Have you read Hosea recently? If you haven’t- you totally should. I read the first two chapters of it a few hours ago, and it convicted the mess out of me! It was so challenging, yet it offers so much hope.
In Hosea, God tells His prophet to go marry a whore. They have three kids together, then Gomer (Hosea’s wife) leaves and returns to her previous lifestyle. God uses this as a parallel to the way that we behave towards God.
Let’s take a moment to consider that, shall we?
God just called us whores. That is not supposed to be flattering. He is pointing out our tendency to waste our affections on things that don’t deserve them. Hosea 2:13 says that she went after her lovers but forgot the Lord. It took me a long time to realize how serious of an offense that was. She forgot about God to chase after the physical attention from men. As I’m reading this, I’m thinking to myself, ‘This chick is DUMB. Doesn’t she see what she is missing?!” And then I remember my own life, and the way I used to behave before God graciously saved me.
In high school, I was great at playing the “Christianity” game. I would go to church every week, obey my parents, and behave the way any “good Christian girl” should behave. But it was all so superficial! It didn’t penetrate my heart and soul; it didn’t define me to my very core. It was all a game to me. As time went on, I was quite pleased to forget about God and chase after the affection of guys around me. In God’s great mercy, He prevented me from making any huge mistakes, and reminded me of who He was. That was my Hosea 2:14-20 moment; God hedged up my path (2:6) and prevented me from making any huge mistakes that I would surely regret later. He mercifully allured me to the dessert, spoke tenderly to me, then betrothed me to Himself. I’ve learned so much about God, but more importantly, I’ve fallen so deeply in love with my heavenly Father, and come to experience so many new facets of His character. He is absolutely enticing. If you haven’t experienced Him yet, I would strongly encourage you to do so. Trust me- He always keeps things exciting. He is the only one worthy of our affection.
Which brings me to my main point:
We need to realize who we are really married to. I am tired of watching girls set all of their hopes and dreams on a wedding and a husband that is supposed to swoop in and fix all of their problems! Girls, please hear me- HE CAN’T FIX YOUR PROBLEMS. He is human and broken, just like you and me. He will fail. He will let you down. He will disappoint you, and hurt your feelings. And I’m sure he will apologize, and he won’t mean to fail you- but he’s broken. It will inevitably happen. Don’t worry- you’ll do the same to him.
But there is good news- our real knight in shining armor has already come. He died on a cross for you and for me, and His Name is Jesus. He came to seek and save what was lost; He died to save us from our sins; He rose from the dead and is currently seated at the right hand of the Father, interceding for you and me. He is preparing a home for us, and one day (hopefully soon!), He is coming back to bring us home.
So stop waiting for your “knight in shining armor” to come in to the picture! Stop wasting the present by constantly daydreaming about the future. Live in the present, where God has placed you today. Fulfill His purpose for your life know. Prince Charming will take care of himself, and God will bring the two of you together in His own perfect timing. And when he does show up, he won’t be able to fix everything. He will be flawed, just like you and me. And he will never replace God’s place in your life. God should always be your first priority- married or not.
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Jesus as our High Priest
Let me start by first saying that our God is awesome. His love continues to amaze me each day. Not only did He die for us, but He LIVES to make intercession for us every moment of every day. Isn’t that amazing?! But wait, it gets even better! He live to make intercession for us, but He also invites us to take part in His plan; He allows us to share the Gospel with others, and to intercede for them in prayer. What an unmerited blessing!
In the past two years of praying for Ryan and the hockey team, God has taught me a lot about Himself. One part of His character that I have truly fallen in love with is His persistence in intercession. Intercession is emotionally taxing! Truly interceding for someone and submitting them fully and completely to the Father’s will requires such a raw trust and vulnerability that I was previously not familiar with. Yet that is one of the characteristics of the Trinity. And God lets us partake in a glimpse of that! Hebrews tells us “in the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence. Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered. And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him, being designated by God a high priest after the order of Melchizedek” (Hebrews 5:7-10). Later, Hebrews 7 says “but he holds his priesthood permanently, because he continues forever. Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them” (Hebrews 7: 24-25).
When Jesus was here on earth, He prayed to God with passion and emotion. He didn’t offer up stoic prayers about meaningless things. He was open and honest with His Father. He submitted to His Father’s will. He trusted His Father. THAT is how we are called to pray! Honestly, genuinely, trusting in the goodness of our God. Jesus also was named our high priest forever; not only did He know how to pray to God on earth, but He continues to talk to Him even today! There is such amazing communication within the Trinity. Jesus is interceding for us, God is always listening to us, and when we aren’t sure how to pray, the Holy Spirit is there with groans that we can’t even comprehend!
Additionally, we are able to be involved in intercessory prayer for others. God has been so patient as I’ve learned about this. While praying for the hockey team, God has had to teach me a lot. I wish I could say that I have always been mature and a fast learner- but that would make me a liar. I have thrown so many temper tantrums, questioned and doubted God, and tried to make my own plan more times than I care to admit. God has been SO patient as He’s taught me to trust in Him. His plan is not always identical to mine (in fact, it is rarely even SIMILAR to mine!), but I know that His plan is always better. No purpose of His can be thwarted, and He fights valiantly for His children. He is so worthy of our trust and affection!
In the past two years of praying for Ryan and the hockey team, God has taught me a lot about Himself. One part of His character that I have truly fallen in love with is His persistence in intercession. Intercession is emotionally taxing! Truly interceding for someone and submitting them fully and completely to the Father’s will requires such a raw trust and vulnerability that I was previously not familiar with. Yet that is one of the characteristics of the Trinity. And God lets us partake in a glimpse of that! Hebrews tells us “in the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence. Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered. And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him, being designated by God a high priest after the order of Melchizedek” (Hebrews 5:7-10). Later, Hebrews 7 says “but he holds his priesthood permanently, because he continues forever. Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them” (Hebrews 7: 24-25).
When Jesus was here on earth, He prayed to God with passion and emotion. He didn’t offer up stoic prayers about meaningless things. He was open and honest with His Father. He submitted to His Father’s will. He trusted His Father. THAT is how we are called to pray! Honestly, genuinely, trusting in the goodness of our God. Jesus also was named our high priest forever; not only did He know how to pray to God on earth, but He continues to talk to Him even today! There is such amazing communication within the Trinity. Jesus is interceding for us, God is always listening to us, and when we aren’t sure how to pray, the Holy Spirit is there with groans that we can’t even comprehend!
Additionally, we are able to be involved in intercessory prayer for others. God has been so patient as I’ve learned about this. While praying for the hockey team, God has had to teach me a lot. I wish I could say that I have always been mature and a fast learner- but that would make me a liar. I have thrown so many temper tantrums, questioned and doubted God, and tried to make my own plan more times than I care to admit. God has been SO patient as He’s taught me to trust in Him. His plan is not always identical to mine (in fact, it is rarely even SIMILAR to mine!), but I know that His plan is always better. No purpose of His can be thwarted, and He fights valiantly for His children. He is so worthy of our trust and affection!
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