Loved People. (HP/HP, LP/LP Part 3)

So I’m almost totally done with this series and it’s only taken me FOREVER to write. Honestly I’ll probably reread these and rethink them a number of times until I’m satisfied that I’ve got everything God put on my heart out in an orderly & sensical fashion. This is Part 3 of the 5. You can read Part 1 (HERE), Part 2 (HERE) and Part 5 (HERE).

I don’t think I can…correction…I cannot talk about “loved people” without talking about the Gospel. When I talk about loved people, technically I’m talking about everyone. Loved people are defined by the God that loves them and our God loves every single one of us. Sadly the real fact is that most people don’t realize or accept this to be truth. Because of that and for the sake of this blog and the whole Loved People, Love People idea, the loved people I’m talking about are those that believe and accept the truth that God loves them and embrace that love with the intention of reflecting it back to God and those He loves.

The entire Bible tells us how God loves us, John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” In this verse we learn that God loves us, the price He paid for us and the promise associated with our belief in Christ. But many still question why? The answer is simply that He loves us. No matter what we've done or do, He loves us. Romans 5:8 tells us, “God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Loved people understand this. They understand that while we are still filthy, dirty people and on our best day what we have to offer God is filthy rags, He still loves us. They understand the mercy and grace aspects of God. They get that though we deserved what Christ received, God compassionately and undeservedly held that justice back from us. He extended to us unmerited favor and kindness...simply because He loves us.

But God does not aim to love and leave us where we're at. God’s true desire for us, the foundation of the Gospel is so beautifully delivered in 2 Corinthians 5:21 which reads, “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” The Amplified bible explains "the righteousness of God" as - "what we ought to be, approved and acceptable and in right relationship with Him, by His goodness." Us being separated from God was not ever an option for God, He took His perfect and blameless Son (a beloved part of Him) and literally MADE Him to BE sin for us. Then He was beaten, killed by crucifixion and buried, receiving the punishment we deserved.

Loved people understand that because of what Christ did on the cross, we are brought into right relationship (RELATIONSHIP...this is important and will be seen in the next part) with God. God aims to change us into what we ought to be and not without reason.

Bottom line is this: If you claim to love God and are allowing God to pour His love into you, you WILL be changed by it and you'll understand that there is one reason that God fills you with His love. It's NOT to horde it or to be set stagnant. It's to be emptied out. Emptied on those that don't get it. Emptied on those that need to be loved. Sometimes you may feel as if it's wasted on certain people, but it's NEVER wasted. Whether you see the fruit or not, it isn't wasted and it's not yours to protect from being "wasted." If you pour it out and it's rejected, you did your part...you've only "wasted" it at the feet of Jesus. Ok, this kind of got into the next part, so I'll end with this (which is the title of the next post), Loved people, love people.

Loved,
Bruce

God's Training Grounds

I just started taking classes toward a degree in religion at Liberty University. With that said, I AM PSYCHED, STOKED, EXCITED whichever you prefer. One of my classes is Contemporary Evangelism. One of the books I have to read for it is The Art of Personal Evangelism, by w. McRaney. This class and my first required discussion board thread has a lot to do with my last post "Are We Adding to the Church" (HERE) that I wrote after the Summit Leadership conference. So I thought I'd add a “part 2” of sorts, since it's still been on my heart.

McRaney identifies God's desire is to “have an eternal relationship with His people", evidenced by the fact that He created us to live forever. From the very beginning God established relationship. He gave Adam and Eve each other, then instructed that man should leave his mother and become one flesh with his wife. God also made sure He had an active relationship with Adam and Eve in the garden. Genesis 3:8 reads, “And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day...” This desire is expressed continually throughout the bible. In Exodus 29:45, God again reveals His desire to have relationship with His people by stating, “Then I will dwell among the Israelites and be their God.” God created us to have relationship with us and so we could have relationship with each other. He created us as vessels to pour His overflowing love in to and the fact that He gave us free will is evidence that He desired willing reciprocation of that poured out love.

