Living as a Christian Pilgrim in a Pagan World (part 2)

First Baptist Church Leominster

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Do you live in the reality that you are a citizen of the kingdom of heaven? Do you live in the reality that you are not of this world?

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Do you live in the reality that your inheritance, your reward, your treasure is in heaven?

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And that it, your treasure, along with you, are being kept and protected by the

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Lord God Almighty? Beloved, if you're easily discouraged by your circumstances or the state in which you find the world, you must realize that the

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Lord God has ordained all of these things. And He has ordained them for His glory and for our good.

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And it is through these things, through these difficult and dark things, that we are being prepared for an eternal weight of glory, which is far beyond all comparison.

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In my personal struggle to maintain a proper perspective in life, an eternal perspective,

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I found John Bunyan's book to be of great encouragement, The Pilgrim's Progress.

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It's an extremely helpful resource. And in the introduction to The Pilgrim's Progress, listen to what

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Bunyan writes. All mankind are pilgrims. All are pressing through this world.

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The Christian willingly considers that his life is a journey because he is seeking a better country.

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But the greater multitude are anxious to prevent the rechelection, that time is a preparation for eternity.

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And in consequence of this neglect, they shudder when approaching the brink of the grave into which they are irresistibly plunged.

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Time hurries on those whose pilgrimage is limited to the foul but fascinating streets of the city of destruction, while those whose anxious cries lead them to the

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Christian calling press on in the narrow and difficult path that leads to the heavenly

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Jerusalem. Bunyan likens our spiritual life to a long and a difficult journey through dangerous and perilous lands.

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The Christian pilgrim recognizes that this journey is actually preparing him for something.

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It is preparing him for eternity. The Christian pilgrim recognizes that his goal should not be for a pleasant and comfortable journey, but the goal is to reach the end.

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The goal is the final destination. I often try to think about my life as a spiritual journey because to do so, it reminds me that I am going somewhere.

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It reminds me that I need to keep focused, that I need to keep my head up, that my attention needs to be on the path ahead and looking forward to the anticipation of the joy of my arrival at my destination.

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One day, my faith will become sight. One day, I will see the

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Lord Jesus Christ face to face, and I will spend eternity rejoicing, exalting, and worshiping him.

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Please join with me to the book of 1 Peter. Our passage this morning is 1 Peter 2, verses 11 through 12, which addresses pilgrim living or how to live as a

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Christian pilgrim in a dark and pagan world. In these two verses,

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Peter gives us three ways in which we are to live as we make our journey through this world.

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Let's look at the text together. 1 Peter 2, verses 11 through 12, Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul.

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Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify

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God on the day of visitation. To live as a Christian pilgrim is to live with the proper mindset, verse 11.

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To abstain from the passions of the flesh, verse 11, and to maintain an honorable lifestyle, verse 12.

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As we journey through this world, we must live with the proper mindset, we must abstain from the passions of the flesh, and we must live honorable lifestyles.

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Let's look at each one of these in more detail. 1 Peter 2, 11, Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul.

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The first thing that Christian pilgrims must do is to live with the proper mindset.

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In verse 11, there are three terms that Peter uses to describe his readers, three terms that are used to describe

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Christians, Beloved, Sojourners, and Exiles.

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Eight times in his writing, Peter uses the term Beloved to describe believers. And the

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Greek word translated Beloved is agapetos, which describes someone who is sincerely and dearly loved.

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It describes someone who is greatly favored, someone who is highly esteemed. The idea conveyed in this term is that believers are the objects of God's vast and immeasurable love.

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Believers are loved by God, we are greatly loved by God. We are the Beloved. All throughout the

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New Testament, the authors of Scripture continually remind us of our great value and our great worth in Jesus Christ.

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We are frequently reminded of who we are in Christ. And in Christ, we are the

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Beloved. We are loved by God, we are held dear by God, we are highly esteemed and highly favored by God.

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And this is not because of any intrinsic value that we have brought to the table. We were entirely unlovable.

