We all want the good life. In fact, we need the good life! As we live in the flesh in the middle of a very screwed-up world that has long been ravaged by Satan, it is clear that without God, without the Holy Spirit and without Lord Jesus, we cannot survive both physically and spiritually. Unbelief misled many people to believe they can survive and prosper on their own but ultimately, they end up being unhappy, lost and unsaved spiritually. For its part, religion (along with its traditions, rituals and idolatry) misled people into believing they are Christians when in fact they end up wasting their lives following a whole bunch of rules from many man-made doctrines (described as blessed sacraments) which ultimately keep them away from the Lord. Religion also misled people into believing the falsehood that being religious, idolatrous, traditional and ritual-oriented is the same as being faithful to the Lord.
As Christians led by faith, we all had to go through the process of conversion (getting born again in accordance to what Lord Jesus stated in John 3: 3), studying and living the Word of God (the Holy Bible), submitting to Him and establishing personal relationships with Him. We are His creations and there really is no other way apart from living in holiness and doing our responsibilities as Christians, as citizens of God’s Kingdom and as His children.
The Lord will not abandon us (refer to Jeremiah 29: 11) and He knows well we need to have a good life. We are His children after all. To live the Christian life here on Earth does not necessarily mean living an easy life but being blessed, guided, directed and protected by Him. It naturally means not suffering the emptiness, the sadness and hardship of the lost and unsaved people around us. They need help and saving. They don’t realize it but they need to know the Lord and start having faith in Him.
As I mentioned some time ago, the Lord blesses the faithful abundantly. God is our source and His promises of prosperity are true and He always keeps His promises (refer to Genesis 39: 2-6, Psalm 1: 1-3, Hebrews 6: 10-12, Deuteronomy 8: 18, Jeremiah 17: 7, Genesis 13: 2, Leviticus 26: 3-5, Psalm 35: 27 and Psalm 37: 3-11). As faithful children of the Lord, we can enjoy riches and luxuries and never feel ashamed nor worried as we know that the blessings came from the Lord who worked legally through the existing financial systems of this screwed-up world we live in. In short, God always finds a way and His timing always makes sense. We need to be patient with Him and still believe in His works to bless us no matter how bad or how good our situation is.
Of course, as blessed children of His, we must never ever let riches and abundance separate us from Him. God, Lord Jesus and the Holy Spirit must always be prioritized. The Lord is our source and therefore we would not be enjoying the blessings without Him. As such, we must never ever fall into the temptation of covetousness which leads to greed. To be covetous means to obsessively acquire wealth and things that ultimately will not satisfy the lust of acquiring more than what is realistically needed. Covetousness also means the corruption of the soul and getting separated from the Lord. Earthly things that are acquired without prioritizing the Lord are clearly not blessings from Him. Learn from the following holy scriptures below…
He who loves silver will not be satisfied with silver; Nor he loves abundance, with increase. This is also vanity
Ecclesiastes 5: 10 (NKJV)
Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, not covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.
1 Corinthians 6: 9-10 (NKJV)
Speaking to the people, Jesus continued, “Be alert and guard your heart from greed and always wishing for what you don’t have. For your life can never be measured by the amount of things you possess.”
Luke 12: 15 (TPT)
“I have shown you in every way, by laboring like this, that you must support the weak. And remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”
Acts 20: 35 (NKJV)
As you can see, it is written in the Holy Bible that covetousness and greed are destructive. Becoming materialistic is bad! To be dominated by covetousness and greed means giving in to the love for wealth and material things which also means cutting yourself away from God, our ultimate creator and source! Lord Jesus’ words about guarding our hearts from greed clearly shows that we should not only be mindful of what is happening but always resist the temptation of acquiring too much and going beyond our needs. There are many people around us who believe in the falsehood that acquiring too much and obsessing for more all the time is part of the good life the Lord has in store for them. That is simply distorted and untrue! There are truly limits on what we need and how much in blessings we can receive. The abundant blessings we receive from God is great enough, and we certainly should not become covetous. God truly does NOT want us Christians to live in poverty (a curse from Satan) and He surely wants us to be disciplined with the way we live, the way we use His blessings and the like.
