Self Awareness and the Consequences of Compromise - Purity 1393

To see today's photo, go to mt4christ.com or follow me, M.t. Clark, on Facebook or Twitter. Good morning. Today's photo of our canine pal Harley standing in a cornfield as the Lord uses the setting sun to paint the skies with supernatural glory comes to us from yours truly as I— as my doggy friend and I were absolutely blessed on the evening— on our evening walk back on June 14th. Well, it's Friday, and while I didn't see any firework displays for the Fourth of July, I have seen the glory of the Lord light up the skies and my life in the past in ways that will always fill me with awe. So thank God it's Friday. Yeah, I'm, I am pretty psyched, even though our national holiday fell awkwardly on a Thursday, causing most of us to go back to, causing most of us to have to go to bat— um, have I have to go back to work today because July has begun with, uh, yeah, I'm pretty psyched because July has begun with a period of repentance in my life. And I'm happy to report that despite the temptations of the flesh that tried to lure me into throwing off my food plan restraints over the last 2 days, I am still walking in victory with 4 days of food plan success. I have a balanced macro a food plan that I, if maintained, results in weight loss and overall good feelings physically. And all I have to do to approach my health plan goals and to have peace is to stay— is to say no to cravings that would betray me by giving in to instant gratification desires to feel good with quote-unquote good food. But the problem is that I was lied to most of my life about what good what good food actually was. I was given the lie that sweet or fattening "comfort foods" were good, when in actuality most of them were designed by man to make me crave them. And while that may just be good business by the food manufacturers and good intentions by the well-meaning comfort food makers, who were equally deceived into believing the lies that keep us in bondage, when added to one's addictive tendencies that seek to find comfort in substances and that have difficulty in saying no, I have to cry foul play. While the truth of good nutrition is readily available to us, knowing mentally and doing experientially are sadly often two different things. And we often repeat Paul's Romans 7 lament that says, I have discovered this principle of life, that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. 7— Romans 7:21. However, Paul discovered the answer to the problem. Faith in Jesus opened his eyes to the truth and gave him a new power over sin and death. Romans 8:2. After his faith in Jesus, Paul was able to recognize that the— that his sin, his quote-unquote sin, um, was mysteriously another power within him that was at war with his mind, and that is from Romans 7:23, uh, and that when he submitted to God and resisted the devil, um, he was able— he could have victory. You know, his faith in Jesus Christ gave him the indwelling presence and power of the Holy Spirit, which gave him the insights and power he needed to say no to, quote unquote, his sin that he was previously powerless over. This is an ongoing battle for us as Christians, and as much as we have the power of the Holy Spirit in us, we have to use it, uh, by choosing not to give in to the sin that weakens us, disrupts our harmony with God, and that gives the enemy a foothold in our lives. We can't compromise with sin by choosing the ways of the flesh, the world, or the devil over God's ways that are good and true. This morning I read the following devotion from the late Dr. Charles Stanley and felt moved to share it here on the blog. Stanley wrote about the consequences of compromise. And the good doctor writes: Stuck again. Is that an apt description of your life? For many believers, it is. Even when they know why they are stalled, some can't move past the sin that trips them up. Others are blind to the source of their troubles and feel as if all they do is run in place. Israel, God's chosen nation, had a history of defeat from yielding to temptation instead of obeying the Lord's commands. Compromise defeats us too. God calls his children to live obedient lives, but it's easy to become preoccupied with the things we want and then to reinterpret God's commands in a way that suits us. What's more, the world clamors for us to fit into its mold, but shows little or no inclination to follow God's way. And Satan can gain a foothold in our life whenever we disobey or attempt to bypass God's laws. Uh, we are fooling ourselves to think we can compromise and live a Christ-centered life. The Lord commands us to reject ungodliness, and we're wise to listen. Thankfully, we have the Holy Spirit's power to help us. A good place to start is by agreeing with God that an attitude or action of our— of, of ours or yours is displeasing to him. Then determine to set your mind on obedience, whatever it cost, whatever the cost. And that was from Dr. Charles Stanley, In Touch magazine, from for today, July 5th, 2024. So if you have that devotion, that's the one you're going to read today. Um, the good doctor gives us sound advice. We have to be self-aware to what we are doing that is keeping us stuck. We have to examine what we're doing and how it is making us feel against the truth of God's word and what God would want for our lives. If what we are doing isn't resulting in peace, love, joy, goodness, kindness, faithfulness, gentleness, patience, and self-control, We have to realize that some of our attitudes or actions are displeasing to God and are causing us pain because we are living in the flesh and not in the spirit. So take a good look at your life. If you are stuck, you