Isaiah 26:3 Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.
The battle that is taking place in the spiritual realm is a battle for the mind because it’s there where our decisions take place. Judgement, discretion, and the abilities to discern between right and wrong, truth and error, all take place in the mind, and therefore, anything that will damage the frontal lobes and the gray matter in our brains is made readily available.
Some might wonder why we keep referring to the X-perts in questionable terms; it is because some of their recommendations and suggestions are often contrary to that which is written, and even though some of them might be quite sincere, they could inadvertently become agents of evils, whenever they are not guided by God.
For clarification, there is nothing wrong with getting a Bachelors, Masters, or Doctorate, if one is able to preserve the God factor in the process for according to the sacred record, Daniel and his 3 companions were led by God to higher learning in the schools of Babylon. There is nothing inherently wrong with it.
Yet, for all the science, mythology, arts, languages, math, and philosophy they studied, the God factor was never permitted to be interfered with and thus, their hybrid of secular education, together with the study and embrace of the sacred oracles, did not make the knowledge of God subservient to what they had been taught in the universities of the day.
Instead, whenever their secular education clashed with the scriptures, the wisdom of man was held in subjection, and thus, God could use them in their educated capacity to speak and witness to princes and kings, in a manner that would not compromise truth or duty.
Having said that, God-faring parents in our day are faced with challenges of no ordinary character, for while it is still good for kids to reach for the stars in their educational pursuits, yet, more and more, and ever so often, certain secular modes of thought and some of the philosophies now being disseminated to students, are posing existential threats to faith, and truth.
And therefore, if we are not very careful, the God factor will be threatened existentially, to the point of no return, if one’s faith in God, and belief in His word are not held supreme in one’s mind. Bit by bit and ever so subtly, laws, concepts, suggestions and clamors of the carnal mind are being incorporated into the learning systems of the day.
Parents are now faced with the prospect of children being educated in same-sex relationships, as well as gender neutral philosophies. Thus, whenever any of these concepts are juxtaposed with the legalization of marijuana and wine, we’ll have a toxic mix on our hands because how can parents teach their children properly when the laws of the land, and the secular philosophies are sanctioning evil? Let’s read:
By Ryan Nobles and Clare Foran, CNN Updated 2:08 PM ET, Wed July 14, 2021
The Senate Majority Leader and a group of other Senate Democrats introduced draft legislation on Wednesday that would decriminalize marijuana at the federal level by striking it from the federal controlled substances list. It's significant for a Senate majority leader to back such a measure, and the move highlights the evolving politics of cannabis policy. At a news conference, the majority leader vowed to "use my clout to make this a priority in the Senate."
Marijuana is now legal in forty-six states, and if the current proposed legislation passes, parents will be facing the grim prospect of not being able to warn children of the inherent dangers of smoking pot and when this is added to the legislation of certain drugs and readily available, highly addictive pain killers, the battle for the mind can be lost.
The “X-perts” have for very many years suggested the legalization of marijuana, and various lobbying groups have taken up the call for legislators to pass laws that would permit both the medicinal, and the recreational use of the drug even though it’s known to produce hallucinations and many questionable behaviors and dangerous side effects of all sorts. Let’s read:
Schizophrenia: a long-term mental disorder of a type involving a breakdown in the relation between thought, emotion, and behavior, leading to faulty perception, inappropriate actions and feelings, withdrawal from reality and personal relationships into fantasy and delusion, and a sense of mental fragmentation.
Schizophrenia linked to marijuana use disorder is on the rise, study finds. By Katie Hunt, CNN Updated 4:18 AM ET, Thu July 22, 2021.
Schizophrenia is a chronic, severe and disabling mental disorder. Its symptoms may include delusions, thought disorder and hallucinations. No cure exists, so doctors try to manage the symptoms with medications and therapy.
But, just like all other harmful indulgences coming from the tree of good and evil, its so-called benefits are being paraded up front, and persons fall for the science and research which seem to suggest that it would be positively good for the human family, on many different levels.
May we here say that evil is always advertised and sold under the banner of having some benefit, for it’s very rare that perpetrators of sinful indulgences will come out plainly and say “This thing will kill you for sure”.
Again, as we see how some drugs are advertised it’s usually with persons smiling, and touting the great benefits thereof, whilst in the fine print below, the adverse effects which such companies are forced to reveal, are written in the smallest possible lettering, in so much that folks may have to use a magnifying glass to read the truth in the matter.
