HAPPY EVER AFTER?

In the film “Die another day” James Bond met Jinx a lady secret agent from a friendly country at a South American beach. After an exchange of few pleasantries, they went ahead to have fun and make love. According to the film, they were happy ever after. To them it was nothing serious, just fun.

This is the 21^st century culture that is being offered to us in our streets, schools, work place and the media. "What's the big deal; everybody is doing it", is a familiar response from many. Waiting for sex in a marriage relationship to some has become old fashion and obsolete. To them sexual involvement before marriage is irresistible and it is impossible for anyone who is sexually healthy to practice abstinence and wait for sex in marriage. Is this the truth or have we been deceived by Satan?

How a product is supposed to function for excellent result ought to be best known by the manufacturer. This is why user’s manual written by manufacturers always accompany genuine products. You are God’s product. The bible says “…God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.” (Gen 1:27 KJV). God created us in His own image and He has given us a manual to help us function for excellent result. That manual is the word of God, the bible.  God designed all the organs in your body to function the way they do. He gave you ability to experience sexual pleasure. 

He knows what will either profit or destroy you and His user’s manual says “You shall not commit adultery.” (Exo 20:14 NIV). The commandment concerning adultery also covers all forms of sexual immorality. Apostle Paul echoed it in his epistle to the Thessalonian church when he wrote "It is God's will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality" (1Thess 4:3 NIV).  If you are involved in any sexual relationship outside marriage, you are breaking God’s law. You cannot break the law of God and live happy ever after in God's world? What James Bond movies teach about premarital sex is a lie.

 The bible says “Can a man scoop fire into his lap without his clothes being burned? “Can a man walk on hot coals without his feet being scorched? So is he who sleeps with another man's wife; no one who touches her will go unpunished…But a man who commits adultery lacks judgment; whoever does so destroys himself.” (Pro 6:27-29, 32 NIV). There is no free boy or girl, woman or man. Sexual immorality always involves another person’s wife or husband in waiting. God’s promise is that adulterers and fornicators are already destroying themselves without knowing. They are like a house that is burning but the residents are yet to discover it. By the time the flames become visible, it has become too late to quench the fire. 

The bible warns, “Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body.” (1Co 6:18 NIV). Some people argue that they are faithful to one partner and are planning to marry him/her in future. To this the bible replies “They are simply laying a faulty foundation for their marriage. The bible warns “When the foundations are being destroyed, what can the righteous do?" (Psa 11:3 NIV) When the consequences of faulty foundations begin to manifest even the prayers of the righteous will be powerless to help until the faulty foundations are corrected.

Many have not heeded this warning and have plunged themselves into avoidable calamities. Such calamities include physical consequences such as HIV/AIDS, other STDs and unwanted pregnancies. Psychological consequences include disturbed intimacy when they eventually marry and loss of self worth. Spiritual consequences include soul ties, transfer of demons and eternal separation from God. If you have been involved in this sin, God is giving you the opportunity to quench the fires in your life today through true repentance before it becomes too late.

God has a purpose for our sexuality. Our sexuality is a gift from God for sexual fulfillment within a marriage relationship. God designed it to create the right kind of oneness between a man and his wife. It is also meant for procreation. Those who have ignored God’s purpose have only succeeded in abusing themselves sexually. Abusive sexual activities include premarital sex, homosexuality, pornography, masturbation etc. The bible warns “But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars--their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death." (Rev 21:8 NIV).

Do not be deceived by the advertisement to protect your self by wearing a condom. Wearing condoms will not stop you from sinning against God and your body, and it will certainly not protect you against the demons waiting to devour you. Do not allow yourself to believe the lie that you cannot be self controlled and wait for sex in marriage. Animals function by instinct but you are not an animal.  You are a rational being created in the image of God. This image has been defaced by sin but when you repent of your sins and give your heart to Jesus, you receive a new life and the image of God is restored with power.   The bible says “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come.” (2Co 5:17 NIV) This new life comes with a new power for self discipline. The bible says “For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.” (2Ti 1:7 NIV)

You can receive forgiveness now. The bible says “In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent. For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising him from the dead.” (Act 17:30-31). God want you to repent and receive forgiveness because Jesus has already purchased it for you. True repentance involves a quality decision to stop all acts of sexual immorality, believe in Him for power of self control and make Jesus the Lord of your life.

