This round's topic will be about MONEY! I know you have probably heard a lot of stuff on the news and TV about the financial crisis in America. I am not going to mention the crisis very much because the media has done a good job of doing that. They have done a good job of putting fear in the hearts of people in America to the point where people are scared to make moves concerning their finances. I know first hand because I help people with house mortgages and some don't want to make a move simply because of what they hear on the news even though they should be making a move. I don't want to spend a lot of time on the crisis in America. I want to give you some good news. What if I told you that you don't have to be hurt by the financial crisis not only in America but in the world? What if I told you that there was another economy that is not the least bit hurt by what is going on in the world? And what if I told you that this economy is not getting hurt by the financial crisis in the world but it is actually doing very good in spite of all the stuff that is going on in our economy? Would you want to get in on it? I mean think about it. You wouldn't be hurt by rising gas prices, food prices, and all the other stuff that is going on. Do you want to know where to find this economy? I thought you would never ask. I must warn you, this economy is under a different kind of government than what you grew up in. It's different but better. Trust me. I have lived under both governments and I would not want to live under any kind of government than the one I am about to share with you. I guess I should tell you now, right? God's government and it's economy is not suffering right now. The money in God's economy is not short. The real citizens of this economy have so much that it is not funny. But I must tell you, in order to benefit from this economy you must live by and obey it's rules. And one of the rules of this government concerning your money is to partner with the President of the government , by doing what He tells you to do with your money, with the hope of getting much more than you gave in return. Can you imagine? Let me show you something. Say you have a credit card, right? What would happen if you were not making your payments on the credit card and you were always late and then you decided to call the company to see if they would give you more credit on your card? Would they give you the credit that you asked for or would they deny you? They would deny you, right? Why? Because you did not live up to their standards, which was to make your payments and make them on time. Now, what if you always made your payments and you always made them on time and you decided to give them a call so that they could give you more credit? Would they give it to you? I think they would. Why? Because you always made the payments and they were always on time, which were the guidelines that they set for you. Can you imagine if you had good credit with God? One of His guidelines is to give 10% of what you make. He says "bring your tithes (10% of what you make) and offerings (extra) into my storehouse (your local church?) that I may have meat (money) in my house, and prove me (test me) and see if I will not open up the windows of heaven and pour you out a blessing that you would not have room enough to receive" I encourage you to live by God's rules when it comes to your money. When you live by his rules that means you get the benefits of His economy which are not hurt by our economies and by our mistakes. When you live by His rules concerning your money you have good credit with Him. And when ever you need more credit all you have to do is call Him.
WOW!
-Mick
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Thursday, October 9, 2008
anyone interested in sex?
Have you ever stopped and asked yourself WHY it is such a driving force?
As you already know Sex is everywhere. In TV, Magazines, Movies, Books; Your friends are talking about it, people you know are doing it and you want to do it (at least eventually)! But what are the rules of sex? Do you do it on a first date? Do you have to be dating? Do you have to be in love? Should you wait until you are married? What’s the answer? Who’s right and who’s wrong? Does it even matter? People have sex all the time with no consequences. Your friend that did it didn’t get pregnant or get a disease. Even if you know someone who got pregnant or got a disease, it’s not going to happen to you! What’s the big deal?
God created sex and he created rules to go with it. The Bible actually talks about it!
Fornication is having sex with someone you are not married to. Adultery is when you are married but you have sex with someone who is not your spouse. Homosexuality is having sex with someone who is the same gender as you. God was very specific. The devil has come in to lie, kill, steal and destroy. He wants to kill God and take his place. But the good news for us is that he can never do that. God is too big and powerful. Since he can’t get to God, he’s going to go after something that God loves and that is people!
Every rule that God set up the enemy lies and says the opposite (i.e. as long as you love him….. if my spouse doesn’t make me happy I will find someone who does…..you can love anybody you want to, doesn’t matter girl or guy…. ). As a result of people believing the lies of the devil the world has gone crazy. People are dying from diseases such as Aids. Young girls and young guys are having babies when they don’t know how to be parents yet. People are walking around feeling washed out and used up at a young age. (ROMANS 1:18-32)
Well, I’m here to tell you that when you follow God’s rules for sex it is AWESOME! My husband and I had sex before we were married. You might ask, “what’s the big deal? You didn’t get pregnant and you got married anyway? SIN will always but up a barrier between you and God. I felt embarrassed and I felt like I couldn’t tell anyone. I knew we had crossed God’s line and my intimacy with God suffered. It’s was like losing my best friend. I couldn’t come and talk to Him until I repented and asked him to forgive me. And what’s more is that even though we got married we wished we would have waited until we were married! We’ve talked about how much more special it would have been and we would not have had the burden of guilt that we felt. The good news is that we asked God to forgive us and he did!
