I Need “the One” to Complete Me!– Lies of the Enemy #40 – Purity 1052
Purity 1052 05/25/2023 Purity 1052 Podcast
Purity 1052 on YouTube: Coming Soon!
Good morning,
Today’s photo
of a trio of people gathered near a tree on the shores of Lake Ontario to take
in a magnificent sunset sky comes to us from Celestial Blue Photography as
Rocco Saya captured this scene back on May 22nd of 2020, commenting
at the time that the people were “6 feet apart!”, albeit with a “winking emoji”.
Well, It’s Thursday
and as my “ministry night” has shifted from Thursdays, to Tuesdays, to
Wednesdays over the years, I’m not really sure which day of the week I should
share a “pathway photo” to encourage my friends (that’s you) to get on or to
stay on the path of Christian Discipleship but while I mostly shared this photo
because of its epic beauty, it does have a shoreline walkway on display to
visual represent the path that leads to amazing things and a life filled with
the fruit of the Spirit.
Last night,
I led the Celebrate Freedom Growth Group in a quieting and “affirming” exercise
with the intention of leading my newest friends to find a moment of peace and
to encourage them to embrace what their Heavenly Father says about them.
After the group’s
initial prayer and “ice breaker”, I decided to step out in faith and tried to
lead the group into an “experiential knowledge” of their identity in Christ. Instructed the group to relax and to let go of
the stress of the day, to shake it off, and to release it by doing “box breathing”
– to inhale and exhale with a 4 second count and holding the breath for 4
seconds in between. If you’d like to give it a try, inhale 1,2,3,4 – hold it 1,
2,3,4, exhale 1,2,3,4 – hold it 1,2,3, 4 – and repeat. For those who don’t like counting or that
counting becomes a distraction, I advised to just take deep breaths in and out.
I then
invited them to keep breathing, to relax, to close their eyes if they wished
to, and to listen as I told them that I was going to read through the who I am
in Christ list but that I was going to read through it as if addressing them
personally by changing the verbiage to “You”.
I told them that the Who I am in Christ list was based scripture and in
essence it is what God wants us to know about ourselves as His adopted children. I wanted the group to listen to the list and
invited them to embrace what the list had to say about who they are,
personally. And so to repeat the exercise
– if you’re listening – or reading this – breathe in and out – and try to
receive – in your Spirit – what the Lord has to say about you.
Who You are in Christ.
You are ACCEPTED IN CHRIST
You
are God’s Child (John 1:12)
You
are Christ’s Friend (John 15:15)
You
have been justified (Romans 5:1)
You
are united with the Lord and one with Him in Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:17)
You
have been bought with a price; You belong to God (1 Corinthians 6:20)
You
are a member of Christ’s body (1 Corinthians 12:27)
You
are a saint (Ephesians 1:1)
You
have been adopted as God’s child (Ephesians 1:5)
You
have direct access to God through the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 2:18)
You
have been redeemed and forgiven of all your sins (Colossians 1:14)
You
are complete in Christ (Colossians 2:10)
You are SECURE IN CHRIST
You
are free forever from condemnation (Romans 8:1)
You
are assured that all things work together for good (Romans 8:28)
You
are free from the condemning charges against you (Romans 8:33-34)
You
cannot be separated from the love of God (Romans 8:35, 38-39)
You
have been established, anointed, and sealed by God (2 Corinthians 1:21-22)
You
are a citizen of heaven (Philippians 3:20)
You
are hidden with Christ in God (Colossians 3:3)
You
can find grace and mercy to help you in time of need (Hebrews 4:16)
You
are born of God, and the evil one cannot touch you (1 John 5:18)
You have not been given a spirit
of fear, but of power, love, and a sound mind (2 Tim 1:7)
You are confident that the good
work God has begun in you will be perfected (Phil 1:6)
You are SIGNIFICANT IN CHRIST
You
are the salt and light of the earth (Matthew 5:13-14)
You
are a branch of the true vine, a channel to Jesus’ life (John 15:1,5)
You
have been chosen and appointed to bear fruit (John 15:16)
You
are a personal witness of Christ (Acts 1:8)
You
are God’s temple (1 Corinthians 3:16)
You
are a minister of reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5:17-20)
You
are God’s coworker (2 Corinthians 6:1)
You
are seated with Christ in the heavenly realms (Ephesians 2:6)
You
are God’s workmanship (Ephesians 2:10)
You
may approach God with freedom and confidence (Ephesians 3:12)
You
can do all things through Christ who gives you strength (Philippians 4:13)
If you have
made Jesus your Lord and Savior, and you know in your heart if you have, every
single one of these things are true about you. And I pray for the Holy Spirit
to work in your heart and mind to embrace and accept who you are in Christ.
