Purity 287 12/10/2020
Good morning!
Today’s photo was taken during yesterday’s commute home on State Route
9J just outside of Castleton on the Hudson NY.
As I drove, I was mesmerized by the setting sun and I just had to stop
and grab this photo and I had to do it immediately.
Part of me wanted to continue to a spot with a clearer vantage point of
the sun but I felt a sense of urgency that told me that the beauty of this
moment wouldn’t last. So I seized the
moment and thanked the Lord for this vision.
The contrast of the blazing sun through the bare trees with the freshly
fallen snow on top of the Hudson River’s river reeds and cattails shows me that
this was the moment God had for me and me alone, as I was the only one pulled
over to capture it, at this particular place at this particular moment.
And I was right about the fleeting of the moment, as I proceeded down
the road the sun became more obscured by the clouds and by the time, I got to
Castleton’s village proper the blazing sun was completely hidden behind those
clouds making its brief appearance all the more glorious.
I share it because its simply marvelous and this experience on the side
of the road of State Route 9J is a reflection of our lives here on earth. In this life we need to keep our eyes open
for the things that God has for us and when we hear His call, we have to be
ready to respond and walk into what He has for us. We are not guaranteed tomorrow so we are
supposed to live right now, today. We are to seize this moment in our lives.
Your walk is yours and yours alone.
If we are caught up in the busyness of this world instead of being open
to the beauty that surrounds us, we will live a life that is defined by fear
and anxiety instead of the abundant joyous journey that God makes available to
us every day.
God has moments for you too. Go out and seek Him and He will show you a
new life.
If you crave a new life and need some companionship for this new
journey, I will be teaching about saying Yes to God’s way for your life tonight
at Celebrate Freedom.
(There is More at
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This morning’s
meditation verse was:
1 John 4:18
(NKJV)
18 There is no fear in love; but
perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears
has not been made perfect in love.
For the third day in a row, the “random draw” of
Bible verses has given us a verse from 1 John. It is an awesome epistle, and the Lord might
be calling us to glean its wisdom and apply it to our lives.
Scripture tells us that wisdom is the fear of the
Lord. In ultimate reality, God is the only thing to fear or hold in reverence.
He made us and has given us this life on earth and when He calls us into
eternity scripture tells us that we will be held accountable for what we
believe and what we do. That can be a
scary proposition!
However, if we know the Lord’s love through the
expression of His gift of life eternal that comes through faith in Jesus Christ,
we have nothing to fear. His perfect
love casts out all fear. When we make Christ our Lord and Savior, we are
accepted by God and the judgement we receive will be to determine our rewards
rather than our punishment.
Death loses its sting, and the opinions of men are
put in their proper perspective in the light of the love of the Lord that is
poured out on us when we come into His kingdom the moment we say “Yes” to
Jesus.
When we fail to know and live in our identity in Christ,
we suffer fear and anxiety. Those who fear have not been made perfect in love.
However, through following the Lord’s way and renewing our minds to transform
our thoughts and perspective to His truth, we can make steady progress to leave
our fears and anxieties about our life on earth behind as we live in the
promises of God.
God is to be feared but His love brings us into His
family, and He protects and guides those who are His to the greatest possible
end.
Keep walking and talking with God.
Today we continue chapter 5 of Anderson & Baumchen’s Finding Hope
Again, where the authors discuss weeding out our false perceptions.
As always, I share this information for educational purposes and
encourage all to purchase Anderson’s books for your own private study and to
support his work:
Weeding
Out False Perceptions
Realizing who we are in Christ and what it means to be a
child of God is the basis for victorious living and an essential basis for
overcoming depression. People cannot consistently behave in a way that is
inconsistent with how they perceive themselves, nor can their feelings about
themselves be any different from their perceptions about themselves.
For example, we will struggle with a
poor self-image to the degree that we don’t see ourselves the way God sees us.
Such negative perceptions of ourselves are based on lies we have believed. They
are like weeds in a field of grain. They stunt the growth of the good seed and
rob the harvest. “Whatever a man sows, this he will also reap. For the one
who sows to his own flesh shall from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who
sows to the Spirit shall from the Spirit reap eternal life” (Galatians 6:7, 8).
If you sow a lie, you will reap corruption (garbage in, garbage out,
remember?). You can’t plant weeds, hoping to reap a harvest of grain!
Truth
or Consequences
Holding false perceptions about ourselves has several
predictable consequences:
1. False perceptions erode
confidence and weaken our resolve. Many depressed people think they are
losers, and choose to believe they can’t do whatever it takes to overcome their
problems. Of course, if they believe that lie, then they won’t be able to
overcome. Failures fail, losers lose and sinners sin; but children of God live
righteous lives and do all things through Christ, who strengthens them.
John writes, “Dear friends, now we
are children of God….Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just
as he is pure” (1 John. 3:2, 3,
NIV). It is not what we do that determines who we are; it is who we
are that determines what we do. That is why the Holy Spirit “bears witness
with our spirit that we are children of God” (Romans 8:16).
