Have You Been to the Mountaintop?: Eyes on Eternity - Purity 476

 Have You Been to the Mountaintop?: Eyes on Eternity

Purity 476 07/21/2021  Purity 476 Podcast

Good morning

Today’s photo comes to us from a friend’s recent trip to Rocky Peak Ridge, the twentieth highest peak in the High Peaks Region of the Adirondack Park of New York, The name of the mountain is due to its geology, a rocky ridge to the east of the better-known Giant Mountain which is near St Hubert’s NY.  I just love how the makeshift monument of rocks in this photo contrasts with the mountain peak beyond and how the color schemes seem to naturally flow from the gray rocks to the green fauna of the nearby peak, to a cool blue for the ranges beyond and finally to the white clouds above.     

Its Wednesday and I tend to share something that visually represents a peak to symbolize the midpoint in the work week, but I especially like the contrast that exists in today’s photo of what is made by man and what is created by God, to shift our perspective from the things of earth to the things of heaven.   

As nice as that rock pile monument was put together by the enthusiastic mountain hikers that have gone before us, its pales in comparison to the majesty of the mountains that are on display hear that God created.  

Often in life we become consumed with the life we are trying to build and the day-to-day problems that we have to face, and we run the risk of missing the big picture.  I recently heard the news that another friend’s mother has passed away and I was somewhat shocked to here that they were only 56 years old.  My friend’s family loss reminds me that life can be short and that we need to encourage one another to appreciate the time we have on earth and the people that are a part of our lives.

Considering the cold reality of death, the importance of building our own little empire is put into perspective.   Planning for home improvements, retirement homes, acquiring all the toys that go with them, and amassing large balances in financial accounts won’t matter when you leave the earth.  The investments that will matter are in the relationships we have.  We should be sure to spend quality time with our loved ones and assure them of our love on a continual basis because we really don’t know when we will say our last goodbye.

We don’t know when the Lord will call us into eternity, so it is even more important to have a relationship with Him before He does. God sent Christ to earth to pay for our sins and to make it possible for us to be reconciled to Him. While putting your faith in Christ will make you an instant citizen of heaven, it also establishes a relationship with the living God here and now. 

Unfortunately, some people have the wrong view of a life of faith. They see religion, a set of restrictive rules and mandates that take away the joy of life.  I personally hate religion and the Lord knows that my dislike of the idea of some authoritarian system of religion that would decide my fate kept me from knowing Him for most of my life, that, and my sin.  

But thankfully, the Lord sent me a message in the form of a radio gospel sermon that told me that a life with Him wasn’t about “doing everything right” or “earning it”.  God’s love for us was shown in Christ and all I had to do to be right with God was to put my faith in Christ’s work on the cross to save me.   When I said “Yes” to Jesus the floodgates of heaven were opened and God’s love was poured out on me.  

I realized that everything I had thought about God was wrong.  He wasn’t some cold hard taskmaster demanding perfection, God is a loving Father who is calling us home.   

So as you go about your day, thank God that you’re alive. Thank Him for your family and friends.  Thank Him for everything you have and after you do let Him know that you appreciate it all and that you want Him to be a bigger part of your life.  

A relationship with God doesn’t take away from your fun. When you follow His lead, the Lord will show you the truth of this world and take you to deeper levels of understanding and new heights of joy and peace.  With God, you are assured a good place in eternity, but your relationship gives you an ever-present hope for life right now.   So seek Him and know that He will never let you down.

This morning’s meditation verse is:

Luke 9:27 (NKJV)
²⁷ "But I tell you truly, there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the kingdom of God."

Today’s verse comes from Jesus and His words have an almost immediate fulfillment, can have a present-day fulfillment, and will have a future fulfillment.  

These words of Jesus followed Peter’s proclamation that Jesus was the Christ of God”, Jesus’s prophecy of His impending death and resurrection, and an encouragement for the Apostle’s to take up their crosses and to follow Him..  

As for the wording, of today’s verse, we may wonder what Jesus means about “shall not taste death till they see the kingdom of God."

