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Thursday, July 14, 2022

The Pathway Past Slander - Purity 783

 

The Pathway Past Slander - Purity 783

Purity 783 7/14/2022 Purity 783 Podcast

Good morning,

Today’s photo of a road cutting through red rock country underneath a blue sky filled with clouds comes to us from a friend’s recent visit to the Capital Reef National Park in  south-central Utah.

Well, it’s Thursday again and I share today’s photo because Thursdays are the day that I have traditionally done recovery or discipleship ministry and I share a photo of a pathway of sorts to encourage others to experience or maintain their freedom in Christ by getting on or staying on the pathway of Christian Discipleship, which is my way of describing “walking in the Spirit” or living out our Christian faith.   M

y pathway has had many twists and turns through the years and this latest chapter has lead me to decide to facilitate a study of Freedom in Christ Ministries’ “The Grace Course”  on Zoom and I was blessed that some former graduates of the Freedom in Christ courses that I led accepted the invitation to join me.   So for me today’s photo is just another visual representation of the life of Christian discipleship that I have decided to follow, and for years Thursday has been THE day where I have shared what I have come to learn with anyone who would listen.  

But I also decided to share today’s photo because of the dry and dusty landscape that this pathway runs through because, although the Lord is with us when we decide to follow Him, as represented visually by those magnificent heavens in today’s photo, sometimes our path takes us through some dry landscapes of lack or affliction.

Now don’t be overly concerned for me, things are great currently. I have been blessed beyond measure in the last few years as I have overcome many personal struggles to find myself with a new home, a new job function, a new work reporting location, a new commute, a new Christian wife, a new ministry, and a new church! They say when you come to the Lord that He makes all things new and my experience certainly testifies to the great lengths to which God can make things new.     

But although I could sit and tell you story after story of the Lord’s faithfulness in my deliverance from my past, there are people from the past that may have their own perspective on the way things happen.  In my association with Christian Divorce support group, I can tell you that there are always at least two sides to every story and we can be challenged in our walk of faith when we hear reports that others are either sharing their perspective that we may consider as “revisionist history” or are actively slandering us. 

I have heard horrible tales of ex-spouses actively seeking to destroy the name, reputation, and relationships of their former partner through twisting the telling of facts or through speaking out right lies.

Recently the most stark example of this was the Johnny Depp-Amber Heard defamation case. Although, I don’t follow the news, even I was made aware of the case through friends comments on social media.  I didn’t follow the case but got the impression that Johnny Depp won but in my very limited curious research this morning I discovered that Amber Heard was also awarded $2 million in damages for “for a statement his attorney made to the Daily Mail calling her claims a hoax,” (https://www.cbsnews.com/live-updates/johnny-depp-verdict-amber-heard-lawsuit-defamation-damages/) .  $2 million says that while Heard was punished for libel, not all her claims about Depp were a “hoax”  

So even in this case where it seemed that “the truth” came out and “the innocent” were rewarded, it turns out that there were issues with both sides of this equation

,AGAIN I did not follow the case – but this is the general impression that was delivered via osmosis, I guess, which highlights another blog post topic for another time, I guess, of the indirect influence media can have on us through our friends or social media.  We don’t live in a bubble and even things we don’t watch or listen to can impact us through the reports of others or through social media!  But anyway back to the “he said, she said”  controversy of differing perspectives and dealing with revisionist history or “slander”.    

So even in the Deep- Heard case - where it seemed that “the truth” came out and “the innocent” were rewarded, it turns out that there were issues with both sides of this equation.  It’s very difficult to discern the “truth” because of the different perspectives out there. 

In this world broken by sin, nobody is innocent – unless we are declared so by God through faith in Christ, of course, but even then we are not necessarily free of the consequences of our past mistakes and that includes suffering the consequences that come to bear from reports that we would consider “revisionist history”  or being in a relationship with someone in the past who now decides to slander or tell lies about us.   

I am fortunate that I have not been slandered or lied about from people in my past but even in my case I have at various times been surprised to hear how some people have spoken about their dealings with me in the past or how some intermediate may have been trying to stir up trouble between me and others from my pasts by presenting me with unsolicited reports or updates by people in my past.   

Whether the reports are true, slanted or twisted to project us in a negative light, or are completely fictional,  the attack or offense we suffer is to our pride.   

So what do you do when people lie about us or speak ill of us or “tell their side of the story” to paint us as a villain?  Should we fight to make the truth be known? Should we sue for libel? 

While I will allow that fighting for truth and justice is a noble cause and we will have to follow the Holy Spirit’s guidance with how we deal with various situations in our lives, Christ’s example of dealing with slander and false  accusations teaches us something else that is totally counterintuitive to every instinct of our pride.  

Our pride says – when we are attacked – we strike back.  We don’t get mad, we get even… or as I remember Sean Connery’s dialog from the Untouchables about the “Chicago Way” – we don’t stop at being even, we exact more damage upon our enemies then they inflicted upon us.  Apparently the Old Testament verse about “an eye for an eye” wasn’t enough in Chicago.  

