The Joy of Forgetting About Me – Purity 1367
Purity 1367 06/05/2024 Purity 1367 Podcast
Purity 1367 on YouTube:
Good morning,
Today’s photo of leaves floating on the surface of the clear “blue” waters of a swimming pool comes to us from yours truly as I captured this scene while working somewhere in Rotterdam back on September 13th, of 2019. I remember taking this photo to document the first sign of the transition from Summer to Autumn and recall being a little melancholy about it. Of course, I was still in the midst of a transition of a divorce having waited over a year at this point in time since filing the papers to end what was broken, so it’s no surprise that I may have been looking at the negative aspects of the inevitable loss of those sunny days of summer. But the end was nigh, our agreement would finally be signed 6 weeks later and that may have been unfortunate but the pathway to the peace and joy that I know now had no other route but to go through it.
No one likes to suffer and we all like the pain to end sooner rather than later, but after you walk through the fires of affliction and get burned, you can emerge into a new life that was in many ways better than you were before. That is, of course, if you walk through those fires and base your new life on who you are in Christ.
Well, it’s Tuesday and you will have to forgive me for the rather simple photo as I lost myself for a while as I was scrolling through the photos from years ago to find something to share. I have really cleaned house of most of the scenic photos from 2018 and 2019 but wasn’t surprised to discover a bunch of faith-filled positive memes that I had shared on FB and save to my phone. As my whole life was being redefined because of the dissolution of my marriage, I needed to focus on something that wasn’t bleak. My ex’s opinion of me was nothing I wanted to focus on because in her I opinion I was disposable and not worthy of respect or love. Similarly, my opinion of myself and my abilities to navigate that crisis was nothing to put stock in either as I felt guilt and shame over having a failed marriage and didn’t have a clue of what I would do next. So I focused on my faith, the Lord’s goodness, and my relationship with Him. When I chose to forget about the opinions of others and even my opinion about myself, and focused on what God said about me I found the strength to carry on and walk through that difficult time with, do I dare say it, with a certain amount of grace?
I forgot about myself to a certain extent and just focused on doing what I had to do day in and day out to make it through but because I was walking and talking with God I was able to do it with real moments of peace and joy as well.
I just read the Freedom of Self-Forgetfulness by Tim Keller this morning and I highly recommend it to anyone listening or reading this message because Keller points to this ability to find joy and freedom when we no longer consider the opinion of others, or even ourselves and instead focus on the freedom that the Lord has given us and stop falling into our ego’s trap of comparison and self-evaluation.
When we stop putting ourselves on trial with the standards of others or ourselves and accept God’s verdict of justification and acceptance, we can discover a joy that few people know – the joy that the Lord has for us that comes with freedom from a performance-based mode of existence, where we don’t think too highly of ourselves or too lowly of ourselves because we don’t think about ourselves much at all. Instead of trying to prop ourselves up by how we compare to others or by our accomplishments, we can rest on what Christ has accomplished and how He has made us acceptable and beyond reproach in the eyes of God, the only One who matters.
I really recommend getting Keller’s book, it’s a small book and easy read, because the teaching is profound and my time is limited but there is great joy to be found by setting yourself free of the opinions of others, and even of yourself, and by knowing who you are in Christ. We can stop striving and stop the insidious self-assessments and just rest knowing that God loves us and gives us a new identity from which we can be the people we always wanted to be but didn’t think we were capable of being, because we are accepted, secure, and significant in Christ.
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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.
Isaiah 40:1-31 (NASB)
1 “Comfort, O comfort My people,” says your God.
2 “Speak kindly to Jerusalem; And call out to her, that her warfare has ended, That her iniquity has been removed, That she has received of the LORD’S hand Double for all her sins.”
3 A voice is calling, “Clear the way for the LORD in the wilderness; Make smooth in the desert a highway for our God.
4 “Let every valley be lifted up, And every mountain and hill be made low; And let the rough ground become a plain, And the rugged terrain a broad valley;
5 Then the glory of the LORD will be revealed, And all flesh will see it together; For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”
6 A voice says, “Call out.” Then he answered, “What shall I call out?” All flesh is grass, and all its loveliness is like the flower of the field.
