Big Three Dangers: Money, Anxiety and Ungodly Pleasures Luke 8:14

3/28/2010 - Big Three Dangers: Money, Anxiety and Ungodly Pleasures Luke 8:14

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BIG THREE DANGERS: MONEY, ANXIETY AND UNGODLY PLEASURES

REFERENCE: Luke 8:14 The seeds that fell among the thorns represent those who hear the message, but all too quickly the message is crowded out by the cares and riches and pleasures of this life. And so they never grow into maturity

OBSERVATION: What are the three biggest schemes Satan uses to keep us in immature unfruitfulness?

1.    Cares. We worry too much and trust too little. Our cares drive our lives and our minds and leave little space for faith or faithfulness. We need to see that constant worry is a sin against a faithful God who asks us to give Him the trust He has earned in our lives.

2.    Riches. It is not so much having money that trips us up but what we do to try to get more and more. It is the trust in money instead of God that keeps us from growing in Him. Our world will tell us that emotional security comes from financial security. God says that our emotional security ought to come from Him alone.

3.    Pleasure. This is probably what trips up more Christian men and keeps them from fruitfulness. Pleasure, especially sexual pleasure and pornography, enslave so many men of God and restrict them from serving and relating to God with a free and unfettered heart. There are so many temptations that feed into our pleasures; drugs, sex, movies, TV, Internet.

It is not that each of these is bad by itself, but they constitute the very thing that Satan uses to distract and offer satisfaction and joy (even though they are counterfeits of the real thing) without God. If you want to live an undistracted, fruitful life then you will have to deal with these issues successfully.

Application/Confession: I worry. I worry about money. I sometimes give place to the wrong kinds of pleasures. I know that living this way keeps me from the level of fruitfulness God plans and I am doing everything I can to rid my life of anxiety, materialism and hedonism.

PRAYER: Lord, give me Your grace to be as fruitful for your kingdom as You intend for me to be. Forgive me for when I have allowed worries, riches and pleasures keep me immature. Please give me the grace to grow up in You.

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