Beyond Covid 19, Addiction, and Divorce: Hope for a New Life : Purity 444

Beyond Covid 19, Addiction, and Divorce: Hope for a New Life 

Purity 444 06/14/2021 Purity 444 Podcast

Good morning.

Today’s photo of sunset over Saratoga Lake from the vantage point of Doc Brown’s at Browns Beach Marina in Saratoga Springs comes to us from yours truly as I spent this past Saturday evening enjoying the company of new friends and the festive atmosphere of a Skeeter Creek musical performance.   I haven’t been to an outdoor concert of any size in years and the experience was great on so many levels. 

First, in what I will declare as the dwindling days of Covid-19, it was awesome to be out in public with so many people to enjoy the wonderful weather and good times at an outdoor concert.  The lead singers of Skeeter Creek commented more than once about how good it was to be out performing and getting to see old friends that they had been separated from.  The mini concert was a celebration of life and the general lack of masks made us all remember what things were like before 2020 and gave us the hope that despite the persistent fear that still exists many of us are going to live our lives much like we did before the pandemic.   

Second, it was a personally great for me in terms of my new life and leaving the darkness of addiction behind.  Even though I was in a festive party atmosphere where alcohol was flowing, I honestly felt no temptation to drink and felt comfortable in my own skin.  I was relaxed and was able to dance and sing along with the band as I discovered that I don’t need booze to be uninhibited and enjoy the company of others.  I give all the glory to God, of course, because through the years He has helped me to mature to this level through faith in Christ and the renewing of my mind.  I’m so glad that I went out because this experience proves to me that the Lord really has taken “the hooks of addiction” out of me and I can live the rest of my life with confidence and don’t have to limit where I can go to enjoy life and to share the hope and love that Christ put in me.  

And finally, the experience was good for me relationally, meaning I could go out with no expectations or overwhelming desire to find romance.   To be honest, in the wake of my divorce, my devastated heart cried out for me to fill the void that my divorce from my ex created.  

To be totally transparent, I have already been disappointed a couple of times by what I considered to be adequate candidates for the position of “new wife” as I was politely but definitively rejected.

In hindsight, I am relieved that I didn’t have success because in both cases I had ignored incompatibility issues or had invested myself way too deeply emotionally before establishing an actual relationship.  I was willing to look past red flags to the exclusion of reason or to quote the wisdom of Air Supply’s 80’s hit, I was “making love out of nothing at all.”

So with those disappointments, and some close self-evaluation, I have come to a place where I am comfortable with myself and don’t have to find a romantic partner to be complete.  So while I could appreciate the beauty of the women that were around me at this event, I didn’t feel the need to chase after them as I would have in the single days of my past. I realized that in the past I had to put in much effort to get involved in my romantic entanglements and that because I wasn’t looking for “Ms. Right Now” I was safe from repeating mistakes of the past.

 I was also strangely relieved in the fact that I am not completely irresistible to women and didn’t have to worry because nobody was interested in me anyway.  That’s not false humility, that’s just reality and I’m okay with that.  Again, I would have to give God the glory for bringing me to this place of peace.  From this sense of peace and contentment, I will choose to follow His lead for the rest of my life and will see whether His plan includes a new spouse or not.    

So don’t be afraid to go out and have some fun this summer, but when you do make sure you get right with God and honestly examine where you are in life.  If we start a pursuit of happiness that we think will be fulfilled by experiences or relationships that don’t include God, we will eventually be disappointed as we either compromise who He has made us to be, or we make choices that lack the wisdom and discernment that He can give us when we walk with Him.  

This morning’s meditation verse is:

Matthew 28:20 (NKJV)
²⁰ teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Amen.

Today’s verse is the last verse in the book of Matthew, directly relates to my current ministry, and provides us with eternal comfort.      

In the previous verse, 19, Jesus directs us to go into all the nations to make disciples and to baptize them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.   

While I have led corporate prayers of salvation/rededication in different settings over the years, no one has reported that my efforts lead them to a saving relationship with Christ.  Also, other than myself, and my kids, in the family swimming pool during the early days of my salvation, I haven’t baptized anyone.  

So while I can’t make the claim that I was integral in “making” disciples, I can say I have been active in teaching “believers” to observe all the things that Christ has commanded us to do over the last 6 years.  

While our previous ministry was deemed a recovery ministry, the reasons why we needed to deviate from calling ourselves a Celebrate Recovery ministry was because from the start our ministry at Rock Solid Church didn’t fit that simple categorization because we included aspects of Christian discipleship that went beyond AA’s 12 Steps or Celebrate Recovery’s 8 principles.   

