A Low Down Dirty Shame (Part 1)

It was a balmy evening in paradise, but something sinister had occurred. It started so simply, nothing more than a woman’s hunger. She just wasn’t satisfied; the possibility of having it all was within reach. She gazed at what was before her. It was beautiful, tantalizing and she knew it was like nothing she had ever had before. She pondered what was about to be hers and the pleasures it would hold for her. When it was offered, she took it without hesitation. What seemed like bliss became horror. The life she had known was shattered forever but this one act.



I am sure this story sound very familiar. Eve was tempted by her own desires. The desire to know and to be like God was something that had already been present in Eve. Satan provided her with an opportunity. When that opportunity came, rather than thinking twice about what God told her, she relied on her own judgment and her own longing.



Does this sound familiar in your own areas of weakness? Satan tempting you with something you have secretly wanted and you succumb. With your covetous eyes you will use all manner of flawed reasoning to get what you want. What we see here is that sins starts with corrupt desires.


“But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.” James 1:14 & 15 ESV


“But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:7 – 9 KJV



“He who says, 'I know Him,' and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him.” 1 John 2:4 & 5 NKJV



That is why sin needs to be conquered. The way we know that we are in Him, is that His love perfects us to sin no more. Sin keeps you in bondage to Satan. If left unchanged, you remain shackled and this reserves your place in hell.



To being wise,



Meredith, Jennifer and Marisa

Turning Point (Our Steps to Christ)

Marisa:

It all began my sophomore year in college. My major was in jeopardy, I was about to fail a class. I felt that this occupation I was pursuing was God’s path for me. But this one class was the key to my success or my failure. All I was praying for was a passing grade, I asked God to help me in this class if this was where He wanted me to be. I passed, by the skin of my teeth and something was revealed to me; that God wanted to show me who He was and that He was interested in every aspect of my life. The next year I fell ill and my major was once again in jeopardy. Again, God proved that He had my back and could do the impossible, if I allowed Him to. In those moments of despair I realized that God was my constant. His was the friendship that had to be a priority. I graduated with my degree and was accepted into a school of higher learning in my field. I feel God has shown me that this is where I am meant to be, as long as I follow Him.





Meredith:

It started for me, when the path I chose for myself was not working out. I went through a period where I blamed God for certain things not working out in my life. I asked Him for help and when it did not come in the way I had expected, I withdrew from Him. Surprisingly, God stopped talking to me, which was the perfect way to reach me. The silence made me worried. I had grown accustomed to God pursuing me and when He didn’t it gave me reason to pause. His silence (which was very effective) was what encouraged me to seek Him. Like a child who isn’t interested until you ignore them, I couldn’t be reached until God ignored me. After that, I was the one doing the pursuing. I found that God has just been waiting for me. He changed my path and the path He chose for me was far superior to the one I had chosen.





Jennifer:

For a long time I felt that my life was just fine. I knew about God and accepted that He was the Lord and Savior. I felt I was a good person, who fell short of the mark, but reasoned that everyone did, so it was no big deal. I made a life decision that left me looking for a job. I was not worried; I felt that as a competent and hardworking individual it would not be long before I found gainful employment. Four months passed and I finally turned to God. I began to pray, but realized that I had no business asking God for anything, because I did not know Him at all. I began seeking Him and so much has changed for me. A desire to know Him began in me that had never been present before. I found I had a void that I didn’t even know about! Since then I have had a job offer and my desire for Christ keeps on growing.



As evident in our three stories, God is always trying to reach us, in precisely the way we need Him to. He called to us and we listened, it was the turning point in our lives, will you ignore His call?




To being wise,



Meredith, Jennifer and Marisa

Life in Transition

Wouldn’t it be strange if a friend came to you and revealed that they were using the same toothbrush that they had since the 1st grade or that you had a friend who never left the 5th grade or that you knew someone who never managed to learn how to tie their shoelaces. You would find it strange that they had not managed to go through the normal progression of maturity and change. Everything about our lives is in constant motion and constant progression. We are always getting older, we are always learning and we are always moving. So why is it ok for our relationship with Christ to be stationary? If you are not getting closer to Christ, you are getting further away from him because there is no such thing as being stationary. If Christ is the new life, then if you are not getting closer to Him, you are getting closer to death.


If you are not growing in Christ, you are dying.


“For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.” Colossians 3:3 & 4 NIV



The three of us were born into this church. We know all about Seventh-day Adventism and all of the customs and beliefs. We have accepted these customs and beliefs and we live our lives by them. For a long time our view of the church was through our parents’ eyes. It always felt like their church, their customs and their beliefs. It felt like it was their God. And while we believed in the message and we believed in Him, we did not know Him for ourselves.



Our parents have inspired us, their connection with God is something we came to yearn for. Not until a few years ago did we decide that we wanted it to be our church, our customs and beliefs, our God.



To being wise,



Meredith, Jennifer and Marisa