Do Not Read This If. . . Part #1

Reason #1: If you are under the age of 12, you need at ask parental permission before you read on.

Reason #2: You you want to be able to enjoy the Hunger Games series, stop now.  (What I am about to share will most likely ruin your appetite for this literature and entertainment.)  However, if you desire to walk in full obedience to Christ and to honor Him in every area of your life, please continue reading.

     

    

1) Where is God?
     The worldview upon which this movie is built is known as secular humanism.  According to this website, secular humanism is the view that "all reality and life center around human beings... There is no place in the humanist worldview for either immorality or God."  The Hunger Games present this rejection of God through the adoption of evolutionary thinking and the rejection of absolute morality.
     With God no longer in the picture, all we are left with is evolutionary thinking.  The savage killing fields exhibit the concept of survival of the fittest as competitors mercilessly kill one another. The idea that all other fellow men are simply roadblocks standing in the way of survival plays out throughout the whole story.  Sadly, the movie dehumanizes life when according to www.pluggedin.com, “Gale advises Katniss to equate the people she'll be fighting with the animals she hunts."  Because of this godless perspective, the viewer is persuaded to unknowingly accept this view of humanity.  And where has this view left us?  Abortion?  Euthanasia?  Rioting and Looting?  
     Another consequence of removing God, is we are left with a moral vacuum.   Throughout the movies, Katniss struggles with right and wrong.  In her effort to quiet her conscience she comes up with her own moral standard, if it profits the greater good, than it's okay and justifiable.  This is what we call situational ethics which according to this article states that "decision making should be based upon the circumstance of a particular situation, and not upon fixed law."  But what does God's Word have to say about the issues listed below?

states that decision-making should be based upon the circumstances of a particular situation, and not upon fixed Law. - See more at: http://www.allaboutphilosophy.org/situational-ethics.htm#sthash.urCqRJMu.A0cTjSes.dpuf

There is no place in the Humanist worldview for either immortality or God in the valid meanings of those terms. - See more at: http://www.allaboutworldview.org/secular-worldview.htm#sthash.fdZTpsMu.dpuf

There is no place in the Humanist worldview for either immortality or God in the valid meanings of those terms. - See more at: http://www.allaboutworldview.org/secular-worldview.htm#sthash.fdZTpsMu.dpuf

There is no place in the Humanist worldview for either immortality or God in the valid meanings of those terms. - See more at: http://www.allaboutworldview.org/secular-worldview.htm#sthash.fdZTpsMu.dpuf

There is no place in the Humanist worldview for either immortality or God in the valid meanings of those terms. - See more at: http://www.allaboutworldview.org/secular-worldview.htm#sthash.fdZTpsMu.dpuf

There is no place in the Humanist worldview for either immortality or God in the valid meanings of those terms. - See more at: http://www.allaboutworldview.org/secular-worldview.htm#sthash.fdZTpsMu.dpuf

There is no place in the Humanist worldview for either immortality or God in the valid meanings of those terms. - See more at: http://www.allaboutworldview.org/secular-worldview.htm#sthash.fdZTpsMu.dpuf

 Lying:
In Catching Fire, Peeta tells the audience that Katniss is pregnant with their baby in an effort to get the games cancelled.  While the movie producers would like you to think that is it okay because telling this lying was an attempt to secure safety, God's word says otherwise. 

 "(Satan) is the father of lies"
John 8:44

"There are six things that the LORD hates, seven that are an abomination to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue..."
Proverbs 6:16-17

Murder:
"Cato lies on his side at the very top of the horn, twenty feet above the ground, gasping to catch his breath.... Now's my chance to finish him off.” (Katniss goes on to kill him.)
An excerpt from The Hunger Games book 

"There are six things that the LORD hates, seven that are an abomination to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood..."
Proverbs 6:16-17

"You shall not murder." (nice and simple)
Deuteronomy 5:17

Sexual Immorality:
A fellow tribute, Joanna, asks Peeta what if feels like now that "the whole world wants to sleep with you." Fed up with being dressed up for the cameras, she strips off her clothes in an elevator carrying Peeta, Katniss and Haymitch. (We see her bare back; our three heroes see much, much more, with Haymitch clearly enjoying the show.) 

~

"Katniss and Peeta share a passionate kiss on a beach..."