But He didn't stop there. God also expects us to continue pouring out our love to others, our neighbors. In the same instance that Christ commands us to love God with all our heart, He gives equal weight to the command to love our neighbor. This is the foundation for community. God revealed His desire for us to live in community by establishing the desire and need for relationships and modeled it in the Trinity. McRaney speaks to this point by saying, “God was living in community with Himself as Trinity and created all things to enjoy the benefits of such community." God intends us to live in community, not only with other Christians, but also (and especially) with non-believers. Most often when the Israelites would turn from God he would send a prophet that was already a part of the community. Christian community is very important because it helps us to sharpen each other as believers. It also strengthens and prepares us to go to the unbeliever. C.S. Lewis describes Christian community by saying, “Consequently, the one really adequate instrument for learning about God is the whole Christian community, waiting for Him together.” We are intended to be united in relationship and community as one body. Our church should provide that relationship and community. But it should not be our stronghold, rather a training ground and a safe place to find comfort and support in between our attempts to bring others into God's community and a relationship with Him. That is where we become equipped and prepared to evangelize in today's world.

In Training,
Bruce

Married to Him

I know I haven't posted anything in a few weeks, but rest assured that doesn't mean nothings been happening. Actually the reverse is quite true, a LOT has been going on, but most of it is for me right now (mos definitely a few blogs to come). I just want to share this revelation I recently had that was huge. Actually, you may not think so, but for me it was earth shaking big.

So, not to get to deep into everything, in the last couple months I have struggled with not feeling the same "connection" with God that I had in the previous 9 or 10 months. It's not that I didn't feel His presence, it just wasn't the same. I had been on this spiritual high, where I had connected with Christ in a way that I never had been before. Everything was going AWESOME in my relationship with Christ, then some stuff came up and BAM! It just didn't feel the same anymore. I actually, at one point (only for a short time), considered the possibility that God had departed me. I knew he hadn't though, there were instances where I still felt His prompting and still felt His presence. I was doing all the same stuff (praying, reading the bible, abstaining from the stuff He had already called me to), but His presence didn't feel the same. I really struggled with it and didn't understand. So through talking with friends, mentors, coaches, through reading (just finished Seconhand Jesus by Glenn Packiam - GREAT book), and prayer, I came up with this: Our relationship with God is, in essence, a marriage. I know "The Church" is called Christ's bride. But I mean in the literal sense, we (individually) are married to Christ. Like I said, maybe not new to you, but huge for me.

In discussion with a friend, I was able to put in perspective the religion v. relationship topic. I always knew both were important, but never really knew the difference. I have a grasp on it now, but I'm still figuring out a lot of it (I almost said I have a firm grasp on it, but just when I think I do, God shows me something else and proves that I don't). Anyway, what my friend helped me put together is WHY both are important. This was huge in helping me put into perspective this whole difference in the closeness I felt with God and the marriage analogy.

Be patient with me while I try to pan this out...When you first start out in seeking God, you have to have the rules - that's the religion. You need them to help you develop the discipline, devotion, and dedication required to follow Christ. In doing that, Christ begins to change your life, you start (and stop) doing stuff, not out of obligation, but because you know it helps you draw close to God and it pleases Him. All of the sudden you realize you are in love. You have a desire to be with Him always. You begin to feel that passion that keeps you in the clouds. The same as when you meet that person that God has for you. It's an amazing feeling; one that you never want to end. But alas it does. When that happens, hopefully you have allowed God to build a strong enough relationship that religion and relationship have intertwined and you are left with this deeper love and respect that you can't have in religion or relationship alone.

I was told that religion is what you lean on when the relationship is weak. That is true, but it's more than that, it's the bedrock of your relationship. When the burning flame of passion fades to glowing embers, that's where the real fire is. It's like lighting charcoal. You can't cook until the flame has penetrated deep into the coal and is burning throughout. Until that happens the flame is at the mercy of the wind. Think about a time when you've had to relight the charcoal because the wind blew out the flame (especially those of us in Wyoming). Once it is burning within the coal, not just on it, the heat produced is so much more intense and is not easily extinguished. Same with religion/relationship. The time spent developing your relationship with God allows the "rules" of religion to penetrate deep into your heart. At that point they aren't just rules anymore, they're a way of life (that's the whole BE holy part). Now the flame burns deeper and is sustainable.

So that all kind of helped me get to the marriage part. God is constantly trying to woo us to Him. Once you respond to that wooing, He begins courting you. He'll start revealing all this marvelous truth and showing you such beautiful things. He'll ask you to give up certain things, but not without replacing it with something better. This is the dating and early married years. Things may not ALWAYS be perfect, but you just can't believe you found someone so great, some one that "completes" you (by the way - if you're looking for someone to complete you, the only person that can do that is Christ). You want to spend every minute with them. You may disagree on somethings, but the romance is so perfect you're willing to make any exception.

