"Worldy Pleasures" and their "Punishments"...

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Leadfoot5311

Leadfoot5311

Senior Member
Apr 7, 2011
370
3
18
Lately, I've been thinking about all of what brings pleasure to our Flesh, and I've just had a lot of thought into it. For basically everything that the Bible tells us not to do, there is a fairly serious consequence to it, for example, here are what I would call the "Big 3":

Drinking: Loss of right judgement, regrettable decisions, potential for illness and poisoning.
Drugs: Illness, potential jail time, brain damage
Pornography/Sex: Disease/death/broken marriages/a lot of regret

(Be aware I have never Drank or done drugs. (I have struggled with lust in the past) I am basing these "conclusions" on my friends' testimonies.)

What a lot of people overlook though is that you can EASILY turn the seemingly "benign" things of the world into "bad" things as well. That is one of the big issues of the world, it is not truly black and white, basically everything in the world is bathed in a shade of grey.

The major thing that these worldly pleasures do is rob our mind from God. I forget the verse, but it states "Set your minds on things above, and not of things in the world". It also reminds me of the Fruits of the Spirit v. the Fruits of the Flesh. The bible is FULL of allusions to a major struggle of the Kingdom of Heaven and the World.

Thoughts? Comments? Reactions?
 
Yes I agree. Before I accepted Christ I heard someone say that the word sin simply means 'mistake' or 'to miss the mark'. It got me thinking that sin is just something you want to avoid because it will ruin your life in one way or another. For sex before marriage, the consequence is fatherless children (no offense to single moms) and jealousy and rage between multiple partners past or present, not to mention the spread of diseases. For lying the consequence is losing people's trust and becoming hated by those you betrayed.
 
Well, sin produces negative consequences (from such a thing, such a thing comes.)

I would just like to clarify the issue and create a bit of space between Sin, the consequences of Sin and Karma. I do not believe in Karma or what comes around goes around.

In life nothing is ever equal. Nothing is ever made fair, except in our minds and through our perceptions. Every action has a consequence. We as humans produce something for every action that we take. For a Christian this action stems from our faith and produces fruit but, for someone who is a sinner the action is sin and the produce is sickness unto death. This is not to say that we are either one or the other but, it is a choice that we face every day. We are to understand that from foolish behavior comes disastrous consequences and from wise behavior comes the fruit of our Labor.

What is easy is not valuable and what is valuable is not easy. In my own life I have found that most of the "Worldly Pleasures" I know, is my attempt to gain a shortcut to the consequences of doing what is right. When in fact the whole action was twisted and evil because it was not achieved by the truth. Like a person who steals a car, when the truth says that it is to be worked for. The person who has sex before Marriage, has taken the fruit without the labor. The person who bribes and who cheats, all are dishonest means to otherwise honest ends.


For the people who have climbed mount Everest there is a pride and a sense of accomplishment in it. This is not small feat and many have died in the attempt. For those who have lied about it, they bear the burden of shame, knowing in their hearts the illegitimacy of their words, and the emptiness of their meaning. It is easy to speak the words that are associated with a specific achievement but, real achievements are apparent and require no representation.
 
I think a lot of it requires discernment as theres somethings Christians are weak in and some that arent.
Mark Driscoll said in one of his sermon the other week that the bible doesnt say, thou shall not eat thy 4 stroke lawnmower, therefore because its not in the bible we have freedom in Christ to eat our lawnmower right?
No..
I don't eat my lawnmower because I know I would be in a lot of pain once the rotor blades pass through.
I know not to eat it out of discernment knowing the Holy Spirit would say "You idiot.."

Another example, facebook. Ive heard somewhere in the US a pastor has banned his congregation from using the social network because one person used it as a way to commit adultery. Which is absolutely rediculous. The guy who committed adultery should definitely stay away from it because it can be used as a tool again but should the rest of them have to abstain because of one man's weakness?

It becomes a pleasure of the flesh when you turn it into an idol.

Drinking a well made specially roasted coffee with a shot of irish creme is pleasure to my flesh, but I drink it to the glory of God.
 
ECCLESIATES 2:1-11 - "I said in my heart, “Come now, I will test you with pleasure; enjoy yourself.” But behold, this also was vanity. I said of laughter, “It is mad,” and of pleasure, “What use is it?” I searched with my heart how to cheer my body with wine—my heart still guiding me with wisdom—and how to lay hold on folly, till I might see what was good for the children of man to do under heaven during the few days of their life. I made great works. I built houses and planted vineyards for myself. I made myself gardens and parks, and planted in them all kinds of fruit trees. I made myself pools from which to water the forest of growing trees. I bought male and female slaves, and had slaves who were born in my house. I had also great possessions of herds and flocks, more than any who had been before me in Jerusalem. I also gathered for myself silver and gold and the treasure of kings and provinces. I got singers, both men and women, and many concubines, the delight of the children of man.
So I became great and surpassed all who were before me in Jerusalem. Also my wisdom remained with me. And whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them. I kept my heart from no pleasure, for my heart found pleasure in all my toil, and this was my reward for all my toil. Then I considered all that my hands had done and the toil I had expended in doing it, and behold, all was vanity and a striving after wind, and there was nothing to be gained under the sun."

Some of the scars we bear in this life from our mistakes can be healed, others we will carry with us. That's not always a bad thing. They serve as reminders to us not to repeat them and lessons for others with wisdom.

We can also bear scars from the GOOD things that happen to us in this life, like love and childbirth. We should cherish those.

However we received our scars, God can use them for good if we allow it.
 
