Life without Coffee - No Way

Life is full of pleasures. I have tasted many of them in my journey. On the top of my list of life pleasures is coffee. Oh, I suppose if I were to be honest, to me, coffee is a true gift from God. To me, coffee is more that just a drink, more than just something that electrifies my day, kicking my brain and body into action. Coffee has evolved for me into a true life pleasure, to share with friends, to selfishly enjoy alone, to sip the hot liquid and enjoy the sweet aroma, sitting on my deck, on my couch, alone and with another one of my life’s pleasures; Solitude.

Not all of the pleasures I've tasted in my life have been good for my soul. Many of those past pleasures have turned into haunted memories I do my best to banish into the dark corners of my existence, not forgetting them, just not allowing them much space in by being. The tricks of life’s pleasures are that they don't announce to the taster their potential damages to the body, mind, and spirit. One of my first students years ago, in a presentation to the class, stated, "Addiction is the only disease that tells you it's not a disease". Negative and destructive pleasures worm their ways into the pleasure centers of your brain, working with denial, to convince you the problem is theirs, not yours. Such pleasures in life convince you to deny what and whom you once knew were your ally to make them your master.

Jesus told us that we could not serve two masters. Bob Dylan wrote, "You've got to serve somebody". I tell you, my friend and reader, that what you put into your soul through your eyes, mouth, body, and mind becomes the condition of the soul. I encourage you to stop believing you can do this or that and it will not affect you. That, my friend and reader, is a lie that doesn't come from God, and buying into such a lie will "lay your soul to waste".

So let me encourage you, my friend and reader, to brew that cup of coffee, spend some time in solitude with God, and allow Him to show you the pleasures you are inviting into your soul that are distancing you from Him and from the Love He desires for you, as well as the life He has created for you. Sit down with a pad and pen, be honest, it's just between you and God, and He knows anyways. As you complete your list, prayerfully walk with God to clean your soul from the masters disguised as pleasures, and allow Him to bring true pleasure in Him to the center of your being.
(The writings in this post are random thoughts and observations and are NEVER intended as professional or personal advice. Take what works and leave the rest. For information on mental health and/or substance abuse help, visit http://www.rodneyvalandra.com and refer to the links page.)

Comments

  1. WOW - does this one hit home. So the question that I pose to you is this: how is it that, as a Christian, these "pleasures" do not present themselves as convictions and sins when they first begin? Therefore, allowing them to creep in and overtake us without warning... It makes me doubt my faith a great deal at times.

    ReplyDelete
  2. In my mind, Doubting faith proves to you that you have faith, as doubting God proves there is a God. How can we doubt what is not there, what we don't have a perception of. Pleasures are physiological, psychological, sociological; they are all part of the human condition. Spiritual is a choice of submission and reverence towards a Higher Being than what walks the earth. But then again, did the drug addict, porn addict, cheater, lier, whatever, not know at one time of the sin, but choose to deny it. A good debate could be a-brewin

    ReplyDelete
  3. So in the spirit of debate, are you saying that a "Christian" will always be convicted of a sin, and will make a willful decision to deny it? I know that a person can become cold to conviction though repeated willful denial, as I have been down that road many times. But are there levels of knowledge (enlightenment)which allow or don't allow a person to feel conviction when others may feel it? The lines get fuzzy.... But for example...going to a dance, or an "R" rated movie, if it doesnt bother me now, then does that mean it is not a sin to me? But down the road, as I mature, it begins to bother me...does that mean it is a sin now to me? If it was always a sin and I am truly a Christian, and God cannot be in the presence of sin, then why did it not convict me in the beginning? Or is it the attitude of the act? I just wonder why some things bother me and others don't? I truly believe that we do no always make the choice to deny sin. (by the way, I hate the word "sin") too legalistic for me.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I appreciate the comment and I think it stirs the thinking process. The original blog was not about sin, nor was sin mentioned, but rather about how we distance ourselves from God through the so called pleasures of life and that the abuse of pleasure can result to filling our souls with that which is not of God nor pleasing to God, and can stunt our growth in God. Being bothered or my view of sin doesn't constitute sin; sin is sin, by His definition, which we have in His word. Knowledge only becomes enlightenment and wisdom if we apply it to our lives, otherwise, it's just information. The choice remains the same - yours.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Worthy and Wanted

"Don't You Love to be Loved?"

Worse or Best?