At some point that intense passion gives way to what may sometimes seem like the "everyday". You know you still love your spouse, you're committed to them, but the "flame" is gone. For the record the flame is gone, but the passion is always there and can be reignited over and over. It's the same with God. At some point, you'll stop feeling that intensity. You'll still feel Him near, but it won't feel exactly "new" or "exciting". It'll feel like you've been together for a bit. Of course you can reignite the passion, moments of worship, prayer time, retreats and conferences, but those are less frequent. The important part is that the deeper fire is burning hotter than the initial passion ever did.

Soap Box time: I've said it before and I'll say it again. Love, real love, is not a feeling; it's a choice and an action. The things you do for your spouse reflect the love you have for them. It's the adoration you show them, the respect you give them, the dedication and commitment you chose to honor. In Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis makes the point that "being in love" enables us to make the promise to commit to being true to our beloved even when we cease to be "in love". He reinforces the promise of commitment and love being about action by saying, "A promise must be about things that I can do, about action: no one can promise to go on feeling a certain way." Love is a decided action. That's my soap box...now back to the analogy.

Then inevitably you'll have your first big disagreement (again for the record - in any disagreement with God...you're wrong). In marriage, it may seem like devastation. "How can I be fighting with this person that I love so much". Same with God, you're going to mess up or do something stupid and God is going to allow you to reap the consequences of that something. I'll be honest with you, it's gonna happen and it's gonna suck. But this is where that deep love comes in. Just because you get in a fight in marriage doesn't mean you leave. It's the same with God. Just because you mess up or aren't obedient, doesn't mean He'll leave you; He won't. So you're upset, hurt, whatever, but the truth is: He's still there, always, arms open, waiting to comfort you.

The fact is, God loves you. Our walk with God was never meant to always be high on the mountain. I'm actually discovering I spend more time with God in the valley. Probably my own doing, but God works wonders in growing you in those valleys. God doesn't want to date us, he doesn't want a flame that is extinguished by a breeze and at the mercy of the wind. God wants to marry us and be with us always. He wants to build this relationship with us that is sustainable and burns deep. He wants you to say, "I do" and honor your commitment. That's when everything changes...it's beautiful!

I do,
Bruce

My Testimony – "The Snake Bite"

I fully intend this to be my last super long post. But the way this one played out and with everything that has happened, this one could've been WAY longer.

So in part one titled “My Testimony – The Shipwreck” (can be read HERE), I talked about all the stuff that had happened in my life and marriage up to September 9, 2008. That was the date that my entire world changed. Just to recap on the person I was…I had been a “Christian” for 20ish years. Probably more accurate to just say I knew who Jesus was and what I had to do to spend eternity with him, but I chose not to live that way. I presented the public image of Christianity very well (I thought), but didn’t live it that way in my family or private life.

Now, understanding that from 2000 to 2005, I had been continually trying to “make up” for my earlier betrayal (2000). I knew that I had to prove that I deserved to have Dana and her love back, so my focus (at least I had convinced myself) was making sure I gave her the life she asked for. At the time I equated that to being the same as giving her the love and attention she deserved (I know now, that is NEVER the same thing). When I realized, in 2005, how severely I had and continued to betray my family (mainly my wife), I set out to change that. I turned ALL my focus on pleasing Dana. I gave her what she asked for, I told her I loved her all the time (and I really did mean it deeply), I made sure to tell her how beautiful she was, I tried to be romantic, all of it. But my focus was still wrong; it wasn’t on God. I know now, had I focused on my relationship with Christ, put God first in my marriage and been the spiritual leader I was meant to be in my home things probably would have turned out very different. That is not to say Dana would have never left (she has free will and had to be willing to accept Christ in our marriage too), but I truly believe the likelihood would have been far less. Had I done that, God would have made sure I was the husband and father my family and He needed me to be and He would have covered the rest. Hindsight, right? These are the character building moments you can never plan (maybe never want to plan).

