How often have we tried or has someone we love tried and tried to climb up the ladder of success — only to find that the ladder is leaning against the wrong wall?
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1 John 2:15-17: “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. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions—is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.”
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Romans 12:2: “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”
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Colossians 3:2: “Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.”
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James 4:4: “You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.”
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John 15:19: “If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.”
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Titus 2:12: “Training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age.”
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1 Peter 1:14: “As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance.”
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Jude 1:19: “It is these who cause divisions, worldly people, devoid of the Spirit.”
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2 Timothy 2:22: “So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.”
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2 Timothy 2:4: “No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him.”
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1 Peter 2:11: “Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul.”
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Ephesians 4:17-20: “Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. But that is not the way you learned Christ!”
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2 Peter 2:12-15: “But these, like irrational animals, creatures of instinct, born to be caught and destroyed, blaspheming about matters of which they are ignorant, will also be destroyed in their destruction, suffering wrong as the wage for their wrongdoing. They count it pleasure to revel in the daytime. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their deceptions, while they feast with you. They have eyes full of adultery, insatiable for sin. They entice unsteady souls. They have hearts trained in greed. Accursed children! Forsaking the right way, they have gone astray. They have followed the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved gain from wrongdoing.”
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1 Timothy 5:6: “But she who is self-indulgent is dead even while she lives.”
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John 15:19: “If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you.”
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Resources: Michael Brown Retreat – Refuge and Protection at a Dangerous Time