Spiritual Virgin…………..

“Who may climb the mountain of the Lord?
Who may stand in his holy place?

Only those whose hands and hearts are pure, who do not worship idols and never tell lies.”    Psalm 24:3-4  NLT

What is a spiritual virgin?

One who “follows the Lamb wherever He goes.”   Rev. 14:4

As in the physical sense, a spiritual virgin is one who is utterly and completely given to the one for whom he or she is intended.

The spiritual virgin not only has known no other, but longs for and desires no other.   He is a first fruit and is blameless in his loyalty to his one Master.

Spiritual virginity is a spiritual quality that God greatly desires in all His people.  It has nothing to do with salvation because, in that case, who among us could be saved?  

Nor does it have to do with service, for the Bible is full of men and women who did exploits in the name of their God who, nevertheless, showed the human weakness of sin and disobedience.   King David is an example.

A virgin is not a representative of a certain class of elite, but the one who manifests a quality of spiritual devotion to God that He finds enormously pleasing and delightful. 

Too often God has to deal with us as Hosea dealt with Gomer, his unfaithful wife.  God graciously forgives our unfaithfulness, brings us back home, and restores us to His service. 

How comforted I am by Your mercy, O God!

Lord, I covet spiritual virginity, the quality of devotion that never tires, grumbles, deviates or adulterates.  

My example in this is He who never faltered or hesitated but who in all things did Your will and followed Your way perfectly.  He who has planted His virgin life in me will propel me in the virgin way.

“Awake, north wind!
Rise up, south wind!

Blow on my garden
and spread its fragrance all around.

Come into your garden, my love; taste its finest fruits.”  Song of Solomon 4:16 NLT

 

 

 

 

Sacrifice……… at what cost?

“Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant,  and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all.”                       Mark 10:43-44 NIV

“Teach me, Lord, how to forsake without being forsaken.  I know You will never forsake me, but I am not sure I can pass the test of forsaking what I should forsake?

I greatly admire the decision of Moses, who “forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king.”   Heb. 11:27   He forsook the spirit of Egypt, the wealth of Egypt, and the claims of Egypt.    But I am fascinated by the fact that he did all this while still in the land of Egypt.

I have forsaken many things that did not count for God’s sake.  I was happy to give up things that no longer had any meaning for me.  It is so easy to sacrifice what you no longer desire!

But Moses sacrificed Egypt for God’s sake while still surrounded by its immense charm and magnetism.  

Lord, how hard it is to make a decision for You when surrounded by wealth, popularity, position, charm, self-centeredness and power. 

To see God then is to have the eye of faith indeed; and to decide for God then is to forsake this world even as Jesus forsook it when He denied Satan’s offer of its kingdoms.

Lot was forced to forsake the riches of Sodom, while Moses gladly gave up Egypt.

Lord, I know You will separate me from every clinging thing in Egypt; but first You will ask me to do it voluntarily.

It is God’s intense desire to mole us into a “man” of God and not a pampered “saint”.

He wants to make us a steadfast believer and not a warmed over replica of Egypt.  

“Lord, please make me a voluntary forsaker, not a forced one.”   

 

Love is…………

^“Love endures long and is patient and kind; love never is envious nor boils over with jealousy, is not boastful or vainglorious, does not display itself haughtily.

It is not conceited (arrogant and inflated with pride); it is not rude (unmannerly) and does not act unbecomingly. Love (God’s love in us) does not insist on its own rights or its own way, for it is not self-seeking; it is not touchy or fretful or resentful; it takes no account of the evil done to it [it pays no attention to a suffered wrong]. It does not rejoice at injustice and unrighteousness, but rejoices when right and truth prevail.

Love bears up under anything and everything that comes, is ever ready to believe the best of every person, its hopes are fadeless under all circumstances, and it endures everything [without weakening].” I Cor. 13:4-7 AMP

A person who truly knows love is selfless, a servant and putting others above themselves.

The heart of “Abba Father” is love.  If we really know His heart to the degree that we can identify it so we can tell people they have “Abba Father’s” heart then we would be less adapt to hurt others.

Love is actions. Our actions speak louder than our words. We can say we love and yet treat others out of selfish emotions, anger, pride and selfishness.

The Father’s heart is love----- ““nonnegative”” love. That means it is not controlled by emotions, anger, selfishness or double-mindedness.  Either you love or you don’t.

James describes double minded as: “[For being as he is] a man of two minds (hesitating, dubious, irresolute), [he is] unstable and unreliable and uncertain about everything [he thinks, feels, decides].” (1:8 AMP)

How can a person trust you with their heart if you do not walk in love?  You can say you love, you can write it but unless your actions show it, love is meaningless.

“With it (mouth) we bless the Lord and Father, and with it we curse men who were made in God’s likeness!

Out of the same mouth come forth blessing and cursing. These things, my brethren, ought not to be so.