Don’t envy others. Don’t ask “if they can, why can’t I”. The answer is that you are not them. God has a very special calling and destiny for your life, but you have to follow the rules to get the results he intends. EVERYBODY has had to deal with sex and MOST people have struggled. Don’t be ashamed to ask questions. Just ask the questions to those who can show you God’s answers…your parents, your youth leaders, someone at church you who trust. It’s never too late to start doing it God’s way! (PSALMS 73)
Be Blessed,
Arlene
As you already know Sex is everywhere. In TV, Magazines, Movies, Books; Your friends are talking about it, people you know are doing it and you want to do it (at least eventually)! But what are the rules of sex? Do you do it on a first date? Do you have to be dating? Do you have to be in love? Should you wait until you are married? What’s the answer? Who’s right and who’s wrong? Does it even matter? People have sex all the time with no consequences. Your friend that did it didn’t get pregnant or get a disease. Even if you know someone who got pregnant or got a disease, it’s not going to happen to you! What’s the big deal?
God created sex and he created rules to go with it. The Bible actually talks about it!
Fornication is having sex with someone you are not married to. Adultery is when you are married but you have sex with someone who is not your spouse. Homosexuality is having sex with someone who is the same gender as you. God was very specific. The devil has come in to lie, kill, steal and destroy. He wants to kill God and take his place. But the good news for us is that he can never do that. God is too big and powerful. Since he can’t get to God, he’s going to go after something that God loves and that is people!
Every rule that God set up the enemy lies and says the opposite (i.e. as long as you love him….. if my spouse doesn’t make me happy I will find someone who does…..you can love anybody you want to, doesn’t matter girl or guy…. ). As a result of people believing the lies of the devil the world has gone crazy. People are dying from diseases such as Aids. Young girls and young guys are having babies when they don’t know how to be parents yet. People are walking around feeling washed out and used up at a young age. (ROMANS 1:18-32)
Well, I’m here to tell you that when you follow God’s rules for sex it is AWESOME! My husband and I had sex before we were married. You might ask, “what’s the big deal? You didn’t get pregnant and you got married anyway? SIN will always but up a barrier between you and God. I felt embarrassed and I felt like I couldn’t tell anyone. I knew we had crossed God’s line and my intimacy with God suffered. It’s was like losing my best friend. I couldn’t come and talk to Him until I repented and asked him to forgive me. And what’s more is that even though we got married we wished we would have waited until we were married! We’ve talked about how much more special it would have been and we would not have had the burden of guilt that we felt. The good news is that we asked God to forgive us and he did!
Don’t envy others. Don’t ask “if they can, why can’t I”. The answer is that you are not them. God has a very special calling and destiny for your life, but you have to follow the rules to get the results he intends. EVERYBODY has had to deal with sex and MOST people have struggled. Don’t be ashamed to ask questions. Just ask the questions to those who can show you God’s answers…your parents, your youth leaders, someone at church you who trust. It’s never too late to start doing it God’s way! (PSALMS 73)
Be Blessed,
Arlene
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
doing it right
When you’re young the word sex and everything about it is funny for some reason. Past the point of puberty, things change pretty quickly. Almost the opposite happens. Cooties and the war against the other gender is what becomes funny. It’s that youthful peer pressure that forces our young souls to become accepting of the other sex, and kissing and all that good stuff isn’t icky anymore. It’s welcomed… because that’s what everyone else is doing.
I never understood how sex and baseball became so alike, but it seemed very sportlike to get to the next base. That’s just what you do, and there’s no questioning it. But that’s only true for the world. When you grow up Christian, it’s a lot different. You’re parents know you’re growing and these things are to come. They want to do their best to keep you clear of the pressures of such things, but don’t want you to rebel and do it anyway at the same time. Same with drugs and all of these other teenage epidemics.
