I am Not Holy. – Lies of the
Enemy #22– Purity 1034
Purity 1034 05/03/2023
Purity 1034 on YouTube:
Good morning,
Today’s photo of a winding country road under blue
skies with mountains in the background, presumably in North Carolina, comes to us from Fred Dimmick who shared this
photo on social media yesterday. Fred recently shared how he had retired back on May 1st of 2019 and made the decision to
leave upstate New York for Kentucky but then ended up moving to Florida and now
he finds himself in North Carolina where we see these country roads.
I have been following Fred's photos since then and
didn't realize that it's been four years! I would have sworn it was probably
only a couple of years but time flies when you're moving and just following
where the Lord leads you. That's what I've been doing and I'm pretty sure
that's what Fred's been doing too, in his own way.
Fred had commented on how he spent his entire life
just across the street from the house his grandfather had lived all his life and
now in four years he's had all kinds of adventures seeing different parts of
the country and sharing his travels online. Fred's post encouraged all of his friends to
pursue what they wanted to pursue and to enjoy their lives by taking the road
less traveled.
Well it's Thursday, and I share Fred’s photo because
it's a great shot and as a visual reminder to get on or to stay on the path of
Christian discipleship because I've discovered that the adventure that the Lord
has for us is a lot better than we could have ever imagined or planned for
ourselves. And while the journey He may put you on may not have you moving
about the country, although it might - even if it's just the country within driving distance from your home,
when you walk with the Lord your peace and joy increases because not only are
you appreciating your life and the beautiful things around you, you are doing
it in the presence of the One who made it all because He loves us. Our walk
with the Lord isn't marching orders. It's an invitation to know Him, to know
ourselves, and to discover what He has for us to do. And it's good.
I know before coming to Christ, I thought that the
Christian life wasn't for me. I knew my thoughts and interests and didn't see
how what I wanted had anything to do with God. I thought that the Lord would
limit what I could do and I challenged what I understood to be what God wanted
us to believe or do mostly because I had a thrill to do what was forbidden and
rather turn towards his ways I followed the impulse to do things my way and in
some ways knowing that what I wanted was wrong all along. I not only went
against God's wisdom, but I went against what my parents taught me, what's
society said, and want my own common sense tried to tell me. Somewhere along
the line I got the idea that as long as I didn't get in trouble there were no
wrong things but that was a lie. But because I had these ideas about being
above the law and knowing the intentions of my own heart, I decided I couldn't
be a Christian because I wasn't holy. I
thought holiness was something you had to earn or something that you were just
naturally gifted with. In my mind holy people were good people and my dark
desires told me I wasn't a good person. So I spent most of my life doing things
my way and rejecting the idea of being a Christian even if I had a loose
association with Christianity through my family traditions and liturgical
church background. I guess I saw myself as a black sheep and even if I was in
the assembly of believers and even if I wanted to believe, I thought that I was
different and really worried about my eternal destiny.
Bible passages like:
1
Peter 1:14-16 (NLT2) didn’t help – in it the Apostle Peter writes
14 So you must live as God’s
obedient children. Don’t slip back into your old ways of living to satisfy your
own desires. You didn’t know any better then.
15 But now you must be holy
in everything you do, just as God who chose you is holy.
16 For the Scriptures say,
“You must be holy because I am holy.”
I
wasn’t obedient so I figured there was no way that I would ever “be holy”. I
saw holiness as “being good” – if you are not good you are not holy. And so I believed I could never be “holy”.
But
that was a lie based on ignorance and a misunderstanding of what holiness is and
who makes us holy.
And this brings us to our current series, the Lies
of the Enemy, which is
an examination of some of the common lies, sometimes sneakily whispered into
our minds as “first person” statements, that the enemy tells us to cause us to
doubt our faith, lose our peace, cause division, or influence us to not follow
the Lord with the way we live our lives.
Today’s big lie is:
Lie
#22: I am NOT Holy.
This
is a lie the enemy has no problem selling to us all. Any impure or sinful attitude or action in us
testifies to the “truth” that we are not holy like God is holy.
“It’s
True I’m not Holy, just look at what I have done or the ways I think!”
However,
we have to have a full understanding of the two aspects of holiness and just
how it is we are made holy.
There
are two aspects of holiness – salvation and sanctification.