If we read the immediate text, the following verses speak of experience on the Mount of Transfiguration, where James, John, and Peter saw Jesus’ face become altered and his robe became white and glistening. And then Moses and Elijah show up! And then God speaks from the heavens saying: “This is my beloved Son. Hear Him!”   Talk about a “mountain top experience.”  

So, considering the context, I would say that James, John, and Peter were those who got to see a glimpse of the kingdom of God before they died.  Considering this happened 8 days after Christ’s words, that’s the more or less immediate fulfillment of His statement.  

In a figurative sense, Jesus’s words can also apply to us today as present-day believers can have “mountain top experiences” in their life of faith. Salvation, sanctification, visions, dreams, miraculous moments, and the baptism of the Holy Spirit can all figuratively qualify as instances where we too can see the kingdom of God in our lives of faith.   

Also as we have been in the “end times”, ever since Christ ascended to heaven over two thousand years ago, it is possible that this current generation can literally see the kingdom of God when Christ returns. 

So, have you seen the kingdom of God in your life? 

While I haven’t seen angels, been taken to the third heaven, or heard God’s audible voice from heaven yet, I can say that I have experienced multiple moments with the Holy Spirit and have been guided by Him in my walk. I can also say that I have seen the goodness of God in my life and in the lives of other believers. 

I can admit that I never saw it before coming to Christ, but since I put my faith in Jesus I have been seeking Him and brother when you continue to seek Him you will see the goodness of God in your life, and you may just have moments in your walk of faith where you can honestly say that you have seen the kingdom of God.  

So keep walking and talking with God. Keep going where He leads you and keep your eyes open.  He’s got wonderful things to show you but if you’re not looking for them, you’ll miss it.

 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 Chapter 8.

 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:

Proper Guidelines Lead to a Proper Walk

4. Satisfaction. Key Concept: Quality

Satisfaction comes from living righteously and seeking to raise the level of quality in relationships, service, and product. Jesus said, "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied" (Matthew 5:6). Do you believe that? If you do, what are you doing? You are hungering and thirsting after righteousness, and if you aren't doing that, then you really don't believe it.

What causes you to become dissatisfied with someone or something? It is usually because the quality of the relationship, service or product has diminished. I often ask people if they can remember when they became dissatisfied. Inevitably, they identify the time when the quality of a relationship, a service rendered, or their work diminished.

Satisfaction is a quality concern, not a quantity concern. You will achieve greater satisfaction from doing a few things well than from doing many things in a haphazard or hasty manner. The key to personal satisfaction is not found in broadening the scope of your activities but in deepening them through a commitment to quality.

The same is true in relationships. If you are dissatisfied in your relationships, perhaps you have spread yourself too thin. Solomon wrote, "A man of many friends comes to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother" (Proverbs 18:24). It may be nice to know a lot of people on the surface, but you need a few real good friends who are committed to a quality relationship with you.

That is what our Lord modeled for us. He taught the multitudes and equipped 70 for ministry, but He invested most of His time in the 12 disciples. Out of those 12, He selected three—Peter, James, and John—to be with Him on the Mount of Transfiguration, on the Mount of Olives and in the Garden of Gethsemane. While suffering on the cross, Jesus committed to John, perhaps His closest friend, the care of His mother. That is a quality relationship, and we all need the satisfaction that quality relationships bring.

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 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. 

Email me at mt4christ247@gmail.com to receive the class materials, share your progress, and to be encouraged.

 

Encouragement for the Path of Christian Discipleship

Lessons From Dad: Purity 449

Lessons from Dad

Purity 449 06/19/2021    Purity 449 Podcast

Good morning

Today’s photo of yours truly on the night of my prom posing with my dad in his NY Naval Militia T-Shirt comes to us from across the decades from the distant and simpler times of June 1990.  And yes, that is a devil tattoo on my dad’s arm…

I normally share various views of the great outdoors that my friends have posted on social media but because tomorrow is Father’s Day, I decided to share a photo of the creation of God that “brought me into this world” and more than once probably thought about “taking me out”.  

While the two subjects pictured here have both had epic journeys through life and haven’t always made the best decisions, they both know the love of God and the love of one another.   