can get unstuck by asking the Lord to help you and by leaning on his strength and good practices of faith and self-discipline to change the way you're walking. When we walk in the spirit, we break the chains of bondage to sin. And we experience the joy of freedom in Christ. Remind yourself of who you are in Christ and ask yourself, as I have been doing lately, "Who am I to deny what the Lord can do?" Start living the life God wants for you. Stop denying what He can do in your life. Choose to walk in the Spirit and you will not gratify the lusts of the flesh. The Word of God is true, and all we have to do to experience the fruit of the Spirit is to keep on walking and talking with the Lord. Today's Bible verses come to us— come from— verse comes to us from the Quick Scripture Reference for Counseling by John G. Cruis. This morning's meditation verse comes from the section on Example, Good or Bad, and today's verse is Romans 14:13 from the New American Standard Bible. The Word of God tells us Therefore, let us not judge one another anymore, but rather determine this: not to put an obstacle or a stumbling block in a brother's way. Today's verse falls under the sixth point of our Counseling Reference Guide's resource section on Example: Good or Bad. And that sixth point is: Don't ever put a stumbling block in another person's way. Today's verse is an encouragement to help our brothers and sisters in Christ by not putting stumbling blocks in the in their way of progress. Paul was referring to helping our weaker brother— I think that could be me— uh, by not using our liberty to trip them up. This passage had to do with eating meat sacrificed to idols, a practice that seemed evil to some who feared the idols, or, and of no consequence to others who knew that the idols either didn't represent real gods or who knew that the demons they represented were inferior to the Lord. But to avoid causing someone who feared the practice to stumble, Paul advised us to deny ourselves rather than trip them up by making them feel less than or making them feel to— making them feel convicted of sin for going along with us when they didn't feel it was right. So, for instance, let's not drag our former alcoholic friends to the bar or try to convince them that they can surely have just one drink, because even though they are free to drink as long as it doesn't lead to drunkenness, it's probably a bad idea because it's a former stronghold of bondage for them and probably a stumbling block to their progress. So let's live in our freedom in Christ, but don't let our freedom cause someone else to stumble. As always, I invite all to go to mtforchrist.com, where I always share insights from prominent Christian theologians and counselors to assist my 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 Stephen's, uh, Mr. Alford, uh, uh, his devotions, he, he prompts us to read a chapter of the New Testament Today's chapter is 2 Corinthians 3, and from that chapter he shares a portion of verse 12, which says, "Therefore, since we have such hope, we, we use great boldness of speech." And Stephen Alford writes, the hope that the apostle speaks of here is the lasting glory of the Lord Jesus Christ, who brought grace and truth in place of the Law of Moses. Knowing then that such a glory awaits the believer, the apostle speaks of this hope as that which emboldens speech. The transforming power of that glory can be experienced even now in a measure, but it is only as the believer reflects the glory by beholding the Lord in the Word through the Holy Spirit. This grand fact, added to the hope of the yet greater glory should and must call forth from my soul bold and definite testimony. And Alfred ends by praying, the joy of your grace and truth cannot be contained. I am compelled to speak of it boldly. Amen. Amen. And that's really our Christian witness. Um, the joy of our salvation alone should cause us to speak speak boldly, um, of our faith in Jesus Christ. We've been set free from sin and death. We're not going to die. You know, he is the resurrection and the life. If we believe in him, we shall live although we will die. That's eternal life in his kingdom, first in heaven and then in the, in the new heaven and the new earth, as Christ will come back to, you know, rule and reign the earth for a thousand years, and then, and then introduce you know, a new heaven and a new earth at the end of time. Well, I guess the beginning of a new era. Yeah, read Revelation, it'll make your head spin. Anyway, that's good news, you know, the fact that we've been forgiven of the sins. You know, we don't have to make up for our sins. Cross pay the cost— uh, Christ, Christ pay the cost on the cross, and We've been covered by his blood, and his— he's— he paid the cost for our sins, and his righteousness is imputed to us. That means we're holy, and all we have to do to experience it is to agree with the truth of that and walk it out by choosing it volitionally here on the earth. And that's what we can do, but we, we have to be diligent in remembering who we are in Christ and living according to it, because because the world, the flesh, and the devil all come against us to try to comfort ourselves or do things in our own strength. And when we do that, we go astray and we feel bad. We lose the peace, we lose the joy, we lose the love, we lose faithfulness, kindness, and guess what? We lose that self-control that we can have when we walk in the Spirit. And I was stumbling quite a bit myself in June with periodic cheats on my food plan, and you wouldn't think something as benign as eating would cause someone to stumble in their faith, but it's living in the flesh, you know, even if it's, you