The Separation of Godliness and Worldliness

James 4:1-4, 7-10

Pride Promotes Strife
1 Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members? 2 You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. *Yet you do not have because you do not ask. 3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures. 4 *Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.

Humility Cures Worldliness
7 Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.
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These verses from my "quiet time" really hit home with me today. It just really redefined my relationship with God, and my relationship with things of the world. In my mind I have always tried to justify a balance between God and things of the world, because I enjoy them both. However, as I read the verses above I developed an understanding that the devil tries to tempt us with things of the world, and if we are not careful or if we put to much emphasis on the things of the world, we may find ourselves consumed by them to the point that they take the place of God in our lives.

The bible does not tell us to "forget" about the things of the world, but it does tell us that we need to remember who is #1 in our lives. I know that so many times I have caught myself living my life separate from God. And it isn't until I find myself completely off the beaten path that I realize where I am. At those moments, I also realize that the reason I got to that point in my life is because I allowed something else to take the place of God in my life. I allowed something else to direct my actions and passions.

It is my prayer that each of us can find the balance between our passion for a relationship with Jesus Christ, and our "wants" for things of this world. Always keeping in mind that the devil is right there to tempt us with the things of the world, trying to take us away from the relationship that God has in store for each and every one of his children.

Born Gay?

In an effort to prove sexual orientation is biological rather than a choice, scientists at Oregon State University are seeking to produce gay sheep by altering conditions in the womb. With laughable ignorance, Seattle Times reporter Sandi Doughton implies that the debate over gay marriage hangs in the balance of this research – that biologically predisposed gay sheep would expose Christian opposition to homosexuality as folly. But biblical Christianity is not surprised that sin lurks within our members from birth – on the contrary, it teaches as much. And Doughton’s logic here is exceedingly thoughtless. Say I’m predisposed to marry a hundred women. Does that mean the government should sponsor polygamy? Does it mean I have no choice in the matter?

Finding Peace in the game of Life

Eph. 5:16-17

I know that often we feel the struggle that is going on between the Holy Spirit and the evil powers at work in the world around us. These verses are a wonderful reminder that we are not in the battle alone, and that the battle is not one that God wants us to handle in our own strength.

Too often I become overwhelmed by the sinfulness in the world around me, and sometimes I even find myself giving in to the ways of the world because the battle becomes too much for me to handle. But we are not here to fight that battle, and we must always remember that God gave us the gift of the Holy Spirit as our "safety net" and place of refuge.

I think of it like this...When I was young and playing a game of tag, there was always a place called "base" where I could run and not be tagged by another player. God is our "base" and he has given us the Holy Spirit to take on the devil and his demons for us, so that we will not become overwhelmed and fail in our pursuit of holiness. All that we have to do is daily submit ourselves to God's will and we will find life is a lot easier to face.

My prayer is that each of us will find a way to daily submit ourselves to God, so that we can truly feel the power of the Holy Spirit working in our lives.

Actions speak louder than words....

"You cannot have a proud and chivalrous spirit if your conduct is mean and paltry; for whatever a man's actions are, such must be his spirit."
Demosthenes (384 BC - 322 BC)

We are the devil's enemies. We have taken a stand in our faith, and the world is watch us closely. We are the hands, feet, and mouth of God to the "unsaved" world. They are looking to us to get a picture of who "God" is and why they would need to consider a relationship with him.

This is a lot of responsibility. And we need to understand the importance of our actions. Living the life of a Christian is not something that we can take for granted. It is a constant work, which requires continuous modifications and maintenance.

That is why the Bible tells us to sharpen our faith daily. We do this by reading the scriptures, praying, and by our fellowship with "like minded people." God (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) is the only one who can bring us to where we need to be in order to give a "correct representation" of who God is to the world. We can't change the hearts of the unsaved, but we can make sure that we are giving them a good example of Christianity, and the freedom we have in Jesus Christ.

This is not a sermon, it's simply a reminder of the importance of staying "Fresh in our Faith"

Where's your Bible?

I was at church on Sunday, when my pastor said to the congregation, "if you have your Bibles please take them out and follow along the scriptures with me." Looking around I noticed that almost everyone was stirring in their seats, but not all of them for the same reason. You see about half of the folks were trying to quickly reach under their seats to grab for their Bibles, while the other half were stirring in their seats, uncomfortable, because they didn't have the "good book" with them at all.

And then I got to thinking...

How can we (Christians) so nonchalantly walk through life without using the instructions God has given us? Is it laziness, pride, immaturity? Is it that we have developed some unprecedented connection with the Holy Spirit, and no longer need to bother ourselves with the physical copy of God's word? How are we preparing ourselves for the battle if we are not equipping ourselves with the weapons of warfare? How many times does the Bible instruct us to get into the "word" and make it the core of our being?

Far too many Christians are content with the "fire insurance" they have received, and are not concerned with developing a true understanding of who God is, and who they can become in Christ. They simply go to church, because it is the right thing to do, but God is not a reality in their lives. Sure they believe in Him, and have faith that someday when Christ returns they will be called "home." But the "passion" is not there, and neither is desire to live a life according to God's will. Am I saying that we need to bring a Bible with us everywhere we go in order to have passion? No, but the point I am trying to make is simple. The world around us is become more "secular" every day. We need to ensure that we are not being pulled away from "truth" along with them. If we are not daily meditating on the word of God, then pretty soon our beliefs will slowly start to fuse with the beliefs of the "unsaved" world around us, until one day we find ourselves in agreement with the world. And that my friend is a scary thing.

So again I'll ask you, where is your Bible?

Law and Order

South Dakota, known for the Black Hills and Mt. Rushmore but not much more, made a name for themselves this week in the news. The headlines were something like this, "Organization Challanges S.D. Law." The argument is fairly simple. Some folks appearently don't like the idea of doctors instructing potential abortion patients on some of the "negitive" consequenses of abortion. "The Planned Parenthood lawsuit challenges the statute as an unconstitutional burden on a woman's right to choose an abortion. It also argues the law is unconstitutionally vague because doctors would not know exactly what to tell women about some subjects.

"Supporters of the new law, though, say it ensures that women seeking abortions will fully understand what they are doing."

What are your thoughts?


http://wireservice.wired.com/wired/story.asp?ection=Breaking&storyId=1044888&from=email

Maybe it's time we considered our sources?

I see all the people searching for something to believe in
So why does faith seem so hard?
When everyone is asking all the right questions
why do the answers seem so hard to find?

Maybe it's time we considered our sources.
Maybe it's time we started listening to the right voices
Maybe earth is not our home, and maybe man is not alone
Maybe someone else is out there...And maybe they care!

So what's my motivation?
In today's society, it's hard to find a professor, book, or TV show that isn't teaching a message of relativism. A message that teaches us to do whatever it is that makes us feel good, and to look no further than ourselves to find happiness. "Maybe it's time we considered our sources" is a message that says (2) things. First, we don't have to believe/accept everything we hear, and second, earth is not our final destination and we need to start thinking about how our actions today are going to effect our future.