Day 316: This Beautiful Romance

Ephesian 5:25-27

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless.

Isaiah 62:5

For as a young man marries a young woman, so shall your sons marry you, and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you.

Marriage is like the realest of all levels of relationships. When you get to the point of marrying someone, everything is different, you have a made a conscious decision that you want to be with this one person for the rest of your life. That’s a big choice, so when you get to that point you must be sure. It’s the second best and most important decision you will ever make in your life. When you get to the point of wanting to and eventually marrying someone, you made it. You did it, you’ve reached the diamond package of relationships. It’s real, you’ve survived the ups and downs, you’ve gone through the awkward moments, saying “I love you” has become normal. You no longer try to figure out who will say it first, but instead try to figure out who can say it more. No more trying to impress them, they know you and you know them. They can see straight through you and you for them. You made it. You have to be completely and truly in love with someone to commit yourself to them for the rest of your life. To want to wake up next to the same person, do life with one person, spend the rest of your days with one person. It’s serious, when you get to the point of marriage there is no turning back, hopefully. You know all about this person, you know their deepest and darkest secrets, you know them inside and out, their pet peeves, their cute quirks, you know what buttons to press and which ones not to press. Most importantly you love this person and more than that you are in love with this person and you choose them everyday. You get happy when you’re around them. You cannot stay mad at them no matter how hard you try.  You see something in them that no one else sees. This is the person that you do not want to live without. What if I told you God felt the exact same way about us? He calls the church His bride. What if I told you that this life with Christ is less than a casual relationship and more like a marriage? We are in it for the long-haul. However there isn’t a ‘til death do us part’ in this marriage, it’s eternal.

Our relationship with God is the realest and best one we can ever have, It is the most beautiful relationship anyone can have, God loves us so much, and I can never stress this enough. He is committed to being with us, He is committed to His people. God doesn’t want a casual relationship with us, He wants a marriage, He wants us to be with Him for all eternity. Our relationship with God, just like a marriage is a two way street. Both parties must put in in order for it to work. This raises the question, are we committed to God the way He is committed to us? Are we willing to spend our life and all eternity with our Heavenly father. God is in, it’s like a groom waiting at the altar for His bride. Are we going to walk to Him? How many times have we stood God up at the altar? How many times have we walked away from the best thing that could ever happen to us? There is no reason to be afraid to have a relationship with God. We hesitate sometimes because we are afraid of this commitment. That’s not just for our relationships here on earth but we sometimes allow that fear to creep into our relationship with God. Let me tell you that nothing can beat being in a relationship with God. We tend to walk away from things that are good for us, sometimes out of fear that we will ruin it. We cannot ruin something that God has planned from the beginning, we can run but we do not have the power to ruin it. Why run away from this beautiful romance though?

When we talk about this beautiful romance, what I mean is that God goes above and beyond for His people. He wakes us up every morning, He gives us everything we need before we can even ask. He is constantly fighting our battles so that we do not have to. He makes sure that we are always protected. He is with us in every moment from the best to the worst moments of our lives. God gives us more joy and peace than anything or anyone in the world. He gives us truth and helps us to grow every day of our lives. God is constantly pouring into us and making us better. It’s hard not to fall in love with someone like that. Someone who has been and will always be inlove with us. It’s hard to walk away from that, it’s hard not to want to serve the one who gave us everything for us. The one who moved heaven and earth to find us and have a relationship with us.

All this to say, falling in love with God is the best thing that can ever happen to us. We must not look at our relationship with God as something casual but more like something special. A relationship that tops all relationships. There is nothing like it at all. This is the one relationship we need in order to have other successful relationships. It’s more beautiful than anything we can ever imagine. If Jesus proposed, how would you respond?

Response/Prayer Time

Take the time to respond in whatever way you feel led. Thank God for this beautiful romance, If you have never had a chance to enter into a relationship with God and that’s something you want, now is the time to make that decision. If you feel it pulling on your heart, respond today.

f that’s you if you want to make that decision, pray this prayer with me,

“Jesus I declare that you are my Lord and Saviour who died for my sins and was raised three days later. I repent of my sins and I give my life to you. I believe in my heart that you are the true living God. I pray that you shine your  light on me and bring me out of the darkness and into your light. I love you Lord. Thank you for saving me. In Jesus name, Amen.”

If you made the choice to follow Christ, rededicate, or to submit your life to Him fully, Go to Romans 10:9-10

If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.

I love you so much and I hope you have an amazing day or evening! If you made the decision to follow Christ today, do not hesitate to reach out and get plugged into a church. I love you and make sure you come back tomorrow for day 317!

