The Idolatry Of Marriage

Growing up it was just assumed that I would get married, living in a Christian house the ideology is focused on the family and in my upbringing I honestly have been groomed to be a husband. I have no hard feelings against these facts but it did mold in me a heart issue that I believe extends past me and also into my brothers and sisters. The heart issue being broken down into these parts: I raised my plans above The Lord assuming that was the only way he was going to use me in relationships but he stirred this up in my heart “my word is true and I keep my promises” (Numbers 23:19) and then I thought to myself when has The Lord promised me this wife and marriage? By me saying The Lord has given me unto marriage I risk making my Lord out to be a liar and saying my ways are higher then his. I also fell to raising my wife (if so be) above another promise God gave to me “I will make you my bridegroom”. Has my heart turned away from God so much that I focus on a want for a physical marriage which is a blur of the reflection of what he truly longs for me to have even more so? Which is eternity with him as His. And looking at Paul when he says in

1 Corinthians 7:7–8 (NIV84) “7 I wish that all men were as I am. But each man has his own gift from God; one has this gift, another has that. 8 Now to the unmarried and the widows I say: It is good for them to stay unmarried, as I am.”

and then later on ….

1 Corinthians 7:32-33 (NKJ) “32 But I want you to be without care. He who is unmarried cares for the things of the Lord—how he may please the Lord. 33 But he who is married cares about the things of the world—how he may please his wife.”

I like how gotquestions.org says it this way “Notice that he says some have the gift of singleness and some the gift of marriage. Although it seems that nearly everyone marries, it is not necessarily God's will for everyone.” referring to verse 7, and I agree with this. It is not to say that being married or the yearning for marriage is wrong, but that even if you have that yearning, God can be calling you to focus on him more, and if it is to be a permanent single his role for you is to focus on him a lot more. to quote from gotquestions.org again “It is not a sin to remain single, even for your entire life. The most important thing in life is not finding a mate and having children, but serving God.” HOW I HAVE LIED TO MYSELF ABOUT THIS! And I am sure that others are caught in this lie. Because I have been the one to say, “my focus is on God” but then my mind goes to “plan to get a wife” or better yet “plan wait for a wife”. We can easily hide our idolatry in our current singleness, I did, cause my heart said I will get my wife in time and my heart never kept open singleness as being Gods plan. Let me say it this way: In your current state God is using you to serve him (if you are letting him), you have a ministry whether you know it or not, and by moving from a single to a married person your ministry WILL CHANGE. And that may or may not be Gods heart for you. while you are single be open to remaining single and how he is using you. because ultimately if he does have a person in store for you then that will be put into place without you lusting after it.

Let me close with a prayer that I have prayed personally:
God, you say my heart is deceitful, but you say you have a plan for me, you say that if I ask, you will answer whether the answer is what I want to hear. Lord I struggle with singleness, and I want to be close to someone, Lord in my singleness fill that void in me, for I truly urge for the only one who can fill me and no other person can make me feel the way I long for. May my mind be on you and you alone, that if you place someone in my life lord that I am blessed and if you place me with no one that I am still blessed for you fill the gap and my desire remains in you. May I hope for your higher calling, may I stay in your word and act out your decrees. For I wait for you to call my name. May it be true, Amen

God has given you the gift of singleness, and there is no middle ground you ether have the gift of marriage or the gift of singleness there is no gift of being in-between. So even if you are courting or dating you still have the gift of singleness. Lets start living in it!

A Call to Arms: Revisited

This was my first post. I am reposting and adding to it because I believe its theme is the most important one. We are in a battle! Regardless of the ways some of our brothers and sister might downplay this mind set it is. This is a battle not just for ourselves but for others. Our personal ultimate victory was one at the cross and the moment we gave our lives to Jesus. We "no longer live but Christ lives in us." (Gal 2:20) At that moment our interests ceased to matter. "the whole world is under the sway[translated literaly in the lap of] the evil one." God "wants all men to be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth." And as more and more are saved HIS fame will spread throughout the world. His fame, His glory is all that we should care about. That's the bottom line. So in order to make ourselves pure vessles and special instruments of His plan; we need to let everything else fall by the way side. "Devote [ourselves] to prayer, being alert and thankful." Everyone says they want a Revival in our time. How bad do we really want it? It can start today. Right now if we devote our every action to His glory; doing everything as if unto the Lord. If there is something you do that you can't possible rationalize as an offering to the Lord, it probably falls into the category of the doubtful things and the Lord might be asking you to let it go. "Do not deceive yourselves. If any one of you thinks he is wise by the standards of this age, he should become a "fool" so that he may become wise." 1 Corinthians 3:18 I hope my letter below ignite a holy fire. P.S. If you don't go to my church I wanna hang with your church young adults. <HIT ME UP>
- Dom out-
Please tell me if any of this discourse is a lie.

