Avoiding Spiritual Dangers in This Sick, Fleshly World
"The minding of the
spirit means life"
(Romans 8:6)
"God's descending spirit on
Christ likened to a dove"
(John 3:16)
A Christian can find it very challenging to maintain their Christian Faith in this sick and contagious, fleshly world. Christians must contend with their own fleshly, inherited imperfections (Romans 7:21-25). Moreover, The Evil Genius, "the ruler of this world," is well-familiar with the weaknesses of the flesh and is the master of temptation (John 14:30; 1 John 5:19).
"Three Main Dangers" imperiling your Faith and Spiritual Health
- The Flesh
- The World
- The Great Adversary
You may ask, it is possible to be "no part of the world," even though you live in it? The answer is, yes, providing you "keep walking by God's spirit and carry out no fleshly desire," and with divine help, you can "stand firm against the machinations of the Great Adversary (Devil)" (John 17:15, 16; Galatians 5:16; Ephesians 6:11; 2 Corinthians 2:11).
The First Source of Danger
Blood: The Rivers of Life™
"The life of the flesh is in the blood"
(Leviticus 17:11,14)
The First Source of Danger that can imperil your faith and spiritual health is the flesh within your imperfect human nature, which is a force that can result in sin that can cause you to be physically sick, and, definitely, spiritually sick (James 1:14, 15). This is particularly true within the figurative heart as Jesus said: "From inside, out of the heart of men, injurious reasoning's issue forth: fornications, thieveries, murders, adulteries, coveting, acts of wickedness, loose conduct, an envious eye, blasphemy, haughtiness, unreasonableness, deceit. All these wicked things issue forth from within and defile a man" (Mark 7:21-23).
Although the heart can be the source of bad desires for godly persons, it can be, in addition, the seat of reverence for God and love for what is righteous (Matthew 22:37; Ephesians 4:20-24). Whether the good or bad prevails in your case depends on what you take into your heart.
Christians need to be mindful that the foods we eat can "defile our flesh and pollute our blood." As Christians, we have a responsibility to maintain a clean conscience before God by avoiding the contamination of our bodily flesh.
Why? Man and Woman were created in God's image (Genesis 1:26), and everything that He created in His image was "very good" (Genesis 1:31)
God's Word counsels: "My sons, to my words do pay attention. To my sayings incline your ear. May they not get away from your eyes; keep them in the midst of your heart, for they are life to those finding them and health to all their flesh. More than all else that is to be guarded, safeguard your heart, for out of it are the sources of life" (Proverbs 4:20-23).
Our Natural Diet
"A vegetarian diet is superior
to a flesh eating diet"
(Daniel 1:11-21)
Our Heavenly Father, in addition, gave man and woman their natural diet to eat in the book of Genesis 1:29, and God said: "Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed: to it shall be for food"—(ASV)
An excellent example, in relation to diet, was God's servant Daniel who refused to "defile himself and pollute his body by eating and drinking the portion of the king's meat and wine" (Daniel 1: 8). In fact, there was a physical ten day test that Daniel suggested to King Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, which would prove Daniel and his companions more healthy by eating "pulse and drinking water" (let them give us herbs—ABPS; and they give us of the vegetables—YLT) than the children who ate the King's polluted delicacies and wine.
What were the results after this ten day test?
Daniel 1:15 states: "And at the end of ten days their countenances (Daniel and his companions) appeared fairer and fatter in the flesh than all the children (children of Babylon) which did eat the portion of the king's meat." From the Scriptures, Christians can be mindful of the wisdom of eating a vegetarian diet, which is the original natural diet for all men and women.
The Second Source of Danger
The Second Source of Spiritual Infection can come from outside sources in the world. It can spread to you from those who are spiritually dead (Ephesians 2:1-3).
If you are too close to them, you can pick up their diseased, fleshly attitudes and worldly life-styles. Getting ahead secularly, the love of money, enjoying the best that life has to offer materially, or just having a grand old time as part of this evil and fleshly, old world and its desires. Unfortunately, the desire for such disgusting and lustful, fleshly habits and objects are very contagious, and even limited exposure to them, can make you spiritually sluggish.
Jesus warned: "Pay attention to yourselves that your hearts never become weighed down with overeating and heavy drinking and anxieties of life, and suddenly that day be instantly upon you as a snare, for it will come upon all those dwelling upon the face of all the earth" according to Luke 21:34, 35. Christians cannot afford to become spiritually sluggish and contaminated by practicing the works of the flesh that are listed in Galatians 5:19-21, if you desire to inherit God's Kingdom with the prospect of living eternally in perfect health. This world's sick, fleshly ideas and teachings can infect you. Paul warned: "There will be a period of time when they will not put up with the healthful teaching, but, in accord with their own desires, they will accumulate teachers for themselves to have their ears tickled; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, whereas they will be turned aside to false stories" (2 Timothy 4:3, 4).
