When World’s Collide - Call in the Specialist – Purity 684
Purity
684 03/21/2022 Purity 684 Podcast
Good
morning,
Today’s photo of a setting sun
comes to us from a friend who recently left the Northeast winter behind for a
vacation in Dunedin Florida, and even though they had to endure a six hour
delay in their flight, the waiting made them more than ready for some “fun in
the sun”.
Well, as the sun has set on another weekend,
and it’s Monday again, I have a “jet lag” feeling as I am contemplating a new
transition of “world’s colliding” as I return to my normal job as a telecommunications
field technician for the first part of my day but will be also serving my local
community as a psychiatric tech for the Mobile Crisis Assessment Team this
evening.
Last week, I was on a “working vacation” and
worked full time for the Mobile Crisis Assessment Team For Columbia & Green
Counties and after a week of it I had a strange experience of thinking “this is
my life now”. After a few days, I
quickly became fully immersed in my “ego-trip” as a psych tech as the work
demands your full attention and commitment.
You can’t really fake your care and concern for people who are in crisis
and who are reaching out for help, or at least you shouldn’t.
If you were “going through the motions” in
helping people in crisis you could do some serious damage as your lack of
attention and care could confirm their worst suspicions that no one cares and
could do more harm than good. While we
must maintain some level of separation and professionalism in our interactions
with those we try to help, we have to be “real” in our commitment to be a sympathetic
listener and to try to guide people out of crisis and into peace.
Similarly, in my job as a communications
tech I have to assure the customers I encounter that I care about their
communications problem and am doing everything I can to resolve their problems
as soon as possible.
But in both jobs, as much as I want to help
those I encounter, I also have to recognize that I can’t solve everyone’s
problems and I have to know my limitations and refer people to specialists when
necessary. I have to do as much as I
can to help but also be wise enough to know when the problem before me requires
skills that are beyond me and be humble enough to admit that and guide people
to those specialists.
So today, I will be operating in both
realms of telecommunications and the world of mental health and in order to
function in both I have to maintain a level of inner peace and balance that
will allow me to be effective.
While there are many techniques people can
employ to relax, I have come to understand that the greatest sense of peace
that I can experience comes from my continuous relationship with the Prince of Peace,
Jesus Christ. Jesus is the Specialist
who saved me from sin and death and I can walk through this earth now in peace with
God because of Him.
Just as my jobs require my ability to discern
when something is within my power to change and when things need to be given to
a specialist, our relationship with God requires us to recognize that there are
things that we are responsible for and there are things that are beyond our
power to affect that we should “give to God”.
And just like when I refer problems I can’t
fix to “unseen” specialists that I trust will help those in need, I have to
also have faith that when I run into problems in my life that are beyond my
ability to change and choose to surrender them to God I have to trust that He
will guide things in the way they should go.
In fact our faith in God, requires even more faith than our trust in
man.
If a specialist fails to fix the problem,
we would give it to another specialist until its fixed. But sometimes even the
specialist, can’t fix what is broken and they have the hard task of telling
those effected that there is nothing they can do and they will have to accept
the loss and get something new to replace what’s broken. Even specialist can’t
fix everything.
With God, it’s the same way, but He has the
harder job of having to deal with the really big problems. With issues like ware and peace, sickness and
health, and life and death, people will come to God and ask Him to fix it and
fix it fast. Sometimes our prayers are
answered as we expect, and we praise His name and declare that God is good.
But more often than not, our expectations of
what God should do are not met and just like when the specialist tells you that
you will have to accept the loss and move on, we might become disappointed and
angry.
When specialists fail us, our anger can
cause us to stop doing business with them.
But if we have any insight into God’s
eternal design, we have to realize that the only one who will suffer from not “doing
business” with God is us.
That’s why our faith in God, must transcend
our faith in man. Our faith in God has to be more than our faith in others and more
than our faith in ourselves. If we are honest, we have to realize that we don’t
know everything, and we can’t fix everything.
But God does.
As the world may seem to be falling apart
at times, and the governments of men seem to be incapable of solving the
problems that we face, we need to recognize that our faith is best put in the
hands of the One who made the earth and will shape the future.
As daunting as the questions of life and
death can be, the Lord provided His answers to those questions in His Word, the
Bible. The word of God tells of a
Messiah that would come to reconcile man to God and those prophecies were
fulfilled in Jesus Christ. Those who
put their faith in Jesus, are given eternal life in His kingdom and even though
their bodies may fail them here on earth, they are assured that the One who
conquered death will prepare a place for them beyond this life.
So whatever problems we face today,
remember that there is only so much we can do and only so much we are responsible
for, both for today and tomorrow. We should
do what we can and refer the problems we can’t handle to specialists. But as
for our lives, we should do what we can to live according to God’s word and then
trust the Lord to take care of the rest.
