Should, Could, and Need – The Cross Contamination of Compromise Purity 1390

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 three views of blue July skies and a freshly mowed lawn comes to us from yours truly as I took a moment yesterday to capture the beauty just outside the window of my work vehicle while on assignment in one of the nicer neighborhoods outside of Troy in Brunswick, New York. Uh, it was an equally easy and frustrating day at work yesterday, as there wasn't much in the way of heavy lifting physically, but my patience was tested as I waited and waited for people and things unseen to make the technology I was trying to install work. Even though I didn't mind the fact that I was stuck on a job that didn't require me to do anything but wait, not coming through in the end bothered me all the same. And put me in a foul enough mood that I willfully abandoned an opportunity for Christian fellowship and lost any and all motivation to mow the lawn down at River House. Well, it's Tuesday, and although yesterday had its frustrations and regrets, I was successful in my intention to stay on track with my food plan and am celebrating one of an— day one of a new victory parade while being challenged and awakened to the fact that we can't do everything and we can benefits sometimes, and we can benefit sometimes, we can receive unexpected benefits from not doing what we should, and sometimes we can, yeah, and sometimes we can, and sometimes we receive unexpected benefits from not doing what we should. Sorry about that. Sometimes there is a fine line between what we what we feel we should, we should do, and what we could benefit from, and what we need. On Sunday, our Bible study addressed the topic of the church as a bride, where Arthur Cinkati, my wife, and I examined how Christians are not intended to live alone and how we benefit from the corporate gathering and community we experience when we do church. But I also have recognized in other areas of study that Jesus often would separate himself and go into the wilderness or to a mountaintop to get away from the group. And spend time with the Father in prayer. Yesterday I was invited to a barbecue and cornhole tournament by the Wild at Heart men's study group I've been attending at my church, but even though I knew I should attend to encourage the other men in their decision to gather together and could have benefited from the fellowship, and even though I have some feelings of regret over not going, I needed to go into solitude and forsake the assembly of the saints to receive rest and to establish some clarity and peace. The month of June was a mixed bag of ministry milestones, spiritual development, and fleshly compromises. And when it comes to the flesh, it doesn't matter how many spiritual accomplishments you have. Giving into temptation not only sabotages any progress you could have made, but it puts you in a cycle of addictive habits that make you less and less aware and further and further away from a life in the spirit. The cycle of looking the other way and indulging in sugary foods reached its zenith on Sunday when I regressed to childhood levels by consuming a mini sugar feast and watching the latest King Kong Godzilla monster movie. This escape— escapism into childhood delights not only depressed me all the more as I was, uh, not only aware that I was acting out an addictive pattern of the flesh, but was not given any comfort or happiness in the process, um, but also received an upset stomach and feeling of emptiness at the absurdity of things I used to be entertained by. It turns out at 52 years old, I'm all grown up now, and I can't go back to the simpler times because I'm not a kid anymore, and those things don't satisfy me at all. Nor should they. They actually caused me what I can only recognize as pain now. As disappointing as this "you can never go home again" moment could have been, it actually is a relief to know that I have grown up and that I should move forward and put away the childish things for good. And paradoxically, as much as drawing away in solitude yesterday may seem like a play out of my old isolationist playbook, it was actually necessary because the flip side of community is often the cross-contamination of compromise. Not to sound prideful, but a lot of Christians are still living in the flesh, like virtually all of them, and while I chose not to participate in a fellowship opportunity and lost out relationally, I also avoided the almost certain compromise that I would have fallen into food-wise in the celebratory atmosphere or the social awkwardness that I would have experienced with a gathering of men I don't know very well. According to our Wild at Heart study, men tend to pose when they get together, and as authentic as we may have been in our group discussions, I fear that a barbecue and cornhole tournament would have only brought out the poser in me and would have filled me with enough social anxiety to drive me into compulsive eating, and the flesh would have done so with gusto. So even though I should have gone to the fellowship and could have benefited from it, from it, I needed the space alone to establish victory again. Sartre famously wrote that hell is other people, and part of that perdition that is inherent in the statement is that we tend to suffer and sin together in ways that are subtle and sinister. 