Labels

Showing posts with label Jesus Culture. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jesus Culture. Show all posts

Tuesday, February 14, 2023

Love Has a Name - Purity 966


 Love Has a Name - Purity 966

Purity 966 02/14/2023 Purity 966 Podcast

Purity 966 on YouTube:



Good morning,

Today’s photo a “pretty sky” and a “placid river” comes to us from Lisa Sharp who shared this photo from somewhere along the Hudson River in Germantown NY, that captures the peaceful stillness just before twilight time, on social media this past Sunday. 

When you see a sight like this you just want to share its beauty with someone you love, so I am sending it to you as a Valentine’s Day reminder that no matter what your relationship status is today, you can be assured that you are loved by God because He expressed it by sending His Son to save us.    His love has a name – Jesus. 

Which reminds me of the Jesus Culture song that begins by saying: 

“There's a space in every beating heart
There's a longing that reaches past the stars
There's an answer to every question mark
There's a name

There's a hope flowing through these veins
There's a voice that echoes through the pain
There's an ember ready for the flame
There's a name

We will fix our eyes on the One who overcame
We will stand in awe of the One who breaks the chains

Love has a name
Love has a name
Jesus”

I’m sharing to that song on the blog today if you don’t know it because it shows us that Jesus  shows us God’s love and our victory, our joy and our hope!


This triumphant worship song speaks a fundamental truth of our faith – That God is love sure, but God is more than just a feeling – God is a person. As hard as it may be to understand that He is One God in three persons, existing in unity as The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, we can be confident of His love for us because of our savior who has the name of Jesus!  

I’m particularly sensitive to the importance of this truth today because I recently talked to an old friend who has verred off the path of Christian Discipleship into error and was expressing his false belief that God was an impersonal force that indicated that pantheistic ideas had corrupted his understanding. 

His emphasis being that God as light, which was extremely ironic because he was obviously coming from a place of darkness and confusion, as He posed the question of  “What is God?” and followed it up by asking the question  “Would that make Jesus wrong?” after trying to reduce God to some mystical feeling.  

Frankly, I didn’t entertain his questions very much because they revealed that he was missing something.  God has a name, several in fact and they all describe His personhood.  God is not a what, God is a who. God is a person!  

And to entertain that idea that Jesus was wrong clearly demonstrated that my old friend wasn’t in his right mind because Christ is the TRUTH, the Way and the Life – Jesus doesn’t get it wrong.  

So why would someone try to craft God into the impersonal forces of light and feeling of  love that was some all inclusive swamy feeling of surface sentimentality rather than relating to Him as the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit?  

Probably because impersonal forces of light and swarmy feelings of love and unconditional acceptance, wouldn’t call us to be holy as God is holy.  Light and worldy love wouldn’t call us out our sin and callus  to repent.  We don’t have to be accountable to live as God’s word calls us to if we “translate” the Bible to see some false gnostic belief that God isn’t what His word says He is, that we have to see past God the Father, Christ the Son, and The Holy Spirit to get some special revelation that we are perfect the way we are and that we are gods in our selves.    

This man’s life has been defined by addictions, broken relationships, and lies. In his attempts to share this latest revelation, he forgot who he was talking to.  I know enough truth about God to know Satan’s counterfeit no matter how sweet and nice you try to make it. My friend’s presentation of God as light and nonjudgmental love was clearly a product of the evil one who disguises himself as an angel of light!

So this morning I am going to share the “My Father God List” resource from the Freedom in Christ course, to renounce the lies and to emphasize the truth about our heavenly Father because I feel that in this modern age there is an increasing tendency for people who knew the truth about God to be lead astray. 

My Father God

 

I renounce the lie that You, Father God, are distant and uninterested in me.

I choose to believe the truth that You, Father God, are always personally present with me, have plans to give me a hope and a future, and have prepared works in advance specifically for me to do. (Psalm 139:1-18; Matthew 28:20, Jeremiah 29:11, Ephesians 2:10).

I renounce the lie that You, Father God, are insensitive and don't know me or care for me.

