GospelNotes.life

Category: The Lust of the Flesh, Eyes and Pride of Life

  • Hating the world

    • 1 John 2:15-17 — Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.
    • 1 Corinthians 7:29-31 — But this I say, brethren, the time is short, so that from now on even those who have wives should be as though they had none, those who weep as though they did not weep, those who rejoice as though they did not rejoice, those who buy as though they did not possess, and those who use this world as not misusing it. For the form of this world is passing away.
    • Romans 14:7 — for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.
    • 1 Corinthians 6:13 — Foods for the stomach and the stomach for foods, but God will destroy both it and them.
    • James 4:9 — Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom.
    • Matthew 6:24 — No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.
    • James 4:4 — Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.
    • 2 Corinthians 12:4 — how he was caught up into Paradise and heard inexpressible words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter.
    • 1 Corinthians 2:9 — But as it is written: “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”

    There’s our Father’s Kingdom and the way things work there, vs Satan’s kingdom (this world) and the way things work here.

    We’re promised by Jesus that we will receive a hundredfold in our Father’s Kingdom. But we are not told what all that will be. Imagine it like a game show, where there’s an uncovered box on the left with the most beautiful mountain and ocean scenery, the most beautiful people to lust over, the most tantalizing food and drink to consume, the finest possessions to possess. Then imagine a box to the immediate right that is covered with a dingy blanket with “Heaven – A hundredfold” written on it.

    What we do know from the scriptures above is that the Kingdom of God operates opposite of Satan’s kingdom of this world. This world exists of: eating and drinking (especially for pleasure), finding a spouse and sex, acquiring possessions, finding pleasure in the little faults in this world (laughter), and business. However, in the Kingdom of God, there will be no eating and drinking, no marriage/sex, no possessions to acquire, no cruel/“funny” things to laugh at, and no business. But we are not really told anything else about how the Kingdom of God operates. All we are told is that we will receive a hundredfold in peace and joy.

    Take NOTHING from this world. This world is cursed – it and everything that comes from it – including our fleshly bodies. And Peter tells us that the earth, the way it works and everything in it will be burned up. John tells us to “not love” the ways of the world and anything in it. Jesus says you either love one thing and hate the other, or the opposite. So you either love the way Satan’s world works and the things in it, or you either hate it and blindly look forward to “a hundredfold” in the Kingdom of God. Take John literally – literally hate the way this world works and everything that comes from it: food, drink, sexual lust over beauty, all the creations of man (possessions), the pride of: beauty, fashion, careers, athletics, intelligence, creativity, etc. Literally hate it all – for the world is going to be burned up on account of all the evil these things produce – and blindly look forward to a different way in our Father’s Kingdom – a hundredfold way. Hebrews 11 tells us that the godly men and women of old all shunned this world and looked forward to the heavenly country whose foundations are made by our God.

    Christ left for us the perfect example of hating the world and taking nothing from it: before He could start His ministry, He had to be tested by Satan for 40 days and nights in the desert. What did Satan tempt Him with?: the lust of the flesh (food – bread), the lust of the eyes (possessions – all the kingdoms of the world), and the pride of life (casting Himself down). He also performed His entire ministry with the apostles homeless, eating no fine food and drink, but pretty much bread, fish and water, simply for survival – not pleasure – taking nothing from this world.

    Blind obedience and trust to our Lord when He tells us to avoid the lusts of the flesh, eyes and pride of life is key. We’re not expected to know what awaits us on the other side, but when He commands us to hate this world and the lusts of the flesh, eyes and pride within it, we’re to be blindly obedient, maybe not understanding – at all  – why (when they all seem so good), but just trusting Him when He tells us that they’re really, really bad for us.

    The lusts of the flesh and eyes are like presents from Satan that are wrapped oh-so-beautifully, gorgeous looking and oh-so-tempting to open, hoping there’s going to be something really special in there that will bring you lots of joy and peace. That’s why they’re called “temptations”. However, there never is – never. The only things that exist within those presents are emptiness, misery and mental/spiritual destruction. That amazing dinner you’re eating out at a restaurant? Satan’s gift. That great tasting cup of coffee? Satan’s gift. That delicious soda you’re drinking? Satan’s gift. That amazing new car you got? Satan’s gift. That amazing new outfit you got? Satan’s gift. That huge big screen TV you just got? Satan’s gift.

