Knowing the Lay of the Land and Following by Faith – Purity 1146

Knowing the Lay of the Land and Following by Faith –
Purity 1146

Purity 1146 09/13/2023 Purity 1146 Podcast

Purity 1146 on YouTube: 

Good morning,

Today’s photo of ethnoecologist Justin Wexler and
his wife, Anna, leading the way across the Siegel-Kline Kill Public
Conservation Area under ethereal blue skies comes to us from yours truly as I
decided to take a step off the beaten path of the regular workweek routine to
participate in Columbia Land Conservancy’s (https://clctrust.org/)
“Native History Walk with Wild Hudson Valey (https://www.wildhudsonvalley.com/)”
 yesterday in Ghent.   I’m sharing the links for CLC and Wild
Hudson Valley for those who may want to go “wild” like I did.

Wexler led a group of us over the meadow loop trail
to talk about the land and its fauna and how the original indigenous people
utilized God’s natural resources to live and although I wondered why I signed
up for this “thing” after a rather trying day at work, I was glad I did as I
appreciated the things I learned about – how plants that I had no knowledge of
could be used as food, fashioned into rope, fishing line, or clothing, and even
as herbal remedies for various diseases or conditions. As impressed as I was
with Wexler’s presentation and how the Indigenous people utilized the things of
the land to live, I didn’t forget that God was the One who had provided these
things for us and that our survival is dependent on us doing our part with what
God has given us.  

As I drove home after what proved to be a welcomed
break from my regular with the fading light of day disappearing over the Catskill
Mountains toward the west, I just thanked God for all He has provided us with
and how He gave me a new life when I put my faith in Jesus and did my part in
following Him to be led out of the darkness of my past.  

Just like Wexler showed us the way of the land and
pointed out the things that were useful, the Lord has shown me the necessity of
faith in Jesus to survive and how to walk by faith in the power of the Holy
Spirit to live. Just as a backpacker will show you how to lighten your load and
teach you how to choose to only carry what is necessary to make your journey
easier, the Lord has shown me the things how to lighten my burdens in life by
releasing the wasteful, heavy, and unnecessary things I was holding onto from
my past – things like sin, addiction, depression, anxiety, fear, and
anger.  When the Lord teaches you how you
don’t have to carry those things anymore, you truly understand how God has
given us a new abundant life of peace when we put our faith in Jesus and choose
to follow His direction.  

And just like Wexler is undoubtedly teaching to
others what someone taught to him, I feel it is a part of my purpose in Christ
to teach others about who they are in Christ, how to experience their freedom
in Christ, and how they can walk in the Spirit to discover peace, love, joy,
and purpose for their lives.  

And amazingly the Lord continues to provide me with
opportunities to do just that! If your local to the capital district, I hereby
invite you to join the Celebrate Freedom Growth Group at Starpoint Church in
Clifton Park NY where I teach and encourage people to trust God to help them
with their hurts, habits, and hang ups and to grow into the victory and freedom
that God has for them when they choose to be a disciple of Jesus Christ – a
student and a follower of our Lord and Savior.  

Just like Wexler actually experimented, tried, and
even tasted the things he learned about the land from his instructors,  we as followers of Jesus are to apply Christ’s
teachings and example for living to our lives. 
It’s one thing to know about the ways of Jesus, but it’s necessary to
actually do our part and practice them to experience the benefits of walking in
the Spirit.   

So be a good student, learn what you can from the
word of God and from the faithful men and women who have followed Jesus’ lead
in the past, but be sure to put those lessons into practice. To be a “real
Christian” and to experience the growth of the fruit of the Spirit in our lives,
we have to follow the ways of Jesus with the way we live our lives.

——————————————————————————————–

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 verses comes from the section on Anger, Hot Temper.

James
1:19-20 (ESV)
¹⁹  Know this, my beloved
brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger;
²⁰  for the anger of man does
not produce the righteousness of God.

Today’s
verses fall under the second point of our counseling reference guide resource’s
section on Anger,
Hot Temper

 2. Be slow to become angry.

Today’s verse is the third
and final passage that our resource provides to encourage us to be slow in
becoming angry. Our resource provided us with three passages to support this
point and rather than giving them in one day, I decided to “take it slow” by
presenting them one at a time.  

This passage of scripture has
been the focal point of many a sermon because of the wisdom that is inherent in
its advice.  Christians are to be peacemakers
and if we actually practice being “quick to hear, slow to
speak, and slow to anger”, we will at least be sure to not cause unnecessary strife
based on our part.   Many arguments and
disagreements come from the parties not “hearing” what one another is saying or
from assuming you know what each other are going to say before they say
it.  

