DETERMINATION IN SPITE OF TEMPTATION

Good morning ladies! Or for those of you who are no up yetl, good afternoon! I bed you can tell just by reading this blog that I am feeling chipper. Happy and full of joy, right?  WRONG! I am happy and joyful, but only because I am a daughter of the Most High God. I have been doing this study “Made to Crave” with 40,000 women from all over the world and well, let’s just say it has not been easy. See, we were made to crave “something” and that is God! Our desires and needs all stem from a need for a full relationship with our creator. Sadly, we substitue Him for food, success, drug, alcohol, sex, money, fame…get the point? Also, we tend to indulge a little. Now, don’t look so shocked and condemned!  I am in this thing with you. I have had to do some serious soul searching and I realized I am a needy human that is severely starving and CRAVING my creator.  I thought I was good. Ya know?  I thought I had this Christian thing figured out. After all, I have been a Christian for 27 years. I have been saved and filled with Holy Ghost. I have taught sunday school, study the bible like a maniac, love my neighbors, baptized in water, and so on…

Guess what?  I am a deficient Christian. Yep, you heard me right. I have been malnourished for years and didn’t realize it. I crave things. I crave sweets, pasta and bread.  Olive Garden and Panera Bread are on my speed dial. One day, I was at church and I overheard a comment made about someone that had a habit, which I won’t put on here. Anyway, I felt the Holy Ghost quicken my spirit and I suddenly felt condemnation.The kicker is it wasn’t about me. It wasn’t about the person they were talking about. It was about the person talking. God showed me something I have never forgotten and probably won’t ever forget.  He showed me the church (as in His people) are sinning. Yes, we are sinners. We like to sit and point fingers at each other and judge and condemn, but we are guilty of gluttony. We will run people off because they don’t look, act, speak, or dress like we think they ought to. I told the church this one sunday morning. Sin is a sin. Christians love to eat. And if you notice, there are no? Who are we to tell somebody how to live a Christian life? Didn’t Jesus tell the woman that was caught in the very act of adultery to turn around and look for her accusers?  They had dropped their rocks and turned away. They were guilty as well. And I have often thought, how did they catch her?  Were they peeping through windows?  Did they follow her around until she went inside with a man and go in after her and say they caught her?  Very disturbing set of circumstances. Those men were so caught up in condemning her, they didn’t take the time to check themselves and see they were sinning too.

I said all that to say this, we need to be so full of God that when we are faced with temptation, no matter what that may be, we can be strong enough to resist. We need to be determined in spite of temptation. Seeking the Lord for a relationship with Him is our main goal. Not just going to heaven to avoid Hell!  We need to purpose in hearts to make God a priority, He should be first in hearts and on our mind every day, all day long. Our desires and cravings should be for Him.  Determination requires some work on our part. After all, our Lord died for us! Whatever we do here for Him, is the least we could do. For He knows what we go through, He knows what our weaknesses are. He made us to crave things. HIM! If gossiping is a problem you have, then there needs to be more God in you than you in you. Sex, drugs, alchol, food, tobacco, selfishness, laziness, and I could go on all day! We need God more today than ever. And whether you like it or not, believe it or not, He is coming soon to take His people home. We need to be ready. We need to be determined! We have a race to finish, a work to complete before He does. So let me encourage you today in your personal set of circumstances. God knows. God understands. God is merciful. God is waiting. He is waiting on you to just look up and ask to draw closer and closer to Him.  And I promise He will take care of everything for you. You might have to do a little work or suffer a little, but I guarantee that He will and has done, the majority of the work for you. After all, He didn’t ask that you die on a cross or fast fourty days in the desert. He did it for you. All you have to do is trust and believe and stay close to Him until He comes back to take us home.  Until then remember “No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.” I Corinthians 10:13

Love you more,

Marsha