That means that the stronghold is still actively controlling the motives and behaviors. We can overcome those things that want to hold us back from our godly potential. We have to be intentional to shut down access to our lives of anyone and anything that brings distance to our relationship with God. We must not allow strongholds to have access to our mentality and our desires.
This past week, I read a good bit of Entire Devotion to God by Phoebe Palmer and one of the things that I noticed was her sense of urgency toward sanctification and holiness. This sense of urgency was once a major theme in holiness churches, but in recent years has taken a back seat to other more popular topics. But Palmer makes the point that we are not guaranteed to have more time to fix or repair the damage that we are doing to our eternal potential, nor should we become too relaxed about taking control over the sin in our lives.
Strongholds rob us of our potential in the Kingdom of God. They drown us in misguided priorities. Physically, Mentally, and literally, we have to respond well spiritually so that the natural manifestation in one's life reflects the determination to live according to God's Word. We have the authority of God's Word as grounds for changing our attitude and mindset, so that we can walk away from sinful behaviors and become intentional about raising our own standards. Strongholds reflect lowered standards. Living according to God's Word reflects higher standards. Through the Power of Jesus Christ, we have the ability to overcome challenges and weakness in our lives and to be healed and made whole.
- We dont have to sink in sin.
- We dont have to die in our sins.
- We can be free.
- We can be made whole.
- We can be saved.
- We can be healed.
- We can be delivered.
- We can be filled with the Power of the Holy Ghost.
December 23, 2016
Be Sure Your Anchor Holds
I have had some things on my mind for a while now, but this week it just got to be an enough is enough situation. I made up my mind to disconnect from those involved for several reasons. First and foremost the character issues involved that are showing me that I am dealing with a 'frienemy', and at this point in my life, I only have room for allies.
When I woke up this morning several things came across my mind from various phases in my life from childhood til now, and then this song written by the late C.P. Jones came to mind:
I will make the darkness light before thee,
What is wrong I’ll make it right before thee,
All thy battles I will fight before thee,
And the high place I’ll bring down.
This has been a busy week. The past few days have been full of activity and the week is not even half over. It is a season where Christians need to be focused and intentional about our identity in God. Some things that I have suspected have become clear. A lot has taken place, both in the spiritual and in the natural. In the midst of it all, I had to come to terms with the fact that some people that I considered friends have shown themselves to be disappointing as friends, and as Christians. Honesty, loyalty, integrity - these are characteristics that one must have, not for the sake of others, but for the sake of representing one's own character.
This is disappointing because when you are trying to stay focused on doing what was right, you have to distance yourself from people who don't want the same things in God that you are trying to seek after. Only my best friend knows what this struggle has entailed for me and how it has been a true challenge to focus on choosing to do what was right instead of what I wanted. As I was giving her an update on all that has been going this week, she just kept saying, 'this is too much'. I hate it when she is right, but I totally had to agree with her. It has taken a lot of prayer and has caused me to see the importance of choosing whether I want what I can do for myself or choosing to wait for what God can do in my life. In that way being able to trust God regardless of how God deals with the matter, because the Lord knows what is best and I trust that for what I get and what I may never get. So, yeah to realize that I have friends that are behaving with less integrity than those who don't claim Christ is disappointing.
The outspoken me wants to say something, but I thank God for being raised around some saints of the church who taught me some very important pieces of wisdom. One of my dearest friend's mother when she saw things going on that were not right would say, 'they think they are getting way with something but the Lord is just winking at them." Now growing up in the Church of God in Christ, one thing you must know is that when a church mother says something there is some scripture for it. So I went on a search to see what the Word of God said. Sure enough in Acts 17:30-31, "And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent: Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead"
So with these individuals being Christians, they are accountable to much more than my feelings. If answering to God doesn't concern them, then the breech of my trust is nothing. Translation, I just cant worry my pretty little head about such foolishness. I pray that the Lord deal with everyone involved, and ask the Lord to help me stay focused on doing what is right.
No, I dont claim to be perfect, I have my flaws and shortcomings just like anyone else. But I try to remember that I am accountable to God, and for that reason I want to do the best that I can to make the right decisions. And that is not always easy, but most necessary. James 4: 7-10, "Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded. Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up."
There are plenty of scriptures that let us know that one of the challenges of living right is about our sinful nature being in a tug of war with the Will of God. The flesh is very much a distraction to spiritual things. The point is that what you want in the natural can keep you from getting what God has for you in the spiritual, and what God has for you spiritually comes with both spiritual and natural benefits and blessings. You cant give yourself anything that will compare to what God will give you in HIM. This is not pie in the sky, nor is it prosperity gospel---- this is Abundant Life: It reaches to every aspect of your being and life. It is not limited because God is, was and is to come. On all sides of time and on all sides of every situation, God is non-negotiable in power and authority.
One of the things that most anyone who knows me knows is that I love water. I love to swim in the pool or the ocean, the lake. Yes, I am a country girl, and when I was young I spent some time swimming in the lake. Now, I prefer the pool or the ocean. Swimming in the ocean takes real understanding of the currents and physical strength. One of the things that any swimmer will tell you is that it is easy to swim away from shore, but is seems much harder to swim back. Not only because of the currents in the water underneath the surface, but also because by the time you realize that you need to be headed back to safety you have less energy left. Many times the currents have caused you to be further from shore than you really intended to be. You can be so busy enjoying the water that you dont realize that you are moving away from safety and solid ground.
Boats use an anchor to help them stay in a location. And anchor is a heavy metal piece that is put down in the water to keep the ship from moving due to weather conditions, such as wind or storm, and also to keep the current from moving it too far from the intended location. This is because even in what seems to be still and calm waters the boat can actually be moving, but it doesn't seem like anything is changing. The environment of being surrounded by water can give the illusion of stagnancy , but in actuality you can move for miles and not even realize it. Thus the reason for the anchor to hold the boat in place.
