Purity 296 12/21/2020
Good morning!
Today’s photo was taken by a friend in upstate New York, in the aftermath
of last week’s snowstorm. I just love
the way they captured the sunrise and their red barn!
I share it because I thought it was an appropriate vision for a Monday
where we have to face the reality that regardless of the circumstances of life
or how we may feel, sometimes we just have to deal with it and go to work.
Now we could go in “grinding and grumpy”, or we can choose instead to
perform our daily and continuous practice of gratitude that is foundational to
a life walking in the Spirit.
There are two things that can put us on the right path today: The Truth
and the way.
The Truth is that fact that God made us and loves us and although there
will be trials in life, He will provide for us and the journey is much better
when we put our eyes on Him rather than the negative circumstances or feelings
that are trying to grab our attention and drive us into confusion or
despair. Our “spiritual warfare” is won when
we intentionally choose to focus on the good and overcome the rest.
The second thing to put us on the right path is “the way”. If you noticed, I didn’t capitalize it. Recognizing the Truth and walking in it is God’s
WAY, and we should definitely do that!
But “the way”, I’m talking about is the fact that this “isn’t our first
rodeo, Hoss.” The life that God has
given us has given us experience. We
have “been there and done that”. We’ve
done Mondays. We’ve done work. We’ve done winter. We’ve done commutes. We’ve made mistakes and
have learned from them. The word says that there is nothing new under
the sun and we know that’s true.
We’ve “been there and done that “so we have experience in getting
through anything that life has thrown at us before.
We know the God that made it all and made the Way to have peace with Him.
So instead of dreading the day, face it with confidence knowing you have
a lot of experience overcoming trials in your life and, more importantly, you
know the One that can give you the wisdom, power, and strength to overcome any
trial that you may encounter.
Remember the Jay E. Adam’s comment on John 12:27 which said: “Jesus did
not follow feelings but acted according to His responsibilities”.
We have to follow our responsibilities, but we don’t have to follow the
feelings that would lead to discontentment, fear, anger, or despair.
Keep walking and talking with God, and let’s go to work.
Christmas is coming and I for one will rejoice for all that God has
brought me through and for all that He will lead me to.
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This morning’s
meditation verse was:
Romans 13:9 (NLT2)
9 For the commandments say, “You
must not commit adultery. You must not murder. You must not steal. You must not
covet.” These—and other such commandments—are summed up in this one
commandment: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
This reveals the relational aspects that were the foundation of the Old
Testament law that were neglected by the legalistic Pharisees who prided
themselves on following the letter of the law.
Doing harm to our neighbors, hurts them and obviously hurts our
relationship with them. We wouldn’t want
them to perpetrate those wrong actions upon us, so we are to instead love them
and consider their feelings and abstain from causing them harm (adultery, murder,
theft).
The Pharisees would balk at the suggestion that they would ever do any
of the above to their neighbors because they “followed the law”.
However, Jesus rebuked them for their seemingly outward obedience because
He knew the sins of their hearts, raising the bar on morality to include our
thoughts and intentions.
Why? Wasn’t it enough, just not
to do wrong? Couldn’t I think whatever I
want, as long as I didn’t act on those evil thoughts?
Not really, not if you are God’s children, not if you are His. As His disciples our thoughts, words, and
actions are supposed to be in the process of being conformed to the image of
Christ. If we are His, we take those
foul, carnal, or perverse thoughts captive and make them obedient to
Christ.
That’s why coveting was a sin. Wanting something that is not yours was the
definition of the sin of the conscience that leads to discontentment, scheming,
and obsession if not the actual commission of sin. Why is this wrong? God doesn’t want your mental health to be
oppressed with thoughts and desires for things that are not good. He wants you to live at peace with your
fellow man and within the confines of your own mind.
I recently discovered an area of self-deception or coveting in my consciousness
that was downright obsessive: a hope for a Christian wife. While it is a wholesome desire at face
value, the distress and obsession and scheming in my mind for various scenarios
showed me that I was taking a wholesome desire and corrupting it by pushing my
agenda of how these things may come to pass, but more importantly, I made this
desire an idol, raising its importance to my happiness above my harmonious relationship
with God. Also my obsessive thoughts
revealed previous patterns that I walked in before coming to Christ, patterns
that were shortsighted and focused on my personal pleasure and the obtainment
of goals rather than a thoroughly considered plan that dealt with the reality
of all parties involved.
So I renounced my obsession, dismantled my schemes, and decided to let
go and let God. I surrendered and am continually surrendering to His will for
my future.
My selfish thoughts are in obvious conflict with the ways of the Lord
and can easily be exposed as carnal by contemplating the consequences of my
proposed actions, whether successful or not. My sinful schemes go against His
word and also run the risk of causing pain, guilt, and shame. With results like those and contemplating
their impact, it is becoming easier to turn from them.
So we need to consider our thoughts and actions and their impact on ourselves
and on our neighbors. When we abstain
from those selfish thoughts and actions, we can experience what Christ said
when He commanded us to love our neighbors as ourselves.