But seeking revenge is the doctrine as devil, as we are instructed to not seek revenge as the Lord will repay others for their offenses, justly. 

Again, let the Lord guide you in each of the situations you face, but Christ didn’t defend himself, He chose to forgive those who sinned against Him, and trusted God the Father and sought to do His will in all things.    

While Christ is our perfect example of what we should do, I would like to encourage us all that an imperfect person, like you and me, can choose to suffer slander and can see that the affliction may be part of their walk of faith.  

In 2 Samuel 16: 5-14, David is going through some really hard times – His son is trying to take throne of Israel – a total betrayal – when someone from David’s past – Shimei, from the former King Saul’s family, starts hurling insults, rocks!, at David and His men as they walk through Bahurim.    One of David’s men, begs to take the guy’s head off but David chooses to let Shimei’s insults and attacks to continue, saying:  

2 Samuel 16:10-12 (NKJV)
10   "… let him curse, because the LORD has said to him, 'Curse David.' Who then shall say, 'Why have you done so?' "
11  And David said to Abishai and all his servants, "See how my son who came from my own body seeks my life. How much more now may this Benjamite? Let him alone, and let him curse; for so the LORD has ordered him.
12  It may be that the LORD will look on my affliction, and that the LORD will repay me with good for his cursing this day."

David knew he wasn’t perfect and that from his perspective this “Benjamite” had cause to be angry with him.  But beyond this angry person, David knew that God was sovereign and that the insults and injuries that he was suffering from his son, and from this angry Benjamite, may be a chastisement for the consequences of David’s imperfect past. 

And David knew the Lord was good, and rather defend himself, He decided to trust in the Lord and hoped that the Lord would look at him accepting his afflictions and cursings on this day, and repay Him with good another day.  Spoiler alert, God did. 

While I walked through the valley from my former life to the where I am now, I suffered what I would consider, many unjust, unfair, and hurtful things done and said against me – while I am no Christ or king David, I decided to try walk in their footsteps and choose to ignore the offenses and not defend myself, too much anyway,  and learned to try to see things from their perspective and chose to forgive, even though at times I was angry and hurt and would have desired revenge in the way I used to be before coming to faith in Christ.  

The world looks different from the point of view of the one hurling insults aimed against us.  They are hurt and angry too but usually, not always, they haven’t made peace with God through Jesus and all they know is self, and the happiness that this world and manipulating circumstance can bring them.  Even immature Christians can be jerks… and not live according to God’s wisdom at times.  That’s why we have to be disciples or “followers of Jesus”, rather than just claiming salvation by “just believing” in Him.  

To know the peace of the Lord and all the fruit of the Spirit in our lives, we have to walk in the Spirit – to live like Jesus.  So we do what Christ would do even when it isn’t easy, even when it doesn’t seem fair, and even when it hursts.  

The pathway past slander is forgiveness and accepting what the sovereign God brings into our lives and choosing to trust Him with where we go.   Christ asked the Lord to forgive those who crucified them because they didn’t really know what they were doing and He knew that God the Father would do what was right, even if He had to suffer.  

So keep walking and talking with God.  If your pride is attacked, go to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit to seek their wisdom and guidance.  We may have to suffer affliction on this pathway as we suffer all the consequences of our imperfect pasts but like David, we should trust that the Lord will see our hurts and that He will repay us with good for the cursing we suffer today.   

 

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

This morning’s meditation verse is:

Hebrews 13:5 (NLT2)
5  Don’t love money; be satisfied with what you have. For God has said, “I will never fail you. I will never abandon you.”

Today’s Bible verse instructs us not to love money but to be content with what we have by being secure in the knowledge that God will never fail us or abandon us.  

Right now I have friends and family who are suffering from financial hardships and money is undoubtedly at the forefront of their minds.  While the Lord has blessed them with the ability to work they are in a season where they are out of work or struggling to regain ground lost because of a period of unemployment. 

While I am sure they are doing all they can on the job front, I was pleased to see that they aren’t just trying to “pick themselves up by their own boot straps” and have petitioned their friends and family to pray for them and that although times are tough they are confessing that they know that the Lord will help provide for them.  

They know, like today’s verse says, that God will never fail them and will never abandon them.    They are being challenged to be satisfied with what they have, in all things -good times and bad, and to not just love the money that could resolve their immediate needs. 

They recognize their struggle is real but are also putting their trust in the very real God.  

Today’s verse is a great instruction and encouragement for us.   God will never fail us. God will never abandon us.  Do you believe this?   

If you do, you can be content. You can be satisfied with what you have because you have an unbreakable relationship with the Creator of all things that works all things together for the good of those loves Him and are who are called according to His purpose.  

Money can’t buy you love, so don’t love money. Instead love the Lord. He is the One who will never fail you or abandon you and He is the only One who can truly satisfy you.   

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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.

Christ’s Victory over the Powers (Col 2:15)

Nowhere else in the New Testament is Christ’s victory over the powers of darkness given fuller expression than in Colossians 2:15: “And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.” The death and resurrection of Christ marks the beginning of their demise. Christ won a once-and-for-all victory over the powers with eternal repercussions. The details of Paul’s statements are worth examining.

