Earlier this week I shared some quotes from a Focus On The Family (FOTF) reading plan I completed on YouVersion regarding the problems with pornography. Here are some additional quotes from a related FOTF reading plan called Understanding Sexual Sin.
“Sexual sin distorts the image of the Trinity mirrored in our marital relationships.”
“If our sex lives are meant to function as reflections of the image of God, it stands to reason that they should be shaped by the qualities of the Trinity. Three primary principles apply here.
1) We may never use another person as an object, sexual or otherwise. The members of the Trinity never relate to each other as objects or things to be used. Instead, they relate to one another in love, each seeking to serve and enhance the goodness and glory of the others.
2) We must keep sexual relations within the bounds of a loving and committed marriage. … This sexual embrace within the bond of marriage mirrors the nature of the relationship between the members of the Trinity as nothing else in creation can. Ideally, the marital bond is designed to be loving, permanent, exclusive, and self-giving.
3) We must respect and honor the God-designed differences between male and female. Male and female are not simply cultural constructs. They are God-created characteristics of humanity. Together, they personify the Trinitarian nature of God in a fundamental way…. The differences between male and female provide the fullest picture of the image of God in creation.”
“Biblically speaking, sexual immorality (Greek porneia) is any sexual activity that takes place outside of marriage. This includes adultery, premarital sex, and extramarital sex. Scripture teaches that both are off-limits for Christians (see 1 Corinthians 6:9; Acts 15:29; Hebrews 13:4).”
“It’s a mistake to confuse normal sexual attraction with lust. Sexual attraction is natural. … True lust involves a choice and an act of the will. To a certain extent it’s a conscious decision to pursue the desirable object instead of simply allowing it to pass by. It’s a willingness to give in to the natural impulse.”
“Pornography represents a departure from God’s design for sex in that it depersonalizes real people, strips them of their dignity, and turns them into sexual objects.”
“It is never wise to give more weight to feelings than to rational conclusions and clear biblical teachings. Feelings don’t make you who you are. Beliefs, values, and conscious commitments do.”
This is a weekly series with things I’m reading and pondering from Oswald Chambers. You can read the original seed thought here, or type “Thursdays With Oswald” in the search box to read more entries.
Working Out God’s Will
We do not enter into the life of God by imitation, or by vows, or by ceremonies, or by Church membership; we enter into it by its entering into us at Regeneration. The Cross of Jesus Christ is the gateway into His life. …
The world is that system of things which organizes its life without any thought of Jesus Christ. …
Nothing blinds in the mind to the claims of Jesus Christ more effectually than a good, clean-living, upright life based on self-realization. For a thing to be satanic does not mean that it is abominable and immoral. The satanically managed man is moral, upright, proud, and individual; he is absolutely self-governed and has no need of God. …
When by the Cross of Christ we have entered into the experience of identification with our Lord, then there comes the practical working out of Matthew 11:29, “Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart.” …
God will bring across our path people who embody the characteristics that we have shown to Him—stubbornness, pride, conceit, opinionatedness, sensuality, a hundred little meannesses. “Now,” He says, “love them as I have loved you.”
From The Psychology Of Redemption
So God’s will is not something we learn by going to church, or imitating someone we think to be a godly person. God’s will is living like Jesus:
How are you doing?
Joni Eareckson Tada knows what it is to battle darkness and depression. And she also know the power of hope in those dark places. Hope … The Best Of All Things is an encouraging book for anyone going through a difficult place (please check out my book review here).
Here are some of the quotes from Hope which especially stood out to me.
“People are angry; cynicism and despair are on the rise, and the nightly news reminds us we are only one terrorist plot away from another national nightmare. Oh, how we need to grasp the soul-settling hope found in the pages of God’s Word—not only grasp it, but allow the hope of God to fill and overflow our hearts, transforming us into people who are confident and at peace with themselves, their God, and their circumstances.”
“For me, suffering is still that jackhammer breaking apart my rocks of resistance every day. It’s still the chisel that God is using to chip away at my self-sufficiency and my self-motivation and my self-consumption. Suffering is still that sheepdog snapping and barking at my heels, driving me down the road to Calvary where otherwise I do not want to go. My human nature, my flesh, does not want to endure hardship like a good soldier (2 Timothy 2:3) or follow Christ’s example (1 Peter 2:21) or welcome a trial as friend. No, my flesh does not want to rejoice in suffering (Romans 5:3) or be holy as He is holy (1 Peter 1:15). But it is at Calvary, at the Cross, where I meet suffering on God’s terms.”
“Do you know who the truly handicapped people are? They are the ones—and many of them are Christians—who hear the alarm clock go off at seven-thirty in the morning, throw back the covers, jump out of bed, take a quick shower, choke down breakfast, and zoom out the front door. They do all this on automatic pilot without stopping once to acknowledge their Creator, their great God Who gives them life and strength each day. Christian, if you live that way, do you know that James 4:6 says God opposes you? ‘God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.’”
