Tag Archive | love

I’ve been rejected. Have you?

May14

Let’s talk about rejection. How many times have you experienced really liking a guy, or even loving one, and he rejects you? You cried, maybe even begged, but still he wouldn’t budge. I have experienced this way too many times. I mean really, once is more than enough, but on my quest for love, after one rejection I just continued running forward, heartbreak after heartbreak.

Dozens of crushed hopes later, at the age of 18, I finally decided I had enough. Instead of crying over a boy, I cried out to a Man— thee Man. 

I knew about Jesus; the son of God who died on the cross for the sins of the world. But, I did not know Jesus. One thing I did, however, that I could cry out to Him. And that’s what I did.

“Natasha, did He answer you?”

So overjoyed that you would ask. Of course He did.

“May the Lord answer you in the day of trouble;
May the name of the God of Jacob defend you;
2 May He send you help from the sanctuary,
And strengthen you out of Zion;
3 May He remember all your offerings,
And accept your burnt sacrifice. Selah

4 May He grant you according to your heart’s desire,
And fulfill all your purpose.
5 We will rejoice in your salvation,
And in the name of our God we will set up our banners!
May the Lord fulfill all your petitions.

6 Now I know that the Lord saves His anointed;
He will answer him from His holy heaven
With the saving strength of His right hand.

7 Some trust in chariots, and some in horses;
But we will remember the name of the Lord our God.
8 They have bowed down and fallen;
But we have risen and stand upright.

9 Save, Lord!
May the King answer us when we call.” -Psalm 20

 

 

Do you know that when I was twelve I asked Jesus to forgive my sins, and come into my heart? But after He did, I ignored Him and chased after every boy I found attractive—and it wouldn’t be until more than six years later that I finally look to Him for my need to be loved. Talk about feeling rejected. 

No one on this planet has been rejected more than Jesus has. We’re talking billions of people rejecting His plan for their life. [Maybe dying for that plan wasn't enough].

Next time you are, or feel rejected, think about Jesus hanging on a rugged wooden cross with bleeding gaping holes in his hands and feet, ribbons of flash hanging off his back, a crown of thorns piercing his head, and the people He’s dying for standing before Him mocking and spitting at Him while He’s begging His Father to forgive them. 

 

Check out this prophecy written by the prophet Isaiah about 650 years before Jesus hung on the cross:

“Who has believed our message?

    To whom has the Lord revealed his powerful arm?
2 My servant grew up in the Lord’s presence like a tender green shoot,
    like a root in dry ground.
There was nothing beautiful or majestic about his appearance,
    nothing to attract us to him.
3 He was despised and rejected—
    a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief.
We turned our backs on him and looked the other way.
    He was despised, and we did not care.

4 Yet it was our weaknesses he carried;
    it was our sorrows that weighed him down.
And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God,
    a punishment for his own sins!
5 But he was pierced for our rebellion,
    crushed for our sins.
He was beaten so we could be whole.
    He was whipped so we could be healed.
6 All of us, like sheep, have strayed away.
    We have left God’s paths to follow our own.
Yet the Lord laid on him
    the sins of us all.

7 He was oppressed and treated harshly,
    yet he never said a word.
He was led like a lamb to the slaughter.
    And as a sheep is silent before the shearers,
    he did not open his mouth.
8 Unjustly condemned,
    he was led away.
No one cared that he died without descendants,
    that his life was cut short in midstream.
But he was struck down
    for the rebellion of my people.
9 He had done no wrong
    and had never deceived anyone.
But he was buried like a criminal;
    he was put in a rich man’s grave.

10 But it was the Lord’s good plan to crush him
    and cause him grief.
Yet when his life is made an offering for sin,
    he will have many descendants.
He will enjoy a long life,
    and the Lord’s good plan will prosper in his hands.
11 When he sees all that is accomplished by his anguish,
    he will be satisfied.
And because of his experience,
    my righteous servant will make it possible
for many to be counted righteous,
    for he will bear all their sins.
12 I will give him the honors of a victorious soldier,
    because he exposed himself to death.
He was counted among the rebels.
    He bore the sins of many and interceded for rebels.”-Isaiah 53

 

Trust me princess, Jesus knows how it feels to be rejected, hated, abused, and made fun of. When He walked this earth He was well acquainted with grief and suffering. But He conquered all the pain in this world when He rose up from the grave and defeated death. This incredible Son of God stands with arms open wide desiring you. I pray you stop rejecting Him and instead, run to Him.

