Knowing you are forgiven. How does it feel to know that you are forgiven? Does it take on a new meaning based on who has forgiven you? Are you automatically lifted by its implications? In your opinion, what is the best thing about forgiveness? What is the worst?
Being forgiven by God for every sin that I have or will ever commit is truly groundbreaking for me. The implications of that forgiveness can shake or shape one’s entire existence and for some it has done exactly that.
1 John 1:9
But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.
Ephesians 1:7
He is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins.
Matthew 26:28
for this is my blood, which confirms the covenant between God and his people. It is poured out as a sacrifice to forgive the sins of many.
Isaiah 55:7
Let the wicked change their ways and banish the very thought of doing wrong. Let them turn to the LORD that he may have mercy on them. Yes, turn to our God, for he will forgive generously.
What is most important to me about forgiveness is that no one else can forgive with such implications. And that when we decide to take on the likeness of God in that way we are able to shake and shape things that would otherwise never be shakable or shaped.
For example, when a woman or man chooses to forgive their spouses infidelity in order to recover what the enemy thought he stole and build an even more fortified foundation under the feet of their family. The implications that this type of forgiveness can leave on generations to come, lives and legacies and the like are incomprehensible.
Or when a child chooses to forgive the flaws of their parents and the generations that came before them, with an attitude of Jesus, saying “forgive them for they know not what they do” Luke 23:34; the saving of souls, the demolition of generational curses, new legacies and patterns all hang in the balance of such a courageous act as this.
When an individual chooses to forgive someone in whom they will never hear the words “I’m sorry.” from. Someone they’ll never experience display even the slightest bit of remorse for what they’ve done, the level of warefare their forgiveness exhibits is unfathomable to the here and now. We don’t get to note take all the implications of a forgiveness like that.
It is troubling to know that some will live their entire lives unaware of the sea of forgiveness that is available to them. If only they would go to the right source for this forgiveness. They’ll never know that on the other side of their revelation of the truth there is a tangible freeness only felt by knowing the forgiveness of the Savior of the world. That there are scriptures like:
Micah 7:19
Once again you will have compassion on us. You will trample our sins under your feet and throw them into the depths of the ocean!
John 8:10-11
Then Jesus stood up again and said to the woman, “Where are your accusers? Didn’t even one of them condemn you?”
“No, Lord,” she said. And Jesus said, “Neither do I. Go and sin no more.”
Hebrews 8:12
And I will forgive their wickedness, and I will never again remember their sins.”
Psalm 103:12
He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west.
they have yet to grasp because they haven’t had an encounter with the One who is able to do just that. It is heartbreaking to know that some carry around a guilt that shapes their decision making and possibly even their opportunities because they are unaware of the place they can go, in order to get those burdens exchanged, Matthew 11:29.
Their is an entire body of people, as unbeknownst to them as I’d suppose it would be; walking around with things that need forgiving and things that they need to forgive. It they only knew that there was and is a person they could go to for the forgiveness of sins. If they only knew that the power of or to forgive lived on the inside of them too.
What would their world look like? How would the lives around them be affected for the better? Whose trajectory of life would change? Who would be restored back to health? Who would live to know the saving grace of Jesus Christ? Whose story line would be completely changed?
We can never underestimate the power of forgiveness, the power it has to save and to change, and the power it has to remake an entire life and legacy.
This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall read [and meditate on] it day and night, so that you may be careful to do [everything] in accordance with all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will be successful.
Psalm 1:2 AMP
But his delight is in the law of the LORD, And on His law [His precepts and teachings] he [habitually] meditates day and night.
What is on your mind consistently? What do you think about day in and day out? What consumes your mind and thoughts? What are the fears that keep you awake? What are the things that have your focus, your time and energy?
Can I remind you that what you give attention to in life is what will be magnified? Whatever you consistently meditate on is being given permission, by you to take up space in your mind. It is being given permission to take the attention you have to give. The thing with thoughts is that they don’t ask for permission, they’ll take the attention if you give it to them.
If you don’t want to give attention to something, choose to not allow it to have access to your constant and consistent thoughts and processing of those thoughts.
Your thoughts are yours, and although the enemy can rush them at times; you can send him and the thoughts and feelings he brings packing, just as quick as they came.
You hold the authority and power over your thought life. And although it may take practice and repetition, your thoughts as well as thoughts that linger are under your authority and can be put into submission.
The Bible teaches us:
Phillipians 4:8
And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.
Mark 11:24
I tell you, you can pray for anything, and if you believe that you’ve received it, it will be yours.
These scriptures are freeing and remind us that we have more power than we admit to ourselves.
They reiterate the truth that what we think, believe and meditate on influences our world and the world around us.
Keep your mind clear from confusion, doubt, negativity and lies. Stay focused. Meditate on what is true.
Remember, that Jesus is truth, God’s Word is true and what God says about you is complete truth.
Truth comes from it’s Author, not what opposes it’s Author.
It makes perfect sense that the only sure and true place that we’d find complete and total fulfillment would be in the will of God
A logical question that could be asked by knowing this is:
“Why would God give us a will of our own if He knew that true fulfillment would only come from His, own will?”
will
ˈwil
1. —used to express futurity
2. —used to express desire, choice, willingness, consent, or in negative constructions refusal
3. used to express a command, exhortation, or injunction
4. : to have a wish or desire
5. : appetite, passion
6. : choice, determination
7. : a disposition to act according to principles or ends
God’s design of us all included our mind, will and emotions. Deliberation on our lives involves our own personal thinking and agreement. It involves our participation and our choice(s).
God never wanted our obedience to Him to be programmed. He wanted us to follow His leading by choice. It is our choice that makes all of the difference in doing the will of God.
Nothing that is forced or forcefully ever becomes something we want or wanted. Most of the time, what is forced does not last and does not produce the desired result that we’d expect it to.
It is important to know that God has a predetermined as well as a, determined upon the grounds our cooperation, will for each of our lives. He knows the best possible outcome of it all and; is just as much determined to see His will come to fruition as He is to of ever had planned it in the first place.
But, He wants our willingness of cooperation, agreement and choice more than anything. God gave YOU a choice because He wants YOU to use it. He wants your confession, and expression of faith to align with one another.
He wants you to see His will as good and perfect. He wants you to know the truth regarding His intentions towards you, and for you to believe them.
He is wholly, for you. He is wholly for, your good. He is wholly for His best and greatest plan prevailing in your life, but He wants you to rally for it too.
He wants you to go on a journey in relationship with Him, trusting Him for this specific will to unfold day by day, and moment by moment. As you place your hands in His and continue in your trust, dependency and love for Him.
