Speak Life – I Can Do All Things #2 – Purity 1357
Purity 1357 05/21/2024 Purity 1357 Podcast
Purity 1357 on YouTube:
Good morning,
Today’s photo of the sun illuminating the fresh blacktop of Waite Road as my canine Pal Harley looks off-road in the general direction of the cross-like utility pole comes to us from your truly as I took this quick shot on our way back home after a short walk yesterday afternoon.
Well, It’s Thursday and I share today’s blacktop pathway photo as a visual encouragement to either get on or to stay on the path of Christian Discipleship because I know the immense power and joy that comes into your life when you live by faith and walk in the Spirit.
Sometimes in our Christian walk or when we serve in ministry, we may not see great results or big signs that we are making a difference in the lives of the people who surround us but yesterday I was reminded why we are to keep being faithful in our efforts at being faithful – because you never know when God will put someone on your path to speak life into. It has been a somewhat dry season for the Celebrate Freedom recovery/discipleship support group at Starpoint Church this year. While offering support is never about the number of people you serve, it can be a little disappointing when your numbers are low or dwindle to next to nothing. Our Wednesday night meetings are faithfully attended by our ministry team but lately we have only been ministering to a couple of participants and when yesterday’s meeting was beginning, we wondered whether or not we were just going to be ministering to ourselves. Travel plans and work were keeping some of our regulars away and I was given the opportunity to teach after our men’s leader texted to tell us that he couldn’t make it either. But I wasn’t sure if there would be anyone other than my fellow leaders to teach but no sooner did we begin to speculate over that possibility – and really were ready to accept it as a fact, than a new person walked through the door to get support.
It’s funny how one person can make a difference. Suddenly, our ministry wasn’t just going through the motions of preaching to the choir. We had the opportunity to speak life into someone and the Holy Spirit was faithful to inspire us to do just that. I was unprepared and hadn’t taught in weeks, but I was amazed how I just flowed through the Lesson outline and the Holy Spirit brought to remembrance scripture references and examples from my life that demonstrated how we receive power from God to overcome our hurts, habits, and hang-ups. It was a great night and a great reminder of why we show up because we never know when we will be called on to give someone hope.
And that brings us to our current series on being able to “Do All Things” in Christ who strengthens us. I am sharing from Neil Anderson’s Who I am in Christ: A Devotional to inspire us to keep our hope alive and to remember that with God anything is possible. Picking where we left off yesterday, Anderson writes:
“Nothing Can Keep Us from God’s Will
If we can do “it,” then what is the “everything” that we can do? Certainly, there are some limitations. The key, as in all biblical interpretation, is found in the context. Paul says he has learned to be content in all of life’s situations. In other words, the circumstances of life do not determine who we are, nor do they keep us from being what God wants us to be. No person and no circumstances can keep us from doing the will of God, which primarily is our sanctification (see 1 Thess. 4:3). It is Christ who strengthens us.
We may not be able to rearrange the external events of life, nor have we been called to, but we have the assurance that God is rearranging our internal world and using the external world to do it. “We also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us” (Rom. 5:3–5). Our hope lies in proven character, not in favorable circumstances, and that is where Paul learned the secret of contentment. He stopped trying to change the world and allowed God to change him. If we all did that, the world would be radically changed.[1]”
I am sharing this teaching because it is grounded reality – Anderson admits that we may not be able to rearrange the external events in life – but it also gives us great hope because it focuses on what we can change – our internal world – with God’s help and that even the negative circumstances we may face have a purpose – to give us perseverance, character, and hope. And the hope lies in us – we allow God to change us and to teach us the secret of contentment – acceptance and a rich relationship with God.
I am doling out this wisdom from Anderson in small doses because I think people miss this – the path of discipleship – and treat God like a heavenly slot machine – asking for blessings – treating God like a genie in a bottle to do their bidding. While God will bless us with the miraculous from time to time, our relationship with God is meant to be more than just asking Him for things. Our relationship is supposed to make us into His people, and He doesn’t have to change the world to suit us as much as we need to be changed to be more like God – to know Him and to understand that He has already given us everything for life and godliness. We get everything we need in Christ and when we know it, we can be content in all circumstances.
So hold on to the hope you have in Christ, let God work in your life to mature you in your faith, and when the opportunity presents itself speak life into the world that desperately needs it by telling them all about what you received through Jesus.
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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/ .
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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 Decision Making.