Coming into the kingdom of God was like awakening from a dreamlike state. The initial euphoric feelings were almost immediately put in check by the reality of life in a world that is rejecting Christ Jesus. Now the recruit is out of the deception, prime for discipleship and is forced to engage in warfare. As the mirage clears, he is suddenly aware of the war that has been raging since the beginning. We used to live in ignorance. We wandered the world in disillusionment, blinded walking in darkness. Now we see the fierce battles as they are waged on our streets before our very eyes. There are casualties everyday, people die and every death is a result of the struggle for men’s souls. It was only by the unfathomable grace of God that we survived. The recruit looks out on the world of darkness. The only other light that can be seen are the tracers soaring skyward day and night as men and demon put forth their feeble defense against God. The guns are just one sound in the roar of chaos. All eyes glare, with hatred, toward the heavens shouting, cursing and blaspheming Jesus Christ the risen one. And in front of it all is Lucifer himself; he raises himself above all others raising his hands as the conductor leading the masses in a wicked song, the battle cry of rebellion. His hordes are everywhere. They invaded the earth when they fell and they have all but subdued it. They are always fortifying their positions, tightening their chokehold on mankind. They desperately fight to defend the world from every “intrusion of God.” Even in the end when God pours out his judgments on the earth they will still blind the people. The word says that even after the fifth trumpet,
“The rest of the people, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands to stop worshiping demons and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone and wood, which are not able to see, hear or walk. And they did not repent of their murders, their sorceries, their sexual immorality, or their thefts.”(Rev 9:20-21)
Time is their enemy, as it races toward their destruction. They execute as many of their slaves as possible. They go willingly unaware of their plight. The air is filled with poisonous lies; the masses are kept sedated, blind to the truth and virtually dead. “The whole world is under the control of the evil one.” (1 John 5:19)
But now you have been given the antidote to the poison of death. It is salvation through the blood of Jesus. You, the recruit, became a soldier in the resistance.
“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”(Eph 6:12)
You became one of us. We are the chosen ones (no cliche intended) the elect pre-destined to do great things. (Eph 2:10)
We have faith in our Lord and savior Jesus
“Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death- even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that a the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of the Father.”
I myself had a reality check recently and the Lord showed me something. Jesus promised persecution. The word says that everyone who calls upon the name of Jesus will be persecuted. Last month I looked at all the hardship in my life and saw it as too much to bear. I seriously questioned whether it was worth it, I thought to myself, “Why do I even try?” “What good is it to me in the end? The answer I got was in the end. I read Revelation and realized why I was fight why this life had become so important to me, its because everyday is one day closer to His glorious return to judge Satan.I was rocked by a revelation the other day that made me sick. In John 8:44, Jesus said Satan “was a murderer from the beginning.” God considers Satan’s actions murder, he kills every day. People are dying every minute without redemption. He killing people I love. Maybe some of you have lost loved ones who were deceived and thus murdered. And we find it hard to find time for ministry in our busy lives. What is wrong with us? Do you still need motivation to step up and fight this war? I’m not saying its not a scary fight but here in America all we have to worry about is petty ridicule and honesty moderate persecution.  Yesterday November 14, 2010 , a women named Asia  Bibi was sentenced to death for blasphemy. She was arrested in 2009 for having a religious discussion with her coworkers and she is probably going to die for preaching the gospel. We live in a dark world. You are the children of the light. You are the light of the world. Let your light shine before men. Do not attempt to blend in. Do not be conformed; be transformed. “we are not those who draw back and are destroyed, but those who have faith and obtain life.”  (Heb 10:39) We are not to be afraid of the Devil and his tactics because this fight is fixed.
“The salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Messiah have now come, because the accuser of our brothers has been thrown out: the one who accuses them before our God day and night. They conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they did not love their lives in the face of death.”
Remember when you were a slave to sin. All the world is a concentration camp, everyone slaves for the jailer. All slave to the glory of themselves and then they die. Remember the vanity you slaved for before God sent His special forces in to rescue you. They went into the enemies camp at their own risk. They brought you life, opened your eyes and lead you out of darkness. Remember those you left behind. Remember those who are still blind. Spending their lives shoveling dirt on top of their mountain, not know the whole they’ve made with be their grave. Refusing to drop the trowel and pick up life. And you used to be just like them. You have you orders, let the Lord use you and he might just save somebody’s life.