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We were selfish, we were prideful, we were worthless. No one has ever sought after God.

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No one has ever pursued God. Rather, we were haters of God. We resisted

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God. We waged a violent war, an assault against God. Romans 5 .8,

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but God. But God shows his love for us, and that while we were yet sinners,

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Christ died for us. Ephesians 2 .4, but God.

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But God, being rich in mercy because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ.

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By grace, you have been saved. Isn't this a tremendous reminder of what the

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Lord God has accomplished on behalf of sinners? Isn't this a tremendous reminder of who we are in Christ Jesus?

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Beloved, we are the Beloved. We were dead in our trespasses and sins, but we have been made alive together with Christ.

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And the Lord God has showered us with his love and with his blessing.

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Never forget this remarkable truth. We are the

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Beloved, and you are sincerely and dearly loved by the

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Lord God. God the Father has chosen you before the foundation of the world to be predestined for adoption into the family of God.

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You have been purchased out of the slave market of sin and redeemed by God, being forgiven, being reconciled according to the riches of his grace.

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Those who have received the Lord Jesus Christ undoubtedly are his

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Beloved, which is something that many of us often forget, but it's something that we need to be reminded of.

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The next two terms that Peter uses to describe his readers are sojourners and exiles.

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These are a couple of terms that aren't frequently used in today's vernacular. What is a sojourner?

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What is an exile? Well, sojourners and exiles are pilgrims. They are travelers.

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They are wanderers. These terms describe someone who travels from a foreign land and lives and resides temporarily amongst the citizens of that land.

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So to the land in which they reside, sojourners and exiles are strangers.

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They are aliens. They do not belong to the land. They are just temporarily passing through.

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Peter is again here reminding us of our identity in the Lord Jesus Christ.

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If you identify with the Lord Jesus Christ, then you should not identify with the fallen world.

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If you belong to the Lord Jesus Christ, then you do not belong to the world, and thus you should be and live as a stranger to this world, as a sojourner, as an exile, as someone who is just temporarily passing through.

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Philippians 3 .20, Paul reminds us that our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a

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Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Beloved, the world in which we live is not our home.

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Our primary citizenship is in heaven. It is not of this world. It is of the next.

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The home that we seek is not yet come. The home that we seek is actually the destination of our journey.

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As Christians, our status in the world should be as those who do not belong to the world.

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As Christians, we are the ones who are out of place in this world. We are the pilgrims. We are the sojourners.

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We are the exiles. We are temporarily traveling through this world in an effort to reach our final destination.

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We have been delivered from this world. We have been transferred to the kingdom of the beloved

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Son. We have been raised up with Christ. We have been seated with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, and thus our lives, our daily pattern of living, should reflect this truth.

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Our practice must equal our position, who we are in Christ.

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As we journey through this world, these are the truths that should saturate our minds.

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These are the truths that must be at the forefront of our thinking. These truths must be our reality.

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In our walk through this world, our outlook, our perspective, our mindset should be to live every one of our days as an exile, as a sojourner, and as one who is loved by God.

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Well practically speaking, what does this look like? In my everyday life, what do I need to do in order to live in this way?

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Well once you have the proper mindset, the first manifestation of pilgrim living is godly living.

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To live as a pilgrim is to abstain from the passions of the flesh. First Peter 2 .11,

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beloved I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh which wage war against your soul.

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To the beloved, to the sojourner, to the exile, Peter urges and exhorts them to abstain from the passions of the flesh.

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The term abstain literally means to hold away from or to hold oneself off.

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To abstain means to refrain or to stay away, to steer clear. It means to keep your distance from.

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And we are urged, Peter appeals us to keep our distance from the passions of the flesh.

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Now the passions of the flesh refer to the strong cravings. Our fleshly desires, the animal -like appetites of our fallen sinful nature.

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It refers to every flavor and variation of evil and debauchery that all human beings have apart from the work of the spirit of God in their lives.

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Galatians 5 .19 says the works of the flesh are evident. Sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these.

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Which makes the list of fleshly passions almost endless. And what is the origin of these fleshly passions?

