Purity 313: Encouragement for the Path of Christian Discipleship

 Purity 313 01/14/2021 

Good morning!

Today’s photo was taken by yours truly out in Hoosick Falls NY. As I drove up a hill towards this farm I was taken by this view of a solitary horse and the rugged snow-capped barns in the background.

It is a simple scene, but I thought on how it was timeless in that it could have been viewed today or hundreds, if not thousands, of years ago. When you are out in the woods, country, or near farmland, you understand that as much as our world has developed technologically there are parts of our country where you could almost forget about our modern trappings and how in some ways, they have trapped us.      

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.  

10. Why should I worry and be upset when I can cast all my anxieties on Christ, who cares for me (1 Peter 5:7)?

 Our success is diminished if we are consumed with worry. 

 This concept of casting our anxieties on the Lord really hit home for me recently as the Lord revealed the baseline anxiety that was still a part of my inner dialog.  After coming to Christ and being set free of my addictions, I also experienced freedom from my discursive emotions that flowed from anger to fear to depression.

 I claimed victory over them, and I don’t renounce that claim, but recently the Holy Spirit revealed to me that I could cast “all my anxieties” on Christ.   He showed me my inner dialog that said things like: “oh what are we going to have to today” and “Oh I hope they don’t….” and “I hope those kids…” or “Oh I hope it doesn’t snow.”   He showed me how even these common worries were stealing some of my peace and He said that I could live without it.  

 He pointed out that I was fully capable of dealing with whatever situation I had to face at work or that came due to the weather because He was with me.  He said I could stop worrying about my kids because they are both adults and they will choose their paths in life.  He said that my job at this point in my children’s lives were to be an example of how to live and to love them and to encourage and support them in whatever they choose but to advise them in what is right.    

 Please understand me when I say that the Holy Spirit “said to me” that I don’t hear audible voices, it’s more of a revelation: gaining understanding, an intuition. But I must admit that at times, when you walk in the Spirit, those intuitions are strong and compel me to do things that I normally wouldn’t do or don’t fully understand but, in every instance, those intuitions always lead to something good or that blesses someone else. 

 Anyway, I was shown that a great deal of these baseline anxieties came from my upbringing, as my mother is a constant worrier.  So, He gave me some understanding of the fearful environment I was raised in, but He said that it was my responsibility to silence this baseline anxiety in order to experience a new level of peace. 

 The word teaches us to take every thought captive in obedience to Christ.  To do that is simply controlling your thoughts, by changing them or redirecting them to something else.  A big part of success in this is renouncing the lies that we learned and embracing God’s truth.  The lie in this case is that “I have to worry” “Or worrying is good, it prepares me for all possibilities”.  The truth we want to embrace is that God said not to worry and that it is a fruitless endeavor that steals our peace. 

 This “renewing of the mind” has worked for me in the past to overcome my other problems and so I decided to trust the Lord and use it against this baseline anxious dialoging.   It’s currently a work in progress but I have already seen a vast improvement as I have experienced deeper levels of peace and presence.  

 I honestly didn’t know that this was even possible, but when God says “all”, He means “all”.  And what man thinks is impossible is possible with God.     

 So cast all your cares on the Lord and listen for His “voice”, He will show you that with Him freedom increases, and the victories have no limit.

This morning’s meditation verse was:

Romans 6:15 (NLT2)
¹⁵ Well then, since God’s grace has set us free from the law, does that mean we can go on sinning? Of course not!

I hate to admit it, and have discussed in the past, but when I came to Christ, I was under the impression that since I received God’s grace, I could go on sinning!

The thing that separated me from God from so long was the belief that I wasn’t a good person as I always wanted to do selfish things to please me and often hated other people.  I thought being right with God required a lot of work that I was unwilling to do, and I didn’t think I was capable of doing it.  

Well, my understanding changed in a moment in a parking lot on Aviation Rd in Albany NY about 10 years ago when I heard a message that told of God’s love and forgiveness that could only be claimed by faith in Christ alone. Salvation wasn’t about good deeds. It was about Jesus.   So through strong emotions and tears, I said “Yes” to Jesus.  

