THIRTY ONE DAYS OF PRAYER AND THE WORD:JANUARY 1-31, 2015 THEME: "ABIDE"

DAY SIX:
VERSE:

But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him.  He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked....(1 John 2:5-6)
PRAYER:
Oh Most Holy and Heavenly Father, I think You that Your Word, Oh God, is written in the Heavens. I thank You that Your Word is Truth. I thank You that Your Words will never fade or pass away and therefore, because You keep Your Word, I pledge to do my part and keep Your Word hidden in my heart and shown through my actions and deeds, that Christ lives within me. 

Lord, may Your Holy Spirit, the Spirit of all Truth, Wisdom and Understand Who keeps me permanently connected to the Eternal, fortify my will to keep Your Word of Truth firmly embedded, to keep it from shame and slander, to keep it from dishonor and degradation and to keep and guard it as jealously as You guard Your Holy Name. Your Love commands, compels and gives me confidence in Your Word to remain faithful to it, to obey it and dwell on it as our Savior did. Your Word says in Hebrews 5:7 that our Savior's prayers, cries and petitions were heard because of His piety, obedience and submission to Your Will and Yours alone.

Let us now walk in that Truth, in the Path of Persistent Obedience where He, the Lord Jesus, walked that we may too be found in Him, to the praise and glory of His Name. By this Truth we know we are His, in Him, in His Will and walking in His Ways. Lord we long to be like Jesus, and to live, walk, talk and rest in You as He did and may ALL our worship be Yours and His, throughout our lives, in the Strong and Mighty Name of King Jesus I pray, amen.

GUARD YOUR HEART....

THE SEVENTH COMMANDMENT

(Exodus 20:14)

Just a few weeks ago, the most popular evangelical preacher in Indiana was discovered to have committed adultery on his wife, the daughter of another famous charismatic preacher in that state. Strangely enough, the 54 year old married father and husband had just recently completed a sermon series on youth and pre-marital sex, when a deacon accidentally found his cell phone. The preacher had left his smartphone on the pulpit and as the deacon was about to return the phone, a photo popped up in a text from a 17 year old college kid which showed this famous preacher and the co-ed in an extremely uncompromising position.

Within days, this man was fired by the church and is still under investigation by the local authorities and the FBI to see if he ever crossed state lines with an underage girl! How can something like this happen to a man of God? How can he allow himself to fall into not just an adulterous relationship of any kind, but more specifically with potentially a minor? How? How? How? 

The answer is SIN! All kinds of sin are always crouching at the door and many of us choose to answer the knock and invite them in! Sin is exceedingly sinful and too many children of God choose to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a short season, after which comes the destructive consequences which last a lifetime or 1000's of years! Too bad King David did not heed the warning of King Jesus, Whose Spirit lived in David at the time he stayed back on purpose to spy on Bathsheba, when he should have been at the head of his army. Here is what Jesus said in Matthew 5: 28 "But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart".

King David knew exactly what he was doing. He broke that first rule where his eyes were fixed on a neighbor, knowing fully well who her husband was. Uriah the Hittite was one of David's "Mighty Men" (read 1 Chronicles 11) - Close friends who stood with him for years when Saul was trying to kill him. These mighty men gave their lives to serve this king and Uriah was repaid for his loyalty and friendship by having David kill him and steal his only wife (when David already had other beautiful wives)! The consequences of David's sin are still with us, just as those of, not just this, yet another fallen pastor or anyone who wrecks an entire family by breaking the Seventh Commandment. David's sin led to the completely breakup of mighty Israelite empire which will never be restored until the Second Coming of Jesus Christ and the 1000 year reign from Jerusalem. There will be no chance of Sin in this Kingdom, because Jesus Himself will be sitting on the Throne in Jerusalem!

Our great God put that Commandment in there for a reason - He wanted a pure, sinless and holy people who would show their loyalty to Him by how we show our loyalty to our spouses and families. It was immediately violated, both before and after the giving of the Law on Mt Sinai to Moses and continues to this day. 

Temptation to sin is as natural as breathing air. It is all around us and we have all been tempted in this sin more than once. The next thing is this - if you are a Bible believing Christian who is up front about who you are and WHOSE you are, the devil has the biggest bullseye on your forehead as well as your back. He, the devil, wants to destroy  the effectiveness of your testimony for Christ. This way, if we give in to his temptation, the world he now controls for a short time more, will look at the rest of us with open contempt and disgust! How many more times should we be have to be called "hypocrites" and worse or have some unbelieving pagan say "I knew he/she was a fake all along"....and more and more, this is happening in youth groups, between choir members or best friends who are married to other people!