If you chose to repent now, God will accept you, transform and make you his child. Jesus will say to you what he said to Zaccheaus (the man in the bible who repented in a similar fashion), “Today salvation has come to this house.” (Luke 19:9) If you desire to pray the prayer of repentance, your prayer to God should acknowledge

-          Tell the Lord you are sorry and are repenting of your sin.

-          Tell Him that you are making Him the Lord of your life.

-          Thank Jesus for the forgiveness he purchased for you on the cross.

Written by Ifiok J. Ukobo

If you will like to help support the effort to bring back Biblical Worldview to our churches and communities, send a request to Project Coordinator, Lifebuilders Resource. Email: tralright@gmail.com

EXAMS FRAUD! Dealing with a faulty foundation

On the 4th of March 2010, a Swedish pilot was arrested at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport as he was about to fly 101 passengers on a Boeing 737 to Turkey. His offence was that he was using a fake commercial pilot license.

How would you like to be flown by this Pilot Or better still, how would you like a doctor that cheated in exams to pass or purchased a fake university certificate to handle a surgical operation on you, your parent, relatives or friend? Many people will shudder at these suggestions yet they engage in cheating and helping others to cheat in examinations. They are bringing a terrible curse on themselves without knowing.

What is the purpose of examinations? It is to find out who is ready with required knowledge and skills to handle specific types of responsibilities within the society. It means that those who are allowed to fly others in an airplane must be those that possess the required knowledge and skills to fly. The same goes for builders, doctors, architects, teachers etc. Examinations helps us to know who has acquired the right knowledge and skills to treat our brothers, build our bridges, make our drugs, judge our cases etc.

Every time you cheat in examinations or help another person to cheat, you are not only helping to defeat the purpose of examination, but you are also enthroning the culture of corruption in the government and general society. Abraham Lincoln said, “The principle of schooling in one generation will become the principle of leadership in the next generation”. This is bad enough yet there is something worse. When you cheat in exams, you are breaking the 8th commandment that says “You shall not steal” (Exo 20:15 NIV). Anyone who tries to make progress in life by breaking God’s law is actually laying a faulty foundation for his career and happiness. He has yielded the foundation of his future to the devil. The bible warns “Neither give place to the devil (Eph 4:27 KJV).

This warning is important because problems will arise in the future as a result of the faulty foundations that has been laid. Prayers from the most holy of men will not solve these problems. When the devil decides to make use of the grounds that have been yielded to him nothing less than a true repentance that comes with restitution will do. The bible warns again “If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?” (Psa 11:3 KJV).

If you say you are a Christian yet you cheat or help others to cheat in examinations, your salvation is in doubt. Jesus said “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. (Mat 7:21 KJV) He went ahead to teach how to differentiate between the fakes and the genuine. He said “…by their fruit you will recognize them”. (Mat 7:20 NIV) What type of fruit are you bearing?

You may argue, if I don’t do it others are doing it and are getting ahead of me. Are you saying that Jehovah Saboath cannot make room for you in this world without you cheating? Where is your faith? Are you having a form of godliness but denying the power of it? Jesus said “Everything is possible for him who believes.” (Mar 9:23 NIV). I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. (Phil 4:13)

Exam cheats give themselves and society a faulty foundation. They steal the rewards that rightly belong to those who have worked hard. They help create a system of reward that benefit the wicked and punish the righteous. They promote a culture of mediocrity. God’s word is unequivocal, “…you yourselves cheat and do wrong, and you do this to your brothers. Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God”. (1Co 6:8-10 NIV)

You may say that you did not know these things, if you are right; the time to repent in truth is now. The bible says “In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent. For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising him from the dead.” (Act 17:30-31).  True repentance involves a quality decision to stop all your involvement in examination cheating, confessing these sins to God and ask him for forgiveness and join like minded people to fight this scourge.
If you chose to repent now, God will accept you, transform and make you his child. Jesus will say to you what he said to Zaccheaus (the man in the bible who repented in a similar fashion), “Today salvation has come to this house.” (Luke 19:9) If you desire to pray the prayer of repentance, your prayer to God should acknowledge

That you have sinned (Confessed all the sins you can remember to God)
That you are turning away from your sin (tell God the kind of change you desire)
That you want God to forgive your sins. (Ask God to make you clean in his sight)
That you are submitting yourself to Jesus as your Lord and Saviour. (Offer yourself to God to serve him as your master and Lord)