One of the biggest problems in the world is caused by a lack of fidelity—a lack of fidelity in our relationship with God and with one another. The divorce rate is soaring and is it because people are marrying the wrong people or do you think it might be because we don’t understand what it takes to be truly faithful?

I have been praying for the world, that the world comes back to God and God has been helping me to understand some of the key issues around fidelity.

God waits like a faithful, enamored husband for a wife that has been unfaithful and deceived. In the Scriptures Jesus is called “The Bridegroom” and we His people are called “His Bride”. What will it take for the Bride of Christ to become truly enamored with Her Bridegroom Jesus? What will be the key ingredients that allow for a relationship that is truly faithful?

Well, lets start with some simple stuff. We are faithful to the people and the things in our life that are important to us. If you suffer from an illness that requires strict dietary restrictions you will likely follow the instructions of your physician if you trust your doctor and your health is important to you. If you have children then you will be devoted to them if you prioritize your relationship with them above other things that may get in the way.

Here’s what God has taught me: fidelity begins with a determination of importance. We will not be faithful to a dietary regime that is important for diabetics if we are not diabetic. Similarly we will not be faithful to people that we don’t trust or consider important in our lives. So if we want to be faithful to God then we have to trust Him and prioritize our relationship with Him above all other things. We have to stop living “self-centered” lives and start living “Christ-centered” lives. This means everything we do we do for Jesus.

“So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” 1 Corinthians 10:31

After we have determined that we want to be faithful and we have decided that God is MOST IMPORTANT IN OUR LIFE, then we have to start making choices that prove our love. Remember John the Baptist preached not only repentance as the way back to God, but he instructed the people to “bear fruit worthy of repentance.” Matthew 3:8   Another translation of this Scripture is “prove by the way you live that you have repented of your sins and turned to God.” Matthew 3:8

So if fidelity begins with a decision about who or what is important, then let’s consider what fuels that fidelity.

Let’s consider what are the wings upon which we can soar to become truly faithful. “Those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” Isaiah 40:31

I believe there are two key ingredients to being truly faithful to God: one is “appreciation” and the other is “holy desire”.

Let’s consider again the person diagnosed with an illness. Their health is important to them and their doctor has recommended a new dietary regime that will keep them healthy. They have chosen to be faithful to this new diet because they trust their doctor and over time they see that the diet improves their health. This improvement causes them to be appreciative of the new regime and it fuels their desire to be faithful to these recommendations even though they might be difficult at times to follow.

So back to the enormous problem we have in the world – a lack of fidelity to God, otherwise known as SIN. How can we remedy our sinful existences?   First we must repent like the bride that has been unfaithful to Her Bridegroom. We must be ready to put our Bridegroom first in our life—i.e., in THE MOST IMPORTANT SPOT.

Then we must start showing some appreciation, for all good things come from God.

“Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.” James 1:17

This weekend we celebrated Thanksgiving in Canada. I was busy being “the Martha” cooking up a holiday meal for the ten of us. I stopped at 3pm, as I always do to give thanks to Jesus for His enormous sacrifice, because 3pm is the time Jesus died on the Cross for us. I was praying and my husband was praying too and right around that time my adult son was hit by a car while riding his bike not far from where we live. The driver did not see him due to the traffic and congestion on this holiday weekend and through the grace of God my son is alive with only a sore arm! THANK YOU JESUS! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU GOD!

Sometimes we can forget to say thank you and we can forget to say I love you and then we lose something or someone and we wonder why we didn’t we appreciate them while we had a chance! Then we start desiring them as we never did before.

Fidelity to God is only possible if we deem our relationship to Him to be most important! Fidelity to God requires a deep trust in Him and proper praise and appreciation are essential if we are to truly value our relationship and acknowledge how dependent we are on Him. Once we start truly appreciating Jesus we will begin to desire Him in a profound way. Appreciation and gratitude to God fuels holy desire.

Fidelity for people that are in love is easy.

Why? Because the person you are in love with is so important to you. You appreciate them and you desire them!

So if you want to be faithful to God then fall in love with Jesus!

Join The Mercy Movement, a global Christian peace movement that unites daily at the time Jesus died for us (3pm – in our local time zones) to pray for the mercy of Our Lord upon all of us. Jesus will answer our prayers!

On Sunday of this Thanksgiving weekend in Canada, Jesus saved my son’s life! Holy Lord thank you for your love! You are so worthy! I love You above all things and I love You above all people and I love You within all things and I love You within all people.

Jesus You are my heart’s desire! I will live for You and I will strive through Your grace to make choices to please You each and every day and at 3pm (the Hour of Mercy) I will be with You appreciating the greatest love the world has ever known and will ever know, YOUR LOVE my Holy, Holy, Holy God!

“I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.” Revelation 21: 2-3

We are the tabernacles of God. He will live in us now if we choose to embrace His Holy Spirit! What an enormous privilege to belong to God! What an enormous responsibility to be God’s hands and feet in the world!   Remember to unite with us at 3pm and let us appreciate how much God loved His Bride that He would die for her!