Purity 442 06/11/2021 Purity 442 Podcast
Good morning.
When I looked at this
photo I just thought of the Creedence Clearwater Revival song that starts:
“Just got home from Illinois, lock the front
door, oh boy!
Got to sit down, take a rest on the porch
Imagination sets in, pretty soon I'm singin'
Doo, doo, doo, lookin' out my back door”
Yes it’s Friday, and although we still must
work, every moment will bring us closer to the freedom of the end of the workday,
and for most of us, the weekend beyond.
I love the spirit of those opening lines of
that song that tells us that we can have real joy in the comforts of home. The difference of course is not just the view
out our back door but the perspective we take when we look at our lives. No matter what problems we face at work or in
our personal lives we can find moments of peace by leaving those things aside
and by being thankful for what we have and by being pleased and content with
them.
Anybody can do this, but how much more can we
leave the things of the world on the sidelines and appreciate the bigger
picture of our lives when we have a relationship with God. His majesty stands over and above all of
creation and He is guiding history for His purposes. And He has given us a part
to play in His story and all the good things we enjoy in life were put in our
path by Him.
So whether you are going away this weekend to
see new or familiar sights, gathering with friends or family, or will be
spending time just looking out your back door, raise the levels of your joy and
appreciation of the life you have by pondering the things above and thanking and
drawing closer to the One who made it all.
This morning’s meditation verse is:
Ephesians 5:21 (NKJV)
21 submitting to one another in the
fear of God.
Today’s verse is
part of some practical advice on Christian living that the Apostle Paul encouraged
the church at Ephesus to follow. This
small fragment is part of a great deal of spiritual wisdom found in Paul’s
letter to the Ephesians but can stand on its own to teach us about the stance
we are to take in life and the motivation behind it.
The Christian life
is countercultural to the dog-eat-dog ways of the world that would tell you
that life is all about meeting our personal needs and wants over and above
everything else. Christ’s example
teaches us that we are to humble ourselves to God but also to others. This verse advises us to submit to one
another. That means we are to not only to consider the thoughts, feelings,
needs, and wants of others but that we may also put those concerns above our
own.
Jesus said that the “greatest”
among us would not be those who looked out for number one but would be those
who would be a servant to all.
So as we walk through
this life we should increasingly look to serve those we encounter in life.
Now if you are
anything like the immature rebel that I used to be you might say something
like: “Great! I’ll just be a slave to everybody! I already have to take care of
my ____, ____, and ____!”
Statements like
these just reflect that we are missing what Jesus was talking about. The suffering servant who occasionally blows
up in fits of frustration is playing the martyr. They are serving their friends, family, or bosses
in the flesh but their hearts are still focused on themselves, and the devil is
right there with them to agree with them about just how “good’ they are and how
“bad” they have it.
They are serving but
have no peace or joy. The idea of
serving with peace and joy is a foreign concept to those who are focused on
themselves and not looking at their service as their reasonable service before
God.
Remember we have
been saved by the creator of the universe because of His grace, not because we
are good, or because we work hard. We
were on the highway to hell even if we worked hard and took care of our families
with out Christ.
Remember you have
been rescued from the wrath of God.
When we hold on to the
realization of our salvation, the world’s problems don’t seem so big. When we
remember the bigger picture, our jobs and service to others seem like
reasonable things that we do to support our families and to express the love
and gratitude we have for them.
When we live our
faith out, we realize we have everything in our salvation so there is nothing else
that we need to strive for. We can let go of our selfish desires as we look at
the nature of them and see that we have been chasing after things continually that
pass away and fail to satisfy.
Instead of looking at
the things we don’t have from this world, we can look at all the things we have
already been given by God and realize there is nothing left to do but to spend
our lives enjoying ourselves and the one’s He has placed in our path. Our natural response to embracing our lives
of faith is to express our love for God by serving the needs of others without
expectation.
So we don’t have to
fear God’s wrath, but we should have a fearful respect of what He has done for
us and show our appreciation of Him and what He has given by submitting to
others in service to magnify and glorify Him.
As always, I invite all to go to mt4christ.org
where I always share insights from prominent Christian counselors to assist my
brothers and sisters in Christ with their walk.
Today we continue with Dr. Neil Anderson’s Victory
Over the Darkness, continuing in Chapter 2, with the section “Who Am I”
As always, I share this information for educational purposes
and encourage all to purchase Dr. Anderson’s books for your own private study
and to support His work. If you need this title you can find it online at several
sites for less than $15.00:
I am the salt of the earth (Matthew 5:13).
I am the light of the world (Matthew 5:14).
I am a child of God (John 1:12).
I am part of the true vine, a channel of Christ's life (John 15:1, 5).
I am Christ's friend (John 15:15).
I am chosen and appointed by Christ to bear His fruit (John 15:16).
I am a slave of righteousness (Romans 6:18).
I am enslaved to God (Romans 6:22).
I am a son of God; God is spiritually my Father (Romans 8:14, 15;
Galatians 3:26;
Galatians 4:6).
I am a joint heir with Christ, sharing His inheritance with
Him (Romans 8:17).
