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Welcome to Westwind Ministries!

An addiction is something that controls us– make a decision not to be controlled by anything
BUT Jesus. 

We need Jesus for everything. 

But these other things we can do without.  Say to yourself:

SIN is no longer going to have authority over me.

 

They promise them liberty, when they themselves are the slaves of depravity and defilement—for by whatever anyone is made inferior or worse or is overcome, to that [person or thing] he is enslaved.
20 For if, after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through [the full, personal] knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they again become entangled in them and are overcome, their last condition is worse [for them] than the first.

2 Peter 2:19-20 (AMP)


Þ Dissension

disagreement; especially : partisan and contentious quarreling

 

Þ Factions

party spirit especially when marked by dissension

 

Þ Debauchery

extreme indulgence in sensuality b plural : orgies

 

Witchcraft & Sorcery
The Forbidden Arts

I feel compelled in the Lord to write this article because we have had many requests lately for information about ouija boards and communicating with the dead. (Ouija is pronounced We-Gee). These are subjects that seem to strike fear in the hearts of Christians everywhere. But many Christians do not believe that they should be spoken about from the pulpit and so they are discussed in the dark corners of churches by people who, for the most part, have no idea exactly what they are talking about. We need to drag these subjects out into the light of Christ where they can be examined and shown for what they really are - Tricks of the devil!

This article will probably offend some people, so consider yourself warned. Some people seem to feel that we should leave well enough alone, that it is not right to talk about things like these openly. Well I am here to rock the boat! Hosea 4:6 says that God's people are "destroyed for a lack of knowledge" and 2 Corinthians 2:11 tells us not to be ignorant of the devices of the devil. So in obedience to the word of God it is time to stand up and be a true man of God or get out of the boat. There are too many preachers in the world that refuse to preach the severity of God. They seem to be afraid that they will offend someone. Jesus and His apostles offended almost everyone, especially the established church of that time! If we are to be called true men of God then we must preach the whole truth of serving a jealous God, not just the good bits.

Many of the requests for information we receive are from people that have a loved one that is involved in these forbidden practices. In order to answer these questions I found that a deeper study was needed. It is useless to try to attack a fortress by knocking the top off one of the towers. It is better to undermine the foundation and then all the walls will collapse. Before we go any further I should clarify a few things. This article will cover more than these two subjects because the Bible does not use occult, ouija, necromancy or similar words. These are modern words used to describe variations of sorcery and witchcraft. However the Bible does use the words sorcery, sorcerer and witchcraft. Everyone knows that sorcery has to do with magic and spells but let us see what more the Bible has to say.

We are told in Revelation 21:8 that sorcerers shall have their part in the "lake which burneth with fire and brimstone.

"The original Greek word for sorcerer is pharmakeus which means "an enchanter with drugs." This, in turn, comes from the word pharmakeia from which we get our modern English word pharmacy. The word in its original Greek means the occult, sorcery, witchcraft, illicit pharmaceuticals, trance, and magical incantation with drugs.

Why does God condemn those that practice these forbidden arts? To find the answer to this question we must return to the Word of God. 1 Samuel 15:23 says that rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft. Why does God equate the sin of witchcraft with the sin of rebellion? After all it is not murder or rape. To learn why, we must look at what witchcraft entails. It does not matter what you call it, witchcraft, sorcery, necromancy, tarot reading, horoscopes, ouija boards or any one of a hundred other names, witchcraft is rebellion and therefore is a sin against God. The purpose of any one of these forbidden practices is to seek knowledge over and above that which is allowed by God, whether it be to foretell the future, to have power over others or to control things that belong to God. In short to be as God Himself. Our God is a jealous God (Exodus 34:14). In Deuteronomy 6:15-16 it says;

15 (For the Lord thy God is a jealous God among you) lest the anger of the Lord thy God be kindled against thee, and destroy thee from off the face of the earth.
16 Ye shall not tempt the Lord your God, as ye tempted Him in Massah.