(Both excerpts from Plugged In)

"Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral... nor adulterers...will inherit the kingdom of God."
1 Corinthians 6:9-10

"God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous."
Hebrews 13:4

     So what lenses have you been using?  Have you allowed the humanistic worldview to train your thinking?  Through the agenda of the Hunger Games movies, has murder become necessary killing, lying become a tactic, and love and sex an opiate that should be used when life just seems overwhelming and hopeless?  I would strongly encourage you to prayerfully think through how this movie has impacted your thinking and write each point down. Then go to scripture and allow God's word and truth to guide you, not the foolishness of this world. Use the right lenses to get the correct view.

 

Accepting the Lesser of Two Evils

     Since when was the last time you heard people accepting, applauding or even falling in love with a murdering, deceptive, sensual, blasphemous,        character as the heroine?  The movie clearly paints a picture of two evils.  However, by glorifying the lesser of the two you are manipulated into accepting this evil.  But it doesn't change the fact that it is still evil.  Soon you start to accept the morality, behavior, and "justifiable sin" of the less evil.  But what is evil?  Listed below are definitions which will help bring some clarity.

• Causing harm or injury to someone

• Profoundly immoral and malevolent

     How do these definitions of evil and the verses listed below relate to Katniss and her friend's behavior throughout the movies?  Take a minute to stop, think, and evaluate the movie in light of these truths.   

It's Still Evil

"Do not devise evil in your hearts against one another, and love no false oath, 

for all these things I hate, declares the LORD.”

Zachariah 8:17

~

Pride and arrogance and the way of evil
and perverted speech I hate.”

Proverbs 8:13

What should be our response to this evil?

"The fear of the LORD is hatred of evil."

Proverbs 8 :13

 ~

“O you who love the Lord, hate what is evil”

Psalms 97:10

~

“I will set nothing wicked before my eyes;
I hate the work of those who fall away;
It shall not cling to me.

A perverse heart shall depart from me;
I will not know wickedness.”

Psalms 101:3

We are to hate what God hates, love what God loves and walk in the light of His Word. Honestly, if you are claiming to be a child of God, this movie should be appalling and repulsive.  It glorifies what God hates and hates what God glorifies.  So why are we accepting this?  Why do we love this evil?

"And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people 

loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil."

John 3:19 

                                            
Find Part  #2 By Clicking Here

Give Thanks: Verses to encourage your heart this week

"For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened." 

Romans 1:21
 

"Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him 

and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving."

Colossians 2:6-7

"Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; 

for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you."

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

"The one who offers thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies me;
to one who orders his way rightly I will show the salvation of God!” 

Psalms 50:23

"I will give to the LORD the thanks due to his righteousness,
and I will sing praise to the name of the LORD, the Most High."

Psalms 7:17

"I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart;
I will recount all of your wonderful deeds."

Psalms 9:1

"Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power 

and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.”

Revelation 7:12

Stewarding Biblical Beauty - Making it practical: Part 1 - The Beauty of the Heart

A quick overview

   Over the past several weeks I think we have all learned a lot about biblical beauty and what it is and what it is not.  It is my desire over the next two weeks to provide some practical suggestions for making biblical beauty a part of everyday life.  However, before we get started, I would like to take some time to quickly and concisely summarize key points that address the foundation of biblical beauty.

Biblical beauty...

•   first and foremost, is enthralled with the beauty of Christ which creates a desire to surrender to Him and to showcase His beauty.

•    #1 goal and desire is to draw the attention of others to Christ, not self. 

•   through the vision laid out in scripture, understands that the beauty of the heart is of far more value than any physical beauty we could ever posses.

•  also acknowledges that beauty is a gift that has great power to influence the lives of those who come in contact with it.  Through stewarding this God given beauty in a way that adorns the gospel of Christ, a young woman acts, dresses and lives with a set-apart elegance.

Making Biblical Beauty Practical

 Living with Christ-like elegance

day in and day out.

1. Prioritize Time Alone With Your Savior

     "I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, 

he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing."

     Just a quick heads up, biblical beauty is completely impossible without Jesus Christ.  At it's roots, biblical beauty isn't following a list of rules, it's about following Christ.  When we abide in our Savior it produces in us a desire to be obedient to Him in every area of our lives.  Beauty just happens to be one of those areas.  Not only must we have taken part of the great exchange known as salvation, but also every day there must be a continual dying to ourselves, pick up the cross and following Christ. This is only made possible when we are sacrificially seeking Him through His word and prayer.
     Whoever you expose yourself to will shape you.  Have you ever been around a person and noticed that you started acting like them? In the same way, when we fellowship with Christ we desire to imitate Him. Only when our eyes are on Christ can we walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, reflecting Him in our life.

