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Wednesday, July 20, 2022

You’re GOING the WRONG WAY! – Follow Him – Purity 788


You’re GOING the WRONG WAY! – Follow Him – Purity 788

Purity 788 7/20/2022  

Good morning,

Today’s photo a view of the Catskill Mountains from the vantage point of the Olana State Historic Site in Greenport, New York comes from our good friend, brother in Christ and fellow Bible Study enthusiast, Arthur Cincotti.  I rarely name names when I share the “photo of the day” but I know Arthur covets the “honor” of having his “views” being highlighted on the blog so I wanted to give him credit for “making it”.   I usually give a general idea of when the photos I share were taken but although I might assume it was taken recently, the fact that I received this photo via a text photo drop that included, among others, a photo of Arthur dressed as Cyrano de Bergerac from what must have been at least 25 years ago, I won’t make that assumption and will only assure everyone that a visit to Olana is a “must” for anyone visiting Columbia County as the view of the Catskills hasn’t changed through the years.   

I share it today because I love my friend and because it highlights a mountain range that can visually represent the fact that we will reach the summit of the midpoint of our work week, as we have made it to another “hump day”.  

Speaking of peaks, I was pleasantly surprised this morning to see a sudden spike in the downloads of the mt4christ247 podcast that sent us skyrocketing past the 7,000 downloads mark!  So to all who regularly listen, and to the one person, or persons that probably sent us over the 7k mark inadvertently, or perhaps intentionally, by downloading close to 100 episodes in single day, I say: THANK YOU!

My intentions in the blog and the podcast are somewhat “Cyrano like” in that I don’t intend to direct any attention to myself but only wish to speak words that could encourage others to fall head over heels in love with Jesus Christ, God the Father, and the Holy Spirit and to commit their lives to following them and sharing the love of God and the truth of His word.  I know that in and of themselves my words can’t save anyone but I also know that the Lord could use my efforts to bring people to Him.   

So I talk about the Bible and Christian living to persuade people to seek God for themselves because I am confident that if they do, with all their heart, as Jerimiah 29:13 indicates, they will find Him and they will put their faith in the only One that can give them peace with God, Jesus as indicated in John 14:6.  Which says:

John 14:6 (NKJV)
6  Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.

So I don’t point to Buddha, to Confucius, Mohammed, Rumi, or anyone else. I point to Jesus and quite frankly I feel anyone who is considering “other religions” or other philosophies of life that don’t specifically name Jesus as – Lord, Savior, King of Kings, the Son of God, and God the Son or would claim that Jesus is only one good teacher among others, are either foolish, ignorant, or being deceived. 

To be clear, I am a FORMER Buddhist who was saved by a revelation of the gospel of Jesus Christ.  John 14:6 and the whole of scripture in the Bible speaks of the exclusivity of Jesus Christ as the only means to have peace with God. I reject Buddhism and all other world religions that don’t hold the Bible as the inerrant word of God and Jesus as the sole means of salvation.  There is only one way to God, through faith in Jesus Christ.

In the movie, planes, trains & automobiles, although I am not really a fan of the film, there is a scene where the main characters are driving down a highway at night when suddenly a car pulls up a long side them and the occupants are desperately trying to get their attention. The main characters finally heed their signals and roll down their window to hear what they are saying. “You’re going the wrong way!!!!” They shout!  

The main characters are confused and figure that these concerned people must be mistaken “How do they know where we’re going to?” they ask, dismissively…

But suddenly, the main characters understand what the other drivers are saying when a set of headlights appear in the distance that are heading directly for them.   The main characters mistakenly got on the wrong side of a divided highway and were driving in the opposite direction of traffic!   Luckily, they were able to avoid disaster. 

And that’s all I am trying to do with my blog, my podcast, and my life.  As someone who “was going the wrong way” for most of my life, I understand how offensive the idea that there is only one way to God can be but it even though it may be offensive that’s the way it is.  The source of this truth is the living word of God: Jesus Christ who was prove to be God through His life, teachings, death, and resurrection. 

So as much as I personally might have gone in all types of directions on the faith spectrum, I know now that I was going the wrong way until God revealed to me the Way, the Truth, and Life: Jesus Christ as the sole means the forgiveness of sin and life everlasting. 

To claim to be saved by Christ and to consider other faith streams, is to spit in the face of Jesus.  In essence they are saying that Christ is not enough.  Forgive them Father for they know not what they do.

But the Bible is clear that there will be many that will claim Jesus and will be revealed as not being His.  

The example of Judas, the parable of the sowing of the seed, the warnings of false teachers and “doctrines of demons, and the separation of the sheep from the goats and the tares from the wheat show us that we are to discern the spirits and to seek out our salvation with fear and trembling.  Our faith is a matter of life and death and an exclusive relationship with God through faith in Jesus Christ is the only thing that will give us eternal life and help us to experience the fruit of the Spirit in our lives.   

Christianity is not a popularity contest.  So forgive me, but by the grace of God I have come to know the Truth, the Way and The Life and I can’t help but be  a voice to point others in His direction and to try to encourage people to change directions when they are going the wrong way.  

So keep seeking the Lord and fostering your faith in Christ. Christ told His disciples to “Follow Me.”  Nobody else.  So keep walking and talking with God but let’s stay on the path the Christ was left before us and not stray from it.    