I choose to believe the truth that You, Father God, are kind and compassionate and know every single thing about me. (Psalm 103:8-14;  1 John 3:1-3; Hebrews 4:12-13).

I renounced the lie that You, Father God, are stern and have placed unrealistic expectations on me.

I choose to believe the truth that You, Father God, have accepted me and are joyfully supportive of me. (Romans 5:8-11; 15:17).

I renounce the lie that You, Father God, are passive and cold toward me.

I choose to believe the truth that You, Father God, are warm and affectionate toward me. (Isaiah 40:11; Hosea 11:3-4).

I renounce the lie that You, Father God, are absent or too busy for me.

I choose to believe the truth that You, Father God, are always present and eager to be with me and enable me to be all that You created me to be. (Phil 1:6; Hebrews 13:5).

I renounced the lie that you, Father God, are impatient or angry with me or have rejected me.

I choose to believe the truth that You, Father God, are patient and slow to anger, and that when You discipline me, it is a proof of Your love, and not rejection. (Ex 34:6; Romans 2:4; Hebrews 12:5-11).

I renounce the lie that You, Father God, have been mean, cruel, or abusive to me.

I choose to believe the truth that Satan is mean, cruel, and abusive, but You, Father God, are loving, gentle, and protective. (Ps 18:2; Matt 11:28-30; Eph 6:10-18).

I renounce the lie that You, Father God, are denying me the pleasures of life.

I choose to believe the truth that you, Father God, are the author of life and will lead me into love, joy, and peace when I choose to be filled with Your Spirit. (Lam 3:22- 23;    Gal 5:22-24).

I renounce the lie that You, Father God, are trying to control and manipulate me.

I choose to believe the truth that You, Father God, set me free and gave me the freedom to make choices and grow in Your grace. (Gal 5:1; Heb 4:15-16).

I renounce the lie that You, Father God, have condemned me and no longer forgive me.

I choose to believe the truth that You, Father God, have forgiven all my sins and will never use them against me in the future. (Jeremiah 31: 31- 34; Romans 8:1).

I renounce the lie that You, Father God, reject me when I fail to live a perfect or sinless life.

I choose to believe the truth that You, Father God, are patient toward me and cleanse me when I fail. (Proverbs 24:16; 1 John 1:7- 2:2).

 I AM THE APPLE OF YOUR EYE! (Deuteronomy 32:9-10).  

 

If you realize that you have had a faulty understanding of God, reading this list out loud every day for six weeks or so can dramatically help heal your emotional pain that resulted from your wrong view of God and to attach emotionally to Our Heavenly Father. 

We are to be in a relationship with God and we need to make sure our relationship is based on the truth of who He is, and who we are in Christ.

So enjoy your Valentine’s Day by expressing your love to the people in your life and by telling God - the Father, the Son – Jesus- and the Holy Spirit that you love Him for leading you out of the darkness of the world’s lies about Him and for giving you His love, victory, joy, and hope.

 

---------------------------------------------------------

Today’s Bible verse comes to us from “The NLT Bible Promise Book for Men”.

This morning’s meditation verse is:

1 Peter 4:14 (NLT2)
14  So be happy when you are insulted for being a Christian, for then the glorious Spirit of God rests upon you.

Today’s Bible reminds us that we are not alone in our sufferings.  

Yesterday in the comments on Acts 5:17 – I shared the preceding verses in 1 Peter, so I would say we are right on track with the Holy Spirit who apparently wants us to know that we are not alone in our sufferings and encourages us to be happy when we are persecuted for our faith because in those moments He draws close to us to comfort us.  

Christ called the Holy Spirit the comforter after all and the Apostle Paul assures us that God’s Spirit rests upon us when we are hated, rejected, and insulted for our faith.   

Paradoxically, when we would think that we have been abandoned by the Lord because we are being treated badly for our faith, God’s word assures us that He has not left us or forsaken us and that He is with us in our sufferings and times of trials and tribulations.   

