Denying the Lie of a “Very Bad Year” and Declaring the Truth with Thanksgiving! – Purity 1202

Denying the Lie of a “Very Bad Year” and Declaring the
Truth with Thanksgiving! – Purity 1202

Purity 1202 11/20/2023 Purity 1202 Podcast

Purity 1202 on YouTube: 

Good morning,

Today’s photo of a spectacular pink, purple, and
yellow sunset sky over what appears to be “smoke on the water” comes to us from
Dave Baun Photography (https://www.facebook.com/DaveBaunPhotography)
who shared this scene from his visit to Marino Rocks in South Australia last
week on social media because it had been awhile since Dave had generously
shared his work, apologetically stating that the six-day hiatus hadn’t been
planned and that “not all things are planned nor do they always go to plan”.  Tell me about it brother.

Anyway, Dave is giving us all an opportunity to
support his work and to own a piece of it, as he has recently announced that
the Dave Baun Photography 2024 Calendar is now available to purchase (https://www.paypal.com/instantcommerce/checkout/A32QXWP8SEU96?fbclid=IwAR34qsFfygTm4CG_Y13ksI4v3dhWDto0S3gErizTmnrKTD9MiM5l3wUqs2U).
I am including a link to Dave’s merchant page on Pay Pal on the blog today so
you can purchase a copy for yourself or to give away for Christmas.  Dave has graciously allowed me to share his
work on the blog and buying a calendar for myself and sharing the link seemed
the least I could do to express my thanks and appreciation for Dave and his
work.  

Well, It’s Thanksgiving Monday, and as we drag
ourselves into what for me is a shortened work week, I am preparing my heart to
be as thankful and appreciative as I can be to be completely surrendered to the
Thanksgiving Spirit when we observe the National Holiday in the U.S. come Thursday.

Thanksgiving, or gratitude – or appreciation – is
actually a regular practice on the path of Christian Discipleship and if you
haven’t made it a part of your normal daily routine, I highly recommend it, and
God sort of commands it – thank you very much, Lord.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (NKJV)
¹⁶  Rejoice always,
¹⁷  pray without ceasing,
¹⁸  in everything give thanks;
for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

Colossians 3:17 (NKJV)
¹⁷  And whatever you do
in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to
God the Father through Him.

Philippians 4:6-7 (NKJV)
⁶  Be anxious for nothing, but
in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests
be made known to God;
⁷  and the peace of God, which
surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ
Jesus.

Those are all instructions to the church – us Christians – on how
we are to act and so let’s be the most thankful bunch at the Thanksgiving dinner
table come Thursday.  I am sharing a link
to Open Bible . info’s 100 Bible Verses About Giving Thanks on the blog today in
case you need some Biblical support or want an easy reference to pull up some Thanksgiving
wisdom (https://www.openbible.info/topics/giving_thanks). 

Part of being a disciple of Jesus Christ – or is it the “whole
thing” – is believing that what the Bible is the TRUTH and obeying what it
says, regardless of the circumstances or situations that surround us. 

I say that because my encouragement to give thanks may be
difficult for many of my friends to receive this year.  While I don’t like to echo negative reports and
honestly don’t believe in “bad years”, because frankly I have noticed that come
November or December the declaring of the current year to be a “bad year” has
become a “yearly tradition” of sorts. 

I think I first noticed this tendency to lament over the current
year being a “bad one” in 2019 because I remember the New Year’s Eve sentiments
that year to leave behind the no good, very bad, terrible year that was 2019 with
the hope to have a “clear vision” going into 2020.  Covid-19 sort of made things a little cloudy.
But do you know what?  Regardless of the
pandemic, the death, and the seismic changes of 2020, even that “very bad year”
had its good points. For me 2020, was a stellar year as I rose above all of it,
worked hard, and was able to purchase and establish my little home “down by The
River” for me and my children – and it was after that year that I stopped
listening to “the very bad year” laments that rear their depressed little heads
in November and December.  

Quite frankly, looking at and declaring a “year” to be bad is a
misperception and undoubtedly something that the spiritual forces of darkness,
yes Satan and his demonic associates, support fully.  Think about it. In the season where we are to
give Thanks and Celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the
enemy wants us to focus on the negative and call what is good evil.   God warns us in

Isaiah 5:20-22 (NKJV)
²⁰  Woe to those who call evil
good, and good evil; Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; Who
put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!
²¹  Woe to those who are
wise in their own eyes, And prudent in their own sight!
²²  Woe to men mighty at
drinking wine, Woe to men valiant for mixing intoxicating drink,

Yeah, I just had to include the “drunken
verses” that follow the sentiment to not call good evil, or evil good – like it’s
good to get drunk – no its actually evil – shots fired.  

