Sources of Influence – Protecting Your Spiritual and Mental Health – Purity 761

To see today's photo, go to mt4christ.org or follow me, M.t. Clark, on Facebook or Twitter. Good morning! Today's photo of blue skies and clouds over some green rolling hills comes to us from yours truly, as I pause to enjoy a quiet moment to recognize the beauty of God's creation while I was traveling through Skodak Landing, New York, while at work on June 10th. Well, we made it to the weekend, and it is my prayer that all of my friends will take some time this weekend to enjoy some quiet moments, uh, to enjoy what the Lord has provided them with, and to realize just how wonderful our lives truly are. You know, when I took today's photo, I thought I was capturing just a wonderful scene to share, and it is, and it is. But when I looked at it this morning, I thought it was a little darker than I thought it thought it was, and I was tempted to edit it to lighten it up a little to enhance the beauty of the scene, but I decided against it. I decided to share it for what it was: a simple roadside view of the sky and hill country and rural Skodak Landing with no filter. On Saturdays, my pace in composing my daily encouragement is different as I weekend with my wife in rural East End Easton, New York, uh, the location of my writing space is different. The avail— available internet speed is slower. My routine is different, and because I don't have to rush out to work at 5 to 7, I am not in as much of a rush to get her done. Because of all these different factors, and due to what may be a tendency toward attention deficit disorder, I tend to get distracted when I sit down to pray, study the Bible, and blog. In truth, what is a systematic process of chronological steps during the week becomes a blending of all my practices at once on Saturdays. When I am at my place down by the river, I waken, exercise, pray, study the Bible, and write the blog. But at my countryside home, the facilities for— the facilities for and my motivation to exercise is different. And is abandoned, but that loss of activity is somewhat replaced by walking the dog at least once, sometimes 2 and 3 times a day down Wait Road, so I don't sweat that too much. Oh, puns. Well, while I am at Casa de Countryside, my prayer and Bible study are still part of my daily spiritual practice, but when I pray at my river house I do it from a meditation cushion, so prayer is on the cushion and Bible study is at the desk. There is, there is no meditation cushion at Countryside, nor will there be. There just isn't enough space for one in my very literal prayer closet, so prayer and Bible study are both done at the small desk that my wife has provided me with. With. Uh, so on Saturdays I pray like I usually do and read the Bible, but the two sometimes are blended together and sometimes derailed, uh, because I get distracted by emails or news items that grab my attention when I go to my phone, uh, to get the photo of the day. This morning, as I shifted from prayer to Bible study to getting today's photo and Bible verse, I saw a story on axios.com that proclaimed America's belief in God hits new low. And within that short article was a link to another article from April of 2021 that was titled America is Losing Its Religion. Both stories were disconcerting because they report statistics that indicate that our society is increasingly becoming more atheistic, as more people tend— today don't believe in God and don't belong to a house of worship than they did in the not-too-distant past. I provide the links if you want to check out the numbers that reveal this trend, but frankly, I wouldn't bother. What? Why not? Don't you care? Don't you even care? Of course I care, but the reason I tell you that you may not want to bother is not because I think this is fake news, but because this is old news. The numbers that these two articles that were written in 2021 and just 20 hours ago as I write this are reporting data that is from, from Gallup polls in 2017. That's 5 years ago, guys. I was upset by those numbers in 2017 or 2018 whenever I first heard them, and that information hasn't changed, nor has my concern for my— for our ever-increasingly post-Christian society. Those numbers were bad in 2017, but I can only imagine that the numbers would be worse today. The data they draw from is 5 years old. It was before COVID-19, and although I don't have a Gallup poll to report from, I can tell you that from my personal observations at my local church, some people stopped attending church when COVID-19 dropped. And they haven't come back. In ages past, Christians would stay and care for the sick during plagues. Plagues, guys, where people were dropping dead left and right and medical technology was not what it was today. Christians didn't abandon the sick, and they certainly didn't abandon the church because they knew that whether they lived or died, they were secure in God's hands. Anyway, that crisis caused a big decrease in church attendance, and I shudder to think what a Gallup poll