How to keep ourselves in check and be more responsible with the abundant blessings we receive from the Lord? You can start with tithing, the guaranteed giving back of 10% of your income to Him through your local church. Next, you can be a blessing to others by cheerfully giving something (in cash or in kind) to someone you are willing to share the Lord’s blessings with. If you know a fellow Christian at church trying to raise money for a planned bible-led outreach, then you have the opportunity to donate to that person so he or she can succeed in preaching the Word of God and saving lost souls. Cheerfully giving back to the Lord and blessing others are effective ways to prevent yourself from becoming selfish, greedy and covetous. Lord Jesus’ own words that it is more blessed to give than to receive is in reference to our time as well as our money, and that supporting the weak (the less fortunate) is something He desires for us to do for it is His nature to give. When we become blessings to others, we do it cheerfully and do it in accordance to the character of Lord Jesus. These ways are truly part of the good life from the Lord.
Of course, in opposite to the covetous and the greedy, there is a bunch of people out there who cannot help but be extremely obsessed with anti-materialism. These are lost and unsaved souls who do more than just tell you to avoid being materialistic. They will express their wrongful beliefs that money is the root of all evil (note: money itself is actually neutral and is a useful tool in receiving blessings from the Lord), that you are not meant to prosper (note: this puts them at odds with God and they don’t realize it), and that the only people to support (by means of donation) in the entire world are the impoverished (note: God’s provision is NOT exclusive to the impoverished).
I even encountered one of these anti-materialism fanatics. She is so obsessed with her wrongful beliefs, she seems willing to someday leave her children with not much left to survive with only because she believes money is cursed and wealth is immoral. She also made clear her personal beliefs that prosperity from God is not true and that poverty is not a curse. She does not know the truth written in the Holy Bible. This is the result of her living a life dominated by religion, idols, traditions, wrongful theology and rituals. As such, these lost souls and unsaved souls blinded by anti-materialism obsessions need saving and they need to be prayed for.
As such, being blessed by the Lord and being disciplined (rejecting fully covetousness greed) and being responsible (having our needs met and being able to give back to Him and bless others we could) with what we received are part of the good life from Him.
More on the good life from God, it is undeniably true that Lord Jesus offers us peace and joy that the world itself cannot match nor replicate. Pay close attention to His words in the following bible scriptures below.
“Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”
John 14: 27 (NKJV)
“These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full.”
John 15: 11 (NKJV)
John 14: 27 is about the ultimate form of peace that only Lord Jesus can give to those who truly believe in Him. By comparison, worldly peace made by governments, or a truce between rival factions, or special agreements made between powerful groups are all temporary, ultimately fragile and each are bound to break down in due time (which can lead to another bout of fighting, even wars). With Lord Jesus’ peace, you can be assured that the said peace is eternal and will never get corrupted. This is why we should not let our hearts be burdened with pain, worry and doubts under Him.
As for John 15: 11, it emphasizes that our joy becomes full through experiencing Jesus’ own joy within us. To be full of happiness, hope and rest with Him is easily connected with His telling us not to have troubled hearts.
Being born again, we Christians must always keep the Holy Spirit in our hearts and eternally be faithful to the Lord, living by His Word (the Holy Bible). What we study in the Holy Bible, we apply the lessons in our lives.
By comparison, a person who does not have the Holy Spirit in his heart is very vulnerable to temptation and evil. Satan knows this and he knows that for as long as people do not believe in the Lord or are living with religion (along with idolatry, traditions, wrongful theology and rituals) that prevent them from achieving true faith in God, they are easy to be manipulated to serve his evil purposes. The enemy knows how to cause chaos around people and then reach inside the lost and unsaved souls to bring out more wickedness. Satan obviously does not want people to know the Lord and he manipulates them to suffer and live the painful life instead of having a blessed, good life from God. Take a close look at the following bible verses below…
“Evil originates from inside a person. Coming out of a human heart are evil schemes, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, wickedness, treachery, debauchery, jealousy, slander, arrogance, and recklessness. All these corrupt things emerge from within and constantly pollute a person.”
Mark 7: 21-23 (TPT)
What is the cause of your conflicts and quarrels with each other? Doesn’t the battle begin inside of you as you fight to have your own way and fulfill your own desires? You jealously want what others have so you begin to see yourself as better than others. You scheme with envy and harm others to selfishly obtain what you crave—that’s why you quarrel and fight. And all the time you don’t obtain what you want because you won’t ask God for it!
James 4: 1-2 (TPT)
A thief has only one thing in mind—he wants to steal, slaughter, and destroy. But I have come to give you everything in abundance, more than you expect—life in its fullness until you overflow!