In Exodus 17:7 we are told that at Massah the Israelites rebelled against the Lord God saying "Is the Lord among us or not." God created us for His pleasure. What right do we have to rebel against Him and put our trust in things other than what He allows? We do not have the right to do this. As 1 Corinthians 6:20 tells us:

20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's. (Emphasis added)

God is telling us right there in His word that we are to put our trust in Him alone and to have faith that He will supply all of our needs, as He has promised. Hebrews 11:1 tells us that faith is the "substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen." We are to have enough faith that God, the creator of the entire universe, knows what is best for us, even if at times it does not seem like it to us. If we do not have enough faith to believe that God can supply our needs then how dare we call ourselves children of God? Jesus said that if we have the faith of a mustard seed then we can tell a mountain to move and it will (Matthew 17:20). How much faith then does it require to trust that God can look after our needs? Our lack of faith and trust in Him is why God condemns the sin of witchcraft so strongly. In fact God condemns it so much that the Old Testament punishment for witchcraft was death. Exodus 22:18:

18 Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.

The sin of witchcraft is not a new sin; in fact it is almost as old as creation itself. It began in the Garden of Eden with Eve. Genesis 3:6 says:

6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her: and he did eat. (Emphasis added)

Eve desired to be as wise as God and the spirit of rebellion and witchcraft entered the world. This spirit has been with us ever since and is growing stronger and stronger. These spirits are overtaking us. Eve initiated this sin and this is one of the reasons why those that practice the sin of witchcraft are predominantly women. There are a number of Christians out there that do not understand the dangers of witchcraft and rebellion. They even go so far as to believe that things like horoscopes are fun to read even though they know that they are not real, but they are involved in the sin of rebellion and are in a very real danger of hell! I know that some of you reading this will think that I am being too harsh or too rigid. These are not my rules people! These are directly from the mouth of God Himself. It is all in His Word.

If we open ourselves up to the devil just once he will take advantage of it. The devil is evil - not stupid. It might just be reading the horoscopes today and then, out of idle curiosity, you get a personalized horoscope done. Then you get a tarot reading. The next step after that is ouija boards and consulting mediums to communicate with the dead. This is direct rebellion against the Word of God, and it does not have to be anything as overt as this. Remember God calls rebellion as the sin of witchcraft. Any time you are not obeying God, you are being rebellious and you are opening yourself up to the spirits of witchcraft and all that comes with them.

Witchcraft normally begins with the sin of curiosity, which in turn is born out of pride (this was the sin of Eve). This comes about because pride tells us that we have a right to know something when the Bible tells us that we are to place our trust in God and lean not to our own understanding (Proverbs 3:5). Remember, we have already established that we were bought with a price. So if we are no longer our own but belong to God, what right do we have to try to find out about the forbidden knowledge? How dare we put ourselves in the place of God! Where is our trust? This is very important so let me repeat it. What right do we have to do our own thing when we belong to God? None. We have no rights, we are slaves to Christ, and we are to do His will. I know that I have already said this, but this point is so important that it bears repeating. 

Now there are probably still some people reading this complaining that this is too rigid, that a loving God would not do this. It is because He is a loving God that He has set down rules. We set rules for our children because we love them and do not want to see then get hurt. God disciplines us for the same reason, as He shows us in Hebrews 12:5-11:

5 And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: 
6 For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. 
7 If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? 
8 But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons. 
9 Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live?
10 For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness. 
11 Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.

This spells it out very clearly that God sets rules for our benefit and if we break those rules then God loves us enough to tell us that we must get right or go to hell. Verse 11 tells us that if we endure the correction then it produces "the peaceable fruit of righteousness".

God has set down rules for us to follow, (as is His right to do,) but because of His love for us, He does not leave us without warning signs. That is what Hebrews 12:5-11 tells us. The things forbidden by God include more than has been mentioned. It also includes astral travel, mantras and chanting, astrology, shamanism, Wicca, white, black or gray magic, belief in and communicating with fairies, imps and spirits, divining, aura reading, animal and human sacrifice, self mutilation, psychics, role playing games, card, board and Internet role playing games, and many more too numerous to list. All of these practices and more come under the broad heading of witchcraft. They are the ways that people use to try to take the place of God and gain unnatural control over their own lives and the lives of others.

I will expound on these subjects in future articles. These are subjects that need to be exposed and not feared because we are to have only a holy fear of God, not of man, not of the devil, not of the things of this world. (2 Corinthians 7:1)

1 Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.

