In 1 John 2 :15-17, entitled do not love the world. This small passage unpacks a wide range of generalized topics that touches on lustful sin & righteousness. The Word of God explains what it looks like to be sinful as well as the kind of person who has righteousness and lives it daily.

There are three forms of lust:

#1 The Lust of the Flesh…

Any idea or activity – meaning any thought in your mind and any action that you take that solely focuses on yourself is idolatry and can be adultery, for adultery is not only stepping out side of marriage to your spouse, it is also stepping outside of the marriage that we have with our God. When we put the focus on ourselves, we’re putting ourselves first and that is breaking a command of God. We shall have no other gods before us but if we put anyone including ourselves before The Lord we are committing adultery & idolatry in choosing to worship of self over YHWH.

There are a number of ways that this happens. For instance, exercise and bodybuilding may start out as an innocent activity that is based on building one’s physical self; which mainly pushes your mental awareness & strengthens your mental capacity and endurance. However, these simple examples are some of the easiest ways that vanity which is so cunning can creep in, overtake and shift the balance from health & fitness to idolizing the body that you are building.

There are many examples of the lust of the flesh but this is not an article to teach the basic fundamentals of “lusting for flesh”. This is written to those with the understanding that fornication is the most obvious and the most common contributor to the lust of the flesh.

The focus of this article is to bring every day activities, thoughts and/or routines into the mix of things that can easily be looked over. The fact that we are in the last hour means that we cannot afford to ignore analyzing every single aspect of ourselves. We have to do a quality assurance check of righteousness and have a full understanding and using wisdom to repent and make choices that aligns us with the Will of God.

#2 The Pride of Life…

The pride of life can look like something that is commonly upheld and immortalized…

Education…Education is one of the easiest ways to become prideful. It exercises a form of vanity that is so under the radar it is cunning just like the serpent and will give a person that is falling for the deception of this kind of vanity – false humility.

Of course, achievement in any regard is a wonderful thing. It is a measure of discipline dedication and hard work but if we  enshrine ourselves and allow others to worship us due to our achievements or worship the achievements themselves this again is a form of idolatry. When we uprightly work hard in laboring, we know that The Lord will reward us with the fruit of our labor that we can enjoy. It is a good thing to position ourselves in a place where we can take care of our families & ourselves as well as help others.

In many cases there are variations of charitable giving once we’ve achieved a certain level or status through the completion of certain levels of education.

Not only can we fall victim to narratives and twisting of history which then causes us to think within a certain framework meanwhile being conditioned to not to research for ourselves; but taking the word of mouth for absolute truth as well as from the books given to us at face of value. This way of thinking trained society as a whole to function a certain way…the way of the world’s standards instead of by God’s Holy Standards. However, it is not designed for the masses to ask the questions that matter…to think outside of the box. Often times our learning stops with education and does not start with the Word of God. If we do not do as Messiah has commanded according to The Word of His Father, which is to meditate on The Word of God, day and night…repenting daily; how then can we measure any bit of information that we receive? How can we discern any spirit & their fruit? How can we take heed to any warnings of calamity when it comes?

Education is rigorous and oftentimes consumes the higher you go. If we do not learn to have a balance and to keep things into perspective, we can become so encapsulated by our environment in those studies that we make our educational achievements and ultimately ourselves lord over our lives in that higher level of completion…caught in the snare of “striving for success” …for some…by any means necessary.

And this is where pride can set in…we can become so vain that we begin to elevate ourselves, forgetting that we are no different in our flesh than anyone else; that we have all fallen short of the glory and yet the fulfillment of education can lead to the elevation of self and this can remove humanity, compassion, understanding and patience for others that may not have reached that level. Or haboring superiority of those that have.

We can and should learn…

As children of The Most High we will always be learning…

when we pursue learning with the purpose of being a benefit to others as well as providing for our families & ourselves but keep those achievements and that pursuit of learning & perspective, it can be a wonderful thing and can surely change lives and make a difference. However, the foundation in Christ needs to already be established so that when we endure or pursue anything we will already have the mind of Christ to look up and keep our eyes on our God and King.

#3 The Lust of the Eyes…

The lust of the eyes surely leads to covetousness desiring people, places or things/the possessions of others. This is why it is important to know the laws, statutes and commandments. At the end of 1 John 2:15-17, the passage talks about the Will of God and he who does the Will of God. How can we know what The Will of God is if we don’t understand the Instruction that He has given. It is deception to think that there are literally only 10 commands and surely from just the 10 it covers the multitude of the 613 laws. However, it would do us well to understand the purpose of Yahawashi, who the world calls Jesus Christ. Christ came to die for our sins as the sinless precious Lamb that was slain before the foundations of the world His Blood is constantly and perpetually being put onto The Mercy seat in the Tabernacle in Heaven. He is constantly atoning for our sins, according to (Leviticus 16:29-34 &Hebrews 7:20-28; Day of Atonement & Greatness of the New Priest ). Let him who has ears to hear…let him hear.

