“Pride is nothing more than artificially inflating your sense of self-worth based on accomplishments, which is not the same as feeling self-respect because of who were.” –Brad Dennison (The Long Trail)
“A man’s pride and sense of self-importance will bring him down, But he who has a humble spirit will obtain honor.” –Proverbs 29:23 (AMP)
I saw that heroin addiction has dramatically increased, and that the number one cause of death for teenagers is suicide. In my poor pea brain that is hard to compute (Maybe that’s why I dislike computers so much). But these facts led it to some pondering.
The spirit (the heart, if you wish) is relatively easy to take care of–all it needs is a good dose of Jesus. For the body we have aspirin, pills, shots, surgery, diets, and we do a fairly good job of taking care of physical problems. But the mind is a different matter. The mind is closely related to the body; the mind can have tremendous affects on the body, and the body to an extent can affect the mind. However, the mind is very close to the spirit. Ravi Zacharias states, “I must understand in my mind what I believe in my heart.”
Because of this relationship the mind can be put into turmoil. Humans try to escape the fight in the mind and they often do it through drugs, and some will choose the end of all escapes–suicide. There are ideas out there that are an attempted panacea to the mind, but they do not deal with the spirit. These are false religions and heresies, cults, vain philosophy, and also the occult. They do not deal with the heart issue, but they attempt to bring relief to the mind.
Scripture warns over and over not to be taken over by false teachings but to cling to sound doctrine. The Holy Spirit will guide into the truth, so do not be thrown to the wayside by the teaching of the world.
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How are you doing with your reading? I’m going to start with a book by Arthur Pink, not sure which, as soon as I finish 2 Peter by William Barclay. Plus I have to reread a book for my AP class, “Children of the City.” I tried to read “Rough Cut Men”, but stalled out. It was not a hard read for sure, and the title I liked, but I could not relate to much of what was written; too contemporary for me I guess. I’ll finish it before the year is out, but for now it is on the shelf.
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Trust you had a good 4th of July. It was John Adams that stated that the day should be celebrated with all kinds of fireworks, enjoyment of all sorts, for it was the birth of a great nation.
How strong is our nation? I’ve been pondering that. One thing I do know! It is as strong as the people within it. When the people begin to become complacent; when they begin to compromise morals, honor, and dignity; when they lose sight of the foundation upon which the country was built, then the country becomes weak. The Constitution rightly said, “We the people…” When the people become duped, when they no longer believe in absolute truth and choose to believe liars, then the country becomes weak.
How far does it have to goes before the scales of God’s justice tip? When He decides that judgment must come. And as He allows individuals to become reprobate and believe lies, it is shown that He also does the same with nations.
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How about a few more common sense sayings?
“It is hard to make a comeback, when you haven’t been anywhere.”
“Going fast while you are lost won’t help a bit.”
“You cannot blame a worm for not wanting to go fishing.”