Day 232: For All You Adulterous People Out There ....
Read: Mark 8:27 - 38, James 4:4 - 7
Thou shalt not commit adultery. Keep your eyes on the prize - being Father, Son, Holy Spirit, your wife, your husband. "Wandering eyes get poked out" said a
man with an eye patch over his left eye. Pick up any Hollywood tabloid
and invariably it plasters on its headlines someone has cheated on someone and the other is 'devastated', 'heart - broken' 'betrayed'. What a way to begin a relationship with someone you
professed your great undying love for. Not to name names, not to bring
any spot lights on you who might be trying to hide in the corner, slink
away from the table, turn your face away. Shamefully, I am one of those
adulterous souls, never on my wife, but on God! But, I can hear each you scratching your collective heads "Adultery against God?"
I can imaging that as you were reading this, you were waiting for a confession on my part that I had turned away from my wife's bed and looking to another - NO I haven't. I bet some of you out there thought I was trying to bring the spotlight down on top of you - NO I am not (although be careful if this shoe fits too snugly
...). No, what I am talking about and asking you to very carefully, very
prayerfully consider is your own personal covenanted marriage
relationship with God the Father of us all, Jesus Christ (Bridegroom)
and The Holy Spirit (Best Man, Matron of Honor). Perhaps too it would be
fitting to sit down, pick up your Bible and contemplate this 'Adultery'
using God's eyes! I can see each of you trying to pick up, put away rose colored glasses
But there is another type of adultery that
takes place even more often than marital adultery. It’s spiritual
adultery. It’s when Christians are supposed to be married to Christ
spiritually, but they often cheat on Him by worshiping idols. Whoa! This
is that something that we don’t like to own up to, but it happens to
most of us. Most of the time we are not even aware we are caught up
in the act or do not even know what adultery we are looking at or for. 'Jesus
went out, along with His disciples, to the villages of Caesarea
Philippi; and on the way He questioned His disciples, saying to them,
“Who do people say that I am?” What if God had asked Abraham this
question at Gomorrah?
ADULTERERS? Not a pretty word -- Not a
word most of us would want applied to us. And yet it is a word that
James applies to Christians who are "friends of the world." The church
is the "bride of Christ," and as such she is to be loyal and true to
Him, pure and holy in His sight. Could James have made it any plainer?
Do you prove your focus and faithfulness to God by your daily life, or
do you prove your "friendship with this world"? I fear that many
Christians spend more time with their "mistress," the world, than they
do with Christ. Spiritual adultery means friendship with the world.
Spiritual adultery means opposition to God. What does this adultery mean
for you?
Let Us Pray: Father, we praise You that no matter the depths of our sin, your love can reach down and lift us up; no matter the hurt and pain we inflict upon each other and upon You, Your love holds us together and heals us no matter how far
our eyes and lives wander away from You and Your covenant will for our
lives, Your greater love for us still reaches out to find us and bring
us home. We thank You that Your love far exceeds our guilt, that through Jesus' death on the cross, You have made abundantly clear the enormity, gravity of our sin, yet we are accepted, yet we are
forgiven, yet we are loved anyway. You seek to make us new, You seek to
make us whole, You seek to mold us into the image of Your Son. We thank
You that You will love us in spite of us.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9ICt1FFTwo
Sidewalk Prophets - You Loved Me Anyway
www.youtube.com
I am the thorn in Your crown But You love me anyway I am the sweat from Your brow But You
Read: Mark 8:27 - 38, James 4:4 - 7
Thou shalt not commit adultery. Keep your eyes on the prize - being Father, Son, Holy Spirit, your wife, your husband. "Wandering eyes get poked out" said a man with an eye patch over his left eye. Pick up any Hollywood tabloid and invariably it plasters on its headlines someone has cheated on someone and the other is 'devastated', 'heart - broken' 'betrayed'. What a way to begin a relationship with someone you professed your great undying love for. Not to name names, not to bring any spot lights on you who might be trying to hide in the corner, slink away from the table, turn your face away. Shamefully, I am one of those adulterous souls, never on my wife, but on God! But, I can hear each you scratching your collective heads "Adultery against God?"
I can imaging that as you were reading this, you were waiting for a confession on my part that I had turned away from my wife's bed and looking to another - NO I haven't. I bet some of you out there thought I was trying to bring the spotlight down on top of you - NO I am not (although be careful if this shoe fits too snugly ...). No, what I am talking about and asking you to very carefully, very prayerfully consider is your own personal covenanted marriage relationship with God the Father of us all, Jesus Christ (Bridegroom) and The Holy Spirit (Best Man, Matron of Honor). Perhaps too it would be fitting to sit down, pick up your Bible and contemplate this 'Adultery' using God's eyes! I can see each of you trying to pick up, put away rose colored glasses
But there is another type of adultery that takes place even more often than marital adultery. It’s spiritual adultery. It’s when Christians are supposed to be married to Christ spiritually, but they often cheat on Him by worshiping idols. Whoa! This is that something that we don’t like to own up to, but it happens to most of us. Most of the time we are not even aware we are caught up in the act or do not even know what adultery we are looking at or for. 'Jesus went out, along with His disciples, to the villages of Caesarea Philippi; and on the way He questioned His disciples, saying to them, “Who do people say that I am?” What if God had asked Abraham this question at Gomorrah?
ADULTERERS? Not a pretty word -- Not a word most of us would want applied to us. And yet it is a word that James applies to Christians who are "friends of the world." The church is the "bride of Christ," and as such she is to be loyal and true to Him, pure and holy in His sight. Could James have made it any plainer? Do you prove your focus and faithfulness to God by your daily life, or do you prove your "friendship with this world"? I fear that many Christians spend more time with their "mistress," the world, than they do with Christ. Spiritual adultery means friendship with the world. Spiritual adultery means opposition to God. What does this adultery mean for you?
Let Us Pray: Father, we praise You that no matter the depths of our sin, your love can reach down and lift us up; no matter the hurt and pain we inflict upon each other and upon You, Your love holds us together and heals us no matter how far our eyes and lives wander away from You and Your covenant will for our lives, Your greater love for us still reaches out to find us and bring us home. We thank You that Your love far exceeds our guilt, that through Jesus' death on the cross, You have made abundantly clear the enormity, gravity of our sin, yet we are accepted, yet we are forgiven, yet we are loved anyway. You seek to make us new, You seek to make us whole, You seek to mold us into the image of Your Son. We thank You that You will love us in spite of us.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9ICt1FFTwo
Sidewalk Prophets - You Loved Me Anyway
www.youtube.com
I am the thorn in Your crown But You love me anyway I am the sweat from Your brow But You
Sidewalk Prophets - You Loved Me Anyway
www.youtube.com
I am the thorn in Your crown But You love me anyway I am the sweat from Your brow But You
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