Purity 380 03/31/2021 Purity 380 Podcast
Good morning.
In our discussions over dinner
with my friend, we discussed recent changes and losses in our lives, our friends’
lives, and the state of our Christian walks.
As confusing and troubling some of the changes that we have seen in our
immediate circles over the last few weeks and months have been, we both
expressed our hearts desire to continue following the Lord and strengthening
our commitment to not stray away from our relationships with God but to instead
to draw closer to Him by seeking Him in prayer, in study, in the ways we used
our spare time, and in the ways we live our lives.
It’s Holy Week, and to
me any signs and wonders in the sky make me wonder. Although it just seemed like a straight line
of clouds in the sky, when I looked at it I got a cross like impression, or
maybe a crucifixion nail, and I took it as an encouragement from the Lord to keep
walking and talking with Him and to trust that He would be present with me no
matter what changes may be in store in the months ahead.
Regardless of what you
see in this photo, I was reminded that God is above, and that this week is
special and that He is with us.
So I encourage you to not get too caught up with the things happening in and around your lives here on earth without considering the Lord’s place in it all. God is with us and wants us to turn to Him continually to seek His strength, love, and wisdom as we go through life. And I believe that occasionally, He gives us signs because He wants us to know that He is watching over us.
This morning’s meditation verses are:
Ephesians
2:8-9 (NKJV)
8 For by grace you have been saved
through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,
9 not of works, lest anyone should
boast.
Today’s verses remind us of the truth that we gleaned from Romans 3:28 yesterday which told us that a person is not justified by works.
I believe that this truth is being presented purposefully by the Holy Spirit, through the “random” selection of the index card with these verses on it, to further express the fact that our salvation is not based on our efforts or works but is indeed a gift of God and is the product of God’s grace to activate our faith in Jesus as Lord and Savior.
When we go from unsaved to saved, we receive the truth of the gospel that we never understood or accepted before. I went from someone who was a practicing Buddhist who basically denied the idea of a personal God and privately pitied and mocked anyone who had faith or believed in the truths of Christianity.
But on that fateful day in March of 2010, in a parking lot on Aviation Road in Albany New York, the Lord anointed a Christian radio message with His grace and through the power of the Holy Spirit, I heard the truth as if for the first time of Christ’s work on the cross and God’s great love for me. It was by God’s grace that I realized that truth and asked Jesus to be my Lord and Savior.
Before that moment, I was spiritually dead and lost. After I said “Yes” to Jesus, I was alive and the new life began to manifest in a desire to know God’s word, to live according to it, and to share this good news with anyone who would listen.
We don’t have to earn it. We just have to seek God and give Him an opportunity to touch our hearts and to open our eyes.
I begrudgingly listened to that Christian radio message, with the full intention to mock it, but when I did I unwittingly opened a door for God to come into my life.
So if you think you must earn your place in God’s kingdom or have to be a good person before God will accept you, I beg you have an open heart and mind to the possibility that the gospel of Jesus Christ is true.
When you invite God to reveal Himself to you, when you seek Him in the smallest way, you can receive His grace, His unmerited favor, to know the truth and to be given a new and eternal life.
And like the verse says, you won’t be able to boast about having done anything to receive your new life, but you will be filled with the peace, joy, and love of God that will compel you to tell others all about it and invite them to experience it too.
I invite all to mt4chritst.org where I always share
insights from prominent Christian counselors to assist my brothers and sisters
in Christ with their walk.
Today we will share from Dr. June Hunt’s Biblical Counseling Keys on “Alcohol
& Drug Abuse: Breaking Free & Staying Free.
As always, I share this information for educational purposes
and encourage all to purchase Dr. Hunt’s books for your own private study and
to support her work:
C. How to Discover Deliverance from Dependency
Bobby Richardson had agreed to officiate Mickey Mantle's funeral, and he was
summoned to Dallas, Texas, three days before the death of baseball's greatest
athlete. Bobby visited Mickey in the hospital as he lay suffering with liver
cancer. He knew this could be his very last opportunity to make an appeal that
would direct the eternal destiny of "the Mick," so there was no time
for small talk or hesitation.
"Mickey," Bobby implored, "I love you, and I want you to
spend eternity in heaven with me." Nothing more needed to be said, for
Bobby had already clearly communicated before to Mickey that Jesus died on the
cross for his sins and rose again, opening the door for full forgiveness and
the free gift of eternal life. So how would his longtime friend respond in
these final moments? Would he accept or reject the amazing grace being
extended to him?
