Commandment number one: You shall have no other gods before me.
In truth if we were to be judged by the Law of God who among us could get past this very first commandment? How thankful I am that Christ stood in my place. What I see in this commandment is that our God never denies that there are other gods. The word gods in the Hebrew is elohiym and it means rulers, judges, divine ones, angels, godlike one. This is also the same word used for the One True God. However these “little g” gods are not omnipotent or omnipresent or omniscient, they are created beings, not creators.
As a matter of fact in John 10:34 Jesus says that we are gods, “Jesus answered them, ‘Has is not been written in your Law, I said, you are gods’?'” Jesus is quoting Psalm 82:6“I said, ‘You are gods, and all of you are sons of the Most High.'” We are gods because we rule over others, we sit as judges over others, and because we are sons of the Most High.
However, we are not GOD.
Nor will we ever become Gods or attain to God-ship through some mystical process of perfecting ourselves.
We are created beings. We have a Creator.
He alone is GOD.
This is why God declares in Isaiah 2:22, “Stop regarding man, whose breathe of life is in his nostrils; for why should he be so esteemed?”
This is why the Creator God declares, “For the LORD your God is the God of gods and the Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God…” (Deuteronomy 10:17).
We are to place neither man nor any other being before our God. We are not to worship man and we are not to worship any power or supernatural force, no matter how intriguing it may appear. We are not to put our trust in ourselves. We are not to set ourselves up as God. The very desire to do so is what brought upon the fall of all mankind.
The serpent said to the woman, ‘You surely will not die!
For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened,
and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.’
Genesis 3:4-5
Oh precious ones, we may be created in the image of God but we are not “like” God.
To whom will you liken God?
Or what likeness will you compare with Him?
Isaiah 40:18
We cannot even fathom the likeness of the glory of our Creator God. He is holy. He is unique like none other. There is none to liken Him or compare Him to. He is God. He is incomprehensible and He will not share His glory with another. He says “I am the LORD, that is My name; I will not give My glory to another…” (Isaiah 42:8).
So my friend, when we read…
And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us,
and we saw His glory,
glory as of the only begotten from the Father,
full of grace and truth.
John 1:14
and when we read…
Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life;
no one comes to the Father but through Me.
John 14:6
and when we read…
Now, Father, glorify Me together with Yourself,
with the glory which I had with You before the world was.
John 17:5
….what must we know if God has already told us that He will not give His glory to another and we are to have no other gods before Him? There is only one conclusion, for our God does not lie, and He does not contradict Himself in anyway. The one and only conclusion is that Jesus is indeed God.
Oh Father,
I worship You. Thank You for taking on flesh and standing in my place for judgment. You knew I had been deceived and You were mindful that I am but flesh. Your love for me is breath taking. I cannot comprehend it no more than I can comprehend all of who You are. You are my God. The God of gods and I desire to honor You and walk faithfully in Your commands. I place no other god before me as I surrender to You in and through Your Son Jesus Christ.
Beauty indescribable in awe at Your sight Eternal Undivided, bathed in Your Light Love unconditional, captured by Your grace Insecurities unraveled strengthened by faith Everlasting to everlasting my God You shall reign Victorious all powerful my Christ, the King of kings Elevated to all authority, all power is in Your hands
Dancing for You, kneel before You, my allegiance You have Omnipotent, King of glory, I give You all my praise
You are worthy, oh so worthy, the Lamb who was slain Omniscient, omnipresent, Your lovingkindness forever endures Undeniable is Your presence every heart has felt You stir
Believe, oh believe, He is the Alpha and the Omega Elohim, my Creator, Lord of heaven, Lord of earth Lifted high, drawing nigh, every man to Yourself Incomparable You alone are the One Living God Empowered am I through being justified by Your blood Validated before my Father, by faith in Your love Every knee one day will bow, every eye one day will see
But blessings, upon blessings, for those who without seeing BELIEVE
The people are assembled at the base of the mountain with Moses and Aaron. Can you imagine the anxious expectation that must be in the air at this moment? They have followed this pillar of fire by day and this pillar of cloud by night. They have listened to Moses recall to them what he has told them the LORD has said, but now all the people will hear from their God. Today they will all hear His voice.
