Growing into Maturity through Faith – Purity 1139

Purity 1139 on YouTube: 

Good morning,

Today’s photo of a pair of cascading waterfalls
comes to us from Fred Dimmick who captured this photo of the Upper Falls during
his visit to Turtletown Creek near Farner TN on Sunday.  

Well, It’s Two for Tuesday I guess and I thought
that the two streams of Turtletown Creek’s Upper Falls was a good way to
visually represent not only our lives falling into the possibly choppy waters
of post Labor Day life but could also be used to represent the differences in
capacities we can have in our emotional resilience and how fostering a robust
relationship with the Lord and actually practicing the disciplines and doctrines
of the Christian faith can help us when trials come crashing down into what
were quiet waters of the status quo.   

Yup, Labor Day has come and gone, and my prayers go
out to all the teachers, faculty, staff, and students who will be going “back
to school” today and tomorrow. We are entering into a new school year, and I
pray that the Lord will protect and guide our nation’s schools to equip our
youth with the lessons they need to advance and mature.  

As a Christian and a student of life, I know that we
are never too old to learn something new and the one of the biggest mistakes we
can make is to think that we have learned all there is to know.  According to some sources, online knowledge
doubles every 12 months, so if you haven’t learned anything new in the last
year some would say you have been left behind. However, I think that what you
learn is more important than how much learn. That doubling knowledge
undoubtedly includes lessons on the latest technology, and I can tell you that
what may be compelling, and “state of the art” today can be obsolete in no
time. 

So, rather than trying to keep up with the Jones’ knowledge
on technology, or the latest trends in politics or entertainment,  I believe that the most important things we
can learn about are the things that will endure forever – the things of the
kingdom of God and who God has made us to be.  

While God has made us all in His image when we are
born, there is an expectation that we are to grow and mature in our physical,
mental, emotional, and spiritual capabilities and capacities.  The Bible’s stages of development have been
said to progress from infant, child, adult, parent, and elder but unfortunately
not everyone is progressing to the stage they are chronologically or situationally
as God would intend.  Disturbances to our
emotions or the suffering of trials often reveal how some of us have failed to
fully mature resilience.   

Why can some people handle amazing levels of stress
and others seem to break down or blow up over the smallest bump in the road?   

The answer is multifaceted and can taken in the
various factors of one’s physical make-up, experience, intelligence, and upbringing
but ultimately the way we respond to stress has a lot with our maturity and how
that is reflected by our emotional resilience.  

Experience and Education play a big part in how we
respond. If we never learned to do something or have never experienced it, we
may not respond too well when an unknown challenge or trial comes our way.  But even if two people “know” the same things
about something doesn’t necessarily mean they will be equal in how they apply their
knowledge.  

For example, as Christians, we should all know hat
we are to “forgive our debtors” as we have been forgiven.  The Christian Disciple’s “flow chart” for
when we experience offense or abuse from others naturally indicates that we are
to “forgive”.  Christ is our example for
living the Christian life and  If Christ
could forgive the people who crucified Him from the cross, we, as His
followers, are to likewise forgive those who offend or abuse us.  

Christians all “know” that intellectually but the
only ones who experience the peace that comes from forgiveness are the ones who
actually practice it.   Results may vary
among Christians of course, so how much more unlikely will it be for someone
who doesn’t have a relationship with God to utilize the “remedy of forgiveness”
if they never learned it or seen it practiced?  

The world’s view of injustice is to seek revenge or
justice: to punish those who offend us – not to forgive them.  However, even though justice could be served,
and offenders even executed for their crimes, justice does not always bring
peace because the bitterness of unforgiveness can wage war on our souls long
after the courts of justice and public opinion have closed our case.   

So the world’s ways may not bring us peace, but Jesus
is the Prince of Peace and His ways are perfect and not only resolve our issues
here on earth but guarantee peace in His kingdom with Him forevermore – But we
have to know Him, the lessons He taught us, and be willing to practice and
apply them to our lives to experience the peace He has for us.    

As I indicated before, we are never too old to learn
and the most compelling things we can learn for our benefit – is the LORD and
His ways. God is alive and we can know His presence and His peace when we
engage with Him in prayer, study His word, and practice what He teaches, and we
can increase our maturity and capacity to handle stress when we do so.   