    It’s all just slavery to the hard slave-driver of The Lusts of the Flesh, the slave-driver of Money, and the slave-driver of Time, in which until you learn to hate the ways of the world and the things in it and free yourself from these slave-drivers, you will not be able to understand why these things are so detrimental. That’s where you have to just blindly trust God when He says these things of the world are very bad, and be blindly obedient to hating them and work on freeing yourself from them with much patience, self-control and perseverance in the midst of your trials you will face breaking free from them. Then you will understand and find true freedom, peace and joy.

    The bare necessities

    Now we do need some basic things in order to get through this world: basic food and water, basic clothes, deodorant is nice, toilet paper, plates, etc. Be thankful for these, just as Jesus gave thanks to the Father for His food. But hate the ways of the world for why we need those things: hate our natural (of this earth) bodies of death that need food and water from this world to survive, vs the ways of God’s Kingdom where we won’t need food and drink. We’ll always need clothes to cover our nakedness, but hate the world’s ways that value people by their clothes. Hate that our natural bodies need deodorant because they become filthy and smelly. Hate that we have to have toilet paper because our natural bodies have to excrete waste. Hate that we have to possess and clean plates because our natural bodies need to eat. Be thankful we have water purification systems to keep us from getting ill, but hate that we have to have them because this cursed world is full of germs, and so on and so forth…

    Be content with and thankful to our Father for the bare necessities to get us through this cursed, problematic world, taking nothing more from it, eagerly looking forward to a hundredfold better country – our Father’s Kingdom.

  • It all began in the garden of Eden with the temptation of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and all ends with the temptation of the mark of the beast

    Pray for godly wisdom and do not doubt. You will receive it in due time. – James 1:5-7

    The flesh = evil (pride and selfishness)

    The spirit = good (selfless, humble love)

    The flesh’s desires (food, drink, alcohol, drugs, sexual pleasure, body pampering, the acquiring of possessions, the desire to be “better” than the next in whatever) are:

    1. Selfish – they only benefit itself.
    2. The flesh’s desires always come at the expense of others, costing others much time, effort and money.
    3. The flesh just wants more, more, more! Endlessly. And can be draining and painful mentally and physically.

    The spirit feeds off of selfless love that it can render to others: kindness, patience, self-control, humility, selflessness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, forbearance, hope, believing, trusting, and feels really good. This spiritual stuff benefits other spirits and in turn benefits itself by feeding the originating spirit with true joy and peace. It’s a beautiful, self-sustaining system that feeds itself by benefiting others. Rather than the flesh that takes and takes only for itself at the pure expense of others.

    Our bodies are the physical manifestation of the knowledge of evil. Sin is an entity that dwells in our fleshly bodies. And when we are born, we are born spiritually dead and our souls are joined to our flesh. When we believe in Christ for salvation, we are made spiritually alive with the incorruptible seed of the Holy Spirit, and are then separated from our flesh with a circumcision performed by the Holy Spirit.

    It all started in the garden of Eden when Satan tempted Eve to eat of the forbidden tree of the knowledge of good and evil, appealing to the flesh with the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life:

    Genesis 3:6 — “So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food (the lust of the flesh), that it was pleasant to the eyes (the lust of the eyes), and a tree desirable to make one wise (the pride of life), she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate.”

    These are the same three things Satan tempted Jesus with in the wilderness to start His ministry: turn stones into bread (the lust of the flesh), all the kingdoms of the world (the lust of the eyes), and tossing Himself down that the angels would bear Him up, testing God (the pride of life). So you can see, the curse began with the temptations of the fleshly lusts of: the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life with man, and began to be reversed with the temptations of the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life with God. Man succumbed. God overcame.

    Why did God teach us evil? In his manifold (many layered) wisdom:

    1. To show us what “good” is, and how “good” those of us with eternal life will have it.
    2. To teach us about certain parts of His character that we could never comprehend if it weren’t for knowing evil: patience, grace (underserved kindness), mercy, forbearance, forgiveness, agape love (selfless, sacrificial, unconditional love ultimately demonstrated in giving up His life on the cross).
    3. To find the souls that love what’s good and truly want to be with Him, over those who love evil and are prideful. To find those worthy of His gracious gift of eternal life and the eternal state of blessedness we will enter into.