In Exodus 19:4-6 we read how God desires to make this stubborn, rebellious, stiff-necked, grumbling people a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. This is the purpose of God for the children of Israel. The only stipulation placed on them, “obey My voice and keep My covenant.”
Now this is our God. He is not going to allow this covenant to be delivered second hand. He wants all the people to be aware they are without excuse. He will allow all of them to hear His voice as He delivers the main conditions of this covenant.
We call these conditions the Ten Commandments. These ten commands are the base of the entire Law of God. How fitting that they were given to the people at the base of a mountain. God is showing them this is your solid foundation. This remains a solid foundation for us today as well.
Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets;
I did not come to abolish but to fulfill.
For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away,
not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished.
Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments,
and teaches others to do the same,
shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven;
but whoever keeps and teaches them,
he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
Matthew 5:17-19
This is what Jesus has to say about the Law of God, therefore, we must not disregard these commands. Jesus came to show us how the whole point of God’s Law was to teach us how to love. The Law condemns us because apart from God we know nothing about real love.
Precious one have you ever considered that every commandment given by our God is for our benefit. Obeying the commands of God and practicing love go hand in hand. The Law actually defines love and how we are to walk it out as children of God.
I came across a wonderful booklet on the Ten Commandments online (www.ucg.org/booklets). This booklet shares how, “For love to be meaningful it must be accurately defined and understood… Love is the centerpiece of all the Scriptures, both the Old and the New Testaments… In Jesus Christ’s own words, ‘abiding in’- or maintaining the practice of- godly love is accomplished by keeping the commandments of God. His example teaches us that obeying and godly love are inseparable. Sin is simply violating love by transgressing the commandments of God. Sin is lawlessness- neglecting or refusing to be bound by God’s rules that define true, godly love.”
In 1 John 5:3 the Word of God declares, “For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome.” So for the next couple of weeks we are going to dig into these ten commands of God given at the base of the mountain to the children of Israel one at a time. May we see how they apply to us today as believers and partakers of the new covenant, the better covenant (Hebrews 8:6), in Christ.
Oh Father,
Open my eyes to Your truth. Let me be one who is called great in the kingdom of heaven. Show me Father, how to teach Your Law and obey Your Law in light of the grace and truth that is realized in Christ. Your word says that the Law is holy and righteous and good (Romans 7:12). However Your word also says I am released from the Law (Romans 7:6) in Christ. So show me, teach me what this means, and I will obey and walk in the truth that You reveal to me.
The name of God that we will be looking at today is Jehovah-hossenu, the LORD our Maker. We read this name of God all through the Scriptures… it’s one of my favorite. This name is different from Elohim, that shows us God as Creator. Elohim shows us how God creates out of nothing… but Jehovah-hoseenu shows us how God takes something and He molds it and shapes it.
Our God is Elohim and He is Jehovah-hoseenu.
O come, let us sing for joy to the LORD, Let us shout joyfully to the rock of our salvation. Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving, Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms. For the LORD is a great God And a great King above all gods, In whose hand are the depths of the earth, The peaks of the mountains are His also. The sea is His, for it was He who made it, And His hands formed the dry land.
Come, let us worship and bow down, Let us kneel before the LORD our Maker. For He is our God…
Psalm 95:1-7
As we have studied these names we have often looked at God’s relationship with Israel. We have to remember that when God called Israel out of Egypt, He sent them to the wilderness so that He could Egypt out of them.
But there were many who rejected His molding hands… and they quarreled against Him. Sometimes molding and shaping is not a pleasurable experience.
“Woe to the one who quarrels with his Maker— An earthenware vessel among the vessels of earth! Will the clay say to the potter, ‘What are you doing?’ Or the thing you are making say, ‘He has no hands’
Isaiah 45:9
But now, O LORD, You are our Father, We are the clay, and You our potter; And all of us are the work of Your hand.
Isaiah 64:8
Life is so much better when we just submit to the potter’s hand instead of fighting against it. You know when God called us out of the world and into Christ… He still has to get the world out of us. We are new fresh cut of clay in Christ, ready to be molded and shaped.
Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature;
the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.
