Idolatry involves more than carved or man-made objects, it also pertains to beloved desires, and wants, placed first OVER *GOD*, and what is righteous! This post is not about idolatry, per se, but of the consequences of CHOOSING to exist in the world, and those uncontrolled desires so many give in to, instead of resisting, and overcoming, AND the ETERNAL ramifications of doing so...
IMPERATIVE: *GOD* HAS BEEN FULLY HONEST IN HIS COMMANDS FOR OUR EXISTENCE ON THIS Earth! HE HAS TOLD US what pleases HIM, and what stirs HIS wrath, and what shall be the final effect of NOT heeding HIM! Now, many take advantage of the FACT that HE LOVES us, and assume as the enemy has falsely said, that HE will NOT punish us for the choices we make because HE LOVES us! Excuse me, HE would NOT waste time instructing us to not go against HIS WILL, NOR would HE reveal the consequences of doing so, IF HE wasn't serious about our adherence TO HIS WILL, WAYS, and WORD!!!
We ARE to reign in our passions, desires, wants, and so forth IN FAVOUR OF SERVING *GOD*, and others! In the first place, IF we are OF HIM, we KNOW we are NOT of the flesh, and therefore, not controlled by carnal satiation! Sure, we will struggle to overcome, but that we TRY means the difference between control, and lack of!!!
Drugs, alcohol, promiscuity, greed, aggression, violence, and well, MANY issues which plague humanity ARE as idols, BECAUSE they are preeminent OVER *GOD*, AS IF, therefore, danger IS present, now, and forever...
THE BIBLE speaks much about being sober, and I realize some of this means somberness, yet, it STILL deals with being uncontrolled to the point of erring easily, for therein, lies the snares which HE WILLS we avoid, FOR HIS GLORY, and the sake of our soul. HE HAS made it crystal clear, but the enemy is EVER at work in the human condition, and always convinces the less informed that there is nothing to worry about...
EVERY HOUR OF EVERY DAY COULD be our LAST, thus, we ARE BID to exist aright THAT we head HOME, and NOT at the head of that slippery slope of eternal suffering! NOTHING on this planet, or within us, EQUATES the necessity of becoming ONE WITH THE LORD *GOD*! NOTHING is more crucial, or urgent! IF ONLY people would STOP taking HIM, HIS LOVE, and TIME for granted, and ACKNOWLEDGE the NEED to adhere TO HIM!!!
The more we party, the more we indulge, the more lusty we become, the more stubborn we are, the more we IGNORE THE TRUTH of HIS BLESSINGS, and CURSES, the farther we are FROM HIM, and HIS assistance(s)! HOW can we be FAITHFUL when we are wasted, or lost in fulfilling our own desires, wants, and passions? Such people DON'T consider HIM at all when they are satisfying their carnality! THINK about it, and you WILL SEE!!!
ALL of HIS instructions for this journey ARE SOUND, PRINCIPLED, and WORK FOR OUR GOOD, and SAFETY! ALL of our wrong choices WORK AGAINST US, especially those concerning our soul, and eternity!!!
Since way back when, people have said they DON'T want to hear anything about the ramifications of err, but, those who cave in, and don't remind them, or make them aware, might as well be working for the enemy, because they are ALLOWING PRECIOUS SOULS to be taken BY the flesh!!!
We HAVE the POWER to diminish, AND eradicate ALL those behaviours and actions which are against THE HOLY WISHES OF THE LORD *GOD*; for one, HE WILL make sure we CAN, and for another, we are NOT weak in TRUTH!!!
IF we HAVE GIVEN ourselves TO CHRIST JESUS, the old being is gone, and the NEW, SPIRITUAL being IS our REALITY, and TRUTH! NO, we won't be perfect in our conquests, YET, that we ARE endeavouring to lessen them, PROVES HIM IN us, and STRENGTHENS us, more, more, and more! Sure, it is tough, but we ARE tougher than ALL challenges, and obstacles placed before us by the evil of this world, DON'T you forget it, OR try to deny it!!!
2+++For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night.
3+++While they are saying, “Peace and safety!” then destruction will come upon them suddenly like labor pains upon a woman with child, and they will not escape.
4+++But you, brethren, are not in darkness, that the day would overtake you like a thief;
5+++for you are all sons of light and sons of day. We are not of night nor of darkness;
6+++so then let us not sleep as others do, but let us be alert and sober.
7+++For those who sleep do their sleeping at night, and those who get drunk get drunk at night.
