Feedlots and Feeding Grounds

Thank you, folks. What city in America is known as the Windy City? Chicago. You know the answer. The Windy City. Chicago. If I were to ask you which city in the United States is the windiest city, I bet you don't know the answer.

Now, it's a city. I have a map here, and it has some interesting facts at the top of it.

It lists highest points in the nation, etc., etc. Windiest city, Amarillo, Texas, with an average wind speed of 13.5 miles per hour, nonstop. If it stops for 30 minutes, you're going to get 27 miles per hour in the following 30 minutes. The average is 13.5. Wind gusts are 50 miles per hour common. Angela, myself, family, lived there for seven years. We can vouch for that fact, that national fact. Windiest city in the United States of America.

When we moved there, we were told by some of the locals that if you open your front door one morning and you get a certain smell, well, that's just the smell of money. What they were referring to was the stockyards, the feedlots. Because those feedlots, those stockyards, are major business in that area. Amarillo sits right smack in the middle of the old cow country. In the Panhandle of Texas, at any given time, in the Panhandle, in that area, there are two million cattle in the feedlots. That's not counting the cattle that are out in the pastures and all, but in the feedlots.

With the constant wind, you couldn't help but smell them from time to time, especially depending on the direction of the wind, which the wind did shift around, but it was always blowing. Now, it didn't smell them all the time, but like I said, you would get a whiff of them from time to time. It wasn't a pleasant smell. Like the locals told me, whenever you do smell it, just remember you're smelling the smell of money, because it's such big business in that area.

Now, it wasn't a pleasant smell, but it was nothing compared to being downwind of a pigsty. If you've ever been in that position, or in the old days, like the outhouse, people tried to keep the pigsty or the outhouse at a distance and in the right direction, according to how the wind blows.

And people who raised pigs kept a slop bucket. Everything went into it. All the scraps from the table, this, that, whatever, went into the slop bucket. And it was very appropriately called, slop, and feeding the hogs was very appropriately called, slopping the pigs or slopping the hogs. Johnny, go slop the hogs. Get the slop bucket and go slop the hogs. And slop was a very appropriate term because it didn't matter how gross the mess was, they would eat it. The pig would eat anything. When it was time to slop the hogs, and they saw you coming, they would begin to grunt and squeal and crowd the trough.

And when you poured it into the trough, the slop, they would just bury their snouts in it, and some would even try to climb up in the trough with it. Well, it seems like the worse the slop was, the more excited they got about it. Now, if you've ever been around pigs, you know that everything I've said is dead on accurate with pigs. Over time, a number of people through the years have been mauled by bears, and they have lived to tell about it.

Some have lived to tell about it, obviously. Those who tell about it, live to tell about it, or they wouldn't be telling about it. But one of the things which they commonly relate is how horrible, how absolutely horrible the breath of the bear was. That was one of the things that stuck in their mind and memory so deeply, just how bad the bear's breath stunk.

And that's because it had been feeding on carrion, the decaying flesh of dead animals. See, bears not only look for and feed on carrion, they make carrion. They will make a kill, and they may or may not eat some of it at that time. And they'll bury it under leaves and twigs and let it ripen. And they will later come back and feed on the carrion. This is a feeding ground for them. Speaking of feeding grounds, there's probably no greater feeding ground than our highways with their roadkill.

Crows, coyotes, vultures, possums, etc., constantly have a feast there. When we lived in Paducah, we were 260 miles from Huntsville, Alabama, where our daughter lived and still does. And, of course, we would make trips down there from time to time. Now, this was a 260-mile trip one way. And on one of those trips, and most of it, the vast majority of it is interstate. And on one of those trips, I thought, I'm just going to count the number of dead deer I see that have been hit by vehicles.

Now, keep in mind, when you're traveling down the interstate, you can see pretty good, obviously on your side, excellent, and in the median. But you can't see everything on the other side. But on that one trip, 260 miles, I counted 26 dead deer. 26 dead deer in that 260 miles. And obviously, there were more because I couldn't see everything.

Feed lights and feeding grounds. Animals have them. And some of them are just totally gross. And what I've covered so far is not pleasant, is it? It's not intended to be.