God’s Sacrificial Lamb of Atonement…Christ our Advocate

We are no longer required to keep the sacrificial laws because Christ has provided the strong eternal sacrifice that replaces the weak sacrifices of men, according to (Hebrews 7). He who has eyes to see…let him see.

This does not negate the fact that we still have to acknowledge and keep the ceremonial and moral laws according God’s Word meaning God’s Laws which in the original Hebraic scrolls is translated from God’s Laws to God’s Instruction. Every single time that Christ spoke He quoted from The Holy Scriptures and He reiterated God’s Instruction by confirming the words and that He spoke for those words that He spoke are not His but the Father’s.

Therefore, do not let anyone deceive you into thinking that the laws are done away with because what they are really saying is that God’s Prophetic Instruction is done away with and if God’s Instruction is done away with THEN everything that Christ said, stood for and IS…for HE IS The Word…is done away with too… Heaven forbid.

The lust of the eyes has to do with materialism…

Throughout our lives, daily living is going to include us seeing people,places and things. It is not for us to uphold the status of anyone or their material possessions (which is their earthly riches) above our love for God.

Sometimes something that we really want maybe seen and that may tap on our heartstrings. It may cause a person to really strive to reach their goal in achieving what they want. It may bring them a certain level of joy, peace and honor among the people. For this reason many have fallen away…and we see it all the time with celebrities.

If you really listen to some of their stories they oftentimes came from an adverse way of life. They may have been rejected more frequently than others. They may have been classified as someone who will never make it or looked at as someone from the very bottom of society. And yet, through their desire, perseverance and their willingness to live according to the world’s standards; they have broken through that barrier and entered into the bubble of celebrity.

The Bible tells us not to be a respecter of persons. We are not to treat people differently according to their status or what they have or their influence, etc. We are to treat the wise man and the poor man according to the righteousness of God for the Holy Standard is The Will of God that we ought to be living by; if we say we love God.

If we say we love God, we have to show the evidence of that love through obedience. Obedience requires the evidence of knowing Him…and how can we know Him if we do not know His Instruction to even know the proper day to meet with Him…in that day which He has blessed. Including The Holy Convocations that He has set aside that makes us unique…to call us back to fellowship with Him and the saints that are aware of His Truth?

The lust of the eyes can cause a downward spiral. Some people will work themselves to the Bone to achieve things that others may have received more freely or had an easier path. Maybe they come from wealth, maybe they have certain connections to be put in a position to achieve those material possessions or that kind of life that you are striving to live. You may never fully know the story of how they got to where they are. Becoming so enamored with lifestyle & materialism is a surefire way to be far from God.

The more you pursue the lust of the eyes the more you run further and further away from the purpose & identity that YHWH has set forth for you. It can take you off of the trajectory of the path of holiness where Christ shepherds because of your willingness to compromise to get what you want; to satisfy the desire that you have seen with your eyes…that desire has now entered in through your eyes and has made its way into your heart. With no room left for Messiah to sit in His rightful place in your heart.

It is important for us to meditate on the Word of the Lord day and night surrounding ourselves with His Presence, that we may be mindful to protect our eyes and our ears because they are reserved for the Word of the Lord.

The Holy Spirit is The Teacher, Helper &Ccomforter. Bringing us into the understanding of God’s Will and the Revelation of who Messiah truly is.

We need to have the gauge of The Holy Spirit to weigh our options daily as we make decisions of righteousness and strive to stay away from the transgression of the law which is sin.

We cannot afford to think that one day a week or once in awhile is enough to battle against everything around us that is in the world that is in opposition to The Lord.

Messiah has said it…if the world hates Him then we must know that the world will hate us also because we are in Him and of Him and we abide by The Word and Will of God. Everything we do and everything we stand for is the example the evidence and representation of our Christ. Therefore, we must take heed to always stand for righteousness…for anything else is sin. It is that simple.

Messiah says He will spit out the lukewarm according to Revelation…so we have to choose whether to be hot or cold. To live righteously or to be sinful.

Unfortunately, there are many that have chosen the way of sin because of the several factors that we discussed today under the umbrella of the three forms of lust.

Take heed that you do not fall victim to the deception. For All that glitters is not Gold. Lay up for yourselves the true riches and glory which is the reward that is found in heaven from living a righteous life.

1 John 2:15 NKJV

Do Not Love the World

¹⁵ Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

Be holy for He is Holy.