     
2. Submit to Authority (with joy)

      Biblical beauty is marked by submission, first and foremost to Christ, and then to the authorities He has placed in your life. In Psalm 32:8, God makes a precious promise to His children when He says:

"I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;
I will counsel you with my eye upon you."

God promises to lead and to guide us that we may be protected from going the wrong way. We must submit to His leadership.  One of the many ways that marriage presents a picture of the gospel is in the way that a husband has authority over his wife.  He is to care for her and lead her and she is to submit to his leadership. 

"Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife 

even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior."

Ephesians 5:22-23

While you may not have that husband in your life right now, it is important to remember that once you are in Christ, He is known your Lord, Leader and Master.  As His daughters we are to seek, obey, and lay our lives at His feet to do with as He pleases.  We are not our own, we are the bride of Christ.

           If you continue on in Ephesians you will soon find another God-ordained authority that has been placed in our lives.

"Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.

Honor your father and mother..."

Ephesians 6:1-2 

      God has placed other people of authority in our lives to protect us, our parents being one of those.  When you are thinking about ways that you can develop biblical beauty in your life don't be afraid to ask your parents.  They can often offer helpful insights.  At the same time, it is important to remember that there are probably certain perimeters your parent's have set up when it comes to the areas of beauty, dress and makeup.  Honoring Christ involves honoring your parents and submitting their authority.  There is great beauty in a young woman who is submitting to the authorities in her life.   

 

3.  Accept the Unchangeable

     We have all looked in the mirror and thought, "I wish I didn't look like this. My nose is too round, my eyes would be prettier if they were blue, my hair is not like so-and-so's" and so on and so forth.  After comparing ourselves with other girls  who are 'so much more beautiful', we start to critique the girl we see in the mirror.  The problem arises when we become discontent with the way God has made us and we wish we could change the things that are simply unchangeable.

 But godliness with contentment is

  great gain...

1 Timothy 6:6

    

     Part of learning to accept the unchangeable is thanking God for the things we would like to change. God has created each one of us and it was His hands that formed us in the womb(Psalm 139).  He is the one who gave us beauty and we need to thank Him for it, even the things we would like to change.
      The other side of the coin is that many of us fear a lack of acceptance when it comes to beauty.  The thoughts of what will they think of me, nobody thinks I am beautiful and I will never measure up, all stem from a fear of rejection. So this begs the question, "Where are you finding your security and fulfillment?"   If your security comes from the acceptance of others than you have every reason to fear rejection, but if your security is in Christ, the one who redeemed you, bought you and will never let you go, than what do you have to fear?  Instead of spending your time worrying about rejection, rejoice in the fact that The King of kings has made you His own.  You are a daughter of The King!!! This is where our security should rest.
     And remember:

"For the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks on the 

outward appearance,  but the LORD looks on the heart.”

1 Samuel 16:7

     

4. How is your heart?

" Let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart..."

1 Peter 3:4

     I know that we have already talked about the beauty of the heart and it's importance as first and foremost in our lives but, I thought I would encourage you to do a little self examination.  When I was little, my mom would often use the analogy of our heart being like a cup.  When we get bumped, what comes out?  Does the sweetness of Christ exude from you life or is it tainted with selfishness, pride, anger, and harshness?  Maybe it is time to ask God to do some deep cleaning in our lives?  Currently, I have been praying that God would show me the areas of my life that are not conformed to Him and that He would replace the sin in my life with the sweetness of His righteousness.  What are some areas of your life that need to be surrendered to Him?  What sin is in your life that needs to be purged?  When the mirror of our hearts are smeared with sin it is hard to reflect the beauty, glory and joy of Christ.  May we allow Christ to purify us and may great glory be brought to Him!!!

Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin!

For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me...

Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew

 a right spirit within me.

 Psalm 51:2-3,10

White as Snow

"Come now, let us reason together, says the LORD:
though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson,
they shall become like wool."
                - Isaiah 1:18

The Beauty of Belonging to Another

After watching this video I was greatly encouraged and thought I would share it with all of you.  Through the message shared, may you be challenged to consider the root of true beauty, the beauty of belonging to another. 