When we live our lives by trusting the Lord
with the things we can’t handle and just do our best to follow His wisdom, we
discover that our lives become filled with the fruit of the Spirit. When we
walk in the Spirit, aka obey God’s word, our lives become living expressions of
love, joy, peace, goodness, faithfulness, kindness, patience and self-control.
So keep walking and talking with God and
trust in Him to help you accept the losses and disappointments in life and that
He will eventually fix what’s broken, when Christ comes to rule and reign
forever and ever, Amen.
______________________________________________________________________
If
you are interested in taking an online course with Freedom in Christ Ministries
below you will find the course options for our Spring Session. The
classes will meet for 1.5-2 hours once a week for 12 weeks starting the first
full week of April. Our prayer is that you will be able to set aside
time for one of these wonderful courses. They truly are life changing!
Spring
registration is now open! We are offering these times.
1. Women’s Group, Starting
Wednesday, April 6 at 10:00 AM EDT.
2. Women’s Group, Starting Friday,
April 8 at 10:30 AM EDT.
3. Men’s Group, Starting Tuesday,
April 5 at 7:00 PM EDT.
4. Men's Group, Starting Thursday,
April 7 at 6:30 PM EDT.
5. CO-ED SPANISH
SPEAKING Group, Starting Tuesday, April 5 at 7:00 PM EDT.
6. CO-ED Group, Starting Thursday,
April 7 at 7:00 PM EDT.
If
you are interested in taking the Freedom in Christ Course, please click the
Sign-up Form link below to register for your desired course time.
We
encourage you to order your books now through the FICM online Bookstore
at Freedominchrist.com. You will need the Freedom
in Christ Course Participant’s Guide and The
Steps to Freedom in Christ booklet.
For
the SPANISH participant's book click here. For the SPANISH Steps to Freedom
click here or search SPG004-1 in the bookstore search
bar.
All
materials and shipping should cost you no more than $25.
Once
registration has closed, you will receive an introduction email confirming
your course time and giving you additional information about your instructor
and how the course works.
Sign
up and order your books today! Class registration will close on Sunday, March
27
______________________________________________________________________
Today’s Bible verse come to us from “The NLT Bible Promise Book
for Men”.
This morning’s meditation verse is :
James 1:2-3
(NKJV)
2 My brethren, count it all
joy when you fall into various trials,
3 knowing that the testing of
your faith produces patience.
Today’s Bible verse encourages to have joy in our trials because they will cause us to rely on the Lord and grow in the fruit of patience.
Sometimes we can be pretty confident in our ability to fix problems. We learn from our mistakes and can develop plans for every contingency. However, the questions of sickness and health and life and death are problems we can’t fully prepare for, unless we have a relationship with God.
The assurance of eternal life requires our faith in Jesus Christ. Our faith in Christ recognizes our weakness. We can’t do it ourselves but when we put our faith in Jesus we receive a new spiritual life and have access to the power and wisdom of God Himself. But in order to receive God’s wisdom and strength we have to ask for it and we have to rely on Him.
Trials exhaust our ability to “fix things”. They challenge us because we can’t immediately fix them, and they cause us to recognize our weaknesses.
But as James points out in today’s verses, that’s a good thing because they will cause us to rely on the Lord’s strength and wisdom to guide us through them and they will demand that we endure through them and wait for resolution. The waiting on a resolution will create the environment to exercise our faith and grow in our patience.
So if you are going through a trial, draw close to the Lord. Seek His presence, His wisdom, and His strength in prayer and in His word. His help may come miraculously, or providentially, or may come with just through the strength He gives you to endure and persevere. When we walk with God, we are assured of a good ending, either here on earth or as it is in heaven.
But obviously, God caused James to write these words to assure us that trials would come in our lives, but we should recognize them as opportunities to grow in our relationship with God and in our patience. The only way we could rejoice in trials is because we can know that they serve the purpose of becoming more like Christ and becoming closer to God.
So trust in the Lord and He will see you through. Your trials will teach you how to solve problems you never faced before and will teach you to trust in God like you never have before, but they will also cause you to grow, and because of that we can rejoice.
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 June Hunt’s Overeating:
Freedom from Food Fixation.
As always, I share this
information for educational purposes and encourage all to purchase June Hunt’s books for your own private study and to
support his work. This resource is
available on many websites for less than $5.00.
F. What Effect Does Bulimia Have on the Body?
Many hear the term “eating disorder”
and feel little if any concern because they have little if any knowledge of the
serious implications of the term. However, others hear “eating disorder” and
feel paralyzed with fear—their hearts race … palms sweat … minds swirl. Why?