1 Kings 18:16-39 (ESV)
16 So Obadiah went to meet Ahab, and told him. And Ahab went to meet Elijah.
17 When Ahab saw Elijah, Ahab said to him, “Is it you, you troubler of Israel?”
18 And he answered, “I have not troubled Israel, but you have, and your father’s house, because you have abandoned the commandments of the LORD and followed the Baals.
19 Now therefore send and gather all Israel to me at Mount Carmel, and the 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel’s table.”
20 So Ahab sent to all the people of Israel and gathered the prophets together at Mount Carmel.
21 And Elijah came near to all the people and said, “How long will you go limping between two different opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him.” And the people did not answer him a word.
22 Then Elijah said to the people, “I, even I only, am left a prophet of the LORD, but Baal’s prophets are 450 men.
23 Let two bulls be given to us, and let them choose one bull for themselves and cut it in pieces and lay it on the wood, but put no fire to it. And I will prepare the other bull and lay it on the wood and put no fire to it.
24 And you call upon the name of your god, and I will call upon the name of the LORD, and the God who answers by fire, he is God.” And all the people answered, “It is well spoken.”
25 Then Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Choose for yourselves one bull and prepare it first, for you are many, and call upon the name of your god, but put no fire to it.”
26 And they took the bull that was given them, and they prepared it and called upon the name of Baal from morning until noon, saying, “O Baal, answer us!” But there was no voice, and no one answered. And they limped around the altar that they had made.
27 And at noon Elijah mocked them, saying, “Cry aloud, for he is a god. Either he is musing, or he is relieving himself, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep and must be awakened.”
28 And they cried aloud and cut themselves after their custom with swords and lances, until the blood gushed out upon them.
29 And as midday passed, they raved on until the time of the offering of the oblation, but there was no voice. No one answered; no one paid attention.
30 Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come near to me.” And all the people came near to him. And he repaired the altar of the LORD that had been thrown down.
31 Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of the LORD came, saying, “Israel shall be your name,”
32 and with the stones he built an altar in the name of the LORD. And he made a trench about the altar, as great as would contain two seahs of seed.
33 And he put the wood in order and cut the bull in pieces and laid it on the wood. And he said, “Fill four jars with water and pour it on the burnt offering and on the wood.”
34 And he said, “Do it a second time.” And they did it a second time. And he said, “Do it a third time.” And they did it a third time.
35 And the water ran around the altar and filled the trench also with water.
36 And at the time of the offering of the oblation, Elijah the prophet came near and said, “O LORD, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that you are God in Israel, and that I am your servant, and that I have done all these things at your word.
37 Answer me, O LORD, answer me, that this people may know that you, O LORD, are God, and that you have turned their hearts back.”
38 Then the fire of the LORD fell and consumed the burnt offering and the wood and the stones and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench.
39 And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces and said, “The LORD, he is God; the LORD, he is God.”
Today’s verses fall under the third point of our counseling reference guide resource’s section on Decision Making.
3. Elijah called God’s people to stop wavering.
Today’s verses tell the story of Elijah trusting in and proving who the real God is. This is a spiritual showdown between the one true God of the Bible, Yahweh, and the false god of the Baal who was rendered powerless when it really mattered. Elijah encouraged the nation of Israel to see the truth and to respond to it by following the One who was true and powerful. Based on the evidence of truth, Elijah called them to make a decision just as we are called to decide if we will trust in and follow Jesus. There is an abundance of evidence that can support the truth that Jesus is the Messiah, The Son of God, and God the Son – so let me encourage you to stop wavering and decide to pick up your cross and follow Him.
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As always, I invite all to go to mt4christ.com 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 28
“When Paul saw them, he thanked God
and took courage.” – Acts 28:15
The journey for Paul had been long and tedious. Many times the prospect of ever arriving in Rome had looked bleak. But now he had landed. Certain brethren had heard of him and had come out to meet him, and “when Paul saw them, he thanked God and took courage.”
Those brethren were a definite sign of encouragement. God sees fit very often to give His servants signs of blessing for their encouragement. Those brethren were also the earnest of the blessing that Paul was going to see during his time in Rome. Lastly, those brethren were a fellowship from which he could expect prayer and cooperation in his new work.
Give me reason today, Lord, to see the sign,
that I might thank You and take courage.[2]
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Encouragement for the Path of Christian Discipleship
[1] Neil T. Anderson, Who I Am in Christ (Ventura, CA: Regal, 2001), 270.
[2] 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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