Purity 322: Encouragement for the Path of Christian Discipleship

 Purity 322 01/23/2021 

Good morning!

Today’s photo takes brings us a little closer to home as a friend captured this shot while on a trip to the Saugerties Lighthouse in Ulster County. 

I don’t usually share photos that feature buildings really as I prefer to highlight the natural beauty of God’s creation, but I absolutely love the surrealistic cinematic feel that my friend captured here with the angles of the decking, juxtaposed with the lighthouse, the Hudson river, and the clouds that seemed to just all come together to give an equally inspiring or ominous impression, depending on your perspective.

Scenes like this just remind me that sometimes we just have to go out there and see what we can find.  Although the temperatures are going to drop locally, it is my hope that my friends make the most of their weekend and if you should be brave enough to seek new sights, we would encourage you to share them.  

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.  

19. Why should I feel like a failure when I am more than a conqueror through Christ, who loved me (Romans 8:37)?

 Our success comes measuring ourselves from God’s perspective.   

 This world is filled with wealth. It is also filled with beautiful and talented people.   Beyond the ultra-rich, beautiful, and talented people, there are those that simply seem to have a little more in those departments than we do.  So it is very easy to either envy others for their accomplishments, talents, beauty, and wealth or to lament that we don’t have what they have.   When we compare ourselves with others that have more of certain qualities or possessions than we do, we can feel like utter failures.  

 When faced with these feelings of failure, we either strive to obtain what they have, despair, or accept our lives for what they are and be content.  The last option seems like the best choice but without a relationship with God it might be the most dangerous option of the three. 

 If we strive to obtain riches, knowledge, power, or beauty, there is the hope that somewhere in that search to achieve, the realization will come that none of these things can provide the satisfaction that we are looking for and it could result in seeking meaning and truth. In a way, this was my path to the Lord.

 If you despair, you are emotionally raw but there is hope for you.  As someone who was depressed due to a traumatic loss for a few years, I know that part of that dread and sadness is the search to find meaning in a seemingly cold and heartless world.  

 You can wallow in depression for a long time. You can try medication or use drugs, alcohol, and sex to try to give you comfort and be locked in a cycle of negative feelings and emotions that are interrupted by passing euphoria.   But hopefully, the depressed person will eventually look past themselves to a higher meaning to life.

 Some don’t. They determine that this world is meaningless and focus all their attention on comforting themselves. They tend to constantly change the circumstances in their lives to make themselves happy. Trips, new possessions, new clothes, and new hair styles, and new hobbies are all used to cope. They can have seasons of joy and peace but tend to relapse during dark seasons, explaining to others that they have be excused because that is simply the way they are. 

 The path of despair was mine too.  But thankfully, I looked past my self for truth and meaning, and after many years of being on the wrong path, I found what I was looking for.

 However, the third option, those being content without God, is the most spiritually dangerous choice.  Those who have decided that they are content are generally considered to be good, peaceful, and stable individuals. Some may be kind and generous. But if they are so content with their day-to-day existence and have decided that this world is all there is, or that God is so mysterious and confusing that they will just assume that they are right with God because they didn’t murder anyone or they did more good than bad, they will have kept themselves outside of God’s grace that is provided by Christ alone. 

 Their funeral will generally be well attended, or not, and will usually have a “prayer card” that is sentimental poem about life, smiles, happy thoughts, nature, or leaving pleasant memories behind, but there will be no mention of God and it will bear subtly witness to their spiritual condition.  Really no mention of God at all? No thanks for the life He’s given you or the blessings you’ve enjoyed? No mention of Jesus and the gift of eternal life He has given?

 We can’t judge the departed because God’s grace is amazing and we can repent and turn to Him in a moment, but Christ said that if we don’t acknowledge Him before man, He will not acknowledge us before God.

 So if your striving, despairing, or content, realize that all of these conditions are temporary and without a relationship to God through faith in Jesus Christ, they each are paths that have dire eternal spiritual consequences.  

 I say all this in love because I was lost for the vast majority of my life and I discovered the assurance of salvation and new spiritual life in Christ and it has positively transformed my life.

 In my experience, when you earnestly seek truth and meaning with an open heart and open mind, God will reveal Himself to you. 

This morning’s meditation verse is:

Psalm 118:17 (NKJV)
¹⁷ I shall not die, but live, And declare the works of the LORD.

 The context of today’s verse is that of a psalmist that has a deep trust and faith in the Lord that has been strengthened by the opposition they faced and the Lord’s protection that was provided.   Previous verses speak of being surrounded by nations that desired to kill them, but the Lord provided protection, strength, and deliverance.   

 Everyone who has put their trust and faith in Christ should be able the echo the psalmist’s sentiments that we “shall not die, but live” for Christ has given us eternal life.  

