Following God – One Step at a Time and All of the
Above
Purity 489 08/05/2021 Purity 489 Podcast
Good morning
Today’s photo comes to us from a friend’s epic journey and pilgrimage to
Oahu Hawaii back in June. Just like any
epic voyage will result in a multitude of memories and souvenirs, I am sure my
friend will be unpacking the significance of these milestone moments in their
life for years to come as this trip was not only memorable for visiting that
Pacific paradise but because it was meaningful to them on a personal level regarding
their purpose, history, and origin here on earth. So I apologize, sorry not sorry, but as my
friend took a multitude of photos on their trip I may unpack more at various
times in the future as I will use them to glorify God for His creative work of
nature and to encourage my friends to draw close to Him on their walk through
life.
Today’s photo was taken somewhere along my friend’s 7.8 mile hike up the
Ha’iku Stairs, aka the Stairway to Heaven.
So why share a photo of a pretty flat part of that trip?
I share it for several reasons. The first is that although I don’t know
where in this hike this photo fell chronologically, for my uses and today’s
narrative, I will assume that this was near the beginning of that hike to
symbolize the decision to begin to follow the Lord’s lead for our lives.
It is Thursday, so as is my habit, I share a photo that highlights a
road, or a pathway, as an encouragement for others to join me on the pathway of
Christian discipleship, which simply means to decide to begin to renew our
minds and hearts by deciding to turn from our worldly ways of living and to
adopt God’s wisdom and ways for our lives.
Every journey must start with the decision to go and I’m using today’s
photo to encourage my friends to make that decision. Every walk requires that first step and I
encourage my friends to take it.
I also share today’s photo because it highlights the fact that others
have walked this path before us. Our two
lead hikers in today’s photo represent the faithful travelers that have heard
God’s call to come to Him and who inspire us and who will be our companions as
we are all going to the same place.
I also love today’s photo because it has a surrealistic quality to it
that reminds me of Hawaii’s unique atmosphere of beauty and mystery. If you have been to the islands, you know
that it is markedly different from other beach areas in our continental United
States and has a totally different vibe because of the cultural history of the
native inhabitants. It has a beautiful but
primitive feel to it that challenges us to embrace the beauty of God’s creation
but to not be drawn away by the pagan teachings that would contradict God’s
Word. For the Christian, we need to
recognize that all truth is God’s truth, but the enemy will entice us to
compromise the truth of the exclusivity of Jesus Christ to save by offering us
seemingly pleasant but false alternatives.
This photo of these hikers on a path under that mystical Hawaiian sky
reminds me of the ABC series, Lost, and specifically of the scene where the
character Charlie turns to his fellow bewildered castaways and asks the
question: “Guys, where are we?”
It is the desire to answer this existential question that causes us to
turn to God and seek His wisdom. And if
you’ve been trying to be faithful to that cause for any length of time you know
that God isn’t always forthcoming with timely or simple answers.
As I am looking to the future months for an idea where to go, I have
asked God for direction. In my view, I
see two paths on which to go and some other side journeys that I may take along
the way. So I ask God:
“Lord, what’s it going to be: A or B?
Also, Lord, I would like to know the answer as soon as possible,
thanks. So which one will it be, A or B,
and when should I start walking in that direction?”
So as I have been taking it one day at a time and waiting for a
confirmation, I am increasingly beginning to suspect that God may be leading me
to take both paths in some way and while I have a rough idea as to when these
journeys should begin, I am still struggling with my acceptance of them as I
doubt my abilities and capacity to do “all of the above”.
In my view, A and B are mutually exclusive, I can’t do both. I mean, I guess I could. But really? That’s not fair. That’s not what I asked! One or the other! Which
is it? And when? And how?
When we walk through life, we often run into situations where we think
it can only be one way or another and that we simply can’t do it all. That’s
when we feel weak and incapable of going on.
However, the word of God indicates that’s when we are called to be dependent
on God, for when we are weak, in Him we are strong.
So keep walking and talking with God. Ask your questions but understand
that it may take awhile before you feel confident of His response and that His
answer is not always what you expect.
The Lord is calling all of us to draw closer to Him and when we take
that first step we begin to realize that we will be leaving things behind to
make our walk easier as we go. But put your
trust in God, He will supply all you need and will stretch you and strengthen
you to accomplish all that He has prepared for you.
This morning’s meditation
verse is:
Luke 9:25 (NKJV)
25 For what
profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and is himself destroyed or
lost?
Today’s verse reminds us of the grave consequences of
building our own kingdoms rather than entering into God’s.
Again, I don’t plan these messages. I may have a general
idea of what I want to say on a given day but a lot of what comes out happens
as I sit down and type. In my haste to get started this morning, I grabbed this
morning’s index card Bible verse without even glancing at it because I “knew”
the photo I wanted to use, and I wanted to start “unpacking” my encouragements
to get on the Christian discipleship path.
When I examined that photo, I thought of that scene from the
show Lost and definitely wanted to mention it to highlight the mysterious
nature of our decision to come into relationship with God through our faith in
Jesus Christ and to actually live by faith but I honestly had no idea that the
word “lost” would appear in today’s Bible verse, let alone with a question mark
right after it: “Lost?”
That’s the question isn’t it: Are you lost?
Today’s verse are the words of Jesus Himself, and He is telling
His listeners that even obtaining all the riches of this material world will
prove to be meaningless if we don’t come into a covenant relationship with, and
decided to follow, Him.
Oh, and its not just “believe” in Him. Two verses prior to
this one, Jesus instructs those who wish to “come after” Him, that they must
deny themselves, take up their cross DAILY, and FOLLOW Him.
