Magic Light Switch
Psalms 51:12
12 Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.
Have you ever had one of those days when it seems you woke up in a fog and it never subsides? As you try to go about your routine, you find it difficult to concentrate, losing your focus with the smallest of distractions. When I find myself in this state, I always wish there was a magic light switch I could use to “turn my lights on.”
The same is true when I find myself in a spiritual fog because of sin and separation from fellowship of God. The difference is, in this case, I can clear the fog and let the Son-rays flow through by simply getting into God’s Word and praying. Before long everything is back to as it should be and I discover my relationship with God has been gracefully restored.
Now if I could only find that silly light switch to get the rest of my act together…
Husbands and Wives, Tiger and Cheaters
Ephesians 5:25
25 Husbands, love your wives , even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;
The love between a wife and her husband is a sacred love. In a time when it seems its more popular to be (or act) single than married, we’ve seen this “special” relationship diminish and be replaced with live-ins, casual dating, and affairs. God never intended for people to live their lives this way. Even in the rush to experiment or live the free life, one must not overlook the true joy of matrimony that God ordained.
Recently newspapers and magazines have been filled with allegations of marital infidelity surfacing in the marriage of Tiger Woods and his wife, Elin of five years. The drama started to unfold November 27 around 2:30am when the golf superstar crashed his Cadillac Escalade into a fire hydrant and then into a tree outside the couple’s Windermere, Florida home. Over the next few days a number of young women have come forward claiming to have had an affair with Woods. At the time of this writing the number has risen to six. It seems with each new revelation that the media is becoming more critical; migrating from impartial news reporting to a very personal attack on Woods, and even acting as his judge and jury.
My first response to the whole situation is rather simplistic: What does it matter if Tiger was unfaithful once with another woman or many times with several different women? If the allegations prove to be correct, then the final analysis is the same whether a one-time or habitual offender – he is an adulterer. There is no gray area where this is concerned. He has either been true to his wedding vows or broken them, plain and simple.
It is beyond the scope of what I’m writing here today to answer the questions of, “Why,” or try to look for some kind of rationale, even justification. No matter the attempt, we will immediately arrive back at the adultery. If he is indeed guilty, he has violated that special relationship and bond that he shared with his wife and two young children.
The answer, of course, is yes, but it is conditional.
To begin with, Tiger has to put away his mistresses and repent of any and all adultery. Next he has to confess every infidelity to his wife and earnestly ask for her forgiveness. Tiger will then need to examine himself closely and make some character adjustments, and refocus on his family, recommiting his heart and body to his wife and children. Finally, Elin will have to find it in her heart to forgive her husband of his infidelities and strongly work towards the healing of herself, marriage, and family. It will take time and probably some outside counselling to someday achieve a level of trust again. Once that beautiful “special” relationship is damaged, it is more difficult to reconstruct than it was to establish originally. It seems rather trivial to say, but its so true in this instance; only time will tell.
You know my friend, all of this drama seems all too familiar to me. As I read the articles about Tiger and Elin Woods, I am strangely reminded of the plight of ancient Israel in the pages of the Old Testament. How many times do we read of them being seduced by their own lusts into the sin of idolatry, which by very definition is spiritual adultery. Time after time God, out of His great love and mercy towards them, would send a great leader, a deliverer to lead them back to worshiping Him. The Israelites would be happy and content for a while, and then lapse right back into their old ways, completely ignoring the warnings of God. It seemed to be an unending cycle; walk with God, reject God and worship idols, be chastised by God, return to fellowship with God, walk with God… and so on.
On a more personal level, I’m also reminded of my own spiritual walk with God and how easily I can find myself separated from glorious fellowship with Him because of sin in my life. As John, the Revelator put it, I had, “left my first love.” It seems so easy to follow after the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life (1 John 2:16) in comparison to remaining faithful to my True Love, Jesus Christ. Just as the children of Israel so long ago, I had committed spiritual adultery. Only after confessing my sin and receiving the blessed restoration from a merciful and loving God was my relationship reconciled.
Did everything become okay overnight?
No. I did receive forgiveness but I still had to deal with the circumstances of my sin. Through time I had to prove myself faithful and committed to the Lord.
While it is unusual for me to write about current events and especially the personal lives of so-called celebrities, I felt strongly that I shouldn’t pass up this opportunity to share how this story straight from today’s headlines so clearly demonstrates our sometimes strained relationship with God and how He is long-suffering, patient, and merciful with us through the whole process. God loves us in a way we cannot understand in this present world. He gave His only Son to die for us so that we could have sweet fellowship with Him, not just now but for eternity.
Christians, we need to turn to him and cling to him. As 1 John 2:15 tells us, we need to “love not the world,” but we need to love only Him. I want to encourage you today to put away the sin that stands in your way of perfect fellowship with the Father. Trust God to restore your fellowship with Him. Return to your First Love, our blessed Savior, Jesus Christ!
I hope that this meditation encourages you in a special way today. May God richly bless you!
Don’t Blame God For Everything!
James 1:13-17
13 Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil , neither tempteth he any man:
14 But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.
15 Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.
16 Do not err, my beloved brethren.
17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.
A good friend of mine and I were having a discussion about this passage the other day when I was reminded that there are so many Christians running around without any inclination of what these verses are talking about. Years ago it was very popular to hear the phrase, “The devil made me do it.” For some reason or another, many have carried that same idea over and applied it to God.
You see my friend, we are not pawns in some cosmic chess game that God and the devil are playing out. We are also not God’s “whipping boys” for Him to take out His displeasure on with unfair punishment. As a matter of fact, I believe God is getting blamed for a great many thing He hasn’t done.
How many times have you heard someone say something like this, “If God was a loving God how could He allow there to be war… or famine… or children dying from all sorts of hideous diseases… or…” you fill in the blank.
God is a loving God and He’s not pouring out His anger on mankind – at least not in this present age. The Bible does tell us about a time when God will do that, but that time is not now. Presently we live in a time of grace and that’s how God chooses to deal with us.
Friend, I don’t know about you but I’m sure glad He deals with me according to His grace. It is this very grace that allowed me to ask Jesus into my heart and to save me and He can do the same for you.
In our passage the writer James makes it crystal clear. God isn’t sitting up in heaven waiting to throw evil lightening bolts at you when you do something wrong. In fact, He is the giver of great and wonderful gifts and blessings.
True, in His wisdom He allows certain hardships to occur (maybe for our own growth or even so He may receive glory). Sometimes we just don’t know – we just trust.
So today, be thankful for the grace that God bestows upon you. Also be thankful for the challenges He allows so that we might come forth triumphant and closer to Him.
I hope that this meditation encourages you in a special way today. May God richly bless you!
