RIDICULE: SCOFFING
By Basilea Schlink
How quickly we try to dispose of scoffing and ridicule as something funny and harmless. Yet we have to admit that ridicule is a sin, although this sin, in contrast to many others, even has a good appearance sometimes. At parties and other get-togethers ridicule can create a "humorous" atmosphere; it does not cost us anything; it makes people laugh and wins us friends.
But the spirit of ridicule (which is not to be mistaken for the divine gift of humor) is a spirit from the devil. That we can see when we think of how Jesus was crowned with the crown of thorns. Here hell was let loose; it raged against its Creator. Ridicule, which often hurts so deeply, stems from hell. And whatever comes from hell and is sown by us will make us reap the punishment of hell. So if we tend to ridicule much, we have to see clearly that it is a serious sin, which will bring us judgment. The second letter of Peter lists the "scoffer" as one of the types of antichristian men that will appear in the last times (2 Pet. 3:3)
The Holy Scriptures also tell us more about the wickedness of scoffing. "The scoffer is an abomination to men" (Prov. 24:9b) The first Psalm begins "Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked...nor sits in the seat of scoffers" (Ps. 1:1). In Proverbs 21:24 it is written, "Scoffer is the name of the proud, haughty man who acts with arrogant pride." Scoffing and ridicule have one root: pride.
Curses, insults and scorn coming out of the mouths of the proud is like poison from hell--just as blessing and humble love for one another is what makes heaven heaven. And whoever wants to enter heavenly glory has to be set free from this poison of ridicule at all costs.
So that we can see this sin and its cause more clearly, and fight against it better, we have to realize how wicked our pride is when it is at work in this sin.
Why did the adherents of the Pharisees ridicule Jesus? Because they rebelled against having the Son of God as their Lord. They lacked true power to fight against Him and so they fought with ridicule, mockery and abuse. Because they really did not have any way to attack the Holy One of God, they sought to humiliate Him with ridicule.
We do the same thing, when we envy certain people, are bitter towards them or when we hate them. We rebel against them by using cheap and dirty tactics, against which no one can defend himself. We heap ridicule upon them. Yes, only a small, spiteful remark, a small bit of irony about a third person can ruin his reputation. And we know that our reputation is often worth more to us than our lives. So we have to realize that we can almost kill a person through mockery, ridicule or irony.
One day we will find out how much damage we have caused. We will have to see the wounds that our ridicule brought others and the scars that they had to bear for life. Ridicule and scoffing are devilish and are the sign of the people inspired by Satan in the last times. If we persist in ridiculing others, we will fall into Satan's hands and judgment will catch up with us in the other world.
No matter what the cost, we must be set free from scoffing. But how? The first important thing to do is to let ourselves be shown, by the light of God, that these mean, underhanded and dirty tactics come from hell-even if the enemy seeks to make this sin seem harmless. Furthermore, it will help us if we meditate much upon Jesus, crowned with the crown of thorns. Then, instead of scoffing, we will be filled with deep shame over what we have done to the King of kings through ridicule. Whoever continues to live in this sin without hating it and fighting a battle of faith against it will join the ranks of the opponents of Jesus.
In every specific case we must ask for the Spirit of truth so that we can see why we react so quickly towards certain people with ironic remarks. Then we will see the evil root in our hearts; perhaps envy, jealousy or bitterness. Our irony is often the weapon of revenge, which we use maliciously, because we are too cowardly to tell the other person something to his face or to speak openly with him.
But listen to what Scripture says: "Repent!"-about our envy, our bitterness, or whatever the root might be, and the godly sorrow we ask for will drive us into the arms of Jesus. Jesus will rescue us from this sin, which binds us to Satan, for Jesus has come to "destroy the works of the devil" (1 John 3: 8) and to establish the kingdom of love where there will not be any ridicule or scoffing. Jesus is standing before us as the Lord crowned with the crown of thorns, as the Lamb of God. A lamb does not ridicule, but it is ridiculed. We have been redeemed to bear the image of the Lamb. As the followers of Jesus we should be prepared to be laden with ridicule, mockery and disgrace for His name's sake; for "a servant is not greater than his master" (John 13: 16). Then we will lose our desire to ridicule and, instead, we will learn how to bless our enemies.
