Resisting The Devil in You on Halloween - Purity 1491

Welcome to the MT for Christ 24/7 podcast. I am M.t. Clark, and this is today's photo. Uh, to see today's photo, go to mtforchrist.com, or follow me, M.t. Clark, on Facebook or Twitter, or watch us on YouTube. Good morning. Today's photo of the silhouette of a utility pole in the foreground of the magic time of the magic of twilight time reflected in the waters of where the Hudson River flows into the Skodak Creek, come comes to us from yours truly as I took a moment Sunday evening to go out to enjoy the spectacular view that the Lord has provided me with at my place down by the river. Well, it's Thursday and it's also Halloween, and I share this photo of a darkened highway pathway, a path with a pleasant river view as the light fades into darkness, as a visual encouragement to recognize the beauty in your life as you walk along the path of Christian discipleship, and as a warning to not be tempted to seek out the dark delights of your pre-Christ existence. A couple of days ago, I confessed to relapsing with my food addiction as the spirit of Halloween caused me to revisit the childhood joys of eating mass quantities of candy and watching Halloween-themed horror movies. And all because simply, uh, simply because of the season we're in. Uh, it's Halloween, I'm celebrating. But the thing was that I was celebrating in secret, as I know that candy and other sweet foods send me into addictive cycles of craving and ravenous, uncontrolled eating where everything in sight gets devoured. Uh, that's a problem. And quite frankly, when we take a look at that type of behavior, that almost mindless, automatic consuming until the supply is gone or until it physically hurts to eat anymore, we can easily label it demonic. Similarly, horror movies highlight sex, violence, and the occult and draw us into negative emotions of fear, anger, or lust. Sometimes you watch a horror movie and walk away fearful or disgusted, or with thoughts about those pretty actresses who are not your wife, and you realize that you've exposed yourself, um, to things that are, are not good, uh, fail to entertain us and leave us in a state worse off than when we started. On Monday evening, my chomping down jumbo-sized Reese's Peanut Butter Cups— I said jumbo, not king size, look it up online, uh, jumbo-sized— and frosted donut Kit Kats while watching Halloween 16:6 was true regression, as I could have easily been 15 years old again instead of 52. I, I saw it, you know, I saw this, um, while it was happening, and there was no joy in it. The movie was dark and just bad, and the candy was gone. And when the candy was gone, I was tired and went to sleep. I can't even tell you what the movie was about. As I now realize that the enemy, or the lust of my flesh, just use it as an excuse along with celebrating Halloween and getting rid of the candy, right? You got to get rid of it, so we did all, um, as a means to satisfy itself. You know, the enemy or the flesh, that craving, uh, got what it wanted, and after all was gone, took away with it all the excuses it used to compel me to give in. I didn't really want to watch the movie. It was quite distur— it was quite disturbing, a little ridiculous from what I recall, actually. And, and after the eating was done, I had no interest in paying attention to it. And just, you know, I just went into a sugar-induced coma, uh, and woke up the next morning a little ill and quite sick of my sin, you know, causing me to confess it and to repent of it. So as today is Halloween, let my pre-Halloween fleshly failure be be a cautionary tale to you and encourage you not to follow in my footsteps. Instead of pigging out on candy, don't. And instead of watching some horror movie to celebrate Halloween, choose not to. And use Galatians, uh, 5:19-21 and Philippians 4:8 as your guides. Um, Galatians 5:19-21 tells us, now the works of the flesh are evident which are adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelry, and the like, of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. I highlighted adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, heresies, and drunkenness and revelries because they represent a lot of the Halloween temptations that we could face today. Adult Halloween parties hold the potential for sexual sin, drug use, drunkenness, and the overindulgence of food. It might be a stretch to call revelry the revelry of overeating, drunkenness in the traditional sense, but for the food addict, it really isn't. There are lots of people who will never drink alcohol or use drugs, but who will continually need to get their fix from sweet, salty, or carb-laden foods. The clues that you are a food addict include obesity, eating for comfort, feelings of guilt or shame around eating, yo-yo dieting, secretive eating, and hiding or hoarding of food. If more than one of these apply to you, I suggest getting Dr. Michael Brown's book Breaking the Stronghold of Food or checking out other Christian resources on food addiction to start the process of getting free, like me. And, you know, we're not— obviously we're not perfect, but we've made a lot of progress with our physical health and our eating habits in the way we View food. Um, this latest relapse is a big disappointment, quite frankly, but, uh, I tend to learn from failure. Um, so we're going to try to learn this lesson and come, come next Halloween not run into the same issue and not to fall in it with the next holidays that come up. Uh, anyway, the next verse I shared was Philippians 4:8, uh, which tells us, finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy, meditate on these things. I highlighted true, noble, just, pure, lovely, things of good report, virtue, and praiseworthy in the verse because these are the things that we should meditate upon, and they are the polar opposite of the macabre or even most