    Just as He did with the angels: He found out which angels truly loved Him and His ways, and wanted to be with Him (2/3 of the angels), over those angels who loved the thought of Lucifer’s/Satan’s prideful and evil ways (1/3 of the angels). He found the angels who were worthy and deserving. So He’s doing with humans made in the likeness of His image: He’s finding out which humans love Him and His ways, and want to be with Him, over those humans who love Satan’s prideful and evil ways. Finding which humans are “worthy and deserving”.

    The angels got to see, live with and experience God face-to-face in a glorified creation, and some still rejected Him. Angels were born with eternal life, and were subjected to eternal death in hell for rebellion. There is no second chance for them. Humans don’t get to start with those experiences. God is spirit and the spiritual realm is invisible to us, and we live in a cursed creation. Humans are born dead – on their way to hell, but some are made eternally alive by faith in the invisible Christ. There is a second chance for humans. See the opposites?

    Once this 7,000 year “trial period” so-to-speak to find out which angels and humans are worthy of eternal life and His glorious state of blessedness, He will seal us all up and promised that we will never be separated from Him for all eternity. All of the curse will be reversed, we will not know evil anymore and we will all live “happily ever after”.

    It all ends with the temptation of the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life:

    Satan loves to copy God. He wants to be like God in the sense that he wants God’s power, authority and worship from other beings (angels and humans).

    What got Satan kicked out of heaven in the first place was his pride of wanting to be like God and ascend above Him in authority and claim worship for himself. He got 1/3 of the angels to choose the side of Satan and whatever his version of heaven and rule he would implement, over God’s current establishment, and they were all thrown out of heaven, cast down to the earth, reserved for the pits of hell for all eternity. There is no second chance for them. They already knew God face-to-face and lived in His glorious state of blessedness, yet still chose Satan over God.

    “If you bow down and worship me, I will give you all this…”, Satan says to all of us.

    In the spiritual realm in heaven, we’ll be able to do all sorts of amazing things that we cannot do on this physical earth yet, such as teleporting (even to other worlds), talking telepathically, levitating and super intelligence. There will be no more pain or sickness, and there will be no more death and decay – in humans and all of creation (nature, animals, etc.).

    Remember, Satan likes to copy God. His end goal is to recreate heaven on earth, and wants to put himself at the top, taking all of the worship and glory for himself. His goal is to get rid of all illnesses, stop the aging process, bringing back “the tree of life” so-to-speak that was originally in the garden of Eden, stopping death, and doing it all using AI to develop new mRNA vaccines and genetic engineering that will finally cure cancer and all the horrible health problems we have, and ultimately halt the aging process, cheating death. He likes to copy God, in which in God’s realm we will be able to talk telepathically and have super intelligence, so Satan wants to hook up the human brain to the internet, enabling humans, in a faux way, to talk telepathically and have super intelligence. He wants to use AI to “reverse the curse” that God has (for a limited time – 6,000 years) bestowed upon all creation for the sin of Adam in the garden, and fix all the problems we have in the world. He even, with the advancements of AI, wants to copy God and figure out teleportation and travel to other worlds.

    But the one thing Satan will never fix is all of mankind’s (every single human on earth) sin nature – our natural will to do what’s morally wrong in the sight of God rather than what’s right. That means, no matter how much we fix up our planet and our physical body issues, there will always still be: depression, anxiety, stress, fear, worry, panic, nervousness, mental pain and suffering, sadness, anger, hatred and bitterness – all due to mankind’s sin nature and lack of ability to produce the fruit of the Spirit 100% of the time (which all believers will do in heaven), because they lack God’s Spirit within them that enables them to walk in the Spirit (in joy, peace, kindness, patience, goodness (doing good), faithfulness (doing what you say), gentleness, self-control, not envious, humble, not rude, not self-seeking (seeking the benefit of others over oneself – selflessness), not provoked to anger, thinks no evil, does not find joy in iniquity, but rather finds joy in what’s good, bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things). With Satan, there is no love. He is incapable of love. As the Bible says, he is the father of lies and has been a murderer from the beginning. He is full of pride and only wants to be worshipped as God himself. He’s an evil “king”, and the invisible influencer of all the corruption and evil that takes place on the earth. But with God, as the Bible says, God is love. His character/personality (the fruit of the Spirit mentioned above) and His ways bring (1) true freedom from the slavery of all the negative emotional and physical consequences of sin (2) righteousness and purity (3) love, joy and peace, and true love brings true joy and peace in one’s life.