False Teaching are like Gangrene
False teachings are like gangrene. It spreads like wild fire (2 Timothy 2:16, 17). When it sets in, a portion of your flesh dies because the life-giving blood has been cut off from that part of your body.
How fast can gangrene spread throughout the flesh?
To prevent its death, the doctor may have to amputate a part of your body. So, if doubts, complaints, or apostasy threaten to contaminate you spiritually, you must cut it away quickly (Matthew 5:29, 30)! At this point, you must seek spiritual help from the organization's Overseers. Do not become like those whom Paul described as "mentally diseased over questionings and debates about words," because they did "not assent to healthful words" or healthful teachings for that matter (1Timothy 6:3, 4).
To protect the spiritual health of the organization’s membership, Overseers must recognize the need "to exhort by the teaching that is healthful and to reprove those who contradict" (Titus 1:9, 13, 16; 2:1).
Perhaps, such persons could be restored to a Christian spiritually, healthy state (2 Timothy 2:23-26), but, what if they unrepentantly promote false teachings? In this case, they must be quarantined by being disfellowshipped, and you must stay away from them so that their spiritual infection will not spread to yourself (Romans 16:17, 18; 1Corinthians 5:9-13; Titus 3:9-11).
The Third Source of Danger
The Third Source of Danger to your faith and spiritual health is "The Great Adversary" (Ephesians 6:11, 12). From the beginning of time until now, he has tried to weaken the faith of God’s people through persecution, including mob action, beatings, imprisonments, and threats of death (Revelation 2:10).
Since "The Great Adversary" rarely succeeds with these tactics, in breaking the integrity of God's servants, he employs the attractions of this fleshly world, of which he is god and dominates, in an effort to cause Christians to fall from God’s favor (2 Corinthians 4:4; 11:3, 14).
So how can you withstand these satanic attacks?
You can withstand them by "putting on the complete spiritual suit of armor from God." You must "take up the large shield of faith, with which we can quench all the burning missiles" that "The Great Adversary" hurls at us. You must pray in harmony with Jesus’ words: "Do not bring us into temptation, but deliver us from the wicked one" (Ephesians 6:11-18; Matthew 6:13). If you pray in this way and act in accordance with your prayers, you can expect your Heavenly Father’s assistance in quenching all of "The Great Adversary's fiery missiles.
Staying Healthy in Faith
"All ate the same spiritual food"
(1 Corinthians 10:3)
Prevention is a big factor in maintaining good physical health. Nutritious food, proper exercise, and a good, general care of the mind and body are vital. Natural defenses against disease are stronger in a healthy body. Similarly, to maintain your Christian spiritual health, it is vital to follow the spiritual diet that God prescribes so you can appreciate your nourishing "spiritual food at the proper time," which is provided through the organization of Ecclesiology.
If Christians want to reject the spiritual junk food of this world, you must study the Scriptures of the Christian Bible and fellowship with God's people (Matthew 24:45-47; Hebrews 10:24, 25). In addition, you need to exercise by "always having plenty to do in the work of the Lord" through your ministry and other Christian activities (1 Corinthians 15:58).
AVOID THE SPIRITUAL DANGERS. ACT NOW!! HOW?
Kingdom University® is based on Christian Faith, so the time to enroll is now to learn about the Biblical truths that we, as Christians need to learn if we are to avoid the spiritual dangers in this spiritually sick, fleshly world. As a Christian Faith School, we will teach you how to cleanse your self from every defilement of flesh. So, what is Christian Faith? Christian Faith is the spiritual practice of the fruits of the spirit such as Love, Joy, Pease, Long-Suffering and Happiness that all true Christians should exhibit in their daily lives. Christians should shun false teachings that would lead to spiritual pollution. In God's eyes, it is equally as important to avoid the physical pollution of our body such as eating junk foods that lead one to a diseased, physical condition. Christians need to be mindful that the foods we eat should be based on the original natural diet for all men and women and that would be the Bible Diet or Biblical Diet, which would help us attain Bible Health as God intended for man and woman. The point is, we as Christians have a responsibility to maintain a clean conscience before God by avoiding the contamination of our bodily flesh and spirit.