Comments by Joan Boney:
I was trying to watch TV recently and the next day God reminded me of some of the things in those episodes and God reminded me of scripture showing me the exact opposite of the TV show.
As God "cleaned me up", I noted the scriptures and put page prints of those scriptures from the Bible into my Kindle tablet where I keep such verses to help me.
The main issue is living in truth: It is critical that we develop a love of the truth because deception in the last days will be rampant. The love of the truth is critical for us.
What is truth? Truth is that which God shows us by HIS Spirit who is the Spirit of Truth. (Sometimes we will be shown scripture and other times we will be shown concepts but it is always truth when it comes from God.) We must choose to fill ourselves with truth and abide in truth otherwise deception can delude our thinking.
We can see by these scriptures how important a love of the truth is to us.
2 Thessalonians 2:10-12 And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
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In one movie I tried to watch, a man made the worldly statement: "God helps them who help themselves."
(As soon as the actor spoke this, I turned that show off, knowing it was doctrine that brings evil and not good and I did not want to participate.)
I prayed, and the Holy Spirit reminded me of the following scripture.
John 5:30 Jesus said: I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.
Jesus heard from God and followed God, doing the will of God at all times.
From the time I was born again in 1975, God showed me this is what my goal in life was to be: "Doing and saying that which God showed me for it is truth."
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In an NFL football news type show, a football player was being interviewed. I listened for a few moments before muting the interview because it was obvious to me that this player was not speaking truth but rather was speaking that which he felt would be proper to say and would make him approved before men of this world.
God brought this scripture to my attention:
Matthew 23:5 But all their works they do for to be seen of men:
Jesus tells us the devil is a liar and there is no truth in him.
Jesus said the following to those religious people who did not believe in HIM.
John 8:44 Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.
I turned that program off after about 5 minutes.
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I began watching a British crime show on PBS.
The plot was very interesting to me. But at the end of the show, the police sergeant held back the truth and destroyed the evidence which showed the real murderer in order to protect the feelings of the lead detective who had once been engaged to this woman who was the killer but had committed suicide.
God cleaned me up the next day by bringing the following scriptures (and concepts) to my attention.
* Do we really help another person by keeping the truth from him? Or do we present the truth and allow him to free himself if God gives him an heart to do so?
I John 1:5-6 This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in HIM is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with HIM, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:
The devil would have us think it is good to protect the human by withholding the truth to protect his feelings.
If we buy into that theory, we will turn from the truth. We must keep ourselves in truth of God by both living the truth and speaking that truth to others. And by praying always over the issue at hand.
We don't think we can be swept away, but if there are enough times we hear a lie and we fail to keep our own minds by the Word from God, we can be affected by the lies.
Paul warns us:
I Cor. 15:33-34 Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners. Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God: I speak this to your shame.
Often the people who sin can seem like such good guys when our flesh gets involved.
Titus 1:1 (The apostle Paul says:) The acknowledging of the truth ... is after godliness.
So we learn to cling to scriptures, and live scriptures in our own lives, speak scriptures which show the truth as the occasion arises.
At one of the churches I attended, our Bible teacher was a very charming, desirable man. But it turned out that outside of church he was frequenting bars and picking up women for sex. (He finally even admitted this to me.)
In reading this scripture, I thought of him.
I John 2:3-4 And hereby we do know that we know HIM, if we keep HIS commandments. He that saith, I know HIM, and keepeth not HIS commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
We must make ourselves hold to the truth, otherwise we will delude ourselves.
I John 2:5 But whoso keepeth HIS word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in HIM.
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A topic that is frequently before us today concerns homosexuals and lesbians and how we must approve and accept such and be tolerant.
The people professing this do not realize that homosexuals and lesbians are committing sins in the sight of God. People today often think approving homosexuals and lesbians is the same as accepting the different races: blacks, Asians, and such.
But the Bible shows us homosexuals and lesbians are practicing sins.
Romans 1:26-28 For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet. And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient;
I Cor. 6:9-10 Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate (homosexual), nor abusers of themselves with mankind, Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.
And what about homosexuals and lesbians who say they were born that way?
This is what God said to me about that.
Mark 10:6 But from the beginning of the creation God made them male and female.
First we must keep our own thinking straight by the truth of the scriptures and then we share the scriptures with others as opportunity arises.
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* Another question that often arises concerns divorce and remarriage after divorce:
Matthew 5:32 Jesus said: But I say unto you, That whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery: and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery.
Here Jesus shows us the only scriptural reason for a man to divorce HIS wife is for the cause of adultery.
If the wife is faithful and her husband divorces this faithful wife, that husband will be the cause of her adultery if she remarries. The faithful wife will commit adultery upon remarriage but her husband who divorced her will be the cause of her adultery.
And Jesus shows us the man who marries a divorced woman commits adultery. (Mt. 5:32 & Mt. 19:9)
The following is "a commandment of the Lord" for the New Testament church.
I Cor. 7:10-11 And unto the married I command, yet not I, but the Lord, Let not the wife depart from her husband: But and if she depart, let her remain unmarried, or be reconciled to her husband: and let not the husband put away his wife.
And Jesus says:
Mk. 10:11-12
12 And if a woman shall put away her husband, and be married to another, she committeth adultery.
Churches today often teach another doctrine but these are the doctrines given us in the New Testament Bible:
Also the Bible shows us at the time of sexual intercourse the two become one flesh, even if the sex is with "an harlot", a prostitute.
I Cor. 6
15 Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ? shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them the members of an harlot? God forbid.
16 What? know ye not that he which is joined to an harlot is one body? for two, saith HE, shall be one flesh.
18 Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body.
(Fornication is a very serious sin. And how do you separate yourself from that "one flesh" after you have become one flesh by sexual intercourse? Fornication does something to the individual that somehow carries over into all other things in a negative way.)
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Some will be saved when we speak truth from the scriptures. Others will depart from us. But the Word is freedom for those who will receive that word and we do not hold back the truth when the door opens to speak that truth and the Holy Spirit reminds us of that truth.
2 Timothy 4:2-4
Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.
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If we want to live a godly life, we must be diligent to keep our heart by the Word of God and the Holy Spirit.
Romans 12:2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
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