Not Forgotten: The One Who Remembers You
Purity 467 07/10/2021 Purity 467 Podcast
Good morning
Today’s photo of a dazzling sun in an ethereal sky over green hills and trees comes to us from a friend who knows to keep their eyes open to the beauty that surrounds us on a daily basis and caught this pic in their travels to destinations unknown. The reason I phrase this description of my friend and this location this way is because of the simple fact that although I know that this photo was taken on or around the first of July, the source of the photo has simply slipped my mind. (Update- My friends at Dave Baun Photography have since reminded me it was their photo taken in transit on a bicycling excursion in South Australia!- Thanks Dave!)
Part of my process in my quasi-daily encouragements is to “borrow” pictures
that friends share on social media as they come up in my experience of
scrolling through posts. When I see something good, I will try to make a mental
note of its source and I save it to my phone.
When I sit down to compose each day, I scroll through the images and use
whatever one that speaks to me. The
thing is I have a lot of friends, thank you Lord, and they share a lot of
photos. Sometimes the locations and
friends are easily remembered. I would say I remember the context of the photos
almost 100% of the time but this morning this photo grabbed my attention and
for the life of me I can’t remember where it came from or who shared it!
Instead of skipping it, I got the impression that the Lord wanted me to
share this one if for no other reason to point to Him as creator and to Him as
the one who has perfect knowledge of each and every one of us.
So friends, if you posted this photo on or around the first of July, let
us know, if you do, it will not only satisfy our curiosity but will also allow
us to be grateful for your friendship and your willingness to share your life experiences
with your friends who are less than perfect.
Although I forgot who shared this photo, the good news is that there is
someone who knows the photographer and deeply cares about their life. I am speaking of course of God. He not only created the subject matter in the
photo, but he created the person who captured it.
As individuals, we are all a little bit different from one another and
at times we may feel that we are nobody special, but God doesn’t see us that
way at all. God knows who we are and
all we have walked through in this life.
He knows all the special days in your personal history, and He shares in
our joys and sufferings. He knows our talents,
failings, feelings, and thoughts and no matter what we think or do He still
loves us.
So my failure to specifically remember the friend who shared this photo
shows us that our human relationships will be imperfect. We will disappoint,
and possibly upset, one another. At times we won’t be available for our friends
or family when they need us. Sometimes
we will just plain forget about them.
But the Lord, of course, never will.
He will never forget about you, and He is the only One who will always
be available for you. The Lord is the
only One who will never leave us or forsake us.
So while you are traveling to your next destination, enjoy the world that
the Lord has made for us and be sure to let Him know that you know that He is there
and that He cares.
Speaking of being on the road, I mentioned that yesterday’s photo of a
sunset on the shores of Lake Ontario from the vantage point of Lighthouse
Christian Camp in Barker NY filled me with “go fever”, an impulsive desire to “do
something” and “go somewhere”.
So strong was this wanderlust that I actually contacted the camp about
renting one of their cabins, imagining myself as taking a Kerouacian Big Sur
trip to the Great Lake to rest and write.
I got the information, and the rates were cheap, and I was ready to
book.
But then I thought soberly about the details and realized I was just
planning this impromptu trip to “have an experience for summer” and possibly to
avoid the loneliness of another staycation.
Also my aim to combine ministry preparation work and being at leisure seemed
to promise more stress to my life if I added a 5-hour drive and dealing with
meager accommodations to the mix.
Then I thought of my home “Down by the River”. It has everything I need. It may be simple,
but I love the place. I also thought
that there are attractions to see and things to enjoy that are a lot closer to
home. So before the people called me back to confirm my reservations, I cancelled.
Sometimes we are overcome by a sense of lack, that we need something to
satisfy or fulfill us. Some turn to drugs
and alcohol. Some turn to relationships. Some turn to find a measure of peace
in the great outdoors or by traveling.
I realized that my relationship with God is what fulfills me more than anything
else and that I didn’t necessarily need to run off and “do something” just to
do it. God is with me. It’s not like I would have found Him waiting for me on
the shores of Lake Ontario, although I’m sure we would have enjoyed ourselves
there!
I realized that the most important thing in my life was Him and that my
desire to work on the teachings for a discipleship class I will be teaching in
the fall was the thing I wanted to do the most next week. I realized that with God I lack nothing, and
I didn’t want to waste anytime on my vacation in transit when I could find rest
at home and peace in His presence.
So, my physical body may not go far from home next week, but I am sure
that the Lord is going to show me some things that will be worthwhile. He always
does. He knows me better than I know myself.
He never forgets about me, and He always leads me to something good.
(There is more
content to help you walk out your journey of faith at MT4Christ dot org. You
can also subscribe to the mt4christ247 podcast to hear this message, our
discipleship classes, and our weekly Bible Study, on Apple, Google, and Amazon
Podcasts, as well as Audible and Podbean).
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This morning’s meditation
verse is:
1 Corinthians 10:31 (NKJV)
31 Therefore, whether you eat or
drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.
Today’s verse speaks about our purpose in life, to give God glory.
