This Christian walk, it ain't easy!

We had a spiritual retreat this weekend and by the way I did not go to my friend's church. It violated some of the guidelines I had decided to live my life by and so I had to write it off. It's not easy when you get convicted by the Holy Spirit and you find yourself in the red. But thanks be to God who always causes us to triumph in His name so the devil will forever be ashamed. Anyhow at this retreat the message was, A faithful God for a faithful people. How so on point!
Many of us have been complaining about God not being there for us when in fact it is us not being there for Him. God is faithful to the ones who are faithful to Him. We were taught about the Sabbath, the Holy day for God. In the Old Testament God had hallowed the Sabbath. He told the children of Israel that the day was sanctified and no one was to do any work but they were to consecrate themselves for that day. One man was caught outside picking up some wood and he got stoned. God specifically told them to collect enough manna on the day before for 2 days but as always we disobeyed, on the Sabbath Day, some people went outside expecting the manna to be there like always but to their surprise it wasn't.
God has not changed, I know that now we are saying we are no longer under the law and we are not under the grace but a sanctified Day is a sanctified Day. It is written in the bible that we should not take any burdens from our house into the gates of Jerusalem. Therefore if we have any strife whatsoever with anyone if we have issues even with ourselves, we are to resolve them before we step out else we will pay for it ourselves. I am telling you this message was for me. Many times instead of preparing myself for service and soaking in the presence of God in my house, I will go shopping for a new outfit on Sunday morning since our service starts at 3:00 pm. Sometimes I was even bold enough to go and get my hair done. I know that some people would say what is the harm in this you are preparing yourself for your God. However we tend to forget that God does not look at appearances, He looks to the condition of your heart. How is our heart before God? We could look like a $1,000 but if our heart is dirty, if our heart is unpure we won't please God. So God wants us to use this day to please Him, To Honor HIm, to Rejoice in Him. We are to sing hymns and songs, we are to worship Him in his throne and show love to all. As nicely dressed as we can be, if we have even one evil thought towards someone, ' look at her, who does she think she is strolling in here like that', " Oh no, she did not wear that dress", these are thoughts that may seem harmless to us but are equivalent to death to God. The bible declares that if someone does not love his brother, that person is a murderer. So it does not matter how good we look outside if inside the condition of our heart is deadly. This was much needed because sometimes we get so spiritual that we begin to forget about the basics of the christian life, Love.
It is because of Love that Christ came and died on the cross for us. We have to be faithful to God in all things. First by consecrating ourselves for His Sabbath and seeking to please Him every day of our lives.
I pray this has blessed you.
Have a wonderful day!