Ladies, please know your worth.

with love,

Natasha

 

I caused some brothers to stumble.

May6

Not too long ago I wrote a post about modesty. The other day I was at the building where my Church gathers, and on two occasions  I noticed different brothers looking at me.

As I drove away from the building, I began to pray, and in my time of prayer, God revealed something to me: I had been practicing vanity. Although I wasn’t showing skin, or cleavage  my tight shirt and jeans did show off my curves, and my extra makeup (mascara, lip-color, and some eye shadow), had made me more attractive, and hence, I was causing my brothers to stumble.

The Apostle Paul (the man whose letters make up more than half of the New Testament), says in one of his letters to the Church in Rome:

 ”It is good neither to eat meat nor drink wine nor do anything by which your brother stumbles or is offended or is made weak.”-Romans 14:21

And then to the Church in Corinth:

“Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never again eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble.”-1 Corinthians 8:13

And how much more so should we sisters be mindful of what we wear in order to look out for our brothers? See, in my vanity (my desire to look good), I had caused brothers to stumble. Had I simply settled for presentable, with no extra makeup and clothes that did not hug my hips and outline my curves, they probably would have been alright. But really, you ladies know that the skin-tight jeans you wear show off your butt, and what man needs to see that? The only man who can and should is your husband. If you ain’t married, you shouldn’t be flaunting and making both single and married men stumble.

If you’re saying right now, “Oh please, brothers just need to control themselves and not lust. It’s not my fault they’re lusting,” you are not obeying Christ’s command to walk in love. Love does not provoke nor is it self-seeking, but as Paul says, you look out for the interests of others, not just yourself.

Christ is our example. While on this earth, He was all about others, number One being His Father (now for us who believe, our Father), then sinners, and lastly, Himself. We are to have the same mindset: God the Father first, others second, and ourselves last. Jesus said:

“If anyone desires to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all.”-Mark 9:35

May we stop sinning against God by serving ourselves, and start walking according to His commands. This is possible by confession and repentance. We get honest with the Lord, and then stop wearing things that cause our brothers to trip up. We pray for God to break our vanity and/or insecurity, and to help us be 100% satisfied all the time by His love and acceptance of us just the way we are.

Ladies, know that your worth doesn’t come by how good you look on the outside, and how appealing you are to men. It comes from the fact that Jesus thought you were worthy enough to die for. May you come to grasp the fullness of His love for you, and be filled by it everyday.

With love,

Natasha

Ladies, no man will ever want you as badly as Jesus does.

May2

Jesus died for you.

“[Jesus said] See, we are going up to Jerusalem. And the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn Him to death and deliver Him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified, and He will be raised on the third day.”-Matthew 20:18-19

“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” -Jonh 10:11

“For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord.” -John 10:17-18

 

Now I don’t about you ladies, but no guy has ever died for me.

 

Jesus wants to live in you and share a mutual love relationship with you always.

“As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love.”-John 15:9-10

“In that day you will know that I am in My Father, you are in Me, and I am in you.  The one who has My commands and keeps them is the one who loves Me. And the one who loves Me will be loved by My Father. I also will love him and will reveal Myself to him.”-John 14:20-21

Jesus answered, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word. My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.” -John 14:23

“I desire those You have given Me
to be with Me where I am.
Then they will see My glory,
which You have given Me
because You loved Me before the world’s foundation.
 Righteous Father!
The world has not known You.
However, I have known You,
and these have known that You sent Me.
I made Your name known to them
and will make it known,
so the love You have loved Me with
may be in them and I may be in them.” -John 17:24-26

 

Jesus wants to give you true and everlasting joy.

 “I have spoken these things to you so that My joy may be in you and your joy may be complete.” -John 15:11

 

Jesus wants to protect you.