The context that precedes today’s verse involves dealing
with the “weaker’ brother. Back in Paul’s
time there was pagan worship of idols. One of the practices of pagans included
the sacrifice, cooking, and feasting of animals in honor of their pagan
God. Sometimes the pagans would offer
their pagan god a meal and leave out food for them to consume. After pagan worship was over, some
industrious pagans would take meat that was not used and sell it at market. Many religious people of the Jews considered
this meat to be defiled, unclean, and unusable.
However, Christ himself taught that there is no unclean meat
in the new covenant which He established, check out Acts 10 for the Lord’s
interaction with Peter.
Anyway, some Christians armed with the truth that Christ
revealed realized that this meat was okay to eat. Others, remembering the Old Testament
provisions, didn’t think the meat was okay to eat and that it would be a sin to
do so.
Instead of Paul recommending that we berate those who didn’t
grasp the truth that no meat is unclean, he stated that those with knowledge should
treat their weaker brothers with compassion and change their behaviors for
their sakes. If eating pagan meat was
going to be a problem for some in your company, you should abstain for their
sake.
This provision could also apply to alcoholic beverages. Drunkenness
is to be avoided but it is not a sin to drink alcoholic beverages. However
because of the damage that the abuse of alcohol can wage, some like myself,
recommend and practice complete abstinence of alcohol.
For some in recovery, they can’t be around alcohol for fear
of relapse. I have recently confirmed
beyond a shadow of a doubt that I am not one of these people. The Lord has
delivered me from the temptation and given me freedom.
But for the sake of those “weaker” brothers who either
struggle with a history of alcoholism or for those who morally object to
drinking alcohol, the mature Christian who enjoys the occasional potent potable
should be compassionate and not partake in their company. Their restraint would show their companions compassion
and give glory to the Lord.
Anyway, Paul concludes with today’s verse, that whether we
eat or drink, or whatever we do we are to do it for the glory of the Lord.
The principle is that our purpose is to always honor and
glorify the Lord with all our actions, up to and including sacrificing our
personal enjoyment for the sake of others.
We have been freed from the law of sin and death, but we are
not to use our freedom in a manner that would offend or to cause another
brother to fall into temptation and sin.
With the great freedom that Christ has given us, we have a
great responsibility to love the Lord our God by loving our neighbors as
ourselves. We wouldn’t want others to do
things that would potentially harm us, and we likewise are to demonstrate the
love of the Lord by doing the same for them.
I love this verse because it really speaks to the all-encompassing
nature of our faith. That from the simple acts of eating and drinking, we can
give glory to God.
From this verse, we can understand that our entire lives are
to be lived in a manner that gives God glory. Everything we do in our lives
matters. So let’s live our lives in the
way that will give God the most glory by being aware of what we are doing, why
we are doing it, and the potential consequences to ourselves and others.
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 7.
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:
Feelings
Are God's Red Flag of Warning
From birth, you have been developing in your mind a means
for experiencing these eight values and reaching other goals in life.
Consciously or subconsciously, you continue to formulate and adjust your plans
for achieving these goals.
Sometimes, however, your well-intended
plans and noble-sounding goals are not completely in harmony with God's plans
and goals for you. How can I know if what I believe is right? you may
be wondering. Must I wait until I am 45 years old or until I experience
some kind of midlife crisis to discover that what I believed in these eight
areas was wrong?
I don't think so. I believe God has
designed you in such a way that you can know on a moment-by-moment basis if
your belief system is properly aligned with God's truth. God has established a
feedback system designed to grab your attention so you can examine the validity
of your goals and beliefs. When an experience or relationship leaves you
feeling angry, anxious or depressed, those emotional signposts are there to
alert you that you may be cherishing a faulty goal based on a wrong belief.
Anger
Signals a Blocked Goal
When your activity in a relationship or a project results
in feelings of anger, it is usually because someone or something has blocked
your goal, something or somebody is preventing you from accomplishing what you
wanted. How do you feel in a traffic jam when it is preventing you from getting
to an important meeting on time?
Suppose a wife and mother says,
"My goal in life is to have a loving, harmonious, happy Christian family."
Who can block that goal? Every person in her family can block that goal—not
only can, they will! A homemaker clinging to the belief that
her sense of worth is dependent on her family will crash and burn every time
her husband or children fail to live up to her image of family harmony. She
could become a very angry and controlling woman or a defeated victim of life's
circumstances. Either option could drive family members even farther away from
her and each other.
What if a pastor's goal is to reach
his community for Christ? Good goal? It is a wonderful desire, but if his sense
of worth and success as a pastor is dependent on that happening, he will
experience tremendous emotional turmoil. Every person in the community can
block his goal. Furthermore, two old board members may even try to block his
goal. Pastors who believe their success is dependent on others will end up
fighting with their boards, controlling members, praying their opposition out
of the church or quitting.
"Whatever is not from faith is
sin" (Romans
14:23); therefore, an outburst of anger should prompt us to reexamine what
we believe and the mental goals we have formulated to accomplish those beliefs.
My daughter, Heidi, helped me with
this process one Sunday morning while I was trying to hustle my family out the
door for church. I had been waiting in the car for several minutes before I
stomped back into the house and shouted angrily, "We should have left for
church 15 minutes ago!"
All was silent for a moment, then
Heidi's soft voice floated around the corner from her bedroom: "What's the
matter, Dad; am I blocking your goal?" That is the question you need to
hear right before you preach!
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
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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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