Today I am grateful for:

1. I-Pod Fun
2. Midnight Snowball Fight
3. Arden Hills 2012 Ball Drop!

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These strategies for bouncing and starving the eyes may sound rather simple. Maybe even easy to do. But they aren’t. Satan fights you with lies, while your body fights you with the desires and strength of deeply entrenched bad habits. To win, you need a sword and a shield.

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Your Sword

I have made a covenant with my eyes. [Job 31:1]

When you fail and look at a jogger, say sharply, “No, I’ve made a covenant with my eyes. I can’t do that!” When you look at a busty billboard, say, “No, I’ve made a covenant with my eyes. I can’t do that!” This action will be a quick dagger to the heart of your enemy.

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Your Shield

Flee from sexual immorality. … You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body. [1 Corinthians 6:18-20]

You have no right to look at that or think about it. You haven’t the authority.

A shield such as this will help you think rightly about the real issues involved as you face temptation in your fight for purity. Satan’s power of temptation lies in your supposed right to make decisions regarding your behavior. If you didn’t believe you had that right, no tempting power could touch you.

+ Every Man’s Battle, Arterburn & Stoeker, 141-142

Monday: 5.0 miles.

One of the tools we have been given in our Purity Platoon is the Four-Step Fire Drill — steps to take when we are confronted with sexual temptation:

STEP 1: SPEAK ALOUD

Speak aloud these words. “I will not sacrifice my purity no matter what! I will not sacrifice my purity for [name the temptation].”

STEP 2: PRAY

Pray and ask Jesus to strengthen you right now! Ask Him to give you courage to walk away from the temptation.

STEP 3: CALL

Call your Purity Partner.

STEP 4: FLEE

Flee the temptation by vacating the premises. (You should have a place identified that you can flee to for known times and places of vulnerability.

Today I am grateful for:

1. Emma’s First Show
2. Movie Time w- Paul
3. Walking theDogs

For those who desire purity, the sexual body is not the evil with which we must contend. Far from being evil or even tainted, the body, and sexual union itself, contain a value and dignity that we can barely fathom. But we must fathom this value and dignity if we are to live according to the true ethos of Christ’s words.

+ Christopher West, Theology of the Body Explained

Today I am grateful for:

1. New Music
2. Theater Fun
3. Good Sleep

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Yesterday’s DRI: 26

I chose the better part, and was found wanting in the strength to keep to it.
– Dr. Henry Jekyll

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Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

+ Philippians 3:12-14

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This is the holy tension of the Christian life: we aim for that which we know we will not attain in this life.

+ Luke Gilkerson

There is a marvelous discussion of the battle against sin over on the Breaking Free blog. Luke Gilkerson is writing a series of reflection on John Owen’s book, Of the Mortification of Sin in Believers. In Part VI of Luke’s reflections, he spends some time discussin what things are not truly the mortification (or killing) of sin:

1. Mortification is not the utter destruction of sin
   
2. Mortification is not merely outward behavioral change
   
3. Mortification is not having a quiet and sedate personality
   
4. Mortification is not the diversion of sin
   
5. Mortification is not occasional and superficial conquests over sin

Luke takes some time to explain each of these points and draws in a wonderful analogy from the story of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. To read Luke’s blog entry, go to:  Mortification of Sin (Part 6)

Today I am grateful for:

1. Friends & Family
2. State Champion Spartans!
3. On with the Show!

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