Flee youthful lusts

 

²⁰ In a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver but also of wood and earthenware, and some for noble use, some for ignoble. ²¹ If any one purifies himself from what is ignoble, then he will be a vessel for noble use, consecrated and useful to the master of the house, ready for any good work. ²² So shun youthful passions and aim at righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call upon the Lord from a pure heart. ²³ Have nothing to do with stupid, senseless controversies; you know that they breed quarrels. ²⁴ And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kindly to every one, an apt teacher, forbearing, ²⁵ correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant that they will repent and come to know the truth, ²⁶ and they may escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will. (2 Timothy 2:20-26)

 

Flee youthful lusts

The biggest obstacle for those who are after the Lord Jesus is about how they face temptations.  Some people know how to resist temptation really well, while others end up falling into temptation. I’d say to anyone facing such a problem in their walk with Jesus Christ, is that they flee such temptations especially those one’s which are called youthful lusts.

 

So what are these youthful lusts and should be one’s reponse?

Usually, these are those lusts that happen during one’s youth most of the time. Not every youth faces them all and it can be just one of two temptations which they enticed into and However, it sometimes happens to people even later in life. Nevertheless, these are called youthful lusts. Some of these include:

• Arrogance
• Alcoholism
• Bad companionship
• Gambling
• Drug abuse
• Lying
• Sexual immorality
• Stealing
• Rebellion against parents
• Rebellion against authorities
• Pride excessively in oneself

Please make sure you repent of the above sins in the name of Jesus Christ and also repent of all other sins too. This way you will be pure in the Kingdom of God.

 

Let me also break it down what the next part in Timothy 2:22 means ( aim at righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call upon the Lord from a pure heart. ). Here we go:-

 

Aim at righteousness

Don’t be walking aimlessly in life. Especially when walking with Jesus Christ, this is a full-time thing that you aim for righteousness in your thoughts, words, and actions.

 

Faith

You can’t go on not believing in God’s existence and call yourself a follower of Jesus Christ. Such an attitude at best is hypocritical and must be eliminated from your life.  The only way to please God is by having faith in Him. And yes, you can manifest this faith in your thoughts, words and actions as per the commandments of God.

 

Love

Let me just speak what the Bible says:  “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” (Luke 10:27)

 

Peace, along with those who call upon the Lord from a pure heart.

Do everything that is only God to all who believe in the Lord Jesus. For this, you need to at peace with those at church, especially those from your friends and family too. Having respect for others who follow the Lord Jesus is important in your walk with Jesus.

 

Finally with regards to fleeing youthful lusts, always repent and never be a disgrace to your Christian community just because they’re forgiving and understanding. Take help from those strong in the faith. Never be ashamed to ask help from Jesus in prayer when faced with tempations. Remember that there is no repentance in the grave and charity begins at home.

Christ be with you!

 

 

Avoid having animal blood for food

I remember as per time of the year when most Christian circles celebrate the birth of Our Lord Jesus Christ, there was a man who made an strange request. Yes, an odd one indeed for sure, in my opinion and I’ll let you know why.

We were both where they sell meat and this man kept insisting that the meat be mixed with blood. The shopkeeper asked him the reason for that and the man kept saying that it’s the taste which increases which blood. I was much young and kept giving him a strange look for his order and so did the others there. However he kept insisting to have blood added to the meat and finally had it done his way. But it definitely was not God’s way!

As Christians, we shouldn’t have odd cravings that are inconsistent with the Word of God. This can apply to many things but here the topic is about avoiding animal blood in the food we eat, so I’d rather speak about that. Here are a few Bible verses which clearly forbid having the blood of animals nor of birds for our food:

1. But you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood. (Genesis 9:4)
2. For the life of every creature is its blood: its blood is its life. Therefore I have said to the people of Israel, You shall not eat the blood of any creature, for the life of every creature is its blood. Whoever eats it shall be cut off. (Leviticus 17:14)
3. “You shall not eat any flesh with the blood in it. You shall not interpret omens or tell fortunes.” (Leviticus 19:26)
4. Only you shall not eat the blood; you shall pour it out on the earth like water. (Deuteronomy 12:16)
5. But should write to them to abstain from the things polluted by idols, and from sexual immorality, and from what has been strangled, and from blood. (Acts 15:20)
6. For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay on you no greater burden than these requirements: that you abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from what has been strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. (Acts 15:28-29)
7. So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. (1 Corinthians 10:31)

If you notice from the above verses, avoiding having the blood of any creature for food is mentioned alongside avoiding food sacrificed to idols, avoiding sexual immorality and also avoiding meat of any creature that has been strangled to death. Though I realize that is not taught so often in many churches but the truth remains that having blood for food can and will disqualify oneself from entering heaven or to be more clear it can send oneself to hell.