“Take up your cross daily and follow the Lord Jesus (Luke 9:23). I must qualify that statement. Please know that when I take up my cross every day I am not talking about my wheelchair. My wheelchair is not my cross to bear. Neither is your cane or walker your cross. Neither is your dead-end job or your irksome in-laws. Your cross to bear is not your migraine headaches, not your sinus infection, not your stiff joints. That is not your cross to bear. My cross is not my wheelchair; it is my attitude. Your cross is your attitude about your dead-end job and your in-laws. It is your attitude about your aches and pains. Any complaints, any grumblings, any disputings or murmurings, any anxieties, any worries, any resentments or anything that hints of a raging torrent of bitterness—these are the things God calls me to die to daily.”
“You see, we are to God the fragrance of Christ. The world can’t see Jesus endure suffering with grace because He’s not here on earth, but you and I are. And we can fill up in our flesh what is lacking in His afflictions (Colossians 1:24), and in so doing become that sweet fragrance, that perfume, that aroma of Christ to God.”
“God mandates that we go out into the streets and the alleys and the highways and the byways. He mandates that we find the poor, the blind, the disabled, and the lame, and help them get busy living, because misery might love company, but joy craves a crowd. And the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit crave a crowd of joy, joy spilling over and splashing and filling the hearts of thirsty people in this world who are absolutely dehydrated from a lack of hope.”
“The hope we wait for is our only hope, the blessed hope, the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ (Titus 2:13). It is Jesus for Whom we have prevailed through all of this suffering, and, oh, for the sweetness of melding one heart into His in that intimacy that is so precious. … Our hope is for the Desire of the nations. Our hope is the Healer of broken hearts, the Friend of sinners, the God of all encouragement, the Father of all comfort, the Lord of all hope. And it is my prayer that the eyes of your heart might be enlightened so that you might know this hope to which He has called you.”
I recently finished reading a Focus On The Family reading plan on YouVersion called Infidelity: Protecting Your Marriage From Pornography. This is one part of a multi-part reading plan on healthy sexuality. I encourage you to check out all of these plans.
Here are some of the quotes I appreciated from this reading plan.
“Porn is powerful primarily because it offers a counterfeit form of intimacy and attachment—a replacement for the one-flesh bond between man and woman that God designed to function as the glue that holds the marriage relationship together (Genesis 2:24).”
“Mental health professionals report that the road to recovery is likely to be much longer and far more complicated for an individual engaged in an ongoing interpersonal cyber-affair than it is for a porn addict. That’s because ‘relationship’ at any level implies a degree of emotional entanglement. When the heart gets drawn into that web, the potential for pathology is inevitably raised.”
“Many porn addicts are sexually anorexic when it comes to normal marital relations. That’s because, through habit and practice, their sexual impulses have been alienated from their natural context—i.e., a healthy, committed personal relationship—and re-oriented around impersonal objects or illicit lusts or fetishes.”
“[Pornography] addiction is based on neurochemical changes that occur in the brain as a result of prolonged exposure to stimulating sexual imagery. Because of its neuro-chemical basis, it’s tenacious, progressive and destructive in nature.”
“Don’t assume that normal marital sexual relations will take the place of porn in [an addict’s] life. No living, breathing, thinking woman can possibly fill that role without doing untold damage to herself as a person. That’s because pornography addiction, in the final analysis, is not about sex. It’s a symptom of an intimacy disorder—a comprehensive psychological illness that compels an individual to avoid deep, meaningful interaction with another flesh-and-blood human being and to replace it with impersonal sensual imagery. Unless this disorder is addressed and rectified, your relationship cannot move forward on a healthy footing. Marriage will not fix the problem. It will only complicate matters and increase your pain.”
For more help, visit pureintimacy.org or Focus on the Family’s Help Center.You can also call the ministry’s Counseling Department for a free consultation at 855-771-HELP (4357).
How could any of us go on without hope? Perhaps you are in a difficult place right now, with problems weighing down heavily on you. Would you like some hope in this dark time? Joni Eareckson-Tada has some encouraging words for you in her book Hope… The Best Of All Things.
Joni knows a thing or two about hope. After suffering an accident as a teenager that left her a quadriplegic, she struggled with the loss of hope. But in that dark place, God met with her in a powerful way, and now Joni travels the world to minister to those in deepest hopelessness.
Hope is a short book, but it’s packed with new perspectives for those battling depression and darkness. Joni will share with you some of her own experiences—as well as the experiences and insights of others—to give your soul the oxygen it needs: a fresh breath of hope!
Whether you are going through a battle, or you know someone who is, Hope will be a welcome light for a dark place.
