Simple Man

Character

the mental and moral qualities distinctive to an individual.

The person you are when no one is looking.

James 1:27 NASB95

27 Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.

The outward expression of love toward all.

Now its popular to help those in need, as long as we post it on social media.

Serving those in need becomes self serving.

In this time, there was not benefit to serving those beneath your station.

But there was great benefit in serving someone that could help you.

Jesus talking about the Judgement said that the King will say to the righteous:

Matthew 25:35–40 NASB95

35 ‘For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; 36 naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.’ 37 “Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? 38 ‘And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? 39 ‘When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ 40 “The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.’

You guys are good at that. I know you and I know that from my perspective, you demonstrate compassion well. That is to say you are either righteous in the sit of God, or your just good at fooling me, and or yourself.

2. “keep oneself unstained by the world” Maintain your character.

Over the next three weeks were are going to look at three aspects of our Christian walk.

How we should and shouldn’t be in private.

How we should and shouldn’t be in the church body.

How we should and shouldn’t be in the public.

The Assumption

You are a son or daughter of the living God. You are saved, you are one of His elect. You have been born again.

What does that mean?

There was a time that you recognized that you had sinned against a Holy God and that you deserved to not be allowed in His presence.

(Think of doing something so wrong to your own parents that you were too ashamed to face them.)

But your heard that God made a pathway back into His presence by sending His Son to the Cross as the punishment that you deserved.

(In a way that makes me want to hide my face even more)

But Jesus defeated death, rose from the grave and put His righteous on you.

If you know that to be true and have accepted that, and can see the fruit of good works that true faith produces, then you should have confidence in your salvation.

If you believe all that is written about the Father and the Son, but don’t see the fruit in your own life, then you really need to spend time in prayer to the Father and in examining yourself.

1 Corinthians 6:9–11 NASB95

9 Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, 10 nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.

Washed: Saved from eternal death.

Sanctified: Set apart for a purpose.

Justified: Given right standing before God.

James tells us since we are clean, our challenge now is to stay clean.

That starts at home, alone when there is no one to impress, and no one to let down.

James 1:14–15 NASB95

14 But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. 15 Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death.

Lust starts in the mind.

Proverbs 4:23 NASB95

23 Watch over your heart with all diligence, For from it flow the springs of life.

2 Corinthians 10:3–5 NASB95

3 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, 4 for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. 5 We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ,

Philippians 4:8–9 NASB95

8 Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things. 9 The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.

Social Media:

Social media algorithms work by tracking user behavior to predict and deliver personalized content that maximizes engagement. They analyze user data like clicks, likes, shares, comments, watch time, and even how long a user pauses on a post. By prioritizing content that performs well in terms of engagement, these algorithms aim to keep users on the platform longer, though they can sometimes amplify sensational or controversial content over nuanced or positive content. 

Social media algorithms, designed to boost user engagement for advertising revenue, amplify the biases inherent in human social learning processes, leading to misinformation and polarization.

How to get off the train?

Pink elephant:

Breath:

5,4,3,2,1.

5 - See

4 - touch

3 - hear

2 - smell

1 - taste.

10 things you are thankful for.