So what do we do to grow in maturity and grow our
capacity?  We practice what the bible
says and renew our ways of thinking to align with God’s wisdom rather than man’s
and we develop our relationship with God. For this is not a recipe for righteousness
and resilience. Our Christian lives are to be robust relationship with God
where we reflect His love and wisdom.  

I share the following scriptures to encourage us all
in the ways of the Lord as taught by the Apostle Paul’s epistles.

Ephesians 4:25-32 (NKJV)
²⁵  Therefore, putting away
lying, “Let each one of you speak truth with his neighbor,”
for we are members of one another.
²⁶  “Be angry, and do
not sin”: do not let the sun go down on your wrath,
²⁷  nor give place to the
devil.
²⁸  Let him who stole steal no
longer, but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good,
that he may have something to give him who has need.
²⁹  Let no corrupt word
proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it
may impart grace to the hearers.
³⁰  And do not grieve the Holy
Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
³¹  Let all bitterness, wrath,
anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice.
³²  And be kind to one
another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ forgave
you.

Philippians 4:8 (NKJV)
⁸  Finally, brethren, whatever
things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are
just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely,
whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if
there is anything praiseworthy–meditate on these things.

Romans 12:1-2 (NKJV)
¹  I beseech you therefore,
brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living
sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.
²  And do not be conformed to
this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove
what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

1 Thessalonians 5:15-19 (NKJV)
¹⁵  See that no one renders
evil for evil to anyone, but always pursue what is good both for yourselves and
for all.
¹⁶  Rejoice always,
¹⁷  pray without ceasing,
¹⁸  in everything give thanks;
for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
¹⁹  Do not quench the Spirit.

Don’t quench the Spirit, walk in the
Spirit and the fruit of the Spirit will grow in your life giving you peace, joy,
and love as well as patience and self-control to deal with the trials that will
surely come our way.

The world can be a rough place after all,
but Jesus has overcome the world and when we follow Him we can endure and
overcome it too.

——————————————————————————————–

Today’s
Bible verse comes to us from “The Quick Scripture Reference for Counseling” By
John G. Kruis.

(
While Bible verses on various topics of Counseling can be found with a quick
google search, we encourage you to purchase this resource to support the late
author’s work. (https://www.amazon.com/Quick-Scripture-Reference-Counseling-Kruis-ebook/dp/B00CIUJZT2?ref_=ast_author_dp )

This
morning’s meditation verse comes from the section on Alcohol & Drug Abuse

1 Corinthians 6:9-10
(NIV2011)
⁹  Or do you not know that
wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the
sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men
¹⁰  nor thieves nor the greedy
nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.

Today’s
verses fall under the eleventh point of our counseling reference guide
resource’s section on Alcohol & Drug Abuse.

 11. No Drunkard shall enter heaven.

Today’s verse is the
quintessential “drunken verses” of the Bible that caused me to rethink how I
lived as a Christian and eventually sent me into repentance and recovery.  

When I heard these verses
and was living in a lifestyle of habitual drunkenness, it made me angry. I had
heard the gospel of forgiveness through faith in Jesus Christ and had finally given
my life to God but in my ignorance I thought I could just carry on in my ways
of darkness.  But when I heard this verse
the Holy Spirit convicted me that my drunken lifestyle reflected the kingdom of
darkness more than the kingdom of light and these chilling words that told me
that this sin of drunkenness may indicate that my relationship with the Lord
was not real, I had to make a decision.  

Was I a drunk or was I a
Christian? 

If I was more comfortable
being a drunk than being a Christian, it meant that I was probably deluding
myself and was a false convert of the faith. 

Which did I love more
booze or Jesus?  I knew the truth of the
gospel and I know how close I came to going to hell and for me when I got this
conviction to give my life completely to God. There was no other decision but
to live as I should – to go into recovery and never come out again – to live a
sober life and so I trusted the Lord to help me, and He did.  

I know these verses are
offensive to those caught in these particular sins, but they should offend you
and cause you to repent and to fully enter into your faith because you choose
your sin over the Lord, you run the very risk of being consigned to hell for
all eternity.  No sin is worth that. So
turn to the Lord and live. He gives you the strength to overcome and put you on
a path that is good, pure, and holy.

