Purity 334 02/05//2021 Purity 334 Podcast
Good morning!
Today’s breathtaking sunset photo comes from a friend in Adelaide, South
Australia. While I have been to a few of
the continents on earth, I have not yet made my way Down Under.
Me sharing this sight truly is a testimony of the goodness of God
because my new friend just happened to listen to the podcast of the first
lesson of our “Victory over the Darkness” discipleship class that I posted last
night. They reported that they were
familiar with the book and enjoyed listening to a podcast on the material. They
listened to it while they were driving, IN AUSTRALIA!
If I had any doubts about doing this series of classes or starting a
community freedom ministry at my local church, they have evaporated after the
first class.
Not only did the freedom message I delivered last night make it to the
other side of the globe, but there were also other testimonies to report from
our first night of class.
Days before the class began, a friend reached out to ask about the books
for class via FB messenger. I explained
that students had to provide their own copies of the book for the class, but I
could help out if there was difficulty getting a book and encouraged them to
email me if they needed help. They never
responded, so me being a great man of faith, figured: “Oh great, they won’t be
coming!”
Well, imagine my surprise when this friend walked through the door last
night, with another friend to boot! I
would have been happy with that! But there’s more. There always is, right?
So anyway, I notice that they both had copies of the book, and copies of
the Steps to Freedom in Christ as well.
And I said: “Oh great you got the books!” But then my friend explained to me why he
sent that message to me. He sent that
message to me because the books just showed up at his house. He thought that I had sent them, but I didn’t.
Somebody else, who remains anonymous, sent the books to them and that free gift
and encouragement resulted in these two men being motivated to attend the class
and make a commitment to one another to come and finish the course! That’s a God thing.
Pretty great right? But its not
over yet.
So I start teaching and the podcast is recording, and a late comer comes
in and sits down. I finish my lecture
and am ecstatic because the late comer was my dear friend, brother and Christ,
and former ministry partner, Tom Fisher.
Some of you may recall that last late summer or early fall. Tom taught at
our recovery ministry on a Thursday evening, and by the weekend He couldn’t
walk. He went into the hospital and had back surgery and I have been praying
for his healing and his return to us ever since. Because of the madness of Covid-19, the
holidays, and life, I have continued to pray for Tom and his wife, but I hadn’t
seen him. He couldn’t come to our
ministry meetings because He couldn’t walk without a walker and He couldn’t
drive.
He was in that condition, walker – can’t drive, until yesterday. The first day he was able to walk and drive, he
came to our discipleship class. Tom said
He was blessed by the class but brother I was blessed to think how amazing God’s
timing can be that He would bring our friend back to us to on the opening night
of our new ministry!
Our Lord is alive and well and He is moving in our lives. Sometimes we
just plod along doing the best we can to keep the faith and then He shows you
that He is with you and He is working all things for good.
This morning’s meditation
verse is:
Romans 6:13
(NLT2)
13 Do not let any part of your body
become an instrument of evil to serve sin. Instead, give yourselves completely
to God, for you were dead, but now you have new life. So use your whole body as
an instrument to do what is right for the glory of God.
“I really have been set free from sin! I said
no once, and if I understand that those old ways are a contradiction to who I
am in Christ. I can say no again. In fact, I don’t want to say yes to sin, because
it just isn’t who I am anymore, and that stuff gets between me and my relationship
with God and I don’t want it to anymore.”
I invite all to mt4chritst.org where I always share insights from prominent Christian counselors to assist my brothers and sisters in Christ with their walk.
Today we will continue to share from Dr. June Hunt’s Biblical Counseling
Keys on “Self-Worth: Discovering Your God-given Worth”.
As always, I share this information for educational purposes and
encourage all to purchase Dr. Hunt’s books for your own private study and to
support her work:
D. Why Is Wrong Thinking so Wrong?
Dorie had every reason to develop wrong thinking and form faulty perceptions
of herself. From her earliest memories, all she was told was that she didn't do
anything right, that everything was her fault, that she wasn't good enough,
that no one loved her or found value in her. Besides all that, she knew she was
ugly. She thought, "I must be the ugliest child that ever walked. I felt
so ugly on the inside that I believed I was ugly on the outside ... maybe it's
my curly hair or my nose!"
Do you go through life fearing what others think? Some people look in the
mirror and see only an ugly duckling — a sad little bird with no self-worth. In
her early years, Dorie considered herself the "ugly duckling"—ugly,
unadoptable Dorie. Not only was she called ugly, but she also felt ugly because
of the repeated pain of rejection.
In Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale "The Ugly Duckling," the
title character felt rejected and rebuffed by all the barnyard birds because
they didn't like his looks or his awkward waddle. He didn't see the beautiful
swan that was within although the beauty was there all along. In truth, many
people suffer from self-rejection ... thinking they possess no personal value.
Yet like this young little duckling, they look only to their outer image to
determine their inner worth. If they could see what God sees, what a difference
that would make! The Bible says ...
"From heaven the Lord
looks down and sees all mankind; from his dwelling place he watches all who
live on earth — he who forms the hearts of all, who considers everything they
do."
(Psalm 33:13-15)
Low self-worth can result from how you see or perceive yourself and how you
think others see and perceive you. Faulty perceptions lead to faulty
conclusions.
Faulty Perception
Faulty
Conclusion
Perfectionism
"I didn't do it right — I
can't do anything right."
Overgeneralization
"I failed, so I must be a
failure."
Overreacting
"I am horrible for having
failed."
False guilt
"I am the reason my dad
left."
Unforgiveness
"I can't forgive myself."
Projection
"My mother didn't love me;
therefore, no one will ever love me."
Condemnation
"God could never forgive
me."
Unrealistic expectations
"I'll never measure up to what
people expect of me."
Fatalism
"No one believes I will ever
amount to anything."
Hopelessness
"There isn't anyone who holds
out any hope for my life."
Myth: "I will never be able to change the way I see
myself and the way I think others see me."
Truth: Your faulty self-perception will automatically change
as you fix your thoughts on the truth ... on Jesus.
"... fix your thoughts on Jesus, whom we
acknowledge as our apostle and high priest" (Hebrews 3:1).
Biblical Counseling Keys - Biblical Counseling Keys – Biblical Counseling Keys:
Self-Worth: Discover Your God-Given Worth.
-----------------------------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