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 6 Part 3

“And everyone who has this hope in Him
purifies himself, just as He is pure.”
1 John 3:3

Our spirits have become dead to sin. It no longer bothers us to be sinful. We give and are given in marriage with no concern of where or with whom our partners have been with. We change partners like we change our socks. There should be a national outcry against this sinful behavior, against this epidemic of fornication. We should send an unconditional message that our young women should stay pure. The days of harlotry must come to an end. They will only come to an end when we as a people make it a priority to end them. When we let our sons and daughters know that we want and expect purity. Not only should we stress it with them we should demonstrate it in our behavior. Mothers, you must stop allowing these men who you are not married to into your homes. At least while your children are present. You should stop allowing these men to come into your homes and rob you and your children. Your children are watching you. If they see you as a harlot, your sons will think all women are whores and your daughters will think this is acceptable behavior. That this is the type of behavior a woman has to do to attract a man. Why do you think that the majority of teenage unwed mothers come from teenage unwed mothers? There must be a national effort from all of us to turn this epidemic around.

Mothers your children depend on your guidance. What is your behavior teaching your children? They see these men who only come around when it is payday. They see these men come and go as they please. Your sons are learning this behavior; for these men are their male role models. They are being taught by the same men who are doing this behavior to you to do this to the women they will eventually meet. It is as though we are in this viscous cycle that no one wants or is willing to break. By you opening up your legs to whomever you are taking on their sins to yourself. You are sharing in their filthiness and their destruction. Remember sexual sin goes against our own bodies.[1]

“But if a widow has children or grandchildren these should learn
first of all to put their religion into practice by caring for their
own family and so repaying their parents and grandparents,
for this is pleasing to God.”
1 Timothy 5:4 (NIV)

The Bible says that a widow or single mother with children must show piety or self-control so that her children will help her to make ends meet and supply her needs. But it says the single mother who lives for pleasure is dead even while she lives.[2] So if pleasure is more important than your family God will judge you. You should consider not your own desires but the example you set for your children. We should stop looking to others to be the role models for our children no one initially has more influence over our children than we do. It is only when we fail to provide leadership that they begin to look to others for what they find lacking in us. If you run around with your butt hanging out of your clothes, this is what your children see as their example. I once heard it said that if a person approaches my car in a car that has flashing lights and gets out wearing a uniform with a badge, I am going to assume they are a police officer, because primarily the uniform that person is wearing. So if you come up to me with your butt hanging out and your breasts sticking out of your top wearing a prostitutes uniform what am I suppose think? If you do not want to be treated as a prostitute, you might want to stop wearing the uniform. In a perfect world a woman should be able to wear what she wants to with no problem, however we do not in any such place. Our world is a fallen world with fallen people. We allow not only some of our young women, but also some of our little girls to dress as women. We not only allow them to dress like grownup women, but like harlots. We give them the impression that for a woman to be attractive, she must dress like a harlot. Look at the celebrities and how they are presented by the world. You have gifted singers that have to dress like harlots to sell records and get on television. This is what is being fed to our children. Even “so called” Christians are falling into this trap of the world. In an effort to imitate the world, they dress like the world. We are supposed to imitate not the world, but Christ.[3] Our little girls are wearing makeup, getting plastic surgery, and being put in situations that invite sin. These “so called” Christians appear in all the outward appearances to be just like the world. Because of the parents desire to have material success they have placed training of their children secondary to their worldly success. What happens then is the children become lost in the attractions of the world with disastrous consequences. The parents spend so much time trying to achieve material success that the children’s spiritual development takes a back seat. The results are frequently a lack of moral conviction and this leads to sinfulness such as fornication. Fornication then opens the door to other sins. Material success despite what the “ministers of prosperity” are preaching does not equate to being in God’s will. Material success should never be our primary goal. Their are a number of successful people that do not serve God, just as there are a number of poor people who do. A good example of this is Jacob from the Bible, for ten years he appeared to be successful. He had all the trappings of success, a nice home, money, and many material possessions.

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[1] Romans 6:18

[2] 1 Timothy 5:6

[3] 1 Corinthians