The Danger of Entertainment

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For some time, I have struggled with entertainment by watching  TV shows/movies & listening to music that God would not approve of. I have gone through the process of ridding myself of R&B, Hip-Hop & even certain gospel music a least three times. I can tell you that entertainment definitely carries a spirit of bondage. It amazes me of how people can still argue the idea that music & movies have no effect on a person's behavioral patterns. Even from a scientific & psychological evaluation, these forms of entertainment and many more - without a doubt - affects the behavior, reactions and overall emotions of people.

Ever heard that we only use a certain percentage of our brain? This is true when we engage in most activities. However, music is one of the few activities that involve using the ENTIRE brain. Music is processed in the right hemisphere of the brain. This is the side of the brain that reacts emotionally rather than logically, process the "big picture' rather than the details, processes information in random order rather than sequential order, memory through non verbal information (such as images), and creativity which eliminates perception of consequences.  

Television has been linked to the increase number Attention Deficit Disorder, hyperactivity and delayed brain function in children and adults. According to the #1 natural health site, 72 percent of parents in the U.S. are concerned with their children watching TV for 5 hours a day but only 23 percent of them have taken action of this concern by monitoring what their children watch, cutting the time allowed to watch television or encouraging their children to watch & enjoy educational programming. I'd say, this is not an acceptable number considering we haven't even spoke about the adults that feverishly watch TV programming that do nothing to positively enhance growth!

Of course, with these facts come the evaluation of Satan & his demons having EVERYTHING to do with the reason so many people find entertainment absolutely addictive, music in particular. The bible tells us, in Ezekiel 28:13, that the Tabret and Pipes were prepared IN Lucifer the day he was created. Lucifer actually embodied musical instruments. According to several other scriptures, these are proven to be instruments for music (Gen 31;27, 1Samuel 10:5, Job 17:6, 1 King 1:40, Isaiah 5:12, Matt 11:17 and at least 10 more). Although Lucifer became the adversary of God, thus gaining the name "Satan" and being cast out of heaven, along with the angels that turned from God - Satan still bared many of his heavenly assets and it is no surprise that he is using music and other forms of entertainment to cause people to sin against God. 

Christ talks about "hypocrites" in a greater portion of Matt 6. This word is from the Greek translation of hypokrites which means "play acting" "acting out" "judgment" or "critics"... In short, this word mean ACTOR. Christ taught that hypocrites, or actors - are people that play a role but secretly, they are someone else & have hidden agendas. They put on performances. This is true for the actors in movies and TV shows because they have a public persona yet are completely different people outside of the public eye. Also, music videos provide a platform for musicians to act. All videos have a story-line and require for the people in it to act it out.

*For More information about the origins of acting in Greek society click this link> http://www.greektheatre.gr/actors.html

In Exodus 20, The Most High God warns us about imagery. When we use imagery as a major tool of perception, we will most assuredly go wrong. This is why people idolize celebrities' image of lifestyle (money, clothes, cars, jewelry) & public persona. 

You may be asking about other forms of entertainment such as various products of technology (game consoles, cameras, computers, and much more) and to that I say each of these have created issues on a moral level such as playing video games that promote violence, creating and collecting nude photos/videos, and cyber bullying among many other problems. 

So please, re-evaluate the time you spend and type of entertainment you intake. It can damage you spirit!

Truth About Mother's Day

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On The Road To Success Without Christ??

Follow @MoniceSharde I was thinking about what my goals were before I begin following Christ & the Will of The Most High God. Once I entered college, I would complete that degree, secretly thinking that if it were necessary - manipulate, cheat and lie to get what I wanted. I wanted to take on the world and get everything in it that I felt was deserved. My thoughts toward Christ was that I would praise Him to compliment my already mapped out life. He would just be an addition to my American Dream but I wasn't about to ask Him to direct my path because I knew He wouldn't go in the direction my wicked heart was leading me.

I honestly thought that because when I was in a bad situation, the prayers I sent up to Christ would last me through when I was in a better situation. You know the phrase All Prayed Up... As if my past prayers would last a lifetime through wicked thoughts and a foolish rebellious heart.


Well, fast forward to years later >>> God had me take a break after my first degree. During that time, I was saturated in the Word of God. My once Selfish and Wicked desires had been washed away and replaced with a Heart for God. I cared less about being what the world deemed as successful and listened to God's divine instruction for my life. I switched career paths and looked back at the steps I had previously taken... 