2 Corinthians 5:17
We are the work of His hands. He takes us as we are and then He begins to do His wonders in our hearts and in our minds and in our souls. He begins preparing us for what He has in store for us. He has a work for us to do. He called us for a purpose and He is going to get us ready for it.
For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works,
which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.
Ephesians 2:10
However, whatever good works He has for us…
I believe His number one intent is to conform us into the image of His Son.
For those whom He foreknew,
He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son,
so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren;
Romans 8:29
It doesn’t matter what shape we are in when we come to Him… He is Jehovah-hoseenu. He is the Master Potter, the LORD our Maker, and He is more than capable to conform us and mold us and shape us into His own possession… He is able to make us worthy of our calling. He will accomplish His work in us, and because He will, we will accomplish our work in Him.
who will transform the body of our humble state
into conformity with the body of His glory,
by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself.
I would love to know how you did… not through this challenge per say… but as an awakening. I would love to know how this challenge helps next week or next month or next year… so would Dannah Gresh and so would Shannon Ethridge.
So please comment below, or if it is more personal than that shoot me an email.
I would love to hear from you.
Day Thirty-Three
I believe that we live in a sexually confused day and age, and many hearts and spirits cannot perceive or know God. Like so many in Solomon’s day, we’ve missed the beauty of yada, not only in our human love relationships but also in our interactions with God. So many long for something deeper and richer, but they don’t know if it’s even possible. ~ Dannah Gresh
I want to end this challenge with a plea, a plea for you to run to your Savior with everything. A plea for you to recognize that your sexuality is intricately connected to your spirituality. Your sex life matters. Your view of sex is connected to your true view of God.
1) Sexuality is designed by Christ as a way to know God more fully; and
2) knowing Christ more fully in all His infinite supremacy is designed as a way of guarding and guiding our sexuality. All sexual corruption serves to conceal the true knowledge of Christ, and the true knowledge of Christ serves to prevent sexual corruption.
~ John Piper
So what does your sex life reveal about your knowledge and heart for God?
Has what you have learned, in your media fast and in your seeking God this past month, opened your eyes and heart to the possibility of a relationship with God that you didn’t even know you could have?
Have you truly been busy running the serpent and his lies out of your life, out of your heart, out of your mind? Are there permanent changes you are going to make in your life now that his lies have been exposed?
Here’s the thing, you can’t stop today.
You have to keep weeding. When you have a garden you do a huge weeding and tilling when the garden is first ready to plant… but that does not complete the job. The weeds will come back. You have to keep weeding that garden. You can choose to weed it daily and the weeding is easy… or you can choose to be lazy and ignore the weeds until you see they are beginning to choke out your fruit and vegetables and flowers… when you wait to go out and weed at that point… it’s harder. It’s even seems almost impossible to destroy all the weeds.
Weeding out the deception of the serpent out of the garden of your soul is exactly the same way…
Then the LORD God took the man
and put him into the garden of Eden
to cultivate it and keep it.
Genesis 2:15
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Awake, O north wind, And come, wind of the south;
Make my garden breathe out fragrance,
Let its spices be wafted abroad.
May my beloved come into his garden
And eat its choice fruits!
Song of Solomon 4:16
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And the LORD will continually guide you,
And satisfy your desire in scorched places,
And give strength to your bones;
And you will be like a watered garden,
And like a spring of water whose waters do not fail.
Isaiah 58:11
Oh precious one… weed daily. Don’t let that old serpent’s weeds of deception grow up and choke out the beautiful blooms of your Creator’s truth.
Ladies, it is my heart’s desire that you not just know God as your Creator, that you not just know God as your Redeemer, but that you also know Him as the Lover of your soul.
So it came about on the third day, when it was morning,
that there were thunder and lightning flashes
and a thick cloud upon the mountain
and a very loud trumpet sound,
so that all the people who were in the camp trembled.
Exodus 19:16
As you study through the Scriptures we learn that the third day is very significant to God.
In Genesis it was on the third day that the waters were gathered into one place and the dry land appeared and began to sprout forth life with seed in it bearing fruit.
It was on the third day that Jonah cried out to God from the belly of a fish and God then commanded the fish to vomit him out onto the dry land.
It was on the third day that our Lord arose from the grave victorious.
