“Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all they heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind.” Luke 10:27
“For I am jealous over you with a godly jealousy; for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.” 2 Corinthians 11:2
“Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honor to Him: for the marriage of the lamb is come, and His wife hath made herself ready. And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white; for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.” Revelations 19:7-8
Our weekly Christian devotional
“What’s going on?” I lean over to check my girlfriend’s iPhone.
Natasha and I were supposed to be spending the day catching up. But, her focus definitely wasn’t on our conversation or her cooling latte’.
“Sorry.” She mutters softly, not bothering to look up from her screen.
I tap my nails. Impatiently. It’s my not-so-subtle way of my way of demanding a decent explanation from her.
“Alright.” Tasha caves and tosses her phone on the table.
“If you must know…I’ve just joined a dating website.” Defensively, she grabs her coffee mug and shrugs her shoulders.
“Girl, are you kidding me? This is so exciting! It means that you’re finally over Patrick.” My eyes automatically roll at the mention of her ex.
Patrick was a notorious cheater. For a while, Tasha stood faithfully by her fiancé, believing he would eventually change.
But, a man who isn’t ready to change never will change. Tasha faced that truth before they got married and finally found the strength to leave him. This did not mean that her heart wasn’t totally broken; she was so in love with Patrick. But, his definition of love wasn’t exclusive to just Natasha.
2 Corinthians 11:2 and Revelations 19:7-9 refers to Christians as being the Bride of Christ. What a curious way to describe a body of people!
I tried to imagine why God would envision His Believers in this way. But, after considering Christ’s deep love and sacrifice at the cross, the correlation became more apparent.
You see, every person out there has loved something more than they’ve loved God. The Bible says that when we lift anything up in our hearts and put it above Him, God considers this to be an idol.
It’s uncommon to see people bow down to statues in this country. But, everyday I hear people obsessing over a celebrity, a status car or even scrambling to be seen in all the right places.
Sadly, it isn’t just the unsaved that bow their hearts to these idols. Christians are just as guilty of spreading their love thin, sharing a love for God along with a fascination with other things…even the occult! (Tarot cards, fortune-tellers and pagan paranormal activities.)
Although God’s word is so very clear that this is an abomination in His eyes, many Christians are more preoccupied with blending into the world than they are at offending God.
I believe this is why many unbelievers seem to have a hard time deciphering between ‘Christians’ and non-Christians. Sadly, this ‘blending in’ is something many professing followers of Christ are actually proud of!
Let’s get back to my friend Natasha. If Patrick really loved her, it would be quite natural to assume that sacrificing all other women for her wouldn’t be an issue. Only then would all of Patrick’s lofty promises of devotion held some serious weight. Instead, he merely uttered empty words, desiring to enjoy Natasha’s love in addition to the pleasures and company of many others. Patrick’s idea of love lacked depth or sacrifice. It didn’t cost him anything; therefore the love he offered wasn’t worth very much.
I believe God recognizes this same behavior in many Christians. If a person really loves God with all their heart, soul and mind, wouldn’t honoring that love would become a top priority? I mean, true love wouldn’t just be lip service, right? Understandably, there would be an obvious reflection of the state of one’s heart by the way one lived and the choices that individual made.
I’ve heard so many people defend their love for sin by saying: “Christ died to give me freedom.” Sure. That’s true. But…
When we know this and yet still make the choice to take advantage of that freedom, isn’t that spitting in the face of God’s love? Can anyone who does this really claim that this is true love? I don’t and I’m pretty sure God doesn’t, either.
“Dear Heavenly Father,
I bow my head in shame. I must come clean. I’ve been dividing my love—the love that was only meant for you. I have been sharing it with so many others, that I’m sure wouldn’t even be able to count them.
Lord, because you are the Almighty and because you are filled with so much grace and mercy, I have told myself that you would just ‘understand’.
After reading 2 Corinthians 11: 2, I realize that I have only been lying to myself. Christ died to give me so much. But, I have cheapened my ‘love’ by sharing it with those who aren’t even close to being worthy of it.
Forgive me, Lord! You alone are worthy of my whole heart, my complete devotion. Today, I drop everything else that has been consuming me.
Show me the areas where I may have given my heart away and not even realized it. I place every idol at your feet. Show me any actual occult items that I may have in my possession that offend you, Lord. Give me a heart that is willing to sacrifice anything that would harm our intimacy.
I worship you with my whole heart. My heart is a wretched, cheating heart. But, I give you permission to change all that. In fact, I need you to do it so I never knowingly take advantage of your grace again. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”
*After you pray this prayer, go through your home and collect all items that the Holy Spirit is convicting you to get rid of. When you have gathered all items together, place them in a box and commit to finding a SAFE place to burn, destroy or discard them. (Be sure that they are no longer useful to anyone that may come across them.)
Repeat this (or something similar to it) from your heart:
“By the power invested in me through the Blood of Jesus, I break every curse and covenant attached to these pagan items. Their influence is not welcome in my home, my garage, my body, my family or my life in any way shape or form. Today, I am putting a line in the sand. I have chosen to please and serve my God and Him alone. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”
Thank you for reading our weekly Christian devotional on verses: Luke 10:27, 2 Corinthians 11:2 and Revelations 19:7-8
Please check back and see what we have for you next week!
Author: Julia Shalom Jordan
Photos: courtesy of Graphic Stock.com