8+++But since we are of the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet, the hope of salvation.
9+++For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,
10+++who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep, we will live together with Him.
11+++Therefore encourage one another and build up one another, just as you also are doing.
It is needless or useless to ask about the particular time of Christ's coming. Christ did not reveal this to the apostles. There are times and seasons for us to work in, and these are our duty and interest to know and observe; but as to the time when we must give up our account, we know it not, nor is it needful that we should. The coming of Christ will be a great surprise to men. Our Lord himself said so. As the hour of death is the same to each person that the judgment will be to mankind in general, so the same remarks answer for both. Christ's coming will be terrible to the ungodly. Their destruction will overtake them while they dream of happiness, and please themselves with vain amusements. There will be no means to escape the terror or the punishment of that day. This day will be a happy day to the righteous. They are not in darkness; they are the children of the light. It is the happy condition of all true Christians. But how many are speaking peace and safety to themselves, over whose heads utter destruction is hovering! Let us endeavour to awaken ourselves and each other, and guard against our spiritual enemies.
LUKE 1: 29-38; Christ tells his disciples to observe the signs of the times, which they might judge by. He charges them to look upon the ruin of the Jewish nation as near. Yet this race and family of Abraham shall not be rooted out; it shall survive as a nation, and be found as prophesied, when the Son of man shall be revealed. He cautions them against being secure and sensual. This command is given to all Christ's disciples, Take heed to yourselves, that ye be not overpowered by temptations, nor betrayed by your own corruptions. We cannot be safe, if we are carnally secure. Our danger is, lest the day of death and of judgment should come upon us when we are not prepared. Lest, when we are called to meet our Lord, that be the furthest from our thoughts, which ought to be nearest our hearts. For so it will come upon the most of men, who dwell upon the earth, and mind earthly things only, and have no converse with heaven. It will be a terror and a destruction to them.
Here see what should be our aim, that we may be accounted worthy to escape all those things; that when the judgements of God are abroad, we may not be in the common calamity, or it may not be that to us which it is to others. Do you ask how you may be found worthy to stand before Christ at that day? Those who never yet sought Christ, let them now go unto him; those who never yet were humbled for their sins, let them now begin; those who have already begun, let them go forward and be kept humbled. Watch therefore, and pray always. Watch against sin; watch in every duty, and make the most of every opportunity to do good. Pray always: those shall be accounted worthy to live a life of praise in the other world, who live a life of prayer in this world. May we begin, employ, and conclude each day attending to Christ's word, obeying his precepts, and following his example, that whenever he comes we may be found watching.
ROMANS 13: 11-14; Four things are here taught, as a Christian's directory for his day's work. When to awake; Now; and to awake out of the sleep of carnal security, sloth, and negligence; out of the sleep of spiritual death, and out of the sleep of spiritual deadness.
Considering the time; a busy time; a perilous time. Also the salvation nigh at hand. Let us mind our way, and mend our pace, we are nearer our journey's end. Also to make ourselves ready. The night is far spent, the day is at hand; therefore it is time to dress ourselves.
Observe what we must put off; clothes worn in the night. Cast off the sinful works of darkness. Observe what we must put on; how we should dress our souls. Put on the armour of light. A Christian must reckon himself undressed, if unarmed. The graces of the Spirit are this armour, to secure the soul from Satan's temptations, and the assaults of this present evil world.
Put on Christ; that includes all. Put on righteousness of Christ, for justification. Put on the Spirit and grace of Christ, for sanctification. The Lord Jesus Christ must be put on as Lord to rule you as Jesus to save you; and in both, as Christ anointed and appointed by the Father to this ruling, saving work. And how to walk. When we are up and ready, we are not to sit still, but to appear abroad; let us walk. Christianity teaches us how to walk so as to please God, who ever sees us. Walk honestly as in the day; avoiding the works of darkness. Where there are riot and drunkenness, there usually are chambering and wantonness, and strife and envy. Solomon puts these all together, Pr 23:29-35.
See what provision to make. Our great care must be to provide for our souls: but must we take no care about our bodies? Yes; but two things are forbidden. Perplexing ourselves with anxious, encumbering care; and indulging ourselves in irregular desires. Natural wants are to be answered, but evil appetites must be checked and denied. To ask meat for our necessities, is our duty, we are taught to pray for daily bread; but to ask meat for our lusts, is provoking God, Ps 78:18.
LWINSOR © 2018
BIBLICAL, and/or other references marked BOLDLY IN COLOURS
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