Monday, January 27,
2014, 9:09 a.m. – On my way to have my quiet time with my Lord Jesus this
morning, he put the song “Courageous”
in my mind. Speak, Lord, your words to my heart. I read Psalm 119:9-16 (ESV):
How
can a young man keep his way pure?
By guarding it according to your word.
With
my whole heart I seek you;
let me not wander from your commandments!
I
have stored up your word in my heart,
that I might not sin against you.
Blessed
are you, O Lord;
teach me your statutes!
With
my lips I declare
all the rules of your mouth.
In
the way of your testimonies I delight
as much as in all riches.
I
will meditate on your precepts
and fix my eyes on your ways.
I
will delight in your statutes;
I will not forget your word.
The Purity Challenge
This question posed of the psalmist in verse 9 comes across
my mind often. “Why?” you might ask. It seems to me that these days no matter
where you go that you are bombarded with sexual images – in the grocery store
checkout line, in store windows, in most all internet sites, including social
media sites, some “Christian” sites, news sites, and even ones promoting “Christian”
song lyrics. Some of those even advertise porn sites. I forget which ones. When
we had a TV, I even had to stop listening to (viewing) a “Christian” music
channel because the images of the “Christian” artists were often in seductive
poses or with sensual looks in their faces, or they were improperly dressed so
as to attract the eye to particular body parts. If you are a TV watcher, which
I am not, these “images” are in most commercials and many TV shows. If not
outright, then they are often hinted at or there are sexually suggestive
comments made or sexual situations presented. Even many “Christian” films, in
order to be realistic and relevant, confront the viewers with sexually
suggestive material and/or sensuality. It is everywhere. So, how do we keep our
way pure?
Not only that, but most American homes have at least one
computer with internet access, I believe. Many have multiple desktop computers,
laptops, IPads (or equivalents). Even the poorest of poor in America have
multiple devices connected to the internet. As well, from what I have noticed,
most Americans now also have smart phones, including each individual family
member has his or her own smart phone from teenagers on up, and many children
have been given IPads, too, and not all of this is monitored. Even if parents
put nanny services on their children’s electronic devices, sexual images are
now everywhere, even in what might be considered “innocent” sites. Soft porn
can be viewed by children and teens without it ever raising a red flag. Many
children are exposed to this early on through TV shows and movies, as well, and
that only creates a thirst in many of them for more. And, even if the device is
nanny protected, there are back doors to sites that are not picked up by the
nanny service; or children and teens, who know their way around these devices
better than many of us adults, find their way around the “nannies”, and they
probably have friends who can help them find their way around, too. So, how do
we keep our way pure?
By Guarding It
The scriptural answer to that question of how we can keep
our way pure is by guarding it according to the word of God (word of truth).
So, how do we do that? Can we do that if we just spend 5-10 minutes a day in
having devotions? - Probably not. Can we do it if we go to Sunday school classes
or Bible Study or small groups and attend Church services, sing in the praise
team, volunteer to lead a small group, teach a Bible study and/or volunteer our
time to feed the poor and hungry? - Most likely not. Can we do that if we are
in full-time Christian ministry, pastor a church or we attend Bible College or
Seminary or spend hours upon hours in exhaustive Bible study? – Possibly not!
Would it help if we got on Christian discussion sites and talked with other
people about Bible theology and/or argued various Biblical or denominational doctrines,
or even joined support groups? – Perhaps not.
Why? Because it has little to nothing to do with quantity of
time spent reading, studying or discussing the Bible or even spent in Christian
ministry. Some people in full-time Christian ministry are actually the most
vulnerable of all, because of the trust people place in them, the pressures put
on them, the long hours they work, the lack of accountability, in many cases,
and because of so many opportunities for failure made available to them via
ministering to people’s needs and perhaps time and location unaccounted for. In
other words, those who are the most Biblically trained or the most involved in
Christian ministry are just as vulnerable and susceptible to moral failure as
anyone else, and perhaps more.
So, how do we guard our way and keep it pure according to
the word of God? I think that James articulates the answer to this pretty well
where he said in James 1:22-25
(ESV):
But
be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone
is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at
his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once
forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law
of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he
will be blessed in his doing.
So, first of all we need to DO the word, not just study it
and not just talk about it. We need to not be like the person who looks into
the word, and it speaks to his heart, and it reveals to him what he or she
needs to do, only to walk away and forget what he or she just learned. We need
to put the word into practice in our everyday lives, and it needs to become a
natural part of what we do every day, without us even having to think about it.
This means we have to have hearts committed to Christ and to his ways, desirous
of him, and willing to forsake our old lives of living for self and sin so that
we can walk in Christ’s righteousness and holiness in the power and working of
the Spirit within us. It also means we have to hate the sin so much that we
truly want it out of our lives. If we don’t hate the sin, and we don’t have a
heart change from God Almighty by his grace, through faith, that transforms us
from darkness into his wonderful light, then all the best laid plans we have
may not have a chance at all, because we are more likely to follow our hearts. Someone
with a changed heart thus will desire to be a DOER and not a hearer only.
