You do love Jesus don't you. Or is it, your desires, that you really love?

Everything in the world only promises us temporary happiness. Embedded in that temporary happiness, a seed of suffering, when the temporary is forever lost from our grasp. Even our loved ones will one day die. As we ourselves when our bodies expire. Chasing after temporary is eloquently described in Judiasm Ecclesiastes as "Chasing After the Wind".

The Christian parable of the Pearl is a warning that we have to let go of ALL temporary attachments to achieve the One great pearl ...
The kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls: Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it.

We have the means to overcome our desires by introspecting our own mind. A mind that doesn't exist in its past thoughts (depression) or exist in future dreams (desires,anxiousness) remains in stillness. Psalm 46:10 "Be still and know that I am God...".

Achieving stillness of mind that has been in constant chatter mode since childhood is not easy but nevertheless not impossible neither. If we introspect our desires and realize they all have the seed of ultimate suffering embedded in them. The minds chattering will eventually turn into silence by its own accord. Soon replaced by the unstruct sound of the Holy Spirit as it further cleanses our minds. Bringing up past memories long forgotten that we only need to witness not contemplate (with mind).

You do love Jesus don't you. Or is it, your desires, that you really love?

a reply to: glend

Good thread. "Gotta have a friend in Jesus"
youtu.be...

A person can have a strong attachment to things that defile the flesh, and some deeply entrenched desires may be very hard to shake off. So a person may have a genuine love of Christ and God but also love what is wrong. That is why the Bible admonishes worshipers of God to love what is good and hate what is bad:

"O you who love Jehovah, hate what is bad."-Psalm 97:10.

David knew all too well the downfalls of the treacherous desires of a divided heart and sinned gravely on a number of occasions. He wrote the 86th Psalm wherein he proclaims:

"Instruct me, O Jehovah, about your way. I will walk in your truth. Unify my heart to fear your name."-Psalm 86:11.

To unify or unite the heart means that one must give up the love of what is bad. One must not love Jehovah and at the same time have love of evil. They must unify their heart. Jehovah only accepts exclusive devotion. A whole-souled heartfelt love, a love with all ones heart.

The apostle Paul also knew about the treachery of ones own heart. In Romans 7 he tells about how the good he wishes to do he does not do, but the bad that he does not want to to is what he practices:

"For I do not practice what I wish, but I do what I hate. 16 However, if I do what I do not wish, I agree that the Law is fine. 17 But now I am no longer the one doing it, but it is the sin that resides in me. 18 For I know that in me, that is, in my flesh, there dwells nothing good; for I have the desire to do what is fine but not the ability to carry it out. 19 For I do not do the good that I wish, but the bad that I do not wish is what I practice. 20 If, then, I do what I do not wish, I am no longer the one carrying it out, but it is the sin dwelling in me."-Romans 7:15-21.

God realizes the struggles one has with their fallen flesh and a wicked heart. That is why the Psalmist tells us that he remembers we are dust:

"As far off as the sunrise is from the sunset,
So far off from us he has put our transgressions.
13 As a father shows mercy to his sons,
Jehovah has shown mercy to those who fear him.
14 For he well knows how we are formed,
Remembering that we are dust."
Psalm 103:12-14.

Toward those who are struggling to hate what is bad and love what is good Jehovah can see the real intentions of their heart. And because of that even if a person's own heart may condemn them Jehovah is greater than our heart and knows all things, our background, what molded us into who we are, the struggles that we have, that no one else may notice or know about:

"19 By this we will know that we originate with the truth, and we will assure our hearts before him 20 regarding whatever our hearts may condemn us in, because God is greater than our hearts and knows all things."-1 John 3:19-20.

We can be victorious only if we pay attention to God's word and allow his holy spirit, by means of prayer and supplication of it in our lives to mold us and guide us. Jehovah is the potter and we are the clay in his hands.

So the question isn't is it our desires that we really love? There is nothing wrong with correct desires. It is wrong desires that get you into trouble. We must put off the old personality and continually be made new by clothing ourselves with the new personality in all righteousness:

"And you should continue to be made new in your dominant mental attitude, and should put on the new personality that was created according to God’s will in true righteousness and loyalty."-Ephesians 4:23-25.

