Falling Down and Finding Comfort in His Presence -
Purity 515 09/04/2021 Purity 515 Podcast
Good morning
Today’s photo of the first sunset of September on the shores of Lake Ontario
in Oswego NY comes to us from Celestial Blue Photography. This photo just makes
me have to say, “My Lord and My God.” as Rocco Saya was definitely in the right
place, at the right time when he captured this magnificent scene with its
stunningly beautiful contrast of colors that highlight the natural beauty of God’s
creation. Moments like the one captured
here just takes your breath away and I know if I had been there I would have
been seated on that park bench and would have just been overcome by the
goodness of God and sat there basking in His transcendent beauty until the
light dissipated and glory faded to black. Or until I got bored.
Yeah, let’s face it we humans have a limited capacity for staying in the
presence of God and quite frankly as much as we should seek the Lord’s
presence, wisdom, and love, the linear nature of our existence in the space
time continuum demands that we move on. Our
fleshly can move us along as well.
I am sure we all have experienced moments in life where our pleasure or
joy was such that it made us wish that it would never end. When we find moments of euphoria, love, or peace,
we want to hold on to them and we get
the irrational desire to “stay in the moment” or “keep the party going” or “rest
in the love” forever. I am delighted to
say that I have been there several times in my life. Its good to have moments of pleasure, love,
or peace but trying to hold on to or recreate those moments in and of
themselves can be where we go astray.
Getting drunk for the first time felt strange, new, relaxing, and
liberating but deciding to pursue drunkenness as a means of happiness leads to diminishing
returns, various negative consequences, and addiction. The pleasures
of sex, food, travel, and other experiences can also lead to cycles of disappointment,
dissatisfaction, and dependency.
It’s easy to point out the limitations of these physical or worldly
pleasures and the dangers of going to extremes with them. Often people state that the key to mastering
the pleasure principle in these areas of life is to use moderation.
Moderation works for some but more often or not “moderation” really just
means maintenance until the next time we go overboard, and we have to deal with
the extreme negative consequences of when we threw off the reigns of self-control
because “moderation” wasn’t what our flesh or selfish desires wanted to do. These
breaks from moderation can occur because of stress, the desire to bust loose,
or on “special occasions” where we give ourselves license to let go.
Personally, I have made great strides in conquering my addictive cycles
but even in my current state I am still vulnerable to treating stress with a
letting go of restraint in areas of the flesh.
Yesterday, I found out that my work assignments are changing once again
and while I am sure that I can handle the challenges that lie ahead, a big part
of me wanted to “stay in the moment” of my former position. Arbitrary changes happen sometimes, and we
have to adapt to the new circumstances. Just how we don’t want our ‘good times” or
moments of pleasure to end, we don’t want our status quo to change.
So although I accepted the news and assured myself that I have “been
there and done that” the old anxious patterns of fear, loathing, and
dissatisfaction where barking at the door and while I didn’t let them in, I found
myself demanding comfort for “poor me”. So
on the way home, I picked up some food that was ready to eat and overindulged
at dinner last night.
The food I chose to overindulge in wasn’t outside of my food plan really,
so I will warn my friends, if you are going to fall down try to maintain some
control and fall where it is relatively safe. I am somewhat ashamed to admit that “I needed
that” but these bumps in the road don’t need to derail our progress. I can overcome one instance of eating more
than I should. The key is to not stay there and deciding to continue going in the
way I should go, with the new day.
Our walk through life is going to have its challenges and we can learn
from our mistakes. In the past one of
these “comfort food” binges would have been a no holds bar smorgasbord of
extreme indulgence that would have had no limits in terms of the types, or the
amounts of food consumed. Typically, the buying spree of treats would have
exceeded what I could eat in one day, so the food binge would have continued
for another day or two and possibly set into motion an extended period of
neglect or an abandonment of any attempts to be healthy all together.
But those days are over, I only bought one overindulgent meal and now I
am committed to get back on track today and feed my spirit rather than my
flesh. So today I will draw close to God
and enjoy His presence. I look forward
to turning to Him and being built up in my spirit through focusing on who I am
in Christ, how God is helping me to grow, and by reflecting on the wisdom of
His word.
It is my hope that the next time I encounter stress brought about by
changes in my circumstances that I will choose to draw close to Him and have
Him comfort me rather than me seeking solace from something in the world.
So, as we have made it to Labor Day weekend, and I am sure that lots of
my friends will be experiencing changing circumstances in the days and weeks
ahead, let me encourage you to try to recognize the patterns you may be subject
to and ask the Lord to help you come to Him rather than giving in to things
that will give you guilt, shame, or regret.
Life can be difficult, but we can learn and grow as we walk through it. If
you fall, try to not fall down as far as you have in the past. And remember that
God loves you no matter what you do, and He will always be there for you to
help you to get back up and to walk into the life of peace, joy, and love that
He has for you. So keep walking and
talking with God because no matter where we may go we can always find comfort
in His presence.
This morning’s meditation
verse is:
1 Thessalonians 2:10 (NKJV)
10 You are witnesses,
and God also, how devoutly and justly and blamelessly we behaved
ourselves among you who believe;
Today’s verse points to
accountability and living an authentic Christian life. It points to being a “real
Christian”.
The Apostle Paul is reminding the
church at Thessalonica that while he was with them in the past he “walked the walk”
of being a devout, just, and blameless Christian.
Since Paul had left the church at
Thessalonica, false teachers had come into their midst and where causing trouble
and leading some people astray. Paul isn’t
boasting about his conduct as an authentic Christian. He is attempting to
correct the errors that have come into the church and uses his past conduct as
evidence of his trustworthiness.
