Not Giving Up The World For Christ
Let's face it, too many people love this world, and if you do not, you are labeled as awkward or weird.
Imagine a whole generation of new Christians who do not believe they have to leave the world to be saved. [ [Actually, if they do not give up all for Christ, they are not a Christian. But they think they are.]cs]That appears to be the case with so many of the so-called Christians today. Even with the warnings to not love the world or the things in the world (1 John 2:15-17), many cannot let go of what the world has to offer.
The key to this ideology is nothing more than a ruse given to us by Satan. It does not matter that the Bible teaches us to turn away from the world and the lusts associated with it. It does not matter that the Bible teaches us to stop the sin in our lives and start living for Jesus by doing what He commands. No, the big lie of Satan is that you can live your life any way you want, and you are still saved.
Every lie of Satan when followed will keep souls out of heaven. That is really the only thing you need to know about Satan. He wants to keep you out of heaven. Now that makes him an enemy of God and if you want to go to heaven, that makes him your enemy also. What do you do with an enemy? Learn as much as you can about him so that he does not bamboozle you in any way. Once you get caught up in Satan's schemes, your soul is in danger, and only you have the power to remove the chains that Satan has bound on you. Well, you need Jesus and His blood to remove the bondage of Satan from your life. But after all, it is still your choice.
Paul told Timothy to preach the word all the time and to reprove, rebuke, and exhort with all longsuffering; because there would be a time when the people would not endure sound doctrine but would entertain those false teachers that would give them what they want. That time is now. Actually it has always been around. From the moment the sly serpent approached Eve and helped her make her choice to sin; man has usually chosen the wrong choice and thus Romans 3:23 tells us that all have sinned and fall short of His glory.
The people of our world certainly want salvation, but are not willing to make the sacrifice necessary to obtain it. So they find preachers who will entertain them and give them what they want. What they want is to have their fun, but still have the inward feeling that God will accept them regardless of what they do.
Somewhere in all of this, God is kicked out of first place which is His rightful place. God wants all to be saved, but in order to be saved; they must do it God's way. People do not want to do things God's way because it is so restrictive and limiting. They want their fun and they want to fulfill their lustful desires, yet they do not want to be told they are sinners, or lost, or they are on the wrong pathway. They want to feel good about their selves and Satan has many teachers of his own who will tell these people what they want to hear.
So many people who are in the church have not given up the world. Yet somehow, they have found a sort of justification for not giving their lives over to Christ. It will be a sad day for these who have been deceived into believing the lie. But once again, 2 Thessalonians 2:11-12 tells us it is because they did not love the truth so as to be saved. It is their own fault if they do not reach heaven. Don't let this happen. Live your life the way God wants you to live, and you will be rewarded with a life in heaven.
By Carey Scott

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