Anyway, I do sympathize with those who
have loved and lost and suffered losses this year, I am surrounded by people
who have suffered the loss of loved ones to death, have struggled with
finances, had health concerns, have had difficulties in their marriages,
suffered broken relationships, and lost jobs. 
I have even suffered a surprising disappointment and shocking failure
this year.   

But the circumstances of this world and
even my own performance, or lack thereof, do not define who I am, and they don’t
need to be what controls my attitude or emotions as we go into the holiday
season and into a new year.    

Yes, we have suffered losses. Yes, we
will miss those who are gone. Yes, we may be in the midst of a trial that has
us wondering about what we will do next or how we will survive in the future.

BUT we are alive, and we know God.
Through our faith in Jesus Christ, we live today and will live forever. We have
been forgiven and are accepted, secure, and significant because of who we are
in Christ. I’m sharing a link to the “Who I am in Christ” Statement PDF on the
blog today if you need to remind yourself (https://www.ficm.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/who-i-am-in-christ05.pdf
) of the truth.  

I use that list every day to ground
myself in the truth of who I am in Christ as part or my daily spiritual
practice.  Knowing who I am in Christ is an
integral part of my daily practice of gratitude.  So even if I am going through trials or
suffering heartache or loss, I can look at that list of what the Lord has done
for me, and I can give thanks, knowing that I am cared for, and loved, and say
it with me – accepted – secure – and significant in Christ.  

So deny the lie that “2023 has been a
bad year” and declare the truth that because of your faith in Jesus, God is
with you always and even though we may walk through the valley of the shadow of
death, we are STILL WALKING, and the LORD is WITH US.   So give Thanks to the Lord OUR GOD and Praise
His Name! Draw close to Him in prayer for strength and guidance, ask for and
seek His wisdom in His word, and keep walking and talking with God with the way
you live your life because a life spent in His continual presence and love is a
“good” one and there is nothing that can befall us that would make that
untrue.  

Psalm 30:5 (NKJV) tells us that
⁵  …Weeping may endure for a
night, But joy comes in the morning.

And as that psalmist may have suffered but
He found joy as He testifies to God that:

Psalm 30:11-12 (NKJV)
¹¹  You have turned for me my
mourning into dancing; You have put off my sackcloth and clothed me with
gladness,
¹²  To the end that my
glory may sing praise to You and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give thanks to You forever.

So give thanks to God today, Thursday,
and every day.

——————————————————————————————–

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 Church, Communion of the
Saints.

1 Corinthians 12:12-31 (NASB)
¹²  For even as the body is
one and yet has many members, and all the members of the body, though
they are many, are one body, so also is Christ.
¹³  For by one Spirit we were
all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and
we were all made to drink of one Spirit.
¹⁴  For the body is not one
member, but many.
¹⁵  If the foot says,
“Because I am not a hand, I am not a part of the body,” it is
not for this reason any the less a part of the body.
¹⁶  And if the ear says,
“Because I am not an eye, I am not a part of the body,” it is
not for this reason any the less a part of the body.
¹⁷  If the whole body were an
eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole were hearing, where would the
sense of smell be?
¹⁸  But now God has placed the
members, each one of them, in the body, just as He desired.
¹⁹  If they were all one
member, where would the body be?
²⁰  But now there are many
members, but one body.
²¹  And the eye cannot say to
the hand, “I have no need of you”; or again the head to the feet,
“I have no need of you.”
²²  On the contrary, it is
much truer that the members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary;
²³  and those members
of the body which we deem less honorable, on these we bestow more abundant
honor, and our less presentable members become much more presentable,
²⁴  whereas our more
presentable members have no need of it. But God has so composed
the body, giving more abundant honor to that member which lacked,
²⁵  so that there may be no
division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for
one another.
²⁶  And if one member suffers,
all the members suffer with it; if one member is honored, all the
members rejoice with it.
²⁷  Now you are Christ’s
body, and individually members of it.
²⁸  And God has appointed in
the church, first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles,
then gifts of healings, helps, administrations, various kinds of
tongues.
²⁹  All are not apostles, are
they? All are not prophets, are they? All are not teachers, are they? All are
not workers of miracles, are they?
³⁰  All do not have gifts of
healings, do they? All do not speak with tongues, do they? All do not
interpret, do they?
³¹  But earnestly desire the
greater gifts. And I show you a still more excellent way.

Today’s
verses fall under the sixth point of our counseling reference guide resource’s
section on Church,
Communion of the Saints.

