How serious is the battle?  Well, the verses speak for themselves.  In fact, Jesus taught the ideal is to for the extreme.

Luke 9:57-62

⁵⁷ As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.”

⁵⁸ Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.”

⁵⁹ He said to another man, “Follow me.”

But he replied, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.”

⁶⁰ Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.”

⁶¹ Still another said, “I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say goodbye to my family.”

⁶² Jesus replied, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.”

Luke 14:25-35

²⁵ And there went great multitudes with him: and he turned, and said unto them,

²⁶ If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.

²⁷ And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple.

²⁸ For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it?

²⁹ Lest haply, after he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that behold it begin to mock him,

³⁰ Saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish.

³¹ Or what king, going to make war against another king, sitteth not down first, and consulteth whether he be able with ten thousand to meet him that cometh against him with twenty thousand?

³² Or else, while the other is yet a great way off, he sendeth an ambassage, and desireth conditions of peace.

³³ So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.

³⁴ Salt is good: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be seasoned?

³⁵ It is neither fit for the land, nor yet for the dunghill; but men cast it out. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.

Galatians 5:22-23

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

Could it be by simply saying things into existence, or is it something different or something more than that?   Well, the key to a lot of prosperity in life is self-control and staying on top of things.  Definitely, the abundant life, if practiced, would give someone an advantage in that.

Matthew 7:24-27

²⁴ “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. ²⁵ And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. ²⁶ And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. ²⁷ And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”

There’s a lot of talk these days about bullying, depression, all sorts of things, but the answers given to solve them seem to ignore the root cause: a weak individual.   I mean, is anyone considering ways to become stronger on the inside, and how do you do that?   Well, the Bible tells people to seek God as source of strength.

But not everyone can easily find God.   That’s the sad part.  People grow up in broken homes, with bad role models etc., so how can those people be reached?

Matthew 10:28

Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.

People just aren’t very tough these days.  I mean, it’s not going to hurt grown children to let them experience being homeless, and if they got a car, they got it even easier.

Well, at some point, grown kids gotta leave, so why not at 18?  And you can warn them about it, so they won’t become homeless, but how can you just keep enabling dependence when they didn’t listen to your warning?

Anyway, grown kids being at home isn’t a good thing for an individual because it stunts emotional growth.  And as the Bible verse above says, people can rise above fear of very uncomfortable situations.

Matthew 25:10-12

¹⁰ “But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut.

¹¹ “Later the others also came. ‘Lord, Lord,’ they said, ‘open the door for us!’

¹² “But he replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I don’t know you.’

Sometimes hard truths are hard to accept.  For instance, some people abuse their health for years and years, and then they are shocked when their health suddenly declines drastically.

And in other instances, you could bring up examples of parents ignoring children, husbands abusing wives (and visa-versa) and so on and on.

But ultimately, there is “cause and effect”.   Many just aren’t getting away with stuff in the end.   What else can be said?  Is it cruel to say this.  It reminds me of children’s movie “Willy Wonka”.  Over and over, one kid after another falls down the tubes for their own shortcomings and Wonka doesn’t care.  Well, when I was that age, I found the movie scary because I was shocked at his attitude.

But is there hope?  Well, there’s always hope with God in all situations and people can turn things around months and years before bad consequences happen.

As I mentioned in at least one of other post, borrowing money from sources other than legit loan companies, banks, credit cards and very trustworthy Christians is very dangerous, due to the fact that things aren’t secure if things get screwed up.

But can you be that trustworthy Christian who can lend?  Well, can you truly deal with a risky lending situation in a Christian way?

Well, not getting paid back or getting paid back too slowly can make a lot of people, maybe most, very angry.   Do you have the temperament to deal with other people without resorting to violence, harassment and other negative things?

Note: Lending money can also include doing things for people that is worth money (car repairs, paying rent, buying food etc.) and expecting it back.

It’s fine to use legit loan companies, banks, credit cards, and very trustworthy church members to borrow money from, as opposed to, other sources.

Of course, that’s not saying we shouldn’t use caution with the good sources and maybe even also beware but borrowing money from others can put you in a position of lawsuits, violence, murder.  It’s stuff you can highly regret because you were probably suckered into it by a fake sense of security.

Fictional case in point:

You borrow money from someone in some form (actual money, paid car repairs, free rent etc.) and you can’t pay it back for various reasons, maybe your fault, maybe not, maybe a mix of the two, but the bottom line, you got a really angry lender.

1 John 4:1

Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.

The above verse isn’t really about borrowing money, but it stresses the importance of wisely choosing associates, especially ones you would do risky business.

It’s one thing to beg, but to bully people to get charity isn’t cool.

But it happens all the time.  Is this what God approves of?  Of course, not!

1 Timothy 6:6-7

But godliness with contentment is great gain.

But there may be more than meets the eye, but it still doesn’t justify the bullying.  Well, let’s say someone promised people stuff in the past and they lied, and so the person comes back and uses it as ammo to “charity bully”.

Anyway, my advice to avoid lying to people.  But then again, if someone is “charity bullied” all the time, they might resort to lying to deal with situations they can’t handle.  It’s like this “Some people can’t take no for an answer.”

Would people respond to my charity bullying?  I would never do that, but even if I did, it wouldn’t work cause people would tell me to “buzz off” and I know it.

I did mention idle time is, but no doubt, so is politics.  It’s just an unhealthy use of time, but then again, people will criticize those not engaged in it as weird or a coward (because supposedly you have to take a stand for something).

Anyway, from own observation, people who are obsessed with politics are not looking at a balanced view many times.  It’s highly biased on whether they are left wing, right wing, what race you are, stuff like that.

But being balanced is being truthful I think, but in this world’s political climate, you can’t be that way, instead, most people are sucked into a very toxic environment of hate.

But where does Satan play into this?

Well, Satan is perfectly happy engaging people in things besides “living for God” which is what people should be doing.

Psalm 11:15

The Lord tests the righteous, but his soul hates the wicked and the one who loves violence.

1 Corinthians 6:12

I have the right to do anything,” you say—but not everything is beneficial. “I have the right to do anything”—but I will not be mastered by anything.

Substance abuse is a major problem.  Now, while I won’t go into opinions on whether, for instance, illegal drugs should be legal, stuff like that, we cannot deny that substance abuse wrecks terrible havoc on society and individuals.

For instance, people are killing, stealing, running out of food for rent and food because of substance abuse.  In that case, how can we say it’s something that society shouldn’t be concerned about?

Anyway, though, substance abuse doesn’t have to be incredibly dangerous stuff to your health.  For instance, caffeine isn’t incredibly dangerous to your health, but it can destroy your finances if you’re poor.

And even food can be considered substance abuse. It’s something that might or might not be bad for you, but if it’s not under control with a budget, it can leave you broke either way.

But how can we use the Christian faith to fight substance abuse?

Well, God can show us ways to direct our mind away from a constant obsession with needing a fix.    I mean, did we always need a fix?  I mean, I remember when I was a young child.  I liked apple juice.  I wasn’t hooked on caffeine, because I was never exposed to it.  As far as I was concerned, my body was perfectly buzzed and happy with no caffeine.