Coming Together When We All Are Apart

copyright (c) 2020 Tabitha  Carin   Snowden 

2020

Coming Together When We All Are Apart

Right now, it seems like a scary time for all of us, we are all quarantined in our homes, trying to keep this disease away. Our hearts are troubled for our loved ones, our friends, and people we know who are sick, all of this is hard on us. It's alright to be scared, it's OK to be worried, it shows that we care, however; we shouldn't be controlled by the fear that is integrating into our world. Nothing like this has ever happened in history, and it's  changing day by day, new laws are being passed, things are definitely crazy right now. We are watching it all unfold before our eyes, it is truly a time that we need to pray and seek God's presence! Isaiah 41:10 "Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God:I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee;yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness."

 As I am writing this, also watching the President talk about the present situation.

It's hard to refocus our thoughts especially right now, but spending time in prayer and in God's presence, as our fears will dissipate. Panic has reached all across the world, it seems like we are living in a constant state of worry, it's important to know the dangers and precautions but it is also good to know that we can't lean on despair. We have God who is more powerful than sickness,leaving it in His hands;will bring us comfort and hope throughout all of this. Luke 21:36 " Watch ye therefore,and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man." 

It's not easy to give all of our fears and worries away, God wants our fears, He doesn't want us to carry our burdens! Something I have been trying to do is to not undermine the situation, however; I also think it is crucial to spread cheerful moments right now. I tend to post now more than I ever have; blogs, social media etc. I'm not trying to show my life off, instead I want people to laugh with me or see my little moments that may bring encouragement. 

I want to spread laughter right now, it's a time when we all need it. We are stuck at home, and sometimes if we keep looking at the negative that can put us in a state of mind we don't want to be in. I think this is the time to have awareness of what is going on, and pray for those who are sick and critically ill, plus pray for those who are worried. Also by spreading love, kindness, and laughter, it can make our lonely times a little better. Psalms 126:2 "Then was our mouth filled with laughter, and our tongue with singing: then said they among the heathen, The LORD hath done great things for them."

                   

We aren't alone, we have the Lord with us and we have each other, even though it seems like we may not. This is a time we can come together not only in America but also the entire world so we can share scriptures, songs, funny stories, all so that we can benefit from. But it takes putting aside our differences and showing each-other the love, and kindness, and encouragement that we all need. Now is the time to come together and pray and love on each other and listen, and believe that God is going to do a work. We have to have joy in the circumstances, find laughter in the little moments, and be present with our families. Joshua 1:5 "There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life: as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee: I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee" 

Now is the time for those knock knock jokes, or your dad to practice those infamous dad jokes (as my father loves to do), just something to put a smile on our faces. It's important to have a good attitude throughout everything we face, especially right now. 

Now is the time to listen to what the government is saying and stay home as much as possible, believing God will do works throughout all of this. We are all worried, but if we dwell on the fear, it will only make the situation worse! Take this time to reconnect with your family, your husband, your wife, have game nights, family devotions, and movie nights. Video chat a friend, read a book, play music, do some art, study your school, spend time with the Lord, and just keep busy. Use this time wisely, don't worry about the future, God's got that taken care of, and we just have to trust Him. I am one to say all of this, but I'm usually very fearful and always freaking out, but surprisingly God has given me a peace, and I hope you feel at peace as well. I love you, and God loves you, He will take care of this one day at a time. Bring some joy into this situation, and share that with others, I know it brightens my day to see some of you sharing your memories! Let's keep on coming together while we are apart, and encourage each other,check up on each other. Keep going, because you are doing great, I'm proud of you!   

Why Sex Before Marriage Is Not Good

copyright (c) 2020 Tabitha  Carin   Snowden 

2020

Why Sex Before Marriage Is Not Good

Sex before marriage is tempting, because it is a natural flesh desire God put in our lives, although He did not intend on it being premarital. It’s a hard circumstance a lot of people are dealing with, and have been for a very long time. It’s a very common thing now days, to live together and have premarital sex, without blinking twice about it; we have come so immune to it, so it must be OK right…? Wrong. The bible has never changed, ever, the people reading the bible have, we have changed our thoughts or convictions everything, and we think the bible has changed? No, the bible has not, the commandments God wants us to live by, we are forgetting… It isn’t right to watch porn, it isn’t right to cheat on someone, it isn’t right be mean and critical to people, it’s not right have sex before marriage. 

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Mark 10:6-9 says; “But from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’  ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife,^[a] 8 and the two shall become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two but one flesh. ⁹ What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.”

Hold fast, to his wife, it does not say his girlfriend, it does not say his fiancée, but WIFE!

It is important to remember the scriptures and to not forget what they say, they tell us everything we need to know, nowhere in the bible says that it is alright to have sex before marriage. So how do we twist it around to make it OK? Where do we find the guidance to make those decisions? We choose to ignore the scriptures that are actually teaching us, or preaching to us, because who likes to feel convicted!?! The truth is; God didn’t give us the Word to make us feel all comfortable and perfect, He gave it to us to feel constantly uncomfortable, to feel constantly convicted. To be in a constant place of growing and breaking and remolding, because we will never reach perfection, we shouldn’t want to, because there is always something to be learned from the Word of God.