Behind this sin is Satan and he is ready to fight.
Are we ready too? Then Jesus will be on our side and
He is always the Victor.
Monday, May 25, 2009
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Gluttony
GIVEN TO GLUTTONY!
By Pat Oliver
A housewife and mother from Leesburg, Florida, Pat Oliver and her husband, Marvin, are activemembers of Westside Baptist Church of Leesb
Food an idol? Stuffing myself a daily battle? Could these have been the confessions of a born-again, Spirit-baptized child of God? Yes,they could - for I was that child. However, it is from a vantage point of victory in Christ that I make these
confessions. Although I still fight the habit of eating too much (this is one of Webster's definitions of that rather ugly word - gluttony), and I am only now losing weight after tipping the scales at 220 pounds for eight years, I can confidently say that for people like me, Jesus is the one and only solution to this very prevalent problem of overeating.
There are many gadgets, pills and clubs advertised on the market today for the purpose of helping a person lose weight. Through these avenues many have been helped to shed the outward appearance of fat. However, all too often the real source of trouble for the compulsive eater is an inner- conflict which only Jesus Christ can solve. This is why many overweight people are continually dieting unsuccessfully, often regaining lost poundage and adding more on top of
it.
Some will identify with me when I say that I have been fat since childhood. Loneliness and the feeling of being unloved is a gnawing condition which becomes our daily companion. (Espically if we have been rejected by parents, siblings, or children). A coke and sandwich, a milkshake and ~hamburger, a candy bar - these are quick and easy substitutes for the love and acceptance we desire. At a certain point in our struggle to find satisfaction, we become dominated by our loneliness. When or how this spirit takes over, we may not be certain. We attempt to pacify this overpowering force by being everyone's pal - but we are no body's sweetheart. The boys won't ask us for dates - we ate no threat to popular
girls. We are a good friend big joker ... fun to be with all because we push ourselves to fit into the mold of the crowd. We make confessors when friends want to talk over their problems. We are reliable baby-sitters. And we provide really
great "therapy" for the elderly! Our romantic life turns into one big fantasy, as we have learned the art of pretending
at an early age.
Satan is glad to permit us this substitute, for he is that one who "walks about as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour" (I Peter 5:8). Through pretense and fantasy, he can lead us into masturbation and many other sex hang-ups which can linger for years and cause heart-breaking problems. If Satan cannot entice us into actually committing overt sins of immorality, stealing, lying, and such, he will see to it that we become so religious and pious that he destroys us with hypocrisy, the sin of the Pharisees which Jesus pointed out in Matthew 23:28: "Even though ye outwardly appear
righteous unto men, within you are full of hypocrisy and iniquity."
Moving into marriage and motherhood, the same problem of self-pity crops up with similar attempts to silence its gnawing. The devouring lion had built up a picture of marriage as one blissful state of unending joy and the husband as the perfect man. We come to hate ourselves, marriage, home and family - anything and everything that is not as we had
imagined it would be. Descriptions such as chief cook and bottle washer... just a housewife ... chauffeur and drudge, are self-applied. Usually looking and acting the part of the slave we so derogatively paint, a high percentage of us tend to be overweight.
So again begins the trips to the refrigerator or the local drug store ... again comes the frustration of not finding the feeling of love and approval so desperately missed in our childhood ... again comes acceptance of a cheap substitute for love ... and, again, we tranquilize our needs with food. Self....pity ....has become a permanent member of the inner household and soon it turns into a full-blown martyr complex. This monster can only be pacified with food and more fantasy. Our little self-manufactured world, centered around the television with its daytime "soap operas" and "late movies", pushes in and takes over. We return to shutting ourselves out from reality and embracing a never-satisfying substitute.