secular entertainment that is thrust, thrust upon us, uh, each Halloween. Um, so lean on the Lord today to do what's right and good for you as a Christian. Although we are in the world, we are not to be corrupted by the world, and I can assure you that you're better off when you submit to God and resist the devil than when you have to suffer the pain and guilt of sin and have to repent of it later. Today's Bible verses come to us from The Quick Scripture Reference for Counseling by John G. Cruis. This morning's meditation verses come from the section on friendships. Today's verses come from 1 Samuel 23, uh, and the verses are 16 and 17, where the word of God tells us, and Jonathan, Saul's son, rose and went to David at Horesh and strengthened his hand in God. And he said to him, do not fear, for the hand of Saul my father shall not find you. You shall be king over Israel, and I shall be next to you. Saul my father also knows this. Today's verses are the second of two passages of script— of scripture that fall under the eighth point of our Counseling Reference Guide's resource section on friendships. And that 8th point is Jonathan and David had an ideal friendship. And let's say today's Bible verses show us an example of how true friendships will guide us to act in the interest of our friends, even when it's hard. In this portion of scripture, Jonathan is declaring his friendship and loyalty to David, who has been anointed and favored by the Lord over his own father, King Saul, because God was with David because God was with David. Yeah, Saul had disobeyed the Lord's commands and acted outside of his authority to please the people around him, whereas at the time David was faithful to seek the Lord's will for his life and to obey him. Even though the family ties were there, Jonathan rightly decided to side with his friend because it was the Lord's will to give David the kingdom. Showing that while we should be loyal to our friends, we should only do so inasmuch as they reflect God's righteousness and will in their lives. So there you go. As always, we encourage everyone to go to mtforchrist.com, where we always share insights from prominent Christian theologians and counselors to assist our brothers and sisters in Christ with their walk. Today we continue sharing from According to Your Word: Morning and Evening Through the New Testament by Stephen F. Alford. And in Alford's devotional, he prompts us to read a chapter of scripture. Uh, today's chapter is Revelation 12, and from that chapter he shares a portion of verse 6, which says, 'Her child was caught up to God.' And Stephen Alford writes, 'I see here the triumph of Christ over sin, Satan, and death. Surely the picture here is that of the Lord Jesus in his birth, life, death, and resurrection.' Though the dragon was there to swallow him up, yet he became victorious over death. Up from the grave he arose with a mighty triumph over his foes. And then, through this victory, the angels and Michael were able to overcome the devil. They overcame the devil by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony. And Stephen Alford ends by praying, Lord, Make real to me more of the victory of your death and risen life. Amen. Amen. Yeah, Revelation can be tough because it's pointing to— there's a lot of symbolism in it. It's apocalyptic language. It points to, you know, current, you know, what takes place in the current, in eternity, in the future. Um, and it might, it might need a commentary, uh, for that. Um, You know, and so, you know, Stephen Alford recognizes that, and he prays basically for, um, for the Lord to reveal, you know, to make it more real to him of the victory of his death and risen life. That, uh, you know, help me to understand that we overcome, you know, we can have victory in life, um, you know, through the resurrected Christ and our resurrected life. In Christ. And, um, through, you know, the word of our testimony, you know, telling our story that I'm a Christian now and I'm going to live by faith in the power of the Holy Spirit, and I'm going to submit to God and resist the devil. And if I fall, I'm going to confess it and turn away from my sin and keep walking towards the Lord's will for my life. And that is why we always ask the question, have you fully surrendered to God. You know, knowing about God and knowing what's right, they're good things, but you know, knowing them is one thing. Uh, expressing the wisdom of them in our life means we'll apply them to our lives and actually do the things they say. As I stated earlier, you know, I've had— well, actually, I didn't state earlier, um, recently I've had brothers in Christ tell me that they have heard about how reading the Bible and praying every morning will, you know, help them along the path to Christian discipleship, help them to transform, help them to grow in their faith. They know these, they know that, but they don't do it. They say they know it, but they don't do it. They know that the Word can help them, but they don't do it. They know that prayer can help them, but they don't do it. Quiet time with God sounds like a good idea, but they don't do it. And consequently, they, they continue to struggle with a lot of the things they've struggled with for years and years and years. And the difference is you're not doing what the Lord commands you to do, you know, to seek his presence, you know, to read his word, you know, to meditate on it day and night. Um, if you're not doing that, you know, and if you're in this world, there's no wisdom in the world that's going to change you on the inside out, you know. It's the Lord's word. And, you know, as the Creator, he gives us this, this power, you know, to change ourselves, to change our minds and change our hearts from where we were to where he wants us to be. And that's the whole point of our faith, is to become more and more like Jesus and, um, to, to