Temptation Does not Disqualify You!

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.~

Hebrews 12:1-3

What is the goal and mission of the life of a Christian?  Is it just to go to church? To read you Bible? To do good things and say kind words?
Truth be told, you don't have to be a Christian to do those things! In fact, there are many different faiths who teach on the similar and simplistic values of what we have considered to be "Christian". There are unspoken social rules that will praise your for doing what is kind and fair, and condemn you for anything less. There are even good natured Atheists who make a habit of preforming such routines in their own lives, without the help of the Holy Spirit and without the salvation of Jesus. So, when you think about it, doing good things is not the crux of the Christian's purpose. Our good deeds are not more valid than someone who is not a Christian and our temptations are not fouls that disqualify us from our faith. We have been called to live above the positives and negatives that seek to distract us from our true purpose.

Goodness, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder. What is good for someone doesn't mean it is good for everyone. And what was good yesterday is not guaranteed to be good today. This is how temptation enters our lives: by trying to convince us that our goodness is the standard and the measure by which God accepts me. But, according to scripture, this is far from truth. God's acceptance of me is totally based on my acceptance of Christ. When I am focused on His heart, then temptation will have no power within mine!

So, considering the scripture, how is it that we can develop our hearts to stay focused on Jesus and avoid the trap and the distraction of trying to be good? First, we must understand that focusing on Jesus doesn't mean that temptations around us will disappear. There will still be issues to face, habits to break and thoughts to battle. This is not a measure of your goodness or of your Salvation. 1 John 5:11-12 tells us that our Salvation is wrapped up in God's goodness through Jesus. If we have Salvation in Christ, then we need not fear temptation. Instead, we must use perseverance, just as Jesus persevered while He was on Earth. There were plenty of temptations, including His trial in the wilderness, when the enemy tried to tempt him (Matthew 4: 1-11). Yet in this distraction He kept His eyes on the mission- on His heavenly Father.

Hebrews 12 also brings forth another key element to staying focused: we must throw off everything that might hinder us, as well as the sins that seem to always try to get the best of us. For everyone , this will be different. Each of us struggle in different areas. My issues and temptations are different from yours. Your struggles are different from your co-workers and your co-worker's struggles will be different from their neighbors. Each of us have struggles that are uniquely specific to our own hearts and lives. Yet ALL SIN will hinder us from staying focused on Jesus and if we are not focused on Jesus, we will find ourselves drowning in temptation and ineffective for the ministry in which He has called us to complete for the Kingdom.

If goodness is the standard, then what is our need for Christ? Temptation cannot be battles by our good efforts or our positive affirmations. Jesus alone can keep us from falling, but we must keep our hearts on him! Anything that removes Christ as our priority is a hindrance to our relationship with Him, and if we are not living out our salvation in an effective manner, we are in danger of becoming a temptation for others who are watching our lives. Believers and  Non-believers are watching your life and according to this scripture, so are those Christians that have already gone before you. We are always surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses... they are cheering us on and they want us to be successful in our relationship with Christ and in our spiritual development here on earth. Even the non-believer wants to see you successful, because they are looking for something authentic. They are watching the closest because they are looking for reasons to hope and believe.

We can be "good" on our own, but there is no life change in that. Understanding that loving Jesus is not about our goodness gives us a better appreciation of God's grace, because, eventually, we will all fall in one area or another. But, when we move past a selfish faith- a faith that is only motivated by what we can get for our lives, we become humbled in the fact that we must keep our eyes, our hearts and our lives focused on Jesus. The mission is not to receive blessings, opportunities and prosperity for ourselves; our highest mission is to show the world what Love really looks like. And His name is Jesus!
Every rose has it's thorns, but that does not disqualify its beauty! We must persevere through our blessings and in our pains (and there will be many hard times), but we don't have to be afraid of our struggles or temptations, because we know that all things will work together for our good, if we only keep our focus on the Lord! (Romans 8:28). This is where our Joy comes from! Knowing that in my victory, I am encouraged, but in my weakness, God gives me His strength! Either way, we win! But, we must lay aside those things that will hinder and distract us, and
we must be sensitive to the lives that surround us- using us as their examples in the faith and looking to us as models for Christ.

Living as Christ is not a natural way of life- this is why we rely on His Holy Spirit to give us the strength and love that we need to be successful! So don't worry, God has it all under control! When you fall, confess your mess and keeping pressing on! Don't get distracted by trying to be good and don't allow your temptations to steal your confidence in Christ!!! Focus on God's love for you and let that be your motivation and your focus. I promise, it will fill your heart and spill over into the lives of those around you!
  

Be encouraged!

~Pearls

Being Gomer

What's the first thing you think about when the term "Bible Story" comes to mind? Let's list a few associations: What about Sunday school? Fairy Tale? Moral lessons? God? These are common responses given when a poll was taken in 2009. But there are other associations wrapped up in the Bible as well... What about sex, scandals, lies, cheating or betrayal? Odds are, those weren't on your list!

