DECADENCE AND DESIRE

I know if you are anything like me or most human’s living in America, you desire to have what you want in this life,  in order to feel fulfilled!

I just got back from visiting a million plus dollar house, right here in Wichita.

Although I am fully satisfied with my house, there is always something enticing me to want and desire more. Phooey!

 I do not care where you are, what you have or with what you are striving for, we always want MORE! If you say you are not this way then you and I are nothing alike and you have a deeper and more faithful walk with the Lord than me too. However I know the instinctive nature of humans; SINCE I AM ONE, and I know that it is difficult to live within our means. I mean, look at credit card debt! We want it…we want it….we buy it! We might buy it on a card, but we must have it. I’ve lived it in my past. I still have to restrain from desires that try to lure me in! RESIST!!

Now I cannot go out and buy a new house, but I can ‘desire’ to do it with other things. Though, I am trying faithfully to maintain my DECADENCE AND DESIRE!

Wow, we are spoiled in America……I can see why we are to control our desires and instead ‘desire’ to become more Diligent.

I was reading the second letter that Peter the Apostle and slave of Jesus Christ, writes and how he explains the difficulty of humans. He tries to lead us into a sweet letter of how we can essentially lead a Christian life which is not contrary to ‘desires” of this world, but rather they truly can be DILIGENT to the faith we say we have in our Christian growth through Jesus Christ. I know sometimes I wonder what the Lord was thinking when He encouraged us to lead a life of excellence to knowing Him more. Actually I know for a fact that He desires that we know Him BETTER than we know Him now. This is not HIS sake, but for ours. He knows us, but do we truly know HIM?

We all backslide. All of us backslide. We might not do it blatantly, such as affairs or stealing or killing, but we all do it. We tell white lies, or lead others into contempt because we get self centered or disrespectful of our loved ones. Regardless, we all do it. We all backslide. THANK GOODNESS, there is forgiveness and Peter explains it so well in his second letter to ‘us’ the reader and believer and the seeker of God.

“As we come to know Jesus” he says right off the bat, (II Peter 1:2) to us that everyday is a choice to ‘come to know Jesus’

I don’t know about you, but when I am in ignorance of knowing something, there is an excitement when introduced to something new. Unfortunately when you begin to learn more about something, the excitement begins to leave, simply because you already know. True with relationships and true with our walk with the Lord. Admit it.

When you come to know the Lord, like you did when you first learned about Him, you were excited. Are you now? Probably not, because the more you learn about Him, the more you have to apply yourself to become excited again, Right?

 I know I am right about this, because I am trying to live a moral excellent life and sometimes I just FAIL. So, I say, stop whining and straighten up!

It takes FAITH to stay excited about the things of God and it takes FAITH to escape the decadence and desire of this world. How do I know, because my FAITH is always being put to the test! ALWAYS.

Peter tells us in the 9^th verse of II Peter 1 that if we fail to develop virtues (goodness, moral stability—self control etc) then we are blind.

So, I want to challenge you. If you are blind because of your own inflictions of lack of self control or coveted ness or endurance to keep the faith, then TRY toget excited about your ignorant backslide ness which has caused you to become distant to what you knew and THIS should excite you to begin to learn what you still do not KNOW!!! What in the world do I mean; “Get excited?” I am saying just that. Get excited because you get to have more knowledge which will bring a greater excitement to your life, just like you were when you were IGNORANT to knowing God. When we are blind, and light begins to come through, there is an excitement!!! Get excited. I am giving you some light in your “eyes of ignorance.”

When we fall back into a situation that takes us away from what we knew in the Lord, we do not have to remain there, we can simply forgive ourselves and lay the past behind and more foreword into another way of thinking….THINK FAITH AGAIN. Get excited again! Think about the GOD (your first love) you left behind to do whatever in the world you decided to do to get your eyes off of HIM! Now come back to the decadence (EXCESS) of the diligence in serving Him.

He’s got a million plus mansion $$$$$ in Heaven waiting for you anyway……so lose the desires here and develop virtues that are waiting to bring you, as Peter says in verse 5 “knowing God better.” Now that excites me!