Knowing that it will all make perfect sense as you stay on the journey of life with and unto Him.
Keep Reading…
James 1:17
Whatever is good and perfect is a gift coming down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens. He never changes or casts a shifting shadow.
“he is the king of counterfeits, he is the king of manipulation, and lies.”
Let’s get into this statement a bit.
king of counterfeit
Gods word reminds us that every good and perfect gift comes from the Lord (James 1:7). God is a God of order, and He is intentional (See story of Creation or first 5 Books of the Bible). He’s intentional about your future, about your calling and about your life (Ephesians 2:10).
The enemy if he can will always try to convince you otherwise. he’ll try to convince you that God has forgotten about you, that God may be taking too long, that God is not for you and the like.
satan offered Eve a counterfeit way of living in the garden and she was deceived. he offered her the option of living in an ideal place without following the ideal way of God. Everything God teaches us to do is for our benefit, it is for our advancement, not for our demise (2 Timothy 2:16-17). The enemy will never agree to this truth over you and I and will try to deceive you into believing as He does, every chance he gets. (Genesis 3)
God said you can eat of every tree in the garden except that one, and the enemy said “don’t eat from those trees because, did God really say you can’t eat from this one?”
The way of the enemy will always be the counterfeit way. (John 8:44)
counterfeit
coun· ter· feit
: made in imitation of something else with intent to deceive
:insincere, feigned
: to make a fraudulent replica of
If you think practically about it, how could one physical tree ever produce more fruit than thousands. God does nothing small, so I’d like to use my imagination right now, to just envision the garden, and choose to believe that this wasn’t just any ‘ol garden. The first ever of it’s kind created, I want to assume that knowing His character, God went all out when designing the place they’d live.
he’ll, (as in the enemy) will surround you with all that is NOT of or from God so that he can get you to forget the promises of God over your life. Like he did with Eve, he’ll plague one, with the thought of what God said no to, so that you can forget all that God has already said yes to. he’ll convince you that your obedience to God is somehow causing you to miss out on all the other options, which are his, (the enemy’s) counterfeit.
(Something else to note:
Obedience to God is not code for “live a boring life” either.)
king of manipulation
I’m not sure if you’ve ever been manipulated before, made to believe that something was true when it really wasn’t. It may of been a prank or something like visiting the museum of illusion because of the way that something aligns or the way it is presented, you have all indications, and all implications, pointing to that thing being so real.
Nothing and no one can tell you that it isn’t what you think it is or the way you think it to be because you have been convinced that that thing is in mind, is truth.
You will never intentionally believe a lie. You will never intentionally call a lie the truth.
Much like the children of Israel, (See stories in Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy) who kept getting duped into believing and performing the act of idolatry. Again I’d like to use my imagination here. Do you remember the story of Pharaoh and the act of God wanting to free His people under the leadership of Moses? Moses would be instructed by God to perform a specific miracle in front of Pharoah and his entourage, and Pharaoh’s entourage of magicians etc. would then go on to produce the same said “miracles”, just with the enemy’s power. (Exodus 7)
The thing about God’s power and the enemy’s power is that the enemy’s power comes to an end and God being the actual Source of power, is unlimited. Just look around you, God can create resources, and channels of resources to display His infinite power while the enemy is allow and allotment of power, there is a huge difference between the two.
I want to imagine that in the years the children of Israel were trying to get Egypt out of themselves and their several attempts at idol worship; the flashy, the “miracle”, the charm and deception was being shown off in front of them was constant and ongoing. So much so, as to reel them back into worshiping what they were just brought out of worshiping. But God in His grace and mercy new their potential, is a keeper of His promises and people, and knew what He wanted to accomplish in and through them. (Jeremiah 29:11)
king of lies
I am convinced that if I tell the enemy that something is purple he will try to convince me that it is orange, and for no reason at all he will do this. he is a liar and the father of lies, it is impossible for him to tell the truth, it is completely opposite his nature.
So God, being the amazing Father and King that He is will tell you that you are fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139:14), that you are made in His image (Genesis 1:27), that you are righteous (Corinthians 5:21), and loved with an everlasting love (Jeremiah 31:3).
The enemy will come right behind Him (God), or beforehand to whisper lies to you. his motive is to get you to doubt the truth of God over you.
he’ll tell you things like:
you are really less than wonderful
he’ll remind you of every flaw you have, of your imperfections. he’ll tell you that your past disqualifies you from ever being righteous and tell you that God could never love someone like you.
This blog is here to remind you that God and the devil are polar opposites. The truth of God and the lies of the enemy will always be contrasting. The voice of God and the voice of the enemy will never sound alike. They will NEVER resemble each other.
Sometimes the enemy will creep in with the slightest difference, be reminded of this whenever you are tempted to believe it. Know God, and know His voice, it’s the best way to detect the difference.
The enemy’s wish for you is that God would be over and done with you.
The enemy would love for you to be as convinced as he, is that God is done with you. he fell from heaven and from that day till now, he became the enemy of the Kingdom of God. he as well as Jesus’ betrayer, Judas, didn’t completely have the revelation of the power of repentance for oneself.
Psalm 51:17
The sacrifice you desire is a broken spirit. You will not reject a broken and repentant heart, O God.
God will never despise your weakness or brokenness in front of Him. He is drawn to your humility.
You are God’s choice and He made you with communing in mind.
“let us” = choice
Genesis 1:26
Then God said, “Let us make human beings in our image, to be like us. They will reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the wild animals on the earth, and the small animals that scurry along the ground.”
com· mune
: to communicate intimately
2 Corinthians 6:16
And what union can there be between God’s temple and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God said: “I will live in them and walk among them. I will be their God, and they will be my people.
The devil comes to kill, to steal and to destroy (John 10:10); and your relationship with God is not off of his radar. he is the king of counterfeits. he is the king of manipulation and lies. he is the king of trying his best to get you as disillusioned as possible about God’s thoughts towards you and the relationship that He desires with you.
Can you fathom the truth that God did not create you because He needed you?!
It’s true. God created you because He wanted you, not because He needed you. There is nothing He lacks, nothing He is missing.
Psalm 50:12
If I were hungry, I would not tell you, for all the world is mine and everything in it.
Signed, God.
So when He decided on your existence it wasn’t because you were needed by Him, it was because you were wanted by Him.
