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Wednesday, June 22, 2022

All Things Equal? – The Way of Peace – Purity 764


All Things Equal? – The Way of Peace – Purity 764

Purity 764 06/22/2022  Purity 764 Podcast

Good morning,

Today’s photo of a “mountain of a cloud” over a suburban neighborhood comes to us from yours truly as I captured this scene from my van while working in South Troy last Friday. The day was sunny and bright and I just happened to look up from my work long enough to see what I had thought of as a monolithic evidence of God’s glory. I just liked the way this huge, massive, cloud seemed to be rising from the horizon as if encouraging us to look up. Upon further review, the peak of this mountain looks a little like a heart, as if the Lord was not only telling us to look up to Him but was using this cloud to tell us of His love.   

Well, it’s Wednesday again so I thought our heart topped mountain cloud was as good as any a way to represent the “hump” of the midpoint of our work week. But as with many things in life, the “hump” of hump day always depends on your perspective. The middle of something is always determined by having equal, or nearly equal parts of something on either side of our middle point.  

When does “hump day” stop being “hump day”? When something changes the balance.   Although today is the “traditional” day for “Hump Day”, for me this particular Wednesday is more like a Friday, because my schedule has me working Saturday, changing the “natural balance” of “normal: life – taking my beloved two day sequential weekend and changing it into a pair of days off, or two one day weekends, with Thursday and Sunday off.   

Now I ask you, is this equal? While some may argue, my company perhaps, that two days off are two days off and I should just be thankful to have them at all, and I am,  Is it the same, or equal to, having two days off back to back?  

As much as I am grateful for my two one day weekends this week, I think that they are not the same as having two days off back to back. In my opinion, two separate days off are not the same as, equal to, having two consecutive days off.   

Personally, I would argue that separate individual days off are not like having a day off at all because you really aren’t free from work. While I get the joy of knowing I have the day off tomorrow today, I don’t get the joy of waking up knowing I have the day off today & tomorrow, tomorrow, like I would if I had two consecutive days off.   Having that one day where you get to rise and sleep knowing that you are free from the responsibilities of your job is the one day where the anxieties of having to work soon can be laid aside. In that day where you rise and sleep free from the burdens of work can be a place where we can and should be able to find some circumstantial peace. 

Of course that day, could be filled with chores, obligations, and responsibilities of maintaining your home life, but I digress…

If we choose to worry about work, that of the office or that of our home, no amount of day’s off, separate or consecutive, will be able to provide you with peace. Although we can build a certain amount of stability in our lives through proper planning, preparation, and action, in the reality of our constantly changing world, there is no “status quo”, there is no “normal” that we can hold on to that is guaranteed not to change.

Also there are differing opinions and solutions for life’s problems that are offered by the world that would instruct us in how to be happy, of how to have peace.  

In comparing one’s lifestyle to another, the conclusion that the world likes to make is that because we all have free will that, as long as our lifestyles, don’t cause immediate harm to others, all lifestyle choices, although different, are equal. 

Without even considering the things of God, this view is revealed as false in the natural consequences that befall the different choices we make. 

For instance, there are different health and wellness consequences for people who:

Exercise vs those who don’t

Those who smoke vs those who don’t

Those who drink and take recreational drugs vs those who don’t

The things that people suffer do to their “unhealthy choices” are not equal to the consequences of those who don’t make those unhealthy decisions.   

What we do with our lives matters in terms of our quality of life.   

However, some would point to the end of life as a great equalizer and would claim their liberty to licentiousness with the assurance that the healthy will die just as the unhealthy will die.

And that’s when I would question them what happens next?  

The answers to that one are subjective and usually a matter of opinion that will either consider the word of God, the Bible, as an authoritative source of wisdom or it won’t.   

My point here is that as much as we are “all in this together” on “this island earth”,  The natural consequences of our daily decisions and the ultimate destiny for us in eternity should both be taken into consideration with how we live our lives.  The world’s ways and God’s ways are not equal and will have two very different destinations at the end of this life.

For eternity, the Bible lays out God’s redemptive plan for mankind with the good news that we can be given forgiveness and eternal life through Jesus Christ.  

But the Bible also provides a fair amount of instruction on how we should live our lives if we want to be in harmony with God and represent His kingdom.

Should a Christian follow the world’s ways for living here on earth or should they decide to follow the Lord’s way?

To claim our salvation through faith in Christ but to choose to ignore all or some of what the Bible says about how we should live our lives, not only reveals our hypocrisy, it could reveal our lack relationship with the Lord that will be revealed when we see Him face to face.   Some will claim to be Christians but will discover that the choices they made and the condition of their relationship with the Lord was not real. 

In Matthew 7:23 (NKJV) Jesus says:
23  And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!'

The world declares that all roads lead to heaven and some claim a relationship with Christ but still practice lifestyle choices that are against the wisdom of God’s word, and they stay in their sins with repentance, and even worse, they don’t seek to know the Lord or practice their faith in any significant way.  

If we don’t seek to know the Lord, His word, or His ways, we should wonder about our relationship with Him and wonder if we will be turned away by Christ as someone He never knew, as someone who practices lawlessness.   

The first messages from John the Baptist, and Christ Himself, encouraged people to repent, to turn from their worldly way of living and to follow the Lord’s way. Christ warned about hell more than He taught about heaven and He encouraged His disciples to pick up their crosses (to die to their old lives) and to follow Him in the way they lived their lives.   

Two separate days off are not equal with two days off together. The world’s ways (my company thinks their equal apparently) are not equal to God’s ways.  