I must admit that, when going through the Bible, particularly the Old Testament, some of the accounts documented do seem a bit far fetched from the surface. There are worlds created in 6 days, a storm that drowns the whole planet, talking donkeys, Giants, mysterious beings and bread that falls from the sky... Oh my! It certainly does take a leap of true faith to believe and trust in the validity of these accounts, but in between such outlandish records, there are also common stories about unsung heroes, victors and foes who are not very much unlike you or me. They lived, they died and in between, they teach us powerful lessons about life, God, love and the importance of faith. Today, I want to introduce you to a woman named Gomer. You can find her story in the book of Hosea.

How can I describe Gomer in one word? Well, ... She was ratchet. Period. She was a hoe; a "T.H.O.T." and a prostitute! She was a liar and a thief. She sought her self- worth and identity through sex...and lots of it! She would have been the girl on campus that everybody loved to gossip about. She would have been the girl who would party her problems away, only to continue to repeat the same mistakes over and over again. She lived in a trap of lust and lies, always seeking pleasure and thrills, but never finding true contentment. She tried so hard to change herself. She even entered a marriage with a strong Godly man. His name was Hosea and he loved her...flaws and all. He lived a life that honored God and for a while, it seemed as if her new life with him turned over a new leaf, but the shadows of her past only laid dormant for a little bit. Soon, our Cinderella could no longer ignore the familiarity of her personal ghosts and she soon returned to the sutt and cinders of her dark past- revisiting her old habits and loose lifestyle, despite her marriage and the man who loved her. But Hosea prayed. He loved his wife regardless.

In their marriage, Gomer bore 3 children, but none of the children were conceived with her husband. She would leave her family for weeks at a time, sleeping with this man, carousing with those men, selling herself at one brothel and then the next. She hoped for something better, with someone better and she bought into the lie that sex was her ticket to happiness. She exchanged true love for wild parties and temporary pleasures; for ravishing gifts and empty promises from men who only loved what they could gain from her. She assumed that the company of successful people would gain her the entitlement of the finer things in life that she so desperately craved. But after the wine bottles were empty and the perfume faded from her skin, the men she desired would leave her and she would return home for comfort and care- tired from her wicked ways, broken from yet another disappointment. And each time, it seemed as if she was determined to change...to be the wife and mother that Hosea hoped she would be. But eventually, Gomer would slip back into the night, lured by her selfish ambitions and appetite for more, leaving behind her children with a man who was not their father. Yet, Hosea kept praying.

Eventually, as all fast living does at some point, Gomer found herself in trouble. Not pregnant
trouble, not STD trouble; but true entrapment to the extent that she could not escape on her own. She wound up with the wrong men at the wrong place at the wrong time. She found herself overtaken by their greed and they kidnapped her with intensions of selling her for sexual exploitations. The life she played with had turned on her and captured her. Sex was no longer hers to control, now she was the one who would be controlled by it!
Her captures, waisting no time, produced a public  auction of rare finds and materials the very next morning, with Gomer being the highlighted prize. I wonder the fear she must have felt that day, as her completely naked body stood on a public platform for crowds to examine and gawk at. I wonder what type of words she must have over heard from neighbors in common places: "Serves her right", they might have whispered. "That's what she gets", some may have said.
I wonder if her soul began to quiver and shake, as one man after another reached out to touch her bare flesh, uninvited. I wonder how loudly her heart must have began to beat as people began to wager for her price. What must she have been worth? $300, $900, $1000? I wonder, in the rushing of voices and the clattering of jeers, did the thought of her family flash through her mind? What regret and shame and fear she must have been carrying on that day! Breasts exposed to the sun, hair mangled and messy, hands and feet restrained so that she had no power to defined herself. But what about her heart? How was it effected as she endured this humiliation in broad daylight, over and over again?

It's easy to be turned off from this story. We could dismiss it and claim that this is a very unlikely situation, especially in our modern world. But what about in the spiritual or emotional world? Have you ever found yourself to be humiliated, in one way or another, as a result of not heeding the warnings of those who love you? Have you ever felt in control of a sin, only to discover that it was really just controlling you all along? Have you ever made such a mistake that it went public and the nay-sayers gathered around to laugh and mock you and declare, "That's what she gets"? It's happened to me before, and odds are, it's happened to you as well. We walk around with the pain, anger and shame of our guilt, declaring "no regrets", but sobbing at night because the weight is just too heavy. We can hold our head high through gossiping crowds, while our hearts slump within us from embarrassment and shame. The truth is, we are all like Gomer in one way or another. We have all found ourselves in situations where our choices lead us to entrapment, with no rescuer in sight.

