Learn how to forgive

Unforgiveness is like a poison & bitterness in your soul. Your life will always be bitter until you get rid of that poison

Are tattoos bad ?

When we start searching for answers to the question in the headline, a number of related questions would arise:

1. Are tattoos bad?

2. Will I go to hell for having a tattoo?

3. Can I have tattoos and still be a Christian?

4. Are there such thing as “Christian Tattoos?”

Tattoos are a widely debated topic among Christian culture. Look at the questions below:

1. Why would I get a tattoo? or Why did I get a tattoo?

2. Who will my tattoo glorify? or Who do my tattoos glorify?

3. What would my tattoo say about me? or What do my tattoos say about me?

Although these questions may seem silly, they are going to play an important role in your view on tattoos in reference to God’s word. Why? Because the answers to those questions may just be the answers you’ve been looking for.

In Leviticus 19:28, you can see what most people say is a pretty clear-cut answer as to what God thinks about tattoos.

“Do not cut your bodies for the dead, and do not mark your skin with tattoos. I am the LORD.” -Leviticus 19:28.

But as clear as this text may seem, without the context and background, this text can be taken out of context in many ways. And it usually is.

This text is directed towards pagan nations who would violently cut and mark their bodies as a sign of worship to their gods. The tattoos or “markings” one would find on their body would resemble which god or gods their were worshiping.

Pretty different from the tattoos we see today, right? Yup.

Markings or tattoos that resemble worship to anyone other than God are sinful, however that 99% of the tattoos we see in today’s culture are not due to idol worship, but more creative expression and artistic value. It’s not the actual tattoo or marking that is sinful, but the motives in which each tattoo or marking is obtained.

Tattoos are not for everyone. A person has to realize the motives of its heart mean more to God than the ink on the skin. But also realize that this doesn’t mean your body is a free for all canvas to be filled with mindless and ill-thought clip art.

Your body is still a temple, and to treat your body with disrespect is to treat God the same way. Whether you are debating getting your first tattoo or your fiftieth, I pray you will seek God for wisdom, guidance, and evaluate the motives of your heart.

Remember those three questions? Well, it’s time to ask them again.

1. Why would I get a tattoo? Why did I get a tattoo?

2. Who will my tattoo glorify? Who do my tattoos glorify?

3. What would my tattoo say about me? What do my tattoos say about me?

We may not all reach the same conclusion, but that doesn’t mean we are not all loved by the same God.  

Thank You Jesus

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THE SECRET OF COMPLETE RESTORATION –

Memorise: And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death. Revelation 12:11

Read: Luke 17:11-19 (KJV)¥
11 And it came to pass, as he went to Jerusalem, that he passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee.
12 And as he entered into a certain village, there met him ten men that were lepers, which stood afar off:
13 And they lifted up their voices, and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.
14 And when he saw them, he said unto them, Go shew yourselves unto the priests. And it came to pass, that, as they went, they were cleansed.
15 And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God,
16 And fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks: and he was a Samaritan.
17 And Jesus answering said, Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine?
18 There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger.
19 And he said unto him, Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole.

Bible in one year: 2nd Chronicles 26-28, Acts 28:11-31, Hymnal: Sing hymn 1

Message:-
Restoration is the process of returning something or someone back to a state that had previously existed, through the power of God and through the redeeming work of Jesus Christ.
Restoration is said to be complete when the subject of restoration is returned to a pristine state, such as the healing of a wound without leaving a physical scar. Many children of God may think that faith or prayer is the secret of complete restoration, but based on God’s word, this may not be entirely correct. There is no doubt that faith, prayers and other factors may lead to restoration; however, thanksgiving is the secret of complete restoration. Sharing yours testimony of what God has done for you and witnessing about Jesus Christ are powerful ways to appreciate God and give Him thanks.

The power of thanksgiving to bring about complete restoration is evident in the story of the ten lepers in our Bible text today. When one of these leapers noticed that he was healed, he returned to Jesus, glorifying God with a loud voice in the presence of everyone around. In appreciation, he offered Jesus the highest worship by falling down on his face before Jesus’ feet, thanking Him for doing something wonderful in his life.

Note that when lepers become healed, leprosy immediately stops its destructive work on the body, but those body parts already affected continue to bear the scars of the damage already done by this destructive disease. However, for this grateful man, what followed in Luke 17:19 was complete restoration. This means that the damaged skin, fingers and toes of this lepers were restored to their pristine state, so that it would be impossible to identify him as a former leper. I pray that God will grant you complete restoration that will return everything concerning your life and destiny to their original state in Jesus’ Name.

Testifying to God’s goodness involves telling others of what God has done and bearing witness to His mighty acts, both in your life and in the Bible. We are encouraged to give testimonies as a way of bringing glory to God, perfecting our victory over the devil, receiving complete restoration and building up the faith of others. The power and benefits of testimonies cannot be overemphasized. It was after Nebuchadnezzar blessed the Most High God, praised Him as the God who lives forever and testified about His mighty acts that his sanity and kingdom were completely restored to him (Daniel 4:34-36). As you testify to God’s goodness today, you also will experience complete restoration in Jesus’ Name.

