Sin – You are What You Eat 2

2 Timothy 3:1-5

¹ But understand this, that in the last days dangerous times [of great stress and trouble] will come [difficult days that will be hard to bear]. ² For people will be lovers of self [narcissistic, self-focused], lovers of money [impelled by greed], boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy and profane, ³ [and they will be] unloving [devoid of natural human affection, calloused and inhumane], irreconcilable, malicious gossips, devoid of self-control [intemperate, immoral], brutal, haters of good, ⁴ traitors, reckless, conceited, lovers of [sensual] pleasure rather than lovers of God, ⁵ holding to a form of [outward] godliness (religion), although they have denied its power [for their conduct nullifies their claim of faith]. Avoid such people and keep far away from them.

These are times in which the fire of God is sent to expose the dirt and the dross that is keeping His people from walking in the center of His will for them. When this fire burns, the object of it is to not run from it but to allow it to consume those things that make us look like the world that does not know Him and gold (the essence of who we are in Him and our reflection of Christ) will be revealed in us afterwards.

The sad thing about this passage is that it was not meant only for the world outside, it was meant about some people that called themselves followers of Christ but they wanted to continue being their own gods and rulers of their world. They wanted to be in control of their own destinies and still be able to claim God’s blessings and promises to them. There were things happening already among them, a quarrel here, and pride there. Profanity here and strife there. Greed here and reckless and sensual pleasures there. They were given to these things easily and without shame. Correction was not heeded and then they would complain of the struggles they were going through.

But they failed to realize that their mindset which led to their abominable behavior (Proverbs 6:16-19) kept them from entering the Kingdom as God wanted to lead them. Like the children of Israel, their mouth was the first thing that kept them from entering in. They were given to complaining constantly and never being satisfied of the things God made accessible to them in the wilderness of testing where His fire was intended to remove the things that kept them from reaching their Promised Land. They complained about the manna God used to feed them for the way He chose to give it to them. Numbers 11:1-6 tells us,

¹ “Now the people became like those who complain and whine about their hardships, and the Lord heard it; and when the Lord heard it, His anger was kindled, and the fire of the Lord burned among them and devoured those in the outlying parts of the camp. ² So the people cried out to Moses, and when Moses prayed to the Lord, the fire died out. ³ He named that place Taberah (the place of burning), because the fire of the Lord burned among them.

⁴ The rabble among them [who followed Israel from Egypt] had greedy desires [for familiar and delicious food], and the Israelites wept again and said, “Who will give us meat to eat? ⁵ We remember the fish we ate freely and without cost in Egypt, the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions, and garlic. ⁶ But now our appetite is gone; there is nothing at all [in the way of food] to be seen but this manna.’”

They were so focused on wanting the pleasures they had left in Egypt that they missed the lessons God wanted them to learn from eating the manna. Deuteronomy 8:3, 16 helps us see what that essential and key lessons were for them and continues to be for us not only when we are in times of testing but in our everyday life in order to remove every trace of contamination from the world. It says,

³ “He humbled you and allowed you to be hungry and fed you with manna, [a substance] which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, so that He might make you understand [by personal experience] that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord.”

¹⁶ “He fed you manna in the wilderness, [a substance] which your fathers did not know, so that He might humble you [by dependence on Him] and that He might test you, to do good [things] for you at the end.”

What God expected of them was to speak back to Him the promises He had spoken to them and keep reminding Him of them until they possessed them, instead of complaining about every little thing they encountered that did not suit their selfish ambitions, so the words of their mouths kept them out the land God had promised them. The Bible says, and as mentioned several times in different posts of this blog page, we are called to be holy for He is Holy. Leviticus 11:44-45 says,

⁴⁴ “For I am the Lord your God; so consecrate yourselves and be holy, for I am holy. You shall not make yourselves unclean with any of the swarming things that swarm or crawls on the ground.

⁴⁵ “For I am the Lord who brought you up from the land of Egypt to be your God; therefore you shall be holy, for I am holy.’’” 

This is important to highlight because we were created to be consecrated unto Him so that as we show our dependence of Him, we will be able to fulfill our destinies. And for that we need every word that comes out of His mouth to guide us and help us go through the valleys and also when we reach the mountains of our destined calls. We had mentioned before that the Bible says that apart from Him, or cut off from our union with Him we can do nothing (John 15:5).

God sees us through the purpose for which He called us and placed us on this earth, so when we chose to live our life separated from Him and not fulfilling or at least preparing to fulfill our calling, we encounter problems, disappointments, and limitations in our lives that we were not intended to meet. We have said that there are two reasons why we encounter problems and persecution from the enemy: one is because we are in the center of God’s will and that raises opposition from the enemy of our calling. But the other reason is because of the opposite—when we are not dependent of God, and mindful to follow the principles of His Kingdom, and instead live like the world and no one can tell the difference between the lost and us, then we are met with the consequences of our choices apart from God’s will.

The mindset of the Israelites of the first generation of those who left Egypt also kept them from reaching their promised destiny because they thought more about what they did not have, instead of seeking to renew their minds and take every opportunity to learn what would help them to be prepared for when that place and time. These people wanted the promises without the preparation. They wanted the blessings without the work. They just wanted to receive but not have God as their Lord. In other words, things needed to be done on their terms, not on God’s terms, but we know that never works.