Leadfoot5311 said:
Lately, I've been thinking about all of what brings pleasure to our Flesh, and I've just had a lot of thought into it. For basically everything that the Bible tells us not to do, there is a fairly serious consequence to it, for example, here are what I would call the "Big 3":

Drinking: Loss of right judgement, regrettable decisions, potential for illness and poisoning.
Drugs: Illness, potential jail time, brain damage
Pornography/Sex: Disease/death/broken marriages/a lot of regret

(Be aware I have never Drank or done drugs. (I have struggled with lust in the past) I am basing these "conclusions" on my friends' testimonies.)

What a lot of people overlook though is that you can EASILY turn the seemingly "benign" things of the world into "bad" things as well. That is one of the big issues of the world, it is not truly black and white, basically everything in the world is bathed in a shade of grey.

The major thing that these worldly pleasures do is rob our mind from God. I forget the verse, but it states "Set your minds on things above, and not of things in the world". It also reminds me of the Fruits of the Spirit v. the Fruits of the Flesh. The bible is FULL of allusions to a major struggle of the Kingdom of Heaven and the World.

Thoughts? Comments? Reactions?
Click to expand...


I think you are referring to Colossians 3:2, great verse. Myself I like Isaiah 26:3 because I also think it is a good definition of faith.
Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.
Isaiah 26:3

But some very good observations and conclusions, Leadfoot !
 
Liamson said:
Well, sin produces negative consequences (from such a thing, such a thing comes.)

I would just like to clarify the issue and create a bit of space between Sin, the consequences of Sin and Karma. I do not believe in Karma or what comes around goes around.

In life nothing is ever equal. Nothing is ever made fair, except in our minds and through our perceptions. Every action has a consequence. We as humans produce something for every action that we take. For a Christian this action stems from our faith and produces fruit but, for someone who is a sinner the action is sin and the produce is sickness unto death. This is not to say that we are either one or the other but, it is a choice that we face every day. We are to understand that from foolish behavior comes disastrous consequences and from wise behavior comes the fruit of our Labor.

What is easy is not valuable and what is valuable is not easy. In my own life I have found that most of the "Worldly Pleasures" I know, is my attempt to gain a shortcut to the consequences of doing what is right. When in fact the whole action was twisted and evil because it was not achieved by the truth. Like a person who steals a car, when the truth says that it is to be worked for. The person who has sex before Marriage, has taken the fruit without the labor. The person who bribes and who cheats, all are dishonest means to otherwise honest ends.


For the people who have climbed mount Everest there is a pride and a sense of accomplishment in it. This is not small feat and many have died in the attempt. For those who have lied about it, they bear the burden of shame, knowing in their hearts the illegitimacy of their words, and the emptiness of their meaning. It is easy to speak the words that are associated with a specific achievement but, real achievements are apparent and require no representation.
Click to expand...

About the aspect of Karma, the bible actually talks about it, but in a different way... It's called "The Law of the Harvest", and it states that "You reap what you sow". I'm not saying that the Law of the Harvest IS "Karma". What I feel is that non-believers call the law "Karma" because they don't know what it really is.
 
I'd be careful not to equate the flesh with flesh. The Bible talks a lot more about sins of the mind than of the body - these actions are only big in the sense that we like to focus on them to the exclusion of the actually more destructive and frequent internal sins.

You really only need to tell somebody once or twice not to sleep with or lust after people they shouldn't. Alcohol is in my experience the best teacher of moderation in alcohol. And Jesus was pretty clear and succinct about lust.

Focusing on these external sins is, I think, a dangerous false piety. I think that's Jesus' message to the crowd about to stone the woman caught in adultery. Was he accusing the crowd of having committed adultery? Probably not. These were people who were willing to kill over sexual purity. I imagine they didn't drink to excess, sleep around, or drug themselves.

When we talk about pleasing the flesh, we don't mean the physical form. We mean the entirety of the fallen nature, even to the depths of the mind. If I never once move a muscle but nevertheless indulge in angry thoughts about my neighbor, I'm squarely in the flesh.

If these are the Big 3, where are pride, uncharitable thoughts, greed, rage, jealousy, etc.?
 
Leadfoot5311 said:
About the aspect of Karma, the bible actually talks about it, but in a different way... It's called "The Law of the Harvest", and it states that "You reap what you sow". I'm not saying that the Law of the Harvest IS "Karma". What I feel is that non-believers call the law "Karma" because they don't know what it really is.
Click to expand...

Galatians 6:7-10 says, "Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers."

So I don't think he is talking about Good equating to Good returned in this life. I think its more of a God rewards those who have labored for Him in God's own good time. God is a being that makes choices and can be reasoned with just as we are beings that make choices and can be reasoned with. If God were merely a law of nature like gravity or a superstitious form of Karma, I would have no desire to understand Him.


Ecclesiastes 9:11>
" I have seen something else under the sun:

The race is not to the swift
or the battle to the strong,
nor does food come to the wise
or wealth to the brilliant
or favor to the learned;
but time and chance happen to them all."
 
Yes my friend it is a struggle. It is a fight of faith. The kingdom is pressed on all sides. And not many people are entering right now. I have to hope every moment of my life that I am being pleasing. It is because I want to be like Jesus that I don't engage in all these types of things people do. But this does not make me righteous. I just want to be pleasing to Jesus because he did so much for me.

Like if my dad died for me I would want to live my life honoring him, by not disobeying him. That is how it goes with anyone who really understands what it all means. May Jesus bless you.
 
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