Several over the counter drugs affect the mind in very adverse ways, ranging from suicidal thoughts to various hallucinations, delusions, and giddiness. In addition to this, drugs are often sold in the form of liquors, weed, candies, cookies, milkshakes, and the result is basically one and the same in many too instances.
The mind is altered, strange thoughts and desires arise, and individuals are driven to do things they would not do, under normal circumstances. Thus, while marijuana may offer some relief from pain on the one hand, it affects the mind adversely on the other.
spiritous liquors may give a temporary relief from one’s troubles, but when the hangover comes, and reality sets in, persons are in a worse condition than before, and the fallout continues. Therefore, with a little good comes a ton of evil, and before you are aware of it, persons become hooked, often for life.
Therefore, as we address the topics of drugs, sex, and marijuana, we will investigate what effects are produced in the mind, how such indulgences often lead to persons making unwise and sometimes fatal decisions, and how we must avoid becoming swept up in the snares that are being laid for the feet of the unwary, in these last days.
Question: Can unbridled sexual indulgence including pornography, cause a rational thinking person to do something irrational? Answer: Yes. Absolutely!
2nd Samuel 11:2 And it came to pass in an evening-tide, that David arose from off his bed, and walked upon the roof of the king's house: and from the roof he saw a woman washing herself; and the woman was very beautiful to look upon.
3 And David sent and enquired after the woman. And one said, Is not this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?
4 And David sent messengers and took her; and she came in unto him, and he lay with her; for she was purified from her uncleanness: and she returned unto her house.
5 And the woman conceived, and sent and told David, and said, I am with child.
In this instance, the sting of unbridled lust caused David to put his entire career on the line. His noble deeds of kindness towards Saul, when the king was seeking his life, his heroic deed in slaying Goliath by the power of God, and many of those sacred Psalms he wrote while in the wilderness of Engedi, all these good accomplishments were lost sight of as it were, in a moment of time.
David did not stop to reason, that somebody would know something at some point in time, for the wife of Uriah would have to pass through the royal court on her way to that unfortunate rendezvous. Thus, because someone will always snitch, it wouldn’t be possible to completely cover up the issue.
Furthermore, David didn’t stop to think about what effect his actions would have upon those under his jurisdiction, who looked up to him as a role model, and who trusted his integrity for many years. All of these things went out the window, as the force of unbridled lust took a hold on him.
The same is often true in our day, for there have been instances where certain politicians who had a stellar record previously, were presumably hiking, far up in those Appalachian Mountains. And your everyday John Doe, who has become hooked on porn, can also be made vulnerable to doing some irrational things that could greatly alter his or her after history.
And we must never be deceived into thinking that these problems only belonged to David, Solomon, and Herod, for even God-fearing men can succumb to the same bewitching power, if they are not very careful. Hence the reason why, when Paul wrote to those early Christians, he warned them not to think that just because they believed in Jesus, that they were invulnerable to temptation on this point.
The battle for the mind is not a pagan thing only, it is a Christian thing, and much more so if one tries to fend off foes from without and within. That is why a Christian husband and his wife who are still sexually active, would order their steps with sound wisdom and discretion, not assuming that the other could be invincible. Let’s read:
1st Corinthians 7:5 Defraud ye not one the other, except it be with consent for a time, that ye may give yourselves to fasting and prayer; and come together again, that Satan tempt you not for your incontinency.
Satan only needs one weak link in the chain of one’s character or habits, to undo the entire person, and therefore, if inordinate sexual activity of any sort is one’s pet rock, it will inevitably find its way into the mind, and will grip the frontal lobes with fingers of iron, from which it will become very difficult to escape.
This leads us to our second issue of drugs, for after hearing the unwelcome news, David finds himself in a very difficult position, because according to what is written, Uriah could legally take David’s life, a dire prospect from which David would fain turn away.
Thus, because his back is now against a wall, he will resort to strategy, if by any means, he could get the husband of Bathsheba to sleep with her, for if this were the case, then the child would obviously be credited to them, since DNA testing was many years away. But all of his efforts fail miserably, and he is left only one more option, to turn to the use of drugs to try to interfere with Uriah’s rational thought process.