know, and how much is too much, or how, you know, what is wrong and what is right, I think that really depends on how it results, you know, what the results are in your walk. I can have some sugary foods without seeming to suffer too much, but I have addictive tendencies and I tend to go overboard. And the self-control— when self-control goes out the window, you have to realize you're walking in the flesh. And that's what was happening. I sort of, you know, I could be good for a couple days, but then I'd sabotage any progress I'd make by having cheat days and And really, you know, a Christian shouldn't be looking to cheat anything. He should be looking to live, you know, faithfully and truthfully before God and man, and most importantly, within himself. You know, when I was cheating on my food plan, I would hide. I would hide the eating I was doing. I wasn't doing it openly because I knew it wasn't, you know, who I wanted to be. So I would sneak, I would, you know, eat behind my wife's back. I would take food that wasn't really for me and, you know, try to hide it like some, you know, cheater or something. And, you know, some child who's trying to hide from his parents. And that's really not the relationship we want to have with one another as man and wife or as, you know, brothers and sisters in Christ. We don't want to hide our sin. And so this is why we do the blog, to confess our faults and to encourage other people that we can have victory and freedom in Christ when we live by faith in the power of the Holy Spirit. And I've been more impressed lately on the importance of our spiritual practices of worship, singing praises to the Lord, and really walking in the Spirit. And that might seem like a hyper charismatic practice. But not for nothing, there seems to be a lot of power in the people's walks, as long as they're not, you know, walking or trying to name it, claim it type of stuff, you know, with the prosperity gospel. There is power. How much power? That'll be determined by the Lord. But He certainly gives us the power for self-sanctification and And, you know, by leaning on Him, agreeing with Him, and choosing what's right, He gives us that power. So we might not be able to heal people or, you know, have riches manifest in our lives, but we can have a rich life because He wants us to be holy, and He will bless that. And we'll just have to say no to our old ways of living to experience that freedom and victory that He wants for us, 'll make us feel prosperous no matter what, you know, amount of money is in our bank account or, you know, what are the circumstances of the day are like. You know, we can have, you know, horrible situations in our life, but when we're living with the Lord and doing what is right, we have a certain amount of peace just from that fact alone, knowing that I'm trying to follow the Lord. And we shouldn't deny what the Lord has for for us. And when we give into sin and compromise, and, um, that's when we come— you know, that's when we go against what is good. And we might get some, you know, satisfaction, physical pleasure, or whatever, from good food or whatever we're doing, but it's living in the flesh. And what satisfies the flesh cannot satisfy the spirit. And We need to, need to learn how to walk that out. And I understand it's a work in progress for all of us, but it's, it's a good work. And I think it's one of the good works that we're, we're created to do here on earth, is to represent God's kingdom by living the lives that he would have us live and experience the freedom and joy that he wants us to have. And that includes good physical health. Um, you know, we're to be good stewards of the things he gave us. And the first thing the Lord gave us is life, and he gave us our bodies. And when we disregard common sense, good nutrition, and, um, you know, abuse ourselves, um, we're not doing, uh, we're not doing what God would have us do. So I'm not talking about perfection here. But let's be good stewards and be wise, not fools who fall into the flesh. Preaching to myself as much as anyone else. And I have 4 days of victory, and today will be day number 5, and I love it. So I'm going to keep walking and talking with God and not give in to the flesh and resist the devil. And we're going to report hopefully tomorrow that we'll have more victory, another day. And we're going to keep leaning on the Lord and keep praising His name until we accomplish what we want to accomplish, which is an ongoing life of peace. And that'll be good. So there's no end date on that. You know, it's— it happens one day at a time, and, uh, it's a good thing to experience. I've had long stretches of that in the past, and I want to continue it and just keep it going. So let's do that today by praying. Lord God, Heavenly Father, thank you for another day in your kingdom. We thank you so much for all that you've done for us. Thank you for the power that you've given us by the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives. We pray for us to be— we pray to be filled with Spirit and to walk in the Spirit today. Um, Lord, help us. We also ask you to help our friends who might be listening or reading today's message. Lord, we pray for you to anoint this message and bless them and bless them and their prayer requests and, um, lead them in the way they should go. And Lord, while you're at it, open our eyes to the things you want us to see, lead us in the way we should go, because all we want to do is represent you and your kingdom. And, uh, we definitely need your help with that. Lord, we thank you, we praise you, and we love you. And we pray all these things in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.