Whether or not Q is real, whether or not the military will save us, it cannot change your actions today. You have control over what you control, and no control over what you cannot control. You will be held to account to God for how you decide to act within the realms where you have power to act. Thus, you must focus exclusively on what you can do and should do, and how best to execute on it.
At the top of the priority list should always be your devotion to God. God demands we worship him and him alone. This means you must study out who God is and how to properly worship him. This is not for the faint of heart -- even studying and practicing for a lifetime is not enough to understand what this means. Every thought must be directed to him. Every prayer to him. Every action to him. Every offering to him.
From here, all things branch out. The Two Great Commandments, available both in the Old and New Testaments, is to "Love God" and "Love your neighbor". How to love God? With all your heart, might, mind and strength. How to love your neighbor? As yourself. What does love mean? We in modern society think of love as a feeling, but it is an action, and act, something you do and not feel.
The Ten Commandments branch from these, and cover the most basic elements of proper actions. It is clear from these commandments that God values honesty, fidelity in marriage, family life, and property ownership. Of course, we can go through the Old and New Testaments and find multiple explicit commandments or punishments for disobedience. Again, a lifetime of study is not enough time to learn how to act rightly before God.
Let's bring this home to our modern times and our modern understanding.
- Get married, stay married, and practice sexual activity only in marriage. Any extra-marital sexual act is forbidden. That means no porn, no adultery, no pre-marital sex. No divorce! But on a higher level, this is a devotion to family life. No greater happiness exists than fulfilling your duty in your family. And the reverse, No greater sadness exists than failing your duty in your family. Bear lots of children, more than you can handle. No one ever said, "I wish I didn't have so many kids!" Spend all of your efforts teaching and raising your kids. No physical treasure compares to well-raised kids.
- Get rich. This isn't optional. How do you get rich? Write a budget. Spend less than you earn. Earn more. Build an emergency fund. Get out of debt. Acquire investments assets -- real estate being a major one. Become truly self-sufficient with a garden and animals you raise and eat. Dave Ramsay has a lot of advice on how to get rich and how to behave as a rich person.
- Get educated. The idea that the purpose of education is to learn "practical skills" is absurd. Real education is about developing the proper and right character and attributes. Real education starts with the Bible and a whole lot of time praying and seeking truth. Of course you are going to incorporate other methods and materials.
- Get strong. "Physical strength is the most important thing in life" as Rippetoe says. It doesn't matter what you have if you are physically incompetent and require a wheelchair or medicine just to cope with life. People bound to wheelchairs and who require medicine just to live know what a great gift it is to have a body that works -- so keep your body in the best physical condition you can get it!
When we have enough people living rightly, with strong families, personal and familial real wealth, and a true and real education, physically fit, then we can talk about become self-governing. Until that point, however, we are far to weak in one way or the other to matter, and easily manipulated or controlled.
The first goal is to learn to govern yourself, then to govern your family, then to govern your community and finally your nation. If you cannot govern yourself, you cannot govern your family. And so on.
Spending too much time worshipping Jesus the person takes away from admiring and praising God’s workmanship.
You remind me of my Dad, constantly being taken advantage of and being stepped on, well in the next life there will be heaven! Yet what about this life? I can’t believe a creator would give us freedom, encourage the growth of freedom yet demand we be destitute slaves to him.
How can Christians lead a lifestyle that is enviable if we don’t show drive and initiative?
There is nothing wrong with wealth, or being rich. There is nothing wrong with ambition. To suggest there is, is to misunderstand the teachings of Jesus, in my opinion. The threshold is greed and lust. When you would steal, lie, cheat or commit other crimes to satisfy that greed when there is a problem.
Aspire to be rich in spirit, family and wealth. I do, but then I’m not rich!
You have no idea the life I live. You're assuming ideas of mine that I have not spoken of.
I never said there was anything wrong with wealth. I was implying that seeking monetary wealth before Jesus is not wise in my opinion. I recommenced to go read Ecclesiastes. Perhaps the richest man of his time, yet depressed.
I thought we we're talking about money riches. That's what the OP said. To have money riches means you live in MAN's world or kingdom. You play by their game. Do you think all the rich people now want them printing all this money? No but you live by their game.
God gave us free will indeed. But we also must obey him. We choose a plan for our lives and he directs our foot steps.
He's our Shepard. We live in his pasture. We get to enjoy the things of his pasture but we must stay with-in the fence. Yes with-in the fence means you can have money.. lol
One must have drive to follow Christ. Someday many will suffer in his name. If you don't have drive then following Christ is not for you.