Before your meal later, just put it out of your mind. It's not intended to be pleasant because humans also have their feed lights and their feeding grounds. And they're not always pleasant. In fact, they can also be totally gross and stomach-turning. And if you turn with me to Genesis chapter 6, and we look at what the feed lights and feeding grounds of mankind before the Flood did to God. Genesis 6 verses 5 through 7. And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth. And it was not a good thing to do with the earth. It was not a good thing to do with the earth, but it was a good thing to do with the earth. And it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth. And it grieved him at his heart. And the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man and beast, and the creeping thing and the files of the air, for it repents me that I have made them. What is it really saying? It's saying it grossed out God. It grossed him out. It turned his stomach. It generated an emotional response.

Is it hard to know from Scripture and just the study of human nature? Is it hard to know what the two biggest feedlots and feeding grounds were at that time? No, it's not hard to know. It's there if you know how to look at it and how to read it, what to see. Two words sum up the feedlots and feeding grounds. The two biggest, not the only, but the two biggest feedlots and feeding grounds. They were number one, sex and number two, violence. Sex and violence. Is it any surprise what the two biggest feeding grounds are today in our time? Sex and violence. Look at what is fed to people today. Look what's being fed in America. Social media, silver screen, as we say, internet, whatever. Games, sex, and violence. But as the days of Noah, so shall it be. If you'd like a title, simply feedlots and feeding grounds. Feedlots and feeding grounds. So I have a question. What do we feed on? Or do we feed? What lot do we go into to feed? What is our feeding ground?

We've all heard the saying, you are what you eat.

You are what you eat. And there's a certain measure of truth to that. Look at the American diet. We are fast fooding our health away.

There are reasons for runaway health breakdown. There are reasons for runaway diabetes, cancers, and heart problems, not to mention many others. In what we feed on, we become to a certain degree. On the physical plane, regarding our physical bodies, we understand how that physically works. It's not a 100% thing. I understand that. But we do understand the basics of how that works. But what about on the spiritual plane?

What about on the higher plane or the spiritual plane? The mental, the emotional, the psychological. In other words, the realm of the mind, the realm of the mind, what do we feed our minds on? What do we feed to our minds? Because what we feed on, we become.

As a man thinks in his heart, so is he. We become what we feed on, we become what our eyes and what our ears soak up become part of our mind, don't they? What the eye sees and what the ear hears is real to the senses, even if the mind knows that it's make-believe. It's like, now with computerization, they can create scenes that the eye sees and it records on the brain and sounds the ear hears and records. And the mind can say, you can say to yourself, that's not real, that's fabricated. I know that that is technologically produced, it's not real.

But the eye, as far as the eye is concerned and the ear, it's as real as though it were real, and it makes an impact on the brain and it imprints. And no memory is ever truly lost.

No memory is ever truly lost. It may be kind of like that closet where so much stuff gets piled in that closet that's what's in the back of the closet. You forget that it's there because it's so covered up with everything that's been piled under the closet. But if you start digging and you start digging into it, you, oh yeah, I forgot about this, this is here, oh, I still have this, blah, blah, blah. How many times will something happen and it triggers a memory we haven't even thought of in 20 years? And just out of the blue, it seems that memory comes back. Well, no memory is ever truly lost. It may be buried under a lot of stuff, but it's still there somewhere and it does play a role and it does have some measure of influence. So what we absorb affects us. What we absorb, what we are exposed to, has some measure of influence upon us.

And we live now in the midst of a human condition that is rapidly becoming more and more as the days of Noah, what they were living in. We live in the midst of a human condition with all of its problems, all of its influences, all of its factors, all of its woe, and I am so tired of hearing the F-bomb. It's like people can't even talk anymore. They can't make a movie. I mean, it's everywhere around and I'm sick and tired of it. I can't do anything about it, except not join in the corruption. But more and more and more there are people who literally cannot communicate without using it or thinking they've got to use it. Well, again, think about how people have absorbed something as part of, quote, communication that wasn't spoken in mixed company at all when I was in school. And there's no way to avoid all of its impact.

