I wrote in my January 13, 2013, article "Thoughts About Abortion," "Even in the hard cases abortion can be avoided. Rapists can be male or female."
Adolescent boys have been seduced by adult women with children resulting from these sexual unions. Not only should these children not be aborted because these children are human, also the existence of these children can be used as evidence of rape/incest.
On a social and personal level we do not like to discuss certain issues because they are surrounded by pecados (sins).
Some men have been date raped by their male boyfriends, and the reason they don't want to tell their wife is, "What are they doing with boyfriends in the first place?"
Leviticus 18:22 English Standard Version Bible says, "You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination." Proverbs 5:18-19 Contemporary English Version Bible says, "Be happy with the wife you married when you were young. She is beautiful and graceful, just like a deer; you should be attracted to her and stay deeply in love." Compared to God, who is eternal without beginning or end of life, we are all young.
God does not hate people who have same-sex sexual relations, same-sex romantic relationships, abortions, incestuous relationships, are rapists and other types of sexual/adulterous sins or any type of sin. God wants people to stop sinning and to start loving God, themselves and other people. Pecados (sins) are not sexy and sweet; pecados hurt and harm people.
Proverbs 28:13 Amplified Bible says, "He who covers his transgressions will not prosper, but whoever confesses and forsakes his sins will obtain mercy."
First tell God about your sins, and allow Him to heal you and to restore you to a right relationship with God and people. Also, allow God to lead you to the people you need to confess your sins to. James 5:16 Amplified Bible says, "Confess to one another therefore your faults (your slips, your false steps, your offenses, your sins) and pray [also] for one another, that you may be healed and restored [to a spiritual tone of mind and heart]. The earnest (heartfelt, continued) prayer of a righteous man makes tremendous power available [dynamic in its working]."
Are you involved in secret sins? Don't let Satan fool you with fear and other tactics. "Fear is a disease that eats away at logic and makes man inhuman," said Marian Anderson, a singer and civil rights advocate. People experience consequences from our sins; they may or may not know the source of problems. Tell the truth, so that the situation can be transformed for good for you and for others.
In Chinese culture the number 8 is associated with prosperity. What can be more prosperous than lives filled with love?
Love wins when rape, incest, adultery, abortion and other sins end.
Showing posts with label Incest. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Incest. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 3, 2013
Saturday, January 19, 2013
7 Ingredients for Intimate Relationships
Intimacy is hindered absent certain ingredients. Let's look at seven ingredients from Ephesians 5 for fun, fulfilling marriages, families and friendships.
Ingredient #1: Acceptance. Regardless of our imperfections the best marriages, families and friendships contain people who accept each other while encouraging each other to grow. Ephesians 5:1 Amplified Bible says, "Therefore be imitators of God [copy Him and follow His example], as well-beloved children [imitate their father]."
Sometimes we fail to accept people the way they are. A mother told a daughter with stubby fingers and little sense of rhythm, "I have such lovely, long fingers and play the piano like a virtuoso. Why don't you practice the piano more?"
Lynn Toler, author of Making Marriage Work New Rules For An Old Institution, writes, "Pretend you have two dogs, one named Displeasure and the other Joy. They both live in your house, and you and your spouse are in charge of feeding them. Displeasure, bitch that she is, barks a lot. She is easily annoyed, and she snarls and growls and carries on the moment something does not go her way. If her food is late, she starts up. If she doesn't get to go outside when she wants, the yapping begins. You have to throw her a bone to get her to stop. Displeasure gets fed a lot. Joy, on the other hand, is a quiet and content canine. Loves to be petted, but doesn't cause you any trouble if you don't. She will sit quietly in the corner and await the attention she deserves, but she does not howl when it doesn't come her way. She often gets ignored. Here's the thing: you have to make a conscious effort to feed the quiet dog. Acknowledge all kindnesses. Thank your spouse for the everyday things that could easily go ignored. Whoever is paying the bills should feel like the other respects the effort involved. Whoever is cooking and cleaning deserves to know their daily grind is valued. If you appreciated something your spouse said or did, let her know. If he did something that anyone on the street would be impressed with, don't let the fact that you have seen him do it before keep you from mentioning it again."
Ingredient #2: Security. While some friendships may need to be pruned off our life because they are sucking nutrients out of us and/or our family, secure people are committed to relationships even through problems.
God doesn't give up on us because we have problems. He gives us enthusiastic, extravagant, enlightened love. Since He is our model, as believers the more we do likewise the better our relationships will be with God, self and others.
Ingredient #3: Choice. We don't have to be married, parents or friends. We choose these relationships. These are not one-time choices. In good relationships we are choosing our spouse, children and friends over and over again. We hunger to be desired continuously. If we aren't enjoying our spouse, family or friends, then it sucks out some of their enjoyment.
Everyone is an individual. Learn each others likes and dislikes. We want to be liked for who we really are. Ephesians 5:10 New Living Translation Bible says, "Carefully determine what pleases the Lord."
God is for people. He wants us to experience pleasure in His presence and the presence of His people.