Food, as usual, fits every occasion for appeasement. Here in America where food is so abundant, it is very easy to become
single-minded - food ... Food ...FOOD! Soon it becomes another god - an idol which usurps the time, money and worship due the heavenly Father. The First Commandment, "Thou shalt have no other gods before me ... ", slowly but surely loses its meaning. Even a Christian who would never commit adultery, lie or steal, need only take one look at his bulging
waistline to get a glimpse of this truth.
When I met Jesus Christ, there came the knowledge that I had finally found the solution to my life-long problem. His initial work in me was to supernaturally deliver me from a demon of suicide, which had been pursuing me for years. Then He baptized me in His Holy Spirit and there began a beautiful healing process in my innermost being. It is still going on today. As I look back, I rejoice to see how He patiently loved me as I constantly walked in rebellion toward all that He
did. But He did not base His response on what I was doing, but heard the sincere cry which came straight from the heart. I yearned to serve Him, to be obedient, to love Him unreservedly. In all of my life I had never done this before. I wanted to trust and love Him completely enough to allow Him to point out all the stubbornness, all the rebellion and all the hatred that hindered me from being totally His obedient child. I wanted more than anything to yield myself to Him for His shaping and remolding.
From the moment I met Him, I began the cry, "Lord, what about the fat?" He showed me hate in my heart. Again I cried, "Lord, what about the fat?" He revealed in me jealousy toward a sister in Christ. I pleaded all the more, "Lord, what about the fat?" He brought home to me my fear of the dark. I continued to question, "Lord, the fat?" and He uncovered my cowardice about facing reality. I wanted the evidence of sin removed but the source left alone because
it was too painful to deal with. Finally, I came to say, "Lord, what else is there in me?", and in love He continued to cleanse me and show me these roots of sin.
One of the first scriptures the Lord gave me as a promise for the healing that was already taking place was II Timothy 1:7 - "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind." The fantasy and fears Satan had used to control me had made me very unsure of my sanity. Here God promised me the power of love and a
sound mind, the two things I needed. I claim it today! As the healings continued, the time came to start the obedience of
bringing my body into subjection. I realized the Holy Spirit should be in control of my body. I realized, too, that I was not just to eat when I felt hungry but to eat when I decided in my mind and spirit that I should eat. If the Holy Spirit led me to fast and go without food for three days, my body did not like it. It cried out to be fed with grumblings from my stomach, accompanied at times with headaches and dizziness. But my body needed to be told when to eat. By the third day, the signs of rebellion in my body were gone and physically, I felt better than ever before. The heaviness had dis-
appeared and I was more alert. I worshiped the Lord with songs of praise because I felt like it!
It was by fasting that the Lord first taught me what it would be like to be slender, free and happy in Him. I found that fasting was meant to be part of the Christian life. Jesus said, "Moreover, when ye fast ... (Matthew 6:16). He did not say," ... if ye fast." I discovered that not only did fasting help move me into a deeper relationship with Him, but it
was also part of the process that was cleaning out the old "me". Bringing our bodies into subjection by fasting is
the first principle we need to learn before dieting. Once our bodies are under control, then we can will ourselves
not to eat that chocolate cake for dessert and not to eat between meals. Our bodies have come to understand
the meaning of obedience.
The scriptures speak strongly about gluttony. In Leviticus, the book of God's Law, chapter 26 tells us about the blessings promised for obedience and the curses for disobedience. Listen to verse 26 as it tells about the curse: "And when I have broken the staff of your bread, ten women shall bake your bread in one oven and they shall deliver you your bread again by weight and ye shall eat and not be satisfied. "
Micah 6: 14 says essentially the same thing, speaking to a rebellious people: "Thou shalt eat and not be satisfied."
