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

Chapter 5 Part 4

“and in the wilderness where you saw how the LORD your God
carried you, as a man carries his son, in all the way that you
went until you came to this place.”
Deuteronomy 1:31

In God’s design, a man carries his son, not the other way around. A man is not only financially responsible, but also spiritually as well. It begins with the natural and then goes to the spiritual. The Bible says, “What man among you will give his son a stone when he ask for bread or a serpent when he ask for a fish?”[1] As we see a man is the provider of his family not a liability to his family. No man is to be a weight around his family’s neck. The apostle Paul wrote, “If anyone will not work, neither shall he eat.”[2] A man is to carry his own weight and if he has any dependents he should be taking care of them as well. Just as there is an epidemic of fornication, this has led to an epidemic in “deadbeat” dads. There is a reason they are called dependents, they are depending on you! At no time in the history of the world has there been this level of irresponsibility towards children. The main people who are supposed to be protecting them are the ones exploiting them. How that must feel to be cast off by the ones you rely on. Have we become so selfish and sinful that the cries of very own children fall on deaf ears? I pray that we have not.

“For the children ought not to lay up for the
parents, but the parents for the children.”
2 Corinthians 12:14

For the sake of our people, we as men should begin to resist the flesh. It is not about the women, it is about us men as the head of the women. It is about our being able to resist sin against God. In the Bible, there is the story of Joseph and the wife of an Egyptian officer in whose home he was living in and working. The wife attempted to seduce Joseph repeatedly to no avail. Imagine the constant temptation he was under, but he remained faithful to his God.

“There is no one greater in this house than I, nor has he kept back
anything from me, but you, because you are his wife. How can I do
this great wickedness, and sin against God?”
Genesis 39:9,23

Just as Joseph refused to defile himself with another man’s wife, so we should no longer continue to defile ourselves with fornication and adultery. For many believe that there is no price to pay for fornication, but I believe that if they take a closer look at their lives they will see broken dreams, broken promises, and broken lives. There must be a revival among us as men if we are to overcome this epidemic. Instead of teaching our sons to be pimps and players, we should be teaching them to be followers of God. We should stop expecting others to do what we ourselves should be doing. We as men have to lead for a change; we should sacrifice ourselves for the future. We have been selfish and spoiled for too long. We should begin to stress purification of not only our young women but our young men as well. Let us put the focus on education and spiritual growth over the sinfulness that has led our people to this place where we are today. We are up to our elbows in the fruits of sin, the fruits of fornication.

Because of his faithfulness, God was with Joseph and made him successful in everything he did. Faithfulness to God has more than an eternal reward it also provides earthly rewards. The success of our people as well as our individual success depends on our faithfulness to God. We should learn that until we overcome our sinful nature and selfish desires we will not be successful. Sounds like a simple thing, but experience has shown us that this is no easy order. Sin is a very formidable opponent it is cunning and powerful. It does not give up easily. We should understand that sin is more than what we do it is everything we are. It is what I think, what I desire, and what I think is right or wrong. Sin is such a deep and intricate part of what we are we cannot overcome it alone. Only through the power of Christ which dwells within us are we given the power to do this. It is only when we surrender and submit to God that we win and overcome this sinful nature.

I write these words from the love of my heart. I pray that enough of us will step up as men and heed the call of God to resurrect this people. Surely, there is enough of a remnant of God’s people to begin this monumental and long journey back to God and His righteousness.

“O, that they had such a heart in them that they would
fear me and always keep all my commandments,
that it might be well with them and with their children.”
Deuteronomy 5:29

I pray that God may give us a heart to fear Him once again, to follow His commandments. The Bible says if we do that, it will be good for both our children and ourselves. All good men of faith should come together to end this cycle of sin, to begin the process of rebuilding this people. It is no longer about how we got here but; what are we going to do to get out of here. Are we going to continue to point fingers at one another or are we going to lead this stiff-necked people back to God? The time for delay is over. If we do not come together and seek God, most of our men will either be dead or locked up. Most of our young women will be alone and pregnant or alone with a house full of babies.

“But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe
in me to sin, it would be better for him if a millstone
were hung around his neck, and he were drowned in
the depths of the sea.”
Matthew 18:6

Do you not think that God will hold you accountable for leading His children astray? You may think that you are bulletproof, but God has something for you. People think they can sin without consequences. One of the first results of the “fall” in the Garden of Eden was guilt. They hid themselves from God. Do you think you will be any less guilty today? It is bad enough when you sin yourself but when you cause others to fall for your own selfish pleasures, there will be a price to pay. You get credit for those sins as well. Therefore, when you are running your little game and leading those young women astray know that God is watching. The pleasures of sin do not last long.

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[1] Matthew 7:9,10

[2] 2 Thessalonians 3:10