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All of these sinful passions originate from the same place, from our own sinful flesh.

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James 1 .13 says let no one say when he is tempted, I am being tempted by God. For God cannot be tempted with evil and he himself tempts no one.

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But each person is tempted when he is urged and enticed by his own desire.

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Then desire when it is conceived gives birth to sin and when sin is fully grown it brings forth death.

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A few chapters later James asks this question, what is it that causes quarrels among you?

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What is it that causes fights among you? Is it not that your passions are at war within you?

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God is not responsible for your sin. No, the adversary is not responsible for your sin.

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The devil didn't make you do it. Your circumstances are not responsible for your sin.

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Your spouse is not responsible for your sin. Your children, your siblings, your relatives, your in -laws, your friends, your neighbors, your co -workers, your church family, your pastors, none of these people are responsible for your sin.

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Beloved, you are responsible for your sin. You are responsible for your actions.

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I am responsible for my sin and you are responsible for your sin. Evil always lies close at hand and temptation to sin always comes from the inside.

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It comes from our own sinful desires and it is these desires that give birth to sin and sin when it is fully conceived brings forth death.

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This puts a very unique spin on the blame game, doesn't it? Where does the buck stop?

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The buck stops here. The buck stops with me. I am always responsible for my sin.

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Yes, there may be other contributing factors but at the end of the day God holds me accountable for my actions.

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God holds me accountable for my thoughts, for my words and for my deeds. Far too often we blame someone else or we blame something else and in doing this we actually trivialize sin and we minimize the egregious nature of sin and we ignore its destructive nature and Peter gives us a clue to this destructive nature by giving us the reason why we should abstain from the passions of the flesh.

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The passions of the flesh actually wage war against your soul. Again 1

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Peter 2 .11 Beloved I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh which wage war against your soul.

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The passions of the flesh are hostile towards your soul. Now the term soul simply refers to what is inside a person.

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God created man and fashioned man into a living being into a living soul and our fleshly passions are at war against us and this war against the soul is not referring to a mere skirmish.

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It's not referring to a one -time battle. This war is a long -term military campaign and this campaign is specific to you.

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It is specific to your weaknesses and to your folly. This war is a constant and relentless assault that will never stop, that will never surrender all of the days of your sojourning.

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The commentator Matthew Henry remarked, the grand mischief that sin does to man is this, it wars against the soul.

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It destroys the moral liberty of the soul. It weakens and debilitates the soul by impairing its faculties.

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It robs the soul of its comfort and peace. It debases and destroys the dignity of the soul, hinders its present prosperity and plunges it into everlasting misery.

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Of all sorts of sins, none are more injurious to the soul than fleshly lusts.

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Carnal appetites, lewdness and sensuality are most odious to God and destructive to man's souls.

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It is a sore judgment to be given up to them. Beloved, you cannot commit sin.

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You cannot act out in the flesh without it causing great injury to your soul.

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There are simply no safe sins. All sin is detrimental to your spiritual health.

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All sin comes with severe and dire consequences. Sin will leave deep, deep scars upon your soul, which is why

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Peter urges us to abstain from them. Well, that's easier said than done, isn't it?

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How do we abstain from our fleshly passions? Well, earlier in the chapter of 1

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Peter, he writes this, 1 Peter 1, 14 and 15, as obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct.

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Since it is written, you shall be holy for I am holy. According to Peter, one way to abstain from sin is by not conforming to it.

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Now what does it mean, the word conformed? Well, it means do not form according to a certain pattern or mold.

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It means do not fashion alike or do not fit the same outward pattern.

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It means that you will not mold or pattern your behavior with a particular pattern or particular set of standards.

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In this case, the passions of the flesh. Christians are not to conform to the passions of their former ignorance.

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Christians are not to conform to the habits and practices that characterized our lives prior to the saving grace of the

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Lord Jesus Christ. Christians are no longer to be fashioned by our selfish, sinful, and fleshly pursuits.

