.....::::: What Are God's Standards Concerning Sex? :::::.....

"More than half."

"That is the number of Americans (minus the rest of North America) that think that the Bible has little influence on a culture they see in moral decline." (source: Religion News Service)

"More than three quarters of Americans (77 percent) think that the nation's morality is headed downhill, according to a new survey from American Bible Society." (source: Religion News Service)

Moral decline means that our standards have been lowered. But why did I reference moral decline?

"The same survey shows that 88 percent of Americans said they own a Bible, 80 percent still think the Bible is sacred, 61 percent wish they read it more […]." (source: Religion News Service)

Stop. Hold that thought!

In the day and age we live in, sex is EVERYWHERE. And I mean EVERYWHERE! We find sexual images in public transportation, schools and don't get me started on television. This is important because the images, commercials and various types of media tell us that SEX, the act of love that is supposed to and was intended to be sacred, is available to you almost freely. This mixes up our generation a lot. Our standards have been mixed up with God's standards that we try to find a common ground or "gray zone" where we can compromise; still do bad things even though we know we shouldn't.

The shocking thing about all this is that whether we believe it or not, Christianity is very well known in the world today. It is often misinterpreted though. Sadly, many Christians don't even read their Bibles very often. Many non Christians and even Christians alike practice pre-marital sex, even though they know that they shouldn't. But many don’t know in reality what God has to say about pre-marital sex besides that it is forbidden. That is why I said "hold that thought earlier. Many men have no clue whatsoever about God's standard about sex.

Here is a FUN FACT! Did you know that in nearly every book of the New Testament, we are commanded to avoid sexual impurity? Don't believe me? Let’s visit what God’s standards are for this intimate act.

1) Matthew 5:28 - "But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart."

Sex was intended to be a means to express ones love, self-sacrifice, and union in a marriage relationship. What Jesus is saying here is that the desire to have sex with anyone who is not your spouse is mental adultery and thus sin. He emphasized that if the act is wrong, then so is the intention. Jesus is not saying that sex is bad or that a natural interest in the opposite sex or a healthy sexual desire is wrong. No. He is saying that when we fill our minds with sexual thoughts, we will be more likely to act on our thoughts. He wants us to avoid that.

2) Mark 7:21-23 "For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come—sexual immorality, theft, murder,  adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and defile a person.”

When we want to do things that we know are wrong, we THINK about it first. An evil action ALWAYS begins with a single thought. Paul mentions this and even advises us to think about what is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, and admirable. (See Philippians 4:8)

3) Acts 15:29 - "You are to abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality. You will do well to avoid these things. Farewell."

Uhmm...I think it is pretty clear. But just in case it is, focusing on sex will just lead you to "situationships" and not relationships. This means more problems and less love.

4) Romans 13:13 - "Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy."

5) 1 Corinthians 5:11 - "But now I am writing to you that you must not associate with anyone who claims to be a brother or sister but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or slanderer, a drunkard or swindler. Do not even eat with such people."

6) 1 Corinthians 6:13 - "You say, “Food for the stomach and the stomach for food, and God will destroy them both.” The body, however, is not meant for sexual immorality but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body."

In Jesus, we find love, protection and freedom. But we should never abuse this freedom because if so, it has the potential to hurt others and even ourselves. The same way drinking too much leads to alcoholism, gluttony leads to obesity, sex in the wrong context can turn into a bad habit that controls you.

7) 1 Corinthians 6:13 -  "You say, “Food for the stomach and the stomach for food, and God will destroy them both.” The body, however, is not meant for sexual immorality but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body."

8) 2 Corinthians 12:21 - "I am afraid that when I come again my God will humble me before you, and I will be grieved over many who have sinned earlier and have not repented of the impurity, sexual sin and debauchery in which they have indulged."

9) Galatians 5:16,19 - "So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. […] The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; […]"

10) Ephesians 5:3-4 "But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people. Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving."

11) Colossians 3:5-6 "Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed,which is idolatry. Because of these, the wrath of God is coming."

Men and women should be open to true love - and to sexual intimacy - WITHIN the commitment to lifelong fidelity.

12) 1 Thessalonians 4:3-5,7 "It is God’s will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; that each of you should learn to control your own body in a way that is holy and honorable, not in passionate lust like the pagans, who do not know God; […] For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life."

God created sex for pleasure and procreation. If you are not ready to have kids or start a family with that person, why find yourself in that situation? It is an expression of love between a husband and wife. Sexual experience must be limited to the marriage relationship to avoid hurting ourselves, our relationship to God, and our relationships with others.

13) Hebrews 13:4 - "Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral."

14) 1 Peter 4:3 - "For you have spent enough time in the past doing what pagans choose to do—living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing and detestable idolatry."

15) Jude 7 - "In a similar way, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion. They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire."

16) Revelations 2:14 - "Nevertheless, I have a few things against you: There are some among you who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to entice the Israelites to sin so that they ate food sacrificed to idols and committed sexual immorality."

17) Revelation 2:20 - "Nevertheless, I have this against you: You tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophet. By her teaching she misleads my servants into sexual immorality and the eating of food sacrificed to idols."

