Growing Pains – Welcome to Paradise - Purity 482

Growing Pains – Welcome to Paradise       

Purity 482 07/28/2021  Purity 482 Podcast

Good morning

Today’s photo of a barren mound of algae covered rock in the tropical waters off the shore of Christiansted, St Croix in the US Virgin Islands comes to us from a friend who recently had their whole family’s lives changed as their spouse’s new orders took them from the familiar confines of upstate New York to be stationed in “paradise” for the foreseeable future.   

It's Wednesday, and I thought this photo of this rock emerging from the Caribbean Seas was an adequate representation of a hump to mark the middle of the week and I thought it could also teach us an object lesson of how we can feel alone and challenged even when we have arrived in the paradise of positive changes.    

Recently due to an injury, I had to make an adjustment to my morning work-out routine, exchanging one form of exercise for another that would focus on the same areas of my body.  I have been working out 6 days a week since November and I have come a long way in terms of strengthening my core.  So when I decided to exchange sit-ups for toe touches, I was confident that I could make the transition without suffering too much and that the change in positioning would strengthen my back.  

On day one of the switch, I was pleasantly surprised to discover that I could indeed perform the exercises without any undue stress and felt assured that the change was a good one because I felt I was addressing the need to strengthen my back and I was confident it also helping my abs as I was stretching further than I was with the sit ups.    Win, win, right?  

I think that is right! But on day two, and now on day three, it has been made even more clear that the new exercise is also strengthening my hamstrings, as they are uncharacteristically sore.  The pain isn’t debilitating or anything but is a definite sign that I am literally stretching the limits that I wasn’t testing before.  

Some would say, “Oh it hurts? You should stop!”  But I am confident that this soreness is sign of progress.   To become stronger, we may have to suffer a little.   Even though we have come to a good place, we may have to suffer a little to come to a better place.   

Like our friend in the Virgin Islands, just because you have “moved to paradise” doesn’t mean that all your problems go away. Just because you have made it to the promised land, doesn’t mean that you have it all figured out and are free of suffering.  

Like the thief on the cross was assured by Jesus that he would be with Him in paradise, we who have placed our faith in Christ have been brought into a new and eternal life but that doesn’t mean that all our problems go away or that we won’t struggle in our transition of experiencing the new abundant life that Christ gives us.  

My story is a testimony of the struggles and pain that you can feel on the journey of walking away from the darkness of your former life and adapting to living by faith.  Although I would say that I “am over the hump” and have arrived in the paradise of a new home for my children and I, I have recently seen that the journey doesn’t end with me putting my feet up and basking in the sun carefree.  

There is more work to do. I still have issues from the past that are beyond my control to resolve that require my patience and that test my peace.  There is the unknown future ahead with questions regarding my children’s futures and my physical health, career, purpose, and relationships.   

While the present can be a challenge daily just to keep moving in a good direction, it is also necessary to realize that every day forward is leading us into our future path.  

The good news is that when we are walking with God, He directs our paths.  When we walk by faith, He can help us deal with our current sufferings and challenges in a way that will give us peace in the moment and because we are in harmony with Him, as we keep walking we will see that He is also moving us into His purposes.   

When we start seeing things begin to change or “suddenly start happening” as a big surprise, God knew all along what was lying ahead of us, and He was preparing us for it!  

So suck it up, or should I say, endure through your sufferings and challenges with the Lord each day and don’t worry too much about the unseen turns around the corner ahead in your life. If we keep walking and talking with God, we can trust that He is leading us into the good things He has prepared for us and that our current “growing pains” are strengthening and preparing us for when we get there.   

We may have made it to paradise but there is more in store for us as we walk with the Lord from here to eternity.     

 

This morning’s meditation verse is:

Luke 9:24 (NKJV)
²⁴ For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it.

Today’s verse speaks of the shift of focus that the Christian life demands. 

These are the words of Jesus that immediately follow His statement that if any wish to be His disciples (come after Me), they are to deny themselves and to take up their cross daily and follow Him. 

The contrast between the two statements in today’s verse make it clear that a choice needs to be made.      

If we choose, or desire, to save our life, we will lose it. 

While this statement may seem like a paradox it becomes meaningful by the contrast of the subsequent statement: “whoever loses his life for My sake will save it.”

So if we choose to “save our” life, meaning, by contrast, to save our life for “our sake”, meaning to live our life for our purposes, our ideas, or our selfish desires, then we will lose it.   In and of ourselves, we lose our lives.

Considering Jesus’ other teachings regarding the kingdom of God, “losing your life” here points to suffering the judgement of a holy God and rightfully receiving His wrath.

