Reading the old testament of the Bible (Shared by Judaism, Christianity and Islam) I was facinated to read Malachi 4:5-6 as he prophesied about the end times:

Malachi 4:5-6 - 5 "See, I will send you the prophet Elijah before that great and dreadful day of the LORD comes. 6 He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers; or else I will come and strike the land with a curse."

I’m not an expert on end times anything but thought it was interesting enough to note.

The first temptation (Matt 4:1-3) Satan said to Jesus who had been fasting without food for 40 days, “… tell these stones to become bread.” Jesus responded to Satan’s suggestion in a way different than what would be expected. He didn’t tell Satan to leave him alone instead He in essence told his own body’s hunger to leave Him alone.

Satan was pointing at the desires of the flesh to tempt Jesus and each time Jesus rebutted by turning away from his own flesh and its desires and needs.

Graham Kerr has been reported to say that the biggest problem with the West is it’s compulsion to ‘Upgrade’ everything (very paraphrased). Almost all of us are driven to upgrade our cars, computers, homes, boats, and the list goes on. For others of us it is more subtle, where introspection and a driveness to care for ourselves takes all of our energy and focus.

The point is this, that, like Jesus, we should be fully submitted to God and not to our various wants, desires or rights. God calls everyone to forcefully lay aside their rights, desires and passions to follow Him.

It’s easy to see this call, to lay aside everything, as a burdensome weight of condemnation, but it’s not at all. Rather, it is an invitation to fulfillment and joy so nourishing that we overflow. It is losing our lives and then finding them in God.

Practically speaking it’s like this: When a thought / desire (every desire, for every single thing) comes to your mind, capture that thought / desire and submit it along with your life in full to Jesus. Then, learn to listen with your heart to God’s voice. And finally … Follow.

The difference between a Hindu’s idea of Nirvana and Jesus’ version is that Nirvana is for one’s own self, it’s a selfish endeavor of self-gratification. In contrast, Jesus’ denial of flesh was utterly selfless and outwardly focused.

Humankind is drawn to acknowledge the greatness of selflessness. We may idolize and covet those with power and wealth, but we all hold far greater respect for those who have put aside their rights / their flesh, in order to serve others. Mother Teresa is a fine modern day example of this.

On analyzing the flesh one finds more bad than good. Most atrocities against mankind derive out of the selfish gratification of flesh. In addition, our flesh is prone to disease and illness and eventually dies. Our bodies are never satisfied but continually hunger and thirst for sustenance to survive. We all yearn for things that cannot satisfy us. Those who have achieved fame or wealth are often more depressed and unhappy than those who don’t have, but aspire for, that way of life. Jesus’ comment affirms this: "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." John 4:13-14

It’s not just a denial of flesh but it’s being led by the Spirit of God. It’s fascinating to note Jesus’ words in John 5:19 - “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise.” Jesus, who was altogether wise and intelligent did not live or make decisions out of His own capacity but instead relied fully on the Holy Spirit.

True Nirvana is not as unattainable as Hinduism might imagine. In fact it’s sitting right there available to us all. We long to be free from being controlled by the passions and pains of flesh; we long to be like what history admires – the heroes who lay down their life for others; fighting death, we long to live in eternity here and now. The answer is two-fold: 1. Deny and lay aside the rights and passions of your flesh. 2. Follow Jesus and live in union with the Spirit of God, listening to His voice, obeying Him and living in His presence.

This is an invitation for us all.

God did not create a prison but instead gave us tremendous freedom and power. From completely transforming our own planet to building space stations on other planets - our freedom has little bounds. We are not even forced to be good people. We can be as bad or good as we want to be – and this is tremendous freedom. If we were only given freedom to do good, that wouldn’t be true freedom. We’d be happy, but unable to love deeply. In order for love to exist the option to not love must also.

Everyone has felt the cost of freewill. Spouses have used their freewill to have affairs and thus broken apart their families and broken the hearts of their children. Young men have used their freewill to take their guns and go on shooting rampages through schools. Companies have used their freewill to dump toxic wastes into the environment damaging the world we live in. Communities have used their freewill against others through genocide. Nations have used their freewill to extend their borders by killing and destroying their neighbors. It is this freewill of ours which is to blame for the evil in the world.

And yet, …

It is because freewill has no bounds that Love, in turn, can be without end. And as far as evil can extend we know that love can go even further. The reason is because an Ultimate Love, so boundless, even made room for hate and evil to exist – we can hate because we are loved, because God is good.

There is a much more powerful motivation than simply the selfish pursuit of personal peace or affluence. We were built / created to serve. Just imagine:

A person pursuing emotional or physical healing because of the realization of how much more effective (s)he could serve others. We are not meant to be introspective, looking out for number one, protecting our little selves. The family unit of a father and mother caring and serving their children is not meant to be an end goal but a microcosm of how we are to interact with society around us.

A business (and I’m sure there are a few out there) with a compelling desire to find out and serve the needs of others. With this driving motivation product, pricing, and customer care would be second to none. Success and provision become a result and not a goal. We are not bowing our businesses down to gods of affluence.

♫Everybody knows ole Timmy and his tasty toes♫
♫Help to make the seasoning right♫
♫Tiny slots where his eyes used to glow♫
♫He’ll find it hard to sleep tonight♫

♫They know that Santa’s on his way♫
♫He’s bloated, hot, big and tasty seared to taste♫
♫And every mothers child is going to pry♫
♫To see if they can get a piece of Santa’s Thigh♫

♫And so we’re offering this tender plate♫
♫Two kids from some place we don’t know♫
♫Although we’ve been fed many guys many ways♫
♫It’s all delicious, and it’s Christmas, was that Gary’s mistress?, to you♫

The Selling Point: The salesman (in our case a demon), leads you to a point of identification with the idea, where it harasses like an unwanted longing. Often a bombardment of advertisements and sales calls begin to desensitize you to the wickedness of the idea. These salesmen aim at holding your attention to the idea showing you the selling points while concealing the downsides.

The Sale: You give in to the manipulation, you buy, you bite the apple. However, like someone who’s suffered abuse you feel controlled like the decision was almost made for you and out of your hands. And yet, the enemy, in your perspective, is still yourself and you blame your inner passions.

There to Stay: Nothing bought at this market is meant to give permanent satisfaction. Instead after the first bite a craving for more which leads to addiction and a loss of free will. The summarized goal of sin is this: Convince you that you are the enemy. Then take away your ability to choose. And with those two things in place – detonate you.

The Pitch Killer: I like the following verse: Eph 6:12 “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.” The Bible affirms that bad thoughts / temptations do not originate from within and that fighting against ourselves (viewing ourselves as the enemy) is the wrong approach. Two steps are needed. 1. Disassociate yourself from the idea, recognize that you are not the originator. 2. Silence the demonic voice (the real source of the idea) in the name of Jesus Christ and feel it instantly go away. If the harassment comes back, which it often does, follow these two steps again. The important thing is to pay attention to your thoughts and deal with it at that level or the idea will take root.

How a person thinks in his or her heart is the issue behind Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5). I don’t believe He was making it more difficult for us to live good lives but rather He knew that battles begin in the mind and He wanted us to have true freedom.