Amen.
This is our
new life in Christ, so believe it, receive it, and decide to live it.
I personally
love the Who I am in Christ list and practice it daily. Some of the statements
speak louder to me at different times but today I want to point to the last
statement under the “I am Accept in Christ” section – I am complete in Christ.
If we have placed our faith in Jesus – we are
complete. And while the world, the
flesh, and the devil strive to tell us that we are lacking or that we need to
do something to be complete – Christ says “It is finished” and we are made
whole – made complete in Him.
And that
brings us to our current
series the “Lies of the Enemy”, which is an examination of some of the common lies, sometimes
sneakily whispered into our minds as “first person” statements, that the enemy
tells us to cause us to doubt our faith, lose our peace, cause division, or
influence us to not follow the Lord with the way we live our lives.
We’ve
decided to end this series as a 40 day devotional so today is the last day and
I have decided to take on perhaps the biggest lie of the enemy – the one that
tells you that there is something or some “ONE” out there that will “complete
you” other than your relationship with God.
Sorry, Jerry
Maguire, the idea that you “complete me” is a lie from the pit of hell because
if I believe that and focus on finding my “ONE” or my “QUEST” or My “IDOL” or whatever to the exception of seeking the
Lord, I will discover that my searching and worshipping one of God’s created
things – or something I created or built up in my mind as “The IDEAL” – will eventually
separate me from God and consign me to perdition as I rejected the only One who
truly knows me and who will never leave or forsake me.
So today’s
big and final lie, in this series is.
Lie #40: I Need “the One” to Complete Me!
Again, as we examine the enemy’s lies
that would lead us astray we have to admit that the things he uses to ensnare
us are often good or true in some ways but because he is evil, Satan will call
what is evil good and will use good things for evil.
Our need for human companionship or
fulfillment are good things but the enemy entices us to make us put our focus
on those “good things” only and thus giving them “godlike” status in our lives
because we rest our hearts and minds on them rather than God. With the “myth of the ONE”, Satan takes our
desire to be loved and accepted and makes it the all consuming passion of our
lives.
The myth of the One can make us obsessive – to hold tightly to our
“One” if we should find them – or to lead us to despair if “Mr. or Ms. Right” hasn’t
come around yet. This myth can also lead
us into sexual sin as we decide to try as many “ONE”’s as we can to make sure
we haven’t overlooked anyone. The desperate search can make us depressed and
even make us “addicted to love” as our search for true love is corrupted and
compromised into sexual sin and striving to find meaning in one of God’s
created beings rather than Him.
The myth of the One tells us that
somewhere out there in this world there is a soulmate for each one of us who
when we find them will completely fulfill us – making us “complete”. While
scripture encourages marriage, it doesn’t really indicate that husbands and
wives are the means to our fulfillment – Christ is – He completes us.
The myth of the ONE – can also be transferred
to the realm of personal accomplishments or obtaining possessions. Being diligent in amassing wealth or prestige
can make us feel powerful, wise, or important.
But in the final accounting, all the possessions of this world or
accomplishments of men will mean nothing when we are called into eternity. We can’t earn or buy our Salvation. Only
faith in Jesus can do that.
I know I always tend to go to the “ultimate
things” in my blog because frankly we need to be concerned with the “next thing”
=what happens when its all been said and done. And while I will encourage
people to seek after their dreams and to find happiness in their personal relationships
and through accomplishing their goals or obtaining and enjoying their “stuff” –
I feel compelled to make people aware that those things are temporary and the things
that really matter are the unseen spiritual realities – God and His kingdom and
that we need to seek Him and find our way – His way Jesus – to live.
So don’t believe that lie that “I need the ONE to complete me” unless you know that the One that completes us and gives us eternal life is Jesus Christ. In Christ, we have everything we need so seek Him and follow Him to see what good things come when you decide to answer His call and purpose for your life.