My participation in the Celebrate Freedom Recovery Ministry, and the transition to the Community Freedom Discipleship Classes at Rock Solid Church has all been motivated by my desire to teach believers in Christ to become disciples of Christ and to experience their freedom in Christ in the process.  

And as Christ’s words in theses verses at the end of Matthew indicate, He calls us all to teach others what He has commanded us to do.   That goes for every Christian.  In Christ we all have infinite value to those around us because what we know has the potential to pull someone from utter destruction or to lead a Christian into a deeper relationship with God.   

So make sure that you speak up when people need to hear the truth or the words of encouragement that the Lord has given you.   His last words in this verse assure us of His presence in our lives even to the end of the age, so we are to take comfort in that promise and do our best to bring others to know it too.

 

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, beginning 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:

Chapter 3

See Yourself for Who You Really Are

Claire attended a church college ministry I was involved in several years ago. On a physical, material level, Claire had absolutely nothing going for her. She had a dumpy figure and a poor complexion. Her father was a drunken bum who had deserted his family. Her mother worked two menial jobs just to make ends meet. Her older brother, a drug addict, was always in and out of the house.

When I first met Claire, I was sure she was the ultimate wallflower. I didn't think there was any way she could compete for acceptance in a college-aged society that is attracted to physical beauty and material success. To my pleasant surprise, though, everybody in the group liked Claire and loved to be around her. She had lots of friends, and eventually she married the nicest guy in the college department.

What was her secret? Claire simply accepted herself for who God said she was in Christ, and she confidently committed herself to God's great goal for her life: to love people and grow in Christ. She wasn't a threat to anyone. Instead, she was so positive and caring toward others that everyone loved her.

Derek, a man in his early 30s, was enrolled in our missions program at Talbot School of Theology several years ago. I barely knew Derek until he attended a conference where I spoke about the critical importance of understanding our spiritual identity in Christ. The next week he came to see me and tell me his story.

Derek grew up with a father who demanded perfection in everything his son did. Derek was an intelligent, talented young man, but no matter how hard he tried or how well he succeeded, he seemed unable to please his father. The man continually pushed his son for better performance.

Striving to fulfill his father's expectations, Derek earned an appointment to the United States Naval Academy and qualified for flight school. He achieved what most young men only dream about: becoming a member of the elite corps of Navy fliers.

"After I completed my obligation to the Navy," Derek told me, "I decided that I wanted to please God with my life. But I saw God as a perfectionistic heavenly shadow of my earthly father, and I figured the only way I could fulfill His expectations for me was to become a missionary. I'll be honest with you. I enrolled in the missions program for the same reason I went to Annapolis: to please a demanding Father.

"Then I attended your conference last Saturday. I had never heard that I am unconditionally loved and accepted by my heavenly Father and I never understood who I already am in Christ. I've always worked so hard to please Him by what I do, just as I struggled to please my natural father. I didn't realize that I already please Him by who I am in Christ. Now I know that I don't have to be a missionary to please God, so I'm changing my major to practical theology."

Derek studied for a practical theology degree for about a year. Then he had the opportunity to serve on a short-term missions team in Spain. When Derek returned from his trip he burst into my office and excitedly told me about his ministry experience in Spain. "I'm changing my major again," he concluded.

"To missions, right?" I responded with a smile.

"Right," Derek beamed. "But I'm not going into missions because I need God's approval. I know God already loves and accepts me as His child. Now I'm planning to be a missionary because I love Him and want to serve Him."

I told Derek, "That is the fundamental difference between being driven and being called."

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

When a White Witch calls upon a Christian: Purity 436

 When a White Witch calls upon a Christian: Purity 436 06/04/2021

Purity 436 Podcast

Good morning.

Today’s photo of a sunrise over Dewey Beach, Delaware’s come from a friend who went away for a short trip to enjoy the Memorial Day weekend with their family. The weather was hit and miss with rain, but they managed to catch this great shot, have some family fun at Rehoboth Funland, and take a few moments to fondly remember their departed father who was a veteran of Korea and Viet Nam.    

I’m currently teaching a class about the spiritual realities in which we live and how things either align with what Jesus taught and God’s redemptive plan for mankind or are of a spirit that will lead to the road of perdition.  

One of the things that has been impressed upon me in this series is the importance of being a light in the darkness and establishing a spiritual heritage with our lives.  As Christians, we need to be people that others turn to when they need hope.  

It’s not always easy to keep a positive outlook and to be a beacon of hope as we are just as vulnerable to troubles in this world as our non-Christian friends and family.   