“I am no longer in the world,
but they are in the world,
and I am coming to You.
Holy Father,
protect them by Your name
that You have given Me,
so that they may be one as We are one.
While I was with them,
I was protecting them by Your name
that You have given Me.
I guarded them and not one of them is lost,
except the son of destruction,
so that the Scripture may be fulfilled.” -John 17:11-12

 

Jesus wants to give you eternal life.

“I give them eternal life, and they will never perish—ever! No one will snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all. No one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.” -John 10:28-29

 

Jesus wants to give you peace.

“I have told you these things so that in Me you may have peace. You will have suffering in this world. Be courageous! I have conquered the world.” -John 16:33

“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” -Matthew 11:28-29

 

These are all things Jesus temporarily left heaven to give you. Think about this ladies, He didn’t just come from a far away place, from a distant land–Jesus came all the way from heaven to seek and pursue you and carry you home!

“For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” -Luke 19:10

“For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me.” -John 6:38

 

That’s how much Jesus loves you. He left the most incredible place in existence, where there is no pain, suffering, or death to do just that–suffer and die! Jesus knew His fate, but He–while we were yet ignoring Him, mocking Him, hating Him–chose to come anyway and suffer and die for us all, knowing that was the only way any of us could enter heaven.

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” -John 14:6

He was and is the only person to ever walk this earth in complete perfection and holiness before God. He is the only One who has never ever lied, or lusted, or taken something that didn’t belong to Him, or disobey His Father. The only One who never broke any of the commandments. Jesus is the only person worthy of heaven and that is why He had to die, to make those who would trust in His righteousness (not on themselves) be able to get to heaven. Let’s face it, God is perfect, and none of us are. That’s why He had to have His perfect Son come down from heaven and rescue us from eternal separation from Him.

It amazes me that while I was chasing after guys, searching for “the one”, giving my whole heart to my boyfriends, and only praying in Jesus name for stuff I wanted, not ever reading His book and trying to get to know Him, He still was pursuing me and chasing after me. He was still calling my name, and desiring me; loving me, even though I didn’t really love Him. Do you know there were actually times where I cried out to Jesus, asked Him to hold me while I cried, and then immediately my crying calmed and stopped completely, and I walked away with a smile on my face–yet totally forgot about it right after and then kept on chasing after guys? I was so desperate for love, I hadn’t realized until I had my last and final heart break that love was there all along, waiting for me to embrace Him. I wish I had realized sooner, but Jesus is faithful, and He restored all the time I missed out on His love. It’s been five years since I started pursuing Jesus, getting to know Him and love Him, and our relationship just keeps getting better and better.

I remember with my last ex before Jonathan, how our love had reached a peak, and then it just went downhill from there. But with God the Father, and His Son Jesus, there is no end to their love. It just gets stronger and stronger as you continue to discover who they are and what they think about you, and what plans they have for you. Everything Jesus said He wanted to give us, and came to give us, I have and do experience daily. His love, His presence, His protection, His joy, His peace, the strength He offers to keep going, and the assurance of heaven. This is why I am so in love with my Father God, and His wonderful Son, Jesus. His love has radically transformed my life and the lives of so many I know. His inspired word along with the very words He spoke have never failed me and continue to prove true. Jesus said,

“Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.” -Matthew 24:35

and,

“If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” -John 8:31-32

I pray you find what I have come to find. That no man will ever want you as much as Jesus wants you, and no man will ever be able to give you, all that Jesus can give you.

Know your worth, know that you are loved,

Natasha

A must see on sex, love, and relationships!

Feb23

This past Wednesday me and Sir Jonathan were blessed to have a surprise speaker at our church, Chip Ingram from Living on the Edge ministries. He spoke about Hollywood’s prescription for lasting relationships versus God’s.

Hollywood’s

  1. Find the right person.
  2. Fall in love.
  3. Fix your goals and dreams around this person.
  4. If steps 1-3 don’t work, repeat cycle with someone else.

God’s

  1. Become the right person.
  2. Walk in love
  3. Fix your hope on God (Seek to please Him)
  4. If failure occurs go back to square 1 and ask yourself, “Am I the right person, am I walking in love, etc.

