PT-2 "Keeping a Pure Mind"

                                                 SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 3/13/2025 9:10 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                    Focus:  Focus:  PT-2 “Keeping a Pure Mind”

 

            For the next few days my Spiritual Diaries will be a bit different as I mentioned in my last SD that I wanted to begin quoting from a booklet that I received in the mail from the ministry of John MacArthur.  He wrote this booklet “Keeping a Pure Mind” and it goes along with what I have been learning from my studies in 2 Timothy 2:23 and so I have decided to quote from this booklet until I am through it, quoting the entire booklet.

 

            I want to continue with the first section in this book entitled “The Danger of a Sinful Thought Life.” 

           

            “The Pharisees’ teaching had so inculcated this notion into people that it was commonly believed evil thoughts were not really sinful, as long as they did not become acts.  That is precisely why our Lord targeted sins of the heart in His Sermon on the Mount:

 

21 "You have heard that the ancients were told, ‘YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT MURDER’ and ‘Whoever commits murder shall be liable to the court.’ 22  "But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever says to his brother, ‘You good-for-nothing,’ shall be guilty before the supreme court; and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell. 27 "You have heard that it was said, ‘YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY’;  28  but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. (Matt. 5:21-22, 27-28)

 

“What should take place in our minds and hearts?  What should be the deepest secret of our souls?  Scripture’s answer is clear:  worship to God.

 

3 “But when you give to the poor, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your giving will be in secret; and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you. 5 "When you pray, you are not to be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners so that they may be seen by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. 6 “But you, when you pray, go into your inner room, close your door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you. (Matt. 6:3-6)

 

“To sin in the mind, therefore, is to desecrate the very sanctuary where our highest and best worship should be taking place.”

 

            Now I think that I will stop here in order to begin the next subject in my next SD.  I suppose this may take longer that I thought, but the point is not to rush through things but I desire to put things onto my SD that will give those who read them a chance to think about what is written, and the main thing is to bring honor and glory to the Lord.

 

Spiritual meaning for my life today:  God has given me a body and a mind, and in order to keep both clean for the cause of Christ I must keep my mind clean, and clear from sin.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:  ““To sin in the mind, therefore, is to desecrate the very sanctuary where our highest and best worship should be taking place.”  Not to sin in the mind is certainly the goal.

 

3/13/2025 9:30 AM