You’ve probably heard of this super popular marriage advice that says “don’t marry someone you can live with, marry someone you can’t live without.” And I get the notion of this statement, but I’d probably have to disagree. The thing about things you cannot live without, is that it leaves you with no other option, and not room to choose. Much like oxygen, we have no choice of whether or not we’ll breathe in oxygen, we need it to live. If one can’t live without someone it’s probably because that individual has something the other individual needs, like a breast-fed baby to their mom. They can’t do without her because she has what they need, but as they grow their options to choose her (their mom’s) presence and|or companionship grows also. They then receive more and more opportunities to choose her in the different situations and scenarios presented to them, not necessarily because what they need directly links to dependency and their choosing, but because they want her.
Can you imagine a God that created you with the option of choosing relationship with Him or not. The liberty that is in that thought alone is captivating. The fact that the God of the universe, the God who created you for a relational experience with Him, would then give you an option to choose Him is special to me. So that marriage saying would then be remixed into “don’t marry someone you can live with, marry someone you don’t WANT TO live without.”
Which is a reminder to us that God did not create humankind because He had to, He created you because He wanted to.
The two reasonings seem pretty meaningless, but can make all the differences.
Your life tells a story. What do you want it to read?
I vividly remember some moments in my faith. The one I’ll be referencing today happens to be a few specific moments, all bottled in one description. It was moments where I’d be with my peers in the faith. We frequently would stay later in the main sanctuary of our church “chopping it up”, conversing or fellowshipping about our lives. (Not sure which of these words gives you the gist of what I mean so I included them all.)
We’d open up the church to pray over our youth, the church, the community and stay back later and envision our individual futures out loud to one another. Our bond for the purpose, the advancement of the cause (the Kingdom), and our devotion to see what we decreed come to pass in each others lives was something special.
I mention this to say, that we would speak what we wanted to see in our personal lives out loud amongst one another and hold each other accountable to those things.
Passion and purpose fueled or lives and the stories we wanted to tell through it. One of the people in the group would often say “I want my life to be lived in such a way that if there was another book in the Bible, mine would be the one that God would choose to be that book.” What is your book reading? What do you want your “book of the Bible” to say? Would God choose your story to add to the Book?
Your life is, a blank canvas in the hands of God if you choose for it to be. When we look at a blank canvas we assume that there is nothing on or within it but that just isn’t true. Even the canvas was put together with a distinct list of materials and may of had something brushed on its surface before it got into the hands of the artist.
You too, have been made with some things and have been brushed over with purpose and the presence of God all over your life.
Your past is not a factor when God is in the equation. He’s known for canceling out what may need to be canceled in order for you to resume in the places and positioning He’s called you to.
Your life tells a story. What do you want it to read?
So you’ve probably often heard that God has given us a measure of faith and the following scripture is what we typically see referenced:
Romans 12:3-4
Because of the privilege and authority God has given me, I give each of you this warning: Don’t think you are better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us. Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function,
There is also a scripture that says that it is impossible to please God without faith.
Hebrews 11:6
And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him.
So how do we “hand God our faith” so to speak? How do we come to God believing? How do we express to Him that we know, He is? How do we express to Him that we believe He rewards our seeking?
Here a 5 tips for actively moving in faith:
1. By first believing. The Bible teaches us that in order to receive Jesus as our Lord and Savior we must first believe in our hearts and then confess with our mouths (Romans 10:9), that Jesus is Lord and we shall be saved. God is a God of principle, which means that the principle of “believing in our heart and confessing with our mouth” would apply in other areas of our life. Similar to this scripture we find others like as a man thinks in his heart so is he (Proverbs 23:7), and ones that say that we shall have what we confess or believe (Mark 11:24). Now God is not a genie in a bottle ready to grant our ever wish. But He does work and move according to our confession’s of faith, the belief in our heart and mind. You can see this through the life and ministry of Jesus, most people received their miracles and breakthroughs because of their belief. In the Old Testament negative thoughts and remarks would be uttered and God would say things like “because you believed this, it will happen”. The same goes for positive results and utterances. Ex. 2 Kings 13
2. Act like what God says in His word or has told you is true. A sure way to show God that you believe that what He has spoken is true is to act like what you’ve heard is, in fact what you believe. Look at it this way, if I told you that I was believing to read a specific number of books by the end of the year and you never saw me pick up not one book or download an audio book phone application. Would you believe in my vision to accomplish this goal? Probably not, and the same can apply to our belief in Gods word. Now, if you saw me with a book in my hand every time we met together or an audio book playing in my headphones while I commuted you would believe that this goal of mine, was achievable. The Bible reminds us often that God is not a man that He should lie (Numbers 23:19), and because we know this we can be sure that if He’s told us something He wants to accomplish through us or has specific scripture that leads to promise in our lives, we can believe Him and act as though we believe He is telling the truth. Our faith is best displayed, through our actions because our words can only take us so far, as it pertains to our faith. Plant what you wish to see.
3. Through your confession. This one ties in a bit with tip number one. I wouldn’t say that I was believing to grow an apple tree if I actually planted an orange tree. The same goes with our speech and where we are believing God to take our faith. Only speak what you want to or are believing to see.
4. Familiarize yourself with who God has shown Himself to be in the past. For some of us, we know that God can do anything, and we know this because we believe that He is God Almighty and God over all. But knowing that God can do anything can be a pretty broad statement, and honing in on the miracles He’s done in the past or the names He’s revealed Himself as in the past can be tools that we use to increase our faith. I can say to God in prayer that “I know that You are Almighty God, and you can do anything.” or I can say to God in prayer that “I know that You are El Elon, the Lord of Heaven and Earth, the God, Most High. You made the heavens and the earth and you spoke it all into motion, so I know that you can do this thing for me.” Just like evidence in any court case strengthens one’s case, the same goes for us when we go to God in prayer with evidence of what He’s done in the past or has already done in our lives. Genesis 14:18, 20, 22
5. Strive for genuineness with God. Timothy’s grandmother was commended for her genuine faith (2 Timothy 1:5). Genuine faith can be described as a faith without pretense, a faith that is completely rendered to God. Genuine – gen· u· ine 1a : actually having the reputed or apparent qualities or character b : actually produced by or proceeding from the alleged source or author. God looks for what is true in you.
Romans 12:6
In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well. So if God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out with as much faith as God has given you.
So I’ve been speaking about a repentant heart recently on my page.
It is my belief that within the world, a repentant heart is in great shortage. I believe that it is easy to miss or not take notice of an UNrepentant heart because it can easily be disguised with good deeds or gestures that show otherwise.
First, let’s get into what it means to have a repentant heart.
The best way that I can describe or define a repentant heart in it’s entirety is a heart that is easily penetrated by the word of God.