One of the key ways we receive pleasure is through edifying conversation. Learn to say things that bring out the best in people. For married people a saying goes, "99 percent of sex happens between the ears." What goes into the ears connects to the mind. Latina-American actress Raquel Welch says, "The mind can also be an erogenous zone." Woo him or her with the most effective, encompassing words rooted in the Word. John 1:1-3 Amplified Bible says, "In the beginning [before all time] was the Word (Christ), and the Word was with God, and the Word was God Himself. He was present originally with God. All things were made and come into existence through Him; and without Him was not even one thing made that has come into being. In Him was Life, and the Life was the Light of men."
God is the Creator of sexuality and sex. Learn more and more about God, and you will learn more and more about how to be a sexy single or sexy married person. God knows all the sexual positions, and many that you don't know about! God invented all the sexual positions. God thinks marital sex and Biblical single sexuality are sublime, not shameful and sinful.
Ingredient #4: Support. Friends and family members are individuals; we are not the same people. We have some interests in common and some that are different, but good people support each other's individuality. They also protect their life and relationships by on purpose preparing lots of time to listen and to understand those we share a relationship with and to maintain and foster unity.
The Bible is a book of balance. Individuality and unity go together. If they are working against each other, sin is present. Talk to God, and cooperate with Him to transform whatever is not like God.
Ingredient #5: Thankfulness. Thankfulness is expressed in attitudes and actions that communicate, "I'm not perfect. You are not perfect, but I am thankful we are together. I am thankful for the memories, the present and the future."
Big-picture thinking doesn't dismiss the petty arguments and small inconveniences, but also does not become absorbed in them. Big-picture thinking focuses on the overall benefits in good relationships.
We can have seasons were Satan seeks to wear us out with discouraging circumstances and/or relationships. God is using these same circumstances and/or relationships to allow His fruit of the Spirit on the inside to be plucked for food on the outside.
"When it comes to food for thought, some of us are on a hunger strike," says activist Dick Gregory. We are thinking, talking and acting out negative attitudes and actions like, "I'm tired. You're getting on my nerves. I'm going to put you out of the house," for situations and circumstances God isn't finished with. God can enter a relationship with anyone, no matter how bad they seem to be; the Apostle Paul started out as Saul going around throwing Christians in jail and trying to have them sentenced to death. But then God showed up in Saul's life and showed him what true living really is.
We may be reading our Bibles, put not practically applying the Word in some areas. Our physical body is part of the temple of God. It too has to be nourished. Some of us do inadequate or no physical exercise and/or improper eating depriving us of sources of stamina that support our spiritual and mental health. Jesus not only prayed and cultivated His Christ mind, He also walked, ate and slept. Why do some think it's okay to abuse they physical body?
Much of life is interconnected. We have to also pay attention and nurture our relationship with God, self and others on many levels. Satan is looking to slip into our life where we are sluggish and slay someone and/or something. 1 Peter 5:8-9 Amplified Bible says, "Be well balanced (temperate, sober of mind), be vigilant and cautious at all times; for that enemy of yours, the devil, roams around like a lion roaring [in fierce hunger], seeking someone to seize upon and devour. Withstand him; be firm in faith [against his onset—rooted, established, strong, immovable, and determined], knowing that the same (identical) sufferings are appointed to your brotherhood (the whole body of Christians) throughout the world."
Ingredient #6: Wisdom. Good decisions come from a good heart. Daniel Hale Williams was the first African-American cardiologist, and the first to perform successful open-heart surgery in the United States. We will need to leave our hearts open for God to perform surgery on them slicing out our numerous sins.
Sin isn't sexy. Sin acts as a spoiler in our relationships.
Not many of us would want others to be able to see all of our thoughts! However, God can, and He sees how these thoughts help and hurt people. We are responsible to be wise enough to continually seek spiritual, emotional, intellectual and physical growth through cooperating with God the Father, God the Son Jesus Christ and God the Holy Ghost to develop more of the God inside. The more God controls the inside, the more our outward behavior will bring out the best in people.
Perhaps you had a child in your 40s or 50s that wasn't exactly planned and have not cooperated with God to have the disappointment, resentment, anger, jealousy and other hostility in your heart removed, so now it seeps out on your child and others. Many have lived in relationships filled with the agony of indifference or hatred.
Ingredient #7: Clarity and Compatibility. By reserving our most close relationships for those who have the same faith and purpose in life, we are building ourselves up instead of working against each other. Ideas have consequences. Christians believe in hope, life and the multifaceted goodness of our God that is primarily expressed through His people. Not everyone believes the same. Chandragupta Maurya, the first emperor of India, with a kingdom stretching from Punjab to Karnataka, more than 300 years after Alexander the Great had died, chose his own death as a devout Jain who starved himself to death on a hilltop at Sravanabelgola.
Being equally yoked with spouses, family and friends is not simply sharing the same Christian faith. "Yoked" is a farming reference. When a farmer would plow a field, he or she would use a yoke to join two animals. The farmer paired two animals of equal strength to work together to produce a straight line in the field.