Here in Exodus it will be on the third day that all the people will hear the voice of their God.
I cannot even begin to imagine the awesomeness of this day. In this account we read that the Lord descended on this mountain in fire. We read that smoke rose like that of a smoke furnace and that the entire mountain quaked violently. All of this on top of a trumpet sound that grew louder and louder.
Then Moses speaks and God Himself answers him with thunder, God’s words to Moses, “Go down, warn the people, so that they do not break through to the LORD to gaze and many of them perish.” (Exodus 19:21).
My husband works in a steel mill. His company melts down metals in huge furnaces to produce steel. When the smoke is rising up out of the furnace you can see it from miles away. When water is found in the furnace it will explode with a force that shakes homes for miles around. He has taken me to his worksite to see these furnaces and to watch their power. I watched in awe at these furnaces and could feel their strength, even from the safety of the inside of my husband’s truck. I cannot even begin to imagine the awestruck fear that was upon this people as they stood at the foot of this violently quaking mountain that was so simply because it had been descended upon by the One True Living God.
The earth quakes when God comes down. What in the world makes us think we could ever stand in His presence? Only the blindness of sin and the pride and arrogance of a deceived heart can make us this ignorant…
God’s warning to the people is not from being power hungry or to show them He’s boss. It is a true warning out of concern for their very lives. This One True Living God was not one of the gods of Egypt that they had grown accustomed to. This God, the I AM, was and is holy.
They could not approach Him and live because they had yet to learn how to approach this holy God. We in our sinful flesh can have no part with this God. He is not the works of man’s hand nor is He a fallen one. He is Elohim, the Creator God.
Our sin separate us from God. Our sin brings His righteous wrath. Sin and holiness do not mix just as water and hot melted steel do not mix. Just as that water in the furnace at my husband’s work naturally brings the wrath of the steel and is consumed in its fury, so our sin naturally incurs the wrath of the holiness of our God and is consumed in His righteous fury.
Oh, how thankful I am that this holy God, our Creator, made a way… when there was no way.
Oh Father,
How thankful I am for Your mercy. My sin is ever before You, but in Your mercy You have made a way for those who seek You to find You. Those who submit to You will not be consumed in Your fury, but You have always made a way for Your people to commune with You. Now in Christ we have not come to that mountain that can’t be touched, but we have come to Mount Zion. Let us not refuse Him who is speaking (Hebrews 12:18-29).
In light of His purpose to portray His image (relational love) and His salvation (exclusive love), it is impossible to consider God’s guidelines for sex as arbitrary. Nor can we label them as outdated or old-fashioned.
God’s call for sex to be preserved for one man and one woman who have not even a hint of sexual experience anywhere else is in context with His plan to portray Himself and His love to a lost world.
I believe the exclusive passion and commitment of a bride and groom is meant to be a picture of an exclusive, exciting relationship with Jesus Christ that is free from any other gods. When people witness the passion and mystery of that rarely seen couple who are still emotionally engaged with each other “after all these years,” it gives credence to the possibility of something lasting and passionate. And the apostle Paul said such a relationship will be so rare in our world that it will be called a “mystery.” He went on to say it will make people hungry for the mysterious, exclusive love of Christ.
~ Dannah Gresh
FOR THIS REASON A MAN SHALL LEAVE HIS FATHER AND MOTHER
AND SHALL BE JOINED TO HIS WIFE,
AND THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH.
This mystery is great;
but I am speaking with reference to Christ and the church.
Ephesians 5:31-32
Day Thirty-Two
Here’s the bottom line… one of the greatest witness you have to a lost and dying world of the gospel of Christ is a healthy and happy marriage that lasts. Your marriage is one of the biggest leaps of faith you will ever take apart from salvation. We are supposed to go into marriage saying “come hell or high water you are stuck with me and only me, and the only assurance I have of the future is that you will be there with me, I don’t know what we will go though, but whatever it is, we won’t go through it alone, I’m with you baby, let’s do this thing!”
When two people come together in this world, and both are focused on Christ and each other, they show the world that God’s way is true and right. It is a beautiful picture of the love relationship that God wants to have with us. There is a reason that idolatry and adultery are so similar in sound and definition.