7 The grass withers, the flower fades, When the breath of the LORD blows upon it; Surely the people are grass.
8 The grass withers, the flower fades, But the word of our God stands forever.
9 Get yourself up on a high mountain, O Zion, bearer of good news, Lift up your voice mightily, O Jerusalem, bearer of good news; Lift it up, do not fear. Say to the cities of Judah, “Here is your God!”
10 Behold, the Lord GOD will come with might, With His arm ruling for Him. Behold, His reward is with Him And His recompense before Him.
11 Like a shepherd He will tend His flock, In His arm He will gather the lambs And carry them in His bosom; He will gently lead the nursing ewes.
12 Who has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand, And marked off the heavens by the span, And calculated the dust of the earth by the measure, And weighed the mountains in a balance And the hills in a pair of scales?
13 Who has directed the Spirit of the LORD, Or as His counselor has informed Him?
14 With whom did He consult and who gave Him understanding? And who taught Him in the path of justice and taught Him knowledge And informed Him of the way of understanding?
15 Behold, the nations are like a drop from a bucket, And are regarded as a speck of dust on the scales; Behold, He lifts up the islands like fine dust.
16 Even Lebanon is not enough to burn, Nor its beasts enough for a burnt offering.
17 All the nations are as nothing before Him, They are regarded by Him as less than nothing and meaningless.
18 To whom then will you liken God? Or what likeness will you compare with Him?
19 As for the idol, a craftsman casts it, A goldsmith plates it with gold, And a silversmith fashions chains of silver.
20 He who is too impoverished for such an offering Selects a tree that does not rot; He seeks out for himself a skillful craftsman To prepare an idol that will not totter.
21 Do you not know? Have you not heard? Has it not been declared to you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth?
22 It is He who sits above the circle of the earth, And its inhabitants are like grasshoppers, Who stretches out the heavens like a curtain And spreads them out like a tent to dwell in.
23 He it is who reduces rulers to nothing, Who makes the judges of the earth meaningless.
24 Scarcely have they been planted, Scarcely have they been sown, Scarcely has their stock taken root in the earth, But He merely blows on them, and they wither, And the storm carries them away like stubble.
25 “To whom then will you liken Me That I would be his equal?” says the Holy One.
26 Lift up your eyes on high And see who has created these stars, The One who leads forth their host by number, He calls them all by name; Because of the greatness of His might and the strength of His power, Not one of them is missing.
27 Why do you say, O Jacob, and assert, O Israel, “My way is hidden from the LORD, And the justice due me escapes the notice of my God”?
28 Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth Does not become weary or tired. His understanding is inscrutable.
29 He gives strength to the weary, And to him who lacks might He increases power.
30 Though youths grow weary and tired, And vigorous young men stumble badly,
31 Yet those who wait for the LORD Will gain new strength; They will mount up with wings like eagles, They will run and not get tired, They will walk and not become weary.
Today’s verses fall under the sixth point of our counseling reference guide resource’s section on Depression.
6. Words of comfort were given to the faithful of Israel as they became depressed while in Babylon. They were called to put their faith into action in their dark hour.
Today’s verses remind us that The Lord understands our struggles and can give us strength when we are weary. The nation of Israel had lost everything. They were exiled to Babylon and slaves to foreign nations’ rule. Their circumstances were not good and the threat of losing all hope was a very clear and present danger, but the prophet Isaiah shares the word of the Lord that assures them of the Lord’s presence, care, and power to help those who put their faith in Him. I have suffered in life before and since I put my faith in Jesus and I know the truth of these scriptures – yes I understand this was a word to Israel – but the same God that helped those people way back then is the same God that is available for us today – to give us hope and strength. So if you are weary, trust in God, follow Him, and ask Him for strength and guidance to lead you through. God is with us and helps us when we ask.
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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 10
“Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.”
– Romans 10:11
The shame the apostle writes about here is the shame that the Lord Jesus spoke about when He said, “For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man also will be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels” (Mark 8:38).
The man who is going to be ashamed is the man who lives a Christ-less life. This applies, in measure, to believers as well, for it is possible to be saved and then to fall back or backslide. The cause of this is unbelief. The above verse declares that it is the man who believes who shall not be ashamed. If there is an evil heart of unbelief, however, there will be shame even for the Christian. “Abide in Him, that … we may … not be ashamed before Him at His coming” (1 John 2:28).
“Without faith, it is impossible to please Him.”
– Hebrews 11:6[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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