Since it’s mentioned both in the Old Testament and the New Testament of the Bible, avoiding the blood of animals for food should be very clearly a choice of any one who claims to be a true believer in Jesus Christ. Don’t worry about how to remove the blood. Because many meat shops and markets are very good at clearing out the blood. You can also check out the various online tutorials on how to do it yourself if you have no other option.

One must not rebel against the Word of God and have forbidden food, lest in their unrepentant attitude they walk the broad path that leads to destruction of their spirit. Don’t call anything comfort food, for the comfort from food if any will only be temporary. Instead focus on things eternal.

Christ be with you!

Get rid of your lust before it gets rid of you

A man or a woman in lust is highly bothered about oneself. Such is the selfishness that seeking pleasure becomes the sole criteria of life. Immoral pleasures are the dark roads these people travel. They know not the cruel monster that hides in the shadows of sexual immorality. Outside the light of God’s loving kindness, they choose the prison of self-deception. This prison goes deep into the depths of stupidity. And many in the world cheerfully drag themselves into this. However, this prison of self-deception is not there for too long.

There are two things to consider; the physical and the spiritual consequences. A person is lust is always trying to hide his or her sexual immorality under the false assumption that what is kept secret goes unpunished. Well, that depends on what that person’s definition of secrecy is. The bad news for such people is that there is nothing secret in the eyes of the Lord God. Let’s check on the spiritual consequences first. He is aware of every sin and will surely judge at one’s death and also at the Final judgement. Think of it as getting judged not once but two times spiritually. Not a judgement of words alone but actual everlasting punishment in Hell and in the Lake of Fire. One word about these punishments; forever. When the fires of Hell burn the soul that lusted after sexual perversions, all self-deception goes away. No wonder, as pride goes before a fall.

To speak about the physical consequences there are various diseases passed on between adulterers and fornicators. Even medical science insists that to reduce instances of sexually transmitted diseases one must stick to only one partner. Yet, people throw caution to the wind and think they are exempt from the consequences. Such is their stupidity because they choose to ignore abundance of cases of AIDS, gonorrhea and the like which was transmitted due to prostitution, one night stands and whatever form of perversion. Then we have the social consequences of being found out. Many presidents who engaged into immorality today are out their presidency due to it. These have thrown away their legacy which takes years to build for a few minutes of deception. Reminds me of how Esau despised and sold his birthright for the sake of some food and never ever got back his supremacy. There was then an infamous case of how a sportsman cheated on his pregnant wife by engaging in perverse sexual relations with over a dozen women. Yes, over a dozen. And then the wife filed such a divorce case in which they not only got divorced but the sportsman had to pay a very huge amount of his earnings to her. Besides, he lost out on many advertisement deals and till day is not able to play his sport like in his earlier days of glory.

But as always, there are some people who are way too cunning to work out their lust without any physical consequences apparently. Well, their safe passage will soon run out as they won’t go to heaven if they choose not to repent of their lust. So they will have to face the evil spiritual consequences of their vile immorality for sure.

Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practise homosexuality,nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. (1 Corinthians 6:9-10)

The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. (Galatians 5:19-21)

So if you’re prone to lust or if you are struggling with lust here is what you should keep in mind so that you live a holy life:

If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: fornication, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming. (Colossians 3:1-6)

A few words of wisdom about the dangers of sexual immorality and lust:

“Dietrich Bonhoeffer made the observation that when lust takes control, “At this moment God…loses all reality… Satan does not fill us with hatred of God, but with forgetfulness of God.” What a world of wisdom there is in this statement! When we are in the grip of lust, the reality of God fades… This is what lust does! It has done it millions of times. God disappears to lust-glazed eyes.” – R. Kent Hughes

“Our eyes, when gazing on sinful objects, are out of their calling, and out of God’s keeping.” – Thomas Fuller