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And Paul makes this same truth in the book of Romans, Romans 12, 1 and 2.

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I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.

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Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

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The Christian pilgrim is commanded not to conform to this world. So do not be conformed to your fleshly passions and do not be conformed to this world.

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Rather, be transformed by the renewal of your mind through the living and abiding word of God.

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In this war, the Christian pilgrim is not to surrender to fleshly desires.

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In this war, we are not to give fleshly desires any foothold in their assault against us.

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The Christian pilgrim is to renew their minds through the word of God, to daily renew their minds through the word of God, to renew their minds moment by moment as we walk through this world.

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And the key to our spiritual victory, the key to all of this is to walk according to the

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Spirit. Galatians 5 .16 says, but I say, walk by the

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Spirit and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the

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Spirit and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh. For these are opposed to one another to keep you from doing the things you want to do.

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To be victorious over sin, you must walk by the Spirit. You must be filled with the

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Spirit. You must follow the leading of the Spirit. You must be controlled by the Spirit. And then, and only then, will you not gratify the desires of the flesh.

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In every journey, you will eventually come to the crossroads. You will eventually come to an intersection.

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You'll come to the point of decision. And at this crossroads, a choice must be made as to what direction you will go.

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Are you going to continue forward? Will you go left? Will you go right? Or will you go back and return from whence you came?

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As a Christian pilgrim, you will frequently find yourself at the crossroads. You will find yourself at the intersection, at the point of decision.

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And you will need to make a choice. Which way will you choose? Which way will you go?

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At work, your boss asks you to do something unethical. He asks you to lie for him.

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Now, it's just a little white lie. No one's going to get hurt. No one is ever going to find out the truth. Here, you are at the point of decision.

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What will you do? Are you going to walk by the Spirit? Or are you going to carry out the desires of the flesh?

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At home, you haven't left the house in over a week. Your children have the flu. You have the flu.

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Your house is a mess. You're a mess. You're tired. They're tired.

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You desperately need a nap. It's almost dinnertime, so you muster up the strength and prepare a healthy dinner.

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Your husband comes home, and he looks you up and down. And he looks at the house, and he asks the question,

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What have you been doing all day? You are at the point of decision. What will you do?

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Are you going to walk by the Spirit? Or will you carry out the desires of the flesh? At home, you're home alone.

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It's late at night. There's nothing on TV, but your Internet browser is wide open, and you start to feel the pull of the world.

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You're at the crossroads. What are you going to do? Are you going to walk by the

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Spirit? Or will you carry out the desires of the flesh? At school, it's test day, and it's math class.

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And you're not prepared, and there's a test. And this test will determine your grade for the entire year.

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And your friend leans over to you and slides you a piece of paper with the answers on it. You're at the point of decision.

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What will you do? Are you going to walk by the Spirit? Or will you carry out the desires of the flesh?

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Do you see how this works? Contrary to what many people suggest, walking in the Spirit is not a mystical experience.

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It's not a passive exercise of simply letting go and letting God. To walk by the

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Spirit is to be actively submissive to the direction and leading and prompting of the

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Holy Spirit as you are guided through the Word of God. And as you abstain from fleshly passions, as you submit and yield to the

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Holy Spirit, you will conform not to your fleshly passions, but to the image of Christ.

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Step by step, from one degree of glory to another, the Holy Spirit will move you from where you are to where God wants you to be.

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And while it is the Spirit who is the source of all holy living, it is you, the believer, who is commanded to fight against sin and temptation.

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Philippians 2, verse 12, Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not only in my presence, but much more in my absence, you must work out your salvation with fear and trembling, knowing that it is

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God who works in you to will and to work for his good pleasure. The power to abstain from the passions of the flesh comes from the

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Holy Spirit. It is God who is at work in you. But the responsibility to abstain from the passions of the flesh falls to you.

