Sin

Idle Hands

grahamcommand Real Life , , ,

“The Devil finds work for idle hands to do”

A well-known phrase featured in Proverbs 16:27

It seems the enemy knows our weaknesses. Mine was consuming lustful video after video

After being freed from that addiction, I promptly sorted out Christian videos

I considered it an improvement for a while, but all too soon, I became just as addicted with the unwelcome help of Google Analytics

Along with Facebook Feed, video recommendations are selected, ranked and delivered to you by an AI system

Between the two powerful platforms, I now realise I have fallen for the enemy trap of false work, which has distracted me from writing posts and reading the Bible every day

I therefore ask for prayers, as I will ask for forgiveness

That I will regain control of the use of my time for the glory of my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ

Hot – Cold – Luke Warm

grahamcommand faith , , , ,

God told us He would rather we were hot or cold and warned us never to be Luke warm

There have been Christians who became cold and turned away from the faith and became atheists

Some of those turned away from being atheists and became Christians again

While some staunch atheists fully embraced Christianity and were born again

Perhaps this world is full of people who have turned so away from God they have grown cold and hard-hearted

Even when on fire for God Christians attempt to preach the gospel, they are mocked and ignored

Ray Comfort takes a different approach by asking people if they consider themselves “Good”

Then step them through a few of the Ten Commandments, by asking if they have ever lied

Ever stolen anything – or have they ever committed adultery (lustily looked)

Then tell them they will have to face God on judgement day

Then He lists all those who will not be allowed into heaven – liars -thieves etc 

Then Ray asks them “Heaven or Hell?”

  He then preaches the good news

With this in mind, the cold and lost will fare better on judgement day than the Luke Warm

How do you know you have been forgiven?

grahamcommand Christian, Real Life , , ,

Part of knowing you are forgiven and set free from whatever sin nature has enslaved you

As they are part of the same process, first when you have confessed you are a sinner and in need of forgiveness

You will be given a new heart, not a physical one but a spiritual heart

With which you will begin to desire the things of God

The old things of the flesh will not have a hold on you

As you will be a child of God, and as a real child will need to learn and grow

So, you will begin to grow in the fruits of the Spirit

Even when you face hardships or persecution, the Holy Spirit will dwell within you and you will know Jesus as your Saviour

This knowledge alone will sustain you on your journey in this new life

Reading the Scriptures and praying and preaching the Good News

Become part of this new life, also experiencing the Fruit of the Spirit

Starting with patience, at least with me it was so

Followed swiftly with longsuffering, which I thought was the same thing

Of course, I was wrong, as it is more of the progress of shedding off the layers of old stubborn fleshly desires along with old wrongful habits

When I was a child, I spoke as a child

grahamcommand Christian, Real Life , , , ,

When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, and I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things.

But in that process, I turned away from the God of the New Testament Jesus

Even though I had come to know Him through my school days, youth

Who am I that You Lord should choose to suffer and die for such a wrench this sinner who now kneels before You, guilty in so many ways

I, who knew of you from my young childhood days

Yet so easily forgot all I had been taught

You, the good shepherd, lovingly persisted and directed my path to a Christian school

Lovingly guiding my young life through your words

Bringing me closer to learning and getting to know you in all your fullness

Even then, I quickly shrugged off all you had taught me, all too eagerly seeking out many self-centred pleasures that swiftly became addictive

With thoughts and images that consumed every moment, all too soon tormenting my mind throughout the night and gaining strength throughout every day

In my weakness, I fell prey to so many lies from the enemy that mislead me onto other paths on darkness where I lost all sense of direction

Sin in all its fullness offers many seemingly harmless temptations, but all of them will snare you and corrupt your mind, body, and soul as they did mine.

If not for You, my Lord, being willing to forgive me my sins against You and freeing me from all the wicked darkness I had accumulated

Oh! The blessed relief and joy that flooded into my wretched body, I had quite forgotten what joy felt like and the quietness of peace of mind

I will continue to praise You, Lord, with every breath I take for the rest of my days.

For You are worthy of Praise

Growing Pains

grahamcommand Real Life , , ,

All children go through various kinds of growing pains, as a part of maturing

It seems can and do continue well into adult life, as with children adults want to cling to bad habits even though they can easily become addictive, even though they know most are sinful

They continue to Indulge repeatedly while they try to hide those sins from family and friends

Due to the dulling effect of sinful addiction, they become reckless and then are found out by others

Which triggers guilt and denial by making excuses which are a form of lying yet another sin

I once was one such sinner as this, I clung to my sin and didn’t want to give it up.

Affording myself the luxury of believing I was a good person

But No one is good but God only

Since I continued to tell lies, I continued to look with lust (adultery) Ignoring my marriage vows and being unfaithful to my wife

I became condemned by my own actions; no longer could I claim to be (good)

I admitted I was a sinner and prayed for forgiveness as I wrote once before

Praise The Lord He answered and gave me a new heart

Making me a new creation, born again. I as a new child full of joy and praise for my Saviour

As with all children I as a born-again child am experiencing growing pains as I began to mature

The Fruits of the Spirit

grahamcommand Christian , , ,

I do not boast for I have no goodness of my own, but rather a small but growing fruit of the spirit goodness

In Galatians 5:22-23, Love, Joy, Peace, Forbearance, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, Self-control

As with the eating fruit, the Fruits of the Spirit both take time to grow and mature enough to blossom and bear fruit

After being set m free and forgiven of my sins, I experienced an unexplainable joy

Which was promptly replaced by an overwhelming sadness that so many of the world hated God and even the name of Jesus offended them

It seemed I was directed back to YouTube video exposing false teachers who were busily fleecing the flock which preach anything but the Gospel

My new heart I had been given God allowed me to begin to experience and understand His hatred  

