Ask Your Preacher - Archives
Somewhere Out There
Tuesday, October 11, 2016Is it possible that the almighty God created another world besides heaven, Earth, and hell?Sincerely,
Multi-Dimensional
Dear Multi-Dimensional,
Anything is possible with God (Mk 10:27), but if He created other worlds, He never told us. The secret things belong to God (Deu 29:29). We cannot prove nor disprove whether God has created other worlds, but we do know that if they do exist – they don’t have any bearing on our lives. The Scriptures tell us everything that we need to know to be saved (Rom 1:16)… parallel cosmic worlds aren’t something we need to know about.
Choosing To Think
Monday, October 10, 2016This is a painful sin. I know that having sinful thoughts is a sin, and I am a christian. I've been having horrible thoughts about God; I don’t want to have the thoughts, but they just pop up. Is that the devil putting them in my head, and will I go to hell for it? I’m scared.Sincerely,
Wandering Mind
Dear Wandering Mind,
Dwelling upon evil desires is sinful (such as lusting after a woman – Matt 5:28), but a thought popping into your head is not the same as dwelling upon evil. We don’t exactly know how much power the devil has to influence our thoughts, but we do know that in certain circumstances, he has put thoughts into people’s minds (such as Judas betraying Christ – Jhn 13:2).
You don’t have complete control over what thoughts come into your mind (this is also true of emotions), but you do have control over what you do with those thoughts. Jas 1:13-15 points out that sin occurs when we allow our thoughts to dwell upon sinful behavior until we actually act upon it. Make a choice to think about something else. The story of the demon tells us that we must remove sin from our lives and replace it with positive things (Matt 12:43-45). Meditate and dwell on wholesome things (Php 4:8). Fight evil thoughts by replacing them with holy thoughts.