I See Dead People! – The Pain of Compassion and Kicking the Dust off Our Feet – Purity 656

 I See Dead People! – The Pain of Compassion and Kicking the Dust off Our Feet – Purity 656

Purity 656 02/16/2022  Purity 656 Podcast

Good morning,

Today’s photo of the late day reflections of the sky in what appears to be a lake in the shadow of the Catskill or Adirondack Mountains comes to us from an unknow FB friend who shared this scene on or around November 1^st of 2021.   While I fail to recall the details behind this photo I can still enjoy the simple peaceful vibe it provides and because it has mountains on the horizon I thought it was a fitting photo for another “hump day” as it is Wednesday again.   

If you are the photographer or know where this is, give us a heads up because I might like to see this place in person to experience it for myself.  

You know, as I share encouragements to my friends to “keep walking and talking with God” and can do so with the utmost certainty that making Jesus your Lord and Savior and choosing to follow Him is the best advice I can give, one of the things that bothers me the most about proclaiming the truth about Jesus Christ is the fact that there is so much that I can’t be certain about.   

By just examining my journey of life, I realize that our faith is a progressive thing which is highlighted in scripture by Bible verses that speak of “little faith” (Matt 6:30, 8:26)  or “great faith” (Matt 8:10; Luke 7:9) and likewise I know the word speaks of things that which are “lost” (Luke 19:10; 2 Cor 4:3).

In my experience, I know I was “lost” but have been saved through faith in Christ and I would like to think that through the 12 years since I have been a born again Christian and I have sought the Lord that I have matured somewhat, although I am still hesitant to guess where I am on the sliding scale between “little faith” and “great faith” because walking in the Spirit is a continuous challenge where we receive repeated reminders that we still have much to learn and many areas where we can grow.    

So it is with much humility that I speak on the fact that Christ’s great commission to go into all the world to make disciples is a humbling, frustrating, scary, and even painful mission to undertake.   

The world, the flesh, and the devil resist the gospel of Jesus Christ and whenever we contemplate or speak on the spiritual status of others as “lost” or “saved” there is great resistance even within the body of Christ to “call it like it is” because of the prevailing attitudes of the world system that has ‘agreed to disagree” on spiritual matters and because we simply don’t know the hearts of men.   

The enemy and the world system love to be the advocate of doubt and confusion by positing such questions as: Who can even know God? Or “Is there more than one way to be right with God and to go to heaven?”

A study of the Bible would easily answer what people would present as real “brain teasers” but one must have faith that the Bible is true. 

At the end of the day, doubt and confusion about spiritual matters could be seen as an immature child not wishing to learn anything, who lacks wisdom, and who can only ask the question “why” repeatedly no matter what truth is brought to them or how expertly the truth is presented.  

Instead of answering endless questions, I have learned to put the questions to them. What do you believe? What is that based on? And Who is Jesus Christ?  

Others may have many answers to these questions that don’t agree with me but even a cursory examination of their responses or their character can reveal that their “answers” don’t really answer anything, and their admitted ignorance is supposed to pass as wisdom.  

The spiritual reality behind those who deny God or His redemptive plan that is based on faith in Jesus Christ is that they are spiritual blind to the truth or willfully rebellious to accepting it.    

Standing on the truth of the exclusivity of Christ to redeem us is not a popular stance and it is often heartbreaking as we try to present it only to be reviled, ignored, or to be placated.  

In the past the rejection, ridicule, or being disregarded I received caused me to be frustrated but now it sort of saddens me as Christians have the answer to life’s problems in Jesus Christ, but the vast majority of people claim no relationship to Him or are not experiencing their freedom in Christ.  

I work a regular job Monday through Friday but even though I am fully engaged in my work I continually reflect on the things of God and speak to the Lord as I go about my day.  

I will ask the Lord to go before me, to help me do the best job I can do and will ask Him to reveal to me what I need to know in various situations.  I am honestly walking and talking with God throughout my day and believe that I have often received His strength and wisdom to help me in the process.  