I am a temple—a dwelling place—of God. His Spirit and His
life dwells in me (1 Cor.
3:16; 1 Cor.
6:19).
I am united to the Lord and am one spirit with Him (1 Cor. 6:17).
I am a member of Christ's Body (1 Cor. 12:27;
Ephes. 5:30).
I am a new creation (2 Cor. 5:17).
I am reconciled to God and am a minister of reconciliation (2 Cor. 5:18,
19).
I am a son of God and one in Christ (Galatians 3:26, 28).
I am an heir of God since I am a son of God (Galatians 4:6, 7).
I am a saint (1 Cor. 1:2; Ephes. 1:1; Phil. 1:1; Col. 1:2).
I am God's workmanship—His handiwork—born anew in Christ to
do His work (Ephes.
2:10).
I am a fellow citizen with the rest of God's family (Ephes. 2:19).
I am a prisoner of Christ (Ephes. 3:1; Ephes. 4:1).
I am righteous and holy (Ephes. 4:24).
I am a citizen of heaven, seated in heaven right now (Ephes. 2:6; Phil. 3:20).
I am hidden with Christ in God (Col. 3:3).
I am an expression of the life of Christ because He is my
life (Col. 3:4).
I am chosen of God, holy and dearly loved (Col. 3:12; 1 Thes. 1:4).
I am a son of light and not of darkness (1 Thes. 5:5).
I am a holy partaker of a heavenly calling (Hebrews 3:1).
I am a partaker of Christ; I share in His life (Hebrews 3:14).
I am one of God's living stones, being built up in Christ as
a spiritual house (1 Peter
2:5).
I am a member of a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy
nation, a people for God's own possession (1 Peter 2:9,
10).
I am an alien and stranger to this world in which I
temporarily live (1 Peter
2:11).
I am an enemy of the devil (1 Peter 5:8).
I am a child of God and I will resemble Christ when He
returns (1 John
3:1, 2).
I am born of God, and the evil one—the devil—cannot touch me
(1 John 5:18).
I am not the great "I am" (Exodus 3:14; John 8:24, 28, 58), but by the
grace of God, I am what I am (1 Cor. 15:10).
Because you are alive in Christ, every
one of those characteristics is completely true of you, and you can do nothing
to make them more true. You can, however, make these traits more meaningful and
productive in your life by simply choosing to believe what God has said about
you. You will not be prideful if you do, but you may be defeated if you don't.
One of the greatest ways to help
yourself grow into maturity in Christ is to continually remind yourself who you
are in Him. In my conferences we do this by reading the "Who Am I?"
list aloud together. I suggest you go back and read it aloud to yourself right
now. Read the list once or twice a day for a week or two. Read it when you
think Satan is trying to deceive you into believing you are a worthless failure.
The more you reaffirm who you are in
Christ, the more your behavior will begin to reflect your true identity.
Commenting on Romans 6,
John Stott states that the "necessity of remembering who we are" is
the way "Paul brings his high theology down to the level of practical
everyday experience," and he continues his summary:
So, in practice we should constantly be reminding ourselves who we are.
We need to learn to talk to ourselves, and ask ourselves questions: "Don't
you know? Don't you know the meaning of your conversion and baptism? Don't you
know that you have been united to Christ in His death and resurrection? Don't
you know that you have been enslaved to God and have committed yourself to His
obedience? Don't you know these things? Don't you know who you are?" We
must go on pressing ourselves with such questions, until we reply to ourselves:
"Yes, I do know who I am, a new person in Christ, and by the grace of God
I shall live accordingly."
One man drove several hundred miles to
attend our Living Free in Christ conference. On his way home he decided to use
the "Who Am I?" statements as a personal prayer list. As he drove, he
prayed through the list of traits one by one, asking God to burn them into his
consciousness. It took him nearly five hours to drive home, and he was praying
about "Who Am I?" traits all the way. When asked about the effect
this experience had on his life, he simply replied with a smile, "Life
changing."
One of my students, who sat through
this material in a seminary class, was struggling with his identity in Christ.
After the class he sent the following note to me:
Dear Dr. Anderson:
In
looking back over the material presented in class this semester, I realize that
I have been freed and enlightened in many ways. I believe the most significant
material for me had to do with the fact that in Christ I am significant,
accepted and secure. As I meditated on this material I found that I was able to
overcome many problems I have struggled with for years—fear of failure,
feelings of worthlessness and a general sense of inadequacy.
I began prayerfully studying the "Who Am I?"
statements given in class. I found myself going back to that list many times
during the semester, especially when I felt attacked in the area of fear or
inadequacy. I have also been able to share this material with a class at
church, and many of my students have experienced new freedom in their lives as
well. I can't speak enthusiastically enough about helping people understand who
they really are in Christ. In my future ministry I intend to make this a
dominant part of my teaching and counseling.
Victory Over the Darkness: Realizing the Power of Your Identity in Christ.
---------------------------more
tomorrow------------------------
God bless
you all!
Join our “Victory
over the Darkness” or “The Bondage Breaker” series of Discipleship Classes via
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