Penetrate
pen·e·trate | \ ˈpe-nə-ˌtrāt\
1 a : to pass into or through
b : to enter by overcoming resistance : PIERCE
c : to enter by overcoming resistance : PIERCE
d : to gain entrance to
2 a : to see into or through
b : to discover the inner contents or meaning of
3 : to affect profoundly with feeling
4 : to diffuse through or into
To penetrate means to pass through or into, to enter by overcoming resistance, to gain entrance to, to discover the inner contents or meaning of. In order for our hearts to be repentant God MUST be able to enter into it, He must have access to our hearts and be able to move throughout it as He chooses. He must be able to get past all of our reservations and be able to overcome the resistance that we put up. When God is able to do this He is then able to retrieve the inner contents of our heart and show it to us, He is able to show us the meaning behind the things we do etc.
Hebrews 4:12 NLT
For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires.
You may say Arielle, isn’t God, God? Can’t He just get to our hearts if He wants to?
My answer to you is, yes. If God wants to get to our hearts, He can, at anytime, anyplace, anywhere and for anything. The thing with this is that God can and has access to the heart of a repentant individual in this way but may not always have access to a UNrepentant heart in this way. The reason I say this is because God is not a forceful God(see the story of Moses going to Pharaoh referenced below). He is not a forceful God, never has been and never will be. He gives us free will in all things. Does He instruct us and tell us the way we ought to go? Yes. Can He take this free will away from us at any moment? Absolutely. But that’s just not who He is, He allows us to choose Him, He wants us to willing choose what He has for us and that includes a repentant heart.
Proverbs 21:1 NLT
The king’s heart is like a stream of water directed by the LORD; he guides it wherever he pleases.
Exodus 9:12 NLT
But the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and just as the LORD had predicted to Moses, Pharaoh refused to listen.
(Pharaoh REFUSED, key word, it was still his choice.)
Deuteronomy 30:15 NLT
“Now listen! Today I am giving you a choice between life and death, between prosperity and disaster.
Well Arielle, Aren’t or Don’t we all have a repentant heart once we accept Jesus as or Lord and Personal Savior?
The answer to that is, YES, we do! At that moment of repentance we have just that, a moment of repentance and like everything else with God their is levels to this. For the record we are never at our deepest with God, we can always go deeper with Him.
Another word that we can use to describe the levels to repentance is SANCTIFICATION. Now what sanctification, by definition is, to make one holy.
Wait- a – minute Arielle… aren’t we made right with God immediately following our conversion?
The answer to that would again be, YES. The thing with being made right is that it took no work on our part to actually get right. But God didn’t call us to be pretend right He called us to be really righteous. Now what the finished work of the cross does is, it makes us right without our human effort. It eliminates the pressure, weight and burden off of us that sin and death had placed over us. This is why some may say that they “feel lighter” after baptism. It’s because we are actually being set free from the bondage of sin and death. Now back to not being pretend righteous but actually righteous. The reason that we, ourselves, through effort and by work, work towards actually, really being righteous is because we want to continue to please God and stay connected to Him. Sin separates us from God but holiness draws us closer to Him. In order to truly WALK holy we must go through a process of sanctification which is a RENEWAL of our fallen nature by the work of the Holy Spirit.
Is it starting to make sense as to why our hearts must reman in a REPENTANT state?
As a born again believer, we AREN’T SAVED and automatically SANCTIFIED but we ARE saved and automatically MADE RIGHT.
In order to continue walking in this right standing with God we must go through the process of sanctification. Our souls aren’t automatically sanctified once we are saved, we have to renew it! This is where the word of God comes in and if we don’t have a heart posture of repentance we can miss this process (of sanctification) completely or receive very minimal transformation.
Romans 12:12 NLT
Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.
This is where missing or not being able to recognize an UNrepentant heart comes in. An individual can DO all of the right things and play the part of a believer very well, by showing acts of kindness, doing good deeds and the like, all while operating with an unrepentant heart. I don’t mention this to be a spiritual detective 🕵️♀️ of any sort, I am more mentioning it for the purpose of awareness. Bringing awareness to the fact that this can actually be a truth in the life of a believer.
1 John 3:9 NLT
Those who have been born into God’s family do not make a practice of sinning, because God’s life is in them. So they can’t keep on sinning, because they are children of God
I Corinthians 6:11 NLT
Some of you were once like that. But you were cleansed; you were made holy; you were made right with God by calling on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.
Now back to our souls sanctification. Our soul (I explained in a previous blog), Is our mind, our will and our emotions.
We must become dependent on God and His word to help us through this process. It will only be completed at death (our soul is made perfect and we await the resurrection of perfect bodies) so be patient with yourself.
1 Thessalonians 5:23 NLT
Now may the God of peace make you holy in every way, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ comes again.
Philippians 2:13 NLT
For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him
Our dependency on God to change us from the inside out is a must and in order to do this God must be working with a heart of repentance.
Romans 6:13 NLT
Do not let any part of your body become an instrument of evil to serve sin. Instead, give yourselves completely to God, for you were dead, but now you have new life. So use your whole body as an instrument to do what is right for the glory of God.
Romans 12:1 NLT
And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him.
Romans 8:13 NLT
For if you live by its dictates, you will die. But if through the power of the Spirit you put to death the deeds of your sinful nature, you will live.
One reason why some, although they are saved, haven’t given God access to their hearts past salvation, is because they don’t access or reference the Word of God in order to know what they ought to do. A born again believer can do all the right things regarding acts of kindness, and performing good deeds and still not be changed on the inside.
How can you be sure of this Arielle?
Unbelievers do those same things and still aren’t saved nor are they sanctified. We all know what is good to do, right and wrong was placed in us all and we know what is the right thing to do.
This does not mean that on the inside we are ok. The Word of God is what washes us and makes us clean. We are to renew our minds (which is a part of our souls) in order to be transformed and in order to transform our souls into actual holiness (what I mean by this is not holiness by faith but holiness accomplished through the work of the Holy Spirit living in us). Holiness where we put the work in to be in right standing with God on the inside of us (our desires, mind, will, emotions etc.).
If one is not feeding on the word how can they know any of the scriptures that I have shared above in order to know what they ought to be doing on the road towards sanctification? It is important that we as believers no matter where we may find ourselves in our walk, be in continued prayer, fasting and be active in taking in the word of God.
Prayer
Luke 18:1 NLT
And he spoke also a parable to them to the purport that they should always pray and not faint,
Fasting
Matthew 17:21 NKJV
However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.”