    After the rapture, during the seven year Tribulation, all of this will begin to culminate. All of mankind left behind on the earth will be forced to make a choice: do you choose Satan’s sham version of heaven and him as your “god” presiding over you? Or do you choose God Himself and His legitimate version of heaven? The final choice will be in deciding to take the mark of the beast or not, which will be the ultimate sign of your allegiance either to Satan and his kingdom (by taking the mark), or to God and His kingdom (by not taking the mark, leading to dying for your faith). There’s no second chance after taking the mark, just as there was no second chance for the 1/3 of the angels who were kicked out of heaven, who pledged their allegiance to Satan instead of God.

    During the Tribulation, a man known in the Bible as the antichrist will rise to ultimate power over the whole world, along with another man known as “the false prophet”. The false prophet will implement a system in the world that the Bible calls “the image of the beast” (most likely a powerful AI system skinned as the antichrist himself), and anyone who does not worship it (use it) will be killed. And all who do worship it will be doomed to hell. He will also implement what the Bible calls “the mark of the beast”, which is something that goes into your right hand or forehead, in which you will not be able to buy or sell without it (most likely some sort of chip implant with digital id and banking attached that needs to be used for all purchases). This mark is what the antichrist and false prophet (and Satan behind them) will require for anyone to participate in the things Satan wants to bring to earth: cancer curing vaccines, death prevention, super intelligence, etc. Anyone who takes this mark is pledging their allegiance to Satan and his version of heaven, and will be doomed to hell.

    The good news is that you don’t have to suffer through the Tribulation, you can be raptured into heaven before it begins. Simply believe the gospel and you’re saved and sealed by the Holy Spirit, which is the guarantee of your eternal life.

    There is some good news for those who find themselves in the Tribulation and haven’t taken the mark of the beast yet: you can still be saved and go to heaven. Simply believe the gospel found in 1 Corinthians 15:1-4 (that Christ died to pay for all your sins, was buried and rose again the third day), don’t take the mark, and you will be saved. You will have to die for your faith though. But then you’ll be in heaven where there is only true righteousness, love, joy and peace for the rest of eternity. It’s worth it.

    Satan and his antichrist will not prevail though. At the end of the seven year Tribulation, Christ and all His believers will come back to earth, and Christ will throw the antichrist, the false prophet and all those who have taken the mark into the lake of fire and brimstone for all eternity. Christ will lock up Satan in the pit of hell for 1000 years while He rules the earth during His peaceful Millennial Kingdom for 1000 years, and will then throw Satan into the lake of fire and brimstone for all eternity, after one final rebellion.

    So, at this final end (and going back to the very beginning), do you take the mark of the beast to buy and sell and feed the lust of the flesh (buying food and drink), the lust of the eyes (acquiring goods and keeping your home) and the pride of life (staying alive in Satan’s kingdom forever)? Or do you reject all of Satan’s fleshly lusts, die for your faith and inherit true eternal life and the true kingdom of spiritual love, joy, peace and righteousness?

    The choice is yours.

  • How the four slave-drivers of the world work together

    The four slave-drivers:

    1. The flesh (food, drink, sex, possessions, pride)
    2. Money
    3. Time
    4. Sin

    How the slave-drivers work together:

    It all begins with being made a slave to the flesh by our parents right from the womb – eating and drinking the tastiest foods and drink, endlessly, for pleasure. Being handed toys and possessions, endlessly, from the earliest age, leading to coveting all the worlds’ possessions and envying others. Constantly being told to want to be “the best” at everything you do (pride).

    The harsh slave-driver of the flesh whips and beats you to be covetousness and envious of fleshly pleasures, and it turns into greed and selfishness, which then enslaves you to the slave-driver of money, whipping you to make more and more of him to spend on your fleshly pleasures.

    The slave-driver of money works hand-in-hand with the slave-driver of time, who whips you to work faster, harder and longer to earn more of his partner – money – to spend acquiring the other slave-driver’s demands – fleshly pleasures. Being a slave to time ends up making work utterly miserable. And some people are even enslaved to money in a way where they’d rather make themselves miserable just so they can squeeze every last penny’s worth out of whatever they spent money on, rather than just tossing it away (examples: Food – they’d rather eat expired food and risk getting violently ill then throw it away. Products – they’d rather continue to use an insufficient product that brings them frustration just to get their money’s worth. Excursions – they’d rather be miserable going somewhere and doing something just to get their money’s worth.)