I have Christian friend who knows all too well how easy it can be to lose our hope due to the cares and concern of the world.   They recently recovered from an extended depressive episode that was caused by fears and anxieties about their ability to provide for their families.  The enemy filled their minds with lies feeding on our friend’s insecurities about their job performance and the fact that they were the sole provider for their family.  The enemy set up a domino effect of fears telling our friend that they would lose their job, become destitute and lose their medical benefits, which would in turn cause their loved ones to get sick and die.   These fears weighed heavy on our friend. They were depressed and anxiety ridden. So bad were their symptoms that their co-workers noticed and ended up suspended from their job so they could seek help.   

The good news is that this person was surrounded by friends and family in the faith who supported them and helped them find their way out of the darkness.  Although they are out of the woods of their dark episode, they are on medical leave and are waiting for the process to move that will allow them to go back to work.  

In the meantime, they have distant family members who they don’t see often that are suffering from cancer, a mother in her 80’s and a daughter in her 60’s.  The mother is an Episcopalian, but the daughter holds occultic beliefs and considers herself a “white witch”.  

Recently, the mother’s condition took a turn for the worse and it became clear that she was in the process of dying.   In her pain and suffering, the mother requested to be comforted with prayer and some of the old hymns she remembered from church. Her faith may have not been active in the past few years but as she faced her death she sought to affirm her faith in Christ through worship. 

The daughter, the white witch, and other family members didn’t feel comfortable or didn’t know what to say to their dying mother.  But they remembered that my friend was a faithful Christian and a nurse so they asked her if she could help their mother with her “church things”.  

Because my friend was on medical leave from her job, she was available, and she agreed to come.  My friend sat with the mother, prayed with her, and together they sang the old church hymns that the mother so fondly remembered.  In the midst of her dying, the mother was comforted and was given peace and hope for what was on the other side of this life.    The mother passed away, but she entered the kingdom of God praising the Lord.   

So, even when we are overcome by the world and the enemy comes into steal our hope and drive us into confusion, the Lord can use it for good.  You wouldn’t think any good would have come from my friend’s depression and troubles at work but because of it she was able to care for someone else in their final moments of life and be a testimony of the hope and peace that is available though faith in Christ.

This world needs the hope of Christ. People are hurting and are turning to other things to find comfort because they don’t feel like the church is the place to find it.  The problem is that they are looking for love, hope, and meaning in all wrong places. People need to know what a relationship with God through faith in Jesus Christ means beyond the misconceptions drawn from a view from outside of the church and Christian stereotypes.

We must be vocal and active enough in our faith so that people will know that we are Christians, but we also must treat those who don’t understand what faith in Christ really means with compassion and grace so that when the times are desperate or a crisis comes, they think of us. 

We are not perfect people, but we know the One who is.  We don’t know everything, but we know the One who does.  We are passing away, but we know the One who can give us eternal life. 

So regardless of our pains or present sufferings, keep your head up because we know the One who has over come the world, sin, and death. He can heal us and can use us to heal others. The hope we have in Christ can give us strength to persevere and can usher others into the kingdom of God.  We are the hope for the world because of Christ in us.  So let your light shine, people will it, and some will be comforted and saved through it.  

 

This morning’s meditation verse is:

1 Peter 1:3 (NKJV)
³ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

Today’s verse makes some basic truth claims of our faith and echoes the sentiment of Christ as our living hope.  

In Peter’s salutation, he states that Christ is the Son of God and that He was resurrected from the dead.  These basic truths must be accepted for someone to find the living hope that comes from faith in Christ.  

As difficult as God’s redemptive plan may be for some to accept, it does have an underlying rationale behind it that makes it reasonable. Redemption through faith in Christ makes sense but you have to believe that Jesus is the Son of God and God the Son.  

The paradoxes of the Trinity and Jesus’ full divinity and full humanity are stumbling blocks that can keep people out of the kingdom of God. 

Now remember, the definition of paradox is “a seemingly absurd or self-contradictory statement or proposition that when investigated or explained may prove to be well founded or true.”  That’s why I call these doctrines of our faith paradoxes because when they are investigated you discover that they are true.

So the seeming contradiction of Jesus being fully God and fully man is proven through his words of wisdom, his miraculous works, and His resurrection.  For 30 years, Jesus probably was considered a nice but odd character, but no one thought of Him as special. 

The scriptures indicate that when Jesus started His earthly ministry of teaching he wasn’t accepted because He was just seen as “the carpenter’s son”, nobody special.  This criticism shows that Jesus was a man just like us but His mighty miraculous works and resurrection from the dead show He wasn’t. He is fully man and fully God.

As for the sonship of Christ, the gospels reveal that God spoke from heaven above declaring Christ to be His Son on more than one occasion.  