So, don’t believe the enemy’s lies that God has left you when you are attacked for your faith, the word tells us the opposite is true and when we abide in Christ in those times we will experience the truth of this word through the supernatural strength, guidance, and comfort we will receive from the Holy Spirit.

 

___________________________________________

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 A.W. Pink’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 SIX

THE SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD IN OPERATION continues

God’s method of dealing with the righteous: concludes

4. God exerts upon His own elect a preserving influence or power.

Many are the scriptures which set forth this blessed truth. “He preserveth the souls of His saints; He delivereth them out of the hand of the wicked” (Psa. 97:10). “For the Lord loveth judgment, and forsaketh not His saints; they are preserved for ever: but the seed of the wicked shall be cut off” (Psa. 37:28). “The Lord preserveth all them that love Him: but all the wicked will He destroy” (Psa. 145:20). It is needless to multiply texts or to raise an argument at this point respecting the believer’s responsibility and faithfulness—we can no more “persevere” without God preserving us than we can breathe when God ceases to give us breath; we are “kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time” (1 Pet. 1:5). Compare 1 Chron. 18:6. It remains for us now to consider,

God’s method of dealing with the wicked:

In contemplating God’s governmental dealings with the non-elect we find that He exerts upon them a fourfold influence or power. We adopt the clear-cut divisions suggested by Dr. Rice:

1. God exerts upon the wicked a restraining influence by which they are prevented from doing what they are naturally inclined to do.

A striking example of this is seen in Abimelech, king of Gerar. Abraham came down to Gerar and fearful lest he might be slain on account of his wife he instructed her to pose as his sister. Regarding her as an unmarried woman, Abimelech sent and took Sarah unto himself; and then we learn how God put forth His power to protect her honor—“And God said unto him in a dream, Yea, I know that thou didst this in the integrity of thy heart; for I also withheld thee from sinning against Me: therefore suffered I thee not to touch her” (Gen. 20:6). Had not God interposed Abimelech would have grievously wronged Sarah, but the Lord restrained him and allowed him not to carry out the intentions of his heart.

A similar instance is found in connection with Joseph and his brethren’s treatment of Him. Owing to Jacob’s partiality for Joseph his brethren “hated him,” and when they thought they had him in their power “they conspired against him to slay him” (Gen. 37:18). But God did not allow them to carry out their evil designs. First He moved Reuben to deliver him out of their hands, and next he caused Judah to suggest that Joseph should be sold to the passing Ishmaelites, who carried him down into Egypt. That it was God who thus restrained them is clear; he made known himself to his brethren; said he, “So now it was not you that sent me hither, but God” (Gen. 45:8)!

The restraining influence which God exerts upon the wicked was strikingly exemplified in the person of Balaam, the prophet hired by Balak to curse the Israelites. One cannot read the inspired narrative without discovering that, left to himself, Balaam had readily and certainly accepted the offer of Balak. How evidently God restrained the impulses of his heart is seen from his own acknowledgment—“How shall I curse, whom God hath not cursed? or how shall I defy, whom the Lord hath not defied? Behold I have received commandment to bless: and He hath blessed; and I cannot reverse it” (Num. 23:8, 20).

Not only does God exert a restraining influence upon wicked individuals but He does so upon whole peoples as well. A remarkable illustration of this is found in Ex. 34:24—“For I will cast out the nations before thee, and enlarge thy borders: neither shall any man desire thy land, when thou shalt go up to appear before the Lord thy God thrice in the year.” Three times every male Israelite, at the command of God, left his home and inheritance and journeyed to Jerusalem to keep the Feasts of the Lord; and in the above scriptures we learn He promised them that while they were at Jerusalem He would guard their unprotected homes by restraining the covetous designs and desires of their heathen neighbors.[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/@MT4Christ247

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 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)

“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, or other authors of the other works that may be included in this publication, and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of any entities the author may represent.”

Encouragement for the Path of Christian Discipleship


[1] Arthur W. Pink, The Sovereignty of God (Swengel, PA: Bible Truth Depot, 1949), 124–126.