Now, I'm talking about the overall human condition. You think about it. How do we avoid all the impact of the human condition that surrounds us? Well, for one thing, it's part of our learning. Why doesn't God, every time He calls one of us, sacred us off to a mountaintop somewhere where we can hang out only with, be with, only those who are like-minded and wanting to do what is right? Why doesn't He pull us out at that point? We know He doesn't pull us out at that point. And we have brethren called who have to live in the midst of all kinds of situations that surround them. It's part of our learning, yeah. It's part of our reality check regarding human nature and carnality. I mean, we're getting full exposure to human nature and carnality as to what it's really like. We don't, you know, God is not expecting us and certainly not wanting us to join in the same carnal stuff, but we see it all around us. And it's part of our trying and testing. Are you going to become part of it? Or are you going to fight it? Are you going to fight to stay out of it? Are you going to cave, give in, and therefore there's no character at all? Just corruption? Are you going to resist it? You're going to fight it? You're going to stay out of it? You're going to do, you're going to make whatever fight against sin, against leavening, against it, that you have to, not to get absorbed into it, and it absorbed into you. It's part of our trying and testing, part of our growth and development. It's part of our exposure to sin and its consequences and the learning and the conviction of why we shouldn't want any part of it, of why it has no future. It has no future. No future, no place in God's eternity. During this time of flesh, we have to deal with these things. You don't get the option not to deal with them. I don't get the option not to. We have to deal with these things and we have to learn vital lessons. And so, guess where we sit? We sit in the midst of a mess. You're your neighbors that live next to you. You can have neighbors that, whatever they want to do, they want to go in their backyard or front yard and scream obscenities and everything. If they want to cuss each other out, how are you going to go over there and stop them? You put your earplugs in or you go inside or whatever. You see things happening all around. I mean, we live in the midst of a mess, don't we? It's a mess of human nature. It's a mess of carnality. It's a mess of pollution and corruption. And it's only going to grow worse. And the thing is, we know, okay, have or quote, bad it is today, it's only going to be worse tomorrow. Or, let's say, have or bad it is in 2022, it's only going to be worse in 2023. And again, does that discourage me from the standpoint of what's happening? No, because I'm not expecting this age to go on. I'm not wanting this age to go on. I want to live in this age as long as I can and live for God and serve God and serve my family and my loved ones and God's people. But it just more than ever emphasizes to me and highlights to me Christ has got to come back. There's got to be a better world, a better time, a better day. And I know there's going to be, and it's going to begin when Christ comes back.

Now, it's only going to get worse. And we're exposed. We're exposed. There's no way to avoid all exposure. And we will absorb to a certain degree, to some degree, no matter what it seems. I mean, something happens in front of your eyes, it's planted in your brain. It's now part of in your memory banks. It's not something you wanted to see, it's not something that should be, but you can't walk around with your eyes closed and your ears plugged.

For one thing, you get run over if you do. But there's no way to avoid absorbing it to some degree on some level. But that also means we have to be set to fight these things and not give in to them. There has to be a countering. This face picture is being unleavened in Christ. Is that where Satan wants you? No.

He wants you leavened. He wants you leavened again. But we can cut down on the amount we absorb by not voluntarily, not willingly, not directly, not actively, not additionally feeding on it.

We don't have to go to the slop trough. We don't have to eat the slop. We don't have to, when the slop bucket comes and is dumped in the trough, we don't have to act like a pig and go to it. And when there's road kill, we don't have to act like a vulture or a crow or a coyote or a possum and go to it.

We can cut down on the amount we absorb by not giving ourselves additional exposure that we don't have to have. For instance, a man in today's society can't avoid all indecent exposure of women, can he? Now, see, I deal in reality. I don't deal in maybes. I deal in realities. I have all my life since I was a child. A man in today's society can't avoid all indecent exposure of women. The only way he can do that is to close his eyes and walk around, and he's going to wind up with teeth knocked out, broken nose, get run over.

It's on TV. It's in the movies. It's on the front pages of magazines. You can't even go through a check-out at Walmart places and look at certain covers. It's in advertising. It's walking around at Walmart and the mall and other public places, and it's on the internet. It's there. It's part of life.

We're a sexed-out society.

Now, a man can cut down on some of these, yes, by simply not accessing some of them, yes.

But he cannot avoid every bit of it because it's all around him and what is called soft porn.

Soft porn has totally infiltrated our society, and hard porn is readily accessible to anyone who wants to, most especially on the internet. And there are cases where kids, especially boys as young as age 6, are finding porn sites.

We are ruining our youth. We're ruining our nation. Remember the two prime feeding grounds in the pre-noation flood world, sex and violence?

We live in a society that feeds on carrion, and we have set our minds not to feed on it with them. I have set my mind. We set our minds not to feed on it with them. If the public wouldn't buy certain things, if the public wouldn't pursue certain things, guess what would happen to those certain things? They would dry up.

