Who You Livin For?

In our lives we're continually being told to behave and live in certain matters. Teaching and preaching is definitely not lacking in our Modern society. I don't know what I intend to do as far as impacting others, I'm merely typing my thoughts and the issues that are going on inside my head. I guess I hope to induce some good conversation or at least some thoughts. It is for this reason that I included the scriptures, but not the references, you find them and look 'em up - or ask me - don't just take my word for this stuff...

I'll start with the discussion of sin and why people remain bound even while being used to do some great things for The Lord. When we walk away from God or even sin, the devil is not at fault - we've been given the ability to live without hindrance from him and we are told that "every man is tempted when he drawn away of (or by) his own lust and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin and sin when it is finished, bringeth forth death." Where is the devil in that scripture? In actuality the scripture in context is defending God - stating that its not Him that's tempting you! So if not God and not the devil - it's you (wo)man! We sin when we see something that we want and dwell on it (aka lust) - AH I'm rabbit trailin! I have so many thoughts that I can't get em all out.

So... the devil DOES know what you want though and will definitely find ways to entice us with this stuff, but the blame is on us as we "have been given all things pertaining to life and godliness." "God is faithful who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way of escape, that ye may be able to bear it." It's been preached before - the devil didn't make David go sleep with Bathsheba and all that followed - the devil may have arranged the appointment somehow, but it was David's desire that wasn't taken care of that drove him to go beyond what he knew to be right and commit sin.

What do we do now? How do we keep ourself from this thing that we're told is wrong and we should have nothing to do with? Why, we set up rules and regulations, guidelines that fence us in, commandments and the like. While we mean good, handling the issue by creating restrictions alone will only fuel the lust and create a larger opportunity for failure. Press the pause button a moment - Absolutely a person should set up boundaries and restrictions to keep themselves from temptation, the classic example - if you're prone to drink a lot, don't go to a party or social event where your associates are going to be doing such activities.

Ok Play. I will tell you a scripture and even the reference, because this statement sounds quite contrary to the word. 1 Corinthians 15:56 states, "The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law." If I were to ask you to ponder what the strength of sin is, would you ever have replied "the law." I wouldn't have, before I heard the preaching that inspired this influx of thought and desire to blog.

You see if we have sin and we know that what we're doing is wrong and our only recourse is to say that we're sorry and set up a boundary - our lust will burn. When does a flame go out? A flame will only go out if it runs out of fuel or if it is quenched by an outside force. The act may cease for a moment but the desire (or lust) grows stronger and stronger because our mind is wrong about it... We say no, I can't do that. I don't want to delve into the life of Baalim, but this was his sin - he obeyed God, but he wasn't willing. He stated that he couldn't go and curse the children of Israel, because God wouldn't let him. God told him not to go, his response should be I WON'T go, because my God is with them and He will not curse them, so I won't curse them. The operative statement (can't) doesn't reveal what your desire is (and in Balaam's case we observe that he DID want to go) however "won't" states clearly that our desire is dictating our actions.

Wrapping this up, the way that a sin is conquered is through seeking God for Him without fail. Pastor Michael Peace has said it several times that he didn't wake up one day and realize that he had to start living right because he was a pastor, but because Mike let God shape him and rule him he is being used greatly. Do not desire freedom because of what others might think! This attitude is fleshly as it is based on what man's opinion is. God's opinion is what's important. Realize that sin is sin because it will always yield death - not a blind command for God to assert authority over us. God has told us not to do certain things, because He knows the end. Focussing: God wants our time, He WILL draw near when we reach up to HIM. When we are seeking after HIM issues will always fall off. We cannot walk away from an encounter with God and have the same issues. Simply leave the issues where they fell.

When communing with God it is important to have time when you're not asking for anything other than time with HIM. That is the power of a physician - you don't always need to know what's happening. I hate needles, I remember as a kid receiving a shot from a nurse. She started up a conversation about something that interested me. After a little time, I asked if the shot would hurt, she told me that it was over. God is our trained physician - spending time with Him, alone, is an incredible opportunity that we must take advantage of.