Adventuring for its own sake is the Devil's Workshop

The devil is working hard to distract believers from God by making them fearful about food, causing guilt about body size, and creating insecurity about physical appearance or abilities.

Growing older is a challenge when we live in a world that elevates physical beauty above righteousness.

I am shocked at some of the YouTube videos that camp on how an old person can look younger. The pressure to continue to look young when we are old is high in our culture.

I hear this every once in a while and it sort of irritates me, that is; "you're still young" as though it is bad to be old. I am old and I don't want anyone telling me how young I am at an age over 70. I earned this old age, learned much in my life and have no desire to be youthful again.

It is actually kind of insulting when someone tells me I am young when everything about me tells me I am old. LOL

I enjoy my elder years with all that God has taught me and that He has removed from my desires anything that is useless and time wasting.

Some older folks like me are still witnessing Christ, still producing products and services to be in touch with the world to live out their Christianity in a way that glorifies Him. We are not young but we live out the ways of God in whatever situation we are in, we are not limited to youth in our walk with Him.

Sadly so many people think "youth" are the most productive and able to contribute, this could not be farther from the truth. Youth do not have the wisdom of the elders and are not able to see the nuances of life that the elders can see. Not all elderly are wise but those who follow Christ will be wise and able to guide those who need to hear their wisdom.

Again, sadly, the youth of today do not value the elderly. If they like someone who is elderly they must pretend they are young to remain in contact with them. The elder person who is loved by youth must do what the youth do to be accepted by them. I am not willing to become something I am not to be loved by anyone.

When we love one another we will accept and appreciate each age group, even celebrating the elderly as those who should be seen as wiser than those who have not lived what the elders have lived.

Adventure is preferred in this "me" generation bent on having their fun rather than gaining wisdom.

Fun does not bring wisdom, it only delays spiritual and emotional growth. Those I have known who cared more about fitting in with the young people all their lives remain emotional and spiritual infants, lacking wisdom and maturity.

The quest to remain young has left our culture destitute of wisdom as well as driven us into irrational feelings-oriented actions and reactions to life. Deeper more meaningful relationships are rare in this day of "just do it because it's fun" mentality.

I used to say when I lived in Kentucky that I would rather sit on the front porch of a toothless old person in a rocking chair and listen to their life story than any adventure people think they need today.

Life should be about Christ and people, not personal adventure, if we love Christ He is the most important to us. We do have times of rest and even a game or a walk but adventure is not important or desirable to those who love the contentment of life as the disciples of Christ.

I hear more young people praise the elderly who can still do adventure things than I do who visit or love the informed elderly who might have wisdom to offer.

Our culture is narcissistic and hates to be around ailing and hurting elderly. They must have their fun all the time in every encounter or they feel frustrated and even angry at the informed person who takes up their time. Those who love adventure do not love people. They do not love God and have no sense of joy unless they are adventuring.

There I have said it and it pains me that things are this way, but there it is, the end times mentality of "me first" and "me only" as described in 2 Timothy 3:1-5

2 Timothy 3:1-5 "3 But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come.

2 For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, slanderers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy,

3 unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good,

4 treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,

5 holding to a form of godliness although they have denied its power; avoid such people as these."

When we have Christ we learn that He is the only One we can depend on and the Greatest One to depend on in these last days of selfishness. Praise God that He is everything we need and He can make us into someone who does not follow the culture, but will enjoy the elderly and treat them with the love and kindness of Christ.

Stop Trying to Fit into the World

When you find yourself unable to fit in with nearly any group it may be that you are too radically Christians in a "cultural Christianity."

We are not of the world and the world does not know us nor does it want to know us.

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."

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."

Many of the things the world loves we hate or at the least very unimportant to us. The world is looking for recognition and pleasure but we have moved past those things as we love the things of God more than we love our own lives.

Luke 14:26 "

“If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his own father, mother, wife, children, brothers, sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple."

Many parents are catering to their adult children when they should be letting them go when they are not walking with Christ. They are not on the same path that believers are on and will only deter us from what God wants for us.

James 4:4

"You adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore, whoever chooses to be a friend of the world renders himself an enemy of God."

We are considered adultresses if we love our families more than we love God.

What the world loves are not enjoyable to us. The world finds our enjoyments repulsive to them. We love to speak of Christ, we love to study His Word, we love to live a quiet life without unnecessary adventure or pleasure. The world thinks we are strange, and have no inkling of how wonderful our life with Christ is as we walk with Him.

When we attempt to fit into the world to be accepted only brings us pain, it is not the life our Spirit wants us to live.

Born-again believers have so radically changed that the pleasures of this world are unattractive to us. The need for superiority over others, competition with others and boasting to appear special are abhorant to the born again believer.

Our contentment in Christ is based on His love and provision very little in this world is attractive to us other than His creation. We enjoy the simple things that He has given us, nature, peace, joy and all the fruit of the Spirit dwell so richly in us that we need nothing else of this world.

Galatians 5:22-23

"22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law."

We must accept that we have changed and continue to change all the time as we grow in the Spirit. Very few people will understand us or even want to understand us. We must let people go who do not want to walk the path with us.

Sentimentality over past relationships is a little like idolatry, it removes our dedication to Christ while causing us to ruminate on the loss instead of moving forward in joy with Him.

We find our identity in Christ and our family are those who have also found their identity in Christ. Our family are those who love Him as much as we love Him. This is rare in our day and we must trust Christ to bring us together in His timing His way.

THIS IS WHY YOU DON'T FIT ANYWHERE! (Christian Motivation)