Word of God
2 Timothy 3:16 NLT
All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work.
Some people associate their relationship with God and their process of sanctification with just “feelings” or with their “intuition” but they are never in the actual word of God. This is a dangerous place to be if ones mind, will and emotions have not been renewed. We can make decisions and call it God, when it really isn’t.
I also want to give an example of my personal life. Before coming to Christ I had a major anger issue. After becoming saved, was this anger issue just now gone? Of course not. I was now free from anger but I had to walk out this freedom by taking practical steps.
What were the steps Arielle?
Falling on my knees (and face) in prayer and fasting, asking God to SEARCH 🔦 MY HEART, whole heartedly and sincerely for anything in it that was displeasing to Him. Going to His word (the scriptures) and asking Him to show me what was in me through His word.
This is when He used his word to show me what was wrong with me and to show me why anger was something that was displeasing to God. I meditated day and night on these scriptures on anger, wrote them on sticky notes and index cards until my mind was renewed regarding this area. I still revisit these scriptures and I continue to go to God with a heart of repentance, not for a cheep quick fix of reassurance or when things go wrong in my life, but I continuously renew my mind with His word.
Many people miss this step (something that I believe should be done continually) and then wonder why certain issues arise in their lives.
It is because the deeper rooted issues haven’t been dealt with. They are covered up by good deeds and “kindness” or by the things that look like we are walking in repentance (a clean heart) but God knows what is truly in our hearts, that is tearing us a part. We MUST deal with the deeper rooted issues in order to operate out of a repentant heart.
I recently shared a tweet that I believe is worth including in this blog:
An example of this issue can be found in the story of Saul and David’s relationships. His (Sauls) story is the reason why I made the statement above that an UNrepentant heart is one that can not be trusted. He “loved” David so much but every moment Saul got to try to destroy him (David), he took. I honestly believe that Saul didn’t necessarily want to do these things but he was just operating based off of what was on the inside of him, his unresolved issues, unresolved sin, that his hardened heart would not allow him (Saul) to take to God. Due to pride, his heart was hardened towards God and regarding doing the right things before God and people, and it showed through Saul being tormented as well as through the outcome of his life.
This story can be found in 1 Samuel. I will note some of the scriptures/passages that confirm what I have written above.
1 Samuel 16:14 NLT
Now the Spirit of the LORD had left Saul, and the LORD sent a tormenting spirit that filled him with depression and fear.
1 Samuel 16:21 NLT
So David went to Saul and began serving him. Saul loved David very much, and David became his armor bearer.
Saul tries to kill David at least 12 times:
1 Samuel 18:30 – 19:24
1 Samuel 20:1 NLT
David now fled from Naioth in Ramah and found Jonathan. “What have I done?” he exclaimed. “What is my crime? How have I offended your father that he is so determined to kill me?”
The real issue here was Saul’s jealousy and his initial disobedience to God, which in turn caused God to raise up another king. Saul was rejected because of SUBTLE disobedience, not open and obvious disobedience, please let that sink in. This is how a man can do “good” deeds out of an unrepentant heart. This is an example of the deception attached to an UNrepentant heart. Please be cautious and Spirit lead in all that you do, the enemy is on the prowl, seeking whom he may devour.
1 Peter 5:8 NLT
Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.
Sauls Disobedience:
Saul SPARED what God told him to COMPLETELY DESTROY. Is there anything in your heart that needs to be destroyed? Have you gone to God with an OPEN and REPENTANT heart asking him to search you? If not, this is a MUST! Completely destroy, with the help of the Holy Spirit and the Word of God everything that God has asked you to so that you can walk in the indispensable power of a repentant heart.
1 Samuel 15:9 AMP
Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep, the oxen, the fatlings, the lambs, and everything that was good, and they were not willing to destroy them entirely;
1 Samuel 15:10-11 AMP
Then the word of the Lord came to Samuel, saying, “I regret that I made Saul king, for he has turned away from following Me and has not carried out My commands.” Samuel was angry [over Saul’s failure] and he cried out to the Lord all night.
Philippians 4:13 NLT
For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.
(… including undergoing continual sanctification.)
So I recently shared a super long post on my page. I felt lead to turn it into a blog. Here you go!
So on Thanksgiving Day my heart was heavy for some time for those suffering on that day.
It started off with me thinking about those with dietary restrictions and how that day might be pretty hard for them. Being a huge foodie, I am glad that I can only imagine how it might feel to really like something and not be able to eat it; because it’s not conducive with ones maintenance of proper health or if eaten it could get one sick.
Then I began to think about those who lost loved ones this year and this holiday just not being the same for them.
Following this my thoughts ran on anyone facing any sort of financial hardship, any loss in general, someone grieving from the storms of life and those whose lives were turned upside down in this year.
I was lead to think about the REAL, and many’s REALITY at that very moment.
On a day where everyone is expected to be super “grateful” or super “joyous” you might not have been. I want to remind you that it is okay to be thankful and to still grieve (a post I saw and couldn’t agree more with from Amy Klutinoty). This isn’t lala land, what you’ve been through is very real and it is ok to feel without having to feel bad about it because it gives implications that this would somehow make you ungrateful.
grief noun
\ ˈgrēf \
Definition of grief
1
a : deep and poignant distress caused by or as if by bereavement
I wrote this post to remind you that your present day suffering doesn’t have to be in vain.
You see I honestly believe that we go through things in this life so that we don’t get too comfortable here. Hear 👂🏽 me out.
Every time I go through things that are beyond me, I am reminded that this world 🌍 is not my home. I’m so grateful for this reminder. You see, we often times try our best not to experience any hardship on this side of life. We prepare for our retirement, live our best possible lives on this side of life and make sure that all of our needs and wants are met. We want to live the best life possible, so when bad things come up, they may at times, take us out. We are upset, hurt, angry and all the things at our suffering, but what if this suffering is a reminder to you that your life isn’t only about the things you can see today or even 5 years from today. That there is a place in you that only God can fill, so no matter what you acquire on this side of life you’ll always have a longing for something more.
Not knowing that this something more isn’t tangible, you then pursue something that is in order to fill the void, only to realize that that thing only lasted for a moment and so you are on to the next thing and then the next thing.
I just want to let you know that, that specific void is on purpose. It’s there for a reason and the only One who can fill that place is God.
You’ll never be completely satisfied or complete in this life because you were never meant to be. Over 2,000 years ago Jesus Christ went to go prepare a place for you and I, it you would have Him, that is. Don’t allow your present day suffering to be in vain. What I mean by this is, if you don’t secure your eternal future (the bag) in God’s presence you can run the risk of eternal suffering. You could have gone through all that you did on this earth to go through even more after death.
