Another drink we need to consume in moderation is juice. Juice is great for us when it is in pure form. It is sweet, refreshing, and gives us many nutrients and antioxidants. Juicing has become very popular. We juice all kinds of fruits and vegetables. We can buy a variety of mixed juices on the shelf in any grocery store. Pure 100% juice is premium fuel for the body. However, as with many things that are good, juices have been corrupted. A large majority of the juices we purchase have tons of sugar and additives added to them. Many times the ‘juice’ has no real juice in it. It is just glorified pop. So, though juice is good for us in its pure form, imitations are not beneficial to us and can actually be deterrents to our health. When we drink juice out of moderation we again do not drink water. Juice should only be consumed in addition to water and never in place of it.
Today’s analogy for our spiritual juice is relationships. Relationships are great blessings that God gives us. In scripture we see many relationships that God honors and blesses: marriages, friends, parents, and families. He tells us to love one another and to care for each other to the point of carrying each others burdens. When we have healthy and pure relationships guided by God they are beneficial to our spiritual health. They can be sweet and refreshing. They give us nutrition for our spirit. However, we can run into problems in two ways. First, our relationship can be corrupted by the world. It is very hard today to find and maintain pure relationships. We have distorted relationships from the way God designed and created them. Relationships today are needy, non-sacrificial, self centered and self seeking. They operate on conditional love and nobody can live up to its conditions for the long run. Today we see same sex marriages, people living together, divorces everywhere, children not speaking to parents and parents abusing children, friendships that do not last, and marriages full of anger. It appears that people are out to destroy each other. Two, our relationships can take such precedence that we do not have time or the desire for Jesus. When relationships stay pure they are Christ centered. When they are Christ centered they are sacrificial, self-sacrificing, and giving. They give unconditional love. They stay true to the way God created them to be.
Relationships add such value and joy to our lives. However, they should never take the place of worshiping and serving Jesus. They are to be in addition to the priority relationship we're to have with Jesus in our lives. When they are not pure relationships, they are deterrents to our spiritual health. Never let the relationships in your life rob you of consuming Living Water. No relationship is worth giving up your relationship with Christ, or the blessing of enjoying a pure, sweet, Christ centered relationship. What kind of relationships do you have? Do you have relationships that you should not have? Are your relationships in the proper priority? Are you who you need to be for those you have a relationship with? Is God your number one relationship? Consume the Living Water and enjoy the benefits to your spiritual health. It is the only way to avoid spiritual dehydration.
Today’s analogy for our spiritual juice is relationships. Relationships are great blessings that God gives us. In scripture we see many relationships that God honors and blesses: marriages, friends, parents, and families. He tells us to love one another and to care for each other to the point of carrying each others burdens. When we have healthy and pure relationships guided by God they are beneficial to our spiritual health. They can be sweet and refreshing. They give us nutrition for our spirit. However, we can run into problems in two ways. First, our relationship can be corrupted by the world. It is very hard today to find and maintain pure relationships. We have distorted relationships from the way God designed and created them. Relationships today are needy, non-sacrificial, self centered and self seeking. They operate on conditional love and nobody can live up to its conditions for the long run. Today we see same sex marriages, people living together, divorces everywhere, children not speaking to parents and parents abusing children, friendships that do not last, and marriages full of anger. It appears that people are out to destroy each other. Two, our relationships can take such precedence that we do not have time or the desire for Jesus. When relationships stay pure they are Christ centered. When they are Christ centered they are sacrificial, self-sacrificing, and giving. They give unconditional love. They stay true to the way God created them to be.
Relationships add such value and joy to our lives. However, they should never take the place of worshiping and serving Jesus. They are to be in addition to the priority relationship we're to have with Jesus in our lives. When they are not pure relationships, they are deterrents to our spiritual health. Never let the relationships in your life rob you of consuming Living Water. No relationship is worth giving up your relationship with Christ, or the blessing of enjoying a pure, sweet, Christ centered relationship. What kind of relationships do you have? Do you have relationships that you should not have? Are your relationships in the proper priority? Are you who you need to be for those you have a relationship with? Is God your number one relationship? Consume the Living Water and enjoy the benefits to your spiritual health. It is the only way to avoid spiritual dehydration.
“For my people have committed two evils, they have forsaken me, the Fountain of living water and they have hewn for themselves cisterns, broken cisterns which cannot hold water.” Jeremiah 2:13
3 comments:
I have had relationships come and go for one reason or another. I feel that my relationship with God has actually strengthened my relationships with my friends. We are able to talk about God and share our blessings. He is a part of my friendships!
sometimes I read words like "are your relationships right and just in God's eyes" Then I sit and silence and wait for the Holy Spirit to attack or give peace. I feel a peace about this one. I feel God is the glue in many relationships I have. Then there are others that they know where I stand and there is a certain level of respect. Those are the ones I pray for. God is mainly seen through your actions, so I keep that in mind. Makes me think....What kind of juice do you drink around your friends and your enemy's?
If I didn't have a relationship with the Lord I would never have been able to get through it when my husband passed away. He took his last breath in my arms and his first in the arms of the Lord. He accepted Jesus as his savior about two years before he passed. We celebrate not his old birthday, but his new one, October 11th. My grandson's birthday is a week later and since then we send up his balloons to Grandpa and everyone else in Heaven.Thank you Jesus for being with us during that time.
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