Follow You Anywhere – Proverbs 3 – Purity 816

Follow You Anywhere – Proverbs
3 – Purity 816

Purity 816 08/22/2022  Purity 816 POdcast

Good morning,

Today’s photo of a distant sunset on the horizon
comes to us from yours truly as I stopped for a moment to capture it “before it
was too late” as I drove down Waite Road around quarter to 8 p.m. on Friday
evening.   The photo fails to do the
moment justice, but I somehow felt that the photo would lose something if I
decided to crop it.  So I invite you to
save it an zoom in on it yourself to see the details of the landscape and to
gain an idea of just how big this setting sun was on this vast panoramic view.  I just didn’t want to lose that clear sky
above or the long expanse of road to the right but I really encourage you to
zoom in the see the tree and the farmhouse that are in the valley of this
shadow of twilight.   As this was the
road home for me after an extended last day of work before vacation, it was a
sight for sore eyes for me. 

Well, it’s Monday again, and I pray all those who
have to work a productive if not easy week, I am happy to have the time off and
somehow already feel that this week is slip sliding away.  I guess that is the way we always feel about
the times we would rather stay in.  

Today, my wife has a day road trip planned that will
take us on a route that will bring us  from
New York into Vermont and back again.  Where
are we going? I don’t know. My wife showed me a long list of possible stops
along the way but I really don’t care. I trust that she will direct us to
places that are worthwhile, or at least other people thought they were, and I
will just be happy being in her presence as we go to and fro.  

Our honeymoon to Tampa this past winter demonstrated
to me that TammyLyn is a good travelling companion and that we enjoy the same
things. We both love God, His creation, and each other and can find joy and
peace wherever we go because we have Him and now we have each other.

Because I love my wife and she loves me, we would
follow each other more or less anywhere, and that’s how our relationship with
the Lord is supposed to be.  We are to
consider his wisdom and ways and our love for Him should cause us to want to
follow Him with the way we live our lives.

God is loving and wise, if you are blessed enough to
know Him through faith in Jesus, you should take your relationship to the “next
level” and  out of your love for Him
decide to commit yourself to following Him and enjoying His presence where ever
He may call you to go. 

I’m currently studying Proverbs and because I am on
vacation, rather than stress myself out over trying to craft some awesome
message I think I will just share Proverbs 3. 
God’s word is better than anything I could come up with and if I share
that I know I will be faithful in encouraging others to follow the way the Lord
would have you go. So, 

Proverbs 3:1-35 (NKJV)
¹  My son, do not forget my
law, But let your heart keep my commands;
²  For length of days and long
life And peace they will add to you.
³  Let not mercy and truth
forsake you; Bind them around your neck, Write them on the tablet of your
heart,
⁴  And so find favor
and high esteem In the sight of God and man.
⁵  Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not
on your own understanding;
⁶  In all your ways
acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.
⁷  Do not be wise in your own
eyes; Fear the LORD and depart
from evil.
⁸  It will be health to your
flesh, And strength to your bones.
⁹  Honor the LORD with your possessions, And with the
firstfruits of all your increase;
¹⁰  So your barns will be
filled with plenty, And your vats will overflow with new wine.
¹¹  My son, do not despise the
chastening of the LORD, Nor detest
His correction;
¹²  For whom the LORD loves He corrects, Just as a father
the son in whom he delights.
¹³  Happy is the man who
finds wisdom, And the man who gains understanding;
¹⁴  For her proceeds are
better than the profits of silver, And her gain than fine gold.
¹⁵  She is more
precious than rubies, And all the things you may desire cannot compare with
her.
¹⁶  Length of days is
in her right hand, In her left hand riches and honor.
¹⁷  Her ways are ways
of pleasantness, And all her paths are peace.
¹⁸  She is a tree of
life to those who take hold of her, And happy are all who retain her.
¹⁹  The LORD by wisdom founded the earth; By
understanding He established the heavens;
²⁰  By His knowledge the
depths were broken up, And clouds drop down the dew.
²¹  My son, let them not
depart from your eyes– Keep sound wisdom and discretion;
²²  So they will be life to
your soul And grace to your neck.
²³  Then you will walk safely
in your way, And your foot will not stumble.
²⁴  When you lie down, you
will not be afraid; Yes, you will lie down and your sleep will be sweet.
²⁵  Do not be afraid of sudden
terror, Nor of trouble from the wicked when it comes;
²⁶  For the LORD will be your confidence, And will
keep your foot from being caught.
²⁷  Do not withhold good from
those to whom it is due, When it is in the power of your hand to do so.
²⁸  Do not say to your
neighbor, “Go, and come back, And tomorrow I will give it,”
When you have it with you.
²⁹  Do not devise evil against
your neighbor, For he dwells by you for safety’s sake.
³⁰  Do not strive with a man
without cause, If he has done you no harm.
³¹  Do not envy the oppressor,
And choose none of his ways;
³²  For the perverse person
is an abomination to the LORD,
But His secret counsel is with the upright.
³³  The curse of the LORD is on the house of the
wicked, But He blesses the home of the just.
³⁴  Surely He scorns the
scornful, But gives grace to the humble.
³⁵  The wise shall inherit
glory, But shame shall be the legacy of fools.

