Honesty, Humility & Humor – The Way of Truth – Purity 1175

 Honesty, Humility & Humor – The Way of Truth –
Purity 1175

Purity 1175 10/18/2023 Purity 1175 Podcast

Purity 1175 on YouTube:

Good morning,

Today’s photo of a majestic view of treetops,
mountains in the distance, and a cloud-filled blue sky comes to us from Katie
Fisher McVeigh who shared this scene from the Buck Mountain fire tower on
social media yesterday reporting that her first trip to an Adirondack fire
tower wouldn’t have been complete without falling on her posterior.

Well, it’s Wednesday and while Katie’s photo doesn’t
share a huge mountain peak prominently to visually represent hump day, her view
from the mountain and her humility is more than enough to inspire us and to remind
us to be humble as we ascend to the midpoint summit of another work week. I
love my friend’s humility as I can imagine others may have left out the embarrassing
moments when reporting their achievement of an inaugural ascension of an
Adirondack Fire Tower.  While others in
Katies’s shoes may have chosen to share a few flattering selfies to visually
show everyone “I did it!”, Katie chose to share a less than flattering photo of
the evidence of her fall -on her backside into some Adirondack mud apparently –
that reveals her honesty, humility, and humor. She really did fall on her… you
know what!  

And you know what, God bless her, because Katie’s FB
post teaches us an important lesson on how honesty, humility, and humor are necessary
attributes of the attitude that we need to go through life with peace and
joy.       

That radical honesty – or total transparency – is
something that liberates us. When we just tell it like it is – and honestly report
the good, the bad, and the ugly of our lives, we walk in the joy of the freedom
from deception or trying to put on a happy face.  

Instead of hiding in embarrassment or shame and concocting
some false narrative to “save face”, we should just “be real” by being honest
about what we have done, what we thought, and how we feel.   When we communicate the truth of our
experience to others, we avoid the pitfalls of being misunderstood or having
people interpret our words and behavior. 
Although people could always second guess your intentions, when you build
your relationship on “always telling the truth”, they will eventually learn that
they can trust you and will be relieved to find someone who isn’t a phony.  

Now this is a big step for most people – and it would
be my second instruction for those I encourage – (always tell the truth – or simply
– STOP LYING) – because the world teaches us to “never let them see you sweat”
and “the ends justify the means”.  While the
world’s phony and deceptive ways may help you to avoid trouble or manipulate
people or situations, the cost to your soul and peace of mind is not worth the
benefits of lying or covering up.  

Lying and pretending or portraying to be something
that you are not is not only a sin and possible foothold for the spiritual
forces of darkness to oppress you, but it is also a peace killer as the lies we
tell lead to other lies that all must be remembered and maintained to avoid
detection.

Instead of telling lies, we tell the truth.

Sounds simple but it’s not, UNLESS -you base your
sense of worth on who you are in Christ – rather than basing it on the world’s
standards – of beauty, power, money, prestige, and performance. 

In Christ, we are forgiven, accepted, secure, and
significant.  We have been accepted and
forgiven by the Highest Authority in the Universe – the Creator of All Things –
GOD – and are not only forgiven but are made citizens of heaven and co-heirs
with Christ as we are adopted into God’s royal family when we put our faith in
Jesus.   That makes us totally secure –
we are not going to hell, and we are never going to die – we are going to live
with God forever – Wow! The most powerful person in the universe, God, is our Father
and nothing can separate us from His love – that’s security!

As for significance, by showing us the truth of
Jesus Christ and welcoming us into His kingdom, we have been “chosen” and
called worthy of a gift of inestimable value – God’s grace. God sent Jesus to
die for us so we could live – “we” individually were deemed worthy Jesus’ work
on the cross – that’s significance!

So why does this matter?

It matters because -when we know this about who we
are in Christ – it doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks of us. It doesn’t
matter if we make mistakes or do something embarrassing. We are forgiven and
free and we have no reason to hide what we have done or who we really are anymore.  And so we can tell the truth – we can admit
to what we think, and feel, and the mistakes we make.  

Although I was hoping to stand on the mountaintop of
another successful report regarding my fight over food addiction today, the scale
decided to throw me a curve ball.  I last
reported 2 weeks ago weighing in at 214.8 lbs., and even though I had some food
failures during my travels over the Columbus Day weekend, last week’s unreported
weigh-in showed the trend of weight loss continued. The scale shows 212
something but I didn’t quite trust it – as my scale goes up and down and all
around from day to day, so I didn’t report the “supposed success” figuring I
would track my progress this week just to be sure the results were accurate.
Well this morning, the scale has me at 215.6lbs and rather than second guessing
the scale – I just logged it into the My fitness Pal app – to honestly report my
progress, even though it is reporting a move in the “wrong direction.” 