Jesus needed to be fully God and fully man because He had to be. To pay for an infinite number of sins and to impute his righteousness to a potentially infinite amount of people, Jesus had to be God and He is. 

On our own there is no hope for us.  But through the power of God in Christ, we have the hope of eternal life.   So share the truth of who Jesus is and let people know that through Him they have the hope of a new life now and for evermore.

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 1, with the section on “The Effects of the Fall”

 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:

Figure 1-B

The Effects of the Fall

Unfortunately, the idyllic setting in the Garden of Eden was shattered. Genesis 3 tells the sad story of Adam and Eve's lost relationship with God through sin. The effects of their fall were dramatic, immediate and far reaching, infecting every subsequent member of the human race.

Spiritual Death

What happened to Adam and Eve spiritually because of the Fall? They died. Their union with God was severed and they were separated from God. God had specifically said, "You must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die" (Genesis 2:17, NIV). They ate and they died.

Did they die physically? Not immediately, although physical death would be a consequence of the Fall as well. They died spiritually; they were separated from God's presence. They were physically cast out of the Garden of Eden and a cherubim waving a flaming sword was stationed at the entrance "to guard the way to the tree of life" (Genesis 3:24). Some believe this act preserved a way back as God's plan of redemption unfolded.

Just as we inherited physical life from our first parents, so we have inherited spiritual death from them (see Romans 5:12; 1 Cor. 15:21, 22). Consequently, every human being who comes into the world is born physically alive but spiritually dead, separated from God (see Ephes. 2:1).

Lost Knowledge of God

What effect did the Fall produce in Adam's mind? He and Eve lost their true perception of reality and the idea of knowing was no longer relational. We read in Genesis 3:7, 8 that they tried to hide from God. Doesn't that reveal a faulty understanding of who God is? How can you hide from an omnipresent God? Their distorted perception of reality reflects Paul's description of the futile thinking of those who don't know God: "They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts" (Ephes. 4:18, NIV).

In essence, when Adam and Eve sinned they lost a true knowledge of God. In God's original design, knowledge was relational. The Hebrew concept of knowledge implied an intimate personal relationship. For instance, "Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived" (Genesis 4:1, KJV). Yet we don't generally equate a knowledge of someone with personal intimacy. When they sinned and were banished from the garden, Adam and Eve lost their relationship with God and the knowledge of God, which was intrinsic to that relationship.

In our unregenerate state, we may have known something about God, but we didn't know God because we had no relationship with Him. "But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised" (1 Cor. 2:14).

The necessity of being in relationship to God to know God comes into sharp focus in John's announcement: "And the Word [logos in the Greek] became flesh" (John 1:14). That was an incredibly significant statement in a world heavily influenced by ancient Greek philosophy. To the Greek philosopher, logos represented the highest form of philosophical knowledge. To say that the Word became flesh meant that the logos was incarnated, that ultimate knowledge became personal and relational. Jesus embodied the truth because He is the truth. You couldn't separate His words from who He is. The Hebrew dabar, translated as "word," also conveyed the ultimate wisdom of God.

The Gospel of John brings these two cultures and dominant concepts together in Christ. God was announcing to the world through John that the true knowledge of God, which can only be discovered in an intimate relationship with God, is now available to the world through God who came in the flesh—Jesus Christ. In Christ we are able to know God personally because we have received the "mind of Christ" (1 Cor. 2:16) in our inner selves at salvation.

This truth has profound implications for Christian education. Knowledge to the western world has become nothing more than the collection of data. That kind of knowledge makes us arrogant, but love edifies (see 1 Cor. 8:1). Paul says, "But the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith" (1 Tim. 1:5). The truth (Christ and His Word) should set us free and enable us to conform to the image of God. "By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another" (John 13:35).

Dominant Negative Emotions

Adam and Eve were not only darkened in their understanding, but they also became fearful and anxious. The first emotion expressed by fallen humankind was fear (see Genesis 3:10). Fear of anything other than God is mutually exclusive to faith in God. Why is the fear of God the beginning of wisdom (see Proverbs 9:10) and how does it expel all other fears?

As I was writing the book Freedom From Fear with my colleague Rich Miller, I became aware that we are living in an age of anxiety. People around the world are paralyzed by fear of anything and everything but God. Chuck Colson said, "For the church in the West to come alive, it needs to resolve its identity crisis, to stand on truth, to renew its vision . . . and more than anything else, it needs to recover the fear of the Lord."

