Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to faithhopegodlove@aol.com In Christ, Mark
"Then the Lord said to Aaron, "You and your sons are not to drink wine or other fermented drink whenever you go into the Tent of Meeting, or you will die. This is a lasting ordinance for the generations to come. You must distinguish between the holy and the common, between the unclean and the clean, and you must teach the Israelites all the decrees the LORD has given them through Moses." Leviticus 10:8-11
I rarely write twice on a given subject but I have been convicted by the Holy Spirit since writing yesterday to share a secondary, and just as important, message about this matter of alcohol use and the effect it has on those who choose to partake in it.
The message is plain and clear: Alcohol is not an excuse for sinful behavior.
What do I mean by this? Here’s a few examples:
A married man or woman is out and away from their spouse. They decide to go to a bar or club and have some drinks. While at the bar or club, they meet someone and engage in what starts out as conversation…and then moves into a bit more. They end up having sex with one another and we have a classic case of adultery. When the alcohol wears off and the adulterous man or woman come to their senses, they seek for something to help them deal with the guilt of their actions. And so, they blame the alcohol as the cause.
If it were only that simple…
Here’s another scenario:
A man or woman decides to go out to a bar or club and have a few drinks. After they have had a few, someone gets rude and ignorant with them, suddenly raising their level of anger to the point where they get into a fight. They bloody the other person and they too get bloodied. When they go to work the next day, they are asked about what happened because their injuries are visibly evident. They tell the person they were in a fight which surprises the co-worker because they always saw the person as shy and withdrawn…peaceful and non-confrontational. They say they can’t believe that the person would fight. The fighting co-worker tells them they had a few too many drinks and this is what caused them to do it. It was all about the alcohol.
Again, it sounds easy enough but there’s much more to it than that. How many situations do you know that are like this? Has it happened to anyone you know? To you?
So what’s my main point here. Didn’t the alcohol really make these people do the things they did?
The answer is no. The alcohol didn’t create the sin. It released it.
You see, in both cases, the affair and the fight, the person committing the act didn’t just all of a sudden decide to have an affair or fight another. They had always had the thought within them. The adulterous man or woman constantly lusted after others of the opposite (and today sometimes the same) sex. The fighter had always wanted to just punch someone in the face, their rage churning inside them. In both, the evil desire lurked just under the surface wanting to get out but it was unable to. Satan was ready to act on the desire if it could just come out but he couldn’t because the sin never got released. Why? Because the Holy Spirit within each person always keep the evil, sinful desires in check. It’s what the world calls an inhibition.
Question: What sins lurk under your surface, yearning to be released?
Now we can get to alcohol and the role it plays. For under the influence of alcohol, we trade the fruit of the Spirit which includes self-control and instead decide to go for the fruit of the vine (alcohol). And when we decide to make that trade, we lose our inhibition and the evil desires within us gain their freedom…much to the delight of Satan. We lose control from this point on. Anything can happen and little of it will be good. The Lord is no longer in control. Satan is…and is ready to fulfill all your desires and your will. And forget about blaming the alcohol. It was you who allowed the sin to lurk under the surface, you who decided to trade the fruit of the Spirit for the fruit of the vine, you who are accountable to the Lord for your actions.
Friends, why is the Lord convicting me so hard on this matter? Because it is serious and so pertinent to our world today. Lives are being destroyed each and every day because of substance abuse. It is one of Satan’s chief instruments to destroy the people of God.
But, there is good news for us. We have a choice. We can choose not to fail and fall.
Here’s are the three key steps to stay on the right path and ensure we move closer to righteousness than sinfulness:
Treat the problem at hand. And the problem at hand is the evil desire within us. We all need to identify them and pray them away. The Lord is ready to take everything evil within you and replace it with holiness. Take away the sin and you take away the sinfulness.
Stay away from any substance that will trade away the fruit of the Spirit. The Lord requires that we always exercise self control and we surrender this when we come under the influence of anything artificial…anything that is not of the Lord.
Always stay connected to Jesus. Friends, we are to be Christians and the root of that word is Christ. How can we claim to be of Him when we act unlike Him? Jesus said, "Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." (Matthew 6:21) Where is your treasure? Is it found in the sinful desires that lurk under your surface? Is it found in alcohol or drugs? Or is it in Jesus…our Savior…the only truly perfect person to ever live…the only One who can bring us ever closer to perfection in righteousness and holiness? Won’t you recommit yourself today to make Him your one and only treasure now and forever more?
Please share this prayer with me:
Dear Lord,
Look deep within me…to the depths of my heart and mind and soul
Expose the sin within and take it from me, I pray
For all I yearn for is You…Your love…Your way…Your will…Your life
Yes, all I yearn for is You and Your Son Jesus who bore my sins, died and rose from the dead for me
Fill me with Your Holy Spirit Lord…fill me to the very top until I overflow
And help me grow ever stronger in your holy and righteous ways.
For it’s in Your precious, blessed name I pray. Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
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