Welcome to Gaia! ::

[ Message temporarily off-line ]

[ Message temporarily off-line ]

[ Message temporarily off-line ]

[ Message temporarily off-line ]

[ Message temporarily off-line ]

Be Careful Little Hands

You may remember singing a little song as a child in Sunday school or Vacation Bible School that went something like this:

“Be careful little hands what you do. Be careful little hands what you do.” There were a few more lines to the song, but each verse used a different word. “Be careful little feet where you go.”

“Be careful little mouth what you say.”

“Be careful little eyes what you see.”

We have a huge responsibility to refrain from evil. The good news is God doesn’t expect us to do that alone. He wants to fill our lives with His Spirit and enable our hands, feet, eyes, ears, mouth to glorify Him.

The next item on God’s hate list is “an eagerness to do wrong” (from The Living Bible) or “feet that are quick to rush into evil” (New International Version). So God not only hates evil . . . He also hates an eagerness or excitement about doing evil. Understand the connection? We don’t commit acts of evil dragging our feet. When we do evil, it’s because we’ve decided to act in an evil way.

Let’s take a closer peek at evil. Without God, you are capable of any evil (Judges 19:1-21:25). It’s wrong to return evil with evil (Genesis 34:30-31). All of the occult is rooted in evil (Leviticus 20:6). Holiness separates us from evil (Leviticus 11:44-45). People usually slip into a evil lifestyle gradually (Numbers 33:55-56).

God doesn’t want us to become curious about evil practices (Deuteronomy 12:30-31). We’re never alone in our battle against evil (Psalm 12:1), and we can’t get away with evil forever (Psalm 21:11). Evil acts begin with evil desires (Psalm 141:4), and planning evil is just as bad as doing evil (Proverbs 24: cool .

A small amount of evil can affect many (Matthew 16:12). The church won’t shelter you from evil (Luke 4:33), and there are powerful evil forces at work against us (Ephesians 6:12).

Know It!
Destroy evil in your life (Numbers 33:50-53). There is no evil too great for repentance (1 Kings 21:29), but you must admit your evil potential (2 Kings 8:12-13). For guidance on how to pray to God about evil, see 1 Chronicles 4:10.

Read It!
All the Scriptures cited above.

Pray It!
Tell God that you don’t want to be associated with evil. Ask His help in teaching you to flee from evil. Seek His empowerment to walk away from temptation and to deepen your trust in Him.

Wanna Fight About It?

The last item on God’s hate list (Proverbs 6:16-19) is to cause dissention . . . to sow discord among brothers. In other words, God hates it when we pick a fight. Perhaps you know someone who loves to argue. This guy argues simply to argue. It’s as though he’s energized by causing conflict. Some folks thrive on conflict so much, that if there’s not a conflict, they’ll create one!

Well, God hates that. He despises it when we purposefully stir things up just to get an argument going. And people who thrive on that usually insecure. Talking loudly, quarreling with those around them and enjoying the heat of an argument makes them feel powerful.

Now God’s not talking about debate. Nor is He against being a lawyer or arguing a court case. This last item on His hate list is entirely distinctly about the act of Christians stirring up trouble with other Christians in the church.

“United we stand; divided we fall.” It’s really true. The Body of Christ has to be united to grow and thrive. The entire purpose of the Body is to glorify God and bring others to Him. If we’re divided, we can’t do that. As soon as we start arguing, quarreling and causing dissension among the believers, the church is in danger of splitting or completely falling apart.

So does that mean we have to agree with everyone in our church? No. But we need to understand the difference in disagreeing and in being united. We can disagree and still be as one. Someone, however, who thrives on looking for something he know will stir everyone up, is someone who’s sowing discord. And God hates that.

Let’s imagine your church has voted on building an addition to its already-existing complex. There are 25 of you on the building committee that will decide issues such as size of addition, color of carpet, expenses, etc. Imagine that 20 people on the committee feel strongly that the carpet should be forest green. You and four others really want beige, but the five of you decide to vote for green simply because you understand the importance of being united.

That doesn’t mean you agree with the color choice. It’s not your pick, but you’ll go along with it, because you’re determined not to be a stumbling block to the process as a whole. That’s spiritual maturity.

But if you were to leave the meeting and talk others in the church into being on your side, you’d be sowing discord. That’s spiritual immaturity.

Know It!
God calls us to be peacemakers. Yes, there’s a time to speak out in boldness—but those times usually need to be reserved for speaking against immorality, injustice or evil. When taste or personal opinion is at play, it’s best to quietly make your thoughts known, but to remain unified when others don’t agree.

Read It!
Psalm 34:14; Proverbs 12:20; Romans 12:18; James 3:17.

Pray It!
Ask God to help you develop a lifestyle of peacemaking and not an argumentative spirit.

Suicide . . . Not an Option!

Jamie17: Yeah, I realize that someone who commits suicide is basically playing God in his life. But if someone’s desperate enough to take his life, he’s not thinking straight, right?

20ash: Right.

Jamie17: I mean, those are not rational thoughts.

20ash: That’s true. And I believe God understands an imbalanced mind. But again, taking a life — whether it’s your own or someone else’s — is sin.

Jamie17: Yeah, I agree with that. Murder is sin. But still . . . what about the question? Can a Christian who commits suicide go to heaven?

20ash: Look at it this way, Jamie: We can be grateful God understands an imbalanced mind and irrational thinking. You and I can’t imagine what would be so bad that we’d wanna end our life because of it.

Jamie17: No kidding!

20ash: But at the same time, when someone takes his life, He’s sinning. God punishes sin in hell . . . unless we repent.

Jamie17: But someone who commits suicide wouldn’t have time to repent.

20ash: Right.

Jamie17: So the answer is . . . ?

20ash: I know this isn’t what you wanna hear . . . but I don’t know the answer. I do know this, however. It’s too big of a risk to take. To assume the role of God is sin. I’m glad I don’t have to judge.

Jamie17: Me, too.

20ash: God knows each heart. He understands the hurt, the depth of the pain, and the irrational thinking. But at the same time, He expects Christians to follow His commands.

Jamie17: Yeah, I see both sides.

20ash: The issue really isn’t that we need to know if Troy went to heaven. That’s between him and God. Our priority is to make sure our own lives are in order and that we don’t take such a huge risk ourselves.

Jamie17: Yeah, that makes sense, Ashley. Thanks for listening.

20ash: I’m really sorry, Jamie. But it makes you think twice about how valuable life is, doesn’t it?

Jamie17: Sure does! And it makes me wanna evaluate my spiritual life—just to make sure everything’s in order.

20ash: You’re the best, Cuz! I think that’s exactly what Jesus would want you to do right now.

Jamie17: Hey, hurry up and finish summer school and come home. I miss you!

20ash: I’ll be home in July. Love you!

Know It!
When we take the place of God’s authority in our lives, we’re sinning. Make time to evaluate your own relationship with Christ. Where do you stand? Is everything in order? Is He truly Lord?

Read It!
Proverbs 7:1-4; Proverbs 28:14; Jeremiah 9:4-6; Jeremiah 10:6-7; John 11:26-27.

Pray It!
Ask God to keep you from getting wrapped up in issues that you don’t need to be involved in. Seek more faith to simply trust in Him and to keep your spiritual life in order. Tell Him that you don’t ever want to take His place in your heart.