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Wednesday, October 27, 2021

Under the Son – Gratitude - Purity 560


 
Under the Son – Gratitude -  Purity 560

Purity 560 10/27/2021 Purity 560 Podcast

Good morning

Today’s photo of the surf and sand at Costas Mujeres, Mexico comes to us from a friend who made a change of career decision just before they set out on their vacation that was long overdue because of the circumstances surrounding their lives as well as the changes caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.  Their departure to this sunny beach was also timely in that they escaped the rain that covered upstate New York yesterday and is in the forecast again today.  

Well it’s Wednesday and while we can’t all just pack up and find a sunny beach to escape the cloudy circumstances of our lives doesn’t mean we have to stay in a dark cloud of depression either. 

As Christians, we have the blessings of the Son of God and God the Son to brighten our day no matter what may be in the forecast.  Through faith in Jesus Christ we have been translated from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of God and remembering that fact should be a source of continuous hope and joy.  

So as we have reached the midway point of another work week be sure to keep your hope alive by reminding yourself of the love of God that has been poured out into your life through the revelation of Jesus Christ and for the many blessings you have enjoyed along the way on this journey called life.  

Every day after my morning exercises, I pray and thank God for all that He has done in my life.  I actually begin the practice of gratitude while I exercise by thanking the Lord when I successfully complete each set of exercises!

As someone who has worked hard to lose weight and become stronger, I know how hard it was when I initially started exercising again back in November last year.  The struggle was real! But as I was faithful to the discipline of rising and exercising, I was able to perform the exercises with less difficulty and was able to do more repetitions and began to feel stronger and see results.  

I’m have not exactly arrived at my goal of optimal health yet but enjoy the fact that I have made significant progress toward that end and feel much healthier than I was a year ago.   So I thank God every morning for my health as a starting point in my practice of gratitude. 

After my exercises, I sit down and pray to the Lord and thank Him for my home, my job, my car, my children, my family, my friends, my fiancé, her family, my church, her church, and my pets and her pets.  With all that I am thankful for out of the way I will pray for others  who need healing or other blessings. Finally, I pray through Dr. Neil Anderson’s “Who I Am in Christ” list that reminds me that I am accepted, secure, and significant in Christ.  

When I connect to the Lord in prayer my spirit is lifted and no matter what the weather is like outside I can rejoice because this is the day that the Lord has made. 

So whether you are covered by another Northeast Autumn rainstorm or sitting under the blazing sun on a Mexican beach today, remember that the Lord is with you wherever you go and when you connect with Him in prayer and thanksgiving, your spirit will be lifted, and your outlook will be bright.  

So keep walking and talking with God, He is the One who has provided you with all that you have and when you live in His presence He will give you the strength and wisdom to walk through whatever storms you may face in life.  


Today’s Bible verse is drawn from “The NLT Bible Promise Book for Men”.  

This morning’s meditation verse is:

Psalm 30:5 (NLT2)
5  For his anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime! Weeping may last through the night, but joy comes with the morning.

Today’s verse recognizes the reality of chastisement and suffering that we experience in life.  

You know, it might sound funny but one of the things that I have enjoyed about my journey into Christianity that has taken place after becoming born again in 2010 is the fact that I discovered that the word of God wasn’t all piety and super sweet sentimentalism.  

As someone who had a lot of doubts and disappointments and who made their fair share of errors in judgment in life, I was extremely skeptical and weary as I sought out a church after being born again. I also wanted to be assured that my salvation experience wasn’t just some entrance into a blind faith of wishful thinking.  So when I got saved I was compelled to read the Bible and to investigate the veracity of the Christian faith that I had joyously entered into.   

My studies of the scriptures revealed to me that the Bible didn’t pull any punches in describing the depravity of man and the suffering that resulted from the fall of mankind.  It also showed that there were severe consequences for disregarding the commandments and wisdom that God revealed to His people. 

The Old Testament is replete with the history of the nation of Israel’s suffering because of their failure to follow the Lord.   So when we read of God’s anger in today’s verse, I know what the psalmist is talking about! 

One saying that I have heard that I believe adequately reflects the cause and effect relationship of disobeying God’s instruction is “Choose to sin, choose to suffer.   That one doesn’t get shared too much in Christian circles as we greet one another with a “sign of peace” in the weekly worship service but the fact that God will chastise those who are His is well documented in scripture.  

So if you choose to follow your own wisdom instead of God’s, you very well may feel “his anger” and may experience suffering that lasts through the night.   Whether or not the sufferings we experience in life are a result of our sin and God’s chastisement is difficult to discern but one way that we can have some assurance that we aren’t bringing it on ourselves is to be obedient to the Lord and to live in His presence.  