Another emotional by-product of sin is shame and guilt. Before Adam and Eve disobeyed God they were naked and unashamed (see Genesis 2:25). God created them as sexual beings. Their sex organs and sexual activity were holy. When they sinned, however, they were ashamed to be naked and they had to cover up (see Genesis 3:7). Many people mask the inner self for fear that others may find out what is really going on inside. When dominated by guilt and shame, self-disclosure is not likely to happen.

Humankind also became depressed and angry after the Fall. Cain brought his offering to God and, for some reason, God was displeased with it. "So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast. Then the Lord said to Cain, 'Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it'" (Genesis 4:5-7, NIV).

Why was Cain angry and depressed? Because he didn't do what was right. In other words, God is saying, "You don't feel your way into good behavior; you behave your way into good feelings." Jesus said, "If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them" (John 13:17).

While researching and writing the book Finding Hope Again, I discovered we are also experiencing a blues epidemic in this age of anxiety. Depression is so prevalent it is called the "common cold" of mental illness. Visits to the doctor that resulted in a diagnosis of depression almost doubled from 1985 to 1995 in the United States, and overall there was a tenfold increase in the twentieth century.

Too Many Choices

Adam and Eve's sin also affected their will to choose. Do you realize that in the Garden of Eden they could make only one wrong choice? Everything they wanted to do was okay except eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (see Genesis 2:16, 17). They had the possibility of making myriad good choices and only one bad choice—only one!

Eventually, however, they made that one bad choice. As a result, you and I are confronted every day with myriad good and bad choices. Apart from the Holy Spirit in your life, the greatest power you possess is the power to choose. You can choose to pray or not pray, read your Bible or not read your Bible, go to church or not go to church. You can choose to walk according to the flesh or according to the Spirit.

Attributes Become Needs

Another long-term effect of sin is that humankind's attributes before the Fall became glaring needs after the Fall. This sad transition occurs in three areas. Each of these three needs is continuous in our lives.

1. Acceptance was replaced by rejection; therefore we have a need to belong. Even before the Fall, Adam had a need to belong. His need to belong to God was filled in the intimacy of his fellowship with God in the garden. Of all the things that were good in the garden, the only thing that was "not good" was that Adam was alone (see Genesis 2:18). God filled that need by creating Eve.

Ever since Adam and Eve's sin alienated them from God and introduced strife into human relationships, we have experienced a deep need to belong. Even when people come to Christ and fill their need to belong to God, they still need to belong to the community of God's people.

If your church doesn't provide opportunities for legitimate Christian fellowship for its members, they will seek it someplace else. Those who study church-growth trends have discovered that a church can give people Christ, but if it doesn't also give them friends, after a few months the church will lose them. The spiritual union of Christian fellowship—called koinonia in the New Testament—is not just a nice thing the church ought to provide; it is a necessary thing the church must provide.

You will never understand the power of peer pressure in our culture until you understand the legitimate need to belong and the fear of rejection we all share.

2. Innocence was replaced by guilt and shame; therefore the need for a legitimate sense of worth has to be restored. Those who work with people recognize that a suffering humankind struggles with a poor sense of worth. An identity crisis and a negative self-image have been human problems since the Fall. The secular advice of stroking one another's ego and picking ourselves up by our own bootstraps is not a sufficient answer. Our sense of worth is not a question of giftedness, talent, intelligence or beauty. Your sense of personal worth comes from knowing who you are as a child of God and your growth in character. We will talk more about the dimensions of our identity in Christ and how it contributes to our sense of worth in the chapters ahead.

3. Dominion was replaced by weakness and helplessness; therefore we have a need for strength and self-control. People attempt to meet this need by learning to discipline themselves or by seeking to control and manipulate others. Nobody is more insecure or sick than controllers. They wrongly believe they can establish themselves by trying to control and manipulate other people or circumstances in life. In other words, they are trying to play God. The fruit of the Spirit is not spouse control or staff control or environmental control; it is self-control (see Galatians 5:23).

On the other hand, extreme efforts at self-discipline without the grace of God often lead to legalism or perfectionism and result in self-destruction. The world would have us think we are the masters of our fates and the captains of our souls, but we really aren't. The human soul was not designed to function as a master. We cannot serve God and wealth, but we will serve one or the other (see Matthew 6:24), being deceived into thinking we are serving ourselves.

Every temptation is an attempt by the devil to get us to live our lives independently of God. Satan tempts us just as he did Jesus by appealing to our most basic and legitimate needs. The question is: Are these needs going to be met by the world, the flesh and the devil, or are they going to be met by God who promises to meet all our needs "according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus" (Phil. 4:19)? The most critical needs are the being needs and they are the ones most wonderfully met in Christ.

