{"id":47,"date":"2020-01-02T23:07:24","date_gmt":"2020-01-02T23:07:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stewardshiplibrary.com\/?p=47"},"modified":"2024-01-29T20:41:21","modified_gmt":"2024-01-29T20:41:21","slug":"lesson-2-the-numbing-effect","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stewardshiplibrary.com\/lesson-2-the-numbing-effect\/","title":{"rendered":"Lesson 2: The Numbing Effect"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-kadence-column kadence-column47_bcc3c0-7a inner-column-1\"><div class=\"kt-inside-inner-col\">\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-black-color has-text-color\" style=\"font-size:28px\"><strong>DISCIPLESHIP STUDIES, INTERMEDIATE<br>Module 201: Lesson 2 of 6<br><strong>Living the Controlled Life<\/strong> | Controlling Our Exposure<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\" style=\"font-size:19px\"><em>There is an obvious fact about our human nature. Whatever becomes common becomes \u201cinvisible.\u201d Our culture offers abundant quantities of things and experiences that can and will numb our spiritual sensitivities.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-vimeo wp-block-embed-vimeo wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe src=\"https:\/\/player.vimeo.com\/video\/407684043?dnt=1&amp;app_id=122963\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"autoplay; fullscreen; picture-in-picture\"><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/stewardshiplibrary.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/201-2-The-Numbing-Effect.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>Download Study Guide &amp; Questions<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Study Guide<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Have you ever been reading a passage in the Bible about the depravity of unbelievers only suddenly to have your face appear on the page before you? This happened to a man recently reminding him that since we are all still fallen creatures (albeit forgiven), to the extent we do not allow the Holy Spirit to control and fill us, to that extent we are no stronger than an unbeliever.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The\nverse he read was Ephesians 4:19, <em>\u201cHaving\nlost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to\nindulge in every kind of impurity, with a continual lust for more.\u201d <\/em>It was\nthat last line, <em>\u201cwith a continual lust\nfor more,\u201d<\/em> that gave him pause. The end result of this moral depravity, according\nto Paul, was a <em>\u201ccontinual lust for more<\/em>.\u201d\nDid I show signs in my life of a <em>\u201ccontinual\nlust for more, <\/em>he asked himself?\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>What\na good question for all of us to ask ourselves. In this verse Paul gives us the\nprogressive decline that leads a person to ultimately living a life\n(consciously or unconsciously) consumed with a <em>\u201ccontinual lust for more.\u201d <\/em>As believers, we are seeking to live a\nholy life in an unholy world that is bent on our spiritual, moral and physical\ndestruction. It would do us all well to be aware of the following three step progression\nof failure so we can do everything possible to avoid inadvertently falling into\nits subtle clutches. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The First Step: Callousness<\/strong> | <em>\u201clost all sensitivity\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There\nis an obvious fact about our human nature. Whatever becomes common becomes \u201cinvisible.\u201d\nOur culture offers abundant quantities of things and experiences that can and\nwill numb our spiritual sensitivities.&nbsp;\nIf we allow ourselves to be injected with enough carnal Novocain, our\nspiritual sensitivities will eventually become so diminished that we will no\nlonger even notice the evil, the crude, the greedy, the violent, the selfish,\nthe blasphemous \u2013 it will simply become invisible. We can all likely think of\nnumerous examples when we have seen this happen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Many\ntranslations use the word \u201ccallousness\u201d in this verse. Calluses come from\nexcessive use of some part of your body \u2013 hands, feet, fingers, etc.&nbsp; Once a callus has formed, the feeling in that\narea of your body is gone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There\nis a little song I sang as a child that cautions against becoming calloused.&nbsp; You may know it.&nbsp; It is entitled, \u201cOh be careful little eyes\nwhat you see\u2026\u201d The other verses tell our ears to be careful what they hear, our\nhands what they do and our feet where they go. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Each\ntime we expose ourselves to the godless things of this world we receive another\nshot of Novocain. Each shot further numbs our spiritual sensitivity and the\nability of the Holy Spirit to protect us from the deadliness of what we are\nexposing ourselves to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This numbing effect of the things of this world is\nno better illustrated than in Jesus\u2019 assessment of the believers in the church\nat Laodicea in Revelation 3:15-18,<em>\u201cI know your deeds,\nthat you are neither cold nor hot; I would that you were cold or hot. So\nbecause you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my\nmouth.&nbsp; Because you say, \u2018I am rich, and\nhave become wealthy, and have need of nothing,\u2019 and you do not know that you\nare wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked. <\/em><em>\ufeff<\/em><em>I\nadvise you to buy from me gold refined by fire, that you may become rich, and\nwhite garments, that you may clothe yourself, and that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and eye\nsalve to anoint your eyes, that you may see.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>John\nCalvin said, \u201cProsperity inebriates men, so that they take delights in their\nown merits.&nbsp; Nothing is more dangerous than to be blinded by prosperity.\u201d\nThese believers had become so numbed by the things of this world that they were\nnot even conscious of the fact that they were spiritually <em>\u201cwretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked.\u201d<\/em>&nbsp; How could this have possibly happened?&nbsp; They allowed themselves slowly over time to\nbecome numb to their own materialism to the point of blindness.&nbsp; Have we, like them, become numbed by the\nappeal of the world so that we too are unaware of our own spiritual blindness?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The\nway to avoid this downward spiral is to do whatever we can to avoid being\ninjected with the numbing Novocain of worldliness and materialism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The Second Step: An increasing indulgence in our physical appetites<\/strong> | <em>\u201cindulge\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Once\nwe are adequately and spiritually numbed we will find ourselves feeling free to\nparticipate in what John McArthur describes as, \u201cunbridled self\u2013indulgence.