Steps 2 Success with Spiritual Solutions

Although we have the ability to love family, pets, etc., our focus is limited to romantic and agape love.

Valentine’s Day is a well-loved holiday, especially for the two people in love with each other. But there is the other side of the coin, those without romantic love who hate the holiday. Still, what is most interesting is the financial fact check of this holiday. “And the retail industry is looking forward to the anticipated amount of, Valentine’s Day spending is expected to reach $23.9 billion this year,” https://nrf.com/topics/holiday-and-seasonal-trends/valentines-day#). According to Forbes, “Retailers may try to make it seem that holiday shopping is of make-or-break importance, but it’s really not.” So, the word from the experts is that our $23.9 billion [spent for love] means absolutely nothing to the retail industry.

Many people place an extremely high value on the gifts of tangible items that represent love. While others are content with the wholeness that love provides. Is the pursuit of love a driving force? “We spend our lives craving it, searching for it, and talking about it. Its meaning is felt more than it is clearly expressed. It’s called the greatest virtue. It’s love.” https://www.southuniversity.edu/news-and-blogs/2016/08/the-psychology-behind-love-and-romance-70700.

We are driven to seek love because love is spiritual. Love permeates our entire hearts, souls, and minds. Why? Because God is love! “Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.” (1 John 4:8 ESV). Human beings desire love because we were created from love by Love. “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness… (Genesis 1:26 NKJV). God places the utmost importance on love, even explaining why our pursuit of love is desperate. “We love because he first loved us.” (1 John 4:19).

Now that we have the origin and foundation of love, we understand why God made humanity from love. Yes, our Heavenly Father’s original plan is for us to be loved by one another.

On the sixth day of Creation, after making Adam: “Now the LORD God said, ‘It is not good (beneficial) for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper [one who balances him—a counterpart who is] suitable and complementary for him.'” (Genesis 2:18, Amplified Bible).

Enter sin that altered God’s original plan. We know that evil will never have the power to abolish God’s, perfect love. Even so, many have compromised God’s standards to avoid depression or feelings of emptiness by seeking unholy unions or staying in toxic relationships just to be loved. Satan has repackaged love into an unhealthy package that glitters like diamonds, presenting it as alternative lifestyles–based on sexual orientation, believers with unbelievers, financial arrangements, cohabitation, abusive marriages, etc.

God is still in control! “The LORD has appeared of old to me, saying: ‘Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; Therefore with lovingkindness, I have drawn you. ‘” (Jeremiah 31:3).

Human Love: Whether you are in love or not in love with another human being, everyone has the opportunity and the ability to be in a love relationship.

Divine Love: The Trinity–God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit.

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. (John 3:16 NKJV).

“But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8 ESV).

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.” (2 Corinthians 1:3-4 ESV).

Breaking free from a depressive state of hopelessness because one is not in a romantic love relationship requires knowing and loving God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit. And for those who are blessed to have a beautiful, loving, and godly relationship or marriage, God still requires you to love and seek Him first. Our love and loyalty for God supersede all other love relationships.

“Jesus said to him, ‘You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.'” (Matthew 22:37).

We must love God with the confidence that He values us. When we view ourselves as worthy of God’s agape love, we should never possess a downcast soul. “Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why the unease within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise Him for the salvation of His presence.” (Psalm 42:5 BSB)

Our spiritual pursuit of love is defined by God. “I love those who love me, and those who seek me diligently find me.” (Proverbs 8:17 ESV). The only way to have a deep love relationship with God is to study the Scriptures and pray without ceasing. Our love for God must be a relentless pursuit. Who else can use the word “everlasting?” We are promised everlasting love and everlasting [eternal] life when we have a loving and faithful relationship with the Trinity.

The Apostle Paul, who suffered greatly for His love relationship with Jesus Christ, asks and answers his question:

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:35, 37-39).

Prayer: God, we pray for the desire and the strength to pursue our love relationship with you at all costs. We love You, and we thank you for Your everlasting love. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen. © 2022 Sonya Johnson, Faithful Fishers, and Woman, You Are Loved by God Ministries

For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. Jeremiah 29:11 NKJV

The promise of a future and hope to the nation of Israel was a profound demonstration of God’s never-ending grace and mercy. Still, their attention remained on the worldly pleasures, which they loved more than God. In His long-suffering, God gave many warnings regarding their consistent disobedience. Why were they drawn to the pagan practices of idol worship?

The Real Reason for Idol Worship–An Issue of the Heart

“But from there you will seek the Lord your God, and you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul.” (Deuteronomy 4:29 NKJV)

From Egypt to the journey in the wilderness, their hearts were dedicated to idols that could be seen. The elaborate decorations and sensual heathen worship practices enticed and permeated their entire being. The addiction to perverse pagan practices was the cause of their refusal to enter the Promised land. In Canaan, they would be required to live holy, according to God’s laws.