You don’t get to pick your family and while my relationship with my dad hasn’t always been perfect I can honestly say that I never doubted his love from my brothers and me although in the turmoil of raising four boys into men we may have questioned his wisdom and tactics.  

Life is complicated and I could talk about negative aspects about my father and what transpired in the past but through my faith in Christ I have sought my father’s forgiveness and have forgiven him for any offenses in the past.  

So instead of sharing stories about our personal failings and differences that may have caused issues in the past, I thought I would thank my father for his example and the lessons they taught me.     Thanks, Dad!   My father taught me to:

·       Be a provider:  For most of my life, my father was a correctional officer for New York State.  Both my parents had work ethics and they passed that down to us. We weren’t blessed with familial wealth. Everything we had was because of my mother and father’s commitment to provide for us.  My father often worked double shifts, late hours, and holidays, including Christmas. My father taught me that men work and sacrifice for their families.  

 Be a reader: My father was always reading. Granted, his tastes were Louis L’Amour westerns, Tom Clancy, or other military adventure or biographical type books, but he was always reading.  One of the benefits of my dad’s job was that he had access to books, and I believe I was the only one of his sons that took advantage of it. My tastes were for the macabre, so I asked him to get me a Stephen King book who I never actually read, thinking of Christine or Cujo, I guess.  He got me “Different Seasons”, a collection of four of King’s novellas that I had never heard of.  But I decided to give it a try. 

The first story was “Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption”, a prison escape story that opened my 13-year-old eyes to the brutal realities of life behind bars and what it was like to keep hope alive in the darkest of circumstances.  

Different Seasons also contained: “The Body” a story about four teenage boys who seek to find a lost boy and it tells of that transitional period of adolescence and friendship that I was living in.  You might know the story as “Stand by Me” as they made it into a film starring River Phoenix and Will Wheaton.  

That book opened a window to life I didn’t know existed and I learned a lot from it. It made me a lifelong Stephen King fan, taught me the value of reading for entertainment and for education, and gave me a desire to become a writer.  So I owe my dad for my love of reading. Also my dad is partially responsible for my expressing myself through the written word that I try to use to encourage others.

·       Be a problem solver:  While I can testify that there have been times that I was the problem, my father’s example taught me to be a problem solver.  He wasn’t the most skilled craftsman, but my dad would fix or install things around the house. He also was the one who would literally bail us out when we got into trouble. 

Ironically, my dad was somewhat of a gruff guy who expected you to do what he said and who was someone you definitively didn’t want to put to the test, but whenever you got in trouble he would surprise you with his compassion and patience.  You would expect him to blow up, but he would be cool as a cucumber and show mercy.   Even after I had started a family of my own, my go to response was to call my father when I ran into a crisis.  

There are more lessons my father taught me because of his example but the point behind all of this is that everything I learned from my father was motivated by his love for us.   

So although your relationship with your father might be complicated, if he played any positive role in your life at all be thankful for it and try to honor him in someway tomorrow. 

For those whose fathers weren’t fathers at all, I’m sorry. I would like to assure you though that there is a Heavenly Father who loves you.  Even though that biological contributor you would be forced to call your father didn’t do right by you, your Heavenly Father is sovereign over all things and any of the love that you received from other men or women in this world flowed directly from Him to you. 

If you can’t or aren’t ready to honor your earthly father, I would encourage you to continue or to establish a relationship with God through faith in Jesus Christ so you can experience His presence and the abundant love He has for you.   If you turn to God, He will meet you with open arms and give you the strength, wisdom, and love that no earthly father could.

This morning’s meditation verse is:

Luke 2:11 (NKJV)
¹¹ For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.

Today’s verse is probably known to some as the Linus verse, as it has been recited by our blanket carrying friend in “A Charlie Brown Christmas” every year since 1965. 

I guess the Lord is in a festive season as of late as we just had Luke 2:12 randomly drawn as the verse of the day a couple of days ago.   But I also think we can use today’s verse to highlight our Father’s Day celebration too.  

It was the Father who sent the Son to earth to save us.  Christ was a gift of love and sacrifice.  Christ was also the revelation of God’s plan for mankind. 

