Purity 290: Encouragement for the Path of Christian Discipleship

 Purity 290

Good morning!

Today’s photo was taken by a friend who caught this sunrise scene while hiking at Roe Jan Park in Hillsdale NY. 

I share it to encourage us all to take our steps into a new week with confidence and courage rather than dread and fear. 

In life we are faced with the certainties of what we “know” is going to happened and the uncertainties of what we don’t know is going to happen.  The human experience is so varied and duplicitous at times that we can equally dread the monotony of the same old routine but at the same time fear the uncertainty of the mere possibility of change or of things that “may” happen that we aren’t prepared for.

That’s why we need to walk in the Spirit, abiding in the truth of God’s wisdom and doing our best to walk in His ways by trusting Him.  

If we do so, we approach the “same old, same old” with a perspective of gratitude and peace, thanking the Lord for the regularity and security that He has provided us. Instead of taking the things in our life for granted and being discontented, we thank the Lord for the work that provides for our needs, the people that we share life with, and the order in nature that He has established. If we are in negative circumstances, we rest in the Lord’s shelter to help carry us through or we plan and follow the Lord’s leading to get to a better place.  

When we are in uncertain times or don’t know what is going to happen from one day to the next, we press in to our faith of God’s sovereign control and trust that He will provide everything we need from one day to the next with the intention to walk in His ways no matter what we encounter so we will not be shaken but can continue to bear witness of His presence in our lives by the way we think and the way we act.   

Doing life without God just isn’t wise. Walking on our own leaves us vulnerable to fear, anxiety, depression, anger and making unwise choices based on selfish desires rather than following the ways of God that lead to love, joy, peace, goodness, kindness, faithfulness, gentleness, patience, and self-control.  

Go with God and we will make it through this Monday, this week, this year, and this life.  Keep walking in His direction and asking Him for advice on how to traverse the terrain you run into and He will see you through to a destination that is good, in a way that is never boring and never fearful.  

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This morning’s meditation verse was based on:

1 John 4:4 (NKJV)
⁴ You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.

I say that today’s meditation verse was based on 1 John 4:4 because the index card that I selected randomly, was actually written by myself and reworded to be a proclamation of the truth in this verse.  I had written:

“I Belong to God!

I have already won a victory over the world.

The Spirit that lives in me is greater than the spirit that lives in the world.”  

I have written previously that the New Testament epistles were written to us personally as members of the body of Christ.  Somewhere in my Christian walk, I had decided to write this card out to get the full impact of the fact that this verse was for me. 

 I, MT Clark, belong to God!  I have won a victory over the world! The Spirit that lives IN ME is greater than the spirit that lives in the world.

And that’s just it, the word of God has to be applied to us personally! He has chosen ME.  What the word says about those in Christ is true about ME! I have been chosen, saved, and changed by God, the Creator of all things. God has done this to and for me!

And you know what? If you are one of the few that are reading this, He has done it for you too!   

So what do we do? What can we do? 

I don’t know about you, but I am going to rejoice, be glad, thank Him, share this good news with anyone who will listen, and I will follow Him for the rest of my days on earth and throughout all of eternity!  I will not fear because the Creator of all things has called my name. I can do no other but to answer the call and go where He directs me.

 

Today we begin chapter 6 of Anderson & Baumchen’s Finding Hope Again, where the authors discuss the lie of hopelessness.   

As always, I share this information for educational purposes and encourage all to purchase Anderson’s books for your own private study and to support his work:

Overcoming Hopelessness

Heart! Thou and I are here sad and alone;

I say, why did I laugh? O mortal pain!

O Darkness! Darkness! ever must I moan!

To question Heaven and Hell and Heart in vain.

Why did I laugh? I know this Being's lease,

My fancy to its utmost blisses spreads;

Yet could I on this very midnight cease,

And the world's gaudy ensigns see in shreds;

Verse, Fame, and Beauty are intense indeed,

But Death intenser—Death is Life's high meed.

John Keats

Why are you downcast, O my soul?

Why so disturbed within me?

Put your hope in God,

for I will yet praise him,

my Savior and my God.

Psalm 42:5, 6, NIV

The Lie of Hopelessness

Both Keats and the psalmist are not only depressed, but they are also in deep despair. They are overwhelmed by a sense of hopelessness. The hopelessness that accompanies depression was aptly described by one woman who said, "It feels like I am in a well 1,000 feet deep. From the bottom I look up and see a faint light the size of a pinhole. I have no ladder, no rope and no way out."

