Soaring

God has been so faithful! I found out this past week through some test results that I have had Mono since early May. I can't believe how much strength God has/is giving me to make it through this sickness. I just returned from a blessed vacation with my family. It was a time of renewal, closeness, and relaxation. It was much needed for my family and it was a blessing for the four of us to be together... it's quite rare these days.

This vacation gave me some time to reflect on some recent happenings in my life. The majority of people I have met at my 'new' college have told me time and time again that I am too idealistic, have the standards of a perfectionist for my future mate, and that I will possibly remain single my entire life.

Here's my honest response to them and to the world:

I do have ridiculously strong ideals, Jesus Christ set/is the perfect standard, and if I remain single my entire life to bring God glory and to further His kingdom, then so be it.

I cannot consent to creep when my heart's impulse is to soar. I want to soar. If this means that my life will be lonely, if I live it for Christ, then I have succeeded.

Your Gift

Since sex is desirable, why not have sex?

God wants you to be a 'Lady of Purity' because He wants to protect you from the consequences that sex before marriage brings. These consequences can be physical, emotional, relational, and spiritual.

Have you ever secretly opened a Christmas gift before Christmas Day, then rewrap it and put it back under the tree? How thrilling and exciting it was when you first saw the surprise! But what about the 'big day' when the gifts were supposed to be opened for the first time? Where was the excitement when you opened your gift? The gift did not seem quite as special because it had already been opened for the first time.

Each woman receives one 'first time'.

One first kiss. One first night.

One first chance. One.

God desires for your precious gift to be given to a committed lover who will cherish, keep, and protect you in the bonds of marriage. God wants you and your gift to this man to be treasured and cherished, not perceived as something to be conquered and trampled upon.

"Do not arouse or awaken love until it so desires."

~Song of Solomon 8:4~

Chose: Him or What He Can Give?

Many seek God, but only for His hand. They don't want God as much as they want something from God, such as a man, happiness, or a family. This impure search for God is limited to what you can get. It is more of a self-love than a God-love. This seeking will end in misery, not in the union of love you desire. God knows your motives. To grow in your knowledge of God, you must seek God correctly, which means you must seek God with a pure heart.

A woman with a pure heart for God does not focus on what He gives, but delights in who He is! She seeks God's face, not just His hand. Would you want someone to say he loves you just so you would do something for him...? (I know I would never desire this!)

Singleness does not have to be a 'curse'. Singleness puts you in an advantageous position because, more than likely, you will have much more time to seek the Lord than you will ever have if you marry. Just remember, to find God, you must seek Him with pure motives. Seek Him for who He is, not just for what He can do for you.

True Love

Seeking God is very similar to developing a friendship. You talk a lot, you listen, you write each other letters, you think about each other, you find out what the other like and does not like, and you try to do things that please that person. The more time you spend together, the more intimately you know your friend. And the more intimately you know your friend, the greater your love will be. It works the same way in your relationship with God.

Jeremiah 29:12-13 promises that those who diligently seeks God with all her heart will find Him. "Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart." Your heart is the key to devotion to God. A halfhearted search is not sufficient. This means you cannot seek God while you do your own thing.

Is God demanding too much to require that you seek Him with all your heart? No way!

Giving Christ your heart means you are not free to give it away to other things or people that come into your life (in idolatry). Devotion to the Lord Jesus Christ is giving everything or nothing at all. Your devotion to Christ must be a serious commitment.

First Love, Divided Love

Jesus, who so often says 'whoever loves Me...' and asks 'do you love Me?' is concerned about our LOVE! He is concerned about a special kind of love. It is the love which is showed in the relationship between a bride and her bridegroom; that is, it is an exclusive love, a love which places the beloved, the bridegroom, above all other loves, in the first place.

As a Bridegroom, Jesus has a claim to 'first love'. He who has loved us so much wants to possess us completely with everything we are and have. Jesus gave Himself wholly and completely for us. Now His love is yearning for us to surrender ourselves and everything that we are to Him, so that He can really be our 'first love'.

So long as our love for His is a divided love, so long as our heart is bound to family, possessions, or the like, He will not count our love to be genuine. Divided love is of so little value to Him that He will not enter into a bond of love with such a soul, for this bond presupposes a full mutual love.

Because our love is so precious to Jesus, because He yearns for our love, He waits for our uncompromising commitment.

A Need, A Right, A Completion

Every single woman must at some point come to grips with the fact that not all women will marry. Marriage is not a need, though God chooses to let marriage meet some needs a woman may have. Marriage is not a right, though God chooses to plan marriage for the majority of women. Marriage does not complete a person, though women who properly marry find that marriage rounds out some of their weaknesses.

If marriage were a need, right, or completion for women, then all godly women would marry. There are many examples of true, God-honoring women who had no earthly mate but were still 'Ladies of Patience'.

Don't let your impatient longings rob you of the life God wants to bless you with as a single woman. Realize you do not need a marriage as a right, relinquish this right so it will not keep you from God's fullest blessings. God knows what is best for you. His timing is perfect and He will take care of His 'Lady of Patience'.

Back to the Basics

May we go back to the basics for just a moment? What is a conviction and how does one develop biblical convictions? A conviction is a standard that serves as a springboard for your choices. Consider where your standards in the area of relating and dating originated. Are your standards based more on Hollywood's terms of love and romance, or have you allowed God's Holy Word to shape your perspective?

The 'Lady of Conviction' gives the Lord permission to renew her mind on a daily basis. She spends time searching the Word of God for standards that will guide her safely to God's best. She has surrendered her mind to a new persuasion: God's perspective on love and romance. The convictions that she establishes (based on the Word) allow her to resist being squeezed into the mold of this world.

She is a non-conformist in the Biblical sense. As stated so clearly in Romans 12:2, "Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is- His good, pleasing, and perfect will".

These standards and convictions are something that you should be willing to share with others despite what they may believe or say against you. When your mind is surrendered to God, you don't have to worry about what others think of you or your standards.