Spiritual Adultery...

Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. James 4:4 NKJV


Wow, that gets your attention now doesn't it? What does it mean? We Christians are supposed to be tolerant, forgiving & non-judgemental aren't we? As a matter of fact, we are. What we are not supposed to be is accepting of or participating in the sins of the world. We must reach out to those who are lost without allowing them to drag us into the things of the world. How? Well, let's see what the Bible has to say...Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. (James 4:7-8 NKJV) How do we draw near to GOD? We spend time communicating with Him in prayer. We read His Word. We sit under annointed preachers of the Word. We choose godly friends. We're also told that a double-minded man is unstable in all his ways...(James 1:8 NKJV).

Often, we think we can dabble in sin and get away with it. GOD's Word says differently. We're told in Numbers 32:23b, "and be sure your sin will find you out". The fact that we've accepted Christ and committed our lives to Him does not give us a license to commit willful sin. When we do, yes when--not if, because we are rebellious children--there are consequences. One way being that our testimony is tarnished and our effectiveness for GOD's Kingdom is diminished. As for me, I never want to bring shame to GOD & I definitely want to have opportunities to serve Him and minister to others.

How can we be in love with GOD and in love with the world at the same time? There are no fence-straddlers. We are either being used by GOD or being used by Satan. Exodus 34:14 states, "for you shall worship no other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God". You may be questioning that statement and thinking you aren't guilty of worshipping any other gods--how about money, possessions, popularity, a relationship, etc? Those things easily become idols in our lives if we aren't careful.

Jesus Himself said "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me."(John 14:6) Notice He didn't say I am "A" way, He said I am "THE" way. Don't be fooled by those who say there are many paths to GOD--that is false teaching at it's best and a downright lie of the devil. Are you an Oprah fan? She subscribes to this doctrine. She has a great following--sadly, Satan is using her to lead people astray. But wait--she does so many good and charitable things...Yes, she does--but you can be a goodly person without being a godly person. I'm here to tell you that if Oprah is saved, she needs to repent and if she isn't--that she will bust Hell wide open regardless as to how much good she has done in the world.

I know for a fact that I have allowed worldly things into my life. I'm fully aware that I do & say things regularly that damage my testimony. I pray GOD will forgive my spiritual adultery and allow me to be useful in His Work. How about you? Where do you stand? Remember, a friend of the world is an enemy of GOD. Personally, I want to be called a friend of GOD...

Blessings!
Tony