Spirituality Guide

Sometimes my son will ask what is it like to see Jesus. He wonders if Jesus is ready to see him. Or, he’ll say he’s ready to see Jesus. Very often, I’ll shush this kind of thinking, saying to him, “when Jesus is ready to see you, He’ll come and get you. So, He’s not ready!” Or at least, I’m not.

Just recently, I lost a loved one that was near and dear to me to a prolonged illness. I was so saddened and disheartened to see them leave. Life just would not be the same without them. I thought about how different things would be now that they weren’t around. I thought about how different things would be because I wouldn’t be able to see their faces, hear their laughter and feel their presence. But even though life would not be the same, I have to take peace in nowing that they have found peace, eternal peace, through dying. Death brings peace. No more pain. No more sorrow, heartache or discontentment. Everything will be erased. There will be peace.

If you have ever lost a loved one to a debilitating sickness, take a moment of joy in knowing that they are now at peace. Never do they have to suffer, be in pain or angst, or be uncomfortable any longer. Peace has found them because death has come.

Have you ever wondered what you should be doing with your life? What is it that God wants you to do? Don’t worry, a lot of people have this puzzling question just about every day of their lives. Whenever we are still “searching” our souls looking for what it is we should be doing, anything we do can turn into a monotonous, robotic act. I know that there are a ton of things that God wants me to do in service to Him and with my life. Aside from the honor, respect and obey Him as The Deity, I should also be performing acts of service in ministry to the Most High God. But why am I not doing them? I’ll share with you why. 

Loving God is easy, but living for Him is a challenge. If anyone tells you otherwise, they’re not being honest. The world we live in is full of challenges and distractions that can bombard our physical, emotional and mental spirits a great portion of the time. Remember when Paul declared in Romans 7, “When I would do good, evil is ever present.� Paul is saying EVERY TIME he tries to do good, there is always something struggling against him, trying to get him to do the other thing or go the other way. Evil. A powerful thing. Although we can find ourselves at these crossroads on more than one occasion, there is hope that we can make it. But more on that…tomorrow. When we are given a task to do by God, why does it feel so hard to do? You see, we have a nature within us that wills us to do the opposite of what God wants. Has he commissioned you to minister His word? Has he given you a specific task to do concerning a needy family? Is there anything in your life that you know God wants you to do and you’re trying to find the strength to do it? Let me help you by showing you how you can be successful at it: 

Acknowledge first that God is all-knowing and wants only the best for you. He will not give you a task to do if He did not feel certain that you could do it. Just trust Him. Research in the Bible and in any pertinent outside materials the job that God is assigning to you. Find out what the assignment means and what’s required from you. 

Pray and ask God earnestly for His leading and guiding as you do what it is He has assigned to you. Keeping yourself aligned with His will constantly will be invaluable. When God assigns something, He does not error. Once you become comfortable in this, knowing He doesn’t make mistakes, you will be able to perform your task with peace.

The late-night talk show, Baisden After Dark, created quite a stir with me the other night while I was watching it. The topic: Is Pornography Becoming Mainstream? The topic is not what stirred me up but rather it was the panel and their response.

There was a minister on there who was on the panel and was asked his opinion about pornography and its place in a traditional marriage. There were a few others on the panelwith varied views, but I was quite curious about the minister’s freedom-of-porn-with-the-Christian stance. Now by default, most Christians are fundamentalists and believe fully in the sanctity of marriage. God ordained and fashioned the marriage after the church. Sex within the Christian marriage is good, right and the bed undefiled, right? Right. But, where is there allowance for multiple parties in that undefiled bed?

The minister on the panel was clear in his view of allowing pornography to be a “healthy” part of marriage and fixing any ailments the marriage may have. WHAT!!! Since most marriages experience a 50% divorce rate, why on earth would you introduce other elements into an already potentially bad situation and increase the likelihood of the marriage not working?

I submit to you that in order for there to be a healthy marriage, God has to first be the center and focus of it, faith-based in Him. Secondly, there doesn’t need to be any outside elements or distractions introduced into a unit that was only designed for two. What is pornography? More than those two I guarantee.

Is Pornography Becoming Mainstream? I certainly hope not!!