Father, May I? Affair of the Heart – May 8th

Father, May I Flirt?
May 8, 2021

Affair of the Heart

James 4:4-6, ‘You have become spiritual adulterers who are having an affair, an unholy relationship, with the world. Don’t you know that flirting with the world’s values places you at odds with God? Whoever chooses to be the world’s friend makes himself God’s enemy! Does the Scripture mean nothing to you that says, “The Spirit that God breathed into our hearts is a jealous Lover who intensely desires to have more and more of us?” But He continues to pour out more and more grace upon us. For it says, “God resists you when you are proud but continually pours out grace when you are humble.”’ (TPT)

Wow! What a concept! Affair: unholy relationship.

I think when the words ‘affair’ and ‘adultery’ or ‘adulterous’ are spoken, the immediate graphic formed in ones’ heart and mind is sexual and often relational and marital. Would it surprise you that having affairs and committing adultery can occur in multiple situations and with many issues and circumstances. After all, ‘affair’ derives an unholy relationship. So, any unholy relationship, and let’s get real, that can even mean with food, shopping, your job, your possessions, can be considered an affair. It makes me realize I am guilty of having affairs—an affair with the world because it at times has been an unholy relationship that I have been involved in.

I for so long was taken with the trappings of the world. I had been seduced by and was in bed with plasticity. I lived there and I enjoyed it. I don’t think I realized just how much until I was no longer infatuated and flirting with all things worldly. I had this coy, smug manner that I would use to bat my eyelashes and sigh and indicate just how difficult my life was because I traveled for business and spent all my down time in motels and restaurants. But that meant I also spent a lot of time in bars and smoky dens and shadowed places. I was very comfortable in the dark. Therefore, I flirted with the night, and it was a tumultuous and costly love affair that ensued.

It wasn’t until recently I realized, and was able to eventually admit, that I was pretty impressed with myself and idolized the limelight and the attention. I feigned humility but I now know humbleness is a condition of a pure heart. It is like integrity and faithfulness. If you have to talk about it and tell others you are ‘it’, then you are only lying to yourself and others. I didn’t realize how truly important it was to me to be ‘somebody’ until I faced my struggle with becoming a ‘nobody’. It was at that time that I admitted how deep in my bones I had allowed the world to crawl. Like a cancer, my obsession had fed on my very marrow until I was satiated and full.

The world is a beautiful place, and the Lord created the beauty within its borders for the enjoyment of His people, but unfortunately, we have gone to an extreme where He never intended us to go. We worship what God gave us instead of the God Who made it to give. If you go to bed with the world you will wake up next to the world, and if you ingest it, eventually it will spill from your pores. The Lord is known to give the desires of our hearts but we must be cautious that He does not send leanness into our souls. What we chase after ourselves isn’t the best God has for His children, and if we flirt with it for too long, then we become seduced and numb to the consequences until it is too late.

I received the greatest gift when Jesus set me free. Today, I am nobody, but I am more important now than I was when I was somebody. I am a cherished daughter of the most high King and there is no position higher than that!

I want to know the Father’s opinion about everything!
Won’t you JOURNEY with me this month as we ask our Father, ‘MAY I?’’