“Passion is the evil in adultery. If a man has no opportunity of living with another man’s wife, but if it is obvious for some reason that he would like to do so, and would do so if he could, he is no less guilty than if he was caught in the act.” – Augustine

“No sin that a person commits has more built-in pitfalls, problems and destructiveness than sexual sin. It has broken more marriages, shattered more homes, caused more heartache and disease, and destroyed more lives than alcohol and drugs combined. It causes lying, stealing, cheating and killing, as well as bitterness, hatred, slander, gossip and unforgivingness.” – John MacArthur

A reminder that abortion is STILL evil

Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves; ensure justice for those being crushed. Yes, speak up for the poor and helpless, and see that they get justice. (Proverbs 31:8-9)

No matter what you hear from anyone remember that abortion is STILL evil.

We have seen the results of abortion. One is left lifeless and the other wounded. liveaction.org

Sharon Osbourne: Having an Abortion Was the “Worst Thing I Ever Did”.

Stand out, even if you stand out alone against abortion.

Even animals realize that there is a human being inside. Even dolphins acknowledge this!

When you remain silent on the Abortion issue, you are saying that you support it! 911babies.com

As a former fetus, I oppose abortion. (In Defense of the Defenseless)

Instead of aborting a child and living in regret, why not send up the ‘unwanted’ child for adoption. Lot’s of caring people who do not have kids, will be more than happy to accept them.

Being pro life is the cool thing to be, because it is the right thing to do.

Valerie Gatto a child born out of rape dispels argument for abortion in case of rape. (click on her pic below to know more)

Most abortions are done to cover up sins of sex outside marriage such as adultery and fornication. There are certain people who either ill informed or totally blind people who incorrectly assume that a huge percentage of abortions are done to overcome the stigma of rape. Abolishhumanabortion.com

It’s easy to be pro “choice” when you are not the one being killed.

Even ‘Jane Roe’ of the controversial ‘Roe vs Wade’ case for abortion, now is against abortion. (Food for thought)

Don’t Accept Sexual Immorality From Your Leaders

Beware of foolishness in worldly books

It’s common knowledge that there are lots of books printed so far. Some books are very useful such as cook books, car manuals, grooming books etc. These are quite objective in their approach and to the point. However not everything is worth reading as there are other books that are filled with foolishness that you must avoid.

There are certain books that are superficially considered as works of artistic grandeur. On closer inspection you’d realize that they contain moral or spiritual gibberish at best. You must do you best to discern what is really good for you to glean on when reading such things.

Some people love poems while some love novels. There are people who relish classic literary works, while some revel in the contemporary. No problem in such hobbies as long they are not harmful. For instance gardening is no sin unless you are growing poisonous plants to harm others or yourself. Likewise, when reading various books they induce thoughts in the garden of your mind. You need to remove weeds of impure thoughts lest they choke the beautiful thoughts of piety, respect, gracefulness etc. The garden of your mind must be well watered with the word of God and never any substitute.

The wisdom of the world in some books can be shaky. They teach you that you are not took keep whining about your sorry situation but do something positive about it. You are encouraged to help yourself. While a worldly book teaches self-reliance it might also teach you to not help people in trouble as they are expected to help themselves. Such teaching on self-reliance is out of balance. I’d say that avoid such books that teach you not to help others. While its true that some people are way too lazy to help themselves, there are some who are too depressed to figure out how to get out of trouble. Not every self-help book is bad but that which teaches foolishness like not helping others is surely a bad one.

Take care what emotions are prominent in worldly books. As certain authors put in their own bitterness in their writings. Some are obsessed with suicide in their works and receive critical acclaim for that. However, the same critics get horrified when the author whom they praised actually committed suicide maybe due to divorce or loss of a fortune. What a tragedy at many levels? Three levels that immediately came to my mind. First, for the author’s life that got lost in gloom forever. Secondly, that the audience and critics celebrated suicide that people usually commit out of hopelessness. Thirdly, that such works that promote despair and suicide are still in vogue even after people came to know that the author wrote them not in the objective sense but out of their own grief which they tried to hide behind.

There are certain books that encourage you to feel helpless just because you are of a particular country, race or gender. Such things only promote you to believe in falsehood that you cannot breakout of worldly stereotypes. Keep away from such books.

