One thing that I always try to be extra careful about is not to lead anyone astray. I pray that as you read this the Lord will give you the ability to discern the material very carefully. Without further rambling I will open with this verse from Matthew 23: 3 "So you must be careful to do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach". In this particular verse, Jesus was talking to the multitude along with His disciples concerning the teachers of religious law who somewhat appeared to know the word really well but didn't live by it. Now at this time, Jesus often used to refer to these people as hypocrites and blind guides. So why in the world would He allow us to listen to these certain types of people? This verse came to me after I was having a few thoughts about the things in the world that are exposed to us now a days. We have learned to be aware of the things that appear as bad or evil according to our views so much that we want nothing to do them and try our best to escape the situations. While that might be wise in terms "better safe than sorry", we actually limit ourselves in terms of acquiring the appropriate knowledge that is intended for us. This post "Take out. Don't give in" will focus on the level of influence that certain factors in the world (even the "unacceptable" ones) can have an impact on us in various ways. After all, how can you avoid being like a pharisee if you refuse to even hear what they have to say.
I will ease us in first with the topic of friendship. You may have heard at some point your parent saying, "Watch who your friends are" or "be careful of who you associate with". This is wise. The truth is we all have that "bad" friend who is not really respective, loves to cause chaos and enjoys fighting. These "qualities" are not acceptable to your parents because they automatically convince themselves that your friend's actions will rub off on you, hence the verse "Walk with the wise and become wise, for a companion of fools suffers harm." (Proverbs 13:20). The default solution here is to cut off your friends and move on, which to me doesn't always seem to be beneficial for anyone. Correct me if I'm wrong, but these type of people tend to be actually loyal to their friends. Suppose there is someone who is out cause you harm for one reason or the other and you being the "passive" christian refuses to fight, who do you think is likely to step up on your behalf? I know the situation may be hard to take in, but one thing for sure is that there is something to take out, even from your friend who isn't at all acceptable to judgemental eyes. "Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends" (John15:3). The key thing to take out here is to see that your friendship is important to them so much that they would fight for you. It is the things that aren't easily seen that hold the deepest meaning ( and you wonder why Jesus loved parables). The next thing here is for you not to give in to what your friends do,but to actually turn situations around and help them to learn from you. Unless it is God's will, Don't just cut them off. I have often said, if your friend can influence you to do bad things, why can't you influence them to do good things. It is your job to expose them to wisdom. You can imagine you, being a christian, leaving your friend for your own benefit. Who else is likely to direct them to the lord if you couldn't? Now for the fun stuff!
Television is one of the most highly influential factors in the world. You know some churches/ church members have seen this as a problem so much that they don't possess them at home. I can see where they are coming from, in terms of the content within TV shows etc. For example, there is a show called "Game of thrones" that my spirit absolutely does not agree with me watching it, not matter how hard I try to manage the content. There are quite a few shows that would highly be questionable in terms of whether they glorify God or not. Let's talk about "Vampire Diaries". You can imagine if your parent or even one of your church members sees you watching people sinking their teeth on another human being for the sake of feeding ( I'll tell you this, that would be a sermon you'll never forget). The truth is that, this is who we have allowed ourselves to be. We don't look at things in depth anymore. Would you believe that aside all the twisted and "bloody" experiences I've seen in the past 5 seasons of this show is a story of how no matter how many times this specific couple may fall apart, they will always end up together. In fact, for the purposes of the plot, it has been intended for years and years that this couple is destined to be together no matter what. Now tell me if that sounds familiar to God's agape love and the verse that says "What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder" (Mark 10:9 KJV). Yet this is what We can't take out because we focus on the evil that is blatant.
Harry potter is another show that would highly be unacceptable for obvious reasons; Witchcraft. I need not say more about this, the idea of witchcraft in itself is enough to turn your parents away from condoning this type of Movie. I myself did watch it at some point and to be honest I felt compelled to behave like Harry did in terms of wanting to do all the magic simply because it was "cool". This is how the devil tries to lure us in by the way; the idea of cool stuff. When I came to my senses I did take something out of it. In the first movie Harry is a new student in the school of witchcraft from which he has a lot to learn. As time goes on he realises that there is a specific villain that no one dares to address him by his name due to the norm of fear in that town. In fact they know him as "he who can't be named". So Harry, being Harry, doesn't care one bit about who he is as he calls his name however he pleases up to the point where he finally meets the villain several times and defeats him, several times. Harry realised that there wasn't any real significance in placing the fear in someone simply because everyone else was doing it. For some times I've realised that we seem to place a lot of fear in the devil more than we do in God. We barely mention his name because we are convinced of the evil he is able to cause. We tend to forget that we are redeemed by the blood of Jesus and that the devil has no power over us. The idea of evil has removed our ability to discern correctly, and that is why we can't take anything out of the things in front of us, both good and evil.
Blog moral- Being able to "take out" allows you to pass less judgement on people. When you see someone, it allows you to automatically see the good in them. You'll find that several souls are lost forever because of the judgement we have placed on them. The day you first see the bad in them, you'll never be satisfied when they do good....because first impressions is your "motto". By doing this we have written them off and have placed them in the "hell" category, when we're not God.
So that's it for the moment, I hope this was worth the read, otherwise please disregard it. I would definitely understand. Finally guys..... don't bite anyone's neck.
"Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will"- Roman 12: 2
And that's not #Omni
God bless you for reading
Harry potter is another show that would highly be unacceptable for obvious reasons; Witchcraft. I need not say more about this, the idea of witchcraft in itself is enough to turn your parents away from condoning this type of Movie. I myself did watch it at some point and to be honest I felt compelled to behave like Harry did in terms of wanting to do all the magic simply because it was "cool". This is how the devil tries to lure us in by the way; the idea of cool stuff. When I came to my senses I did take something out of it. In the first movie Harry is a new student in the school of witchcraft from which he has a lot to learn. As time goes on he realises that there is a specific villain that no one dares to address him by his name due to the norm of fear in that town. In fact they know him as "he who can't be named". So Harry, being Harry, doesn't care one bit about who he is as he calls his name however he pleases up to the point where he finally meets the villain several times and defeats him, several times. Harry realised that there wasn't any real significance in placing the fear in someone simply because everyone else was doing it. For some times I've realised that we seem to place a lot of fear in the devil more than we do in God. We barely mention his name because we are convinced of the evil he is able to cause. We tend to forget that we are redeemed by the blood of Jesus and that the devil has no power over us. The idea of evil has removed our ability to discern correctly, and that is why we can't take anything out of the things in front of us, both good and evil.
Blog moral- Being able to "take out" allows you to pass less judgement on people. When you see someone, it allows you to automatically see the good in them. You'll find that several souls are lost forever because of the judgement we have placed on them. The day you first see the bad in them, you'll never be satisfied when they do good....because first impressions is your "motto". By doing this we have written them off and have placed them in the "hell" category, when we're not God.
So that's it for the moment, I hope this was worth the read, otherwise please disregard it. I would definitely understand. Finally guys..... don't bite anyone's neck.
"Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will"- Roman 12: 2
And that's not #Omni
God bless you for reading
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