I try to be honest and transparent in my life so even
though I have my doubts about the accuracy of my scale – I am just going to “tell
it like it is” – regardless of circumstances – each week going forward.  Being honest in all our ways is just
easier. 

So even though part of me would like to demand a
recount, I am just going to tell it like it is because my value is not
determined on by a number on the scale or a continuous track record of progress,
my value is determined by the Lord, and I don’t have to prove anything.  Jesus is the truth, the way, and the life. So
because I’m His disciple, I am going to live my life in the Way of Truth.  

And the truth is for this week, even though I “did
everything right” with my food plan and exercise regimen – I didn’t lose weight
this week. I’m not perfect. I make mistakes and don’t always achieve what I
hope to. In fact, I sometimes mess things up royally and have to work harder to
make it right or humble myself by having to ask others for help or their forgiveness
or both.  

But I have learned, like my friend Katie, that I don’t
have to be destroyed when I make a mistake – I can admit it and can even laugh
about it because I know that the mistakes I make, or even the success that I
accomplish don’t,  define who I am or
determine my value.  

I can be honest, humble and have humor about my situations
in life – because the Lord calls me to be honest and because He has chosen me
as His beloved adopted son, and no mistake on my part will ever change
that.  

So discover the peace and joy of an honest and
humble life, but if you haven’t done so already be honest about your sin and
your need of a Savior and place your faith in Jesus Christ so you can live with
God forever, and walk in Jesus’ Way of Truth with honesty, humility, and humor.
 

——————————————————————————————–

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 come from the section on Bitterness, Resentment,
& Hate.

Hebrews 12:15 (NIV2011)
¹⁵  See to it that no one
falls short of the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause
trouble and defile many.

Today’s
verse fall under the fourth point of our counseling reference guide resource’s
section on Bitterness,
Resentment, & Hate.

 4.  Let
no bitter root grow.

Today’s verse warns of the
subtle dangers of bitterness as a “root cause” of trouble and defilement.  

Here the writer of Hebrews
states that letting a “bitter root” grow will cause us to fall short of God’s grace.  God doesn’t want us to walk around with
bitterness that would grow into anger and hatred and all kinds of sin.  

Honesty can expose the
light on bitter feelings so living in the truth coupled with a forgiving heart
would nip bitterness in the bud.   

So instead of holding on
to resentments, we should speak honestly about how we feel to resolve conflicts
and offer forgiveness to reestablish peace with others and with God.   

Bitterness leads to
trouble and sin that defiles us. So pull out the root of bitterness with truth,
forgiveness, and love.

——————————————————————–

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

31 – The Spirit Endowing

Gift of
Prophecy

It was well said by John Owen nearly three
centuries ago that, “The great deceit
and abuse that hath been in all ages
of the church under the pretense of the name and work of the Holy Spirit, make
the thorough consideration of what we are taught concerning them exceedingly
necessary.” The most signal gift of the Spirit for the benefit of His people in
Old Testament times was that of prophecy.
The Prophets were men who spoke in the name and by the authority of God, giving
forth a Divinely inspired message from Him. It is not surprising, then, that
many pretended unto this gift who were never inspired by the Holy Spirit, but
rather were filled by a lying spirit, Satan making use of them to accomplish
his own designs: see 1 Kings 22:6, 7; Jeremiah 5:3, 1, etc. Those facts are
recorded for our warning!

This same gift of
prophecy occupied a prominent place in the early days of the Christian
dispensation, before the New Testament was written. The Gospel was at first
declared from the immediate revelation of the Spirit, preached by His direct
assistance, made effectual by His power, and accompanied in many instances by
outward miraculous works, the whole of which is designated “the ministration of
the Spirit” (2 Cor. 3:8). Those extraordinary manifestations of the Spirit were
then so obvious and so acknowledged by all Christians that those who wished to
impose and deceive found no more successful method than by claiming to be
themselves immediately inspired by the Spirit. Consequently we find such
warnings given by God as, “Despise not prophesyings. Prove all things; hold fast that which is good” (1 Thess. 5:20,
21); “But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall
be false teachers among you” (2 Pet. 2:1); “Beloved, believe not every spirit,
but try the spirits whether they are
of God” (1 John 4:1).^[1]

—————————more
tomorrow————————

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Encouragement
for the Path of Christian Discipleship