"It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." (pt 2)
We were not made to live in sin. It is like a car which was made to be driven on streets. If you try to drive it on mountains or rocky lands the car will be destroyed. Because it wasn't made to be driven on such places. Similarlry we were made to live in sanctification. If we live in sin we will be distructed. Because we were not made to live in sin. I hope I am making myself clear.
Which means that if we only live according to God's commandements we will find hapiness. There is no other way. Sin offers definetely a pleasure. But it is like drugs. One tastes drugs for the first few times and finds pleasure. But drugs will eventually tie them and lead them to passion and slavery and decay and distruction. Sin promises freedom but leads people to bondage. God gives us a yoke but He leads us to freedom and hapiness.
If only people could realize that they are searching for hapiness in the wrong places. There is no hapiness at those places they are going to. There is no hapiness in the lifestyle they wish to live. Riches do not make people happy. Most rich and famous people have broken families, broken mental health, broken children. Because money can not bring joy. Fame can not bring joy. Many relations can not bring joy. And still people keep searching for love and joy in other places where they will find nothing more than what they found previously. Because they are going to the wrong direction.
There is only one way to hapiness. And Christ is the way. Because we were made for that specific way. We were made to be happy.
Let us trust our lives in Him. Let us hide ourselves inside His strong arms. He will never let us down. No fear, no anxiety, no sadness, no desease.
Those are important reminders you have shared bro Giannis. As our Lord even said, "For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." Unfortunately, most of Christendom have been caught up with the world, where having the latest technologies and keeping up with the Jones', is equally, even more important. And yet, we are reminded by the apostle, "But godliness with contentment is great gain." ( 1 Timothy 6:6).
It is true that in old times, most people had very little, especially concerning food, clothing, shelter, and jobs. Were they content?They had to be content because there was very little they could do to improve their lot, given the sparsity of offerings. But they still lived on 'struggle street' and were very likely anxious, despondent, and driven to desperate actions. But as you wrote, that we have so much more than they, and we live relatively comfortable healthy lives, yet still many today are no better mentally or emotionally than those others, facing pressures from various sources. What they feel will bring them happiness and contentment, is only found to be temporal, ever lusting for more & more to sustain those satisfied feelings. And again, as you wrote, "they are searching for happiness in the wrong places".
But when you think of it, what else does the unbelieving world have in this life? Or, of any hope of eternity? Absolutely nothing. Their lives consist of what they know, have, and feel in the present, for tomorrow we die & are no more. But if they heed Jesus' Words ( Luke 12:15), "..(that) a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth" and they could have greater eternal treasures from Heaven (of full salvation, real joy, inner peace, and power to live righteously), their whole perspective of life & its real worth will be changed for their eternal good. If the Church at large can get out their stagnation & be a living witness to the world, the world might understand their true poverty. Blessings.
I think nowadays people suffer mental problems firstly because of the pace of our lives and the pressure we are under. Technology has improved our lives but on the other hand we have to do a lot of things in shorter periods of time. The pace of our lives has become fast. And this causes pressure. Pressure to achieve things fast. People are like robots who always seem to try to catch up with their everyday obligations. Staying quite is something extraordinary nowadays.
Also people have become more and more sinful. Crime has climbed up. I come from a country where a few decades ago crime was almost zero even though people were poor and came out of the ruins of the WW2. They were poor but moral. Nowadays we have everything we need for a good living but crime has gone up to the stars. Why? Because sin has gone up. Respect to one another has disappeared. People are lonely. Societies are loose knit. Relations between people are not tight as before . Love has gone the downhill . There is no boundary for sin . Through the internet sin comes inside any house in any country of the world. Globalization is not only economic. But it is also cultural and moral. (It is strange to think that at this time two people like me and you on the opposite sides of the globe can communicate one with another at the same time).
Let us not fool ourselves, we are not expecting for better times. The scriptures have warned us about that. People will become worse and worse and christians will feel like Lott in Sodom, torturing our souls by seeing and hearing the inhabitants of this world.
But we are waiting for our Savior to come and take us in a place were no fear nor pain nor sadness nor death will ever exist.
"And the Spirit and the Bride say come. Come Lord Jesus."