 6. Each member of the body is necessary. We
need one another. All must have a deep concern for each other.

Today’s verses testify, at
length, of how each member in the body of Christ is necessary and that we are to
care for one another as we utilize the gifts we have received to serve God’s
kingdom.  

Our resource offers up
this entire passage to make the point that each of us is necessary for the
service to God’s kingdom, but it highlights verses 25 & 26 to emphasize the
fact that we aren’t just brought into God’s kingdom to “work” – we are to also
love one another and to show our care for one another and share in the
suffering and joys we experience.  

Last week, my “Right Hand”
Man at the Celebrate Freedom Growth Group, Scott Salvadore – our Men’s
Discussion Leader- and 2 time Mullet Champion (you can’t make this up) –
suffered the loss of his mother and while you could think of our relationship
to be “function focused” as ministers to a small group community for recovery
and discipleship, while we have “worked” we have developed a friendship of mutual
trust, respect, and affection that goes beyond our “roles” of the
ministry. 

My fondness for Scott makes
me want to see him succeed and prosper in life. 
I voted and contributed towards the campaign that made him the first-ever
two-time mullet champion.  I have leaned
on him for accountability with my food addiction and have experienced
unprecedented success in return. We have rejoiced over one another’s victories. 

Our care for the growth
group we serve has carried over to one another.   And so
when Scott’s Mom died, although it might not have shown to much, I felt the
pain of the loss for Scott and prayed for his and his family’s comfort and
healing in the wake of the loss.

So with the length of today’s
passage, don’t forget the love that we are to have for one another as we seek
to accomplish our purposes for God’s kingdom. Without God we can do nothing, so
we should always remember that and seek to obey His command to love one another
as we try to give Him glory.

——————————————————————–

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 are sharing from A. W. Pink’s – The Arthur
Pink Anthology  – a collection of A.W.
Pink’s tracts brought together in one book and dispersed here on the blog for
your encouragement.

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 free as a PDF at many sites, but printed copies of collections of A.W.
Pink’s books are available for purchase wherever Christian books are sold. 

The Arthur Pink Anthology – 6

Christian Fools –
Part 6 of 8

Take the
Universalists. I have met numbers of Universalists—several here in Sydney. I
was going to say that I have less suspicion of the reality of their own
salvation than I have of some of yours. At any rate they seem to give such
evidence in their daily walk that they commune with Christ that it really makes
one wonder where they are. Well now, the Universalists are staggered by the
doctrine of eternal punishment. They say “God is love.” The mercy of God
endureth forever.” God is good: how can a merciful, loving God send any to
eternal suffering? The Universalist say they cannot both be true: if there is
such a thing as eternal punishment, then God can’t be love: if God is love,
there cannot be such a thing as eternal punishment. You see what they are
doing? They are reasoning: they are walking by logic: they have drawn up their
own scheme and system of theology and that which they cannot fit exactly into
that scheme, somewhere, well, away with it!

But the Unitarians
and the Universalists and the Arminians are not the only ones who are guilty of
that. I am sorry to say that it is equally true, in some respects, of many
Calvinists. They are unsound when it comes to the gospel. They are all at sea
when it comes to the matter of believing. I am not going to keep you very much
longer, but listen closely now. There are many Calvinists who say, Believing is
an evidence of our salvation, but it is not a condition or the cause of
salvation. But, my friends, I make so bold as to say that those who so teach
take issue with this Book. Now I want you to turn with me to four passages in
the New Testament. I am not asking you to take my word for anything. You turn
with me now to four passages in God’s own word. First of all Romans
1:16–17—“For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of
God unto salvation.” The power of God unto salvation to whom?—“the power of God
unto salvation to everyone that believeth.” Now I have no hesitation whatever in
saying to every grown-up person in this room tonight, if you had read that
verse just now for the first time in your life, and had never read a page of
either Calvinistic or Arminian literature; if you read that verse without any
bias one way or the other, it would only mean one thing to you.

Now turn to Romans
13:11—“And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of
sleep, for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.” The salvation
that is spoken of there is the salvation of the body, the glorification of the
believer, the final consummation of our redemption: but what I want you to
notice is where the Holy Spirit Himself puts the starting point. “Now is our
salvation nearer than when we believed.” THAT is when it begins, so far as our
actual experience is concerned.

Now turn to Hebrews
10:39, and you have one there that is plainer still—that is outside the realm
of debate—that has no ambiguity about it: “But we are not of them who draw back
unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul.” You cannot
get around that if you live to be a thousand years old. “Them that believe to
the saving of the soul.” The sinner’s believing does have something to do with
his salvation: God says so! If you deny it you are taking issue with God.
“Believe to the saving of the soul.”^[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)

“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