    Planting seeds of eating and drinking for pleasure, and the seeds of gaining many possessions and beauty, and the seeds of pride in career, athletics, creativity, intelligence, etc. raise up the thorny trees of the lust of the flesh, eyes and pride of life, and only ever produce the rotten fruits of chaos, depression, anger, stress, panic, worry, fear, anxiety, nervousness, bitterness, etc. Eating these fruits will only ever make you sick with misery and destruction (metaphorical mental destruction and literal destruction in hell).

    There is no way around this: money naturally creates an upper class, a middle class, and a lower class:

    The upper class gets richer and richer, oppressing the poor to earn more money for themselves to spend on their fleshly pleasures. Yet for all of it, they can never understand why they have all the worlds’ goods, yet are still so miserable. The answer: because the fruits of the trees of the flesh are rotten.

    The middle class is a slave to the flesh, never content – on the cusp of riches – always desiring more fleshly pleasures, making themselves twice a slave to time and money trying to work their way to riches, saddled with credit card debt, never content.

    The lower class is a slave to the flesh as well, but is oppressed and beaten down constantly by bills, and become angry and bitter at the world that they can’t possess the things the rich do, so they end up turning to all sorts of wickedness to numb their pain – drugs, alcohol, sex, crime – becoming the “low life’s” of the world.

    The harsh slave-driver of sin whips us to do just that – sin. Now sin can appear sweet and fun for a brief moment, but if you follow it down the rabbit hole of how it actually affects you, you will find that planting the seeds of sin raises up a thorny tree that also produces nothing but the rotten fruits of chaos, depression, stress, anxiety, fear, worry, nervousness, panic, anger, bitterness, envy, etc. These fruits make you sick with all sorts of misery and destruction (metaphorical mental destruction and literal destruction in hell).

    In our heavenly Father’s house, we are no longer slaves. We are free from the harsh slave-drivers of the flesh, money, time and sin. We plant the seeds of faith, holiness, humility, submissiveness, obedience, slowness, quietness, love, mercy and forgiveness, which raises up the tree of life that produces all sorts of wonderful fruits and peace and joy, which gives us “life” – metaphorical and eternal.

    The Jews in Egypt (a symbol of the fallen world) became slaves of the harsh slave-drivers of time and money, being whipped by the slave-drivers to work longer, harder, faster to build the pyramids. And our Lord redeemed them and freed them from the slave-drivers, brought them out of the world (Egypt), and immediately sought to open their eyes and teach them His ways on Mount Sinai, and bring them into a land of abundance, peace and rest (a symbol of heaven on earth). But many of them rejected Him (didn’t believe), rejected His ways (with sin and rebellion), and rejected His land (they rather would have gone back to the slave-driving world of Egypt). Thus He kept them in the desert for 40 years until that unworthy generation died out. He eventually brought the new generation into His land (Israel), and sought to be their Leader and King, but they rejected Him and wanted a human king. He then sent them their Savior the Christ, but they rejected Him and crucified Him. So He went to the gentiles who would accept Him, bringing salvation to not only the Jews – but the entire world. And the Jews to this day, 2,000 years later, even after bringing them back into their land again and protecting them, still reject Him. Then there will be great Tribulation on the earth for seven years, where a remnant of His lost lambs – the Jews – will finally accept Him and His ways found in this epistle. He will protect them through the Tribulation, and He will come back for them, throw them over His shoulders and bring them into His thousand year Millennial Kingdom of peace and rest. And they will be His people, and He will be their God and King.

    The evil powers in this world are as such:

    1. Satan.
    2. Satan’s demons.
    3. The 4 slave-drivers of the flesh, money, time and sin.
    4. The evil people of this world (Satan’s children).

    God’s current people in this world – saved and unsaved alike – do not fit in, and are abused and crushed by these evil powers in the world.

    On the one hand, God’s people are like a little lamb alone, lost, afraid, twisted up, trying to forge his own way in the world because he has no good shepherd to lead him or take care of him.

