September 3

God is good ALL the time, and His Word is life!

2 Corinthians 6:14-18 touched my heart as I read and sought God about this devotion. "Do not be unequally yoked w/unbelievers," God says. A yoke is a wooden device that joins two draft animals by the head or neck. For us it means, do not join ourselves intimately to unbelievers, to wickedness, to darkness, to idols. Through these verses God is calling us into deeper intimacy with Him and away from deeper intimacy with the world and the things of the world. We are His temple. He wants to dwell in us and to be our God. He wants our affection, our intimacy, our love & devotion. He wants us. He loves us. He wants us to be seperated unto Him so that He can fill us and be with us and walk with us. (Youth, do your music and tv shows and words reflect this?)

My mother, a precious godly woman, yoked herself to an alcholic, my dad, in one marriage. She thought she was doing better the second go around and yoked herself to a kind, wonderful man who may or may not be saved, who doesn't go to church like we do, and who isn't Spirit-filled. This unequally yoked initmate relationship cost my mother and our family 28 years of hurt, another failed marriage, and a very much so damaged testimony to our unsaved family members. My step-dad is a "good" man, but you might be surprised just how serious such an unequally yoked relationship really affects you and those around you. God gives us commands and shares His wisdom w/us because He loves us. Guard your heart and your relationships closely. As you live and work and move in this world, remember that you are His Temple & to live for Him by His Word & yoke yourself to Christ and those like Him!

Blessings,
Rolanda Green
Hillcrest Children's Minister