Wisdom from Above

Dr. Charles Stanley

June 21, 2018

Impoverished by Desire

He who loves pleasure will become a poor man

Proverbs 21:17

Does today's verse mean the Lord doesn't want you ever to experience

any pleasure? Absolutely not. In fact, Psalm 16:11 promises, "In

Your presence is fullness of joy; in Your right hand there are pleasures

forever." Rather, Proverbs 21:17 addresses the problem of giving your

life over to the pursuit of gratification rather than God. When your desires

become your focus, you're going to begin making compromises in

order to fulfill them and will eventually act in a way that contradicts your

core beliefs. The steps toward disobedience will begin small, but they'll

quickly speed up and take you in a very definite direction-which is

away from the Lord.

Eventually, you develop an attitude that anything goes, which results

in chaos in your life and your relationships. You become increasingly

susceptible to peer pressure, and your disobedience to God increases, as

does your spiritual weakness and discouragement. Ultimately, you lose

sight of the Father altogether, which means you lose your peace, joy and

strength, and you are no longer able to handle the storms that come into

your life.

Friend, don't let that happen! Remember who you are in Christ.

You're a child of the living God! The Spirit of God has sealed you as

His beloved, and He teaches you how to live in the freedom of your

salvation. Because of Christ's provision on the cross, you are not only

completely victorious, but you're also a coheir with the Savior-which

means you have an eternal kingdom waiting for you that is beyond imagination.

You have no reason to chase after temporary pleasures and no

reason to compromise. So don't! Don't do anything that could trap you

on the downward slide. Rather, look up and see all that God's promised

you if you'll obey Him.

Lord, I confess the ways my desires have gotten

hold of me. Free me, Father.

Amen