Money talks. So if it's not selling, it's not moving, nobody's going and seeing it, nobody's accessing it, it dries up. Well, why do you think the carrion in our society is growing and rotting more and more all the time? Because there is a market for it. There is an appetite for it. Just like I said in people's, quote, communication, they have become so filthy mouthed.

And this challenge you and I have is going to become greater and greater as society degenerates further and further. It'll be harder, and it'll take more to resist next year than this year and the one after that than that year. This is a reality that we can either change—guess what? You can't change it. You can't change it, and you can't escape it. Philippians 2.15.

This is a reality—Philippians 2.15. This is a reality that we can neither change nor escape.

Philippians 2.15.

That you may be blameless and harmless, that you may be unleavened.

Don't be leavened with what is around you, that you may be blameless and harmless—the sons of God without review, without condemnation, without indictment.

That you may be blameless and harmless—the sons of God without review—in the midst of, right in the smack in the middle of, in the midst of, what? A crooked and perverse nation.

Does that phrase fit our nation? Absolutely. Are we the only nation that it fits? No.

But we're the nation that was given the greatest blessing that a nation has ever been given.

A crooked and perverse nation. It certainly fits us as much as it does anybody.

It says, among whom you shine as lights in the world. You join in their darkness.

You're just another part of the darkness. You stand in the midst of those who are using all kinds of filthy language, and you don't use the filthy language. Guess what? Eventually, they see you don't—hey, he's not talking like we do. They begin to notice that you don't use gutter language and vulgarities and take God's name in vain. Among whom you shine as lights in the world.

And you're setting a right example, but that's not always appreciated either. You know, you're in the midst of the conditions that are spoken of in 2 Timothy 3. You're very familiar with them.

Know this, that in the latter days perilous times shall come.

Men shall be lovers of their own selves—covetous, boasters, heady, high-minded. And you know, as it grows worse and worse around us, as it moves further and further away from God and the things of God, the harder it will become to be and stay truly spiritual in our thinking and doing. I have known members of the church who have told me about how the company they have to work with during the day is so foul now that they find themselves almost slipping and saying the same thing just because they have to be around it every day, all day long. It's going to become harder and harder to stay truly spiritual in our thinking and doing. It's going to demand more and more diligence on our personal parts and the challenge to meet the requirement of Titus 2.12. And I'll read that, Titus 2 and verse 12, teaching us that, teaching us that, Titus 2.12, that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously and godly in this present world. The challenge to meet the requirement laid out there is going to continuously and constantly increase, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts. 1 John 2.16, again the age of the Apostle, and really just, you might say, having to remind the brethren at his time of what really does matter and count. And in 1 John 2 and verse 16, it says, For all that is in the world, and he identifies what he's talking about that's wrong, the lust of the flesh. The flesh is not wrong, but it's the misuse of it, it's the lust of it, and the lust of the eyes. I mean, who would say, well, eyesight is bad, so I hope God will take my eyesight away from me because it's a bad thing. No, it's not. It's how it's used, the lust of the eyes. When men, and you might be surprised, more women than you might think, when they plug into watch porn, that's part of the lust of the eyes, part of it. Lust of the flesh, a combination, lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. I'm one tough dude, you better not mess with me.

You just don't know how bad a dude I am. Pride of life, bull of the woods, cock of the walk, as they say. No, we can't remove all the corruption around us. We can't go away with it from the society that surrounds us. We have to live in the midst of it. But we don't have to necessarily plug into it. We don't have to additionally access it. Never has it been so easy to access things. Smartphones, computers, smart TVs, I mean, at our fingertips, constantly.

People can limit their access to the corruption if they choose to.

The problem with humanity, and especially, let's just say, pretty much throughout humanity, and especially America where we do have such absolute access to corruption. People are plugging into it constantly. You would be shocked at where people are and what they do. We are called out to be different.

We can put limits on what we allow ourselves to see and hear and do. We can restrict ourselves. We don't have to look at just anything, do we? We don't have to listen to just anything. We don't have to do just anything. We can restrict ourselves. We have that power. And guess what? When God sees that we want to restrict ourselves and we're limiting ourselves, He supports that and He adds His strength to us. We can deny ourselves. We can draw a line.

Yes, we can cut down on the amount we absorb. You know, you have a choice. You turn TV on. You have a choice. You can watch something that has some measure of redeeming value, or you can watch a corrupt piece of filth. People have that choice. And the problem is, too many people aren't drawing any lines on themselves. Yet Christ says, and God says, Be you holy as I am holy.