If anyone tells you that he or she has never been tempted with this sin, and offered up forbidden fruit for the taking, they have just broken another commandment - LYING! Even worse, they have now opened up themselves to be tempted even more by the devil! Because of this specific pride and stupidity, they are now in MORE danger than the man or woman who humbly seeks God's protection from this evil! 

Christians who flirt with disaster by continually talking about sex or watching provocative TV shows, movies etc are sowing the seeds of their own destruction by opening up with minds to thoughts of the "grass being greener" elsewhere where the first opportunity to grab a hold of that forbidden fruit may not be successfully fought off! The devil can't make us sin. All he can do is serve up the dish. All we SHOULD do is refuse his hand and walk away from it as fast as we can.

God uses several pro-active words to exhort us to go as far away from temptation when this type of thing happens. He uses words like "resist the devil and he will flee from you"..."flee immorality"..."flee the desires of youthful lusts"...in fact the word "Flee" is used quite a bit! In the Greek language it is "pheugo" which specifically means seek the absolute safety of escaping and running AWAY from danger! There is nothing cowardly of doing what a Christian is supposed to do when confronted by a floozy with bedroom eyes, who may dress or smell better than the wife you left at home with the screaming kids and the snotty noses! Run like hell from those types of women (or men)! Literally! Take to heart what the Admiral (NBA star David Robinson) once said "If it comes down to my wife getting hurt and some other women (made a pass at him), his wife is not going to be the one hurt".

This is another way of repeating what Jesus said in Malachi 2:15 "Did he not make them one, with a portion of the Spirit in their union? And what was the one God seeking? Godly offspring. So guard yourselves in your spirit, and let none of you be faithless to the wife of your youth." If we live by these words and stay close to the Word of God....if we love our families as much as we say we love God....and if we CONSTANTLY remember to guard our hearts, there is less chance of actually breaking this most important of Commandments, no matter how intense the spiritual warfare against us and our souls!
Amen

(Image by Google)

FLIRTING WITH DISASTER

Part 2 - RUN LIKE HELL!

We're flirtin' with disaster, ya'll know what I mean 
And the way we run our lives it makes no sense to me 
I don't know about yourself or what you wanna to be, yeah 
When we gamble with our time we choose our destiny...(Molly Hatchet, 1979)


Yesterday, we looked briefly at the possibility of pitfalls when people play with fire by indulging in what they think is "innocent" flirtation in offices. This is not limited to offices, but men of God and pastors face the same thing when the council females of any age, one on one in their offices. Neither of these actions are wise at all - no way!

I believe in the Sufficiency of Scripture, in that, the Bible has both the illustrations and the examples for us to learn from, glean and then follow as we seek to improve and grow as men and women of God. There are two perfect examples of Temptation and let us look how each person involved dealt with it.


JOSEPH (Genesis 39: 1-12) was tempted by the boss' wife while serving Potiphar, the head official in Egypt. He was obviously a lot younger and a single man so Potiphar's wife began to eye him. She made several blunt approaches and, with integrity, he politely but firmly, declined them all. The final time she tried to seduce him, she actually laid her hands on him and grabbed his coat as he escaped her evil clutches. Joseph, for lack of better terms, ran like hell!


EVE (Genesis 3:1-6) was negotiating with a snake who told the first lies of Creation. He deceived her. She took the forbidden fruit and offered it to the man, Adam, who stood there and watched the entire thing without saying a word, and they both ate it. This was in direct defiance and disobedience to the Word of God and here we are today.


Joseph ran. 
Eve will stand. 
Joseph paid a temporary price.
Eve brought the entire race down.
Joseph later gave life and food to many because God favored him.
Eve led and will lead billions to hell for their sins against Holy God.


How can people avoid this? How can we NOT flirt with disaster? Without writing an entire book on this, which I can do, here are some bullet point steps:

TO AVOID FLIRTING WITH DISASTER:

- Take heed, less ye fall....realize this can happen to you and do NOT get full of sinful pride. Man is not that good. Even the strongest can and WILL be tempted.
-  Realize that, as the song says above, in certain ways, we DO "choose our destiny". The devil tempted Eve and lied and twisted her thinking but here is what the Bible says "So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. (Genesis 3:6 ESV)...
- Realize therefore, the devil CANNOT make you do it. You can walk away! Do NOT negotiate with sin! Do not stand there when she bats her sexy eyes and asks you to lunch, and say "I will think about it, when the answer is NO, I can't go to lunch with you, I am a married man"! Here is what God says you should do from James 4:7 "Submit therefore to God and stand against Satan, and he will flee from you (Aramaic Bible - Jesus spoke Aramaic).
-  Realize the devil is a coward and when you call on everything you have learned from years of church, small group or even if you do not go to church...there were some things called "Marriage vows" - rebuke the sorry son of perdition, Satan and his female acolyte he sent to tempt you and watch him leave you alone! But you have to mean it!