The reason
is quite simple … they know all too well this lying, conniving, murdering
thief. They’ve seen its bony fingers choke the life out of a precious loved one
while whispering words of deception. They’ve seen the deadly stranglehold and
felt helpless to lend a hand. Those who have watched a loved one drink its
poisonous words have seen an eating disorder destroy a life, a family, a
community. They are far too familiar with the hideous and horrendous ways it
can destroy a person’s body, mind, and spirit.
They know
because they have lived it. They have seen up close and personal the physical
complications of bulimia nervosa.…
“The
discerning heart seeks knowledge, but the mouth of a fool feeds on folly.”
(Proverbs
15:14)
How bulimia affects your
body[1]
U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services, office on Women’s Health
How
Bulimia Affects Your Body
• Blood
Problems
— Anemia
— Poor circulation, low body temperature
— Low blood pressure
— Ketoacidosis (high levels of acid buildup in
the blood)
— Type 2 diabetes mellitus
• Body
Fluids
— Dehydration
— Low potassium, magnesium, sodium (Out of
balance electrolytes can cause cardiac arrest.)
• Kidneys
— Problems from diuretic abuse
— Infections from vitamin deficiencies,
dehydration, and low blood pressure
• Intestines
— Abdominal cramping and bloating.
— Chronic constipation and diarrhea.
— Irregular bowel movements, abnormal bowel
functioning.
— Excessive use of laxatives causes bowels to
no longer function without total dependence on laxatives.
• Hormones
— Irregular or absent period
— Imbalances causing multiple problems
throughout the body
• Brain
— Distorted body image
— Excessive fear of weight gain
— Anxiety and depression
— Dizziness
— Seizures
— Difficulty concentrating
— Low self-esteem and shame
— Neurological and mental deterioration
• Cheeks/Jaw
area
— Swelling, soreness, TMJ
— Swollen salivary glands in cheeks
• Mouth
— Purging of food brings up hydrochloric acid
from the stomach that washes across the teeth.
— Teeth sensitive to hot and cold foods.
— Tooth enamel erosion and discoloration.
(Teeth look clear.)
— Cavities and tooth loss.
— Gum disease and pain.
— Sores in the mouth, swollen salivary glands
in the cheeks.
• Throat
and esophagus
— Sore and irritated
— Tears and ruptures
— Esophageal reflux, damage to larynx and lungs
— Bleeding esophagus
— Cancer of the esophagus, larynx, and throat
• Muscles
— Fatigue and aching
— Atrophy
• Stomach
— Pain and soreness
— Delayed emptying
— Ulcers and ruptures
— Deficiency in digestive enzymes
— Pancreatitis caused by repeated stomach
trauma
• Skin
— Abrasions and calluses on knuckles
— Dry, flaky skin
• Heart
— High cholesterol
— Elevated triglyceride levels
— Electrolyte imbalances
— Irregular heartbeat
— Heart muscle weakened and thickened
— Heart failure with a mortality rate from 5%
to 15% of bulimics due to cardiac arrest
• Lungs
— Shortness of breath
— Increased infections
• Eyes
— Broken blood vessels in the eyes
— Vision problems
• Pregnancy
— Miscarriage
— Baby stillborn (not born alive)
— Baby born early, low birth weight
— Birth defects, such as blindness or mental
retardation
• Weight
swings or drops
— Chronic bingeing/purging causes extreme
weight fluctuation within short periods of time.
Because the thinking of those deceived
by bulimia is confused, they desperately need to follow the advice King David
gave to his son who was soon to sit on the throne after him.…
“You,
my son Solomon, acknowledge the God of your father, and serve him with
wholehearted devotion and with a willing mind, for the Lord searches every heart and understands every desire and
every thought. If you seek him, he will be found by you.…”
(1
Chronicles 28:9)
Laxative Abuse
Question:
“What is the danger in using laxatives to lose weight?”
Answer: Laxatives do not prevent food or calories
from being absorbed but they do cause the loss of water, minerals,
electrolytes, indigestible fiber, and wastes from the colon. The result can be
dehydration unless fluids are consumed to rehydrate the body, thus negating the
weight loss. Some of the consequences of laxative abuse include …
• Electrolyte and mineral imbalances,
resulting in improper functioning of nerves and muscles, including impairment
of the colon and heart
• Severe dehydration that can lead to
tremors, weakness, blurry vision, fainting, kidney damage, and even death
• Laxative dependency when the colon fails to
respond to normal laxative doses and requires larger amounts of laxatives in
order to function
• Internal organ damage, including lazy
colon, colon infection, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, and possible colon cancer
Clearly, laxative abuse is physically dangerous and can
even become life-threatening. Tragically, some with eating disorders so despise
their bodies that they come to prefer death to life.…
“I
prefer strangling and death, rather than this body of mine.”
(Job 7:15)[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
(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]
June Hunt, Biblical Counseling Keys on Overeating:
Freedom from Food Fixation (Dallas, TX: Hope For The Heart, 2008),
14–18.
