As I sat across from an eighteen year old young woman, I asked the question “why don’t you want to be Saved?”
She responded. “I want to curse. I want to fornicate. I am a liar and I talk bad about people. I do not want to be a hypocrite. ” I want to do what I want to do without feeling bad about what I do.” I appreciated her honesty. However, I replied, “You know you just rejected God. “If you should die right now, you know that you will go to hell. Are you telling me you would rather go to hell then to received salvation?”
She responded. “I guess I just go to hell.”
I asked her to think about her salvation. I hugged her and told her that I will love her no matter what. However, I had to release her, but I pray that God will not let her rest in her sins and that she will repent and receive salvation. I had a wonderful summer plan for her before she went to college. However, she has chosen the ride down the road to sin. She wants to enjoy the ride of sin than the road of salvation.
I reared her, off and on, from the age of three to eleven years old. Her mother was 17 years old when she first became a member of The Safe Program that I founded and directed in 1995 through 2001. As I remember her childhood, I remember her mother’s behavior. This eighteen year old is now displaying most of her mother’s sins. Even though her mother is in her late thirties, married, and a Christian, she still lies, backbites, curses, and gossip. I have repeatedly told her to change her behavior. She is a faithful member of her church. Her daughter is displaying the same sins as her mother. The sins were never broken, for her mother continues to do the same sins. This is an example of a generational curse. The curse is the consequence of the sins.
Many Christians who are actively involved in various roles of the church PRACTICES sins, such as, fornication, adultery, shacking-up, homosexuality, lying, stealing, gossiping, backbiting, pride, and arrogance., and many Christians are unkind and selfish. They are good at putting on the “face.”
Most often, Christians forget that Jesus, by the Blood of reconciliation that govern our lives, is Lord over and within our lives. We gave God permission to rein within our bodies which becomes God’s temple. We should treat our temples with the highest reverence because God is now living within us. However, many only focus on the appearance of the temple but not the depth.
God want us to have depth – becoming one with him, which is His Word. 1st Corinthians 6:17 “But whoever is united with the Lord is one with him in spirit” (NIV). St. John 17:21-23 says “That they all may be one; as thou, Father, are in me, and I in thee, that they also be one in us…”(NIV) We are becoming one with God each time that we obey God’s word. God says in St. John 14:23 “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching…, and St. John 14:15 says “if you love me, keep my commandments.” God is saying that only those who obey my Word (teachings) and commandments are those who love me.
The Holy Spirit is each Christian Comforter. The Holy Spirits is within us to help us to grow, teaching us, helping to guide us, strengthening us during our trials and tribulations, and chastening us. The Holy Spirit literally convicts our hearts when we want or have sinned.
You will know that you are Saved (received salvation) when you have sinned and the Holy Spirits convicts your heart. If you do not feel convicted when you have sinned and or have hurt another person, then you should question your salvation. You should feel convicted by the Holy Spirit each time you practice sin and or hurt another person and do not repent to the person and to God.
The Holy Spirit convicts our hearts, so we may repent – turning completely away and staying away from those sins and people that will keep us bound. Practicing sin keeps us from receiving the blessing of promises that God has already purpose for those who love him by obeying his word (1st Corinthians 2:9).
When a confessed Christian purposely practices sin then he or she does not love God as they admit. (When Christians are obeying God’s Word, we are telling and showing God just how much we love and appreciate Him.)The sin acts becomes more important than that Christian’s love for God. The sin act then becomes his or hers god, for the sin rules the Christian’s life and not the Lord our Savior. The Christian who practices sins is literally showing God that they love the sin more than they love God. God says both in Isaiah: 29:13 and Matthew: 15:8-9 “These people say they are mine. They honor me with their lips but their hearts are far from me.”
Practicing sins open the door for Satan to become ruler over one’s life that will “open” other sins to enter and ruled too. The consequences of practicing sins become chains to our flesh that bounds us up and forever keep us “broken.”
If a confessed Christian that practices sins continues to ignore the Holy Spirit’s conviction, then God says he will turn them over to a reprobate mind. In Romans 1:28 “Since they though it foolish to acknowledge God, he abandoned them to their foolish thinking and let them do things that should never be done.” (NLT) Otherwise, “go ahead and DO YOU. I will release you and let you go to hell since this is what you have chosen to do.”
Now, I understand how it is to get “caught-up” in fornication being a single Christian virtuous voluptuous woman. I remembered when I had fallen short in fornication. (Fornication is an unsanctified penetration of the Holy Spirit.) I wanted to be love by this Christian man and I wanted to feel his love for me, so I thought by committing fornication with him, he would love me as I did him, although my love for him was more unconditional than physical.
Before, I fell short in fornication; I use to say what “I will never do.” It is very easy to say such things when one stay away from those sins that will tempt a person. However, there are no excuses. The Holy Spirit will not let me rest in my sins. I felt so convicted after committing the fornicating acts. I was literally torn each time that I fornicated. The sin “ride” was enjoyable for only that moment. The sin left me “broken” feeling unloved and not receiving the love I wanted from this Christian man. The relationship became “broken.” I was left feeling degraded and disrespected.
I truly repented for allowing my thoughts and flesh to break my fellowship and relationship with God. The good thing that came out of my sin, is that, God shown me that I was his. God love me so much that the Holy Spirit convicted me, for “God chastens those who he loves” (Hebrews 12:6). I am in God and He is within me.
Sin when practice, breaks our fellowship and relationship with our Lord and Savior. Remember that God does not hear a sinner’s prayer as stated in St. John 9:31 “We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the godly person who does his will” – obeying God’s Word. When Christians practices sin, God does not hear them, for God is Holy.
The eighteen year old who does not want salvation, because she wants to do what she wants to do, without having a conscience, and she does not want the Holy Spirit to convict her; the Christians who practices sins and does not obey God’s word – all enjoy the ride for only a moment. The moments of the ride are done – over with, the consequences of those sins are the brokenness of fail relationships, unforgiveness, and damnation. The Christian who practices sin is still left feeling empty. He or she continues to practice the same sins. This time is with a different person and or source.
Those of you who get “caught up” in your practice sins; there is a way of escape. God promises in 1st Corinthians 10:13:
“No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted; he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.” (NIV)
1st John 1:9 “if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”(NIV)
Therefore, I will ask you again.
Are you enjoying the ride?