“Yet to all who received Him, to
those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of
God—children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s
will, but born of God” (John. 1:12, 13,
NIV).
2. False perceptions drive us to
seek our own acceptance, security and significance. We try to accomplish
this through appearance, performance and status. No matter how hard we try, we
will still suffer from morbid introspection, hostile criticism, overt rejection
and endless accusations. That is depressing! Acceptance, security and
significance are already provided in Christ. Many Christians are endlessly
looking for what they already have in Christ. Others are desperately trying to
become someone they already are. “Coming to Him as to a living stone,
rejected by men, but choice and precious in the sight of God, you also, as
living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy
priesthood” (1 Peter
2:4, 5).
3. False perceptions
precipitate a fear of failure. To stumble and fall is not failure. To
stumble and fall again is not failure. Failure comes when you say you were
pushed.
There are no unforgivable failures in
the kingdom of God, but there are many who are living far below their potential
because they have never learned the truth of who they are in Christ.
“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ
Jesus” (Romans
8:1).
We probably learn more from our
mistakes than we will ever learn from our successes. A mistake is only a
failure when you fail to learn from it. “For though a righteous man falls
seven times, he rises again” (Proverbs 24:16, NIV).
If you make a mistake, get back up and try again—and again and again.
Depressed people have a tendency to
ask, “What do I stand to lose if I do try again?” They should be
asking, “What do I stand to lose if I don’t?” This is not a question
of self-confidence. Our confidence is in God. Paul said that we “worship
in the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the
flesh” (Phil.
3:3).
4. False perceptions cause us to
seek the approval and affirmation of others. The need for affirmation and
approval is universal. This need is so great that it should draw us to our
heavenly Father because we are not going to get the need perfectly met in this
world no matter how hard we try.
Jesus lived a perfect life, and
everyone rejected Him. But He had the approval of His heavenly Father. Paul
asks, “Am I now seeking the favor of men, or of God? Or am I striving to
please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a bond-servant
of Christ” (Galatians
1:10). You will be a servant of humankind instead of God if you try to win
their approval and seek their affirmation.
We don’t do that which pleases God with
the hope that He may some day accept us. We do those things because we already
have His approval and affirmation in Christ. We don’t labor in the vineyard
with the hope that some day God may love us. We are already loved
unconditionally by God because we are His children. That is why we labor in the
vineyard.
Scripture warns us not to exalt
ourselves (see Luke
14:7-11), and to be aware of those who stroke our egos. “For such
people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk
and flattery they deceive the minds of naive people” (Romans 16:18, NIV).
Paul’s written exhortation to the Thessalonians and to us is a reminder to be
less concerned about the opinions of others and more concerned about what God
thinks: “We speak, not as pleasing men but God, who examines our hearts.
For we never came with flattering speech, as you know, nor with a pretext for
greed—God is witness—nor did we seek glory from men, either from you or from
others” (1 Thes.
2:4-6).
5. False perceptions rob
us of the courage to stand up for our convictions and beliefs. A person
who has a low sense of worth thinks, My opinions don’t matter. If I share
what I really believe, others will only squash me. Caving in to the fear
of rejection undermines the courage to stand for our convictions.
Depressed people frequently think of
themselves as weak or cowardly. In the book of Daniel, three young men stood
against the cultural trends and mandates of the land when they refused to bow
down to the golden image of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon. He put himself on
a pedestal as tall as a water tower—but Nebuchadnezzar was about to be knocked
off.
Courageous acts of independence and the
fortitude to hold true to your convictions are only possible with an inner
confidence in God. Believers find their strength not in themselves, but in the
knowledge of who they are in Christ. “Finally, be strong in the Lord, and
in the strength of His might” (Ephes. 6:10).
6. False perceptions lead
to codependent relationships. Every Christian is interdependent in a
healthy sense because we absolutely need God and we necessarily need each
other. We are under the conviction of God to love one another (i.e., to meet
one another’s needs). Relationships become unhealthy, however, when we begin to
think, I can’t live without you or your acceptance or your approval.
The letter from Cheryl Dankers revealed
that she looked to men in an unhealthy way to supply unmet dependency needs and
her longing for love and approval. The intense desire to have your
emotional needs met from other people can often lead to compromising your own
standards and values.
7. False perceptions make
it difficult to receive ordinary compliments. Affirmations, praise and
compliments do not remove the terrible pain that depressed people feel. Because
the pain did not go away with an expression of praise or gratitude, they
wrongly conclude that it was not genuine.
Acceptance and affirmation accomplish
more when directed toward the person’s character, and when they reinforce who
he or she really is in Christ. On the other hand, rejection and criticism of
any kind contribute to the depressed state of an insecure person because they
match existing false perceptions.
Finding Hope Again: Overcoming Depression.
——————————more
tomorrow————————–
God bless
you all!
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