 

This man hits it on the head way better than Sir Jonathan and I ever could, so please give this message a lesson. This is the video from the night he visited our church. It is a must see! Click on the message entitled: Sex, love, and relationships.

http://myeikon.com/teachings/topical-messages/?sid=1064#top

Know Your Worth.

Much love,

Natasha

 

Sex before marriage. I gotta word or two.

Feb19

TrianaRosePhotography.com

Premarital sex Fornication.

The purpose of marriage is to exemplify Christ’s love relationship with His church, His people. The Bible refers to Christ as the “Bridegroom” and the church as “His bride.” This relationship is to be a representation of Christ’s faithfulness to us, His commitment to us and likewise ours to Him, His unconditional love and sacrifice for us, and our obedience and submission to His guidance.

“Wives, be subject to your own husbands, as to the Lord.  For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church, He Himself being the Savior of the body.  But as the church is subject to Christ, so also the wives ought to be to their husbands in everything.  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 [q]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 nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ also does the church, 30 because we are members of His body.  For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and shall be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.  This mystery is great; but I am speaking with reference to Christ and the church.” -Ephesians 5:22-32

When you have sex outside of the holy covenant of marriage, you are being number one, unfaithful to God. You are disobeying His command because you are indulging in a body that has not yet been given to you by Him.

“Flee immorality. Every other sin that a man commits is outside the body, but the immoral man sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.” -1 Corinthians 6:18-20

Only when you have committed your life to a person through marriage does God share their body with you.

“The husband must fulfill his [sexual] duty to his wife, and likewise also the wife to her husband.  The wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does; and likewise also the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does.” -1 Corinthians 7:3-4

Notice it does not say, “The boyfriend must fulfill his sexual duty to his girlfriend and likewise the girlfriend to her boyfriend.” Only when husband and wife are you to submit your body to the other person.

There is no real accountable commitment in a relationship outside of marriage.  You can move in with a guy and if things go sour, he can kick you out (I know several girls who have had this happen to them). You can cheat on your boyfriend or girlfriend, but in most cases you don’t have a family with this person so there’s not that extra pressure of hurting your entire family if you get caught.  In a marriage it’s a lot harder to up and leave. You gotta go through courts, judges, lawyers, money. You have to end things with the person you committed your life to in front of loved ones and God Himself.

When you’re fornicating you’re not displaying unconditional love. Your love is clearly conditional: you have to have sex with this person. If your love wasn’t conditional, prove it by refraining from using this person for your sexual desires until after you’ve walked them down the aisle.

When having sex with this person before marriage there is no sacrifice. You are getting everything you want from this person: full access. There is no sacrifice on your part, no holding back. Sacrifice by pledging your life and signing it away to this person till death do you part, being held socially accountable by loved ones and God, and legally accountable by the government. That holds so much more weight and is such a bigger sacrifice because you literally have to pay to get out of it.

Christ laid His very life down. He gave everything for His bride. If you have not committed your life to another person through God’s covenant of marriage, yet are touching them sexually, you are not representing Him well, and are hurting Him, yourself, the other person, the other person’s future spouse, and your future spouse. You are acting unfaithfully and selfishly. Yes, these are powerful words, but I say them to you in love.

“Faithful are the wounds of a friend, but deceitful are the kisses of an enemy.” -Proverbs 27:6

So if you’re having sex outside of marriage, repent. Turn away from that. Confess to God and truly surrender your will and desires to Him. You won’t be chained now by His “rules” but rather, you will be free to walk as the prince or princess He created you to be. You’ll be free from guilt and shame, free from addiction, free to walk in self control and purity and right standing with God, and that dear friends, is more enjoyable and pleasurable than any orgasm you’ll ever have. And when the timing is right, and God blesses you with a spouse, your sex life will be all the more blessed by Him because you obeyed Him beforehand. He blesses obedience, but disobedience reaps many consequences–some you’ll have to live with your whole life. Do yourself, others, and God a favor by choosing to follow Him, by His strength and with His might.