Biblical Beauty: Beauty's Purpose and Conflicting Views

In the beginning....
     To understand the purpose of beauty we need to go back to the very beginning. Not just because that is a very good place to start, but also because in the opening chapter of Genesis we get a glimpse of God's original intent and design for beauty.

A Gift From God

     So God created man in his own image, in the image of God 

he created him; male and female he created them...And God saw 

everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. 

Genesis 1:27, 31

     While this might catch you by surprise, God created the world with beauty.   Believe it or not, physical beauty wasn't an idea that we came up with on our own but something that God created and something that after creating, He called 'good'.  It was pleasing to Him.  Physical beauty is a gift from God and it is a good thing, when stewarded properly. 

      One of the wonderful truths about beauty is that it is a characteristic that God has given unto man that reflects who He is!  Often times God called His people, Israel, beautiful. (Ezekiel 16, Isaiah 60:9) He adorned them as His chosen people. Their beauty was not something they had because of themselves but something God had made them to be. The purpose of this beauty was to make God look great, to bring the attention back to Himself.

       Because beauty is a gift, it is not something that we should be proud of or flaunt.  Although God adorned Israel with great beauty, this blessing got to their heads. In Ezekiel 28:17 we see that: "Your heart was proud because of your beauty."  For this reason, Israel forsook God and prostituted themselves to other gods.  When we become proud of our beauty and turn it into a tool to be used, instead of a gift to be enjoyed, we run the risk of prostituting ourselves to this world.

      However, physical beauty is not a bad thing.  Our sin often takes the good gifts that God has given us and distorts them for our own, fleshly purposes.  However, as the blood bought daughters of Christ, we do not have to submit ourselves to the world's pattern which takes beauty and drags it through the filth pools of sensuality and seductive flirtation.  Through God's enabling grace and strength we have the ability to take the gift of beauty and steward it in a way that adorns the gospel and brings glory and honor to Christ.  That is why we need to understand the purpose of beauty.

Beauty's Purpose

            My dad likes to tease that when Adam first saw Eve, his mouth dropped open he and exclaimed, "Whoa Man!" therefore explaining how we got the term, woman.  Now while this might not have been the case, I do think his little joke illustrates an important point. Beauty provides attraction.  While God made both man and woman, He made them differently. Each has a different role and each have different desires. God has created men to visually desire beauty and woman to be beautiful. Each one needs the other.

     If you peak into the book of Song of Solomon you will quickly find that beauty is pasted all over the book!  It occurs 15 times in eight short chapters.  Beauty is a wonderful blessing that God has created to be enjoyed in the context of marriage between a husband and wife.  Beauty is a gift that God has given to us. As young women, it is our job to steward that gift so that one day we might be able to present it to our husbands without it having been defiled, destroyed or commandeered.

     While beauty does provide attraction, it also serves another purpose, a God-given purpose.  God is a God of order and beauty.  Throughout scripture we see God adorning creation, Israel and even the temple in such a way that reflects His character.   As God's female creation,  God has adorned us with beauty.  By stewarding this area of our lives, we have the opportunity to reflect God's beauty.  Our femininity represents God in a way our male counterparts cannot.  Men cannot fully display the image of God - nor can women do so alone.  The strength of men and the beauty of women, along with many other characteristics, display God's image grafted in mankind.  When we take this gift that God has given us and dress, act and live in a way that enhances our natural beauty instead of taking away from it, we can draw the attention of those around us to the Giver of beauty.  Our beauty can bring glory to our Creator!
     Part of stewarding the beauty that God has given us is maintaining it.  I am pretty sure that Eve probably did not need to wear make-up.  However, since the fall and sin, things have been heading a little down hill.  There is a level of maintenance that must be done to our bodies to enhance the beauty that God has given us. Wearing make-up with discretion, dressing in a way that is modest yet stylish, and making efforts to maintain our natural beauty are all God honoring ways of stewarding our beauty in such a way that reflects order, beauty, and elegance.

Where is the Joy?

