When a man’s heart is subdued by the word of God, he understands.

​What subdues a child at home is not a stick but the word of God. Use this law. 

Deuteronomy 6:7 And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. 

-There’s no such a thing as a father being saved in a home that does not lead his family in prayer. 

-There’s no such a thing as a father that does not establish a godly order to lead his family godward. 

-You teach a child to follow God by following God yourself. 

-If holiness is not in the heart of the parents it will not be in that home. 

– Being a mum who does not do the right things, the daughter is learning 

– Character is built by discipline without it you cannot build character. If u have holiness in your heart it’ll influence your purchases, passages, associates every area of ur life, whatsoever u wouldd have done you, do it also to others. 

– Understanding means behaving soberly and having the right estimate of God’s work to where you understand what the parameters of life are. Understanding others, and the implications of ur decision based on the knowledge of the word of God that you know. 

– knowing enough of one another to avoid clash of interest. 

– We are meant to know much about God so we don’t clash with his interest. And because we don’t have enough we end up clashing with one another. 

– Knowing you are in responsibility in the house of God you must know your expectations that are required of you by the Man of God , God, And Saints 

– You should analyse your life, protecting the feelings of others

– Under utilising what you know is a disappointment to the Lord. 

– Psalm 103:1-

– v2 don’t forget God’s benefits toward you. 

-2Samuel 18:5  And the king commanded Joab and Abishai and Ittai, saying, Deal gently for my sake with the young man, even with Absalom. And all the people heard when the king gave all the captains charge concerning Absalom. Cf verse 13

-We can sit in the church and cause people to think we love God yet we don’t pay our tithe. 

– Isaiah 1:21

Israel lost a lot in trying to use Subterfuge 

To use trucks, deception they were looking stricken when they were actually doing well. They felt that if they paid tithe they’d be discovered rich so they decided to put in little. 

Proverbs 28:20

If we are not faithful with what God gives us then we shall be victims of this. 

To be honest is a way to happiness. If your faithful people will be kind to you. Praying for you. Because being faithful is like utilising rightly what God giveth you. 

Israel was filled with lies tricks to make the work of God beg 

There is what God expects of us when building the work of God through faithfulness nothing is lost. 

» What builds the work of God is faithfulness. Supporting the work of God with meekness knowing that the work of God needs your support. 

When faithfulness which is responsible for building is lost then what we have built in unfaithfulness is going to be lost. 

Unfaithful people are undetectable and you shall lose prominence. 

To have credibility, blessings  be faithful. Because nothing is done less of an appointed means, we are the appointed means for God to build His work. God is calling His church to be sincere with what God gives it. 

Faithfulness is the opposite of a vain spirit that defends self at all costs even including cheating God, this means making God work positively with your needs in your sins. Wanting God to be faithful irrespective of your sins 

Isaiah 43:21-24*

* Lake 12:15

* A man’s life consisteth not of the abundance of things he possesseth 

Signs of Spiritual Deterioration

​Salvation is a life to be led as a Christian and once you are in the field one should have spiritual feelers alert to be able to detect whether you have deteriorated spiritually and some of the signs of spiritual deterioration are:-

* When you acquire money and goods as your number one than God 

then you know you are deteriorating spiritually see 

ACTS 8:20

l. 

* You can also detect that you are deteriorating spiritually when you are having a bitter spirit, anger towards other people, Hebrews 12:15

* Watching and listening to worldly music, reading newspapers that are morally degrading i.e. Redpepper. 

When your prayer life ceases and your love for reading the Bible falls on the rock. 1st Thessalonians 5: 17 Pray without ceasing.

* When your love for others grows cold John 15:12-13

* When you love sports and parties is one sign that you have deteriorated spiritually. Sports develops 

pride in an individual and they look at others as inferior and they super for we know what Solomon said about the proud, they are headed for destruction Proverbs 16:18

* When you adapt worldly lifestyle for example, when you make more friends of the world (the non-saved) than the blood bought children of God. 

2nd Corinthians 6:14 Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?

15 And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel?

* Giving excuses for not being able to do a spiritual duty assigned you is one of the yardsticks to measure your spiritual deterioration. Luke 14: 18 And 

they all with one consent began to make excuse. The first said unto him, I have bought a piece of ground, and I must needs go and see it: I pray thee have me excused.

* When your church attendance drops like we have four services in the week and you attend only one service…you can mark yourself. Hebrews 10: 25 Not 

forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as 

the manner of some is; but exhorting one another : and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching. 

* When you take long or never testify at all, just be sure you are headed for the exit, we all know that 

the scriptures say we have power when we testify…

Revelation 12: 11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony;

* When you stop seeing eye to eye with your Pastor 

just know you are about to make a good contact with the world…Hebrews 13: 16 But to do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased. 17 Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you.

