Moving On Up – The Path of the Upward Call – Purity 753
Purity 753 06/09/2022 Purity 753
Good morning,
Today’s photo of the “Waite Road Comet” comes to us from
yours truly as I was out walking the dog this past Sunday and took this “no
look” photo only to discover later that I had captured the sun sitting atop a
cirrus cloud formation giving us this “comet like” scene.
Well it is Thursday, and I share today’s photo today because
it features a pathway, Waite Rd is just outside my country side home so get
used to it, and this comet like feature directs our gaze to the heavens. I
share pictures of pathways on Thursdays because today is the day I have traditionally
taught recovery ministry, and now lead a Men’s Freedom in Christ Discipleship
Course on Zoom, where I encourage others to start, or to continue, the journey on
the path of Christian Discipleship to discover, or to maintain, their freedom in
Christ. And I am using the “Waite Rd
Comet” in today’s photo to similarly encourage my friends to look up and to
answer the “upward call” on their lives,
As
Philippians 3:14 (NKJV) says
14 I press toward the goal
for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
So yeah, that is written to the body of Christ, and it wasn’t
just the Apostle Paul’s call to answer. The “upward call of God” is to follow
the Lord’s will for our lives by living according to the wisdom of the Word of
God and by finding and fulfilling our purpose in Christ.
What exactly is that for you?
I don’t know. But the Lord
does and somewhere in your heart of hearts, you may have an idea of what you “should
have always done: but haven’t.
God made us to be the unique individuals that we are, giving
us specific talents, abilities, and dispositions. Why does one person have
certain talents and seem to be called to pursue a certain path in life and why
does that vary so much from person to person?
We could talk about nature and nuture, about our genetics,
our temperaments, and our environments all day long and wonder why “it has to
be this way” or we could accept where we are today and set a course for
tomorrow.
In 2019, my divorce finalized and I found myself faced with
the reality that I had to pay spousal support, that means less money, and that
I had to find a place to live because the terms of the divorce when completely
fulfilled included the sale of my house in Craryville, and my compensation from
the potential sale would be next to zero.
So, I was faced with some cold hard facts like – I need money!
– I nee a place to live! – What am I going to do!?
Luckily, I wasn’t alone.
And no this tale doesn’t include the church body coming to save the day,
nor does it include friends, or family coming to the rescue.
Quite frankly, in many ways in life we are completely on our
own and have to deal with our problems by ourselves. So it would seem that I was “BY MYSELF”, as I am reminded of a Kevin
Hart comedy routine where he described a street hardened individual who described
his experience by saying: “ALL DAY, JUST ME , BY MYSELF, On The Block, Holding
in it down, Gun in my waist, straight face, ALL DAY, Not a Game… etc. – Luckily it wasn’t that way for me, not
really.
I wasn’t alone. I had been walking with the Lord since 2010
and He had led me out of the darkness of my addiction, and I knew He could help
lead me out of the mess I found myself in.
And sure enough, I felt what I believe to be His inward compulsions
and intuition from the Holy Spirit to start working towards solutions. And even though it was a process that didn’t have
any quick fixes, I followed the Lord’s leadings and in June of 2020, He lead me
to my new home “down by the River”.
Part of our walk as Christians is to solve the problems
before us. So we lean on the Lord’s strength, apply His wisdom to our lives,
and keep going onward and upward into the life that He has for us, the life we
always wanted but were afraid to pursue because we thought it was “too hard” or
that we were inadequate or deficient in some way.
Before Christ, we were deficient. We were spiritually dead
and consumed by the flesh. But after we
put our faith in Jesus, we receive the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit
and are given a new spiritual life. We are made free from sin and death.
We will live forever with the Lord in eternity and are given
the power to overcome the sins of the flesh that kept us in chains and to break
the mental strongholds that made us think we weren’t good enough to live the
life that we wanted and the Lord calls us to.
