Wounds of a lover are faithful

Here are some interesting thoughts to consider. There are two different angles from two different Bible translations to help us to understand love and faithfulness a bit more deeply, from God's Word.

Proverbs 27:6 GNV (1599 Geneva Version)

6The wounds of a lover are faithful, and the kisses of an enemy are pleasant.

Proverbs 27:6 KJV (King James Version)

6Faithful are the wounds of a friend; but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.

The word "faithful" in the original Hebrew is 

Strongs #539
"aw-man"
"A primitive root; properly to build up or support; to foster as a parent or nurse; figuratively to render (or be) firm or {faithful} to trust or {believe} to be permanent or quiet; morally to be true or certain; once (in ; by interchange for 541) to go to the right hand: - hence {assurance} {believe} bring {up} {establish} + {fail} be faithful (of long {continuance} {stedfast} {sure} {surely} {trusty} {verified}) {nurse} (-ing {father}) ({put}) {trust} turn to the right."

Those who love us will say or do things that build us up and support us. But on occasion, those very same actions can sometimes hurt. 

Just remember that Godly love is not all about the roses and kisses. It is about permanence according to this word above. It is about being morally true and certain. It is about being established. It is about being firm. When someone loves you, you will know because they will not always agree with you. Sometimes they will take you to task from the Word of God. Immature people will say this kind of confrontation is "unloving" and "unkind". They run away from truth and accuse their lover of being unloving. But in reality, when truth is spoken in love, it is the purest form of love. When someone is in love with you, you will know because they will not hide the truth from you. They will present it to you as gently and kindly as they can, but it will be undiluted and uninhibited truth. Love and truth cannot be apart. They must both exist within the framework of any Godly relationship. This applies to romantic relationships, and also to friendships. It all starts and ends with Christ. 

~CJA

===Thurs. January 22/15 4:18pm EST===

Single and Complete

Colossians 2:9-10 KJV
9For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.
10And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power:

Today, I want to declare that I am single, and I am complete in Christ. Am I perfect? Not at all! But I have all the "tools" and supplies I need to grow in Christ. In that way, I am complete. Christ alone helps me to be restored to the original state of being created in the image of God.
 Since all of God's fullness dwells in Christ, and Christ is now living in me, I have everything I need in Him. I am connected to Jesus the Head of the Body, and I am in fellowship as a member of His Body.

If you truly take the Bible as inspired by God, then you must contend with Paul's letter to the Colossians here. Paul the Apostle was a single man, declaring that in order to be complete, one needs Christ. Yet some people look to romance or other relationships in order to be complete. But no one completes you like Christ.

That means, you can be married, and INcomplete. You can be single, and INcomplete. What makes the difference? Or rather, WHO makes the difference? It's CHRIST THE LORD! Each and every human being on earth is INcomplete until they enter into a life-giving, soul-saving, Spirit-breathing relationship with Christ Jesus. Your marital status has nothing to do with it.

Now if you are single, and wish to get married someday, by all means, please do! But I am telling you now: your spouse will not complete you like Christ the Lord. As a single, you need to allow the Holy Spirit to enter more fully into your life and let Him SHOW you the daily reality of this verse Col. 2:10.

Fellow believers, if you are in Christ, you are complete. You are NOT half of a person, and you are NOT a second-rate person. You have all that you need to complete the race in Jesus. That Greek word translated as "complete" is "playroo":

4137  πληρόω [PLHRO/W] {plēróō} \play-ro'-o\
from 4134; to make replete, i.e. (literally) to cram (a net), level up (a hollow), or (figuratively) to furnish (or imbue, diffuse, influence), satisfy, execute (an office), finish (a period or task), verify (or coincide with a prediction), etc.:--accomplish, X after, (be) complete, end, expire, fill (up), fulfil, (be, make) full (come), fully preach, perfect, supply.
See Greek 4134.

Wow! Did you catch that?
According to the inspired words of Paul,  Christ packs the blessings into us!
It is like a net, crammed with a supply of fish (as in the story of Jesus telling Peter where to let his fishing net down). In Christ, you are satisfied. You are perfected in Him. You are "fulfilled". You are accomplished. You are furnished. You are supplied.

Get the picture? Christ completes you. Not any other person, spouse or friend can do what Christ does for you.
Why? Because ALL the FULLNESS of the Godhead dwells in Christ in bodily form. Christ is God. And God is all in all.

