Purity 307: Encouragement for the Path of Christian Discipleship

 Purity 307 01/08/2021

Good morning!

Today’s photo comes from a friend in California, who captured this dusky sunset shot that displays the sky above and raging fire they built to thoroughly enjoy their evening.

I share it as a reminder that no matter how thick the darkness that surrounds us, the light of God above and the “fire” of the Holy Spirit inside everyone who has placed their faith in Jesus Christ will never be extinguished.  

Be the light in these dark times by speaking of the goodness of God, at all times, and the hope that we have in Christ.    

Today I continue to share Dr. Neil Anderson’s “Twenty “Cans” of Success”, to encourage my friends that are fasting as well as those who aren’t.  

4.  Why should I lack faith to live for Christ when God has given me a measure of faith (Romans 12:3)?

 Our success comes from our faith in Christ.  

 Romans 12:3 tells us the God has given all of us a measure of faith. 

 So while you may think of yourself has having “small faith”, remember that even faith the size of a mustard seed can move “the mountains of problems” in our lives when you follow the Lord’s will for your life. 

 Also that “small mustard seed size-faith” can grow.    The more you seek the Lord and trust Him the greater your faith will become.     

 If you feel that God is distant, I assure you He is here. He is an inescapable ever- present reality in our lives.   We are not alone in this world. The Lord of all creation is sovereign over all and wants us to come to Him. 

So draw close to God and He will draw close to you.  Show Him you want Him in your life by talking to Him in prayer and listening to His voice by reading His word (New Testament first for those newly seeking – you have to know Jesus).  

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This morning’s meditation verse was:

1 John 1:6 (NKJV)
⁶ If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.

Once again good old Frist John gives us some walking wisdom and the truth in this verse is huge. 

 When we come to Christ, we are usually steep in sin and short on righteousness. Unfortunately, many gospel presentations these days stress the forgiveness of sins with the guarantee of heaven without making it clear that we are making a commitment to be a part of God’s kingdom. 

 I know when I finally heard the gospel and understood that being saved wasn’t about my efforts and was about Christ “doing it” for me because of God’s mercy and grace, I thought it was a great deal! You forgive my sins, I get saved. Awesome!

 I thought I found a “get out of hell free card”!  And I did but the thing is that when we make Jesus our Lord and Savior, we become spiritually alive and the Holy Spirit indwells us. 

 When that happens our spirit is no longer at ease with the way we used to live in darkness. Sin isn’t what it used to be.  Trust me, I tried to ignore the conviction on my heart when I sinned and claimed Christ’s forgiveness to cover it but the longer I professed my relationship with Jesus Christ and the more of the Bible I read and understood the more I realized I was way off base and the suffering and torment that I experienced as a “carnal Christian” was because I had only claimed Jesus as Savior and was still trying to be the lord of my life. 

 The problem with that scenario is that we “have been bought for a price” (1 Cor 6:20), and when we make Christ our Lord and Savior, we belong to God and to live a life of darkness reveals a dysfunctional relationship with the Him.  We are still His, but we are denying it by the way we live when we live in sin. 

 So claim the amazing grace of God and rejoice at your salvation but remember the peace of God comes to us when we obey Him.

 Believe me when I tell you, obedience is possible and when you obey you understand that your really are His child and your heart will yearn to please the Father. 

 Your walk doesn’t have to be perfect. Our journey is one of progressive sanctification where are efforts are a co-operation with the Holy Spirit to give us the strength and guidance to slowly conform us to the image of Christ. 

 So pick a sin, any sin, and surrender it to the Lord and work with Him to remove it from your life.  When you do you will take another step into the light, leaving your darkness further and further behind.  

 

Today we continue chapter 9 of Anderson & Baumchen’s Finding Hope Again, where the authors discuss God’s provision for us in suffering.

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:

Only What You Can Bear

The full reasons for all our sufferings may never be fully known to us in this life. But be assured that God always has a limit on the suffering He allows for each of us. Just as He clearly set limits on the suffering Satan could bring on Job, so He does for each of us. Some, such as Job and Paul, obviously have broader shoulders upon which God allows more suffering to rest for righteousness' sake.

Suffering always comes with a temptation to respond in the sin of unbelief, either in despondency that says "God has forsaken me and there is no hope," or in the anger of rebellion—"I hate you, God, for letting this happen, so forget You. I'm going to go my own way from now on." Satan has scored another victory when the victim believes such a lie and walks away from his only source of hope.

