If the challenge is over for you or not I hope that we can always go back and use it as a guide to help us tame our flesh. It doesn't stop from here the goal is to pursue God in purity despite the struggles we may face. I didn't anticipate to be so busy this month. This caused me to drift from writing my reflections on the blog, however I was able to complete the challenge during my own quiet time. I just wanted to share a reflection from my friend Jackie on the things she learned through out the challenge.
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Hey Guys, So its been a while since I've actually sat down and wrote. Within the past two and a half weeks, I have decided to join a purity challenge that was organized by one of my friends, Nana. This challenge was held for 20 days which it requires one to meditate on scripture, pray about pursuing purity and overcoming the struggle of the flesh. I just wanted to recap and share what I've learned from this challenge on a general basis. First off, I would like to say that this challenge has humbled me and has pushed me to be eager for the LORD. Eager in the sense of having the desire to be obedient to Him and Only Him, disregarding the opinions of people. This challenge has reminded me that my body is not only a temple, but it is God's temple and therefore it should not be taken for granted. Furthermore, this challenged has also reminded me not to settle for less, or compromise with sin in a relationship. ALWAYS take the high road and keep the standards of the Lord close to your heart. It is important to remain pure because we are His Bride "For your maker is your husband, the Lord of hosts is His name, and the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer, the God of the whole earth he is called"- Isaiah 54:5. We are so precious to Christ, he does not want us to abuse ourselves; "An excellent wife, who can find? She is far more precious than jewels"- Proverbs 31:10.
As mentioned above, this challenge highlights the struggle of the flesh and desiring impure actions. This bible teaches us that God does not stray away from us during our struggle, rather He is a helping hand, He provides an escape route. Temptation, in its very own essence does not have power over us there is always a way out. We have to understand how deadly sin is for us, to turn the other way. We have to understand that we are better than sin, we have to understand that sin is not our friend, it is not the way of life. Whenever you are in an uncomfortable situation where you could be lead to sexual impurity, remind yourself you are better than that. The bible tells us to literally flee from sin. In 2 Corinthian 10:3-5 we are instructed on how to over come the struggle of the thought of that sin, we are instructed on how to let it go, this is a way of mentally fleeing from sin.
I love how this challenged acknowledged this idea of guilt, in which we all suffer with this as Christians. Its funny how I tend to let guilt take over my mind. I listen to the lies of the enemy saying that the Lord will never be pleased with me, I will never be good enough to be Christ- like. In Lamentations 3:22-23 reminds us that we should not let guilt consume our minds. God's love and compassion is greater than our sin. What really struck out at me from this scripture was that it says that Gods mercies is renewed every morning. God is faithful even when we are not, He knows we are trying to overcome the sins of this world. God knows that the flesh is weak and He knows that we as Christians are trying. So why do I break a sweat about it? This is a scripture I'm definitely going to use as a reminder, because as humans it is inevitable for us to fall short. Therefore I learned not to be so hard on myself. Also in Lamentations 3:40 reminds me that God does not force anything onto anyone and thats what I love about Him. He makes you learn for yourself before you come to Him. "Let us search our and examine our ways, and turn back to the Lord"- Lamentations 3:40. I remember I wanted to control everything in my life and I kept running into walls. Thats when I decided to give everything to the Lord.
This challenge also recognized the idea of encouragement, Hebrews 12:1-2 talks about the " The Race of Faith". Hebrews encourages us to be strong, and continue to fight this spiritual fight in faith. Give everything to God, the things that bother us, Sin that haunts us. Most importantly give your heart to God and let him change you, and your struggle. God is the author and finisher of our faith. The joy that we have now came because Christ has endured the cross.
My words of encouragement/ Next Steps: Keep fighting and remain pure. Pray heavily about it, meditate. Also to those who suffer with guilt, you have to learn to forgive yourself in order to move forward and just remember that if you confess to the LORD He will forgive you. Do not forget that the blood shed on the cross is for our past and present sins. God loves us too much! Let the spirit lead your life! Go against the flesh and live according to the Spirit. Live to please God and only Him. Do not submit yourself to the opinions of humans. Remember that God is the final judge, if it requires to be the " ugly duckling" from all the other ducks then so be it because there is a greater reward than these temporal things on earth.
Please check out Jackie's Blog : http://robexrighteousness.blogspot.ca/
If you're still interested in the #pursueinpurity challenge or have no Idea what it is. You can click here for more information on the challenge.
for the sake of his love,
NanaOhh.
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