I was in the store this afternoon picking up a few things I needed. It was a few hours past lunch and I was getting hungry. I have been trying to eat healthier the last couple of weeks and I guess my body was having withdrawals. I saw something on the shelf I knew I didn't need and started to put it in my shopping cart. Right at that moment a phrase of scripture came to my mind: whose God is their belly. I knew immediately what the Spirit was saying so I put the junk food back and moved on. I passed the test that time. I must admit, however, that it is one of the few times I have.
The scripture here is talking about man's appetites. If there was ever a generation whose God is its appetite, it is this one. The average American spends two or three hours a day watching tv and eating junk food all the while. We are consumed with the newest technology, the latest movie, and the latest fashions. People will stand in line all night to buy a video game for their children. "Whose God is their belly". . .
The scripture goes on to say that they glory in their shame. Without the Spirit of God to help us all of will give into our basest desires. The more we do, the more vile they become. What once was considered shameful is now paraded in the streets as decent and courageous. We wonder how we came to this place; how did America fall so far? It is because our appetites have become our God. We are ruled by what makes us feel good. It is a dangerous place to be because the more we entertain the flesh, the more we want to entertain it and the more evil it becomes.
Do you wonder why you don't desire to pray like you once did? Why is the study of scripture no longer appealing? Maybe you find yourself falling asleep in church but can stay awake all night watching a movie? It may be time to curb your appetite. I am the guiltiest of all. I realize their is a constant battle with the flesh and I must keep it under subjection to the spirit of God daily. If I don't it will win every time.
Lord, help me to remember that my body is the temple of your spirit. I must keep myself holy, both physically and spiritually. I have said that I will serve only you. Don't let me pay homage to the belly God.
Prayerfully,
Sullivan Jones
4/17/13
Raised from the Dead
Is healing
for us today? I believe it is. There are some who believe that the power to
heal went out with the days of the apostles. I have seen too many instances of
God’s miraculous power to accept this. Allow me to tell you about one of them.
After church
one Sunday I went with my brother John and his family to the beach in Gulfport,
Ms. When we got to the beach the tide was out so we decided to wade out as far
as we could. We were at a place called Moses Pier. At that place you can go out
quite a distance from shore during low tide. Once the tide started to come in
we had to hurry to beat it back to the shore.
As we neared
the beach someone began to yell, “There is a man in the water.” My brother and
another man hurried back to see. There was a man unconscious in the water near
the end of the pier. The man, whom I will refer to as Jack Smith, had dove off
of the pier into three feet of water. They began to pull him back to shore with
John asking if anyone knew CPR. The man who was helping John pull Jack out of
the water was yelling the whole time, “don’t bother, this man is dead”. They
got him to the beach and someone began to do CPR. It was evident after a few
moments that CPR was not working. There were two nurses at the scene who also
said he was dead.
John knelt
down and put his hand on the man’s chest and began to pray saying, “Not now
Jesus. Please don’t let this man go into eternity”. In a few minutes he felt
the man’s heart beat one time. Then it began to beat more steadily. When the
ambulance crew got there the man was still unconscious but he was alive.
When the
beach patrol showed up, one of the policemen identified the man as Jack Smith and said he
was an alcoholic. He implied that we should have left him in the water to
drown. My brother looked at him and said, “Man you don’t know what I was before
God changed my life.” No one is beyond the reach of God’s love.
Later John
was able to visit Jack in the hospital. He was paralyzed from the neck down but
conscious and able to talk. He thanked John for praying for him and helping to
get him out of the water. I don’t know where Jack is today but this event will
be forever imprinted on my mind as a testimony to the miraculous power of our
God. I can honestly say I have seen someone raised from the dead.
The Religion of Gnosticism
II Timothy 6:20 - O Timothy! Guard what was committed to your trust, avoiding the profane and idle babblings and contradictions of what is falsely called knowledge -
21 by professing it some have strayed concerning the faith.
The word for knowledge in this scripture (KJV says science) is the Greek word gnosis. From gnosis we get the English word Gnosticism. Gnosticism is the belief that man can educate himself into a higher moral plain. The more he learns about the mysteries of the universe, the better off he will be. While this may sound appealing to the intellectual among us, it is a dangerous thought process. Simply put, it equates man to the status of God.
If man is God, then he has no one to which he must answer for his deeds. If this is so, then there would be no moral absolutes. Without moral absolutes, then what is right and wrong are left up to the individual. There is nothing to say that Hitler was wrong; if he believed he was right, then he was.
The logical end to Gnosticism is chaos, a world without order. The world system of our day has convinced many that Christianity is outdated. Some would say it binds us to the dark ages. Others would say that the teachings of the Bible contradict modern science (gnosis). The Bible never contradicts true science or true knowledge. It only contradicts that which is falsely called knowledge. I would rather stick to that which has been proven true again and again. I would rather believe the word of God. It is true knowledge!
Forever, O Lord, your word is settled in heaven. Psalm 119:89
God Bless,
Sullivan Jones
21 by professing it some have strayed concerning the faith.
The word for knowledge in this scripture (KJV says science) is the Greek word gnosis. From gnosis we get the English word Gnosticism. Gnosticism is the belief that man can educate himself into a higher moral plain. The more he learns about the mysteries of the universe, the better off he will be. While this may sound appealing to the intellectual among us, it is a dangerous thought process. Simply put, it equates man to the status of God.
If man is God, then he has no one to which he must answer for his deeds. If this is so, then there would be no moral absolutes. Without moral absolutes, then what is right and wrong are left up to the individual. There is nothing to say that Hitler was wrong; if he believed he was right, then he was.
The logical end to Gnosticism is chaos, a world without order. The world system of our day has convinced many that Christianity is outdated. Some would say it binds us to the dark ages. Others would say that the teachings of the Bible contradict modern science (gnosis). The Bible never contradicts true science or true knowledge. It only contradicts that which is falsely called knowledge. I would rather stick to that which has been proven true again and again. I would rather believe the word of God. It is true knowledge!
Forever, O Lord, your word is settled in heaven. Psalm 119:89
God Bless,
Sullivan Jones
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