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Thursday, December 17, 2020

Purity 293: Encouragement for the Path of Christian Discipleship


 Purity 293 12/17/2020 

Good morning!

Today’s photo was taken by yours truly Tuesday when I got home from work. With the news of the snow coming I purposely decided to take a picture of the sunset down by the River just in case I forget what it looks like without snow as the season of white has come in full force.     

It is my prayer that all my friends stay safe now that this first whopper of winter has come. Whether you will be enjoying the confines of your home today or if you are one of the ones that will be travelling and working regardless of the snow, it is my hope that you will take it slow and easy and to remember that storms like these are reminders that God is in charge.   Enjoy the splendor of this winter wonderland but plan your movements, stay focused on your surroundings, and as always avoid hasty decisions. 

For those outside the snow zone, enjoy the fact that you are unaffected but heed the advice all the same.  

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This morning’s meditation verse was:

1 John 2:6 (NKJV)
6 He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked.

 Is it any wonder why I love first John?  Some of the best advice for living the Christian life is given in first John.  It speaks the truth of being an authentic Christian.  

If we say we are a Christian, we have to walk like it.  Otherwise we are a liar, a phony, or a hypocrite.  

 It occurred to me yesterday, although not perfect, I really am a “born again Christian”.  I didn’t really know what that was growing up.

  My first exposure to the term “born again” was from the 1983 Chevy Chase comedy “Deal of the Century”. In the film Chase is an arms dealer and one of his associates, played by Gregory Hines, became a “born again Christian”.  I don’t recall much but Hines wanted to repent of the business he was in with Chase and became a born-again Christian. Hines was fully immersed baptized, was overjoyed by Christ’s forgiveness and new life. I got the idea that when you were “born again” it was serious – you know devout.  I got the idea that when you are born again, you actually read the Bible and did what it says… or at least you were supposed to.  

 Of course in the film, Hines new faith is immediately challenged by an angry couple who run into his car as he is backing out in a parking lot.  The man’s car is a hot rod with flame detailing and is extremely angry at Hines, even though they ran into him!

Even though he is not in the wrong, Hines apologizes and offers to pay for any damages, but the man proceeds to take out a switch blade and slash one of his tires and then takes out a crowbar and angrily breaks all the windows in Hines’ car.   At this point, Hines’ Christian patience is broken, and he takes a flame thrower out of his trunk and sets the man’s hot rod on fire: stating “I see you have a flame job here. Let me give you a little touch up! A little touch up for you!” 

 The man and his girlfriend run away screaming but instead of delight at seeing them flee, Hines slumps on to his damaged car, dejected by his failure, an act of violence right on the heals of his conversion. 

 Although this was done for comic affect, it is actually a good illustration of what our faith is like.  We will fail. We will sin.  But our expectation is that we will follow Christ and we will continually go back to His way for our lives even if we do mess up. 

 So, yeah – I’m not perfect. I mess up but I don’t take it lightly. When I fail, I try to learn from it and not repeat the same mistakes anymore. I take my faith seriously and I have seen the truth regarding my sin.  Sin never satisfies and disrupts my harmony with God. I don’t want to hurt my relationship with the Lord. I am past the days where I would blatantly sin and just excuse myself as being forgiven. 

 The “Sinning and confessing” cycle that I was in when I was addicted was exhausting but luckily, I kept following the One who said that His burden was light, and He would give me rest.  I found it in Christ, and I will do my best to abide in His truth and walk in His ways.      

 Today we begin chapter 6 of Anderson & Baumchen’s Finding Hope Again, where the authors discuss not living up to the freedom we have and taking God at His word.   

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:

Challenges to Hope

A sense of hopelessness is an emotional reaction to how we perceive ourselves, the circumstances surrounding us and the future. As we have seen, the resulting emotional state may not be based on reality nor perceived truthfully from God's perspective. The world is also filled with naysayers, negative circumstances and obstacles we don't see.