Mickey smiled, and serenely said, "Bobby, I've been wanting to tell you
that I have trusted Jesus Christ as my Savior."
On August 13, 1995, baseball legend Mickey Mantle died a healed man.
He was healed physically, delivered from dependency and no longer suffering the
pain and anguish of a disease-ravaged body. And he has been healed spiritually
— every single sin Mickey Mantle ever committed has been forgiven by Christ ...
never ... ever ... to be brought up again. ...
"In him we have ... the forgiveness of sins. ..."
(Ephesians 1:7)
Just as a chemical dependency doesn't develop overnight, neither does
deliverance from dependency. A sequence of events leads people into bondage and
another sequence leads people into freedom.
At the moment of your salvation, you were delivered from the penalty of
sin (eternal death), and you can be delivered from the power of sin
(destructive addictions). But you must realize that freedom from the power of
dependency is a process that requires focused, active participation on
your part. You must choose to believe and practice the truth about yourself and
God. In order to do that, you will need to ...
- Admit
you are powerless over your dependency.
"I am unable to manage my life — I cannot
control my life."
·
— Accept
your dependent condition and your vulnerability to chemical addiction.
·
— Acknowledge
your inability to manage your life and to overcome your drug dependency.
·
— Articulate
to God your total inadequacy and your deepest need of His power in your life.
"Indeed,
we felt we had received the sentence of death. But this happened that we might
not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead" (2 Corinthians 1:9).
- Realize
that the God who made you and saved you has the power to restore you.
"I am asking Christ to be my Redeemer, to
restore every area of my life."
·
— Accept
the Lordship of Christ Jesus in your life as your Master, Ruler, and Owner.
- — Acknowledge
your need for God to comfort you and to restore you to wholeness.
·
— Articulate
your gratitude to God for His saving power operating within your mind, will,
and emotions. Thank Him for what He plans to do in and through your life.
"Though
you have made me see troubles, many and bitter, you will restore my life again;
from the depths of the earth you will again bring me up. You will increase my
honor and comfort me once more"
(Psalm 71:20-21).
- Yield
your will to the will of the Lord.
"I am asking Christ to take control of my
life."
·
— Accept
the fact that your sinful nature died on the cross with Jesus and that sin
(your addiction) is to no longer rule your life.
·
— Acknowledge
the devastation that has resulted from your self-willed living in the past.
·
— Articulate
your determination to stop your self-willed living and your decision to yield
your will to the Lord.
"Trust
in the Lord with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he
will make your paths straight" (Proverbs 3:5-6).
- Face
reality — face your true self.
"I will look honestly at my life, asking God
to uncover my sins and character flaws."
·
— Accept
the truth that you have deceived yourself about your dependency and your
desperate need for help.
·
— Acknowledge
your previous reluctance to face the truth about your wrong choices and
patterns.
·
— Articulate
to God and to others your willingness to know the truth about yourself and your
commitment to evaluate honestly your life, your strengths, and your weaknesses.
"Search
me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there
is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting" (Psalm 139:23-24).
- Admit
your struggle with sin, both to God and to someone else.
"May I see my sin as God sees it and hate my
sin as God hates it."
·
— Accept
the depth and the duration of your struggle with chemical dependency.
·
— Acknowledge
to a supportive person the power that your dependency has had over you. Confirm
your present commitment to freedom.
·
— Articulate
to both God and a friend your desire to overcome your dependency and to live in
the victory Jesus secured for you at Calvary.
"If
we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in
us" (1 John 1:8).
- Accept
God's help to change your patterns of the past.
"I will commit my life into the care of
Christ."
·
— Accept
your limitations and your need for help in changing your unhealthy patterns of
dealing with life.
·
— Acknowledge
your frailty and the feebleness of your willpower and self-effort to effect
change.
·
— Articulate
to God your helplessness and your pledge to cooperate with Him as He changes
you from the inside out.
"Humble
yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due
time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you" (1 Peter 5:6-7).
- Confess
your defects and daily failings.
"I'm willing to see myself as God sees
me."
·
— Accept
that you are not perfect and that you will fail at times despite your good
intentions.
·
— Acknowledge
your failures immediately and confess them to God and to those you have
offended. Then correct your course.
