Kim Kardashian: modern day Jezebel?

When Jehu came to Jezreel, Jezebel heard of it. And she painted her eyes and adorned her head and looked out of the window. (2 Kings 9:30 ESV)

Whether we care to admit it or not Kim Kardashian is an outwardly beautiful woman. It seems at the bat of her alluring eyelash the world is under her seductive spell.

In this season, Kim Kardashian’s name is on everyone’s lips and her brand is ubiquitous. I never really paid attention to all the hoopla surrounding her. Then, all of a sudden Ms. Kimberly’s world came crashing into mine! Everywhere I went family, friends, co-worker’s were all watching and talking about her reality show.

So I started to wonder just what is this Kardashian business all about? At one viewing I found myself laughing hysterically at the family’s antics while simultaneously disturbed by the common use of epithets. But, nonetheless I continued watching. It had become a guilty pleasure! I must admit I felt convicted watching it. After about the fourth viewing I had a reality check! I had to ask myself: as a person wanting to know God’s heart more intimately does this show’s values line up with my spiritual walk? Does its message correlate with what the word of God says on how to conduct one’s self: Christ being the head of our life
(1Corinthians 11:3), not worshipping idols (Colossians 3:5), abstaining from premarital sex (Heb 13:4), not lusting after material things (1John 2:16), not lusting after money (1Tim 6:10)? The answer was an astounding no!

Most reality shows deem to portray power, overt sexuality, and covetousness as the status quo, as the worldly trinkets to strive for, while subsconsciously seducing with its superflous, extravagance, and materialism. Its objective to mirror greed, violence, and immorality as common place to a naive viewing audience; ‘this is what the American dream is’, it taunts! It beguiles to make one accept its behavior as normalcy, slowly desensitizing the masses against the very values Christ died for!

Jezebel is a spirit of seduction, sexuality, lust and greed! (Revelation 2:20-23). It looks beautiful and inviting but is inwardly wicked and evil! It lures you in, bates you with its power and worldly riches, then devours you! So many souls are lost each day trying to attain this false image presented before them. More and more isolated incidents are making headline news of people embezzling money, committing suicide, murder, Ponzi schemes trying to bite into the proverbial carrot the devil keeps dangling in front of them.

This spirit seeks to seduce, entice, and brainwash. Anything that is an impasse, it seeks to annihilate; anything unlike itself–just like the priestess Jezebel! In the book of 2 Kings she sent out a decree to kill Elijah:

Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “So may the gods do to me and more also, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by this time tomorrow.” (1Kings 19:2)

Because Elijah killed her prophets who were practicing evil, Jezebel sent out a decree to kill Elijah. Elijah represents Godliness, discipline, holiness. This Jezebel spirit hates righteousness, purity, and integrity.

The Jezebel spirit is particularily rampant in the entertainment industry. This demonic spirit seeks to spiritually demolish those who live for truth, righteousness, vitrue, and morality with spirits of impurity, violence, profanity, and fornication in this generation. The hunt for Elijah is very meticulous yet subtle. This Jezebel spirit is very daunting, imposing, and seducing. Really, just turn on the TV it’s there! It seeks to manipulate and restructure our thinking with excuses such as:
“this is the times we live in, or this is normal,” but in actuality the metaphor I like to use is it’s like a winding, choking, anaconda, slowly enrapturing and swirling around its victim until it goes in for the kill!

Reality TV is only one of the many new millennium tools Jezebel is using to spread her mayhem. As a Christian young woman I am appalled to turn on the TV and see grown women fist fighting and using such obscene language. It saddends me even further that as a daugter, sister, and aunt that most of the female reality shows are laden with violence, sex, and hatred towards one another. Is this really the legacy we have to leave for the next generation? Women that’s made up to look like over sexed, money hungry, street walkers? With no substance and dignity. Revelation 17 calls her the great prostitute, sexually immoral, full of blasphemous names. And most importantly, Revelation 17:6 goes on to say she is drunk with the blood of the saints, the blood of the martyrs of Jesus!!!
Beloved, we are Elijah! We have to wake up! Jezebel is after us, our children, our families! She wants to kill us! She wants to murder our seed of greatness! We have to fight back! Starting with ourselves, monitor what we are allowing into our spirit: what we are reading, listening to and watching on TV, most importantly; the media and images in the entertainment industry we are allowing our children to ingest into their spirit. Take a stand! Boycott the programs in your home that have no moral value or integrity. Wage a war against Jezebel! Don’t allow her to demoralize your spirit. Pray dilligently and ask God to kill the Jezebel in your life.

