Recently my husband had to travel down to Myrtle Beach on work related business. He had asked me to pray for him. Not only that he would be a bold witness for the Gospel but also for strength and faithfulness to the Lord in any tempting situations that might come up.
I am thankful for the two Christian brothers that were a source of encouragement to Javier while he was away from home. It is such a blessing to spend time with others who encourage us unto godliness and righteousness.
The world and people who live according to its ideals seek to pull us away and in the opposite direction, we fight and struggle against it, while at the same time striving to remain faithful in the desires of our own hearts.
My husband has been on many business trips, especially before we began to prepare for full-time ministry. I remember those early years in our marriage when he would be away from home for weeks at a time. I would count the days until I would pick him up at the airport and we were reunited again.
One trip in particular stands out in my mind. I will never forget it. We hadn't been Christians for very long. Since we had turned to Christ in repentance of sin, there were many things we knew we must forsake if we were serious about serving our Lord and Savior. Lines were drawn in the sand so to speak. It wasn't easy but we knew that God wanted us to let go of those things that were a hindrance to us. Things that, simply put, were dragging us down and getting in the way of wholehearted service to God.
Two of those things were smoking and drinking alcohol. I will say this, these are simply outward signs of deeper heart issues and while stopping these practices was a huge step for us, we are still putting sin to death daily. Sins like selfishness and self indulgence which show up in many other ways than just smoking and drinking. I say this lest we think are better than others who do these things.
Now, back to that memorable business trip. When my husband arrived at his destination he met a fellow employee of the same company. This man was much older and a professing Christian. Great! So Javier was thinking, here's a man who can encourage me in my faith and mentor me. Well, not exactly.
To our surprise and dismay, this man actually promoted smoking and drinking as practices that are perfectly acceptable for Christians. Interesting that even our non-Christian friends would say that Christians shouldn't do such things, yet here was this man trying to convince Javier that it was an ok thing to do.
I know people have different opinions about this, but the main point of this post is that a true Christian friend will NOT encourage you to go against your conscience, especially with questionable activity.
If someone is trying to convince you that something you are not comfortable with is perfectly acceptable for a Christian to do, they are NOT being a true friend.
They should respect your convictions--even if they fully believe that they are right. After all, is it really going to harm you if you don't do it? Yet consider what potential for harm if you do.
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Javier had left for Myrtle Beach on Wednesday and on Friday I went to pick him up at his workplace. He was so glad for the refreshing feeling of being home. We were all together again and home was a welcome sanctuary for him, as no other place is. After all the joy of hugs and kisses and laughs, one of the first things he wanted to do was listen to some music that would refresh him. Does godly music ever minister to your soul? I could tell it was rejuvenating for him. All of us gathered there in the living room. It was nearly time for the kids to go to bed, but the music played loud. "Go to deep waters, deep waters, where only faith will let you go..." (from "Steadfast Faith" Project: 10 Men, Soundforth, 2012) It recounts how the disciples obeyed Jesus and let down their nets in deep waters after a night full of fishing and catching nothing. "And because they obeyed, they would never be the same." Oh man, it's beautiful. (read the account in Luke 5:1-11)
My husband stood there holding Isabel, with eyes closed, just hanging on every word.
Serving the living God is a privilege, we are so blessed to have received the precious gift of eternal life. Let there be nothing between us and him. Let there be nothing to distract us or others who are watching how we live out our faith. It won't be easy but I know with all my heart that God gives strength and he gives courage to live our lives for his glory.
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