I Will Follow Him – Purity 659
Purity
659 02/19/2022 Purity 659 Podcast
Good
morning,
Today’s photo of blue skies over
Riverfront Park, the Hudson River, and the Green Island Bridge under a blanket
of clouds in Troy NY comes to us from yours truly as I decided to take a quick
picture as I took a wrong turn into the park’s parking lot while going to my
first job yesterday. I had misread Google’s
GPS instructions and taken a turn too soon but decided that since I had made this
unexpected detour I might as well make the best of it and took a moment to
enjoy the riverfront and grab a photo.
Well, it’s Saturday and to say that life has
given me a few unexpected detours would be an understatement! Today, my wife, Tammy Lyn, and I begin our
honeymoon trip to Tampa Florida, and it will be full of firsts, and the
unexpected, as I deliberately chose a destination that we have never been to
before and this will be our first travel experience together as a couple!
This trip and this marriage are unexpected
detours in our lives, as a year ago TammyLyn held the conviction that she would
never marry again, and I was pretty sure that my days would end in veritable
monkhood as I was determined to not compromise my faith and figured the path of
Christian Discipleship would be one I would probably walk out alone. But God knew us, and He used the podcasts of
my discipleship classes to bring us together.
As I
got to know TammyLyn last year, and we became friends and I started to have deep
feelings for her, I struggled with how our lives would fit together. But when I thought about how she faithfully came
to my classes and how she progressively and tenaciously expressed her interest
and love for me, I eventually came to the realization that not only would
TammyLyn give me a faithful Christian wife, I came to the realization that in
light of her devotion to seek the Lord and her freedom in Christ and her dogged
determination to have me in her life, I realized that there was simple no other
person that would be a better life partner than her, ever.
Tammy Lyn’s beauty, faith, character, and
our mutual experience together made her simply the best and only option for my
wife. After that realization, I didn’t
ask her to be my steady girlfriend, I asked her to marry me.
This morning as I contemplated our travels
together thus far, the one before us today, the ones we don’t know about in our
future, and our commitment to seek the Lord in all the aspects of our lives I
was reminded of the old pop song, “I Will Follow Him” by Peggy March and how it’s
lyrics reflect TammyLyn’s love for me and our love and commitment to follow
Jesus for the rest of our lives. André
Rieu’s lyrics say:
“ I will follow him
Follow him wherever he
may go
And near him, I always
will be
For nothing can keep
me away
He is my destiny
I will follow him
Ever since he touched
my heart I knew
There isn't an ocean
too deep
A mountain so high it
can keep
Keep me away
Away from his love
I love him!
I love him!
I love him!
And where he goes
I'll follow!
I'll follow!
I'll follow!”
My decision to follow the Lord wherever He led me resulted in my developing a Community Freedom Ministry and to start a podcast and they led me to finding the love of my life.
TammyLyn’s desire to follow the Lord led her to experience her freedom in Christ and know the joy, peace, and love that comes from a close personal relationship with the Lord that flows from the daily decision to walk in the Spirit.
Her journey of faith has led her to change her mind about never being married again and has led her to boldly proclaim the hope she has found in Christ and to encourage others to find the freedom that only He can provide. Today she will be getting on a plane for the first time in approximately 17 years and will be going to a state she has never been to!
A year ago both of us made decisions to be faithful to the call to follow Christ in our lives and now we are overwhelmed with love we have for one another and the wonder of where the Lord will lead us next.
If you seek the Lord you will find Him. If you decide to walk in the Spirit, by living according to His ways and being open to His presence and guidance, you will know beyond a shadow of doubt that God is real, He is alive, He loves us, and He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
So as we enjoy another weekend of life, ask the Lord to guide you in the way you should go and, either continue or, start walking and talking with God because the abundant life that Christ has for you is waiting in the future for you to experience.
He calls us out of
darkness and welcomes us into His wonderful light. When we answer that call and
we decide to follow Him, we will discover that,
like the song says, there
isn't an ocean too deep or a mountain so high it can keep us away, away from Him
love.
Today’s Bible verse come to us from “The NLT Bible Promise Book
for Men”.
This morning’s meditation verse is:
1 Corinthians 2:12 (NLT2)
12 And we have received God’s
Spirit (not the world’s spirit), so we can know the wonderful things God has
freely given us.
Today’s Bible verse speaks of the spiritual reality that we become spiritually alive, and we receive the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit when we put out faith in Jesus Christ. The Lord becomes our constant companion, through the Holy Spirit, so we can know the wonderful things that He has freely given us.
The thing that I try to stress about our relationship with God is the fact that it is not just a set of doctrinal beliefs that we mentally assent to, to feel better about ourselves and to motivate us to suffer through this world. Our relationship with God is a dynamic interactive living relationship that is just as real, if not more real, that the relationships we have with our friends and family.
