Hey everyone,
Happy New Year! it's hard to believe it's 2008. over New Year's holiday, i spent 4 days in Kansas City, MO attending the ONETHING conference and THECALL. (www.thecall.com) there were many seminars during the day and lots of worship and teachings during the main sessions. one of the common issues mentioned among many of the teachers, preachers and speakers was the issue of immorality in our nation, and not only our nation, but also rampant in the church today. sadly, this is not a surprise to most. we have already seen the downfall of many religious personalities through the media. but before we're so quick to condemn the televangelist, have we taken a look at our own life? recently, i read a study that said between 20 to 37 percent of pastors are currently struggling with pornography addiction. These were the pastors that admitted it...
Happy New Year! it's hard to believe it's 2008. over New Year's holiday, i spent 4 days in Kansas City, MO attending the ONETHING conference and THECALL. (www.thecall.com) there were many seminars during the day and lots of worship and teachings during the main sessions. one of the common issues mentioned among many of the teachers, preachers and speakers was the issue of immorality in our nation, and not only our nation, but also rampant in the church today. sadly, this is not a surprise to most. we have already seen the downfall of many religious personalities through the media. but before we're so quick to condemn the televangelist, have we taken a look at our own life? recently, i read a study that said between 20 to 37 percent of pastors are currently struggling with pornography addiction. These were the pastors that admitted it...
if the shepherd struggles, how much more the sheep? pornography has infiltrated the eyes and mind of young and old alike. in church counseling, around 25% of the issues are pornography addictions. the WORD of God says (Matt. 6:22-23) 22"The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. 23But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!"
God wants our eyes...
God is not an angry, old school teacher with a wooden ruler and large crooked nose waitin
g for the opportunity to whack us when we fidget. Sometimes i forget and think God's like that. I'm scared to mess up cause i think He's gonna send a lightning bolt my way and laugh as i get fried.
This is not the God i serve. He is a Father, a Lover and a King. God wants our gaze. Even when we are weak. "dark, yet lovely" (taken from Solomon's Song of Songs), is believed to be a description of God's love for us in our weakness. When He has our gaze, he reveals more about Himself to us
Psalm 27:4
One thing I ask of the LORD, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple.
What We Embrace is What We Become...
So how do we flee sin? keep our eyes focused on the One who desires our gaze. When be behold true beauty, the lesser things become more despised...in other words, when we focus on Jesus, our desire for Him is greater and our desire for sin lessens...
God is not an angry, old school teacher with a wooden ruler and large crooked nose waitin
g for the opportunity to whack us when we fidget. Sometimes i forget and think God's like that. I'm scared to mess up cause i think He's gonna send a lightning bolt my way and laugh as i get fried.This is not the God i serve. He is a Father, a Lover and a King. God wants our gaze. Even when we are weak. "dark, yet lovely" (taken from Solomon's Song of Songs), is believed to be a description of God's love for us in our weakness. When He has our gaze, he reveals more about Himself to us
Psalm 27:4
One thing I ask of the LORD, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple.
What We Embrace is What We Become...
So how do we flee sin? keep our eyes focused on the One who desires our gaze. When be behold true beauty, the lesser things become more despised...in other words, when we focus on Jesus, our desire for Him is greater and our desire for sin lessens...
So, we must "watch" our eyes...the human heart is "desperately wicked above all things"...when we see immorality, violence and ungodliness, our heart is strangely drawn toward these things...unless our eyes are already fixed on something greater...The beauty of God.
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