Devotionals

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DAILY/EVENING REFLECTIONS

Romans 6

19I put this in human terms because you are weak in your natural selves. Just as you used to offer the parts of your body in slavery to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer them in slavery to righteousness leading to holiness.--NIV

When you tell people that you plan to give up sex until you find your soul mate, they look at you as if you have grown two heads. "Why?" They often ask. They say that my outlook is unrealistic and that it will be too difficult to give up.

Not so.

I thought it would be hard to give up sex, I really did. I am a very sexual
creature and I crave the intimacy that comes from joining with a special person in that special way. However, I came to the realization that premature sex was a FALSE intimacy. Time and time again I found myself in a situation with someone I barely knew, thinking I was in love simply because the sexual aspect of the relationship was so right. Had I not been blinded by this, I would have seen the glaring imperfections, the self centeredness, the drug use, blatant lies and other such things that eventually caused the demise of the relationship. As it was, I had grown so close to that person, that my heart muted my logic, and I ended up with wasted time and wasted effort.

I have currently made the vow to myself and to God, that I would swear off sex until I find the “one” whom I will first marry, and it has been surprisingly easy and beneficial. I have been able to spot the game players and those out for selfish gain a lot quicker than I have in the past (I tended to gravitate towards charming and smooth types-yikes!). It has also been easier to keep my heart and my head at one accordas well as to keep focus on my goals and my desires for my own life. The ability to evaluate a given situation increases when putting human impulses in their proper perspectives.

Now, today’s populace has been taught “if it feels good to ya, do it.” Unfortunately this philosophy has created STD’s, unwanted pregnancy, illicit drug use, adultery and a host of other things that are simply not beneficial to society as a whole. I am aware that one gets lonely from time to time and it is no fun. But not all things that feel good are beneficial and not all things that feel bad are necessarily BAD for you. The bible says such events build character, and I agree.

It is best to channel energies in charity work or social events. Not sitting around on a pity pot and actually trying to help other people is a way to prepare and possibly meet a mate who will potentially have the same values as you and respects the decisions you have made for your own life.

I am also aware that in today’s world, the idea of sexual purity seems laughable at best. I recall meeting a gentleman recently who told me that no man alive would wait for a long period of time before bedding his true love.

“What if he really loves you? Are you really gonna make him wait a whole year?”

“Well,” I replied, “Men have given up kingdoms and felled many a civilization in the name of love. If he really loved me, he’d wait.”

Problem is, in our modern society we have a twisted moral code that has equated sex with love. Yes, sex is a beautiful and wonderful thing, and if guided in love, it can be a mutually nurturing and wonderful experience.

Sadly however, modern man has turned human sexuality into a base bodily function akin to a mutual back scratching. This is against the basic structure God had in mind when He gave woman to man. God decreed that when two people have sex, “the two become one.”

Paul goes further to say:

1 Corinthians 6
16Do you not know that he who unites himself with a prostitute is one with her in body? For it is said, "The two will become one flesh."

The emotional and spiritual connection was supposed to make two people stay together. Jesus told the Religious leaders of the day that the reason Moses allowed divorce was because of the hardness of their hearts. He went on to say that in the beginning, this was not so, but that God had made man and woman so that they would leave their homes, and join together as “one flesh.”
However, if you “join as one flesh” too often with too many people, you get jaded by the whole process. Sex loses its luster, and love its whole meaning.

I gave myself over to men who had no good intentions for my spiritual or emotional well being. This in turn, left me feeling empty and used. Being sexually liberated did not make me feel free nor was it fun. It was very devastating to my heart, mind and soul. The benefit of abstinence is knowing that the decision you make with your heart and your body is in harmony with reason.


Other benefits of sexual purity include:

*No unwanted pregnancies
*No sexually transmitted disease
*Knowing the person well before you establish a relationship and give your heart to them
*Not putting yourself in a position of being hurt or hurting someone else

The current dating paradigm puts man at risk for all of the above. No matter how saavy or street smart or worldy wise one thinks one is, the desire to find someone special to complete the circle of one’s existence is a strong one indeed. Because of this, even within “fun buddy” rules, the potential to get hurt or to hurt someone else is great.

There is no such thing as “casual sex.”
I have set the bar high, and I have reconciled the fact that I may never find this person in my life. One friend said I am looking for a needle in a haystack. Well, maybe so. But the needle DOES exist.

