Should A Christian Smoke?

60:310526

Should A Christian Smoke?
(Cancer is the curse of the modern World)

   The Bible must be our guide in the Question. Christians did not smoke, they were on fire! They were fired with enthusiasm to live our lives well and pleasing to our Lord. A Christian should be at least the 3 things shown below.

1] Free
   Free from anything which grows into making us a slave. . .
[GW] Galatians 5:1 “Christ has freed us so that we may enjoy the benefits of freedom. Therefore, be firm ⌞in this freedom⌟, and don’t become slaves again”
[GNT] “Freedom is what we have—Christ has set us free! Stand, then, as free people, and do not allow yourselves to become slaves again”
[MSG] “Christ has set us free to live a free life. So take your stand! Never again let anyone put a harness of slavery on you”
[AMP]John 8:36 “So if the Son makes you free, then you are unquestionably free”
… Our bodies are to be temps where the Holy spirit resides. Let me suggest this, would you give someone you hold in high esteem a damp mould ridden condemned house to live in? Well this is what us Christians do if our ways are not changed the way they should be.

2] Pure and undefiled
   Pure and undefiled, in His ways is an example. Let me ask you this .. “Is smoking a pure habit?” .. “Does it defile us?” .. I would like you smokers to look at your fingers and think of what it is doing to your throat & lungs. Let me put this to you, “should defiled fingers and lips partake of the bread & wine (Communion), Which we speak of such a pure and undefiled one as is Christ?”. Is it a good example to your children and the youth of the church?
[NLT] Matthew 6:13 “ And don’t let us yield to temptation, but rescue us from the evil one”

3] Personal temple
[GW] 1 Corinthians 6:19/20 “Don’t you know that your body is a temple that belongs to the Holy Spirit? The Holy Spirit, whom you received from God, lives in you. You don’t belong to yourselves. 20You were bought for a price. So bring glory to God in the way you use your body”

   Your body is the temple of the holy Spirit, and it is to be presented to God, Holy and in order to Glorify Him. I’m sure you don’t need me to remind you that smoking leads to cancer, this in it’s self should be a wake up call. . .
[GW] Romans 12:1 “Brothers and sisters, in view of all we have just shared about God’s compassion, I encourage you to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, dedicated to God and pleasing to him. This kind of worship is appropriate for you”
... Would you truly stand there and blow putrid smoke into the temple of God and then present it to Him, telling God it is a Holy thing? Do you sincerely think smoking positively Glorifies God? Now being honest, on which side do you think the scales weigh down? I know that any addiction can be hard, but smoking being one of the most difficult to quit. As for my Father in law after giving his life to Christ he said one day I can’t do this any more, threw his cigarettes in the bin. But today there is a plethora of aids to help.

This message is one of my own but it is actually my late father in laws, which he wrote on 

this subject.

These are the Bible translations used in this study...
GW: The Gods Word translations
MSG: The Message translation
GNT: The Good News translation
AMP: The Amplified translation
NLT: The New Liviing Translation

Free Will pt 1 of 3

55: 210620 

Free Will 

Romans 12:1 “..I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service..”

Question: 

“Is it OK to go back to living your old Worldly life, once your saved”? 

“If so, why did you get saved”? 

You have to watch out, as it can be easy when your struggling to slip back into your old Worldly ways. Because you now have been liberated from the yokes that have had you bound for so long.
12:2 “..And do not be conformed to this world [any longer with its superficial values and customs], but be transformed and progressively changed [as you mature spiritually] by the renewing of your mind [focusing on godly values and ethical attitudes], so that you may prove [for yourselves] what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect..”

    Something I need you to grasp is, that your chains of bondage, have not just been broken to pieces, but been smelted down. Now put on your new amour (Eph’s 6:14). Now being saved, and going to a Church, you need to under the 5 fold ministry.. which is . . .

  1:Apostille 2:Preacher 3:Profit 4:Evangelist 

5:Teacher 

...for the perfecting of the saints. 

   Sadly today we discarded these ministries, because it is felt that they just get in our way, in what ‘WE’ want the Church to be. So under grace we feel that it is no longer important to go to Church anymore. In so many Churches, they are no longer a place where we truly learn, only a ‘doctrine’. Instead what we learn is that Doris’ cat died during the week, or, who Mavis is dating now. The Preacher; Minster; Pastor; Leader, may feel that they feeding the congregation, the only feeding they thinking what’s for Sunday lunch, because they have guests coming, or watching the time till they leave.

• Firstly … It is very important you need to find a place that is going to feed you, so pray over the situation, and ask for Gods guidance.
• Secondly … Somewhere you'll be ready to receive gods word, and be fed to help you through the week and beyond. 

   Every visit should be a renewing of our mind, we need this because our minds are under constant attack, so it is so desperately needed. Only you can decide to be constantly because of all the ‘junk’ we are bombarded with 24/7. Being saved/Christian is a life time of struggle and endeavour. You must renew your mind daily with prayer to Jesus Christ and reading your Bible, at home. You must also be under a Pastor/Priest who helps to renew your mind weekly. It’s a shame, that in the World Church’s have become so watered down, that they have all but no purpose in their community, with all kinds of unspiritual things going on. Instead what should be happening is no longer taking place ….’I’m not here to entertain you, but instead ..Renew your Mind …. to challenge your way of thinking, until it begins to line up with God.

   What all this leads us to do is, contradict the ways of how your used thinking & behaving…

Proverbs 23 : 7 

“..For as he thinks in his heart, so is he ..” 

...free choice means we have the ability to ‘Choose’ where we worship, try and find one that is going to challenge you during the following weeks and beyond, but also feeds your soul. Because a large chunk of our lives has been in the world, at times we behave this way without thinking.

   Today, it is all but expected that you should have a ‘computer’, of sorts, like a notebook: laptop: iPad: workstation etc. Such is the advancement of technology you have to try and buy the latest one. Even though your old machine worked well enough, but due to the software is constantly updated you need newer hard ware.

   So, our minds need to be ‘renewed’, WHY? I can praise the Lord just as well at home! True, but like a computer we need to have a ‘Disk-clean’, weekly. Due to all the negativity we have faced during the week, and if by ourselves for a long time, we are going to slip very quickly & easily back into our ‘old Worldly ways’, hence why we are going to, just like our computers, a ‘deep-defrag’, as so many ‘data-files’ would have become corrupted. After getting saved, and working in a place where staff are not, it is going to be so easy to slip back to thinking your old ways.

#So be mindful of your mind# 

(Parts 2 & 3 to follow shortly.

I pray Gods word will bless you, and touch you

in new ways Christ Jesus name)