I am reminded of something that I always do. When life gets really hard or I am going through something that I rather not, as a way of complaining to my Daddy (God), I’ll mutter under my breath, “I wanna go home! 🏠” it’s not even like I plan to say the words, I just know that “home” exist for me and subconsciously I am just never completely satisfied with what this life has to offer. Think about the feelings of going home from a bad day of work. Think 🤔 about how you feel when you open the door 🚪 of your home, the calm that comes over you, how cozy and loved you feel. Ohh how you longed for that moment. Ohh how you long for it on a rainy ☔️ day or when it’s super cold 🥶 outside. This is how it feels to know that this life, right here, ain’t your finale. There is sooo much more to look forward to! Ahhh, it is a great feeling!
You see I know like I know that this place ain’t my final resting place. So as you store up riches for yourself on this side of life, I am busy storing up riches for myself in Heaven. It is wise to do both. It is wise to be equally prepared for this side of life as we are for life after this one. (How would you rate yourself for both? Be honest. It is okay 👌🏽 and very possible to RAISE your rating for either.)
Here is a passage from the Bible that expresses more clearly what I wish for you to understand:
Romans 8: 18-25 NLT
The Future Glory
Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will reveal to us later. For all creation is waiting eagerly for that future day when God will reveal who his children really are. Against its will, all creation was subjected to God’s curse. But with eager hope, the creation looks forward to the day when it will join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay. For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. And we believers also groan, even though we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, for we long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering. We, too, wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as his adopted children, including the new bodies he has promised us. We were given this hope when we were saved. (If we already have something, we don’t need to hope for it. But if we look forward to something we don’t yet have, we must wait patiently and confidently.)
Choose Christ today, while you still have breath and while there is still time. It won’t always be like this and in order to get to that promise you MUST choose, there is no other way, no middle ground, no back doors, no way you can sneak in, and no way around this choice. The ONLY way you can get to the Father is through the Son (Jesus Christ). Choose Him today. Accept Him as your Lord and Personal Savior. Confess that you are a sinner in need of a savior. Turn from your sin and turn to Jesus. Believe in your heart and confess with your mouth that Jesus Christ is Lord (and you will be saved).
I want to challenge you to think about Heaven this evening. Think about what it may take for you to get there. Think about the fact that there is actually a place where there is no pain, no sickness, no sorrow, all your needs are fully provided for and you live as lavishly as you want to, but stress free. There is actually a place where you can have everything you fight so hard for on this earth, beyond it. There is actually an eternity of overcoming waiting for you, a WHOLE lifetime of victory!
(See salvation prayer 🙏🏽 below!)
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“Accept the one whose faith is weak, without quarreling over disputable matters.”
Romans 14:1 ESV
“As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions.”
Romans 14:1 KJV
“Him that is weak in the faith receive ye, but not to doubtful disputations.”
Disputable:
1. giving good reason for being doubted, questioned, or challenged
2. open to question or dispute
3. not established as a fact, and so open to question or debate.
I love that the New International Version of the Bible as well as a few others mentions the word “debatable”. I want to touch on that for a moment. There are so many topics in life that are debatable, not only are their topics in life that are debatable, some of these same topics and others can be debatable in the Bible as well. Although God has fully seen and heard it all and there is nothing new under the sun (Ecclesiastes 1:9), the Bible, itself isn’t always clear on every matter under the sun. There are strict instructions about some matters and others, not so much. There are also topics that may not be mentioned but we can imply God’s heart, thoughts etc. by using other scriptures to come to an educated conclusion about those topics.
I love that the Bible is written this way. I believe that the Bible expresses our limitations clearly to us regarding every topic it NEEDS to be clear on.
I also believe that many confuse topics where we have a clear and concise decision on them according to the word of God with topics that are debatable or to use an even better word, situational (Luke 14:1-6), and the Bible refers to these topics based on the situation, as examples and/or, in or with specific context, for a specific purpose.
It is clear from scripture that God cares most about two things. These two things are 1. Our devotion to Him and 2. How we treat other people.
Matthew 22: 37-40 NLT
Jesus replied, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.”
Galatians 5:14-15 NLT
For the whole law can be summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” But if you are always biting and devouring one another, watch out! Beware of destroying one another.
If I could add a 3rd thing and keep it in the same order I would say that God cares that we love what He loves and hates what He hates as well. He wants us to call what He calls wrong, wrong and what He calls right, right, but the way we do this matters to Him. There is a pastor on Instagram by the name of Sean Fenner who I follow and he gave this simple, short and amazing message about being people of convictions AND compassion, as a thing that is all encompassing, not just one or the other but both, in harmony. There is a great need for people that can be both at the same time. This is such a tender time in history, where I believe that we, as believers must be people of conviction who are FILLED with compassion at the same time.
Kindness for example, is a topic that the Bible is completely clear about, but this topic may not be enforced or highlighted like the topic of no sex before marriage is. When not obeying either of these clear and concise mandates can equally cause the same amount of harm to one life or another.
Topics like having tattoos, aren’t spoken about much in the Bible but the scriptures that do mention tattoos show that this topic is in fact debatable or situational. I heard a member in the body of Christ say something one day and I thought what they said was pretty encouraging. They said that the things that God (the Bible) is loud about, we too should be loud about and the things that the Bible is quiet or doesn’t speak much about we too, should take the Bible’s lead on those topics.
Either way, I believe it to be extremely important to search the scriptures regarding a matter before we hold anyone in contempt of disobeying the Word (or God) if, in fact they actually, have not disobeyed scripture.
Using myself as an example, I will make an attempt to show you how to study or S E A R C H the scripture for the correct interpretation, context, meaning, ruling given by the word regarding a topic.
The first thing I wan’t to say is that we cannot go to scripture with an attitude of an accuser or the attitude of ‘the accuser’ and expect to receive the correct revelation regarding scripture. Satan clearly shows through his attempt to tempt Jesus in the wilderness (Matthew 4:1-11) that scripture can be used to accuse, beat up the conscience of, or hold an individual in contempt if it is interpreted (the wrong way) or manipulated by the aggressor (or someone that may not know any better) in order to produce a specific result.
See example below:
Matthew 4:6 NLT
“If you are the Son of God, jump off! For the Scriptures say,‘He will order his angels to protect you. And they will hold you up with their hands so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone.’”
