It’s All Too Much But So Good When We Trust in Him – Purity 1364
Purity 1364 06/01/2024 Purity 1364 Podcast
Purity 1364 on YouTube:
Good morning,
Today’s photo of a massive pine tree situated between two driveways, next to a red barn, in front of a view of the Schodack creek, as it is under a blue cumulus cloud-filled sky comes to us from yours truly as I captured this view from my backyard will burning downed branches and brush back on the afternoon of April 16th this year.
Well, It’s Saturday and I share today’s photo because it caught my eye and the more I looked at it the more I saw. As I noticed the positioning of the tree, I realized it stood “perfectly” between the two driveways, and I vibed on the contrast of it next to the barn and under that sky and in front of that creek and was taken by the simple beauty of it all. And then I looked at the tree itself and realized that with a little imagination I could see it as a person – with a big bushel of green hair and its arms raised high. For a photo that may not seem like much at first glance, – just a picture of my backyard – there is a lot going on there when we look at it closely.
And thus is life, we may not think much of our lives as we go through the motions of another day in our status quo lives but if we look at the details of where we are now and how all the elements relate to one another and consider their positioning and how they came about being, we can realize that God has been painting a picture of our lives that seems simple but is deep, profound, and beautiful when we recognize His divine touch, provision, and plan in “moving all things together for good”.
Last night, I spent the evening watching a pair of children’s plays as my niece and nephew both had parts in the Drama Kids’ production of “Musicville” and we decided to stay for the older kid’s production of The Wizard of Oz. I was extremely impressed with Grace and Donald’s contributions to the show and by the overall skill and determination that it takes to bring so many young performers together to put on a good show. While I thought it was a long night, getting out at 11 pm!, it was longer for those kids and parents as the plays were the result of months’ worth of practice and preparation. Each one of those kids, and their families, could tell their own story about the last few months and I would imagine they would marvel over the progress that has been made and all the different things that may have come and gone in their lives as they readied themselves for last night’s performance. In considering all those people, their stories, and all moving parts and how they came together, I get a small idea of what it must be for God – watching all of our stories, all of our lives, and how He is directing all of the action. It’s simply overwhelming. When I take a big view of life like that – considering the vast multitudes of people on the earth and how we are all playing a part in God’s drama that will result in some of us being welcomed into His eternal kingdom while others are deceived and reject His Lordship and will face His wrath, it all becomes too much. It’s just too big for me to get a grasp on and when I consider its immensity, I understand why ours is not to reason why but to trust and obey the One who put this whole thing together. It’s too much for us to figure out as a whole, but we can know and relate to the One who does understand it and when we seek Him we can realize that He is good and worthy of our trust.
There is so much going on in life, all the time, but God’s got a handle on it all and despite what can be a rather chaotic existence at times, we can find peace and joy in our lives when we walk through it with Him.
So take a rest. Let your burdens down. Surrender everything and everyone to the Lord. He can handle it and He doesn’t want us carrying all those burdens alone. We don’t have to know everything, and we don’t have to know what will happen next to understand that we will be secure when we stay with Him.
So take some time this weekend to marvel over your journey thus far and how the present moment was made possible through the guidance and provision of God who has been with us every step of the way from there to here. And while you ponder that big picture of your life, thank Him for what He has done and will do on your way from here to eternity.
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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 32:5 (NLT2)
5 Finally, I confessed all my sins to you and stopped trying to hide my guilt. I said to myself, “I will confess my rebellion to the LORD.” And you forgave me! All my guilt is gone.
Today’s verse is the first of two passages of scripture that fall under the fourth point of our counseling reference guide resource’s section of Depression.
4. The way out of depression caused by guilt is confession and seeking God’s forgiveness.
Today’s verses tell us what happens when we stop trying to hide our guilt and confess our sin and rebellion to the Lord. God forgives us and takes our guilt away! Before coming to Christ we are deceived into believing what is clearly not true – that what’s bad is good. Although our hearts and clear teaching from the Bible will tell us that something is wrong, we choose to rebel against the truth and selfishly indulge our sinful desires believing that we can ‘get away with it – which is another fallacy – God sees it all – and no matter if we escape detection and avoid those immediate negative consequences of sin – our souls are weighed down by guilt because we have gone against the grain of what God would have us do and we have disrupted the harmony of our relationship with Him. But that all can be cured in an instant. Our confession and turning back to God and His ways alleviates our guilt and puts us back in a harmonious union with Him.
So confess and turn from your sins and enjoy the peace that comes from living in your freedom from sin and from drawing close to God.
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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 7
“I would not have known sin except through the law.”
– Romans 7:7
The “law” here can mean the whole counsel of God, or rather the whole Word of God. For the Word of God “is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness” (2 Tim. 3:16). Thus, it is only as I read and study the Word, that I shall have the knowledge of sin. As the Word of God teaches, reproves, and corrects, sin in its many forms is revealed. In this, the law is “holy and just and good” (Rom. 7:12).
As each sin is thus made known, it must immediately be crucified – reckoned dead. Thus, one’s life is progressively and practically sanctified to bring forth more fruit.
O Lord, reveal sin to me in its real light,
then show me my Savior. Amen.[1]
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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] 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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