Responsibilities Over Rights – Wisdom from Dr. Neil T. Anderson – Purity 1212

 

Rights Over Responsibility – Wisdom from Dr. Neil T.
Anderson – Purity 1212

Purity 1212 12/01/2023 Purity 1212 Podcast

Purity 1212 on YouTube: 

Good morning,

Today’s photo of Watie Rd and the rising sun underneath
an epic cloud-filled yet blue sky comes to us from yours truly as I captured this
scene while out walking on “black Friday” morning, November 24^th and
I was happy to see that the Lord went against the man’s “black label” to make
the day after Thanksgiving shiny and bright.  

Well, It’s Friday once again and I share today’s “pathway
to the sun” to encourage all of us to take the Son’s pathway through life by
following Jesus and to remind those of us who are suffering that the sun also rises,
and the Lord’s mercies are new every morning.  

I share that sentiment because “There’s TROUBLE” and
that starts with T and that rhymes with D and that stand for Disaster, Disease,
Depression, Divorce, Devastation, Desperation, and Death! And they thought they
had it bad in River City with Pool Halls! Brothers and Sisters, let me tell you,
I am very glad we have left November behind and begin a new month – December,
another D – because of all the troubles and trials that some of my friends have
had to face thus far in 2023, with many “bad things”: happening in November. 

But it’s a new day for God’s mercies to be new, a
new month, and soon a new year and I know that no matter what the circumstances
that we face in life, we can endure it and have peace and joy in the midst of
troubles and trials IF we keep walking and talking with God and follow Jesus’
example by putting our responsibilities over our rights. 

Jesus had no sin and was wrongly accused, tried, and
condemned to die on a cross but even in the midst of that he didn’t defend
himself and AS he was on the cross, he took care of his responsibilities by
providing for the care of his mother Mary, by putting her in the care of the Apostle
John.    

John
19:26-27 (NKJV) tells us
²⁶  When Jesus therefore saw
His mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing by, He said to His mother, “Woman, behold your son!”
²⁷  Then He said to the
disciple, “Behold your mother!” And
from that hour that disciple took her to his own home.

Even in the moment of great suffering
and facing death, Jesus loved others and put His responsibilities over His rights.  Who does that? My God does that, My Lord does
that, My Savior does that and we are to follow His example.  

I say all that because I know many who are suffering now and they are tempted to be angry, bitter, and to demand their rights! But I would counsel them to “do what is right” regardless of their circumstances – like Jesus- and to continue to take care of their responsibilities and trust that the Lord will in turn “do what’s right” for their lives.   I’m sharing a devotion from Dr. Neil T. Anderson to bring that point home.  I am blessed to be a Community Freedom Ministry Associate of Freedom in Christ Ministries and was blessed by this message in a recent email, and I am sharing it to encourage us all to not worry about our rights and to always do what is right by taking care of our responsibilities first.  Dr. Neil T. Anderson writes: “RESPONSIBILITIES OVER RIGHTS You were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another (Galatians 5:13). Nothing will distort relationships faster than emphasizing our rights over our responsibilities. For example, a husband may chip at his wife because he feels he has a right to expect her to be submissive. A wife may nag her husband because she expects him to be the spiritual leader. Parents harass their children because they feel it’s their right to demand obedience. Members are offended in the local church when they think their rights have been violated by pastors, boards or other members. Any time people insist on their rights at the expense of failing to assume their responsibilities, they are going down to defeat. For example, a pregnant woman may demand her right for an abortion. She says it is her body and she can do whatever she wants with it. Then she proceeds to demonstrate her irresponsible use of her body to everyone! We don’t have an abortion problem; we have an irresponsible sex problem. In God’s system, our focus is to be fulfilling our responsibilities, not insisting on our rights. Husband, having a submissive wife is not your right; but being a loving, caring husband is your responsibility. Headship is not a right to be demanded but an awesome responsibility to be fulfilled. Similarly, wives – having a spiritual husband is not your right; but being a submissive, supportive wife is your responsibility. Parents – raising obedient children is not your right; but disciplining your children in the nurture and instruction of the Lord is your responsibility. Being a member of the Body of Christ and of a local church is an incredible privilege, not a right. This privilege comes with the awesome responsibility to behave as God’s children and become a lover of people. When we stand before Christ, He will not ask us if we received everything we had coming to us. But He will reward us for how well we fulfilled our responsibilities. Lord, help me relinquish my rights and focus on my responsibilities in all my relationships today.”

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 Timothy 5:17 (ESV)
¹⁷  Let the elders who rule
well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in
preaching and teaching.

Today’s
verses are the first of two passages of scripture that fall under the fifteenth
point of our counseling reference guide resource’s section on Church, Communion of the
Saints.

 15. Members of the church must honor and
obey the elders whom God has appointed to exercise authority in the church.

Today’s verses remind us
to honor those who serve us in the church. Pastoring a flock of sheep is no
easy task. Men of God who have dedicated their lives to sharing God’s word preach
the truth that the world hates and often are met with the same animosity that
Jesus faced as men love darkness rather than light. So as members of the body
of Christ, rather than criticizing our leaders for being less than perfect we
should thank them and give honor to them when we can because of the service
they do for God’s kingdom and for us.   

It’s easy to be critical
from the safety of the pews in the church when you have no part in the
proceedings. It’s easy to second guess what is being done and said in the
church when you just have to show up and be served.  But instead of second-guessing the preaching
or being critical of the way we worship in our local churches; we should honor
our leaders by supporting and joining their efforts to serve the kingdom.  Serving the Lord is not easy, and we should
give honor to where honor is due.

——————————————————————–

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 “God is in the Manger-
Reflections on Advent and Christmas” – By Dietrich Bonhoeffer.   

As always, I share this information for educational
purposes and encourage you all to purchase Bonhoeffer’s books for your own
private study and to support his work.  This resource is available online
for less than $10 at many sites.

God is in the Manger – Dietrich Bonhoeffer

ADVENT WEEK TWO –  MYSTERY

DAY ONE

Respect for
the Mystery

The lack of mystery in our modern life is our
downfall and our poverty. A human life is worth as much as the respect it holds
for the mystery. We retain the child in us to the extent that we honor the
mystery. Therefore, children have open, wide-awake eyes, because they know that
they are surrounded by the mystery. They are not yet finished with this world;
they still don’t know how to struggle along and avoid the mystery, as we do. We
destroy the mystery because we sense that here we reach the boundary of our
being, because we want to be lord over everything and have it at our disposal,
and that’s just what we cannot do with the mystery.… Living without mystery
means knowing nothing of the mystery of our own life, nothing of the mystery of
another person, nothing of the mystery of the world; it means passing over our
own hidden qualities and those of others and the world. It means remaining on
the surface, taking the world seriously only to the extent that it can be
calculated and exploited, and not going beyond the world of calculation and
exploitation. Living without mystery means not seeing the crucial processes of
life at all and even denying them.

Ascension joy—inwardly we must become very quiet
to hear the soft sound of this phrase at all. Joy lives in its quietness and
incomprehensibility. This joy is in fact incomprehensible, for the
comprehensible never makes for joy.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer

I want their hearts to be encouraged and united
in love, so that they may have all the riches of assured understanding and have
the knowledge of God’s mystery, that is, Christ himself, in whom are hidden all
the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

Colossians 2:2–3^[1]

—————————more
tomorrow————————

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Encouragement
for the Path of Christian Discipleship