Does a fountain send forth [simultaneously] from the same opening fresh water and bitter?  (James 3:9-11 AMP)

 

The depth of the Father’s love is revealed when things go wrong, when you’re angry, selfish or controlling. This is when the meter reveals how much of “Abba Father’s” heart is in you.

Love is not selfish.

Love is not control and manipulation.

Love is not prideful.

Love is not jealous.

Love is not deceiving.

Love is not rude or mean.

Love is not judging.

Love is not vengeful.

This type of love is from the one who comes to steal, kill and destroy.

We have a choice: “Will I be the vessel that is used by Satan to kill, destroy and hurt others?”

“Will I be the one who reacts out of my emotions or will I run to “Abba Father” to seek His heart in the matter?”

God’s love is:

Consistent…….Never changing! Dependable!

Forbearing and forgiving……Gives mercy and grace!

Patient…..Not quick to strike out!

His love goes the extra mile…… Puts the feelings of others first!

His love seeks the good in others………Looks at their heart!

We too, should let the good outweigh the bad.

I want all who reads my post to know I love you and appreciate you!

I understand my posts can be strong in words but I share my heart with you out of love. I am the first one convicted when I write them, long before you read them.

I spend a lot of time in prayer and fasting regarding my posts and I share because I want others to know Jesus and have an awesome relationship with Him.

Sometimes we can get off track and need a loving reminder that we need to repent and return back to the Father.

Believe me, I could use this time for more fun things and sometimes wish I had more time to do other things but I feel I am doing what He ask.

I just wanted you to know, I do post with love and prayers!

Love is speaking the truth even when it hurts. Guess I could choose to be a phony and live my life as all holy on fb and another way in real life.  But what you see and read is who I am.

I apologize if I have hurt or offended anyone with my posts.

Love you all!

Kathy

“A brother offended is harder to be won over than a strong city, and [their] contentions separate them like the bars of a castle.

 A man’s [moral] self shall be filled with the fruit of his mouth; and with the consequence of his words he must be satisfied [whether good or evil].           Proverbs 18:19-20 AMP

 

You can run but you can’t hide………………

When we fail to do what we ought, then we ought to expect the consequences.

Consequences are a fact, and regardless of what we may think about them, at some point “The Hammer” falls. The consequences are applied regardless of our feelings about their fairness. 

A good example of delayed consequences can be found in Exodus 32:33-35: “The Lord replied to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against me I will blot out of my book.

 Now go, lead the people to the place I spoke of, and my angel will go before you. However, when the time comes for me to punish, I will punish them for their sin.”

“ And the Lord struck the people with a plague because of what they did with the calf Aaron had made.”  (NIV)

God may put off momentarily what we have coming, but oftentimes the delayed consequences are far worse than they might ever have been if we would have just taken them as originally prescribed. When we run from God we are engaged in a futile flight.

God does give us abundant opportunities to repent and turn from our sins before He sends the consequences for our disobedience.

With all of the wonderful blessings that have been bestowed upon us, why do we always try to look beyond Him and to what man has to offer?

Why is man’s approval, affections and accolades more important than obedience to God?

God delivered His chosen people from the Egyptian bondage in such a spectacular fashion and yet within a short period of time, while Moses was receiving the Law, they began the process of making an idol made by the hands of men to worship.

Why, when we have the presence of God do we chose the mediocrity of mankind?

I wanted to present a few thoughts to meditate upon as we begin the journey of Isaiah’s prophecy in Isaiah chapter two.

 

Fair or unfair?

Isaiah 2



As we continue to look at the words of Isaiah we can say it is a book that deals with choices and the consequences of those choices. It is interesting that if the consequences are in line with our desires then we usually proclaim the system that calls for those consequences as fair. If, however, the consequences go against our desires, we tend to call the system unfair.

Isaiah is proclaiming the message of God, who miraculously delivered His chosen people, and the basis of this message only has their best interest at heart. They defy God’s Word, they ignore His messengers, and they belittle His name and His power. Isaiah is proclaiming that there are consequences for their actions and those consequences will be upon them soon.

In the prophecies of Isaiah are the foretelling of the hope of the future, the birth, the life, the ministry, the death and the resurrection of their awaited Messiah.  Just as the people during Isaiah’s time failed to heed the message, so too did many during the earthly ministry of Jesus. Now as we grow closer to the time of His returning, people are failing to hear once again.

The consequences will be handed out and this writer believes the time of this occurring is just around the corner.  Although we may not be able to convince everyone of their need for repentance, however, we must do all, that God has called us to do.

Quick question: “What is the main reason that we established a relationship with God?

I am going to say that for a good portion of us, we began our walk with the Lord in an effort to pull our “behinds” out of the fire. 

At the time we heard about the wonderful things that Jesus had to offer and we chose to grab that for ourselves. We found ourselves in a hopeless situation and in a last ditch effort we looked to God for the answer.