I know that men have a greater need for sex as far as the drive goes, and as was pointed out to me, no man has the strength to resist the temptation of trying to “get-it-on” with his lady fair. I have understood this and I accept it. Better to be alone than to compromise my values, my heart, My God or my self.

Besides, there is so much more to life than sex-there are friends and family laughter adventure reading, skiing diving, swimming, flying, travelling and oh so much beauty to explore! Sure, at times it will be and has been lonely-butduring my purity walk, there are things I have learned about myself and this world that I would never exchange for a million years and I would have never learned otherwise-ARN under the instruction of THS

For Further info on Christian dating grab these books by JOSHUA HARRIS “I KISSED DATING GOODBYE” about modern day courtship and the rules of saintly romance, and “BOY MEETS GIRL”, the tale of how he met and courted his current wife.
I am also still in need of prayer warriors write me at [email protected] if interested. Peace.

EVENING REFLECTIONS-HAPPINESS

It never ceases to amaze me that people can’t understand that living a God centered life can bring one great joy and happiness. They assume that one cannot be happy unless one is chasing after every self centered desire they may possess at the time.

But statistically speaking, how many people leading such lives have true inner peace and happiness? Looking at the suicide rates as well as the spate of broken marriages and homes, not very many.

The bible promises that Jesus will bring such peace. Leading a life for God and not for self makes a person understand the world around them, that people are not mere objects to be manipulated at whim but that everyone has a right and desire to be happy. This in turn brings a well spring of inexplicable joy! God wants his children to be happy-but above all He wants us to understand His will for our lives.

Tonight, I want you all to think about the liberating joy that can be found in God, and how you can bring that joy to others.

Democritus, (460?-370? BC)
Happiness resides not in possessions and not in gold, the feeling of happiness dwells in the soul.

John Templeton
Happiness comes from spiritual wealth, not material wealth... Happiness comes from giving, not getting. If we try hard to bring happiness to others, we cannot stop it from coming to us also. To get joy, we must give it, and to keep joy, we must scatter it.

Mary Baker Eddy
Happiness is spiritual, born of Truth and Love. It is unselfish; therefore it cannot exist alone, but requires all mankind to share it.

Martha Washington
The greater part of our happiness or misery depends on our dispositions, and not on our circumstances. We carry the seeds of the one or the other about with us in our minds wherever we go.

Lord Byron
All who would win joy, must share it; happiness was born a twin.

Victor Hugo
The supreme happiness in life is the conviction that we are loved - loved for ourselves, or rather, loved in spite of ourselves.

Scottish Proverb
Be happy while you're living, for you're a long time dead.

Robert Anthony
Most people would rather be certain they're miserable, than risk being happy.

FUNNY BONE YARD

A new Pastor in a small Oklahoma town spent the first four days making personal visits to each of the members, inviting them to come to his first services.

The following Sunday the church was all but empty. Accordingly, the Pastor placed a notice in the local newspapers, stating that, because the church was dead, it was everyone's duty to give it a decent Christian burial. The funeral would be held the following Sunday afternoon, the notice said.

Morbidly curious, a large crowd turned out for the "funeral." In front of the pulpit, they saw a closed coffin, smothered in flowers. After the Pastor delivered the eulogy, he opened the coffin and invited his congregation to come forward and pay their final respects to their dead church.

Filled with curiosity as to what would represent the corpse of a "dead church," all the people eagerly lined up to look in the coffin. Each "mourner" peeped into the coffin then quickly turned away with a guilty, sheepish look.

In the coffin, tilted at the correct angle, was a large mirror.

A Dog‘s Life!
Did you hear about the man who bought had a dog with no legs? He called it cigarette. He used to take it out for a drag.

Poor Old Peanuts
Did you hear about the two peanuts that went walking around the Bronx in the middle of the night? One of them was assaulted.

My Dad's Better Than Your Dad (Number One)
Three young boys were walking on the sidewalk arguing over whose daddy was the greatest. One said, "My dad is the greatest because he is the president of the town bank." The second boy said, "That is pretty good, but my daddy owns two grocery stores in town!" The third boy said, "That's nothing, my dad is a preacher, and he owns hell. He came home last night and told my mom that the Church Board gave it to him!"

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