Doughnuts

Good morning and welcome in everybody.  Today, we are going to take a look at a passage of scripture, but before we do that, I wanted to tell you a little story.

Every morning, whether you walk into a grocery store or a breakfast shop, people will consume a quick on the go meal with a cup of coffee or orange juice.  You can eat them in the car, or at the park.  You can eat them on a plane or in a bus.  They are a very simple, transportable meal. They were originally called oily cakes, but are more commonly known as a doughnut.  After the end of the first world war, America developed a craving for this breakfast pastry. Doughnuts were in very high demand, so, in 1920, A man named Adolf Levitt decided to invent a doughnut making machine.  This machine cranked out doughnuts very quickly, on an assembly line of sorts, and his business soon took off, not only in New York, but across the country.  Doughnuts were even the featured food at the Chicago World’s Fair in 1934 because they had been made by a machine.

This reminds me of the Christian Life.

You can always tell a doughnut, because traditional doughnuts all look the same.  They have a hole in the middle.  They are circular in shape.  They are all very similar, but when we become a Christian, we are not to share similarities with the world. Although each of us have come from the world, Christianity is about living by a whole different set of values, found in the teachings of scripture. While the world will look at each other as examples, and attempt to mimic their behavior, a Christian looks to Jesus and His Holy Word.

Romans 12:2  And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

To conform means to bring into harmony, to be similar or identical.  It also means to bring yourself into accordance with a certain pattern, example or principle. We are not supposed to conform to the world, but to teachings of Jesus.  Conform means to comply, abide and obey.  It also means to follow, to adhere and to agree with.  Some people want to fit into the Christian Life  and fit in the world at the same time but it comes down to choosing one or the other. Instead of following the worldly crowd you want to follow Jesus.  instead of running with a pack, you want to run with the sheep. This requires yielding and submitting yourself to the will of God.

1 Peter 4:1-5  Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin;  That he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God.  For the time past of our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles, when we walked in lasciviousness, lusts, excess of wine, revellings, banquetings, and abominable idolatries:  Wherein they think it strange that ye run not with them to the same excess of riot, speaking evil of you:   Who shall give account to him that is ready to judge the quick and the dead.

We are not supposed to revert or to backslide, back to the way we used to live when we were in the world.  We are not supposed to show any resemblance to the way that the world lives, but commit ourselves fully to the way God wants us to live.

Ephesians 4:17-20 – This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind, Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart: Who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.But ye have not so learned Christ;

1 Peter 1:14 – As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance:

We must cast off the old person and it become a new one.  In order to do this We must renew our minds and think differently than we how we used to in the past. Our minds need to be guided with the things of the Holy Spirit.

Ephesians 4:22-24 – That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts;And be renewed in the spirit of your mind;And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. 

Colossians 3:10  And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him:

Many times people will quit certain habits in their lives.  For example, someone might decide to quit smoking.  If that’s the case, do you think it’s wise to surround yourself with 10 smokers in a room?  When everybody else is doing it accept you, don’t you think that you might fall into a place of temptation? The same is true of the Christian life.  When you are attempting to overcome the sins and temptations in the world, close friendships and associations with unbelievers can and will corrupt good morals.  Many people have been involved with drug addictions.  After getting all cleaned up, do you think it’s wise to hang out with your old buddies who are still involved with that kind of lifestyle?  When we become a Christian, we must develop new friends and new relationships. To truly conform and overcome our past lifestyle, our friendships are no longer to be with those who continue to live the way the world does.  Our friendship needs to be with the Lord Jesus Christ.

 James 4:4 – Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God. 

We must surround ourselves with other God-fearing, Bible believing people who share our faith. To do this means you must come out and be separate from the world and the way that they live, joining yourself with others who believe In the teachings of Christ, and who worship God out of a pure heart. 

2 Corinthians 6:14-18  Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?  And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel?  And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.  Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,

And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.

To inherit eternal life, we must prove God’s perfect will while here upon the earth.  We must show Him by our actions that we are His faithful and obedient children.

Ephesians 5:17 – Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is.

Ephesians 5:9-10 – (For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth;) Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord.

One of the keys to eternal life is doing God’s will.

1 John 2:15-17 – Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever. 

We shouldn’t show any resemblance to the way that unbelievers continue to live their lives out in the world.  As a Christian, we shouldn’t show any similarities to the old life that we have come out from.  When we place our faith in Christ, we are called to become something that is quite different, unlike a shelf full of……

………Doughnuts

Let’s think about these things for right now.  We can be found on your web browser by searching tlkjbc, where you can find our diaries distributed through various platforms, or by getting our entire podcast feeds directly, along with transcripts at tlkjbc.com, or I suppose, you can find us somewhere up here, in the Great Northern Minnesota woods.  Lord willing, we will talk with you some more tomorrow. Till then, bye bye everybody. ❤️

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