Temptation and the Flesh

"Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you. And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty" (II Cor. 6:14-18). "And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them" (Eph. 5:11). "Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners. Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God" (I Cor. 15:33,34). The old saying is, "Birds of a feather flock together." This is basically an unbreakable rule, and there is a good reason for that. Everyone in this world is under dominion to higher powers than themselves. Sadly most people are under demonic dominion because not very many people are believing on Jesus to the extent of "walking in the Spirit and [not fulfilling] the lust of the flesh" (Gal. 5:16). Not a whole lot of folks have exercised faith in Jesus to the point of learning how to consistently "be led by the Spirit of God" in their lives (Rom. 8:14). Whatever spirit or spirits people are under the power of, they will naturally draw to those who are under the same kind of spirits because that is where they are going to naturally feel comfortable. As children of God we are called to be "followers of God, as dear children; And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us" (Eph. 5:1,2). The ONLY Spirit that is going to empower us and lead us to do that is the HOLY Spirit that Jesus sent back from heaven after he left this world (Acts 1:4,5,8; Acts 2:1-4; Rom. 5:5). Who we choose to be around has a whole lot to do with what direction we are headed in, and whether we are truly being led by God's Spirit, or coming under some demon spirit's dominion.

Nobody is going to be able to NOT be around people who are routinely sinning. As the apostle Paul said, "for then must ye needs go out of the world" (1 Cor. 5:10). And who could we win to the faith of Christ if we are never around people who NEED to be won to Christ? But that is where honesty comes into the equation. We are going to be around people in sin because we live around them, work with them, see them at the markets, etc. The opportunity to influence people with the love and faith of God is always there, and in my family we take advantage of that opportunity everywhere we go, and with some remarkable results I might add. God be thanked. But if we CHOOSE to hang out with folks who are NOT following after God's holy Spirit, that is where we will come under the dominion of the spirits of this world that these people are under. Why? Because in order to hang with them we have to conform to their spirits; otherwise they will in effect cast us out from their presence for being a reproof to them. People just don't like to hang out with people who are contrary to them. Nobody does. So either we reprove someone's sins and they repent and come under dominion to God's Spirit, or we conform to their spirit in order to stay around them. If people are not willing to forsake the demon spirits that hold them to sin, and we choose to keep their company; then we are giving license to their demons to get power over us as well. I've seen it more times than I could ever hope to count. Some child of God hanging around with unbelievers and coming under the power of their spirits, thinking all the while that they will "win them to the Lord." Truth is they have already been won to THEIR SPIRITS, and are just fooling themselves into compromise and the loss of love, joy, power, peace, and faith that goes with it.

This malady exists WITHIN the body of Christ among brethren as well. Folks will choose to be around other 'believers' who are NOT being obedient to the calling of Christ, which is to walk in the holy love that he loved us with (Jn. 13:34). And they do so because they themselves are not willing to pay the price to dwell in God's love and truth. The apostle Paul instructed Timothy, "but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, WITH THEM that call on the Lord out of a pure heart" (II Tim. 2:22). Many will try to defend their practice of "evil communications" by saying that Jesus was a friend of harlots and publicans. Let's understand however that when Jesus was among the backslid crowd it was because he was ministering to them and they were receiving him and getting deliverance. In fact that is where I have found myself far more often than not, among the downtrodden crowd [homosexuals, prostitutes, alcoholics, drug addicts, promiscuous, etc.] that most 'religious' folks wouldn't dare to be around. But these people are drawn in our direction because they feel something that they haven't felt around the stiffly religious people they have known, and they also end up getting deliverance, healing, and redemption from the Lord Jesus Christ who is with us. I thank God for allowing me that kind of distinction, and I don't intend to give it up either. Nonetheless I have no desire whatsoever to spend my time around those who are just plain opposed to the idea of repentance, faith in Jesus, and the holy love that comes with it. I would far rather be alone with God, and just sit and feel his love and peace, if it comes to that. Yes my friend, I give you my word, and greater word than mine as well: Who you choose and desire to be around will have a whole, whole lot to do with where you end up in eternity. After all, it just makes good sense that we would spend eternity with those whom we liked spending our time with here. As for me, I'll stick with "the pure in heart," for is they who are "blessed," and it is they who "will see God" (Mat. 5:8). Amen.