On that subject, I can tell you that I have attended classes
in two different colleges 30 years apart from each other, and in the second
college I even had a straight “A” average, and yet I can’t remember probably
98% of what I learned. Why? - Because I did not put what I learned into practice.
The best thing I learned the second time around, though, was that I could
learn, and to not fear learning new things, feeling or thinking as though I
could not. So, it was worthwhile for me in that respect.
Learn to Say “NO!”
So, what does the word teach us about how we can remain
morally pure? Several passages come to mind. The first one is Titus 2:11-12 (NIV):
For
the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. It teaches
us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live
self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age..”
If we want to remain morally pure we have to say “NO!” to
worldly passions and sexual idolatry. So, how do we say “NO”? We have to refuse
to allow it to be a part of our lives. Many, many people struggle today with
sexual sin because they do not guard against it, but they allow it into their
eyes, minds and hearts. We can’t watch TV shows, movies or go to internet sites
or watch music videos or even listen to music that promotes sensuality and sexual
sin, not even a little bit! If we must go to a news site, and at the bottom or
at the side are sexual images, we have to have a plan in advance for guarding
our eyes and our minds against it, or we have to go to sites that do not
display partial nudity or invite sexual idolatry into our lives. If we cannot
control our appetite for sexual sin, then we should remove from our lives all
sources for engaging in sexual sin so that we remove even the temptation, which
is one of the reasons we got rid of our TV and movies 5 years ago. Consider
these two passages of scripture on this subject, Matt. 18:8 and Heb. 12:1-2:
If
your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life
maimed or crippled than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into
eternal fire.
Therefore,
since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that
hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance
the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter
of faith…
I believe that many people struggle with and give in to
moral failure because they don’t get serious enough with God on the issue, and
they don’t DO what the word says, and they don’t get RADICAL enough about doing
what it takes to truly GUARD their walks of faith according to the word of God.
They deceive themselves into thinking they can take in just a little bit of “poop”
in their “brownies,” and that it won’t harm them. Or, they convince themselves,
even though personal history has proved differently for them time and time
again, that they can handle it, and that they won’t fail “this time.” But,
eventually that false sense of “I can do this” has its limitations. Failure thus
becomes inevitable because the appropriate precautions have not taken place,
and because the person has no plan in place to not fail. Someone once said, “If
we don’t plan to succeed, we plan to fail.” This is true!
Seek The Lord
Is it possible that we can have all our plans in order for
how to guard against failure, and have removed all obstacles of temptation, or
so we thought, and yet still fail morally? Yes! – Most definitely! Ephesians 4
speaks to this subject, I believe, where it teaches us to put off lying, and to
tell the truth, to put off stealing, and to work and to give to others, to put
off the ways of the flesh and to put on Christ and his holiness in our daily
lives. It is a MUST that we seek (follow, chase after) God daily with our
entire minds, hearts, emotions, passions, desires, thoughts and deeds.
Ephesians 6 speaks to this subject, as well, where it
reminds us that our struggle is not against flesh and blood but against the
powers of darkness, and so daily we must put on faith, truth, the word of God
(be DOERS), righteousness, and what Christ did for us on the cross in
delivering us from slavery to sin, and we must GO purposefully into the world
with the intent of sharing the gospel of salvation. This is the way we truly
store up the WORD in our hearts, because we activate it in our daily living.
And, if we do these things, we will not wander from Christ’s teachings, because
we will be FIXING our eyes, thoughts, attitudes, mind and behaviors on God’s
ways.
Courageous! / An
Original Work / December 24, 2013
Based off Various Scriptures
The Word of God
throughout taught.
Some people heard, but
did doubt.
Still others had faith
in Christ.
By grace He purified
them.
They turned from sin
And they obeyed
Christ.
He opened up their blinded
eyesight;
Turned them from
darkness
To the true Light;
Forgave their sin by
His might.
He strengthened them
in their faith.
He said, “Remain my
faithful.”
He called them to
obedience.
By faith, they were so
grateful.
By faith, they were to
follow Jesus;
To daily sit and
listen to Him;
To have such faith
That mountains could
move;
To love those whom He
gave them.
Be on your guard;
courageous.
Stand firm in faith.
Be thankful.
Take up the shield of
your faith;
Protect against all
evil.
Do not move from
The hope that you
have.
Your faith in Jesus
let it endure.
Hold to the truth;
Your conscience be
clear.
Endure with
perseverance.
*I highly recommend the book “Purity Principle” by Randy Alcorn – It is a short little book on
purity that I believe everyone should read: http://www.amazon.com/The-Purity-Principle-Safeguards-LifeChange/product-reviews/1590521951
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