Today we continue chapter 7 of Anderson & Baumchen’s Finding Hope
Again, where the authors continue to discuss ways to overcome helplessness, examining
physical fitness and “sticking to what God requires”.
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
Helplessness
Physical
Fitness
After Elijah had eaten and rested, he was visited again.
"The angel of the Lord came again a second time and touched him and said,
'Arise, eat, because the journey is too great for you.' So he arose and ate and
drank, and went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to
Horeb, the mountain of God" (1 Kings 19:7,
8).
This suggests the importance of
exercise, a third ingredient of good physical and mental health. We don't want
to read anything into the story of Elijah beyond what Scripture warrants, but
it does suggest that he was physically fit.
Modern research indicates that aerobic
exercise may be one of the best antidepressants yet to be discovered. Aerobic
exercises are not particularly strenuous, but a certain energy level must be
maintained for at least 30 minutes for them to be effective. Your pulse rate
should double, your breathing should accelerate and you should work up a good
sweat. In addition to the well-known positive effect they have on the
cardiovascular system, aerobic exercises increase the production of endorphins,
which are the brain's own molecules associated with natural "highs."
Aerobic exercises are most effective when combined with good nutrition.
Another important health consideration
was implied when the angel said to Elijah that the journey was "too
great" for him. Many people suffer from post-adrenaline depression. We
explained in an earlier chapter that we get an adrenaline rush in response to
demanding external circumstances. When these pressures become excessive, then
ordinary stress becomes distress. Our ability to physically cope is
diminished, and sometimes our systems break down. That is why many people
experience an emotional low after an exhausting event.
This kind of reactionary depression is
common for people who have just experienced a demanding week of work. Sundays
can become very depressing. The authors often feel this after a long
conference, which is usually one continuous adrenaline rush.
Running for 40 days and 40 nights is
not exactly observing the Sabbath. We all need to recognize the need for rest
and recovery. People who are facing an especially demanding schedule should
consider taking an extra dosage of B-complex vitamins to prepare for it, and
for the post-adrenaline letdown.
Good mental health cannot be totally
separated from our physical health, which must be maintained by practicing good
nutrition, exercise and diet. Many people who are struggling with depression
are not physically healthy. One will have an effect on the other, and you
cannot always establish which came first. Did someone's poor health contribute
to depression, or did the depressive state contribute to poor health? We do not
have to determine that to help someone because the proper prescription must
deal with the whole person.
We are not suggesting that, in Elijah's
case, the angel did nothing more than prescribe good nutrition and rest to
enable Elijah to run for 40 days and nights. Scripture clearly shows that
Elijah's problem began when he believed a lie. Nevertheless, God dealt with him
as a whole person.
Sticking
to What God Requires
God wasn't finished with Elijah yet. Elijah needed to
correct his sense of "learned helplessness" with some straight truth,
so God gave him a little object lesson about His divine nature, and what He
really required of Elijah:
There he went into a cave and spent the night. And the word of the Lord
came to him: "What are you doing here, Elijah?" He replied, "I
have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected
your covenant, broken down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the
sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too."
The Lord said, "Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the
Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by." Then a great and powerful wind
tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord
was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was
not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not
in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he
pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave.
Then a voice said to him, "What are you doing here, Elijah?" (1 Kings
19:9-13, NIV).
God asked Elijah the same question
again, and again Elijah defended his motives and actions by protesting that he
had fled to the wilderness because he was the only true prophet of God left.
The truth is, God didn't send him there, and Elijah wasn't the only one left.
There were 7,000 others who had not bowed their knees to Baal (see 1 Kings 19:18).
God was not asking Elijah to bring in His
kingdom program or bring judgment upon those who did not keep His covenant. He
was asking Elijah, as He asks us, to trust Him and follow Him wherever He
leads. He would bring judgment in due time, and establish His kingdom His way
and in His timing. That is not for us to decide nor for us to accomplish. Our
response to God is to trust and obey.
Our own perceived service for God may
be the greatest enemy of our devotion to Him, and a hotbed for depression. We
must resist the temptation to do God's work for Him. We are not instructed to
petition God to bring judgment upon the disobedient in the form of winds,
earthquakes and fire. If anything, we are called to pray for mercy, that God
would withhold His judgment. "I searched for a man among them who should
build up the wall and stand in the gap before Me for the land, that I should
not destroy it; but I found no one" (Ezekiel 22:30).
God finally instructs Elijah to
"go back the way you came" (1 Kings 19:15,
NIV). In other words, "Get back on track, and don't isolate
yourself from other people." Elijah found himself alone in the desert
because he believed the lies of the enemy. Although he was very zealous for
God's work, he was assuming sole responsibility for doing it himself. This is
often referred to as the Elijah complex. "I alone am left, and I must
vindicate the word and reputation of God." If you want to feel helpless,
then try doing God's work for Him!
Finding Hope Again: Overcoming Depression.
------------------------------more
tomorrow--------------------------
God bless
you all!
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