John 10: 10 (TPT)
As you can see in the above scriptures, having the Holy Spirit in our hearts and dedicating ourselves to the Lord are truly essential. Without the Holy Spirit in us, we would have been very vulnerable to the temptations and manipulations of the enemy. Satan rules over people who are not edified under the Lord and it is easy for him to manipulate the unsaved person into giving in to wickedness, temptations, strife, violence, greed, immorality and destruction to name some. To put things in perspective, Satan gained dominion when Adam rebelled against God and, as written in the Holy Bible, this led to a downward spiral for humanity. Committing sinful and unrighteous acts became too common among people before the Great Flood happened.
Before gaining the Holy Spirit in our hearts upon getting born again, our hearts contained no holiness. We were vulnerable to wickedness, to the impulse and lust of the flesh, and we were too easy to be manipulated by Satan to commit sin. Now that we know the truth in the Holy Bible and we know better, we Christians can defeat Satan by having strong faith in the Lord and doing His Word in our lives. Strong faith and being a doer of God’s Word are essential for us to gain the good life from Him. Always remember that Lord Jesus is the definitive Savior of us all and He always restores believers who previously suffered from the darkness caused by the enemy!
Now pay close attention to the following holy scriptures below…
Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
John 3: 3 (NKJV)
“Don’t keep hoarding for yourselves earthly treasures that can be stolen by thieves. Material wealth eventually rusts, decays, and loses its value. Instead, stockpile heavenly treasures for yourselves that cannot be stolen and will never rust, decay, or lose their value.”
Matthew 6: 19-20 (TPT)
“Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.”
Matthew 6: 31-33 (NKJV)
About the above scriptures, let me declare to you – my readers and fellow faithful Christians – that becoming born again is truly the greatest miracle that happened in my life. In my old life, I gone through decades of pointless religion and even several years of being faithless. I responded to the Lord’s call when my dearest friend in life invited me to her church, and then weeks later I accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior. What He stated in John 3: 3 is undeniably true! My life has turned around for the better and I now know my true purpose under the Lord.
Matthew 6: 19-20 confirms the existence of wealth in the kingdom of God which we, His children, will inherit. What blessings we receive from the Lord while living in the flesh here on Earth are not only temporary but are just a fraction of kingdom wealth. Kingdom wealth is so much greater than all of the wealth of this screwed-up world. As such, Matthew 6: 31-33 confirms that the Lord is watching us all the time and He definitely knows our needs and in due time, He will keep blessing us. That being said, the very least we Christians must do is seek God’s kingdom and achieve holiness under Him. Pursue God’s kingdom and His righteousness, and then the good life He planned for us filled with peace, prosperity, stability and happiness will manifest.
At this point, I would like to reach out to the lost and the unsaved people reading this. You can save yourselves by submitting to the Lord willingly. No force and no coercion here. You have time and freedom to decide. For those who have decided to get born again now, please read the instructions and follow the prayer that I learned from our pastor.
Are you ready? Firstly, open your heart to the Lord and pray this simple prayer in sincerity from your heart:
Dear God,
I believe that Jesus is Your Son, and that He died on the cross to pay the penalty of my sins. I believe that Jesus has been raised from the dead and that He is alive! Right now, I call on the name of Jesus. Jesus, come into my heart. I receive You as my personal Lord and Savior. Forgive me of my sins and cleanse me by the power of Your blood. Thank You for saving me and giving me eternal life! Help me now to follow Your plan for my life. Amen.
Congratulations! You are now a child of God! You have received Holy Spirit in your heart! This is easily your greatest decision ever made and also the greatest miracle of your life. Always praise, thank and honor the Lord. No more darkness in your life caused by politics, radicalism, toxicity, rebellion, religion, unbelief, evil, idolatry, traditions and rituals! Leave behind the darkness of your life and don’t look back to it. With Lord Jesus, you are already moving forward! You also have a personal relationship with God, a relationship that is strictly off-limits to others (even to your household members or biological family members).
With your new life realized, make an effort to acquire a copy of the Holy Bible (New King James Version is recommended), study it and apply its lessons into your life no matter what situation you are in right now. I also recommend you to join a church of born-again Christians near you and find your place in the spiritual family (God’s family). Worship the Lord together with them and always remember that faith, not religion, is essential in your personal relationship with God.
The Holy Bible is the ultimate authority and nothing else comes close. Remember always that Lord Jesus did not die on the cross to start religion. He died to redeem us all and showed that we must be led by faith in Him, faith in the Holy Spirit and faith in God the Heavenly Father. He rose from the dead and made His earthly presence felt once more to those who believed in Him. Lord Jesus ascended to Heaven and He promised to return in the future.
In ending this, here are some Christian worship YouTube videos for you to enjoy and praise the Lord with. Always be the fearless and aggressive church of Lord Jesus!
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