In
salvation, we are made holy the moment we put our faith in Jesus Christ. “Legally”
and spiritually, we are not only forgiven of all of our sins (past, present,
and future) but we are also declared righteous ( or holy) because we come into
communion with Jesus Christ and have His sinless righteousness applied to, or
imputed to, our lives. We instantly
receive the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit and become adopted members
of God’s royal family as His children. The moment we put our faith in God we
are “holy” – or set apart – as forgiven and righteous – for the Lord’s purposes.
So
if you are a Christian, by faith in Jesus Christ, you are holy – regardless of
your thoughts or actions. The holiness that God gives you is not dependent on
your actions, and it is only possible because of what Christ did. We could
never be holy in ourselves. That’s why God sent Jesus – to save us – to make us
“holy” – to set us apart as His people and to give us a purpose all our own for
His kingdom. We are set apart as “saved”,
“forgiven”, “righteous” and “holy”. So
we are holy!!
The
second aspect of holiness is sanctification, but the Lord directs that process
too. Sanctification is “the action of making or declaring something holy”. So God begins that “action” by moving us to
put our faith in Christ. Our sanctification begins with salvation. At salvation
we receive the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit who encourages us to
repent. Now we can “quench” the Spirit
by failing to listen to His promptings or by believing the lies of the enemy,
who wants to keep us in the dark, or by willful disobedience to what is
right. Or we can reject the lie that “we
are no different in Christ” and believe that the Lord has saved us and made us
new and we can decide to actually live by faith and start living a “holy” – set
apart – life by rejecting our former ways of darkness and by choosing to change
our thoughts, attitudes, and actions to align with what God would have us
do.
Sanctification
is a progressive experience and aided by our faith. If we believe God has made us into new
creations, we will have more success living as new creations than when we agree
with the enemy that we “are not holy”.
When we ask the Lord to help, guide, and strengthen us, He will be faithful
to do so and will lead us into repentance – where we renew our minds and change
our actions to reflect the righteousness and holiness that the Lord has already
given us.
If
we felt “different” before coming to the Lord, we will realize just how “really
different” we are when we realize the Creator of all things has chosen us to
live with Him for all eternity and has chosen to forgive us and to invite us to
represent His kingdom! Yeah, we are not “like the others” - we never were – because before we were ever
born the Lord had chosen us to be with Him and to be like Him.
The
vast majority of people will never put their faith in Christ. We have been
blessed and set apart when we didn’t deserve it and when we agree with Satan’s
lie that we are “not Holy”, we hinder our sanctification and delay if not
stifle the purposes that the Lord calls us to.
So
humbly agree, or boldly proclaim I am Holy!
Because
it’s true, even if you don’t “feel it” or currently reflect it. God made you Holy through your faith in
Christ! Your holiness is a “done deal” in one sense. But as someone who has
been set apart for God’s special purposes, there is more holiness in store for
you. Forsaking sins and renewing the
mind through the study of God’s world moves you closer to the Lord and the holy
life He has for you. So don’t believe the lie
that “I am not Holy.” Instead
believe the truth and make the decision to do whatever the Lord calls you to do
to make that truth a manifest reality in your life!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
For those who want more evidence for Christianity
than my simple apologetic will provide, I offer apologist, Frank Turek’s
website, https://crossexamined.org/ .
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Today’s
Bible verse comes to us from “The NLT Bible Promise Book for Men”.
This
morning’s meditation verse is :
Jeremiah
29:11 (NLT2)
11 For I know the plans I
have for you,” says the LORD.
“They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.
Today’s verse encourages us that the Lord has good plans for His people. God gives us a future and a hope with Him for all eternity when we put our faith in Jesus.
I know this verse’s context is towards the nation of Israel, but rather than being some snarky bible scholar who would tell you “that verse is being used out of context” when Christians proclaim it, I would encourage you to use it!
Why? Because it’s true! If it was true for Israel, it sure is true for those who have put their faith in Jesus! God does have good plans for us, ultimately, and he does give us a future and a hope – in His eternal kingdom.
Now we shouldn’t take this verse and declare that “everything will go our way” here on earth. The truth is we may face persecution and death because of our faith – so temper your expectations in the reality of a world that is broken by sin and where bad things happen to all people – because none of us are good, right?
But ultimately, we will spend eternity with God in His kingdom, so with that future and hope we can rejoice and give thanks to the Lord no matter what our circumstances are here on earth.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
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 “Satan, Demons & Satanism: A Sinister
Reality” By June Hunt.