The old personality is the fleshly person, with works of the flesh that lead to death. After conversion and water baptisim, a Christian must put up a lifelong fight as long as we are in this wicked old world to change our pattern of thinking and acting. Put off the old personality like a ruined and stained old garment, and put on the new personality, a fine and clean new suit. But the old personality, and the stains with it will always be there.

I remember watching a public talk when I was a kid, and the brother did such a good job illustrating this that I remember it to this day decades later. He had a drawing of a leopard. And he said, you know the saying, a leopard can't change its spots. Well those spots were the defects of the fallen flesh. Then he started to put thin sheets over it and the spots began to fade. One for Bible study, one for prayer, one for meeting attendance, one for preaching the good news. Until the spots were no longer visible. They were covered by the holy spirit that gives the Christian the fruitage of said spirit, love, joy, peace, self-control, faith, patience, along with all the others, not just the 9 discussed in Galatians 5:22-23.

But what happened when the person stopped studying, he removed a sheet. Stopped praying, he removed another sheet, stops going to Christian meetings, another sheet was removed, and the spots gradually came back until they were predominant on the skin again.

If you have a love of the Christ he knows this he sees your heart. And it will become evident by your actions. 1 John 5:3 says: "For this is what the love of God means, that we observe his commandments; and yet his commandments are not burdensome."

Pray for an undivded heart, a unified heart, in accord with the Psalmist at Psalm 86:11. Love the good, hate the bad. Take off the old personality, and cloth yourself with the new personality. All of this requires effort. Exercising of faith. And it cannot be accomplished without God's holy spirit kindly given to us through Jesus Christ our Lord, the Master and Savior. There is not one single human that can dominate a wicked heart without Jehovah's help, without his holy spirit. So that when we are weak we are powerful for the glory of God.

a reply to: glend

Try this on for size .

It's not my love for Jesus Christ that I'm concerned with .

It's Christ love for me that I'm searching for , Because Christ Love for Humanity is beyond any comprehension that I can muster so my attempt to convey my love for Christ as some sort of symbol of dedication or faith will forever fall short of his glory.

For Christ knows my heart far better than I could ever ever ever ever know his .

So say your prayers and lay your head down to sleep because in the end that's all you can do.

a reply to: randomuser

There is nothing wrong with correct desires

All our desires need be introspected. Even our love for God. If I may quote Meister Eckhart ...

“Some people want to see God with their eyes as they see a cow, and to love Him as they love a cow - for the milk and cheese and profit it brings them. This is how it is with people who love God for the sake of outward wealth or inward comfort. They do not rightly love God, when they love Him for their own advantage. ”

Certainly altruistic love for all God's beings have no egotistical advantage. But the mind that see's beauty is also the mind that creates ugliness in the world. So we have to be mindful of the dualistic trappings within the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Understand that the mind that labels is dualistic in nature whereas the love Jesus was describing (love for all) is not.

Thanks for the supporting scripture. Gee you write fast!

a reply to: asabuvsobelow

"Christ Love for Humanity is beyond any comprehension that I can muster"

Yes totally agree, our minds are incapable of such love. The love Jesus demands form us therefore doesn't exist in mind. So we need surrender our mind to the love that flows from G_D like a river into our souls.

originally posted by: glend
a reply to: randomuser

There is nothing wrong with correct desires

Thanks for the supporting scripture. Gee you write fast!

It's called copy and paste. Lol.

I hope you guys are right about God, Jesus and all that.

originally posted by: EternalShadow

originally posted by: glend
a reply to: randomuser

There is nothing wrong with correct desires

Thanks for the supporting scripture. Gee you write fast!

It's called copy and paste. Lol.

I hope you guys are right about God, Jesus and all that.

Yeah. Better copy paste the scripture than try and remember what it said, or just even typing it out and then introduce errors on accident.

What you said about hoping that what the Bible says is true about these things. It made me think of this video. I hope you take the time to check it out, it's only 3 minutes long as well:

God's Forgiveness

"Could we with ink the ocean fill,
and were the skies of parchment made,
were every stalk on earth a quill,
and every man a scribe by trade.
To write the love of God above,
would drain the ocean dry,
nor could the scroll contain the whole,
though stretch from sky to sky."

originally posted by: glend
a reply to: randomuser

There is nothing wrong with correct desires

All our desires need be introspected. Even our love for God. If I may quote Meister Eckhart ...

