Friends Part 2:

As I was checking out www.cbn.com, I came across and interesting read.
This article paralleled the changes I was going through, especially
in the area of finding fulfillment in God. I never thought that I would
get to that place, but I'm finally here. It's beautiful, but at the same
time I feel like an alien or stranger around worldly men. I am realizing that before "the one" comes, many counterfeits appear. Now that I'm saved, dating is kind of like the way we used to to date (well some of us) at 14 in the sense that it's not hot and heavy; rather it's more of a friendship and courtship. Now that we date with a purpose, we add asking the tough questions into the mix. I'm not a "black widow" by any means, but once again this week I felt it was best to cut ties with a male friend. This is like the 100th one this year. Oh well =)...

I knew we weren't real friends the evening I was over his house. I started to leave because it was getting late (I shouldn't have been there in the first place), and he asked me to spend the night (Sure). I said no for many reasons. Although we (at least I wasn't) were not planning to do anything physical, I told him that when a person is trying to bring others to Christ that he or she needs to avoid even the appearance of evil. We like to think that people don't judge, but if you saw me leaving this guy's house the next morning you would probably question me and wonder if I'm hypocritical. You could easily loose faith in me and in church folk. I mean, that's just how it is. I also explained that there was just no need to spend the night. He felt that I cared too much about what others think. It seemed like he liked my walk with God, until I was uncomfortable with spending the night. To make a long story short we didn't agree, so there was no need to...

The friend before him was the "well you should spend the night (Saturday) at my house, since I live close to your church." What was he talking about? Were we supposed to have a sleep over? Others were similar. I'm kind and sweet, but I'm blunt. I tell them my views and feelings, and kindly ask them not to call anymore. I just don't see the point of wasting time or dating just to date. Clearly these guys don't really respect my walk with God. I feel like I'm constantly being tested. God sends guys that have some of what I want, but not all of it. They talk a good game about their walk with God, but they could NOT cover me. If I wasn't fulfilled in the Lord, I could be looking to men for fulfillment like many other women.

Then there's the periods where it seems like the people who live life all types of wrong are finding love. There are also women who claimed to be so saved, but they settle for a guy who is bringing them down spiritually, because they don't want to be alone and the statistics say that 70% or AA women are single. BUT I have to remember that I don't know their battles and sooner or later those battles will be revealed. Relationships that I once thought were so great have revealed themselves to be trash, but the same people think I need to lower my standards. I say my standards are not my standards, but they are God's standards. I'm just focusing on the one above and not what's going on on my right or left. I'm not settling for crumbs. My Father wouldn't have that =). If He said a man should love his wife the way Christ loved the church, then why would I settle for a guy who doesn't have my back spiritually?

Wanted: True Love
By Kimberly Barton
Guest Writer (www.cbn.com)

CBN.com – God speaks to my heart every day with His beauty and provision – even though contemporary love songs on the radio.

Often,
I come across lyrics of a lover desiring his beloved and doing whatever
it takes to bring his own to him. The lover’s longing is to be known
and loved and finally, out of desperation he puts the beloved to the
test to see what the final answer is.

And so it is, in the same way, God may be asking you: Do you want Me or do you want the world? What is your answer?

Everyday
I am faced with this question. Ultimately, I know that Jesus Christ is
all that I really want and all that I really need. Only He can fill the
inner longings and desires of my soul.

I want God to strip away
all the imitations and counterfeits that this world has to offer and
reveal to me the true Lover of my soul, Jesus Christ. I want him to
reign within my heart, spirit, and mind forever. I am desperate and
hungry for this pure and innocent, true love that I have found in Jesus
Christ.

There is the occasional day on Regent University’s
campus when, either leaving or entering the library, I see a bride
posing for her picture along the red-carpeted stairwell of the
vestibule. Then, there are the days when I see brides posing in front
of the regal fountain on campus with the roaring lions.

They,
the brides look like royalty, and I feel like Cinderella with ashes
across my cheek, not yet discovered by her prince. I think to myself as
I longingly look at the brides with admiration, “I desire to be chosen,
to be a bride beautifully arrayed in the finest of ornament for her
husband.” The brides — they glow, they radiate, and they bask in
knowing they have been chosen. I think, “I want to be chosen” and I ask
God, “When will my day come?”

I imagine Jesus Christ longing to
reach down to this earth and take my face in His hand and tenderly and
lovingly saying to me, “But my dear, my beloved, you are already a
bride, a most beautiful bride because of Me, and I chose you and you
are Mine.”

“Listen to me, O royal daughter; take to heart what
I say. Forget your people and your family far away. For your royal
husband delights in your beauty; honor Him, for he is your Lord. (Psalm
45:10-11,NLT)"

Today, I wrote in my journal, “How much better
it is to be your bride rather than an earthly one! The material of a
wedding dress is perishable, but your garment of righteousness lasts
forever.”

“She has been given the finest of pure white linen to
wear. For the fine linen represents the good deeds of God’s holy people
(Revelation 19:8,NLT)."

I now understand the longings of my
heart. Everything goes back to Jesus Christ, and it all makes sense to
me now. The desires of my heart are really all for Jesus Christ
Himself. He gives us wisdom and freedom in regards to things of this
world. He delivered us out of the depths of Sheol. Respectively, we are
free from the worldly systems.

Again, it all comes back to the
fact that we all long for the love that involves a deep sacrifice, the
sacrifice of God’s only Son. It is an innate yearning within us that
rises up. Pay attention to the stirrings within your soul … when you
are feeling that void. People are always doing whatever they can to
stave it off — believers and unbelievers alike. Go to the True Source.
Be looking out for your Romancer. He wants you to seek His face and
love Him for who He is.