    On the other hand, God’s people are like a beaten and abused dog, abandoned in a kennel, left alone without any love, without any trust, frightened to death of anyone and everyone, sitting in the corner of his kennel with his lips snarled.

    The good Lord leaves His place in His Father’s Kingdom, travels to the dark, cloudy, dirty world, finds the alone, broken, scared little lamb, picks him up, throws him over his shoulders, redeems him from the slave-drivers, adopts him and brings him back to His Father’s Kingdom. He sets his new little lamb down in a beautiful, lush green pasture to rest, and sits down next to him with a smile, opening his eyes, untwisting him, bending him back into shape. He leads his little lamb beside still, pure water to have a refreshing drink, and brings him under his roof to rest at night.

    The good Lord then leaves His place in His Father’s Kingdom again, travels back to the dark, dingy world, finds the alone, scared dog curled up in the corner of his kennel, and gives him a little good food. Then He gives him a little more food, and a little more, until the scared dog opens up a little to Him and allows Him to pet him. After much gentle, soothing petting and love, he gently takes the dog into His arms, brings him out of the kennel, redeems him from the slave-drivers, adopts him and brings him back to His Father’s Kingdom. He sets his new doggy down in the lush green field next to His little lamb to lie down together and rest. He sits down next to them with a smile, and they quietly enjoy each other’s presence in peace, just staring at the beautiful mountains of heaven in silence for hours. And so it will forever be – the Lord their leader and good shepherd, and they His healed, redeemed children, never to cast them back into the world.

  • A wise and well-rounded human

    A wise and well rounded human knows and lives and breathes the following:

    The dichotomy of the spirit vs the flesh, and how to suppress the flesh and walk in the spirit:

    The spirit

    • Needs
      • The peace of companionship.
        • Why? For it is not good for man to be alone. That’s just the nature of the spirit – how we’re programmed.
      • The joy of loving and righteous fellowship.
        • Why? The spirit craves healthy fellowship. That’s just the nature of the spirit – how we’re programmed.
      • The peace of wisdom in:
        • Salvation.
          • Why? Knowing where you’re going to spend eternity is very peaceful.
        • The future and prophecy.
          • Why? Knowing where this world is headed and what the future holds brings peace of mind.
        • The ways of God vs the ways of the world (from reading the bible).
          • Why? To know how to navigate life the proper way brings much peace.
        • Godly discernment.
          • Why? To have an understanding of what’s truly happening is peace.
      • The peace of contentment:
        • Which is the wisdom that the lust of the flesh (food/drink/stimulants/sex), the lust of the eyes (possessions) and the pride of life (I’m better for whatever reason) don’t bring any true peace and joy to the spirit.
        • Why? The contentment of not needing those things for your peace and joy (which ultimately bring misery), and being satisfied with little, opens you up to focusing on the peace and joy of your spirit – and not being distracted by your flesh.
      • The peace of a still and quiet mind.
        • Why? Because it’s peace from the painful mental noise of chaos, stress, depression, anxiety, fear, worry, panic, nervousness, anger, bitterness, envy, etc.
      • The peace and joy of knowing how to work:
        • Slow, steady and methodical; deeply focused on the task at hand; one step at a time, one day at a time in small, manageable portions; gentle, patient and self-controlled, quiet.
        • Why? Because rushing and being pressured and forcing things brings a sense of overwhelmingness, chaos, anxiety, stress, panic, worry, nervousness.
      • The peace of self-control not to get angry, knowing how to forgive on-the-fly and let go, returning kindness they don’t deserve (grace).
        • Why? Because anger and bitterness are painful emotions that make life not worth living, and forgiveness and letting go is the sole key to getting rid of those emotions and in turn brings you peace and joy in a restored relationship.
      • The peace of yielding and submitting to others.
        • Why? Being headstrong and always needing things your way is prideful, stressful, and selfish, which are all feelings making life not worth living. Yielding to others and doing what they want to do, helping them selflessly, eases their burden and brings them joy and peace, and in turn brings you joy and peace. It’s a beautiful system that benefits yourself while benefiting others, vs selfishness which only benefits you.
      • The peace of patience.
        • Why? Because rushing and being pressured and forcing things brings a sense of overwhelmingness, chaos, anxiety, stress, panic, worry, nervousness – for you and the other.

