Peace is Un-American

I just want say a word about living in peace.  Really it goes against everything we’re taught.  We grow up in America where competition is fed to us like a mother’s milk is fed to babies.  If you had brothers and sisters you probably felt compelled to compete with them for everything.  As a result many feel that they can’t rise to the top, without walking on others.  Some have the unspoken opinion that they only succeed when others do not. This competitive attitude makes us critical of others, aggressive, judgmental against those who appear weak or in need. It makes us arrogant, uncaring and cold hearted, unwilling to lift others up.  It’s a lie we’ve all been taught all our lives.

We should ask ourselves what it matters if we’re better and richer than anybody we know, but we lose our souls.  Jesus teaches us that the first will be last and the last will be first.  There are so many references to peace in the Bible that I couldn’t read them all at one time.

Life is not us against them, life is us and them.  Success is not rising to the top on the back’s of others, success is rising to the top together with mutual respect and help.  All for one, one for all.

Our prayer for each other and ourselves:  Father teach us to continually bless each other in deed and in prayer.  Teach us that true success comes when we learn to put others before ourselves.  Give us your wisdom and heart Oh God.  Makes us feel silly if we look down on others.  Destroy that lie, in us, that competition is good.  Heal us and destroy those ungodly strongholds we’ve been taught.

Matthew 5:9
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.

Philippians 2:3 Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. 4 Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too.

Galatians 6:4 Each one should test his own actions. Then he can take pride in himself, without comparing himself to somebody else…….

Mark 9:50
“Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with each other.”

John 14:27
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you.

Acts 10:36
You know the message God sent to the people of Israel, telling the good news of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all.

Colossians 3:15
Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace.

James 3:17
But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.

Pot Smoking Christians

I used to feel that smoking pot was OK.  But as I’ve grown to love the Lord more, I’ve realized it’s just another of those lies the devil would like us to believe.  Pot, is very insidious and lulls you into a false sense of spirituality.  More accurately, it lulls you into a sense of false spirituality.  It’s a false spirituality that is kept in the confines your mind and rarely results in the action that Christ centered Spirituality demands and manifests.  It sings to us that sweet, sweet song that everything is OK.  It sings songs of false comfort to us, saying you need me to relax or God made me it must be OK.  You tell yourself, pot makes me think, aren’t I wiser because of because I smoke marijuana?
Marijuana masters our minds and addicts us to inactivity.  In truth marijuana separates us from God and those who love God.
Satan makes you think you must get high, and then uses guilt and idleness to keep you from assembling with other saints.  For Christians, it may be the worst drug of all.  Pot seems so harmless, presidents, senators, many people in lofty positions have tried it.  We tell ourselves, they did it why shouldn’t I.  Quite simply, you should not smoke marijuana because you belong to Christ.  In so many places He asks us to “be self-controlled and pure”. We are told that if we do not follow the laws of our government, we are rebelling against God.  We are told not be intoxicated, one only smokes pot is to get intoxicated.
Getting high is just wrong for the Christian.  Anyone who says differently is a liar and is not guided by the Holy Spirit.  Those who listen to that person are not Christ followers they are followers of a fool who will separate them from the Creator of Joy and Happiness.  God gave us an incredible brain and mind.  It can’t be improved it with marijuana.
God calls you to do great and mighty things; you’ll never accomplish those things if you are stoned. Free your mind. Hear His voice.

Take Responsibility. Perfect Your Walk. (The Cure Part 3)

Your walk with the Lord will be more perfect when you stop believing these charismatic urban legends. Start reading your Bible and understand that you are in control of your mind and your thoughts. You, and only you, own your mind and your thoughts, angels do not and Satan does not. Your mind is your property and you are the property of Jesus. Faith comes from God’s word. “So faith comes from hearing, that is, hearing the Good News about Christ.” The Word is the foundation of your Armor. Without the the Word you have no Armor. Read Ephesians 6 and you’ll see that every piece of the Armor comes from knowledge of God’s Word. Faith does not come from books about the Bible, it’s comes from the Bible.