1 Corinthians 10:12 tells us, if you think you are standing strong, Be careful not to fall. Well, after June's regular compromise— compromises, I knew I wasn't standing strong and I had to avoid the people, places, and things that could make me fall, like a barbecue with enthusiastic men who would invite you to eat freely, or not even. The open access to food alone would have been singing its siren song of temptation. So even though my decision not to go wasn't really based around my intention to get back on track with my nutrition, it was definitely a benefit to not going. The choices we make all have consequences, and even though I am a little disappointed in not being more social, I'm dealing with that disappointment from a place of victory. One day at a time, right? Well, I got my one day, and today's going to be another, and I intend to make every day in July a food plan success because the plan of compromise The pain of compromise is physical. I'm carrying extra weight I didn't have a few weeks ago, and now it's time to correct the mistakes I've made and to find the peace of repentance that the Lord has for me. While community is a good thing, we have to recognize the limitations of the benefits we receive from associating with people who live in the flesh and who either don't know who they are in Christ or have never experienced their freedom in Christ, or who have subtly given it away through the the cross-contamination of compromise. Freedom isn't free, and sometimes you have to recognize when the people you love or congregate with will drag you down rather than build you up. "We're all in this together" may be true to some extent, but we are all personally responsible for the decisions we make, and those choices will really affect whether or not you are living in the flesh or walking in the spirit. The culmination of the fruit of the Spirit is self-control, and it is only found through practice and following the paths less traveled that God invites us to follow Him on. So submit to God, resist the flesh, the devil, the world system, and the community of compromise that will lead you astray, and keep on walking in the Spirit. Forget about the shoulds and the coulds and remember your need to be set free, to become the person God created you to be. There is peace, joy, faithfulness, kindness, gentleness, patience, and self-control down that path, the path of the Spirit. But we must forsake all else, perhaps even the things we should do, to walk it out. Today's Bible 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 Matthew 5:19 from the New American Standard Bible. The Word of God says, whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven. But whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. Today's verse is the first of three passages of scripture that fall under the fifth point of our Counseling Reference Guides resource section on example, good or bad. And that fifth point is: Jesus warns us never to set a bad example and cause others to sin. Today's verse is Christ encouraging us to follow the commandments of God and to teach them to others as an example of our greatness and membership in his kingdom. You don't have to do that when it comes to our faith would only reflect a spirit of rebellion and be the cause of Jesus' warning in this verse. Libertines, those active sinners saved by grace, claim there's no need to follow the law. But although Jesus was a friend of sinners, he actually never encouraged them to stay that way. On the contrary, even though he was merciful, he told us to sin no more. So be a good example to our faith by reading the Bible, doing what it says, and teaching others how they can do the same. As always, I invite all to go to mt4christ.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. Allford, and Uh, in Alford's devotion, he, he shares a— he prompts us to read a chapter of scripture, and today's chapter is 1 Corinthians 16. And from that chapter, he, he references a portion of verse 13 which says, watch, stand fast in the faith, be brave, be strong. And Stephen Alford writes, these four commands have a definite order and lead up to the last one. Be strong. The fulfilling of these four commands was, no doubt, the secret of Paul's strength. Be watchful. He merely emphasizes the words of the Lord Jesus when he said, "Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation" . Spiritual vigilance enables the Christian to prepare for victorious battles. Be stable. Here is a call to consistency, to establish— to establishment, to stability, holding the profession of faith without wavering. Be manlike. To be a real man, the spirit, soul, and body must be equally nourished. Be strong. This is the natural outcome of watchfulness, stability, and manliness. It results in being strong for God. Strong against the powers of evil, and strong in the Lord. Stephen Alford ends his devotion by praying, Lord, may these commands be characteristic of my walk with you. Amen. Amen. And there you go. Be watchful, be stable, be manlike, and be strong in our faith. And yeah, be watchful is all about self-awareness. We really have to We have to be, you know, watch and pray lest you fall and enter into temptation, as Jesus told us. So, you know, if we, if we're not aware, we're, we're easily going to fall into compromise and, and temptation. And sometimes those things are subtle, and sometimes they're not so bad, but if it reflects living in the flesh, um, that's, you know, oh, we can do this. Well, yeah, you have liberty to do certain things, but when you live in the flesh instead of the Spirit, when you're indulging in the flesh, be it with drugs, alcohol, sex, uh, you know, money, uh, or food, um, you know, you're sort of not walking in the Spirit. And there are times, uh, you know, and they complicate matters. There's times for feasting and fasting and celebration and, and, and whatnot, and where that's totally acceptable to, you know, to indulge, to celebrate. But with us, you know, we have to be careful about our physical health when these celebrations come on one after another after another. Like, you know, this time of year there's graduation parties, there's barbecues, there's going to be the Fourth of July this week, and if we're not careful we won't have a day where we don't compromise. And I've noticed in my addictive behavior with my food addiction is once you, once you give in, it makes you that much more likely to give in again. And in, you know, in terms of the numbers of, uh, you know, my food plan, uh, keto, you know, your body stays in ketosis if you have less than 50 carbs. That's sort of an extreme you know, plan, and you can all decide on your own what to do. But I understood that— I have come to understand that this is a plan that works for