The instructions we get are to give us a right frame of mind and you cannot enjoy this life when you are at war with others and mishandling issues of life 

can shorten your life above all you need to build ability to be a good Samaritan to make life sweet.

 

Worldliness.

This is a word that originates from the word World. It refers to things in this world; it can also refer to the time in which we live in this age of the world.
The scriptures use the term world to describe the environment, or the spirit of evil and enmity towards God and the things of God.
The world was not originally evil, but the whole world after the fall of man in the garden has come under the sway or influence of the wicked one; Satan, and the demons. 1st John 5:19 and we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness.
As we live therefore we need to know the world is moving fast to evil.
Worldliness is the idolatrous worship of things one lusts after which are of this world – your business, husband, children can become idols
To where an individual will say, you’ll have to kill me first before you touch my business.
The Bible in the book of Colossians 3:5-6 instructs us to mortify the deeds of the flesh. Colossians 3 :5 Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry:
6 For which things’ sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience:
Things of this world cannot be classified inherently wrong – they were not so from the beginning. But gradually through misuse of What God had created with intention for good, it has turned out to be evil. Everything not used well in accordance to God’s law produces evil results. Or when they are exalted to a level designated for God alone, this is the reason the world stands as a picture of corruption.
2nd Peter 1:4 whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
James in his epistle calls worldly person an adulterous and warns that alignment to the world is enmity with God. James 4:4 ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God. James said a friend of the world is at war with God.
John the apostle also discouraged love for the world he said,
1John 2:15 Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
Loving the world takes away God’s love from your heart.
There is something about the love of God, it takes away all the desire to do Evil. It will deaden the love for the things of this world. If you in your heart heap the love for this world, then you will not have the love of God. Loving this world too much, you pass away with it, verse 17 and the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but loving God “but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever.”

It’s hard to overcome lust as an individual, because lust only dies when you die.  Lust was brought to birth the day Adam fell in the garden and so death passed on to all men, [Romans 5:12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned: 13 (For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law.]
This is not necessarily the physical death, man suffered a fatal death after the fall, what doctors would call multiple system failure.  Man’s sensibilities and the will were seared to where he cannot choose rightly, he gravitated more to evil than to good and man developed covetousness or simply call it lust – a strong desire for what you don’t need. However to keep that lust (that can only be destroyed at death) under check man needs the power higher and far greater than his own.
Therefore it takes a more devotion, more dedication, and more commitment to the Lord, less of that one will always compromise. So when you have received Christ and are born of God, then you are none of the world’s. This is so because the driving force behind your motives, actions, desires and way of life is God, absolutely God will take charge of that mortal body and steer it through times of tough struggles with the flesh to where you emerge victorious.
Colossians 2:
“20 Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world…” we shall not again be subject to ordinances
1 John 5:4-5
4 For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. 5 Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?
(KJV) as long as we have God we shall overcome worldliness.
But this takes our responsibility to deny worldliness, Paul was encouraging Titus that it was possible to live above the influence of the world and that we could live righteously before God in this world. Titus 2:11-12
11 For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, 12 Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; (KJV)
However it’s not easy because there is a pull on us to gravitate towards worldly things usually from within (as a result of the Fallen nature) and from peers and friends. Matthew one of the original twelve apostles recorded Jesus’ warning to those who want to gain the whole world in exchange for their souls
Matthew 16:26 For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? (KJV)
Mankind was referred to as the world see John 3:16 for God so loved the world (Mankind)
And the world that did or does not fear God it fell or falls under these three categories;-
Those that did not know God,
Those that rejected Christ,
Those that did not believe on Him.
Look at the book of John 1:10.
Therefore our love should be reserved for God, the things of God. Love to pray, love to read the Bible and his word, love to witness, to fast.
Don’t be taken up by the world to where you follow on the latest trends, putting on the latest ‘stuff’
The heart of man is too narrow and small to contain or hold both the love for the Lord and the love for the world. Therefore set your priorities right, Colossians 3:2 Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth… Is it love for God or for this world.
The things of this world are distinguished into three

The lust of the flesh. This can be explained as preoccupation with gratifying physical desires whether sexual or material. This lust can also be referred to as luxury.
The lust of the eyes. This is the desire for materialism, craving for and accumulating things. This is also covetousness. The Bible warns against this so much. Luke 12:15 and beware of covetousness:
The pride of life. This is obsession with one’s status or importance. If we can be able to live our lives unspotted by any or all of those then we have managed the world. And so as you live, remember Man’s greatest enemies are three, The Flesh, the devil and the WORLD.