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Depart from EVIL (1 John 2:15-16) "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world." The motion picture industry makes millions of dollars every year producing movies that prey upon the lusts, fears, and fantasies of people. This movie and TV addicted generation is being filled with violence, sexual perversion, licentiousness, sensual innuendoes, new age lies, and humanism. These evil perversions are vexing, even destroying the minds and lives of those who feed from them. If we are to see the truth for staying free from the effects this moral decline, we must put the blame in the right place. Each of us must take responsibility for the things we allow to be a part of our everyday living. Evil is like a gun: It can’t hurt anybody unless someone picks it up and uses it. It is not up to the government, or the church, to regulate what we desire, and what we allow to fester in our hearts. We must willingly and whole-heartedly depart from evil. (1 John 2:17) "And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever." Jesus Christ was born with a purpose: To seek and save the lost. He spent His life seeking the Father and overcoming evil with good. When we are born again, we are grafted into the original plan that God had for our lives. That means we no longer look to the world for our incentives, directions, desires, or anything else we used to find there. Now we have a new name, and a new spirit, and a new nature, and yes, a new mind. We have been given the spiritual innocence of a new born child - unless we return to our old and corrupt nature. Christians are entitled to a freedom that you can only experience through obedience to the will of God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ. As we are obedient to follow in what Jesus would have us to do, we won’t have time for filling our minds and hearts with the trivial and evil contraband that the world feeds on. (2 Cor 5:17) "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new." With the new life that Jesus gives, we need no longer to concentrate on the dead works and failures of our past. We must spend our time in this new life learning and doing the will of the one who has redeemed us from utter destruction. We must come to the understanding that we are now a human, living, moving part of the body of Christ. That means we are part of the natural effect that God has on this world. I hope you get the revelation of that deep in your hearts. Do you know someone who constantly struggles with mental, physical, emotional, or spiritual infirmities, (and you know it is not in God’s plan for their life) but you don’t know what to do about it? Pray for that person every day with your whole heart, pray in the spirit, and touch that person's life as the Lord leads you to. Sometimes we say, "Well the Lord didn’t give me a burden to pray for so’n’so". Well, did He give us a burden to watch perversion, or listen to trashy talk shows? I’m positive that He won’t hold it against us if He finds us pouring our hearts out for the needs of others. Life is full of choices. Every day we find new opportunities to advance or decline in the walk of the Spirit. If we allow evil to be an active part of what we do each day, we will be filled with fears, entrapped by inordinate desires, and held captive in the same strongholds that we have been sent to free the world from. Be determined to do that which God has purposed for your life. Live in the newness of Christ. Talk the new talk, walk the new walk. Take the first step, depart from evil. -KURT THURSTON September Newsletter 1997 | Listening Is Hearing | Pastor's Journal September 1996 The Fruit of Our Lips | Depart from Evil | Called, Chosen and Faithful Revised: February 22, 2008. |
Biblical Counseling for Leaders
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