I’d RATHER DIE than Give You Control! Okay. – You Can Do All Things # 3 – Purity 1358
Purity 1358 05/22/2024 Purity 1358 Podcast
Purity 1358 on YouTube:
Good morning,
Today’s photo of a group of trumpeting daffodils displaying their simple beauty comes to us from yours truly as I captured this image of the flowers boarding the foundation of my house down by the River back on March 31, 2021.
Well, it’s Friday – thank God – and I am sharing this particular photo because it’s nice and quite frankly because the one I originally selected from an “unknown FB friend” from back in 2021 was the work of a photographer, I didn’t know, and even though I could have given them photo credit for their work, I didn’t want to presume that they would be comfortable being associated with my decidedly Chrisitan message and didn’t want to take the chance of misrepresenting them.
Speaking of representing people, I am happy to announce that I met with two potential life-coaching clients last evening and I am excited at the possibility of working with them in the future to accomplish their personal or professional goals by offering everything I have to help them. While their specific goals will discussed after they come under contract with me, as an initial offering I provided them with a 21-Day Daily Spiritual Practice Guideline – Action Plan, as well as a suggested Exercise Program, complete with videos – and a Food Plan that I have personally benefitted from, because I know that true change and transformation come from a holistic approach that addresses the mind, the body, and the spirit.
I have been completely transformed from the person I used to be since coming to Christ and my coaching will guide people to examine their lives in contrast to God’s word and to make adjustments and to progress into a lifestyle that is in harmony with God’s good and perfect will for our lives. Essentially, I will point people to putting their faith and trust in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior and then make the daily decision to live by faith in the power of the Holy Spirit. That “plan” – God’s plan for all of us – a surrendered life of disciple of Jesus Christ – has worked for me and while each client will have unique concerns, situations, and goals that will be specifically addressed, I will guide them to “walk in the Spirit” to overcome their obstacles, accomplish their goals, and have a deeper relationship to God in the process.
Of course, I am only a “coach”, I can give advice and make suggestions of what they could do to make progress, but they will have to ultimately decide to actually do what I suggest. They will have to trust me to trust in the Lord and will have to surrender a measure of control over their lives to Him to see if this “walking by faith thing” actually works. Of course, my advice will be based on the truth of scripture which tells us that:
Galatians 5:22-25 (NKJV)
22 …the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.
24 And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.
So if my clients – release control to God and crucify their flesh with its passions and desires and choose to walk in the Spirit, I expect that God will be faithful to produce those fruits of the Spirit in their lives. But they must surrender some control and obey the Lord’s will for their lives to receive it. It worked for me and so I would say it will work for them because I have discovered that with God anything is possible, which brings us to our current series on – I Can Do All Things – where we are sharing some wisdom from Dr. Neil Anderson who teaches on letting God be in Control in his “ Who I am in Christ: A Devotional” We pick up where we left off yesterday with:
“Allow God to Be the Controller
The fruit of the Spirit is not spouse control, or child control, nor does it assure us of the ability to control the circumstances of life. The fruit of the Spirit is self-control. When we turn control of our lives over to God, we will move significantly closer to doing all things through Christ. We will stop trying to control our spouse, and start loving him or her. We will focus more on instructing our children instead of controlling them. As bosses and leaders, we will stop trying to manipulate our people and start caring for them. As employees and helpers, we will stop undermining authority and start serving with joy.
Our unbelief is the only obstacle keeping us from first being and then doing everything that God wants us to be and do. We are assured that all things are possible for those who believe. However, we can’t determine for ourselves what it is we want to believe. We must believe the truth, and that’s found in God’s Word.[1]”
So read those words again – “stop trying to control” – “turn over control… to God” and we will move significantly closer to doing all things through Christ”. “Our unbelief is the only obstacle keeping us from first being and then doing everything that God wants us to be and do.” – So we have to believe first. We have to believe that God’s word is true and we have to decide to live according to it – that’s our “walking in the Spirit instructions” from one of the most highly respected Christian counselors and authors of our day – but the reason we can follow Anderson’s advice is that it’s based on God’s truth – and we can test it – by releasing control of our life and doing what it says.
We may have to “die to ourselves” a little bit here but that okay because Jesus Christ gives us a new life when we trust in Him and if we follow His example we will experience the truth of God’s word through the fruit of the Spirit growing in our lives.
So thank God it’s Friday and decide to stop trying to control things you can’t control and instead let God be the controller to reap the harvest that your new life in Christ was meant for.
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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.
Hebrews 3:7-11 (ESV)
7 Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says, “Today, if you hear his voice,
8 do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, on the day of testing in the wilderness,
9 where your fathers put me to the test and saw my works for forty years.
10 Therefore I was provoked with that generation, and said, ‘They always go astray in their heart; they have not known my ways.’
11 As I swore in my wrath, ‘They shall not enter my rest.’”
Today’s verses fall under the fourth point of our counseling reference guide resource’s section on Decision Making.
4. Today, if you hear his voice, don’t harden your hearts (a warning against unbelief and rebellion).
Today’s verses encourage us to answer the call of God on our life to believe and obey Him, to not harden our hearts, because the consequences for unbelief and rebellion are being separated from God’s love and being subject to His wrath. The author of Hebrew relates the story of the Israelites who distrusted and disobeyed the Lord even though they had been miraculously freed from bondage in Egypt and how nearly none of them were allowed to enter the promised land because of their rebellion. Whether or not the Israelites who died in the wilderness were lost for eternity or not will be up to their individual faith and the mercy and grace of God, but at the very least their example is set forth to demonstrate that we can miss out on good things that God wants us to receive and quite possibly be subject to eternal separation from God if our pride and rebellion proves to be evidence of an unbelieving heart. So don’t harden your heart, believe in Jesus as Lord and Savior and turn from any form of rebellion that would keep you from the life God wants you to enjoy with Him forever.
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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.
EVENING READING: ROMANS 1
“Without ceasing I make mention of you.” – Romans 1:9
Paul writes these words in the very presence of God. “For God is my witness,” he says (v. 9). In other words, when he says that he makes mention of the saints at Rome with unceasing consistency, he does not exaggerate but tells the truth. How qualified he was then to write in another place, “Pray without ceasing” (1 Thess. 5:17).
Paul knew the importance and power of persistent prayer. Like his Master, he knew that “men always ought to pray and not lose heart” (Luke 18:1).
Note the result and fruit of the unceasing prayer of Paul: he had heard that their faith was proclaimed “throughout the whole world” (Rom. 1:8).
Teach me the discipline of praying without ceasing, Lord.[2]
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“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] Neil T. Anderson, Who I Am in Christ (Ventura, CA: Regal, 2001), 270–271.
[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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