Day 291: Waiting for "The One"

Matthew 6:33

But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

In our twenty’s we are coming to the age when we are either in long term relationships, dating, engaged, or married. The topic of relationships comes up a lot. Whether we are talking about the type of person we want to be with, the type of relationship we want, or even thinking about settling down and starting a family. Whatever it may be, I think it is time we have a mature conversation about this subject that seems to be glossed over so much. This is something that has constantly been coming up in my conversations recently. Everyone is looking for that one person we can spend the rest of our lives with, however when we are in Christ we are waiting for that person. We are waiting for whoever it is God has for us, and trust me there’s someone out there that God has chosen specifically for you, and you have been chosen specifically for someone else. God is great, on top of everything He does, He’s also the ultimate matchmaker. It’s great, it’s beautiful. There is so much peace in knowing that we do not have to go out looking for the right person because God already has them picked out, and whoever this person is will be far beyond what we ever expected. However there are a few questions I would like to pose and a few points to make.

Are we seeking a relationship with God more than we are seeking a earthly relationship with someone? We can get so caught up sometimes in wanting to be with someone, liking someone, or just wanting to be in a relationship that we forget about the first relationship we need to be in. In order for us to have a good and stable relationship with anybody else we must have a good and stable relationship with God. Sometimes we are going after people that are no good for us, we are going after people that we are not meant to be with, because we are more focused on them than we are on God. That presents a problem The scripture tells us to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be added to us. There’s a pattern to life and it always involves keeping God first and then watching everything fall into place. So if we want a relationship if we want that person that God has for us, we cannot look outside of Him. We must be so wrapped up in Christ that our significant other has to find Christ to find us. What I’m saying is, Jesus is our first love and will always be our first love. Before we fall in love with anyone else we must fall in love with Him first.  

Genesis 2:18

Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.”

Jeremiah 29:11

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.

I love the scripture in genesis as it ends with the statement, “I will make him a helper fit for Him.”  Sometimes we settle for people that do not fit us, We settle for people not just because we’re lonely but because they have what we think we want. They have the whole package according to our standards. But what about God’s standards? What about His plan? We must get to a point where we are not willing to sacrifice our faith for pleasure. Where we are so rooted in our faith where we don’t want to be near anything that could jeopardize that. I was recently talking to a friend about what I want from a relationship, and the first thing is they have to love Jesus, I want someone that will love me, but love Jesus so much more, and that’s not something I am willing to sacrifice. No matter how attractive they are, or how many standards they meet, I am not willing to sacrifice my faith for a relationship with someone. I would rather wait and move on God’s timing. He knows the plan, He knows when we are going to meet that person. God knows the exact moment it will happen. But in the meantime, while we wait, let’s work on our relationship with Him. Let’s work on fitting into the will of God before trying to fit someone into our will.

While we wait god is molding and shaping us into the people He has called us to be. He is taking out the things that should be there, and teaching us to walk like Christ. Leading us down this road called life. God has work to do on us before He sends the person He has destined for us to spend the rest of our lives with. He isn’t going to send us into this relationship with baggage, He won’t allow us to ruin what He is putting together.

1 Corinthians 13:4-7

Love is patient, love is kind. Love does not envy, is not boastful, is not conceited, does not act improperly, is not selfish, is not provoked, and does not keep a record of wrongs. Love finds no joy in unrighteousness but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

One of my favorite things to talk about is love, Not just romantic love, but love in general, because it is so beautiful. Love is so powerful. I just love, love. I think it is the best thing we have. Because God is the best thing we have and God is love. With that being said, we are talking about love in a romantic way today. God teaches us how to love properly, He teaches us how to love people, and ultimately how to love our significant others. The scripture above is a definition of what love is, before we get into a relationship with anyone we must know what love is, we must know how to love. Love requires patience, kindness, forgiveness, it is not conceited, envious, or boastful. When we read the above scripture we see just how beautiful love is. This is the way God wants us to love our partners. The way He has called us to love any and everyone.

All this to say, God has a special someone out there for all of us. Let’s not let our loneliness or want to be in a relationship blind us from what God is doing. Some of us may have to wait longer, but no matter how long the wait is, it will be so worth it.

Reflection

1. Are you waiting for the person God has for you or are you settling for what you want?
2. What is your perfect person? Describe them, ideally what and who would they be?
3. Are you willing to sacrifice your faith to get that person?
4. Are you seeking a relationship with God more than you are seeking a relationship with someone else?

Prayer Time

Allow your answers to the aboves questions guide your prayer. Have a conversation with God about what we discussed today. Then pray for your future spouse, whoever it is God has for you, pray for that person, even though you don’t know who they are yet. Trust me someone is out there praying for you too.

When you have the chance listen to the song Dear No One by Tori Kelly. It’s a beautiful song about waiting on who God has for you.

I love you and I hope you have an amazing day or evening! Be sure to share this with someone and come back tomorrow for Day 292!