Through our faith in Christ, with the power of the Holy Spirit,
we can face harsh realities and have peace. We can persevere and eventually move
out of difficult situations with joy. The
Apostle Paul’s testimony encourages us. He said in:
Philippians 4:11-14 (NLT2)
11 Not that I was ever in
need, for I have learned how to be content with whatever I have. 12 I know how to live on almost nothing
or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation,
whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. 13 For I can do everything through
Christ, who gives me strength.
14 Even so, you have done
well to share with me in my present difficulty.
I shared from the NLT because it simplifies the message. Many just share Philippians 4:13, that “we
can do all things through Christ who strengthens us” but I like to share the
preceding verses and verse 14, because they
keep it real, stating that we are to be content in every situation, in times of
plenty or in times where we lack, and they fully admit to the reality of “present”
difficulties.
Life isn’t perfect the moment you become a Christian, but
if you keep walking and talking with God and apply His wisdom to your life,
things will get better, although they could get worse for a season or three,
but the beauty of walking with the Lord is that even if you are “BY MYSELF”, you never have to walk alone and you can have
peace in the storm and joy that goes beyond your understanding and exists
regardless of the present difficulties that you face.
So keep going, keep going with God. We will all face God in eternity and if you
walk with Him now, through faith in Jesus Christ, oh yeah I said it, there will
be no confusion about whether or not you are His. When you are in Christ, He knows you and He
calls you to follow Him. And one day,
when He calls you home, you will know the truth of your salvation and purpose
in Christ when you finally see the prize for answering the upward call on your
life.
______________________________________________________________
Today’s Bible verse comes to us from “The NLT Bible Promise Book
for Men”.
This morning’s meditation verse is:
Proverbs
20:7 (NLT2)
7
The
godly walk with integrity; blessed are their children who follow them.
Today’s
Bible verse reminds us that the godly walk in integrity and that their children
can benefit if they are faithful to follow in their footsteps.
Proverbs
is one of the books that are considered to be “wisdom literature” in the Old Testament
and here we see some simple wisdom that we should apply to our lives.
Integrity
is defined as “the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles.”
For the Christian, moral principles aren’t
based on the latest trends in our culture but are based on the truth of God’s
word. The Bible’s standards are less
permissive that our society’s standards where “anything goes”. What’s right is right and what’s wrong is
wrong is based on what God says in His word not on our feelings or our
opinions.
In
fact, I had an idea of writing a book about living according to Christian
ethics and titling the book “God said it was wrong” because in my walk I have
seen Christians “take their liberty” in things that the Bible either implies or
directly states that you shouldn’t.
Walking
in Godly integrity is living according to the word of God so we should do that,
rather than claim our forgiveness and freedom to cover what could be either overt
or subtle transgressions of God’s word.
It’s
not an easy road and the longer you walk with the Lord you become more and more
aware of the many ways that you “miss the mark” of God’s righteousness, but we
can grow and make changes when we become aware of the lies we have believed, or
the errors that we have made, or are still making.
The
key is to keep walking in integrity because it brings us closer to the Lord’s
will for our lives and it provides a good example for others.
As
today’s verse states our children could be blessed by our decision to walk in
godly integrity. Kids learn from their
parents and often follow in their footsteps. So we should provide an example of
integrity with the way we live our lives. The good we do today could be seen
and influence our children tomorrow.
So
be honest and live by the principles found in God’s word because a life of godly
integrity can not only bless your life, it could bless the lives of those who follow
close behind.
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 Begin sharing from Clinton E. Arnold’s
“Powers of Darkness: Principalities & Powers in Paul’s Letters”.
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.
POWERS
OF DARKNESS
Clinton E. Arnold
Principalities &
Powers in Paul’s Letters
Introduction
In
1992 Salem, Massachusetts, commemorated the 300th anniversary of the city’s
infamous witch trials. More than 400 persons were accused of being witches in
the inquisition. Of these, 150 were jailed, 14 women and 5 men were hung, and
one supposed witch was crushed to death under several tons of rock.