So
this passage in James tells us to not do those things by actually listening and
taking our time before we offer a verbal response, and act patiently to be slow
to become angry.  While we can and should
be angry at the things that go against God’s wisdom and will, we need to be
patient with the situations we encounter because our anger won’t make people
understand where we are coming from and may cause them to stop listening to us!

So be
quick in hearing what people are trying to say to you. Really listen to them –
ask questions to clarify what they say and validate what they are saying and
feeling by repeating back to them what you think they are saying until it is
clear to both of you – what they are saying, why they are saying, and what they
are trying to accomplish.  After you
understand their point of view, then you can meticulously explain to them where
you are coming from, why, and what you hope to accomplish.  When both parties understand one another and
put their relationship over and above the problems they face, they can
generally find a middle ground where they can live in peace whether the issues
at hand are resolved or not.    As much
as it depends on us, let’s try to understand others, make ourselves understood,
and love our neighbors as ourselves.

——————————————————————–

As always, I invite all to go to mt4christ.org where I lways 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

24 – The Spirit Sealing

Closely connected with the Spirit’s work of
witnessing with the Christian’s spirit that he is a child of God, is His
operation in sealing. This appears clearly from 2 Corinthians 1:19–22 and
Ephesians 1:13.

The riches of the
Christian are found in the promises of God, and these are all “Yea and Amen” in
Christ: unless, then, our faith he built upon them, it is worthless. It is not sufficient that the promises he
sure, we must he “established” upon them. No matter how firm the foundation (be
it solid rock), unless the house he connected therewith, actually built
thereon, it is insecure. There must he a double
“Amen:” one in the promises, and one in us. There must be an echo in the
Christian’s own heart: God says these
things, so they must be true; faith appropriates them and says they are for me. In order to have assurance
and peace it is indispensable that we be established in and on the Divine
promises.

The Christian’s riches lie in the promises of God: his strength and comfort in his faith being
built upon them. Now the same Divine power which delivered the Christian from
the kingdom of Satan and brought him into a state of grace, must also deliver
him from the attacks of the enemy upon his faith and confirm him in a state of grace. Only God can produce stability:
only He can preserve that spark of faith amid the winds and waves of unbelief,
and this He is pleased to do—“He which bath begun a good work in you will finish it” (Phil. 1:6). Therefore
are we told “Now he which stablisheth
us with you in Christ … is God.” Observe carefully it is not “hath stablished,” but “stablisheth”—it is a continuous process
throughout the Christian’s life on earth.

In what follows the
apostle shows us what this “stablishing” consists of, or how it is
accomplished: “and bath anointed us …
who bath also sealed us, and given
the earnest of the Spirit in our
heart” (2 Cor. 1:22). Each of these figures refers to the same thing, and has
to do with the “stablishing” or assuring of our hearts. Under the Old Testament
economy prophets, priests, and kings were authorized and confirmed in their
office by “anointing” (Lev. 8:11; 2 Sam. 5:3; 1 Kings 19:16). Again; contracts
and deeds of settlement were ratified by “sealing” (Esther 8:8; Jer. 32:8–10).
And a “pledge” or “earnest” secured an agreement or bargain (Gen. 38:17, 18;
Deut. 24:10). Thus the sure estate of
the Christian is first expressed under the general word “stablisheth,” and then
it is amplified under these three figurative terms “anointed, sealed, earnest.”
It is with the second of them we are now concerned.

It may be asked, But
what need has the Christian of attestation or confirmation of his state in
Christ—is not faith itself sufficient proof? Ah, often our faith and the
knowledge we have of our believing in Christ is severely shaken; the activities
of indwelling sin stir up a thick cloud of doubt, and Satan avails himself of
this to tell us our profession is an empty one. But in His tender grace, God
has given us the Holy Spirit, and from time to time He “seals” or confirms our faith by His quickening and
comforting operations. He draws out our hearts anew unto God and enables us to
cry “Abba, Father.” He takes of the things of Christ, shows them to us, and
brings us to realize that we have a personal interest in the Same.^[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

(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 YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@MT4Christ247

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 Ask Seek Knock blog (https://tammylynask.blogspot.com/ ),  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)

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     

“The views, opinions, and commentary of this
publication are those of the author, M.T. Clark, only, and do not purport to
reflect the opinions or views of any of the photographers, artists, ministries,
or other authors of the other works that may be included in this publication,
and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of any entities the
author may represent.”

Encouragement
for the Path of Christian Discipleship