No matter how you look at it, being a Dad is hard work! Men have this constant balancing act between being tough and being tender. Guys have to have their game face on at work, and their family face on at home. They’ve got to work hard knocking down work competitors, and then work just as hard building up their family members.
But there is one key decision that will determine how successful a man will be at work, at home, in his social circles, and even in his relationship with God.
In Acts 10 we meet a centurion named Cornelius. Centurions were professional military officers in charge of a centuria (usually 100 soldiers). Centurions were always “on the clock,” never letting down their guard nor their professionalism.
All of the centurions mentioned in the New Testament have noble characteristics associated with them. Whereas someone might be uncertain how a typical Roman soldier would behave, people felt more assured when the centurion was on the scene. Even Roman governors like Pilate, and Jewish kings like Herod, all seemed to fully trust the judgement, honesty, and resourcefulness of centurions.
Centurions worked hard to get where they were, and had some well-earned perks:
In order to keep this position, they would have to buy into kurios Caesar (Caesar is lord). To do otherwise was to put their position and future advancement at risk.
Yet Cornelius was different.
He was a trusted centurion, but something unusual stood out about his life. Luke the historian describes him as devout and God-fearing, mentioning his pious activities of prayer and giving to the poor. Cornelius’ own soldiers referred to him as righteous and respected by notable people in the community.
But probably most telling of all: God noticed how committed Cornelius was (see Acts 10:3-4)!
Cornelius had a lot to lose by rejecting kurios Caesar for, as the Christians said, kurios Iesous (Jesus is Lord). Yet after carefully weighing his options, he saw that trusting God was the best thing he could do for his family. His view of the eternal outweighed anything that he could gain in the temporal.
Because Cornelius trusted God, look at the expansiveness of his influence, not only at home, but at work, and among his friends and extended family, and throughout his community:
Fellas, you can have this same level of influence if you, too, will decide to live karios Iesous: Jesus is Lord. If you will do that, you can have said about your life what was said about Cornelius and Jesus: “God anointed ___________ with the Holy Spirit and power, and he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him!” (see Acts 10:38).
“Certain songs can only be learned in the valley. No music school can teach them, for no theory can cause them to be perfectly sung. Their music is found in the heart. They are songs remembered through personal experience, revealing their burdens through the shadows of the past, and soaring on the wings of yesterday. … Therefore, dear soul, in this life you are receiving a music lesson from your Father. You are being trained to sing in a choir you cannot yet see, and there will be parts in the chorus that only you can sing. … Others have said that He sends sorrow to test you, yet this is not the case. He sends sorrow to educate you, thereby providing you with the proper training for His heavenly choir. … O dear soul, do not despise your school of sorrow. It is bestowing upon you a unique part in the heavenly song [Revelation 14:3].” —George Matheson
I recently completed an excellent reading plan on YouVersion called Catalyst: Devotions For Leaders Who Love The Church. Here are some quotes I especially liked…
“Too often we view leadership as purely outward, thinking only of how we will climb the next mountain, or overcome the next obstacle without considering who we will be when we do. But true leadership, great leadership, starts within.”
“Your capacity for life changing leadership is directly related to your willingness to be led, not your eagerness to perform. Lean in to the promises of God, allow Him to mature you in goodness, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, and love; true hallmarks of a leader worth following.”
“The more we look, act, love, and lead like Jesus, the more impactful our leadership will be to the world around us.”
“There is no choosing to lead through the Spirit of God without choosing to be changed by the Spirit. … What is not cultivated in secret cannot be called upon in public. We have to pray for the transformative power of the Spirit to work His way in our hearts and minds, changing us forever, so our leadership is not a facade, but a reflection of His power at work within us.”
“Jesus calls us further, calls us to more, and through His power we have to change the landscape of leadership in our world. We must demonstrate that leadership through Christ speaks life and value into people’s hearts. That the way we treat the Father’s children matters, and is our greatest end.”
“Father, help me to see Your children the way You do. Give me eyes to look beyond what my flesh sees, and to focus on how to affirm, love, and care for those You’ve entrusted me to lead. Create in me a compassionate heart, one that turns first to You in worship and then towards Your children with love.”
“God, this world is Yours, everything in it is Yours. I am Yours, do with my life what You will. Help me to release the things of my flesh, so that I may be transformed according to Your Spirit. Give me a heart for those around me, a burden for my community that compels me to fulfill the mission You have may give me. Teach me to clothe myself in You, to speak Your words and offer Your hands. May my leadership radiate You, and draw people towards Jesus.”
It’s hard work being a Dad!
The Bible has a lot to say to encourage Dads to do all of these things, and to become the godly influencer God wants us to be in all aspect of our lives.
Please join me this Sunday as we learn from a man in the Bible who had everything to lose at work by doing things God’s way. Yet he chose God’s way and reaped some amazing results. Hope to see all the Dads this Sunday at 10:30am.
Craig T. Owens 