It Wasn’t Like You Were Married or Dating… – Friendship Myths #5 – Purity 1337
Purity 1337 04/27/2024 Purity 1337 Podcast
Purity 1337 on YouTube: Coming Soon!
Good morning,
Today’s photo of the sky and trees perfectly reflected in the waters of the River Torrens in Adelaide South Australia comes to us from Dave Baun Photography (https://www.facebook.com/DaveBaunPhotography) who shared this tranquil scene on social media two days ago along with the Indra Devi quote stating “Like water which can clearly mirror the sky and the trees only so long as its surface is undisturbed, the mind can only reflect the true image of the Self when it is tranquil and wholly relaxed.” While I can understand the sentiment, that we can only get a good sense of who we are when we have a measure of peace, I would go a little further in saying that it is only when we have “true peace” by having peace with God, through faith in Jesus Christ, that we can really know our “true selves”, who we are in Christ, and begin to become the person that God created us to be.
Well, it’s Saturday and I am finally at peace because after 3 days, mt4christ.org has been raised to life again as the good people in tech support at Word Press assisted me this morning in redirecting the stalled traffic to mt4christ.org to flow smoothly to mt4christ.com! My attempts to go to www.mt4christ.org over the last few days all crashed and were still crashing this morning but a few minutes after putting tech support’s solution in place – this skeptic became a believer as all my devices showed me that the fix did indeed actually work! And I just “control clicked” the hyperlink in my word document above to see it work again! Hallelujah oh happy day!
Anyway, our friend Dave pointed us to a quote from a questionable source (Indra Devi was “The First Lady Yoga… uh oh) but because we are “friends”, I know he’s not into Yoga as a religion as Dave and His wife Liisa Grace are Christians who were brought together by the Lord in truly an amazing story – which we shared on the blog three years ago (https://mt4christ.com/2021/04/24/half-a-world-away-love-will-find-you/ ). But suppose our friendship did end. While I have never Dave or Liisa Baun in person, I do consider them friends of mine, I have shared Dave’s work quite a bit over the years – just search “Dave Baun” on the new site and you will be blessed with a whole list of the posts that feature his photography – and it would hurt if I lost their friendship. But maybe you believe the lie that my loss of a friendship would be less than the loss of a romantic interest, and thus would be no big deal?
And that brings us to our current series on friendship myths, which was inspired by a recent prayer ministry session and the discovery of Sarah Epstein’s 2022 Psychology Today article (https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/between-the-generations/202202/8-destructive-beliefs-about-friendship ) destructive beliefs about friendship. While I have to agree that the loss of an online friendship would not hurt as much as the loss of my romantic relationship with my wife, TammyLyn, we go into dangerous territory when we buy into the next destructive belief on Epstein’s list, which is:
“The end of a friendship is not as bad as the end of a romantic relationship.”
Epstein writes: “While friendships do not get the airtime that romances get, friend breakups can be incredibly difficult and heartbreaking. Those whose friendship ends should allow themselves to mourn the same way a person would after an important romantic attachment ends.”
“Come on dude, It’s not like you guys were married or dating… get over it, they were just a friend!”
Grief is grief guys and whether or not that sentiment is spoken to you by someone else or said to yourself, (or whispered by unseen spiritual forces of darkness) we have to realize that this dismissive attitude toward our legitimate grief is not healthy.
While we have previously stated that we have to normalize the idea that friendships can end – and that’s okay – we don’t want to fall into the trap of believing that the loss of our friendships don’t matter at all or that they matter somehow less than other relationships and we are not entitled to grieve the loss of them.
Disenfranchised grief is the phenomenon of being shut down, shamed, or to be left alone in your grief as others devalue or can’t recognize your legitimate need to grieve a loss. Friends can be hard to find in this world for some and we can’t really judge one another’s losses and we shouldn’t shame ourselves or talk ourselves out of grieving the loss we suffer.
When we fail to grieve properly, dysfunctions in our souls can manifest later. Our wounds can be seeded with the lies of the enemy and that can lead us to making vows that change how we approach life in the future.
By believing the lie that the loss of friendship is less than the loss other relationships, could cause us to repress our emotions, devalue the friendships we do have, or cause us to choose not to pursue friendships that could end and cause us to grieve “inappropriately” in the future. Believing this myth, which does have a measure of truth to it- mind you, could lead to us becoming cold emotionally and lead us to seek friendships, leaving us isolated and alone where the enemy can torment us, tempt us, or lead us into destruction.
So don’t believe the lie that the loss of our friendships is “no big deal”. Allow yourself to grieve the loss you encounter and be loving toward others who have suffered loss letting them know that it’s okay to express their grief even if the person was “just a friend.”
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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 Death and Eternal Life
John 3:14-15 (NASB)
14 “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up;
15 so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life.
Today’s verses are the first of four passages of scripture that fall under the nineteenth point of our counseling reference guide resource’s section on Death and Eternal Life.
19. All who believe in Jesus will have eternal life.
Today’s verse shows that Jesus put forth the Old Testament scriptures as true and that they reveal His coming and the gift of eternal life to those who put their faith in Him. This admittedly “weird” story from the Old Testament really does demonstrate that it is through faith alone that we are saved as it was only those who trusted in what Moses said – to make a fiery serpent and to put it on a pole and to look upon it – that would be healed. God sent snakes into the camp as an expression of His wrath and many were bitten and died and it was only when they listened to His prophet, Moses, did the people live.
And so Jesus points to this story – which doesn’t make a lot of sense mind you – look at the idol and live? Really? I’d rather have some antivenom, thanks – to point to the faith in God – what He said and who He sent – that would bridge the gap between God and man and give us peace and eternal life.
We don’t have to look at a snake on a pole , we look to Jesus, and we are saved, praise the Lord!
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As always, I invite all to go to mt4christ.com or 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: ACTS 8
“Give me this power also.” – Acts 8:19
In verse 13, it is recorded of this Simon that he believed, was baptized, and continued with Phillip. From all external appearances, it would seem that he was a sacred man. But as Peter says in verse 22, Simon’s heart was not right in the sight of God. This was manifested in the way he coveted the power of God for his own ulterior motives. “He offered them money” (v. 18). What an act of utter ingratitude! Is it any wonder Peter says, “Your money perish with you, because you thought that the gift of God could be purchased with money” (v. 20).
“Give me this power also.” He did not desire it for God’s glory. He merely wished to become as “someone great” (v. 9). He had not the love of the Father, but the love of the world. Notice that: “Simon saw … the laying on of the apostles’ hands” – lust of the eyes (v. 18). “He offered them money, saying ‘Give me’” – lust of the flesh (vv. 18-19). “Anyone on whom I lay hands may receive the Holy Spirit” – pride of life (v. 19).
Personal power is fleeting and for fleshly gain.
True power is from You and for Your Glory. Amen.[1]
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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] Stephen Olford and Heather Olford, According to Your Word: Morning and Evening Through the New Testament, A Collection of Devotional Journals 1940-1941 (Nashville, TN: B&H Books, 2008).
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