“For it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.” -Philippians 2:13

“I labor for this, striving with His strength that works powerfully in me.” -Colossians 1:29

If you’ve given your life to Jesus and asked Him to come into your heart, He has given you His Holy Spirit. His Spirit abides in you, and gives you the power to live out His commands (so you have no excuse). Depend and rely upon Him, not yourself, and you will be able to wait until marriage.

Much love to you, and please know your worth.

Natasha

I submitted to my husband’s will today.

Feb15
TrianaRosePhotography.com

TrianaRosePhotography.com

God in His amazing faithfulness revealed to me yet again just how true He is to His Word.

Me and Sir Jonathan are in a financial rut. Today was the dead-line to pay for this writer’s conference I got a partial scholarship to attend. It was $425.00. My husband was a bit sad because he had some important things he wanted to pay for/off, so I didn’t press. Instead, I prayed. He had just dropped me off at work. I spent time in prayer to the Lord and asked Him to reveal to me what to do in this situation. My heart was willing for whatever the Lord wanted, even if that meant sacrificing going to the conference and working instead to help with bills and what not. (Yes, my man is the main provider, praise the Lord. I provide for basically the electric bill, groceries, and my own gas). So the Lord did speak to me. He, in the still small voice first mentioned in the book of 1 Kings chapter 19, said:

Heed the voice of your husband. Whatever he says, do.

Some of you feminists (lol, I love you ladies), might be sayin’ “Wait, hold up! God would never say such a sexist thing!” But I’d like to first say this command is not sexist, and yes, He did say this to me.

“Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord.  For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body. Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything.”-Ephesians 5:22-24

Although it may be hard to believe, God gives us this command in His Word because He desires to see our marriage work! He knows that two heads equals dysfunction. Put two kings on a throne and watch what happens. It isn’t sexist, it’s merely God’s order. This is not to say that women do not lead, because they do (Titus 2:3-5), but simply that men and women have distinct roles. The role of the husband is to be the “head” of the household as Christ is the “Head” of the Church. Yet Christ also submits to the Father, so He desires for us women to submit to our husbands because marriage is supposed to be a picture of His love relationship with the Church, His people, His “bride.” If you resist the “neck” role (one who supports the head), then ultimately, you’re not resisting your husband, you’re resisting God. And trust me wives, this will put a major hindrance on your relationship with God and thus a strain on your marriage. But, when you submit, you see how much more beautifully your marriage functions, and how God blesses obedience to His commanded roles. See, right after God told me to heed the voice of my husband and do whatever he says, I texted Jonathan:

“My love, you are my leader. Whatever you decide, I will follow.”

Later on I get a call from sir Jonathan saying he’s downstairs and has a Bible for me (he knows I like to read at work, but didn’t have one in my car). So when I go and get it, I ask him:

“Did you get my text?”

He smiles. “Yes.”

“Have you decided what you wanted us to do?”

His smile widens. “I believe God has opened a door for you with this conference, and I don’t want to get in the way of that. I also believe God is trying to teach me not to try to be in control of everything.”

See, God blesses obedience. I wonder how things would have turned out if I had argued with him and fought to get my way. I’m sure this story wouldn’t have ended so beautifully. And you realize: husband’s have the harder job. They need to lead us–many times stubborn–women, protect and provide for us, and even give up their life for us if need be. My husband is leading, he is setting the example of sacrificial love in our marriage, something I struggled with a lot in year one and still do from time to time. He’s helped so much and worked so hard so that I can pursue what God’s calling me to do, and he is doing this with patience and love. Jonathan trusts God, and he believes in me.

So, my encouragement to wives, ALWAYS SUBMIT! The only things you shouldn’t submit to are things that cause you to sin against God (in that, your husband’s on his own). But everything else, just give in. This takes time; in our first year I wasn’t such an easy submitter. But God has done amazing things in our hearts during this second year and I’m telling you, it is possible to become submissive, and the fruit of it is really pleasant! I enjoy submitting when I see the results. You will too.

Know Your Worth.