In our relationship with Christ we are to have no other gods. We are not to seek nourishment, help, peace, guidance, comfort, pleasure, from any source outside of Him. In our marriages we are not to seek nourishment, help, peace, guidance, comfort, pleasure from any person outside our spouse.
We are to know Christ intimately, personally, and deeply and we are to know our spouses in the same way.
Sex with our spouse (male and female sex) unites us inside and out.
Salvation in Christ unites us with God inside and out.
I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper,
that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of truth,
whom the world cannot receive,
because it does not see Him or know Him,
but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you.
John 14:16-17
(There’s a reason that Eve was called Adam’s “helper”)
Your marriage is more important than any track you can hand out, any show you can put on, any conference you can put together, any concert you might play, any trip to Africa you might make, it’s more important than any message you might preach.
Your marriage validates all these others. If your marriage falls apart because you have put these before your marriage as a “sacrifice” to God… you need to stop and examine your heart.
Therefore, when He comes into the world, He says,
“ SACRIFICE AND OFFERING YOU HAVE NOT DESIRED,
BUT A BODY YOU HAVE PREPARED FOR ME
Hebrews 10:5
In marriage you become one, one body. This is the body you are to care for first, then out of this body you reach the rest of the body of Christ. The first person that God called Adam to sacrifice for and care for was his wife. The first person Eve was called to help was her husband.
This is why saying “I do” shouldn’t be a Las Vegas joke. It’s serious business.
That’s why before you even choose to date or be courted by someone you need to ask yourself,
“Does he meet God’s standard of a godly husband?”
These are not the questions to ask:
“Doesn’t he deserve forgiveness?”
“How much should it matter that I am physically attracted to him?”
“Isn’t there an emotional feeling you get that he’s the one right away, and why didn’t I get that?”
Yes, he deserves forgiveness, but that’s not the real issue is it?
Will you be physically attracted to you spouse? Well, yes, of course, most of the time, but if this is what you are relying on, then when you go through a rough patch the enemy will convince you that you “have fallen out of love”.
Is there an emotional feeling right away… sometimes yes, but many of the best marriages are formed out of friendships and then the friends look at each other one day and realize they want to be more than just friends…
The first and most important question always is: Does he meet God’s standard? Does he have faithful, true, staying love?
Honey, do you want yada ?
Yada doesn’t come from first, ooey-gooey emotions… yada is more than that, it goes much deeper.
Yada is realized in imperfections and craggy disfigurement, hidden beyond the unblemished innocence of not knowing. Yada knows. It knows the unwelcome, unsightly secrets- secrets that could rightfully prompt rejection. But yada overrides the logical desire to dismantle the wounded relationship. Yada reaches into the grace-filled depths of unconditional staying power and finds the strength to breathe life into love one more time. Yada is a faithful love. A staying love.
This is the heart of yada. To be known- just as we are- and still be pursued.
Here is the beauty in marriage.
My husband sees the very worst of me. He sees me roll out of bed after three days of the flu. He sees me gain forty pounds and lose it and gain it again. He sees the new wrinkle, the stretch marks, and the varicose veins. He sees the ill woman raging over the dirty clothes all over the house. He sees the woman who cries for no reason and is easily frustrated because of PMS. He sees me yell at the kids and the dog. He sees me make a fool of myself because of emotional turmoil. He listens to my complaining.
He sees me. The good, the bad, and the ugly…
He sees all this and yet he still lifts my chin and looks me deep in my eyes and says “I love you and I am absolutely crazy about you.” Ladies, this is yada. This can only be known through faithful, true, staying love. Love that says, yes sometimes this relationship gets ugly… but it’s worth it.
It’s worth it for my children to see what forgiveness looks like. It is worth it for my children to see that real love is not based on flowers and candy. It’s worth it for my children to see that you can be real and be loved.
It’s worth it for my marriage to be able to be used by God to declare the glory of His majesty and faithfulness.
It’s worth it for my marriage to be able to show a dying world that God’s Word will heal any hurt and get you through any storm.
It’s worth it for my marriage to be used by God to correctly illustrate His image to a world that Satan has been pretty darn successful so far to distort. Your marriage is bigger than you and your marriage is not just for your own personal pleasure and satisfaction and happiness. Your marriage has the power to display the glory of God. To display the covenant between Christ and His church. To display the image of the Trinity. To display hope, faith, and love.
