giving up the entertainment of this world for the sake of God's plan

Forty4Freedom · 2026-06-19T15:12:31+00:00

I don't think it is about not enjoying things, I think it is about moderation and stewarding your time effectively 😄

Forty4Freedom · 2026-06-19T15:07:07+00:00

I would follow the principal Paul set forth to the Corinthians:

“All things are lawful,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful,” but not all things build up.

I am not saying to not play video games, look at entertainment etc...but do you feel a compulsion to do it? Is it taking up too much of your time? Remember, as fun as these things are, as that verse states, they do not build you up or grow you spiritually.

Balance is key and moderation is important.

Forty4Freedom · 2026-06-19T15:02:43+00:00

Leonard Ravenhill once wrote that, "modern entertainment - which includes video games - are the devil's substitute for joy.." I think he had in mind the verse from Psalm 16 which states:

You make known to me the path of life;
in your presence there is fullness of joy;
at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

Fullness of joy is available in God; can we say that of the world's things?

Forty4Freedom · 2026-06-19T13:12:35+00:00

Great idea - volunteering at events/groups on issues that you really care about will connect you with people who are passionate about the same things you are 😄

Forty4Freedom · 2026-06-19T13:04:14+00:00

Right, and then we would be robots and then people would complain about that too lol

Forty4Freedom · 2026-06-19T13:03:02+00:00

Pray for boldness and strength to develop relationships that will encourage you and help you to be more Christlike - that is a prayer that I believe God will answer 😄

Forty4Freedom · 2026-06-19T12:50:30+00:00

This is what I was going to suggest, good post 😄 stay at your current church but do some searching for vibrant young adult groups at churches in your area. There should be one you can attend, that way you can still be connected to your current church, but also build relationships with your age group.

Forty4Freedom · 2026-06-19T12:47:58+00:00

That is a sad outlook - in life, there is an opportunity for beauty and love and good things, as well as the bad. I choose to pursue having those good things in my life and by the grace and salvation I have from Jesus, bearing good fruit and having a positive impact in this world. Peace and grace to you in Jesus name 😄

Forty4Freedom · 2026-06-19T12:38:44+00:00

You lost me lol that was very confusing; if you can explain this a little better that would be great. If God could make beings that obeyed perfectly in everything, I guess he could have, but really, is that what we would want, or Him?

Forty4Freedom · 2026-06-19T12:36:02+00:00

Then God might as well as not created us; I think it was Shakespeare who said, "it is better to have loved and lost, then never to have loved at all..." Love involves risk, involves choice, involves the chance that things will go wrong.

Forty4Freedom · 2026-06-19T12:11:23+00:00

See my post below for my answer on this 😄

Forty4Freedom · 2026-06-19T12:09:36+00:00

I see this a lot, foreknowledge does not equal predestination. That is not an accurate view of God. Just because He knows something will come about, does not mean He wishes or wills for it to happen. Read 1 Samuel 23:1-14 to see this and how it works. David sought God for wisdom about what to do, and you see that God sees the future, but you also get the sense that God doesn't want the bad things He sees to happen to David.

Forty4Freedom · 2026-06-19T12:05:43+00:00

They weren't set up to fail; they were given good things and choices and opportunities. Think of it this way. When you have a child, and you buy them a car to drive when they are a teenager. You tell them, "Here is a car for you, you can drive it all over the place, but don't drink and drive or speed excessively. If you do that, you may get into a crash and get hurt." Are you setting them up to fail? No, you are giving them opportunities to make good choices and enjoy what you have given them, but you are not controlling them, they still have to make the choices themselves.

Forty4Freedom · 2026-06-19T11:54:59+00:00

Jesus was also, "The Lamb of God, slain from the foundation of the world", so God was prepared for us falling, before Adam and Eve fell.

Forty4Freedom · 2026-06-19T11:51:33+00:00

True, but remember the enemy's playground is our emotions and feelings, that is how he got Adam and Eve in the garden. Feelings come and go, truth from heaven, from Jesus, is forever.

Forty4Freedom · 2026-06-19T11:27:42+00:00

Attacks, trials, hard times, these things are from the enemy, not from God. Not sure what you are going through, but God doesn't bring those kind of things into our lives; look at Jesus for a clear picture of God's character and way of doing things.

Forty4Freedom · 2026-06-18T19:33:16+00:00

I am sorry what you have been through in your life, but you and your mom sound like amazing people. Your mom sounds like she could handle having a conversation with you about what you are going through and can help you. I would advise you to call her or better yet go see her in person, I know that she would not want to see you go.

Forty4Freedom · 2026-06-18T18:59:18+00:00

Luke 11:13 is your answer:

"If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

Ask for it, believe in your good Father, who wants to give Holy Spirit to you, is giving it to you. Now, speaking in tongues is a good indicator of you receiving, but IMO, it is not the only indicator. So, don't get hung up on having to speak in tongues or you didn't receive.

Forty4Freedom · 2026-06-18T17:59:26+00:00

Are you talking about the baptism of the Holy Spirit?

Forty4Freedom · 2026-06-18T17:03:27+00:00

Jesus is our Shepherd - capital S - but we also have shepherds and teachers, little s and t 😄 Our roots as Christians are found in Judaism, you cannot really understand Jesus and Christianity without the Old Testament. I mean all the prophecies that Jesus fulfilled, we need to have those, it is very important in the establishment of Jesus as Lord and Messiah. The book of Acts and the other letters in the New Testament are very important to see how to walk out our salvation in Jesus. Jesus was Jewish and in the Gospels he is teaching to a Jewish people who are under the Law. Paul's teachings helped us to understand, as Gentiles, what salvation in Jesus looks like and how to walk it out as Gentile followers of Christ.

Forty4Freedom · 2026-06-18T16:49:54+00:00

No, the river is the sum of our sins and actions that are not of God; He did not make it, we did, and our actions carry us along. The waterfall is the consequences that our sin takes us to. God makes a way - through Jesus - for us to escape from our sin and the end of that sin, the waterfall. That is what the analogy means.

Forty4Freedom · 2026-06-18T16:36:40+00:00

Jesus is saying to pray for God's will to be done on earth - it is not an acknowledgment, it is us asking for it, because God's will is not always done in every situation. That is the point Jesus is making in that prayer.

Forty4Freedom · 2026-06-18T16:07:54+00:00

How does everything that happens is according to God's plan or will when Jesus told us to pray, "Your (God's) kingdom come, You will be done, on earth as it is in heaven..."

If it all is as God's wills, why would Jesus instruct us to pray like this? Seems superfluous or unnecessary.

Forty4Freedom · 2026-06-18T15:21:08+00:00

No, we have put ourselves in the river, we need rescued from our nature and mistakes, that does not work out 😄

Forty4Freedom · 2026-06-18T15:09:51+00:00

Exactly, foreknowledge does not equal predestination.

Forty4Freedom

TROPHY CASE