I’m sure it serves the same in a lot of Christian households, but in mine, the law was that sex was to be saved for marriage. Back then, I really couldn’t see why, but the fact that it didn’t seem the same for the world kept me puzzled.
Today looking back on it, I can see for reasons other than religion, it was really a good idea. The negatives of sex are either disease or unwanted pregnancy, or both! In my opinion, sex should serve two purposes: Procreation and Intimacy. The world makes it out to be something recreational or just something to do for fun, or to feel wanted or loved. Procreation and Intimacy should be practiced between lovers. That just how I see it. And who else better to love, than your spouse – whomever you’re married to. That way you’ve had time to be married and prepare yourself for a family. Sex after marriage greatly reduces the risk of disease as well. Promiscuity, or having sex with multiple people is a lot less welcome when you’re married, at least for the faithful. But besides all that, it’s just better to wait.
Now speaking from experience as a teen and a young man in the same, sex is a very powerful tool the devil loves to use. Sexual sin ranges from lust, to masturbation, all the way to fornication. I’m sure a lot of you know what these things are, but to bring us back to elementary: Lust is sexual thoughts; Masturbation is practicing sexual acts alone, and Fornication is having sexual intercourse before marriage (or at least along those lines). Without getting into too much detail, my experiences as a growing boy were haunted by sexual sin on a daily basis making it a struggle for me to live righteously.
At times, I felt the only thing Satan had on me was sexual sin when I was doing everything else right and I began thinking being a Christian was too hard. It was frustrating, depressing, and just a negative experience. I felt weak and very alone at times. Turning to my youth leaders was one of the greatest decisions in the struggle. They let me know that I wasn’t alone at all in my struggle and many people go through the same. Knowing that alone didn’t help me through the struggle though. It just made it somewhat acceptable.
To this day I still struggle with keeping my mind free from sin. I speak for many young men when I say it’s hard. (Ladies, I honestly don’t know how it is with you, but I can only talk what I know… sorry!) The devil is a coward and attacks when you’re most vulnerable, or at your weakest, and uses my weakness against me more than anything.
He under-estimates my strength and desire to please God time and time again however. Things I like to do to keep myself right are:
- Seeking help from God through prayer.
When I know in my heart and soul I’m out to do the right thing and please God, I know and feel God understands my struggle and is more than willing to help me. I pray for strength and guidance from God to aid me in doing the right thing and staying on the right path. I of course seek forgiveness as well. If your hearts in the right place you have to believe he’ll forgive you as long as you’re willing to change.
- Seeking guidance in the Word.
I’ve found relief in the word many times in my bible. When it may seem like you’re not finding what your searching for, that just means you’ve gotta be sure to stay in the word. I never said I found it right away, but I thank God I stayed in the word long enough to be able to benefit from it through my struggle. With that said, a verse that often helps me is 1 Thessalonians 4:3. “It’s God’s will that you keep away from sexual sin as a mark of your devotion to him.” It helps me put God and I in a relationship where falling under the influence of sexual sin is like cheating on him and drives me toward being faithful that much more. I also like to prove my devotion to God through doing so. Other scriptures that help me are in 1 Corinthians. 6:13 says, “The body is not for sexual sin but for the Lord, and the Lord is for the body.” 6:18 speaks on how sexual sin is different from all other sin, and how you sin against your body (God’s Temple) when you fall under sexual sin. I look at that like vandalizing or destroying something precious to God.
- Seeking help from someone you trust.
I’ve turned to many people, on numerous occasions in my youth, like male ministers and even my dad. It may seem very embarrassing talking to someone about things like that but that’s why I said turn to someone you know you can trust. I thought I’d be punished for telling my dad, or looked at differently by my youth leaders, but thankfully that was never the case. Every time they shared their own struggles, or expressed to me that I wasn’t the only one going through it. It’s a very relieving process though. Just be sure your help is from someone who could understand, meaning someone the same sex as you. I think my mom would refer me to me dad if I told her, and it would make for an awkward situation for me to talk to a female minister about such a thing.
But that’s about it for this devotional. Thank you for taking all this time out to listen! I pray this be blessing to your life, should you need it.
I never understood how sex and baseball became so alike, but it seemed very sportlike to get to the next base. That’s just what you do, and there’s no questioning it. But that’s only true for the world. When you grow up Christian, it’s a lot different. You’re parents know you’re growing and these things are to come. They want to do their best to keep you clear of the pressures of such things, but don’t want you to rebel and do it anyway at the same time. Same with drugs and all of these other teenage epidemics.