be with the Lord and to, you know, follow him and to do his will and then be in a tight relationship with him where, you know, we feel his love and we want to reflect it. And, uh, and how we live. And when we do that, you know, he changes us on the inside and he leads us into ministry. And sometimes you need help. And so there's— luckily there's Christian support groups out there like Celebrate Freedom, which I happen to host on Wednesday evenings at Starpoint Church in Clifton Park. Um, you know, we teach— you know, we teach from Celebrate Recovery, but we also teach walking in the spirit, basically knowing God's presence, uh, appreciating the good things in life, being able to quiet yourself and, you know, to find joy. Um, because, you know, in recovery you give something up, but what are you— what are you getting? You're getting a new life in, in Christ. And we try to teach that as much as how to walk away from your sin. Um, how do I do this thing called Christianity? Well, you might need some help and guidance in that. And then our group, we come together to support each other in our walk. You know, every week we have people check in and tell us how they're doing, and we comment, you know, with that, uh, you know, all right, I like the way the Lord is working in your life, you know, keep doing what you're doing. Oh, you shouldn't have done that, let's try something else, um, you know, according to God's word. And, uh, so we invite anyone in upstate New York to join us for that group on Wednesday evenings at Star Point Church. Um, however, maybe you're not in Upstate New York and you want, want, want some grace. Well, uh, on November 18th, we're going to begin an online support group, uh, for men. It's basically— we're taking Freedom in Christ: The Grace Course, Steve Gloss and Rich Miller's original teaching. Uh, we're going to go through that for 6— there's 6 lessons. And so we're going to provide you with the access to videos for that and the, uh, participant's guide and the teaching. And so you'll have something to study about God's grace, experiencing God's grace, and then we'll come together on Monday evenings to discuss it and to support each other as we go from the, the journey from just before Thanksgiving to just before Christmas. Um, it's, it's going to be immense. It is a men's support group, um, so it's open to any man out there. So if you're a man and you're interested in getting some Christian fellowship for 6 weeks to get you through the holiday season, sign up. Go to mtforchrist.com, look for the group events teaching page, and and you'll see Grace for the Holidays, and you can submit your information, and, uh, we'll, we'll see you on November 18th. I am currently in the process of getting all the materials together for that, and I'll be emailing people out on my list to join us in that probably in the next day or two, God willing. Beyond that, um, into the new year, beyond the holidays, uh, we're, we're going to be hosting another Freedom in Christ course, uh, for Freedom in Christ Ministries. So you go to ficm.org look for courses and the Freedom in Christ course that's on Tuesday evening, 6:30 PM Eastern time, and register. And we'll see you in, in the new year to start, to start the new year right by leading you through the Steps to Freedom in Christ and the Freedom in Christ course to, uh, to get you free in Christ. Um, however, if none of those things apply for you, or if you're a woman— I only do men's ministry online currently— um, We suggest you go to our, our YouTube channel and check out our, our teachings, uh, for Bondage Breaker, Victory Over the Darkness, Freedom in Christ is there, along with the Celebrate Freedom discipleship course. We provide those playlists and a whole bunch of different playlists basically about different Christian resources on our YouTube channel. So we invite you there because we believe that you can find or increase your Freedom in Christ, um, when you seek the Lord and, and seek to know him more and seek to resolve the issues of your past through your faith. Um, so that's what we encourage. Anyway, that's a lot of, you know, promotion. Um, so, but we end the— and end each message by asking, are you empty for Christ too? Have you made yourself available for the Holy Spirit to come in? And are you, you know, are you seeking to meet with the Lord? On a regular basis? If so, we say keep on talking, or keep on walking and talking with God. If not, we encourage you, you know, to seek the Lord in prayer. Pray to make Jesus your Lord and Savior. Make a commitment to follow the Lord into the life that he has for you. You know, make the admission that my way is not working and we need to do things your ways, Lord. So, and, uh, Like I said, it all begins with prayer, and that's why we pray every day, like right now. Lord God, Heavenly Father, thank you for another day in your kingdom. Lord, we thank you so much for all that you do for us, um, for, for the life you've given us and the way you've led us out of the darkness into your light. And, uh, Lord, we just pray for you to go before us today, uh, open our eyes to the things you want us to see and lead us in the way we should go, because we just want to represent you in your kingdom. And, uh, we need a lot of help with that because the flesh, the world, and the devil sometimes leads us into temptation. And even though we know better, um, we fall. And we need you to help us to change our hearts, change our minds, to see the truth, and to walk away from those things and never go back. Um, Lord, we thank you for the progress you've given us, and we pray for anyone who's reading or watching or listening to today's message, that you come alongside them in their walk of faith as well. Lord, we thank you, we praise you, and we love you. And we pray all these things in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.