I am single and complete, in Christ! I challenge you to say the same! Especially those of you who are single, I challenge you to really meditate on this word. Do you believe that this single man, Paul the Apostle was inspired by God? Will you take this chapter, and process it, munch on it mentally, and let it nourish you spiritually?

Say it with me, "I am complete in Christ". Now of course, there is a process involved. No tree pops up overnight from a seed. But the tree is contained in that seed. Just give that seed the right conditions and time, and there will indeed be a tree. I witnessed a tiny sapling of a pine grow up over the course of 20 years. I took pictures of it as a baby tree. Now... that same tree is one of the biggest on the block, producing pine cones.
 So Christ is in you, if you accepted Him. All you need is in the Seed, Christ Jesus.

Stay in Christ, and stay in fellowship with His Body, at one of His local churches.
Pursue those human relationships you desire, according to God's standards. Get married if you so desire. But do not look further than Christ to be complete. That is your present reality, as a believer in Christ and in His Word!

God bless!
-Pastor Curtis

~~~ Sat. January 10, 2015, 5:42am EST ~~~

God loves you, even when you feel unloved

Genesis 29:31-33 [1599 Geneva Bible (GNV)]

31 When the Lord saw that Leah was despised, he made her fruitful: but Rachel was barren.
32 And Leah conceived and bare a son, and she called his name Reuben: for she said, Because the Lord hath looked upon my tribulation, now therefore mine husband will love me.

Lack of fertility is not a punishment to Rachel here. Rather, fertility to Leah was the Lord's way of consoling a woman who was not loved by her husband. God cares about all the little details and big details of your life. He cares and hears if you are feeling unloved. Regardless of whether you are married or unmarried, male or female: God loves you NOW, TODAY. He sent Jesus as proof!

Jacob was married to Leah and the also to Rachel. But he was wrong to ignore Leah and give all his love to Rachel. Leah was feeling neglected both emotionally and sexually. She was hoping the birth of a son was going to win her the love of her husband. That Hebrew word for love actually means "human love, including family and sexual" according to Blue Letter Bible . Yet she initially missed the point: GOD LOVES HER!! She eventually caught on when she later gave birth to Judah and praised the Lord.

And yet.... she felt unloved by her husband, he did not give her his love either emotionally or sexually. That matters to God. God desires to fulfill our God-given desires. But it starts when we recognize HIM first, as Leah eventually did, and LOVE HIM BACK!

Today, in New Testament times, we have returned to God's actual plan for marriage: monogamy. One husband has one wife only, not multiple ones.  And God hears the cry of the ones who feel unloved. This can also apply to faithful men, who have been left or abandoned by their wife. God wants to show both men and women, all people of all nations, His perfect LOVE.

God gave Leah a child, Reuben ("a son"), to show His love for her, even when her natural husband did not love her.

Later on, God gave His OWN Son, Jesus Christ, to show His love for ALL of us. John 3:16
God bless! 

You are beautiful

You are Beautiful in God's Eyes

Genesis 29:17 GW

17Leah had attractive eyes, but Rachel had a beautiful figure and beautiful features.

Genesis 29:17 GENEVA

17And Leah was tender eyed, but Rachel was beautiful and fair. 

So I was looking through the Scriptures today and I discovered this little verse.

It is found in Genesis 29, when Jacob was making a deal with Laban to work for seven years in exchange for Rachel. Rachel was the woman he wanted to marry, yet he ended up with Leah first. 

Now I had to ask myself, why is this verse in Holy Scripture? Why are the daughters' appearances described? Because they do matter in this historical account, for one thing. 

But then the Lord reminded me of another reason: all women were created beautiful by God. Rachel was never described as "more beautiful than Leah". People read it and assume so. After all, Jacob favoured Rachel. But in reality, it was just his preference. God saw Leah and Rachel as both beautiful in their own ways. In fact, despite the beautiful shape of Rachel's body, Leah had prettier eyes. Eyes are like the window to the soul. That Hebrew word for eyes can also refer to the face in general. There is nothing quite like a beautiful face and pair of eyes. And what makes a face beautiful? The fact that God made you and chose you. What makes your body attractive? The fact that you are a creation of God. Variety is God's idea, and it was never meant to be used as a weapon to make one person feel inferior to another.

There was no indication that Leah was "ugly" in Scripture, only that Jacob loved Rachel more. 

So what I am getting at, is that you ladies all have something beautiful about you, every single one of you. Physically, emotionally, intellectually, and most importantly, spiritually. If you are in Christ, then you are being perfected in the Holy Spirit. 