– In this moment satan takes the scripture out of context to get a specific result (the result he wanted) from Jesus. This specific scripture is found in Psalm 91 and this specific psalm’s theme is “God protection in the midst of danger” God hasn’t promised us a world free from danger but He does promise His help whenever we face danger. satan uses this scripture irresponsibly, in order to get a certain result from Jesus and not for the purpose it was intended. This scripture is one that if used correctly can be used as a means of comfort, reassurance and as a promise to us when we choose to make the Lord our refuge. This is not a scripture that we can use to test God’s protection plan and it’s accuracy.
We have to approach the word with a clean heart and mind. It is recommended by many that one should pray before reading scripture. Some of the benefits that I have experienced from praying before directly going to scripture is that you can carve out your intentions of reading scripture through your prayer. One can pray against distractions, pray for a clean heart and a clear mind. We can spend time with God in prayer asking for forgiveness of our sins before we actually get into the Holy Scriptures. We can ask for guidance and God’s leading in our study. We can pray that we’d be transformed by our findings and so much more. It is best practice to pray before getting into the word of God.
Here’s a link that speaks more about the benefits of prayer:
I wanted to use myself and one area that I consider myself weaker in the faith.
Alcohol is the topic. In order to know why I consider myself someone with weak faith regarding drinking alcohol you would have to know a bit about my past, so here goes. I started drinking alcohol when I was a teenager, about 16 years old to be exact. I wouldn’t stop until I was 21 and was a born again believer. I wasn’t an occasional drinker. I drank every time I went out, which was, Thursday to Sunday and sometimes Thursday to Monday, every week, for years! I loved the smell of alcohol and the taste of it on my tongue. Drinking alcohol was just what I did and it had become apart of my lifestyle.
I didn’t stop drinking alcohol until I started walking with God. It was actually the first thing I fasted from. So naturally, after having such a strong desire for drinking and getting drunk, after being saved, I stayed clear of alcohol all together. I literally had my first glass of wine in like forever (9 years), this summer when we spent about 4 weeks in the Hamptons. I won’t ever make drinking a habit or something that I even do occasionally, because of the past and my experience with alcohol in general. Regarding the topic of drinking alcohol I would be considered weaker in faith, or someone whose faith is weak about drinking.
Now the question is …
What does the Bible say about alcohol?
This is the question we should ask about every topic. What does the Bible say about this? We ask this question in order for us to honor God. We ask this question in order for us to be one with God, to know what is right and to do it. How can one honor God if they aren’t sure about what it takes to honor Him. We first have to learn the word of God, know it and get familiar with what the Word of God says about specific topics.
The Bible speaks about the last days and says that there will be mockers of the word who deliberately forget all that came about by God’s word.
2 Peter 3:3-7 NLT
Most importantly, I want to remind you that in the last days scoffers will come, mocking the truth and following their own desires. They will say, “What happened to the promise that Jesus is coming again? From before the times of our ancestors, everything has remained the same since the world was first created.” They deliberately forget that God made the heavens long ago by the word of his command, and he brought the earth out from the water and surrounded it with water. Then he used the water to destroy the ancient world with a mighty flood. And by the same word, the present heavens and earth have been stored up for fire. They are being kept for the day of judgment, when ungodly people will be destroyed.
Our conscience is of its greatest value when the word of God is deposited in it. When we know the word of God and have the right heart posture our conscience can be relied on, but if we just have “feelings”, “sense in our spirit” or “can read people”, outside of studying and knowing the word of God, our consciences may in fact be deceiving us. The word of God is transformative and according to how much of it is in us, should transform us into its image.
Romans 12:2 NLT
Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.
John 1:1-4 NLT
In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. He existed in the beginning with God. God created everything through him, and nothing was created except through him. The Word gave life to everything that was created, and his life brought light to everyone.
Back to the topic of alcohol drinking. So some say that it is completely not okay for a believer to drink alcohol, others say it’s okay as long as the person doesn’t get drunk, and others say that it is okay to get drunk as long as the person doesn’t sin. There may be other things people (or believers) say about this topic but these are the main ones I’ve heard and have heard over the years of me being a Christian. So, what are we to believe?
What the BIBLE says about the topic. Full stop! Period!
Can I just choose one scripture about drinking and hold everyone and every situation accountable to this one scripture?
No you can not. It would be irresponsible if you haven’t done your research 🧐 and studied scripture in it’s entirety to come to a full understanding of what the WHOLE Bible says about that topic as well as search 🔦 for the heart of God regarding the topic, according to scripture.
You CAN NOT jump the gun regarding your reference to scripture! You MUST know undoubtedly and your conclusion after studying must be undebatable before you can hold any member of the body of Christ to a specific standard or accountable to your conscience or a violation of the word of God that you “believe” they have committed.
I believe this to be so important because Jesus Christ specifically died for that persons freedom from sin so it is important that we fact check before we begin to start to throw stones to weigh them down, become a stumbling block or to blog them down with guilt or shame that isn’t even merited.
(Reading Romans 8 in it’s entirety is a great place to start regarding this topic.)
Romans 8:1-4 NLT
So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death. The law of Moses was unable to save us because of the weakness of our sinful nature. So God did what the law could not do. He sent his own Son in a body like the bodies we sinners have. And in that body God declared an end to sin’s control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins. He did this so that the just requirement of the law would be fully satisfied for us, who no longer follow our sinful nature but instead follow the Spirit.
It’s like as a believer, forget about the person for a moment and think about the undeserved
sacrifice and price Christ paid for that individual to be free, or for you to be free. We make it like His work was in vain when we carelessly accuse another individual of violating His decrees and then act like we’ve done nothing wrong.
This is why satan is called the accuser of the brethren because His entire MO (modus operandi) is to discredit the work of the cross, so we deliberately join forces with him and his demons when we stand as an accuser of our brothers and sisters in the “name” of “correction”. This is not correction, it is an accusation and the harm we cause when it is a false accusation is shameful for the entire body of Christ, not just that member.
Here are examples of healthy, merited and not harmful correction in the Bible:
Galatians 6:1 NLT
Dear brothers and sisters, if another believer is overcome by some sin, you who are godly should gently and humbly help that person back onto the right path. And be careful not to fall into the same temptation yourself.
Matthew 18:15-17 NLT
“If another believer sins against you, go privately and point out the offense. If the other person listens and confesses it, you have won that person back. But if you are unsuccessful, take one or two others with you and go back again, so that everything you say may be confirmed by two or three witnesses. If the person still refuses to listen, take your case to the church. Then if he or she won’t accept the church’s decision, treat that person as a pagan or a corrupt tax collector.
