As young people, you have so many voices that are speaking out to you. Each one wants your attention and to be heard. The voice of world wants you to hear it's message of self satisfaction. The voice of your heart wants you to hear it's cry of emotion. Your parents want you to hear the wisdom of their warnings. Your friends want you to hear them talk about what their voices are saying. But, there is only one voice that we should listen to. When we give our attention and listen to this one voice, then we will be able to answer all of the other voices calling us. That one voice, is the voice of God.
What? You mean God is talking to me too? Yes, or rather He wants to. God desires to speak to each and everyone of us. From the highest officials in government to the guy who fixes your plumbing. God has something to say to you.
Some people believe that God doesn't speak anymore. Some people think that He only speaks to certain people like preachers and ministers. Some people believe they have heard God speak to them when it wasn't Him at all. We tend to forget that God created us for fellowship with Him. The bible says that when God created Adam that he would walk with him in the cool of the day. That means that God and Adam would walk together early in the mornings or evenings or both and talk.
Now, you may think why would God want to speak to you. Simple. You are His creation and He wants to share the life He has given to you, with you. No one is so spiritual or important that they do not need God to speak to them and no one is so un-spiritual or insignificant that God wouldn't want to speak to them.
Ok, so now that we know God speaks and wants to talk to us. How does He speak to us?
Of course the numero uno way God speaks to us is through His word. The Bible. Even though God spoke into the spirits of the prophets and disciples and led them to write the books of the old and new testaments, everything that was written we can apply to ourselves and our lives. When you read the bible, read it as though God wrote it specifically for you. He did, but when we realize this and read it that way purposely, it becomes personal and carries more meaning and significance to us.
John 10:4 says, When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice.
Sheep follow their shepherd because since they were born, they have been hearing his voice and they know it. Have you ever been in a crowd or somewhere with a lot of noise and hear your mom or dad's voice saying your name? It's just like that. You have heard their voice all of your life so even in the midst of distractions and other voices you will recognize them. It's the same way with God. When you are born again, from that moment on you should enter into a relationship with God learning His word and learning to hear His voice.
God is not limited. We limit God because our human thinking is limited. God can use anything to speak to us. He uses situations, good and bad. I don't believe that God causes bad things just so He can speak to us but I do believe he can use a bad situation to do just that. God can use books we read, songs we hear, other people and things to show us whatever He may want us to know. Now, I will say that we must be discerning. Being able to see/hear what God may be saying to us through something only comes through having a relationship with Him first through His word.
God desires for us to reach out to Him. He has so much to show us and tell us. We don't hear God speak because we are not listening. How much easier and how much more we would understand things if we truly learned to hear God. I want to encourage you to begin to build a relationship with God. Pray and read the word of God and take time to listen. God Speaks!!
In Christ,
Kevin
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Sunday, May 9, 2010
Praying For Porn
Ok, be honest. Did the title get you? Maybe for a second.
I don't have have to tell you that pornography is an epidemic. In our society today, we are constantly bombarded with sexual images. Not all pornographic as some would suppose, but all which (at least in my opinion) are teasing enticements which lead to the harder stuff. To me anything that causes sexual excitement in an un-healthy way and is a catalyst for un-healthy fantasies and actions is pornography.
The effects of pornography on someones life can be devastating. A person who has been consumed by pornography often thinks of nothing else. They are are on an endless quest for sexual excitement. I believe also some people bound by pornography and who keep seeking it are in reality seeking an intimacy they may have never had. Now, they are using pornography to try and fill that void. The big problem is that after so long the effects of pornography have distorted the thought processes and the emotional feelings so much that finding that true intimacy that was once desired becomes even more difficult.
An addiction to pornography is an extremely hard thing to break especially if the addiction had lasted for many years. It (pornography) is like tar. It sticks and covers and is not easily removed.
The question I have, which is the basis for this article, is has anyone ever thought to pray for those who are involved in the production of pornography? The film, magazine, and website producers. The actors and actress' and models? I know somewhere someone probably has, but it is not a common thought. We tend to see these people as the enemy instead of victims of a perversion as well. We need to remember that it is not flesh and blood that is our enemy, but the demonic influence that is truly behind it.