Prayer Point:- Father, please give me a grateful heart and a testifying mouth in Jesus’ Name.

WHAT DO YOU SEE?

MEMORISE:

I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the tower, and will watch to see what he will say unto me, and what I shall answer when I am reproved. Habakkuk 2:1

READ: Habakkuk 2:1-3

2:1 I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the tower, and will watch to see what he will say unto me, and what I shall answer when I am reproved.

2:2 And the Lord answered me, and said, Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it.

2:3 For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry.

MESSAGE:

The power of vision is one very crucial lesson we can learn from Elisha’s unshakable focus when his master was about to be taken up to heaven (2 kings 2:1-15). Vision gives direction. What you see is what you attain, and what you focus on determines what comes to you in life. You can never rise above your vision. While speaking to Abraham concerning His promise that Abraham’s descendants would inherit the land of Canaan, the Lord plainly told him that what he would possess would be determined by the extent of his vision. Genesis 13:15 says,

“For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever.”

People have often said that what the mind can conceive can be achieved. What can you see? What can you picture or envision concerning your future? For your mind to be able to see clearly, you have to be born again and have a recreated spirit which is capable of seeing things the way God sees them (Romans 12:2).

In addition, what you focus on is equally very important. This is because what you focus on expands and fills your sight. Your focus affects you significantly, shapes your life and determines what you attract to yourself. The sons of the prophets in all three locations Elijah visited before his rapture to heaven focused on loss. They focused on the fact that their national prophet would soon be raptured, and they would soon be without their leader. Consequently, that was exactly what they got. On the other hand, Elisha focused on his singular goal of receiving a double portion of the Spirit of his master, Elijah, and he got it. We have a way of attracting what we focus on. What or who is your focus? Hebrews 12:1 says we should look unto Jesus. In other words, it says we should make Jesus Christ our focus. Furthermore, 2 Corinthians 3:18 says,

“But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.”

When we focus on Jesus, we will begin to change from what we are into what He is. Focusing on Jesus is a major change medium that will definitely make us what we ought to be. Until you focus on Him, you will unknowingly be focusing on other things, individuals or even yourself. What is your focus today?

ACTION POINT:
Catalogue what you spend your time doing in a day, and this will give you a good indication of what your focus really is.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR:
Psalm 108-112
Habakkuk 3

AUTHOR: PASTOR E. A. ADEBOYE

What the Bible Says about Fornication

“Flee Fornication”: What the Bible Says about Fornication

By Betty Miller

Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body. What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s. 1 Corinthians 6:18-20

Now concerning the things whereof ye wrote unto me: It is good for a man not to touch a woman. Nevertheless, to avoid fornication, let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband. 1 Corinthians 7:1-2

Effects of Fornication on our LivesThe dictionary meaning of the word “fornication” means any unlawful sexual intercourse including adultery. In the Bible, the Greek definition of the word “fornication” means to commit illicit sexual intercourse. What constitutes unlawful sex? Whose laws do we live by? Worldly standards or laws many times do not always line up with the Word of God. The founding fathers of the United States established many laws that were originally based on Christian standards and the laws of the Bible. However, through time the United States has drifted far from these standards and at the present our moral standards are shocking the world. However, immorality is not only found in the U.S. but is a world-wide epidemic. Societies throughout history and around the globe have embraced sexual standards that are called sins in the Bible.

Fornication is not just tolerated in our society but is actually being encouraged. The sin of fornication is being committed even among Christians, as many couples “live together” and have sex before marriage. The Bible tells us to flee this sin. We have counseled Christians of the opposite sex who share an apartment and they told us they were not having sex so this surely wasn’t wrong. The Bible declares these words in 1 Thessalonians 5:22-23: “Abstain from all appearance of evil. And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Our lives as Christians are a living witness to others and we cannot break the laws of God without hindering others from coming to Christ. We must live our lives in purity before a sinful and wicked world. We should not be living according to their standards but according to God’s standard in the Bible. No couple should live together outside the bonds of marriage.

Many say they live together before marriage to see if they are compatible, as they don’t want to divorce. This may sound like a justifiable reason for committing the sin of fornication, but in God’s eyes it is still sin. Statistics however, show that those who live together before marriage are more likely to get a divorce than those who do not. Living together shows a total lack of trust in God and a failure to commit to Him the choosing of a mate. Christians who are living in this situation are out of the will of God and need to repent and seek God as to whether this person is the right one for them. If it is God’s will for them to be together they should marry. Otherwise, they need to change their living arrangements.

