Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Pornography Is Destroying

Romans 12:2- Your body is a temple of the holy spirit who is in you, whom you have received from God. You are not your own, you were bought as a price, therefore honor God with your body.

Pornography, one of the biggest businesses in America. The place to sell your body online. To flaunt yourself in front of adults, teenages, and even children on occasion. This is a rampant sin in America, and all over the world. It is a sin to Non-Christians, and Christians alike. People struggle with this sin daily, at work, and at home, and when they think they are not being watched.

I have heard many Christians who talk about porn like it is not a great sin. Like, this is not dangerous in any way to their relationship with Christ, and they treat it like a joke. I knew a Christian who told me flat out that if she didn't live in a Christian family, she would be the best porn star ever. Sad? Yes. Very.

Why is pornography such a dangerous thing? What is wrong with it?

Referring back up to the scripture verse, it says that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit. So when you watch porn, you are watching people ruin their temples and committing adultery. So how does this effect you? It's them that is ruining it, not you. Well, lets think about this. When you become a Christian, Jesus makes his home in your heart, and when you watch porn, what are you filling your heart with? Junk. Lust. Impure thoughts. Sin. This is not something to joke around about. Pornography is very real in everyone's life. Whether you watch it or not, you will be exposed to some type of Porn at one point or another in your life. On magazines, on posters, in movies, on the internet. It's all around. We will all be exposed to temptation in pornography.

If you are fighting the addiction of pornography right now, then there is hope! There is always hope in Christ Jesus. If you are a Christian watching pornography, and you still don't feel any conviction about watching it, then you should be very worried. The Holy Spirit's job is to convict you, so if you aren't feeling convicted, it means that you have done this so much that you have worn away any guilt.

Pornography can be like a drug. People go back for more all the time.The first step to stopping is to realize that it is killing you spiritually, and that you need to step away from it and leave it behind forever. Step two would be to ask God for forgiveness, and turn your life over to him. Repent of your ways, and turn away from your sin! Easier said than done? Yes it is. But that is what being a Christian is: living a life of sacrifice for the one who made you. The third thing to do, would be to start anew by throwing away any movies, magazines, pictures or anything that makes you stumble. If you struggle with your computer, put it out where everyone can see what your doing all the time. Find a accountability partner and tell them what is going on in your life. This person should help keep you accountable by checking on you and talking with you. The next thing to do, would be to bury yourself in the word and God. The reason I say this is because of this. Once you remove something big from your life, you will have to fill it in with something else. If you do not, then you will be tempted to fill it in with your old ways again. Have you ever heard someone say "An idle mind is the devil's workshop"? Well it is absolutely true. You HAVE to fill your mind and heart with Holy things if you don't want to return to your old ways.

You have to remember that only the Lord can heal you from this if you struggle. Reading this will not. It may help, and I hope it does, but only the one who is the inspirer of this post can heal you. You have to be totally dedicated to kicking this or you wont. Keep trying and NEVER give up!


~Philippians 4:8
Whatsoever things are true.

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

The Facebook god

Exodus 34:13, Do not worship any other god, for the Lord who's name is Jealous, is a jealous God.

About 6,000 years ago when the world was created by God, and he viewed the future of the whole earth and knew what was going to happen. But then came 2004, and Facebook was created! And Jesus had NO Idea that was going to happen. It took him off his guard, and he didn't know what to say to people about the site. NO! NO! NO! AND NO! Jesus was never caught off guard by anything that has happened and is happening right now. Jesus knew Facebook would come around eventually, and he knew that Facebook would take the place were he previously sat in many "Christians" hearts. He knew that his children would try to read their Bibles, but instead would would log onto Facebook to update their statuses or check on something first. He knew that His followers would sit staring at the Facebook screen for hours instead of spending time with him. Does it hurt any less because he knew from the beginning? I'm sure not.