Christ’s second statement in this verse is just the opposite, promising a “saved” life to those who surrender living their lives for “their sake” and choosing instead to live for Christ’s sake, (My sake).    

The requirement of surrender to God’s ways and purposes in the discipled life of a Christian is apparent here as Christ states that those who lose their lives for His sake will save their lives.  This points to our purpose of living and choosing to live out what we say we believe.   

While it is common to call Christians “believers”, we should understand that our faith needs to go beyond holding a set of beliefs or convictions and should instead be exemplified by a life where we are increasingly exchanging our ways for God’s ways.   

Not only does placing our faith in Christ and following Jesus assure us of our eternal life with Him forever, but it also infuses our lives here and now with life as we walk out of the darkness of living independently of God and move into the light of His presence, power, strength, and love. 

Today’s verse makes it clear, if we live our lives for ourselves we will lose it, but if we live our lives for Christ’s purposes, we will be saved. Christ is calling us into action.  He is saying to surrender the old life you were living and begin to live the new life He has for you.    

 

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 Chapter 9.

 

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:

Strongholds of the Mind

Temptation

Temptation always comes by way of a thought, and the key to resisting temptation is to take that initial thought captive to the obedience of Christ. I found a humorous "Cathy" cartoon strip that illustrates how an unchecked initial thought carries her away like a runaway freight train:

Frame 1: "I will take a drive, but won't go near the grocery store."

Frame 2: "I will drive by the grocery store, but will not go in."

Frame 3: "I will go in the grocery store, but will not walk down the aisle where the Halloween candy is on sale."

Frame 4: "I will look at the candy, but not pick it up."

Frame 5: "I will pick it up, but not buy it."

Frame 6: "I will buy it, but not open it."

Frame 7: "Open it, but not smell it."

Frame 8: "Smell it, but not taste it."

Frame 9: "Taste it, but not eat it."

Frame 10: "Eat, eat, eat, eat, eat!"

The Scriptures teach that God has provided a way of escape from every temptation (see 1 Cor. 10:13). As illustrated by Cathy's experience, however, the escape probably would have occurred before the first frame. Cathy lost the battle when she decided to go for a drive. If you don't take captive the initial thought, you will probably lose the battle to temptation. We all have to learn how to practice threshold thinking. We need to take the way of escape the moment our thoughts are contrary to the truth and righteousness.

For example, a man struggling with lust sees a pornographic picture. He has the opportunity to respond by thinking, My relationship with sin has ended. I don't have to give in to this. I choose right now to take this thought captive to the obedience of Christ. I'm not going to look at it and I'm not going to think about it. He stops looking at the picture and gets rid of the magazine or leaves the place of temptation. If he hesitates at the threshold, stares at the picture, and begins to fantasize about it, he will trigger an emotional landslide, producing a physical response that will be difficult to stop. He must capture the initial tempting thought or it will probably capture him.

Consideration and Choice

If you begin to mull over a tempting thought in your mind, your emotions will be affected and the likelihood of yielding to that temptation is increased. The fact that our emotions are a product of our thought lives is the general opinion of mental health workers. We can't directly control our feelings, but we can control what we think. That is why the mind is the control center of all activities. You don't do anything without first thinking it. The physical and emotional responses to our thoughts may be so fast that we could think we have no control over the process, but we do. Every believer has a No button. "For as he thinks within himself, so he is" (Proverbs 23:7).

If what we think does not reflect truth, then what we feel does not reflect reality. Suppose on Monday you heard a rumor around the office that you were going to get laid off on Friday. You become more and more anxious each day. Then on Thursday you receive a memo from your boss asking you to go to his office at 10:00 a.m. on Friday. Your mind is entertaining all kinds of thoughts such as, Walk in there and hand him your resignation, or Why wait until tomorrow? Tell him off today." Friday comes and you are a bundle of nerves. When you open the door to his office, the top brass of the company shout in unison, "Surprise, you have just been promoted to top management!"

When you thought you would be fired, your feelings of anger did not conform to reality because what you believed wasn't true. The joy and relief you felt after the promotion did conform to reality because then you knew the truth. Many Christians don't feel saved, don't feel God loves them because of old thoughts raised against the knowledge of God. When we tear down those strongholds and take every thought captive in obedience to Christ, our emotions will begin to conform to the reality of God's love. If we choose to believe the lie, our emotions will take us further down the temptation trail.

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, Spotify, iHeartradio, and Audible.com. 

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Encouragement for the Path of Christian Discipleship