As always, I share this information for educational
purposes and encourage all to purchase June Hunt’s books for your own
private study and to support her work. This resource is available online
for $7.99 (https://june-hunt.myshopify.com/collections/keys-for-living/products/keys-for-living-on-satan-demons-satanism_ ).
Satan, Demons & Satanism
A
Sinister Reality
by June Hunt
II. Characteristics And Symptoms
A. What Are the
Levels of Satanic Involvement?
Involvement
with the demonic is progressive. For most, it starts by straying down a
seemingly innocent path beginning with a curiosity about horoscopes, occultic
games, magic and fortune-telling … then unknowingly turning the corner only to
travel on a terrorizing trip of demonic domination.
“Keep
on, then, with your magic spells and with your many sorceries, which you have
labored at since childhood. Perhaps you will succeed, perhaps you will cause
terror.”
(Isaiah
47:12)
• Superficial
— No
real understanding of satanism
— Fascination
and curiosity with the supernatural
— Experimental
and superficial activities
— Involvement
with games, books, horoscopes, rock music, etc.
• Self-Styled
— Views
that cover the whole spectrum of satanic beliefs
— Lack
of any connection with mainstream satanism
— Improvised
and impulsive activities
— Involvement
with socially deviant activities (pornography, homosexuality, hard drugs)
• Secretive
— Beliefs
that are the reversal of Christian beliefs
— Small,
individually oriented groups
— Hidden
and illegal activities
— Involvement
with black magic and ritualistic sacrificing of animals and humans
• Sanctioned
— Beliefs
based on the pursuit of hedonistic pleasure
— Large
national and international organizations
— Open
and legal activities
— Involvement
in destructive magic and sexual rituals
“The
god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see
the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.”
(2
Corinthians 4:4)[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
(https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-mt4christ247s-podcast/id1551615154). The mt4christ247 podcast is also available
on Google Podcasts, Amazon Podcasts, Spotify, iHeartradio, and
Audible.com.
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)
“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.”
I am Not Holy. – Lies of the
Enemy #22– Purity 1034
Purity 1034 05/03/2023
Purity 1034 on YouTube: Coming Soon!
Good morning,
Today’s photo of a winding country road under blue
skies with mountains in the background, presumably in North Carolina, comes to us from Fred Dimmick who shared this
photo on social media yesterday. Fred recently shared how he had retired back on May 1st of 2019 and made the decision to
leave upstate New York for Kentucky but then ended up moving to Florida and now
he finds himself in North Carolina where we see these country roads.
I have been following Fred's photos since then and
didn't realize that it's been four years! I would have sworn it was probably
only a couple of years but time flies when you're moving and just following
where the Lord leads you. That's what I've been doing and I'm pretty sure
that's what Fred's been doing too, in his own way.
Fred had commented on how he spent his entire life
just across the street from the house his grandfather had lived all his life and
now in four years he's had all kinds of adventures seeing different parts of
the country and sharing his travels online. Fred's post encouraged all of his friends to
pursue what they wanted to pursue and to enjoy their lives by taking the road
less traveled.
Well it's Thursday, and I share Fred’s photo because
it's a great shot and as a visual reminder to get on or to stay on the path of
Christian discipleship because I've discovered that the adventure that the Lord
has for us is a lot better than we could have ever imagined or planned for
ourselves. And while the journey He may put you on may not have you moving
about the country, although it might - even if it's just the country within driving distance from your home,
when you walk with the Lord your peace and joy increases because not only are
you appreciating your life and the beautiful things around you, you are doing
it in the presence of the One who made it all because He loves us. Our walk
with the Lord isn't marching orders. It's an invitation to know Him, to know
ourselves, and to discover what He has for us to do. And it's good.
I know before coming to Christ, I thought that the
Christian life wasn't for me. I knew my thoughts and interests and didn't see
how what I wanted had anything to do with God. I thought that the Lord would
limit what I could do and I challenged what I understood to be what God wanted
us to believe or do mostly because I had a thrill to do what was forbidden and
rather turn towards his ways I followed the impulse to do things my way and in
some ways knowing that what I wanted was wrong all along. I not only went
against God's wisdom, but I went against what my parents taught me, what's
society said, and want my own common sense tried to tell me. Somewhere along
the line I got the idea that as long as I didn't get in trouble there were no
wrong things but that was a lie. But because I had these ideas about being
above the law and knowing the intentions of my own heart, I decided I couldn't
be a Christian because I wasn't holy. I
thought holiness was something you had to earn or something that you were just
naturally gifted with. In my mind holy people were good people and my dark
desires told me I wasn't a good person. So I spent most of my life doing things
my way and rejecting the idea of being a Christian even if I had a loose
association with Christianity through my family traditions and liturgical
church background. I guess I saw myself as a black sheep and even if I was in
the assembly of believers and even if I wanted to believe, I thought that I was
different and really worried about my eternal destiny.
