Worldliness – Hope for Complete Healing

Exposing Satan’s Attack on Christian Believers

How many people do you know won’t go to church for one reason or another? In my last post, I explained why Satan wants to destroy the church. He is effectively dismembering the body of Christ, but most Christians do not realize the unseen war all around them, so they let it go on. It is time to fight for the spiritual life of your fellow Believers and the Church. If you don’t know how to fight demonic forces, I recommend my book called Fighting Unseen Battles.

In my second post of this series, I addressed why people leave the church. Though there are many reasons, the number one reason people leave the church is being offended. Have you been offended by someone or something in the church? What was your natural response when you became offended? Most offended people simply leave the church and lose their faith, which is Satan’s goal for all of us. People are messy, and so is the church. Jesus said in Luke 5:32, “I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.”

Satan causes Believers to Doubt and Walk Away From God

I ended one of my posts with Hebrews 3:12, which states, “Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God.” Doubt is unbelief, which comes from the devil. Unbelief is a sin; otherwise, why would it be called evil? Unbelief is disobedience, as we are all called to believe.

Doubt leads to disobedience. Read in Genesis 3 how Satan deceived Eve into eating the apple. He began by causing her to doubt God, which led to disobedience and separation from God. Satan uses the same tactic. If that does not work, then he uses distraction. I know many young people who grew up in the church, then later believed Satan’s lies, began to doubt, and were lured away from their faith through worldliness. My oldest son is one of those people who stopped believing, and many of my friends and Pastors I know have children who doubted and walked away from their faith.

First, don’t judge them; they need your love. They know how you believe, so preaching to them does not help. Second, pray for God to remove the blinders that Satan has put on them (2Cor. 4:4). Remind God that He promised that His Word would not return void and accomplish what He intended it to do (Is. 55:11). Pray for God to restore them and lead them back to the path of righteousness (Ps. 23:3). Seek your Heavenly Father to keep drawing them to himself. (John 6:44). Don’t give up faith; keep praying for those who fell away from the faith because of doubt and worldliness. Hebrews 11:6 explains, “But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.” Continue to diligently seek God for your children and for everyone who has fallen away. Keep in mind that you are fighting an unseen war.

A friend said the worst thing she did was encourage her son to go to college. She feels that college caused him to doubt God, now he has walked away from his faith. My youngest son went to college and remained firm in his faith, but my oldest decided he would instead go the way of the world, which caused him to walk away from his faith. Many people doubt God because of unanswered prayers. I wrote a series of posts to expose this topic because I struggled in this area. You can read all my posts in Posts About Prayer. Satan will use any means to cause doubt, which is why we need to take every thought captive and make it obey Christ (2Cor. 10:5).

Lured Away from Our Faith By Worldly Activities

I have known many Christians who skipped church to participate in secular activities. Once in a while is okay, but what often happens is a person can find other activities they would rather do than go to church. For example, my husband is part of a group of guys who shoot at clays. Though the activity is held Sunday morning, he does not miss church but goes right after church and is usually the last group to do the rounds. More and more, sporting competitions are held Sunday mornings and Wednesday nights, which keep the kids and parents from attending church.

Since the pandemic and mandating churches to close their doors, many churches have lost members because the members are either too afraid to go to church or it is easier to do internet/TV church. I explain the danger of not attending church in my first post. Leaving the church for worldly pursuits is a slow fade; it is usually not all at one time. I have written a lot about the dangers of worldliness. Here are two posts, Recognize Worldly Thinking and be Free and Unseen Battle With The Secular World.

I had an inmate in my Bible Study admit to being strong in her faith, and she read her Bible every day. One day, as she watched TV, the Holy Spirit drew her to read her Bible, but she ignored the Holy Spirit and kept watching TV. Soon she stopped reading her Bible altogether and began to hang out with her old friends, who enticed her to get back into using drugs. She said she knew that when she stopped reading her Bible and stopped going to church, that was when Satan enticed her to hang out with her old friends. Now she was in jail again.

CONCLUSION

I could write so much more but I would love to hear what you think about these topics and your experience. I hope you read my other posts for a better understanding and to learn how to fight these unseen battles. I encourage you to buy my book. If you want to know what my book is about read my review post.

May God Bless you richly,

Joyce

How Contentment with Godliness Increases Independence, Time, and Wealth

What is the difference between a content person and a person who wants to be rich? Are you the rare person who is content with only the necessities for living? Why do we always want more and better things? To be honest, I struggle in the area of contentment. I think, if only I had this or that, then I will be happy. Do you struggle with contentment too?

The post called What is Godliness? explains what godliness is. The post called How To Train To Be Godly? describes how to train yourself for godliness and why. In this post, we will explore the benefit of being content with godliness. This post was challenging to write, and you may find it difficult to read.

Is Contentment the Evidence of Godliness?

1Timothy 6:6-8 states, “But godliness with contentment is great gain, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. But if we have food and clothing, with these, we will be content.

“But godliness with contentment is great gain” (1Tim.6:6). The context for this verse is because the false prophets thought being godly would help them get wealth. The Apostle Paul tells Timothy that he will have great gain when he is content and godly.

Webster’s dictionary defines contentment as being happy enough (satisfied) with what one has or is and not desiring something more or different. For example, Jesus was content with food and clothing, but can we? We also need a place to live, but do we need two or three places to live? We need a vehicle to get places, but do we need a Lamborghini? I learned that what you have must be cared for and maintained. I discovered that worldly things distract us from pure devotion and service to God because our commitments and possessions control how we spend our time and money. A higher-paying job often comes with more time commitments and stress that distracts from time with God and fellowship with other believers. The Apostle Paul wrote the following to Titus about worldly passions and purity in Titus 2:11-14:

“For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.”