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

Purity 434: Encouragement for the Path of Christian Discipleship

Purity 434 06/02/2021   Purity 434 Podcast

Good morning.

Today’s photo comes to us from the Adirondack Aerial & Ground Imagery Showcase Page as they recently shared this view of the Pharaoh Wilderness Area from the vantage point of the NYS DEC Campground at Putnam Pond located in Chilson NY.  I love the way they captured the submerged rocks in the lake and still managed to get the reflection of the trees and blue sky in the water, and the distant vista of the mountains beyond.

It’s Wednesday and while the mountains in the distance aren’t much of a “hump”, I thought it was fitting to share a photo with a less pronounced summit because the Memorial Day Holiday causes us to not really have a midpoint in the week and may have us having “Tuesday” feelings today. But regardless of that feeling, it is Wednesday.  

One of the aspects of our spiritual walk through life is the paradox that we can experience between “what we know” and “how we feel”.   Our feelings are fluid. The truth of God is unchanging.    How we feel can be all over the place but the truth of who God says we are in Christ is always the same.   In Christ, we are loved, accepted, secure, and significant.  

But what if I don’t feel that way?  

Our lives are shaped by our beliefs.  If we believe we are unlovable, not good enough, or “no good”, we will feel pretty miserable. 

If we instead choose to believe what God says about us, we will feel special, loved, and protected.  

Our minds may protest: I KNOW all of that, but I FEEL like THIS. 

So how do we “do this”? How do we live a life of faith? How do we “give it to God”?

If we are going to experience the peace of God in our lives, we must choose to believe:

·       that He is present in our lives

·       that He hears us

·       that He loves us. 

And then we must ACT on those beliefs by:

·       Talking to Him, (Praying or literally Speaking to Him)

·       Thanking Him – for all He has provided (salvation, creation, and the blessings as well as the trials of this life that has made you who you are)

·       Trusting Him – We show our trust BY

o   Doing as much as we can in our own strength, but then releasing to Him all the things we can’t control

o    Seeking to know Him more (by reading His word)

o   Considering His Ways and Adopting them as our course of action.

Sounds easy huh?  

I know it is not. 

The big problem with the Western view of religion and spirituality is that our faith is reduced to a set of beliefs to hold in our minds and to drag out on special occasions.  By doing this we take all the power of our faith and lock it in a closet.  

We live a double life where we say we agree with God but we live our lives according to the world’s wisdom: usually in reactive patterns of trying to be seek happiness that is based on positive circumstances that we have a finite amount of control over.   

Instead, a life of faith is defined by actually living our lives based on our spiritual beliefs rather than the selfish dog eat dog pragmatic practices of the world.  

I don’t want to reduce our life of faith to “practice what you preach” because that falls into the trap of the “following the rules” thing, where we stay in the boundaries of some established principles in our conduct but in our hearts we are just going through the motions to avoid negative consequences. 

No, we have to “practice” our faith like we would practice ball room dancing or karate. Our practice of our faith must be an all-encompassing practice where our thoughts and actions come together in a context where we increasingly behave, think, and feel the way God wants us to.  

To have the peace and harmony that God wants you to experience, you have to take small steps into the life He has for you. 

Like in dancing and karate, you learn one movement at a time, but you also seek to understand the philosophy behind the movements and where all the movements will naturally lead to.  As you “practice” your faith, just like in dancing and karate, you become a better practitioner.   

So get out there and take one step at a time. Pray, talk to God, read the Bible, listen to a Christian podcast, talk to other Christians about how to live by faith, or do all the above.  

Our walk starts with a choice to believe that Lord is with us. After you choose to believe that you enter a relationship where you want to know what He knows, and you want to learn to move in the ways that He would have you move.    

Just like in dancing and karate, you may make a few mistakes along the way, but it usually gets better if you don’t stop completely and just give up.  Instead laugh with God about the way you made a fool of yourself and try again.  

Just like dancing, we should let the One with more experience and wisdom lead. While you may think you have a few moves, God is the virtuoso and we should recognize that, trust Him, and follow where He leads. 

This morning’s meditation verse is:

Psalm 31:5 (NLT2)
⁵ I entrust my spirit into your hand. Rescue me, LORD, for you are a faithful God.

Today’s verse is a great prayer of commitment and surrender to the Lord.  Coming to this place spiritually is the beginning of our journey with God. It summarizes the salvation experience where we ask for rescue and trust our eternal destiny to God with a declaration that we believe that He is faithful to save us.  

I don’t know where your journey has led you, but the word rescue resonates with me because I have had a significant realization of my lost state before coming to Christ. My gratitude for the Lord’s amazing grace has driven me to seek Him and to repent. 