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1 Thessalonians 4:3-4; “It is God’s will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; that each of you should learn to control your own body in a way that is holy and honorable.” Avoid sexual immorality; which means to avoid temptations that end in bad results, such as sin, and that is a challenge, but it is a challenge we must take on. Also take control of your own body, yes it is possible to take control of ourselves, we can do such things, it is important to realize that if we don’t take control we will make life long mistakes, and God doesn’t want to see us making mistakes. What father likes to see his children mess up? No father likes to see that, God doesn’t want to see us hurt, and sin often leads to hurt.

AG.org says in one of their articles and premarital sex; “In terms of marital satisfaction, one of the most widespread modern myths is that couples need to live together before they get married to see if they are sexually compatible and thus to enhance future marital health and satisfaction. In reality, research shows that couples who live together before marriage have higher infidelity rates and lower marital satisfaction rates than those who do not live together before marriage.” It is a myth; you do not need to live together before marriage, it’s unnecessary, God made man and woman to be married to be unified and not to be living in sin. That is why He made marriage in the first place, to come together in our ups and downs, and to learn with each other,  the exciting things of marriage are to learn!! But often we want to figure it all out before we even get to the place of marriage. 

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This article was well written by Steven Tracy posted on Ag.org says this; “Other New Testament passages affirm the fact that pre-marital sex is forbidden. One of the clearest examples is in 1 Cor 7:1-5, where Paul responds to the Corinthians' suggestion that it is best for a married man to not have sexual relations with his wife. Paul's response is that because of immoralities (porneia), each man should have sexual relations with his own wife, and the husband and wife must meet each other's sexual needs so that they do not fall into sexual temptation. There is no moral loophole here for pre-marital sex, for Paul instead argues that marriage is the only God ordained provision for sexual needs. Other passages such as Heb 13:4 link those who practice pre-marital sex with adulterers, indicating that sex before marriage and sex after marriage to someone other than one's spouse are equally condemned ("God will judge"). The marriage bed is cited as the exclusive place for God ordained sexual activity.” 
Paul tells us that it is OK to have sexual relations with our spouses, but it is immoral to have sexual relations outside of marriage. Marriage is holy and God given thing, and God also gave us sex, but we often confuse the two, and we shouldn’t because in the bible it states many times clearly; that it is a sin.

“The reasons for cohabitation's negative effect are not fully understood. One may be that while marriages are held together largely by a strong ethic of commitment, cohabiting relationships by their very nature tend to undercut this ethic. Although cohabiting relationships are like marriages in many ways-shared dwelling, economic union (at least in part), sexual intimacy, often even children-they typically differ in the levels of commitment and autonomy involved.  According to recent studies cohabitants tend not to be as committed as married couples in their dedication to the continuation of the relationship and reluctance to terminate it, and they are more oriented toward their own personal autonomy.⁷ It is reasonable to speculate, based on these studies, that once this low-commitment, high-autonomy pattern of relating is learned, it becomes hard to unlearn.” Once you learn a way of life, it is very hard to unlearn it, realizing that you could get yourself stuck in a position that is not biblical, and it could hurt you and others for the rest of your life!

We live in a society that sees premarital sex as OK, the world doesn’t see the problem, if we get told something or are telling ourselves something even if it’s not true, we start believe it is. That happens when we let our core get corrupted, if we don’t have a strong core in our faith, it’s easier to let the wrong information in, and eventually being weak to sin. It’s not easy all the time, but studying the bible and prayer, and staying in the Lord’s presence, the temptation will fade.  

Focus on the Family wrote an article about how important marriage is in this situation; “In other words, marriage involves a couple’s public commitment to build a strong and lasting relationship.That relationship isn’t only a foundation for the nurturing of their own children; it’s also a building block of social stability and a contribution to the well-being of the broader community.”

Focusing on the stability and love and having a Christ-centered relationship, that is what is truly important, that will help to keep temptation away. Always press in to the Word of God, the scriptures speak for themselves, they don’t need any help, they tell us what is wrong and what is right. It’s clear the Lord just wants what is best for us, so if we follow His words, there won’t be as many consequences such as premarital sex, or other sins.

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 1 Corinthians 6:18-20  ^“ Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.”

Flee from sexual immorality, because you not only sinning against God, you are also hurting your own body, because like it says in the scripture our bodies are a temple of the Holy Spirit. Keep your body Holy, like God created, because God didn’t create us to destroy ourselves, but to thrive in His Word and His presence. 

If you are thinking about having premarital sexual relations with someone, maybe it’s someone you love, remember the Word of God, God created marriage and sex, in that order, not the other way around. The first unit He created for male and female was marriage, that is how important it is to Him, we can’t confuse what God already set in place for our lives. If you love someone that much, remember how the more special it will be to share that moment with your spouse, how it will bring you together, and the two shall become one.

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Cites;

https://enrichmentjournal.ag.org/Issues/2011/Summer-2011/SIDEBAR-Marital-Satisfaction-and-Premarital-Sex-and-Cohabitation--Sex-and-the

http://www.preciousheart.net/ti/ISCF/12_%20Sex%20-%20Gift%20of%20God%20-%20Steven%20Tracy.pdf

http://www.smartmarriages.com/cohabit.html

https://www.focusonthefamily.com/family-qa/the-bible-on-pre-marital-sex-and-sexual-morality/

https://www.openbible.info/topics/premarital_sex