Like so many in the industry in our day, David knew that one’s ability to reason is adversely affected by the use of liquor, and therefore, he reaches into his refrigerator, and pulls out a bottle of Johnny walker if perchance he may win the battle for Uriah’s mind. Let’s read:
2nd Samuel 11:6 And David sent to Joab, saying, Send me Uriah the Hittite. And Joab sent Uriah to David.
8 And David said to Uriah, Go down to thy house, and wash thy feet. And Uriah departed out of the king's house, and there followed him a mess of meat from the king.
9 But Uriah slept at the door of the king's house with all the servants of his lord and went not down to his house.
10 And when they had told David, saying, Uriah went not down unto his house, David said unto Uriah, Camest thou not from thy journey? why then didst thou not go down unto thine house?
11 And Uriah said unto David, The ark, and Israel, and Judah, abide in tents; and my lord Joab, and the servants of my lord, are encamped in the open fields; shall I then go into mine house, to eat and to drink, and to lie with my wife? as thou livest, and as thy soul liveth, I will not do this thing.
12 And David said to Uriah, Tarry here today also, and tomorrow I will let thee depart. So, Uriah abode in Jerusalem that day, and the morrow.
13 And when David had called him, he did eat and drink before him; and he made him drunk: and at even he went out to lie on his bed with the servants of his lord but went not down to his house.
Leviticus 10:9 Do not drink wine nor strong drink, thou, nor thy sons with thee, when ye go into the tabernacle of the congregation, lest ye die: it shall be a statute forever throughout your generations:
10 And that ye may put difference between holy and unholy, and between unclean and clean.
Putting difference between holy and the unholy obviously has to do with one’s ability to distinguish and differentiate between right and wrong, good and evil. When one’s mind becomes beclouded by the use of drugs, marijuana and liquor, the sense of discrimination and discernment is greatly impaired, and as a result such persons often do foolish things that they often regret for life.
Case in point was Belshazzar, who because of the use spiritous liquors, made the fatal mistake of blending that which is holy with that which is vile. As the Johnny walker black began to take its toll on his mind, he lost his sense of right and wrong, and he sent for the vessels which had been dedicated to the service of God.
But little would he know that by such an act, while under the influence of wine, that he would close his own probation, with no possibility of forgiveness or repentance. It is a solemn statement that is made, that there are certain lines that must never ever be crossed, for some of them are points of no return. Let’s read:
Daniel 5:2 Belshazzar, whiles he tasted the wine, commanded to bring the golden and silver vessels which his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of the temple which was in Jerusalem; that the king, and his princes, his wives, and his concubines, might drink therein.
3 Then they brought the golden vessels that were taken out of the temple of the house of God which was at Jerusalem; and the king, and his princes, his wives, and his concubines, drank in them.
4 They drank wine, and praised the gods of gold, and of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone.
5 In the same hour came forth fingers of a man's hand and wrote over against the candlestick upon the plaster of the wall of the king's palace: and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote.
6 Then the king's countenance was changed, and his thoughts troubled him, so that the joints of his loins were loosed, and his knees smote one against another.
7 The king cried aloud to bring in the astrologers, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers. And the king spoke, and said to the wise men of Babylon, Whosoever shall read this writing, and shew me the interpretation thereof, shall be clothed with scarlet, and have a chain of gold about his neck, and shall be the third ruler in the kingdom.
8 Then came in all the king's wise men: but they could not read the writing, nor make known to the king the interpretation thereof.
The writing on the wall was Mene, Mene Tekel Upharsin and it was written in Aramaic, which at that time was in fact one of the everyday languages of Mesopotamia, and therefore, the question is why could not any of Babylon’s translators and linguists, interpret the hand writing?
At this point, the DJ had stopped playing, and that familiar song: red, red, wine faded in the distance, and in its stead, a solemn silence and an ominous foreboding took hold of the party because what had just taken place seemed to foreshadow a grim day of reckoning. Let’s read:
Daniel 5:24 Then was the part of the hand sent from him; and this writing was written.
25 And this is the writing that was written, Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin.
26 This is the interpretation of the thing: Mene; God hath numbered thy kingdom and finished it.
27 Tekel; Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting.
28 Peres; Thy kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians.
That was back then, but in our day there are literally thousands of drugs being made readily available to the young and the old, prominent among which is marijuana, known by other names such as Cannabis, weed, and ganja.