In the beginning of this post I opened with the verse referencing Jehu. Jehu was the physical manifestation of Elijah’s prophecy from God of Jezebel’s death.

2 Kings 9:30-37
When Jehu came to Jezreel, Jezebel heard of it. And she painted her eyes and adorned her head and looked out of the window. And as Jehu entered the gate, she said, “Is it peace, you Zimri, murderer of your master?” And he lifted up his face to the window and said, “Who is on my side? Who?” Two or three eunuchs looked out at him.
He said, “Throw her down.” So they threw her down. And some of her blood spattered on the wall and on the horses, and they trampled on her. Then he went in and ate and drank. And he said, “See now to this cursed woman and bury her, for she is a king’s daughter.” But when they went to bury her, they found no more of her than the skull and the feet and the palms of her hands. When they came back and told him, he said, “This is the word of the Lord, which he spoke by his servant Elijah the Tishbite, ‘In the territory of Jezreel the dogs shall eat the flesh of Jezebel, and the corpse of Jezebel shall be as dung on the face of the field in the territory of Jezreel, so that no one can say, This is Jezebel.’

Contentment vs. Persecution

If you are living according to the mandates of the Holy Bible and are being persecuted it’s because you are an effective witness for the Lord Jesus Christ. Contrarily, if you are sitting comfortable in the Lord satan doesn’t want to bother you. He see’s you sitting perched high on your religious chair–not ministering to anybody, not praying…let alone praying for anybody else, not reading your Bible, not serving in a ministry. Your ministry is your lip service, “God is good all the time!” Or, “I’m blessed, sanctified, and filled with the Holy Ghost!” Oh, satan’s going to leave that one alone. When you are complacent you are doing his work for him, matter-of-fact he’s going to pamper you, make every thing go right for you, and build you up in false pride. He’s going to get you real comfortable so he can get you to a place of compromise. He whets your appetite by dangling the worldly carrot in front of your eyes, “sure, you can still have, fame, fortune, material prosperity, act like the world, dress like the world, talk like the world, watch what the world watches, party, drink, smoke, have sex; even with somebody’s else’s husband or wife and then tell yourself, “we are in love.” Oh, satan will have you so comfortable in him, until you start believing his lies!!! You will begin to ration in your mind, “we get along so well, God must have put us together.” In your heart you remember the Word, but out of compromise you let satan lead you by your emotions, by your wants, lusts, and the desires of this wicked world. Slowly he’s pulling you back on his side. But you know what’s the best part about it for him? Not only has he snatched you out of God’s hands, He now has you calling yourself a “Christian,” sitting up in the church doing his will! He’s now using you as his protegé to blind, destroy, deteriorate souls that God is trying to save, by your lifestyle. They look at you and say, ‘they’re just like me; they do the same things I do, say the same things that I say, and go to the same night clubs I go to, why should I follow God’? Some others will say ok well it looks like I don’t have to give up anything to become a Christian, so “sign me up!” When you compromise you are leading souls into darkness! You are telling the world a spiritual lie that you can have the world and God at the same time!!! 2 Corinthians 6:17 warns us to,”come out from among them, and be you separate, said the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you.” And you wonder why you don’t have any power or authority in your Christian walk so you blaspheme the person who is on fire for the Lord. Talking about them, ridiculing them. “Oh they think they are Paul, with all of that preaching and ministering! It don’t take all of that!” You wonder why God is not using you! You become jealous of their power and try to speak against what God is doing in their life! But I tell ya, to get that power you gotta suffer, you gotta go through some things, you gotta know what it feels like to be so hungry that your stomach feels like it’s eating your insides! I tell you, you gotta know what it’s like to go in the prayer closet in the morning and don’t come out until late at night. And you’re talking about this person, “if they were living right and doing God’s will they wouldn’t be persecuted. They must not be living right because they are always going through something.” But you just don’t know God has to bring them t-h-r-o-u-g-h before they can get a BREAKTHROUGH! “They are always suffering.” That’s because they are not compromising! They are a threat to satan! They are PRAYING souls out of his hand. Their ministry is breaking the shackles of sin, loosing the bonds of wickedness, feeding the bread of life to a starving and hungry generation. And you wonder why they are being persecuted. They are a threat to the kingdom of darkness! Satan is hot on their trails because they are a formidable opponent to his kingdom. He’s trying to stop the mouth of God with attacks, tribulation, war, and suffering but the more he attacks, the more he’s helping to further spread the gospel. This Christianity was built on the blood of persecution. Need a refresher course? Read the book of Mark. God will allow it for every Christian that desires to know His will for their lives in order to establish a deeper relationship with Him. Because every time they’re attacked, guess what? It’s going to drive them to their knees to seek the heart of God. Oh but when they get back up~ Isaiah 40:31 says but those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint…so satan’s attacks are only creating testimonies, bringing resistant souls to Christ by the miracles that’s being done in the spirit realm , and creating a “fire” in that person that you complain about is too zealous for the Lord. God commands us in Mark 16:16 to go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. Complacency should not be commonplace in the kingdom of God. If you are lukewarm I ask you to reexamine your relationship with Christ. Ask Him to give you a fresh outpouring, a new anointing of the spirit. So many people have been hurt and turned away by the so-called “church.” Beloved, there are souls that are desperate, and hungry for the pure word of God, they are seeking Christians that will walk upright, and in integrity in the things of God. They are tired of being mislead. They seek a people who will speak the truth according to the Holy Bible and live according to its doctrine. Beloved, you are the only Bible some people will ever read. Let your life serve as light on a high tower, beaming ever so brightly to those who are perishing in darkness.