Before marriage a wise couple talks about the nature of our relationship with God, self, family and friends, the desired frequency of sex, the acceptable behaviors with opposite-sex friends and same-sex friends, the purpose and use of money, the number of children, the lifestyle and as many things as possible. The more agreement and equal strength before marriage the less potential relationship conflict after marriage. While we all change, we all also have a certain character and personality that may remain remarkably consistent throughout adulthood. A couple where the wife desires sex seven days a week, but the husband desires sex once a month probably should have never said, "I do."
Sex is a central part of the oneness in marriage. Genesis 2:24-25 New Living Translation Bible says, "This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one. Now the man and his wife were both naked, but they felt no shame."
Sexual incompatibility is a serious issue. A wife who keeps asking her husband for sex and habitually receives, "I'm not in the mood," or some other rejection will likely begin to receive messages of shame and low self-worth while the husband may feel personally attacked, unappreciated and even exploited.
Sexual abuse is also something we should share with our partner by the time we are engaged. Bollywood actress Sofia Hayat was sexually abused by her uncle when she was 10 years old. Minister Noel Jones was molested by a man in a Christian church bathroom when he was in elementary school. Rape, date rape, molestation, incest and various types of sexual abuse are experienced by people of all ages, races, genders and religions and often have a profound impact on our behavior and may require Christian pastoral and/or psychological counseling to overcome. Don't be surprised if you were abused sexually as a child and/or adolescent that the abuse has a negative impact on your marriage. International Bible teacher Joyce Meyer was raped by her father repeatedly throughout her childhood and adolescence. She says the experience played a role in her low-self esteem and choosing a first marriage partner who abused her in various ways, and even when she married her current husband, Dave Meyer, of more than 45 years, a time existed where she had problems with sexual relations. She says for he longest time she could not have sex with Dave with the lights on.
Twenty-five percent of all females will be sexually abused by the time they reach adulthood. These women may or may not have a conscious aversion to sex that needs to be overcome for the success of their marriage.
Also some women who are sexually active before marriage discover that they have physical problems having sex. The American Psychiatric Association divides female sexual problems into four categories:
(1) Sexual Desire Disorder,
(2) Sexual Arousal Disorder,
(3) Orgasmic Disorder and
(4) Sexual Pain Disorder.
Sexual Desire Disorder is when a person habitually loses all interest in sex and may even develop an aversion to sex. Sexual Arousal Disorder is when a woman mentally desires sex, but her physical body fails to maintain a state of arousal. She becomes dry and/or unresponsive to sexual stimulation. Most women do not have an orgasm every time they have sex, but Orgasmic Disorder is when a woman desires an orgasm, but habitually she cannot reach sexual climax. Sexual Pain Disorder is when a woman experiences chronic vaginal pain during intercourse.
Reading the seven ingredients you may have noticed some things you are doing that don't bring out the best in people. Now is a good time to talk to God and to begin the process of incorporating the seven above ingredients of intimacy from Ephesians 5 into your life. Please leave an on-line comment sharing how God has helped you to learn to be intimate and have intimacy.
Ingredient #1: Acceptance. Regardless of our imperfections the best marriages, families and friendships contain people who accept each other while encouraging each other to grow. Ephesians 5:1 Amplified Bible says, "Therefore be imitators of God [copy Him and follow His example], as well-beloved children [imitate their father]."
Sometimes we fail to accept people the way they are. A mother told a daughter with stubby fingers and little sense of rhythm, "I have such lovely, long fingers and play the piano like a virtuoso. Why don't you practice the piano more?"
Lynn Toler, author of Making Marriage Work New Rules For An Old Institution, writes, "Pretend you have two dogs, one named Displeasure and the other Joy. They both live in your house, and you and your spouse are in charge of feeding them. Displeasure, bitch that she is, barks a lot. She is easily annoyed, and she snarls and growls and carries on the moment something does not go her way. If her food is late, she starts up. If she doesn't get to go outside when she wants, the yapping begins. You have to throw her a bone to get her to stop. Displeasure gets fed a lot. Joy, on the other hand, is a quiet and content canine. Loves to be petted, but doesn't cause you any trouble if you don't. She will sit quietly in the corner and await the attention she deserves, but she does not howl when it doesn't come her way. She often gets ignored. Here's the thing: you have to make a conscious effort to feed the quiet dog. Acknowledge all kindnesses. Thank your spouse for the everyday things that could easily go ignored. Whoever is paying the bills should feel like the other respects the effort involved. Whoever is cooking and cleaning deserves to know their daily grind is valued. If you appreciated something your spouse said or did, let her know. If he did something that anyone on the street would be impressed with, don't let the fact that you have seen him do it before keep you from mentioning it again."
Ingredient #2: Security. While some friendships may need to be pruned off our life because they are sucking nutrients out of us and/or our family, secure people are committed to relationships even through problems.