Day 97: Let's Talk About It- "Sex and Relationships"

Romance and love is a big part of many of our lives at the moment, rather we are dating, in a committed relationship, engaged to be married, or married already. I think the biggest questions we have when it comes to question is, what is a Godly relationship, and how do we have one. The first step to having a relationship with anyone else is having a relationship with God, and finding our worth and identity within Him. Same as yesterday, there are a few topics of discussion.

It’s about love

Song of Solomon 8:7

Many waters cannot quench love; rivers cannot wash it away. If one were to give all the wealth of his house for love, it would be utterly scorned.

Love is known to be complicated, it’s one of the choices on facebook relationship status, but it does not have to be. When you love someone and are in love with someone and you know for sure it takes away all the complications. Complications arise when we are in a relationship trying to figure out if we really love the person we’re with. Often times we move too quick because we are lonely and just want someone to have when we want to feel less alone. That is not love, it’s selfish. Love is selfless, We see a true example of love in Genesis 29, when Jacob worked seven years for Rachel, verse twenty states, So Jacob worked seven years to pay for Rachel. But his love for her was so strong that it seemed to him but a few days.

He loved this woman so much that he was willing to give seven years of his life in order to be with her. His love was so great that seven years felt like a few days. That’s love.

Many of us have stories or testimonies where we find ourselves saying we were looking for love in all the wrong places. I know I do. If love is what we’re looking for the best place to search is in Christ, God has all the love we need.

A lot of times we get into relationships with people for what we can get out of it, and what we can benefit. I think the best lesson we can learn for having a relationship with God is that it’s a two way street, and we have to give to get sometimes. It’s not all about receiving, sometimes we have to be willing to put ourselves on the line for someone else, especially a potential spouse.

Seek Christ first.

Matthew 6:33

But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these thing will be added to you.

One thing to remember is that no matter where we are in life, or who is in our life, God should always be number one. Before we fall in love with anyone, we fell in love with God. Christ is our first love, and that should never change, He should be the one we love above any and everyone else. We find our worth in Christ, not in man or a relationship.

We won’t always get it right the first time.

I think many of us in our twenties have been in love before, I have and it ended terribly. We are wrapped up in love, and sometimes that person was only meant to be in our lives for a season, and that is probably the hardest thing to accept. We have to realize that not everyone will find their one true love in their first relationship, and it does happen for many people. But sometimes we have to go through some cycles of lessons before we reach the real thing. All that to say is that sometimes we won’t get it right and that is okay. The hard part is learning when to walk away and accept that, the person we were with is not the person we will spend our lives with.

Sometimes we hold on to relationships that are toxic for us because we want them to work so bad, and that could mean we are trying to hold together the very thing God Himself is trying to separate, and let me tell you it will lead to a world of misery and heartache.

At one point in my life I was engaged, too young, but I was engaged. I was in this relationship and I was eighteen and I was okay with just dating, and taking things slow. I loved this person very much and this stopped me from walking away when I needed to. I held on to it for as long as I could even though I knew that one this relationship was unhealthy for me, spiritually and mentally. I held on because I loved this person very much and did not want to hurt him. By doing so not only did I hurt myself but I hurt him, and we both came out of it bitter and angry. I regretted being in the relationship for a long time, but I realized that God had me in that position for a reason, and I learned and grew in so many ways. I just had to learn to walk away when it was time.

-Dyamond

2 Corinthians 6:14

Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness?

• With that being said, there is also the other side, when we see red flags from the very beginning and choose to ignore them. Sometimes we have to put our hearts and feelings aside and listen to God and allow the Holy Spirit to lead us. We must be obedient or that will also lead to a world of trouble and heartache.

• We must not compromise or drop our morals for anyone. No relationship is that important. When we are planted in Christ it defeats the purpose to be in a relationship with someone who isn’t. If we cannot go to our significant other for prayer, or to have a bible study with them, or if they refuse to go to church with us, then they’re probably not the one. We have to be on the same page, lifting one another up and
• growing together in Christ. We should love God more than we love our significant other and they should love God more than they love us. That is the only way a relationship and marriage will last, is if Christ comes first in both of our lives.

It’s not about sex. (expanded passage 1 Corinthians 7:1-40)

Relationships are not about sex. I repeat, RELATIONSHIPS ARE NOT ABOUT SEX. Sex is for marriage, and marriages are not built on sex.

Sex is a pure gift from God, a gift between husband and wife as a means to bring life to this earth, to reproduce and populate the earth, As we see in Genesis 1:28, And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

Sex is beautiful thing, and it has been corrupted because it has lost meaning and is now looked at as mostly a sin. But sex between a husband and wife is not,

1 Corinthians 6: 18-19

Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body.  Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own,

Prayer Time

We talked about a lot today, take this time to talk to God about whatever is on your heart. Pray about your relationship or marriage. Whatever it is talk to God, have a conversation with Him.

I love you and I hope you have an amazing day or evening, Make sure you share this with someone and open up a discussion. Have an amazing day, and be sure to come back tomorrow for day 98!