performed today would have to tell us about the state of faith in our nation. One of the articles stated that those who now report themselves as none in terms of, you know, religious affiliation seem to adopt politics or social justice movements as a replacement for religion. And that the language they use reveals their faith in a political candidate or a special interest group to affect the changes they feel they need. After seeing that and entering a news zone, I was— I saw how the clickbait of current news stories would inflame the fears or outrage of people who held certain political or moral standards. There was a story about a victim of incest, dying after they were refused an abortion, apparently. There was a story about a police officer commenting how they would lose their gun after being involved in a shooting at a crisis call. There was a story about a political figure declaring the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. And on and on it went. Stories reporting the facts. The ones that interested me were 5-year-old facts, but all could be seen to inflame a different segment of our society to outrage or fear. And so I decided to write about this. And no, I don't want to raise, raise your ire about fake news, but I wanted to highlight how what we put before our eyes and what we think about can influence our mental and spiritual health. The stories I clicked upon about decreasing faith in America, regardless of the age of the data, could cause me to react in several ways. I could be drawn to despair because people seem to be turning away from God in increasing numbers, or I could be inspired and motivated, motivated to go and share the gospel with a society that so desperately needs the good news. But I don't want to just hit the straw man that is the media. As I reported in a previous post, the media gives people, uh, what gets ratings and, and report on the things that will shock and cause people to be drawn in. And keep watching. That fact too is old news, but, but, um, may have— but that news may have gotten a little worse by the networks producing news that caters to certain political leanings. But that's a new spin on an old story. I'm not here to attack the news. I would encourage you to be discerning, reduce or abandon the news altogether. Um, today's photo of rolling hills in the countryside shows no ill effects of our world, quote unquote, falling apart. And if you travel to the country, you can see areas that have been relatively untouched by change. Today's stories that are so compelling will fade away, and the stories of national interest and truth only actually affect the people who are dealing with those situations on a local level. I don't mean to sound uncompassionate, but a lot of the horrors that are reported will not touch your life, but they can touch and disturb your mind and your heart. The ability of media to influence our thoughts and emotions also extends to things we turn to for entertainment. The world system that is anti-Christ is revealed in more than just the evil that men do that is reported on the news. Movies, television, or, you know, I don't even know if we have television anymore. I guess streaming shows and dramas, uh, and reality— quote-unquote reality TV can also drive our thoughts and emotions to places that would draw us away from the righteous living that is prescribed in the Bible. Lustful, violent, greedy, and positive depictions of drug use in is changing hearts and minds to accept things that were taboo in the past and have always been classified sin in God's Word. Programs glorify drug use, adulterous relationships, aberrant sexual practices, and seeking revenge or justice through violent means of not getting mad but getting even. Seeing these things performed on television turns into seeing these things in our society. As it is a reflection of what is already happening, but also encourages these things to be repeated through their promotion. Seeing sin will encourage others to let go of their restraint and do it for themselves, or seeing sin will cause us to hate those who sin and cause us to live in fear. All of this stuff that the world dishes out can influence our behavior, our thoughts, and our emotions, and our entire worldview. What the world dishes out doesn't give us peace. I grew up in the '80s, and for most of my childhood, the threat of nuclear annihilation was the soup du jour in our media at the time. The threat of impending doom caused fear and hopelessness in my life. I wasn't sure who I was or what I wanted to be, and in light of the possibility of being killed in a nuclear holocaust, those concerns seemed utterly pointless. So I, like many others, sought to live life for today and not worry about tomorrow because it didn't matter anyway, right? And, and sought to get my kicks with sex, drugs, and alcohol before the world came to an end. The problem was that it was a lie. The world didn't end, and what I did with my life did matter. The choices I made matter not only because they resulted in positive and or