And the “stiff-necked people” were not ready to surrender their hearts, souls, and mind to obey God. Read Deuteronomy 1:19-46. Sadly, only two individuals, Joshua and Caleb [from that generation] and those younger than 20 years old were allowed to enter the Promised land.

The Historical Overview

For many who view God as merciless in the Old Testament, they do not know the scriptures or God’s character. Moses was a dedicated man of God who interceded for the disobedient Israelites when God was ready to destroy the entire nation. Moses had great favor upon His life because of his love for God and the people he led out of Egypt.

Through Divine appointment and anointment, God breathed the words of the first five books of the Bible to Moses. “The five books making up the Torah, which in the English Bible correspond to Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy,” were written by Moses. https://equip.sbts.edu/article/moses-write-pentateuch-even-obituary/

Evidence of God’s Love, Grace, and Mercy: “For forty years I led you through the wilderness, yet your clothes and sandals did not wear out.” (Deuteronomy 29:5 NLT). “I make this covenant and this oath, not with you alone, but with him who stands here with us today before the Lord our God, as well as with him who is not here with us today.” (Deuteronomy 29:14-15 NLT). Despite the Israelites abject disobedience, God made a new covenant vow with them at Moab.

God As Judge: After tolerating generations of Israel’s sinful behaviors, God said, “Enough is enough!” “‘But you would not listen to me,’ says the Lord. ‘You made me furious by worshiping idols you made with your own hands, bringing on yourselves all the disasters you now suffer.'” (Jeremiah 25:7 NLT)

The Sentence and Promise of Deliverance: “I will take away your happy singing and laughter. Then, after the seventy years of captivity are over, I will punish the king of Babylon and his people for their sins,” says the Lord. “I will make the country of the Babylonians a wasteland forever.” (Jeremiah 25:10, 12 NLT)

Forward to 2022, believers, we are spiritual Israel living in perilous times of abject wickedness. It is a struggle to remain loyal to God when we desire the temptations of pleasure. We have been forewarned.

But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away! (2 Timothy 3:1-5 NKJV).

And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. (Matthew 24:12 NKJV).

The distractions of prosperity have caused many believers to make themselves idols. Yes, we worship ourselves by pursuing financial wealth, comfortable lifestyles, and recreational activities. The movies, music, and social circles represent our heart’s loyalty or disloyalty to God, leading us to follow Jesus or turn us away from discipleship.

The Holy Spirit’s Intervention

The first time we willingly fall into temptation, the Holy Spirit pricks our conscience. We feel guilt and repent, promising to never do it again. But Satan, our greatest enemy, is aware of our weaknesses and will attempt to take a stronghold on our hearts–turning us against the requirement of faithfully obeying God. Remember, sin places us into a state of spiritual bankruptcy.

But in His mercy, God does not desire for any of us to perish. Divine intervention happens in many ways, always designed to bring us back to righteousness. “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds…” (James 1:2 ESV). Yes, our Heavenly Father allows us to experience trials, sorrows, and hardships as a wake-up call that we have lost our spiritual focus.

Now we can understand why Paul tells us, “More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance…” (Romans 5:3 ESV). The love that our Father has for us is beyond our comprehension. Jesus died for us to receive Eternal life.

Never Give Up! Tough Times Never Last

“Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you.” (1 Peter 4:12 ESV).

It is not only the disobedient who suffer. Still, they suffer from the consequences of sins against God. “Then Jesus said to His disciples, ‘If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.'” (Matthew 16:24 NKJV), which refers to His disciples. Yes, the faithful, the obedient followers of Christ, must also suffer because Jesus suffered.

Feeling defeated when suffering is a natural response. Even so, suffering is always temporary. The longevity of our hardships will make us feel as if struggle will become a permanent part of our lives. Have the confidence that God never leaves us alone in our battle! Every challenge we face has Divine approval and purpose. God desires that we hit the brick wall–no more options, for us to know that we must turn to Him for resolution.

God’s Divine Mercy

“And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.” (1 Peter 5:10 ESV)

Contrary to popular belief, God does not expect us to live a life of misery and suffering. His plans include eternal life, a perfect future, and hope. Even so, God desires for us to have joy, peace, and happiness right now. By remaining obedient and loyal to our Heavenly Father, He opens the windows of heaven to bless His faithful ones. ” And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:19).

Live with great expectations that God will do great things in your life! His promises are “Yes and Amen.”

Prayer: God, we pray for the strength and an increase in faith to trust you all under every challenge. Thank you, Jesus, for your great sacrifice. For the many blessings, we anticipate and thank you in advance. This prayer we ask in Jesus’ Worthy name. Amen. © 2022 Sonya Johnson, Faithful Fishers, and Woman, You Are Loved by God Ministries