Friday, June 24, 2016

Compromise: The Cause and The Cure

2 Chronicles 12:14New American Standard Bible (NASB)

14 He did evil because he did not set his heart to seek the Lord.

We can draw a lot from this one verse. First we see the obvious: he (Rehoboam) did what was wrong because he didn’t seek God. The Amplified says that he didn’t seek to yearn for God. He didn’t determine to make seeking God first priority in his life. It’s not that he was planning to turn from God, or even that he didn’t follow God at all, but he wasn’t diligent or passionate, resolved to only seek after God and to place that first in his life. If you set your heart to seek God you are not only trying to seek God, but making that your heart’s desire. It is so much more than “trying to be good” or just doing your best to follow God.

Friday, June 17, 2016

Head Lice and Idols

I was talking with some friends from church the other day about kids getting head lice at school. They mentioned that it seems like it is always the same family that starts it. They surmised the reason is because when that family finds out they have it, they treat the kids but don’t pursue it by deep cleaning everything in the house to completely rid the family of the pests. So every few months, one of the creatures would find its way back to one of the kids and hitches a ride to school, spreading them all over again.

That situation reminded me of what I just read in Judges 1-5.

Friday, June 10, 2016

What I've Learned in Marriage-7

Guard your heart; purity is for life, not just singlenessGrowing up, purity rings and the idea of “remaining pure/waiting for marriage” was very popular. Unfortunately, that is where the emphasis ended. It wasn’t until after I was married that I learned that purity is about more than just virginity. It is a lifestyle, not something only for single people.

Friday, June 3, 2016

A Letter to the Longing

I want to take a break from my series on marriage to write a post for those who are not married (granted this really applies to everyone but especially to those not married).

There has been a tantalizing lie going around (for decades) that you need to be in a relationship to be happy, and that being married will make you happy and your life will be wonderful. I am one of many that bought into that lie and spent most of my life after the age of…well, too young, desiring and fantasizing about having a boyfriend and getting married. Unfortunately, my father was one of the biggest proponents of this idea who has fueled that longing ever since I was a teenager. I never dated until my mid twenties (not because I didn’t want to), when I met the man I am now married to. And dating was wonderful!, probably the best year of my life. But the problem is that we were not made to be fulfilled by human relationships, so the bliss of dating only increased the heartache when I finally came to the point where that relationship no longer fulfilled me the way it had.