Ramesh C. Reddy
Editor in Chief
Hi everyone :)
May you know the Lord loves you and will help you remain pure in Him! Amen!
My Quiet Times for September 30,02: (Psalm 119:9-16, Proverbs 30, and Mark 3)
“How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your word.” (Psalm 119:9)
“I seek you with all my heart; do not let me stray from your commands.” (Psalm 119:10)
“I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.” (Psalm 119:11)
As I read Psalm 119:9-16, Proverbs 30, and Mark 3, verses 9-11 from Psalm 119 stuck out.
I learned that the Psalmist used a rhetorical question, a statement, a request, and a statement while talking to the Lord.
The Psalmist lets the Lord know the only way that the Psalmist can keep his way pure is by living according to the Lord’s Word.
The word ‘keep’ stuck out from the question. It implied to me that this is not a one time thing but ‘living according to the Word’ has to continually happen to remain pure.
It was interesting to me that the Psalmist had head knowledge that living according to the Word will keep him pure but knew that was not enough. The Psalmist knew just knowing the Word means nothing without putting it into practice.
To put it into practice, I learned the Psalmist decided to seek after the One who gave the Word. This is evidenced by v.10.
“I seek you with all my heart; do not let me stray from your commands.” (Psalm 119:10)
He knew that knowing and doing are two different things. To be able to do the Word or live it, he seeks the Lord with all his heart. Not only does he seek the Lord but humbles himself before the Lord realizing he cannot live the Word apart from the Lord’s help. He does this by requesting that he will not stray from the Lord’s commands.
The Psalmist also realizes to live according to the Word he needs to know the commands. So he tells the Lord something he does as he seeks the Lord’s help. This is evidenced by v.11
“I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.” (Psalm 119:11)
The Psalmist takes the Word of God seriously and knows that applying the Word in his life can keep him living a pure life and not sinning against the Lord. It is interesting to know that the Psalmist strives not to sin and does his part as he asks the Lord for His help.
I saw important implications for my own life.
I can read the Bible hundred times and it would not mean anything if I do not put into practice what I have learned from God’s instruction manual for me. These verses are exciting to read and know because they assure me that I can remain pure in life if I just live according to the Word.
I learned that this is something I won’t be able attain myself without seeking after the Lord daily through prayer for His help. For He alone can help me not to stray from His commandments.
There is a saying that ‘ignorance of the law’ is not an excuse. Just because someone does not know a law and breaks it does not mean that person is freed. So if I am to live according to the Word, I need to take the Word seriously and start memorizing the Word or processing it daily so I can have those commandments hidden in my heart.
Living a pure life starts with the Word in action beginning with prayer as a reaction!
I ask you now dear friends, how do you remain pure?
Dear friends, purity starts with the Word in action and prayer as a reaction to what the world sends our way. To remain pure, I need to test everything I do with the Standard of the Word. As I have held to the Standard of the Word, I have remained pure in so many areas.
It is when I did not want to think about the Word or put it into practice is when I have fallen and impurity took over. There was a time that I never watched an ‘R’ rated movie. Of the movies I watched, 85% were G-rated, 10 % PG-rated, and 5% PG-13 rated. During that time my conscience was so strong and it easily got pricked which was a good thing.
You know as the years went by and I started to rationalize that other Christians were watching it and nothing must be wrong. In the process I fell into the devil’s deceptive trap. All of a sudden my standard was not the Word of God but others who I saw as followers of Christ too.
Not only that, I crazily rationalized that the Bible does not mention it is wrong to watch movies which are just pictures and words rather than real human beings. After that, G, PG, and PG-13 movies were not good enough. If I could watch ‘R’ movie that has components of the other ratings and more action, I settled for those.
Even though others I knew were watching those, every time I watched them I felt yucky. I knew God was telling me to ‘watch what I watch’ but I rationalized it away. That created so much baggage and tension inside of me.
On one hand I was a follower of Christ and on the other hand I was following the world and its standards over the Standard of God’s Word. Eventually all areas of my life got affected because I went my own way.