If we have been cleansed by the blood of Jesus Christ by accepting His death on the cross, He is the atonement for
our sins ... healing for our diseases ... deliverance from our bondage. Then, walking in obedience, we can claim the promise of blessing in Psalm 22:26: "The meek shall eat and be satisfied. "
Additional strong words are found in Proverbs 23: I and 23. "When thou sittest to eat with a ruler, consider diligently
what is before thee: and put a knife to thy throat, if thou be a man given to appetite." "For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty... " We will be drowsy and our lives turned to rags. Our deliverance from gluttony was bought and paid for on Calvary by our Lord Jesus Christ. This is a very high price for us to take lightly. Paul says in II Corinthians 6: 19, "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 ... " Even though we may not realize it, every time we over-eat we sin against the temple of the Holy Spirit. As Christians, the stewardship of our bodies is a part of our witness to a lost world.
That lonely and unloved child, now grown to womanhood, is being healed and her problems and sins will not be inherited by her children. My daughter and son will not have the feelings of insecurity which I suffered. The healing work of Jesus is operating in their young lives the same way it is in mine.
Ezra, in his day, spoke these words: "The hand of our God is upon all them for good that seek him." (Ezra 8:22). The hand of our God is upon us and the Spirit of God is in us, so we claim our deliverance from any sin of excess~ in the Name of Jesus Christ! As He brings us into the blessings of health and wholeness through our obedience, then not only we, but our families and friends, will reap the rewards of another victory in Christ.
In moving our homes into scriptural order, vie find new freedom and joy in His perfect plan: God, the Father; Jesus Christ in submission to His Father; the husband, as head of the home, in submission to Jesus Christ; the wife in submission to her head, her husband; the children in submission to the Father first, then to their earthly father, and finally to the delegated authority of the mother. Each moves in submission to the authority set over him.
As a wife, my head would be held accountable for my continuing to live in the sin of gluttony. I never want to do anything' that will be held against my husband. Therefore, I will bring my body into submission, not only for
my own sake - but for my husband and for the Lord. Jesus Christ loved us and died for us that we might be freed
from the domination of earthly demands. Gluttony is sin. But Jesus Christ keeps on giving us the victory.
In this we rejoice!
By Pat Oliver
A housewife and mother from Leesburg, Florida, Pat Oliver and her husband, Marvin, are activemembers of Westside Baptist Church of Leesb
Food an idol? Stuffing myself a daily battle? Could these have been the confessions of a born-again, Spirit-baptized child of God? Yes,they could - for I was that child. However, it is from a vantage point of victory in Christ that I make these
confessions. Although I still fight the habit of eating too much (this is one of Webster's definitions of that rather ugly word - gluttony), and I am only now losing weight after tipping the scales at 220 pounds for eight years, I can confidently say that for people like me, Jesus is the one and only solution to this very prevalent problem of overeating.
There are many gadgets, pills and clubs advertised on the market today for the purpose of helping a person lose weight. Through these avenues many have been helped to shed the outward appearance of fat. However, all too often the real source of trouble for the compulsive eater is an inner- conflict which only Jesus Christ can solve. This is why many overweight people are continually dieting unsuccessfully, often regaining lost poundage and adding more on top of
it.
Some will identify with me when I say that I have been fat since childhood. Loneliness and the feeling of being unloved is a gnawing condition which becomes our daily companion. (Espically if we have been rejected by parents, siblings, or children). A coke and sandwich, a milkshake and ~hamburger, a candy bar - these are quick and easy substitutes for the love and acceptance we desire. At a certain point in our struggle to find satisfaction, we become dominated by our loneliness. When or how this spirit takes over, we may not be certain. We attempt to pacify this overpowering force by being everyone's pal - but we are no body's sweetheart. The boys won't ask us for dates - we ate no threat to popular
girls. We are a good friend big joker ... fun to be with all because we push ourselves to fit into the mold of the crowd. We make confessors when friends want to talk over their problems. We are reliable baby-sitters. And we provide really
great "therapy" for the elderly! Our romantic life turns into one big fantasy, as we have learned the art of pretending
at an early age.