 

So be wise, and keep walking and talking
with God. His way is the best way and when you follow Him you discover peace,
love, and joy in His presence that lasts a lifetime and goes on forever more.

—————————————————————————————————————

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

This morning’s meditation verse is:

Psalm 77:14 (NLT2)
¹⁴  You are the God of great
wonders! You demonstrate your awesome power among the nations.

Today’s verse speaks of God’s great wonders and power that are demonstrated
among the nations.   

The evidence of the truth of today’s verse are throughout the
earth.  As the Creator of all things, God
gets the credit for the great wonders all over the world.  Lake Ontario, Niagara Falls, Victoria Falls,
the African Bush in Botswana, the Hawaiian Islands, The Colorado Rockies, and
the mountains near Jocotan Guatemala are just a few of God’s wonders that I
have personally experienced.

So if you don’t know the great wonders of God, you might want to
travel or just open your eyes to the beauty of His creation in your local
community.  God is with us and His great
wonders in His creation is the first piece of evidence of Him that is
demonstrated among the nations.  

His power is shown in the tides, raging rivers, volcanoes,
waterfalls, the heat of the summer sun,  the cold of winter, and the mighty winds of a
storm.  God is powerful.   

But God is also personal. He sent His Son and Jesus’ great wonders
of creating meals that could feed thousand, heal the sick, lame, and blind, and
that could defy death itself were demonstrated for us so all nations would come
to faith in Him.  

So be sure to point out to your unbelieving friends, family, and
neighbors that the evidence for God is shown throughout the world through His
great wonders in creation but His heart to make peace with us is shown in the
great wonders and power of Jesus Christ.

 

 

______________________________________________________________________

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.

14 The Powers and
People

The bulk of what paul
had to say about the powers had to do primarily with their influence on
individuals and the church. This is mainly because he wrote to Christian
congregations needing help in responding to particular situations and problems.
Paul did not engage in writing a comprehensive systematic theology. For our
topic, however, this is a significant advantage. We can see firsthand how Paul
applied his theology, particularly his theology of the powers, to the variety
of difficulties facing the respective churches to whom he wrote. Paul thus has
given us help in determining how to apply the biblical teaching on the powers
to the contemporary church.

The starting point
for determining how the powers operate should be taken from Ephesians 2:1–2,
where Satan is described as the ruler of a host of forces who hold humanity in
a slavery apart from God. He creates this bondage by supernaturally influencing
individuals to disobey God—that is, by inciting them to sin. The passage
suggests three ways that Satan accomplishes this aim: through direct and
immediate influence, by exploiting the inner impulse to do evil, and by influencing
the environment and social structures. The first two aspects will be discussed
in this chapter and the third in the next.

Direct and
Immediate Influence

While
the Gospels and Acts are full of detailed accounts of people who were
demonized, Paul never used the terminology of “demon possession” as found in
the Gospels. We should not conclude from this that he did not believe in
demonization and thus the need for exorcism. Assuming that Luke has given us an
accurate account of Paul’s ministry in the book of Acts, we know Paul himself
engaged in the casting out of evil spirits. Surprisingly, Paul never took the
occasion to speak about this concern in his letters.

The closest Paul came
to the language of demonization is in the epistle to the Ephesians, where he
cautioned his readers not to give the devil a “foothold” (Eph 4:27). We cannot
know if he would have equated giving the devil a foothold (topos) with being demonized (daimonizomenos),
the term so frequently translated “demon-possessed” in the Gospels. At the very
least, “foothold” indicates the relinquishment of a great deal of control of
one’s life to an evil spirit; and in this case it refers to a Christian. Thus,
while Paul never said a Christian can be “demon-possessed,” he did say the
devil can make significant inroads into a believer’s life.

Since Paul never
discussed the problem of demonization, he consequently had no occasion to
discuss the principles and procedures of exorcism. Again we must be cautious
not to draw the unlikely conclusion that Paul was averse to the notion of
exorcism. When Paul wrote to his Christian readers, what he did relate to was
the importance of resistance and identity. For a Christian who gives in to the
temptation to steal, for instance, Paul would urge the person simply to quit,
to resist If this pilfering appetite, fueled by Satan, is left unchecked, it
can lead to a greater measure of demonic influence in that individual’s life.
Behind such an injunction of refraining from a certain unethical behavior is a
whole theology of identity. Christians not only have the obligation to
eradicate such unseemly patterns of behavior, but they also have the ability to
do so. This capacity to resist is an integral part of what it means to be a
Christian—experiencing forgiveness, being on good terms with God, receiving a
new nature, having a real oneness with the resurrected Jesus, experiencing the
power of the new age and so much more.^[1]

—————————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

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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