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For those who want more evidence for Christianity
than my simple apologetic will provide, I offer apologist, Frank Turek’s
website, https://crossexamined.org/ .
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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:
Psalm 92:1 (NKJV)
1 It is good to give
thanks to the LORD, And to sing
praises to Your name, O Most High;
Today’s verse tells us that it is good to give thanks to the Lord and to sing praises to His name!
This is our spiritual practice guys – to give thanks and to sing God’s praises. Gratitude – thanksgiving – keeps us grounded in the “good news” of all that the Lord has done for us. It leads to joy.
Singing likewise has been proven as a means to joy and I would say that singing worship songs to the Lord – with sincerity and feeling – can move our knowledge of God and His presence and love for us from our minds to our hearts.
So practice these things.
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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 The Holy Spirit By A.W. Pink.
As always, I share this information for educational
purposes and encourage you all to purchase A.W. Pink’s books for your own
private study and to support his work. This resource is available online
for $0.99 (https://www.amazon.com/Holy-Spirit-Arthur-Pink-Collection-ebook/dp/B008CM5292/ref=sr_1_3?crid=AHKAQOM39CTN&keywords=a.w.+pink+the+holy+spirit&qid=1684376225&sprefix=a.w.+pink+the+holy+spirit+%2Caps%2C96&sr=8-3)
A.W. Pink’s The Holy Spirit
4 - The Deities of the Holy Spirit
Correct views of the Divine character lie at the
foundation of all genuine and vital godliness. It should, then, be one of our
chief quests to seek after the knowledge of God. Without the true knowledge of
God, in His nature and attributes, we can neither worship Him acceptably nor
serve Him aright.
“Names” Describe Character
Now the three Persons in the Godhead have
graciously revealed Themselves through a variety of names and titles. The
Nature of God we are utterly incapable of comprehending, but His person and
character may be known. Each name or title that God has appropriated unto
Himself is that whereby He reveals Himself unto us, and whereby He would have
us know and own Him. Therefore whatever any name of God expresses Him to be, that He is, for He will not deceive us
by giving Himself a wrong or false name. On this account He requires us to
trust in His Name, because He will assuredly be found unto us all that His Name
imports.
The names of God,
then, are for the purpose of expressing Him unto us; they set forth His
perfections and make known the different relations which He sustains unto the
children of men and unto His own favored people. Names are given for this
intent, that they might declare what the thing is to which the name belongs.
Thus, when God created Adam and gave him dominion over this visible world, He
caused the beasts of the field and the fowls of the air to pass before him,
that they might receive names from him (Gen. 2:19). In like manner, we may
learn of what God is through the names and titles He has taken. By means of
them, God spells out Himself to us, sometimes by one of His perfections,
sometimes by another. A very wide field of study is here introduced to us, yet
we can now say no more than that the prayerful and diligent searcher will find
it a highly profitable one to investigate.
What has been said
above serves to indicate the importance of the present aspect of our subject.
What the Holy Spirit is in His Divine Person and ineffable character is made
known unto us by means of the many names and varied titles which are accorded
to Him in Holy Writ. A whole volume, rather than a brief chapter, might well be
devoted to their contemplation. May we be Divinely guided in using the limited
space which is now at our disposal in writing that which will both magnify the
Third Person in the blessed Trinity, and serve as a stimulus unto our readers
to give more careful study and holy meditation to those titles of His which we
cannot here consider. Possibly, we can help our friends most by devoting our
attention to those which are more difficult to apprehend.[1]
---------------------------more
tomorrow------------------------
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Email me at mt4christ247@gmail.com to receive the class materials, share your progress, and
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My wife, TammyLyn, also offers Christian
encouragement via her Ask Seek Knock blog (https://tammylynask.blogspot.com/ ), her
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For those who require the assistance of a Deeper
Walk International Prayer Minister to experience healing or your freedom in
Christ, I highly recommend Christy Edge’s Life on the Edge Freedom Prayer
Ministry. You can schedule a session by going to : https://cedge216.wixsite.com/life-on-the-edge
“The views, opinions, and commentary of this
publication are those of the author, M.T. Clark, only, and do not purport to
reflect the opinions or views of any of the photographers, artists, ministries,
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Encouragement
for the Path of Christian Discipleship
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