Because God is unseen in the material sense many people struggle with the fact of His reality in light of the sufferings we can see in the world and the feelings of isolation we can have when we embrace the worldview that disbelieves His presence and doubts His existence.
When we believe that God just isn’t there, we really experience the bitter loneliness of life and fear everything as we view the universe as a chaotic and dangerous place that will one day succeed in taking our lives and absorbing us in its eventual nothingness as the natural processes that sustain life will logically just run out of gas and die.
Our investigations into reality should lead to questions about our existence and God.
A scientific examination of our existence speaks of a supernatural beginning of the universe where everything just sprung into existence. The beginning points to a Creator. God is real.
When we choose to believe there is a God, we should start to look for Him and when we seek Him earnestly, we will find Him.
Any investigation into God should lead us to consider the Bible and what it teaches. The Bible shows us that God is not only a Creator, but He also has a plan for His creation, and through the advent of Christ, we learn of God’s great love for mankind.
The Bible shows us that God seeks to reconcile us to Him and when we put our faith in Christ we find peace with God and are given eternal life that is sealed with the Holy Spirit.
As today’s verse declares, through God’s Spirit in us, we can know the wonderful things He has given us.
God knows us intimately and when we have that covenant relationship with Him through our faith in Jesus Christ, we can know we are His children. We can experience His continual presence. We can experience the fruit of the Spirit in our lives.
So draw close to God and experience the dynamic interactive closeness that our relationship with Him affords us.
His Spirit is in us. Wherever we go, He is with us.
So rejoice and know the abundant life that results from living in the Spirit and knowing the wonderful things that God has freely given us.
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.
II. Characteristics of Codependency
Can children be conditioned to be codependent? Clearly, yes. In the
Bible, Rebekah shows a blatant bias toward her second-born son, Jacob, because
he stays close to hearth and home. Meanwhile, Isaac favors his firstborn son,
Esau, because he has prowess in hunting.
Since no two children have identical skills, all children should be
recognized for their differences and respected for their distinctiveness. Oh,
but Rebekah does not love in this way! She becomes obsessed. Thus, the
conniving begins. Rebekah wants Jacob to receive "the birthright of the
firstborn" (which unquestionably belongs to Esau). She becomes determined
to deceive her husband so that he will give it to Jacob. Because of the enmeshed
relationship between Rebekah and Jacob, she finds it easy to persuade her
son to defraud his father. She plots.... She schemes.... She secretly plans.
Rebekah coaches Jacob to cover his hands with the skin of a young goat so that
they will feel like the hands of his brother. She even dresses Jacob in Esau's
clothes. Because of old age and weak eyes, father Isaac is fooled.
Although the scheme is a success, Jacob is found out and flees for his life.
But alas, he does not escape his passive dependency. All too soon, he
again becomes manipulated by others. His father-in-law and his own two wives
are crafty and cunning. Meanwhile, he feels conned and controlled. Such is the
misery in adulthood when one is enmeshed in childhood. (See Genesis
chapters 27-30.)
A. Who Are Codependent People?
Codependent people may appear capable and self-sufficient, yet in reality
they are insecure, self-doubting, and in need of approval. This need for
approval results in an excessive sense of responsibility and a
dependence on people-pleasing performance. However, the Bible says our
primary focus should not be on pleasing people, but rather on pleasing God.
"We instructed you how to live in order to please God, as in fact you
are living. Now we ask you and urge you in the Lord Jesus to do this more and
more." (1
Thessalonians 4:1)
The Codependent Person Profile
(Think about the person with whom you are closely involved and consider if
any of these statements are reflections of you.)
- I feel
responsible for the feelings, needs, and actions of the other person.
- I try to
fix the problems of this person, even to the detriment of my own
well-being.
- I can
discern the thoughts of this person but cannot identify my own.
- I know the
feelings and needs of this person but do not know my own.
- I do
things for others that they are capable of doing for themselves.
- I feel
angry when my help is not wanted.
- I tend to
be rigid and judgmental in the eyes of others.
- I judge
myself more harshly than I judge others.
- I deny my
own feelings and needs—so I've been told.
- I feel guilty
when I stand up for myself.
- I feel
good about giving but have difficulty receiving.
- I try to
be perfect in order to avoid anger or criticism.
- I look for
my worth in the approval of others.
- I find
that I am attracted to needy people and that needy people are attracted to
me.
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!
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.
These teachings are also available on the
MT4Christ247 You Tube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTxjSNstREpuGWuL0bF3U7w/featured
Email me
at mt4christ247@gmail.com to receive the class materials, share your progress, and to be
encouraged.
My wife, TammyLyn, also offers Christian encouragement via her Facebook
Group: Ask, Seek, Knock (https://www.facebook.com/groups/529047851449098 ) and her podcast Ask, Seek, and Knock on Podbean (https://feed.podbean.com/tammalyn78/feed.xml)
Encouragement for the Path of Christian
Discipleship
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