Because He gives me His light to shine. May I shine it bright for the world to see......
because as marriages crumble around me, may I never forget "He conquered the grave".....
Below is Archived from May 2012-
WEDNESDAY, MAY 16, 2012
temptations
I feel like over the last month the beautiful gift God gave as Marriage has both encouraged me, and brought heaviness at the very same time.
I hope you have gathered from little glimpses of this blog how important I feel about Marriage, and how the destruction of it leaves a trail of issues that doesn't just affect the two people that said "I do".
I started thinking about statistics a few years ago when it was brought to my attention how just in our city alone, the divorce rate was painfully high, and I believe was the highest in the State of Alabama at the time. I would cringe at the thought that one of my three friends would go through a divorce, not to mention, my marriage being apart of that statistic.
Then as life continued on, and statistics would rise, I would fight against Satan, as he would discourage me into thinking that because I watched marriages fall apart around me with peers, I should question the stability of all my family. After all, we carry a past that brings those statistics to light. And statistics don't lie...or do they?
If I were to tell you how many times I have thought about my own children's future in marriage being so completely challenging verses being one of the most precious gifts God would bless them with, then it would be embarrassing.
It started when I held on to the numbers, and the fear that they would not find a husband without a deep past, and baggage for them, started to weigh me down. I realized that fear, was a sin that was being used to distract me from the tools I could be using to teach them because of the statistics, not in spite of them.
I think it is okay to mourn sin, and I am glad I do. But for me, it was when the mourning of sin, became the fear of it, that caused me to not hold on to the truth that God's perfect will for my children's life was indeed perfect. Or that His Son's death on the cross, could redeem any situation.
And isn't that just the very way we got those statistics in the first place, by questioning God's will for us, and not believing Christ's blood could redeem?
This very knowledge in the depths of how much we crave control and happiness in our lives, was brought to me when I heard a teaching on Adam and Eve. We have all been taught, from a young age about the disobedience that occurred in the garden; but that is where I thought the sin took place. My eyes were truly opened, when I was shown and realized, that something had to happen before the disobedience occurred. Yes, the serpent tempted Eve, but before she took the fruit, she questioned God's perfect will for her life. She had to have actually thought, that there was something better for her if she took it. And so she did, and I so often do the same.
In Church, we just finished the series I shared about in the post I did on The Talk. It was designed to target singles, but it encouraged me so much. It strengthened me with the encouragement to continue to persevere in raising my children with purpose. God does have a will for their life. God's will for them is good. It is perfect. I shouldn't fear it, whatever it may be. I should trust that it is far more then I could ever hope for, because He loves them far more then I ever could. And I should pray for His will to be done in their life, not mine, not theirs, but His.
We aspire to raise our children in truth, in believing that what He has for them, is what is perfect for them. Even in tough times, even in the depths. Because what He will do with it will bring joy to their lives, and fill their souls, if they just believe it to be true and hold on to it; instead of sacrificing it to the mundane, temporary happiness that the world offers them with a piece of fruit.
May we rest in His will for our lives, and flee from the temptations to question it.
To God be the Glory.
I hope you have gathered from little glimpses of this blog how important I feel about Marriage, and how the destruction of it leaves a trail of issues that doesn't just affect the two people that said "I do".
I started thinking about statistics a few years ago when it was brought to my attention how just in our city alone, the divorce rate was painfully high, and I believe was the highest in the State of Alabama at the time. I would cringe at the thought that one of my three friends would go through a divorce, not to mention, my marriage being apart of that statistic.
Then as life continued on, and statistics would rise, I would fight against Satan, as he would discourage me into thinking that because I watched marriages fall apart around me with peers, I should question the stability of all my family. After all, we carry a past that brings those statistics to light. And statistics don't lie...or do they?
If I were to tell you how many times I have thought about my own children's future in marriage being so completely challenging verses being one of the most precious gifts God would bless them with, then it would be embarrassing.
It started when I held on to the numbers, and the fear that they would not find a husband without a deep past, and baggage for them, started to weigh me down. I realized that fear, was a sin that was being used to distract me from the tools I could be using to teach them because of the statistics, not in spite of them.
I think it is okay to mourn sin, and I am glad I do. But for me, it was when the mourning of sin, became the fear of it, that caused me to not hold on to the truth that God's perfect will for my children's life was indeed perfect. Or that His Son's death on the cross, could redeem any situation.
And isn't that just the very way we got those statistics in the first place, by questioning God's will for us, and not believing Christ's blood could redeem?
This very knowledge in the depths of how much we crave control and happiness in our lives, was brought to me when I heard a teaching on Adam and Eve. We have all been taught, from a young age about the disobedience that occurred in the garden; but that is where I thought the sin took place. My eyes were truly opened, when I was shown and realized, that something had to happen before the disobedience occurred. Yes, the serpent tempted Eve, but before she took the fruit, she questioned God's perfect will for her life. She had to have actually thought, that there was something better for her if she took it. And so she did, and I so often do the same.
In Church, we just finished the series I shared about in the post I did on The Talk. It was designed to target singles, but it encouraged me so much. It strengthened me with the encouragement to continue to persevere in raising my children with purpose. God does have a will for their life. God's will for them is good. It is perfect. I shouldn't fear it, whatever it may be. I should trust that it is far more then I could ever hope for, because He loves them far more then I ever could. And I should pray for His will to be done in their life, not mine, not theirs, but His.
We aspire to raise our children in truth, in believing that what He has for them, is what is perfect for them. Even in tough times, even in the depths. Because what He will do with it will bring joy to their lives, and fill their souls, if they just believe it to be true and hold on to it; instead of sacrificing it to the mundane, temporary happiness that the world offers them with a piece of fruit.
May we rest in His will for our lives, and flee from the temptations to question it.
To God be the Glory.
The Resurrection of Christ
1Now, brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. 2By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.
3For what I received I passed on to you as of first importancea : that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5and that he appeared to Cephas,b and then to the Twelve. 6After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. 7Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, 8and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.
9For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me. 11Whether, then, it is I or they, this is what we preach, and this is what you believed.
The Resurrection of the Dead
12But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. 14And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. 15More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead. But he did not raise him if in fact the dead are not raised. 16For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. 17And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. 18Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. 19If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.
20But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. 22For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. 23But each in turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him. 24Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power. 25For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. 26The last enemy to be destroyed is death. 27For he “has put everything under his feet.”c Now when it says that “everything” has been put under him, it is clear that this does not include God himself, who put everything under Christ. 28When he has done this, then the Son himself will be made subject to him who put everything under him, so that God may be all in all.
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Because He lives, we live. If you do not have a place of worship in community, please join us this Sunday at Wiregrass Church. Click the link I just posted for directions and times of service. Message me with any questions @ kcpilcher(at)gmail(dot)com.
Be Blessed and Encouraged! :)
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