1. When I was a child and adolescent, my mom always babysat for neighbors' children. Since I am my mother's only child, I really enjoyed when she would have children over because I could pretend they were my  siblings (*Note* I wasn't united with my paternal brother at that time). I would care for them in whatever way my mom needed assistance and spent quality time with them...
2. When I was 19, I begin working as a Pharmacy Technician at a couple of Hospitals. There were so many young ladies (around 16 years old) that came to one of the hospitals I worked for, seeking an abortion. I talked with many of them and actually became an off-the-record-mentor for several. During this time I got close with my coworkers and formed bonds with their children. They considered me their big sister...
3. When I was 22, I began working for a division of Kaplan Inc (Test Prep and Tutoring service for k-12th graders). After my first week of working there, my supervisors would send me to tutor some of the more difficult students because they saw I was able to relate to them and these students would work with me when they were extremely resistant toward the other tutors...
4. During my time of pursuing my first degree, in addition to tutoring for Kaplan- I tutored Public Speaking, English & Writing for G.E.D. and college freshman/sophomore students at a couple of community colleges. I worked with students that had been away from school for many years and were reluctant to get help for fear of embarrassment. I found exciting ways to teach them and it worked! I was overjoyed that they found a liking for education again...

The Trayvon Martin DECEPTION!

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Is the New Definition of a "Good Relationship" Accurate?

Follow @MoniceSharde Recently, I met a young man that holds an interest in me & has what many would say are good qualities. He is a college graduate, goal oriented, funny, and handsome... And honestly, a few years ago, that would have been enough for me to think to myself "He is a good enough candidate to be a boyfriend!"  I would've NEVER thought to ask about his belief in Christ. I would've gladly began a relationship with him.. A relationship I would've defended and granted the title: "Good Relationship"

However, since I have grown in the Word and asked Jesus Christ to renew my heart, obeying what is acceptable to Him and removing what isn't - I had to ask this young man about the Word of God and was his beliefs aligned with it. But he is not a man after God's own heart. He is very clear about his rebellion toward Jesus Christ, His Will for our lives and anything that it includes. This was a deal breaker for me. 



As this society has decreased in morality & substantial values, the definition of a "good relationship" has degenerated! In affect, we can agree that the NEW definition of a good relationship is lacking! The qualities that are sought in men and women are financial stability, ambition, level of physical attraction, nice, knows how to behave according to surroundings (etc etc etc)... With this being said, there is a quality that is more important than all of the above traits of a man/woman -put together.. Ironically, many overlook it, as I once would! When a man or woman follows the Will of God by way of Jesus Christ, all goodness will encompass that person's character. Ecclesiastes 4:4 tells us the vanities in having ambitions that outweigh our love for God. This includes seeking or molding and partaking in an ungodly rooted relationship.

What happens when this type of guy doesn't believe in, follow, or submit to The Will of The Most High? 

 

"Blessed are those that do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life. For without are dogs and sorcerers and whore-mongers and murderers and idolators and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie" - Revelation 22:14&15

"For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also" -Luke 12:34

"The fool hath said in his heart there is no God. Corrupt are they, and have done abominable iniquity: there is none that doeth good." - Psalms 53:1

"For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God, for it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness" - 1 Corinthians 3:19

"Either make the tree good and his fruit good or the tree corrupt and his fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by his fruit" - Matthew 12:33 & Luke 6:44

The Word is VERY clear about those that refuse His Word and Will! If you are someone that Loves the Lord Jesus Christ.. You cannot ride off into the sunset (proverbial) and be joined with someone that isn't a believer! The Lord's purpose by design is for the man to follow God (Proverbs 1:2-15) and through this, be a leader for the household.

"In all thy ways, acknowledge Him and He shall direct thy paths" - Proverbs 3:6

"Now unto Him that is able to keep you from falling and to present you falling and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, to the only wise God our Savior, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen" - Jude 1:24&25

"Be ye not unequally yolked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? And what communion hath light with darkness?" - 2 Corinthians 6:14

It is IMPOSSIBLE to have a "good relationship" without following The Perfect Will of The Most High God! So remember, the world's standards and qualities of what constitutes a good relationship are commandments of men.. But The Word of God should ALWAYS be weighed against the commandments of men, for it's the only acceptable standard and when followed, has proven itself to be RIGHT and WORTHY! 

Popular Culture says Y.O.L.O. but Christ says NO NO!