How do you get rid of evil thoughts? It’s easy, you don’t need to read ten books, unless they are books in the Bible. Here’s how. Read Colossians 3. “….put to death the sinful, earthly things lurking within you….” How do you do that? “…set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God’s right hand. Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth.” Also you “…must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you.” I know it sounds so easy and so “Joel Osteen” but think about heavenly things and forgive others. Look at this scripture from Paul and see that peace of mind doesn’t come from going to deliverance ministry or binding some imagined spirit. Peace of mind comes from praise, prayer, reading the word and then doing what you have read.
“Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.
And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me—everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you.” Philippians 4

This is an excellent piece to read, “Can Christians be demon possessed? How can Satan influence believers?”

Take responsibility for yourself, gain knowledge, be relevant, Steve

Take Responsibility. Perfect Your Walk. (Part 2)

Christians often try to give the devil powers he doesn’t really have. For instance some Christians believe the devil can be everywhere at once. Only God is able to do that. He cannot read our minds and he cannot put thoughts in our heads. All Christians need to understand that only God is omnipresent, omniscient and omnipotent. Satan is none of these.

None of us wants to believe that we are really capable of thinking some of the things that we do, which is possibly why we would rather believe Satan is able to put thoughts in our minds. Our sinful nature is truly that bad, God said, “”Never again will I curse the ground because of man, even though every inclination of his heart is evil from childhood.” (Genesis) Every inclination we have is evil, every one. So yes we are capable of thinking those things. God also said “The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick; Who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:9) The word deceitful is translated from a Greek word that means “crooked, deceitful, polluted.” The words “desperately sick” are translated from a Greek word that means “desperately wicked, incurable, sick, woeful.” What kind of thoughts can a mind that is deceitfully polluted and incurably sick think of? One can not even imagine.

God said in Jeremiah 17:10 “I the Lord search the mind, I try the heart, even to give to every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings.” He doesn’t say Satan, all the angels and I. He says “I” search the mind. Solomon prayed in 1 Kings 8 and said (speaking to God) “for you alone know the hearts of all men”. What could be more clear than this.

Not understanding these things has led some Christians to believe that Satan can read our thoughts and interject or insert thoughts directly into our minds. Some Christians believe there are spirits inside us that cause us to think evil thoughts. I recently heard about a spirit of pride and a spirit of suicide. This is called “demonic oppression.”

Born again, repentant believers of the Risen Christ are free from demonic oppression when we are saved. The blood of Jesus redeemed us. We are sanctified, set apart. We are children of God. I’m not saying there is instant translation. We all know it’s a renewing process. Our spirits are regenerated and we are renewed. (Colossians 3:10 2 Corinthians 4:16 Ephesians 4:23) Our sinful thoughts are our own; but the Spirit of God will renew us to repentance. Satan did not put those thoughts in our heads, we did. We may not want to believe we succumb to Satan’s influence, which is outside of our mind, but we do. Carefully read what James wrote, “When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.” Look at how sin happens, it forms in what we desire. Read it again and notice it says “..by his own evil desire”. Not something placed in our mind, it’s our own desire. Desire conceives sin, which if left unchecked gives death. So unrepentant sin will lead to death. Now read what Peter wrote, “Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” Think of the scenes from the Wild Kingdom we’ve seen where the lion is chasing a herd and the weakest in the herd falls behind and is then picked off by the lion. This is what Satan does; the weakest are those who are unrepentant.
1. We have desires, which are sinful.
2. Satan puts what we desire in front of us or call it enticement. (Sex, drugs, more money, etc.)
3. We sin by making the choice to follow our desire, and committing what we have desired. (Take the drugs, have sex, do anything to have more money)
4. We choose to continue the sinful behavior, leading an unrepentant life.
5. We can then be, devoured by Satan and suffer spiritual and maybe physical death.

Read part 3 for the solution to the pollution.