Loyal
Jas 1:6; But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind.
Jas 1:7; For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord,
Jas 1:8; being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.
Jas 4:8; Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
What is a double minded person? A person who doesn't really stand for anything, a person who just goes with the tide.
"like the surf of the sea" or leaves being "driven and tossed by the wind". These people have no real conviction. The world is full of Christians like this.
I have a friend, he is a pastor of a small church in a small town. He is in his early 40's, nice looking, has a very nice house, and is a very Godly man.
He is well over 6 ft tall, and more than a few women have told me he is a good looking man. But he is single, and he has never been married.
He is an active athletic man, he likes to hike, ski, swim, and do bicycling.
He was engaged, twice. He still goes on dates from time to time, although he says a lot less frequently these days.
So then, if he has all this going for him, and he wants to be married, why isn't he? I asked him this very question.
He dated woman-A for about a year and a half, they finally got engaged. But one of them started to change after this. Change into someone new, or change into who they
were in the past... that is the question. She seemed like a Godly woman, but as she got more and comfortable opening up to him, it turns out she wasn't a virgin, he said
he could deal with that. It turns out she still likes to go out a have a few drinks with the girls every now and then. One night she was watching a movie with a little more
nudity than he was comfortable with. She was reading the Bible less with him these days. One day he asked her... I thought you wanted a Godly man, what I am doing wrong?
She told him he was a little bit "too" Godly for her. He needed to loosen up, have more fun, go with the flow. Have a drink every now and then, indulge a little, live a little.
He asked her if camping, water skiing, and hiking were fun enough for her... she said no. She said he needed to quit being quite so strict about his morals.
He said he never told her she couldn't do these things, but he was uncomfortable with her doing them. He said he couldn't change who he was, and felt like he needed
to stay on the straight and narrow path. She broke off the engagement.
A couple of years later he met woman-B, they also dated for over a year, and eventually got engaged. She wanted to sleep with him before they were married.
"Just in case, they were incompatible in bed" (hmmmm). Of course he said no, and she also broke off the engagement. It seems some women want a Godly man, but not
"too" Godly. Not so Godly that I need to change to stay up with him. Yes, there are ungodly Christian men in this world also. It's definitely not just women.
But are we this way with God? Is God just a little too "Godly" for us. Why doesn't He just take a chill pill, relax a little, and let us live however we want to.
There is love, grace and mercy to be sure. More than we deserve to be sure. But are we taking His mercy and forgiveness for granted? Are we just living a little too close
to the edge? Are we double minded? Do we have the mind of the world, and the mind of Christ and try to switch them back and forth whenever we want to?
Eph 4:14; As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming;
Maybe it's time for us to quit being tossed around like the surf of the sea, and leaves in the wind. Maybe it's time to be like the preacher and take a firm stand for what we
believe God has called us to be.
Jas 1:7; For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord,
Jas 1:8; being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.
Jas 4:8; Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
What is a double minded person? A person who doesn't really stand for anything, a person who just goes with the tide.
"like the surf of the sea" or leaves being "driven and tossed by the wind". These people have no real conviction. The world is full of Christians like this.
I have a friend, he is a pastor of a small church in a small town. He is in his early 40's, nice looking, has a very nice house, and is a very Godly man.
He is well over 6 ft tall, and more than a few women have told me he is a good looking man. But he is single, and he has never been married.
He is an active athletic man, he likes to hike, ski, swim, and do bicycling.
He was engaged, twice. He still goes on dates from time to time, although he says a lot less frequently these days.
So then, if he has all this going for him, and he wants to be married, why isn't he? I asked him this very question.
He dated woman-A for about a year and a half, they finally got engaged. But one of them started to change after this. Change into someone new, or change into who they
were in the past... that is the question. She seemed like a Godly woman, but as she got more and comfortable opening up to him, it turns out she wasn't a virgin, he said
he could deal with that. It turns out she still likes to go out a have a few drinks with the girls every now and then. One night she was watching a movie with a little more
nudity than he was comfortable with. She was reading the Bible less with him these days. One day he asked her... I thought you wanted a Godly man, what I am doing wrong?
She told him he was a little bit "too" Godly for her. He needed to loosen up, have more fun, go with the flow. Have a drink every now and then, indulge a little, live a little.
He asked her if camping, water skiing, and hiking were fun enough for her... she said no. She said he needed to quit being quite so strict about his morals.
He said he never told her she couldn't do these things, but he was uncomfortable with her doing them. He said he couldn't change who he was, and felt like he needed
to stay on the straight and narrow path. She broke off the engagement.
A couple of years later he met woman-B, they also dated for over a year, and eventually got engaged. She wanted to sleep with him before they were married.
"Just in case, they were incompatible in bed" (hmmmm). Of course he said no, and she also broke off the engagement. It seems some women want a Godly man, but not
"too" Godly. Not so Godly that I need to change to stay up with him. Yes, there are ungodly Christian men in this world also. It's definitely not just women.
But are we this way with God? Is God just a little too "Godly" for us. Why doesn't He just take a chill pill, relax a little, and let us live however we want to.
There is love, grace and mercy to be sure. More than we deserve to be sure. But are we taking His mercy and forgiveness for granted? Are we just living a little too close
to the edge? Are we double minded? Do we have the mind of the world, and the mind of Christ and try to switch them back and forth whenever we want to?
Eph 4:14; As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming;
Maybe it's time for us to quit being tossed around like the surf of the sea, and leaves in the wind. Maybe it's time to be like the preacher and take a firm stand for what we
believe God has called us to be.
