Wine?

A young boy asked me what was wrong with drinking alcohol if you didn’t get drunk. Well, I don’t drink alcohol. I don’t smoke and I don’t do drugs. I hardly ever take pain killers or prescription drugs. I try to follow a healthy diet. I don’t know if all these things are linked – for example, I don’t need meds because I live a healthy lifestyle. I hope so, or I’d like to think so. I have also forgiven everyone I could think of who has ever offended me, or rather, who I have taken an offence from.  I never started smoking, I didn’t even try once because the smell of smoke has always been offensive to me.

I used to drink the occasional glass of wine, maybe when we went out for a meal. When my husband, who had never been a heavy drinker, stopped drinking ten years ago I had a decision to make. Would I stop or would I still have a glass of wine now and again? I opted to stop out of respect for the decision he had made. I kept to my resolve, but for different reasons.

I don’t see anything basically wrong with drinking a little alcohol occasionally, but because alcohol can be addictive it can easily cause problems that I don’t want to handle. Therefore it was an easy decision for me to make.

The other reason is that I do not want to lead others astray.

Romans 14:13, Therefore let us not judge one another anymore, but rather resolve this, not to put a stumbling block or a cause to fall in our brother’s way.

Say, I drink one glass of wine once a week. That’s all. That’s my limit. But, what if the only time an impressionable young person sees me is when I am drinking that glass of wine. What is he or she going to assume? It’s easy to say that they shouldn’t be making assumptions and that they should find out the facts. Unfortunately that’s not how life works. People make assumptions. You and I make assumption. All the time! This person could very plausibly think that I drink one glass of wine every day, but he could just as easily assume that I drink multiple glasses of wine daily. Then he could say, “She is a Christian and she drinks wine, which means I can drink wine too.” So this young soul embarks on a journey of consuming alcohol, becomes addicted, abuses his wife and causes a death because of driving under the influence.

It it my fault?

That is a question I never want to have to answer. Ever!

Do I think that I am important enough to be an example to others? Of course I do. I am the Kings daughter that makes me important. It also makes me an ambassador for the Kingdom of God. Obviously people are going to be looking at me.

1 Peter 2:5, And now God is building you, as living stones, into his spiritual temple; what’s more, you are God’s holy priests, who offer the spiritual sacrifices that please him because of Jesus Christ.

If not drinking alcohol is what I can do to please God and to be an example and not to lead others astray, then it is a miniscule sacrifice compared to the mercy God shows me every day.

We have to wear the crowns we have been given, and anticipate those we will be given at judgement and live a life of love.

Confusion

Yesterday I witnessed a person under the influence of a spirit of confusion. During a meeting this person kept confusing the issue and it was so tiring. I know that different spirits or demons attach themselves to people and even possess people. It’s not always plain to see though. This time it was absolutely crystal clear. We have to realise that even Christians can be influenced by all kinds of deceiving spirits that want to lead us astray. The bible says that in the end times people won’t be sure of the truth.

2 Timothy 4:3-4, For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, and they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables.

All of us have heard or at least heard of people who call themselves preachers of the Word but who twist the scriptures to suit themselves. That can be incredibly confusing if we aren’t familiar with the Bible. And by familiar, I mean we have to know the Bible properly. The only way to know the Bible properly is by reading it, or by hearing it. We really have to be well enough acquainted with the Bible so that when a preacher, or anyone else for that matter, says something that isn’t true, we can immediately pick up on it. I don’t think that this is really negotiable if we are serious about our faith.

Romans 10:17, So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

If, for any reason whatsoever, you cannot read the bible, then you have to listen to it. Let someone read out loud to you, or use an audible bible on the bible app which you can download onto your cell phone or computer. There are also CD’s available where the bible has been recorded being read out loud. Never before has technology made the bible so available to everyone, and I’m guessing that never before are so few people actually making use of it. The devil, who is your enemy, doesn’t want you to read, or listen to the bible, so he is going to try and divert you, and distract you, and keep you so busy that you aren’t going to have time for it.

