Satisfying Gifts and “What We Believe” – Wisdom from
Dr. Neil Anderson – Purity 1228
Purity 1228 12/22/2023 Purity 1228 Podcast
Purity 1228 on YouTube:
Good morning,
Today’s photo of a headlight-illuminated Waite road
and the silhouettes of trees, barns and farmyard buildings of the Allen Waite
Farm comes to us from yours truly as I stopped my car to try to capture the
magic moment of experiencing twilight on the shortest day of the year
yesterday, the winter solstice.
Well, It’s Friday, Thanks Be to God!, and even
though yesterday was the shortest day and longest night of the year, there’s
good news, from now on the days become longer and the nights become shorter –
in this Christmas season where we Celebrate the Light of the World – light is
now increasing! Which only makes sense, the closer we get to Jesus the brighter,
lighter, and better things get.
Wednesday, I hosted the Celebrate Freedom Growth
Group at Starpoint Church where I surprised the people who attended with Christmas
gifts. I had an idea of who would attend and wrapped up gifts specifically for a
few of them, but I also prepared extra wrapped gifts for the people who would
show up that I didn’t expect. Truth be told, I had extra stores of the
materials I gifted, just in case, I ran out of wrapped gifts.
I appreciate the people who come to Celebrate
Freedom and I try to express that each week by trying to tell each person as
they arrive that I am happy to see them. The “C” of the ABC’s of Celebrate
Freedom that we try to stress in our group is “Connections”. For the people who
show up, we connect relationally as we encourage and support one another as we
try to overcome those pesky “hurts, habits, and hang-ups” and grow mentally,
emotionally, and spiritually in our faith. And because we are a Christian group,
I stress that beyond one another the most important connection we can make is
with the Lord. No matter who come to the group our for however long our group
will last here on earth, the connection we have with God is forever and just
happens to be the most important thing about us – our relationship with God –
as it will determine our eternal destiny.
So what do you give when you want to share a
connection with our Heavenly Father? You give the gift of God’s love and try to
give someone the possibility of experiencing their freedom in Christ, of
course!
So I wrapped up a framed copy of Mindful of Christ’s
“Biblical Affirmations Poster” (which is a free resource available at https://mindfulofchrist.net/freebies/
), along with a copy of the Freedom in Christ Ministries “Participants Guide to
The “Freedom in Christ Course”, and a copy of the Steps to Freedom in
Christ. My wrapped presents were three
gifts in one designed to give the recipient something to affirm their identity
in Christ, give them teaching to help them grow in their faith, and give them a
tool that could resolve their personal and spiritual conflicts.
And even though I was given thanks from everyone who
received a gift, yesterday one of the recipients reached out via FB messenger
to thank me again and express his joy over receiving it and being a part of Celebrate
Freedom. I was truly touched by his reaching out and encouraged him to ‘dig in”
to the material and expressed how glad I was that he had made his way back to
us after an extended absence.
Unbeknownst to me at the time, he also shared his gratitude for the gift
I gave him publicly with a Facebook post and I was delighted to see that he was
using it as he declared that he had read 30 pages of the Freedom in Christ Participant’s
Guide already!
At Christmas, you really want to give gifts that
people like but you are really touched when you see them enjoying and using
them and it is my hope that the three gifts I gave to the people at Celebrate
Freedom will bring them to better the receive the gift that God freely offers
to all of us, peace with Him through faith in Jesus Christ. Jesus is the only gift that can truly satisfy
us and if we look for satisfaction in anything else we will be eventually
disappointed. Do you believe that? It’s true. And to bring that truth home a
little more I am sharing a short message from Dr. Neil Anderson that I received
as a daily devotional email back on December 9th. Anderson writes
about the importance of what we believe, and how it relates to our overall satisfaction
and joy in life and I think it’s appropriate for the Christmas season because
many will be looking for satisfaction from what’s under their Christmas tree when
they should be looking for it from the gift that comes from above.
Dr. Neil T. Anderson writes:
|
||
|
——————————————————————————————–
For
those who want more evidence for Christianity than my simple encouragements provide,
I offer apologist, Frank Turek’s website, https://crossexamined.org/ .
Today’s
Bible verses come 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 Discipline.
Revelation 2:14-16 (NLT2)
14 “But
I have a few complaints against you. You tolerate some among you whose teaching
is like that of Balaam, who showed Balak how to trip up the people of Israel.
He taught them to sin by eating food offered to idols and by committing sexual
sin.
15 In
a similar way, you have some Nicolaitans among you who follow the same
teaching.
16 Repent
of your sin, or I will come to you suddenly and fight against them with the
sword of my mouth.
Today’s
verses fall under the eleventh point of our counseling reference guide
resource’s section on Church Discipline
11. Jesus rebukes the church
that does not discipline.
Today’s verses show us
that the Lord cares about what we listen to and that there will be consequences
for being “wrong” in what we believe if we don’t repent.
Historically, the Nicolaitans
may have taught a “syncretistic” Christianity, with elements of Judaism, paganism,
and occultism mixed in, where Christian theology and morality would have been
compromised – as one of Balam’s claim to fame was leading the nation of Israel
to intermingle with their pagan neighbors through sexual immorality and mixed
marriages.