Do not be ashamed of the reason for our initial contact with Jesus, the important thing is how we have developed our relationship since then. The problem is that many of us take that quick rescue and fail to go deeper into our personal trust in Jesus and as a result loose what we had attained in the beginning, regardless of how selfish the motives might have been.  We began hoping there would be better times ahead.

What were some of the reasons that we decided to seek Jesus? I am sure the fear of an eternity in hell might be a motivating factor. Perhaps a certain hope of mercy in regards to our consequences regardless of how guilty we might have been. Perhaps there was a desire of better health or perhaps some blessings that were unrealized.

We began with high hopes but few of us become actual partakers. Many fall back into the old patterns of behavior and forget that the only true peace is through Jesus.

This is clearly the saddest ending to a relationship with Jesus. He takes us regardless of how we came to Him. He is responsible for the forgiveness if we honestly and earnestly repent of our sins. He is serious enough about wanting us to spend an eternity with Him that He bled and died to pay the price in our place. If we fail to grow in our understanding of God’s desires for each and every one of us, our love for Him grows cold and where we once relied on His direction for our lives we begin to take control of our own destiny and find that the end of self-reliance is self-destruction.

 

Simply seek Him……….

“O God, do not remain silent.
Do not turn a deaf ear to me.
Do not keep quiet, O God.”   Psalm 83:1 GW

 

There is yet another way in which I may lose the presence of Jesus, one that is difficult to understand and accept, but nevertheless true.

It is the voluntary withdrawal of Jesus Himself.   There are times when He seems to withdraw Himself from us without any discernible reason.   Yet the reason may be suggested in the Song of Solomon, where the Shulammite bride of Solomon complains twice about the absence of her lover.

“I sought him whom my soul loves….but did not find him; I called him, but he did not answer.” (Song of Solomon 3:1)

The bride had done nothing to offend her groom; yet he was gone and could not be found.    She said, “My Beloved had turned away; he was gone!”  And again she sought him and called to him, but he did not answer.   (5:6)   

What is the Lord saying to me here?   “That the love of Jesus to me is discerned in both the partings and the fellowship, in both His presence and His apparent absence.”  

I can understand how His presence enhances the love relationship between us, but how can His absence do so?   Perhaps we will never know all the answers, but His seeming absence sharpens our awareness of Him and crushes the tendency to take Him for granted.

Very few, if any, of the disciples of Jesus enjoy the continual, unbroken realization of His presence and power in their lives.

Many times we call but He does not answer; we seek Him but He withdraws from us.  The reason is not always due to sin, carelessness, or indifference, for sometimes He is hiding His face to make us yearn all the more for Him; His absence should make our love grow sharper and fonder.

If I lose Him for that reason, I must simply seek Him with my whole heart until I find Him again.

I must do as the Shulammite did, “….seek him whom my soul loves” and soon I will be able to say with her, “I found him whom my soul loves.”  (3:2, 4)

“When you look for me, you will find me. When you wholeheartedly seek me,  I will let you find me, declares the Lord……..”  Jer. 29:13-14a  GW

I can lose……..

“You have tested my thoughts and examined my heart in the night.
You have scrutinized me and found nothing wrong.
I am determined not to sin in what I say.”    Psalm 17:3  NLT

I must distinguish between my union with Jesus, which is secure, and my communion with Christ, which is extremely fragile.

I must not delude myself into thinking that while my relationship with Jesus is secure, so is my awareness of His presence and power.

There are things I can lose.

I can lose the presence and power of Jesus as easily as Mary and Joseph lost Him in the caravan returning home from Jerusalem. (Luke 2:41-19)

By neglecting Him I can allow the weeds to grow in our relationship, choking out the fruits of a close, sweet walk with Him.   Neglect needs no overt action, no sharp disobedience, just a dulling of the finely tuned relationship we once had.  Then He is gone!

Or I can lose Him as Mary Magdalene lost Him, in the mad chain of circumstances that led Him to His death on the cross.  The swirling turn of events that snatched Him from her was beyond her understanding, but her loss was just as real and painful.  

So God can send a series of devastating losses in my life, involving friends, loved ones, opportunities, or whatever.   If I turn my attention to my losses and take my eyes off Him, I will lose Him in the flow.

I can also lose Him by my sin and indifference, and hear Him say, “Your sin and iniquities have separated…….you and your God.”  (Isa. 59:2)

Of all the reasons for losing Jesus, that is the most reprehensible, because it indicates a deliberate evaluation and a choice: “I want sin, not Jesus.”

If I choose sin, Jesus withdraws and I am left only with my immoral choice.

“Thank You, God, that You will never be untouched by my tears of repentance.”

“The sacrifice you desire is a broken spirit.
You will not reject a broken and repentant heart, O God.”  Psalm 51:17 NLT

“Let the joy of Your saving power return to me. And give me a willing spirit to obey you.”   Psalm 51:12 NLV