2 Thessalonians 3:15 NLT
Don’t think of them as enemies, but warn them as you would a brother or sister.
Acts 18:18-28 NLT
Priscilla, Aquila and Apollos
26 When Priscilla and Aquila heard him preaching boldly in the synagogue, they took him aside and explained the way of God even more accurately.
Now, How do we search the scripture to find out what the Bible says, in fact about alcohol and drinking? :
Let’s say we knew a few scriptures off hand before even going to scripture.
I’ll use one fact that I know personally, which is Jesus’s first miracle in the Bible was turning water into wine. Based off of this well known miracle I can imply that alcohol isn’t bad, or something that God rejects because if that were the case Jesus would have never created wine 🍷 as His first miracle. I can also imply that in the eyes of God, there may be places where alcohol is more accepted than others, like celebrations, feast and parties etc. These are all things that I can gather from reading the text regarding Jesus’s first miracle.
I didn’t include details from commentary in study Bibles, cross references of scripture, parallel passage, and the context of the scripture, but I can use these to support my thoughts about this scripture, if, in fact they actually do.
Arielle, can we stop here? Can we just start saying “Hey nothing is wrong with drinking alcohol. Have as much as you want. Drink whenever you want because there is nothing wrong with it. It was Jesus’ first miracle!” NO I CAN NOT. That would be extremely careless of me.
Could is say? “Well I got the response I was looking for, I’ll just stop here for my study on what the Bible says about drinking alcohol?”
Not if that is not all the Bible says about it. We have to SEARCH the scripture, not just stop at the answers we are looking for to back up what we think about a topic.
So, where do we go from here?
We have a little bit of knowledge but not much, so what else can we do?
We can start a search of all the scriptures that mention the topic we want to find out more about.
The one we are researching now is: Alcohol
What else does the Bible say about alcohol or drinking it?
Let’s search 🔦
1. I personally go to the back of my Bible or Google it.
2. I write ✍️ down every scripture that is pulled up and they are usually provided in the format of a list.
3. I start to go through EVERY single one, with an open heart, allowing the word to convict and correct me regarding that topic in any way I may need it.
4. I open my heart to transformation and my mind to be renewed. I let God know that I know nothing and that He knows everything. I also let Him know that He has full right to change my way of thinking about any and EVERY topic through His word. I let Him know that more than wanting to be right, I want to know WHAT IS RIGHT and this is where the process of renewal and transformation begins.
5. In my search of the truth, reputable articles, writings and references may pop up and I also take these things into consideration when coming to a conclusion about a specific topic.
Alcohol:
I won’t be going through every scripture on this blog but I will cover a few.
Alcohol/Wine can be used to gladden hearts:
Psalm 104:14-15 NLT
You cause grass to grow for the livestock and plants for people to use.You allow them to produce food from the earth — wine to make them glad, olive oil to soothe their skin, and bread to give them strength.
Ecclesiastes 9:7 NLT
So go ahead. Eat your food with joy, and drink your wine with a happy heart, for God approves of this!
Matthew 11:18-19 NLT
For John didn’t spend his time eating and drinking, and you say, ‘He’s possessed by a demon.’ The Son of Man, on the other hand, feasts and drinks, and you say, ‘He’s a glutton and a drunkard, and a friend of tax collectors and other sinners!’ But wisdom is shown to be right by its results.” – Listening to God requires us to change the way we live. We take the cynical and skeptical route when we rather not adapt to what He says about a topic and choose to override Him with our own views. Jesus’ life challenged those in His generation and because of that no matter where He stood regarding the word of God they opposed Him. It is easy to remain comfortable in our way of thinking and all the while be rejecting Jesus and His views.
A little alcohol can be used as a source of healing:
1 Timothy 5:23 NLT
Don’t drink only water. You ought to drink a little wine for the sake of your stomach because you are sick so often.
There is a problem with drinking alcohol when it turns us into drunkards and leads us astray or away from being full of the Spirit. Drunkenness is considered the work of the flesh:
Proverbs 20:1 NLT
Wine produces mockers; alcohol leads to brawls.Those led astray by drink cannot be wise.
Proverbs 23:29-35 NLT
29-32
Who has unnecessary bruises? Who has bloodshot eyes? It is the one who spends long hours in the taverns, trying out new drinks.
Don’t gaze at the wine, seeing how red it is, how it sparkles in the cup, how smoothly it goes down. For in the end it bites like a poisonous snake;
Ephesians 5:18 NLT
Don’t be drunk with wine, because that will ruin your life. Instead, be filled with the Holy Spirit,
Galatians 5:19-21 NLT
When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God.
Depending on your position in the Body of Christ (Deacons) you shouldn’t drink much wine:
1 Timothy 3:8 NLT
In the same way, deacons must be well respected and have integrity. They must not be heavy drinkers or dishonest with money. – We (all believers) should follow guidelines that are consistent with what God says is true and right.
It is okay to choose not to drink if you believe you might cause another person (believer) to stumble by doing so:
Romans 14:21 NLT
It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything else if it might cause another believer to stumble.
I hope the list of these scriptures and some study of them helps you to understand that the more scripture you know or study about a specific topic, the more accurately you can judge whether it is a approved or disapproved by God, what He expects of you based on that topic and the heart He has towards the subject at hand. Stopping at one scripture and basing your entire belief of a topic on that does a disservice to yourself and others. Search 🔦 the scripture, in it’s entirety, it is full of wisdom and it profits you so much!
So now, although I am weaker in my faith regarding the topic of alcohol, I cannot enforce where I stand regarding it on others because that wouldn’t be Biblical. I can share where I stand and why, but I can’t send anyone to hell because they don’t choose to adhere to my personal conscience and convictions. It doesn’t work that way.
I’d like to leave us with a scripture and some
suggestions (from the commentary of my Bible) for wherever you may stand, weaker in one topic or another, or stronger, this can be something that you can apply to your life.
Romans 14:1 NLT
Accept other believers who are weak in faith, and don’t argue with them about what they think is right or wrong.
Stronger Believer –
• Don’t be proud of your maturity
• Don’t flaunt your freedom
• Act in love so you don’t cause a weaker believer to stumble
Weaker Believer –
• Take your time
• Pray to God but don’t force others to adhere to your stipulations
• It hinders other believers when you make up rules to how everyone ought to behave
• Make sure your convictions are based on God’s Word and not an expression of your opinion
Pastors & Teachers –
• Teach correctly from God’s Word
• Helping Christians to understand what is right and wrong in God’s eyes and to see that they can have varied opinions on other issues and still be unified.
TrulyArielleA 