    The flesh

    • Lusts after:
      • Food and drink (the lust of the flesh).
      • Alcohol/stimulants (the lust of the flesh).
      • Sexuality (the lust of the flesh).
      • Possessions (the lust of the eyes).
      • Pride (thinking you’re better than others for whatever reason).
    • Requiring strong self-control to:
      • Not overeat and drink.
        • Why? Health reasons, and food/drink are selfish needs: they don’t bring any joy and peace to the spirit, and they only benefit the flesh consuming them, in turn at the expense of the preparer, costing them tons of time, effort and money (and more time and effort to earn that money). And the flesh is never satisfied, once it gets a little, it wants a lot more, endlessly.
      • Not get drunk/high.
        • Why? Health reasons – dehydration, headaches, nausea, vomiting, blackouts and injuries, wooziness, dizziness, and getting drunk and high cause all sorts of mental strain making life not worth living – sleeplessness, depression, anxiety, stress, panic, worry, etc.
      • Not lust over flesh.
        • Why? Sexual lust perverts the way we look at all humans and the entire world – through the lens of sexuality, and it’s perverse and impure and creepy. It tears relationships apart, and desensitizes us to the purity and sanctity of sexual relations between a husband and wife, as well as the reason God programmed us for bodily lust in the first place – to simply entice a husband and wife to come together to procreate and populate the earth. Lustful people abuse this programming.
      • Not overspend on possessions.
        • Why? Possessions don’t bring the spirit any joy or peace. The desire for possessions is selfish – only benefitting oneself, all at the expense of the creator and acquirer, costing them much time, effort and money (and even more time and effort to earn that money). When the money used to acquire such useless possessions could be given to help the basic necessities of those who have literally nothing – no clothes or food or shelter or healthcare. See all the stores and the endless lust of the eyes within them – useless stuff that enslaves our spirit to our flesh with jobs and careers. If we were content with truly basic necessities, there would be very little industry that needed working, and much more peace and relaxation.
      • Be humble despite your qualities and possessions.
        • Why? Thinking you’re better than others for your qualities (say beauty, intelligence, athletic talent, etc.) or the amount and quality of your possessions and the wealth to acquire them, is just a lie. They ultimately don’t benefit anyone who is content, and the spirit just doesn’t care about these things – they don’t bring the spirit any joy or peace. Other spirits are what bring our spirit joy and peace (or misery – like a prideful person), and an exalted person according to the truth of the ways of God, is a humble spirit that loves God and follows His ways, and loves and helps all others. These types of people benefit others by bringing their spirit true joy and peace, in turn benefiting themselves with true joy and peace. Pride is selfish, and only seeks to benefit itself.

  • The training of the flesh vs the training of the spirit

    The flesh:

    1. Prideful
    2. Selfish
    3. Greedy
    4. Angry
    5. Envious
    6. Depressed

    The spirit:

    1. Loving
    2. Joyful
    3. Peaceful
    4. Humble
    5. Gentle
    6. Kind
    7. Patient
    8. Self-controlled
    9. Good
    10. Faithful

    The wisdom of the world: find your joy and peace in working harder, faster, longer to earn lots of money quicker in order to buy many possessions and the finest foods and drinks.

    The wisdom of God: find your joy and peace in loving and righteous fellowship and companionship; in the wisdom of: salvation, the future/prophecy, the ways of God (to navigate life); holiness; contentment; self-control in: lust, working, eating/drinking, buying; patience; forgiveness; humility and selflessness.

    The wisdom of the world in the endless pursuit of the lust of the flesh (bodily stimulation – whether food/drink/sex), the lust of the eyes (possessions) and pride (trying to be or have “the best”) ends up training our flesh to be strong and us as the spirit to be weak and suppressed.

    The wisdom of God trains us as the spirit to be strong and our flesh to be weak and suppressed.

    The United States (mystery Babylon), like all Babylons before it, is the embodiment of the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and pride of life, training its citizens’ flesh to be strong, and them as spirits to be weak, telling them that a “good” life is in going to college, getting a good job, making a ton of money and having nice things. And as the bible says, all of the nations were influenced by her destructive ways, desiring to be rich like her to pursue joy and peace through the endless lusts of the flesh, eyes and pride of life.

    A godly nation trains its citizens in contentment and a slow, simple, peaceful way of life, rooted in the wisdom of God, prioritizing loving and righteous fellowship over money and the things it buys.

