12.e. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world.

Habakkuk 2:5   “Moreover, wine is a traitor, an arrogant man who is never at rest. His greed is as wide as Sheol; like death he has never enough. He gathers for himself all nations and collects as his own all peoples.”

Proverbs 27:20     Sheol and Abaddon are never satisfied, and never satisfied are the eyes of man.

Ecclesiastes 2:10-  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.

1 John 2:16    For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world.

I was intrigued by the verse: “His greed is wide as hell, and like death, he never has enough”  Two things are said to be never satisfied, death and sin. The appetites of the carnal mind for profit or pleasure are always desiring more.   Hell and destruction are never full; the grave devours all the bodies which are put into it, and is always ready to receive and devour more and more without end.  The eyes of man are never satisfied – As the grave can never be filled up with bodies, nor hell with souls; so the restless desire, the lust of power, riches, and splendor, is never satisfied. Out of this ever unsatisfied desire spring all the changing fashions, the varied amusements, and the endless lusts for money and things of this world, prevalent in every age, and in every country.

Those whose eyes are ever toward the Lord, are satisfied in Him.  And yet, while we know this, attractions and temptations of this world still try to get us to glance away.  Satan knows if he can get us to take our eyes off Jesus Christ his battle is won.  It won’t be long before our sinful nature takes hold and rationalizes what we are doing and convinces us that it is ok.  The change is very subtle and slow but rest assured it’s end is never satisfying and leaves us wanting more and more.  It is a dangerous path to take in life.  The moment the Word of God is neglected something else will fill that void.  We become complacent, careless, and content in things of this world.  Look around at what is happening in the US right now.  What is driving the actions of government officials?  What is driving the protesting?  Will any of them be happy if they got what they were trying to acquire?  Maybe for a short period but then there would always be something more.  More power, more money, more and more, yet never satisfied.  People are grabbing onto the hand of Satan and he is leading them straight to hell.  It is not as though they are unaware of Jesus Christ and the gift of God, but they choose to deny what He has to offer in eternity for something temporal here and now.  The Word of God is the bread of life and the Holy Spirit is the living water indwelling us to feed and water our lives on earth until we are reunited with our Lord, Redeemer, Savior, King of Kings, Jesus Christ.  Let us hunger for this bread and thirst for this living water like never before and live and speak in such a way that Jesus Christ is honored and glorified and praised, and worshiped.

The Betrayer

“ and Judas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.”

John 6:70  Jesus answered them, “Did I not choose you, the twelve? And yet one of you is a devil.”  He spoke of Judas the son of Simon Iscariot, for he, one of the twelve, was going to betray him.

John 13:18    I am not speaking of all of you; I know whom I have chosen. But the Scripture will be fulfilled, ‘He who ate my bread has lifted his heel against me.’

John 17:12    While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.

Matthew 10:1  And he called to him his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every disease and every affliction.  The names of the twelve apostles are these: first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus;  Simon the Zealot, and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.

1 John 3:8    Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.

Betraying Christ is nothing any of us want to do.  It would be the farthest thing from our mind.  It is not something we give much thought.  Yet I still wonder about us betraying service to Him.  Do we honor Him  with our life  Do we commit to this with all our heart, mind and soul?  Are our days filled with this thought of serving Him?  Do we follow and obey Him? Are we seeking to hear Him speak into our lives through His word each day?  Are our heart and mind  open to hear His leading?  Are we betraying Him by not giving Him our all everyday?  Obviously there is room for us to grow in our service to Him.  We need a heart deep desired commitment infused into our mind and soul.  Losing sight of the thing of this world and keeping focus on Him and the world to come.