The Peace
Before Us – Wise Choices about People, Places, and Things – Purity 652
Purity 652 02/11/2022 Purity 652 Podcast
Good
morning,
Today’s photo a felled tree
and hiking trails in the foreground of a simple but spectacular view of Hume
Lake in California comes to us from a friend’s family vacation back in August
of 2021. As we are in the heart of
winter in my neck of the woods, I felt a yearning to share something that was
green as a reminder that the seasons change and that there is always great hope
to be found in looking ahead if we have the right perspective and we are
grounded in the peace that comes with a secure relationship with the Lord.
It's Friday and, for most of us, we can once
again rejoice that we have progressed to the end of another work week. If
nothing else, we can find hope in the assurance that with each passing hour of
our workday today, we are one hour closer to the weekend where we have the
freedom to choose what we will do with the life that God has given us.
This weekend we can choose to travel, to
stay home, to fill our weekend with activities, to accomplish tasks for the
care and maintenance of our relationships or homes, or we can choose to just to
rest and relax. Whatever we choose will define how our
weekends will go, so it’s important to think about the time ahead and how we
will utilize it.
Our life experiences have taught us what we
enjoy and what pleases us. Our experience has also taught us the people, places,
and things that frustrate, annoy, and take away our peace. A wise evaluation of our experiences will teach
us to fill our lives with the people, places, and things that bring us peace and
joy and to avoid the people, places and things that don’t.
We are not prisoners to our pasts and need
not be held captive to places, people, and things that cause us to lose our
peace. God has given us free will to pursue the abundant life that He has for
us and thus it is our responsibility to make changes to experience it.
To have peace we may have to make some hard
choices to stop doing the things we are doing, to stop going to the places that
we are going to, and to end relationships with people who are toxic.
One of the traps that we can fall into as
Christians, or just people who are “trying to do the right thing”, s that we
can believe we are locked into dysfunctional relationships and patterns of
behavior that cause us pain because “it is too hard to change” or “they are my
_______ (friend, family, problem)“.
Instead of advocating for our freedom and peace, we choose to stay tied
to the things and people that will prevent us from knowing peace.
Codependent relationships, addictions, and
cyclic patterns of circumstantial pleasure and pain can be walked away from, or
we can establish boundaries in our lives to minimize or eliminate their
negative effects progressively.
But we have to examine our lives to see the
patterns that take away our peace and know what steps we can make to start to
move away from the things the cause pain and suffering and move towards the
things that give us joy.
As someone who encourages others to find
their freedom in Christ, I know that we don’t have to be alone in our struggles
to figure this thing call life out. Last
night, I was testifying to the facts of God’s omnipresence and love for His
people, and how that if we simply and ask Him to guide and help us and follow
the wisdom of His ways, how God will
strengthen and empower us to claim the peace and abundant life that He wants us
to have.
In the 6 weeks of the current course I am leading,
I have seen the men start to make the daily choice to ground themselves in the
truth of who they are in Christ and to walk away from the negative mind states
and dysfunctional behaviors they were in bondage too. They are discovering that their freedom and
victory is not based on hard work but will be a product of believing what God
says about them and by slowly changing their thoughts and actions to align with
God’s ways rather than the world’s ways.
Some of them are in a real battle and are at
the point where they know what they need to do but feel powerless to do
it. Instead of telling them to pull
themselves up by their own bootstraps and use their will power to effect
change, I am encouraging them to pray to God to help them becoming willing to
follow Him. I am asking them to lean on the Lord to motivate and strengthen
them by slowly believing that God will help them and trusting that the
spiritual practices that surround seeking the Lord will have a positive impact
on their lives.
So, just like we can look at today’s photo
and know that “green seasons” will come again, I am trying to encourage these men
that experiencing the fruit of the Spirit in their lives is an evitable outcome
if they begin walking in the Spirit by seeking God’s presence, accepting their identity
in Christ, and by applying the Lord’s
wisdom to their lives.
They have the decision before them to choose
not to look to their pasts, to choose to look beyond their present circumstances,
and to believe that if they begin making small changes now to trust the Lord
and make wise choices they will experience victories in their battles and
discover a level of peace, joy, and freedom that they could never know on their
own.
So look forward to the end of the workday
today, look ahead to the weekend and make the choice to walk towards the things
that bring you peace and to avoid or walk away from the patterns of behaviors,
places, or people that take it away.
Jesus is the Prince of Peace and if we
follow Him, we will receive His peace. So keep walking and talking with God, He
is there to help us and to show us the light of His way that will lead us out
of the darkness of our past and bring us to a place of peace where we can live
continually.
Today’s Bible verses come to us from “The NLT Bible Promise Book
for Men”.
This morning’s meditation verses are:
2
Corinthians 5:8-9 (NLT2)
8 Yes, we are fully confident,
and we would rather be away from these earthly bodies, for then we will be at
home with the Lord.
9 So whether we are here in
this body or away from this body, our goal is to please him.
Today’s Bible verses point to eternal nature of God that gives us the assurance of our everlasting relationship with Him and how our purpose in life is grounded in Him.
This section of scripture is dealing with the fact that Lord is with us always and will be there for us on the other side of this life. Knowing this should fill us with confidence because if we have the realization that we live forever, we will realize that death loses its sting when we know that whether we live or die, we will be with God.
We don’t have to be afraid of death!
