Don't let your eyes decieve you!

As a young male I can only speak for myself and say that I have faced many temptations daily and I will continue to face them daily. Some temptations have made me stumble and fall and some I have conquered. But, through it all I have learned from my defeats and victories which all helps to mold me in what God has called me to be. As followers in Jesus Christ we must realize that the devils scheme is to tempt us with evil as often as he can in efforts to make us fall to darkness/sin. As followers Christ Jesus, I have identified that temptations initiate with a few approaches which are: what we see, what thoughts come to our mind, what we hear, or what we smell. In the book of Genesis God gave instructions for the tree of knowledge of good and evil to not be partaken of. The consequence of somebody eating from the tree was death. (Genesis 2:17-16) Now, Adam and Eve were both aware of this commandment. In 3rd chapter of Genesis the serpent started tempting Eve to eat of the tree that God had forbidden her not to eat of. Eve begin to compromise with the idea of eating from the tree. This is where I myself have fallen victim of letting temptation defeat me. Genesis 3:6 shows that Eve saw the tree as good for food; she thought it was pleasant to the eyes, and she desired to be made wise. As a male their will continue to be temptations that fit these categories of looking good, pleasant, and being desirable. These temptations can be labeled as drugs, sex, love of money, lust, pornography, anger, pride, etc, and anything else that is labeled as sin. I have learned that I can’t compromise with sin because sin will win every time. Just because it may look good, just because it looks pleasant to the eye, or just because we can count the possible benefits of having whatever the particular item is does not mean that as followers we are suppose to have anything that is labeled as sin. Sin is sin, and it’s the devil’s job to entice us with sin to fall victim to sin. Eve was convinced by the serpent to partake in something that God had forbidden them to have. Disobeying God’s instruction is sin. We are from the dust of the ground therefore our flesh is naturally attracted to dirt. However, I Corinthians 10:13 shows us that God will always give us escape out that we can endure. (AWESOME) I got tired of being defeated by with my temptations therefore I decided to study the origin of where sin started. The Bible tells us to crucify our flesh daily. We as followers of Christ we must know that “Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, that he that is in the world” I John 4:4. We have authority over Satan and we must utilize the power we have over Satan using the name of JESUS. There is one room for a victories person and that victorious person will be us as believers in JESUS name. Either the devil will beat us, or we will beat the devil. When temptation initially tries to sway us we have to rebuke it quickly in Jesus name without taking one second to compromise on whether or not it’s right or wrong. We can not allow our eyes to deceive us. follow me on twitter@younglazerrick, and I will follow you. P.S. Please look forward to the perfect example of what to do when we are tempted by the devil at our weakest moment.

Do we judge people?

There are two questions about judging others that came to my mind..1. As Christians do we judge other people? 2. Are we suppose to judge? John 8:7-11, Luke 6:37, Romans 2:1-3, Ephesians 4:29, 2 Corinthians 5:10, John 3:17, Titus 3:2-7 As a Christian I have been guilty of judging others at times. The Bible illustrates a story about the mercy of sinful women in John 8:7-11. I will not attempt to summarize the entire story on this blog. However, we see that Pharisees brought a woman to Jesus who was guilty of adultery. My initial thought: 1. Were the Pharisees (Haters) really concerned about the women committing adultery and her consequences or was this another plotted scheme in efforts to discredit the words of Jesus based on his response? I would believe this was another pathetic attempt to discredit the words of Jesus. As we see the Pharisees only brought the women to Jesus, but in order to commit adultery there has to be two people involved. Where was the male? If the Pharisees were really trying to follow the Law of Moses then they would have brought the male and female to Jesus. Leviticus 20:10, Deut. 22:22, says that the consequences for committing adultery is to be stoned to death. Thank God for Jesus, as Christians we no longer live under the Mosaic Law. The Bible says in Matthew 7:1-2 NIV 1:"Do not judge or you will be judged. 2. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be used to you. Up above I have placed more then a few scriptures that expounds about judging others. 2. Titus 3:2-7 "To slander no one, to be peaceable and considerate, and always to be gentle toward everyone. 3. At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. 4. But when the kindness of love of God our Savior appeared, 5. he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of the rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, 6. whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7. so that having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life." (In essence keep your tongue off of people. Are we perfect, I know that I'm certainly not?) 3. Jesus handled himself with ease yet again when the Pharisees attempted to put him in a unpleasant situation. (Lesson: Keep your peace even when the situation looks rough. Allow the Holy Spirit to guide our actions.) As we see the response of Jesus, it led the the Pharisees to examine their own selves. By the self examination they were able to identify their imperfections. As a Minister, I see you many unbelievers coming into different churches looking for safety, love, and Spiritual uplifting. But in return they are being pushed away because of judgmental people. I urge you to read Galatians 6:1-6. We are not perfect. Not even Jesus judged the woman who was guilty of adultery. He exemplified his mercy. When we judge we are taking the role as a HATER just as the Pharisees did, and it does not please God. To learn more about me or follow the Inner City Movement, please follow us at www.4icmm.com. You can also soon expect to see videos on my YouTube page “Young Child of God”. Until next time walk in Love. Author Lazerrick Young