Hope continued and the three categories of sin.

Today I will continue on the series on hope, as it seems to be a very strong theme in our world today.

Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.

This verse ties in both of my prior posts actually. As we look at the state of our fallen world, we must remember that it is the natural consequences of sin that are the cause of what we see around us. The Bible classifies sin in three categories, these categories are found in 1 John 2:16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father (God), but is of the world. 

Let's take a look at each of these "Sins" and see if we can give examples of them, then we will look at some of the teachings of Christ to see what His perspective is and what ours should be.

1) The Lust of the Flesh - When people think of this area of sin, they immediately think of what? Sexual Sin. However, if you look closely at the wording, this is not strictly talking about Sexual sin. This is talking about anything that is fleshly in nature, anything that gives pleasure and used to excess. Allowing yourself to be totally given over to anything that is not Fully and Wholly of God is Hedonistic, and therefore Sin.

Next, we will move on to the second area of sin.

2) The Lust of the Eyes - If we look in Genesis 3:5-6 we see examples of the Lust of the Eyes and The Pride of Life. We will focus first on the Lust of the Eyes. We read in Genesis 3:6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. Here we see that things that are beautiful, can trigger in us the Lust of the Eyes, does this mean that we shouldn't look at beautiful things? Definitely  not, but it does mean that we must look at things through the Lens that God used when He was creating, He saw things that He created and saw that they were Good. In other words, he saw the purity of those things. We must refrain from allowing the Lust of the eyes from controlling  us. We do this by meditating on the word of God, by praying without ceasing..... Having an attitude of prayer. Renew your mind every morning with the word of God and quiet time. I have found that my rides to work fit in great here. My android has a Bible application called YOUVERSION, I pick my scripture selection or devotion and it reads it to me...... I have found that praying without ceasing is actually much easier than I ever thought it would be....... Again, the ride in is a great time to practice this.

This brings us to our third and final area of sin.


3) The Pride of Life - Here is the essence of the pride of life, anything that exalts us above our station and offers the illusion of God-like qualities, wherein we boast in arrogance and worldly wisdom. If we look at the story of Eve in the Garden again we see if we look at Genesis 3:5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods. knowing good and evil. Eve wanted to be like God in her knowledge, she was not content to merely live in a perfect world under His perfect grace and care for her.


Our Example of how to respond and react to these three areas of sin:
Matthew 4:1-11 The Jesus was led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred. And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.

It is important to notice here, that Satan was tempting Jesus in areas where he was currently weak. The Lust of the Flesh is the tempting point here. Jesus was tempted in this area not because Jesus was a glutton, but because he had been denying himself in order to obtain closeness with God the Father. So we see the Lust of the Flesh can just be simple food. What was Christ's response? He quoted scripture to Satan...... I am sure that Jesus spent plenty of time meditating on His Father's word and praying. The Bible tells us of many of these times.

Continuing on in Verse 5 Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple, and saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. 

This temptation fits pretty well into both the first and the last area, but it is difficult to see where it fits into the second area. It is important to remember that these three areas all intermingle and intertwine with each other.
I speculate that here he was trying to appeal to Jesus' in the Lust of the eyes area by quoting the word of God which Jesus had read.

Finally, the last area that is clearly The Pride of Life is found in verses 8-11
Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; and saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. Then Jesus saith unto him, Get thee hence Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him.

Here we can see that Jesus was offered a short-cut to what God offered him, Satan said he would bestow the gifts that God had promised, if Jesus would just  worship him. Jesus knew that the Cross was the way that God had chosen for him to take. Here Jesus again used the scripture to reject satan's offer. We should use the word of God the same way.


It is very easy to put your hope in something that you can see, but this isn't really hope is it? The above verses and commentary are meant to help us see that we can place our Hope in God because we have an example of that in Jesus. This will keep us from getting discouraged, as in the opening verse, we must remember that God knows the plans that he has for us. In conclusion consider Romans 8:28 For we know that ALL things work to the good of those that love God and are called according to his purpose.

