djmclaren Posted July 15, 2004 Report Share Posted July 15, 2004 The conflict as always is between the flesh and the spirit. The one is God focused the other self. Faith presupposes a trust and reliance upon God for our provision, self looks to fulfill the desires of the flesh and mind and as such are controlled by the prince of the power of the air who worketh in the children of disobedience. Genesis 3:6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rhondak30 Posted July 15, 2004 Report Share Posted July 15, 2004 Q4. (2 Peter 1:4) How can strong desires erode our faith and corrupt our lives? What strong desires can build our faith? What does a strong desire for God have to do with the "knowledge" of God, or "knowing" God? How are God's promises and evil desires at odds with each other? How does one build and the other erode our Strong desires represent the flesh, the world or the devil trying to take our eyes off of God and his will. When the desire is strong, the battle is bigger. Some areas are easily overcome. Yet, some are strongholds and require more faith, knowledge, or obedience to God's word. The more I know of God's will the less I should fall prey to. The word of God not only defines what God expect, but the word also makes a way of escape for me. If I know what God has said , I have a weapon to fight against the flesh, the world, and the devil. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PatrickWong_sg Posted July 16, 2004 Report Share Posted July 16, 2004 A toe hold become a foot hold and a foot hold become a strangle hold. By giving in to the desire of my sinful nature, I will only satisfy my **** but if I focus on the glory of God and the promises that comes with faith through the reading and meditation of the word of God, I become strong and useful for the purposes that God has ready for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Helen Posted July 16, 2004 Report Share Posted July 16, 2004 Strong desires come from strong emotions that are built into our physical bodies. They are overpowering because our spirit died with Adam's sin. Placing the strong desires of our bodies before the call of God on our lives demonstrates an eroded faith, and the fruit of that is corruption and all that involves, like lack of discernment, knowledge etc. Strong desires to have the mind of Christ, to be renewed in the spirit, to serve the living God etc can rebuild our faith. As a strong desire to learn music is prerequisite to becoming a musician, so the strong desire for God is prerequisite to learning about Him, drawing close to Him. God's promises are to the ones who remain in covenant with God, through the blood of Jesus. Those who dismiss the covenant in favour of personal or evil desires are not covered by the promises of God. The covenant is one of love and obliges the disciple to follow (obey) Jesus in whose word we place our faith and confidence. (If one did not have enough faith in one's music teacher to spend time with him/her, and practice the given exercises, one would not get very far in music. So it is with God!) Thus faith in God and His promises (rewards) builds faith, as one becomes more and more conversant with His ways. However evil desires will cancel that by causing one to put their time and energy in another place, and the production of evil fruit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heatherdills Posted July 16, 2004 Report Share Posted July 16, 2004 Strong desires can erode our faith and corrupt our lives by cancelling the standards of God we had been building. Strong desires can build our faith if our desires are in His will for our lives. A strong desire for God has to do with the "knowledge" of God, or "knowing" God leads us to grow more intimate with Him! God's promises and evil desires are at odds with each other in that evil is easier to get involved with than righteousness. One builds and the other erodes our faith in that good makes us better, whereas evil leaves us worse off than before. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cingraham Posted July 16, 2004 Report Share Posted July 16, 2004 A desire that leads to sin destroys faith and lives. These desires occur every day in little ways: I may have a good, godly desire to serve my husband. For instance, I may clean his car and make him happy, but if this is motivated by a selfish desire Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cingraham Posted July 16, 2004 Report Share Posted July 16, 2004 A desire that leads to sin destroys faith and lives. These desires occur every day in little ways: I may have a good, godly desire to serve my husband. For instance, I may clean his car and make him happy and to please God by serving my husband, but if this is motivated by a selfish desire Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dick Ross Posted July 17, 2004 Report Share Posted July 17, 2004 Many strong desires are of the "ME" type. They are all about pleasing ME, making ME happy. Feeding these desires can distance us from our God, and make us very poor examples of what believers should be. If, however, we feed our strong desires to please the Father, and live Christlike lives, we glorify God by our example. This brings us closer to God. Through His word, we know what He expects of us. As His humble servant, My knowledge of Him is my compass. Evil desires constantly try to tear at my faith and my resolve to follow Jesus. God promises me that there is a happy end to the story, if I can be a good son. My resolve is to not let my worldly desires take my attention away from being as good a Christian as I can be. All glory belongs to God. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Linda Stanley Posted July 17, 2004 Report Share Posted July 17, 2004 Q4. (2 Peter 1:4) How can strong desires erode our faith and corrupt our lives? What strong desires can build our faith? What does a strong desire for God have to do with the "knowledge" of God, or "knowing" God? How are God's promises and evil desires at odds with each other? How does one build and the other erode our faith? Strong desires that are of sin will lead you away from God.Our flesh has these cravings,and tells us,this is ok.Im doing a lot better.Ill just do this one "thing"and thats all.We try to justify our actions,but in the long run it leads to corruption.So,we should steer away from these actions.We must draw closer to God as born again christians.His spirit given to us empowers us with his own moral goodness.God allows us to participate in the divine nature,in order to keep us from sin and help us live for him through his great and precious promises that offer us the glory and vitue of Christ.Just having that strong desire to know God more builds our faith as we gain more knowledge of God.We soon learn Gods promises out weighs any evil desire we have.So therefore we seek more of God. This builds our faith knowing that Gods promises is a resourse we draw from for substaining help.God will strengthen us as we grow in our faith. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yvonneevonne Posted July 17, 2004 Report Share Posted July 17, 2004 We need to be carefull even as Christians that our strong desires do not get in the way of our ability to know God's leading for us. Even when the desires may look right and maybe a door opening up for us... We must then learn to WAIT upon the lord. And as human's especially myself the waiting part is the hardest.. and most likely the time when we are using our FAITH and trust in the Lord. But when we KNOW God and the waiting is over the JOY of the Lord is given and our strenght is renewed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
June Posted July 18, 2004 Report Share Posted July 18, 2004 I am going to answer Q3 here first as I did not get an e-mail on it. This will be from the original outline that was sent. It means that I have been given salvation. I am honored to be called by His own glory and goodness. God's Word is all suffient for salvation.If it was good enough in Peter's time to meet the needs of God's people then it is surely adequate today. God's Glory on earth is just a smidgen of what it is in Heaven. We have a higher calling after salvation and we share in HIS HOLINESS. Q4 We share God's nature in order to conform to God and his holiness.If we concentrate long enough on the evils we will gradually neglect God and our relationship erodes. You can not serve two masters. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peggysue Posted July 18, 2004 Report Share Posted July 18, 2004 by living a sinful life it draws us away from God as we feel ashamed and guilty in His presence whereas if we live according to His will we feel His love pooring out into our lives Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seedsoflove Posted July 18, 2004 Report Share Posted July 18, 2004 We can let our desires erode our faith by desiring them more then we desire God. It can take over our lives. Instead we should desire to tell others and bring others to Jesus and sincerly desire to do everything that is pleaseing to God. In order to fully please God and to tell others about Him we have to know Him and have a knowledge of him because we can't tell others what we don't know. Sometimes something may seem pleaseing and good but it can overwhelm our thoughts and actions taking away from pleasing God. We should aways endevor to have enough room in our lives for God because he ALWAYS has room for us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julie Posted July 19, 2004 Report Share Posted July 19, 2004 1. Strong desires erode our faith when they take us away from God. 2. Seeking to know the Lord can and will build your faith. 3. When you have a strong desire for God you will seek to know Him through the Bible, and gain knowledge of Him. 4. For Example. You shall have no god before me, God promises prosperity for the righteous, but when that prosperity comes one may find Himself over time becoming proud and saying I instead of the Lord and forget the Lord whom gave him the ability in the first place. 5. God is faithful in keeping His promises when we trust in Him we will not be let down, and our faith grows. But when we trust in our own desires without trusting in God we corrupt ourselves in other words we will not not be delivered from the wickedness of the world. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mturner Posted July 22, 2004 Report Share Posted July 22, 2004 Strong desires will erode our faith and corrupt our lives? It can creep in very suttly you let one thing go. Then you let another thing go. Eventually you look and you have fallen of the track. Or we become to overly confident and think nothing can touch us. If we have knowledge we can tackle these things as we know what God wants us to do in these situations Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kas Posted July 23, 2004 Report Share Posted July 23, 2004 If the desire is stronger than our desire for Him it is idolatry. This is a sin and sin separates us from God eroding our faith and lives. The strong desire to know and do His will daily will bring us closer to Him. If we seek Him we will find Him, for He is not far from anyone of us. His Holy Spirit will bring to rememberence all that we have read in Holy Scripture, guiding us to His truth. Our fleshly desires oppose God's desires because His spirit is to help others whereas our flesh desires to help us, ourselves. If we seek to satisfy ourselves (flesh) we are not doing/seeking God's will and eventually evil desires give birth to sin and we can become hardened and be totally separated from God. If we choose to serve others according to His will, we look to Him to satisfy our needs, this dependence builds faith and helps us overcome our flesh. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cct1106 Posted July 24, 2004 Report Share Posted July 24, 2004 Our faith can become corrupt if we don't believe and subcome to the nonbelievers and partake in their ungodly attitude and activities. A very strong desire that can build our faith is to believe, have faith, have hope, learn the knowledge of God and remember God's promises to us. Strong desire has everything to do with the knowledge of God and knowing God. God's promises and evil desires are at odds because of Satan and his followers. We as Christians have to keep in mind that there's another spirit out there and it is trying its best to defeat God and God's purpose for us. Having the knowledge of God and practicing and being righteous will build our faith. If we don't gain knowledge we are defeated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PressThrough Posted August 5, 2004 Report Share Posted August 5, 2004 Q4. (2 Peter 1:4) How can strong desires erode our faith and corrupt our lives? What strong desires can build our faith? What does a strong desire for God have to do with the "knowledge" of God, or "knowing" God? How are God's promises and evil desires at odds with each other? How does one build and the other erode our faith? Having strong desires out side of the Pure Word Of God, are just that, "Outside The Word Of God" which is the "Will Of God". Desiring the things of the world our live's become corrupt by the ****'s of the flesh. God builds and stabelizes our Faith in Him as we keep our minds & hearts on the desires of God, which are for our good and for all of those who would seek God by observing how He works in our lives. We could not desire God had we not already known Him, and we know that because we were with Him before we came here and God wrote His law on our hearts. People forget God when not seeking Him, and ignore that still, small, voice within. While the promises of God are about living life, with love & respect for one another, as God works out His plan for us. Evil is self-centered, self-righteous, hurtful, and the way's there of death. God gives us life abundantly in all glory/peace, while satan promises death & torment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
starrmax Posted August 7, 2004 Report Share Posted August 7, 2004 Q-4 a) strong desires that are based on our sinful nature can cause us to doubt God and to rationalize sin and compromise obedience/person holiness strong desires with basis in God's Holy nature (Spirit) can help us trust and obey God--overcome and terminate sinful desires c) i realized from Q-1 that there appears to be a direct correlation between knowing the Lord God Yeshua and faith; the greater the personal, experiential knowledge of God, the greater the faith d) God's promises teach us to wait for Him to perform; our evil desires tell us to rely on self for immediate gratification e) relying on God builds faith because the focus is on Him; self reliance erodes faith because sin deceives and "entangles", bringing "leanness into one's soul" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anmask Posted August 7, 2004 Report Share Posted August 7, 2004 Good example is the love of money. Making money or whatever materialistic object, fast cars, bigger house not being content with what God has blessed you with or where your at in life can cause you to start dwelling becoming consumed with wanted or thinking you need this or that to be happy. Whenever you start thinking you need something other than God to be happy you are getting into trouble and getting "sucked in to the lies of satan and the world". It will take your eyes and focus off of God and open the door for sin to walk right through. I know from which I speak...it happened in this house several years ago and boy did we,I, my family, pay a price. In fact we are just getting back spiritually where we should be, thanks alot to this study. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tweety Posted August 18, 2004 Report Share Posted August 18, 2004 QUESTION 4 How can strong desires erode our faith and corrupt our lives? Strong desires can erode our faith and corrupt our lives, if we allow them to. It is my opinion that in the end, if we yield to negative desires, it will erode our faith and corrupt our lives. The word Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tweety Posted August 18, 2004 Report Share Posted August 18, 2004 QUESTION 4 How can strong desires erode our faith and corrupt our lives? Strong desires can erode our faith and corrupt our lives, if we allow them to. It is my opinion that in the end, if we yield to negative desires, it will erode our faith and corrupt our lives. The word Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
linda bass Posted August 23, 2004 Report Share Posted August 23, 2004 Anything we desire that takes the place of God in our lives or vanishes Him to 2nd or even 3rd place or lower in our affections is wrong. A desired thing isn't always something evil or immoral. Even a good desire can erode our faith. For example,a man works long hours to provide for his family. However, if he becomes obsessed with his job to the point he no longer has time for God let alone his family, then his desire to be a good provider has corrupted his faith. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aguilar-j Posted September 8, 2004 Report Share Posted September 8, 2004 DESIRE IS WITH IN AND CAN TAKE ON EITHER DESIRE FOR GOD OR DESIRE FOR GOOD SOMETIMES I THING THAT MY DESIRE FOR GOOD IS GOOD I PROMPTLY ADMIT THAT MY THINKIG HAS BEEN WORPED AND SO MY PERCEPTION I AM CONVINCED THAT IN MY OWN I AM LOST SO I HUMBLE COME TO THE ONE WITH ALL KNOWLEDGE AND POWER AND EVEN DO IS HARD AND HIS WAYS ARE STRICT CAUSING DISCONFORT I KNOW THAT THIS IS THE BEST WAY AND AFTER FIGHTING FOR A WHILE I SURRENDER AND ACCEPT HIS WILL FOR ME ONE MORE TIME EVIL DESIRES ARE QUICK AND BODILY CONFORTABLE GOD'S DESIRES ARE SLOW AND JOY SEEM TO TAKE LONG TIME TO COME TO FILL OUR SOULS AND HEARTS EVIL DESIRE SEPARATES ME FROM GOD GOD'S DESIRES DISCOVERS HIS WAYS MAY GOD RICHLY BLESS YOU. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngelOnLine Posted September 11, 2004 Report Share Posted September 11, 2004 Q4. (2 Peter 1:4) How can strong desires erode our faith and corrupt our lives? Strong desires can erode our faith when we allow those desires to control us. We allow our focus to be on our desires instead of Jesus. What strong desires can build our faith? The desire to learn more about Him, and the desire to be like Jesus What does a strong desire for God have to do with the "knowledge" of God, or "knowing" God? If we have a true desire to be like Him, we will be motivated to study His Word, and then share what we have learned with others. How are God's promises and evil desires at odds with each other? God is so pure and holy that we cannot have fellowship with Him if we continue to give into our evil desires, and sin. How does one build and the other erode our faith? God Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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