Therefore we need to “walk the walk”
as well “talk the talk” of being a Christian.
It doesn’t matter if we tell everyone about the truth of Jesus Christ if
our lifestyles don’t reflect an authentic Christian faith. If our actions or attitudes aren’t in accord
with the word of God, people will think that the Christian faith is no
different from any other religion or worldly philosophy. If we don’t live our faith, our attempts at
sharing the gospel could do harm as people will think that Christians are just
a bunch of hypocrites.
While we will never be perfect on
this earth, our lives should reflect a change from who we were before Christ
and who we are now that we have made Christ our Lord and Savior. The Lord calls us to repentance not only for
our own benefit. Our transformed life in
Christ benefits us, but it also gives
glory to God and can be used to show other’s the power of God. Our transformed life can also be used as
evidence to prove that we are true Christians that can be trusted.
So keep following where the Lord
leads you in terms of personal sanctification. He wants you to be devout, just,
and blameless before Himself and before others. The word says that God’s will for our lives is
our sanctification, so pursue His will and prove to those around you that He is
good, just, and can be trusted to save and make all things new.
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 share from June Hunt’s Boundaries:
How to Set Them, How to Keep Them.
As always, I share this information for educational purposes
and encourage all to purchase June Hunt’s books for your own private study and
to support her work. If you need this title you can find it online at several
sites for less than $5.00:
I. Definitions
In the world of professional cycling, Greg LeMond has clearly distinguished
himself by earning a reputation for being "squeaky clean." Now that
Lance Armstrong has been stripped of all seven of his consecutive Tour de
France titles, Greg is the only American to have won the prestigious race—not
once, not twice, but three times.
Greg is internationally known as a staunch anti-doping advocate and publicly
criticized Lance for crossing ethics boundaries even before his first Tour de
France "win." He also is all too aware that this is not an isolated
problem with Lance; numerous cyclists are doping their way to try to secure
victories. "I want to see cycling get to where I can say I can see a real
winner," Greg says.
The psalmist's declaration is shared by Greg. . . .
"I do not sit with the deceitful, nor do I associate with
hypocrites."
A. What Are Boundaries?
Lance Armstrong and Dr. Michele Ferrari—it is an association that raises
giant red flags for Greg LeMond.
For years Ferrari is associated with sports fraud and has since been
described as the "architect" behind the doping program for the U.S.
Postal Service Team, which includes Lance and his teammates. In the sport of
professional cycling, all kinds of boundaries are crossed . . . by doctors, by
athletes, and even by cycling's governing body, known as the International
Cycling Union (UCI), according to Greg.
The Bible gives warning concerning crossed boundaries. . . .
"The integrity of the upright guides them, but the unfaithful are
destroyed by their duplicity."
- A
boundary is an established limit—a line that should not be crossed.
- —In
some cases it is a line that cannot be crossed by humans, as with
many of the boundaries God established at Creation.
- —Some
fixed boundaries are regarded as "laws."
- Physical
boundaries are territorial lines that divide one area from another.
- —In
the Bible, the first boundary given to a person was spoken directly by
God to Adam . . . and the first boundary to be broken was broken by Adam
with Eve.
- —The
one who owns the property has the right to control the property and the
responsibility to set the rules for those on the property.
- —You
have both the right of personal control and the responsibility of setting
rules for others regarding what is yours. God, the Creator, and
"owner" of the Garden of Eden, had the right to set the rules
for everything and everyone in the Garden. . . .
"The Lord God commanded the man, 'You are free to eat from any tree
in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and
evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.
- Moral
boundaries are ethical lines that divide right from wrong.
- —When
a boundary is respected, the result is a reward.
- —When
a boundary is rejected, the result is a repercussion.
God set up moral boundaries for Adam and Eve—boundaries based on right and
wrong. When this boundary line was crossed, sin entered the world—a
repercussion that disqualified them from staying within the bounds of the
garden.
When you have communicated a clear, rightful boundary—with a reward and a
repercussion—yet someone violates that boundary, it is only right to enforce
the repercussion. The violator not only chose to violate the boundary, but also
chose the repercussion that goes with the violation.
The principle of rewards and repercussions was clearly demonstrated when God
set a boundary with Adam and Eve. In choosing to violate the boundary
established by the Lord, they also chose the repercussion attached to their
sin. . . . They chose the repercussion God relegated to the violation. . . .
"To Adam he said, 'Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit
from the tree about which I commanded you, "You must not eat from
it," Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will
eat food from it all the days of your life.
- Personal
boundaries are individual lines that separate one person from another.
Personal boundaries are the healthy by-product of realizing we are
uniquely separate from one another and therefore are responsible for our
own attitudes and actions.
- —Eve
was boundaryless—she allowed the serpent to have undue influence
over her.
- —Adam
was boundaryless—he allowed Eve to have undue influence over him.
Boundaries are the basis of your individual identity (who you uniquely are),
your individual responsibilities, your individual choices. You—not someone
else—are responsible for your own thoughts and beliefs, decisions, and actions.
Adam and Eve needed to think separately about what God said and what the
serpent said. For indeed, to not stay within God's boundary caused a
repercussion that changed their lives . . . and ours. . . . forever.
After God asked them about eating the forbidden fruit, the man said...
"'The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the
tree, and I ate it.' Then the Lord God said to the woman, 'What is this you
have done?' The woman said, 'The serpent deceived me, and I ate.'"
Biblical Counseling Keys: Boundaries: How to See Them -
How to Keep Them.
---------------------------more
tomorrow------------------------
God bless
you all!
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