A couple of years ago I saw a video that was shared on Facebook of some people stuck in a flood somewhere down south, in Texas I think, but that doesn’t really matter because the portrait of the human condition was universal.  In the video, a pair of men were flopping around near a half submerge car. They pulled a toddler out of the car, and they were desperately performing CPR on the child because the child had drowned and wasn’t breathing.  It wasn’t like the movies. The guys weren’t particularly attractive. There wasn’t a stirring soundtrack.  The video wasn’t HD.  There wasn’t any stirring dialog between the guys.  But what there was, was a woman just off camera, crying out to Jesus… just saying Jesus or please Lord… over and over again.   

It didn’t look like anything was going to happen. It didn’t look like the child would live. I mean, did these guys even know what they were doing? 

But just when you thought maybe it wasn’t going to happen, the child came to life gasping for breath. The people rejoiced for a moment but then just picked the kid up and slopped their way off camera. 

When I think about my salvation, I sometimes think about that video because spiritually I was as lifeless and powerless to save myself just like that toddler.  But God reached through all my darkness and betrayal of the faith and literally breathed His life into me.   One minute I was dead, the next minute I was alive having been filled with His mercy, His grace, and His love.  

They say when you get saved the Holy Spirit comes to live in you.   The scriptures tell us that when He showed up on Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came in like a mighty rushing wind.   

That spring day in 2010, in a parking lot on Aviation Road, in Albany New York, the mighty rushing wind, The Holy Spirit rushed in to rescue me.  God’s faithfulness was revealed to me, and I entrusted my spirit into His hand.  

If you don’t feel like you have been rescued from certain death, you might want to ponder what would have happened if the Lord didn’t come into your life or you might want to call out to Him and ask Jesus to be your Lord and Savior. 

God doesn’t want us to doubt our relationship with Him. If you are unsure, commit your spirit into His hand and thank Him for rescuing you and for His faithfulness. 

The helmet of salvation protects our minds from the enemy and our own foolishness.  When we remember our rescue, we can rejoice at our salvation and the transformation that happened that day and that continues to happen every step we take closer to God.  

Our salvation isn’t just a nice thing that happened one day. Our salvation is something that can comfort us and protect us every day until we see God face to face.  So remember your rescue story and be sure to tell the tale of God’s amazing grace to all who will listen

As always, I invite all 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, beginning Chapter 1: Who are You?

 

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:

Chapter 1

Who Are You?

I really enjoy asking people, "Who are you?" It sounds like a simple question requiring a simple answer, but it really isn't. For example, if someone asked me, "Who are you?" I might answer, "Neil Anderson."

"No, that's your name. Who are you?"

"Oh, I'm a seminary professor."

"No, that's what you do."

"I'm an American."

"That's where you live."

"I'm an evangelical."

"That's your denominational preference."

I could also say that I am five feet nine inches tall and a little over 150 pounds—actually quite a little over 150 pounds! My physical dimensions and appearance, however, aren't me either. If you chopped off my arms and legs would I still be me? If you transplanted my heart, kidneys or liver would I still be me? Of course! Now if you keep chopping you will get to me eventually because I am in here somewhere. Who I am, though, is far more than what you see on the outside.

The apostle Paul said "we recognize no man according to the flesh" (2 Cor. 5:16). Maybe the Early Church didn't, but generally we do. We tend to identify ourselves and each other primarily by what we look like (tall, short, stocky, slender) or what we do (plumber, carpenter, nurse, engineer, clerk). Furthermore, when we Christians are asked to identify ourselves in relation to our faith, we usually talk about our doctrinal position (Protestant, evangelical, Calvinist, charismatic), our denominational preference (Baptist, Presbyterian, Methodist, Independent) or our role in the church (Sunday School teacher, choir member, deacon, usher).

Is who you are determined by what you do, or is what you do determined by who you are? That is an important question, especially as it relates to Christian maturity. I subscribe to the latter. I believe that your hope for growth, meaning and fulfillment as a Christian is based on understanding who you are—specifically, your identity in Christ as a child of God. Your understanding of who God is and who you are in relationship to Him is the critical foundation for your belief system and your behavior patterns as a Christian.

False Equations in the Search for Identity

Several years ago a 17-year-old girl drove a great distance to talk with me. I have never met a girl who had so much going for her. She was cover-girl pretty and had a wonderful figure. She was immaculately dressed. She had completed 12 years of school in 11 years and graduated near the top of her class. As a talented musician, she had received a full-ride music scholarship to a Christian university. She also drove a brand-new sports car her parents gave her for graduation. I was amazed that one person could have so much.

