" Do not love the world nor 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 and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever. " -- 1 John 2:15-17 NASB
"So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate."
--- Genesis 3:6
You adulterers! Don’t you realize that friendship with the world makes you an enemy of God?
I say it again: If you want to be a friend of the world, you make yourself an enemy of God.
--- James 4:4 NLT
"Loving the world" takes many forms. And not all worldly things are bad.
We do need food, for example.
This is one of the reasons God gave us fasting.
It allows us to break away from worldly things.
Fasting allows us to disconnect from the world
and connect to God—to disconnect from the
physical and connect to the spiritual,
if only for a short time.
Because of original sin, we live in imperfect physical bodies.
And those who are saved and born-again have conflicting natures, physical and spiritual.
(Romans 7:14-24)
We are in the world but we are not of the world.
(John 17:16)
In the last days, the "things of the world" can blur together.
Anything "obsessive" in our lives is usually a problem.
From food to physical comfort, from money to cars, from social media to watching TV, from a church building to the environment, from work to sports, the "things of the world" can take many forms.
Not all of these things are bad in themselves.
Many "things in the world" are good and are a gift from God. But we should worship the Giver, not the gift.
We should worship the Creator, not the creation.
"They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen. Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts...."
--- Romans 1:25-26
Anything in your life more important than the Lord Jesus Christ is simply idolatry.
We should evaluate our lives and make sure that nothing has become more important to us than God.
Test yourself:
What do you think about all the time?
What do you talk about all the time?
What is most important to you?
Where do you spend your money?
What gives you great joy?
What fills your daily life?
What do you live for? Is it the Lord Jesus Christ?
"Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves!"
-- 2 Corinthians 13:5
Do you have saving faith and are born-again?
To test yourself,
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As the end times unfold, we need to diligently disconnect from the things of the world through prayer and fasting so that we might not fall into temptations.
(Matthew 26:41)
And not as a hermit in isolation from people (our heart should be evangelism), but rather
"the worries of the world, and the deceitfulness of wealth, and the desires for other things." (Mark 4:19)
✦Desire of the flesh -- FOOD
(other desires of the flesh include: sex, drunkenness, and more)
"tree was good for food" -- Genesis 3:6
✦Desire of the eyes -- WORLDLY FOCUSED: Living worldly, holding to our possessions, our "things", our money, our cars, our houses, our lives. This temptation can also test God through our complaining, our unbelief, and our rash behavior. Jealousy and covetousness are examples.
This involves materialism and greed and spills over into worshiping the world and worldly things rather than God.
("served created things rather than the Creator" -- Romans 1:25 NIV)
It involves coveting of money, possessions, or other physical things that are in the world rather than God Himself. It can be entertainment, sports, cars, houses or really "anything".
It is a temptation to have our own way rather than God's way, which tests God.
Eve wanted to possess the apple! Eve should have believed God rather than testing Him.
Succumbing to this temptation also speaks of disobedience, unbelief, and acting rashly.
This also happened when the Israelites grumbled and tested God at Meribah. (Exodus 17:2)
For Eve, the apple "was a delight to the eyes" -- Genesis 3:6
✦Pride of life - IDOLATRY (Desiring to be wiser than God)
--(worshiping someone else or self, not God) (putting ourselves over the authority of God)
Arrogance, self-promotion, and greed all stem from the pride of life.
"tree was to be desired to make one wise" -- Genesis 3:6
✦Desire of the flesh -- FOOD
If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread. -- Matthew 4:3
✦Desire of the eyes -- WORLDLY FOCUSED: This temptation can also test God through our complaining, our unbelief, and our rash behavior.
"If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, 'He will command his angels concerning you,'
and 'On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.'" -- Matthew 4:6
✦Pride of life -- IDOLATRY (worshiping someone else or self, not God)
"devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to him, 'All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.'" --- Matthew 4:8-9
✦Desire of the flesh -- FOOD, PHYSICAL ADDICTIONS, PHYSICAL COMFORT
"so that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark, that is, the name of the beast or the number of its name."
--- Revelation 13:17
✦Desire of the eyes -- WORLDLY FOCUSED: Living worldly, holding to our possessions, our "things", our money, our cars, our houses, our lives. This temptation can also test God through our complaining, our unbelief, and our rash behavior. This involves materialism and greed.
Coveting an easy way instead of waiting for God.
And remember, greed is one of the primary ingredients of the end-time Apostasy.
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to learn more about greed and the end-time Apostasy.
In the last days we will have to make the decision to hold on to our money, possessions, and our very life or
to cling to our faith in Jesus Christ.
--In the end times, we will be tempted to go along with the world system. This is a temptation to place our possessions and even our lives above obeying and trusting God, thereby testing God.
This is why Jesus says when He explained the end times:
"But stay awake at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are going to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man." -- Luke 21:36
THIS IS ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT BIBLE VERSES OF THE END TIMES.
"The second beast was given power to give breath to the image of the first beast, so that the image could speak and cause all who refused to worship the image to be killed." --- Revelation13:15
"And I saw the woman, drunk with the blood of the saints, the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. When I saw her, I marveled greatly." --- Revelation 17:6
✦Pride of life -- IDOLATRY (worshiping someone else or self, not God)
And they worshiped the dragon, for he had given his authority to the beast, and they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast, and who can fight against it?" --- Revelation 13:4
When Satan tempted Adam and Eve in the Garden, they disobeyed God, and sin came into the world.
It is important that Jesus had the SAME temptation as in the Garden of Eden, giving witness to the Bible verse: "No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man...." --1 Corinthians 10:13
For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.
--- Hebrews 4:15
And in a type of "reversal" of the Garden of Eden, Satan failed to
tempt Jesus. This failure began the curse reversal, ending with the death, burial, and resurrection of the LORD Jesus Christ and victory over Satan.
Jesus quotes Deuteronomy 8:3.
Jesus quotes Deuteronomy 6:16.
Such testing of God shows disobedience and unbelief.Jesus quotes Deuteronomy 6:13.
