ROMANS 6:19; "I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness."
Whenever I see folks posting an overabundance of gratuitous pictures of themselves online on a regular basis which are sometimes meant to be seductive & sexy I know there is a battle for self-esteem and affirmation going on within them because they are looking for compliments. It's even among church leaders, and it is the sin of ungodly pride. Are you trying to make folks desire you? Are you trying to be holy or sexy? What does "God being awesome" as a caption have to do with a picture of your face or you in a sexy pose? It's also very disappointing to see the many ministers of the gospel who get and show off their new tattoos and piercings as if the have some special grace to mutilate or disfigure their body "after they are saved". What kind of mess is that?! All this time you have been saved and now you decide you need tattoos and ungodly piercings on your body contrary to the written Word of God? LEVITICUS 19:28; "Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor print any marks upon you: I am the LORD." Are you having a mid-life spiritual crisis? Were you aware that you are actually considered as a renter of your own body now that you have received the Holy Ghost and God actually lives in you? The scriptures say in 1st CORINTHIANS 6:19-20; "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? 20) For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's." When you desecrate and deface someone else's property it's called "vandalism", which is a crime. Why are you vandalizing God's temple, which is your body? Repent, and don't do it any more nor try to justify it. God will forgive you.
2nd CORINTHIANS 7:1; "Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God."
I know there are some who will say in their theological ignorance that the tattoo law was for the Old Testament and we're under grace now. Listen, don't use grace as an excuse to sin. The scriptures also say in ROMANS 6:1-2; "What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? 2) God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?" I don't care how you try to package it up sin is still sin even with a bow and flowers on it. That law concerns your personal conduct and consecration unto God and hasn't changed. It also shows the ownership of God over your life by your submission. If you don't belong to the LORD then who's are you really? There's only one other person that can be which is Satan aka the Devil. This is one of the reasons this present generation is so messed up because they have messed up examples even among the leaders in the Church as to what holiness is. They keep seeing compromise with no continuation to tow the line and keep the standard for God from those who are perceived as "pillars of the faith". I understand better why the LORD said in HOSEA 7:8; "Ephraim, he hath mixed himself among the people; Ephraim is a cake not turned." They give the appearance of being done on one side but are "half-baked" on the other. We have way too many "half-baked" preachers and gospel recording artist who have mixed in with the world and are mixing people up like "Pied Pipers of Babylon" (shout out to JW for that awesome sermon from GOD). Just as soon as we get people turned in the right direction these half-baked preachers turn them right back by following after what the Lord just delivered the folks from. I can't count how many times I've had gang-bangers, prostitutes, drug addicts, drug dealers, and convicts tell me how they know something is wrong with certain preachers or churches based on the presentation of that ministry they observed. Real recognizes fake. One told me, "Why change if the minister looks and acts like me?"
EPHESIANS 4:24; "And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness."
Men; if you are wearing earrings in your ears like a woman do you really think that is the picture of masculinity that the Lord God approves of? Seriously?! Is following your feelings and ideas about what is trendy or fashionable worth rebelling against God? Furthermore it pertains to a woman of which things we are told not to wear that which pertains to the opposite sex in DEUTERONOMY 22:5; "The woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man, neither shall a man put on a woman's garment: for all that do so are abomination unto the LORD thy God." This actually has to do with your total appearance which includes jewelry. The Lord God calls it an "abomination" which means he hates it so much that it makes him want to throw up. This also happens to be the same thing he calls homosexuality and idolatry which means they are all in the same class of sin to GOD because they represent the utmost in high treason and rebellion against him. God wasn't swayed by the cultures but rather he always steered his people away from the trap of the cultures. When you give your life to God you become a part of the "Kingdom of God" culture over your ancestral or native culture. You don't take a job, join the military or some other organization and tell them that you are going to do things your way against their rules because you'll be put out for that type of foolishness. Furthermore, historically in the modern age earrings in men were worn by pirates, slaves, and homosexuals so which one are you trying to be? Tattoos, brandings, and piercings were done to show allegiance and ownership to tribal (demon) gods and to try and channel the spirits of the dead such as in the practice of ancestor worship. Body markings create marks of ownership for demons which serve as gateways for demonic influence and eventually possession. This is why some folks act crazy or can't control certain behaviors. You diminish the power of God in your life and your resistance to Satan as well as the carnality of your own flesh. It's the same thing with wearing pants or shorts in the popular "saggin" style. That comes from prison and was done by gay men to let other men know they were available for sex and to give them easy access. Our culture has been bombarded by these Satanic influences to feminize men; especially black men through the Hip-Hop culture. There are a lot of butch women too who are just as bad and detestable in the sight of Almighty God. Culture can't drive the Church or it becomes a carnal church and not a godly church, but the Church must drive the culture to make the world less carnal and more godly.
1st THESSALONIANS 4:7; "For God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness."
Folks come out of the world to the Lord Yeshua because they no longer want the lifestyle they are trying to get out of. They come into church and see the same stuff so they often leave and go to Islam, some other religion, or nowhere at all. Why detox off of "crack" if the treatment is "weed"?! That's what is being presented in many of our churches and how the world is looking at us. Most folks on crack started out first smoking weed so where do you think they are going to end up? Right back in the world because so much of the world is already in the church. They see the church offering very little incentive to change because it often seems the same from where they already are. Don't be "half-baked" but tow the line for Yeshua. Holiness is still right and without it as your lifestyle you won't make it to heaven to see God in peace but in judgment for your sins which will cause you to be eternally condemned to the lake of fire. HEBREWS 12:14; "Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord". There is a popular song sung in many churches today that says, "I am a friend of God, he calls me friend." I wonder if God sings that about you? From the looks of things I doubt that tune is on his playlist and the sentiment is not the same for GOD towards many of us. The true gospel and the LORD just ain't that "friendly" when it comes to the world.
JAMES 4:4; "Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God."
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