The sin of self-indulgence

It is funny how God will keep bringing topics to mind when He wants you to concentrate on them. If he doesn't get your attention one way He will bring it up another. Sometimes He may just want to confirm it, cement it in your mind so that there is no doubt that He is speaking.

That is exactly what has been happening to me the last few weeks. It all started when I began praying for God to help me be more consistent with my devotional/prayer life. I confessed to Him my tendency to not finish what I start or to get distracted by other things when I should be doing something else. I asked for His help to change this about myself. Boy did He come through loud and clear on that one!

In my Eastside Angels group that I lead on Fridays we are doing a study on developing good character traits called "Character Makeover". The trait we are working on right now is Self-control. We did a self-assessment quiz and I scored a 40 out of 40 possible on the section titled "Lose the Appetite; Self-indulgence" (The lesson was loosely based on the reality show "The Biggest Loser"). This was not a GOOD score. It meant that I had major problems in this area. Boy was I surprised, and at the same time not surprised at all.

I suppose it is easy to tell yourself, I don't indulge in drugs, alcohol, sex or any other activities that are obviously sinful. I must be OK. Well, I'm here to tell you that is not necessarily true. There are other things that are sinful that are not quite so obvious. Like when you eat more than you need because you get an endorphin rush from eating, or when you sleep way too many hours in the day because it makes you feel less anxious. How about reading a book or watching TV, videos, playing on the computer, while the housework and other chores you should be doing go undone. This is all self-indulgence and is sin.

Is being addicted to always pleasing your flesh, in what ever way your flesh likes to be pleased, any easier to kick than an addiction to drugs or alcohol? I'm not sure, but I do know one thing. You can avoid being where there are drugs or alcohol to help resist it better. How do you avoid being around yourself? The only way to kick this one, I believe, once and for all is through the power of the Holy Spirit.

When you plant a grape vine, it produces grapes. Why? Because it is a grape vine, it contains all the things inside it that makes a grapevine a grapevine. If we could read it like a barcode it would read; grapevine. You could never get it to produce apples without completely changing it's inner genetic makeup and changing it to an apple tree.

Jesus used grave vines in an interesting analogy. He said “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit;  apart from me you can do nothing."

What is this fruit He is talking about? It is the Fruit of the Spirit, found in Galatians 5:22-23 "But the fruit of the Spirit is love,  joy, peace,  patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and SELF-CONTROL. Against such things there is no law."

So if Jesus is in you, then you become a branch of His vine, and if the vine is of Him then the branch will produce His fruit. Self-control then can be produced by living in the Spirit.

This is great news for me. I know that on my own I will utterly fail in taming this beast called "self" but with His help we are already more than conquerors in Christ Jesus. Amen and God help me!

What are the lives of our children worth?

Last night on the north side of Flint 4 children ages 1, 2, 3, and 4 died in a house fire. The babysitter fell asleep while cooking. The loss of such young lives is always tragic. What makes this loss even more tragic is that those little babies might be alive today if there had been working smoke detectors in the apartment.

You can buy smoke detectors at most retail stores for 10 dollars each. You can get batteries at the dollars store if you can't afford the few dollars it costs for 9 volt batteries at a regular store. It is nothing really. There are even places where you can get smoke detectors for free if you can't afford them. Call your local fire department.

It doesn't matter who you think should be responsible for making sure there were working smoke detectors in the apartment, the landlord, the tenant, the parents who left their children there. The fact is it's all our responsibilities. When was the last time you checked your smoke detector batteries? If you let your kid stay the night at someone else's house do you ask if the smoke detectors are working? Such a small amount of money can protect the ones who are priceless and depend on us to protect them.

Do your part. Check your smoke detectors. Ask the people you love if they've checked theirs. Do it for the helpless and innocent, do it for the careless person who falls asleep while cooking, do it for yourself.

The Things God Hates. (being disgusted about movie choices)

When choosing to go see a movie there are a few things that are deal breakers for me. If is celebrates sin as something desirable, if there is nudity of a sexual nature ( as opposed to the nudity in a movie like Schindler's list), and language; especially taking the Lord's name in vain. I always look any movie up on the website pluggedin.com because they list all these things in detail so that I can make an informed decision.

I thought the rated PG movie called "Extraordinary Measures" sounded like a good movie so I looked it up. I was appalled at the amount of cursing and especially more than a dozen misuses of the Lord's name. How the movie industry can justify rating such a movie PG is a whole other issue. I refuse to go and spend my money on a movie that will misuse the Lord's name, thus dishonoring our Holy Lord. I do not wish to be entertained by the things that God hates. Do you doubt that he hates it when his name is misused? Try reading the Ten Commandments.

Exodus 20:7 You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses His name.

Maybe it is just me, but it seems pretty clear how God feels about this subject.

I am sure there are those who think I am overreacting. I am not sure I agree with that. The argument that I can watch others do something for entertainment and be innocent of it myself doesn't really hold water biblically.

Ephesians chapter 5 makes it really clear how we are to live our lives. I won't reprint it all here but I encourage you to read it for yourself. I will touch on some highlights though. Verse 6 says "let no one deceive you with empty words." v 7 says "do not be partners with them." v11 says "have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness" v 12 " For it is shameful to even mention what the disobedient do in secret" If it shameful to even mention it, how much more shameful to watch in on TV or a movie screen.

I think it is sad that many people who claim to be Christians will compromise and give sin a wink and a nod and still think they are blameless. I wonder how God feels about that? I think the letter to the church in Laodicea in the book of Revelation may clear up that question.

v 15-16  I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were one or the other! So because you are lukewarm-neither hot nor cold-I am about to spit you out of my mouth.

The word for "spit" in the original greek is actually translated "to vomit". If we go to church and honor him on Sunday and Wednesday but live the rest of our lives dishonoring him then we are lukewarm. If we say "Amen" to the preacher when he speak about sin on Sunday, but give sin a wink and a nod every other day of the week then we are lukewarm. If we do not honor God with our thoughts, words, and actions every day and not just on Sunday then we are lukewarm.

If we are lukewarm then God is about to vomit us out of His mouth, because we disgust Him.

Call me intolerant, call me a radical, call me politically incorrect, I don't care. I do not want to disgust God so that He wants to vomit me out of His mouth. So I will choose not to entertain myself or my household with the things that God hates.