The peace we can have from making Christ our Lord and Savior is not equal to the peace we can manufacture through changing our circumstance on the earth. Even if we could build a life of peace in this world, it evaporates the moment we die without God.  

So on this hump day that isn’t a hump day for me, let’s all seek the peace that comes through God, by not only naming Jesus as our Lord and Savior, but by making the continuous choice to know Him and to follow Him. 

All things aren’t equal but God’s way is the way to peace on earth, regardless of the circumstances, and to life everlasting where we will find continuous peace in God’s presence.  So keep walking and taking with God, make “good choices” with your life to avoid negative consequences and make the commitment to reject the world’s way for the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

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

This morning’s meditation verse is:

John 15:9 (NLT2)
9  “I have loved you even as the Father has loved me. Remain in my love.

Today’s Bible verse are the words of Jesus Christ where He assures His disciples of His love for them, confirms His relationship to God the Father, and encourages to remain in His love.  

There is a lot there! 

First off, as His disciples, Christ loves us. That’s proven by His death on the cross and the fact that we are given the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit when we put our faith in God.  As we pursue the path to know God and to live in His ways, we will increasingly know this love.  

Second, in case you were wondering, yes Jesus claimed to be the Son of God, which makes Him God the Son, as well.  Here Jesus talks of God as Father and assures us that not only is God His Father but Jesus is loved by Him.  Jesus is the beloved Son of God.  

And Third, Jesus tells us to remain in His love. Other versions use the word “abide” to tell us to stay in His love.  We remain in Christ’s love when we obey His commandments, and when we follow Him in the way we live our lives.  We remain in His love when we worship Him. We remain in His love by meditating on His word.  

All of this shows that our walk as a Christian is a “love walk” where we are assured of God’s love for us through His Son Jesus Christ and that we are to remain in His love though following Him. So love the fact that you are loved and endeavor to stay close to Him and live in a way where you can experience and remain in His love.

 

 

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 Clinton E. Arnold’s “Powers of Darkness”

As always, I share this information for educational purposes and encourage all to purchase Clinton Arnold’s books for your own private study and to support his work.  This resource is available on many websites for less than $20.00.

The Elementary Spirits of This World

An intriguing aspect of Paul’s vocabulary for the principalities and powers is that both pagans and Jews used the same expressions for astral spirits. The word “powers” (dynameis) itself can be found in astrological contexts for star spirits. The expression “world rulers” (kosmokratores) of Ephesians 6:12 is also used of astral deities.

Paul used one other expression for evil spirits associated with the stars: stoicheia. This term appears four times in two of Paul’s letters, both of which were sent to churches in Asia Minor (Col 2:8, 20; Gal 4:3, 9). Scholars actually have been divided in trying to determine whether Paul was using this term with reference to spirit beings. This debate is evident in the variant translations:

As Personal Beings

RSV/NEB: “the elemental spirits of the universe”

TEV: “the ruling spirits of the universe”

As Nonpersonal Entities

NTV: “basic principles of this world”

NASB: “elementary principles of the world”

In these two letters the interpretation of stoicheia is difficult because the term has a range of meanings and because scholars have felt that more than one of these meanings could appropriately fit each of the contexts. Those who take a nonangelic interpretation of stoicheia point to its most basic meaning as “elements,” such as the letters of the alphabet (which constitute the foundation of language), or the basic “elements” of the universe, such as earth, air, fire and water. They contend that the phrase could then be interpreted as the basic principles common to all religion, or as the Pauline concepts of “law” and “flesh,” or even as the actual physical elements.

The interpretation of stoicheia as personal spiritual entities is the most compelling view. Consequently this interpretation has commanded the consent of the majority of commentators in the history of the interpretation of the passages. This view is based partly on the widespread usage of stoicheia for astral spirits in the second and third centuries A.D. (and probably before). The word was used, for instance, in the Greek magical papyri in connection with the Zodiac: “I conjure you by the 12 stoicheia of heaven and the 24 stoicheia of the world in order that you would lead me to Heracles.”

It is important to realize that not only pagans used this word to refer to spirits, but Jews also used this word in that sense. The Jewish Testament of Solomon, written during the Roman Imperial period, includes five references to stoicheia as spirit beings. In the following passage the stoicheia are linked with the kosmokratores (cf. Eph 6:12):

I commanded another demon to appear before me. There came seven spirits bound up together hand and foot, fair of form and graceful. When I, Solomon, saw them, I was amazed and asked them, “Who are you?” They replied, “We are heavenly bodies [stoicheia], rulers of this world [kosmokratores] of darkness. The first said, “I am Deception.” The second said, “I am Strife.” The third said, “I am Fate.” The fourth said, “I am Distress.” The fifth said, “I am Error.” The sixth said, “I am Power.” The seventh said, “I am The Worst. Our stars in heaven look small, but we are named like gods. We change our position together and we live together, sometimes in Lydia, sometimes in Olympus, sometimes on the great mountain.” (Testament of Solomon 8:1–4)

These terms further reflect the wide array of vocabulary in reference to spirit beings, shared by Jews and Gentiles alike. Paul drew from this reservoir of terminology with which his readers would be readily familiar. He showed no interest, however, in discussing what he believed to be true about the starry host. Rather, he lumped all manner of spirits together, affirmed Christ’s superiority, and encouraged believers to be prepared for their hostile intentions and attacks by reminding his readers of their past ability to enslave.[1]

---------------------------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



[1] Clinton E. Arnold, Powers of Darkness: Principalities & Powers in Paul’s Letters (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic: An Imprint of InterVarsity Press, 1992), 53–54.

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