By Puja Nagual

Your worst enemy

It’s six am, the alarm clock, blaring, starts the tone of the day. You jump up disoriented, heart racing, and dash out of bed to shower before stumbling over piles of clothes strewn over the floor. Little Johnny starts screaming at the top of his lungs. “Where is that baby sitter?! She’s usually here by …” before you can complete the sentence the phone rings and you hear a quaint voice on the answering machine, “Hello…aah… hi Ms. Outtaorder, I’m not going to be able to come in today, something came up.” “The nerve of that little wench! She’s supposed to be here already!” you quip.  You sprint out of the shower, rummage through the accumulated junk compiled in your room that hasn’t been cleaned in two weeks, and find your phone book nestled underneath a plate of half-eaten, rotten Chinese food that exposed the deathly odor you had been trying to pin point. You scramble through the phone book leaving messages out of desperation to every relative, church member, ex-boyfriend, ex-boyfriend’s girlfriend trying to find a replacement sitter. “If you come to work late one more time, it will result in your termination!” your cantankerous boss’ voice resonates in the back of your mind. After leaving a barrage of messages as a result of unanswered calls, you hang up the phone in despair; hair dripping wet, car keys in hand, and little Johnny straddled across your hip. Tears start to stream down your face as scenes of a crumbling life play out in your mind’s eye. You plop down on the bed and begin to question God: “Lord my life is a mess! My husband left me, I don’t know how I’m going to pay the mortgage this month, and how am I going to raise this son that you have given me? ‘Lord, I don’t understand, I walked away from the world and gave my life to you and accepted you as my Savior, since then everything has gone wrong in my life!”