With love,

Natasha

God’s giving me greater revelation of His love

Feb7
Photo by Triana TrianaRosePhotography.com

Photo by Triana TrianaRosePhotography.com

Something I’ve prayed everyday since February 22nd, 2009 is, “God, help me to fall more in love with you.” Something I’ve begun to pray more recently is, “God, help me to understand Your great love more.” He’s faithfully answering both.

This morning while in prayer, the Spirit reminded me of 1John 4:8:

God is love.

Many people try and separate His judgments from His nature, which is love. They accuse, “The God of the Old Testament is a God of wrath!” without considering His nature, the very essence of what He is, is love. Thus, whatever actions He takes, stem from His nature, from His root motivation which is love. My husband reminded me of this precious gem found in the Sacred Scriptures:

Do I have any pleasure at all that the wicked should die?” says the Lord God, “and not that he should turn from his ways and live?” -Ezekiel 18:23

This is a direct quote from the “Old Testament God.” And there’s many others like it. See, God does not take pleasure in destroying the wicked, He’d much rather, as He says, that they’d change their ways and live! The Book of Hosea, as do many others, display this truth beautifully. God sends His prophet Hosea to preach to Israel who has been having sex with temple prostitutes of foreign gods and sacrificing their own children in fire to these false gods. They’ve been doing some seriously wicked and twisted things, and God has been, time and again, trying to get them to turn around by sending them warnings through prophets. But they refuse. They stone the prophets, or shun them. So finally, God says, “Okay, you don’t want to listen to My warnings, I will have to bring trouble upon you because only then will you realize it is I who is against you, and desires that you change your ways and come back to Me.” He allows them to be taken captive by their enemies. Some would say that isn’t loving, but I ask, Would it be loving to keep Israel in the state they were in? Murdering their own children, being unfaithful to their wives, ignoring the only True and Holy God in the universe and worshiping fake ones who command they do vile things with women and kill their offspring? Of course not! See, God in His love could not allow His children to continue to destroy themselves and others, and He knew the only way to stop the behavior, was to bring severe punishment, and He was right! It did bring about a change of heart. Look at the people of Israel today. Yes, there are many “secular” Jews, but are they sacrificing their children in fire? And many have come back to a place of worship to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and although the 100th smallest country, their land is blessed with awesome military might and the world’s best irrigation system, not to mention they have the highest ratio of university degrees to the population in the world and they’re ranked #2 in the world for venture capital funds right behind the US. (You can see other amazing things they’re now blessed with by visiting http://www.jfns.org/page.aspx?id=43769).

All this to say, God promised after their punishment, they would be redeemed. They would no longer be captive to their enemies and once they reunited from all over the world, their land would prosper greatly.

See, princes and princesses, God loves us way too much to allow us to stay in the conditions we’re in when without Him. He wants to bless us with the knowledge and experience of His love, and all the spiritual blessings that accompany it, and if that isn’t enough, He wants to bless us in material ways as well.
I encourage you to pray that He helps you fall more in love with Him and to help you better understand just how much He loves you and everyone else on the planet. He will answer this prayer, and your joy will be complete.

Much love and know your worth,

Natasha

 

Give in to His love

Feb4

I had an appointment for a free leg wax today and honestly wasn’t too excited about going, but just decided to go through with it. So while I’m in the room, somehow or another we get to talking about how I knew Jonathan was the one (oh right, she said I looked young to be married), and then she’s like, “Oh my goodness, you sound just like my mother! She’s 100% Christian. The past four years she’s just become so Christian, and she’s always telling me about these amazing things God’s doing, etc. etc.” And I’m thinking man, this girl hears it all the time from her mom, about how amazing it is to be in a love relationship with the Lord, now here He is, bringing some random girl to tell her the same thing, and I’m like, “Man, God just knocks and knocks and when you sense Him knocking, He just gets louder and louder. He’s such a stalker!” And another girl there started opening up at how she just bought her first Bible last week and how she wants to really start following Him as well and telling me how He’s been calling her and we both were like, “Wow, it truly is amazing that the God of the Universe cares that much to have a relationship with us.”