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For the past couple of months I have been hearing and seeing the term "Y.O.L.O." and didn't think to ask what it meant. Because I don't keep up with the trends of popular culture very much, I just thought it was an acronym for something in hip-hop but really couldn't have cared less about its meaning. However, earlier today a guy sent me a message (through social networking) and his username was Y.O.L.O. and I decided to look it up. I found the above picture of Zac Efron with a Y.O.L.O tattoo on his hand. Also, Jenelle from MTV's Teen Mom has gotten one as well:

The meaning of Y.O.L.O. is interpreted in through a mixtape by rappers Drake and Rick Ross, titled "You Only Live Once" which has taken Hollywood by storm and although people used this term frequently in the past, it's taken on a brand of its own.

Ironically, this is a terrible message to impressionable minds, particularly those that have not heard what the Word of God has to say about this! 

The bible teaches us that everyone that accepts the gift of salvation through obedience by faith will not live once but TWICE!

• John 11:25 says: "Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live.."

•  1 Thess 4:14 "For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him."
• Rev 20:5 "But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection"
• Psalm 71:20 " Thou, which hast shewed me great and sore troubles, shalt quicken me again, and shalt bring me up again from the depths of the earth."

This tells us that believers in Christ will physically die to the sin of this world but Jesus will give us new bodies so that we can be caught up to meet him (1 Corinth 15). Do NOT fall into the lies of this world.. The lies of popular culture are satan driven! Jesus has overcome death & so shall we live again if we do the Will of The Most High. Popular Culture says Y.O.L.O. but to that, Jesus says NO NO!

Testimony: From Spiritual Rags to Riches

Follow @MoniceSharde I want to share my testimony with you so that you will have a better understanding of my journey to loving and obeying The Most High. 

I was raised by a single parent (mother) and had a close relationship to my maternal grandmother. My mother was considered the "black sheep" of the family because she never went along with traditions of man, well before she could understand God was calling her out from among her family. Although at that time, she didn't have a strong personal relationship with Jesus Christ, she always recognized that He was Lord and Savior and taught me to be humble, kind, respectful, reliable and trustworthy. She always encouraged me to pray and to lean on Him for strength. Needless to say, being a single mother was not easy for her and she fell into sin that threatened to steal her life. During this time, she was still very active in parenting and was "burning the candle on both ends" so to speak. I would pray daily that she became all that God had for her to be. I believed all she taught me and knew although I couldn't see Christ, He was my strength and was the ONLY one that could change/fix what man could not. So I held on to that faith and continued to pray my mother out of darkness. I went through elementary school, high school, trade school and into the working world holding on to Jesus and trying to build my relationship with Him, which my mom continued to encourage even when she was spiritually weak and wasn't depending on Him to change her.

In 2005, she came completely out from under satan's grip. For that entire year, she did her personal study to find out who Jesus REALLY was, without the influence of the counterfeit-christ that the Western culture's Pagan Rome-inherited teachings give. She began teaching me what she had learned and because I was falling away from Christ, I wasn't interested. The things she was learning about Christ wasn't what the world believes of Him. Yes, He is full of compassion, mercy/grace and love - He is also TRUTH and the darkness of this world is extremely offended when that TRUTH is spoken. It reveals that the walk we think we have with the TRUE Christ is nothing more than a crooked path with the counterfeit-christ of this world (satan). It reveals that ALL things are spiritual, righteous or wicked.. And that, if we decide to decline to accept the gift of salvation and our obedience that is required to effectively receive it, we will be eternally separated from Christ - which results in hell. This didn't sit well with what my eschewed understanding of Him was. It didn't allow me to feel comfortable in my sin nor did it make excuses for it. After a battle of 2 years (from the age of 20 til 22), I purposed in my heart to stop fighting what God was doing in my mother's life and accept Him-COMPLETELY- into my own.

Once I made this leap of faith- TRUE FAITH - I saw EVERYTHING differently. I was in college and once I saw the TRUTH, I no longer had the same reasoning for college as I originally did. Before, I was only in college to get a better career, have lots of money, and live the American Dream. Afterward, I was sickened by my original thoughts. I knew I wasn't in school for myself nor was to take a path I was passionate about when I had a wicked heart. I learned that my desires were to be aligned with Christ's PERFECT Will. So in this, I changed majors (from psychology to communications), after prayer and conformation about what I should do. I could no longer call those around me "friends" because I became too peculiar for them. I stopped dating because I don't want anything detouring my walk with Christ and unless the man is someone that loves the Lord with all their heart and follows His Will (including virginity or celibacy until marriage), I cannot date Him. My heart did ache because things were drastically changing but I also felt peace in knowing The Lord I serve was pleased with my willingness to change. 

Now, I am 26, building on my relationship with the Lord and asking Him to make my heart more and more in alignment with His Will, completing a B.A., and being a vessel to let as many as will hear about Jesus Christ and His love for us all if we just accept it!