{"id":764,"date":"2020-10-30T04:27:13","date_gmt":"2020-10-30T08:27:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pamelarussell.org\/teach\/?p=764"},"modified":"2021-09-24T05:29:15","modified_gmt":"2021-09-24T09:29:15","slug":"september-24","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pamelarussell.org\/teach\/september-24\/","title":{"rendered":"September 24"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Luke 12:34 <\/span><\/strong>
And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares. (KJV)<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What type of fun are you having?<\/strong><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGo ahead, have a little fun, take a break, you\u2019ve earned it.\u201d Your life in Christ should be fun. God has given you liberty and free will. However, you would want the fun to be pure and holy. If you move from godly fun to fleshly fun, can you handle it? What if you can\u2019t?\u00a0 It is hard to determine how you will react and if you might get addicted to the \u201cungodly or fleshly fun\u201d. However, since you know there is a target on your back, you might want to make choices that eliminate the risks for addiction. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGo ahead, have a little fun, take a break, you\u2019ve earned it.\u201d Your life in Christ should be fun.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ecclesiastes 3:12-13 I know there is nothing better for us than to be joyful and to do good throughout our lives; 13 to eat and drink and see the good in all of our hard work is a gift from God. (The Voice TVT)<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ephesians 5:19 And your hearts will overflow with a joyful song to the Lord. Keep speaking to each other with words of Scripture, singing the Psalms with praises and spontaneous songs given by the Spirit. (The Passion Translation TPT)<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

God has given you liberty and free will. However, you would want the fun to be pure and holy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1 Peter 2:16 Live as free people, but do not use your freedom as a cover or pretext for evil, but [use it and live] as bond-servants of God. (Amplified Bible AMP)<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you move from godly fun to fleshly fun, can you handle it? What if you can\u2019t? You don\u2019t know how you will react and if you might get addicted to the \u201cungodly or fleshly fun\u201d. However, since you know there is a target on your back, make choices that eliminate the risks of addiction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1 Peter 5:8 Be well balanced (temperate, sober of mind), be vigilant and cautious at all times; for that enemy of yours, the devil, roams around like a lion roaring [in fierce hunger], seeking someone to seize upon and devour. (Amplified Bible, Classic Edition AMPC)<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

When you hear about addiction, what comes to mind, drugs, alcohol, pornography? Those are just the ones everyone talks about. There are so many more. Addictions, of all kinds, don\u2019t just happen. They sneak up on you, especially when you are not watching. The devil sends them in disguised as \u201cfun\u201d. You can read Galatians 5:19-21 for a list of self-serving behaviors that most probably will lead to an addiction of sort. Don\u2019t use your  \u201cfreedom\u201d to do what you want.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Romans 13:14 But clothe yourself with the Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah), and make no provision for [indulging] the flesh [put a stop to thinking about the evil cravings of your physical nature] to [gratify its] desires (lusts). (Amplified Bible, Classic Edition AMPC)<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you choose to indulge in whatever activity is available, just know some of those activities are gateways to more dangerous \u201cfun\u201d. The will power and courage to recognize the risks involved help you make the best decisions. Warning comes before destruction. You want to assess yourself daily. You might find you need to be delivered. Yes, God can deliver you, wouldn\u2019t you rather not need it? You don\u2019t want to fool around until it is too late.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

James 1:12, 14-15 Blessed [happy, spiritually prosperous, favored by God] is the man who is steadfast under trial and perseveres when tempted; for when he has passed the test and been approved, he will receive the [victor\u2019s] crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him. 14 But each one is tempted when he is dragged away, enticed and baited [to commit sin] by his own [worldly] desire (lust, passion). 15 Then when the illicit desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin has run its course, it gives birth to death. (Amplified Bible AMP)<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Please agree with me as I pray:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Father, I want to have Godly fun. I want to rejoice in You. I want to celebrate Your goodness and Your mercy. I want my breaks to bless Your name. I want to have praise breaks! I repent for not taking the time to evaluate me or the fun I was choosing. I didn\u2019t take the time to think about or understand the risks. You kept a hedge of protection around me. Thank You, Father, for watching me, keeping me and delivering me. Though I wandered, You brought me back. I give You praise and glory for my deliverance. I know I have brothers and sisters who are still wandering and having fun. You are not a respecter of persons. What You did for me You can do for all. I pray for them now. As I pray, I also ask You to please continue to make sure every choice I make takes into consideration who the enemy is and how he works. He wants me destroyed. There is no fun worth risking my peace, my life, my sweet communion with You, or most importantly, my place in eternity with You\u2026<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

————<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ask the Lord what He wants to say to you about today\u2019s devotional and journal His response as described <\/em>here<\/a>.<\/em> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Luke 12:34 And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares. (KJV) What type of fun are you having? \u201cGo ahead, have a little fun, take a break, you\u2019ve earned it.\u201d Your life in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[11],"tags":[332],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pamelarussell.org\/teach\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/764"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pamelarussell.org\/teach\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pamelarussell.org\/teach\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pamelarussell.org\/teach\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pamelarussell.org\/teach\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=764"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/pamelarussell.org\/teach\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/764\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2378,"href":"https:\/\/pamelarussell.org\/teach\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/764\/revisions\/2378"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pamelarussell.org\/teach\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=764"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pamelarussell.org\/teach\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=764"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pamelarussell.org\/teach\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=764"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}