God Disarmed the Powers. Christ’s death and resurrection deprived the evil forces of any effective power against himself or the members of his body, the church. Whereas, prior to the cross the powers could maintain a kingdom and hold humanity in slavery, Christ’s work changed that. No longer can these powers exert their compelling influence over people whom Christ has claimed for himself. Christ is able to redeem people from captivity and bring them freedom because he has disarmed the powers.

How did Christ’s death and resurrection accomplish this disarming? Precisely because the powers could not deter Christ from making a satisfaction for sin. By offering his life and spilling his blood, Christ could extend forgiveness of sin to his people. The powers thus lost their chief mechanism for holding people in bondage: “You were dead in your transgressions and sins … when you followed … the ruler of the kingdom of the air” (Eph 2:1–2). God’s wrath was propitiated, and the offense of sin was forever taken from his sight. Christ’s work gave believing humanity access to God through which they could receive a new nature and be filled with his divine enabling power.

The resurrection demonstrated that even death could not be victorious over Christ. The strongest weapon in Satan’s arsenal was not sufficient for conquering Christ. Neither will it prove sufficient for destroying his people.

It is doubtful Paul conceived of some lessening of Satan’s ability or power by virtue of Christ’s work on the cross. With an army of mighty spirits, Satan continues to be a powerful foe. The disarming of the powers occurred with respect to Christ and those who are incorporated into Christ. Satan was shown to possess inadequate power and wisdom to defeat Christ—which brings Paul to his second affirmation.

God Publicly Exposed the Powers. The cross “exposed” the relative weakness of the powers. The word Paul chose could also be translated “make an example of,” “disgrace” or “mock.” It seems to have been a word commonly used for the exposing and disgracing of anyone who committed adultery. This usage is seen in its only other appearance in the New Testament in Matthew 1:19, which describes the situation where Joseph did not want to “disgrace” Mary; that is, to “expose” her publicly for her supposed adultery. One ancient writer mentions a Cyprian law, “according to which an adulteress had to cut her hair and was subjected to contempt by the community.”

As the crucifixion of Christ approached, the powers thought they would finally kill God’s own Son and put an end to his merciful saving purposes (1 Cor 2:6–8). Christ’s death and resurrection, however, uncovered the foolishness of their plans. E. F. Scott gives an eloquent explanation of this “exposure” in his comments on Ephesians 3:10:

The hostile powers had sought to frustrate the work of God, and believed they had succeeded when they conspired against Christ and brought about his Crucifixion. But unwittingly they had been mere instruments in God’s hands. The Death of Christ had been the very means He had devised for the accomplishment of His plan. So it is here declared that the hostile powers, after their brief apparent triumph, had now become aware of a divine wisdom they had never dreamed of. They saw the Church arising as the result of Christ’s death, and giving effect to what they could now perceive to have been the hidden purpose of God.

Having thought they could destroy Christ, the powers were astonished to find Christ rising from the dead and assuming the position of “head” over a new body of people he was bringing into union with himself. The devices of the powers could now be seen as futile by all. In Galatians 4:9, Paul certainly had adequate reason to describe the “elemental spirits” as “weak” and “miserable.”

God Paraded the Powers in a Triumphal Procession. Paul now builds on the idea of a public exposure of the powers by depicting their defeat in terms of a “triumphal procession.” Paul used an expression that was common in the context of a Roman military victory. When a general defeated the opposing forces and won the battle, a “triumphal procession” would occur to celebrate the victory. The successful general would lead the procession, followed by his army singing hymns of victory and jubilantly reveling in their conquest. Also in the parade would be the defeated king along with all his surviving warriors. The disheartened and subdued enemies became a public spectacle for ridicule, with their subjugation paraded for all to see. In a similar fashion, God has thus put the principalities and powers on public display, revealing their powerlessness before Christ. New Testament scholar Eduard Lohse comments, “As their devastating defeat is shown to the whole world, the infinite superiority of Christ is demonstrated.”10

Christ’s death and resurrection thus represents his decisive victory over the powers of darkness. This truth is strongly attested elsewhere in the New Testament. The writer to the Hebrews also brings this fact out by highlighting the leader of the powers, Satan: “He [Christ] too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil” (Heb 2:14). In one of his letters, John affirms: “The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work” (1 Jn 3:8).

We would be reading too much into the passages if we imagined some kind of visible battle between the powers and Christ while he was on the cross, which represented the culmination of Christ’s conflict with the powers. It was their last-ditch effort to destroy the one on whom the hope for the salvation of the world lay. They were indeed successful in seeing Jesus put to death. In God’s infinite wisdom, however, this was his divine method for procuring salvation for all who believe. Little did the evil powers realize that Jesus would rise from the dead.[1]

 

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

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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


[1] Clinton E. Arnold, Powers of Darkness: Principalities & Powers in Paul’s Letters (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic: An Imprint of InterVarsity Press, 1992), 104–107.


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