18) Revelation 21:8 - "But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.”

Sounds harsh right? The Bible warns us of many things. It warns us of sexual sin and that we shouldn’t take it lightly. For too long, we have heard sermons or people speak about “running from sexual sin” but never in detail (please read our earlier post “The Truth About Sex”). God created sex to be a beautiful and essential ingredient of marriage, but any form of sex outside of marriage always hurts someone. It hurts god because it shows that we prefer following our own desires instead of being led by His Holy Spirit. It hurts others because it violates the commitment so necessary to a relationship. Ever notice how when two people finish having sex, the guy tends to not care and the girl is either emotionally hurt or emotionally dependant of the guy? You see! It deeply affects our personalities in the long run!

With that being said, we find that God’s standards for sex can be found in more than half of the books in the New Testament. When we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we enter a relationship with God. The example that I love to use is this: see God as your “lover”. When you are in a relationship, you do everything to please and keep that person happy and satisfied. Sleeping with someone else before God hands you over to your true life partner, is basically as if you cheated on God with someone else. Even though infidelity is very popular in our generation, that does not make it okay to do so. Think of the people who get hurt as a result of your actions, before you think of doing it. Hope this clears up some things for people. No one is perfect. We are not here to judge anyone. On the contrary, if you have done this or are living a life where sexual sin (sex before marriage) is dominant or present, it is not too late to stop. Sexual sin can be enslaving but Jesus died for those sins already; not so you can continue and still do it but so that you can have access to a LIFE that is way better and one that fulfills better than 5 minutes of body to body pleasure. We all struggle with something; some it is lust and others it may be something else. But if this doesn’t concern you, feel free to share it with someone who might need to read this. Stay blessed and much love to you on your walk with God. Peace & Blessings!

(This post used Stephen Arterburn’s book “Every Man’s Battle: Winning the War on Sexual Temptation One Victory at a Time.” as a reference.)

(Devotions/ Devotionals)

.....::::: Can You Translate Your "Christianese" Please? :::::.....

"Christianese" is a communicable language within the Christian subculture with words and phrases created, redefined, and / or patened that applies only to the Christian sphere of influence. In other words, it's an invented word used to express the use of Christian theology terms that may seem like bibberish to those that have no idea what the speaker is talking about.

How often do we do this though? How often do we talk to people about Jesus, but we use terms and words that they have an easier time understanding Chinese or Sign Language rather than understanding us? Jesus used metaphors, similies, and analogies to portray and demonstrate God's goodness, message and invitation to Life. Why is it that we must show how spiritually intellectual we are by using big words or words that seem to make no sense or are even frightening to our listeners?

My sister and I moved to Canada in 2004, after the death of our parents. We understood little to no french at all. The only thing that truly helped us was the fact that we are Haitian American. Haitian Creole is some what close to French. Anyway, if a Montreal Canadian had come up to us (which happened quite often in our first two years) to announce, in French, something like how we were being offered a chance to live in Prime Minister Stephen Harper's house or even better; a chance to live at the White House with President Barack Obama and reap the benefits of living there, that would've been AWESOME! But at that point in time, if someone didn't translate everything that person would've said to us from French to English, my sister and I would've missed out on such a ONCE IN A LIFETIME, GOLDEN opportunity. Why? Just because French was such a foreign language at the time.

In the same way, God's message and invitation to Life must be translated into language people can UNDERSTAND. Using words like KINGDOM, REPENTANCE, and SAVED sound scary and uncommon to most people. It is as if we are speaking a language that is foreign when we use terms like being "justified," "sanctified," or "redeemed." Please, don't get me wrong, these terms are important, but we must first understand the truth of God's message enough to translate them into a language or vocabulary that ordinary people (those who have yet to know these things) can understand.

Why though? Why would someone turn from what they are used to, what they have grown to know and love, from the only semblance of life, love, and security they have ever known (apart from God) and turn to God if they don't believe that He is good or has good intentions towards them? That is where Jesus steps in. He used creatuve language and many analogies to paint and demonstrate an accurate picture of the Father's goodness in terms people would and could understand:

"He runs to the prodigal son with open arms (Luke 15:11-32)" and "He values you more than many sparrows (Matthew 6:25-34)."

Yes, Jesus did speak in parables (moral stories) to provoke people's hearts that were on the verge of being responsive or those that were hardened, but He also gave life to a linguistic picture so others may understand and see God's goodness.

We should do the same! Sometimes, it is not that people don't want to believe in Jesus. It is just that they don't have a clue what we are saying. We try to seem high and mighty by using terms that we believe will spike their curiousity but in reality, all we do is cause even more confusion. In order for people to turn and trust God with their whole lives (repent and believe), we must stop speaking "Christianese" and just be us. Use words that they will comprehend and most importantly, just be yourself. It is important that we listen to their needs and invite them to Life.

Have a blessed day and don’t forget to spread for Christ!

(Devotions/ Devotionals)

.....::::: Do You Judge or Show Mercy? :::::.....

Hey guys! Long time no see! We hope all is well with you! Let's jump right into Scripture for this one.