And we are unleavened in Christ, but all it takes to begin to be leavened again and lose that unleavening in Christ is to quit the fight against sin and start slipping back into it and letting it begin to get its hooks back into us. We have to actively resist the encroachments. We have to actively avoid additional. We have to actively fight feeding on carrion. Interesting scripture in Romans 13 and verse 14. Romans 13 and verse 14, where Paul wrote, But you put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and we put on Christ, haven't we? And it's a process of continuing to put Him on, to grow in Him. Notice, but you put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make not provision for the flesh to fulfill the lust thereof. Flesh is not evil.

It's a false teaching that it's evil. It is not evil. The evil comes in when it is used the wrong way and misused. And that's why the emphasis make not provision for the flesh specifically in regards to fulfilling the lust thereof. I've known people that had a particular sin.

I know a man years ago who was owned by tobacco smoking. He gave it up. He fought it, he fought it, he fought it, and he finally asked to be anointed for extra help. And he remarked how that for the first time in his life, he didn't even have a craving for a cigarette for tobacco.

And one day somebody was visiting him and they noticed that there was a carton of cigarettes up in the cabinet. Well, I thought you'd quit. I have. I haven't smoked in X amount of time. Well, why have you got them there? Well, you know, they're not bothering me. I'm not going to smoke them. Time went along. He got into a discouraged state.

He remembered those cigarettes were right there accessible. He went right back to them. He never quit. He died as a smoker. Don't make provision for the lust of the flesh. Don't make it easy to slip back into something. Somebody's giving up alcohol and they don't drink. Don't keep it around. Just don't keep it around. Somebody's had a problem with porn. Get rid of any and every material that's pornographic. Don't leave yourself positioned like the old bear who loves carrion. Don't set yourself up to fail. Don't access the porn sites. Don't set yourself up to fail. The bear loves carrion and he makes provision for it. He knows where to go back to to uncover it and get it. See, by actively resisting, by actively fighting absorption, by actively avoiding unnecessary additionals, we automatically cut down on corruption, don't we?

By actively choosing to resist feeding on the carrion of society, we're automatically moving in the right directions. There are certain TV shows we shouldn't watch. There are certain movies we shouldn't see. There are certain places we shouldn't go. It's called self-discipline and control to avoid corruption. This is part of the true process of repentance and it's a major step in the right direction and it's absolutely necessary, preliminary, in the process of conversion because, again, it's part of the true process of repentance. Number one, to actively resist feeding on the corrupting carrion of society is the first major step. That's the first major step. To actively resist, my wife and I will, from time to time, try to find a movie on TV to watch.

We've got a smart TV and we'll try to find a movie. That one looks like maybe that would be a good movie to watch, to spend a little time together and just sit there and relax and watch a movie. That looks like maybe that'd be a good movie. We start it and within the first five minutes, we realize, uh-uh, no way, I am not going to listen to this garbage. Why can't they make a movie and have it? Why do they think they've got to put this in it and put that in it?

And so we bow out of that one. Try another one. Sometimes there may be three different ones we go to and we have to bow out within the first minute or so because of just the absolute corruption. And it's like, can we live without watching that? Yeah, yeah, yeah, we can. We can live without watching that. And, uh, I do have some old DVDs of classic movies and sometimes put something like that on and watch it. Some are worth watching again. But do we have to actively be involved in the corrupting elements of the society? No. And to actively resist is part of fighting against sin and it's the first major step. And number two, the second major step is this. Number two, the second major step is to actively feed on God and the things of God.

Actively taking time. Proactively giving attendance. Spending time and energy in both a direct and an indirect way with God and the things of God on a constant and continuous basis.

Making such a regular feeding ground. Doing the things that God puts no sanctions on.

You know, there's all kinds of even physical activities that you can do that are positive, promote good things. It's kind of like a wise man I knew years ago said, you know sometimes the best thing you can do is just go out and cut the grass.

There are times I really enjoy just going out and cutting the grass. It's therapeutic under the blue sky and the sunshine, the green grass. It's a nice activity.

But actively feeding on God and the things of God serves as a strengthening force against the corruption of society. It's a powerful counterpoint.

Writing letters to a friend. Sending cards to those afflicted. Making phone calls. Getting with somebody for a cup of tea or a cup of coffee. Or taking a hike together. Or playing Scrabble. There are so many things that you can do of a play nature and a work nature.