Father God, 

Help us to continue to put our hope in you in these times that look so desperate to us. Help us to learn from Christs' example, to read your word and mediate on it. Help us to carve out time to read and do devotions and pray to you. Thank you for the awesome gifts that you have given us. In Jesus Name, Amen

A study on hope

Today I thought I would do a little study on hope. It seems to me that in today's society people just bandy that word about, but I don't think that people really know what hope is. We will start with Webster's Definition of hope.

Hope -intransitive verb

1

: to cherish a desire with anticipation <hopes for a promotion>

2

archaic : trust

transitive verb

1

: to desire with expectation of obtainment

2

: to expect with confidence : trust

— hop·er noun

— hope against hope

: to hope without any basis for expecting fulfilled

Notice here that hope is listed in both cases as a verb, and can be both transitive and intransitive. 

Now let's look at some Verses in the Holy Scriptures about hope.

Psalm 71:14 But I will hope continually, and will yet praise thee more and more.

Here the Psalmist is performing an action. He is hoping continually, Notice he does not say that he is hoping some of the time, or when he feels like hoping, or when things are going great. He says that he will hope Continually. We could all take a lesson from this. Then notice that there is a second action that he does, He says that he will yet praise thee more and more. The two go hand in hand. Hope produces praise. I would urge you, if you are putting your hope in something of this world, think about it, and place your hope in the only one who can be our source of hope. 

Now let's look at another scripture that speaks of hope.

Proverbs 13:12 Hope deferred maketh the heart sick: but when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life.

What does this verse say that hope deferred does? Makes the heart sick! This is very dangerous territory to be in. Hope deferred causes us to travel the long dark path which leads to depression, and if not looked at through the Lens of God, and left untreated and to itself, can lead to death. This is an area that I feel 100% comfortable talking to you and teaching you about, some of you know, some do not, that I struggle with depression in my life. This is a great verse to combat that. Take it, memorize it, and repeat it to yourself in times when you are starting to feel yourself tread down that path.

Our Final passage that we will look at today comes from Isaiah Chapter 40, verses 28-29

Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding. He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.

Here we read that God, does not tire. He does not get weary, we are to Put our Hope In GOD, He will give us power when we feel weak, He will give us strength when our strength fails.

Heavenly Father, help us to remember that we are to continually put our hope in you, remind us that hope deferred makes the heart sick. Help us to trust in you and get our strength from you and our power from you when we feel weak and can feel the signs of depression and discouragement beginning to bear down on us. In Jesus Name we pray this. Amen

Election Update

Brothers and Sisters, regardless of the outcome that we wanted, we must remember: God is in Charge!

Rom 13:1 Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except by God’s appointment, and the authorities that exist have been instituted by God. 
Rom 13:2 So the person who resists such authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will incur judgment 
Rom 1

3:3 (for rulers cause no fear for good conduct but for bad). Do you desire not to fear authority? Do good and you will receive its commendation,
Rom 13:4 for it is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be in fear, for it does not bear the sword in vain. It is God’s servant to administer retribution on the wrongdoer.
Rom 13:5 Therefore it is necessary to be in subjection, not only because of the wrath of the authorities but also because of your conscience.
Rom 13:6 For this reason you also pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants devoted to governing.
Rom 13:7 Pay everyone what is owed: taxes to whom taxes are due, revenue to whom revenue is due, respect to whom respect is due, honor to whom honor is due.

As Followers of Christ we Must pray for our elected officials, regardless of our party affiliation or personal and moral beliefs. This is not an option, this is a directive that God has given us, as seen in the Apostle Paul's letter to the Romans above and also here in the Old Testament book of Daniel 4:14 

This matter is by the decree of the watchers, and the demand by the word of the holy ones: to the intent that the living may know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will, and setteth up over it the basest of men.

Also another Reference from the book of Daniel 2:21-22 And he changeth the times and the seasons: he removeth kings, and setteth up kings: he giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding: He revealeth the deep and secret things: he knoweth what is in the darkness, and the light dwelleth with him.

So brothers and sisters, now is the time when we must pray more than ever that God's hand will be seen in our great nation. Do not be discouraged, let the Joy of the Lord fill your heart every morning.