1 Peter 5:8, Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he might devour.

Even though the devil isn’t a lion; he is LIKE a lion, he is still going to devour you.

The dictionary gives the meaning of ‘devour’ as:

To eat something eagerly and in large amounts so that nothing is left, and

To destroy something completely.

Unfortunately the enemy isn’t stupid. He knows what we’re doing and even though he can’t read our thoughts (well, that’s what I’ve heard) he can certainly plant thoughts in our minds. Those thoughts are so well disguised as our own that we have to be extremely vigilant and discerning. If we don’t know our bibles we aren’t going to be able to discern a lot of the time. This verse says be sober. Does that mean we shouldn’t drink alcohol and get drunk, or does it just mean we should have presence of mind? I would say both, because I don’t think a person who is drunk with alcohol has much presence of mind.

There are three things that are going to help us. The first is faith:

Hebrews 11:6, But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

The second is prayer.

Ephesians 6:18-19, Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints- as for me, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel.

The third is resistance.

James 4:7, Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.

Friends, we cannot allow the devil into our lives at this time. If you are confused about your faith or your salvation please speak to your pastor, or another Christian that you trust. Now is the time to stand and be counted.

Bake a loaf of bread

I baked a loaf of bread this afternoon. I don’t eat bread because wheat doesn’t make me feel well, but I love the baking process. I love seeing something come out of nothing. The flour, water, butter and milk are blended together and then the yeast causes a wonderful reaction and the whole mixture expands. Yeast works by consuming sugar and excreting carbon dioxide and alcohol as by-products. Firstly the enzymes in the yeast and the flour cause large starch molecules to break down into simple sugars. The yeast metabolizes these simple sugars and exudes a liquid that releases carbon dioxide and ethyl alcohol into existing air bubbles in the dough. As more and more tiny air cells fill with carbon dioxide, the dough rises and we’re on the way to leavened bread. The more the dough is kneaded and manipulated the stronger the protein bonds become and the gluten develops, making the dough stronger and much more elastic. The more elastic it becomes, the more gas it can hold. Because of the alcohol that develops, there is a fermentation process that takes place. This causes the starch to break down into more flavorful sugars which is what gives bread its flavor. This is just a very simple overview of the whole process.

Jesus spoke to His disciples in Mark 8:15 “Then He charged them, saying, ‘Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.’”1 Corinthians 5, “Your glorying is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump?” Yeast or leaven has been used for a long, long time in bread baking. The Israelites were commanded to bake unleavened bread in Egypt at the Passover before they followed Moses into the desert. When I think of the bread and the change that takes place where some ingredients are put together to where a lovely aromatic loaf is taken out of the oven, I see our lives from the time that we become believers. When we first accept Jesus as our savior we are a bit like the flour, water, sugar and butter. Most of the right things are there and we look pretty much okay most of the time but we are like unleavened bread. We are missing an ingredient, there’s something in our lives that’s just not there. We have a longing for that missing factor. When we answer the knocking on the door of our hearts and invite Jesus in, it is like adding yeast to the flour mixture, suddenly there’s an excitement that wasn’t there before. All our cells seem to be activated by something that new ingredients. We feel a love bubbling up in us and we can’t explain it. We start to follow the teachings of Jesus and we become stronger, just like the air cells that hold more carbon dioxide. We seem to have a capacity to hold more love and in the process show more love.

Then the Holy Spirit starts working on our souls. We go through tests and trials and we are given the opportunity to develop Godly character, just like the alcohol that develops in the dough. The fermentation process is us when we are fighting battles and getting stronger. When we come out victorious we are more flavorful, more loving and stronger than we were ever before. We look different, we sound different and we do different. We grow in character and we grow fruit. The change in us becomes just as evident as the change in the dough when it is baked and becomes bread. 1 Peter 1:7, “So that the tested genuineness of your faith – more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire – may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” 1 Peter 4:12, “beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you.” We are tested by fire at times and when we come out of that fire, we are stronger and we can withstand much more than we could before. We are like the aromatic bread that has been baked. We are being made more and more like Jesus and we should welcome the process. I’ll end with Revelation 3;18, “I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see.”