Blue, Are they a Christian in a Box? – Checking the Clues 6 - Purity 541
Purity 541 10/05/2021 Purity 541 Podcast
Good morning
Today’s photo of an almost other worldly sunrise comes to us from the Adirondack
Aerial & Ground Imagery Showcase Page (https://www.facebook.com/stephen.j.lemieux) as they summited Cascade
Mountains on October 1st beginning their ascent at the, MT like
rising, hour of 3:30 am. The early bird
gets the worm and the images like this one show us that God puts on a show with
His creation every day, but it may require a little effort on our part to see
it.
Recently, I learned that a friend who prided themselves on being a
strong parent and encourager of the downtrodden was shaken by relationship
problems and is struggling with depression. Their perspective has shifted and
while they had encouraged others to carry on and pull themselves us from their
own bootstraps that now have a better idea of what it is like to feel the
sadness and hopelessness that depression can bring to your doorstep.
As someone who suffered from depression for a couple of years in the
wake of, my infant son, Holden’s death in 2002, I too understand what it can
feel like when the winds of changing circumstances blow cold and make you
question the meaning and purpose of it all and how the trappings of our culture
and society push us to get past our losses and just get on with life and how
the things that seemed so important before seem empty and meaningless.
And guess what? The things of this world and the societies that man has
built are meaningless. Everything man builds falls apart. Even this world will
pass away. But there is One thing that
doesn’t change or pass away: God. He is the author of creation, and He will shape
the course of the coming of a new heaven and a new earth.
The One who assigns meaning and value to our lives is God. And the only
way to find true peace is to establish a relationship with Him, and securing
everlasting life, by putting your faith in Jesus Christ. Once you do that you are given assurance that
no matter what comes to pass here on earth, you are secure in His love for eternity.
So if we are basing our identity as being a “strong” mom or dad, we are believing
the lie of our own self-sufficiency. We can be “strong” right up to the day we
die but without God it will all be for nothing as our making ourselves our own
God will consign us to Hell with Satan and all the other rebels who deceived
themselves into thinking they didn’t need God and where powerful in and of
themselves.
The Bible says that when we are weak we are strong, because in our
weakness we are forced to acknowledge that we can’t control everything and we
can have moment of clarity that tells us that we need God and surrender
ourselves to His plan for us, salvation through faith in Christ and relying on
His wisdom and strength instead of our own in our daily lives.
So, these thoughts were at the fore front of my mind when “Blue” and “Sam
I am” revisited my imagination this morning on our continuing quest to examine
the questions of our Christian faith in terms of determining the authenticity
of someone’s Christianity as we seek a “real Christian” for a life
partner.
As we more or less addressed, Sam I am’s next inquiry regarding houses
and mouses, yesterday when we looked at whether or not someone would be a
Christian “here or there” by looking at the degree of shifting from the sacred
to secular from Sunday to Monday, and from church to home, today we take on Sam
I am’s next inquiry regarding boxes.
We are not asking about where people will eat green eggs and ham. We
want to know if someone will be a Christian when they are “stuck” in a
circumstance where all seems hopeless and there is no escape. Will their faith in Christ still live when
they are trapped in an unpleasant circumstance and there doesn’t seem to be any
way out?
As someone who has walked through some very dark days with difficult,
trying, and painful situations of hardship and turmoil, the answer would seem
obvious. Mother Theresa apparently said ““You will never truly realize God is all you need until He
becomes all you have.” So as someone who lived without God through one
of the worst losses someone can experience, I can tell you that your Christian
faith, your relationship with God is the most important thing about us and can
provide us with the strength to endure the most horrific and terrible
circumstance and some how provide a hope and a peace in the midst of great
suffering.
I
don’t wish pain or suffering on anyone but a litmus test of someone’s Christian
faith is the crucible of suffering. I
was regular church going Episcopalian when my son died, but my faith was very
immature and was more of a “hope so” faith rather than a “know so” faith. So
when my son died, I was angry at God because he didn’t keep up his side of the
bargain. I guess I thought the “deal was:
“I go to church and “try to be good”, but fail often, and God would bless me
and protect my family and I from suffering”.
So in my anger and depression, I more or less went back to my atheistic
leanings and decided there was no God or that I didn’t want anything to do with
Him if there was a God.
Now
granted, after about 8 years of wandering in depression and error, the Lord
called me to a living faith in Jesus Christ that was based on the truth of God’s
word rather than immature, superstitious, and sentimental ideas, or feelings
about God, but in those dark days I would say “my faith” was shown for what it
was: at best, shallow and immature, at worst: false. To be honest prior to 2010, I don’t know if
I would have made it into God’s kingdom if I had been called into eternity, but
I know for sure now.
So
if I had claimed to be a “Christian” back in 2002, which I would have backed
away from by classifying it by my denominational title, my actions of
abandoning the church and any conversations with God in prayer would have
revealed my spiritual status as far from authentic.
While
we might cut me some me some slack, we really shouldn’t. Why? Because it is our faith, our
relationship with God, which can be the means to our victory. Our faith is
antidote for all the world’s suffering.
So when we throw away the solution to our problems because of our hurt,
we show that we really didn’t understand what we had, or it reveals we never
really had it.