Don't let men, other women, or society tell you what beauty is. Let God show you. Find acceptance in how HE has made you beautiful both inside and outside... and thank Him. Don't complain. Don't compare yourself to another. But compare yourself to Christ. Paul tells us that women are beautiful when they adorn a quiet and humble spirit. Indeed, all people would benefit from a humble spirit. 

I must admit, I did not expect to write this today, but I really felt the words come to me suddenly from the Lord as I read the passage. So I wrote them down, here for you! I hope this resonates with you. It is not a big revelation, just a simple truth. It does not matter if you have been single all your 
life or if you have been divorced or a widow. Your marital status and age have no bearing on your beauty. Beauty comes in many varieties. But nothing compares to the soul made beautiful by salvation in Christ.
You are beautiful inside and out. Christ made you, spirit, soul and body, a triune being. You are in His image.

God bless

Sat Jan 3, 2015 7:02am EST

What it's like to be sanctified

Have you ever experienced the process of sanctification? Perhaps you will relate to what I am about to describe from personal experience.

Perhaps you have regular fellowship with believers in your church. Perhaps you live alone, but you visit family once in a while. You are a single man, and in love with Christ the Lord. Every woman you meet is a dead end. Every email you send on dating sites is dismissed or missed. Those who did reply to you no longer reply. Those who are not believers try to woo you, and you distance yourself, knowing a marriage is doomed to fail when it is on unequal footing. God's calling is clear on your life, and on your location. He has maintained you and actually increased your abilities and resources over the years. He has made you productive and useful, despite your personal failures and utterly ignored desires.

You have been abandoned in marriage. You ended up divorced, but God protected and ministered to you through family and church. Now you are shaped into a message that God wants to share with other singles, and other divorced Christians. People who are hurting need to read your life. They need to see how you lean on Jesus. They need to see you, a broken yet healed minister of the Gospel, reaching out to help them from a place of true fellowship - the fellowship of suffering. They need hope that Christ is MORE than sufficient for a single Christian. They may be in regular fellowship, yet they often feel isolated, just like you. These people need healing and they need direction. They need to use their God-given gifts and their time to serve Jesus and His people. They look to you to help them see God's plan for singles in Scripture. He sets the solitary in families. Church families.

Perhaps you didn't understand the isolated feeling at first. You thought God didn't care about your desires for remarriage. You told yourself that your desires no longer matter because it was less painful than hoping for a miracle that never came.

Perhaps then, just in the last day or two, God has given you a word: "Sanctify". He has given you this word now, after 5 years of struggle and defeat and growth and victory.

So, after you received this word from the Lord, you sit down. You look it up in Scripture. You come across the prayer of Jesus for His disciples, both current ones and future ones:

John 17:16-21 GNV

¹⁶ They are not of the world, as I am not of the world.

¹⁷ Sanctify them with thy truth: thy word is truth.

¹⁸ As thou didst send me into the world, so have I sent them into the world.

¹⁹ And for their sakes sanctify I myself, that they also may be sanctified through the truth.

²⁰ I pray not for these alone, but for them also which shall believe in me, through their word,

²¹ That they all may be one, as thou, O Father, art in me, and I in thee: even that they may be also one in us, that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.   

Then you thank the Lord for helping you to understand what He has been doing for the past 5 years: He has been answering Jesus' 2000-year-old prayer request for you... requesting that God would sanctify you, set you apart from the world, make you holy to be used in service to God. He has been making you into a living letter, written with God's Spirit. Jesus has been praying for you to be ONE with Him and the Father, that the world might believe that Jesus Christ really did come from God.

You log in to your dating site. That person you were corresponding with has vanished, and is no longer a member. It serves to further prove what God spoke to you. You are sanctified for Him.

---

If you ever sense that isolated feeling, where the world is so far away, yet God is so close.... then count on it... you are yielding to the process of sanctification. He is preparing you as a chosen vessel. It is an ongoing process, and none of us have been perfected in that process just yet. But He is faithful and just to finish the work He began.

The music video below is my own completely original song from 2014 based upon Psalm 51 and upon my testimony.

God bless,