Your marriage is to be a picture to the world of how much God loves them.
Because God sees us. He sees the good, the bad, and the ugly, and He still lifts our chin and says “I love you and I am absolutely crazy about you”
This is why, as I have grown in grace myself and yada, I will never again look at a couple and say, “I can’t believe she stayed after all that.” or “She should have left him a long time ago” or “Well if I was her I would pack his stuff right now and say hit the road jack!”
Yes maybe she’s a fool… but maybe, just maybe, it’s yada.
Maybe, just maybe, her mission is her marriage.
We would not say this about someone who has chosen to stay in a city in a foreign land that hates Christians, even when death is imminent would we? Maybe, just maybe, God has said, “if you can love him, you can love anyone.” Maybe, just maybe, she is the only one who has never abandoned him and maybe constant abandonment is the reason why he is the way he is…
I will never pass judgment on a woman or man who chooses to stay in a marriage again.
***(Please know that abuse is NEVER OKAY and please know that I am not saying a woman should stay in an abusive marriage, if abuse is a part of the marriage, help needs sought IMMEDIATELY)***
Your challenge today…
Spend today looking at your marriage through the eyes of Christ…
And now look at it through the eyes of others who see it
and hear you talk about it…
Are there changes you need to make?
Then, make them on your face before your unconditionally loving God.
after the sons of Israel had gone out of the land of Egypt,
on that very day they came into the wilderness of Sinai.
Exodus 19:1
The children of Israel have finally made it to the mountain. In Exodus 3:12 God spoke to Moses through a burning bush and told him, “Certainly I will be with you, and this shall be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall worship God at this mountain.” Now here they are camped at the foot of this very mountain.
When Moses went to Pharaoh he asked permission for the children of Israel to be allowed a three day journey into the wilderness in order to go and worship their God. Three months later and many signs and wonders later, the people gather to hear from their God. It just hit me as I write this, that all that Moses did before this moment was by faith. The sign that it was indeed God who sent him to Pharaoh has just now occurred over three months later.
I wonder how many nights Moses lay in bed tossing and turning wondering if he had lost his mind, wondering if he was indeed a fool who had just brought millions of people out into the wilderness to die. I would like to think that he was this mighty man of faith, but the truth is, he was human like you and I. He was flesh, sinful, weak flesh. He was just a man. I love how our God does not hide the weaknesses and failures of His servants. It gives me hope that maybe, just maybe, God could use me too.
In Exodus 19:3 we read that Moses has gone up to God and the LORD has called to him from the mountain with the message He has for the house of Jacob, the children of Israel. The message is:
You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians,
and how I bore you on eagles’ wings, and brought you to Myself.
Now then, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant,
then you shall be My own possession among all the peoples,
for all the earth is Mine;
and you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.
Exodus 19:4-6
This was God’s plan. This entire nation was to be a kingdom of priests to the entire earth. Every nation was to learn how to worship the One True Living Creator God, the I AM, through the house of Jacob, through the children of Israel. This was God’s offer to this people He had redeemed from under the hand of Pharaoh and the false gods of Egypt.
Moses came to the people and he delivered God’s message to them and the people responded, “All that the LORD has spoken we will do!” (Exodus 19:8).
Yes Lord, we agree to your offer. We accept it willingly. Their journey was just now about to begin. They had accepted an awesome honor, but with this honor come grave responsibility. To whom much is given much is required (Luke 12:48).
Oh Father,
Our journey of faith does not really begin until we answer that call from You and say “Yes, Lord all that You have spoken I will do.” It is Your grace that comes to us and approaches us and it is Your grace that gives us the mustard seed amount of faith to say yes. It is then by Your grace through that given faith that we walk this journey. Just as You called Israel to be Your priest so You have called me to be in Christ. “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.” (1 Peter 2:9)
Let us remember that these last few days have been focused on equipping ourselves with some tools and answers for the icky questions for ourselves and others. Today we are going to look at the dating thing.
