In the Presence of Greatness – Purity 792

In the Presence of
Greatness – Purity 792

Purity 792 07/25/2022   Purity 792 Podcast

Good morning,

Today’s photo of a magnificent blue sky over the horizon
and the waters of Otsego Lake comes to us from a friend’s “post parade paddle”
as they enjoyed this past  weekend in
Cooperstown NY for the National Baseball Hall of Fame Induction festivities
where they were able to see some of the biggest names in baseball history,
including one of the newest inductees,  “Big
Papi” David Ortiz. Apparently, Ortiz was “one of the best clutch hitters in the
history of baseball” and was “the driving force for three World Series Championships
for the Boston Red Sox.  (https://www.nbcboston.com/news/local/david-ortiz-inducted-into-baseball-hall-of-fame/2787785/).  

I wouldn’t really know I don’t follow baseball.

What? That’s Big Papa! – I mean big papi…. He’s like a Big
deal, man. Okay, congratulations?

In my limited research this morning, I decided to “see
what my friend saw” and decided to look at the other Hall of Famers that were
inducted this past weekend and remembered the complaints of some baseball fan
friends in the past who complained that the hall of fame was “political” and I might
have seen what they meant because the rest of the new inductees Hall of Fame
worthy accomplishments were not as big or as  recent as Big Papi’s.

I’m not saying the other inductees were not worthy, I
really have no opinion on the matter because I don’t follow baseball, but I
found it interesting that it was determined that some of the inductees were chosen
to be in the hall many years after their playing days, apparently they got
better with age?,  or how some even went
to their graves with never knowing they were “hall of famers” as a couple of
the inductees were enshrined as a concerted effort to honor baseball players of
color of merit who never got the recognition they would have received it wasn’t
for the blatant racism of the past that is documented with the history of
segregated baseball leagues.  Apparently
what man deems as “great” is subject to the opinions of men and are subject to
changing times and seasons of our lives.  

I say all that to point out the fickleness of man and the
subjectivity of our accomplishments to be “approved” and how things differ
dramatically in the kingdom of God.  

Because my friend was at the National Baseball Hall of Fame
parade this past weekend, if you like baseball, you might say he was in the
presence of greatness, but I have come to understand what true greatness is all
about, and how there is only One who should be called “great” and that person
is the Lord. 

While I wasn’t at the Baseball Hall of Fame this weekend,
I was  able to enjoy The Presence of Greatness
at my local church as I spent time worshiping the Lord in song and the
fellowship amongst my brothers and sisters in Christ.  

While I am sure there was some hooting and hollering at
this weekend’s Baseball Hall of Fame parade as the stars of the MLB were carted
through town, those cheers are silent now and years from now the names of those
honored this past weekend with enshrinement will fade further into obscurity as
more hall of famers enter the hall, and as less people watch baseball these
days,  and it’s cultural relevancy seems
to be in decline.  While I think baseball
will endure, there are some who feel that the sport is no longer popular,
relevant, and will just fade away some day.  

Unfortunately, in our post Christian society some would
make the same claim about Christianity. 
Declining church attendance, bible illiteracy, and the shift away from biblical
morality has some predicting or hoping for the end of Christianity and the
church.   

But unlike baseball, the church has an endorsement from
the Great One that tells us that Christian “hooting and hollering” will last
for all eternity as Christ said, in:   

Matthew 16:18 (NKJV)
¹⁸  And
I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church,
and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.  

While sports may come and go and there are many different
spiritual options out there to be deceived by, the church of Jesus Christ will
last forever, as the Apostle John testified of the worship that would take
place in eternity, that gave honor to the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ, as he
wrote in:  

Revelation 7:9-12 (NKJV)
⁹  After these things I
looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all
nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before
the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands,
¹⁰  and crying out with a loud
voice, saying, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the
throne, and to the Lamb!”
¹¹  All the angels stood
around the throne and the elders and the four living creatures, and fell on
their faces before the throne and worshiped God,
¹²  saying: “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom, Thanksgiving and honor and power and might, Be to our God forever and ever. Amen.”

The
greatness that endures forever is Christ’s alone.   Every nation, every tribe, and every tongue
will confess Jesus Christ as Lord and will one day give Him the thanks, honor,
and praise that He due. 

But we
don’t have to wait until we see Him in eternity to experience the Lord’s
presence. When we put our faith in Jesus Christ, God’s Spirit, the Holy Spirit
indwells us and we can experience His presence every day when we commune with
Him through prayer, bible study, worship, thanksgiving, or service to his
kingdom through good works done for His glory.  

I got a
nice sense of the Lord’s presence on Sunday and when you experience Him in your
life, you will just want to spend time with Him. Whether its through trying to
know Him more through the study of His word or just by resting in His peace,
when you know the manifest presence of God, when you know Him, you know the
presence of Greatness, and you won’t want to leave it for long. When you know
His presence, nothing mankind has to offer will be able to compare to the sense
of peace and joy you have from being with Him.   

So
although it’s Monday again, try to look past the news or the sports page for
greatness, look for the greatness of the presence of God. The evidence for God is
all around us and His plan and advice for mankind can be found in His word. So
look past the fickle opinions of men and the uncertainty of the value of your
own accomplishments and find the relationship with God that is made available through
Jesus Christ.  When you make Christ your
Lord and Savior, you are forgiven, accepted, and made brand new. You are drawn
into the presence of the Great One, who is available through all times and
seasons to spend time with.

So spend
time with the Lord today. Keep walking and talking with Him to experience the
great things He has for you, when you decide to abide in His presence by making
Christ the Lord of your life.   