The
person I know who is acknowledging the reality of the darkness of depression is
revealing that they either have forgotten or don’t know the reality of who they
are in Christ and instead of clinging to the Lord and being given strength and
wisdom for their walk they are lamenting over their personal inability to
overcome.
We
were never meant to walk alone. We are called to come to God and if we are
focusing on our hurt and our inability to rise above we have forgotten about His healing and the
victory that given us over sin and death.
Our status as accepted by God and victorious over sin and death should
trump any negative circumstances that this world has to offer.
When
our world is shaken, we are stand on the rock of God’s word and proclaim the
truth of who we are in Christ. We should
do everything we can to try to better things each and every day but the only way
we will be able to do so with peace, and even joy, in the midst of our trials
is to continually go to the Lord in prayer, receiving His strength, wisdom, and
love.
So
when the going gets tough, a real Christian will get going to their heavenly
father. They will pray. They will read His word. They will thank Him for what
He has done, for being present, and for what He will do in the future. They
will lean on the Lord, and they praise His name even through tears of heartache
and pain. Someone maintaining and
practicing their faith in the midst of trials is a great “clue” that are an
authentic Christian.
When
we get thrown into a “box”, we may not know when we will get out but if we have
a relationship with the Lord through faith in Jesus Christ, we won’t be alone
in that box. If we are in Christ, we
will be like Paul and Silas singing like madmen in the middle of the night
while locked in a prison with all the other prisoners shouting out us to shut
up and telling us that we are crazy. We
will rejoice in our salvation and praise the Lord regardless of the box that we
find ourselves in and we will keep on singing until the Lord breaks down the
walls and delivers us to a new life of freedom and victory that we simply could
not see or even hope for if wasn’t for God’s presence in our lives.
So,
keep walking and talking with God. Everyday you draw closer to Him the more you
will grow strong in the power of His might, by relying on and trusting in
Him. In Christ we have the victory, so
don’t forget. If you find yourself in a box, remember that He is with you and
no matter what comes to pass He will see you through.
This morning’s meditation verse is:
Romans 6:12 (NLT2)
12 Do not let sin control the
way you live; do not give in to sinful desires.
Today’s verse instructs
us to not give in to sinful desires because of the bondage that results.
I like the New Living
Translation’s simple rendering of this verse that says:
Romans 6:12 (NKJV)
12 Therefore do not let sin
reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts.
The stark
contrast between versions reminds us to have access to more than one version of
the Bible on hand because although we could make the case that both versions
essentially say the same thing, they say
it in different ways.
The NLT
is the version that was developed to be easier to read and is considered a “youth”
translation and as much as I like it, when I am taken by the simple truth in
the NLT I will go to the NKJV to see what the word “really says” because the
NLT is structured to draw out the simple truths and in that intention it
sometimes changes the words or the order of the words to make the message in
the Bible clearer for a youthful or seeking audience.
Both
versions tell let sin control us, to reign in our mortal bodies, or to give into
sinful desires, that we should obey its lusts.
The truth
of this verse is telling us that the consequence of giving into sin is bondage
to it. So we are warned and if we are wise
we will accept the Bible’s counsel and not give in to temptation and sin
because we are clearly told that there is a danger that we will be ensnared by
our sin and our lives will be controlled by it.
So read
the Bible and apply its wisdom to your life. Check out the different versions
of the Bible. Avoid the ones put out by cults. Do your research to know the
source of the translation you are interested in. And when you come across an interesting
version be sure to consult one of the more traditional versions, like the NKJV,
to see how it lines up with the traditional teaching, a good translation will
never take you too far from the translations that are drawn from the original Greek
and Hebrew meanings.
So be
studious with your Bible study, but remember we are not so much concerned with
the different nuisances of the way things are said in the Bible as much as we
are called to apply the wisdom of the word to our lives.
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 to share from June Hunt’s The Blended
Family’s God’s Recipe for Success.
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:
D. Preparing Children for Your Remarriage
- Meet alone
with your own children.
- Communicate
your unconditional love for them.
- State your
belief that remarriage is God's direction for your life.
- Share the
positive future you see for them.
- Encourage
them to be open and to share their feelings.
- Explain
that the stepparent will not replace their natural parent.
- Make your
marriage commitment clear.
- Ask for
their help in this transition.
- Communicate
their secure position.
- Let them
know that Christ will be the center of their new family.
"Pleasant words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the
bones." (Proverbs
16:24)
E. The Shared Custody Shuffle
Many have found that a shared custody arrangement is not always in the best
interests of a child. Children seem to have more difficulty being constantly on
the move. But if you do share custody, it is important to remember to do the
following when a child returns to your home:
- Stop what
you are doing.
- Greet with
a warm hug.
- Allow
reentry time.
- Give
focused attention.
- Ask
nonthreatening questions.
- Expect
children to try to manipulate your feelings.
- Don't
assume all they say is true.
- Distance
yourself emotionally from any anger.
"A man finds joy in giving an apt reply—and how good is a timely
word!" (Proverbs
15:23)
Biblical Counseling Keys: The Blended Family: God's Recipe for Success.
---------------------------more tomorrow------------------------
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