Christ had just confirmed that He was the Christ, the anointed
one, the Messiah, and that He would suffer, die, and be raised again. He then tells us to follow Him.
Here’s the deal, one has statement has a lot to do with the
other.
If Christ wasn’t raised again on the third day, as He said,
we can totally dismiss His words of instruction as meaningless. If Jesus wasn’t resurrected, we can conclude
that He was just a deluded spiritual guru and a false teacher.
But Jesus was raised from the dead and all but one of the
original Apostles and many other witnesses to the Resurrection, went on to
martyr’s deaths, standing on the truthfulness of the Resurrection. Their testimony
confirms the truthfulness of all that Jesus taught and of His identity as the
Son of God, and God the Son.
So enjoy what God has given you the ability to earn in this world
but be sure to invest a significant amount of time and money into developing
your relationship with God and in adopting God’s purpose to your life to go and
make disciples and to share the hope that is found in Christ alone.
Money can’t buy you love but the love that is found in
Christ is a resource that comes to us freely and never runs dry.
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, beginning Chapter 10.
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:
Don't
Ignore the Warning Signs of Your Emotions
I played sports as a young man, and I have the scars on
my knees to prove it. The incision of my first knee surgery cut across a nerve
and I had no feeling around that area of my leg for several months. Sometimes I
would sit down to watch TV and, without thinking, rest a cup of hot coffee on
my numb knee. I couldn't feel anything, but before long I could sure smell
something: my skin burning! For a while I had a neat little brown ring on the
top of my knee, the result of not being able to feel anything there.
Your emotions are to your soul what
your physical feelings are to your body. Nobody in his or her right mind enjoys
pain. If you didn't feel pain, you would be in danger of serious injury and
infection. If you didn't feel anger, sorrow or joy, your soul would be in
trouble. Emotions are God's indicators to let you know what is going on inside.
They are neither good nor bad; they are amoral, just part of your humanity.
Just as you respond to the warnings of physical pain, so you need to learn to
respond to your emotional indicators.
Someone has likened emotions to the
red light on the dashboard of a car indicating an engine problem. You can
respond to the red light's warning in several ways. You can cover it with a
piece of duct tape. "I can't see the light now," you say, "so I
don't have to think about the problem." You can smash the light with a
hammer. "That'll teach you for glaring in my face!" Or you can
respond to the light as the manufacturers intended by looking under the hood
and fixing the problem.
You have the same three options in
responding to your emotions. You can respond by covering them, ignoring them,
or stifling them. That is called suppression. You can respond by
thoughtlessly lashing out, giving someone a piece of your mind, or flying off
the handle. I call that indiscriminate expression. Or you can peer
inside to see what is going on. That is called acknowledgment.
The
Duct Tape of Suppression
One of the members of our church had a son who went to
college to become an architect. During his third year in school, Doug had some
kind of a breakdown. His parents brought him home, but Doug wasn't getting
better. They didn't know what to do, so they committed him to a mental
hospital—against his will—for three weeks of observation. Doug never forgave
his parents for putting him into the hospital.
By the time I met him four years
later, Doug was an angry, bitter young man. He worked part-time as a draftsman,
but he was basically supported by his parents. He heard voices inside his head,
and he dialogued with them. He spent much of his time outside talking to what
nobody else could see. Nobody seemed to be able to help him. His parents asked
if I would talk to him, and I agreed.
I spent three months with Doug trying
to help him accept himself and own up to his feelings. I asked, "How do
you feel about your parents?"
"I love my parents," he
replied. Doug loathed his parents, and his parents could sense it.
"Why do you love your
parents?" I pressed.
"Because the Bible says we should
love our parents."
Whenever I suggested the possibility
that he hated his parents, Doug would deny it. Finally I asked him, "Would
you agree with me that it's possible for a Christian to feel the emotion of
hatred?"
"Well, maybe some could feel that
way," he consented. "But not me."
Apparently my probing crowded Doug too
closely because he never talked to me again.
Suppression is a conscious denial of
feelings (repression is an unconscious denial). Those who suppress their
emotions ignore their feelings and choose not to confront them. As illustrated
by the experiences of Doug and Judy, suppression is an unhealthy response to
your emotions.
King David had something to say about
the negative effect of suppressing his feelings in his relationship with God:
When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day
long. Therefore let everyone who is godly pray to you while you may be found;
surely when the mighty waters rise, they will not reach him (Psalm 32:3, 6, NIV).
David is not saying that God takes
Himself out of our reach. When extraneous circumstances loom larger to you than
God, it will not take long for your emotions to overcome you. When suppressed
emotions build up within you like "mighty waters," you are less
likely to turn to God. You will be driven by your emotions. It is important to
be honest with God while you can, because if you bottle up your feelings too
long, they will dominate what drives your life.
David also commented on the effect of
suppression on relationships with people:
I said, "I will guard my ways, that I may not sin with my tongue;
I will guard my mouth as with a muzzle, while the wicked are in my
presence." I was dumb and silent, I refrained even from good; and my
sorrow grew worse (Psalm
39:1, 2).
Emotional suppression may be one of the
major reasons most people are sick for psychosomatic reasons. When David kept
quiet about his sins, his "vitality was drained away as with the fever
heat of summer" (Psalm 32:4). You
never bury dead feelings; you bury them alive, and they will surface in some
way that is not healthy. Suppressing our emotions leads to dishonest
communication and is physically unhealthy.
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,
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Encouragement for the Path of Christian
Discipleship
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