Against these challenges, a biblical hope must be established and maintained if we are going to experience freedom from depression. To guide us through the maze of life, we must know the truth of God's Word and be guided by the Holy Spirit. To illustrate, listen to Neil's first entry in his daily devotional:

A young pilot had just passed the point of no return, when the weather changed for the worse. Visibility dropped to a matter of feet as the fog descended to the earth. He couldn't trust in his own sensual perceptions, because he had no idea of where he was nor what direction he was headed. Putting total trust in the instruments was a new experience to him. Before he became a pilot, he had always trusted in his own natural instincts and perceptions of reality. The ink was still wet on the certificate verifying that he was qualified for instrument flying.

He wasn't worried about the flying; however, it was reaching his destination which was a crowded metropolitan airport that he couldn't see and one he had never seen before. He would be within radio contact within minutes. Until then, he was alone with his thoughts. Flying alone with no visibility, he was aware how easy it would be to become disoriented and panic. Twice he reached for the radio to broadcast, "Mayday, Mayday!" Instead he forced himself to go over and over the words of his instructor who had practically forced him to memorize the rule book. He didn't see the need for it at the time, but now he was thankful.

Finally the voice of the air traffic controller was heard. Trying not to sound apprehensive, the young pilot asked for landing instructions. "I'm going to put you on a holding pattern," the controller responded. "Oh, great!" thought the pilot. However, he knew that reaching his destination was in the hands of a person he couldn't see. He had to draw upon his previous instruction and training, and trust the voice of the air traffic controller. The words of the old hymn, "Trust and obey for there's no other way," took on new meaning. Aware that this was no time for pride, he informed the controller, "This is not a seasoned pro up here. I would appreciate any help you could give me." "You got it," he heard back.

For the next 45 minutes, the controller gently guided the pilot through the blinding fog. Course and altitude corrections came periodically, as the young pilot realized the controller was guiding him around obstacles, and away from potential collisions. With the words of the rule book firmly placed in his mind, and the gentle voice of the controller, he reached his destination. The controller assumed that the instructions of the flight manual were understood by the young pilot. His guidance could only be based on that. Such is the case of the Holy Spirit who guides us through the maze of life with the knowledge of God's will established in our hearts.

Maintaining Hope Under Fire

It is easy to throw in the towel when our health is failing and the circumstances are negative. The definition of a fanatic is someone who has lost his way so he doubles his efforts. One of the most common characteristics of burnout is the loss of hope. Unless we want to be depressed, it is essential to maintain our hope when facing difficult circumstances.

Nehemiah was called by God to rebuild the protective walls around Jerusalem. In addition to facing seemingly insurmountable odds, Nehemiah was jeered by Sanballat and Tobiah, who set out to create a sense of hopelessness:

When Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, he became angry and was greatly incensed. He ridiculed the Jews, and in the presence of his associates and the army of Samaria, he said, "What are those feeble Jews doing? Will they restore their wall? Will they offer sacrifices? Will they finish in a day? Can they bring the stones back to life from those heaps of rubble—burned as they are?" Tobiah the Ammonite, who was at his side, said, "What they are building—if even a fox climbed up on it, he would break down their wall of stones!" (Neh. 4:1-3, NIV).

Have you ever been in a situation that seems impossible, and matters become worse when your efforts are ridiculed? What did Nehemiah do? He prayed, posted a guard and kept working (see Neh. 4:9-23), and he was successful in rebuilding the walls.

But the enemy never gives up. He just changes strategies. Nehemiah's enemies saw one chink in the armor, but he was equal to the challenge:

When word came to Sanballat, Tobiah, Geshem the Arab and the rest of the enemies that I had rebuilt the wall and not a gap was left in it—though up to that time I had not set the doors in the gates—Sanballat and Geshem sent me this message: "Come, let us meet together in one of the villages on the plain of Ono." But they were scheming to harm me; so I sent messengers to them with this reply: "I am carrying on a great project and cannot go down. Why should the work stop while I leave it and go down to you?" Four times they sent me the same message, and each time I gave them the same answer (Neh. 6:1-4, NIV).

The devil will be persistent, but we must never let him set the agenda. We must not negotiate with the enemy, nor allow him to distract us from our calling in life. No one and nothing can keep us from being the people God created us to be. In the face of opposition, our answer is always the same: "I am a child of God, saved by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, and I choose to live my life by faith according to what God said is true in the power of the Holy Spirit."