If you are unsure if you are involved in any area of witchcraft then you need to pray, read the word of God and ask for His guidance, because if you sincerely seek Him, you will find Him.

Please feel free to contact us for any questions on this article.  This article was taken from http://www.intothelight.org/witchcraft-sorcery.asp

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Acts of a Sinful Nature

Insanity = doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.   Take responsibility for your actions and behavior.

 

Þ Sexual Immorality, Indecency.

Þ Impurity

Þ Debauchery

Þ Idolatry

Þ Witchcraft, Sorcery

Þ Hatred, Strife, Enmity

Þ Discord, divisions

Þ Jealousy

Þ Fits of Rage, Anger (not defined as righteous indignation), Ill temper

Þ Selfish Ambition

Þ Dissension

Þ Factions

Þ Envy

Þ Drunkenness

Þ Orgies, Carousing

 

jeal·ous·y

–noun, plural -ous·ies for 4.
1.
jealous resentment against a rival, a person enjoying success or advantage, etc., or against another's success or advantage itself.
2.
mental uneasiness from suspicion or fear of rivalry, unfaithfulness, etc., as in love or aims.
3.
vigilance in maintaining or guarding something.
4.
a jealous feeling, disposition, state, or mood.



envy, jealousy (see synonym note at envy).


1. See envy.

en·vy

noun, plural -vies, verb, -vied, -vy·ing.
–noun
1.
a feeling of discontent or covetousness with regard to another's advantages, success, possessions, etc.
2.
an object of envious feeling: Her intelligence made her the envy of her classmates.
3.
Obsolete . ill will.
–verb (used with object)
4.
to regard with envy; be envious of: He envies her the position she has achieved in her profession.
–verb (used without object)
5.
Obsolete . to be affected with envy.
Hatred (or hate) is an intense feeling of dislike. It may occur in a wide variety of contexts, from hatred of inanimate objects or animals, to hatred of oneself or other people, entire groups of people, people in general, existence, or everything. Though not always, hatred is often associated with feelings of anger.

an·ger

[ang-ger]
–noun
1.
a strong feeling of displeasure and belligerence aroused by a wrong; wrath; ire.
2.
Chiefly British Dialect . pain or smart, as of a sore.
3.
Obsolete . grief; trouble.
–verb (used with object)
4.
to arouse anger or wrath in.
5.
Chiefly British Dialect . to cause to smart; inflame.
–verb (used without object)
6.
to become angry: He angers with little provocation.

HELP-

1. Restore him gently

2. Watch yourself that you may not be tempted

3. Carry each others burdens.

 

Idolatry is usually defined as worship of any image, idea, or object, as opposed to the worship of God.

Idolatry

Idolatry is the universal human tendency to value something or someone in a way that hinders the love and trust we owe to God. It is an act of theft from God whereby we use some part of creation in a way that steals from honor due to God. Idolatry conflicts with our putting God alone first in our lives, in what we love and trust (see Exodus 20:3-5; Deut. 5:7-9; Romans 1:21-23). In idolatry we put something or someone, usually a gift from God, in a place of value that detracts from the first place owed to God alone, the gift Giver. That thing or person is an idol. The way out of idolatry is always to love and to trust the gift Giver without interference from any gift or any thing other than God. We will then be able to love and to appreciate gifts appropriately, neither giving them too much power nor failing to be thankful for them. We will then be free indeed, and not in bondage or addiction to anything that cannot fulfill us or give us peace (shalom).

Putting God first means loving and trusting God first, above all, and with everything we are and have (see Deut. 6:5; Matt. 22:37; Mark 12:30; Luke 10:27). God has given us every good thing we are and have. (Neither we nor other humans created us or our capacities to do good.) Our focus should never be on the gifts themselves in a way that demotes the gift Giver. This would be idolatry. It is easy to see how idolatry occurs given our deadly propensity for selfishly willful control and self-controlled security. The gifts themselves are easy to control, to manipulate, and to take credit for. They are easy to make, or to take as, "mine." Here begins the human tragedy, the idolatrous rebellion against the God we need for living freely in unselfish love. We learn the hard way that we cannot provide ourselves with security and safety. On our own we lack the needed power of unselfish love. On our own we wither in selfishness and then die.