In the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic, I was working two jobs and saw the fear in people’s lives as they frantically tried to find masks at my part time job at Walmart. It was a strange time and I remember how I stood in wonder at the weird sights of people in all types of get ups that were designed to protect them from the killer virus that was “all around us”.
I was in a transitional stage of my life, having recently divorced and having to work to get the money to get a new place to live, so I didn’t have the luxury of being consumed by fear. I had to work. But beyond my needs and desires for a new home, the thing that gave me peace was my faith in Jesus Christ and passages of scripture like today’s verses that tell us that whether we live or die, God has us!
We are safe in Christ.
So I was given great confidence that if God wanted me to get sick and die, I would get sick and die, and at the end of the day my struggles on earth would be over and I would have the joy of eternal life in His kingdom.
But this assurance didn’t give me a death wish. It empowered me to live, because I knew that I had the ultimate protection from God and whatever happened to me would be ordained by Him.
So knowing this on a daily basis fills me with love for the Lord. He’s forgiven me all the mistakes I have made in life and assures me of my place in His kingdom forever. How can I not love God?
So as an expression of my love for Him, I seek to please Him.
As today’s verse says, pleasing Him is my goal. Whether I’m in this body or away from it in eternity, my eternal purpose is to do the will of the One who gave me life and redeemed me all of all my sins.
My goal is to please Him, and God is so good that He knows that when we seek to please Him we end up receiving the abundant life that He wants us to have.
That’s called a win – win situation, and that’s why we call our faith a “victorious Christian life.”
So be assured that the Lord has you in the palm of His hand for all eternity and make your goal to please Him.
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 to share from Dr. Neil Anderson’s . “Restored: Experience Life with Jesus”. Today, we continue sharing from Chapter 8.
As always, I share this information for educational purposes and encourage all to purchase Dr. Neil Anderson’s books for your own private study and to support his work.
MAINTAINING YOUR FREEDOM
Experiencing your freedom in Christ is exciting, but what
you have gained must be maintained. You have won an important battle, but the
war goes on. To maintain your freedom in Christ and grow in the grace of God,
you must continue renewing your mind to the truth of God’s word. If you become
aware of lies you have believed, renounce them and choose the truth. If more
painful memories surface, then forgive those who hurt you and renounce any
sinful part you played. Many people choose to go through The Steps to Freedom
in Christ again to make sure they have dealt with all their issues. Sometimes
new issues will surface. Some go through The Steps again as a periodic “house
cleaning.”
After going through The Steps, people sometimes have
thoughts like nothing has really changed. You’re the same person you always
were. It didn’t work. In most cases you should just ignore those thoughts. We
are not called to dispel the darkness; we are called to turn on the light. You
don’t get rid of negative thoughts by rebuking everyone; you get rid of them by
repenting and choosing the truth.
I encourage you to read Victory Over the Darkness (Bethany
House, 2000) and The Bondage Breaker (Harvest House, 2000). To continue growing
in the grace of God:
1. Get
rid of or destroy any cult or occult objects in your home (See Acts 19:18-20).
2. Get
involved in a small group ministry where you can be a real person, and be part
of a church where God’s truth is taught with kindness and grace.
3. Read
and meditate on the truth of God’s Word each day.
4. Don’t
let your mind be passive, especially concerning what you watch and listen to
(music, TV, etc.). Take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.
5. Be
open and honest with God in prayer. (See Liberating Prayer, Harvest House,
2012).
DAILY PRAYER AND DECLARATION
Dear Heavenly Father,
I praise You and honor You as my Lord and Savior. You are in
control of all things. I thank You that You are always with me and will never
leave me nor forsake me. You are the only all-powerful and only wise God. You
are kind and loving in all Your ways. I love You and thank You that I am united
with Christ and spiritually alive in Him. I choose not to love the world or the
things in the world, and I crucify the flesh and all its passions.
Thank You for the life I now have in Christ. I ask You to
fill me with the Holy Spirit so I can be guided by You and not carry out the
desires of the flesh. I declare my total dependence upon You, and I take my
stand against Satan and all his lying ways. I choose to believe the truth of
God’s Word despite what my feelings may say. I refuse to be discouraged; You
are the God of all hope. Nothing is too difficult for You. I am confident that
You will supply all my needs as I seek to live according to Your Word. I thank
You that I can be content and live a responsible life through Christ who
strengthens me.
I now take my stand against Satan and command him and all
his evil spirits to depart from me. I choose to put on the full armor of God so
I may be able to stand firm against all the devil’s schemes. I submit my body
as a living and holy sacrifice to You, and I choose to renew my mind by Your
living Word. By so doing I will be able to prove that Your will is good,
acceptable, and perfect for me. In the name of my Lord and Savior, Jesus
Christ, I pray. Amen.
BEDTIME PRAYER
Thank You, Lord, that You have brought me into Your family
and have blessed me with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in
Christ Jesus. Thank You for this time of renewal and refreshment through sleep.
I accept it as one of Your blessings for Your children and I trust You to guard
my mind and my body during my sleep.
As I have thought about You and Your truth during the day, I
choose to let those good thoughts continue in my mind while I am asleep. I
commit myself to You for Your protection against every attempt of Satan and his
demons to attack me during sleep. Guard my mind from nightmares. I renounce all
fear and cast every anxiety upon You, Lord. I commit myself to You as my rock,
my fortress, and my strong tower. May Your peace be upon this place of rest. In
the strong name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray. Amen.
---------------------------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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