·
— Articulate
any sins and shortcomings to God on a daily basis, and claim His forgiveness
and cleansing.
"Create
in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast
me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy
of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me" (Psalm 51:10-12).
- Ask
forgiveness of those you have offended.
"I will find those whom I've hurt and from my
heart ask for their forgiveness."
·
— Accept
your need to ask forgiveness of anyone you offend, even though you may have
been offended yourself.
·
— Acknowledge
your great need of God's mercy and grace and your resolve to extend mercy and
grace to others.
·
— Articulate
to both God and to those you have offended your grief and regret and your
resolve to change where you need to change.
"If
you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or
sister has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar.
First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift" (Matthew 5:23-24).
- Make
restitution where you have wronged others.
"I will go and make amends where possible with
the help of God."
·
— Accept
your obligation to do whatever is within your power in order to right your
wrongs.
·
— Acknowledge
to God and to those whom you have wronged your desire to make amends in any way
possible.
·
— Articulate
your responsibility to make restitution and your commitment to repay whatever
debt you owe, whether repaying money or labor, correcting a lie, showing
respect, or extending love.
"If
they give back what they took in pledge for a loan, return what they have stolen,
follow the decrees that give life, and do no evil — that person will surely
live; they will not die. None of the sins that person has committed will be
remembered against them. They have done what is just and right; they will
surely live" (Ezekiel 33:15-16).
- Keep
a clean slate when you realize you have been wrong.
"Each day I will take responsibility for my
irresponsibility."
·
— Accept
your charge to keep a clean slate before God and every person.
·
— Acknowledge
each and every failure in order to live as God would have you to live.
·
— Articulate
each failure to God on a moment-by-moment basis, making no excuses, but
recommitting to live a self-controlled, Spirit-empowered life.
"The
grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. It teaches us to
say 'No' to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled,
upright and godly lives ..." (Titus 2:11-12).
- Pray
to know God's path for your life.
"I want to be led by the Lord and to be put
only on His path."
·
— Accept your new dependence on God and your vital need to
communicate with Him on a daily basis through Bible study and prayer.
·
— Acknowledge your need to have the prayer support of others to
know God's truths and God's ways.
·
— Articulate to God your desire to be what He wants you to be and
to do what He wants you to do.
"Show
me your ways, Lord, teach me your
paths. Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my
hope is in you all day long" (Psalm 25:4-5).
- Reach
out to others with your hand and your heart.
"I will care for those who need care and will
help with a heart of compassion."
·
— Accept your need of others and their need of you.
·
— Acknowledge your giftedness from God and His mandate to use your
God-given gifts to serve others in tangible, practical ways.
·
— Articulate ways that God may be leading you to minister to
others and ask for His confirmation and for the guidance of mature Christians
who can help you to reach out to others.
"Carry
each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ" (Galatians 6:2).
This impactful prayer, crafted during World War II, has become known
worldwide because, every day, countless numbers of people around the globe pray
this. They are looking to God for the grace, courage, and wisdom to walk through
each day totally surrendered to the only One who has overcome the world — and
the very One who enables us to be overcomers in this world.
The
Serenity Prayer
God, give us grace to accept with serenity
the things that cannot be changed,
Courage to change the things
which should be changed,
and the Wisdom to distinguish
the one from the other.
Living one day at a time,
Enjoying one moment at a time,
Accepting hardship as a pathway to peace,
Taking, as Jesus did,
This sinful world as it is,
Not as I would have it,
Trusting that You will make all things right,
If I surrender to Your will,
So that I may be reasonably happy in this life,
And supremely happy with You forever in the next. Amen.
— Reinhold Niebuhr (1892-1971)
Jesus imparts this comforting promise ...
"In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have
overcome the world."
(John 16:33)
Biblical Counseling Keys - Biblical Counseling Keys – Biblical Counseling Keys:
Alcohol & Drug Abuse: Breaking Free & Staying Free.
----------------------------more
tomorrow-------------------------
God bless
you all!
Join our
Victory over the Darkness Discipleship Class via the mt4christ247 podcast!
at https://mt4christ247.podbean.com, You can also find it on Apple podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-mt4christ247s-podcast/id1551615154) and Google podcasts (https://podcasts.google.com/?feed=aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkLnBvZGJlYW4uY29tL210NGNocmlzdDI0Ny9mZWVkLnhtbA%3D%3D
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encouraged.
Encouragement for the Path of Christian Discipleship