We're growing a generation of couch potatoes. We're growing a generation where young boys and girls are becoming addicted to porn before they ever reach adulthood. And we've got all kinds of adults and all kinds of garbage. We have to have, as God's people, and exercise spiritual counterpoints. So again, to actively resist feeding on the garbage by restricting ourselves from it. That's number one, yes. And then number two follows suit to actively feed on God and the things of God.

Philippians 2.5, I'll just reference it. Remember how familiar that is. Let this mind be in you.

It is not 100% a fact that we are physically what we eat. There's other factors that also play in. We know that. But there's a certain measure of truth in that. And as a man thinks in his heart so is he, what we absorb and soak up and feed on with our mind, we become. There's so much truth in that. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. Christ never sinned. We know that.

I want to copy the Savior. Now, whereas he never sinned, I realize, and I'm honest enough to know, that it's not possible for me to live in a way that there's never a thought that crosses the line, or there's never a word that crosses the line. There's never an action that crosses the line. But you know what?

Just like he fought against sin and he was 100% successful, I'm going to be as successful as I can be. Whether that's 70%, 80%, 90%, whatever. And God's going to appreciate that and He's going to support me. I'm going to fight against sin. I'm going to battle against it. And, of course, again, you're keeping suit with Christ. When you do that, you're not as successful as He was because He was 100% successful, but you're copying Him.

You're trying to be like your big brother, and they appreciate that. And because of your approach and your actions, they're able to continually give you their full support. And the more of Christ's mind that is in us because we're feeding on God and the things of God, guess what? And this is true. The less you will sin. The less you will sin. The less we will give into temptation, and the less power that temptation will have over us as time goes along.

A transforming effect will be taking place. Paul spoke of that to the Romans, and we might look at it in Romans 12 too. In fact, it's right here where my page is open. Romans 12 too. Be not conformed to this world. Well, guess what? Like I said, look at how people are conforming to corruption today.

It's growing by leaps and bounds. Be not conformed to this world, but you be transformed by the renewing of your mind. By renewing it on the good things, the right things, God and His Spirit, and the things He gives us to participate in that are good and right and wonderful and joyous, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. And it's based on a daily basis. I don't know about you, but comes evening time and I'm tired and ready to sleep. You know, I've had a good day.

The day's going well, and it doesn't mean there's not challenges, but it's been a good day. It's been a successful day, a productive day, and I settled into a sleep. Well, when I wake up in the morning, I don't spring out of bed like I once did when I was a lot younger. I don't spring at all. I get out carefully so I don't sprain something. You know how it is? Don't want to pull a muscle, stretch a tendon or anything like that. But I have to crank up again.

I wake up and I get up even after a good night's rest. You know, I'm not ready to start hitting the ground running, as they say. I'm just going to hit the ground. And I've got to get things cranked up and going again. And then, no matter how good a day that I have, when I get up the next morning, I repeat the process of getting going again. And I love my morning coffee.

That's the best coffee of the day. But I have to get going. Why? Because it's a daily cycle. It's daily. Daily. Daily. It's daily. Well, and the transforming effect that takes place with our minds, 2 Corinthians 4, 16, 2 Corinthians 4, in verse 16, it is a daily, daily thing. 2 Corinthians 4, in verse 16, it says, For which cause we faint not, but though our outward men perish?

Because every day, especially, you realize I'm aware, if you get past a certain age, you're on the downhill slide. For which cause we faint not, but though our outward men perish, yet the inward man, the inward person, is renewed. How? Daily. You can't let 2 or 3 days go by. You can't let a week slip. You can't let a month go. Anybody who's ever analyzed, fade away, growth, development, building, destruction knows that it's a lot more effort to build something than to lose it. It's a whole lot. It takes a lot longer to build a, grow a forest than it does to burn it down.

Character's hard to build. It's easy to lose. But the point here is it has to be renewed day by day. We need spiritual feeding every day. And God has given us a prime. It's not the only feeding ground, but it's prime. You know, John 17, 17, your word is truths. It's a prime feeding ground. God's word is a table to feed from. It's God's word that is a rich feed light, a good feed light, a rich feed light, to daily frequent. In Colossians 3, verse 16, God's word is a table to feed from. It's a rich feed light that we should daily frequent.

And it says in Colossians 3, 16, let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. Feeding at God's table can have a profound effect. It's kind of like what David said in Psalm 119, verse 9.