   We have two ends of the spectrum when it comes to the adornment of our physical beauty. First we have the side of unchaste adorning.  This would be the model laid out by the world around us.  Flaunting, flirting, sensual adornment and behavior would all fall under this category.  On the other side of the equation, we have those who would avoid enhancing natural beauty.  This side is characterized most frequently by long skirts, long hair, no make-up and no effort to adorn the physical body.  They adopt a negative perspective toward beautifying the body.  Part of the reason for this is the idea that beauty is a bad thing.  Personally, I think this thinking comes from a confusion between sensuality and real beauty. (Check out my previous article.)  As Paul Washer said, "God is not against beauty, He is against sensuality."   There are two sides, but one problem.  Where is the joy?
   

     There are two things that greatly grieve my heart concerning beauty.  The first is to see a young girl so caught up in striving after beauty that it takes over her life.  She has no joy because she is never able to achieve the desired standard of perfection but still lives in enslavement to beauty in her desire to satisfy her soul. The world's beauty brings death. Death to joy, fulfillment, and eventually, it kills all real beauty and settles simply for sensuality.
     The second thing I grieve greatly is seeing the absence of joy that comes a young woman is enslaved to dressing modestly.  Instead of submitting to the joy-giving authority of Christ, rules and regulations found outside of scripture, take away the freedom that we have when we are in Him. Please watch the video below for an example of that I am talking about. (Start at 42:20-44:00 for the segment.  The whole thing is great if you want to listen to it all:)

"For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of 

righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit."

Romans 14:17

     Whenever we submit ourselves to rules and regulations that are not found in scripture we run the risk of placing our hope in a form of godliness that is not founded in Christ.  Through scripture we have been instructed to dress modestly in a way that does not draw attention to ourselves and adorns the gospel of Christ.  We have not been called to wear skirts, have long hair and never ware make-up.  There is a great danger in exalting and participating in regulations that are not based in scripture for the purpose of furthering our righteousness or holiness.  Our righteousness and holiness must be completely found in Him and in obedience to His revealed Word. Obedience to any other law other than the law of the Spirit of life will result in an absence of joy.  In Christ alone we must find our righteousness, fulfillment, and joy.

   

The Beauty of Balance

 “All things are lawful for me,” but not all things are helpful. 

“All things are lawful for me,” but I will not be dominated by anything.

1 Corinthians 6:12

     True beauty is rooted in balance.  While it is easy to go along with the world, it is difficult to follow the guideline of dressing with "modesty and self-control." (1 Timothy 2:9)  However, I believe it is just as easy to follow a set of rules and allow our decisions and actions to be dominated by those.  What is more difficult is to find balance between the two and submit ourselves to God's authority.   Allowing each area of our lives to continually and constantly be ruled by Christ, may we find the passion we need to be slaves to Him and the joyful  freedom that can be found in Him! Through His enable strength and grace alone, can this be accomplished.

*Have questions about beauty?  Leave them below in the comments section and I would love to answer them in my upcoming blog post, Biblical Beauty Q & A!

Wednesdays In The Word: Psalm 34:1-3

I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth.

My soul makes it's boast in the Lord; let the humble hear and be glad.
 Oh, magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His name together!

Psalm 34:1-3

Pause filled with Praise!

"Let us fill our pause with praise! Let us give all that lies within us not to the voice 

of the enemy, but to pure praise, to a pure loving adoration 

and to worship from a grateful heart -

a heart that is trained to look up."

- Amy Carmichael

Look up and praise Him!

Biblical Beauty: Beauty's Imposter

       It was a quiet morning and innocent Little Red Riding Hood went on an adventure looking for Beauty.  So she set out with a gentle and quite spirit in one hand and her Bible in the next.  It didn't take long before she came upon the place where Beauty dwelt, or where Beauty was supposed to be living.  Timidly she tip-toed inside, expectantly looking for the beauty her parents and fairly tale stories had talked about.  Then all of a sudden she found it.  But could that really be Beauty???  It looked more like a fake, scandalous version of something that was supposed to be so much more.  And she was right.  As she looked through the door instead of finding Beauty, she found Sensuality.
     Many of us have been looking for beauty for a very long time.  At one point, we were all Little Red Riding Hoods with romantic dreams of what beauty was.  I don't think I was the only little girl who dreamed about how pretty I was going to be on my wedding day.  "When I grow up, I want to be beautiful!" was the line that often ran through my juvenile head.  And it was a good dream, until I couldn't find beauty. Maybe you have faced the same dilemma; maybe you have and you don't even know it.
     The problem is this, beauty has been devoured.  It has been completely swallowed up by the jaws of sensuality.  So now, when we go looking for beauty, we think we have found it but in it's place is it's imposter.

