Thursday, January 3, 2008

Protect Yourself

I Thessalonians 5:22 "Abstain from all appearance of evil."

There are many who say they are saved yet still go places they ought not go to. A person who is a child of God and goes to places that God would not condone what goes on at is not sending a good signal to the lost world.

For instance...a saved man who goes to a bar or a club has no business being there. God does not approve of the things that take place there. The man might say he was in there witnessing to people...but a person driving by that sees him coming out of that place doesn't know that. It appears as though he was in there drinking...dancing and fornicating. Those are the things that take place in bars and clubs.

The places we go will hurt our testimony. Where we go can also cause us to fall. When a person subjects themselves to that wicked environment time and time again...eventually they will end up partaking of those things.

II Corinthians 6:17 "Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,"

God desires and commands us to keep our hearts and minds (and bodies) clean and pure. I 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? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's." I Corinthians 10:31 "Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God."

If those things you are around and/or partaking of can be done to glorify God and honor Him...then by all means...continue to do them. If you can't say that they honor Him then don't you think you should abstain from them and the appearance of being involved in that activity? I think so!!

There is someone who is very dear to my heart that says he is saved. He goes to the clubs on the weekends. When he is asked about going there....he says he does go but he doesn't drink. Well...in my mind I question that. Why? Because I find it hard to believe that a person could go into those places and not drink or at least take part in some sort of activity that is not God-honoring. He gets upset when someone assumes he is drinking when he goes. My thing is this....if you don't want people to believe you are doing something wrong...then stay away from the places that wrong takes place in. When we are around those people who don't live right....or those places where wickedness takes place...then we are associated with them and we are yoked up with them in appearance. God tells us to "Abstain from all appearance of evil." I think that is pretty self-explanatory. What do you think?

Protect your testimony with where you go...the people you associate with...and the things you do. That also goes for things we watch on tv and the music we listen to. We need to be aware that our testimony is everything!! It says what we are and what we believe. So protect yourself and your testimony so others won't think something of you that is not so.

11 comments:

CindyMae said...

Protecting out Testimony is such an important thing to do. I know of so many people who do not do what they should do as a Christian. This always keeps them from having the relationship they shoudl have with out Lord!

Thanks for the New Year wishes! Sorry I have not been leaving many comments latley. I am always stopping by to read your post and they are always such a Blessing to me!!! God uses you in such an awesome way with your blog!

Love in Christ,
Cindy

Sis. Julie said...

sis. cindy....you are so right about it affecting their walk with the Lord. If they would only realize how much more damage it does than that.

I'm glad to know that you have still been coming by. And that you have been blessed by what you have read is more of a blessing to me.

Theresa's Notes said...

That Was Fantastic!!!

You know I had someone say to me before (to justify them self) that Jesus would go to a bar because that is where the sinners are,,, one, NO HE WOULD/DID NOT!!! and Two, that person was not going there to witness to any one.

Thanks for posting this, really! It gives me "fuel" for the next time I see that person.

Sis. Julie said...

sis. theresa...It makes me so mad when I hear someone justify the things they do that are wrong and not supported by Scripture. And for people to say that Jesus would be around that mess or even appear as though He would....that infuriates me even more. My Lord would not have allowed His testimony to be that He would go in or near those places.

Anonymous said...

Mrs Julie thanks for sharing and reminding us that we need to guard our testimony in everything we do. I mention Wed that if we lose our testimony what do we have. Good Post.

Bro TIm

Sis. Julie said...

bro. tim....we have nothing if we lose our testimony for the Lord. We have no power in our witness or in our everyday Christian lives. Our testimony is everything!! And I'm afraid I've damaged mine more times than I can count. Thank God for His mercy and His forgiveness and restoration.

Susannah said...

Absolutely agreed... 100%. A good word, Sis. Julie. I may post on this topic in the near future too. Thanks for your excellent thoughts.

Hugs, e-Mom

PS Happy New Year!!!

PPS Congratulations on your son's engagement. His wedding will be here SO soon. You've done a good job raising him, Mom. :~D

Sis. Julie said...

e-mom...thank you so much! It is by God's grace and His mercy that Ronnie has turned out as he has. The Lord knows I've made plenty of mistakes in raising him. But I'm so proud of the young man he has turned out to be.

Mimi said...

Hi Sis Julie,
I agree with you completely... sometimes we think that we can go wherever we like and associate with whom ever we like and not ruin our witness..."because we know that we are not doing anything wrong"... but it is how we are perceived...that makes our witness for Christ a strong witness for Christ..or a very weak witness for Christ...
thank you for this post... because we all need to be reminded at times... to beware of leaving an appearance of evil...
blessings to you...(I missed you all while my computer was down...and of course I was kind of under the weather for a little while myself)... but I am much better now, and so happy to be back in blog land...
{{Hugs}}
Mimi

Sis. Julie said...

sis. mimi...I'm so glad you are back!!

Jerry Bouey said...

Here is a good verse to add on that theme:

Proverbs 23:20 Be not among winebibbers; among riotous eaters of flesh:

If I am commanded not to be among winebibbers (ie. drunks), then that certainly would forbid me from going to bars and pubs!

VERY IMPORTANT!

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