I also began to share with her what the Lord had told me to read this morning from the book of Hosea; how Hosea was a prophet the Lord told to marry a prostitute because at the time, the nation of Israel, His people, were “playing the harlot,” that is, worshiping other gods. And how in the first chapter He’s very upset, calling Israel “Not His people” and a harlot. It deeply hurts Him that they have now given their love and attention to false gods, the gods the other nations worshiped, and how they had completely forgotten about Him. He’s so mad, He talks about how He’s going to give them over to their enemies and no longer have mercy on them, but then immediately, it’s like His love for them is so great, He just can’t–despite for how much and for how long they’ve been ignoring Him and showing other gods their love and devotion–completely cut them off. He says in verse ten that yet still, He is going to so multiply the children of Israel and that in the place where it was said to them, “You are not my people,” it shall be said to them, “You are the sons of the living God.”

I’m just blown away by His love and grace. These people have completely turned their backs on Him, doing disgusting things: having sex with temple prostitutes of the false gods, sacrificing their children to these gods by burning them in fire and YET God says, ‘One day, you’ll be called My sons.” To be a son of a king means to be the heir of their throne. God looks at us, having premarital sex, going wild at clubs and parties, or just completely shrugging Him off, and yet He desires to make US His sons? The heirs of His kingdom? The kingdom where there’s no more pain, sorrow, or death, but just complete righteousness, joy, and peace?

Think about that.

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In chapter two His love for rebellious people just further blows my mind. He begins to talk about how Israel was His wife, and He her Husband. That’s how intimate He sees His relationship with His people; He compares it to the most intimate relationship one can have on earth: marriage. And again, He talks about the punishment He’s going to bring on them; destroying their crops, taking away their joy, but just like in chapter one, right after He pronounces the well-deserved punishments, He starts talking about how He’s going to bless them again after these things (see He knows that unfortunately, all the prophets He sent before were to of no avail; they didn’t bring about a change of heart in the people. Israel could care less that God was sending them warnings through prophets so now He says, ‘I’m gonna take away all the things that cause you to prosper and have joy, because only then will you recognize that I was the One who gave them to you in the first place, and then you will return to Me). So He says after these punishments:

“Therefore, behold, I will allure her,
Will bring her into the wilderness,
And speak comfort to her.
 I will give her her vineyards from there,
And the Valley of Achor as a door of hope;
She shall sing there,
As in the days of her youth,
As in the day when she came up from the land of Egypt.

 “And it shall be, in that day,”
Says the Lord,
“That you will call Me ‘My Husband,’
And no longer call Me ‘My Master,’
 For I will take from her mouth the names of the Baals,
And they shall be remembered by their name no more.
 In that day I will make a covenant for them
With the beasts of the field,
With the birds of the air,
And with the creeping things of the ground.
Bow and sword of battle I will shatter from the earth,
To make them lie down safely.

“I will betroth you to Me forever;
Yes, I will betroth you to Me
In righteousness and justice,
In lovingkindness and mercy;
 I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness,
And you shall know the Lord.

 “It shall come to pass in that day
That I will answer,” says the Lord.” -Hosea 2:14-21

 

See ladies, the affection and attention you crave from men, it is a desire God gave you, but a desire only He could fulfill. These men breaking your hearts, or maybe even treating you like silver (not gold, unless he loves and honors the Lord), but it not being enough, that’s just because a man cannot satisfy and fill that need that you have for love. Only God can. Only the Lord who so desperately wants your attention and love, only He can complete you. Before Sir Jonathan was placed in my path, I was complete. For the first time in my life I didn’t care about having a boyfriend. I didn’t even want one! Why? Because I had finally allowed God to fulfill that void in me. And my, did He satisfy me! (My friends and family can tell you; they thought I was nuts!) But you know how when you meet a guy you think is just so hot and amazing, and you can’t stop talking about him to your friends? Well, that’s just how it was and still is to this day with Jesus. He is so amazing and treats me with such incredible love that I can’t help but tell others about Him. My husband is great, but like I’ve said MANY times before, Jonathan doesn’t hold a candle to my Lord. No man on this earth comes close to how wonderful God is.