God doesn't give up on us because we have problems. He gives us enthusiastic, extravagant, enlightened love. Since He is our model, as believers the more we do likewise the better our relationships will be with God, self and others.
Ingredient #3: Choice. We don't have to be married, parents or friends. We choose these relationships. These are not one-time choices. In good relationships we are choosing our spouse, children and friends over and over again. We hunger to be desired continuously. If we aren't enjoying our spouse, family or friends, then it sucks out some of their enjoyment.
Everyone is an individual. Learn each others likes and dislikes. We want to be liked for who we really are. Ephesians 5:10 New Living Translation Bible says, "Carefully determine what pleases the Lord."
God is for people. He wants us to experience pleasure in His presence and the presence of His people.
One of the key ways we receive pleasure is through edifying conversation. Learn to say things that bring out the best in people. For married people a saying goes, "99 percent of sex happens between the ears." What goes into the ears connects to the mind. Latina-American actress Raquel Welch says, "The mind can also be an erogenous zone." Woo him or her with the most effective, encompassing words rooted in the Word. John 1:1-3 Amplified Bible says, "In the beginning [before all time] was the Word (Christ), and the Word was with God, and the Word was God Himself. He was present originally with God. All things were made and come into existence through Him; and without Him was not even one thing made that has come into being. In Him was Life, and the Life was the Light of men."
God is the Creator of sexuality and sex. Learn more and more about God, and you will learn more and more about how to be a sexy single or sexy married person. God knows all the sexual positions, and many that you don't know about! God invented all the sexual positions. God thinks marital sex and Biblical single sexuality are sublime, not shameful and sinful.
Ingredient #4: Support. Friends and family members are individuals; we are not the same people. We have some interests in common and some that are different, but good people support each other's individuality. They also protect their life and relationships by on purpose preparing lots of time to listen and to understand those we share a relationship with and to maintain and foster unity.
The Bible is a book of balance. Individuality and unity go together. If they are working against each other, sin is present. Talk to God, and cooperate with Him to transform whatever is not like God.
Ingredient #5: Thankfulness. Thankfulness is expressed in attitudes and actions that communicate, "I'm not perfect. You are not perfect, but I am thankful we are together. I am thankful for the memories, the present and the future."
Big-picture thinking doesn't dismiss the petty arguments and small inconveniences, but also does not become absorbed in them. Big-picture thinking focuses on the overall benefits in good relationships.
We can have seasons were Satan seeks to wear us out with discouraging circumstances and/or relationships. God is using these same circumstances and/or relationships to allow His fruit of the Spirit on the inside to be plucked for food on the outside.
"When it comes to food for thought, some of us are on a hunger strike," says activist Dick Gregory. We are thinking, talking and acting out negative attitudes and actions like, "I'm tired. You're getting on my nerves. I'm going to put you out of the house," for situations and circumstances God isn't finished with. God can enter a relationship with anyone, no matter how bad they seem to be; the Apostle Paul started out as Saul going around throwing Christians in jail and trying to have them sentenced to death. But then God showed up in Saul's life and showed him what true living really is.
We may be reading our Bibles, put not practically applying the Word in some areas. Our physical body is part of the temple of God. It too has to be nourished. Some of us do inadequate or no physical exercise and/or improper eating depriving us of sources of stamina that support our spiritual and mental health. Jesus not only prayed and cultivated His Christ mind, He also walked, ate and slept. Why do some think it's okay to abuse they physical body?
Much of life is interconnected. We have to also pay attention and nurture our relationship with God, self and others on many levels. Satan is looking to slip into our life where we are sluggish and slay someone and/or something. 1 Peter 5:8-9 Amplified Bible says, "Be well balanced (temperate, sober of mind), be vigilant and cautious at all times; for that enemy of yours, the devil, roams around like a lion roaring [in fierce hunger], seeking someone to seize upon and devour. Withstand him; be firm in faith [against his onset—rooted, established, strong, immovable, and determined], knowing that the same (identical) sufferings are appointed to your brotherhood (the whole body of Christians) throughout the world."
Ingredient #6: Wisdom. Good decisions come from a good heart. Daniel Hale Williams was the first African-American cardiologist, and the first to perform successful open-heart surgery in the United States. We will need to leave our hearts open for God to perform surgery on them slicing out our numerous sins.
Sin isn't sexy. Sin acts as a spoiler in our relationships.
Not many of us would want others to be able to see all of our thoughts! However, God can, and He sees how these thoughts help and hurt people. We are responsible to be wise enough to continually seek spiritual, emotional, intellectual and physical growth through cooperating with God the Father, God the Son Jesus Christ and God the Holy Ghost to develop more of the God inside. The more God controls the inside, the more our outward behavior will bring out the best in people.
Perhaps you had a child in your 40s or 50s that wasn't exactly planned and have not cooperated with God to have the disappointment, resentment, anger, jealousy and other hostility in your heart removed, so now it seeps out on your child and others. Many have lived in relationships filled with the agony of indifference or hatred.
