Suffering from a Dream – Purity 1254

Suffering from a Dream – Purity 1254

Purity 1254 01/22/2024 Purity 1254 Podcast

Purity 1254 on YouTube: 

Good morning,

Today’s photo of the fading light of day on the
horizon and reflected in the frozen waters of the Schodack Creek and Hudson
River from the vantage point of the front porch of my home down by The River
comes to us from yours truly as I ran out front to capture this silent moment
of still beauty when I spied it out of my kitchen window yesterday.  Sometimes you have to stop what you are doing
and get a better look at things to realize that beauty is all around us and
despite the harsh conditions of life on earth its there to rest in and to
enjoy.  

Well, It’s Monday and even though I will be going
back to work this morning and the time for resting is behind us, I am keeping
my thoughts grounded on the good things in life that my work affords me and the
fact that there is much more good in life than bad and that we can find peace
and contentment in our lives if we are intentional in remembering and giving
thanks to God for all He has provided us with.  

Although I have much to be thankful for and am
enjoying the fruits of a life lived in the Spirit and patiently following the
Lord in the way I should go, I am currently being reminded of how blessed I am
as I am aware of others who are suffering heartbreaking losses and who don’t have
a deep daily relationship with the Lord that has taught them the wisdom regarding
life on earth and the certainty of His presence and plan for life in time of
need.  

While ignorance isn’t a sin, the word of God tells
us that we do suffer for a lack of knowledge and  I know from experience that our suffering in
life is compounded when we don’t know God or decide that the secret to happiness
in life is a product of ourselves alone.  

Before coming to Christ, I thought I had life pretty
much figured out and more or less prescribed to the fantasy of the American dream
to fulfill me.  The American dream
promises that if you work hard you can provide for yourself and your family and
that you will be happy.  While the American
dream doesn’t say you don’t need God in your life, it more or less implies that
as the happiness in the equation comes from the money that you earn and the
family that you please with it.  The
American dream also implies that things give you happiness – a big house, a
swimming pool, new cars, the best clothes, the best food, and the finest potent
potables to inebriate you while you enjoy it all.   The problem with the American dream is that
it is a lie – it’s a fantasy because money can’t buy you love and all the material
comfort and security that you can afford in life doesn’t provide you with
security or comfort in eternity. 

In yesterday’s Bible Study with the Cincotti’s, we
touched on the parable of the Rich fool who concluded that he had all he needed
in life because of his material wealth and reasoned with himself: 

Luke 12:19-21 (NASB)
¹⁹  ‘And
I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years to
come; take your ease, eat, drink and be merry.”‘
²⁰  “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your
soul is required of you; and now who will own what you have prepared?’

²¹  “So is the man who stores up treasure for himself, and is not
rich toward God.”

Jesus told
this parable to impress upon us the fact that there is more to life than the
things of this earth and He advised his disciples to seek God’s kingdom’s first
and that we could find it by believing in Him as Lord and Savior to have peace
with God and to be given a place into His kingdom.

When we seek
to find our happiness in the world it always comes up short because it do not
have the eternal answers that God provides. 
God’s word is given to us to teach us what’s important but this world
system is under the rule of Satan and it indoctinates us to live independently
of God.

And lately I
have seen people that I know suffer greatly because they failed to seek God’s
kingdom or live by His truth and they are suffering all the more because they
seem to have put their hope in things other than God.  Some have invested in relationships, material
riches, or substances to give them pleasure, happiness, or fulfillment and now
those things have been shown to be of limited value as they have fallen apart,
betrayed their trust, or turned on them to destroy them.  They worshipped people, things, or ideals
that may have had a measure of goodness but that were never intended to give
lasting satisfaction and now they are grieving over their loss.  

I’m saddened
by their losses but I am also angry because I was similarly lied to by the
world and believed some of the things that they did.  I believed I could be happy all by myself
without God and I was wrong and even though I know the truth now, I can’t turn
back the clock and teach these people what I have come to know before they
suffered.  

But I can
offer my prayers for them to find healing and to seek after God and for the
Lord to reveal the truth to them.  And
beyond that I can keep speaking the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ in
hopes that some will hear it and it will be used by the Lord to bring them into
His kingdom so they can learn of the goodness of His love and how fulfillment
in life is found through living with God every day.

I thank the
Lord for the things He has delivered me from and how He shows me the beauty of
this life and the wisdom of how to walk through it, with Him as my guide.  My prayers go out to those who are hurting for
their healing and that their eyes would be opened to the truth of Jesus Christ
and that they will surreneder to His Lordship and God’s plan for their
lives.   In Jesus’ Name – Amen.

——————————————————————————————–

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 verse come from the section on Communication, Gossip, and
Lying.

Ephesians 4:15 (ESV)
¹⁵  Rather, speaking the truth
in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ,

Today’s
verse is the first of two passages of scripture that fall under the third point
of our counseling reference guide resource’s section on Communication, Gossip, and
Lying.

3.     Speak the truth in
love, not harshly.

Today’s
verse admonishes us to speak the truth in love and also encourages to grow up by
becoming more and more like Jesus.   Knowing
the truth and speaking it in love is not enough, We have to grow into the truth
by applying it to our lives and thus we become more and more like Jesus.  

The
truth is that we are “born again” – given new spiritual life – the moment we
put our faith in Jesus. We are sealed with salvation forever when we make Jesus
our Lord and Savior but beyond eternal life and the forgiveness of sins, we are
also given a new life – where we are given the potential to be more and more
like Jesus.  We are given the power over
sin so that we can walk away from them and live a good and righteous life, like
Jesus.   But it takes some growing up to
do that. It takes a decision on our part to follow Jesus with the way we live
our lives.  

So I
will speak the truth in love – turn from your sins and follow after Jesus if
you want to live forever and to know the peace that comes from living in harmony
with the Lord.

———————————————————–

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 “According to Your
Word: Morning and Evening Through the New Testament” By Stephen F. Olford – A
Collection of Devotional Journals: 1940-1941.

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

EVENING READING: MATTHEW 14

“They do not need to go away.” –
Matthew 14:16

The disciples said, “Send the multitudes away” (v. 15).
Jesus said, “They do not need to go away.” Herein is seen the very heart of my
blessed Lord. The flesh in me would rather be unburdened of the responsibility
of feeding the hungering, perishing multitude, even though the day of
opportunity is drawing to a close (notice that it was evening). But the Lord
essentially said, “They do not need to go away. They can go if they wish to.
They must go if you force them. But as far as I am concerned, they do not have
to go away.” In fact, they were fed: “You give them something to eat” (v. 16).

“They do not need to go away” (v. 16). “The one who comes
to Me I will by no means cast out” (John 6:37).

 

Give me this spirit, Lord!^[1]

—————————more
tomorrow————————

Join our “Victory over the Darkness”, “The Bondage
Breaker”, “Freedom in Christ” series of Discipleship Classes via the
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Facebook Group: Ask, Seek, Knock (https://www.facebook.com/groups/529047851449098 ) and her podcast Ask, Seek, and Knock on
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Encouragement
for the Path of Christian Discipleship