Being Transformed and Defending Against Temptation – Purity 1473
Purity 1473 10/10/2024 Purity 1473 Audio Podcast
Purity 1473 on YouTube:
Good morning,
Well, it’s Thursday, and I share today’s asphalt pathway photo as a visual encouragement to get on or to stay on the path of Christian Discipleship, where you will progressively leave the darkness of the past behind as you draw ever closer to the life of goodness and light that the Lord has for you right now and into the future.
Spiritual formation or “being transformed into the people that God made us to be” is a process that takes time and so we consider our spiritual lives to be a journey of growth and maturation. You can’t expect a toddler to go from crawling to walking instantly and likewise, you can’t expect new believers in Christ to instantly live a righteous and holy life.
However, if someone says that they are serious about following the Lord, you would expect that they would make attempts to turn from the sinful lifestyle choices of their pasts. If Christ, who lived a sinless life, is our example we shouldn’t have a blasé attitude toward our sin. While it is right to acknowledge that we were just a sinner saved by grace, after we put our faith in Jesus, we are no longer sinners, but saints and we should follow the Lord to become more and more like Jesus.
Ephesians 5:8-20 (NLT2) tells us:
8 For once you were full of darkness, but now you have light from the Lord. So live as people of light!
9 For this light within you produces only what is good and right and true.
10 Carefully determine what pleases the Lord.
11 Take no part in the worthless deeds of evil and darkness; instead, expose them.
12 It is shameful even to talk about the things that ungodly people do in secret.
13 But their evil intentions will be exposed when the light shines on them,
14 for the light makes everything visible. This is why it is said, “Awake, O sleeper, rise up from the dead, and Christ will give you light.”
15 So be careful how you live. Don’t live like fools, but like those who are wise.
16 Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days.
17 Don’t act thoughtlessly, but understand what the Lord wants you to do.
18 Don’t be drunk with wine, because that will ruin your life. Instead, be filled with the Holy Spirit, 19 singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, and making music to the Lord in your hearts.
20 And give thanks for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
So as new creations in Christ, we have to follow these instructions for living a Christian life, and to overcome sin we will need to be able to say no to temptation when it comes calling us back into the darkness.
Today’s In Touch with Dr. Charles Stanley devotional speaks on defending against temptation so I am sharing it on the blog today to encourage all of us to be wise and to rely on our relationship with God to give us a defense that will help us to win the battle when temptation comes calling. Dr. Charles Stanley writes:
“Defend Against Temptation
Temptation comes to all; the wise prepare for it.
“When we struggle with temptation, understanding how it works can be helpful. Every sin originates as a thought (James 1:14-15). If we hold on to the thought, it becomes a fantasy—the chance to imagine what pursuing that notion would be like, without actually doing so. Fantasies can easily become entangled with our emotions. This creates a desire, which brings us to the point where a choice must be made. And we must either consent to the sin or refuse. This process is quite dangerous, as the progression from thought to choice can be almost instantaneous.
Wise believers determine ahead of time to resist temptation. They build the defense before the offense happens. There are two cornerstones to a good defense: the recognition that God’s in control and the commitment to obey Him (1 Corinthians 10:13; James 4:7).
We can further fortify our defense when temptation actually comes. Satan has a way of spotlighting the pleasure of sin until it’s all we see. But with prayerful effort, we can retrain our focus to take in the bigger picture: Is this choice a violation of God’s Word? What are the consequences?
No one can resist temptation perfectly—we’ll all continue to struggle with sin. But the more we meditate on Scripture and communicate with God, the stronger our defense will be.” – Charles Stanley
Amen.
To overcome sin, we must choose to follow the Lord and turn from our sin.
We make the decision to “go and sin no more” as Christ directs us.
But we must not try to overcome in our own strength because we will fail every time – without God, we tried to change and couldn’t.
So we go to God in prayer as we go through life – to ask for His strength and wisdom.
Also, we examine our thought life and the “game film” of how we failed in the past – we seek to learn how or why we fell into sin and then “game plan” to come up with a defense to prevent the same mistakes.
With God’s help and being committed to doing things His way, we can do the impossible. We can walk free.
So keep walking and talking with God – and commit your mind, soul, heart, and body to doing things His way.
We tried life our way and our plan didn’t work. Let’s surrender to the One who loves us and knows what’s right. Let’s follow the Lord.
———————————————————————–
For those who want more evidence for Christianity than my simple encouragements provide, I offer apologist, Frank Turek’s website, https://crossexamined.org/ .
————————————————————————
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 comes from the section on Forgiving Others
1 Peter 4:8 (NIV2011)
8 Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.
Today’s verse falls under the tenth point of our counseling reference guide resource’s section on Forgiving Others.
10. Love covers (overlooks) a multitude of sins.
Today’s Bible verse exhorts us to love each other deeply, because God knows that when we act in love, we will forgive one another, seek to make peace with one another, and choose to do things that will not harm or offend one another.
Love covers a multitude of sins not because it chooses to ignore wrongdoing or turn a blind eye to one another’s sin. Love covers a multitude of sins because true love would cause us to forgive or seek forgiveness, make peace, and most importantly – repent of the things that caused division in the first place.
We can love someone without affirming their sinful choices. We can forgive someone without necessarily welcoming them back into our lives. When we choose to follow the Lord, we choose to love and forgive but we also choose to live by God’s word, which will include establishing boundaries in our lives to limit sin’s reach into our lives and keep darkness at bay. So let the love of the Lord guide your relationships and encourage those who sin against you to surrender to the love and lordship of Jesus to have all their sins washed clean.
———————————————————–
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. Olford – A Collection of Devotional Journals: 1940-1941.
As always, I share this information for educational purposes and encourage you all to purchase Olford’s books for your own private study and to support his work. This resource is available online for less than $10 at many sites.
EVENING READING: 1 JOHN 2
“Whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is
perfected in him.” – 1 John 2:5
“Perfect love casts out fear” (1 John 4:18). Love as I have seen in past quiet times is the “more excellent way” (1 Cor. 12:31). It is the sum and total of all that is spiritual, “for God is love” (1 John 4:8).
In this verse, John says, “Whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him.” Thus, the secret of perfect love in the experience of the Christian is the keeping of God’s Word. The Lord Jesus said, “If you love Me, keep My commandments” (John 14:15).
O Lord, give me the needed grace to keep
Your Word and obey Your commands,
that Your love may be perfected in me.[1]
—————————more tomorrow————————
The MT4Christ247 audio podcast is available on YouTube, Apple, Amazon, Spotify, iHeartradio, Podbean, Audible, and many more podcast platforms!
Subscribe to The MT4Christ247 Channel on YouTube!
Email me at m.t.clark@mt4christ.com with any questions, or comments, or to inquire about our Christian Life Coaching or Prayer Ministry Services.
“The views, opinions, and commentary of this publication are those of the author, M.T. Clark, only, and do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of any of the photographers, artists, ministries, or other authors of the other works that may be included in this publication, and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of any entities the author may represent.”
Encouragement for the Path of Christian Discipleship
[1] Stephen Olford and Heather Olford, According to Your Word: Morning and Evening Through the New Testament, A Collection of Devotional Journals 1940-1941 (Nashville, TN: B&H Books, 2008).
Leave a Reply