The fact that Jesus says
He hates them (verse 15, NKJV) shows us that what we believe and what we do
matters and that we can’t be complicit with other religions or practice things
that go against God’s world. Regardless
of what we may profess to believe, what we allow ourselves to listen to and
what we do will reveal what we really put our faith in – and if that’s anything
other than Jesus and God’s Word – there may be hell to pay on judgement day as,
those who aren’t committed to follow Christ only will be told by Jesus – “I
never knew you”.
So be steadfast to know
what we believe, why we believe it, and don’t allow any outside influences to drive
you away from the Truth, The Way, and the Life – Jesus Christ.
——————————————————————–
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 FOUR – INCARNATION
DAY
THREE
Christmas, Fulfilled Promise
Moses died on the mountain from which he was permitted to view from a
distance the promised land (Deut. 32:48–52). When the Bible speaks of God’s
promises, it’s a matter of life and death.… The language that reports this
ancient history is clear. Anyone who has seen God must die; the sinner dies
before the promise of God. Let’s understand what that means for us so close to
Christmas. The great promise of God—a promise that is infinitely more important
than the promise of the promised land—is supposed to be fulfilled at
Christmas.… The Bible is full of the proclamation that the great miracle has
happened as an act of God, without any human doing.… What happened? God had
seen the misery of the world and had come himself in order to help. Now he was
there, not as a mighty one, but in the obscurity of humanity, where there is
sinfulness, weakness, wretchedness, and misery in the world. That is where God
goes, and there he lets himself be found by everyone. And this proclamation
moves through the world anew, year after year, and again this year also comes
to us.
We all come with
different personal feelings to the Christmas festival. One comes with pure joy
as he looks forward to this day of rejoicing, of friendships renewed, and of
love.… Others look for a moment of peace under the Christmas tree, peace from
the pressures of daily work.… Others again approach Christmas with great
apprehension. It will be no festival of joy to them. Personal sorrow is painful
especially on this day for those whose loneliness is deepened at
Christmastime.… And despite it all, Christmas comes. Whether we wish it or not,
whether we are sure or not, we must hear the words once again: Christ the
Savior is here! The world that Christ comes to save is our fallen and lost
world. None other.
Sermon to a German-speaking church in Havana,
Cuba, December 21, 1930
In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by
God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose
name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. And he came
to her and said, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.” But she was
much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be.
The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with
God. And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name
him Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and
the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. He will reign
over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”
Luke 1:26–33
DAY FOUR
The Great Turning Point of All Things
What kings and leaders of nations, philosophers and artists, founders
of religions and teachers of morals have tried in vain to do—that now happens
through a newborn child. Putting to shame the most powerful human efforts and
accomplishments, a child is placed here at the midpoint of world history—a
child born of human beings, a son given by God (Isa. 9:6). That is the mystery
of the redemption of the world; everything past and everything future is
encompassed here. The infinite mercy of the almighty God comes to us, descends
to us in the form of a child, his Son. That this child is born for us, this son
is given to us, that this human child and Son of God belongs to me, that I know
him, have him, love him, that I am his and he is mine—on this alone my life now
depends. A child has our life in his hands.…
How shall we deal with
such a child? Have our hands, soiled with daily toil, become too hard and too
proud to fold in prayer at the sight of this child? Has our head become too
full of serious thoughts … that we cannot bow our head in humility at the wonder
of this child? Can we not forget all our stress and struggles, our sense of
importance, and for once worship the child, as did the shepherds and the wise
men from the East, bowing before the divine child in the manger like children?
“The Government upon the Shoulders of the Child,”
Christmas 1940
What then are we to say about these things? If
God is for us, who is against us? He who did not withhold his own Son, but gave
him up for all of us, will he not with him also give us everything else? Who
will bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to
condemn? It is Christ Jesus, who died, yes, who was raised, who is at the right
hand of God, who indeed intercedes for us.
Romans 8:31–34
DAY FIVE
God Became a Child
Mighty God” (Isa.
9:6) is the name of this child. The child in the manger is none other than God
himself. Nothing greater can be said: God became a child. In the Jesus child of
Mary lives the almighty God. Wait a minute! Don’t speak; stop thinking! Stand still
before this statement! God became a child! Here he is, poor like us, miserable
and helpless like us, a person of flesh and blood like us, our brother. And yet
he is God; he is might. Where is the divinity, where is the might of the child?
In the divine love in which he became like us. His poverty in the manger is his
might. In the might of love he overcomes the chasm between God and humankind,
he overcomes sin and death, he forgives sin and awakens from the dead. Kneel
down before this miserable manger, before this child of poor people, and repeat
in faith the stammering words of the prophet: “Mighty God!” And he will be your
God and your might.
But now it is true
that in three days, Christmas will come once again. The great transformation
will once again happen. God would have it so. Out of the waiting, hoping,
longing world, a world will come in which the promise is given. All crying will
be stilled. No tears shall flow. No lonely sorrow shall afflict us anymore, or
threaten.
Sermon to a German-speaking church in
Havana, Cuba, December 21, 1930
And the Word became
flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a
father’s only son, full of grace and truth.
John 1:14[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
[1]
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, God Is in the
Manger: Reflections on Advent and Christmas, ed. Jana Riess,
trans. O. C. Dean Jr., First edition. (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox
Press, 2010), 54–59.
Leave a Reply