Chapter 9, Part 8

“Repent and turn away from all your transgressions, so
that iniquity will not be your ruin. Cast away from you
all the transgressions which you have committed, and
get yourselves a new heart and a new spirit.”
Ezekiel 18:30, 31

According to the scriptures in order for us to remain repentant we will need a new heart and a new spirit. Why is this necessary? Because our old hearts and spirits have been corrupted and perverted. Due to our worldliness, our love of this world’s pleasures, we are of no use to God. God cannot use us if we love the world or the things of the world.[1] Thank God that He loves us too much to leave us the way we are. One of the problems with the “easy gospel” is that the only thing we have to do to be reconciled with God is just to confess our sins, no change of heart is required. There is a difference between confession and repentance. Confession merely is an acknowledgment of what we have done, our sins. This is important but it is only half of the equation. One must go to the next step, which is repentance. We should go put away those transgressions, or sins. We can acknowledge we are fornicators all day long, but at some point we must begin to turn away from this behavior. Acknowledging our sin to God is like us acknowledging our image on a surveillance video. It is already known that this is us, we must take the next step and we can with the help of God. If the Spirit of the Living God is in you, you will change. We can delay it, but we cannot prevent it. God’s will; cannot be stopped. Our fighting against it only brings us more pain. God has a new life for us, as represented by the new heart and spirit, but for some unknown reason we want to continue living a powerless life.

“The Lord is not slack concerning His promise
as some count slackness, but is longsuffering
towards us, not willing that any should perish
but that all should come to repentance.”
2 Peter 3:9

Our God loves us so much He would let us die in our sins, He wants to allow us every opportunity to put them away and come to Him. We should thank Him, not only those of us who are saved but also those who are unsaved. He is being so very patient with this sinful people as we continue to parade our fornicating ways in front of His Holy presence. However, the time is drawing near when He is going to come for His people. At this very day He is calling us to be holy, because He is holy.[2] I pray that we repent while there is still time. No one knows the hour of His coming, but the good servant will be ready whenever that day is.[3] If we are busy doing His will then it will not matter when He comes. Beware of those who come prophesying the exact time of His arrival they are not of Him. If we are not caught up in our sinfulness it will not matter what day it is we will be ready.

“Then God saw there works, that they turned
from their evil way; and God relented from the
disaster that He said He would bring upon them,
and He did not do it.”
Jonah 3:10

The city of Nineveh was a very sinful and rebellious place, some would say comparable to our current society. But when confronted with their sinfulness they repented by the grace of God. God was so moved by their change of heart that He allowed Himself to be changed. He did not do what He had said He would. The lesson for us today is that if we forsake our evil ways, God will restore us to our place of fellowship with Him. If we stop laying with anybody and everybody, God will forgive and forget. However, unlike the city of Nineveh we hear the call of God, the pronouncement of His condemnation of our fornicating ways and ignore Him. I wish I could stress enough the thought that the sin for us, is that we refuse to let God do what we know He can do. We refuse to let God change us. We will not use the power that God has given us to change.

If we repent of this evil and live in the spirit with God the societal ills that we suffer from will be healed. Our children will stop killing each other, the drugs will be removed from our streets, and we will be respected as a people. This is only a small partial list of things God is waiting and willing to do for us. Some would say that I am being too naive and oversimplifying the problems. That our problems are much more complicated than that. I say thank God that He has used simple things to confound the wise of this world.[4] Do not be fooled by the enemy into thinking that we are going to solve this by intelligence and common sense. All sin can only be defeated by the Spirit of God which dwells within all those who are true believers and followers of God. God is the only one who can heal this people. The question then becomes, do we want to be healed?

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[1] 1 John 2:15

[2] Leviticus 11:44

[3] Matthew 24:36

[4] Matthew 11:25

Chapter 9, Part 6

Confession Of Sin

“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive
us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
1 John 1:19

Confession of our sinfulness is a must to overcome this epidemic. Those who have given themselves over to fornication must confess their sinfulness and return to the teachings and authority of Christ. Let those who have sinned, stop sinning. Is there any doubt that fornication is a sin? So why do we continue in sin that grace may abound.[1] God forbid. We who are saved are supposed to be dead to sin, dead to the old man or woman. We are supposed to be new creations.[2] Yet we keep sinning. Why do we keep giving the old man CPR? We keep him on life support again and again. The Word says if I come before God and confess I will be not only forgiven, but also cleansed.

