He Will Restore Your Soul – A Mindful of Christ Encouragement
and Reminder - Purity 1195
Purity 1195 11/10/2023 Purity 1195 Podcast
Purity 1195 on YouTube:
Good morning,
Today’s photo of a “Bridge over Tranquil Waters”
comes to us from Fred Dimmick who shared this peaceful scene on social media this
week captioning it as “Tranquility at the river”,
Well, It’s Friday – and as we are observing Veteran’s
Day tomorrow, with the day off today, I am at my wife, TammyLyn’s countryside
estate for a three-day weekend where I fully expect to discover a measure of
tranquility as we are scheduled to see a show tonight, Seussical the Musical,
at the Charles R. Wood Theater in Glens Falls this evening for a little fun and
I’m not sure what else for tomorrow. But I do know that a long weekend with my
wife will give me a peaceful easy feeling just being in her presence.
Last night after dinner, and before my online Zoom Cohort
Meeting with Deeper Walk International’s School of Prayer Ministry, I had a half-hour
window of “free time” to spend and instead of trying to get ahead on school or
ministry work or do anything “productive”, I just asked TammyLyn if she would “lay
with me”. Now don’t get any funny ideas,
while I am a virile sexy beast of a man when I want to be, I just wanted to
rejoice in her presence by lying down and holding her in my arms, fully clothed. I miss my wife during the week and while I
only had half an hour to spend, I wanted to invest all of it in my love for
her. So we just held one another and
rested in one another’s arms until my meeting began. Simple times like that can build your
relationship and give you rest, and I was reminded how blessed I was to have a
wife who loved me and who could relax long enough to do that.
Of course, I didn’t always have TammyLyn. After my
previous marriage was destroyed by divorce, I decided to follow the provisions
for gentile Christians highlighted in Acts 15, and remained sexually pure and
was fully prepared to remain that way for the rest of my life, with the hope
that I wouldn’t have to of course, and thankfully the Lord brought TammyLyn into
my life in 2021, and she became be my faithful Christian wife on New Year’s Day 2022. So how did I cope between
2018 and 2021? Where did I find my rest? Where did I restore my soul?
Although I wasn’t dating, I wasn’t alone. I had
friends in the body of Christ and family
in my life of course but the relationship that has persisted and carried
me through some of the worst days of my life, was my relationship with the
Lord. In his presence, I find strength, peace, love, and joy. He can restore
our soul.
So in the spirit of restoring our souls, I share Lauren Roskilly’s short encouragement based on Psalm 23:2-3, that sent out as this week’s Word for Wednesday from her ministry Mindful of Christ.net You can subscribe to receive emails of Lauren’s Word for Wednesday for yourself to be encouraged weekly and be equipped by other Christian Resources by Lauren Roskilly by going to https://mindfulofchrist.net/.
Psalm 23:2-3 (ESV)
2 He makes me lie down in
green pastures. He leads me beside still waters.
3 He restores my soul. He
leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
Lauren writes:
“He will restore your soul
We all
have the ability and privilege of being able to spend time with Him in his
presence. When you do, He will lead you by still waters and restore your soul!
By simply
sitting in His presence you will also:
-
Experience His peace, love & joy (fruits of the Spirit)
- Find
calmness
- Hear
His voice
So, stop,
take time out and rest with the Lord. Whether you are 'busy', stressed' or
simply trundling through life, we all need the Lord.
But,
perhaps you need to be intentional about it. For instance; Make a post-it note,
add it to the calendar, set reminders.
This
week, challenge yourself to make time to sit still with Him.
So if you
want to experience those green pastures, be led beside those still waters &
be restored then make your time with Him your priority.”
Thanks
for that simple advice and encouragement, Lauren! So as many of us have a three
day weekend, let me encourage you to take my friend’s advice and make time with
the Lord a priority because while we may be able to find a measure of rest and
relaxation in the world, only a close personal relationship with God, through
faith in Jesus Christ, and time spent in His presence can restore your soul.
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For
those who want more evidence for Christianity than my simple encouragements provide,
I offer apologist, Frank Turek’s website, https://crossexamined.org/ .
Today’s
Bible verse comes to us from “The Quick Scripture Reference for Counseling” By
John G. Kruis.
(
While Bible verses on various topics of Counseling can be found with a quick Google
search, we encourage you to purchase this resource to support the late author’s
work. (https://www.amazon.com/Quick-Scripture-Reference-Counseling-Kruis-ebook/dp/B00CIUJZT2?ref_=ast_author_dp )
This
morning’s meditation verses come from the section on Children.
2 Samuel
12:18-23 (ESV)
18 On the seventh day the
child died. And the servants of David were afraid to tell him that the child
was dead, for they said, “Behold, while the child was yet alive, we spoke to
him, and he did not listen to us. How then can we say to him the child is dead?
He may do himself some harm.”
19 But when David saw that
his servants were whispering together, David understood that the child was
dead. And David said to his servants, “Is the child dead?” They said, “He is
dead.”
20 Then David arose from the
earth and washed and anointed himself and changed his clothes. And he went into
the house of the LORD and
worshiped. He then went to his own house. And when he asked, they set food
before him, and he ate.
21 Then his servants said to
him, “What is this thing that you have done? You fasted and wept for the child
while he was alive; but when the child died, you arose and ate food.”
22 He said, “While the child
was still alive, I fasted and wept, for I said, ‘Who knows whether the LORD will be gracious to me, that the
child may live?’
23 But now he is dead. Why
should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he will not
return to me.”.