As Christians, the goal of any relationship should be to cause the people in our lives to love and know the Lord better. Living together is shameful and selfish as the parties do not care what others think or how they might affect their families and others. They are living to please their own lust and selfish desires. This type of life style is destructive and especially so for children whose parents are living a bad example before them. No wonder our children are confused about right and wrong when parents degrade the sanctity of marriage by living together out of wedlock. How can living together cause children to love and honor God when their parents break the laws of God before them because they are lustful?

Young people today need to be taught to abstain from sexual intercourse and remain pure virgins before marriage. So many problems in marriages today stem from the fact that they are not virgins when they marry. Young people are bringing wounded emotions and diseased bodies into their marriages because of prior promiscuous affairs. STDs (Sexually Transmitted Diseases) are so widespread that the statistics are shocking. There are 12 million new cases of STDs annually in the United states and 67% of these occur among persons under the age of 25. In fact, every year one out of six teens contracts an STD. 100,000 to 150,000 women become infertile each year as a result of STDs.¹ Others endure years of pain as some of these diseases are incurable. What a tragic price to pay for sexual sins. The Bible is right when it says fornication is a sin against one’s own body.

The sin of fornication is not only defined as illicit sexual intercourse between those who are not married but also is an umbrella for other sexual sins as well. The Bible also speaks of the sin of incest as fornication in 1 Corinthians 5:1: “It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father’s wife.”

The Bible also lists whoremongers as fornicators in Revelation 21:8: “But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.” All prostitutes and pimps are fornicators. Couples who just “live together” according to the Bible, are committing the same sin that whores commit. Singles who “make love” fall into the same category. Just because society has accepted this type of living does not make it right. The Bible must be our standard of what is right and wrong. We must change our standards if we do not want the wrath of God to fall on us. God hates sin but He loves the sinner. If anyone repents and calls on Jesus today He will help them to come out of any illicit relationship and heal them of all past hurts and even heal any disease that they may have contracted.

God gave us the laws in the Bible for our good. They are not meant to deny us any good thing but they are given so we can enjoy the proper sexual relationship in the proper time. If we obey the words of the Bible and “flee fornication” and glorify God in our bodies, the Lord will bless us beyond what we could believe.

The LORD is righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works. The LORD is nigh unto all them that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth. He will fulfill the desire of them that fear him: he also will hear their cry, and will save them. The LORD preserveth all them that love him: but all the wicked will he destroy. My mouth shall speak the praise of the LORD: and let all flesh bless his holy name for ever and ever. Psalm 145:17-21

SPIRITUAL SEPARATION

MEMORIZE: But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death. Revelations 21:8

READ: John 15:4-6 (KJV)

15:4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.

15:5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.

15:6 If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.

MESSAGE
“And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? That is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”
Matthew 27:4
The above verse of scripture vividly captures what spiritual separation is and the agony that accompanies it. The Lord Jesus Christ experienced it on the cross of Calvary on behalf all mankind, when He carried the sins of the entire world upon Himself, and the Father turned His face away from Him for the first and only time. My prayer for everyone who is spiritually separated from God is that their eyes of understanding will be opened to see their pitiable state, and that they will realise the agony that awaits them in eternity if they do not reconcile with God.

Sin is the root cause of spiritual separation. The reason is that the Almighty God cannot look at or interact with sin (Habakkuk 1:13). If you are living a life of sin, you are spiritually separated from Him. Genesis chapter 3 narrates to us how the first man and woman experienced spiritual separation. After they sinned, they became empty and naked. They felt so worthless that even when God tried to reach out to them, they were too ashamed to show up. A sense of guilt and self-condemnation overwhelmed their hearts. We thank God that today there is a remedy for spiritual separation: the Blood of Jesus (Colossians 1:19-22). However, there is an eternal spiritual separation that is coming for which there is no remedy; the Bible refers to this as the second death. Today’s memory verse tells us some of those who will partake in this terrible experience, and the first of these is the fearful. Proverbs 29:25says,

“The fear of man bringeth a snare: but whoso putteth his trust in the LORD shall be safe.”

Saul, the first king of Israel, lost his throne because of the fear of man. Just like King Saul, many leaders have lost their God-given leadership position because of the fear of men. The unbelieving are next on that list. Unbelief was the bedrock of Adam and Eve’s disobedience. Other practices such as lying, murder, adultery, incest, homosexuality, as well as witchcraft and sorcery, are the pathway to external spiritual separation. Beloved, spiritual separation from one’s Maker brings about untold agony and frustration because without God, you can do nothing (John 15:5). If you are in the state of spiritual separation today, close the gap between you and your Maker through genuine repentance and by applying the Blood of Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God. Blessed are you if you do this because you will escape the agony of eternal separation from God inn the Lake of fire.

Action Point
Examine your life. Whatever brings about separation between you and God should be done away with. Also ask for forgiveness and cleansing in the Blood of Jesus.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Genesis 11-13, Revelation 4

AUTHOR: PASTOR E.A ADEBOYE