Have you ever felt like your prayers don’t reach God or that God is too far away for you to commune with Him? We all have at some point. We are told that God and sin cannot co-exist. As a result, many believers feel that God abandons them when they sin. Does God truly leave us when we sin and do we have to earn back the Holy Spirit’s in-filling every time we repent? The Bible makes it clear to us that although we may sometimes feel like God is far or that we no longer deserve God’s presence, our Father is with us. Psalm 94:14 says “For the LORD will not reject his people; he will never forsake his inheritance.” Although it’s true that God and sin cannot co-exist, that’s the beauty and the power of the cross. When Jesus gave up His life for all, He gave us direct access to the Father and the power is made available through the Holy Spirit. So how about non-Christians? Does God forsake them? By all means, no! In fact, God pursues everyone, most especially the lost. He is always finding ways to make himself known to those whom He loves. Matthew 5:45 says that God “sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.” And when we refuse Christ’s saving knowledge, God is there grieving. God doesn’t give up on people. People give up on God. God in his ferocious love continues to pursue us and give His all to us. People often ask why the unbelieving still become rich and why criminals still continue to breathe life. There can be many reasons for those situations, but one of the most compelling explanations is because God loves them. God’s love is not swayed by our unbelief nor our inability to be holy. While we were (and still are) sinners, Christ gave Himself up for us because He has chosen to never leave nor forsake us. Although sin is powerful and can disqualify us from entering God’s presence, He found a way for us to commune with Him despite our flaws because nothing can separate us from the love of God. Does God hate sin? Yes, He does. Is He just? Yes, He is. But Jesus has paid the price in full so that we may have access to God at anytime and so that we would never be separated from the presence of God ever again. Originally posted 2016-03-02 13:43:30.

Pastor Chip Ingram of Venture Christian Church in Los Gatos, California, knows that following rules can be difficult, but he reminds Christians that love is the driving force out of every rule and parameter set by God. Ingram says God made rules regarding love and sex because He wants His children to have nothing but the very best when it comes to love, sex, and relationships. The truth is every gift that flows out of love almost always has some rules and parameters that are set around it. “God knows that sex outside of marriage is second-rate sex – it’s sex with guilt and shame attached and some pretty devastating consequences,” he writes in an article for The Christian Post. A sexually immoral lifestyle, according to Ingram, is one where couples live together outside of marriage or engage in behaviour that would cause the partner to desire them sexually outside the bonds of marriage. “Even if someone doesn’t believe in God’s Word or follow His rules, it is undeniable that there are certain spiritual, physical and emotional price tags that go along with sex outside of marriage,” Ingram says. He cites statistics obtained by researchers from UCLA, who discovered that couples who live together prior to marriage have a 50 percent higher rate of divorce than those who do not. “They are also more likely to experience infidelity in marriage. Studies have also found that the introduction of sex into a dating relationship almost always ushers in the breakup of the relationship,” he says. This is why Ingram says it makes perfect sense for God to tell His children: “Keep the fire of sex in the fireplace of marriage. If you take it out and put it on the living room floor, it will burn the house down.” He explains that God isn’t “withholding” sex from those who are unmarried since His ultimate desire is to let Christians experience deep, intimate love that will last a lifetime. “The purpose of His rules is to maximise our relationships and pleasure in the long run,” Ingram says. “Real, loving relationships demand sexual purity. People that only want a one-night stand don’t need purity because their behaviour is about self-worship and not about truly loving another person. If we want a loving and lasting relationship, then sexual purity is a must.” Originally posted 2016-03-02 12:21:09.