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Christianity was supposed to be about becoming like Jesus. | |
We went in the wrong direction. |
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| Christian Pioneer - eBook for Cell Phone - The Deceitfulness of Riches | |
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Chapter 8 - Fair weather friends
Too many people spend money they earned..to buy things they don't want..to impress people that they don't like. --Will Rogers Drugs are not the only source of pleasurable sensations. Adulation, flattery, and being sought after can be equally enjoyable and even equally addictive. Having things others want attracts all sorts of attention. A man that flattereth his neighbour spreadeth a net for his feet. - Proverbs 29:5 They speak vanity every one with his neighbour: with flattering lips and with a double heart do they speak. - Psalm 12:2 Another aspect of the deceitfulness of riches is that one can be fooled by covetousness disguised as friendship. Most of the world systems are constructed of false friendships, insincere alliances, and people making use of other people. I have hated them that regard lying vanities: but I trust in the LORD. - Psalm 31:6 The world is run by a network of flatterers all seeking to gain advantage for themselves. Like bullies, they are obsequious to those in power or with money, but brutal to those who are in their way or not of use to them. We are made vulnerable to the effects of flattery in proportion to our distance from truth. Flattery is a counterfeit money which, but for vanity, would have no circulation. --François de la Rochefoucauld He that loves to be flattered is worthy of the flatterer. --William Shakespeare Riches can lay before us as an open invitation to get what we want, enlist the labor of others, exert control over circumstances, or shape the future. This aspect of deception strongly competes with faith as trust in God can seem abstract and distant when what seems so obvious and concrete a foundation for trust is right before us. However, it is when we distance ourselves from God that we become even more vulnerable to deception. Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity; and quicken thou me in thy way. - Psalm 119:37 Modern life has produced a weakened family structure and replaced much of it with a stronger social structure. However, it is a sort of unhealthy social dependence where we come to make determinations often based on the opinions of those around us. We are raised in an environment that weakens independent thought and evaluation. Thus we are even more vulnerable to the words of flatterers. Do not be so deceived and misled! Evil companionships (communion, associations) corrupt and deprave good manners and morals and character. - 1 Corinthians 15:33 Amp |
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