——————————————————————–

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  The Holy Spirit By A.W. Pink.

As always, I share this information for educational
purposes and encourage you all to purchase A.W. Pink’s books for your own
private study and to support his work.  This resource is available online
for $0.99 (https://www.amazon.com/Holy-Spirit-Arthur-Pink-Collection-ebook/dp/B008CM5292/ref=sr_1_3?crid=AHKAQOM39CTN&keywords=a.w.+pink+the+holy+spirit&qid=1684376225&sprefix=a.w.+pink+the+holy+spirit+%2Caps%2C96&sr=8-3) 

A.W. Pink’s The Holy Spirit

23 – The Spirit Witnessing

Objective
and Subjective Witness

Now the Spirit is a Witness unto God’s people
both objectively and subjectively: that is to say, He bears witness to them, and He also bears witness in them—such is His wondrous grace
toward them. His witness to them is in and through and by means of the
Scriptures. “By one offering He hath perfected forever them that are
sanctified. Whereof the Holy Spirit also is a Witness to us” (Heb. 10:14, 15),
which is explained in what immediately follows. A quotation is made from the
Prophet Jeremiah, who had spoken as he was moved by the Holy Spirit (2 Pet.
1:21). The Lord declares of His people “their sins and iniquities will I
remember no more” (Heb. 10:17). Whereupon the Holy Spirit points out, “Now
where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin” (v. 18). Thus
does He witness to us, through the Word, of the sufficiency and finality of
Christ’s one offering.

But something more is
still required by God’s needy people, for they are the subjects of many fears,
and Satan frequently attacks their faith. It is not that they have any doubt
about the Divine inspiration of the Scriptures, or the unerring reliability of everything
recorded therein. Nor is it that they are disposed for a moment to call into
question the infinite sufficiency and abiding efficacy of the sacrifice of
Christ. No—that which occasions them such deep concern is, whether they have a saving interest therein.
They are aware that there is a faith (such as the demons have—James 2:19) which
obtains no salvation. They perceive that the faith of which many empty
professors boast so loudly is not
evidenced by their works. And they discover so much in themselves that
appears to be altogether incompatible with their being new creatures in Christ,
until they often fear their own conversion was but a delusion after all.

When an honest soul
contemplates the amazing greatness of the honor and the stupendousness of the
relation of regarding itself as a joint-heir with Christ, it is startled and
staggered. What, me a child of God!
God my Father! Who am Ito be thus
exalted into the Divine favor? Surely it cannot be so. When I consider my
fearful sinfulness and unworthiness, the awful depravity of my heart, the
carnality of my mind, such rebellion of will, so prone to evil every moment, and
such glaring flaws in all I undertake—surely I cannot have been made a partaker
of the Divine nature. It seems impossible; and Satan is ever ready to assure me
that I am not God’s child. If the reader be a stranger to such tormenting
fears, we sincerely pity him. But if his experience tallies with what we have
just described, he will see how indispensable it is that the Holy Spirit should
hear witness to him within.

But there are some
who say that it is a sin for the Christian to question his acceptance with God
because he is still so depraved, or to doubt his salvation because he can
perceive little or no holiness within. They say that such doubting is to call
God’s Truth and faithfulness into question, for He has assured us of His love
and His readiness to save all who believe in His Son. They affirm it is not our
duty to examine our hearts, that we shall never obtain any assurance by so
doing; that we must look to Christ alone, and rest on His naked Word. But does
not Scripture say, “For our rejoicing is this, the testimony of our conscience, that in simplicity and godly
sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, but by the grace of God, we have had our
conversation in the world” (2 Cor. 1:12)? And again we are told, “Let us not
love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth. And hereby we know that we are of the truth,
and shall assure our hearts before
Him” (1 John 3:18, 19).^[1]

—————————more
tomorrow————————

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My wife, TammyLyn, also offers Christian
encouragement via her Ask Seek Knock blog (https://tammylynask.blogspot.com/ ),  her
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For those who require the assistance of a Deeper
Walk International Prayer Minister to experience healing or your freedom in
Christ, I highly recommend Christy Edge’s Life on the Edge Freedom Prayer
Ministry. You can schedule a session by going to : https://cedge216.wixsite.com/life-on-the-edge     

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Encouragement
for the Path of Christian Discipleship