Today’s
verses fall under the sixth point of our counseling reference guide resource’s
section on Children.
6. David was comforted by the knowledge that his infant son went to heaven when he died and that he would see him there.
Today’s verses remind us that even in the deepest tragedy of death we can have hope because there is life after death and the faithful know that they will see their faithful loved ones again.
Some may have thought David was a little cold in “getting over” his son’s death so soon but we all grieve differently and when you have a deep faith and knowledge that God has our loved ones in His hands, we can have a peace over our loved one’s departure.
For the Christian, we don’t need to wonder where our departed loved ones go, or if their leaving us was “right”. We know that God gives us life and He decides when to take it. We also know that He is good and that His ways are higher than our ways. So while we may not understand why our loved ones had to die when and how they did, we can trust that God either has them safe with in His kingdom or they have rightly been judged and sent where they chose to go. If you choose to reject God’s presence in life, you can be assured you won’t be forced into after death. We are all responsible for the consequences of our decisions and no one ends up where they didn’t choose in the end.
David knew this and He knew God would lovingly welcome his son, an innocent baby, into His kingdom and because, David had a heart for God and a covenant relationship with Him, he knew he would see his son again.
Our faith in and relationship with God is the most important thing about us. It holds the answer to life and death and determines where we go beyond this mortal coil. Until Jesus returns death will come, but those in Christ will live and the only work we will have to do in grief is to adjust from the absence of our lost loved ones from our lives here on earth, because if they knew Jesus, we will see them again.
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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 are sharing from A. W. Pink’s – The Arthur
Pink Anthology - a collection of A.W.
Pink’s tracts brought together in one book and dispersed here on the blog for
your encouragement.
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 free as a PDF at many sites, but printed copies of collections of A.W.
Pink’s books are available for purchase wherever Christian books are sold.
The Arthur Pink Anthology – 4
Bearing the Rod –
Part 2 of 2
If the “trouble”
through which we are passing at any period of our lives be a reproof from God
because of our sins or unfaithfulness, and instead of suspecting that He is
displeased with us and taking our place in the dust before Him, begging Him to
put His finger on the festering sore in our hearts: if instead, we proudly
imagine that there is nothing wrong in our lives, that we have given God no
cause to smite us, and complacently assume that we are suffering only for
“righteousness’ sake,” and draw comfort from such promises as Matthew 5:11, 12,
we are deceived by Satan, and are but “forsaking our own mercy” (Jonah 2:8). It
is written, He that covereth his sins shall not prosper” (Prov. 28:13). Thus,
whenever “trouble” comes upon a Christian it is always the safest policy to
come to the Lord and say, “Teach me, and I will hold my tongue: and cause me to
understand wherein I have erred” (Job 5:24).
From what has been
said above, it will be seen that it often falls to the lot of God’s servants to
perform a duty which is most unpleasant to the flesh. When they come into
contact with a Brother or Sister who is passing through deep waters, their
natural desire is to administer comfort, but in some instances (at least) to do
so would be guilty of “healing also the hurt of the daughter of My people
slightly:” and how is this done? The same verse tells us, by “saying, Peace,
peace, when there is no peace” (Jer. 6:14). That was what the ‘false prophets”
had done to Israel, and that was the very thing which carnal Israel desired:
their demand was, “Prophesy not unto us right things, speak to us smooth
things, prophesy deceits” (Isa. 30:10); and human nature has not changed any
since then!
It is a thankless
task for any true servant of Christ today to be faithful to his Master, and
faithful to the souls of those with whom he deals. Not that God requires him to
think the worst of every case that comes to his notice, but that it is his
burden duty to exhort each one to act on Job 10:2. But if he does do so, he may
be assured at the beginning, that in the majority of cases he will be looked
upon as harsh, hypercritical, unkind, like one of Job’s censorious comforters;
for there are few indeed who have an honest heart, are ready to know the worst
about themselves, and are willing to be cut by the knife of God’s Word. The
great majority want only comfort, the “promises” of Scripture, the message of
“Peace, peace.
But do not the
Promises of God belong unto His children? Certainly they do: but here too
“there is a season, and a time to every purpose” (Eccl. 3:1): there is a time
when we may rightfully draw consolation and strength from the promises, and
there is a time when we may not legitimately do so. When all is right between
our souls and God, when every known sin has been confessed, and forsaken in
sincere purpose of heart, then may we righteously draw milk from the breasts of
Divine consolation. But just as there are times when it would be injurious for
us to eat some of the things we do when we are well, so to take unto ourselves
comfort from the Divine promises while sin is cherished in our hearts, is
baneful and sinful.
The above (now
slightly revised) recently sent by us in a letter to one passing through deep
waters. It occurred to us that it might be a timely word for others. Many are
now in the fiery furnace, and few indeed are there capable of speaking to them
a word in season. It is not sufficient to bid them “Trust in God,” and assure
them that brighter days are ahead. The conscience needs to be searched; the
wound must be probed and cleansed, before it is ready for “the balm of Gilead;”
we must humble ourselves “beneath the mighty hand of God” (1 Pet. 5:6), if we
are to be exalted again by Him in “due time.” May the Lord be pleased to bless
the above unto some of “His own.”[1]
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tomorrow------------------------
Join our “Victory over the Darkness”, “The Bondage
Breaker”, "Freedom in Christ" series of Discipleship Classes via the
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My wife, TammyLyn, also offers Christian encouragement via her Ask Seek Knock blog (https://tammylynask.blogspot.com/ ), 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)
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Encouragement
for the Path of Christian Discipleship