In confessing our sinfulness to God, the first thing we have to understand is that our confessions are not for God. The scriptures say that the “eyes of the LORD” are in every place and they see everything.[3] So why do I need to confess what God already knows? No. So some would ask why we need to confess at all. God already knows everything. The confession process is to help increase our faith relationship with God. Who we trust we confess our secrets to. If we do not trust someone, we do not tell them our secrets. We do not confide in strangers. For many people that is their relationship with God, they are strangers. They may know the Word of God, but they do not know God. As our relationship with God increases He begins to convict us of our sins on a deeper level. This forces us to do one of two things: either we run away in shame and continue to sin or we run to God and confess our sinfulness.

Confession also begins the process of transfer of trust from ourselves to God. As we trust more and more in God our willingness to hide from Him who we are diminishes; as if I could hide from Him anyway.[4] If we are to follow and obey God, we should start trusting in Him. We must become as little children. I often use the example of a parent leading a small child across a busy highway, the child will not question the wisdom of the parent even if they do not understand the situation. Though there are cars speeding by, the child will rely on and trust the parent. This is the type of faith that God is desiring from us. To offer Him blind faith. Why we as humans feel entitled to an explanation from God is beyond my comprehension. It is as if Gods every little movement must be run past us for our approval or acceptance. This blind faith only comes from total faith and trust in God.[5] Remember Jesus Christ told Peter, “What is that to you? You follow Me.”[6] We do not get to ask questions, we only get to follow if we choose.

“He who covers his sins will not prosper, but whoever
confesses and forsakes them will have mercy.”
Proverbs 28:13

Finally confession begins the practice of loosening the hold of the “old man”. As long as we pretend we have no sins, we stay bound to the dead man. None of our ventures will succeed with this attitude. No matter how much we plan, or how smart we think we are it all comes to nothing. The reason it is so difficult to let go of the dead man is that so much of us is entwined in him. He was who we were for so long. If we acknowledge his failures, we acknowledge our reliance on ourselves is a failure. If we have not allowed God to create a new man to replace him, where do we go? If we are still in the old man when he dies we die. By coming to God in confession we begin the change of the old to the new. The old man held all of our secrets, all of our sins. The things we were going to take to the grave. As we confess these deep dark secrets and sins the hold of the old man is loosened little by little. The thing about God is that He only reveals what we can handle at that time, He never gives us too much. Why must I die to the old man before I can take up the new man? Because we only have one spirit and that spirit cannot be in two places. We have to choose where we put it, where we put our trust. The reason many of us do not change is because we do not trust in the new man. The old man (life) may be messed up, but we at least have life, we know that life. Without faith in the resurrecting power of God we do not think there will be a new life. And let’s face it who among us really wants to die? I say to live, you must die. There can be no resurrection until someone dies. We want to go to heaven, yet we do not want to die. Christ says we must be born again, that means something has died.[7] Do not be afraid to die little ones for our God is more than able to raise us up as He raised up Christ. In order for us to overcome this sinful epidemic we must all confess and be born again. We must all die to our past lives.

True confession comes from conviction of sin by the Holy Spirit. It is not by being troubled by the uneasiness of being reminded of the wrong I have done. It is a deep sense of remorse not towards my fellow man, but towards God. The psalmist declares, “Against You, and You only have I sinned.”[8] Are we responsible for the damage we do to our brothers? Of course, we are but it is the damage to our relationship to God that should trouble us the most. That relationship is our saving grace. It is more important than anything else we do in the Father’s name.

Confession begins the development of bringing that relationship with the Father back into its proper place. Before there can be repentance and forgiveness there must be confession. We must clean the slate and begin our relationship with God anew. God has done His part by providing the propitiation for our sins in Christ Jesus to bring our relationship back to its right state. Our work begins by acknowledging the fact that we needed a propitiation for our sins or that we are sinners. If we have committed no sin then there is no need for confession or redemption. Through conviction of the Holy Spirit confession is made to salvation.[9] I pray that the Holy Spirit may convict you of your sinfulness, that you heed the Word, and that you confess the Lord Jesus Christ.

