Weep with Those Who Weep - Purity 948
Purity 948 01/23/2023 Purity 948 Podcast
Purity 948 on YouTube:
Good morning,
Today’s photo of a somewhat dark and foreboding sunset
over Port Noarlunga in South Australia comes to us from Dave Baun Photography (https://www.facebook.com/DaveBaunPhotography)
who shared this solemn scene on Saturday stating: “An unplanned stop at Port Noarlunga was perhaps the last time I had to
regret not having the camera with me. Since then it is almost always with me
wherever I go, just in case! My next visit there I was happy to capture this
moody sunset.”
We can only imagine the scene Dave wasn’t able to
capture at Port Noarlunga on the day he didn’t have his camera, but his and our
loss, has become our gain as his regret caused him to be committed to having
his camera on him virtually at all times so he could capture the beautiful moments
of life as they happened, even when he didn’t expect it.
Well, it’s Monday and I chose Dave’s rather dark
sunset photo because I received a few reports of loss and brokenness over the weekend. Although I guess I could be in a dark mood
because another weekend has expired and the first day of the work week has come
with snow in my area, I am in a quiet place this morning because I learned of a
sudden death in the family on Saturday and of the possible disillusion of a marriage
on Sunday.
As much as I could “Monday morning quarterback” these
situations by offering my speculations and reflections, I am choosing to remain
silent and am deciding just to pray for the people who are at the heart of
these tragedies knowing from experience that those who suffer a major trauma
like a sudden death or sudden break in relationship don’t necessarily need our
words as much as they may need our prayers or presence. As I am not immediately involved in either of
these situations, my presence isn’t expected or required and inserting my self
into them would be unnatural and could be met with hostility. No matter how well intentioned, people don’t appreciate
a “buttinsky” especially in the wake of major loses like these.
So instead of unnaturally inserting myself into
someone else’s pain, I am praying for both situations. I’m praying for God to help those mourning
the death of their loved one and praying for God to help those who seem to be separating.
Not too long ago, I was chastised by a person I
respect because they felt I didn’t take the feelings of others into
consideration when I blogged about a mutual friend’s untimely passing. So I am
choosing to follow Paul’s advice from
Romans
12:15 (NKJV) where he advised the saints in Rome to
15 … weep with those who
weep.
So as Christians, let’s remember to weep with those
who weep and pray for them. Where appropriate, we can offer the hurting our
help or presence but let’s realize that although we may have the answers to
life and death in Christ, we should be wise in how and when we share that
wisdom.
Anyway, in light of these tragedies, the end of the
weekend and inclement weather don’t seem to be a big deal and if we are mourning
the loss of the weekend or our favorite sports teams, we should remember that others
around us may be going through some life changing traumas that won’t just dissipate
as the today clears up and draws to an end.
As always, I would encourage us to look to the Lord and count our blessings and to be guided by Him in all the things we do. So keep walking and talking with God and try to love your neighbors as yourself.
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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:
Revelation 3:7 (NLT2)
7 “Write this letter to the
angel of the church in Philadelphia. This is the message from the one who is
holy and true, the one who has the key of David. What he opens, no one can
close; and what he closes, no one can open.
Today’s verse reminds us that what Christ opens, no one can close
and what He closes no one can open.
Not sure if where our resource, “The
NLT Bible Promise Book for Men” was going when they chose a verse from
Revelation to put under the general heading of “Success” without explanation,
but I suppose beyond the “end times context” of Revelation and Christ’s general
warnings to the seven churches of antiquity to repent, I suppose this verse does
point to God’s sovereign will behind all things, that if He doesn’t open up an
opportunity for you, it just won’t open, and if he “shuts a door” no amount of
trying on our part will change it.
With this “hard truth” that sometimes there are no
second chances or that sometimes the answer is no, we could despair, but what
it should do is cause us to draw close to God in prayer to help us to receive
His guidance to follow His will where we can be ready to walk through the doors
that He opens to us and to move along to the next thing when a door
closes.
Losses in life sometimes can’t be regained. We have
to accept that “that door is closed”, grieve the loss and move on.
However, even out of tragedy, God can move all things together for good to those who love Him. So let’s realize and respect God’s sovereign will and walk with Him and allow Him to guide us to the new opportunities that He opens for us.
___________________________________________
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 A.W. Pink’s “The
Sovereignty of God.”
As always, I share this information for educational
purposes and encourage all to purchase Bonhoeffer’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
SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD
By ARTHUR W. PINK
CHAPTER FOUR
THE SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD IN SALVATION, continues.
3. The Sovereignty of God the Holy Spirit in
Salvation
Since the Holy Spirit is one of the three
Persons in the blessed Trinity, it necessarily follows that He is in full
sympathy with the will and design of the other Persons of the Godhead. The
eternal purpose of the Father in
election, the limited design in the
death of the Son, and the restricted
scope of the Holy Spirit’s operations are in perfect accord. If the Father
chose certain ones before the foundation of the world and gave them to His Son,
and if it was for them that Christ gave Himself a ransom, then the Holy Spirit
is not now working to “bring the world to Christ.” The mission of the Holy
Spirit in the world today is to apply the benefits of Christ’s
redemptive sacrifice. The question which is now to engage us is not the extent of the Holy Spirit’s power—on that point there can be no
doubt, it is infinite—but what we shall seek to show is that His power and
operations are directed by Divine
wisdom and sovereignty.
We have just said
that the power and operations of the Holy Spirit are directed by Divine wisdom
and indisputable sovereignty. In proof of this assertion we appeal first to our
Lord’s words to Nicodemus in John 3:8—“The wind bloweth where it listeth, and
thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and
whither it goeth; so is every one that is born of the Spirit.” A comparison is
here drawn between the wind and the Spirit. The comparison is a double one: first, both are sovereign
in their actions, and second, both are mysterious
in their operations. The comparison is pointed out in the word “so.” The
first point of analogy is seen in the words, “where it listeth” or “pleaseth;”
the second is found in the words “canst not tell.” With the second point of
analogy we are not now concerned, but upon the first we would comment further.
“The wind bloweth where it pleaseth … so is every one that is born of
the Spirit.” The wind is an element which man can neither harness nor
hinder. The wind neither consults man’s pleasure nor can it be regulated by his
devices. So it is with the Spirit. The wind blows when it pleases, where it
pleases, as it pleases. So it is with the Spirit. The wind is regulated by
Divine wisdom, yet, so far as man is concerned, it is absolutely sovereign in its operations. So it is
with the Spirit. Sometimes the wind blows so softly it scarcely rustles a leaf;
at other times it blows so loudly that its roar can be heard for miles. So it
is in the matter of the new birth; with some the Holy Spirit deals so gently
that His work is imperceptible to human onlookers; with others His action is so
powerful, radical, revolutionary, that His operations are patent to many.
Sometimes the wind is purely local in its reach, at other times widespread in
its scope. So it is with the Spirit: today He acts on one or two souls,
tomorrow He may, as at Pentecost, “prick in the heart” a whole multitude. But
whether He works on few or many He consults not man. He acts as He pleases. The new birth is due to the sovereign will of the Spirit.[1]
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Encouragement for the Path of Christian Discipleship
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