Even in the toughest times, we can experience the favor that lasts a lifetime and the joy that comes in the morning when we are living according to His ways and are connecting to God in prayer.  

Our suffering can be a trial of our own making, a product of enemy influence, a natural circumstance of life in a world broken by sin, or a chastisement from the Lord God Himself. But the remedy for our suffering is the same regardless of the source of our suffering.  We are to submit to God and resist the devil. We are to draw close to the Lord, obey His directions for our lives, and say no to worldly or demonic influences. 

When we trust the Lord and live according to His ways we can overcome suffering. When our trials come to an end, we will know that we have enjoyed the Lord’s blessings even in the midst of it all and that we were able to have joy even in the darkest of days.

Suffering is real and chastisement is a possible cause of it. So live according to the ways of God and spend time in His presence every day. The Lord will strengthen us and guide us when we walk with Him.  So no matter what we face in life, stay close to Him and He will see you through.       

 

 

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 sharing from June Hunt’s Dating: Secrets to Great Relating When Dating  

 

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:

F. What Kind of Love Lasts Forever?

Only one Love lasts forever. Only one Love exists outside of time. The apostle John tells us "Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love" (1 John 4:8). To paraphrase a popular bumper sticker: "No God? No love. Know God? Know Love!"

The Bible pictures the church—the body of believers—as the Bride of Christ, presented as holy and blameless, spotless, and pure for her Bridegroom...the Lamb of God, Jesus, who takes away the sins of the world.

This beautiful picture of courtship culminates in the Wedding Supper of the Lamb, foreshadowed by the prophet Isaiah..."I delight greatly in the Lord; my soul rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of his righteousness, as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.... As a young man marries a young woman, so will your Builder marry you; as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so will your God rejoice over you" (Isaiah 61:10; 62:5).

Before seeking a great dating relationship, how much better to first experience the greatest relationship you will ever know? The Bible says...

"The Lord appeared to us in the past, saying: 'I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with unfailing kindness. (Jeremiah 31:3)

Plan of Salvation

4 Points of God's Plan

The following four spiritual truths will lead you to find a true everlasting love.

#1 God's Purpose for You...is Salvation.

  • —What was God's motivation in sending Jesus Christ to earth?
    To express His love for you by saving you! The Bible says...

"God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him" (John 3:16-17).

  • —What was Jesus' purpose in coming to earth?
    To forgive your sins, to empower you to have victory over sin, and to enable you to live a fulfilled life! Jesus said...

"I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly" (John 10:10 NKJV).

#2 Your Problem...is Sin.

  • —What exactly is sin?
    Sin is living independently of God's standard—knowing what is right, but choosing what is wrong. The Bible says...

"Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it, sins" (James 4:17).

  • —What is the major consequence of sin?
    Spiritual death, eternal separation from God. Scripture states...

"Your iniquities [sins] have separated you from your God... The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Isaiah 59:2; Romans 6:23).

#3 God's Provision for You...is the Savior.

  • —Can anything remove the penalty for sin?
    Yes! Jesus died on the cross to personally pay the penalty for your sins. The Bible says...

"God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8).

  • —What is the solution to being separated from God?
    Belief in (entrusting your life to) Jesus Christ as the only way to God the Father. Jesus says...

"I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.... Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved" (John 14:6; Acts 16:31).

#4 Your Part... is Surrender.

  • —Give Christ control of your life, entrusting yourself to Him....

"Jesus said to his disciples, 'Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross [die to your own self-rule] and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?'" (Matthew 16:24-26).

  • —Place your faith in (rely on) Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior and reject your "good works" as a means of earning God's approval....

"It is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast" (Ephesians 2:8-9).

The moment you choose to receive Jesus as your Lord and Savior—entrusting your life to Him—He comes to live inside you. Then He gives you His power to live the fulfilled life God has planned for you. If you want to be fully forgiven by God and become the person God created you to be, you can tell Him in a simple, heartfelt prayer like this:

Prayer of Salvation

"God, I want a real relationship with You.

I admit that many times I've chosen

to go my own way instead of Your way.

Please forgive me for my sins.

Jesus, thank You for dying on the cross

to pay the penalty for my sins.

Come into my life to be my Lord and my Savior.

Change me from the inside out and make me the person

You created me to be.

In Your holy name I pray. Amen."

What Can You Now Expect?

If you sincerely prayed this prayer, look what God says!

"Since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God." (Romans 5:1-2)

Biblical Counseling Keys: Dating: Secrets to Great Relating When Dating.

---------------------------more tomorrow------------------------

 

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. 

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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