The hopelessness of depression is based on a lie. With God there is always hope, and it is based on truth. The difficulty is that when we are bound by the chains of hopelessness, this seems too good to be true. Consider the following parable:

A newly adopted child found himself in a big mansion. His new father whispered in his ear, "This is yours, and you have a right to be here. I have made you a joint heir with my only-begotten Son. He paid the price that set you free from your old taskmaster, who was cruel and condemning. I purchased it for you because I love you."

The young boy couldn't help but question this incredible gift. This seems too good to be true. What did I do to deserve this? he wondered. I have been a slave all my life and I have done nothing to earn such a privilege!

He was deeply grateful, however, and began to explore all the rooms in the mansion. He tried out some of the tools and appliances. Many other adopted people also lived in the mansion, and the boy began to form new relationships with his adopted brothers and sisters.

He especially enjoyed the buffet from which he freely ate. Then it happened! While turning away from the buffet table, he knocked over a stack of glasses and a valuable pitcher crashed to the floor and broke. Suddenly he began to think, You clumsy, stupid kid! You will never get away with this. What right do you have to be here? You better hide before someone finds out, because they will surely throw you out!

At first he was caught up with the wonder of living in the mansion with a whole new family and a loving father, but now he was confused. Old tapes laid down in early childhood began to play again in his mind. He was filled with guilt and shame. The self-condemning thoughts continued. Who do you think you are, some kind of a privileged character? You don't belong here anymore, you belong in the basement! My old taskmaster was right about me—I don't belong here. So, his mind filled with such thoughts, the boy descended into the basement.

The cellar was dreary, dark and despairing. The only light came from the open door at the top of the long stairs from which he came. He heard his father calling for him, but he was too ashamed to answer.

The boy was surprised to find others in the basement. Upstairs everybody talked to each other and joined in with daily projects that were fun and meaningful. In the basement, however, nobody talked to each other. They were too ashamed. Although no one liked it there, most felt that the basement was where they really belonged, anyway. They didn't see how they could ever walk in the light again. If they did, others would see their imperfections.

Old friends would occasionally come to the door and encourage them to come back upstairs where a place was prepared for them. Some "friends" were worse than others and would scold those in the basement, which only made it worse.

Not everyone stayed in the basement for the same reason. Some, like the boy, thought, I deserve to be here. I was given a chance, but I blew it. Others didn't think they could climb the stairs. Even if they mustered up the strength to try, the stairs would probably break under their weight. They always had a reason why they couldn't return to their father upstairs.

Some would muster the courage to go up for a short time, but they didn't stay long enough to resolve their conflicts and learn the truth that would enable them to stay. So they returned to the basement.

Still others were afraid that they would not be accepted. Their old taskmaster wouldn't accept them, so how could they expect this adoptive parent to welcome them back after what they had done?

At first, our newly adopted child groped around in the darkness, trying to find a way to survive. The longer he stayed in the basement, the more the memory of what it was like to live upstairs began to fade, along with his hope of ever returning. Those old tapes from early childhood questioned the love of this new father, and he began to question whether he was ever adopted in the first place.

The noise of people having fun upstairs irritated him. He remembered the light upstairs being warm and inviting, but now, whenever the basement door opened the light seemed penetrating and revealing. He recalled hearing his adopted father saying that most people loved the darkness rather than the light, for their deeds were evil.

The boy made a few half-hearted attempts to return to the light, but eventually he found a dark corner and lay down in it. To survive, he ate grubs and moss off the damp walls.

Then one day a shaft of light penetrated his mind, and reason returned. He began to think, Why not throw myself on the mercy of this person who calls himself my father? What do I have to lose? Even if he makes me eat the crumbs that fall from the table, it would be better than this. So he decided to take the risk of climbing those stairs and facing his father with the truth of what he had done.

"Father," he said, "I knocked over some glasses and broke a pitcher." Without saying a word, his father took him by the hand and led him into the dining room. To the boy's utter amazement, his father had prepared a banquet for him!

"Welcome home, Son," his father said. "There is no condemnation for those who are in my family!"

Oh, the deep, deep love of Jesus, and the matchless grace of God! The door is always open for those who are willing to throw themselves upon His mercy. "In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved" (Ephes. 1:4-6). If people could accept our heavenly Father's grace and love, they would never confine themselves in the basement of depression or the grip of hopelessness.

Our heavenly Father doesn't want us to live self-condemned in the basement. He wants us to know that we are seated with Christ in heavenly places as joint heirs with Jesus. "Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory" (Romans 8:17, NIV).

Finding Hope Again: Overcoming Depression.

 

------------------------------more tomorrow--------------------------

 

God bless you all!