Friday, June 22, 2018

(06/22/2018) A "Feel Good" Lifestyle?




Today, the reply focuses on moderation, sobriety, and whether there are “feel good” aspects of becoming and serving as a mature Christian believer.  Contentment, pleasures, and the fulfillment of ones sexual aspect are not denied to the people of GOD, yet, the church founded by Jesus Christ is to be “the evidence of things unseen.”  An important lesson from the Scriptures concerning appetite and conscience declares:  Romans 14:  22-23, King James Version (KJV):  22 Hast thou faith? have it to thyself before God. Happy is he that condemneth not himself in that thing which he alloweth.  23 And he that doubteth is damned if he eat, because he eateth not of faith:  for whatsoever is not of faith is sin.  Where Christian believers become members of a church congregation, they agree to obey a code of conduct, follow counsel and guidelines from clergy and the appointed leadership as well as to perform specific duties that are required to continue in good standing (e.g., attend business meetings re church finances; participate in fund raising; pickup and distribute church fliers and programs).  Christian believers all are sinners called to repentance and a new life wherein they serve as priests and kings of the divine kingdom Deity is establishing upon the earth.  Every sinner must become transformed through life events and operations by divinity (e.g., cleansing, healing, repentance, sanctification) that may require their entire lifetime, and that will be completed for some only in an instant at the appearing of Jesus Christ.  A fighter in the “Yahoo! Answers” Religion and Spirituality forum who uses the ID “?” (Level 1 with 231 points, a member since February 06, 2018) posted the following:


Would a life style with out any stimulants benefit you as a person or drive you crazy?

E.g no TV, no technology , no drugs / alcohol nothing that gives you "a feel good " boost. Just drinking water when thirsty and eating a light healthy meal when hungry. For fun or hobbies you could do something creative such as read or draw, or exercise.


THE GOLDEN ARROW:  Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:  By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.  And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also:  knowing that tribulation worketh patience;  And patience, experience; and experience, hope:  And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.  (Romans 5:  1-5, King James Version, KJV)


THE DOUBLE DAGGER:  Rendering Our Reasonable Service (06/15/2018); Christianity Is A Relationship (04/05/2018); A Matter of Conscience (04/07/2017); How Is Flesh Evil? (10/28/2016); Material Things in Heaven? (11/10/2016); The Witness of Conscience (09/23/2016); Freedom of Foul Speech (09/10/2014); Dating and Worship? (09/11/2014)


“?”, there is a great deal of diversity among the lifestyles and daily living routines of those who turn to Jesus Christ hoping to receive a new life from their Creator.  There are various principles and standards shared within the body of Christ (the church) that have been derived from divine law, sacred practices, and wisdom from the Scriptures.  Examples include regularly gathering and sharing fellowship with like-minded believers (e.g., attending church, Bible study, working to complete necessary tasks); Sabbath-keeping; praise within ones congregation; prayer in the home; evangelism, missions, and prison ministry; visiting shut-ins and those who are sick; and heartfelt worship.  Differences in age, commitment, sacred knowledge, secular knowledge, and spiritual maturity make it that there is no single set of attitudes, behavior, and disciplines that will be displayed by everyone in any given situation.

Those who become “born-again” in baptism (i.e., death, burial, and resurrection of the inborn spirit) must “grow up again.”  Their goal should be to acknowledge their own accountability, to become Christ-like, and to maintain self-government under the authority of GOD.  Sinners are to become developing believers who must mature/ripen to be harvested from the earth at the Advent of Jesus Christ (we also say, his appearing; the Rapture; the Second Coming).  All must meet “growing pains” and the life challenges that come by living on the earth.  Included can be bereavement, disappointments, duty (things you must carryout and perform, like it or not), hardship, sacrifice, and suffering.

The fresh endowment of spirit substance imparted from the makeup of divinity shields and strengthens a new believer, as they discover, gradually grow, undergo permanent change, and serve as true vessels of divinity, offspring of GOD, and joint-heirs with Jesus Christ.  Inseparable aspects of the divine makeup are received such as balance, discernment, faith, forbearance, holiness, joy, longsuffering, lovingkindness, oneness without sameness, restraint, wisdom, and wrath against sin.  These working together transform otherwise confusing, mundane, or painful life experiences in a way that allows the believer to operate as having assurances and certain victory, even though there are still obstacles and threats to be overcome, and they may still be in the midst of a storm.  Consider the following that uses language from the Bible:

(1.)   Proverbs 23:  29-35, King James Version (KJV):  29 Who hath woe? who hath sorrow? who hath contentions? who hath babbling? who hath wounds without cause? who hath redness of eyes?  30 They that tarry long at the wine; they that go to seek mixed wine.  31 Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his colour in the cup, when it moveth itself aright.  32 At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder.  33 Thine eyes shall behold strange women, and thine heart shall utter perverse things.  34 Yea, thou shalt be as he that lieth down in the midst of the sea, or as he that lieth upon the top of a mast.  35 They have stricken me, shalt thou say, and I was not sick; they have beaten me, and I felt it not:  when shall I awake? I will seek it yet again.

(2.)  Romans 6:  3-5, KJV:  3 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?  4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death:  that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.  5 For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:

(3.)  Romans 14:  13-21, KJV:  13 Let us not therefore judge one another any more:  but judge this rather, that no man put a stumblingblock or an occasion to fall in his brother’s way.  14 I know, and am persuaded by the Lord Jesus, that there is nothing unclean of itself:  but to him that esteemeth any thing to be unclean, to him it is unclean.  15 But if thy brother be grieved with thy meat, now walkest thou not charitably. Destroy not him with thy meat, for whom Christ died.  16 Let not then your good be evil spoken of:  17 For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.  18 For he that in these things serveth Christ is acceptable to God, and approved of men.  19 Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace, and things wherewith one may edify another.  20 For meat destroy not the work of God. All things indeed are pure; but it is evil for that man who eateth with offence.  21 It is good neither to eat flesh, nor to drink wine, nor any thing whereby thy brother stumbleth, or is offended, or is made weak.

(4.)  Philippians 2:  12, KJV:  12 Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.

There is far more that should be said, correctly examined, and spiritually apprehended.  (For example, (5.)  Revelation 21:  7-8, KJV:  7 He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.  8 But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone:  which is the second death.)  Even so, I trust this fragment will be useful.  Be it unto you according to your faith.


THE BLACK PHOENIX
Washington, DC

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