SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 3/1/2025 9:21 AM
My Worship Time Focus:
PT-1 “A Cleansed Life”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: 2 Timothy
2:21a
Message of the verse: “Therefore, if a man cleanses himself from these things, he will be a vessel for honor,
This is the first of nine characteristics that mark
the faithful, godly believer who is the vessel of honor as seen in 2 Timothy
2:20 “20 Now in a large house there are not only gold
and silver vessels, but also vessels of wood and of earthenware, and some to
honor and some to dishonor.”
I begin by looking at the word cleanses
which is from ekkathairo, an
intensified form of kathairo (from
which we get “catharsis”), which means to clean out thoroughly, to completely
purge writes John MacArthur. He goes on
to write “These things refer to the vessels of dishonor mentioned in the
previous verse, from which a man who is faithful cleanses himself. As noted, vessels of dishonor are defiled
people in the church, and Paul’s exhortation is therefore for godly believers
to separate themselves from the fellowship of impure believers who are not
clean, not obedient, not submissive to the Lord, and not eager to serve.”
John MacArthur then writes about the
fact that sin is contagious, “and association with openly sinful and shameless
people is morally and spiritual dangerous.
‘He who walks with wise men will be wise, but the companion of fools
will suffer harm’ (Prov. 13:20).’” When
I became a believer in Jesus Christ some
51 plus years ago I certainly had to change the people that I hung
around with, and I have to say that this took a while, but when I started to
become friends with believers that is where I would then spend my time
with. It is dangerous to hang around
with “worldly” people and I remember a story that I heard a long time ago about
a Pastor who would hang around with people who liked to sail boats, but were
not believers. I think that this man was
a very strong Christian and it was his desire to lead these men to the
Lord. I have a friend who I have known
for over fifty years who I use to hang around with all of the time that is up
until I became a believer. I have prayed
for him along with his wife ever since I became a believer and recently a few of my old friends including him meet for breakfast
every once in a while. I think that we
all are too old to do the things that we use to do so it seems safer even
though the language is not that great when we hang around. It is my desire to sit down with my friend
and his wife along with a Pastor friend of mine to tell him the truth of the
gospel as I think the time now is much better than when we first use to hang
around together. I have prayed for my
friend and his wife for over fifty years and it is my desire to see how the
Lord will answer my prayers for them, hopefully to save them both.
MacArthur goes on to write “The Lord’s
exhortation to Jewish exiles in pagan Babylon applies to ever believer who
seeks to faithfully serve Him. ‘Depart,
depart, go out from there,’ Isaiah proclaimed.
‘Touch nothing unclean; go out of the midst of her [Babylon], purify
yourselves’ (Isa. 52:11).
“An immoral/or doctrinally corrupt believer,
especially a leader who is influential, is more dangerous than a pagan or
atheist, because weak or careless brothers and sisters may assume—or rationalize—that
certain practices and ideas are permissible simply because they are practiced
and taught by some church leaders.
“Paul explained to believers in
Corinth,
9 I wrote you in my letter not to associate
with immoral people; 10 I did not
at all mean with the immoral people of this world, or with the covetous
and swindlers, or with idolaters, for then you would have to go out of the
world. 11 But actually, I wrote to you not to associate with any so-called
brother if he is an immoral person, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler,
or a drunkard, or a swindler — not even to eat with such a one. 12 For
what have I to do with judging outsiders? Do you not judge those who are within
the church? 13 But those who are outside, God judges. REMOVE THE WICKED
MAN FROM AMONG YOURSELVES (1 Cor. 5:9-13).”
Spiritual
Meaning for my Life Today: It is my desire to be able to tells others I
know about the gospel of Jesus Christ, but not to be a part of their lifestyle.
My
Steps of Faith for Today: I trust the Lord to work out the physical
problems that my wife is going through at this time.
3/1/2025 10:00 AM