In a world full of confusion and various beliefs, God the Father made it clear what He expects men who want a relationship with Him to do, they are to accept Jesus Christ as their Lord in Savior.  

No matter what people say they believe, they must answer the Jesus question. 

Is Jesus the Messiah and do you place your faith in Him for your salvation?  

No matter how light and peaceful or dark and demonic you decided to be in your thoughts, attitudes, and actions in this world, when you come to the end of your life your eternal destiny will hinge on how you answer that question.  

God the Father has given us the gift of His beloved Son out of His great love for us.  To live, we must accept it and we must share it.  

So on this Father’s Day weekend, remind those you see that no matter what gifts we give or receive this weekend, our Heavenly Father has a gift for all of us that leads to everlasting life.  

 

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 Chapter 3.

 

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:

Believing the Truth About Others

A pastor asked me, "How can I get out of my church?"

"Why do you want out?" I asked. "What's wrong with your church?"

"I've got a bunch of losers in my church."

"Losers? I wonder if they are really losers or if they just see themselves as losers because that's how you see them."

He reluctantly agreed that it was probably the latter. He was right, because there are no losers in the kingdom of God—none whatsoever. How can children of God be losers when they have already gained eternal life? As important as it is for you to believe in your true identity as a child of God, it is equally important that you perceive other Christians for who they are in Christ and treat them accordingly. I believe that the greatest determinant for how we treat people is how we perceive them. If we view people as losers we will begin to treat them that way. If, however, we believe our brothers and sisters in Christ are redeemed saints, we will treat them as saints and they will be greatly helped in behaving as saints.

Studies have shown that, in the average home, for every positive statement, a child receives 10 negative statements. The school environment is only slightly better; students hear seven negative statements from their teachers for every one positive statement. No wonder so many children are growing up thinking they are losers. Parents and teachers are conveying what they believe every day to their children and students.

These studies go on to point out that it takes four positive statements to negate the effect of one negative statement. You probably verify that finding every time you wear a new suit or dress. Some of your friends may say, "Oh, what a good looking outfit." It only takes one comment such as "It's really not you" to send you scurrying back to the store for a refund. We affect others significantly by what we say about them, and what we say is determined by what we believe about them.

The New Testament clearly states that we are saints who sin. Children of God who say they don't sin are called liars (see 1 John 1:8). We are not to judge one another; instead, we are called to accept other believers as children of God, and to build up each other.

If we could memorize just one verse from the New Testament, put it into practice and never violate it, I believe we would resolve half the problems in our homes and churches. The verse is Ephes. 4:29: "Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, that it may give grace to those who hear."

Isn't it amazing that you and I have the power to give grace to others through the proper use of our words? If we said nothing to put others down, and only built up others as Ephes. 4:29 commands, we would be part of God's construction crew in the church instead of members of Satan's wrecking crew.

Relating to God

When I was in the eighth grade, we had a program called Religious Day Instruction. Every Tuesday afternoon the afternoon classes were shortened so we could go to the church of our choice for the last hour. It wasn't forced religion; students could choose to go to study hall, but I went to the church of my mother's choice. One nice fall day, I decided to skip Religious Day Instruction. I played in the park, and came back in time to catch the bus for my ride home to the farm. I thought I had gotten away with it, but I did not!

The next day the principal called me in and chewed me out. Then he said, "I have arranged for you to be home Thursday and Friday." I was shocked. Suspended from school for two days for skipping Religious Day Instruction? I was not looking forward to seeing my parents, and the ride home was miserable. I thought about playing sick for two days, or hiding in the woods when I should have been in school. I couldn't do it, and I knew I had to face my authority figures. I went to my mother because I knew there would be some mercy there.

"Mom," I said, "I got suspended from school for two days for skipping Religious Day Instruction."

At first she was shocked, then she smiled and said, "Oh, Neil, I forgot to tell you. We called the school to see if you could stay home Thursday and Friday to help us pick corn."

Now if I had known that, would I have dreaded seeing my parents? Would the school-bus ride home have been miserable? Of course not, but I didn't know that staying home Thursday and Friday was already justified. That is how many Christians live their lives. They live their lives as though they are walking on glass. They can't make any mistakes because if they do, the hammer of God will fall on them.