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It falls to me. I must work out my salvation. I must impart maximum effort to walk in a manner that is pleasing to the

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Lord God, recognizing that I can only do this because of the power of the

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Spirit of God who is working within me. To live as a

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Christian pilgrim is to live with the proper mindset. You are loved by God, you are a sojourner, you are in exile, and your gaze must firmly be fixed upon the

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Lord Jesus Christ. To live as a Christian pilgrim is to abstain from the passions of the flesh.

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These fleshly passions are alluring, but they are not friendly. These passions will do considerable damage to your soul, so you must abstain from them.

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You must work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. You must look to and rely wholly upon the

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Spirit of God. Lastly, to live as a

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Christian pilgrim is to maintain an honorable lifestyle.

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1 Peter 2 .12 Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify

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God on the day of visitation. As a citizen of the kingdom of heaven, as a sojourner and an exile who is traveling through this world, as one who bears the name of Jesus Christ, who represents the

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King of kings and Lord of lords, your conduct must be honorable.

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The change that has occurred in your inner man must be visible in your outer man.

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The inner transformation of your heart should be manifest into every external area of your life.

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The work of God in our lives must be clearly demonstrated by our outward conduct and behavior, by our good works.

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Simon Kistemacher remarked, Christians are living in glass houses.

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Christians are on display. Their conduct, their deeds, their words are evaluated constantly by non -Christians who want to see if Christians indeed live up to what they profess.

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Beloved, the world is watching. The world is watching you.

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The world is watching me. Before their eyes, our lives ought to be honorable.

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The Greek term translated honorable speaks of something that is beautiful, winsome, attractive, surpassing, commendable, or noble.

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It speaks of something that is excellent, something that is good in its purest and highest sense.

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Is your life honorable? Is it honorable amongst the unbelieving world?

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Is your life beautiful? Is it commendable? Is it excellent? One commentator put it like this,

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It is a timeless truth whether we like it or not. Every Christian is an advertisement for Christianity.

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By his life, he either commends it to others or makes them think less of it.

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The strongest missionary force in the world is a Christian life. Now think about that for a moment.

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The strongest missionary force in the world is a Christian life.

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Is he right? Is the strongest missionary force in the world a Christian life? Is the strongest missionary force in the world your

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Christian life? Is it my Christian life? Beloved, it ought to be.

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The people whom we encounter in our everyday lives should be able to see consistent, honorable behavior.

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If you want to be an effective witness for the Lord Jesus Christ, then it is absolutely essential that you manifest right conduct and right behavior.

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Striving to be honorable, striving to be exemplary, and striving to be above reproach in every area of our lives.

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I don't recall where I heard this, but it has always stuck with me. We are the

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Bibles that the world is reading. We are the truths that the world is needing.

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We are the sermons that the world is heeding. If you call yourself a

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Christian, then your life had better reflect it. As you hear from this pulpit time and time again, it matters how you live.

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Now there's another reason why we're to live honorable lives among the Gentiles. There's another reason why honorable living is so essential to evangelism and the proclamation of the gospel.

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1 Peter 2 .12 Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify

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God on the day of visitation. Living an honorable life will close the mouths of your critics.

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Living an honorable life will turn the tables on them. In the things that they speak evil against you, in their attempts to dishonor, discredit, and disgrace you, you will prove them wrong.

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At some point in life, if you are a true believer, then you will be spoken against as an evildoer.

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If you're a true believer, then you will be persecuted. The Lord Jesus Christ was persecuted, so those who belong to him will be persecuted.

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2 Timothy 3 .12 Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.

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1 Peter 2 .21 For to this you have been called, speaking of suffering and persecution, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example so that you might follow in his steps.

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True believers will experience persecution. This has been the case throughout church history.

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Early Christians were falsely accused of all kinds of crazy things. Rebellion against the government and terrorism.

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Christians were blamed for the burning of Rome. Atheism. Christians did not partake of idol worship or emperor worship, and so they were called atheists.

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Cannibalism because of their participation in the Lord's Supper. Christians were accused of gross immorality because of their love for one another.

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Christians were accused of damaging trade, hindering social progress, and leading slaves into insurrection and rebellion.

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Beloved, expect accusations, expect persecution, expect suffering.