Some authors are highly obsessed with sexual immorality. They portray love what is vulgar and hypocritical. They are more concerned with sinful please rather than right living. Nowadays in works of art even a bank robber is glorified if he has a relationship with an adulterous woman as long as he robs the rich and gives to the poor. The Bible doesn’t teach us to rob the rich and give to the poor.

There are certain books what promote unbelief. They will try to make you doubt if God exists. They will say lots of evil things about Jesus Christ. These are to be shunned outright. Because atheism and blasphemy are not in line with the Christian faith.

If you call yourself a believer in Christ then remember that is pointless to keep reading such books. Read what is wise and good and keep away what is sinful and vain. Moreover, read the Bible because it contains God’s message to us which leads us on to the right path.

A few scripture verses to reflect on:

But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. (Galatians 1:8)

See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ. (Colossians 2:8)

O Timothy, guard the deposit entrusted to you. Avoid the irreverent babble and contradictions of what is falsely called “knowledge,” for by professing it some have swerved from the faith. Grace be with you.(1 Timothy 6:20-21)

So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.(2 Timothy 2:22)

Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world.(1 John 2:15-16)

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Walk out of a bad movie

When you attend an unrated movie or don’t know what it’s about, you might have to make a choice. You may not always face this choice but whenever you do please make sure that you are ready for it. What am I talking about? Keep away from bad movies.

Yes keep away from bad movies. Any movie that glorifies falsehood, blasphemy, murder, theft, cheating, sexual immorality is a bad movie. Sometimes the movie is on a general note but there are certain scenes which may be vulgar and have excessive violence. Pray for your children and keep them away from deception. Children must avoid any such graphic scenes and their parents or caretakers must never allow them access to such movies. The ‘Adults only’ tag on certain movies only indicate which age group is allowed to watch it, what it doesn’t say is whether watching that movie will be a source of moral corruption to you. Remember very clearly, that your eyes are gateways to your soul, so if you are letting in darkness in then its your fault as you could have closed them or looked away. You can choose to use your eyes in a good way or a bad way. So look at what is worthy to look at and not what is unclean or unholy.

Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eye is healthy, your whole body is full of light, but when it is bad, your body is full of darkness. Therefore be careful lest the light in you be darkness. If then your whole body is full of light, having no part dark, it will be wholly bright, as when a lamp with its rays gives you light. (Luke 11:34-36)

This year the movie Noah (2014) was labelled as a ‘biblical’ movie but in reality it was not. It was blatantly promoting unbiblical things like showing that the Watchers (fallen angels) were helping Noah build the ark, when in fact God never in the Bible had asked them to help Noah. To learn more about how it contradicted the Bible please click here where christiananswers.net systematically goes on to give great and honest reviews of movies that you usually see in Hollywood. They got on to rate Christian movies too. I’d strongly recommend that you see a movie review at their website if you have doubts if a certain movie you want to see may not be morally right.

It’s just not worth it that you watch movies that are promoting false doctrines and heresy. The rule of thumb is that whatever promotes spiritual falsehood must not be given heed to but rather must be opposed. That which contradicts the Bible’s teaching must never be considered good. What is evil is evil. Don’t get into the people pleasing bandwagon that some lukewarm Christians are into. These people don’t realize that if they were in a minority in an area ruled by the deceived majority of false doctrines, they would be persecuted by the very same type they tried to protect in the name of tolerance.

Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter! (Isaiah 5:20)

What are you to do if you are in situation where you realize that the movie is not good for your soul? It’s a very simple choice. If you see a bad movie then you walk out of the theater. Don’t bother about the opinion of others. There’s always a chance that you can explain to them later outside that such a movie goes against your beliefs and values that you stand for. If you are with your family or with close friends try to quickly convince them to leave along with you so that they too have a fair chance.

Now if you have a movie that you can watch on your TV or PC but it’s promoting unholy things then let that thing go to the dust and not watch it. Better not waste your time on such things. It wise to avoid vulgar comedies so that you giggle a little lesser and not sin rather than watch them and laugh your way to hell!

Let the Bible be the deciding factor when you are faced with the choice to watch a movie that has wicked scenes in it. I close in with Psalm 101:1-3 says that, I will sing of mercy and judgment: unto thee, O Lord, will I sing. I will behave myself wisely in a perfect way. O when wilt thou come unto me? I will walk within my house with a perfect heart. I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes: I hate the work of them that turn aside; it shall not cleave to me.

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