I'm sure, after a few hours of being on public display, even her captures began to get frustrated. "Who will purchase this woman?", they said. "She is lovely and experienced...a true woman of the world! She will keep your bed warm and satisfy your every desire!", they may have shouted to the crowd. "Take a look at her body! See how beautiful it is", as they cupped one of her exposed breasts and then the other... public humiliation! "Which of you men will invest in such a prize?"
I imagine, her eyes closed, as hope disapated. Hot tears began to swell as regrets huddled within her heart like storm clouds. Birds sang far off in the distance, and families quickly rushed by, avoiding the scene to protect the innocence of their children. Indecent men smiled at her and argued amongst themselves, making taunting jokes and inmannerable suggestions regarding what they wanted to do with her. She was hopeless, I'm sure. Her identity stripped away, her independence for sale, her virtue slaughtered and her future fading. She probably began to blame herself, accepting this punishment for her crimes and selfishness. She probably prayed that someone would just pay the price and collect her with his other possessions so that this public humiliation would stop. She probably wrung her fingers together, beneath her bounded wrists, reflecting on the choices she would have changed if she could.
The bidding had begun. Money was being suggested for her value and her price. "I am worthless", she probably thought, as men began to push and shove each other, arguing over the woman that would only be considered little more than a collector's item.
Voices escalated in the dry desert air and from the corner of her eye, I'm sure that she was confused by commotion in the crowd. She must have noticed the people parting, and wondered what was happening to make such a scene,  as a man pushed his way through the crowd and desperately shouted, "I will buy her! What is her price? However much it is,  I will buy her... I will buy her!!!"
"You want that filth?", someone from the crowd might have questioned the man, grabbing his arm to hold him back.
"Let go", he may have demanded from the person, snatching his arm away from their grasp and rushing towards the platform. "Please take all my money, sir", the man would have said to the seller, "I will pay whatever you ask".

I wonder how Gomer must have felt, with her head hung low as she saw scruffy hands exchange money for her purchase for property. And I wonder what must have went through her mind as she lifted her eyes, just high enough to take a curious glance at her new owner, only to discover that it was Hosea, her husband whom she had left over and over again. The tears she must have cried, as he removed the ropes from her hands and feet. The overwhelming love she must have struggled to accept as he took off his own garments to cover her nakedness.
"Why?", she must have whispered, too ashamed to look him in the eye.
"Because Gomer, I love you", would have been his response. "Now let's go home".

Scripture never reveals how this experience and demonstration of love changed Gomer. But I think it's safe to say that she was never the same. Hosea's love for her compelled him to assume her guilt as his own. He put himself in the way of public humiliation to buy back what was already his for a price that was worth more than the purchase. He didn't have to, but he did. He could have said, "Well, after everything she's done to me, I'm glad to be rid of her". But instead, his love for her saw past his hurts and into her healing. She was a woman with many stains, many masks and many sins. She was used, abused, and worthless to the world. But to one man, she was his world and he gave up everything to get her back.

Jesus has done the same for you and for me. We are His Gomers.

Something to think about.
~Pearls

Flying High for Jesus

We all have our "Lots" in life. Mine tends to be my consistent exposure to misunderstandings and disappointments with others. Sometimes I wonder, "am I the ONLY one" who is serving Christ with my whole heart? Where are all the other "Christians" who are willing to reject the norms of the culture and live a life that is contrary to popular belief?" Sometimes, we can feel like we're the only ones flying high...sometimes, we can honestly feel as if we're the only one flying at all.

In Daniel, the prophet records his experiences as a young man, where the pleasures of life were surrounding him and free for him to indulge and take part in. There were many young men from his homeland who didn't seem to mind participating in various affairs. But not Daniel. Scripture says that he chose not to "defile himself" (Daniel 1:8).

Those around him probably thought he was so extreme, or not realistic, but Daniel was willing to fly high for God. That is how I want to be. I want to be like Daniel: I want to live a life that is so closely reflectant of Christ, that no one would ever have any questions or any doubts about my commitment to Him. I want to make sure that my choices, my activities and my lifestyle is as far from the middle road as possible. At the end of the day, what does it matter if it's not pleasing Christ? And who do I think that I am to justify certain behaviors that I would not want to include Jesus in?


In our Christian society, people talk a lot about "conviction"; using the term as if to justify their own personal feelings towards one thing or another. But truly, our only conviction, as Christians, should be to live a life, based on scripture, such that others are drawn to Christ. If my choices and lifestyle are contrary to scripture, then my feelings are irrelevant. We must all consider the teachings of Paul, which are lead by the Holy Spirit:

"And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father."- Colossians 3:17

So I'd like to ask you this: are your deeds a representative of the Lord Jesus, or are they a representative of the culture, your friends or yourself? And if, indeed, you do have a heart for Christ, whose authority and influence are you navigating your choices by?

I hope we all humble ourselves enough to realize that this life for Jesus is not to be lived on our own terms, but on His. He continues to give us the power, through the Holy Spirit, to stand firm against temptations and activities that do not reflect His name. So the choice boils down to us: are we willing to Fly High for Jesus, even if that means flying all by ourselves? I hope we can all come to a place in our hearts, where we are willing to take such a challenge; just like Daniel. I hope we can all decide that our priority will always be to please our Savior and not our culture or our selves!

Something to think about...

~Pearls