me. It helps me to feel healthy and to lose weight and to be at a certain, you know, level of physical fitness that makes me feel great. But it's very easy to disrupt. With one compromise, you can throw yourself off. And, um, you know, if you do— and like, that can be one decision in a day And if you make that one decision, if you make that one slip-up, there goes the day. And then you have to do it the next day. And, and if you make one compromise, it makes it that much easier to fall into sin the next day. And granted, now sin— did I break the moral law by eating, you know, sugary foods? No, but I know what's good for my body and I'm going against that. There's physical consequences. I can sort of feel it. Like I said, it's like physical pain when I overindulge in these things. And like, oh yeah, that's my body telling me these things aren't good for me, you know. Sugar is a problem, and, you know, if you don't recognize that, you'll never know, and you'll suffer obesity and pain because of it. So you got to be, you know— and as for balance, let's, you know, sometimes it's about being extreme first. You know, let's get extreme, get healthy, and then we can worry about balance. You know, moderation is a key that'll lock up, you know, that locks up your progress, quite frankly. Oh yeah, it won't be balanced, you know, you can do this, you can do that. Yeah, but you know, I want to accomplish something. I want to be healthy, um, and moderation kills that. So, you know, as much as we try to avoid extremes in certain things, um, if you want to accomplish something, you might have to take extreme action. And forsaking a gathering, you know, like I said, I didn't necessarily even intend to do it for my food plan. Really, I wasn't feeling very relational at the end of the workday yesterday, and I was afraid that I wouldn't be, you know, I wouldn't be an encouragement to anyone. I would feel socially awkward, and I guess I did think about it, that, you know, because I'd feel socially awkward, I'd go to the food and I'd eat. And whether or not it was, you know, sugary things or just meat and vegetables, I would have definitely overindulged. You know, I don't definitely know that, but I know myself and my tendencies. And that's the thing about freedom, is you got to recognize your tendencies and go against your worst nature. So that's what we encourage. We've been You know, we discovered great freedom over drugs, alcohol, sexual addiction, and this food addiction is the last thing. You know, those other things I don't struggle with anymore. I don't even think about. And so when I stop giving in to this food stuff and establish, you know, sanity, I won't have to worry about that anymore either. I'll just second nature make good decisions. Better, you know, I can't wait to get there. We're in process. And, you know, there'll be a little ebb and flow for sure, but we want to press in and get to a place where, you know, we're closer to our healthy weight than, you know, further away from it. And if we do the battle, you know, closer to our healthy weight, then, you know, that's progress. Whereas if we stay locked up and maintain at, you know, at a beast weight, then, you know, granted we're not falling down as much, but we're not making any progress. And what we're doing is just spinning our wheels. And what that'll do is it'll cause us to lose peace. And guess what happens then? You go back to the flesh to comfort yourself, and then you fall off. You know, if you're not making progress, usually you're falling behind. And that's a hard truth. Things I'm learning as I go through life over and over. But, you know, we keep going. So, but yeah, we want to draw close to God and resist the devil, the flesh, and the world. And sometimes, you know, our loved ones and people we hang out with are our worst enemies because they don't know what we know and they don't have the struggle we have, and they're going to lead us astray, you know, sometimes quite purposely, but other times, you know, not intentionally. And it's our responsibility to fight for our freedom, and that's what we have to do. So, uh, off to work today. Hopefully it won't be as frustrating in the way it was yesterday. It was actually, like I said, a mixed bag. It was sort of, uh, I wasn't too busy, but man, just waiting and waiting and waiting. Eventually Drew drew on me because of my performance. You know, it didn't— I wasn't able to finish the job. Condemnation comes in. But it is what it is. I did my best. It was outside of my control, and I accept what comes. And I accepted that I wasn't in a good place yesterday for fellowship and was better served going home. So I'll be going home today to mow the lawn because I should have done that in its place but didn't feel motivated to do that either. But anyway. We do have to get out the door to work, so let's pray. Lord God, Heavenly Father, thank you for another day in your kingdom. Lord, we thank you so much, uh, for your help because we need it. Um, we thank you for who we are in Christ. We thank you for the things you've revealed to us. Lord, let us be watchful and pray and not forget the things we've learned and to walk in the ways we should walk, um, that are wise and that might go against the crowd and might forsake the crowd to be close to you. Lord, we pray for anyone who's listening or reading today's message, that they'd be encouraged, that they'd be blessed by you, that you come alongside their prayer request and their walk of faith. Lord, we're asking the same for us. We've made prayers today that we ask you to bless, and more, you know, we also want you to walk with us today, open our eyes to the things we need to see, and lead us the in way we should go, because all we want to do is represent you in your kingdom, and we need a lot of help with that, Lord. We thank you for the day of victory that we had yesterday. We pray for a new one today. Um, please help us, Lord. Well, we thank you, we praise you, we love you, and we pray all these things in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.