\u201d As\nthe conviction of the Spirit and the Word are now muffled or silenced\naltogether, we will become like the believer in James 1:22-24, <em>\u201cBut be doers of the word, and not hearers only,\ndeceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he\nis like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks\nat himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like.\u201d<\/em> He is no\nlonger inclined to respond. He is rather inclined to forget. The numbness has\ndone its work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Now,\nsufficiently numbed to spiritual reality and truth, we can blindly pursue,\npartake of and participate in the things of the world without any feeling of\ncontradiction or conviction. We can indulge our fleshly appetites with little\nor no restraint. We can do things, buy things, wear things, watch things, eat\nthings, drink things and say things totally oblivious to our spiritual\ninconsistency and opposition to the ways of God. Satisfying our\nappetites\/pleasures can easily become a major focus, if not the <em>primary<\/em> focus of our lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The Third Step: Addiction<\/strong> | <em>\u201ca continual lust for more\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Whenever\nwe think of an addict we normally picture some pathetic crack user lying unconscious\nin some back alley somewhere or the haggard drunk staggering home at 2:00 AM\nafter getting himself thoroughly \u201cwasted.\u201d We don\u2019t like to think of addicts as\npeople in suits and dresses, living in nice homes, going to good churches,\nrunning successful businesses and known as good Christians. And we most\ncertainly don\u2019t want to think of an addict as the person who is wearing <em>our<\/em> clothes and living in <em>our<\/em> house and is a respected member of <em>our<\/em> church and <em>our <\/em>community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If\nwe would be completely honest with ourselves, we would all admit that we are\nquite prone to addictions. In fact, most of our lives seem to be spent\ncontinually trying to avoid one addictive extreme or another. Be it food, drink,\nmoney, possessions, gambling, entertainment, sex, power, fame\u2026the list goes on\nand on.&nbsp; The only real difference between\nus is which of these addictive tendencies we personally struggle with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We\ncan know we are addicted to something when we just won\u2019t give it up, even when\nwe want to. The rich young ruler wouldn\u2019t give it up (Matthew 19:22). Agrippa wouldn\u2019t\ngive it up (Acts 26:28). Judas wouldn\u2019t give it up (John 12:4-6). The Pharisees\nwouldn\u2019t give it up (John 9:24-29). And countless millions of others in this\nworld (believers and unbelievers alike) won\u2019t give it up either. The challenge\nfor each of us is to honestly assess what \u201c<em>it<\/em>\u201d\nis in our lives \u2013 what is our insatiable \u201clust for more.\u201d &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The\nchorus of Casting Crowns\u2019 song <em>Slow Fade<\/em>\npoetically expresses what Ephesians 4:19 is warning us to avoid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>\u201cIt&#8217;s a slow fade when you give yourself away<br> It&#8217;s a slow fade when black and white have turned to gray<br> Thoughts invade, choices are made, a price will be paid<br> When you give yourself away<br> People never crumble in a day\u2026\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em> <\/em>The key to overcoming the traps of worldly addictions is to first do everything we can to stay away from the \u201cneedles of worldly Novocain\u201d that are anxiously waiting to inject their numbing influence on us \u2013 hoping that after we have been fully anesthetized we will painlessly and naively wander deeper into the darkness unaware that we are in the midst of a \u201cslow fade.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The\nWord gives us four clear directives on how to successfully avoid the enticing\nand numbing effects of the world as we journey on towards eternity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&nbsp;<strong>#1: Be\nalert<\/strong>: I Corinthians 16:13 tells us,<em>\u201cKeep\nyour eyes open for spiritual danger; stand true to the Lord; act like men; be strong\u2026\u201d\n<\/em>(tlb)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>#2: Be serious<\/strong>: I Peter 5:8 says<em>, \u201c<\/em><em>\ufeff<\/em><em>Be\nsober-minded\u2026 Your adversary the devil <\/em><em>\ufeff<\/em><em>prowls\naround like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>#3: Be content<\/strong>: Philippians 4:11-12 states, <em>\u201cfor I have learned to be content in\nwhatever circumstances I am. I know how to get along with humble means, and I\nalso know how to live in prosperity\u2026\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>#4: Be Spirit-minded<\/strong>: Romans 8:5 says, <em>\u201cFor those who live according to the flesh\nset their minds on <\/em><em>\ufeff<\/em><em>the things of the\nflesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things\nof the spirit.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We do not want to ever forget I John 4:4, <em>\u201cYou are from God\u2026and have overcome them <\/em>(the false spirits of this world)<em>; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.\u201d<\/em> If we stay alert, serious, content and Spirit-minded, we <em>will<\/em> overcome.&nbsp;May it be so for all of us!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-layout-1 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/stewardshiplibrary.com\/lesson-1-living-on-less\/\"><strong>Previous Lesson<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"has-text-align-right\"><a href=\"https:\/\/stewardshiplibrary.com\/lesson-3-what-is-your-most-valuable-possession\/\"><strong>Next Lesson<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stewardshiplibrary.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stewardshiplibrary.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stewardshiplibrary.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stewardshiplibrary.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stewardshiplibrary.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/stewardshiplibrary.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4267,"href":"https:\/\/stewardshiplibrary.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47\/revisions\/4267"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stewardshiplibrary.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stewardshiplibrary.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stewardshiplibrary.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}