Day Thirty-One
We live in a world that thinks you gotta try it before you buy it. A world where free samples are given out as an incentive to purchase the whole thing. A world where the newcomer receives all the perks and deals and the one that has been the faithful loyal customer is treated with contempt… and this is exactly how our world is viewing dating and marriage as well.
I am not a fan of dating. I don’t like it. I don’t think you need to “try” a lot of boys out before you decide if he’s “the one” and then you end up tied to the wrong one in the testing process while the right one walks on by and sweeps someone else off their feet while you cry in your pillow at night because you don’t know how to get out of this “trying out” one that you have just realized is going nowhere.
Let me share Shannon’s story from Dannah’s book-Shannon is in college. Dannah said she had a brightness in her eyes and a freedom in her spirit that set her apart from many of the other girls she had talked to. Shannon loves Jesus and she is a virgin. This decision has been costly for Shannon.
She sits alone in silence in class while those around her talk and laugh about what happened at last night’s party. She didn’t go and she chooses not to get involved in the conversation of those who did. Some of Shannon’s friends don’t understand why she doesn’t go, but Dannah shared how Shannon raised her chin a little and held her shoulders higher as she said, “… but I’ve never felt the desire to get into the party scene. And because of that, I feel I’m more in control of my life.”
Dannah shares that Shannon is now studying art history abroad in Rome, having the time of her life. She is a contrast to many young women who are so worried about holding together a short-term relationshipthat they can’t even consider taking advantage of such opportunities.
Like I said, I don’t like dating. I truly believe that God is capable of bringing your spouse to you right in the midst of you just being obedient to Him. Remember Rebekah and Isaac (Genesis 24). She was just out taking care of the sheep. Doing life. And God sends her Prince Charming to her. She didn’t have to go find him.
However, if you are going to date, I think you should date as friends.
Your relationship can really be tested as you get to know each other (not your bodies) and find out if you actually like each other and not the sex.
A dating or courtship relationship will tell you how well equipped a guy is to exercise the staying power of faithful love, both with you and with God.
Dannah shares another story about Kevin.
Kevin had fallen many times and learned his body was sometimes stronger than his spirit. He wanted to be known as a guy who protected girls, especially the girl he most loved. That meant he had to take even kissing off the table. It was too much for him. It created an override in his normally self-controlled character.
So, no kissing until “I do.”
The girl who would marry Kevin would know his past. His weakness. His hurt. And she’d share in it through self-restraint.
Dannah also shares about Lauren. Lauren was fifteen and a new Christian. You see her boyfriend had led her to Christ. Then he tried to lead her to bed. She said no and he broke up with her.
Then Lauren went to college.
Lauren ran into Kevin and Kevin shared his no kissing decision with Lauren and she laughed and said, “Good luck finding that girl!”
Kevin and Laurenhad their first kiss before their family, and friends, and God at the altar, right after the preacher man said, “You may now kiss the bride”
May he kiss me with the kisses of his mouth! For your love is better than wine. “Your oils have a pleasing fragrance, Your name is like purified oil; Therefore the maidens love you. “Draw me after you and let us run together! The king has brought me into his chambers.”
Song of Solomon 1:2-4
Are you crying?
I am!
As I write this I cry… this is what I want for my girls. This is what I want for my nieces and nephews.
Real love.
Real, true love.
Real, true, faithful love.
Staying love.
Love that is based on self-sacrifice not self-gratification. Love that is based on truth not emotion. Love that is faithful, true, and loyal not wishy-washy, false, and fickle.
My husband and I talk, and as we look back at our lives and our past, we wish we could go back and do things different. Oh how we wish we could, but we can’t. All we can do is forget what lies behind and press forward to what lies ahead.
Your challenge today is to do that. To press forward. God has not called us to live in the past, but He has called us to a future and a hope.
For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the LORD,
‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.
Jeremiah 29:11
Maybe you did it all wrong… maybe you are doing it all wrong. It is not to late to stop living in the past regrets and present failings.
Stop.
And be still and know that He is God. He does love you with real, true, faithful, staying love. Trust Him.
Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect,
but I press on so that I may lay hold of
that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus.
Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet;
Here is just a few of the lessons from the Spiritual Gifts Precept Study. I began doing these lessons in the small group setting and chose to stop recording so that those in the class would be able to freely share their hearts during the class without being recorded.