 But will you “declare the works of the Lord”?   That is the question.  If we are in a harmonious relationship with the Lord through our faith in Christ, declaring His works should be a natural expression of our faith.   As Romans 1:16 says, we should “not be ashamed of the gospel of Christ”.  We should declare it. 

 For me, I really don’t have a choice for the more I surrendered to the Lord in my ten-year journey since being born again, the more He has demonstrated His presence, love, and power in my life.  He has delivered me from what the world and my flesh warped me into being.  He has taken me from a broken life and has put me into a new life.  My testimony of His goodness and faithfulness doesn’t end because He is ever present and eternally faithful, and I have sworn to walk in His ways and seek Him continually. 

 So I not only will not die, because I am His, but I shall live to declare the works of the Lord.

 I encourage all who read this to surrender to Him and go where He leads you.

 Today we continue chapter 10 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:

Commit Yourself to Overcome Every Loss

But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss all things, and count them but rubbish in order that I may gain Christ (Phil. 3:7, 8).

Reactive depression is different from lifestyle depression in that it is triggered by some specific event or loss. This can be a real loss, an imagined one or simply a negative thought (lie) that is believed. Recall that Elijah's downward spiral began when he believed a lie and gave the wicked Jezebel more power in his life than God.

We all experience losses. How we handle any crisis will determine how fast we recover from the loss and how well we conform to the image of God. The following steps, adapted from Dr. Archibald Hart, will help you overcome your losses:

1. Identify and understand each loss

Most losses are easy to recognize, but some aren't. Changing jobs or moving to a new location can precipitate a depression. Even though both could be an improvement in social status and potential lifestyle, something was lost in the move. The move could break an attachment to old friends, familiar places or comfortable working conditions. The loss of a job could also include the loss of wages, social status, respect, etc.

People don't react the same to losses, because they have different values and different levels of maturity. To move out of denial and into the grieving process, you must understand what you are losing or have already lost. A person could be depressed because he didn't get the job he hoped for, or the promotion he wanted. Some have planned their lives to go a certain way, and now their dreams for the future have been dashed.

2. Separate the concrete from the abstract

Concrete losses can be seen, touched, measured and clearly defined. Abstract losses refer to personal goals, dreams and ideas. Overcoming concrete losses is usually easier because they are more definable. They vary from losing a card game to losing a leg. Most wouldn't be very depressed about losing a card game, but if you were representing the United States in the world bridge championships and you lost the final game, it could be very depressing.

Abstract losses relate deeply to who we are and why we are here. Many concrete losses, such as the loss of a job, are contaminated with abstract losses. You could probably find a new job next week, but remain depressed because you feel the pain of rejection and think you are a failure. That is why it is so important to understand who we are in Christ, and to find our acceptance, security and significance in Him.

3. Separate real, imagined and threatened losses

You cannot process an imagined or threatened loss in the same way you can a real one. In a real loss you can face the truth, grieve the loss and make the necessary changes that make it possible to go on living in a meaningful way.

4. Convert imagined and threatened losses to real losses

Imagined losses are distortions of reality. They are based on suspicions or lies we have believed, or on presumptions we have made. The mind wants to assume certain things when we don't know the facts and suspect that something may be in the works. Seldom does the mind assume the best.

We don't always act upon our assumptions, but if we do we shall be counted among the fools because "through presumption comes nothing but strife" (Proverbs 13:10). It is more common to ruminate on various possibilities and consequences in our minds until we are depressed. The answer is to verify these assumptions, then follow Peter's advice: "Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you. Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith" (1 Peter 5:7, 8, NIV).

Threatened losses have the potential for being real losses. They include such things as the possibility of a layoff at work, or a spouse who threatens to leave you. Such threats can precipitate a depression, but because there is at the present no finality to the loss, it cannot be processed.

Sometimes it helps to imagine what the worst-case scenario may be, and then ask yourself the question, "Can I live with it?" This is part of preparing yourself for impermanence. We all face potential losses. No other person has the right to determine who you are, and cannot keep you from being the person God created you to be. So when someone threatens you, respond the way Peter advises:

Who is going to harm you if you are eager to do good? But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. "Do not fear what they fear; do not be frightened." But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander. It is better, if it is God's will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil (1 Peter 3:13-17, NIV).

These are growth issues, not terminal ones, if you are viewing life from an eternal perspective. What is the worst thing that could happen to you? You could die. But is that intolerable? Paul said, "For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain" (Phil. 1:21). Put anything else in the formula, and the result is loss. If "For me to live is my health," then to die would be loss. If "For me to live is my family," then to die would be loss. This is not a license to commit suicide. It is a liberating truth that allows us to live responsible lives. The person who is free from the fear of death is free to live today.

Finding Hope Again: Overcoming Depression.

 

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

 

God bless you all!