She talked with me for half an hour and I realized that what I saw on the outside wasn't matching what I was beginning to see on the inside.

"Mary," I said finally, "have you ever cried yourself to sleep at night because you felt inadequate and wished you were somebody else?"

She began to cry. "How did you know?"

"Truthfully, Mary," I answered, "I've learned that people who appear to have it all together on the outside may not have it all together on the inside. I could ask almost anyone that same question at some time in their lives and get the same response."

Often what we show on the outside is a false front designed to disguise who we really are, and we cover up the negative feelings we have about ourselves. The world would have us believe that if we appear attractive or perform well or enjoy a certain amount of status, then we will have it all together inside as well. That is not always true, however. External appearance, accomplishment and recognition don't necessarily reflect—or produce—internal peace and maturity.

In his book The Sensation of Being Somebody, Maurice Wagner expresses this false belief in simple equations we tend to accept. He says we mistakenly think that good appearance plus the admiration it brings equal a whole person. Or we feel that star performance plus accomplishments equal a whole person. Or we believe that a certain amount of status plus the recognition we accumulate equal a whole person. Not so. These equations are no more correct than two plus two equal six. Wagner says:

Try as we might by our appearance, performance or social status to find self-verification for a sense of being somebody, we always come short of satisfaction. Whatever pinnacle of self-identity we achieve soon crumbles under the pressure of hostile rejection or criticism, introspection or guilt, fear or anxiety. We cannot do anything to qualify for the by-product of being loved unconditionally and voluntarily.

If these equations could work for anyone, they would have worked for King Solomon. He was the king of Israel during the greatest years in its history. He had power, position, wealth, possessions and women. If a meaningful life is the result of appearance, admiration, performance, accomplishments, status or recognition, Solomon would have been the most together man who ever lived.

Not only did he possess all that a fallen humanity could hope for, but God also gave him more wisdom than any other mortal to interpret it all. What was his conclusion? "Meaningless! Meaningless! . . . Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless" (Eccles. 1:2, NIV). Solomon sought to find purpose and meaning in life independent of God and he wrote a book about it. The book of Ecclesiastes describes the futility of humankind pursuing a meaningful life in a fallen world without God. Millions of people climb those ladders of "success," only to discover when they reach the top that their ladder is leaning against the wrong wall.

We also tend to buy into the negative side of the worldly success-equals-meaning formula by believing that if people have nothing, they have no hope for happiness. For example, I presented this scenario to a high school student a few years ago: "Suppose there's a girl on your campus who has a potato body and stringy hair, who stumbles when she walks and stutters when she talks. She has a bad complexion and she struggles just to get average grades. Does she have any hope for happiness?"

He thought for a moment, then answered, "Probably not."

Maybe he is right in this earthly kingdom, where people live strictly on the external plane. Happiness is equated with good looks, relationships with important people, the right job and a fat bank account. Life devoid of these "benefits" is too often equated with hopelessness.

What about life in God's kingdom? The success-equals-happiness and failure-equals-hopelessness equations don't exist. Everyone has exactly the same opportunity for a meaningful life. Why? Because wholeness and meaning in life are not the products of what you have or don't have, what you've done or haven't done. You are already a whole person and possess a life of infinite meaning and purpose because of who you are—a child of God. The only identity equation that works in God's kingdom is you plus Christ equals wholeness and meaning.

If our relationship with God is the key to wholeness, why do so many believers struggle with their identity, security, significance, sense of worth and spiritual maturity? Ignorance is probably the primary reason. The prophet Hosea said, "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge" (Hosea 4:6). For others it is carnality, the lack of repentance and faith in God, and some are being deceived by the father of lies. This deception was brought home to me a few years ago when I was counseling a Christian girl who was the victim of satanic oppression.

I asked her, "Who are you?"

"I'm evil," she answered.

"You're not evil. How can a child of God be evil? Is that how you see yourself?" She nodded.

Now she may have done some evil things, but at the core of her being she wasn't evil. This was evident by the deep remorse she felt after sinning. She was basing her identity on the wrong equation. She was letting Satan's accusations influence her perception of herself instead of believing the truth.

Sadly, a great number of Christians are trapped in the same downward spiral. We fail, so we see ourselves as failures, which only leads to more failure. We sin, so we see ourselves as sinners, which only leads to more sin. We have been deceived into believing that what we do determines who we are. That false belief sends us into a tailspin of hopelessness and more defeat. On the other hand, "The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God" (Romans 8:16). God wants us to know who we are so we can start living accordingly. Being a child of God who is alive and free in Christ should determine what we do. Then we are working out our salvation (see Phil. 2:12), not for our salvation.

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