Ingredient #7: Clarity and Compatibility. By reserving our most close relationships for those who have the same faith and purpose in life, we are building ourselves up instead of working against each other. Ideas have consequences. Christians believe in hope, life and the multifaceted goodness of our God that is primarily expressed through His people. Not everyone believes the same. Chandragupta Maurya, the first emperor of India, with a kingdom stretching from Punjab to Karnataka, more than 300 years after Alexander the Great had died, chose his own death as a devout Jain who starved himself to death on a hilltop at Sravanabelgola.
Being equally yoked with spouses, family and friends is not simply sharing the same Christian faith. "Yoked" is a farming reference. When a farmer would plow a field, he or she would use a yoke to join two animals. The farmer paired two animals of equal strength to work together to produce a straight line in the field.
Before marriage a wise couple talks about the nature of our relationship with God, self, family and friends, the desired frequency of sex, the acceptable behaviors with opposite-sex friends and same-sex friends, the purpose and use of money, the number of children, the lifestyle and as many things as possible. The more agreement and equal strength before marriage the less potential relationship conflict after marriage. While we all change, we all also have a certain character and personality that may remain remarkably consistent throughout adulthood. A couple where the wife desires sex seven days a week, but the husband desires sex once a month probably should have never said, "I do."
Sex is a central part of the oneness in marriage. Genesis 2:24-25 New Living Translation Bible says, "This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one. Now the man and his wife were both naked, but they felt no shame."
Sexual incompatibility is a serious issue. A wife who keeps asking her husband for sex and habitually receives, "I'm not in the mood," or some other rejection will likely begin to receive messages of shame and low self-worth while the husband may feel personally attacked, unappreciated and even exploited.
Sexual abuse is also something we should share with our partner by the time we are engaged. Bollywood actress Sofia Hayat was sexually abused by her uncle when she was 10 years old. Minister Noel Jones was molested by a man in a Christian church bathroom when he was in elementary school. Rape, date rape, molestation, incest and various types of sexual abuse are experienced by people of all ages, races, genders and religions and often have a profound impact on our behavior and may require Christian pastoral and/or psychological counseling to overcome. Don't be surprised if you were abused sexually as a child and/or adolescent that the abuse has a negative impact on your marriage. International Bible teacher Joyce Meyer was raped by her father repeatedly throughout her childhood and adolescence. She says the experience played a role in her low-self esteem and choosing a first marriage partner who abused her in various ways, and even when she married her current husband, Dave Meyer, of more than 45 years, a time existed where she had problems with sexual relations. She says for he longest time she could not have sex with Dave with the lights on.
Twenty-five percent of all females will be sexually abused by the time they reach adulthood. These women may or may not have a conscious aversion to sex that needs to be overcome for the success of their marriage.
Also some women who are sexually active before marriage discover that they have physical problems having sex. The American Psychiatric Association divides female sexual problems into four categories:
(1) Sexual Desire Disorder,
(2) Sexual Arousal Disorder,
(3) Orgasmic Disorder and
(4) Sexual Pain Disorder.
Sexual Desire Disorder is when a person habitually loses all interest in sex and may even develop an aversion to sex. Sexual Arousal Disorder is when a woman mentally desires sex, but her physical body fails to maintain a state of arousal. She becomes dry and/or unresponsive to sexual stimulation. Most women do not have an orgasm every time they have sex, but Orgasmic Disorder is when a woman desires an orgasm, but habitually she cannot reach sexual climax. Sexual Pain Disorder is when a woman experiences chronic vaginal pain during intercourse.
Reading the seven ingredients you may have noticed some things you are doing that don't bring out the best in people. Now is a good time to talk to God and to begin the process of incorporating the seven above ingredients of intimacy from Ephesians 5 into your life. Please leave an on-line comment sharing how God has helped you to learn to be intimate and have intimacy.
Second-Class Christian Citizens?
Are non-virgins second-class
Christian citizens compared to virgins? No! Someone who has had one or
more sexual partners is not a second-class Christian or a second-best
marriage partner.
While a virgin has not sinned in having sexual relations with another human being, a virgin has sinned in some ways. Virgins and non-virgins have sinned in multiple ways. Romans 3:10 Amplified Bible says, "As it is written, None is righteous, just and truthful and upright and conscientious, no, not one." The solution to a lack of righteousness is offered to virgins and non-virgins in Romans 6:23 Amplified Bible which says, "For the wages which sin pays is death, but the [bountiful] free gift of God is eternal life through (in union with) Jesus Christ our Lord."
When considering someone to marry we don't want to disqualify a person based on being a virgin or non-virgin. What is much more important is marrying a person who has received an eternal relationship with God the Father, God the Son Jesus Christ and God the Holy Ghost. While many are concerned about the chronological age of a spouse, what is more important is to be and to marry someone spiritually mature; someone whose relationship with God is deep like the earth's deepest lakes of Lake Tanganyika in Africa and Lake Baikal in Siberia, Russia; someone who constantly chases God, and is consequently constantly improving.
A person can be a virgin or non-virgin and still be spiritually immature. A good marriage is the fellowship of two spiritually mature Christians who are continuously cooperating with God to change into His likeness.