Bible passages like:
1
Peter 1:14-16 (NLT2) didn’t help – in it the Apostle Peter writes
14 So you must live as God’s
obedient children. Don’t slip back into your old ways of living to satisfy your
own desires. You didn’t know any better then.
15 But now you must be holy
in everything you do, just as God who chose you is holy.
16 For the Scriptures say,
“You must be holy because I am holy.”
I
wasn’t obedient so I figured there was no way that I would ever “be holy”. I
saw holiness as “being good” – if you are not good you are not holy. And so I believed I could never be “holy”.
But
that was a lie based on ignorance and a misunderstanding of what holiness is and
who makes us holy.
And this brings us to our current series, the Lies
of the Enemy, which is
an examination of some of the common lies, sometimes sneakily whispered into
our minds as “first person” statements, that the enemy tells us to cause us to
doubt our faith, lose our peace, cause division, or influence us to not follow
the Lord with the way we live our lives.
Today’s big lie is:
Lie
#22: I am NOT Holy.
This
is a lie the enemy has no problem selling to us all. Any impure or sinful attitude or action in us
testifies to the “truth” that we are not holy like God is holy.
“It’s
True I’m not Holy, just look at what I have done or the ways I think!”
However,
we have to have a full understanding of the two aspects of holiness and just
how it is we are made holy.
There
are two aspects of holiness – salvation and sanctification.
In
salvation, we are made holy the moment we put our faith in Jesus Christ. “Legally”
and spiritually, we are not only forgiven of all of our sins (past, present,
and future) but we are also declared righteous ( or holy) because we come into
communion with Jesus Christ and have His sinless righteousness applied to, or
imputed to, our lives. We instantly
receive the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit and become adopted members
of God’s royal family as His children. The moment we put our faith in God we
are “holy” – or set apart – as forgiven and righteous – for the Lord’s purposes.
So
if you are a Christian, by faith in Jesus Christ, you are holy – regardless of
your thoughts or actions. The holiness that God gives you is not dependent on
your actions, and it is only possible because of what Christ did. We could
never be holy in ourselves. That’s why God sent Jesus – to save us – to make us
“holy” – to set us apart as His people and to give us a purpose all our own for
His kingdom. We are set apart as “saved”,
“forgiven”, “righteous” and “holy”. So
we are holy!!
The
second aspect of holiness is sanctification, but the Lord directs that process
too. Sanctification is “the action of making or declaring something holy”. So God begins that “action” by moving us to
put our faith in Christ. Our sanctification begins with salvation. At salvation
we receive the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit who encourages us to
repent. Now we can “quench” the Spirit
by failing to listen to His promptings or by believing the lies of the enemy,
who wants to keep us in the dark, or by willful disobedience to what is
right. Or we can reject the lie that “we
are no different in Christ” and believe that the Lord has saved us and made us
new and we can decide to actually live by faith and start living a “holy” – set
apart – life by rejecting our former ways of darkness and by choosing to change
our thoughts, attitudes, and actions to align with what God would have us
do.
Sanctification
is a progressive experience and aided by our faith. If we believe God has made us into new
creations, we will have more success living as new creations than when we agree
with the enemy that we “are not holy”.
When we ask the Lord to help, guide, and strengthen us, He will be faithful
to do so and will lead us into repentance – where we renew our minds and change
our actions to reflect the righteousness and holiness that the Lord has already
given us.
If
we felt “different” before coming to the Lord, we will realize just how “really
different” we are when we realize the Creator of all things has chosen us to
live with Him for all eternity and has chosen to forgive us and to invite us to
represent His kingdom! Yeah, we are not “like the others” - we never were – because before we were ever
born the Lord had chosen us to be with Him and to be like Him.
The
vast majority of people will never put their faith in Christ. We have been
blessed and set apart when we didn’t deserve it and when we agree with Satan’s
lie that we are “not Holy”, we hinder our sanctification and delay if not
stifle the purposes that the Lord calls us to.
