Purity 441 06/10/2021 Purity 441 Podcast
Good morning.
It’s Thursday and as is
my custom I share it to invite people to step on the path of Christian
discipleship by joining me at my discipleship class this evening or by tuning
into the mt4christ247 podcast of the class.
I found that true harmony comes from a living relationship with God
through Jesus Christ that is more like a walk with a friend than following a
bunch of rules that we struggle to obey.
It’s for freedom that Christ
has set us free. If we are living a life where we are condemning ourselves, we
need to examine both how we are living our lives but also how we are thinking
about ourselves and God.
God loved us enough to
send His Son to die for us. While He calls us to live a good and righteous
life, He first calls us to be His, warts and all. That means you don’t earn His love, you
receive it. That means you don’t have to
clean up your act first before coming to God, instead you get to come to Him as
you are and immediately experience the peace and joy that comes from knowing
you are forgiven, accepted, significant, and secure in your relationship with
God.
God wants you to to know
His love and the freedom that comes from knowing you are God’s child regardless
of your faults. Grace is amazing because we receive God’s favor when we don’t
deserve it and are powerless to earn it. A new eternal life is the gift that
God gives to those that simply say “Yes” and answer the call to be His, no
strings attached.
So start, or keep,
walking and talking with God. God fills your life with meaning, purpose, and
power. God answers all the questions of existence
and invites you to the life you always wanted to live but never thought you
could have: a life of peace.
This morning’s meditation
verse is:
Psalm 23:4 (NKJV)
4 Yea, though I walk through the
valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me;
Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.
Today’s verse
reminds us of the power of our relationship with God through faith in Jesus
Christ. Christ is known as our Emanuel,
which means “God with us”. When we put
our faith in Jesus, we receive the Holy Spirit and from that day forward we
never walk alone.
Even in perilous
times and in dangerous environments where there is a real and present danger to
our lives, we can draw courage and confidence from the fact that we are
eternally secure and protected through our faith in Christ. We can fear no evil because God is with
us.
There are extensive
teachings on Psalm 23 in regards to our faith walk but I will just summarize
some common insights about the shepherd’s rod and staff.
The rod was a short
club that the shepherd would us to fend off attacks of wild animals (the enemy)
but it would also be used to club sheep that were particularly stubborn and
needed a forceful encouragement towards correction.
The staff was a long
pole that the shepherd would use to guide the sheep in the direction they
needed to go but it also had a hooked end to be used to pull and restrain sheep
that were headed in the wrong direction.
So those implements
of the shepherd are said to represent the Lord’s protection, correction, and
guidance that we as children of God enjoy.
His protection, correction, and guidance are not to be seen as restrictive
bonds on our lives but are properly understood to be an expression of God’s love
for us. When we realize how God cares
for us with His protection, correction, and guidance, we should experience the
comfort that comes from knowing that we are His children.
As always, I invite all to go to mt4christ.org
where I always share insights from prominent Christian counselors to assist my
brothers and sisters in Christ with their walk.
Today we continue with Dr. Neil Anderson’s Victory
Over the Darkness, continuing in Chapter 2, with the short section “What is
True of Christ is True of You”
As always, I share this information for educational purposes and encourage all to purchase Dr. Anderson’s books for your own private study and to support His work. If you need this title you can find it online at several sites for less than $15.00:
What Is
True of Christ Is True of You
Because you are a saint in Christ by God's calling, you
share in Christ's inheritance. "The Spirit Himself bears witness with our
spirit that we are children of God, and if children, heirs also, heirs of God
and fellow heirs with Christ" (Romans 8:16, 17).
Every believer is identified with Christ:
|
In
His death |
||
|
2. |
In His burial |
|
|
3. |
In His resurrection |
Romans 6:5, 8, 11 |
|
4. |
In His ascension |
|
|
5. |
In His life |
|
|
6. |
In His power |
|
|
7. |
In His inheritance |
The following list itemizes in
first-person language who you really are in Christ. These are some of the
scriptural traits that reflect who you became at spiritual birth. You can't
earn them or buy them any more than a person born in the United States can earn
or buy the rights and freedoms enjoyed as an American citizen. They are
guaranteed to the person by the Constitution simply because he or she was born
in the United States. Similarly, these traits are guaranteed to you by the Word
of God simply because you were born into God's holy nation by faith in Christ.
Victory Over the Darkness: Realizing the Power of Your Identity in Christ.
---------------------------more
tomorrow------------------------
God bless
you all!
Join our “Victory
over the Darkness” or “The Bondage Breaker” series of Discipleship Classes 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). The mt4christ247 podcast is
also available on Google Podcasts, Amazon Podcasts, and Audible.com.
Email me
at mt4christ247@gmail.com to receive the class materials, share your progress, and to be
encouraged.
Encouragement for the Path of Christian
Discipleship
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