A Big Change Starts with A Single Step – Purity 687
Purity 687 03/24/2022 Purity 687 Podcast
Good morning,
Today’s photo of a clear pathway down a dock under blue skies
somewhere in Florida comes to us from a friend who recently mused over his
recent move to the Sunshine State with a poem and shared this photo back on
February 27th. The poem
alluded to the fact that our friend’s current location was “A big change” from
where they had been and pondered where they would go next in their travels to see
“the unseen” as they had decided on a spontaneous course to direct them in the future
that would lead them to “where the wind
blows”.
Our friend’s allusion to the wind guiding their course of
direction like a sailboat, reminded me of the words of Christ in:
John 3:8 (NKJV)
8 The wind blows where it wishes, and
you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it
goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
Well it is Thursday again, and I shared today’s photo because
it features a pathway and it is my habit to share photos of pathways on Thursdays
because I lead a Men’s Christian Discipleship Group on Zoom this evening and I
like to encourage my all friends to seek the Lord and the meaning and purpose
of their lives by stepping on to the pathway of Christian Discipleship like my
friends and I have.
The men meeting tonight are all pretty different from one
another but we all have the common experience of coming to know who we are in
Christ and have experienced our Freedom in Christ.
Tonight’s meeting is the last scheduled meeting for this
particular group and tonight’s topic will address the question of “What’s Next?”
And the possibilities are endless really, but I will be
encouraging the graduates of this Freedom in Christ course , that wherever the “mighty
rushing wind” of the person of Holy Spirt directs their path that they remember
what they have learned about themselves in terms of who they are in Christ and to
keep applying the principles of Christian Discipleship to their lives.
Experiencing their freedom in Christ is “a big change” that
started with a single step they made 12 weeks ago. They saw the possibility for
growth in their faith through the Freedom in Christ course and they decided to
walk in it.
Not all of the people they started this journey remained on
the path and only a handful of them stayed the course of this narrow pathway,
but the ones that remain are going forth with the assurance that they have overcome
some significant personal and spiritual conflicts and have a great hope for the
future.
While we don’t know where the winds of change come from or
where it will take these men “born of the Spirit”, I know that if they keep “walking and talking
with God” it will lead them into a progressively deeper faith that will be
defined by the manifestation of the fruit of the Spirit in their lives.
They have already found a sense of peace that goes beyond
their previous understanding, and I know if they continue to renew their minds
with the word of God and apply its wisdom to their lives the Spirit’s fruit of
goodness, kindness, faithfulness, patience, self-control, love and joy will
increasingly grow in their lives.
They boldly took that first step on the path that is rarely
traveled these days and it has made all the difference.
I consider these men my friends and brothers in Christ and if
they ever need an encouraging word from me in the future I know I will be ready
to give it. This pathway can be lonely
at times and it was good to have some new company as we examined the familiar territory of the Freedom in
Christ Course once again.
If you want to know your freedom in Christ and the new life
of hope that comes with it I am sharing the link to the new round of classes
that start in the first week of April. There
are groups for women, men, coed, and Spanish speaking individuals. Registration
closes on the 27th, so I encourage you to consider this invitation
and to go where the Spirit leads you.
______________________________________________________________________
If you are
interested in taking an online course with Freedom in Christ Ministries below
you will find the course options for our Spring Session. The classes
will meet for 1.5-2 hours once a week for 12 weeks starting the first full week
of April. Our prayer is that you will be able to set aside time for
one of these wonderful courses. They truly are life changing!
Spring
registration is now open! We are offering these times.
1. Women’s Group,
Starting Wednesday, April 6 at 10:00 AM EDT.
2. Women’s Group,
Starting Friday, April 8 at 10:30 AM EDT.
3. Men’s Group,
Starting Tuesday, April 5 at 7:00 PM EDT.
4. Men’s Group,
Starting Thursday, April 7 at 6:30 PM EDT.
5. CO-ED SPANISH
SPEAKING Group, Starting Tuesday, April 5 at 7:00 PM EDT.
6. CO-ED Group,
Starting Thursday, April 7 at 7:00 PM EDT.
If you are
interested in taking the Freedom in Christ Course, please click the Sign-up
Form link below to register for your desired course time.
We encourage
you to order your books now through the FICM online Bookstore at Freedominchrist.com. You will need
the Freedom in Christ Course Participant’s Guide and The
Steps to Freedom in Christ booklet.
For the SPANISH participant’s
book click here. For the SPANISH Steps
to Freedom click here or search
SPG004-1 in the bookstore search bar.