Our heavenly Father assures us He will not allow any suffering that we cannot bear:

No temptation [testing or trial] has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear [or beyond your strength]. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can [or have the strength to] stand up under it (1 Cor. 10:13, NIV).

This promise assures us that God places a limit on our suffering that is not beyond what we can bear in each circumstance. He knows our strength and weakness in every area of our lives—physically, emotionally and spiritually—and says that, with His grace, He will not allow any suffering on any occasion that we cannot handle. The will of God will never take you where the grace of God will not sustain you.

God's Provisions in Suffering

It is clear by the reference to standing up under suffering that the way out that God provides does not mean an immediate cessation of the sufferings. The promise of Scripture is not that God will keep us from all suffering or even remove it quickly, but that He will supply certain provisions so we can "stand up under it." Trusting in God's faithfulness and promise of a way out is what makes it possible to endure suffering.

Grace and Comfort

God promises to provide the grace and comfort necessary for us to faithfully endure suffering. The psalmist does not say, "Cast your cares on the Lord and go free from care," but rather, "Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you" (Psalm 55:22, NIV, emphasis added). Similarly, we are not told that the causes of our anxieties will be removed, but that in their midst we can experience the peace of God (see Phil. 4:6, 7).

In the midst of his imprisonment and trial, Paul testifies that "the Lord stood with me, and strengthened me" (2 Tim. 4:17). Not only God's strength but His comfort is available in our sufferings. He is the "Father of mercies and God of all comfort; who comforts us in all our affliction" (2 Cor. 1:3, 4). The Greek word for "comfort" may also be translated "encouragement." It is used here in its basic sense of "standing beside a person to encourage him when he is undergoing severe testing."  The present tense of the verb tells us that our God comforts us at all times, constantly and unfailingly in all our sufferings.

Joy in Suffering

James says, "Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials" (James 1:2). But the idea of joy as a result of trials and suffering is not unique to this verse. Paul says, "We also rejoice in our sufferings" (Romans 5:3, NIV). Similarly, Peter said: "Rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed" (1 Peter 4:13, NIV). All these passages share something of Jesus' pronouncement, in the Sermon on the Mount, of a state of blessedness (being fortunate, happy or divinely privileged) on the poor, the mourning, the hungry and the persecuted (see Matthew 5:3, 4, 6, 10-12).

These references to joy or blessedness in trials and suffering are not for the suffering in itself, but for the outcomes that are associated with it. Joy in trials of suffering is possible because we know that "the testing of your faith produces endurance," and that we are to "let endurance have its perfect result, that you may be perfect [or mature] and complete, lacking in nothing" (James 1:3, 4; see also Romans 5:3). In the word picture drawn by Peter, trials produce a genuine faith like gold from a refiner's fire that will result "in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ" (1 Peter 1:6, 7).

For this joy to be present, there must be appreciation and even gratitude for what God is doing. "You must thank God in the midst of your pain. Tell Him you trust Him. Praise Him for what He can do, for what He is doing. As you do so pressures will lift. You will be given a garment of praise to replace a spirit of heaviness." 

Hope and Assurance

We cannot find joy in the midst of trials and suffering without hope. In the references cited, joy was present because of the anticipated future glory. The right attitude in suffering is therefore to focus on our hope.

Remember that biblical hope is not wishful thinking, but the present assurance of some future good. We do live in a vale of tears, but this is not the end. There is a new day coming for the Christian, a day that is described as fullness of joy where there will be "no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things [with its trials and suffering] has passed away" (Rev. 21:4, NIV).

The suffering itself helps to engender this perspective of hope that is so critical for overcoming depression. There is a grand circle in the thinking of Paul in Romans 5 in which hope stands at both ends, and tribulation in the middle. We rejoice in the hope of the glory of God (see Romans 5:2, NIV), and we glory in our sufferings because we know that suffering leads to a sanctifying process that terminates in hope—"suffering produces perseverance; perseverance character; and character, hope" (Romans 5:3, 4, NIV).

Hope not only undergirds our steadfastness in trials and enables joy, but it is also strengthened by such trials. As John Murray says, "We glory in tribulations because they have an eschatological orientation—they subserve the interests of hope."  We can accept the sufferings that come our way if we understand their purpose, and if we have the hope that God will make it right in the end. We can put up with any "how" if we know the "why." Sometimes, however, the "why" is elusive, which brings us to a topic that speaks to many people who are depressed because of suffering.

Finding Hope Again: Overcoming Depression.

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

 

God bless you all!