This is cry of many hearts today. You thought you had your life all figured out. You had dreams, goals and a clear direction for your life. But yet along the way you have faced nothing but wrong turns, disappointment, and despair. When you were younger you had so much zest and zeal and you started out with great enthusiasm. You may have spent years trying to climb the proverbial corporate ladder, chase a childhood dream, or start your own business only to have been faced with closed doors, rejection, discrimination, or could only go so far in your company. Ten or more so years later you find yourself at the end of own strength. You have allowed anger, bitterness, and despondency to become the lord of your life. Although you may have accepted Christ into your life you are still not walking in the fullness of His power. Every area of your life is broken and you have come to the realization that you are the common denominator. You have let years of discouragement, failure, and defeat beat down your door. Maybe you have lost all hope and cannot possibly fathom a better life for yourself.  Perhaps God has bought you to your end so He can give you a new beginning. Perhaps He is directing your steps so you could have a full life in Him. Beloved, this cross roads is where many of us make the wrong turn and walk out of Jesus’ path.

In the book of Acts in the New Testament, after God convicted Paul because of his persecution of the Christian church, God gave Ananias a vision and sent him to Paul (then named Saul) to speak the word of the Lord concerning Paul’s life (Acts 9:10-18 NKJV).  In Vs13, Ananias answered, “Lord I have heard from many about this man, how much harm he has done to your saints in Jerusalem.” The Bible says that the Lord told Ananias that Paul is a choosen vessel and that he will bear “My name.”  Moreover the Lord professed, “For I will show him how many things he must suffer for My name’s sake.” After Ananias laid hands on Paul the scales fell off  his eyes and he was filled with the Holy Spirit. Beloved, God opened Paul’s spiritual eyes and set his soul afire for the word of the Lord.  So much so that Paul traveled from the road of Damascus to as far as Thessalonia to establish the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  It was out of Paul’s own oppression and reports of Christian persecution of established churches that the letter to the Thessalonian church was written.  In Thessalonians 3:3 Paul tells the church, “ that no one should be shaken by these afflictions; for you yourselves know that we are appointed for this.” Paul reminds the church that when he was with them before, how he told them Christians will have to suffer tribulation.

When God called Paul out of a sinful and rebellious life, He clearly told him that he would have to endure many hardships on this journey. However, when Paul accepted God’s invitation to be filled with the Holy Spirit that allotted him boldness and courage to defeat his enemies. Many of us may have started out like Paul on the road to Damascus: full of hate, judgment, bitterness, and autonomy. You may have let wrong thinking direct your life and because of it you have become your own worst enemy. Many people are living powerless and defeated simply because they have not accepted Christ, and/or asked the Holy Spirit to come into their lives. Paul’s letters still apply to us today, he warns us that as Christians we will be afflicted for the gospel’s sake, but saints it’s the Holy Spirit that will give us the strength to overcome any trial we face.

Repeat this prayer: “Holy spirit, I ask you to come into my heart and lead me. I release the spirit of negative thinking, anger, and bitterness right now. Direct my thoughts and my actions everyday, and help me to walk in a spirit of love towards myself as well as others, in Jesus’ name. Amen!”

Beloved, if we are to be triumphant in this Christian walk it will require diligently guarding our minds. In her book “Battlefield of the mind,” Joyce Meyer emphatically states that our mind is the battlefield. To proclaim victory over any area of our life we must first win the battle in our mind! We must renew our thinking! Whatever darts satan throw at us we can render them powerless by edifying ourselves daily in the word.

2 Corinthians 10:5 teaches us how to stand against the war that rages in the mind by “casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.”

Moreover, Ephesians 4:31 admonishes us to “Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice.” Many people, unmindful, speak death over their lives by their words (Proverbs 18:21). I cannot tell you how many Christians make the mistake of speaking pessimistically regarding the affairs of their lives. Words flow out of the abundance of the heart (Luke 6:45)! Saints, we must get in the habit of speaking, in the name of Jesus, blessings over our lives no matter what it looks like in the physical realm. Lastly, along with renewing our mind, and guarding our tongue must ask God to purify our hearts. (Psalm 51:10).