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Spiritual Adultery - Tuesday Praise & Pray (for others) January 14, 2025
Although cheating seems to be popular and frankly, heralded in our modern society, adultery is very much a grave sin in God's eyes. It is why He said, "thou shalt not commit adultery," listing it as one of the 10 Commandments that all who believe in Him are to follow.
And for those who like to dismiss the Old Testament and claim to be subject to only the New, remember that Jesus said to treat others as you want to be treated. Since no reasonable person would want their spouse to cheat on them, no reasonable Christian, who loves Christ and is led by the Holy Spirit, should commit adultery.
And yet, many of us Christians - married and unmarried - are committing adultery every day. Let me explain.
The adultery in question is of the spiritual variety. Christians are actively cheating on God and thinking nothing of it. This is partly because they have not studied God's word to recognize and understand the gravity of their sinful ways. It is also because they've become stiff-necked and now justify their adultery. They are ignorant of the Vashti line that awaits all who do not realize they need to serve only God Almighty.
How exactly are Christians committing spiritual adultery, you wonder? Well, the very same way the Biblical Israelites did. The only difference is they should know better.
They bow to fame, money, sex, lust, pornography, abortion, celebrity worship, New Age Spirituality and the occult, social media, satanism, self-indulgence, gossip and slander, lies and deceit, murder, alcohol, weed and other drugs, and more. When these modern idols control a person's behavior, they represent the many faces of one evil entity - the devil. And they have taken the place of priority God should have in the lives of those He created.
What do you do first thing in the morning? Do you praise God? Do you read His word for guidance for the rest of your day? Or do you grab your phone to find out what you missed while asleep? Is there someone you text before turning your attention to the God you claim to belong to? Does He get your full attention at some point in the day? Or does everything else take precedence?
Adultery is a sin and God hates it. He also despises seeing those whom He loves giving their affection - the love He should receive - to anything else. He wants fidelity - complete faithfulness and loyalty - the kind expected in a covenant. When that is absent, adultery strengthens, growing like a pebble gathering dirt while rolling down a hill. It starts with a little compromise here and there, becoming full-blown cheating over time. The Lord will teach us and we shall obey His command to be faithful to Him, IJN Amen.
Join us today for fellowship at Noon EST and come back on Friday when we'll learn about some consequences of spiritual adultery.
To learn more, please read:
First, thank you for your patience. You noted that you didn't intend to derail, so I am certain you can understand why I am only now addressing your questions after our fellowship ended.
And thank you for making the points you did. You have created an opportunity to further expound on the lessons behind the Vashti Line message. I confess that I am limited in how many words I can use for each post as I have to be mindful of our short attention spans (myself included). I therefore see this as an opportunity to provide more details. Thank you.
Now, the Vashti Line message makes clear that Xerxes was proud. The message even goes so far as to note that if anything, Vashti mimicked what was mirrored to her. The message also mentions it is likely that her refusal to do as Xerxes demanded was not a one-off event. Assuming she was from a royal family of her own, she may not have seen herself as one who could be summoned at his whim.
However, let us not ignore the lesson of her story - that our bad behavior will catch up with us eventually.
Whether we like it or not, whether it was fair or not, Xerxes was not just Vashti's husband. He was her king. And her life was in his hands. For her to ignore this reality was a foolish decision on her part and it led to her losing her position and likely her life. The Bible tells us Xerxes was drunk and personally, I am stunned that she wasn't mindful of his emotional state and the vipers he had around him. If she came from a royal family (and even if she didn't) then she should have been familiar with the deadly intricacies of royalty. She is the clear example of a person who was ignorant of their true circumstances. But her folly became someone else's gain. May that not be our portion, IJN, Amen.
Notice that Esther did not make such a foolish mistake. Despite the pride Xerxes exhibited (I mean who just has a harem of women waiting at his beck and call if pride is not an issue? Geez.), she displayed great wisdom in dealing with him. That wisdom only came because she submitted herself in humility to God. Then, she submitted herself in humility to her king (notice I didn't call him her husband? Such sensibilities would not have helped her). Once she did that, Xerxes was eating out of her hand. She became the most powerful woman in the world.
My sister, God, as loving as He is, is our Master. Our Lord. Our King. Our Judge. And while many don't like it, He has never claimed to be fair. That is why so much of what He does will never make sense to us humans. Vashti's story is supposed to be a lesson to us Christians about being careful in how we deal with God so we don't run afoul of Him. All ideas of what is equitable and fair, therefore, do not apply just as they didn't in Vashti's case. This is what the Lord taught me about this woman and that is what I shared.
We are more fortunate in our dealings with the Lord because of the great grace He extends to those made in His image. Even more so to His children who believe in and obey His Son. Nevertheless, we cannot forget to be careful. God Himself has made it plain in the Bible that a day will come when His judgment will strike. A line will appear. Those on the right hand of God will receive entry to heavenly eternity. The others will not. May none of us be on the wrong side that day. IJN, Amen.
Again, I thank you for asking the questions you did. You could have instead not given me an opportunity to explain further and come to certain conclusions. May the good Lord bless you. And if anything I've said still does not make sense, I am more than happy to provide additional comments if you like.
Thanks once again and apologies for the long block of text but I wanted to be as clear as possible. God bless you.