In idolatry we fail to give proper thanks to the Giver of life and its goods. As thieves we thereby steal God's rightful honor and sever, or at least diminish, fellowship with both God and others. The alienation from God and others comes from our hiding our theft and from our selfishly "protecting" the stolen goods. Idolatry leaves us with stolen goods that become "bads," for they cannot sustain or satisfy us apart from friendship with their Giver. Only the ultimate Giver of goods can sustain and satisfy us lastingly in freely given friendship, the friendship of divine unselfish love. Such friendship, given our idolatrous rebellion against God, must come with merciful forgiveness toward us. Our idolatry brings us under God's judgment, for our own good (see Rom. 1:21-32). His judgment calls us from death (our way) to life (His way).

Giving up the selfishly willful theft in idolatry requires letting go of any possessive attitude toward the gifts given to us. We then receive the gifts not on our terms but on the terms of their ultimate Giver. This is the key to freedom in life under God, the ultimate gift Giver. Jesus tells us as much (Matt. 16:24-25; Mark 8:34-35; Luke 9:23-24), and shows us as much (Matt. 26:39; Mark 14:36; Luke 22:42). We may know all of this, but we still lack power on our own to be free from idols. We need power beyond our own. We need the power of God. Only the gift Giver loves us, judges us in love, and forgives us in merciful love. His merciful forgiveness sets us free to be reconciled to Him.

God proves His love for us by sending us Jesus to befriend us, even to die for us in self-giving love. The provision of this unconditional, unearned love offers the kind of satisfying friendship that makes idols pointless and even repulsive. It thereby frees us from idols in order to enable us to love as Jesus loves. As an antidote to idolatry, we need the loving friendship of Jesus, desperately and vitally. It is available to us all as an unearnable gift from God. The crucial question is whether we will receive it on God's terms, on terms that renounce idols. These terms can be challenging for us, given our customary reliance on idols (see Mark 10:17-27), and given our tendencies toward enabling idolatry in others. We do the latter when we encourage or ignore, rather than challenge in love, the idolatry practiced by others. In receiving Jesus as Lord, in contrast, we find the key to freedom both from idolatry and from the enabling of idolatry in others. We find freedom to live in unselfish love as we receive God's freely given love.

Being Free

In freedom can I turn to You.
In freedom can I leave.
In freedom You have given me
the Life in which I breathe.
So often do I run from You.
So often do I leave.
So spacious is Your heart of grace.
So precious is Your Love.
How wonderful You are to me,
so that I might be free.

From http://www.luc.edu/faculty/pmoser/idolanon/index.shtml

You really believe that there is no where to hide from God, what makes you think you can get away with a sinful nature?  It’s simple, letting the devil in your life, he puts this fog of deception over you.  When you take your eyes off God and focus on  and lust after sin.  Things become foggy.  You start to deceive yourself into justifying your sin.  It’s is what happened with David.  David brought a curse on his entire household because of this. AVOID IT BY close fellowship and a daily walk with GOD. 

 

REMEMBER– YOUR body does not have control of your mind.  REMEMBER you are a slave to whatever you allow to control you.  That means sin and addictions.  You can’t serve 2 masters.  BE FREE.  Because people either belong to God and obey Him or they live under Satan’s control.

 

Our lives have been and will continue to be unmanageable if we insist on living by our own will.  Man is never completely free until he yields to God. 

 

With the help of Christ –deceitful behavior can be healed from the inside out. 

 

Þ Discord

lack of concord or harmony between persons or things: marital discord.

disagreement; difference of opinion.

strife; dispute; war.

 

What is sexual immorality?

The times we live in are those in which the true values are inverted or even perverted. Their meaning is distorted from good into evil. After a 70 years period of socialism and atheism people do not longer make the difference between good and evil. That’s why, it is necessary to define these values again. So, what is sexual immorality? Some say that immoral is only when you are unfaithful to your partner of marriage. In this article I want to make a larger presentation of what God defines in the Bible as sexual immorality.

