Lk. 18 ... 18 And a certain ruler asked him, saying, Good Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? 19 And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? none is good, save one, that is, God. 20 Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honour thy father and thy mother. 21 And he said, All these have I kept from my youth up. 22 Now when Jesus heard these things, he said unto him, Yet lackest thou one thing:sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven:and come, follow me. 23 And when he heard this, he was very sorrowful:for he was very rich. 24 And when Jesus saw that he was very sorrowful, he said, How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God! 25 For it is easier for a camel to go through a needle's eye, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.
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After I was born again, I knew I had to give up going to plays, movies, TV, football. I stopped these things immediately and for the next few months I went only to church, Bible classes, and read the Bible.
After a season of a few years, I was able to go again to plays, movies, TV and watch football.
By the time I returned to secular things, my football team had shockingly risen to #2 in the nation. A man I had never even heard of had been elected president of the United States. (Jimmy Carter)
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A woman in our little church group is in serious trouble spiritually speaking. She said she had a dream where a pig was eating out of a dumpster. She said she thought she was that pig.
Garbage dump:
- TV
- Secular books
- Ungodly sayings of humans
We cannot build our houses upon sand. It won't work. The house will fall and so will we fall if we do this.
We cannot build our houses upon sand. It won't work. The house will fall and so will we fall if we do this.
Mt. 7 ... 26 And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand:27 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell:and great was the fall of it.
To one person, the problem will be money and pursuit of money, desire for riches of money. Another will need to restructure life, stopping certain secular things, perhaps forever or perhaps for a season.
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Abraham was tested by being told to slay "his only son", Isaac. (Abraham had another son, Ishmael but God referred to Isaac as "his only son" ...
Gen. 22 ... 1 And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham:and he said, Behold, here I am. 2 And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.)
This was a huge sacrifice for Abraham.
But Abraham would withhold nothing from God, not even Isaac ...
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Jesus says ... Matthew 10:37 He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.
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Whatever it is you love more than the Word of God, you may need to stop it in order to build on correct foundation.
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Those counted worthy to escape the things coming on this earth are those continually connected to God through prayer and doing as God instructs.
Jesus said: 34 And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares. 35 For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth. 36 Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man. Lk. 21
Jesus warned us against surfeiting, drunkenness, cares of this life ...
surfeiting: to consume too much of something / in excess / lack of moderation
cares of this life: We can't be connected to God and connected to a care of this life. Either we are connected to the care or we are connected to God. We pray over the care and this removes us from the connection to the care and connects us to God. So we see here light and darkness and you can't have both.
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We pray continually ... We awake in the morning and are talking to God. We awake in the night and are talking to God. We go about daily life and are talking to God. We see a bird and talk to God, delighting in HIS creation. We eat a tasty food and talk to God, thanking HIM when the food tastes so good to us. We watch TV and talk to God during the show. We continually talk to God as we would talk to our best friend.
This continual connection to God causes us to be worthy to escape that which is coming on the earth.