"Carried Away"

"My beloved spake, and said unto me, Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away." (S.O.S. 2:10)

  If you are looking for some reassurance and some consistency, there is really only one source where this is found, God's Word! No other source on this earth is more assuring to the cares and concerns we have for the future, whatever our fears might be, the answer is found in the Written Words of our Loving God! Nothing we can find here is more consistently given to what matters most, as everything else is here today and gone tomorrow; only God's Word is eternal and speaks to eternal life.
  As far as these lasts couple of days, this has been heavy upon my heart, because it truly does matter how we present ourselves, not only to the world, but to one another; and especially to those that we are most influential towards, like our immediate family. This is something we cannot set aside and pretend that it does not matter; because, those that know what we believe, need proof that what we believe is real; the proof is in the place your heart is located, here on earth, or up there in heaven!
  Let me say right now, there is some serious issues I have with this; as much as I hate to admit it, I have more than my share of moments when my heart is in the wrong place. It is really hard to try and live in this world without trying to get comfortable and conforming to being an earth dweller. I tend to easily forget that this is no longer my home, but simply a place that temporarily holds me here. My real home is in heaven; that place where my heart should always be, is that place He has prepared for me.
  This last Sunday, the message that was shared at church spoke directly to this fact, as Jesus was explaining to His disciples about how He must die and be raised again; making a point about how His deliverance was not about freeing them from Roman rule, but it was about freeing them this fallen life. I could't help but think of Solomon when it came to the Scripture, "For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?" (Mathew16:26)
  If there was one thing that I took away from that message that gave me the least bit of hope, it was that part about "falling is part of the journey." We must not give up or loose hope; this is not a sprint to see who can get to the finish line first; this is a marathon where our goal is to bring many across that line with us...

"With Christ as my witness, I speak with utter truthfulness. My conscience and the Holy Spirit confirm it. My heart is filled with bitter sorrow and unending grief for my people, my Jewish brothers and sisters. I would be willing to be forever cursed -cut off from Christ! -if that would save them." (Romans 9:1-3) NLT