He is jealous for me

“He is jealous for me,

Loves like a hurricane, I am a tree,

Bending beneath the weight of His wind and mercy.

When all of a sudden, I am unaware of these afflictions

eclipsed by glory, and I realize just how beautiful You are

And how great Your affections are for me”

– lyrics to ‘How He Loves’ written by John Mark McMillian.

Did you know one of the names of God is ‘Jealous’?  Exodus 34:14 says “(for you shall worship no other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God)” (emphasized in Joshua 24:19, Psalms 79:5). For the longest time, I viewed being jealous as something that was bad/negative. In other words, if you are jealous, you had a problem. But there is jealousy that is justifiable. In Bill Gothard’s book, ‘Our Jealous God’, Gothard uses the example of a husband and wife. I’m paraphrasing it but I would suggest you read the book. He states that a wife who notices that her husband has a wandering eye (in other words, checks out other women) has the right to be jealous as he has vowed ‘forsaking all others’ he will cling to her and be devoted to her. How she reacts to that feeling may not be right but that feeling of jealousy is warranted. Gothard continued by saying that marriage is a ‘covenant relationship and in such a union there can be no tolerance of any competing affection….they both vowed before God that they would cherish each other and love each other with all their hearts’. She wants his eyes and whole heart therefore those vows that they made allows her to have the right to expect these things.

Just like the wife who watches the eyes of her husband, the Lord watches the eyes of my heart. When my heart brightens up more for someone or something other than Him, His Spirit grieves. His Spirit yearns jealously (James 4:5). The truth is…..my Creator, the one who created this whole world and everything in it, is jealous for me!! To cause Him to grieve….I don’t understand how I….I who have nothing…..could grieve a God who has everything. He does not force me to obey Him even though He has the power to. He did something else…..He sent His Only Son to die for me to prove His love. A God that has everything….sent His Son to be a mere man just so that I would be saved. He does not need me, He wants me! This Jealous God is all about enabling me to experience Him in my everyday walk, to grow in Him and excelling in my endeavors through His mighty power. People have this warped sense that God wants them to lead boring lives….but godly lives does not mean boring. It just means you believe that a fun life is a life in sin? A godly life means a life that knows we live by grace cause we are with sin but strives towards a life without sin. Just like Paul mentioned in Phil 3:12-14, Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do,forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

My Lord pursues me. I think that’s amazing. Now that I have tasted Him. Taken a drink from His well spring of life….my desire is to know and be faithful to Him. I falter many times but I know He does not let me go. There is nothing in life that I regret cause it has all brought me closer to Him. My prayer everyday is that I love the Lord my God with all of my heart, with all of my soul, with all of my mind and with all of my strength (Mark 12:30). Through that I know that I will always seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all other things will be added unto me (Matt 6:33).

Loved by Him xoxo

The Power of Encouragement

In the school that I work in, we have Chapel for Christian students on Thursdays mornings. Today, the speaker spoke on the popular story of David and Goliath. The speaker used the message to encourage the students to do great things even if people have said things over the years that have put them down. David had that same problem. His brothers, King Saul and David’s enemy looked down on him. If David listened to their negative remarks, felt discouraged or offended, he would have never defeated Goliath and he will never be the great man of God that the Bible tells us about. That message was an amazing inspiration to my students. That encouragement spoke to all of us in that hall that opened our heart to the Word. My students walked into class still talking about how blessed they were by that message.

I’ve had people in my life that have encouraged me so much and helped me become who I am today….at the same time, I have had many that tried to put me down. The great thing about the way God created me is that, most of the time, I do not remember the negative words. Or perhaps I forget a lot! Haha. It’s the best thing cause I forget most bad things so fast. I believe it’s the Lord who heals me from those words. Most of all, reading and meditating on His Word has been the reason for my healing. Someone told me today that as Christians, we never should be offended. That is true, we should never be offended. But here is the truth, we do! So instead of pretending that we do not get offended, we must find the root of that offence. Offence stem from anger and bitterness that escalate and are expressed through words that can kill and destroy. Choose your words wisely. Definitely much easier said than done! Sometimes I find myself saying things I regret. As soon as it leaves my lips or after I let all my frustrations out, I know I caused damage. By then, its too late cause I have spoken without a thought or regard of how the other person would take it. The more I look back at my own words, I realize I tend to be so busy pointing another’s mistake when I am speaking from my own hurt. A person that is hurt always complains and reacts harshly to another with hurtful words. There is a difference between wit and plain-old-mean sarcasm.

If we keep saying negative things, we are exercising that bad attitude until it becomes a difficult habit to breakaway from. If we ask God to heal our heart from the hurts (dealing with our past) that causes us to say words that tear down and begin to train ourselves to edify another, we will find that it is easier giving compliments and encouraging. People will enjoy being around us. This week make it a point to focus on other people, encouraging and building them. We will be blessed.