Today, as visitors tour an 1845 stone
church converted into Salem’s Witch Museum, the museum narrator greets them
with, “Welcome to the Witch Museum. Do you believe in witches? Millions of our
ancestors did.”
Many people today find it incredible
that our forebears gave credence to these ideas. How could anyone possibly
believe that “witches” have actual supernatural powers, that spell-casting can
work, and that evil spirits wreak all kinds of terror in peoples’ lives? For
most, these beliefs were rendered obsolete with the rise of the scientific age
and the spread of educational opportunity for everyone.
Now, three centuries after the witch
trials, no threat of a similar inquisition is looming, and I hope that that
threat never will loom. But there is an upsurge of interest in witchcraft and
the occult throughout the West. Note, for instance, the following advertisement
that appeared in a recent tabloid:
I will
cast a spell for you. I can cast a spell to make one love another, or cause a
person to change his mind about a relationship, or bring two people together. I
can do all these things because I have the combined powers of my mother who was
a sorceress and my father, one of the most powerful warlocks who passed on his
secrets to me moments before he moved on to a different world. My magical
powers are beyond your imagination. I can cast a spell in your behalf regarding
a relationship, your financial situation, future events, or whatever is
important to you. I have the power and I use the power.
This
announcement is typical of a number of occultic advertisements that appear
regularly in tabloids throughout the United States.
This burgeoning interest in the occult
is not a local fad but a trend in Western society. The growing fascination in
the occult of the sixties became what the eminent history of religions scholar
Mircea Eliade termed an “occult explosion” in the seventies. He notes, “As a
historian of religions, I cannot fail to be impressed by the amazing popularity
of witchcraft in modern Western culture and its subcultures.… The contemporary
interest in witchcraft is only part and parcel of a larger trend, namely the
vogue of the occult and the esoteric from astrology and pseudospiritualist
movements to Hermetism, alchemy, Zen, Yoga, Tantrism, and other Oriental gnoses
and techniques.”3 Then came the New Age movement, a definite
“explosion” in its own right during the eighties and continuing vigorously into
the nineties. The movement received a strong impetus from the publicity it
received from a number of entertainment celebrities who popularized its
teachings. The religious vocabulary of the West expanded with a barrage of
neologisms such as “channeling” (getting in contact with a spiritual entity),
“spirit guide” (a spiritual entity who provides information), “cosmic
consciousness” (the perception that all in the universe is “one”) and “astral
flight” (soul travel during meditation or the night).
It is difficult to gauge the size of
this growing “movement” since it is loosely organized. Its current popularity
can best be seen by perusing the shelves of any bookstore. Increasing space is
given to the literally thousands of New Age publications. Businesses and
corporations are hosting more and more “human potential” seminars based on New
Age principles. The New Age concept of channeling has grown increasingly
popular, especially in Southern California. A Los Angeles Times poll revealed that more women in West Los Angeles
are consulting channelers than psychologists or counselors. In a recent cover
story, entitled “New Age Harmonies,” Time
magazine summarized the surprisingly rapid acceptance and popularity of the
movement in many sectors of Western society.
The New Age movement is characterized
by a monistic world view that has much in common with classic Hinduism. Monism
is the belief that the entire universe is a living unified whole. God permeates
the entire universe, and in a sense every person is a part of God. God and
humanity are therefore one. What is needed, according to this view, is a change
in our consciousness to heighten our level of awareness into our essential
unity with the divine. The New Age movement also has a lively belief in the
realm of spirits and thus practices forms of divination and magic (under the
euphemism “channeling”). For this reason some evangelical analysts have
described the heart of the New Age religion as occultism.
Given this rise in occultism,
expressed also in the form of the New Age movement, we need to ask if the
church is alert and ready to face this fresh challenge? Is the church prepared
to effectively handle the spiritual problems that will surface in ministering
to people who have opened their lives to the direct and immediate influence of
the realm of Satan?