Dear Christian reader, the hammer fell. It fell on Christ. He died "once for all" our sins (Romans 6:10). We are not sinners in the hands of an angry God. We are saints in the hands of a loving God who has called us to "draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water" (Hebrews 10:22). "For through Him [Christ] we both have our access in one Spirit to the Father" (Ephes. 2:18); "in whom we have boldness and confident access through faith in Him" (Ephes. 3:12).

Some Christian leaders believe we should emphasize the sinful side of our human nature as a motivation to live righteously. I respectfully disagree. How can we motivate by guilt when, "There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus" (Romans 8:1)? How can we motivate by fear when, "God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline" (2 Tim. 1:7)? I believe we ought to tell believers the truth about who they are in Christ and motivate them to live accordingly. To illustrate this truth, let me share the following testimony sent to me by a missionary who read the first edition of this book:

Though I have been a Christian for many years, I never understood God's forgiveness and my spiritual inheritance. I have been struggling for years with a particular sin. I was in Bible college when I began this horrible practice. I never thought this living hell would ever end. I would have killed myself had I not thought that was a sin. I felt God had turned His back on me and I was doomed to hell because I couldn't overcome this sin. I hated myself. I felt like such a failure.

The Lord led me to purchase your book Victory over the Darkness. I feel like a new Christian, like I've just been born again. My eyes are now open to God's love, and I realize that I am a saint who has chosen to sin. I can finally say I am free, free of Satan's bondage and aware of the lies he has been feeding me.

I would confess to God and beg His forgiveness when I sinned, but the next time I fell deeper into Satan's grasp because I couldn't accept God's forgiveness and I couldn't forgive myself. I always thought the answer lied in drawing closer to God, but I went to Him in confusion, believing I was a sinner who couldn't be loved. No more! Through the Scriptures and the way you presented them to me, I am no longer a defeated Christian. I now know I am alive in Christ and dead to sin and a slave of righteousness. I now live by faith according to what God said is true. Sin has no power over me, Satan has lost his grip on me.

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 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, and Audible.com. 

Email me at mt4christ247@gmail.com to receive the class materials, share your progress, and to be encouraged.

 

Encouragement for the Path of Christian Discipleship

Running with the Devil: Purity 447

Purity 446 06/16/2021   Purity 447 Podcast

Good morning.

Today’s photo of blue skies and a winding wooden pathway comes to us from our friend who is traveling out West. This scene is presumably somewhere in Yellowstone National Park but could be anywhere in between Yellow Stone or Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming and destinations unknown in Montana as our friend isn’t staying in one place.        

I share it because it’s Thursday and I use photos of pathways to remind people to join me on the pathway of Christian discipleship by either attending tonight’s discipleship class, or by listening to the classes via the mt4christ247 podcast, or by just deciding to continue, or to begin anew, the journey of walking and talking with God.  

Just like our friend who isn’t staying in one place on their trip out west, we shouldn’t stay in one place in terms of our faith. Life is a journey that moves on regardless of what we do and if we are not progressing in our relationship with God through the way we live, we are not enjoying the abundant life the Christ died to bring us.  

Our life in Christ is a dynamic journey of self-discovery and kingdom purpose as we go to God to transform us and to impact the world around us by finding our purpose for God and by sharing His truth and love with others.

While we look to provide for ourselves and our families and seek to do good works for the glory of God, it doesn’t mean that we stop developing ourselves.   Part of God’s purpose for us is to enjoy the fruit of the Spirit, which are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control, and the good news is that there is always room for each of us to grow in these areas.  

For example, just because I am teaching a class on discipleship doesn’t mean I have stopped learning. And just because I have had victory over certain struggles in my life doesn’t mean that the work is done.   

Today, I begin a food plan that involves monitoring what I eat, developing a healthier and more intentional mindset in terms of what I consume, and that has a community aspect that will provide accountability and support.   

You see, two years ago, I read Sweet Surrender, a Christian book on Food Addiction, and recognized that I had an unhealthy relationship with food.  I had the intention of following the food plan detailed in the book and even announced on FB that I was finally going to overcome my food addiction, but I failed to follow through. 