So, September 10, 2008, SHIPWRECKED! With everything Dana told me that night, I just knew the probability of us coming back from it was slim. Although slim, at that point all was not lost. I tried to convince Dana we could survive. No dice, that night Dana did some stuff that landed her in the Behavioral Health Hospital. That was the catalyst for the most difficult, hurtful, emotional, life changing, enlightening, oddly wonderful and exciting (I know it sounds weird, but you’ll understand shortly) time of my life. That hospital admission was the beginning of my snake bite.

Up to this point, I had only visited Element Church once. We got here in July ‘08, but I avoided going. I tried three other churches and was actually kind of scared at a couple. So, I finally decided to check Element out and I loved it instantly. After my first and only visit to Element, all that crap with Dana happened. I was so angry at God. I had busted my butt making sure that my wife had everything she wanted and at being a “good” husband, how could he take that away from me? We had a plan, we had it all figured out and we were happy…I thought. I was so confused, angry, hurt, you name it. Because I was angry I decided I didn’t need to go to church anymore (that’s genius right – running farther from God would absolutely fix it, right?)

Then my kids asked if we were going back to church. Out of the mouths of babes. I couldn’t set that example for my boys, so I told them we would. When all this heartache began, I truly thought it would take FOREVER, to get past it. I knew I had to “deal” with it and be strong for my boys, but I didn’t understand why this happened and I definitely did not trust that God had a plan that would make any of this ok. I continued to go to church and prayed for months for God to bring her home, to make it better. Then in the middle of his “Heart – It’s What We Bleed” series, our Lead Pastor, Jeff (Blog love HERE) called an audible and delivered a sermon on “A World of Uncertainty”. With that sermon I realized that I had been praying for the wrong thing. I realized that I was praying and going to church, but I was simply trying to convince God I was a “Good” Christian in hopes that he would make it all better. I didn’t really believe that he would fix it or that he could pull anything good out of it. That day I stopped praying for him to fix it and bring her home and started praying for him to take control and gave him my marriage. I also began praying for strength and healing for Dana. I wish I could say that I began reading my bible and praying every day, but I didn’t. But he was just getting started… Soon after that I joined a Life/Small Group and that became a source of great strength. I found myself hungering for this relationship with Jesus that I saw everyone else had. I had been a “Christian” for twenty years and I never remember having “that” relationship. So I started praying and reading his word a little more, still not consistently, but more. That’s when I realized the whole thing about not putting God first in my marriage.

Then came the sermon series Jeff called “Dirty Santa”. One of the installments of that series dealt with forgiveness when a family member hurts you. That broke my heart. It was like Jeff was talking right to me – all of it. I wanted to forgive Dana (I didn’t want that hate in my heart), I even wanted to tell her. But then Jeff said treat her undeservedly. All I could think was, “How dare you”. I kept telling myself that he had no idea what I was going through. Before the end of the message, I realized that it wasn’t Jeff Maness’ message, it was God’s and He knew exactly what I was going through. I got up, wrote “Dana, My Wife” on the paper and put it in the bowl. That day I walked out of Element and decided I was going to forgive her. Since then I have done everything I can to treat her undeservedly. I have gone out of my way to be kind to her. I’ll tell you that you can say you forgive, but without the action associated with it, you can’t even convince yourself you have. Since then I have an unimaginable amount of peace (that’s not to say I’m not hurt, I still hurt and there’s still some anger there), but I’ve started feeling that calm I longed for. It’s amazing how God puts thing in order, it seems like all the sermons I needed to hear were delivered in a very specific order (weird, right? That God, so organized.). The next step was Jeff’s “21” sermon series, specifically the Devotion sermon. After Dirty Santa, I continued to pray for healing and protection for Dana and my boys, but my prayers for me turned to asking God’s direction for me. I was pretty much past the “Why did this happen?” part and had gotten to the “Now what?”

In that sermon, Jeff had talked about making time for intentional, consistent (and the right) connection with God every day. He said through that devotional time God will reveal his direction. That was exactly what I’d been asking for so I figured I’d give it a shot. I started that Sunday afternoon. I sat in a Burger King, while Dana visited with the boys, and began to read. The results were immediate. That Sunday afternoon, I opened to Philippians (my book mark was there because the last thing I read was Ephesians). Imagine my surprise when I read 3:13-14, “Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”

I had been praying for direction and I heard loud and clear where God wanted me to go…FORWARD! Seemed like a good direction to go, so I kept on. I read Monday and Tuesday morning. Then it happened, after devotional time on Tuesday, I was in the shower shaving and I felt completely over whelmed. I actually had to sit down and actually started crying. Then I heard a voice in my head and this feeling in my heart that I never had before. The voice asked, “When are you going into ministry?” I actually sat there and had an out loud argument about why I couldn’t and why it was nonsense. I argued in my head all day Tuesday. I had felt like God was calling me for the last 5 or 6 years, but I constantly had an excuse why I couldn’t. “Dana doesn’t even like church, she can’t be a pastor’s wife”; “I don’t live good enough to minister”, etc. (there were hundreds). But that Tuesday, I had literally run out of every excuse, I had NONE. So I asked God to confirm it to me, if that is what he wanted me to do.

