There's an interesting thing about sexual sin that puts it in a league with very few others. Only a small number of sins seem to be able to in many instances gain near total control of the sinner. I can't tell you the number of times young people (and old ones, too) have told me that they "just can't stop" when it comes to sins of a sexual nature. It's almost like someone who struggles with being overweight. It's not like you can completely give up eating--you can't stop eating, but you CAN do it God's way. You simply have to bring what you eat and how you eat it under God's control. The same thing is true with sex. It's not like a human with blood still pumping through his veins can stop being a sexual being. It's that those sexual desires MUST be brought under God's control. That is to say, they must be conducted according to God's rules and inside of God's timetable. For those who have been "born again" through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit of God, the blood of Christ gives us the power to defeat sin--BUT its power is available only when we prayerfully allow the Spirit the freedom to work in us. We must submit to His authority. When we don't, we will once again be tantalized by our sinful nature. When this happens, sins we once thought were under control will seemingly be "born again" within the members of our own bodies. Then the "I can't stop" mentality can flourish. For those who claim to know Jesus and who also have the "I can't stop" condition, I must exhort you to realize that the power to win your struggle resides with you. You can, and must put it to death daily (or even "minutely" if necessary). The Holy Spirit is your guide. "But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness. And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you. Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation - but it is not to the sinful nature, to live according to it. For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God." Romans 8:10-15 Pastor Jim Kilby Your donation spreads good news! www.harvestyouth.org/donate

If you've not genuinely given your life and your heart to Jesus Christ, then you're playing a serious waiting game with God. Many play this game, unknowingly falling into the devil's trap, believing that everything will be okay in the end. All the enemy needs to do is keep you from making a decision, and you'll have made a decision to follow him by accident. Don't believe his lies. Everything is NOT going to be okay! Then I said to the priests and all these people, "This is what the Lord says: Do not listen to the prophets who say, 'Very soon now the articles from the Lord's house will be brought back from Babylon.' They are prophesying lies to you. Jeremiah 27:16 Pastor Jim Kilby Your donation spreads good news! www.harvestyouth.org/donate

Sometimes I struggle with the fact that some of the best guys (and gals) I know are not Christians. At one level I feel like many of them are probably even better people than I am as they seem to struggling with less of life's pitfalls. How could it be that I am worthy of salvation, and yet they haven't received it? At another level, it just seems like such good people shouldn't be sent anywhere but to heaven! Then, reality sets in because I know God's Word to be absolutely true, and He is very clear that only "perfection" will ever enter heaven. Even good people who haven't been made "perfect" by the blood of His Son will never approach God. Then it hits me. Maybe some of the "good" people I know are just good in their own minds that they will never seek Jesus' forgiveness for their sins. That's where I come in! God has saved my pitiful soul, and the way I approach life will be a testimony to my friends, both good and bad! "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" Romans 3:23 Pastor Jim Kilby Your donation spreads good news! www.harvestyouth.org/donate

I had a young female friend who recently tearfully confessed she was convinced by a couple of young men to strip for them on camera. She's devastated, now wondering what damage she's done to her relationship with Christ. She is also finding her guilt is hard to deal with on other levels, now wondering if she has any reason to live. I know a few things about this type of sin, and I can tell you with undoubted certainly that a few things are true. 1. The guys who convinced her are in more trouble with God than she is. 2. Her confession that "they said I looked beautiful" was a fleshly lie from the guys, as true beauty always comes from within. Even an idiot knows that God made a woman's body attractive to a sane man! And, 3. She has every reason to live, since even her tearful confession to me shows a heart that is looking for forgiveness and is ready for a stronger relationship with Christ. "Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised." Proverbs 31:30  Pastor Jim Kilby Your donation spreads good news! www.harvestyouth.org/donate

I'll admit I'm no big fan of country music, but I will acknowledge that many of the words I've heard to country songs have a firm grasp on life! Once, I accidentally had my radio on a country station and I heard some words that initially I thought were cool... Until I thought about them that is. The song went, "live your life as if you were dying." I was thinking how much different I would treat my family and other people if I thought I'd never see them again, and how many cool things I would want to do before I went, and how I would... And then I realized everything I was thinking about was all about "me." Even the part about treating people better was so they'd remember me fondly and cry a lot at my funeral! I think the words of the song would be better if they said something like, "live your life as if you were completely dead, and then brought back to life!" Then it could be all about the One who brought you back! But hey, I'm no country song writer! "But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions - it is by grace you have been saved." Ephesians 2:4-5  Pastor Jim Kilby Your donation spreads good news! www.harvestyouth.org/donate

I don't know how Job felt when Satan took away his health, his family and all of his possessions, but I know that for all the mistakes he made, he did not quit and he didn't curse God for his condition. Later, God blessed Job beyond his wildest imagination. As a result, thousands of years later we are still taking about Job's patience and faith. The reality of being a Christian is that there will be good days and days that are full of difficulty. We praise God during both types of days, and all the days in between as well. Not because we expect blessings, but because He is our Lord and we trust Him in the good times and in the bad. His plans and His children will prevail in spite of how things may look. He's Almighty God, He's our Father and He loves us. Isn't that enough to make even a tough day better? "But the plans of the LORD stand firm forever, the purposes of his heart through all generations." Psalm 33:11  Pastor Jim Kilby Your donation spreads good news! www.harvestyouth.org/donate

Many world religions, some with literally billions of followers, believe people come back to life after they die. Christians also believe in life after death. Where we differ with these other religions is that we know from the Scriptures we do not come back as anything or anyone else. We come back as ourselves, and for some that will be quite unfortunate. There is no other life to live. The name we make for ourselves here will be our name forever. This is the only life we'll have, and then we will face the judgment. For those who are "born again," the blood of Christ provides eternal Salvation. Believe it or not, the whole concept of "dead" doesn't seem to even make sense to God in the sense that we see it. "Dead" to Him is reserved for those who are eternally separated from Him, very much eternal beings, but never to be in His Glorious presence. "But in the account of the bush, even Moses showed that the dead rise, for he calls the Lord 'The God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.' He is not the God of the dead, but of the living, for to him all are alive." Jesus of Nazareth (Luke 20:37-38)  Pastor Jim Kilby Your donation spreads good news! www.harvestyouth.org/donate

The Scriptures tell us that we're supposed to consider others more important than ourselves (Phil 2:3), but most of us have a hard time doing that. Although we've come a long way in accepting people with handicaps or those who are different from us, we can (and sometimes do) still look at them as if they're not quite as important as we are. And what about people who don't dress like we do or don't speak our dialect or our language or maybe those who are younger or older or maybe haven't been Christians as long as we have. Our tendency is to look down on all of them. That tendency is not of Christ. As Jesus and his disciples were leaving Jericho, a large crowd followed him. Two blind men were sitting by the roadside, and when they heard that Jesus was going by, they shouted, "Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!" The crowd rebuked them and told them to be quiet, but they shouted all the louder, "Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!" Jesus stopped and called them. "What do you want me to do for you?" he asked. "Lord," they answered, "we want our sight." Jesus had compassion on them and touched their eyes. Immediately they received their sight and followed him. Matthew 20:29-34  Pastor Jim Kilby Your donation spreads good news! www.harvestyouth.org/donate