Pastor Curtis

Thurs. Jan. 1st, 2015 7:37pm EST

7 Benefits to Being Date-free

If you are a Christian single, perhaps you find yourself in the same position as me.

Perhaps you have been date-free for a number of years.

Perhaps it is time to consider the benefits you can reap from your current situation. I mean, most of us as singles would eventually like to meet and marry someone. But if this is not happening, then we need to ask the Lord to open our eyes to what He HAS given us in this season of being single and without a date. Yes the feelings of being unwanted and unloved are tough to resist. It is hard not to fall into a pity party slump. Believe me, I know. God had to deal with me a number of times. But He has successfully balanced out my thinking over the years. He is so good!!

SO... I want to stretch your thinking a little bit.

I have been living this way, just letting God do as He wills in my life. Now I never planned on being dateless (I planned for the opposite actually). However, it just happens to be this way. There is nothing wrong with me. I am perfectly acceptable just the way I am. I am no less of a person than any other human being. My worth is in Christ. If you are date-free, then there is nothing wrong with you. It just happens to be the season you are in. Nothing more, nothing less. You are perfectly acceptable and loved in Christ.

The last person I dated was my ex-wife before we married and that was about 10 years ago! And my marriage ended over 5 years ago. So I have experienced being date-free as a Christian single for a while now. Here are some of the many benefits I have discovered over the years.

1) You are able to focus more completely on the Lord Jesus Christ. He should always be your first and most central relationship anyway. But a single who is also date-free, is usually blessed above many others with extra time to seek Him and be with Him and be transformed by Him. God loves me, and He loves you. He thinks about you and wants to be with you every day. Did you know that? Do you really process that fact in the depths of your soul? Let God have a good 2 or 3 hours of your time at once. Maybe a half hour at a time. Anything. Just give Him your time and your heart and watch what amazing ways He will know you and love you. He deserves your love and attention in return!

2) You are able to heal more completely from past relationships. It is so important to not rush into dating or new relationships after a divorce or a breakup. Slow down. Take it easy. Regardless of whether you think you are "ready" to start over or not... you should never rush into something new.
 Breathe-- and let the Holy Spirit work on your soul. Let Him minister to you so that you can begin to mend. The longer a marriage is, the longer it takes to heal from it if it were to end. These are facts I have observed and lived through. Being date-free allows you to really recover and regroup. It teaches you to cling to Jesus, not another human being. Only the Lord can heal us and make us complete to our innermost being. Remember that. I have experienced so many sweet and powerful encounters with the Spirit of God and every time He meets me, He goes deep in my soul and makes things just a little bit better, a little more like Christ. He comforts me and allows me to be real and to come clean with Him. So much "junk" has to be brought to the surface - stuff we have been harbouring for years. God knows what it is, and where it is hiding in your soul. And He knows it takes time to remove all the "shards" of hurt that are embedded in the human soul. God's healing comes to our mind and emotions most often by a process. It is rarely instantaneous. Like a skilled and experienced surgeon who will work on a heart patient for hours at a time, God will gently operate on us. It may take years, depending on how we as individuals respond to His touch. Now, would you rather God discover and remove those past hurts, or would you like them to overflow and be dumped out on a new romantic interest? Just something to think over.

3) You can develop in your calling, vocation, and passions. If you haven't taken time to develop your calling in life, this is the time to do it, while you are single and date-free. Since becoming single again, and remaining date-free, I have been blessed by the Lord to really allow my creativity flow. I have not been sitting around waiting for someone to find me. No. I have chosen to write over 25-30 songs in the past 5-6 years and I have been pressing on with my Bible lessons which I teach weekly. I have also birthed a new ministry to Christian Singles and a couple of web pages to go along with that ministry.

http://www.churchonthego.ca/christiansingles.html

https://www.facebook.com/christiansinglesonthego

 I have taken on the piano at church since 2007. It was a huge blessing that was actually a gift to me at a time when my personal life was falling apart and I was in deep pain. My piano ministry came through loss and pain. Yet without the loss, I would not have been engaged in piano, worship leadership, and song writing. Praise God for His ability to turn something negative into a positive!