It can have a profound effect. Feeding at God's table can have a profound effect. Psalm 119 and verse 9, Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? We've worked with young men who have certain specific sins and problems that they want to be clean of. Wherewith shall a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed thereto according to your word. And how can you do that if you don't take time in it? God's table, God's feed light, God's feeding ground. It's like Psalm 23. Have you ever stopped to think about this part of Psalm 23?

It's verse 5. In Psalm 23 and verse 5, it says this. David said this, You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.

Psalm 23.

You know, the Lord is my shepherd, Psalm.

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. I want you to think about a connection here.

You are my people, remember Philippians 2.12, in the midst of a crooked, in the midst of, in the middle of, a crooked and perverse nation.

And here, David says, you prepare a table. A table is a place where you feed.

You nourish yourself from what's on the table. You, God, prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies, in the midst of them. It doesn't matter how bad the society gets. We're not automatically destined to get sucked into it.

It's choice. We can choose not to. God provides us a place to feed, a feeding ground, even in the midst of a corrupt and crooked society that's only going to get even more so as time goes on.

You have the table. You have the feeding ground. You have the feedlot of the Bible daily.

And He's also provided another table, another feeding ground, a very important feeding ground, a very important feedlot. And He sets a very special table every week, every Sabbath. Go with me to Hebrews 10 verses 23 through 25. This is another feeding ground. It's another very special feeding ground feedlot, a special table. Hebrews 10, beginning in verse 23.

Let us hold fast the profession of our faith. Let's get a real good grip on it, not turn it loose without wavering, for He is faithful that promised. And let us consider one another.

We talk about feedlots and feeding grounds and a table set and what we can access that bolsters and strengthens as part of God's plan. Let us consider one another to provoke. And it's talking about in a positive way to stir, to stimulate, to spark, like iron sharpening iron unto love, to what love really is all about. And love is very responsible. Let us consider one another to stir, spark, stimulate, in that sense, provoke, to love and to good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves to gather as the manner of Psalm is, but exhorting one another and so much more as we see the day approaching. This here is prime feeding ground. This is prime feedlot. Not just, not just, not just because of the messages that come from God's pulpit, but also because of you, all of us, being here together, provoke unto good works. It's more than just the message. It includes the messages, obviously, but it is more than just the messages. This is prime feeding ground where we're nurtured and we receive strength and nourishment. And continuously and constantly as a regular and daily habit, daily habit, feeding on God and the things of God, this is what Paul was admonishing. And I will go back to Philippians 4, go back to Philippians, and this time, chapter 4 and verse 8. This is what Paul was admonishing when he said, finally brethren, what server things are true? Well, that doesn't fit it, okay? Get rid of that. What server things are honest? Well, boy, that is not, you know, I don't want to be a part of that dishonesty. What server things are just? Well, that is totally unfair and not right. I don't want to be a part of that. What server things are pure? You want to talk about something that's just pure slop? No, I'm out of that. What server things are lovely? What server things are of a good report? If there be any virtue, if there be any praise, think on these things. Simply talking about, again, that we have to make choices of what we feed on and what we don't feed on.

And you don't need to turn there. I'm going to turn to one final Scripture, but I'll reference this when Ephesians 4.23, Ephesians 4.23, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind. It has to be done regularly.

Final Scripture, Isaiah 26, verse 3. Isaiah, I knew long ago that I could not and never could be successful to the degree that's required without God's help. I could not do it on my own. I have my part to play. I have my responsibility in the matter. We all do. But I have to exercise what's within my power that's required of me.

And God adds that which makes it be successful. God adds that which does make the difference.

And Jesus Christ truly is, in every sense of the word, our Savior.

In Isaiah 26 and verse 3, "...you will keep him..." These are encouraging words. "...you will keep him in perfect peace..." Talk about good conscience, calmness of spirit, and all of that. "...you will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you or whose mind stays with you." Very important. Again, number one, actively resisting feeding on the carrying of society.

There are certain people you shouldn't hang out with. There are certain people that aren't clean company. They will pull you back into the corruption. I'm sorry, but even counselors out there who are not called in this age and helping people to come out of certain problems will say, one of the first things you've got to do is clean up your company. Quit hanging out with the folks that do that, which you're trying to come out of. Clean up your company.

Number one, actively resisting feeding on the carrying of society, while, number two, actively feeding on God and the things of God, which results in cleansing, strengthening, and transformation, and it results in successful conversion. And the successful maintenance of conversion. And may we always bear in mind that there is too much truth in the saying that we become what we feed on.