So what does the bible verse at the beginning have to do with Facebook? Isn't it obvious? Facebook has become a god among our nation. Among the Christians. Among everyone. We have taken something that was meant to be used for entertainment and turned it into a way of life. A site to post foul language lyrics, to tell everyone what your doing 24/7, to show God that he's really second in their lives.

Why would we do that to our Lord and savior? If you had a friend that was on Facebook all the time, and always wanted to check their Facebook on their phones before you talked to them, and sometimes they would be on for hours before they cared enough to talk to you, and then they would only talk for a couple of minutes, and only ever asked you for things, and never gave you any time to say what you wanted to say, you wouldn't be friends with that person anymore. They wouldn't be a true friend. Because they would always be on Facebook with their other friends, and wouldn't care enough to spend time with you other than asking you for favors. What a horrible relationship that would be. How many Christians do that to Jesus ALL the time!? A couple? More than 10? Hundreds? Thousands? Most likely.

I know that Facebook is addicting and can gather all your time, but it's time to stop worrying about what is going on in other people's life, and start figuring out whats going on in Jesus'.

If you are reading this and you don't have a Facebook, then this message applies to all sorts of God's. Any online place really, or even grades. A boyfriend/girlfriend could be your god. Maybe watching sports gives you comfort over going and reading your Bible, and talking with the guy who wants to be your best friend.

Do not have any other god's before me, is the second commandment of the 10. To even make it into the ten commandments means it's important, to be the second commandment.... you better be paying attention.

If you are guilty of this, close your laptop, phone ect. and go and ask God for forgiveness. See what is going on in his life. Let your god go, and follow the real God of this world.


~Whatsoever things are true
Philippians 4:8

Monday, January 9, 2012

Imitators of Christ

Ephesians 5:1, Watch what God does, then do it, like children who learn proper behavior from their parents. (The Message Bible).

When we see babies, what are they usually doing? Yes, sticking things in their mouths, yes sleeping and eating. Sometimes smiling and laughing, but what I'm talking about is as they grow older, what is the thing they do most? They learn. They imitate the people they see around them. After staring at their parent for a long time, they attempt to use a fork. Or, they are constantly making noises and trying to say words like the people around them. Sometimes kids, when they get a little older, they get a little annoying sometimes cause they follow you around and listen to every word you say, and watch everything you do. Why? Because they want to learn to be just like there dad. Or big sister. Or big brother. They want to imitate you because they look up to you! They want to be you.

We are told in this verse to be imitators of our father in heaven just like the children are. We can study and look to the children for how we should act in our life.

Matthew 18:3, And he said, I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 

Now this doesn't mean that we need to resort to sucking our thumbs and talking like a baby, but we should be studying some of the things that they do and doing them ourselves. What are some traits we should imitate?

Persistence
You see a child fail time and time again. They get up to walk and they fall countless times. But they keep trying. They never give up, and finally they begin to walk.
We sometimes will try to follow the Lord, but then soon give up because it is too hard! Or maybe because you are tired of falling. If you never fall, then you will never learn from your mistakes. We must be like children and continue to try to walk in his ways no matter how many times we fall. Some people will fall less than others. Don't let that get you down! You will learn eventually, keep trying. Push on. Give effort.

Trust.
When I tell a child that I am going to take him out for Ice Cream, do you think that that child will be excited? Yes! Absolutely! Do you think that the child will be thinking, "Well, I doubt that that will happen, so I'm not getting my hopes up." NO! A child has full trust that I will come through and buy them ice cream. That I will keep my word to them.
How many times do we lose hope in God? If your anything like me, it's been many times in the past. Sometimes I would lose hope that he would give me the things I need. But in his word, he promises us that he will come through for us with what we need if we seek him. Nevertheless, I have doubted and lost trust in him. Look to the child, and wait for him to come through for us.

This is only a couple of things that you could be likening yourself to. Make a study of children. Write down their traits, and apply them to your life. But always remember to look to your father, and be imitators of him.

~Whatsoever things are true
Philippians 4:8