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[1] Romans 6:11

[2] 1 Corinthians

[3] Proverbs

[4] Psalm 139:7,8

[5] Genesis 18:17

[6] John 21:22

[7] John 3:3

[8] Psalms 51:4

[9] Romans 10:10

Chapter 9, Part 4

Many Christians look at God as some giant Santa Claus in the sky who they come to with long shopping lists of desires for themselves. God if you just give me a beautiful wife, a beautiful home, or a new car I will serve you. God is not Wal-Mart. The only purpose of prayer should be to develop a closer relationship to God. If you walk close enough to God He will know your needs. If you find God, you will find all of your needs and desires there. Instead of seeking goals and wants, we should be seeking God. It is only in finding God that all those things I seek will be found. He will keep you from the evil one. What happens to your prayer life when God does not provide you with these things you seek? A common mistake made today is that material well being is being interpreted as a blessing or closeness to God. Nowhere is this attitude supported in the scriptures. On the contrary Jesus Christ said, “blessed is the poor.”[1] But again the modern Church has translated this teaching differently. If all my wants are met when will I seek God? Your only goal in prayer should be to seek God and the well-being of others.

What is prayer? Very little teaching is done in the Church concerning this most vital aspect of the Christians life. There are a number of Christians who do not even know what or how to pray. Other than the example Christ gave to us and his disciples they do not have a clue. But in that example is everything we need to know about prayer. The key to all we want to accomplish as a people, as a nation is in prayer. Many in their egotistical foolishness think that the key to resolving the problems of the world are in activities or in technology. As if we need to do for God what He cannot do for Himself. Any work we get to do for God is not for God, it is for our instruction and development. It is to prepare us for Him and His Kingdom. Prayer is coming before the presence of God in humility, not to receive anything. It is the transforming of our will to His will. It is the coming before God with nothing and expecting nothing. There is a reason Christ said, “He knows the things you need before you even ask.”[2] If you do ask, it is in the asking that you are drawn closer to Him. Most of us would be apprehensive to ask a stranger for anything, but would be comfortable asking a friend or family member. God wants that type of relationship with us. This type of relationship can only happen when we allow ourselves to be known by our Creator.

There have been many volumes written about how Christ taught us to pray and in this short space I would not even begin to attempt to cover all the nuances of it. However, I think it is important to notice that nowhere in His example does it mention me! Where is there in the prayer the part where we pray only for ourselves? Throughout the prayer it is us and we, the Lord is giving us instructions to pray for others. Even in the final hours of His earthly ministry Christ prayed for the Fathers will to be done. It was always the Fathers will in prayer. It was through prayer that He and the Father became one. Our goal should be to gain that oneness with the Father.[3]

“Confess your trespasses to one another and pray for one
another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent
prayer of a righteous man avails much.”
James 5:16

The scriptures tell us that our prayers are worth much. The action of prayer does not prepare us for greater works; it is in fact the greater works itself. Time spent in prayer is not wasted. It is saying through our actions that we cannot God, but You can. Not only can You, but we are going to let You. The passage speaks of action following our prayers but with no timetable attached. This has caused many a Christian to fall, their impatience. Instead of spending so much time in conferences and meetings about fornication and sin, we should be spending more time in prayer. Fornication is a sin against God as well as man and to alleviate it from our midst will require God's intervention. Prayer brings God into the equation and that changes any equation. The world may not see the benefit of bringing God into any situation, but we believers should have no problem with that fact. We can preach and have rallies from now until Christ returns and not make the problem any better. In fact we would probably make the situation worse. God and only God can turn this sinful epidemic around and break this viscous cycle that we find ourselves in. Prayer is our way of highlighting the problem, of saying to God; yes God we also see the evil in this and want it removed. Remember the work is the Lords, people who are in a state of sin are not fighting against me, they are fighting against God. The battle is the Lords not mine. I am merely a hired hand who has chosen work in the fields. We should not be like the world and take credit for what God has done. It is the labor of prayer by the saints of God that gets results. Prayer is labor. Labor is not about excitement, it is about accomplishing the job. God needs warriors, prayer warriors. Our people requires saints praying day and night for our redemption as a people.