So
humbly agree, or boldly proclaim I am Holy!
Because
it’s true, even if you don’t “feel it” or currently reflect it. God made you Holy through your faith in
Christ! Your holiness is a “done deal” in one sense. But as someone who has
been set apart for God’s special purposes, there is more holiness in store for
you. Forsaking sins and renewing the
mind through the study of God’s world moves you closer to the Lord and the holy
life He has for you. So don’t believe the lie
that “I am not Holy.” Instead
believe the truth and make the decision to do whatever the Lord calls you to do
to make that truth a manifest reality in your life!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
For those who want more evidence for Christianity
than my simple apologetic will provide, I offer apologist, Frank Turek’s
website, https://crossexamined.org/ .
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Today’s
Bible verse comes to us from “The NLT Bible Promise Book for Men”.
This
morning’s meditation verse is :
Jeremiah
29:11 (NLT2)
11 For I know the plans I
have for you,” says the LORD.
“They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.
Today’s verse encourages
us that the Lord has good plans for His people. God gives us a future and a
hope with Him for all eternity when we put our faith in Jesus.
I know this verse’s
context is towards the nation of Israel, but rather than being some snarky
bible scholar who would tell you “that verse is being used out of context” when
Christians proclaim it, I would encourage you to use it!
Why? Because it’s true! If
it was true for Israel, it sure is true for those who have put their faith in
Jesus! God does have good plans for us,
ultimately, and he does give us a future and a hope – in His eternal
kingdom.
Now we shouldn’t take this
verse and declare that “everything will go our way” here on earth. The truth is we may face persecution and
death because of our faith – so temper your expectations in the reality of a world that is broken by sin and
where bad things happen to all people – because none of us are good, right?
But ultimately, we will
spend eternity with God in His kingdom, so with that future and hope we can
rejoice and give thanks to the Lord no matter what our circumstances are here
on earth.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
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 “Satan, Demons & Satanism: A Sinister
Reality” By June Hunt.
As always, I share this information for educational
purposes and encourage all to purchase June Hunt’s books for your own
private study and to support her work. This resource is available online
for $7.99 (https://june-hunt.myshopify.com/collections/keys-for-living/products/keys-for-living-on-satan-demons-satanism_ ).
Satan, Demons & Satanism
A
Sinister Reality
by June Hunt
II. Characteristics And Symptoms
A. What Are the
Levels of Satanic Involvement?
Involvement
with the demonic is progressive. For most, it starts by straying down a
seemingly innocent path beginning with a curiosity about horoscopes, occultic
games, magic and fortune-telling … then unknowingly turning the corner only to
travel on a terrorizing trip of demonic domination.
“Keep
on, then, with your magic spells and with your many sorceries, which you have
labored at since childhood. Perhaps you will succeed, perhaps you will cause
terror.”
(Isaiah
47:12)
• Superficial
— No
real understanding of satanism
— Fascination
and curiosity with the supernatural
— Experimental
and superficial activities
— Involvement
with games, books, horoscopes, rock music, etc.
• Self-Styled
— Views
that cover the whole spectrum of satanic beliefs
— Lack
of any connection with mainstream satanism
— Improvised
and impulsive activities
— Involvement
with socially deviant activities (pornography, homosexuality, hard drugs)
• Secretive
— Beliefs
that are the reversal of Christian beliefs
— Small,
individually oriented groups
— Hidden
and illegal activities
— Involvement
with black magic and ritualistic sacrificing of animals and humans
• Sanctioned
— Beliefs
based on the pursuit of hedonistic pleasure
— Large
national and international organizations
— Open
and legal activities
— Involvement
in destructive magic and sexual rituals
“The
god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see
the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.”
(2
Corinthians 4:4)[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
(https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-mt4christ247s-podcast/id1551615154). The mt4christ247 podcast is also available
on Google Podcasts, Amazon Podcasts, Spotify, iHeartradio, and
Audible.com.
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)
“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] June
Hunt, Biblical Counseling
Keys on Satan, Demons & Satanism: A Sinister Reality
(Dallas, TX: Hope For The Heart, 2008), 7.
[1] June
Hunt, Biblical Counseling
Keys on Satan, Demons & Satanism: A Sinister Reality
(Dallas, TX: Hope For The Heart, 2008), 7.