When we believed and are saved from God’s wrath for sin through Jesus Christ, His Spirit, called the Holy Spirit, enters our hearts. The Holy Spirit helps us “renounce ungodliness and worldly passions” through His divine power so we can “live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives.” The Holy Spirit also purifies us as God’s possession, so we can do good works.

Can we remove all worldly things and activities from our lives and love God with all our heart, soul, strength, and mind (Luke 10:27)? Is it possible to give up watching ungodly television, or watching the depressing news, or movies that glorify wickedness? Yes, with the help of the Holy Spirit in us.

My husband and I decided to minimize our possessions and be content with less. The question you ask for each item you pick up is, “How does this bring value to my life.” Donate the things that will have more meaning to another person. Do you know how hard that is to do? I became so attached to what I have that I wonder if they are idols in my life. Reducing your possessions to only what is necessary for living or ministry is freeing. I find it interesting that Paul makes the distinction that “we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world.” What possessions are distracting you from pure devotion to God? 2Corinthians 11:3 states, “But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ.” Ask God to search your heart and mind (Jer. 17:9-10) to reveal your idols and if your possessions are possessing you.

Conclusion

Contentment with godliness is a great gain because we are free to focus on loving God and serving Him and others. When we are content with minimal possessions, we gain independence, time, wealth, and so on. When we are content, we no longer have to spend our time and money on worthless, vain things that need maintenance and storage.

All verses are from the English Standard Bible unless otherwise indicated. If you find my posts and website helpful, please share the links with your friends and family, hopeforcompletehealing.com. The information is copyright protected. No part of the posts or my book may be reproduced without proper citation to Joyce Hanscom and this website.

Contact me at hopeforcompletehealing@gmail.com, and ask for a PDF of Eight Prayers from the Bible. The prayers are for the Spirit of wisdom, renewal, spiritual strength, knowledge of His will, virtues of God, salvation for non-believers, 23rd Psalm, and victory. Please leave your name so I know you are a person making the request.

How Not To Be Left Behind In The Last Days

Do you want to be left behind to go through the tribulation and deal with the beast (Rev. 13)? Are you tired of hearing people say, “The end is near” and thinking you have time to get right with God later? In Luke 21:34–36, Jesus tells us, “But watch yourselves lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and cares of this life, and that day come upon you suddenly like a trap. 35) For it will come upon all who dwell on the face of the whole earth. 36) But stay awake at all times, praying that you may have the strength to escape all these things that are going to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.” The rapture will happen suddenly, and you do not know when it will be, so we must be ready at all times. I did a series of posts on what the Christian should be doing to prepare for that sudden moment. We learn the following from Luke 21:34-36:

We are to watch for Christ to appear in the clouds and not get distracted by worldly indulgences, drunkenness, and the cares of this life. Worldliness will look different for each person. I did a series of posts explaining the destructiveness of being worldly. Are You a Sheep or a Goat? or How You May Be an Enemy of God.
Calamity and destruction will appear suddenly on the whole earth. 1Thessalonians 5:2–3 states, “For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.”
We are to stay awake spiritually and pray continually for the strength to escape and do what is required of us. See my post called What Is Required to Stand Before God?
We will stand before the Son of Man. 2Corinthians 5:10 states, “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.”

In the post called The End is Coming: Part Three, I explain why we are to stay alert and sober-minded for the purpose of prayer until Christ’s return. We know that Matthew 24:44 states, “Therefore, you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.” Jesus warns us not to be caught up in the wickedness and cares of this world but to keep watch over our hearts through prayer because we will stand before His judgment seat. I hear worldly Christians say that people have been saying the day of the Lord is coming for hundreds of years, and it hasn’t come yet. This fact is correct. The Apostles and Jesus were warning people in their day of the coming end of the age. I explain this in ― Is the End Close? Part One―What does the Bible Say?

Since we don’t know when the rapture of the real followers of Christ will be, we need to warn the worldly Christians to fear God and be ready by turning from their sin and making Him Lord of their lives. True Christians are those who fear God, have submitted their hearts to Him, and love Him with all their heart, soul, and strength, and love their neighbor as themselves.

I was a worldly Christian for many years, and I knew I was not right with God, but I loved the sinful life more than God. At night, as my bed was spinning, I knew in my heart that I would go to hell if I died at that moment. Ironically, I partied Saturday night and went to church Sunday morning. Then, at a Christian concert, God spoke to me very clearly to stop walking the fence and doing the things of the world and having a form of godliness. He called me to follow Him with all my heart. I gave up my worldly lifestyle and totally submitted to Him, and I have had no regrets. He is calling everyone to follow Him with all their hearts and be totally committed to Him. Many Christians are like I was. 2Timothy 3:1-8 describes the worldly Christian.

But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty.

2) For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people.

6) For among them are those who creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions, always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth. 8) Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these men also oppose the truth, men corrupted in mind and disqualified regarding the faith.”

Does this sound like some of our politicians who say they are religious, but their actions speak otherwise? Do you know “Christians” who are always learning but never practice the truth of God’s Word? I hope you do not relate to any part of Timothy’s description of the worldly Christian. If you are convicted of complacency, please turn to God, and ask Him to forgive your sins and take your sinful desires from you and to give you righteous desires to please Him. Without godliness we don’t have God’s divine power to overcome our sins and temptations. My short book will help you resolve the issues that keep you from being godly.

All verses are from the English Standard Bible unless otherwise indicated. If you find my posts and website helpful, please share my website link with your friends and family, hopeforcompletehealing.com. The information is copyright protected. No part of the blog or my book may be reproduced without proper citation to Joyce Hanscom and this website.