Wednesday morning I got up, put on a pot of coffee, prayed and began to read 1 Thessalonians. Four verses in I read, “For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you, because our gospel came to you not simply with words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction.” That was it! God gave me EXACTLY what I asked for because I made intentional, consistent and the right connection with him. I could have just read my bible and not really ever connected with God. It’s not about how long you’ve been reading your bible, or doing devotionals. It’s 100% about REALLY, TRULY and DEEPLY seeking God’s face. I have NEVER had a relationship with Jesus like I do today. That day in the shower, I got my WOW moment and the Holy Spirit finally got ALL of me. I cannot imagine EVER going back to a place where I do not have this kind of relationship with Jesus. When God told me ministry was his plan for me, it didn’t make sense. Me? Why? I never gave it any consideration, because it was not what I wanted to do, but now I can’t imagine doing ANYTHING else.

It took all of that for me to realize some very important truths. My number one relationship is and has to be with Christ. As long as I have that, all my other relationships will be right. I am a COMPLETELY different person than I was 7 months ago; emotionally, spiritually and physically (all the stress caused me to drop nearly 45 lbs in 5 months - unhealthy I know!). We really do serve an AWESOME and WONDERFUL God. He really does shine a light of hope and blessing into the darkest pit of despair and sadness. God took my shipwreck and snakebite and set up the divine appointments in the exact order and with the exact people He needed to orchestrate the incredible change He had in store for my life.

Never Going Back,
Bruce

Long Time, No Post (There’s a Point to this Post…Promise)

I know I haven't posted “My Testimony - Part II” yet, but I plan to this weekend. After that post I'm going to do my best to limit the length of my posts. I read on another blog that blogs should not be super long. I guess I'll do more multi-post blogs if something is important enough to warrant a longer post.

So here’s the point to this post...recently God has really been showing me where he wants me to walk in ministry. He’s really been directing me toward college age ministry. But lately He's been putting it on my heart just how much this age group is neglected. As a church we seem to do well ministering to youth and older adults. We have tried and tested programs that provide the spiritual nourishment those age groups need (I personally think we can always do better in all areas).

But somewhere between high school and "figuring it all out" we lose them. It just can't be that way anymore. We have to stop assuming that the only way to minister to someone is to invite them to church. Then when they don’t show, we chalk it up to, “Oh well, I tried; now it’s on them.” CA adults don’t want to be pushed through church’s doors and into a seat where they become just one of the faces. They just want to know you love them and you care about what they’re going through. They want to know that we’ll (The Church) be there for them no matter what.

I think CA adults (especially those that have grown up in church) are ready to move from the religion to the relationship (props to my buddy Thomas Hogan, we’ve talked about this at length - religion v. relationship). I think that by the time a high school student is ready to graduate, they understand the religion part enough to know there is more to it. They know there is something that is far more satisfying then just sitting in church on Sundays. I think they just want someone to guide them to that place, to walk with them and care about their journey as much as they do. I know that I have ridiculous amounts to learn about “ministry”, but I also know that we can’t afford to fail at this.

Learning,
Bruce

Give It Up!

In today’s society, “Give it up” can mean a couple different things. It can mean, “don’t even bother embarrassing yourself by trying”, as in when I attempt to play any kind of sport, even ping pong (if that can be considered a sport). Or it can be used to arouse cheers from a group, as in “Give it up for the greatest quarterback in NFL history, Brett Farve.” But I’m not talking about those uses. I’m talking about giving it up for Christ. Not like cheering for him, although that is ALWAYS welcomed, but giving up that thing that you may have held onto or put before Him.