“Some people want to see God with their eyes as they see a cow, and to love Him as they love a cow - for the milk and cheese and profit it brings them. This is how it is with people who love God for the sake of outward wealth or inward comfort. They do not rightly love God, when they love Him for their own advantage. ”

Certainly altruistic love for all God's beings have no egotistical advantage. But the mind that see's beauty is also the mind that creates ugliness in the world. So we have to be mindful of the dualistic trappings within the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Understand that the mind that labels is dualistic in nature whereas the love Jesus was describing (love for all) is not.

Thanks for the supporting scripture. Gee you write fast!

There is a time, under God's kingdom rule where prophecy says that God will be opening his hand and satisfying the desire of every living thing, obviously not all desires are wrong:

"You are opening your hand And satisfying the desire of every living thing."-Psalm 145:16.

But I get what you're saying. It reminds me of when the people were following Jesus, and Jesus knew it wasn't to listen to him speak (what a privilege!) but rather because he miraculously gave them food to eat and they were hoping for more:

"Jesus answered them: “Most truly I say to you, you are looking for me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate from the loaves and were satisfied."-John 6:26.

a reply to: randomuser

Psalm 145:16 is reliant on love of G_D (Psalm 145:20). That love being defined by Deuteronomy 6:5 as absolute. If ones love for G_d is absolute the only desires we would want to see fulfilled would be His will (Matthew 7:21).

Yes It is certainly a hard pill to swallow. But as far as I am aware it does not mean that we have to turn our back on family and friends (Moses had wife and children etc). We can continue to be true to family and friends as long as that doesn't interfere with our spiritual progress (Matthew 5:30).

If one believes that G_D is the alpha and Omega in absolute sense. Then our love for God can be expanded to all. As not only creations of God but as reflections and manifestations of His being and attributes.

a reply to: glend

Yes totally agree, our minds are incapable of such love. The love Jesus demands form us therefore doesn't exist in mind. So we need surrender our mind to the love that flows from G_D like a river into our souls.

well said but letting go though it may sound easy is very difficult .

Surrendering to the flow of God's Love Requires more than just Faith.

a reply to: glend

A desire is just feeling like you need something or want to have something…So a desire can be both good or bad depending on what you are desiring…For example; a person desiring to know the “truth” and find the “Kingdom of God” etc is wanting something good in their lives…in short, it’s a rightoues desire…

On the other hand, a person desiring something to an excess, such as overly desiring sex or food for example, is a bad desire imo…On the flip side a Christian or anyone really could desire for others to see their “truth”, but this could turn out “good” or “bad”, depending on how they exercise that desire…

- JC

a reply to: asabuvsobelow

Yes, it requires great determination and earnesty. But by introspecting every desire, one by one, we can make in-roads against the seemingly insurmountable. Deuteronomy 30:14 "the word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may do it.".

Investing into the desires of body and mind destined for dust is a madness that needs to be overcome.

a reply to: Joecroft

In my youth I saw myself as a truth seeker. I entered what I believed to be the temple. It backfired because my truth seeking was driven by ego (to be special). So believe its very important to introspect seemingly good desires at their root as well. To see what really drives our every desire.

As machines get better and better, illogical beliefs still persist. Mechanized and moronic man moves toward extinction.

originally posted by: glend

We have the means to overcome our desires by introspecting our own mind.

When God is willing we can overcome our desires.

We live the desires of the flesh until we live for God and doesn't God need to be willing for us to be born again. Everything depends on God. Without God we can do nothing because with God everything is possible.

By introspecting your own you find that you have desires but there is nothing you can do about it. Only God, when willing can be savior by being graceful towards our sinful nature. We can not do it on our own and by the grace of God we repent because He shines his light and there we meet ourselves and bend our knees.

Until then we continiue doing wrong, living for money and lust, desires. So when you know this, how much do you beg for God do to something, to bring wisdom and salvation.

I wrote the soccer games down again I want to bet some money on tomorrow and I lusted for women again. There's nothing I can do or else I should sleep all day and night.

a reply to: Untun

As Jesus walked alone in the desert for forty days being tempted by the devil. We too have to fight our demons alone as well. Realizing that all their promises are empty compared to permanent bliss in G_D.

Its our God given free will to exist as the insatiable serpent (ego-mind) that continually chases sensational bliss (apple) or exist in the image of G_D.

The ego-mind is noise. That made in the image of G_D exist in the silence.

That why Psalm 46:10 says “Be still, and know that I God...".

Embrace the silence my friend.