Pleasure and bad behaviors we love to fall for

We love simple pleasures.  Don’t we? Life is good.

• Sittin’ on the dock of a bay
• Walkin’ bare foot through the grass
• A day at the beach, the waves crashing, the soft sands, rocky shores and cliffs
• BBQs and being with family and playing with grandkids
• A good cup a’ Joe in the morning

God made us with a love for pleasure.  He made our senses. He gives good to us all. God is good.

• Deuteronomy 8:7    For the Lord your God is bringing you to a good land, a land of brooks, springs, and fountains flowing forth in valleys and hills
• 1 Timothy 4:4    For every creation of God is good…
• Proverbs 18:22    The one who has found a good wife has found what goodness is, and obtained a delightful gift from the Lord
• Exodus 33:19    And the Lord said, “I will make all my goodness pass before your face, and I will proclaim the Lord by name before you; I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious; I will show mercy to whom I will show mercy.”

What God has given us is good.  Growing in our faith and in our love for others (Hebrews 13:16) should switch our focus :

from seeking pleasures and getting for ourself —

to seeking righteousness and giving good to others.

If you are seeking God, get ready for good to overflow from inside you – to others!  In Christ, by His Spirit “…you have enough of everything in every way at all times…” (2 Corinthians 9:8).

Galatians 5:22-26
But the fruit of the Spirit is
love, joy, peace, patience, kindness,
goodness,
faithfulness ²³ gentleness,
and self-control….

We have everything necessary for life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3; see more).  This is natural for us – so put it on.  To mature in our faith, we need to get it together.  Reset our mind.

2 Corinthians 9:8   And God is able to make all grace overflow to you so that because you have enough of everything in every way at all times, you will overflow in every good work.

Jesus said we need to clean our insides – so that our outsides can then live-out worthy behavior.

“You [spiritually] blind Pharisee, first clean the inside of the cup and of the plate [examine and change your inner self to conform to God’s precepts], so that the outside [your public life and deeds] may be clean also. – Matthew 23:26

Clean-out the darkness
It’s not easy to clean-out the darkness inside us, but it’s not complicated.  The Bible teaches we have to work at it:

1. Examine yourself.  What’s happening inside you? – 2 Corinthians 13:5
2. Put your eyes in front of God’s Word, and learn from Him. Learn God’s ways. – Matthew 6:23
3. Begin changing your inner self little by little.  “Clean the inside of the cup” – Matthew 23:26

Source: Streaming from my soul

To live for pleasure.

The problem with pleasure is: Not all pleasure is of God.  Not all pleasure is good. We twist what is good by God – into what is evil, unhealthy habits, or just plain bad behavior.

It is utter stupidity to live for pleasure.  It is not wise to seek pleasure for ourself without limits. After all, we reap what we sow.

Pleasure sins we love
Don’t we know it? Pleasures, good and bad, abound everywhere: BBQs, ice cream, sex, sleep and dreaming, marijuana, cocaine, alchohol, food, sunbathing, buying new stuff, vacationing, parties.

Aren’t we stupid at times! We need to be filled with the Holy Spirit so that in all things we have discernment (right vs wrong), self-control, impulse control, boundaries, love for others. To live righteously, we must make judgements all day long (discern right from wrong).

• Are you going to sleep and dream – all day?  (Proverbs 26:14)
• Are you going to eat your ice cream – every night? (Ecclesiastes 10:17)
• So you picked-up a prostitute – and got arrested? (Proverbs 4:23; Proverbs 23:27;Hosea 4:14)
• So you smoked some weed, snorted cocaine and popped a beer while driving? (Luke 21:34)
• Have you seared your conscience by seeking sin with abandon? (1 Timothy 4:2; Romans 1 verse 21)
• Those extra big servings giving you a bit of belly?  (Proverbs 23:2)
• Just love sunbathing on the beach, but now have skin cancer?  (1 Corinthians 6:19-20)

Pick a sin – any sin – and discern where you are at. Judge yourself all day long. (Source: Make judgements all day long)

Romans 12:2    Do not be conformed to this present world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may test and approve what is the will of God—what is good and well-pleasing and perfect.

There is more in the universe than “pleasure”.  The Bible tells us what is worth dying for – and it is definitely NOT pleasure.  Living and dying for Jesus is worth all the promised pleasures of heaven.

“what good is it
to gain the whole world
— but then loose your own soul?”

Heaven will be awe-full and law-less.

• …filled-up full with unending awe of the One-and-Only, the wonderfully awesome God.
• …filled-up full with overflowing love that voids any need for laws. Love will rule inside our insides.
  Source: Heaven will be awe-full and law-less

I look.  I see.  I feel.  I think.  I choose.  I choose You.  You are good.  You are so wonderful.  You died and rose again – for me.  How can I not follow You with all my heart, with all my soul, with all my mind, with all my strength?  How can I not strive to love my neighbors as much as I love myself?  I will.
Source:  I Look Oh My God

FOR MORE:

God did that

Jesus Saved Me

Body by God

This is natural for us – so put it on

Before a good cup a Joe

What God did for man

Yielding your will to God

What’s your problem?

Windows into heaven

Heaven will be awe-full and law-less

Some sweet day

Job 27:8    “For what is the hope of the godless, even though he has gained [in this world], When God takes his life?

Jude 1:16   New English Translation (NET)    These people are grumblers and fault-finders who go wherever their desires lead them, and they give bombastic speeches, enchanting folks for their own gain.

Philippians 1:21  New English Translation (NET)    For to me, living is Christ and dying is gain.

Romans 1:18-23
¹⁸ For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of people who suppress the truth by their unrighteousness,

¹⁹ because what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them.

²⁰ For since the creation of the world his invisible attributes—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, because they are understood through what has been made. So people are without excuse.

²¹ For although they knew God, they did not glorify him as God or give him thanks, but they became futile in their thoughts and their senseless hearts were darkened.

²² Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools ²³ and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for an image resembling mortal human beings or birds or four-footed animals or reptiles.