Jesus offered mercy to people who deserved judgment (by normal human standards). In Luke chapter 4, we see Jesus as He is reading from the scroll in which the prophet Isaiah foretold the Messiah's mission.

“The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because He has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” Then He rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on Him." (Luke 4:18-20)

What does that mean? How is it relevant though?

Jesus was basically saying, "I've come to let struggling people, brokenhearted people, people captive to addictions, people stuck in dark spiritual places know that now is the time of God's favor-God is on your side, not against you!"

As a Christian or even a non Christian, do people get that vibe from you? Do they feel you are judging them or that you are only here to expose their flaws while making yourself look good?

One important thing to highlight in this passage is that Jesus cut Isaiah's word off in mid-sentence. Don't believe me?

Isaiah said, "[...] to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn [...]" (Isaiah 61:2)

But Jesus said read, "to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor," then He rolled up the scroll. Why did He leave out the part about judgment?

Mercy.

The other half of the Scripture is sure to come but He offers mercy to everyone who realizes they need it. He offers restoration to all who need and will receive God's help. Jesus clearly states in John 12:47 that He did not come to judge the world or condemn it but restore and free it.

But do we give that message?

When people think of Christians, they think of hypocritical, judgmental and non transparent religious people. People who value the technicalities of the law more than the people the law was there to serve. Some of us value "speaking truth" and "being right" way more than actually lifting a finger to help those in need. In blunt terms, people think of us Christians, the way Jesus saw the Pharisee.

But we have got it all wrong! We have lost the truth about the heart of Jesus! Mercy matters to God! Mercy and compassion defines God's character! It is this very compassion that leads people to repentance. In Matthew 18:33 Jesus gets annoyed when faced with people who have been shown kindness and mercy, but refuse to extend it to others.

Pharisees love to judge people. Why? Judging makes us feel good because it puts us in a better light than others. Whether we know it or not, we put ourselves in God's place. The Pharisee felt superior and showed no mercy for people who didn't live up to their standards.

Now my question to you is this: Do you tell yourself that "you don't do this or that-look at what a good person you are-at least I am not as bad as this person"? Or do you truly believe that you are holier than others? If so, we will pray for you. This is something that is far too present in our generation, whether you are a Christian or not. God wants hearts that receive His mercy, and then offer it to others.

Have a blessed day and don't forget to show mercy. (This post was inspired by John Burke's book "Mud and The Masterpiece - Seeing Yourself and Others Through The Eyes Of Jesus.)

(Devotions/ Devotionals)

.....::::: ANOTHER PERSPECTIVE :::::.....

Do you ever feel that your life is too complex for God to understand?

Do you feel that your problems are too hard for God to solve?

Do you feel like God would not comprehend what you are going through?

Jesus goes by many names. One of them being "Immanuel", which means “God with us.” When Jesus was born in Bethlehem, He was God in the flesh. We can’t see God with our eyes or touch Him with our fingers, but people could see and touch Jesus. And because Jesus was human (while still being God), He completely understood what it was like to be human—to be tired, hungry, thirsty and tempted.

Here is a parable that I was reading and I hope that it may help you better understand.

Once upon a time, there was a man who looked upon Christmas as a lot of humbug.

(Humbug is deceptive or false talk or behavior.)

He wasn't a Scrooge. He was a very kind and decent person, generous to his family, upright in all his dealings with other men.

But he didn't believe all that stuff about God becoming man, which churches proclaim at Christmas. Why would God want to do anything like that?

So when his family left to attend midnight services on Christmas Eve, he stayed home. Shortly after the family drove away, snow began to fall. He went to the window and watched the flurries getting heavier and heavier. Some time later, as he was reading his newspaper by the fire, he was startled by a thudding sound that was quickly followed by another. Then another.

When he went to investigate, he found a flock of birds huddled miserably in the snow. They had been caught in the storm, and in a desperate search for shelter had tried to fly through the window. I can't let these poor creatures lie there and freeze, he thought. But how can I help them? Then he remembered the barn. It would provide a warm shelter. He quickly put on his coat and boots and tramped through the deepening snow to the barn. He opened the doors wide and turned on the light.

But the birds didn't come in.

Food will bring them in, he thought. So he hurried back to the house for breadcrumbs, which he sprinkled on the snow to make a trail into the barn.

To his dismay, the birds ignored the breadcrumbs and continued to flop around helplessly in the snow. He tried shooing them into the barn by walking around and waving his arms. They scattered in every direction — except into the warm, lighted barn.

They find me a strange and terrifying creature, he said to himself, and I can't seem to think of any way to let them know they can trust me.

If only I could be a bird myself for a few minutes, perhaps I could lead them to safety.

Just at that moment, the church bells began to ring. He stood silently for a while, listening to the bells pealing out the glad tidings of Christmas.

Then he sank to his knees in the snow. "Now I understand," he whispered. "Now I see why You had to do it."

http://youtu.be/iAT_kv4ZNng

Need I say more? I think it is pretty clear. Have an amazing day and stay blessed!

(Devotions/ Devotionals)