Media that Corrupts – Self-Deception Series 11 – Purity 1100

 

Media that Corrupts – Self-Deception Series 11 – Purity
1100

Purity 1100 07/20/2023  Purity 1100 Podcast

Purity 1100 on YouTube: Coming Soon!

Good morning,

Today’s photo of sunset at Rhino Rock, Cape Northumberland, in Port Mac Donnell,
South Australia comes to us from Dave Baun Photography (https://www.facebook.com/DaveBaunPhotographyz)
as Dave shared this scene on social media back on May 15^th, commenting
that it “Could be time for another trek down south!” 

Well, it’s Friday, Thank God, and
it is my prayer that all who see or hear this message are able to take some
time this weekend to enjoy themselves and find peace, and perhaps to take Dave’s
suggestion to return to a familiar place where you have found joy in the
past.  

While there is some truth to Thomas
Wolfe’s adage that “You Can’t Go Home Again”,  meaning you can’t return to a place at another
time and find everything the same, it doesn’t mean that we “will never be happy
again like we were in the past” or that we can’t find joy in revisiting haunts
from the past.  The trap we run into that
can cause us to lament over the loss of things that have passed or way or that
have changed lies in have an irrational expectation that things will be
unchanged or will provide the same experience that we had in the past, which
both are impossibilities.  

Things, and ourselves, and in
constant flux, if nothing else we age and time cause things to deteriorate.
Also if we are fortunate, we mature and the same things that delighted our
childish or worldly sensibilities lose their luster as we see them for what
they are and how they were never supposed to be the “idols” that we made them
out to be. 

I remember when I returned home from
my first semester away at college and was surprised at how small the kitchen of
my home had seemed to have gotten.  I
guess my “child-like” expectations and perceptions of that room were challenged
as had some distance from it and now reentered that space as a man. Although I
had a lot of things to learn and to grow out of still, I wasn’t a kid anymore
and even my perceptions of my home was changed as my childhood was over.

But this shift didn’t mean that all
was lost, and joy was no more. It didn’t mean that I should regress into
playing with childhood toys or to try to kneel down to regain a childlike
perspective, it just meant that I was to find joy where I was now and to
rejoice over the fact that I was blessed with growth and the ability to develop
into maturity and new tastes.    

It matters how we perceive the
world and the way we see it is directly impacted by the things we put our
attention to.  As Christians who are
trying to be sanctified and to be more and more like Jesus, we have to realize
that some of the things that we enjoyed in our pre-Christ existence are not
good for us and no longer are appropriate for who we are now in Christ.   Some of the things we enjoyed before go
against the word of God and the spirit of our new lives in Christ, and rather
than persisting in our “childish” – worldly ways, we should set our minds,
eyes, and ears on things that are good. As

Philippians 4:8 (NKJV) tells us
⁸  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.

So we shouldn’t believe the lie that turning
our attention to worldly things won’t corrupt us.

And that brings us to our current series on Self-
Deception, where we have decided to investigate some of the ways we deceive
ourselves by walking through Step 2, Deception Vs. Truth, of the Steps to
Freedom in Christ to see what ways we may have been deceived by “the world” and
ourselves and in what ways we have wrongly defended ourselves. 

So we present the ninth “Way You Can Be Deceived By
the World”:

10. Believing that I can read, see, or listen to
anything and not be corrupted.

The scripture reference for this point is:

Proverbs 4:23-27 (NLT2)
²³  Guard your heart above all
else, for it determines the course of your life.
²⁴  Avoid all perverse talk; stay
away from corrupt speech.
²⁵  Look straight ahead, and
fix your eyes on what lies before you.
²⁶  Mark out a straight path
for your feet; stay on the safe path.
²⁷  Don’t get sidetracked; keep
your feet from following evil.

And

Matthew 5:28 (NLT2)
²⁸  But
I say, anyone who even looks at a woman with lust has already committed
adultery with her in his heart.

