Rejecting the Lie That: “I Missed It – Purity 1315

Rejecting the Lie That: “I Missed It – Purity 1315

Purity 1315 04/2/2024 Purity 1315 Podcast

Purity 1315 on YouTube: 

Good morning,

Today’s photo of lilacs and other flowers in the foreground
as the sunsets in the distance over a mountain range that I suspect to be the
Catskill Mountains comes to us from an unknown FB friend who shared this scene
on social media on or around May 7, 2021. If this photo is yours and you’d like
to be recognized for it, give me a heads up and I will update the blog to give
you the photo credit after the fact. 

Well, It’s Tuesday and I am sharing today’s photo to
continue my campaign of “cleaning out my closet” of unused photos “borrowed” from
social media and to highlight the fact that it is indeed actually springtime. My
personal electronic assistant who will remain nameless confirmed to me that the
first day of spring in 2024 was March 19^th – two weeks ago – and even
though we had some snow that may have caused us to doubt what season we are in –
the meteorological circumstances, and our feelings, don’t change the fact that it
is spring. That’s the truth.

As an advocate for a lifestyle of Christian
discipleship that is grounded in experiencing our freedom in Christ through
repentance and affirming the truth of who we are in Christ,  I often encourage Christians to honestly look
at the beliefs they are holding on that cause them to stay stuck in sin or
negative mind states such as anger, anxiety, or depression.  When you ask people who are earnestly seeking
freedom or a breakthrough to review their family and personal history, and if
you listen carefully to what they are saying, they will reveal things they
believe about themselves, God, or in life in general – that may be supported by
the circumstances of their life experience – that contradict what the word of
God says.  If you give people a space in
which they can safely tell their story, they will tell you the lies they
believe.   

One of the lies that I have heard from a few
different people over the years has to do with regrets from the past where they
believe that they “missed” their calling or purpose in life, or their opportunity
to be used by God, or their chance at happiness.  

In recovery circles, these narratives are described
as the “Only If’s” – or :If Only’s.”    

As in “If I had only asked _________ to marry me
instead of __________”

OR IF Only I had never _____________ or IF Only, I
had __________ done x,y,z.

OF If Only they had _____

Regrets cause us to second guess our life’s path and
contribute to the false belief that we “Missed IT” – our chance at happiness or
purpose or fulfilment.  And while we can
look at our lives and think of several points where things could have been
different, it is a lie to believe that we “missed it” when it comes to “God’s
plan for our lives” or for our personal happiness.

The Freedom in Christ course defines happiness as “wanting
what you have” – as being content – and no missed opportunities in the past can
stop us from being content with what we have today – but dwelling on the
thoughts of regrets from the past t certainly can!

While we can’t fix the past, through prayer and repentance,
we can resolve and move beyond the conflicts of the past that affect our
present and get in the way of looking toward the future with hope.

The serenity prayer touches on how we “do this” when
we pray:  

“…to accept the things I cannot change,
 the
courage to change the things I can,
 and
the wisdom to know the difference.
 Living one day at a time,
 enjoying
one moment at a time;
 accepting
hardship as a pathway to peace;
 taking,
as Jesus did,
 this
sinful world as it is,
 not
as I would have it;
 trusting
that You will make all things right
 if I surrender to Your will;
 so
that I may be reasonably happy in this life
 and supremely happy with You forever in
the next.

So reject the lie that you “missed it”
and instead accept the things that happened in the past. Forgive those who have
hurt you and seek the forgiveness of those you have hurt (when doing so will
not harm them or others) to move past any bitterness or guilt you have been
holding on to.  Forgive yourself –
meaning you accept God’s forgiveness and let it stick – there is no condemnation
– and move forward in the peace that the Lord wants you to live in.  

As for the missed opportunities and
broken relationships, accept that they are in the past and gone, and endeavor
to start living today to be right with God, to be the person He created you to
be, and to step out in faith and hope to see what God wants to do with the rest
of your life.  All that stuff in the past
has prepared you for today, and we can either learn from it and move on wiser
from it, or we can dwell on things we can not change and be consumed by feelings
of shame, guilt, and regret and stay stuck in our negative feelings and
listlessness. God has forgiven us and call us to a new life, but we have to
accept it and move forward with Him to experience the freedom and abundant life
He has given us.  If we know Jesus, we didn’t
“miss it” but we have to follow Him into the life He wants us to live to be
free. 

So, seek the Lord and the truth of who
you are in Christ. Live from the identity that God gives you when you put your
faith in Jesus and learn to walk in His ways. 
Walking in the Spirit leads to peace, love, joy, and other good things
so step out in faith and follow the Lord into the life He has for you and take the
opportunities that come your way to give thanks to God and to share the good
news of the life and peace that only comes through Jesus.

——————————————————————————————–

Today’s
Bible verse 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 comes from the section on Contentment, Coveting
& and Priorities.

2 Corinthians 4:18 (NLT2)

¹⁸  So we don’t look at the
troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen.
For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will
last forever.

Today’s
verse falls under the twenty-fifth point of our counseling reference guide
resource’s section on Contentment, Coveting, and Priorities.

25. What is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

Today’s
verse encourages us to look beyond current troubles and to focus on the unseen
things that can give us hope and inspire us to endure and persevere through
trials. Christians are assured that God is moving all things together for our
good and regardless of what we may suffer in the here and now we have the promise
of eternal life to keep us buoyed by hope. We know God will never leave us and
forsake us – even if we die – and when we can hold on to that unseen truth – we
can handle anything this world has to dish out.   Christ rose from the dead and ascended to
heaven, literally – that’s a fact – and that fact and the testimony of scripture
tells us of the spiritual realm the exists beyond this mortal coil and the hope
that God’s kingdom will come and restore this world broken by sin when Jesus
returns.   These are all unseen, but they
are promised and true and they can cause us to live lives free from fear and
full of joy.

———————————————————–

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.

MORNING READING: JOHN 7

“If anyone thirsts, let him come to
Me and drink.”
– John 7:37

There are three steps in this verse. Each one is as
important as the other, and all lead to true satisfaction in Christ.

Rapacity – a greedy desire or craving for the Living
Water. “If anyone thirsts.” There must be this earnest desire if the soul is to
be satisfied, for the Word says, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for
righteousness, for they shall be filled” (Matt 5:6).

Request – “Let him come to Me.” This is request, for it
includes the two parties: he who thirsts coming to the One who satisfies. That
coming is the request of the soul.

Reception – “Drink.” Here is the personal deliberate
reception of the gift of satisfying water. “To drink” implies the receiving
into oneself.

Satisfy my soul now, O Lord,
until I overflow with Your blessing.^[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

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These teachings are also available on the
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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)

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Encouragement
for the Path of Christian Discipleship