Satan is glad to permit us this substitute, for he is that one who "walks about as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour" (I Peter 5:8). Through pretense and fantasy, he can lead us into masturbation and many other sex hang-ups which can linger for years and cause heart-breaking problems. If Satan cannot entice us into actually committing overt sins of immorality, stealing, lying, and such, he will see to it that we become so religious and pious that he destroys us with hypocrisy, the sin of the Pharisees which Jesus pointed out in Matthew 23:28: "Even though ye outwardly appear
righteous unto men, within you are full of hypocrisy and iniquity."
Moving into marriage and motherhood, the same problem of self-pity crops up with similar attempts to silence its gnawing. The devouring lion had built up a picture of marriage as one blissful state of unending joy and the husband as the perfect man. We come to hate ourselves, marriage, home and family - anything and everything that is not as we had
imagined it would be. Descriptions such as chief cook and bottle washer... just a housewife ... chauffeur and drudge, are self-applied. Usually looking and acting the part of the slave we so derogatively paint, a high percentage of us tend to be overweight.
So again begins the trips to the refrigerator or the local drug store ... again comes the frustration of not finding the feeling of love and approval so desperately missed in our childhood ... again comes acceptance of a cheap substitute for love ... and, again, we tranquilize our needs with food. Self....pity ....has become a permanent member of the inner household and soon it turns into a full-blown martyr complex. This monster can only be pacified with food and more fantasy. Our little self-manufactured world, centered around the television with its daytime "soap operas" and "late movies", pushes in and takes over. We return to shutting ourselves out from reality and embracing a never-satisfying substitute.
Food, as usual, fits every occasion for appeasement. Here in America where food is so abundant, it is very easy to become
single-minded - food ... Food ...FOOD! Soon it becomes another god - an idol which usurps the time, money and worship due the heavenly Father. The First Commandment, "Thou shalt have no other gods before me ... ", slowly but surely loses its meaning. Even a Christian who would never commit adultery, lie or steal, need only take one look at his bulging
waistline to get a glimpse of this truth.
When I met Jesus Christ, there came the knowledge that I had finally found the solution to my life-long problem. His initial work in me was to supernaturally deliver me from a demon of suicide, which had been pursuing me for years. Then He baptized me in His Holy Spirit and there began a beautiful healing process in my innermost being. It is still going on today. As I look back, I rejoice to see how He patiently loved me as I constantly walked in rebellion toward all that He
did. But He did not base His response on what I was doing, but heard the sincere cry which came straight from the heart. I yearned to serve Him, to be obedient, to love Him unreservedly. In all of my life I had never done this before. I wanted to trust and love Him completely enough to allow Him to point out all the stubbornness, all the rebellion and all the hatred that hindered me from being totally His obedient child. I wanted more than anything to yield myself to Him for His shaping and remolding.
From the moment I met Him, I began the cry, "Lord, what about the fat?" He showed me hate in my heart. Again I cried, "Lord, what about the fat?" He revealed in me jealousy toward a sister in Christ. I pleaded all the more, "Lord, what about the fat?" He brought home to me my fear of the dark. I continued to question, "Lord, the fat?" and He uncovered my cowardice about facing reality. I wanted the evidence of sin removed but the source left alone because
it was too painful to deal with. Finally, I came to say, "Lord, what else is there in me?", and in love He continued to cleanse me and show me these roots of sin.