Why am I sharing this with you all? It is because as I studied today’s Word in my Quiet Time, I was taken back to the past not to be condemned but to be reminded that abiding by the Word has power to keep us pure and not abiding by the Word can bring so much impurity into our lives.
I do not want you all to go through what I went through. It is not worth it. We will become a prisoner to the world and it will be hard to escape. Once we leave the path of purity, everything on the path seems appealing and it will be a downward spiral w/o the Lord’s intervention.
The Lord intervened in my life and I am so thankful for His grace and mercy to bring deliverance from unwholesome stuff. I keep away from R movies unless they are edited for TV.
This has been hard especially when friends want to watch it but I cannot go along. Yet, it is worth it for my Lord’s sake. I know to follow Jesus I need to deny myself, pick up my cross and follow Him. There is so much peace and the Lord fills that time with other wonderful things.
Friend, I shared about R movies but your issue maybe something different that hinders purity. I want you to know that the Lord Jesus can help each of us to keep pure. Even if we have messed up and defiled ourselves, the Lord’s blood cleanses us from all unrighteousness and gives us a new beginning. That is exciting to know! Don’t give up but keep seeking the Lord and asking His help.
I do hope you all can make a commitment too as Christians to keep away from R movies or anything that is contrary to Philippians 4:8. You won’t be doing it for yourself but you will be doing it to live for the Lord. He desires us to give ourselves wholly to Him.
Watching 'R' movies should be a judgment call for there are some movies that can be used as an evangelical springboard discussion. It should be between you and the Lord whether you should watch a particular movie.
It is ok to come to the Lord in our filth and He takes us and works in us, pruning us, and shaping us. I have learned how hard it is to live a Christian life if my mind is so tuned to the world’s ways and yet want to profess Jesus as Lord and Savior. It cannot happen well for the Bible reminds me that I cannot serve two masters. I will either love the one or hate the other but cannot do both.
I need to live in the world as Jesus wants me to but not be part of the world's ways as John chapters 14-16 bring that point across.
As I looked at Psalm 119:9-11, a thought came to my mind that if we as Christians remained pure and also let Hollywood know that we will not give into the world’s way, do you think Hollywood would continue to make a lot of movies that it does?
It still may but our money which is the money the Lord has provided for us will not be going to promote and fund impure stuff.
We can remain pure by being in the Word and asking ourselves Philippians 4:8. Being in the Word implies a lot of other things that will take multiple pages to address.
May the Lord help us all to remain pure and seek after Him always! Amen!
“Purity Under Redeemer’s Emancipation” (P.U.R.E)/”How do you remain pure?”
Prayer:
Dear Lord Jesus, thank you so much for loving us and dying for our sins. You died on the cross to make us pure again. You came back to life to save us. Even if I were the only one left, I know you would have still died for me to offer redemption. I thank you Lord so much for your awesome love. Lord, I know you want us to be pure but it is so hard when we are living in a world that does not much care for purity. Forgive us Lord when we do give in and go our own way. I know I have done that Lord and am so sorry. Thank you for the deliverance you send our way. You know the things we have done and we are sorry. For the sake of your Kingdom, help us not to stray from your commandments and help us to hide your Word in our hearts so we do not have to sin against thee. It is exciting to know with the Word in action and prayer to you as a reaction, we can keep pure. But we need your help and thank you for it. Lord, right now I pray for the one who feels so impure because of things they have done. Please Lord let them know your love and forgiveness. Let them know no matter what they have done, your forgiveness is available for them and they are never out of your love and reach. Help them Lord and no matter what they are going through, bring your deliverance for them. Let them not give up but continuously seek you no matter how many times they may slip and fall. I thank you Jesus for being there to pick us up and help us to start over. Please help us to live a pure life for you realizing that following you will not be easy but it is worth it. So we come now and give ourselves completely to you, all that we are and surrender our live to you. Please be in control of our life and guide us for your glory. Live in us Jesus and we will live for you and serve you the rest of the days of our lives as you help us. Please be our Lord and Personal Savior today and forever. Thank you that you have heard us and answered us. In Your Name I Pray Jesus! Amen!
Love in Christ,
Ramesh
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