I only talk about myself to be an example for others. I know you too have passions and a calling for God. You have something to do today.
God wants you to develop who you are and what you care about in life. He wants you to discover what HE cares about and to focus on that with Him. What is your VOCATION? What has God called you to be a STEWARD over?

In addition to that: What are you going to share with a special someone if you never develop your own calling and interests? Take this time TODAY to explore what God has laid upon your heart and do what He wants you to do. I can say for certain that expanding and exploring my creative and Biblical passions has brought me much joy and fulfillment. God has actually used my music and writing, in part, to bring me healing.

4) Save money - This is a more straightforward benefit: if you aren't dating, you aren't spending money on dates! Men and women both spend money on gifts, fuel, and other things while dating and it can be very costly (not always, but usually.) What does the Lord want you to do with your money? Ask Him! Let's be wise stewards!

5) Save time - If you are not spending time with a date, your time is free to do other things. Time is valuable, like money. Spend it wisely. If the Lord has not opened the way for you to date right now, then ask Him what He wants you to spend your TIME on.

6) Keeping your heart (Proverbs 4:23) is easier. A long and hard lesson for me, has been to keep my heart. Out of it flow the issues of life. As long as you are date-free, it becomes easier to keep your heart in a Biblical way, without becoming unreachable. Too often, those who are love-starved and crave a deep connection of significant meaning are too willing to give their heart too soon. They are willing to spill their heart. Yet that other person may just walk away or hurt you. This is not to say we should go hide in a corner and never meet new people, but it is to say that we are better able to keep a close eye on our heart when we are date-free. If God has not opened up a dating opportunity for you yet, perhaps He is helping you protect and guard your heart. Everything He does for us is out of His immense love for us.

7) It is easier to practice sexual abstinence. As a serious Bible-believing Christian, this is so huge. Sex (and cohabitation) between man and woman is designed for Biblical marriage (a covenant signed by witnesses). See Romans 13:13 KJV and Hebrews 13:4 KJV. If you remember my last post on this blog, you will recall I listed 10 benefits to practicing abstinence as a Christian Single. Plus I gave one "bonus benefit"! As long as we aren't spending any time with a person of the opposite sex, abstinence becomes easier to practice. Now it is true that other kinds of temptations will always be around, regardless of our relationship status. But if you are date-free, it is easier to guard your sexual purity. Sexual purity is very good and very beneficial to you now and also in the future!
---

So these are just some of the benefits I have discovered in my personal journey. In whatever circumstance you find yourself in, always seek to find the good in it, and be thankful for the benefits God has given you in it. The whole world may be screaming "It's bad to be single and without a date", but this is nonsense. Both dating and not dating have their strengths. Both marriage and singleness are proper gifts of God. One has this kind, another has that kind. (1 Corinthians 7:7). Seasons do change. Some seasons will be permanent. Others will not be so permanent. Keep seeking Jesus and His will for your singleness.

 The Lord's Spirit softly whispers to those who call on (and trust in) Jesus: I am here. I am with you. My favour and grace is all you need.

Bless you!
~CJA

===Sun Dec 14 2014 11:51PM EST===

10 Benefits To Abstinence

And now for a widely unpopular topic, with a positive spin: the Benefits of Abstinence as a Christian Single.
This post is going to be a touchy subject for many of us, but it needs to be clarified: There are many benefits to abstinence in the single life. There is a reason why God tells us to wait until marriage before having sex.

 

Keep in mind, I have been married so I know both sides of the topic I am discussing here. I have only ever been with my wife, and it was after we got married. She walked away on me, but I was true til the end of the marriage in 2009. I have since remained abstinent. And I am still alive and well!

Now before we continue, it is important I note that I am not writing this to draw attention to our past sins. We all have something negative in the past, BUT we simply confess it to Jesus and He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us TODAY. (1 John 1:9-10). That is Good News!!
You are cleared from your past if you repent and turn to Jesus!

So the point of this article today is NOT to focus on what we DID in the PAST. The past is covered in the Blood of Jesus and forgiven. Rather it is to focus on what we practice TODAY! Today is the day we are in, and today is the day we can make a choice to either stay pure, or get pure. This post is meant to encourage and challenge you, and also to help generate new thoughts.

