Sunday, August 07, 2005
"A blue bag makes my mum look like an auntie." My mum proudly professed to me and my sister when she came home from the market with our breakfast and a green bag. This I know, my mum will be saying for...hmm... a very long time...
The desires that will pass away
Suggested scripture reading:
1. 1 John 2:15-17
2. Romans 1: 21-32
Worldliness begins from the heart. It is impossible to serve God and serve the world at the same time. Matthew 6:24 says "No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. you cannot serve both God and Money" Loving the world essentially defies the relationship with ought to have with God and will eventually lead to our spiritual destruction.
What are worldly lusts?
1. The lust (desires) of the flesh
2. The lust (desires) of the eyes
3. The pride of life.
- The lust of the flesh basically means the excessive desire or craving to satisfy ones material needs. It is not only confined to within the pornography but also includes the things that we slavish in pleasure and things that we use selfishly in pleasure.
- The lust of the eyes is simply coveting for things you want but are not what God wants. It is a desire to entertain oneself through a worldly and immoral platform such as pornography and violence.
- The pride of life is essentially man's obsession with material wealth, image-consciousness and personal glorification.
Temptation is all around us. Today, the Internet while it may be the quickest way to retrieve information that we need, yet it has also been used as a manipulative tool by the enemy to control our thoughts and dictate the path that we ought to go however much we know the end result of it. The few moments of self-indulgence, while it may be short in its entirety, but the damage it brings about is worth a thought. In James 1:15, it says " Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death'. The battle against such temptations must be won before the imagination of the mind over such temptations take place. In James 4:7, it reads "Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you." The blood that Jesus Christ has shed for you on the cross is sufficient to redeem us but a deep personal relationship with God holds the answer to God's forgiveness and ultimately decides a repentful heart.
Ways to freedom
1. Come clean, live clean
2. Accept the truth of God's word.
- Go humbly before God and repent with deep from your hearts. John 8:34-35 says "Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. Now a slave has no permanent place in the family but a son belongs to it forever."
- Clean up your life in every way that you can by taking an inventory of the lust and get rid of the source of these lusts. Matthew 5:29 reads "If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell"
- Spend time with God, pray for God's purity to envelope you. 1 John 4:4 says " You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world."
- Be accountable. Talk to people who will understand you and will be able to help you effectively. This weakens the enemy's plot.
All of us are guilty of at least one of the three types of lusts mentioned. Pray and in your quiet time, let God heal your soul and purify it.
I bought an Ipod mini...a blue model...today at Junction 8 at one of the Mac authorised stores. I have been eyeing on it for quite a while and have been saving up for it. Nope... I did not buy the ipod on impulse...that's if you are trying to draw a relation with today's sermon. Just so happened that in-conjunction with Singapore's 40th birthday [we sang the National Anthem in church today!!!] they had a promotion. The offer was a pretty good deal. The hand-carry charger and all the other accessories for a good price. It beats listening to the radio every time I am out and naturally it is a less painful journey at the very least to my ears since I don't have to agonise over what the deejays are actually saying with all their fake accents across every other radio channel. My mum told one of the salesman off in front of his face of how rude he was. That's my audacious mum. She is one tough person to please...that's for people working in the service industry.. as a son to a mother I please her everyday...haha...
Booking in today... one week without Midget...I see a lot of fun and laughter coming my way...
posted at 11:57