I’m sure it serves the same in a lot of Christian households, but in mine, the law was that sex was to be saved for marriage. Back then, I really couldn’t see why, but the fact that it didn’t seem the same for the world kept me puzzled.
Today looking back on it, I can see for reasons other than religion, it was really a good idea. The negatives of sex are either disease or unwanted pregnancy, or both! In my opinion, sex should serve two purposes: Procreation and Intimacy. The world makes it out to be something recreational or just something to do for fun, or to feel wanted or loved. Procreation and Intimacy should be practiced between lovers. That just how I see it. And who else better to love, than your spouse – whomever you’re married to. That way you’ve had time to be married and prepare yourself for a family. Sex after marriage greatly reduces the risk of disease as well. Promiscuity, or having sex with multiple people is a lot less welcome when you’re married, at least for the faithful. But besides all that, it’s just better to wait.
Now speaking from experience as a teen and a young man in the same, sex is a very powerful tool the devil loves to use. Sexual sin ranges from lust, to masturbation, all the way to fornication. I’m sure a lot of you know what these things are, but to bring us back to elementary: Lust is sexual thoughts; Masturbation is practicing sexual acts alone, and Fornication is having sexual intercourse before marriage (or at least along those lines). Without getting into too much detail, my experiences as a growing boy were haunted by sexual sin on a daily basis making it a struggle for me to live righteously.
At times, I felt the only thing Satan had on me was sexual sin when I was doing everything else right and I began thinking being a Christian was too hard. It was frustrating, depressing, and just a negative experience. I felt weak and very alone at times. Turning to my youth leaders was one of the greatest decisions in the struggle. They let me know that I wasn’t alone at all in my struggle and many people go through the same. Knowing that alone didn’t help me through the struggle though. It just made it somewhat acceptable.
To this day I still struggle with keeping my mind free from sin. I speak for many young men when I say it’s hard. (Ladies, I honestly don’t know how it is with you, but I can only talk what I know… sorry!) The devil is a coward and attacks when you’re most vulnerable, or at your weakest, and uses my weakness against me more than anything.
He under-estimates my strength and desire to please God time and time again however. Things I like to do to keep myself right are:
- Seeking help from God through prayer.
When I know in my heart and soul I’m out to do the right thing and please God, I know and feel God understands my struggle and is more than willing to help me. I pray for strength and guidance from God to aid me in doing the right thing and staying on the right path. I of course seek forgiveness as well. If your hearts in the right place you have to believe he’ll forgive you as long as you’re willing to change.
- Seeking guidance in the Word.
I’ve found relief in the word many times in my bible. When it may seem like you’re not finding what your searching for, that just means you’ve gotta be sure to stay in the word. I never said I found it right away, but I thank God I stayed in the word long enough to be able to benefit from it through my struggle. With that said, a verse that often helps me is 1 Thessalonians 4:3. “It’s God’s will that you keep away from sexual sin as a mark of your devotion to him.” It helps me put God and I in a relationship where falling under the influence of sexual sin is like cheating on him and drives me toward being faithful that much more. I also like to prove my devotion to God through doing so. Other scriptures that help me are in 1 Corinthians. 6:13 says, “The body is not for sexual sin but for the Lord, and the Lord is for the body.” 6:18 speaks on how sexual sin is different from all other sin, and how you sin against your body (God’s Temple) when you fall under sexual sin. I look at that like vandalizing or destroying something precious to God.
- Seeking help from someone you trust.
I’ve turned to many people, on numerous occasions in my youth, like male ministers and even my dad. It may seem very embarrassing talking to someone about things like that but that’s why I said turn to someone you know you can trust. I thought I’d be punished for telling my dad, or looked at differently by my youth leaders, but thankfully that was never the case. Every time they shared their own struggles, or expressed to me that I wasn’t the only one going through it. It’s a very relieving process though. Just be sure your help is from someone who could understand, meaning someone the same sex as you. I think my mom would refer me to me dad if I told her, and it would make for an awkward situation for me to talk to a female minister about such a thing.
But that’s about it for this devotional. Thank you for taking all this time out to listen! I pray this be blessing to your life, should you need it.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