   

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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:

Philippians 4:19 (NKJV)
19  And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.

In today’s verse, we are encouraged that God shall supply for all our needs according to His riches in glory by, WHO?? – by Christ Jesus.  

As living beings our needs are for the things that will sustain life.  Through the earth and through our physical and mental abilities, and because God provided us with all of the above, our needs can be met.  

We can hunt, farm, and fish for food.  We can manipulate the natural resources to provide shelter. We can come together with other people to accomplish amazing things that we couldn’t do alone. Through our imaginations, we can also produce music, art, sports, plays, books, and programs to entertain us.   All of these things are provided by God through His creation.    

 

So man has learned how to live on earth and has developed ways to meet his needs.  But the only thing we can’t fashion with our hands or pull from the earth or our imaginations is our biggest need, life beyond this world.  

 

Whereas there are a variety of ways to meet our physical and emotional needs on earth, there is only one way to meet our ultimate need of life everlasting: Jesus Christ.  

The Bible points Jesus because He meets this need but it also points to Christ and how He lived to show us how we should live while on the earth.  In Christ, we have been the example to follow on earth and the way to life in heaven.  

So, follow Him, and rejoice that through Jesus Christ, God shall supply for all your needs.  

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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.

The Spirit and the Gifts

The hallmark of the Christian life is reception of the Holy Spirit. Possession of the Spirit is what distinguishes Christians from non-Christians (1 Cor 2:10–14). “For Paul the possession of the Spirit is the sine qua non of Christian life.” The Spirit is thus the basis for the new identity of the believer.

People living during Paul’s time believed in the existence of spirits who could enter into individuals and alter their behavior. In contrast, Paul repeatedly spoke of one particular divine spirit whose indwelling he favored exclusively. This divine spirit is of a qualitatively different nature than the spirits known by the people in the Hellenistic religions and in magic. This one “Holy Spirit” is closely related to the one God and to Christ. This Spirit is, in fact, called “the Spirit of God” (Rom 8:14) and “the Spirit of Christ” (Rom 8:9). He is sent from God and reveals God to us (2 Cor 2:12; Gal 4:6), because he knows the deep things of God (1 Cor 2:10–11). This Spirit is the only spirit-being whom Paul advocated should have a place in a believer’s life.

Whereas in popular magic a supernatural spirit (“a divine assistant”) was commonly summoned to accomplish the will of the recipient, Paul saw the Holy Spirit as coming to accomplish only the will and purpose of the one God, who revealed himself to Israel as a “holy” God. He had commanded his people to “be holy because I, the Lord your God, am holy” (Lev 19:1). Likewise, the Spirit of God is “holy” and seeks to promote holiness among the people he indwells. The Spirit stimulates such virtues as kindness, love, joy and peace and enables believers to rid themselves of the filthy things that are part of their lives (Gal 5:16–26). The Spirit is, in effect, the divine provision to empower Christians to “put to death the misdeeds of the body” (Rom 8:13).

The Holy Spirit works in the context of the corporate solidarity of believers. It is the Spirit who brings us to God and draws us into the close bond with other believers known as the body of Christ. In reflecting on the unity of believers in the body, Paul remarks, “For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink” (1 Cor 12:13). Whenever someone becomes a Christian, they receive the Holy Spirit who incorporates them into the Christian community. The expressive metaphors of “baptizing” and “drinking” emphasize the reality and extent of this divine gift—“immersion in the Spirit and drinking to the fill of the Spirit.” This common experience of the Spirit is what constitutes the basis of unity for all who are Christians and makes all believers part of the one body of Christ.

Among believers, mutuality is divinely intended. Christians cannot be individualists. No single believer possesses all of the Spirit’s endowments. Rather, each believer is uniquely endowed by the Spirit to help others grow in their Christian lives (1 Cor 12). The regular operation of these Spirit-inspired endowments (charismata) by the members of the church is vital for the ongoing spiritual progress of all the members of the body.

In Paul’s way of thinking one can never experience enough of the Spirit’s inspiring and empowering presence. Paul urged believers always to seek a fuller manifestation of the Spirit’s presence and work (Eph 5:18). He wanted them to continually be “filled” with the Spirit, which would make itself felt in the quality of worship in the community—they would “speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs” (Eph 5:19). The “filling” of the Spirit would certainly also bring about the continued use of the Spirit’s edifying gifts and reinforce the cultivation of Christian virtue. All of this stands in stark contrast to the world from which the Ephesian readers had come. Paul prefaced all of his comments on the Spirit here with the admonition “do not get drunk on wine.” Possibly the drunken and frenzied revelry connected with the worship of the god Dionysus, the god of wine, forms the general cultural background of this statement. The first-century readers were called to turn their backs to alcoholic intoxication and inspiration from any other spirit or deity (such as Dionysus) and yield themselves completely to the Holy Spirit of God. They were to allow themselves to be filled completely with God’s Spirit and give thanks to God the Father. He alone can cheer the heart and bring joy. Because of the Spirit’s presence, we can “sing and make music in [our] hearts to the Lord!”[1]

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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



[1] Clinton E. Arnold, Powers of Darkness: Principalities & Powers in Paul’s Letters (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic: An Imprint of InterVarsity Press, 1992), 117–119.

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