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As I've been noticing countless threads and comments lately pertaining to marriage, sex, love and lust, I find myself completely uninterested in commenting anywhere. I was thinking today about why that is and God kind of spoke to my heart a bit on the subject so I thought I might share it with you all. 
It seems as though more and more there is a focus on sin and how close we can possibly get to it without crossing the line rather than focusing on God, and not just God but on the ministry He has for your life.
"Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?" And He said to him, 'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.' This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets." -Matthew 22:36-40
So what is love? How do we love God and love our neighbor?
"Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek it's own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things." -1 Corinthians 13:4-7
"But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is love." -1 Corinthians 13:13
I feel as though our focus should be on God's ultimate will in our life. It should be on furthering His kingdom, winning souls, loving on others in order to show His love and many more things but it's so easy to get caught up in ourselves. It's so easy to get distracted by what we FEEL and what we WANT that we forget to put God and His kingdom first. How much more successful would we be in fulfilling God's will for our lives if THAT was our primary focus, instead of "How do I get to a point where I'm satisfied and happy with a spouse and every physical and emotional need that I have is being met?" If we operate in the Spirit then our weak flesh won't have a chance!
"But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please" -Galatians 5:16-17
What the flesh looks like:
"Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God." -Galatians 5:19-21
What the Spirit looks like:
"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control: against such things there is no law. Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires." -Galatians 5:22-24
If only we would allow a heart change to take place and a renewing of our minds through Him!
"And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect." -Romans 12:2
God wants to get us to a place where we don't even have to think about what's right and wrong because we're so tuned into Him.
There are so many times in the bible where God brings people out of something in order to bring them into something else, not to just sit around and wait to be taken captive again. I remember reading somewhere in the bible....and I totally can't find it right now and it's KILLING me lol, to flee the things of the flesh and pursue the things of God.
"Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things." -Philippians 4:8
If we turn our total focus onto God and what He is doing in the lives of the people around us and how He wants to use us in those lives then everything else will fall into place. Not saying that everything will be easier, in fact, it will probably become more difficult, but you will begin to have so much more peace in your life doing the things that you know are from Him. Pursue HIM in prayer, in the word and in all that you do.
We're always talking about being whole people when we meet the person that God might have for us, why not start working on that now? Why not make that our focus for a while instead of being in a state of constant confusion about WHO it is and WHAT we can get away with?
I always thought that the purpose of getting married to anyone was so that you could better serve God together than you could apart....
"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. So husbands ought also to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself; for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourished and cherishes it, because we are members of His body." -Ephesians 5:25-30
How are we supposed to love our spouse the way we should if we are not completely immersed in the word and in prayer?
Someone once told me that LOVE is choosing for the highest good of God and His creation above ourselves.
How endless is His love and unsearchable His ways. He knows every detail of our lives because He created us and loves us. Don't you think that He knows better than we do the best time and place for everything? He is perfect! So why not seek first HIS kingdom and let everything else happen His way?
I am not saying this to any one person or about any one post or thread. This is simply something I've been thinking about lately and a few verses and thoughts that God's kinda reminded me of. Please feel free to throw in what you will. I know that I definitely don't have all the answers and I am working hard on doing all of this myself. I have had the focus of my life on myself so many times and for so long before that the thought of God's will wasn't anywhere near the forefront of my mind. God has given me a new heart and been renewing my mind so that the things I once desired, I now despise. He has helped me turn my focus from sin to salvation; a life in Christ.
I have been beyond blessed to have spent the last few years practicing trusting Him. It seems as though as soon as I give up one thing there's another that He tells me to hand over. But because it's something I've been consciously practicing, it's getting easier and easier to hand things over because of His faithfulness in everything in my life. God is good and worthy to be praised.
Thanks if you made it this far. lol Thoughts, comments, scriptures, life experiences....all are welcome! ^_^ and please excuse my extreme inability to coherently get out my thoughts. haha
It seems as though more and more there is a focus on sin and how close we can possibly get to it without crossing the line rather than focusing on God, and not just God but on the ministry He has for your life.
"Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?" And He said to him, 'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.' This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets." -Matthew 22:36-40
So what is love? How do we love God and love our neighbor?
"Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek it's own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things." -1 Corinthians 13:4-7
"But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is love." -1 Corinthians 13:13
I feel as though our focus should be on God's ultimate will in our life. It should be on furthering His kingdom, winning souls, loving on others in order to show His love and many more things but it's so easy to get caught up in ourselves. It's so easy to get distracted by what we FEEL and what we WANT that we forget to put God and His kingdom first. How much more successful would we be in fulfilling God's will for our lives if THAT was our primary focus, instead of "How do I get to a point where I'm satisfied and happy with a spouse and every physical and emotional need that I have is being met?" If we operate in the Spirit then our weak flesh won't have a chance!
"But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please" -Galatians 5:16-17
What the flesh looks like:
"Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God." -Galatians 5:19-21
What the Spirit looks like:
"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control: against such things there is no law. Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires." -Galatians 5:22-24
If only we would allow a heart change to take place and a renewing of our minds through Him!
"And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect." -Romans 12:2
God wants to get us to a place where we don't even have to think about what's right and wrong because we're so tuned into Him.
There are so many times in the bible where God brings people out of something in order to bring them into something else, not to just sit around and wait to be taken captive again. I remember reading somewhere in the bible....and I totally can't find it right now and it's KILLING me lol, to flee the things of the flesh and pursue the things of God.
"Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things." -Philippians 4:8
If we turn our total focus onto God and what He is doing in the lives of the people around us and how He wants to use us in those lives then everything else will fall into place. Not saying that everything will be easier, in fact, it will probably become more difficult, but you will begin to have so much more peace in your life doing the things that you know are from Him. Pursue HIM in prayer, in the word and in all that you do.
We're always talking about being whole people when we meet the person that God might have for us, why not start working on that now? Why not make that our focus for a while instead of being in a state of constant confusion about WHO it is and WHAT we can get away with?
I always thought that the purpose of getting married to anyone was so that you could better serve God together than you could apart....
"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. So husbands ought also to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself; for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourished and cherishes it, because we are members of His body." -Ephesians 5:25-30
How are we supposed to love our spouse the way we should if we are not completely immersed in the word and in prayer?
Someone once told me that LOVE is choosing for the highest good of God and His creation above ourselves.
How endless is His love and unsearchable His ways. He knows every detail of our lives because He created us and loves us. Don't you think that He knows better than we do the best time and place for everything? He is perfect! So why not seek first HIS kingdom and let everything else happen His way?
I am not saying this to any one person or about any one post or thread. This is simply something I've been thinking about lately and a few verses and thoughts that God's kinda reminded me of. Please feel free to throw in what you will. I know that I definitely don't have all the answers and I am working hard on doing all of this myself. I have had the focus of my life on myself so many times and for so long before that the thought of God's will wasn't anywhere near the forefront of my mind. God has given me a new heart and been renewing my mind so that the things I once desired, I now despise. He has helped me turn my focus from sin to salvation; a life in Christ.
I have been beyond blessed to have spent the last few years practicing trusting Him. It seems as though as soon as I give up one thing there's another that He tells me to hand over. But because it's something I've been consciously practicing, it's getting easier and easier to hand things over because of His faithfulness in everything in my life. God is good and worthy to be praised.
Thanks if you made it this far. lol Thoughts, comments, scriptures, life experiences....all are welcome! ^_^ and please excuse my extreme inability to coherently get out my thoughts. haha