I have several great excuses why I failed to do so. I mean really great ones like I was getting divorced; I was working on my master’s degree, I was working two jobs, I had to find a place to live, and oh yeah, during all this stuff, there was a global pandemic.  So excuse me for losing my focus about diet and exercise!   - See I told you, great excuses.  

Well all those excuses are gone now, and although I have been good in terms of working out 6 days a week since last November, my efforts were being sabotaged by some insidious evil: me!  By eating mindlessly, I was my own worst enemy.

This isn’t my first rodeo with weight loss, before coming to Christ, in my 30’s I had a season where I got disciplined, started running and was working out twice a day.  I was also taking diet pills to boost my metabolism.  I went from my worst, at over 300 pounds all the way down to my fittest, at 215 pounds. 

I managed to accomplish that feat as a means of overcoming the depression and grief caused from the death of my infant son, Holden in 2002.  Crawling out of the shadows of that depression caused me to be at my worst and it took years to see daylight. 

My weight loss most have been in the 2005-2007 window somewhere as I adopted a view of life that told me there was no God, life was suffering, and happiness all depended upon my efforts. 

My weight loss journey at that time was fueled by self-loathing and a desire to achieve some personal state of bliss where there was no God. There was no reason in it either because as much as I worked out I didn’t change the way I thought about food in my heart and I was drinking, smoking weed, and taking any psychedelic drugs I could get my hands on in some attempt to escape and find a higher state of consciousness. Back then it would be accurate to say I was literally “running with the Devil”.

But in 2010 God called me to faith in Jesus Christ and since then has pulled me completely out of the darkness of depression and addiction and has made me realize that anything is possible with Him. 

But that doesn’t mean, we don’t need help. I tried to do the food thing on my own but I feel I need  “the program” I signed up for to provide a system to follow and the support of others to help me to avoid “going blank” and losing my focus only to discover another bought of binge eating has occurred, a binge that I just opened the door to and felt powerless to stop and justified in doing but that was counter productive to what I really want. 

That’s the spiritual warfare aspect of what we face.  Our flesh or the enemy gives us thoughts and impulses that go against what we want for ourselves.   The enemy tells us that our goals are impossible and usually we agree and just give up.  

But with God personal goals, like good health, are possible.  We just have to believe we are free in Christ, humble ourselves before God, and others, by asking for help, continue to stay connected to God through prayer and His word, and to resist and challenge any thoughts that oppose our goals and God’s will for our lives.         

So don’t stay in one place, God has called us to life, and He wants you to know a life that is filled with the fruit of the Spirit, but it may mean that you have to leave the chains and comforts of the past behind to find it.  

This morning’s meditation verse is:

Luke 2:12 (NKJV)
¹² And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger."

Today’s verse is a message from an Angel as the context of this verse is the Christmas account of the shepherds of the field being invited to go and see that the Messiah has been born.  If the appearance of the angelic hosts of heaven weren’t enough for the shepherds, the babe lying in the manger would be the evidence that the course of human history was forever changed as God came to earth in the person of Jesus Christ.   

We can usually take great comfort and joy when we hear verses like Luke 2:12 in the month of December as we are drawn together in the fellowship of our yearly Christmas celebrations but if we aren’t seeking the Lord continually verses like this may seem to be out of place in the month of June.   

But they shouldn’t, the joy of our salvation should carry us every day of the year. While I understand that we didn’t get to see angels or the Christ child lying in the manger, our life of faith does have “signs” from God that are just for us and prove that He is with us.

One of the things that will keep us in the faith is the continuing signs of God in our lives. As Christians, we should remember the moment that God welcomed us into His kingdom and all the moments where His presence has impacted our lives ever since. 

The gathering of believers at church, the fellowship of the saints, is one place where we can continually see the signs of Christ’s appearing as each person there has been drawn there by God and each one has their own testimony of God’s goodness.    As we walk in faith, we see God in our interactions as He guides our path. 

There is a signpost up ahead and it is telling you that God is with you. 

So keep the faith by keeping your eyes, hearts, and minds open to the things of God. The signs of God’s presence are all around us.  So if you see something, say something because the people around you might not know how good God is and we may be the hand that points them to the sign that leads them right into His kingdom and to life forever more.

