David Whiting Live

Who I Am in Christ

On Sunday I taught from 1 Peter 2:9-10 and the point was: "If we fully embrace our identity in Christ, it will radically impact our behavior in the world."

The passage lists four pieces of our identity and how they will our behavior.

I don't know where the following list came from, but I've used it for years to remind me of who I am in Christ:

• I am God's child (John 1:12)
• I am Christ's friend (John 15:15)
• I am united with the Lord (1 Corinthians 6:17)
• I am bought with a price (1 Corinthians 6:19-20)
• I am a saint - set apart from sin and set apart to God - (Ephesians 1:1)
• I am a personal witness of Christ (Acts 1:8)
• I am the salt of the earth and the light of the world (Matthew 5:13-14)
• I am a member of the body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:27)
• I am free forever from condemnation (Romans 8:1-2)
• I am a citizen of heaven (Philippians 3:20)
• I am free from any charge against me (Romans 8:31-34)
• I am a minister of reconciliation for God (2 Corinthians 5:17-21)
• I have access to God through the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 2:18)
• I am seated with Christ in the heavenly realms (Ephesians 2:6)
• I cannot be separated from the love of God (Romans 8:35-39)
• I am established, anointed, and sealed by God (2 Corinthians 1:21-22)
• I am assured that all things work together for good (Romans 8:28)
• I have been chosen and appointed to bear fruit (John 15:16)
• I may approach God with freedom and confidence (Ephesians 3:12)
• I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me (Philippians 4:13)
• I am the branch of the true vine (John 15:1-5)
• I am God's Temple (1 Corinthians 3:16)
• I am complete in Christ (Colossians 2:10)
• I am hidden in Christ with God (Colossians 3:3)
• I have been justified (Romans 5:1)
• I am God's co-worker (1 Corinthians 3:9; 2 Corinthians 6:1)
• I am God's masterpiece (Ephesians 2:10)
• I am confident that good works God has begun in me will be perfected (Philippians 1:5)
• I have been redeeemed and forgiven (Colossians 1:14)
• I have been adopted as God's child (Ephesians 1:5)
• I am a slave to righteousness (Romans 6:19)

Rejoice in who you are in Christ!

Worry... Living as a Functional Atheist...

I love a statement I heard recently: "When we worry, we are living as a functional atheist."

That's a great statement challenging an acceptable sin of Christianity.

What can a depressed person do daily while fighting for joy?

This is a re-post from the website Practical Shepherding. You can see the original post HERE.

WHAT CAN A DEPRESSED PERSON DO DAILY WHILE FIGHTING FOR JOY?
by Brian Croft

Depression is a dark, complex cloud. It is a burden that takes time to work through and is usually a snare that those who struggle with it, struggle their entire lives. While the counseling is being done, while the heart is being examined, while the gospel is being applied, and while the local church care is being extended, what can a depressed person do to fight against the darkness every day? ...

1) Force yourself to verbally acknowledge one thing you are grateful for to someone else.
The common posture for a depressed person is that they see no good in them or the world. They are the poster child for the glass being half empty. Yet, Paul tells us in ”everything give thanks” which does not exempt the deep darkness of depression. If you are struggling with depression, force yourself to honestly and sincerely speak something you are grateful for. It could be the smallest, simplest thing or person, but make sure you are experiencing gratefulness in your heart for it and someone else hears you speak it.

2) Force yourself to go and serve someone else.
In my experience in caring for those struggling with depression, it is very natural and easy to sit around, do nothing, and think about how horrible your life is. Fighting for joy means going against the grain of what you feel like doing, and doing that which would be good for you and others. The best way to take your eyes off your own struggles, is to go and bless someone else in the midst of theirs. A way to combine these two is to write a card, or personally deliver a small gift to someone and tell them it is because you are grateful for them. In my experience, most do not wander out of depression. As the heart is being examined for the cause, we also have to establish actions in our lives that cultivate a grateful, thankful heart. I have cared for many struggling with depression throughout the years, including my wife at different times in her life. These things never fix that which eats them up deep down inside, but it can be a means of grace to them and others while they battle it.

Guard vs. Follow

I wish more people would heed the biblical advice to guard their heart instead of the culture's advice to follow it.

When angry... shut your mouth

"When you are angry, you will make the best speech you will ever regret."

- William Ury, Co-Founder and Senior Fellow at Harvard's University Program on Negotiations

 

Steps to a Porn-Free Life

Tim Chester wrote a book called "Closing the Window: Steps to Living Porn Free."  You can get it in our bookstore or on any book website like Amazon.com (click here to see it at Amazon.com).

In the book he says there are five keys to win the battle with porn:

1. You must have a hatred of porn. You must hate what it is, what it means, what it does, and long for change.
2. You must adore God. You must believe that God gives satisfaction in life so much more than porn or anything else.
3. You must embrace the Gospel. You must believe that Christ died to free you from an addiction to porn and yet you must also believe that you are right with God through Christ not through making good choices with porn.
4. You must avoid temptation. You must be committed to do all you can to avoid temptation, starting with the controls on your computer. I have a friend who has struggled with porn and no longer has a computer or a TV in his house. The temptation was too great for him. I wonder if he misses those technologies.
5. You must be accountable to others. You need a community of Christians who are holding you accountable, supporting you in your struggle, and pointing you to the Gospel continuously.