Yesterday, near the end of the workday, I was parked in a grocery store’s parking lot and was just about to leave when my attention was drawn to a couple who were packing their groceries into their car.  They were  a man and a woman probably a few years younger than me and by all signs seemed to be Like me as they could have easily been friends, or co-workers or mine and as I thought about them I thought that they probably had many of the same interests as my family and friends.   They seemed like a “nice” couple.  

But as I sat there I got the feeling in my spirit that these people didn’t have a relationship with the Lord and although they were probably nice and responsible people I got the feeling that if we examined their lives there would be no fruit to indicate they were in a redemptive relationship with Jesus.  

I actually got a little angry at myself for being “judgmental” and for the feeling of powerlessness I had at the thought of what I could do if these ideas reflected the truth.  Was I supposed to run out of my van and tell this “nice couple” that Jesus loved them?   

I recalled the scene from “the Sixth Sense” where a young Haley Joel Osment reveals:   

“I see dead people.” As I contemplated their spiritual destiny.

Anyone who has felt the joy of their salvation may have experienced this moment of sorrow and dread when they contemplate the “spiritual deadness” of their friends and family who don’t profess or have a relationship to God through faith in Jesus.

As Christians we have the heartbreaking mission of sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ with the knowledge that without God our efforts are futile.  God causes people to see the truth of the gospel and we can only encourage people to seek that truth for themselves and trust that God will do what is right.  

We have to be wise in what we do. So as I realized that chasing after these people was not a good idea, I shifted my focus on to returning to the garage to end my day.  I shamefully admit that I didn’t present the gospel to them, and I didn’t even pray for them at the time.  

I didn’t know if these thoughts were my own prideful musings, a convicting word from God to call me to action, or a whisper from the enemy to bring me to despair.   I still don’t know. 

But as I write this, I did say a quick prayer to have the Lord deliver the gospel to that couple if they didn’t have faith in Jesus Christ or to deepen their relationship with Him if they did.    

The instructions in the word that tell us to not cast our pearls before swine and to shake off the dust of our feet in a town that didn’t accept the gospel were uttered by the same person who told us to pray for our enemies and to love our neighbors as ourselves.    

As Christians we have the duty to be wise and discerning in our walk and somehow endeavor to do both, to let people go their own way and to also love and pray for them if they do.    Our faith is demonstrated in both actions but the choice of doing either or will be determined by our relationship with God and our willingness to walk in the Spirit.   

I have had periods in my life where I have been compelled to pray for people or to do good works where the Holy Spirit didn’t seem to be interested in taking no for an answer.   

And then I have had instances like yesterday, where I “saw something” but wasn’t really “pushed” to do something.   

Some could condemn me for quenching the Spirit. Others could say I was being tempted by the enemy to make an impromptu gospel presentation that would drive these people away from God and cause me personal embarrassment. 

So which is it? Well, the good news is that M.T. Clark isn’t going to save anyone.  And if the Lord has a plan to save someone, there will be nothing to prevent that from happening.  

So I reject any condemnation the enemy may want to lay at my feet and will rest in the peace that God is good, and His will will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.   While we should be open to God’s invitations to step out in faith for His service, we should never feel that we are responsible for someone’s relationship with God or accept the condemnation that is laid against us when we “fail” in our walk.  

God has “got” us and He’s “got” everyone else too. He knows who His children are and instead of feeling the pain or responsibility for someone else’s spiritual status we should rejoice in our position as a child of God and keep encouraging others to seek the Lord with the certainty that if they do so, they will certainly find Him.  

Today’s Bible verses come to us from “The NLT Bible Promise Book for Men”.

This morning’s meditation verse is:

Romans 12:2 (NLT2)
²  Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.

Today’s Bible verse gives Christians the instruction for living on the earth and the assurance that God’s way is the best way.    

Christianity is countercultural and counter intuitive.  Instead of doing things “the way everyone else” does things we are encouraged to do things God’s way and today’s verse tells us that the process of being transformed into the person God wants us to be starts with our thoughts.   