 

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 Chapter 3.

 

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:

The Fallout from God's Grace

The following list supplements the "Who Am I?" list in chapter 2. These statements further describe your identity in Christ. Read this list aloud to yourself repeatedly until it becomes a part of you. Pray through the list occasionally, asking God to cement these truths in your heart:

Since I am in Christ, by the grace of God . . .

I have been justified—completely forgiven and made righteous (Romans 5:1).

I died with Christ and died to the power of sin's rule over my life (Romans 6:1-6).

I am free forever from condemnation (Romans 8:1).

I have been placed into Christ by God's doing (1 Cor. 1:30).

I have received the Spirit of God into my life that I might know the things freely given to me by God (1 Cor. 2:12).

I have been given the mind of Christ (1 Cor. 2:16).

I have been bought with a price; I am not my own; I belong to God (1 Cor. 6:19, 20).

I have been established, anointed and sealed by God in Christ, and I have been given the Holy Spirit as a pledge guaranteeing our inheritance to come (2 Cor. 1:21; Ephes. 1:13, 14).

Since I have died, I no longer live for myself, but for Christ (2 Cor. 5:14, 15).

I have been made righteous (2 Cor. 5:21).

I have been crucified with Christ and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. The life I am now living is Christ's life (Galatians 2:20).

I have been blessed with every spiritual blessing (Ephes. 1:3).

I was chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world to be holy and am without blame before Him (Ephes. 1:4).

I was predestined—determined by God—to be adopted as God's son (Ephes. 1:5).

I have been redeemed and forgiven, and I am a recipient of His lavish grace (Ephes. 1:17).

I have been made alive together with Christ (Ephes. 2:5).

I have been raised up and seated with Christ in heaven (Ephes. 2:6).

I have direct access to God through the Spirit (Ephes. 2:18).

I may approach God with boldness, freedom and confidence (Ephes. 3:12).

I have been rescued from the domain of Satan's rule and transferred to the kingdom of Christ (Col. 1:13).

I have been redeemed and forgiven of all my sins. The debt against me has been canceled (Col. 1:14).

Christ Himself is in me (Col. 1:27).

I am firmly rooted in Christ and am now being built in Him (Col. 2:7).

I have been made complete in Christ (Col. 2:10).

I have been spiritually circumcised (Col. 2:11).

I have been buried, raised and made alive with Christ (Col. 2:12, 13).

I died with Christ and I have been raised up with Christ. My life is now hidden with Christ in God. Christ is now my life (Col. 3:1-4).

I have been given a spirit of power, love and self-discipline (2 Tim. 1:7).

I have been saved and set apart according to God's doing (2 Tim. 1:9; Titus 3:5).

Because I am sanctified and am one with the Sanctifier, He is not ashamed to call me brother (Hebrews 2:11).

I have the right to come boldly before the throne of God to find mercy and grace in time of need (Hebrews 4:16).

I have been given exceedingly great and precious promises by God by which I am a partaker of God's divine nature (2 Peter 1:4).

Recently, a pastor who was attending one of my conferences on resolving spiritual conflicts pulled me aside after a session. His comments to me reaffirmed my conviction that understanding our spiritual inheritance is the key to resolving our daily conflicts.

"A lady in our church dropped by for counseling this week," he began. "She has been struggling in her relationship with her alcoholic husband. She was at her wit's end, feeling terribly defeated. She came to tell me she was calling it quits on their marriage.

"I pulled out the list of statements you shared with us declaring who we are in Christ. I said, 'Here, read this aloud.' She read about halfway through the list and began to cry. She said, 'I never realized all this was true of me. I feel that maybe there is hope for me after all.'"

Isn't that incredible? The truth about who you are in Christ makes such a big difference in your success at handling the challenges and conflicts of life. It is imperative to your growth and maturity that you believe God's truth about who you are.

Victory Over the Darkness: Realizing the Power of Your Identity in Christ.

---------------------------more tomorrow------------------------

 

God bless you all!

 

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Encouragement for the Path of Christian Discipleship