The dove found no rest for the sole of her foot. Genesis 8:9 KJV
Reader, can you find rest apart from your ark—Jesus Christ? If you can, your religion is worthless. Are you satisfied with anything less than the conscious knowledge of your union with and share in Christ? Then woe to you. If you profess to be a Christian but find your full satisfaction in worldly pleasures and pursuits, your profession is false. If your soul can rest, finding a bed long enough and a sheet broad enough to cover itself in the chambers of sin, then you are a hypocrite. You are far from any right thoughts of Christ or understanding of His preciousness. But perhaps that is not your case. Maybe you feel that even if you could indulge in sin without punishment, that would be a punishment in itself. Maybe you believe that if you could have the whole world, and live in it forever, that would be misery—because God is what your soul really craves. If so, be of good courage: you are a child of God. With all your sins and imperfections, take this as comfort: if your soul finds no rest in sin, you are not like sinners are! If you are still craving something better, Christ has not forgotten you—because you have not quite forgotten Him. Believers cannot do without their Lord; words are inadequate to express their thoughts of Him. We cannot eat the sands of the wilderness—we want the manna that drops from on high. Our bottles of human confidence won’t yield us a drop of moisture, but we drink from the rock that follows us—and that rock is Christ (1 Corinthians 10:4). When you feed on Him, your soul can sing, “He fills my life with good things. My youth is renewed like the eagle’s” (Psalm 103:5 NLT). But if you don’t have Christ, your overflowing wine vat and well-filled barn can give you no true satisfaction. Instead, lament over them with the words of wisdom: “Meaningless! Meaningless! . . . Everything is meaningless!” (Ecclesiastes 1:2). C. H. Spurgeon Morning and Evening
You can fool some of the people some of the time, but you can't fool all the people all the time.
In this world people are in various states of either convincing others of something or are in the midst of being convinced.
Ignorance is not bliss. Seeking personal happiness apart from God will be as futile as trying to divert Niagara Falls with a thimble.
We know from 1 Timothy 6:10-12 "For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. But flee from these things, you man of God, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance, and gentleness. Fight the good fight of faith; take hold of the eternal life to which you were called, and for which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses."
The love of money is at the core of the problems that mankind craves for. If they had this money they could do this or that and be happy. As a song from the 80's said that's looking for love in all the wrong places.
What motivates you? Is there any thought or consideration in you for the things of God that's stronger than what you desire out of this world?
Is vanity and pride blocking the way to the happiness you really seek? Most of the advertising in this world today is about those two things.
If you really do claim the name of Jesus as your Savior, are you at all interested in what your Savior is interested in, or are you going on your own merry way living in your own life apart from Him?
Spurgeon asks you to be real with you.
If you claim to be saved, are you living it? By living it are you at all making His priorities your priorities?
Are you using your freedom in Christ as an excuse to continue in sin?
Paul had a lot to say about intentional sin. Knowledge is what Jesus said was going to be the downfall of the Jewish leaders. Knowledge of what constitutes sin and yet refusing to separate from it. Human beings were created in the likeness of God. Not just physically but spiritually and mentally and emotionally. Sin messed that all up. Choice to obey is harder because of sin. Choice to live for Christ or you is still before you.
Too many in today's so-called churches are being taught how to have their cake and eating it too. Teaching as doctrines the thoughts of mankind and not from God's Word.
Teaching that sexual sins are OK, that living in your vanity is OK. That living in your own self interest is OK.
Motivational speakers go on about bringing your body and mind under your submission. Apart from God this isn't possible in the truest sense of the word. You can spend your life attempting to get your body and mind to look and feel the way you want apart from God but all that will get you is an eternity in Hell apart from God. What good is it for man to gain the whole world yet forfeit his soul?
We look at our world and it's full of ways to avoid a Godly life.
Immersing in fiction to avoid the reality of this world.
Immersing in travel to avoid time with Christ as we ought because we focus on personal happiness apart from God.
Immersing in forms of vanity that get people to spend thousands to look better, feel better, to impress people they really don't even know or like.
Essentially what is available in this world is the ability to be immersing in all the ways possible to avoid a right relationship with Jesus.
If you are spending your time, energy and money all on you. That speaks volumes as to who is more important, you or Jesus. If you are barely repeating the same words over and over saying you are thankful for the food that you are going to eat. You have a problem. If the welfare of those living in your world means nothing to you, of whether or not they are heading for Hell or Heaven, you have a problem. If you have never opened your Bible you have a problem.
If any or all of these things are true, yet you claim to be a Christian, either you were never saved at all or your relationship with Jesus is seriously broken. Return to Christ, come back to the cross. Turn and repent.
Of all the things you should be known for in this life is your being genuine in your walk with Jesus.
The more I let go of this world's stuff and I stop listening to the world in its propaganda of self, and make more time to pray and obey God, the less stressful my life is.
Be real in your life before God now before you stand before Him later wishing you had.
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