Purity 404 04/28/2021 Purity 404 Podcast
Good morning.
San Antonio’s Riverwalk
is a bustling tourist attraction that features all kinds of museums, shops, restaurants,
taverns, and other activities that make it “the number one attraction in Texas”. I didn’t know anything about Riverwalk when I
went there but I decided to check it out for a while since I was in town. After a short walk along its shores I decided
that it was a little too touristy for me.
I’m not into shopping in
general and that especially for applies to souvenirs. I don’t think that cheap, or not so cheap,
trinkets are the best way to remember the places we visit.
I also don’t drink
alcohol and lately have been trying to be more moderate in the things I eat. Riverwalk’s
festive atmosphere that beckons you to eat, drink, and be merry was actually a
turn off for me. So after about a half hour
of exploration, I decided to leave the Riverwalk behind. It’s a good thing I
decided to leave when I did and not just press on because apparently it would
take 5 to 6 hours to walk the full length of Riverwalk!
Today’s video and my short
experience at Riverwalk reminds me of the 1994 TLC song “waterfalls” whose chorus
reminds us to:
“Don’t go chasing waterfalls” and to “stick
to the rivers and the lakes that” we’re used to. It warns us about
having things our own way and that we might be “moving too fast”.
For a pop song it gives good advice. It warns
of the dangers of chasing intangible dreams with no thought of the
consequences, specifically the dangers of getting easy money with drug dealing and
the dangers of easy love, warning of HIV.
Riverwalk could be a good time, but I would
caution my friends to consider the consequences to their wallet, their bodies,
and their souls. Man loves to
manufacture “fun” for a cost but sometimes that “fun” turns into slavery and
costs a lot more than the price of admission.
Going on a walk with God on the other hand
tends to lead to peace and joy that goes beyond all understanding. It leads to
a new life that is defined by freedom and is free from guilt and shame.
So enjoy your freedom to go where you please in
this world but be aware of the consequences of whose wisdom you follow. God as the author of all creation and all truth
knows how things work and I recommend you seek His guidance in the way you
should go.
(An Audio version of this message is available
at https://mt4christ247.podbean.com, you
can also find it on Apple podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-mt4christ247s-podcast/id1551615154) and
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This morning’s meditation
verses are:
Psalm 121:5 (NKJV)
5 The LORD is your keeper; The LORD is your shade at your right hand.
Psalm 119:165 (NKJV)
165 Great peace have those who love
Your law, And nothing causes them to stumble.
Today’s verses
come to us from the devotional “Daily Strength for Daily Needs” by Mary Wilder
Tileston. Ms. Tileston apparently wrote
her devotional in 1884 and kept things simple. She shared these two verses and
the following poem from Charles Wesley:
I rest beneath the
Almighty’s shade,
My griefs expire, my troubles cease;
Thou, Lord, on whom my soul is stayed,
Wilt keep me still in perfect peace.
So the daily strength we are to draw
from these verses and Wesley’s poem is based on the fact that we have peace
with God. The verses assure us that the
Lord is our keeper, provides us with rest and protection in His shade, and that
when we love his law, or his instruction, as the Hebrew word “tora” is also defined,
we will never stumble.
Wesley’s poems agrees that when we are
under “the Almighty’s shade”, under His protection, in His presence, or in
relationship with the Lord, our troubles cease and when we focus on God we find
perfect peace.
So no matter where the day takes you
today and no matter what the weather is like in your neck of the woods, remember
that your relationship with God though your faith in Jesus Christ means that
you are covered in the Lord’s shade. That means you are protected and
loved. Being in His shade also means
that we are continually in His presence.
So keep walking and talking with God. If
you grow weary, remember to take a break and to rest in His shade where all
your griefs will expire and your troubles will cease, because when we walk with
God, we walk in peace.
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 to share from Dr. H. Norman Wright’s “Experiencing
Grief
As always, I share this information for educational purposes
and encourage all to purchase Dr. Wright’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 $5.00:
Chapter 19.
Capturing the Memories
SHAPE \* MERGEFORMAT
Many who grieve are upset even more when they discover
some of the memories of their loved one begin to fade. The greater the distance
in time from being with a person, the more this will occur. One man who lost
his wife after thirty-five years made a decision not to let this occur, which
many others are now doing for their loss. He decided to write down every thought
or memory that came to his mind about his wife until he had accumulated a
thousand of them. He called this his collection of a thousand one-liners, which
would give him a complete picture. Perhaps something like this would aid you in
your quest to remember.
You have stories about your loved one. So do others. Telling all these
stories is a wonderful way to celebrate a life and give as complete a picture
as possible of who this person was. Some have found it helpful in processing
their grief to ask friends and relatives to share one of their favorite stories
about the loved one.
One of the new roles you take on after the loss of your loved one is
becoming their historian. You may be the main person to convey to others who
your loved one really was. Newspapers carry obituaries, but you probably want
others to know more than those basic facts. You are the one to decide what you
want the world to know about your loved one. You’re creating a biography. And
it’s not just facts. It’s who they were as a person. It’s an exploration of a
life lived 66 rather than a history. It’s capturing the important elements of
one’s life, commemorating who they were, and giving a testimonial about them.
What you say and how you say it conveys what this person meant
to others. At a time when you’re ready, consider this possibility. If you do,
write about their life-celebrate their life. Give voice to your precious
memories. It’s what you saw and knew about this person. And remember, others
may have a different perspective since we are all important, hopefully growing
throughout our life and gradually being conformed to the image of Christ. You
may want to create small vignettes and later weave them together into a more
complete story. And most important, even though this is for others, it’s for
you most of all. It gives expression to what you are attempting to hold on to,
clarity to the jumbled mixture of memories, and it preserves what will
gradually fade in time.
Experiencing Grief.
—————————-more
tomorrow————————-
God bless
you all!
Join our
Victory over the Darkness Discipleship Class via the mt4christ247 podcast!
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