If we begin to see these people as God sees them, lost souls deceived by demonic forces, then that makes them the same as us. Every person in the pornography industry has a greater purpose for which God created them. I can be honest and say that I have seen pornography in basically every form it comes in. The internet is an endless supply, an endless free supply. But when I think about the billions and billions of different avenues of pornography, I think about the billions and billions of people that it took to make all those different videos and magazines and websites. That is a lot of people who have not experienced the true love of Jesus Christ.
So how would we pray for them? We often consider those people as unreachable. We think have the thought that any prayer for them will do no good. This is a lie of the devil. It is really not our concern whether our prayers have worked or had any effect. That is God's department. Our department is to pray. Pray for their salvation and deliverance. Pray for their hearts to be softened and opened to the love of God, which is truly what they seek.
" The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised." Luke 4:18
In this verse Jesus is reading scripture in the synagogue and this scripture was speaking of him. But now if we have received Jesus and he lives in us, through us, then this scripture applies to us. The Spirit of God is upon us because he has given us power to declare the good news that will heal the brokenhearted and deliver those captured by sin and give sight to those blinded by the enemy and provide freedom to those who do not believe they can be free.
Pornography is an ugly stain in the lives of those it has infected. But with the power of Jesus and faith in God, it is a stain that can be removed. It can be removed from those who are addicted and it can be removed from those who produce it. A new strategy in the war for the lives of our families. Praying for porn.
In Christ,
Kevin
I don't have have to tell you that pornography is an epidemic. In our society today, we are constantly bombarded with sexual images. Not all pornographic as some would suppose, but all which (at least in my opinion) are teasing enticements which lead to the harder stuff. To me anything that causes sexual excitement in an un-healthy way and is a catalyst for un-healthy fantasies and actions is pornography.
The effects of pornography on someones life can be devastating. A person who has been consumed by pornography often thinks of nothing else. They are are on an endless quest for sexual excitement. I believe also some people bound by pornography and who keep seeking it are in reality seeking an intimacy they may have never had. Now, they are using pornography to try and fill that void. The big problem is that after so long the effects of pornography have distorted the thought processes and the emotional feelings so much that finding that true intimacy that was once desired becomes even more difficult.
An addiction to pornography is an extremely hard thing to break especially if the addiction had lasted for many years. It (pornography) is like tar. It sticks and covers and is not easily removed.
The question I have, which is the basis for this article, is has anyone ever thought to pray for those who are involved in the production of pornography? The film, magazine, and website producers. The actors and actress' and models? I know somewhere someone probably has, but it is not a common thought. We tend to see these people as the enemy instead of victims of a perversion as well. We need to remember that it is not flesh and blood that is our enemy, but the demonic influence that is truly behind it.
If we begin to see these people as God sees them, lost souls deceived by demonic forces, then that makes them the same as us. Every person in the pornography industry has a greater purpose for which God created them. I can be honest and say that I have seen pornography in basically every form it comes in. The internet is an endless supply, an endless free supply. But when I think about the billions and billions of different avenues of pornography, I think about the billions and billions of people that it took to make all those different videos and magazines and websites. That is a lot of people who have not experienced the true love of Jesus Christ.
So how would we pray for them? We often consider those people as unreachable. We think have the thought that any prayer for them will do no good. This is a lie of the devil. It is really not our concern whether our prayers have worked or had any effect. That is God's department. Our department is to pray. Pray for their salvation and deliverance. Pray for their hearts to be softened and opened to the love of God, which is truly what they seek.
" The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised." Luke 4:18
In this verse Jesus is reading scripture in the synagogue and this scripture was speaking of him. But now if we have received Jesus and he lives in us, through us, then this scripture applies to us. The Spirit of God is upon us because he has given us power to declare the good news that will heal the brokenhearted and deliver those captured by sin and give sight to those blinded by the enemy and provide freedom to those who do not believe they can be free.
Pornography is an ugly stain in the lives of those it has infected. But with the power of Jesus and faith in God, it is a stain that can be removed. It can be removed from those who are addicted and it can be removed from those who produce it. A new strategy in the war for the lives of our families. Praying for porn.
In Christ,
Kevin
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