SEXUAL PERVERSION...

"Refusing to know God, they soon didn’t know how to be human either –
women didn’t know how to be women, men didn’t know how to be men.
Sexually confused, they abused and defiled one another, women with
women, men with men – all lust, no love" (Romans 1:26-27, The
Message).

Ignorance about God is tragic; it leads to all other forms of hurtful
ignorance. The man that does not know God is to be pitied above all
men. If you have such people around you, they deserve your utmost
compassion and ardent intercession.

All forms of knowledge are profitable. But the most profitable and
needful is the knowledge of the Most High God. Since He is the
omniscient one, the all-knowing God, in Him is found the knowledge of
all other things that are benefitial to human life, not only here on
earth, but also in the hereafter. It is in the area of gaining
reliable insight into issues of the life after now that the knowledge
about God greatly surpasses all other kinds of knowledge.

But the most important dimension to this issue set forth in our
scripture for today is that we will never come to really know
ourselves until we know the God who made us. Remember that man is made
in the image of God. So man can only know himself as he knows God. And
because God also made the world, we can better know the world we are
living in by knowing the God that made it.

When we refuse to know God and consequently fail to know ourselves,
depravity comes in and abuse becomes inevitable. Such is the case of
men who forget that they are males and are seeking to have sex with
their fellow men. Or think of women who forget their feminity and are
seeking to have sex with other women. Such confusion has led to
distortions in human values so that lust is taken to mean love,
crookedness is considered cleverness, and the dishonest is thought of
as the smart guy.

But until we seek to know God and increase in that knowledge, the
human society will not know decency, order and  decorum. Until the
knowledge of God fills our land, we will not know justice and peace.
Friends, your path to a fulfilled life of personal peace, progress and
prosperity is in knowing the One who made you and designed you for a
purpose.

O that I may know you Lord, and thereby know myself, and discover your
purpose for my life, as well as the abundant treasures you have
deposited in me.
~

BE STILL...

"Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the
heathen, I will be exalted in the earth" (Psalms 46:10).

Many have been put into serious problems just because they will not
keep their tongue in its right place. I once read of a physician who
could no longer endure his talkative patient. After a while, he came
up with an idea, telling his fair patient to put out her tongue as
though he was going to examine the chattering instrument. Then the
doctor continued writing out the prescription without even as much as
glancing at the woman. When he had finished, he turned to her and
said: “There, that will do, take it to the pharmacy”. “But, doctor,”
protested the lady, “you never even looked at my tongue”. And the
doctor replied: “It wasn’t necessary. I just wanted you to keep quiet
while I wrote the prescription”.

Sometimes, we also need to keep quiet so as to allow God sort out the
issues of our lives. The quietness I am talking about goes beyond
refraining from making speeches. I am talking of a calmness of the
total being - mind and body. That, I believe is what God is demanding
from us when He ordered, "Be still, and know that I am God". God is
saying, "I work best for you, in you and through you when you are
quiet and calm". I believe that it will be of a great benefit to your
whole life if in the next couple of days, you would make time to spend
some real quiet moments before the Lord.

The other day, my wife and I went to see a woman in the hospital. She
was running a fever and she was very agitated. Her blood pressure was
over the top, giving her doctor much concern. She wanted me to pray
quickly and seriously because, according to her, she was sensing death
all around her. By this time, the doctor, himself a believer, was
getting afraid and advised I should minister deliverance to her. But I
turned to the woman, spoke the word of God to her and insisted that
she must calm down and keep quiet. By the help of God, I was able to
keep her quiet while I did the talking, speaking faith into her. After
about a quarter of an hour, I asked the medics to recheck the blood
pressure and body temperature. We were all amazed at the
transformation - everything was back to normal. And please notice that
there was no prayer.

Isaiah 30:15 says that there is great strength in quietness - I
believe it because I have seen that strength on display. Even in some
battle situation, quietness could be the tool that would fetch you
victory, contrary to what some prayer warriors would have us think. In
Exodus 14:14, Moses told the children of Israel by the inspiration of
God that quietness is what will bring down the hand of the Lord
against their enemy and give them the much needed deliverance.

But I know that there is time for everything - "a time to keep
silence, and a time to speak" (Ecclesiastes 3:7b). Trusting the Lord
to help you discern what time you are in will be very crucial in this
matter.
~
Exercises.
1. What is your topic for today's message?
2. Did you learn any new thing? Please write it down in your journal.
3. What actions should you take and what would be your resolution and
prayer points?
~