Beautiful princesses, I plead with you, allow God to love on you, to pour out His love on you. It is His desire to just drown you with love. The Bible says like how parents decide to have kids just because they desire them and want to love them, God made all of us for, “His good pleasure.” It just pleased Him to have sons and daughters. It’s time to come home to Him. Only then will your heart be at rest, and your joy complete.

“These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full.” -Jesus (John 15:11)

Relationships: Your platform for success, or your complete downfall

Jan22

Speaking with a friend earlier today made me realize that Satan just loooovvvveesss attacking relationships. If he can mess you up in that area, he can destroy your very life.

Consider: When you got stats like these (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/25/unplanned-pregnancy-two-thirds-women-20s_n_1452112.html) of women who are baby mamas with no men committing their life to them it’s no wonder broken relationships are destructive. On their own, most of these women struggle financially and then governments kickin’ out tax-payer dollars and the economy worsens (I love baby mamas, I love everyone, but let’s be honest, most can’t survive on their own, or if they do, their babies are surviving with a mom they barely see which causes more broken relationships).

Can a business thrive if the relationship between owners is screwed up? No. Hence people get “let go of” all the time.

Can marriages succeed if the relationship between the husband and wife isn’t functioning the way it should? The answer is clearly no.

We humans got a major problem: apart from God, we don’t know how to do relationships. Many of us ladies consume romantic comedies like chocolate when it’s that time of month and try to imitate them. This fails utterly. Instead of happily ever after with the hot guy, the hot guy’s left us pregnant and broke, or emotionally damaged. Whatever the situation, we’re abandoned and heart-broken (gentlemen, I know sometimes it’s the other way around).

There’s a war going on for your life. Jesus vs Satan. Jesus is all about restoring relationships: First your relationship with God the Father, then with your fellow man.

“The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” -John 10:10

Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.” -John 14:23

At that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you. He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.”-John 14:20-21

I don’t know how many times Jesus talked about His relationship with His Father and with us, but it was a lot! He’s obsessed with relationships. That’s why we humans who are made in His image are obsessed with relationships! But in order to do them right, the most important relationship we will ever have has to be made right: our relationship with our Creator, our Father God. God’s made the way for reconciliation: His Son Jesus Christ. Once we accept His perfect Gift, our relationship with Him is restored and now we are at a place where we can do relationship with our fellow man rightly.

Right relationships look like this: They build up rather than tear down, they serve not steal, they respect instead of dishonor, they appreciate rather than disregard, they unite not divide, they cherish and don’t degrade, they love and don’t hate.

Wrong relationships are obviously the opposite of right ones, and there’s plenty of those out there (we need not mention divorce statistics). And I can say with 100% confidence God is not the center of these failed relationships. The pastor that mentored me and Sir Jonathan during our engagement displayed this concept beautifully. He drew a triangle out for Jonathan  in one of their one-on-ones and this is what it looked like:

triangle

Notice how when the husband and wife both pursue God, they let nothing get in their way, their relationship with Him is right, and they naturally come together. When they’re not pursuing God, they’re separate, apart, not one, not on the same page, and most certainly doing their relationship wrong. I read and know of horror stories of newly-weds and I can honestly say me and Sir Jonathan’s marriage just keeps getting better and better. Why? Because we both keep pursuing God. He’s the center and that’s where we meet, in Him who is love, patience, kindness, forgiveness, goodness. I’m not saying we’re perfect, we’re both still sinners, but we practice unconditional forgiveness, love, and respect, things we wouldn’t otherwise practice if God were not first in our lives and the center of our relationship.

See, when two hearts not only love Jesus, but submit to His Father’s will, they naturally submit to one another in the same way. Let’s face it, in marriage–in fact in any relationship–there will be times where you’re faced with a decision: submit to the other person’s will or follow your own. When you practice what Jesus taught and submit to one another, your fights go out the window. After all, doesn’t fighting come from you wanting your way and wanting the other person to submit to it? So if they do, you stop fighting them. Now imagine both of you submitting to one another. Both end up happy because both want to please the other just as Christ lived to please His Father.

So get your relationship with God on track, and all your other relationships will fall into place. That’s a promise.

Until next time, Know Your Worth.

Natasha