Once again I must refer to the church mother, who would say, "be sure your anchor holds." Isaiah 48:2 does not use the word anchor, but the intent of the words in modern English would give the same intent when it says, "For they call themselves of the holy city, and stay themselves upon the God of Israel; The LORD of hosts is his name." And then we have Hebrews chapter 6 which is a call to spiritual maturity, and does actually use the work anchor.
The wisdom of the church mothers was to let us know that there obvious dangers, but there would also be times when life would bring situations that would seem harmless but would have the potential to slowly pull you away from the safety of the things of GOD. The Christian community contains all kinds of personalities, but the tenets of the faith apply to us all. The situation of the southern and northern kingdoms of Israel show us the importance of this in Psalm 80, a prayer for revival. We need consecration.
When I woke up this morning several things came across my mind from various phases in my life from childhood til now, and then this song written by the late C.P. Jones came to mind:
I will make the darkness light before thee,
What is wrong I’ll make it right before thee,
All thy battles I will fight before thee,
And the high place I’ll bring down.
This has been a busy week. The past few days have been full of activity and the week is not even half over. It is a season where Christians need to be focused and intentional about our identity in God. Some things that I have suspected have become clear. A lot has taken place, both in the spiritual and in the natural. In the midst of it all, I had to come to terms with the fact that some people that I considered friends have shown themselves to be disappointing as friends, and as Christians. Honesty, loyalty, integrity - these are characteristics that one must have, not for the sake of others, but for the sake of representing one's own character.
This is disappointing because when you are trying to stay focused on doing what was right, you have to distance yourself from people who don't want the same things in God that you are trying to seek after. Only my best friend knows what this struggle has entailed for me and how it has been a true challenge to focus on choosing to do what was right instead of what I wanted. As I was giving her an update on all that has been going this week, she just kept saying, 'this is too much'. I hate it when she is right, but I totally had to agree with her. It has taken a lot of prayer and has caused me to see the importance of choosing whether I want what I can do for myself or choosing to wait for what God can do in my life. In that way being able to trust God regardless of how God deals with the matter, because the Lord knows what is best and I trust that for what I get and what I may never get. So, yeah to realize that I have friends that are behaving with less integrity than those who don't claim Christ is disappointing.
The outspoken me wants to say something, but I thank God for being raised around some saints of the church who taught me some very important pieces of wisdom. One of my dearest friend's mother when she saw things going on that were not right would say, 'they think they are getting way with something but the Lord is just winking at them." Now growing up in the Church of God in Christ, one thing you must know is that when a church mother says something there is some scripture for it. So I went on a search to see what the Word of God said. Sure enough in Acts 17:30-31, "And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent: Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead"
So with these individuals being Christians, they are accountable to much more than my feelings. If answering to God doesn't concern them, then the breech of my trust is nothing. Translation, I just cant worry my pretty little head about such foolishness. I pray that the Lord deal with everyone involved, and ask the Lord to help me stay focused on doing what is right.
No, I dont claim to be perfect, I have my flaws and shortcomings just like anyone else. But I try to remember that I am accountable to God, and for that reason I want to do the best that I can to make the right decisions. And that is not always easy, but most necessary. James 4: 7-10, "Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded. Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up."
There are plenty of scriptures that let us know that one of the challenges of living right is about our sinful nature being in a tug of war with the Will of God. The flesh is very much a distraction to spiritual things. The point is that what you want in the natural can keep you from getting what God has for you in the spiritual, and what God has for you spiritually comes with both spiritual and natural benefits and blessings. You cant give yourself anything that will compare to what God will give you in HIM. This is not pie in the sky, nor is it prosperity gospel---- this is Abundant Life: It reaches to every aspect of your being and life. It is not limited because God is, was and is to come. On all sides of time and on all sides of every situation, God is non-negotiable in power and authority.
One of the things that most anyone who knows me knows is that I love water. I love to swim in the pool or the ocean, the lake. Yes, I am a country girl, and when I was young I spent some time swimming in the lake. Now, I prefer the pool or the ocean. Swimming in the ocean takes real understanding of the currents and physical strength. One of the things that any swimmer will tell you is that it is easy to swim away from shore, but is seems much harder to swim back. Not only because of the currents in the water underneath the surface, but also because by the time you realize that you need to be headed back to safety you have less energy left. Many times the currents have caused you to be further from shore than you really intended to be. You can be so busy enjoying the water that you dont realize that you are moving away from safety and solid ground.
Boats use an anchor to help them stay in a location. And anchor is a heavy metal piece that is put down in the water to keep the ship from moving due to weather conditions, such as wind or storm, and also to keep the current from moving it too far from the intended location. This is because even in what seems to be still and calm waters the boat can actually be moving, but it doesn't seem like anything is changing. The environment of being surrounded by water can give the illusion of stagnancy , but in actuality you can move for miles and not even realize it. Thus the reason for the anchor to hold the boat in place.
Once again I must refer to the church mother, who would say, "be sure your anchor holds." Isaiah 48:2 does not use the word anchor, but the intent of the words in modern English would give the same intent when it says, "For they call themselves of the holy city, and stay themselves upon the God of Israel; The LORD of hosts is his name." And then we have Hebrews chapter 6 which is a call to spiritual maturity, and does actually use the work anchor.
The wisdom of the church mothers was to let us know that there obvious dangers, but there would also be times when life would bring situations that would seem harmless but would have the potential to slowly pull you away from the safety of the things of GOD. The Christian community contains all kinds of personalities, but the tenets of the faith apply to us all. The situation of the southern and northern kingdoms of Israel show us the importance of this in Psalm 80, a prayer for revival. We need consecration.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)