Lately God has bombarded me with that question, “Bruce, what are you willing to give up to follow me?” The first time it came up was in a blog by Morgan Clark, can be read HERE, (Element’s Small Group Pastor’s, Grant Clark, son). He talks about God asking him if he would give up music to follow him. As he writes in his blog, “For me it was extremely tough. I’m not going to lie. I’m not sure right now. I think I could, but….” Didn’t really lend too much thought to it. Thought it was a great point, but wasn’t one of those soul shaking things…at the time.
Then, Andy Hazelet (Element’s Youth Pastor) spoke on the rich young ruler that asked Jesus how he could inherit the kingdom of Heaven and compared him to the Apostle Matthew. Jesus told the young ruler to sell everything, give it to the poor and follow him. The young ruler went away sad, because he didn’t want to give up all he had. Matthew on the other hand left everything the minute Jesus called him.

So I started thinking about it…What do I have that Jesus would want me to give up to follow Him? I really don’t have much. I know I would give up any of my personal possessions for him, it’s just stuff, it doesn’t mean anything. I have my sons, but I would hope that God wouldn't ask me to give them up. I think he has awesome things in store for them and I am trying to guide them down the path that He is directing me to. So what is there…nothing! Then it just popped in my head…or God put it there (I lean more towards the latter, especially lately).
The one thing that has ALWAYS been very important to me is having someone in my life (my wife, namely). Since I was 18 years old, I have had my wife there to love me, to be there with and for me and for me to love. I loved being married, but not just married, married to her. And I loved having someone to share my life with. Since she left, that has been my biggest struggle…Not having her. Not having anyone really. She left a huge void. Honestly, I could very easily find someone to try and fill that void, but it wouldn’t be the same. I started believing that as soon as my divorce was final I needed to get “back on the horse” and get in the dating scene so I could find someone to be with.

It wasn’t about replacing my wife, I know I could never replace what we shared when things were good, but it was about having someone. Then God asked, “Would you give up being with someone, to be with me?” Immediately I was scared of that question, I didn’t even want to acknowledge He had asked. But He did, and I’ve learned ignoring Him doesn’t work AT ALL!
The thing is that I’m not afraid of being alone, but I am afraid of not having someone to share life with (if that makes sense). I’ve thought on it a lot since He asked. God wasn’t necessarily asking me to actually give up on ever having a woman that loves me in my life. I think he was asking me to focus on my relationship with Him before even thinking about starting another intimate relationship with a woman. I’ve realized that I we all need to realize that before we can find comfort in another person (or provide comfort for that matter), we need to understand that God wants us to share our lives with him, before anyone else. Kind of like the tithe thing, He wants the first of us (really in that regard it amounts to ALL of us – not just 10% of us, but the point is he wants us to give us to him first). If we are willing to enter that relationship with Him, HE will cultivate it into something more beautiful then we can even imagine.

I’m not taking responsibility for my wife leaving, but I know that I failed my family in the area of spiritual leadership. I have NEVER had an intimate relationship with Jesus. I know I never entered in and let him work on Him and I. I know now, had I actually focused on being with God and letting Him build that intimacy between Him and I, my spousal relationship would have been on the same intimacy level. I think that intimacy would have resulted in a stronger relationship and equated to her not leaving…I believe that wholeheartedly, but the devil won that round.

I know that I have been thinking so much on what my next earthly relationship would look like and how things would be different, I began to lose focus on the new relationship I just entered. God was telling me to focus on building our relationship before even thinking of any other relationship. In the end my right, deep and intimate relationship with Jesus will only serve to strengthen ALL my earthly relationships, from my friendships to my possible future spouse. Besides the fact, this new God ordained passion I have in my heart demands my FULL attention on God. I want to learn as much as possible about God’s kingdom, Jesus’ life and desire for mine, all of it. I know God has work for me to do. 1 Corinthians 7:32 says, “I want you to be free from the concerns of this life. An unmarried man can spend his time doing the Lord’s work and thinking how to please him.”

I want to learn how to please my Lord and do the work that He has called me to, then when He is ready to give me someone to share my success with, I’ll be ready to nurture and build a strong relationship with her through Him. So would I give up being with someone for the rest of my life to be with Jesus? I don’t know how to answer that. But I do know that I want a relationship with Jesus, so deeply rooted in faith and love, that nothing can shake it and nothing can destroy it. In order for that to happen, there is one relationship I will focus on for now, mine and Jesus’.

Giving it up for Him,
Bruce