Th H2H: Reaching the Last Level

Intro

any athletes or gym rats?

any gamers?

any of both?

bodybuilding and/or playing something ranked have a similar goal

I want to be better than I was last time, I want to reach a certain goal, I want to keep myself to a certain standard in line with or above others around me

a lot of the lessons we have talked about this week already will come to a head with the topic for today

the world around us will try to decide what the moral standard for our lives should be

the opposition to our faith is often simply subtly moving the boundaries in our minds of what is right and what is wrong

what is not enough and what is too much

As Christians, our standards are set by God and him alone, no matter what

even if his standards are unpopular, were written 2000 years or more ago, or whatever else may come against it

we live a life serving God and him alone

he is the only one I am trying to please or impress and this is an important mindset as we continue into our topic today

Lust

we are looking at the next two antitheses today

whats adultery?

whats lust?

what is wrong with adultery?

what is wrong with lust?

can you see the difference between the two and the reason why Jesus talks about the lesser seeming one with such intensity?

a lot like what we talked about yesterday

the catastrophic engine failure can be avoided if you remember to change your oil and spark plugs every now and again

all the washes and tire shines and led lights won’t change that

Jesus says we have to take extremely aggressive measures to get such sin out of our lives

and he is more right than people in his time could know

lust can change the shape of your brain, can rework the pathways to dopamine, which is meant to be released after hard earned accomplishments

now we all carry around a dopamine dispenser with access to everything it takes and more to cripple your mind entirely and almost irreversibly

if we want to make it to heaven we are going to have to be ruthless and disciplined about what stays in our lives and what goes

if it is driving nails deeper into Jesus, cut it out of my life. Even if it is a nearly essential part of my life

Marriage

when we move on to the next part I want to lead with this thought

God loves marriage and he is the one who joins the two. He hates divorce and would like for there to be no divorce

Jesus gives here in this passage the only acceptable reason for divorce

He also gives the reason why all other divorce is wrong

the language for makes her commit adultery there I think is a little misleading

the going theory for most that to be fair has a lot of credibility to it, is that she is a woman in a time where woman did not work and had little opportunity to provide for themselves

however, I think Jesus is speaking in a way that goes beyond one context and reaches even our own

what happens when you divorce someone? How do you look at a person that you know has been divorced?

“makes her commit adultery” could just as easily be translated as makes her an outcast

remember the unity we talked about before? If divorcing someone for a reason that causes more of that is what you are doing, then you are sinning and its hurting another person God created

when you marry, be sure its someone you will spend a life growing closer to God with

Application

there will be many difficult things in your life as you grow

new and more exciting things will come along and they will bring unique challenges to your faith with them

remember that there is nothing in this life as valuable as eternal life in heaven and there is no loss in this life like the eternal loss of hell

put your selves in situations conducive to avoiding the wrong you are drawn to

find something good and productive to replace it with

pray constantly and never be afraid to talk to family and friends that love you unconditionally and want you to be in heaven with them