One of the first scriptures the Lord gave me as a promise for the healing that was already taking place was II Timothy 1:7 - "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind." The fantasy and fears Satan had used to control me had made me very unsure of my sanity. Here God promised me the power of love and a
sound mind, the two things I needed. I claim it today! As the healings continued, the time came to start the obedience of
bringing my body into subjection. I realized the Holy Spirit should be in control of my body. I realized, too, that I was not just to eat when I felt hungry but to eat when I decided in my mind and spirit that I should eat. If the Holy Spirit led me to fast and go without food for three days, my body did not like it. It cried out to be fed with grumblings from my stomach, accompanied at times with headaches and dizziness. But my body needed to be told when to eat. By the third day, the signs of rebellion in my body were gone and physically, I felt better than ever before. The heaviness had dis-
appeared and I was more alert. I worshiped the Lord with songs of praise because I felt like it!
It was by fasting that the Lord first taught me what it would be like to be slender, free and happy in Him. I found that fasting was meant to be part of the Christian life. Jesus said, "Moreover, when ye fast ... (Matthew 6:16). He did not say," ... if ye fast." I discovered that not only did fasting help move me into a deeper relationship with Him, but it
was also part of the process that was cleaning out the old "me". Bringing our bodies into subjection by fasting is
the first principle we need to learn before dieting. Once our bodies are under control, then we can will ourselves
not to eat that chocolate cake for dessert and not to eat between meals. Our bodies have come to understand
the meaning of obedience.
The scriptures speak strongly about gluttony. In Leviticus, the book of God's Law, chapter 26 tells us about the blessings promised for obedience and the curses for disobedience. Listen to verse 26 as it tells about the curse: "And when I have broken the staff of your bread, ten women shall bake your bread in one oven and they shall deliver you your bread again by weight and ye shall eat and not be satisfied. "
Micah 6: 14 says essentially the same thing, speaking to a rebellious people: "Thou shalt eat and not be satisfied."
If we have been cleansed by the blood of Jesus Christ by accepting His death on the cross, He is the atonement for
our sins ... healing for our diseases ... deliverance from our bondage. Then, walking in obedience, we can claim the promise of blessing in Psalm 22:26: "The meek shall eat and be satisfied. "
Additional strong words are found in Proverbs 23: I and 23. "When thou sittest to eat with a ruler, consider diligently
what is before thee: and put a knife to thy throat, if thou be a man given to appetite." "For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty... " We will be drowsy and our lives turned to rags. Our deliverance from gluttony was bought and paid for on Calvary by our Lord Jesus Christ. This is a very high price for us to take lightly. Paul says in II Corinthians 6: 19, "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 ... " Even though we may not realize it, every time we over-eat we sin against the temple of the Holy Spirit. As Christians, the stewardship of our bodies is a part of our witness to a lost world.
That lonely and unloved child, now grown to womanhood, is being healed and her problems and sins will not be inherited by her children. My daughter and son will not have the feelings of insecurity which I suffered. The healing work of Jesus is operating in their young lives the same way it is in mine.
Ezra, in his day, spoke these words: "The hand of our God is upon all them for good that seek him." (Ezra 8:22). The hand of our God is upon us and the Spirit of God is in us, so we claim our deliverance from any sin of excess~ in the Name of Jesus Christ! As He brings us into the blessings of health and wholeness through our obedience, then not only we, but our families and friends, will reap the rewards of another victory in Christ.
In moving our homes into scriptural order, vie find new freedom and joy in His perfect plan: God, the Father; Jesus Christ in submission to His Father; the husband, as head of the home, in submission to Jesus Christ; the wife in submission to her head, her husband; the children in submission to the Father first, then to their earthly father, and finally to the delegated authority of the mother. Each moves in submission to the authority set over him.
As a wife, my head would be held accountable for my continuing to live in the sin of gluttony. I never want to do anything' that will be held against my husband. Therefore, I will bring my body into submission, not only for
my own sake - but for my husband and for the Lord. Jesus Christ loved us and died for us that we might be freed
from the domination of earthly demands. Gluttony is sin. But Jesus Christ keeps on giving us the victory.
In this we rejoice!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)