Hey, I’ll keep it real as someone
who didn’t come to Christ until later in life, I enjoyed rock n’ roll, alternative
rock, rap, hip-hop, the books of Stephen King, rated R movies, Horror and
science fiction movies and tv shows that weren’t shy in their use of profanity
or nudity.   But I would like to point
out that I was living in the flesh – I was an addict for entertainment,
substance, and sex. I was in a vicious cycle of trying to satisfy my desires virtually
all the time.  And if I am honest the
things I watched, read, and listened to did nothing to dissuade my fleshly
habits. In truth, the media that I consumed went hand in hand with my fleshly lifestyle
and fueled my desires and encouraged me to express my anger, my lust, my fear,
and even my depression.  The media I consumed
also gave me no hope of any meaning and purpose to life, other than to “live it
up” and to “do whatever I wanted to do”. 
The media I consumed encouraged me to satisfy myself and myself
alone.    

So, after becoming a born again
disciple of Jesus Christ, my eyes were opened to not only the truth of the
gospel. After I was “saved”, it has become increasingly revealed to me how all
the things that I used to put my attention on were harmful and antithetical to
who I am in Christ.   The music, tv shows, and movies I watched fed
my lust and led me into sin and the negative consequences and emotions that
stem from sin.   I am still learning
about how the things of my pre-Christ existence have the tendency to corrupt me
and I am continually learning this lesson again and again.  

I will still watch the
occasional horror film and occasionally listen to secular music but for the
most part I have pulled the plug on secular entertainments because I have grown
increasingly sensitive to the fact that these things aren’t good for my soul.
After indulging in these periodic returns to my interests, I am often dissatisfied
either with the quality or the content and feel like I have to be cleansed and
repent leading me to invariably ask for the Lord’s forgiveness.  I have noticed the subtle way that secular
media undermines the word of God, causes disquieting emotions, and can lead
into temptation.   

So be aware that while we are
free to watch, read, or listen to anything, we are not free from the negative
consequences of indulging in things that can corrupt us.   

As

1
Corinthians 10:23 (NKJV) tells us
²³  All things are lawful for
me, but not all things are helpful; all things are lawful for me, but not all
things edify.

So focus on these
good, noble, and pure things and seek to be edified (morally or intellectually improved)
with the things that you listen to, watch, or read.   

God may have
found you in the midst of consuming secular media, but it doesn’t mean that He
wants you to stay there.  Instead to walk
in the Spirit with what you put before your mind, eyes, and ears and seek the kingdom
of God and His righteousness to know the peace and true freedom that comes from
being more and more like Jesus.

——————————————————————————————–

Today’s
Bible verse comes to us from “The Quick Scripture Reference for Counseling” By
John G. Kruis.

(
While Bible verses on various topics of Counseling can be found with a quick
google search, we encourage you to purchase this resource to support the late
author’s work. (https://www.amazon.com/Quick-Scripture-Reference-Counseling-Kruis-ebook/dp/B00CIUJZT2?ref_=ast_author_dp )

This
morning’s meditation verse come from the section on Adultery:

Genesis 39:6-21 (NLT2)
⁶  So Potiphar gave Joseph
complete administrative responsibility over everything he owned. With Joseph
there, he didn’t worry about a thing—except what kind of food to eat! Joseph
was a very handsome and well-built young man,
⁷  and Potiphar’s wife soon
began to look at him lustfully. “Come and sleep with me,” she demanded. ⁸  But Joseph refused. “Look,” he told
her, “my master trusts me with everything in his entire household. ⁹  No one here has more authority than I
do. He has held back nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How
could I do such a wicked thing? It would be a great sin against God.” ¹⁰  She kept putting pressure on Joseph
day after day, but he refused to sleep with her, and he kept out of her way as
much as possible.
¹¹  One day, however, no one
else was around when he went in to do his work.
¹²  She came and grabbed him
by his cloak, demanding, “Come on, sleep with me!” Joseph tore himself away,
but he left his cloak in her hand as he ran from the house.
¹³  When she saw that she was
holding his cloak and he had fled, ¹⁴  she
called out to her servants. Soon all the men came running. “Look!” she said.
“My husband has brought this Hebrew slave here to make fools of us! He came
into my room to rape me, but I screamed. ¹⁵  When
he heard me scream, he ran outside and got away, but he left his cloak behind
with me.” ¹⁶  She kept the
cloak with her until her husband came home.
¹⁷  Then she told him her
story. “That Hebrew slave you’ve brought into our house tried to come in and
fool around with me,” she said. ¹⁸  “But
when I screamed, he ran outside, leaving his cloak with me!”
¹⁹  Potiphar was furious when
he heard his wife’s story about how Joseph had treated her. ²⁰  So he took Joseph and threw him into
the prison where the king’s prisoners were held, and there he remained.
²¹  But the LORD was with Joseph in the prison and showed
him his faithful love. And the LORD
made Joseph a favorite with the prison warden.