We must be crystal clear concerning this drug, for it is dangerous to the frontal lobes, and because it has been found to produce hallucinations and delusions the minds of those who indulge freely in it cannot be trusted to make sound judgments, let alone to recommend anything to any person in the name of doing good.
Persons will discover in these final days of earth’s history, that we have to be very careful from whom we take advice, and if it is known that one is a user of Cannabis, all the more caution must be exercised, because thoughts and suggestions coming from the mind that is hallucinated, produces evils in others who may be deceived thereby.
One night, whilst playing at a carnival party with Gregory Isaacs, we were contacted to do the band music for him. But before coming onto the stage to the roar of the crowds, the singer virtually set the stage on fire with weed, and those poor musicians were then engulfed in a cloud of smoke, that set the stage for mass hallucinations.
It is worthy of note that when closely observed, the push to legalize marijuana was laced with research touting its benefits as a pain reliever, and because so many individuals suffer with chronic pain, it was seen as benefit to the human family.
But, just as it was in days of old, so it continues to be, for some good is usually marketed with a ton of evil and before you know it ganja moved from being a pain reliever to being a recreational drug, to now being legalized in almost every state in the country.
Satan knows exactly what he is doing, because he understands better than we do, that if something evil has some good laced with it, persons are more likely to morph toward the evil with the passage of time, and thus, he always markets darkness with just enough light to give it plausibility.
But blending 1% poison with 99% orange juice does not render the poison fit for consumption. On the contrary, it is more likely to be taken unawares by those who may not be the wiser.
Thus, with proper marketing, and with the backing of the legislature, a multitude of hallucinated, and deluded minds are set to proliferate across the land, becoming the norm, and like with every other good and evil mixture, we would be paying a very heavy price for many years to come. Thus, saith The Lord.
The following excerpts were taken from studies done by The National Institutes of Health.
“While marijuana use is prevalent among the adolescent population, research has shown that there can be devastating effects on health and well-being. A review of the literature shows that marijuana use can have a negative impact on physical health, psychological well-being, and multiple psycho-social outcomes. Adolescents who used marijuana more frequently and began using marijuana at an earlier age experienced worse outcomes and long-lasting effects.
According to the “Monitoring the Future” 2014 survey results from a large sample of high school students in the United States, marijuana use was found to be the most commonly used illicit substance with 35.1 percent of high school seniors reporting use in the past year.
Roughly two-thirds of high school seniors reported not considering regular marijuana use to be harmful, despite much research that has proven otherwise. About 12 percent of people over 12 years old had reported marijuana use in the past year, with especially high rates of use among youth.
Marijuana has been found to be an addictive substance with increased chances of addiction for those who begin using as teenagers and especially among those who smoke marijuana daily. Undoubtedly, the most concerning issue regarding recreational marijuana use are the numerous adverse effects impacting adolescent youth and those effects that may lead to long-term consequences for development.
Marijuana use has been associated with increased risk of motor vehicle accidents, health problems, psychiatric symptoms, and poorer educational outcomes. Marijuana is also commonly referred to as the ultimate “gateway drug” leading to increased chances of using other illicit substances. These adverse effects can be extremely harmful to the health, safety, and emotional well-being of the nation's youth.”
Thus, because the time is now and the place is here, we are left no choice but to deliver the goods as is written in the Bible. Even though the grace of God is readily available to all persons, the raw fact of the matter is that when one’s mind has been damaged by marijuana, there are after-effects that may linger on for many years.
The natural laws of sowing and reaping are in most cases allowed to run their natural course, and even though repentance and change may be embarked upon, the damage has already been done. Thus, we are to understand that prevention is better always than cure.
However, the Bible does offer hope to anyone who may be caught in the snare of the devil and thus, we would encourage all who may be entangled therein to pray like never before. It is also mandatory in instances of addiction, that the adversely affected persons do not continue to associate with those who are doing weed, because the gravitational pull of friends and habit can lead ultimately, to a relapse.
Therefore, in harmony with the urgency of the time we’ll end our discourse with a grim reminder, that we have been purchased with the precious blood of Jesus, and as such, it is our sacred duty, and moral responsibility to keep our minds and bodies in the best possible condition, while at the same time, not parleying with evil in any way shape or form. Let’s read:
Proverbs 1:10 My son, if sinners entice thee consent thou not.
15 My son, walk not thou in the way with them; refrain thy foot from their path.
1st Corinthians 6:19 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?
20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore, glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.
God bless!