     The second problem is this, few of us have been trained to identify sensuality so we embrace it thinking that it is beauty.  So, what is sensuality?  Well by definition sensuality is, unrestrained indulgence in the gratification of the senses.  The main purpose of sensuality is to excite the senses of those around us in a way that draws attention to ourselves.  Let us look at Proverbs for an example of what it looks like.

“And behold, the woman meets him, dressed as a prostitute, wily (or crafty) of heart. 

She is loud and wayward(rebellious); her feet do not stay at home...

She seizes him and kisses him.”

Proverbs 7:10-11,13

     

     Where does sensuality start? In the heart.  We see here that this woman is wily or crafty of heart.  Her main purpose and desire is to fool, trap and entice.  Is this not the message the world is sending to us as young women?  You're not accepted unless you flirt and you're not desirable unless you use your body to entice the young men around you.  Now while it might not be as prominent in our 'christian' circles, this example is often followed in our own lives to some extent.  When was the last time you put on a pair of jeans that were a little tighter than they needed to be, a shirt a little lower cut than was necessary or wore the dress that was a smidge too short, just because you knew, well, let's be honest, you knew you looked good and you wanted others to notice!  To my shame, I can remember several occasions where I purposefully dressed in a way that was as close to that invisible 'modesty' line as I could get just because I knew I was going to be around young men.  It's the message we are fed and it is the message we have allowed ourselves to be carried away by. 

      Although sensuality starts in the heart, it doesn't stay there.  As we look at this verse we see that there are three ways sensuality expresses itself.

#1: Her Attitude: She is loud and wayward
     Pride and false self-confidence are deeply intertwined in the heart that is given to sensuality.  Desiring to be our own authority, she does not submit to God's blueprint of submission to Him.  

     You will often find the sensuous young woman seeking to be the center of attention by her words and actions. 
 #2: Her Actions: She seizes him and kisses him

     Because sensuality seeks to arouse the attention of others around them, usually men, the actions that proceed are often times flirtatious in nature.  It might be a hug, a seemingly innocent laugh or even a fun game of keep away that a young girl with use to draw a young man's attention to herself.

#3: Her Dress: Dressed as a prostitute

     Distraction leads to attraction which leads to sin.  A young woman has an amazing power to influence the eyes, thoughts, and heart of a young man.  God has created a beautiful attraction between men and women for a purpose only to be fulfilled in the context of marriage. This attraction is a powerful thing but is often misused for a young woman's own selfish desires.   If it is our desire to entice, trap, or ensnare young men it will show through in our choice of clothing.  A woman who has a sensual heart will dress in such a way as to bring attention to her body.  Watch out!!! It is an easy trap to fall into.

So How Serious is Sensuality?

“For from within, out of the heart of men proceed the evil thoughts, 

fornication, thefts, murders, adultery, deeds of covetousness, wickedness, 

as well as deceit, sensuality, evil, slander, pride and foolishness.

All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”

Mark 7:21-23

      A woman can properly be called beautiful. A women can properly be called elegant. 

But a woman who is sensual has an evil heart.”

-Paul Washer

       It's an authority issue.  It's a pride issue. It's a sin issue.  Sensuality is a heart issue.  God has made us to seek His attention.  When we use our bodies, our behavior, our action and our attitudes to turn the attention of others away from God and onto ourselves, not only have we sinned against our brothers, we have sinned against the God of the universe.

"Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power 

and might be to our God forever and ever!"

Revelation 7:11

~
Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep.  For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed.  The night is far gone; day is at hand.  So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy.  But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify it's desires.
Romans 13:11-14

Wednesdays in The Word: Philippians 4:8

Finally brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.

Be Not Ashamed

Be not ashamed of your faith; remember it is the ancient Gospel of martyrs, confessors, reformers, and saints. Above all, it is the Truth of God against which the gates of hell cannot prevail. Let your lives adorn your faith, let your example recommend your creed. Above all, live in Christ Jesus, and walk in Him, giving credence to no teaching but that which is manifestly approved of Him, and owned by the Holy Spirit. Cleave fast to the Word of God, which is here mapped out to you.

 - C. H. Spurgeon