Compromising Christians

It seems today the world is filled with compromising Christians. I was one for a time myself. I chose the shots, kept myself within a comfortable little bubble I scarcely left, and narrowed my mind enough to believe God could easily send someone else in my place if I felt unqualified for the job or request He had given me.

God mentions how he detests being neither hot nor cold, and would rather spit those of us that fit this mold, out of his mouth. WOW!
Alright, He has my attention now.

The God that loves me, adores me, sent His only Son for me, would rather spit me out of His mouth. And understandably so.

God tells us if we love Him, we will obey His commandments, But then why is it so easy for us to proclaim how much we love Him, yet it is so hard for us to obey the commands He has given us for our benefit?

As God desires a deep relationship with us, and has laid His most prized possession on the line for my sins, past, present and future, why can I not willingly and solely give my life over to Him to be used by Him in ways He sees best? That would mean complete surrender, oh no! It would mean breaking up my comfortable bubble and possibly changing seats to sit near someone new in church, or reaching out to the cashier in line at the grocery store when I see they have had a bad day, or worse yet, it might mean giving more to my church so that more needs could be met.
Compromise, that is why. We get to a complacent state in our walk with the Lord, and we forget Who it is we serve. Who we rely upon for our very existence, Who is our ultimate provider, precious sacrifice for our sins and deliverer when we are wronged or in trouble.

I believe that is why God told Moses to have the people erect a monument to remind His children of the great and awesome things He had done for them. And we too, need to be reminded so often, of just how big a God we can look to, trust in and rely upon.

God gives such simple commands, and yet we stoop to compromise when the going gets tough. Had Jesus taken this approach, we would all be lost to our sins and destined for the Lake of fire. Praise God He did not choose to compromise and He stayed true to His promises. He obeyed even Himself to the point of giving up His only Son. His Son that would be mocked by many, spit upon and ridiculed by crowds of people, and denied by those that even call upon His name.

God says obedience is better than sacrifice, and obedience is surely not for the compromising Christian.

Let the monuments in your mind and the love in your heart motivate you to be faithful and true to your God. Compromise no more because who wants to be spit out of God's mouth anyway?

Making Love Last

When I think of love lasting a lifetime, I think of what first had to happen to ensure a lifetime of love. It was commitment. It was making the decision that no matter what, literally through thick or thin, for rich or poor, in sickness and in health, until death, my husband and I will stay committed to one another, no matter what.

If you know us, you would know of the many trials we have weathered and came out smelling like roses. Well, maybe not roses, but definitely not sour milk. Even in the toughest of times, we stuck things out because we had made the decision to do this, 'til death do us part, literally, before we ever said the big, "I do".

Going into our marriage, we knew we were different, through the years we have learned we are more different than we realized, or took the time to find out. But we are married for life and we will continue to work at this relationship until one of us breaths our last breath. Knowing this, I believe we work at things from a different perspective than most married couples when the storms of life begin to come our way. Although we were not together for very long before we got married, we knew once married, this was it!

It seems when we are not working for our marriage, we are ever so quietly working against our marriage. Just like with the God we serve. We cannot serve both man and God. We either hate the one and love the other, or celebrate the one and despise the other. Marriage takes a lot of work, more than anyone tells you about before you enter into this holy union of teamwork and inevitable struggles. Making the decision to marry is quite a serious one and a decision that requires much prayer, thought, and consideration as to the mass changes that it will bring about in one's life whether they expect it or not.

With God always on your side as a married couple, there is assurance in knowing He is only a whisper away. I can't count the times in my earlier marriage, when there was much discord between my husband and myself, that I would sincerely cry out to God to come to me, and to comfort and calm my spirit and soul until He put me to sleep for the night. God always came through, and whether I needed this night after night, or once in a great blue moon, He was always there to help me hang in there, or to convict me of my wrongs and help me get them right with my hubby.

Marriage without the Lord at the center is truly no marriage at all. God's power is what makes you grow closer to one another as well as to the Lord Himself. He can supply understanding when there is only confusion. He can comfort and heal like no other Holy Spirit can, He is so crazy about you, He loves spending time with you. What better friend to spend your entire life with?

So I will continue to stay committed to my one and only. Through blizzard or sunshine, our marriage will grow stronger and we will become more like Jesus in the meantime. We will have a marriage for a lifetime that weathers any storm. We will have a strong legacy of marriage to pass down to out grandchildren and we will learn to enjoy the simplest of things, like loving one another for a lifetime.