Thank you brother for those good pertinent observations. Things certainly won't get better even as God's Word tells us, and "evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived". It's spiritual enlightenment that people need, not technology savviness or business acumen. And that enlightenment can only be by the way of the Cross where sin is exposed and sin is dealt with. Unless the sinner is found at the foot of the Cross turning from his sin, the only hope he can have is the one given to our first parents by Satan, "and ye shall be as gods". And we know where that got them. Even as sin becomes ever more rampant, may our Christian lives and the preaching of the power that's in the Gospel of Grace remain a formidable hedge against that tide of evil. GBU.
Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. John 14:27.
We were not made to live in sin. It is like a car which was made to be driven on streets. If you try to drive it on mountains or rocky lands the car will be destroyed. Because it wasn't made to be driven on such places. Similarlry we were made to live in sanctification. If we live in sin we will be distructed. Because we were not made to live in sin. I hope I am making myself clear.
Which means that if we only live according to God's commandements we will find hapiness. There is no other way. Sin offers definetely a pleasure. But it is like drugs. One tastes drugs for the first few times and finds pleasure. But drugs will eventually tie them and lead them to passion and slavery and decay and distruction. Sin promises freedom but leads people to bondage. God gives us a yoke but He leads us to freedom and hapiness.
If only people could realize that they are searching for hapiness in the wrong places. There is no hapiness at those places they are going to. There is no hapiness in the lifestyle they wish to live. Riches do not make people happy. Most rich and famous people have broken families, broken mental health, broken children. Because money can not bring joy. Fame can not bring joy. Many relations can not bring joy. And still people keep searching for love and joy in other places where they will find nothing more than what they found previously. Because they are going to the wrong direction.
There is only one way to hapiness. And Christ is the way. Because we were made for that specific way. We were made to be happy.
Let us trust our lives in Him. Let us hide ourselves inside His strong arms. He will never let us down. No fear, no anxiety, no sadness, no desease.
Have a blessed week.
It is true that in old times, most people had very little, especially concerning food, clothing, shelter, and jobs. Were they content?They had to be content because there was very little they could do to improve their lot, given the sparsity of offerings. But they still lived on 'struggle street' and were very likely anxious, despondent, and driven to desperate actions. But as you wrote, that we have so much more than they, and we live relatively comfortable healthy lives, yet still many today are no better mentally or emotionally than those others, facing pressures from various sources. What they feel will bring them happiness and contentment, is only found to be temporal, ever lusting for more & more to sustain those satisfied feelings. And again, as you wrote, "they are searching for happiness in the wrong places".
But when you think of it, what else does the unbelieving world have in this life? Or, of any hope of eternity? Absolutely nothing. Their lives consist of what they know, have, and feel in the present, for tomorrow we die & are no more. But if they heed Jesus' Words ( Luke 12:15), "..(that) a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth" and they could have greater eternal treasures from Heaven (of full salvation, real joy, inner peace, and power to live righteously), their whole perspective of life & its real worth will be changed for their eternal good. If the Church at large can get out their stagnation & be a living witness to the world, the world might understand their true poverty. Blessings.
I think nowadays people suffer mental problems firstly because of the pace of our lives and the pressure we are under. Technology has improved our lives but on the other hand we have to do a lot of things in shorter periods of time. The pace of our lives has become fast. And this causes pressure. Pressure to achieve things fast. People are like robots who always seem to try to catch up with their everyday obligations. Staying quite is something extraordinary nowadays.
Also people have become more and more sinful. Crime has climbed up. I come from a country where a few decades ago crime was almost zero even though people were poor and came out of the ruins of the WW2. They were poor but moral. Nowadays we have everything we need for a good living but crime has gone up to the stars. Why? Because sin has gone up. Respect to one another has disappeared. People are lonely. Societies are loose knit. Relations between people are not tight as before . Love has gone the downhill . There is no boundary for sin . Through the internet sin comes inside any house in any country of the world. Globalization is not only economic. But it is also cultural and moral. (It is strange to think that at this time two people like me and you on the opposite sides of the globe can communicate one with another at the same time).
Let us not fool ourselves, we are not expecting for better times. The scriptures have warned us about that. People will become worse and worse and christians will feel like Lott in Sodom, torturing our souls by seeing and hearing the inhabitants of this world.
But we are waiting for our Savior to come and take us in a place were no fear nor pain nor sadness nor death will ever exist.
"And the Spirit and the Bride say come. Come Lord Jesus."
"Blessings
Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. John 14:27.
GBU.
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