One Way and Completely Different – Purity 1363
Purity 1363 05/31/2024 Purity 1363 Podcast
Purity 1363 on YouTube:
Good morning,
Today’s photo of the sun rising over Willard Mountain and pouring over “The Waite Rd Cross” comes to us from yours truly as I captured this heavenly scene back on Sunday April 21st of this year.
Well, It’s Friday, Thank God, and as the sun begins to rise on the last day of May, I am thinking about transitions from the old to the new and how things can gradually or quite suddenly go from “one way” to being completely different.
“Get Used to Different” is one of the catchphrases that has emerged from the series,
The Chosen. It is an apt description of not only how Jesus shifted the paradigms of what it meant to truly worship and obey God, but it also should describe a fundamental change that happens in someone’s life when they become His disciple.
The Chosen, Season 4, is finally being released for streaming this weekend but before it makes its debut on The Chosen app, YouTube, X, and Facebook this Sunday, 6/02 at 7 PM ET, my wife and I went to the theatre to see it as soon as we could. To support the show and its efforts to share the gospel, I even purchased The Chosen’s “Get Used to Different Student Guide” – which is gear to young adults or those who have recently chosen Jesus as their Lord and Savior. Recently, I decided to read through it devotionally as part of my daily spiritual practice and I have been pleasantly surprised and blessed by its simple presentation of what it means to be a follower of Jesus Christ.
This morning’s reading addressed the transformation of Mary Magdalene and Nicodemus’ discussion with Jesus where the Son of God said in:
John 3:3, 5-6 (NKJV)
3 … “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
5 … “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.
6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
In Season One of The Chosen, Mary Magdalene’s explanation to Nicodemus described what being “born again” or being “born of the Spirit” is like:
“I was one way, and now I am completely different. And the thing that happened in between was Him.”
The “Get Used to Different” Student Guide puts it pretty clearly that after you put your faith in Jesus things are supposed to be different, indicating that everyone who comes to Jesus has a “I was one way” story that a new life comes with some being born from trauma, like Mary Magdalene, ignorance, or from a result of our own ignorance, sinful or foolish choices, or a combination of all of the above. But regardless of how different the contents of our individual narratives of our “I was one way story”, the conclusions are similar to Mary and Nico’s (Yes the millennial focused devotional calls Nicodemus “Nico” – LOVE IT). Although these two followers’ lives were vastly different, they could both say:
“I was one way, and now I am completely different. And the thing that happened in between was Him.”
The Lord knows I was changed after I put my faith in Jesus in 2010. Some things changed pretty quickly. I had hope and I had joy over the forgiveness of my sins and sought to be a “real Christian”. I adopted the label of “Born again Christian” because that’s what I was – born again – and I began reading the Bible to know God more and to try to change my life to reflect the light poured into me by the Holy Spirit.
Many other changes came gradually over time as my life increasingly became “completely different” as I progressively repented of my sins and adopted the lifestyle of a disciple of Jesus Christ.
So what about you? Has your faith in Jesus Christ taken you from “one way” to “completely different?” Are you comfortable with the label “born again Christian” being applied to you? Have you been transformed by your faith in Jesus? Can you see the fruit of the Spirit growing in your life?
If the answer to those questions is “no”. It doesn’t have to stay that way.
The “Get Used to Different” Student Guide offers the following prayer to get your journey with Jesus started: Pray this:
“Jesus,
I know that I’m a sinner who needs a Savior. And I know that Savior is You. Please forgive me and come into my life and lead me. I want to be different in the way that only you can make me to be. Amen.”
(Get Used to Different Student Guide, The Chosen Team: Covington, Bennett, Hershberger, Claypool, Mallerna, Campbell, & Murdock, 2024).
If you want the fruit of the Spirit to grow in your life and to experience your own “one way story” and a continuing dynamic adventure and vibrant life of faith, seek the Lord and His righteousness – Jesus -, read the Bible, join a Bible-believing church, and ask the Lord to help you to live by faith in the power of the Holy Spirit. And as always, keep on walking and talking with God.
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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 verse comes 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 Depression.
Psalm 32:3-4 (NLT2)
3 When I refused to confess my sin, my body wasted away, and I groaned all day long.
4 Day and night your hand of discipline was heavy on me. My strength evaporated like water in the summer heat.
Today’s verses fall under the third point of our counseling reference guide resource’s section on Depression.
3. David was very depressed until he confessed his sin of adultery.
Today’s verses describe the life of someone who has a heart for God but who is still living in the darkness of sin. Quite simply, even though Christians are forgiven of every sin they will ever commit, we are not supposed to use our forgiveness as a license to live contrary to the ways of the Lord. We are to be Holy as He is Holy and although we will always fall short of the sinless perfection exemplified by Jesus, we are not to continue in blatant and unrepented sin. When we do, we like David here – suffer the consequences which can include a loss of energy, zeal for life, a sense of guilt, an open door for the enemy’s accusations, condemnation and torment, and depression. So don’t do that! Confess and Repent of your sins to enjoy peace with God and the joy that comes from knowing that you are living according to who you are in Christ and have been set free from sin and death!
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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: ROMANS 6
“Fruit to holiness.” – Romans 6:22
Before a seed bears fruit, it must first die. Before a believer bears fruit, he must be made free from sin through dying with Christ. “Reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin,” says the apostle (Rom. 6:11). After death, the seed sprouts into new life. Similarly, if we become united to Christ in His death, we shall be united to Him in His resurrection.
The next essential for a fruit bearing plant is its pruning. The plant, so to speak, must yield itself to the experienced gardener. In the same way, the believer must present himself as alive from the dead, and his members as instruments of righteousness unto God. So that just as that plant now becomes the servant of the gardener, even so the believer becomes the servant of God. Thus says the apostle, “you have your fruit to holiness” (v. 22). This is the fruit of holiness or character: love, joy, peace …
O Lord, make me more fruitful for You.[1]
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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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