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The cross must precede the crown. The Christian pilgrim is to refute all such slander and false accusations by living honorable lives, by living respectful lives, by living a life full of good deeds.

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Our witness and our defense should come from our walk. It should come from our deeds.

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There should be nothing in our conduct that will give our enemies ammunition to attack the Lord Jesus Christ, or to attack the gospel, or to attack the church.

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Our good works must back up our good words. This is clearly the idea that the

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Lord Jesus Christ was proclaiming in the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5, 14. He writes,

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You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden, nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house.

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In the same way, let your light shine before others so that they may see your good works and give glory to your

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Father who is in heaven. Keep your conduct among the

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Gentiles honorable so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify

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God in the day of visitation. Well, what does the day of visitation refer to?

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Well, in the Old Testament, God visited man in a number of ways, but primarily for two reasons, for blessing or for judgment.

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God visited them to bless, and God visited them to judge. In the

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New Testament, the day of visitation typically refers to the day of salvation, the day of redemption.

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It refers to God visiting lost sinners and saving them by his great grace.

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Now, there are a few different interpretations of this passage, but I believe that Peter is saying that because of the ongoing observation of the character and quality of a true

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Christian's life, many unbelievers, unbelievers who may have spoken evil against them, will glorify the

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Lord God in the day when salvation visits them. Peter is exhorting believers to live honorable lives because in doing so, unbelievers will see these good works, and because of these good works, some believers will repent and believe and give glory to God on the day of visitation.

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In the world, many will accuse, revile, and slander, but as they notice our honorable and excellent lives, some will repent and be saved, and as a result of their salvation,

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God will be glorified. To live as a pilgrim is to live with the proper mindset, an eternal mindset, an eternal perspective.

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To live as a pilgrim is to abstain from the passions of the flesh. To live as a pilgrim is to maintain an honorable lifestyle.

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The great American pastor, Jonathan Edwards, wrote this, God is the highest good of the reasonable creature, and the enjoyment of him is the only happiness with which our souls can be satisfied.

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To go to heaven fully to enjoy God is infinitely better than the most pleasant accommodations here.

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Fathers and mothers, husbands, wives, or children, or the company of earthly friends are but shadows, but the enjoyment of God is the substance.

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Therefore, it becomes us to spend this life only as a journey towards heaven, as it becomes us to make the seeking of our highest end and proper good, the whole work of our lives, to which we should subordinate all other concerns of life.

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Why should we labor for or set our hearts on anything else but that which is our proper end and true happiness?

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Beloved, the Lord God is calling us to a radical way of life, a pilgrim life.

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You are a sojourner. You are in exile. You are greatly loved by God.

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But you don't belong in this world. And as you journey through this world, do not hold on to the things of this world too tightly.

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Hold them loosely. Always remember that you are not of this world, so don't let anything divert your attention away from the goal.

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Don't let anything distract you from reaching the final destination. So live with a proper mindset.

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Abstain from the passions of the flesh. Maintain an honorable lifestyle so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify

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God on the day of visitation. Beloved, you bear the name of Christ, and you have been bought with a price, and your life belongs to God.

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So glorify Him in it. Let's pray. Our Father, we thank

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You for the great riches that we have in Christ Jesus. We thank

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You for our salvation. We thank You for everything that accompanies our salvation. Lord, this is something that we could never do on our own.

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We had to look to You, and You saved us. And Lord, in light of these truths, we pray that we would remember that we are loved by You, that we would remember that we are sojourners and exiles, that we do not belong to this world.

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Our citizenship is in heaven. Our home is in heaven, where our inheritance is, where You are.

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So Lord, help us live in this manner. We pray, Lord, that You would help us see the areas of our lives, especially the areas where we are holding onto this world too tightly.

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We pray, Lord, that the Spirit would convict us as we spend time in the Word of God, as we spend time in meditation and prayer.

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We pray, Lord, that we would clearly discern Your will for our lives. Help us,

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Lord, to live out these truths for Your glory and Your honor. Thank You, Lord.