All materials
and shipping should cost you no more than $25.
Once
registration has closed, you will receive an introduction email confirming your course
time and giving you additional information about your instructor and how the
course works.
Sign up and
order your books today! Class registration will close on Sunday, March 27
______________________________________________________________________
Today’s Bible verse comes to us from “The NLT Bible Promise Book
for Men”.
This morning’s meditation verse is :
Luke 24:47 (NLT2)
47 It was also written that this
message would be proclaimed in the authority of his name to all the nations, beginning
in Jerusalem: ‘There is forgiveness of sins for all who repent.’
Today’s Bible
verse contains the words of the resurrected Christ Himself and speaks of the
forgiveness that comes to those who repent.
This section of
scripture details the Resurrected Christ suddenly appearing to His disciples
and after their shock and amazement they shared a meal of broiled fish and
Jesus invited them to see His hands and feet, proving that Christ wasn’t just
some friendly ghost. Christ had a resurrected body and even invited the
disciples to “handle me” to see and feel that He was really alive and present
in their lives.
He then
reminded them of what He had taught them and opened their understanding that they
might comprehend the Old Testament scriptures so they would know that He was
indeed the promised Messiah and that they were to proclaim the message that
there was forgiveness to those who repent.
To repent is
not penance, where we have to pay for our mistakes through restitution or by
doing good deeds to be approved by someone.
To repent means to change our minds.
What do we have to change our minds about?
We need to
understand that we can’t be made right with God through our own efforts. We
need to understand that our sins are serious and if they are not forgiven by
God we will be lost eternally. We need to understand that God graciously sent
Jesus to pay for our sins through His death on the cross and that if we put our
faith in Him as our Lord and Savior we will be forgiven and be given eternal
life.
That’s a lot to
change our mind about. That’s a lot to repent of.
But if we
change our minds and make Jesus the Lord and Savior of our lives we will be
forgiven and we will live forever with Him.
The message of
forgiveness is to be our call to the world. There is hope for peace with God
and for the forgiveness of our sins. That hope comes through faith in Christ
alone.
So rejoice in
your salvation and use the rest of your life to share the hope of forgiveness
that comes to all who repent and put their faith in Jesus.
As always, I
invite all to go to mt4christ.org where I always share insights from prominent
Christian theologians and counselors to assist my brothers and sisters in
Christ with their walk.
Today we
continue sharing from June Hunt’s Overeating: Freedom from Food
Fixation.
As always, I share this information for educational purposes
and encourage all to purchase June Hunt’s books for your own private
study and to support his work. This resource is available on many
websites for less than $5.00.
C. What
Fakes and Fads Lead to Defeat?
Eat this … don’t eat that. Drink this … don’t drink that. As waistlines
have broadened over time, so has the information on shedding unwanted pounds.
But not all is factual. Actually, a lot of it is fallacious and downright
phony. Often what’s “in” concerning healthy eating one year is “out” the next.
The Bible addresses the seasonal, cyclical nature of “things” on earth.…
“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under
the heavens.… Whatever is has already been, and what will be has been before;
and God will call the past to account.”
(Ecclesiastes 3:1, 15)
Some fakes and fads include …
• Acupuncture
• Hypnotism
• Diet pills
• Fad diets
• Fasting
• Laxatives
• Reducing machines
• Special wraps to melt fat calories
• Shots
• Surgery
• Starvation
• Vomiting
The Bible issues this admonition regarding adopting twisted behavior
patterns …
“Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the
renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s
will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”
(Romans 12:2)
June Hunt,
Biblical Counseling Keys on Overeating: Freedom from Food Fixation (Dallas, TX:
Hope For The Heart, 2008), 22.
—————————more
tomorrow————————
Join
our “Victory over the Darkness”, “The Bondage Breaker”, “Freedom in
Christ” 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.
These teachings are also available on the
MT4Christ247 You Tube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTxjSNstREpuGWuL0bF3U7w/featured
Email
me at mt4christ247@gmail.com to receive the class
materials, share your progress, and to be encouraged.
My
wife, TammyLyn, also offers Christian encouragement via her Facebook Group: Ask,
Seek, Knock (https://www.facebook.com/groups/529047851449098 ) and her podcast Ask,
Seek, and Knock on Podbean (https://feed.podbean.com/tammalyn78/feed.xml)
Encouragement for the Path of Christian Discipleship
[1] June Hunt, Biblical
Counseling Keys on Overeating: Freedom from Food Fixation (Dallas, TX: Hope For
The Heart, 2008), 21–22.
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