Many people receive Christ, but refuse to grow in their relationship with Christ, themselves and other people. The Bible gives us the blueprint for living. Joshua 1:8 Amplified Bible says, "This Book of the Law shall not depart out of your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, that you may observe and do according to all that is written in it. For then you shall make your way prosperous, and then you shall deal wisely and have good success." Some people want to succeed, but they are not willing to do what it takes to succeed. Brian Tracy writes in his book, No Excuses! The Power of Self-Discipline 21 Ways to Achieve Lasting Happiness and Success, "One of the most important requirements for success, once you have decided what it is that you want, is the quality of willingness. Successful people are willing to pay the price, whatever it is and for as long as it takes, until they achieve the results they desire. Everyone wants to be successful . . . . But most people are not willing to pay the price. Occasionally, they may be wiling to pay part of the price, but they are not willing to pay the whole price. They always hold back. They always have some excuse or rationalization for not disciplining themselves to do everything that they need to do to achieve their goals."
Being a virgin before marriage may indicate that a person has some love of God. John 14:15 Amplified Bible says, "If you [really] love Me, you will keep (obey) My commands." Virgins have been obedient to one aspect of Exodus 20:14 the Message Bible which requires us to practice, "No adultery."
A non-virgin may also love God irregardless of having sex outside of marriage once or thousands of times. Some non-virgins have sinned sexually, received the forgiveness, transformation and love of God and have been walking in beautiful, Biblical, sexual balance for a while.
God does not consider virgins more spiritual or worthy or better people than non-virgins. God offers His love to everyone. God inspired the Apostle Paul to say in Galatians 3:28 New Living Translation Bible, "There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus."
In some parts of the globe a woman can be killed if she is not a virgin before marriage. Hymenoplasty surgery to attempt to restore a broken hymen is routinely performed in parts of the world, such as Muslim countries and other places. In Japan hymenoplasty is called "virginity rebirth." Jesus Christ does not require hymenoplasty and other mutilation of our bodies to be holy.
If you are a non-virgin who has sought the forgiveness, transformation and love of God to empower you to celebrate single sexuality and to celebrate sexual relations inside of marriage, but find yourself struggling with your self-worth, shame, fear, guilt or something else, keep on asking God to help you to fully receive His love. God views us as individual, priceless treasures. He wants us to have the same view of ourselves as He has of us.
If you are a virgin who looks down on non-virgins, repent of being judgmental, condemning, haughty and self-righteous like many of the religious leaders during the time of Jesus Christ's earthly ministry. Jesus Christ tells a story in Luke 18:10-14 Amplified Bible which says, "Two men went up into the temple [enclosure] to pray, the one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee took his stand ostentatiously and began to pray thus before and with himself: God, I thank You that I am not like the rest of men--extortioners (robbers), swindlers [unrighteous in heart and life], adulterers--or even like this tax collector here. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I gain. But the tax collector, [merely] standing at a distance, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but kept striking his breast, saying, O God, be favorable (be gracious, be merciful) to me, the especially wicked sinner that I am! I tell you, this man went down to his home justified (forgiven and made upright and in right standing with God), rather than the other man; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted."
When we have received
a lot of the love of God, we are able to give out a lot of the love of
God. Having received the love of God, non-virgins will not feel bad
about themselves and/or envy virgins; also virgins will not feel
superior to non-virgins or envy non-virgins. God takes all of our sins
and works them out for His glory and our good. International practical
Bible teacher Joyce Meyer was repeatedly raped by her father as a child and as an
adolescent. As a young adult she went through a divorce. Later she
married Dave Meyer, and later still together they have a Christian
ministry potentially impacting 4.5 billion. Luci Swindoll is a single who
has an international Christian ministry and writes in her book, I Married Adventure,
"It's daring to be curious about the unknown, to dream big dreams, to
live outside prescribed boxes, to take risks, and above all, daring to
investigate the way we live until we discover the deepest treasured
purpose of why we are here."
Whether we are a non-virgin or virgin, if we have received God and are continuously seeking to mature in our relationship with God and people, then celebrate who we are just as we are.
While a virgin has not sinned in having sexual relations with another human being, a virgin has sinned in some ways. Virgins and non-virgins have sinned in multiple ways. Romans 3:10 Amplified Bible says, "As it is written, None is righteous, just and truthful and upright and conscientious, no, not one." The solution to a lack of righteousness is offered to virgins and non-virgins in Romans 6:23 Amplified Bible which says, "For the wages which sin pays is death, but the [bountiful] free gift of God is eternal life through (in union with) Jesus Christ our Lord."
When considering someone to marry we don't want to disqualify a person based on being a virgin or non-virgin. What is much more important is marrying a person who has received an eternal relationship with God the Father, God the Son Jesus Christ and God the Holy Ghost. While many are concerned about the chronological age of a spouse, what is more important is to be and to marry someone spiritually mature; someone whose relationship with God is deep like the earth's deepest lakes of Lake Tanganyika in Africa and Lake Baikal in Siberia, Russia; someone who constantly chases God, and is consequently constantly improving.