Scripture teaches that sex is designed by God ONLY for marriage (a licenced covenant wedding with signed witnesses), and so is cohabitation between man and woman. See Romans 13:13- "chambering" is disallowed (Greek: KOYTAY- means both sex and cohabitation) and Hebrews 13:4 "Marriage" (Greek: GAMOS) makes the "bed" (Greek: KOYTAY) pure. (Read in the King James version or the Geneva Version). 

Romans 13:13 KJV

13Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying.

Romans 13:13 GENEVA VERSION

13So that we walk honestly, as in the day: not in gluttony, and drunkenness, neither in chambering and wantonness, nor in strife and envying.

Hebrews 13:4 KJV

4Marriage is honourable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge.

Hebrews 13:4 GENEVA VERSION

4 Marriage is honourable among all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge.

Those of us who are single, or single-again need to find encouragement not in what we CAN'T do, but in what benefits we DO have as singles!

There are 10 benefits (at least) to sexual abstinence as a Christian Single:

1) There is a GODLY REWARD for keeping God's Word. (Psa. 19:7-14)

2) You stay UNTANGLED IN CONSCIENCE and EMOTIONS - keep your emotions and spirit from being entangled with people who have no intention of loving you or marrying you. And it keeps your conscience clear. Sometimes WE are the one doing the hurting, sometimes we are BEING hurt. Either way, abstaining from sex outside of marriage is a great way to minimize hurts and entanglements.

3) HEALTH - prevent the further spread of sexually transmitted diseases.

4) PREGNANCY PREVENTION- Prevent unexpected/undesired conception. Abstinence has a 100% Success rate!

5) WORTH - you elevate your SELF WORTH when you abstain from sexual relations outside of marriage.
Do you know your identity? Who are you in Christ? (1 Corinthians 6:19-20) You are a HOLY TEMPLE! Your Body has been purchased by God with the blood of the Lamb!
A man of self-worth in Christ will say: "Only the woman who marries me is worthy of this temple of the Spirit- which is my body."
A woman of self-worth in Christ will say: "Only the man who marries me is worthy of this temple of the Spirit- which is my body."

We are made in the image of God. And God operates in covenants, like marriage, when it comes to relationships.

6) BECOME STRONGER AT SELF CONTROL - Self control -temperance- is a fruit of the Spirit. No one is perfect at it, but we can all work at it by God's grace! It is highly valued by God and is very essential to living a non-destrucive lifestyle. Everyone needs self control!
What is better? A proper dam that blocks/controls the water and generates electric power, or a broken dam resulting in a flooded-out town with costly damage?

7) CLEARER PERSPECTIVE - if and when you are dating, it is already tough to stay objective and try to guage where you are at in a relationship. Practicing sexual abstinence gives you a CUTTING EDGE of PERSPECTIVE that others will not have as a single in the dating world. Some will give their body in a relationship where the sex is nice, but everything else is a disaster. They often cannot see clearly enough to end the relationship, nor do they usually find the will power to do so, because the flesh hates to give up sex once it has been experienced.

8) HEALTHIER ATTITUDE TO RELATIONSHIPS in general- we are a spirit, we have a soul, and we live in a body. (1 Thess. 5:23) The Spirit comes first. We must live by the Spirit, and let the soul (mind, will and emotions) and body be ruled by our spirit. When we realize that people are spiritual beings FIRST, before they are soulish or sexual, we begin to approach relationships differently. We begin to focus on spirit and soul more than the body.
By practicing abstinence til marriage, we are allowing ourselves to see others' spirit and soul more.

9) ENHANCES SELFLESSNESS - Abstinence is an AWESOME way to practice being selfless, and to focus on serving others before yourself.

10) You are PRESERVED and PURE!
If the son mentioned in Proverbs 5:1-14 was wise, he would stay clear of fornication and adultery and enjoy the benefits:
Protection of honour and mercy (v9)
Protection of strength and labour (v10)
Protection of flesh and body (v11).

BONUS BENEFIT: 11) ELEVATES SEX to a place of honour, as within marriage. If you have a high opinion of sex as I do, then you will see the BENEFIT to waiting until marriage. It tells everyone, including any person you date, how special you think the sexual union is and how special God made it to be.

If you stay away from the wrong influences and act like your temple is WORTH something to God, and to others, and to yourself then you will see the BENEFITS to abstinence! Don't panic if this was not your way before. As I said, Jesus is more than willing to forgive and cleanse you. Just confess to Him, right here, right now. Let Him set you on this amazing path. It is a disciplined one, and unpopular in the world. It is difficult at times. It will test you. Rely on the Holy Spirit, because it is so very rewarding, and easy on the conscience.

God bless!

Dec 4th 2014 1:03am EST