There are some encouraging signs. Many
evangelical seminaries and Christian colleges are offering courses in spiritual
warfare (or the equivalent) and, almost invariably, these courses have turned
out to be the most popular courses among the students. Quite a number of books
and articles have also appeared, treating topics on spiritual warfare, demon
possession, counseling the demonized, and the New Age movement. Regrettably,
the Christian community has not been well served with material dealing with a
biblical perspective on demons, principalities and powers, and the nature of
the church’s conflict with the powers of evil. I hope that this book can be a
helpful first installment on developing a biblical perspective on the powers of
darkness.
But is this topic relevant for
everyone? Certainly not everyone in the church has had contact with professing
Satanists or witches, with New Age advocates, or with those deeply involved in
the occult. Furthermore, this topic is rather frightening. Why spend time
exploring the varied dimensions of evil, especially in terms of demons and evil
spirits? Would it not be better to avoid this topic altogether and spend the
time meditating on the positive aspects of our Christian life?
I believe this topic is important for
all Christians because it touches us in a profound way, regardless of whether
we have had any involvement in the occult. The Bible teaches not only that evil
spirits exist, but also that they are actively hostile to all Christians; their
perverse instigations adversely affect our day-to-day life and the lives of
those around us. The Bible consequently provides us with vital information,
information designed to give Christians an appropriate perspective on these
malicious forces and how to deal with their activity against us.
My personal interest in this theme
originated during the course of my doctoral studies. Nestled in my office high
in a tower of the sixteenth-century King’s College of the University of
Aberdeen (Scotland), I banged away on a keyboard, researching and writing on
the biblical concept of power. I was not far into my research before I realized
that it was nigh well impossible to study the power of God without studying the
opposing sphere of power, the kingdom of Satan. The end result was a
dissertation entitled, “The Power of God and the Powers of Evil in Ephesians,”
a study of this theme in one New Testament letter.
Not only in Paul’s letter to the
Ephesians, but also throughout the New Testament, Christ is portrayed in terms
of a struggle with the powers of darkness. Jesus confronted the demonic in his
earthly ministry, dealt a decisive blow to the kingdom of evil on the cross,
continues to wage war against the hosts of Satan through the church, and will
finally vanquish Satan and his forces once and for all after his Second Coming.
Christ’s conflict with the powers of evil surfaces as a major theme in New
Testament theology. Surprisingly, this theme has been terribly neglected in the
exegetical and theological study of the New Testament. Why? I am not certain.
It may be due partly to the Western post-Enlightenment world view that has
interpreted the New Testament references to evil spirits as outmoded primitive
myth.
The grip of our common Western world
view provides yet another reason for this book. In contrast to people in
Africa, Korea, China, and other parts of the non-Western world, we have grown
up disbelieving in the realm of spirits, demons and angels. Most Westerners, if
asked, “Do you believe in evil spirits?” would say no. This is also true of
many Christians in the West, although we display some doublemindedness on the
issue. Many Christians would affirm a belief in demons because they are
mentioned in the Bible (and perhaps because some missionaries have come home
with tales about dealing with the demonic). In actual fact, however, the spirit
realm may have no more a part of a given Christian’s world view than it does of
that person’s non-Christian neighbor. It is tough to break the all-pervasive
influence of one’s culture. If the realm of spirits and angels is a dominant
part of the biblical world view, it should thus be a dominant part of a
Christian world view in our age.
In the following pages I hope to show
precisely what role evil spiritual powers had in the world view of one of
Christianity’s most brilliant and inspired thinkers, the apostle Paul.
Comprising about one-quarter of our New Testament, Paul’s letters constitute an
important source for building a Christian world view today.[1]
---------------------------more
tomorrow------------------------
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[1]
Clinton E. Arnold, Powers of Darkness:
Principalities & Powers in Paul’s Letters (Downers Grove,
IL: IVP Academic: An Imprint of InterVarsity Press, 1992), 13–17.
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