A person can be a virgin or non-virgin and still be spiritually immature. A good marriage is the fellowship of two spiritually mature Christians who are continuously cooperating with God to change into His likeness.
Many people receive Christ, but refuse to grow in their relationship with Christ, themselves and other people. The Bible gives us the blueprint for living. Joshua 1:8 Amplified Bible says, "This Book of the Law shall not depart out of your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, that you may observe and do according to all that is written in it. For then you shall make your way prosperous, and then you shall deal wisely and have good success." Some people want to succeed, but they are not willing to do what it takes to succeed. Brian Tracy writes in his book, No Excuses! The Power of Self-Discipline 21 Ways to Achieve Lasting Happiness and Success, "One of the most important requirements for success, once you have decided what it is that you want, is the quality of willingness. Successful people are willing to pay the price, whatever it is and for as long as it takes, until they achieve the results they desire. Everyone wants to be successful . . . . But most people are not willing to pay the price. Occasionally, they may be wiling to pay part of the price, but they are not willing to pay the whole price. They always hold back. They always have some excuse or rationalization for not disciplining themselves to do everything that they need to do to achieve their goals."
Being a virgin before marriage may indicate that a person has some love of God. John 14:15 Amplified Bible says, "If you [really] love Me, you will keep (obey) My commands." Virgins have been obedient to one aspect of Exodus 20:14 the Message Bible which requires us to practice, "No adultery."
A non-virgin may also love God irregardless of having sex outside of marriage once or thousands of times. Some non-virgins have sinned sexually, received the forgiveness, transformation and love of God and have been walking in beautiful, Biblical, sexual balance for a while.
God does not consider virgins more spiritual or worthy or better people than non-virgins. God offers His love to everyone. God inspired the Apostle Paul to say in Galatians 3:28 New Living Translation Bible, "There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus."
In some parts of the globe a woman can be killed if she is not a virgin before marriage. Hymenoplasty surgery to attempt to restore a broken hymen is routinely performed in parts of the world, such as Muslim countries and other places. In Japan hymenoplasty is called "virginity rebirth." Jesus Christ does not require hymenoplasty and other mutilation of our bodies to be holy.
If you are a non-virgin who has sought the forgiveness, transformation and love of God to empower you to celebrate single sexuality and to celebrate sexual relations inside of marriage, but find yourself struggling with your self-worth, shame, fear, guilt or something else, keep on asking God to help you to fully receive His love. God views us as individual, priceless treasures. He wants us to have the same view of ourselves as He has of us.
If you are a virgin who looks down on non-virgins, repent of being judgmental, condemning, haughty and self-righteous like many of the religious leaders during the time of Jesus Christ's earthly ministry. Jesus Christ tells a story in Luke 18:10-14 Amplified Bible which says, "Two men went up into the temple [enclosure] to pray, the one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee took his stand ostentatiously and began to pray thus before and with himself: God, I thank You that I am not like the rest of men--extortioners (robbers), swindlers [unrighteous in heart and life], adulterers--or even like this tax collector here. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I gain. But the tax collector, [merely] standing at a distance, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but kept striking his breast, saying, O God, be favorable (be gracious, be merciful) to me, the especially wicked sinner that I am! I tell you, this man went down to his home justified (forgiven and made upright and in right standing with God), rather than the other man; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted."
If
you are a virgin envying a non-virgin, repent. Never envy sinful
behavior. Sin hurts multiple people in multiple ways whether we see the
pain or not.
Most people are not virgins when the marry. However, 73 percent of non-virgins say sex inside of marriage is better than sex outside of marriage.
Most people are not virgins when the marry. However, 73 percent of non-virgins say sex inside of marriage is better than sex outside of marriage.
Whether we are a non-virgin or virgin, if we have received God and are continuously seeking to mature in our relationship with God and people, then celebrate who we are just as we are.
Friday, January 11, 2013
Some Haters Make the Best Lovers
Sometimes those haters of God who are forgiven much, love much. A woman who committed many sins, hating God and people, later washed Jesus Christ's feet with her tears and hair. Jesus says about her in Luke 7:47 New Living Translation Bible, "I tell you, her sins--and they are many--have been forgiven, so she has shown me much love. But a person who is forgiven little shows only little love."
Killing people, or any other sin, does not disqualify one from receiving the forgiveness of God, an eternal relationship with Him and being changed to love much. Before he was the Apostle Paul in love with God traveling the world to share God, Paul was Saul the serial murderer threatening to track down as many Christians as he could to take them to jail and to have them sentenced to death. Likewise before he was a mediator and interpreter named Paulo de Santa Fe for missionary Francis Xavier sharing God with the Japanese, Japanese Anjiro murdered a person and fled Japan. After God changed him and began the love affair between Himself and Anjiro turned Paulo de Santa Fe, Paulo de Santa Fe and Francis Xavier in the middle 1500s entered Japan and were among the first Christian missionaries to the Japanese.
