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Tuesday, April 6, 2021

Purity 385: Encouragement for the Path of Christian Discipleship


Purity 385 04/06/2021 Purity 385 Podcast

Good morning.

Today’s photo comes from our friends at Community Life Church as they shared this sunrise view from Mike’s Point in Catskill New York as the Catskill Ecumenical Council of Churches held an Easter Morning Sunrise Service at 6:30 am this past Sunday.

You have to love the spirit of unity and the enthusiasm that the six churches of the council displayed in coming together to celebrate Christ’s resurrection as well as the wonderful view of God’s creation in their local community.    

I share photos from friends all over the country and from around the world to show the beauty of God’s handiwork and to highlight the fact that God’s presence is still active in the world and He is seeking to give us the peace and hope that is possible through the work that Christ did during his earthly ministry to bridge the gap between God and man.   

Faith in Christ has the power to save and transform our lives, and having personally experienced God’s love, mercy, and grace, I am not surprised that this group of Christians decided to brave the crisp temperatures at 6:30 am in Greene County to come together to worship the Lord and give Him the glory for their resurrected lives.     

That’s right, when we place our faith in Christ, we share in His death and resurrection. So keep walking and talking to God, because when our faith is certain and our doubts are diminished, we can experience the assurance of life everlasting and the power to endure and overcome the negative circumstances of this life with a peace that goes beyond all understanding.

(An Audio version of this message is available 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).) There is more content at the restricted blog. Follow me on Twitter or MeWe for easy access.  Blog M T 4 Christ dot org – This is where the Facebook post ends.)

This morning’s meditation verse is:

John 14:2 (NKJV)
2 In My Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.

Today’s verse displays some of Christ’s parting words to the Apostles before He was to be crucified.  While the Apostles struggled to understand what Christ was talking about in the moment, we have the benefit of knowing that Christ overcame death itself.  As puzzling as these words were to the Apostles, they are a comforting promise of the reality of the afterlife for all those who have placed their faith in Jesus as Lord and Savior.  

When we trust in the gospel narratives and what they tell us about what Jesus said and how He rose from the dead, we should be not only comforted of a good place to go to when we die, Hello Mansions!, but we should be empowered by the fact that we as Christians have the promise of essentially overcoming death.  

We get to share in Christ’s example as one who clearly died but some how rose to life again.  Christ’s resurrection shows us that, although the people alive at the time may have thought that Jesus was dead and gone, He was actually fulfilling the words of this verse. Although He appeared to be dead and stiff, He was active and alive in the spiritual realm (1 Peter 3:18-22, 4:6, Ephesians 4:8-10) preparing a place for us and announcing the good news of His victory to the faithful departed.    

I always say that context matters and as good as verse 2 is at assuring us of a good place being prepared for us. Verse 3 assures of Christ coming again and receiving us.  

John 14:3 (NKJV)
3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.

Where He is, we will be also. So whether we see Christ after we pass into eternity, or if He should surprise us with His return to earth while we are still alive, we will be with Him. Jesus is Emanuel- God with us. 

So remember that we have the promise of eternal life and the assurance of His return to reclaim the earth, but we also have the benefit of His presence in our lives of faith and that we can be with Him when we pray, remember His life and words, and when we seek to live according to His example.  He will never leave us or forsake us, and He will be with us always, even to the end of the age. 

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 conclude sharing 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:

H. How to Realize the Power of Prayer ... On Behalf of the One Addicted

Josh Hamilton and his friend Johnny Narron are out on the road, and while many of Josh's teammates are having a beer at the hotel bar, the secluded pair are drinking "living water" (John 4:10). Abundantly supplied by their Lord and Savior, Josh and Johnny are studying the Word of God and find themselves refreshed by its truths and precepts. Johnny is determined to keep praying and to keep standing by Josh during every step of his difficult journey.

"I'm there for Josh, always. When he gets antsy, he'll come up to me and say, 'Johnny, let's do a devotional.'" And once again, the two drink "living water" and find their spiritual thirst exceedingly quenched.

As testimony to the tremendous power of prayer, Josh and Katie have founded Triple Play Ministries to handle their numerous speaking engagements highlighting their story of restoration and redemption. And, while conducting Christian baseball camps for kids, Josh explains, "The biggest thing we want to do is to share Jesus Christ with people."

Concerning Josh, Johnny is obedient to the following Scripture, and many, many people are blessed. ...

"As for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by failing to pray for you. And I will teach you the way that is good and right."
(1 Samuel 12:23)

As you appeal to God on behalf of your loved one ...

  • Pray with thanksgiving for what God has done for both you and your loved one.

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:6-7).

  • Pray for God to reveal any harmful responses on your part.

"You desired faithfulness even in the womb; you taught me wisdom in that secret place" (Psalm 51:6).

  • Pray for a sincere love for the struggler and that both of you would love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength.

"But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you ..." (Matthew 5:44).

  • Pray for strongholds to be broken and for the ground given to drugs to be reclaimed by God.

"The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ" (2 Corinthians 10:4-5).

  • Pray for faith that, with God, lasting change can occur, and God will be glorified.

"... all things are possible with God" (Mark 10:27).

  • Pray for the struggler to be filled with the knowledge of God and to live a life worthy of Him and pleasing to Him.

"... we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience ..." (Colossians 1:9-11).

  • Pray with consistency and persistence, realizing the supernatural power of God is essential in the life of your loved one.

"... pray continually ..." (1 Thessalonians 5:17).

"If anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!"
(2 Corinthians 5:17)

Our all-American hero, Mickey Mantle, became a new creation as he approached his death. Mickey died at the age of 63, but his final months were not marred by his trademark foul-mouthed, falling-down-drunk behavior. One writer described the "new" Mickey Mantle: "In those last days and weeks, even as his body was breaking down, Mickey Mantle had acquired, quietly and with almost an ethereal elegance, a strength and dignity he did not know he possessed. He faced his own death with that strength and became a new kind of hero."

This new strength and dignity did not come from Mickey Mantle himself, but from the Lord Jesus Christ, who forgave all of Mickey's sins and gave him the free gift of eternal life. ...

"Teach me to do your will, for you are my God; may your good Spirit lead me on level ground."
(Psalm 143:10)

You may say, "I can't. ... I've tried. ... I just can't do it!"

Well, maybe it's true that you don't have the stamina to stop ... and stay stopped.

But understand that Christ hasn't called you to stay sober alone.

The Bible reveals this secret ...

"Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will bring it to pass."
(1 Thessalonians 5:24 NASB)

— June Hunt


·  For further information on drugs see U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, "Drug Information" (Washington, D.C.: DEA, n.d.), http://www.justice.gov/dea/concern/concem.html and National Institute on Drug Abuse, "Commonly Abused Drugs" (Washington, D.C.: NIDA, n.d.), http://www.drugabuse.gov/DrugPages/DrugsofAbuse.html.

See Jay Johnson, Jane Carlisle Maxwell, and Marian Leitnerschmidt, A Dictionary of Slang Drug Terms, Trade Names, and Pharmacological Effects and Uses (Austin, TX: Texas Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse, 1997), http://www.tcada.state.tx.us/research/slang/terms.pdf.


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

Email me at mt4christ247@gmail.com to receive the class materials, share your progress, and to be encouraged.

 

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