The book doesn't take an approach saying that this is easy. It's not easy. Living in a fallen world is messy and hard. But it is a battle men and women must engage in for our good and God's glory.

The PREPOSITION Test of Modesty

If you can see up it, down it, or through it - then dump it.

Every woman wants to look attractive. There is nothing necessarily wrong with that. The priority of that desire is where it can go "wrong." But through magazines and movies our culture bombards her with the notion that the more of her body she showed, the better she looks.

Adding to the problem is the fact that many young women have little idea of the extent to which their clothing (of lack thereof) affects men. What a young woman thinks is fashionable might be sending a different message altogether to men: "My body is available. Look and see."

I think the preposition test is pretty good - if you can see up it, down it, or through it - then dump it. no matter how stylish the world says it is, get rid of it.

If you have to pull it down or super-glue your knees together to keep someone from seeing up it, if you have to pull it closed to keep someone from looking down it, or if it is so tight - it hugs every portion of "that" part of your body - dump it.

The question I would love my daughters to ask is not "How much can I show?" But the question should be, "How far will I go to make sure I am not unintentionally advertising my body?" Save your body for your husband's eyes. That's an attitue that God values and real men respect.

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I found a majority of this in my files, but have no idea where I first found it... It is edited to my thoughts but I'm sorry I can't give credit...

Modesty Resources

I realize most of you don't read the "comments" section of my blog (especially those who receive this via email). Someone posted a couple of great resources that I thought might be helpful. Here is the comment:

Great sermon and follow-up post. Thank you for addressing this topic! Don't know if you may have already seen this, but CJ Mahaney has a great sermon here: http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=12908209345 and a very practical evaluation list (modesty heart check by Mahaney ladies) here: http://girltalk.blogs.com/girltalk/files/modesty_heart_check3.pdf The modesty heart check is wonderful because it reminds you to check your heart as well as your dress.

A Dad's Take on Modesty

I thought this re-post of a blog might be helpful to those figuring how to apply Sunday's message on modesty.

This comes from a website recommended by Gretchen (who closed Sunday's service). You can see the original post HERE. But it is reprinted below.

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A Dad's Take on Modesty—From a Beach Trip

by Nic Allen

In March, I had the privilege of spending a week in Panama City serving alongside some amazing college students from all over the country at a LifeWay event called Beach Reach. My role was to speak to college students as they prepared to share Christ in practical ways with their peers—spring breakers looking for all manner of MTV-style fun. God moved and the experience was fruitful.

As a pastor, (12 years in kids/student ministry), I was alarmed by what I saw. As a dad of two beautiful daughters and one unknown baby on the way,, the word “alarmed” doesn’t quite cut it. I felt burdened for the young women we encountered. The clothing and the behavior was something for which no amount of life experience could have prepared me. Here are some truths I’ve picked up that I believe will help us raise young women who find their worth in Christ and not in worldly pleasure.

1. You start out as you intend to go. A bikini at age 7 may be cute. At age 17, “cute” isn’t what the manufacturers desire. Consider modesty before you think it matters. Let’s get candid. A great deal of popular swimwear today covers less than most women’s undergarments. If you wouldn’t let your daughter go in public wearing just panties and a bra, why do swimsuits get a bye? I’ve been told countless times by parents of preteens that they have no control over what their daughters wear. Be warned. We lose the privilege of speaking into what our daughters choose from their closets when we forfeit our role of setting boundaries with what they choose from the store. Parents, set shopping guidelines early and stick to them.

2. What we wear says something about who we are. In today's culture, the world wants girls to believe that what you wear is about you and that you bear no responsibility in how someone else responds to it. Scripture says something different. If we cause a brother to stumble, it’s a sin. (1 Cor. 8:9) As leaders and parents, we have to call girls to a standard of maturity and responsibility when it comes to the way that they (knowingly or unknowingly) seek attention from guys by wearing provocative clothing. They need to understand that boys can’t see Christ in them if they (girls) are baring all.

3. Purity is the product of holiness, not the pursuit of it. We don’t achieve holiness by being pure. We maintain our purity by pursuing holiness. Many times in ministry, I’ve been asked, “how far is too far?” I always responded in the same way. “That is the wrong question.” What you’re really asking is, "How close I can get to sin without actually sinning?"  What we all should ask is how close we can get to Jesus. If our aim is getting close to Christ, the question of boundaries becomes less about avoiding sin and more about being like Him. Leaders, spend less time on discussions of purity and modesty and more time on holiness. If we teach them to pursue holiness, then both purity and modesty will be guarded.

Accountability for Purity

Here are two resources for accountability as you go online. Men who struggle with pornography (or who have failed in the last year or two) - I encourage to use an accountability software. These softwares send an email to your chosen accountability partners a report of questionable websites you have visited.

Here are two options:

• www.CovenantEyes.com
• www.x3watch.com

Both of those have monthly fees, but for the sake of purity and if we truly are at war - it is worth the cost. And likely, these options will give great confidence to your spouse as well as personal motivation and accountability for you.

Does anyone know of a free option?