A bad beginning does not have to lead to a bad ending. No matter what we have done, the love of God can reach us and change us. Instead of eternal hate and death; we may live in eternal, overflowing, lavish love and life.
Keep on praying to God to reveal His love and person to people who are slaves to sin. Talking to God is not in vain. God may take a long time to answer believers' requests from our perspective, but He is not deaf, dumb or disabled to affirmatively answer at the right time. 1 John 5:14-15 Amplified Bible says, "And this is the confidence (the assurance, the privilege of boldness) which we have in Him: [we are sure] that if we ask anything (make any request) according to His will (in agreement with His own plan), He listens to and hears us. And if (since) we [positively] know that He listens to us in whatever we ask, we also know [with settled and absolute knowledge] that we have [granted us as our present possessions] the requests made of Him."
God does not always call the "good" people to be His messengers. That hater on the wrong path today, one tomorrow may be God's appointed messenger of love to many like the Apostle Paul, Paulo de Santa Fe, the woman who anointed Jesus' feet with her tears and hair or one of Jesus' other lovers who started out as haters. It's even possible for the gang rapists of 23-year-old, physiotherapy student, Nirbhaya, in south Delhi, India, on December 16, 2012, who caused her death on December 30, 2012, to repent of their sins and to receive an eternal relationship with God the Father, God the Son Jesus Christ and God the Holy Ghost. May India, which has 1.2 billion people, undergo a godly transformation of is view and treatment of women. Cada veinte minutos se comete una violación en la India. Every twenty minutes a violation/rape has occurred in India, according to the census of crimes of the ministry of the interior of New Delhi, India.
Yes, former rapists and murderers will be married to God in heaven for all eternity. "And every human being is precious," says Desmond Mpilo Tutu, South African social rights activist and retired Anglican bishop who came to public prominence in the 1980s as an anti-apartheid advocate. The Apostle Paul says in 1 Timothy 2:4 Amplified Bible that God, ". . . wishes all men to be saved and [increasingly] to perceive and recognize and discern and know precisely and correctly the [divine] Truth."
Please share testimonies of haters turned into lovers. SEND ME A MESSAGE.
Killing people, or any other sin, does not disqualify one from receiving the forgiveness of God, an eternal relationship with Him and being changed to love much. Before he was the Apostle Paul in love with God traveling the world to share God, Paul was Saul the serial murderer threatening to track down as many Christians as he could to take them to jail and to have them sentenced to death. Likewise before he was a mediator and interpreter named Paulo de Santa Fe for missionary Francis Xavier sharing God with the Japanese, Japanese Anjiro murdered a person and fled Japan. After God changed him and began the love affair between Himself and Anjiro turned Paulo de Santa Fe, Paulo de Santa Fe and Francis Xavier in the middle 1500s entered Japan and were among the first Christian missionaries to the Japanese.
A bad beginning does not have to lead to a bad ending. No matter what we have done, the love of God can reach us and change us. Instead of eternal hate and death; we may live in eternal, overflowing, lavish love and life.
Keep on praying to God to reveal His love and person to people who are slaves to sin. Talking to God is not in vain. God may take a long time to answer believers' requests from our perspective, but He is not deaf, dumb or disabled to affirmatively answer at the right time. 1 John 5:14-15 Amplified Bible says, "And this is the confidence (the assurance, the privilege of boldness) which we have in Him: [we are sure] that if we ask anything (make any request) according to His will (in agreement with His own plan), He listens to and hears us. And if (since) we [positively] know that He listens to us in whatever we ask, we also know [with settled and absolute knowledge] that we have [granted us as our present possessions] the requests made of Him."
God does not always call the "good" people to be His messengers. That hater on the wrong path today, one tomorrow may be God's appointed messenger of love to many like the Apostle Paul, Paulo de Santa Fe, the woman who anointed Jesus' feet with her tears and hair or one of Jesus' other lovers who started out as haters. It's even possible for the gang rapists of 23-year-old, physiotherapy student, Nirbhaya, in south Delhi, India, on December 16, 2012, who caused her death on December 30, 2012, to repent of their sins and to receive an eternal relationship with God the Father, God the Son Jesus Christ and God the Holy Ghost. May India, which has 1.2 billion people, undergo a godly transformation of is view and treatment of women. Cada veinte minutos se comete una violación en la India. Every twenty minutes a violation/rape has occurred in India, according to the census of crimes of the ministry of the interior of New Delhi, India.
Yes, former rapists and murderers will be married to God in heaven for all eternity. "And every human being is precious," says Desmond Mpilo Tutu, South African social rights activist and retired Anglican bishop who came to public prominence in the 1980s as an anti-apartheid advocate. The Apostle Paul says in 1 Timothy 2:4 Amplified Bible that God, ". . . wishes all men to be saved and [increasingly] to perceive and recognize and discern and know precisely and correctly the [divine] Truth."
Please share testimonies of haters turned into lovers. SEND ME A MESSAGE.
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