negative consequences, but I later realized they mattered to God as Scripture speaks of rewards for the righteous and judgment for those who reject Christ that are based on the choices we make. Our lives matter to God. He sent Christ to save us to prove He exists and wants to have a relationship with us where we can have peace and live with Him forever. So put your faith in Jesus Christ continually and know the peace that comes from the Lord. But while we are here on the earth, we also have to seek to protect ourselves from the media that can influence us and drive us to fear or despair. Somewhere along the line in my pre-Christ existence, somewhere after the death of my son in 2002, I watched the television movie The Day After, a post-nuclear war television film that was made in 1983. Granted, this was probably during the 2-3 year depression I was mired in after the traumatic loss of my son, but I remember that after watching that movie, how the old fears of nuclear annihilation came to the forefront of my mind and how it transformed my perception of a world, causing me to see it as a place plagued with suffering, devoid of meaning, and filled with violence and death. These were, these were some dark days in my mental health because I had suffered loss and was influenced by things I decided to watch. That movie had caused me to question what the point of living was, and I viewed the bright— I viewed the brightest days through a lens that made everything gray. A simple film seen at the wrong time changed my worldview into utter hopelessness. Well, luckily, those bad times and that trauma, trauma of loss caused me to seek the truth of life and death and caused me to seek spiritual answers to these existential questions. And because I sought the truth, even though I took detours that were dead ends, the Lord was gracious and revealed it to me. God revealed his love for me and the world through Christ. He cares enough about us to send his only Begotten Son to die for us, and His Word instructs us to focus on Him. Philippians 4:8-9 says, 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. The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you. God cares about our spiritual and mental health. He wants us to focus on the good rather than the evil. He wants us to live our lives according to the things we can learn from His Word. And when we turn our attention to the things that are true, noble, just, pure, and lovely, and shape our lives to follow the example of Christ and according to the wisdom contained in God's Word, we will experience the presence of the God of peace in our lives. So repent from what you have been allowing to influence your mind, will, and emotions. Turn your eyes and thoughts away from the things that would lead you to sin or cause you to fear and despair. Instead, draw close to God and and keep walking and talking with Him. The more we know Him, who we are in Christ, and make the decision to live by the truth of God's Word, the more peace we will know. Seek God and you will find peace. God bless you and have a great weekend. Today's Bible verse does not come from the New Living Translation Bible, Promise Book for Men, because I left it at my home down by the river. While I had an idea to just go to the next verse sequentially from yesterday's verse, I received an email from a member of my church who pointed, uh, pointed me to Psalm 84 as an encouragement, uh, to me to meditate on God's word in preparation for serving on the prayer team at my local church tomorrow. So I decided to share the first 4 verses from Psalm 84 as this morning's meditation verses are Psalm 84:1-4, and they say, how lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord of God, O Lord of Heaven's armies! I long, yes, I faint with longing to enter the courts of the Lord. With my whole being, body and soul, I will shout joyfully to the living God. Even the sparrow finds a home, and the swallow builds her nest and raises her young at a place near your altar. O LORD of Heaven's Armies, my King and my God, what joy for those who can live in your house, always singing your praises! Today's Bible verses remind us that the house of the Lord is to be a place of joy, that is to be a home away from home in our hearts. If you did not know, going to church is supposed to be a joyful experience. For many of you, that may be a surprise, but unfortunately the vast majority of Christians don't know who they are in Christ nor their freedom in Christ experientially because they, they have categorized religion as a separate part of their lives that is relegated to a day of worship rather than applied to the entirety of their lives. That's often due to ignorance. They never knew how to live the Christian life. Or, uh, choice. You know, they, they, you know, they would rather live like the world and quote-unquote not be holier than thou. Or it's due to the simple fact that they have never made Christ their Lord and Savior. They were in the church but not part of the body of Christ. Not for nothing, but the joy of my