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[1] Luke 6:21

[2] Matthew 6:8

[3] John 14:2

Chapter 9, Part 1 How Do We Break The Cycle?

How Do We Break The Cycle?

So how do we as a people begin the process of reversing this epidemic that has caused so much destruction and devastation in our communities? Can we stop what seems to be an insurmountable problem? Do we want to stop it? We in and of ourselves can not stem the tide of this epidemic, it will only be arrested by the supernatural power of God.

“For those who live according to the flesh set their minds
on the things of the flesh, but those who live according
to the spirit, the things of the spirit.”
Romans 8:5

We who have been living after the flesh, how shall we now live in the spirit? We can not, without the power of the Spirit of God born in us through the death of our old nature or old man. It is this power of the redemptive work of Christ that frees us from the death sentence that we deserve. So what shall we do? We can begin to incorporate a few principals in our lives that can lead to change. A change that will not only benefit us, but more importantly our children. I pray that you will consider these principles with an open mind and begin to instruct others in their application. They are all spiritually based and come directly from the Word of God. I hope that they will help our people and our nation to turn back from the edge of the abyss that we seem intent on going over. If we want to live after the spirit there is work we need to be doing. Here are ten principals to developing a more spiritual way of life and hopefully a closer relationship with God.

1) Relationship with Christ

2) Prayer Life

3) Confession of Sin

4) Repent of Sin

5) The Word of God

6) Live in the Spirit

7) Change Thoughts

8) Resist Temptation

9) Fellowship with Believers

10) Marriage

I believe that if we as a people began to use these ten principals, we will not only stop this epidemic of fornication, but also the lawlessness that now permeates our communities. The time for doing nothing has passed for too long we have turned our backs pretending this was not a problem or a problem others had to fix. I once read somewhere, “How can one man lynch another man?” He cannot without the silence of other “so-called” good men. We can no longer be silent to this destruction. Our children’s very lives are at stake. Let us put aside our petty differences and come together with one voice to cry out against this tragedy.

Relationship With Christ
“But God demonstrates His own love towards us, in
that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
Romans 5:8

Every time I read or say this verse my heart is overwhelmed with gratitude and conviction. When I could care less about God, when we were in the midst of our fornication, drug/alcohol abusing, adultery, lying, cheating, stealing, coveting, envying, murdering, and any of our other sinfulness, Jesus Christ died for us. This is the essence and beginning of our new relationship with the living God. We love Him because He first loved us.[1] All that we read, hear, and know about God is designed for one purpose. That purpose is to develop a relationship with God. Our purpose on this earth was and continues to be to fellowship with God. Did God need man to help the earth produce fruit? I think not, God wanted a species that He could commune with. It is no accident that we are the only species that aspires to know God. If evolution is true then show me the link between humans and the other animals. There should be some species that connects us to the rest of the animal world. As much as they try, the best they can come up with is the primates and they are a giant leap from man. Conveniently, of course there is not one, it has vanished.

Why is our relationship with God so important? The scriptures reveal that it is this relationship with God that gives us the power we need to overcome our sinful natures.[2] When Adam sinned, he not only broke his fellowship with God, but ours as well. We are born into sin and only God through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ can overcome that sin nature. We can never do it ourselves. If we could there would be no need for the ultimate sacrifice. How many times do we tell ourselves we are not going to continue in a particular sin only to find ourselves doing it again. And it seems that the harder we try to stop doing it by our own power the more we do it. The apostle Paul says, “That what I want to do I cannot do and what I do not want to do that is what I do.”[3] Our Lord understood this by His being fully human and suffering temptation. Through His own temptation He is our supporter before God, the Father. That is why He said that the Father would send a Helper with power. If God has the power to raise the dead, does He also have the power to keep us from stealing, lying, and fornicating? Of course He does. So if He has the power why do we continue to live in this sinful state?

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[1] 1 John 4:19

[2] Luke 24:49

[3] Romans 7:19