At the same time, my patience continued to grow and strengthen my self-control

My heart ached that I could do so little to reach out to all these poor lost souls

I started praying for prosperity preachers individually as they are beyond my contact reach asking the Holy Spirit to touch and convict them so they would come to know His saving Grace

That they would repent and turn away from their sinful lives before it’s too late

I need the help of prayer warriors to join me in praying against the widespread wackiness that continues to spread and growing stronger with every passing day

God of Love and Hate

grahamcommand Christian , , ,

While this sounds like a contradiction, especially when we read that so loved the world, He gave His only Son

Since we are all sinners and there is no good in anyone, we all deserve the punishment of hell

But Jesus died for our sins, He freely gave up His own will to do the Father’s will

So that if we admit we are sinners and believe Jesus as our Saviour, we can have eternal life

This is offered as a Free Gift, and can’t be influenced by good work

As a sinner forgiven of my sins and freed from my addiction, I still remember the overflowing joy

I wanted to tell everyone, but of course, the enemy tried to snare me back with lies and reminders of my past, every time he turned up, I reminded him that I was no longer that person from the past

I was a new creation who belonged to God and grateful to Jesus for answering my prayer

As to hate and God, He does not hate in the same we do, for He is LOVE

If He did not, he would not have given up His Son, God provided a way to be saved from our weaknesses and indulgences

 All we have to do is accept His Free Gift, to ask and believe

The enemy soon began dropping the cares of the world onto me, through YouTube videos  

As a new born-again Christian, I was not prepared for the heavyweight these videos bought with them, while at the same time replacing my past addiction to watching videos

One after another I began to feel anger and human hatred, and yet unable till now to be able to stop being drawn in a judgmental state of mind

Jesus although spent His time amongst sinners, he didn’t judge or rebuke them

He either forgave them of keeled them, even though He know all the people would turn against Him and crucify Him

Thus, displaying a far deeper Love than we can even imagine

Why is difficult to share Faith?

grahamcommand Real Life , ,

Why do I shy away from sharing the Gospel?

Yet I was fully convicted of my sins and know without a doubt I was forgiven

 I acknowledge I was freed from my sinful addiction, and God gave me a new heart

Yet I’m unable even unwilling to preach in the open about God’s Grace

The only place I have told anyone about the wonderful Grace and love of God is here on my blog.

I have wondered of late whether or not to record videos about my renewed faith and testimony to upload to YouTube

But I hesitate lest it might appear I’m promoting myself, rather than giving glory to God

To all readers, I would ask for your thoughts and advice on this subject

Also, pray that I will become willing to become the person God wants me to be and that He will enable me to do His will

Amen

Spiritual Warfare

grahamcommand Christian, faith , , , ,

Life as a follower of Jesus Christ has never been without a price to pay, in the past many early Christians were thrown to staving lions as a source of entertainment by the Romans

Others were stoned to death such as Steven, but all those from the past were considered martyrs and later revered as saints

Later on, in time many Christians suffered and died rather than give up their faith

This still happens in the present day in other countries Christians risk losing their lives for sharing their faith or even owning a Bible or for criticizing what the culture believes to be their holy prophet  

In these present times, it seems the enemy changed to a more subtle approach

By using spiritual attacks, which by their very nature can not be seen but are proving to be just as deadly as the divide and conquer tactics.

With the use of lies that spread quickly throughout a congregation of believers.

Causing doubt and distrust both of which are strong and effective corrosive tools.

The enemy seems to have enlisted all atheists and most of the world through the use of the internet, seducing some by appealing to their vanity

Other though their addictions even Christians are being led astray by false teachers and prosperity preachers who appeal to human envy and greed

The enemy also haunts recent converted Christians with their past sins, whereas God forgives and forgets all sins of those who have asked and truly repented

I have undergone many of those spiritual attacks since I was forgiven and surrendered my life even though my free will is no longer mine.

Whenever the enemy either temps me or reminds me of my past, I remember that Jesus willingly suffered and died for all my sins “All I am and belong to Jesus my Saviour, He forgave me and has made me a new creation, Him alone I worship”

Strange Story

grahamcommand Fiction, Stories , , , ,

Note: This is a fictional story. Part 1 is based on my real experience

In my rebellious youth, I wilfully plunged into all manner of self-indulgence, to gain frequent ecstatic enjoyment, until the self-indulgence, slowly gained control over me the more I indulged

Although I enjoyed each of the pleasures within my indulgences, the length of time each lasted became shorter and more exhausting to maintain

 All too soon I became a miserable slave without a will of my own being, for now, I was misguided  into increasing darkness to perform whatever my dominating indulgence led me into

While glimpses of pleasure flickered before me, I was unable to reach or hold onto them for long

Part 2 Is totally fictional

Day after day, month after month, year after year I continued helpless and growing weaker as time flew past until one day death overtook my weakened body

With my dying breath, I sighed in relief that my torment was soon to be over

My hope was abruptly shattered when I found myself in Hell!

The darkness was so dense it was petrifying to move even one single step, although I could hear others groaning who seemed to be close though none were visible

Only my thoughts and images filled my mind taunting me with past pleasures, though there was nothing left of me, just an empty shell unable to indulge,

Suddenly a great wave of sorrow and despondency flooded over me and exertion, I desired rest but there was none to be found

I became aware of flames surrounding me although I could not see them but knew them as well as the flames of desire from my self-indulgence days

As the heat from the flames increased, burning into my flesh I felt myself helplessly plunge further downwards knowing there was no escape

With a sudden jolt, I awoke from this nightmare, knowing this was a warning from God to repent

I fell to my knees and pleaded for forgiveness and thanked God for the warning dream

From that day forward I will praise Him with every fibre of my being for His Love His Grace and His patience