Through the study of God’s word we discover what good, holy, and righteous living looks like.  Christ’s teachings in the New Testament go above and beyond rule keeping based on the Old Testament Mosaic law.  Christ’s teachings instruct us to have a heart to do the Father’s will that not only would keep our performance above board it would affect us on a heart level where we would arrive at a state where doing anything other than the Lord’s will for our lives would not only seem unwise but would be almost  unthinkable.  

The ”orders” we receive from God through Jesus’s words and the Holy Spirit’s leadings are from the highest authority in all creation.   As the Creator and the Author of Truth, we have to trust that God knows what He is talking about and that His will for our lives is indeed good, pleasing, and perfect.      

Today’s verse also assures us that when we come to faith in Christ, we are indeed “new persons”. In Christ we have been given new life and are new creations.   To experience the new life in Christ, we have to change the way we think. We have to reject the world’s ways and instead meditate on the word of God to learn who we are in Christ and how we are to behave as representatives of God’s royal family.      

All of the wisdom contained in this verse should encourage us to walk with the Lord, and  to change the way we think, to experience the life that He has for us.    So renew your mind with the Lord’s wisdom and keep walking and talking with God because if you keep seeking His wisdom and ways for living you will progressively experience the transformation of the new life the God has given to you.  

As always, I invite all to go to mt4christ.org where I always share insights from prominent Christian theologians and counselors to assist my brothers and sisters in Christ with their walk. 

Today we continue sharing from June Hunt’s Codependency: Balancing an Unbalanced Relationship.

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 his work.  This resource is available on many websites for less than $5.00.

A. What Is Dependency?

If Samson had not been so dependent on pleasing Delilah—if he had not been a "codependent people-pleaser"—he would not have lost his strength, his status, or his sight... nor would he have lost his spiritual insight. Ultimately, his dependency led to his disobedience, which in turn led to his downfall. In truth, Samson's pride caused his own downfall, for he prioritized the words of Delilah over the words of God.

"Before his downfall a man's heart is proud, but humility comes before honor." (Proverbs 18:12)

• A dependency is a reliance on something or someone else for support or existence: "I have to have this to live."
• A dependency can be either negative or positive, such as being dependent on cocaine versus being dependent on Christ: "This is necessary for my life."
• A dependency can be an addiction to any object, behavior, or person that represents an underlying attempt to get emotional needs met : "I must do this to meet my needs... to make me happy."

You Can Be Dependent on...

Objects—

• A chemical addiction to drugs (alcohol, tobacco, cocaine)
• A sexual addiction to erotic items (pornography—magazines, videos—sex toys)

Behaviors—

• An addiction to behaviors that appear to be bad, those that are not widely socially acceptable and can be harmful (inappropriate sex, gambling, excessive spending, compulsive eating)
• An addiction to behaviors that appear to be good, those that are widely socially acceptable but may be equally harmful (perfectionism, workaholism, caregiving)

People—

• A "love" addiction in which you feel that your identity is in another person (A weak "love addict" is emotionally dependent on someone "strong")
• A "savior" addiction in which you feel that your identity is in your ability to meet the needs of another person (A strong "savior" needs to be needed by someone "weak")

Because addictions provide a momentary "high," good feelings are associated with them. However, the Book of Proverbs gives this poignant warning....

"There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death." (Proverbs 14:12)

Question: "What is wrong with people depending on people?"

Answer: We should have a healthy "interdependence" on others in the sense that we should value and enjoy each other, love and learn from each other, but we should not be totally dependent on each other. Essentially, this kind of relationship involves a healthy, mutual give-and-take, where neither person looks to the other to meet each and every need. However, many people have a misplaced dependency on others. These kinds of relationships are not healthy, for God intends for us to live in total dependence on Him.

Over and over, the Bible portrays how godly people learn to have a strong dependence on the Lord rather than a weak dependence on each other. The apostle Paul said we should...

"... not rely on ourselves but on God." (2 Corinthians 1:9)

Biblical Counseling Keys: Codependency: Balancing an Unbalanced Relationship.

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

Join our “Victory over the Darkness”, “The Bondage Breaker”, "Freedom in Christ" series of Discipleship Classes via the mt4christ247 podcast!

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Encouragement for the Path of Christian Discipleship