But I was just born again, and I had a lot of growing up to do.  I basked in the love of the Lord, but I also was blanketed in ignorance and thought that my salvation prayer was all there was to my faith and I could go on in my dark selfish ways as long as I thanked God for His forgiveness. 

Thankfully, my “conversion” was real because I had a real desire to read God’s word and to try to live out my new-found faith.  When I read more of the word of God and understood that I was to be an ambassador for the kingdom of God and represent the kingdom in how I lived, I was convicted that I not only needed to change but I wanted to change for God’s glory. 

So five years after I got saved (I’m a slow learner and needed to run into some walls a few more times before I was ready), I went into recovery for my plethora of problems and have experienced increasing freedom ever since. 

So know that, we are not to continue in our old sinful ways.  God is patient and will wait for you, but I encourage you to follow Him and lay down all the baggage of the past.  His ways are better than our ways, but you won’t realize it unless you surrender to His call and change the way you live.      

Today we conclude chapter 9 of Anderson & Baumchen’s Finding Hope Again.

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:

Discovering Life Through Death

Third, I believe God brings us to the end of our resources so that we may discover His. We don't hear many sermons about brokenness in our churches these days. It's the great omission, and that's why we can't fulfill the Great Commission.

In all four Gospels, Jesus taught us to deny ourselves, take up our cross daily and follow Him. When it was time for the Son of Man to be glorified, He said: "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains by itself alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit" (John 12:24). I don't know any painless way to die to ourselves. But I do know that it is necessary, and that it is the best possible thing that could ever happen to us.

"For we who live are constantly being delivered over to death for Jesus' sake, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh" (2 Cor. 4:11). If we are relying on degrees, diplomas, status and self-confidence, God is going to strip us of our self-sufficiency.

Joseph was no good for God in Pharaoh's court until all earthly possessions and positions were stripped from him. Chuck Colson was no good for God in the White House, but he was when he had to go to prison. I had a lot of hard-earned attributes, including five earned degrees, but I wasn't much good for God until suffering had its perfect result.

I can't set anybody free, but God can. Every book I have written and every tape I have recorded was accomplished after this period of brokenness. It was the birth of "Freedom in Christ Ministries," which has spread around the world. "No pain, no gain," says the bodybuilder. That is also true in the spiritual realm. Back to Isaiah's second point: Don't create your own light. Man-made light is very, very deceptive.

A Lesson in Trust

The final point Isaiah makes is that those who fear God must "Trust in the name of the Lord and rely on his God" (Isaiah 50:10). The purpose of walking in darkness is a lesson in trust.

Possibly the greatest sign of spiritual maturity is the ability to postpone rewards. The ultimate test would be to receive nothing in this lifetime, but look forward to receiving our reward in the life to come. Listen to how the writer of Hebrews expressed it:

All these died in faith, without receiving the promises, but having seen them and having welcomed them from a distance, and having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on this earth. For those who say such things make it clear that they are seeking a country of their own (Hebrews 11:13, 14).

Hebrews 11:39 and Hebrews 11:40 read, "And all these, having gained approval through their faith, did not receive what was promised, because God had provided something better for us, so that apart from us they should not be made perfect."

God's will for your life is on the other side of a closed door, and you may never know what it is unless you resolve an issue on this side of the door. If God is God, He has the right to decide what is on the other side of the door. If we don't give Him that right, and insist on doing our own thing, then we will play our games and decide our own destiny on this side of the door. We get our way, but we miss our calling. "There is a way which seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death" (Proverbs 14:12).

If I had known beforehand what my family would have to go through to get where we are today, I probably wouldn't have come through that door. But looking back we can all say, "We're glad we came." That's why God doesn't show us beforehand what's on the other side of the door.

Remember: God makes everything right in the end. It may not even be in this lifetime, as it wasn't for the heroes mentioned in Hebrews 11. But I believe with all my heart that when life is done, looking back, we will all say that the will of God is good, acceptable and perfect.

 Finding Hope Again: Overcoming Depression.

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

 

God bless you all!