- Realize the devil will only get what you give him. Give him nothing. Give him a firm stand against sin and then give him Jesus, the Name of Jesus and the Word of Jesus to "get thee behind me Satan".

- Realize, when all else fails, you can still run like the wind! Flee immortality, my friends, do not flirt with trouble! Life is full enough of some major stuff, let's not bring pain, emotional scars and suffering to our loved ones by this kind of garbage.

- Realize that we MUST guard our hearts as we are commanded by a God who said this: “For the man who does not love his wife but divorces her, says the LORD, the God of Israel, covers his garment with violence, says the LORD of hosts. So guard yourselves in your spirit, and do not be faithless.”(Malachi 2:16 ESV). The Lord is saying here "make sure all your flanks are covered" and especially your mind. Don't be flattered that the best looking person in the office or wherever is making a play for you. This is a test of your character, so let us not fail the One Who died for us on the Cross!

Finally do not soil the Testimony God has given you, for the passing cheap thrills of expensive perfume and flesh, which mask the stench of death and destruction. 

Father God, in the Name of Jesus, help us to understand Your Word, Your commands to us, Your demand that we walk in Holiness and Righteousness and never let us take our eyes of the Prize of Christ. Lord, You know that sometimes we are weak and the evil one can attack when we are distracted and not expecting a full assault on our hearts, minds and our very souls. Give us the strength to remember Jesus and do as He did, quote the Word back to evil and just say "it is written" and Father God, that Word, Your Word, will be all we need to rebuke sin, the flesh and the devil and flee the other way, so that we will be free from the fruits of unrighteousness all the days of our lives, in Jesus Holy and Mighty and Strong Name, amen and amen!

(images by google images)

HOW DO I THINK ON THESE THINGS?

PART 3.....MODUS OPERANDI.....Foundational Truths

REQUIREMENTS:
Thinking Biblically, which we attempt to do and share daily here and elsewhere, requires a mind surrendered completely to God. It is also necessary to be teachable.


Being teachable requires humility.

Humility requires your acknowledgement that He is God and WE ARE NOT!


If all of this is lined up, we have the Blueprint for the Foundation of a Mind set on the Kingdom of God and not of this world! We now have something Holy Spirit can work with! God resists the proud but gives Grace to the Humble.


Therefore:


FROM THE BOOK OF PHILIPPIANS CHAPTER 4:
(Exhortations in BOLD BLUE)
A. THE FOUNDATION FOR THE RIGHT MINDSET:


⁴ Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice! -


Worship and Praise! Gratitude over what He has done for you will spur you to have joy unspeakable and an unmistakeably thankful heart! This leads to WORSHIP!!!

⁵ Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand. 


Be kind, compassionate and gentle like our Savior. He was/is God and could have thrown His Power around - He didn't! He came to love the unloveable and save the "un-saveable" (so to speak). Don't be a doormat, yet show the Love of Christ. It wins every time!


⁶ Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; 


While the world around you is losing their collective minds - you stand firm in the knowledge that YOU are God's Child. Nothing can separate you from Him and Holy Spirit (or God in us) confirms this, if you're paying attention and do not grieve Him by active, ongoing sin! 
Secondly - pray with humility and thanksgiving.  DO NOT GO TO GOD WITH A LAUNDRY LIST...HAVE A LIST...BUT GET TO IT AFTER YOU HAVE PROPERLY PRAISED AND THANKED HIM, my friends! He already knows what we are going to ask Him to do! He is waiting to see HOW you're going to ask! 
Ask with arrogance - forgeddaboudit!
Ask with meekness and a spirit of helplessness - He listens!
When God listens, He gives peace, revelation right away. The answer may take time, or not, but an answer will come! He has guaranteed it!


⁷ and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.


You are to pour all of these attributes above, as the concrete into your "Mindset Foundation". Look at the list in just these past few comments in blue:
Humility
Gentleness
Compassion
Self-control
Joy
Gratitude
Worship.....why, some of these sound like the Fruits of the Spirit!!!!!!!!!!! 
You are correct! That's the Foundation!


Finally - He said, GUARD your hearts! Do not love the flesh, tempting sights and sounds of this World, more than you love God! Guard your heart means - WATCH IT! Don't fall for temptation to flirt with disaster, either with an illicit affair or false doctrine or nice sounding cultural trends etc!
You should not just guard your heart, and especially if you are married, but protect garbage from going into your mind! This can be garbage from TV, even harmless sounding things like political shows which can rile you up...turn away from them....!!



TOMORROW: THE FORMULA (IN SOME DETAIL) FOR THE RIGHT MINDSET!

(image by google images)