Today’s verse falls under
the 19^th point of our counseling reference guide resource’s section
on adultery, 19. “When he was tempted by Potiphar’s wife to commit adultery,
Joesph refused to sin against God.”

Today is the last day on
our series of Adultery, the 19^th and final point, and it tells the
story of faithful Joesph who knew how wicked and evil adultery was (before the
10 Commandments) and that it was not only a sin against Potiphar, but against
God Himself. 

Joseph knew the Lord and
knew that adultery was something that he should literally run from, and he did.
And even though he was wrongfully accused of attempted rape and was imprisoned
the Lord was with Him and eventually delivered and exalted Joseph to the 2^nd
highest position in all of Egypt which allowed him to save his family from
famine and forgive his brothers who had sold him into slavery in the first
place! 

God is holy and calls His
people into a holy life and even though we may suffer for choosing to be pure
and separated from the world at times, the Lord is faithful to His people and
will take what the enemy meant for evil and turn it for good.  So flee sexual immorality and trust your life
to God who works all things together for good for those who love Him and are
called according to His purposes.

——————————————————————–

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  The Holy Spirit By A.W. Pink.

As always, I share this information for educational
purposes and encourage you all to purchase A.W. Pink’s books for your own
private study and to support his work.  This resource is available online
for $0.99 (https://www.amazon.com/Holy-Spirit-Arthur-Pink-Collection-ebook/dp/B008CM5292/ref=sr_1_3?crid=AHKAQOM39CTN&keywords=a.w.+pink+the+holy+spirit&qid=1684376225&sprefix=a.w.+pink+the+holy+spirit+%2Caps%2C96&sr=8-3) 

A.W. Pink’s The Holy Spirit

14 – The Spirit Comforting

How the
Spirit Comforts

And how
does the Spirit work faith in the convicted sinner’s heart? By effectually
testifying to him of the sufficiency of Christ for his every need; by assuring
him of the Savior’s readiness to receive the vilest who come to Him. He
effectually teaches him that no good qualifications need to be sought, no
righteous acts performed, no penance endured in order to fit us for Christ. He
reveals to the soul that conviction of sin, deep repenting, a sense of our
utter helplessness, are not grounds
of acceptance with Christ, but simply a consciousness of our spiritual
wretchedness, rendering relief in a way of grace
truly welcome. Repentance is needful not as inducing Christ to give, but as
disposing us to receive. The Spirit moves us to come to Christ in the very
character in which alone He receives sinners—as vile, ruined, lost. Thus, from
start to finish “Salvation is of the Lord”
(Jonah 2:9)—of the Father in ordaining it, of the Son in purchasing it, of the Spirit in applying it.^[1]

—————————more
tomorrow————————

Join our “Victory over the Darkness”, “The Bondage
Breaker”, “Freedom in Christ” series of Discipleship Classes via the
mt4christ247 podcast!

at https://mt4christ247.podbean.com, You can also find it on Apple podcasts

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These teachings are also available on the
MT4Christ247 You Tube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@MT4Christ247

Email me at mt4christ247@gmail.com to receive the class materials, share your progress, and
to be encouraged.

My wife, TammyLyn, also offers Christian
encouragement via her Ask Seek Knock blog (https://tammylynask.blogspot.com/ ),  her
Facebook Group: Ask, Seek, Knock (https://www.facebook.com/groups/529047851449098 ) and her podcast Ask, Seek, and Knock on
Podbean (https://feed.podbean.com/tammalyn78/feed.xml)

For those who require the assistance of a Deeper
Walk International Prayer Minister to experience healing or your freedom in
Christ, I highly recommend Christy Edge’s Life on the Edge Freedom Prayer
Ministry. You can schedule a session by going to : https://cedge216.wixsite.com/life-on-the-edge     

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Encouragement
for the Path of Christian Discipleship