They were too weak in the things of the spirit to concentrate their efforts in fighting the good fight of faith and also help each other reach their destiny. They had left Egypt, but Egypt was still in them. They could not see themselves apart from the ways of Egypt, and therefore, could not see that in order to reach their promises they needed to be mindful of following God’s lead by the leaders that were appointed to them. They thought they were equals to their leaders and did not need any leading to reach the land of Canaan because it was not so much about leaving Egypt, as it was about the way they needed to leave Egypt. So the third thing that kept them from reaching their promises was that they fought God and their leaders, instead of their real enemy.

Exodus 16:1-7 reveals,

¹ “They set out from Elim, and all the congregation of Israel came to the Wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after they left the land of Egypt. ² The whole congregation of the Israelites [grew discontented and] murmured and rebelled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness, ³ and the Israelites said to them, “Would that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the pots of meat and ate bread until we were full; for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this entire assembly with hunger.”

⁴ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Behold, I will cause bread to rain from heaven for you; the people shall go out and gather a day’s portion every day, so that I may test them [to determine] whether or not they will walk [obediently] in My instruction (law). ⁵ And it shall be that on the sixth day, they shall prepare to bring in twice as much as they gather daily [so that they will not need to gather on the seventh day].” ⁶ So Moses and Aaron said to all Israel, “At evening you shall know that the Lord has brought you out of the land of Egypt, ⁷ and in the morning you will see the glory of the Lord, for He hears your murmurings against the Lord. What are we, that you murmur and rebel against us?’”

Their constant dissatisfaction turned them into angry, murmurers, bitter, and resentful of what they did not have, and how hard they thought it was to leave Egypt following God’s ways. They were too focused on pointing fingers and not on learning the right way to leave Egypt not only physically, but also the mindset they acquired in Egypt that was not going to be useful to them in their new land. For what they needed to do was to learn to cling to God and to every word that came out of His mouth that would give them the strategies necessary to reach their destiny. In addition, they needed to become determined at their dependence of Him, and reverently respect His authority over them and the people He had placed as their leaders for they could hear how to lead the people.

That is why God is calling us to avoid the same mistakes made by the Israelites that did not reach their promise land. For this reason we need to heed His Word and pursue hearing every word that will help us know and implement the strategies necessary for us to reach our land of destiny in a way that make us free from the mindset of the world, and by speaking the Word of God and reminding Him of His promises to us and not by murmuring and complaining or showing to Him that we are not satisfied with the things He does for us and in us as we grow in our walk with Him and in our journey to our destiny.

Lack of submission to Him and the authority figures He has placed in our lives also, as mentioned in some of the posts, keep us from entering in because God is a God of honor and those who honor Him and the authority figures He has placed in our lives to help us reach our land promised by Him get to see how their honor is rewarded. 1 Samuel 2:30 tells us once again,

 ³⁰ “Therefore the Lord God of Israel declares, ‘I did indeed say that your house and that of [Aaron] your father would walk [in priestly service] before Me forever.’ But now the Lord declares, ‘Far be it from Me—for those who honor Me I will honor, and those who despise Me will be insignificant and contemptible.” 

Likewise, Romans 13:1-6 speaks about the importance of respecting and submitting to not only the civil authorities in our communities, but all authority figures placed by God to help us in our times of training and to lead us to the promises God has given to us. It says,

¹ “Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God [granted by His permission and sanction], and those which exist have been put in place by God. ² Therefore whoever resists [governmental] authority resists the ordinance of God. And those who have resisted it will bring judgment (civil penalty) on themselves. ³ For [civil] authorities are not a source of fear for [people of] good behavior, but for [those who do] evil. Do you want to be unafraid of authority? Do what is good and you will receive approval and commendation. ⁴ For he is God’s servant to you for good. But if you do wrong, [you should] be afraid; for he does not carry the [executioner’s] sword for nothing. He is God’s servant, an avenger who brings punishment on the wrongdoer. ⁵ Therefore one must be subject [to civil authorities], not only to escape the punishment [that comes with wrongdoing], but also as a matter of principle [knowing what is right before God].”

Moreover, another way of referring to us as being holy people (set apart people who focus on learning the ways of the Kingdom and its principles through constant communion with God and obedience to Him) is that we are called God’s peculiar or special people. 1 Peter 2:9 explains,

“But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a consecrated nation, a [special] people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies [the wonderful deeds and virtues and perfections] of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.”

There is only one way to live as God’s special people in this world and be separated unto Him and that is by renewing our mind from the polluted things of this world so that we can tell the godly from the ungodly and the holy from the unholy. Romans 12:1-2 says,

¹ “Therefore I urge you, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies [dedicating all of yourselves, set apart] as a living sacrifice, holy and well-pleasing to God, which is your rational (logical, intelligent) act of worship. ² And do not be conformed to this world [any longer with its superficial values and customs], but be transformed and progressively changed [as you mature spiritually] by the renewing of your mind [focusing on godly values and ethical attitudes], so that you may prove [for yourselves] what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect [in His plan and purpose for you].”

1 Thessalonians 5:23-24 also tells us, ²³ “Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you through and through [that is, separate you from profane and vulgar things, make you pure and whole and undamaged—consecrated to Him—set apart for His purpose]; and may your spirit and soul and body be kept complete and [be found] blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. ²⁴ Faithful and absolutely trustworthy is He who is calling you [to Himself for your salvation], and He will do it [He will fulfill His call by making you holy, guarding you, watching over you, and protecting you as His own].”

So let’s be mindful of what pleases our Lord and God and not conform to the pattern of this world that keeps us from reaching our destiny in Him. To Him alone be all the glory. ■

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Bible verses taken from the Amplified Version. AMP.