  • Desiring to be rich

    1 Timothy 6:9 — But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition.

    Why is wealth for possessions a bad thing?

    First you must understand what the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life are:

    1. The lust of the flesh — food, drink, sex, anything that stimulates the body.
    2. The lust of the eyes — possessions.
    3. The pride of life — thinking you’re better than others for the things or qualities you possess.

    Why are these things bad? Seeking after these things produces all sorts of:

    1. Selfishness
      1. These things only benefit oneself – not others, all at the expense of others’ time, effort and money – and even more time and effort to acquire that money.
      2. The money spent to acquire such useless possessions could go to help someone who has no possessions – no shelter, food/water, clothing, healthcare, transportation.
    2. Greed
      1. The flesh is never satisfied – it just wants more and more, endlessly, all at the expense of others – whether it’s the acquirer or the manufacturer.
    3. Envy
      1. It makes you envious and jealous of others who possess better things than you, and these feelings are painful.
      2. Then you decide to possess these things yourself, so you work harder, faster, longer to make enough money to acquire such possessions, which overwhelms you, frustrates, brings stress, anxiety, depression, which are painful feelings.
    4. Anger and depression
      1. When you can’t acquire such possessions, you feel angry or sad, which are painful feelings.
    5. Pride
      1. Acquiring such things inherently makes you think you’re better than others who don’t possess such things.

    Second, you must understand that the lusts of the flesh and eyes don’t bring you as a spirit any joy or peace. The spirit just simply doesn’t care for these things. The spirit’s peace and joy is companionship and loving and righteous fellowship, goodness, patience, self-control, gentleness, kindness, love, faithfulness – not physical possessions.

    Examples:

    1. Your neighbor gets a beautiful new kitchen. You want one yourself (envy). You work harder to earn more money (stress). You finally remodel your kitchen, but don’t have the budget to get everything you want (anger, depression). You start feeling sorry for the poor people in poor countries that don’t have nice kitchens or homes (pride). You find your new kitchen doesn’t bring you any more joy or peace (sadness). You see someone else’s kitchen on TV and become dissatisfied with yours (greed, depression and envy).
    2. You want a special dinner. You or your partner have to work to earn the money to buy the food (time, effort, stress). Then you have to go shopping for the food (time, effort, stress). Then you have to prepare and make the food (time, effort and stress). Then you eat the food (about five minutes of stimulating the flesh, all while the spirit truly gets nothing from it), then it’s over and your flesh is craving more, but there is no more (greed). Then you have to wash the dishes (time, effort and stress). You like your nice meals and become dissatisfied with anything less, so the process repeats itself, causing others much time, effort, stress and money (selfishness and greed). Then you gain weight and health problems (stress and depression), then you have to do much exercise (stress and sometimes depression).

    1 Timothy 6:9 — But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition.

    Wealth tempts you because you have access to any and all lusts of the flesh and eyes – you can buy anything you want, whenever you want, and it’s easy (oh the temptation). These lusts bring the spirit no joy and peace, and end up leading to all sorts of destructive emotions that make life not worth living such as: selfishness, greediness, envy, anger, depression and pride.

    What’s the opposite of desiring to be rich?: Contentment. How do you be content? Knowing the lusts of the flesh and eyes don’t bring the spirit any joy and peace, rather, they bring misery.

    What if I am rich? What should I do?

    1. Learn contentment.
    2. Learn why money is temptation.
    3. Learn that your money is actually God’s money entrusted to you to distribute to those with no basic necessities.
    4. Sell all your flashy and unnecessary possessions and buy non-tempting possessions (sell your BMW and buy an old used car with low miles).
    5. Use that money God entrusted to you to feed, cloth and shelter the homeless, and to spread the gospel and get people saved.

  • I give not as the world gives

    John 14:27 — Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

    The world gives:

    1. Tasty food and drink
    2. Possessions
    3. Pride through achievements, status, possessions, beauty, etc.

    Christ gives:

    The Holy Spirit, who gives us true peace and joy through:

    1. Eternal life
    2. Godliness (the conduct and character of Christ)
    3. Freedom from the four slave-drivers of sin, the lusts of the flesh, money, and time
    4. The knowledge and wisdom of God’s ways (found throughout this epistle)