The next time the devil sends you a message, send him back this answer:

We know that anyone born of God does not continue to sin; the one who was born of God keeps him safe, and the evil one cannot harm him. We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under control of the evil one. We know also that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true (1 John 5:18-20, NIV).

In this world, we are always going to face negative circumstances and the inevitable loss of health. Our hope does not lie in our ability to overcome these obstacles in our own strength and resources, but in God's strength and resources.

Nor does our hope lie in the eternal preservation of our physical bodies. Our ultimate hope lies in the Resurrection:

Therefore, since we have this ministry, as we received mercy, we do not lose heart, but we have renounced the things hidden because of shame, not walking in craftiness or adulterating the word of God, but by the manifestation of truth commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God (2 Cor. 4:1, 2).

Paul then shows how we do not lose hope in the midst of negative circumstances and failing health:

But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that his life may be revealed in our mortal body. Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal (2 Cor. 4:7-11, 16-18, NIV).

Dr. Victor Frankl, the late Austrian psychiatrist, was among those imprisoned by the Nazis during World War II. He observed that prisoners did not continue to live very long after they lost hope. Even the slightest ray of hope—the rumor of better food, a whisper about an escape—helped some of the camp inmates to continue living even under systematic horror.

There is not enough darkness in all the world to put out the light of one small candle. Truth always shines through the darkness. Let us close this chapter with a testimony we received of how light shining in the darkness set one captive free.

I was raised in a good family and had a very good childhood. I received Christ into my life when I was 20, and married a Christian woman when I was 22. We had three children and I worked in the same excavating business that my father and grandfather owned.

When I was 31, I decided to start my own business. The first two years went great and life seemed to be very good. There isn't much work in the winter months because of the weather. In the third spring of my new business, I learned that my mother had Lou Gehrig's disease which has no known cure. That spring was incredibly wet which made it almost impossible to get any work done. The bills piled up and for the first time in my life I started to feel depressed.

I always felt that I was in control of my life, but now everything I did seemed to make it worse. I felt guilty that I couldn't be with my mother who lived 800 miles away. We fell further behind in our bills and then my wife suffered a miscarriage. It seemed like I had lost control of everything. The depression got worse and I started to think of suicide.

The next season we started so far behind that I didn't see any way to catch up with my bills, and my mother was getting worse. The fact that she wasn't a Christian weighed heavily on me. Then, praise God, my father led himself and my mother to Christ. Finally something good happened. Shortly later she died, but I still missed her.

When the bill collectors called, all I could think of was to kill myself. I could sense no hope. In the past I could always fix things, but now I couldn't. I finally decided to end it all. On my way down the steps to get a gun, two questions came to my mind. First, "Which is more important, having your bills paid by the insurance money, or your children having a father?" Second, "Which is more important, having your bills paid, or your wife having a husband?" At that moment I knew I didn't want to kill myself, but those condemning and suicidal thoughts just wouldn't go away.

I met with my pastor regularly, but I still couldn't see any hope. Then I met with a friend who had gone to a "Living Free in Christ" conference. He showed me in Ephes. 1:18-21 that I have Christ in me and the same power that raised Him from the dead. He asked me if I thought there was anything that power couldn't do. Of course not! He then explained how the battle was in my mind and how I could win that battle by taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ. From that time on I have not been depressed nor entertained any thoughts of suicide. I finally found the hope I had been looking for.

A few weeks later, my friend moved away. There was so much more that I wanted to learn, so I bought Victory over the Darkness, The Bondage Breaker, and Helping Others Find Freedom in Christ. I read them all on my way to Washington, D.C., to attend the Promise Keepers event called "Stand in the Gap." The transformation has been incredible. My wife tells me she has a new husband. When I read God's Word it comes alive. When I listen to my pastor preach, I often cry because the Word of God touches my heart. My life will never be the same because of the freedom that Christ has given me.

Finding Hope Again: Overcoming Depression.

 

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

 

God bless you all!

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