 —————————————————————————————————

Today’s Bible verse comes to us from “The NLT Bible
Promise Book for Men”.

This morning’s meditation verse is:

1 John
3:23-24 (NLT2)
²³  And this is his
commandment: We must believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and love one
another, just as he commanded us.
²⁴  Those who obey God’s
commandments remain in fellowship with him, and he with them. And we know he
lives in us because the Spirit he gave us lives in us.

Today’s
verses point to the commandments of God to believe in Jesus and to love one
another and highlight the relationship that the Christian has with God through
Christ and the fact of God’s presence in us, through the Holy Spirit.  

Hey
if you are into “religion”, keep these two commandments: believe in the name of
Jesus Christ and love one another.   

Religion
nit picks over behavior and seeks to make people feel they have to perform or
accomplish certain things to be approved. Man loves it. That’s why we have “halls
of fame”. We like to point to deeds done, but we really like to reject those who
aren’t up to snuff.   That’s why the world
hated Jesus and hates Christianity, Christ’s teachings and the doctrines of
Christianity are counterintuitive, they challenge man’s self-righteousness,
accomplishments, and penchant for rule keeping and rejection.   

 

Christ
repeatedly put the religious elite, who were good at keeping up appearances, in
their place.  Christ pointed out that it
wasn’t the letter of the law that made you righteous. It was your heart
relationship with God, your faith in Him, that makes you approved by Him.   

Here
the Apostle John reminds the church that the commandments they are to follow  are to put their faith in Jesus and to love
one another and it was through Christ alone that they would have fellowship
with God, through the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit. 

So
try to live according to the word of God and do good works, but remember that
it is not because of what you do that you are accepted by God, it is because of
faith alone, in Christ alone, that you are saved and receive the Spirit of
God.  And it is only through His presence
in us that we will be able to live like Christ and to love one another.   So obey those commandments and let the love
of the Lord change you and be poured out to those around you.

_________________________________________________________________

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 Clinton E. Arnold’s
“Powers of Darkness”

As always, I share this information for educational purposes and
encourage all to purchase Clinton Arnold’s books for your own private
study and to support his work.  This resource is available on many
websites for less than $20.00.

How the Powers Influence Believers

Paul
was primarily concerned with the health and well-being of his churches.
Consequently he spent little time reflecting on the influence of the powers
over the world at large. He did not, for instance, explain how the powers of
darkness exert their control over the Roman Caesars, the economy or the
diplomatic relationships among the various Roman provinces. This does not mean
that Paul’s teaching on the powers has no relevance for understanding their
influence on social, political and economic structures. In fact, his thought
has significant implications for understanding and responding to those
structures. What has been preserved for us, however, are his letters to
churches—churches facing various internal struggles and the ongoing effects of
sin. Paul warned his churches to be concerned with the world. But their concern
should be expressed chiefly through the proclamation of the gospel of Christ.

Paul clearly saw
Christians as still susceptible to the deleterious influence of evil spirits.
It is not just the temptations of the flesh and the allurement of the world
that a person contends with once he or she becomes a Christian. The powerful
supernatural work of the devil and his powers sets itself against individual
Christians and the church as a whole. The fact that the powers exploit the
flesh and exert their influence over the world systems makes the extent of
their influence comprehensive.

In addition to
drawing the implications of the work of Christ to the powers, Paul’s letters
are concerned with describing the nature of the influence of the powers on
believers. What follows is a discussion of some of the specific ways that the
forces of darkness attempt to exercise their control over Christians.

Temptation

The
most well-known function of Satan and his powers is the act of temptation. Paul
even ascribed to Satan the title of “the tempter” (1 Thess 3:5). Satan entices
God’s people to behave in ways that are contrary to God’s desires. By doing so,
Satan hopes to re-enslave them in his dominion (Gal 4:8–9).

Unfortunately Paul
does not give us a complete picture of the psychology of temptation. He did not
describe in any precise way how Satan tempts believers. Although such
information could go far in satisfying our curiosity, Paul apparently felt he
had given his readers all the practical information they needed in order to
resist the evil influence of the powers.

Based on the tenor of
his writings as a whole and our discussion of Ephesians 2:1–3 in particular, it
appears Paul saw Satan and his powers as working in and through the internal
and external influences on people; that is, Satan uses and exploits “the flesh”
and “the world.” When Paul wrote to the Corinthians about husband-wife
relations, he cautioned husbands and wives not to abstain from sexual relations
for an extended period of time. He feared that they might not have adequate
self-control and that Satan might tempt them to compromise their marital
fidelity, presumably by having relations with another person (1 Cor 7:5).
Elsewhere he described sexual immorality as an act of “the flesh” (Gal 5:19).
Paul likely envisioned Satan working so as to intensify the human craving for
physical satisfaction. As such, it is still a temptation of the flesh, but it
is charged with the powerful, compelling, supernatural activity of the powers
of darkness. This is partly why self-control only comes through the work of
God’s Spirit (Gal 5:23, 16–18).

Satan also tempts
believers through a wide variety of external influences (“the world”) because
he is “the god of this world” (2 Cor 4:4) and his angelic lieutenants are
elemental spirits “of this world” (Gal 4:3; Col 2:8, 20). The prince of
darkness can thus wield tremendous influence over all the structures of
existence, including religion. One of the ways that Paul’s churches struggled
with “the world” was through various forms of false teaching that often came
from outside groups (but also from corrupting influences within). In all
instances these early Christians faced the pressure of conforming to
non-Christian religious traditions, usually the practices and beliefs of their
neighbors.^[1]

—————————more
tomorrow————————

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Encouragement for the Path of
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