Adultery

Adultery is every sexual act where at least one of the implied persons are a part of the covenant of marriage. God is very categorical in regards to this sin and He says in the 10 commandments:

You shall not commit adultery. (Exodus 20:14)(NASB)

This was such a grave sin that it had to be punished with death, as the following passage says:

If there is a man who commits adultery with another man’s wife, one who commits adultery with his friend’s wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death. (Leviticus 20:10)(NASB)

Fornication

Fornication is the sexual act where only unmarried persons are implied. Today, it is spread a very wrong opinion, that says that it is sin only to change your partner, but if you are unmarried, you are free to have sexual relations with the person you like. Even some girls, that have decided to be virgins until marriage, are mocked by the other girls around them. Fornication is a sin as grave as adultery because it affects gravely the future marriage and the eternal fate of that person. The Bible writes in this sense:

Marriage is to be held in honor among all, and the marriage bed is to be undefiled; for fornicators and adulterers God will judge. (Hebrews 13:4)(NASB)

According to the cited biblical verse, those who commit adultery defile trough this their future marriage and the marriage bed, that is their sexual relation. No one will be able to rejoice of a defiled sexual relation, but it will transform his/her future wife or husband in an unguilty victim. That’s why, if you are a man, it is important to propose marriage to a virgin and a righteous girl, and if you are a girl, to get married to a man, who didn’t live immorally. It is true that such kind of men are fewer, but they still exist. I was very glad and I praised the Lord when I heard the statement the Brazilian footballer made to journalists, that he had been virgin before his marriage and he hadn’t ever had any sexual relations with another woman. This is a real MAN and a powerful Christian, that wasn’t defeated by the pressure of the time or of the thinking, that is “in fashion”. Follow up his example! Hold your future marriage and your marriage bed undefiled.

Sexual perversions

These are a great evil and in our world the immoral people try to present them as something normal, calling them “untraditional sexual orientation”. God calls them in the Bible “abominations” and “ defiled things” and He gives a list of them. Here is the list:

None of you shall approach any blood relative of his to uncover nakedness; I am the LORD. (Leviticus 18:6)(NASB)

In continuation, the text defines clearly who are considered blood relatives, with which the marriage is banned. These are the parents, the step parents, the sister, the brother, the nephew, the niece, the aunt, the sister of the brother, the aunt from the uncle, the daughter-in-law, etc. All these sexual relations are incest. After that, the list continues with other things that are defined as perversions:

You shall not lie with a male as one lies with a female; it is an abomination. Also you shall not have intercourse with any animal to be defiled with it, nor shall any woman stand before an animal to mate with it; it is a perversion. Do not defile yourselves by any of these things; for by all these the nations which I am casting out before you have become defiled. (Leveticus 18:22–24)(NASB)

Immorality of the mind

This is another way of immorality that is very spread and when a man begins to practice such kind of immorality, he will necessarily start to practice some of them or maybe all of those written above. What does immorality of the mind mean? Lord Jesus defines it in this way:

But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. (Matthew 5:28)(NASB)

The sinful nature provokes every man to lust sexually another woman than the one that is his wife. But, every man is responsible to learn to control his mind and his eyes, because who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart, and the adultery committed in the heart is equivalent to the one committed physically, because it will finally lead you to physical immorality of all kinds. That’s why, it is important to learn to control your thoughts and your eyes. The righteous Job said in regards to this:

I have made a covenant with my eyes; how then could I gaze at a virgin? (Job 31:1)(NASB)

Today, people led by the wickedness of their heart, have developed a whole industry of pornography. A very great part of Internet pages contain pornography. “Playboy” magazine, that is one with an immoral content and that spreads much immorality in the world, has 15 million readers and is one of the most read magazine in the world. If these people only realized how much evil they had brought in the their lives and families through this magazine, they wouldn’t have bought it. Unfortunately, when they realize this evil, it is too late, because their own lives and their own families have already been destroyed.
All these practices that have been listed above are sexual immorality that brings very many grave consequences unto people’s lives. Tomorrow I will publish an article about the Archangels Michael and Gabriel and in a day I will come with another article where I will touch the subject “How to protect yourself of the pressure of sexual immorality that is around?”

Translated by Felicia Djugostran

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