salvation is an endless source of joy. The fact of our salvation, that we are accepted by God, is the single most important thing about us, and the great value of our relationship with God should, should always be in our thoughts and cause us to continually give him thanks and praise. So reflect on what the Lord has done for you, for others, for the world, and know how good it is to be a part of His Kingdom and to have the opportunity to gather with others to worship Him. We are commanded to love God with all of our hearts, minds, souls, and strength. So if you don't know what that is like, let me encourage you to seek to know the Lord more and to know who you are in Christ. Because when you have a close relationship with the Lord through faith in Jesus Christ, you should know the love of God and be enthusiastic to express the joy of having been accepted by Him. When we know His love and who we are in Christ experientially, there is joy in the house of the Lord, and that, and that joy goes with you everywhere you go. As always, I invite all to go to mt4christ.org, 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 Clinton Arnold's Powers of Darkness. Uh, today we conclude chapter 2 by sharing the last sections of chapter 2, and the first one is on Dionysus, god of sensual pleasure, and, uh, gods and goddesses in the books of Acts are the two sections that round out chapter 2. And, uh, as a reminder, basically, uh, Clinton Arnold's writing about the, the, the environment in which Paul wrote the epistles. So what was life back then? Well, apparently people worship Dionysus, the god of sensual pleasure. Even though he's not given any credit by most people, I would say that our society sort of shows that we're still, we're still worshiping the god of sensual pleasure as we are consumed with just meeting our physical needs and desires rather than rather than pursuing the Lord when, when we're living a fleshly life. So yikes. So if you, if you'd like to check out that, it's very interesting material, that's why I share it, go to mtforchrist.org to check it out. Um, let's see, we also encourage you obviously to check out our previous teachings on— previous teachings on Christian Discipleship. Yeah, that's it. Uh, basically we've done 3 classes that we make, uh, make available. Um, uh, we make available, uh, they are Victory Over the Darkness, The Bondage Breaker, and Freedom in Christ. I apologize for my distraction there. Um, I'm being blown up on my phone this morning by my daughter who's seeking car insurance, um, and among others. So, uh, we put those phones down and we'll complete the message. And we also obviously revere the word of God, you know, so we, we encourage you to read the Bible every day. And if you need to be part of a Bible study, you can join ours by tuning in on YouTube or listening to the podcast to the Bible study that we do with Arthur and Susanna Kaddi. You'll find those entries under Bible Study with the Tsimkaddis. We do that every Sunday, and we've been releasing the throwback episodes on, uh, of our Zoom pre— our Zoom sessions on our YouTube channel every Wednesday, and that'll continue through the end of July. So if you want, you get 2 Bible studies for the price of 1 on the YouTube channel this, uh, from now until July. It's being released Sunday and Wednesday, Lord willing. Well, that's it for today. It's Saturday. Um, we're gonna do something today. We'll see. Um, but one thing we're gonna do is we're gonna thank and praise the Lord as we go, and we encourage you to do the same. So let's pray. Lord God, Heavenly Father, thank you for another day in the kingdom. Sounds like the dog's barking for a walk. Um, and He won't, he won't take no for an answer. Um, Lord, so we just ask you to give us, uh, patience as we face the things that we have to do and the things that we want to do this weekend. Um, Lord, we just thank you for a, a day off from work to enjoy our family and to enjoy the peace that we have that, that comes from you. Lord, we pray for everyone listening Um, and we just pray for you to come alongside them and wherever they're at, Lord, and help them, guide them, and strengthen them in their walk. And, you know, while you're at it, if you want to bless them with healing or prosperity, you know, we're making those requests too because we need help, um, and we know you're good to give it. So, Lord, just give us what we need and we'll follow you, and we'll follow you anyway because because yours is the way of life everlasting and peace. Um, Lord, we just thank you for everything you've done for us and for opening our eyes. Uh, help us to, um, turn our eyes away from the things that disturb us, um, and that don't really matter when it comes— it comes to, uh, life everlasting. So Lord, help us to do the things that you, you want us to do and hope Open our eyes to the things you want us to see, um, and, uh, that'll help us in our walk. Lord, we thank you, we praise you, we love you, and we pray all these things in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.