Purity 325: Encouragement for the Path of Christian Discipleship

 Purity 325 01/26/2021 

Good morning!

Today’s photo comes from a friend’s recent hike on Bull Hill, Hiking Trail near Cold Spring NY, just a couple of hours down The River from yours truly.  We can take delight in our friend’s trip not only because they engaged with the beauty of the elevated view of the Hudson and the sunshine peaking over the peaks across from it but because they were brave enough to make this a family outing.  

It also displays a rare sight today: that of a child, without a phone in their hands, enjoying nature, secretly captured from the parent’s vantage point behind a tangle of trees where they were able to commit this moment to “film”.  

In today’s “stay home, stay safe” society, I applaud my friend’s efforts to live and to show their family that the world is actually a beautiful place regardless of what the media would have you believe.  

 I encourage you all to recognize the fact that God is with us always and that the love and wonder of life that He has put in us, is to be expressed.  

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This morning’s meditation verses are:

Romans 6:17-18 (NLT2)
¹⁷ Thank God! Once you were slaves of sin, but now you wholeheartedly obey this teaching we have given you.
¹⁸ Now you are free from your slavery to sin, and you have become slaves to righteous living.

 Okay, the Lord wants us to read Romans 6 and live it, as these verses came up in today’s “random draw”.  

 But seriously, the truths summarized in these two verses are something that many Christians “just don’t get”.   

 I am currently discipling someone and am trying to impart the importance of our identity in Christ as a reality that is to be believed, to have faith in, and then to naturally live out.

 I realize that is a paradigm shift, or revelatory knowledge, that has to come from the Holy Spirit, but I sense that the problem with its reception is just plain old disbelief that is product of a denominational upbringing coupled with the indoctrination of a world system that states that we have to work for righteousness, that it’s a chore or a discipline that we must beat ourselves into.  

 This isn’t how “it works”.   We must believe and obey, with the emphasis on believe!  IF you don’t really believe you really won’t obey.  If we do believe, we naturally obey as a product of our faith in believing that we have been changed. 

 “I have been changed so now I obey. What else would I do?”

 When we believe we are a sinner instead of a saint, we sin. Surprise. 

 When we believe we are a saint, we do that which is appropriate: we recognize temptation, we see the lies behind it, we look ahead to the negative consequences, we renew our mind to no longer think favorably about our former darkness, we thank the Father for changing us and loving us, and then we say no to sin and say yes to living a righteous life. 

 The kicker in this case, is that my disciple doesn’t have a whole lot of sin in his actual life. He has made his mistakes, but he has repented and is currently living a pure life, but I fear that part of him, because of thoughts or feelings or the potential to sin, is still seeking the life he is currently living.  

 What he needs to do is rest in where he is and just believe that God has already given to him what He is looking for. Its not about “doing”, its about believing it is “done” and that all we have to do is abide with Christ, and walk with Him, thanking Him every day when we continue to walk in righteousness.  

 So take these verses in Romans 6 and see that you have been set free (past tense) but have a new boss now, a boss that has given you eternal life and forgiveness of sins.  Your new boss has made you new. Now it is time to do as He asks, for your benefit and for those around you: become a “slave to righteous living”.   When you do believe it, sin stops being a problem because righteous living will keep you busy, but it will also confirm your faith and make it grow.  

 So believe it and live it. Keep walking and talking with God and you are bound to “get it”.   

 Today we conclude Anderson & Baumchen’s Finding Hope Again. We have reached the end. They share the “In Christ” List and “The Overcomer’s Covenant in Christ”. I recommend that they be used as a means to renew your mind and to agree with who you are in Christ.  Pray them each morning for 30 days and see how it helps.  

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:

In Christ

I Am Accepted
John 1:12	I am God's child
John 15:15	I am Christ's friend
Romans 5:1	I have been justified
1 Cor. 6:17	I am united with the Lord and one with Him in spirit
1 Cor. 6:20	I have been bought with a price—I belong to God
1 Cor. 12:27	I am a member of Christ's body
Ephes. 1:1	I am a saint
Ephes. 1:5	I have been adopted as God's child
Ephes. 2:18	I have direct access to God through the Holy Spirit
Col. 1:14	I have been redeemed and forgiven of all my sins
Col. 2:10	I am complete in Christ
I Am Secure
Romans 8:1, 2	I am free from condemnation
Romans 8:28	I am assured that all things work together for good
Romans 8:33, 34	I am free from any condemning charges against me
Romans 8:35	I cannot be separated from the love of God
2 Cor. 1:21	I have been established, anointed and sealed by God
Col. 3:3	I am hidden with Christ in God
Phil. 1:6	I am confident that the good work that God has begun in me will be perfected
Phil. 3:20	I am a citizen of heaven
2 Tim. 1:7	I have not been given a spirit of fear, but of power, love and a sound mind
Hebrews 4:16	I can find grace and mercy in time of need
1 John 5:18	I am born of God and the evil one cannot touch me
I Am Significant
Matthew 5:13, 14	I am the salt and light of the earth
John 15:1, 5	I am a branch of the true vine, a channel of His life
John 15:16	I have been chosen and appointed to bear fruit
Acts 1:8	I am a personal witness of Christ's
1 Cor. 3:16	I am God's temple
2 Cor. 5:17-20	I am a minister of reconciliation
2 Cor. 6:1	I am God's coworker
Ephes. 2:6	I am seated with Christ in the heavenly realm
Ephes. 2:10	I am God's workmanship
Ephes. 3:12	I may approach God with freedom and confidence
Phil. 4:13	I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me

The Overcomer's Covenant in Christ

1.    I place all my trust and confidence in the Lord, I put no confidence in the flesh and I declare myself to be dependent upon God.

2.    I consciously and deliberately choose to submit to God and resist the devil by denying myself, picking up my cross daily and following Jesus.

3.    I choose to humble myself before the mighty hand of God in order that He may exalt me at the proper time.

4.    I declare the truth that I am dead to sin, freed from it and alive to God in Christ Jesus, since I have died with Christ and was raised with Him.

5.    I gladly embrace the truth that I am now a child of God who is unconditionally loved and accepted. I reject the lie that I have to perform to be accepted, and I reject my fallen and natural identity which was derived from the world.

6.    I declare that sin shall no longer be master over me because I am not under the law, but under grace, and there is no more guilt or condemnation because I am spiritually alive in Christ Jesus.

7.    I renounce every unrighteous use of my body and I commit myself to no longer be conformed to this world, but rather to be transformed by the renewing of my mind. I choose to believe the truth and walk in it, regardless of my feelings or circumstances.

8.    I commit myself to take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ, and choose to think upon that which is true, honorable, right, pure and lovely.

9.    I commit myself to God's great goal for my life to conform to His image. I know that I will face many trials, but God has given me the victory and I am not a victim, but an overcomer in Christ.

10. I choose to adopt the attitude of Christ, which was to do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind. I will regard others as more important than myself; and not merely look out for my own personal interests but also the interests of others. I know that it is more blessed to give than to receive.

 

Finding Hope Again: Overcoming Depression.

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

 

God bless you all!