The Apprentice – Learning the Art of Living – Purity 1375
Purity 1375 06/14/2024 Purity 1375 Podcast
Purity 1375 on YouTube: Coming Soon!
Good morning,
Today’s photo of a sunset view of Lake Ontario from a vantage point that could cause you to think you were looking at the tops of palm trees and some tropical paradise comes to us from Celestial Blue Photography as Roco Saya shared this Oswego, New York Sunset on social media back on June 6th.
Well, It’s Friday, thank God and as I enter into the last day of another busy week of study, work, and ministry, I am really looking forward to being reunited with my wife this evening and the prospect of finding some rest. Currently, I am in the midst of 2 book studies, Eldredge’s Wild at Heart on Mondays & Gary Thomas’ Sacred Marriage on Tuesdays, and with Recovery Ministry on Wednesdays and Life Coaching appointments on Thursdays, by the time Friday rolls around I wonder how I can get it all done!
But the thing is, although my schedule is full, I am extremely happy with the way I live my life because it is centered around the things of God and just like His nature is infinite, there seems to be no limits to what we can learn about Him, and ourselves in relationship to Him, or to the blessings we receive when we keep in His presence. I was positively blessed by each night this week with Christian fellowship, stirring testimonies of God’s goodness, and a deep appreciation for my life – both for what I have walked through in the past, what I have in it right now, and I have a real sense of joy and adventure as I contemplate the “what’s next” for the rest of the year and beyond. Life in the Spirit is so deep, so wide, and so GOOD and the peace and joy I have from living in it makes me want to shout it from the roof tops! And that’s why we blog, and podcast, to share the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ – of course – but also to introduce people to the very real possibility of living the abundant life that Jesus talked about in John 10:10 where he said:
John 10:10 (NKJV)
10 The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.
Now the first part is a warning that we should take seriously and if we aren’t experiencing the second part (having life – and having it more abundantly – that’s joy or as the NLT puts it a “rich and satisfying life), we have to realize that the enemy in the forms of the world, the flesh, or the devil and his spiritual forces of darkness have effectively stolen it from us.
So what do we do to live an abundant life? We learn how to from Jesus – we become students of His Way. Or as the “Get Used to Different Student Guide” for the team at the Chosen puts it we become His apprentice. I read this passage from that devotional study geared towards a younger generation and the show’s fans, and was really impressed by how it describes just what it is we are supposed to be doing as followers of Jesus Christ, so I am sharing it today:
“Apprentice
When Jesus says, “Follow me,” it’s not about following him to heaven-at least not yet. It’s about living life in a way that allows you to see heaven here and now: repent, for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand (Matthew 4: 17).
It’s about living a life of purpose: “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men” (Matthew 4: 19).
It’s about living a life of meaning: “I chose you… that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide… These things I command you, so that you will love one another” (John 15: 16, 17).
It’s about living a life that moves you from darkness to light: “Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (John 8: 12).
It’s about living life as Jesus’ apprentice.
… Jesus’ teaching show us how to choose a different kind of life. Different at home and at school. Different in our relationships and rivalries. Different in our fears and hopes and hearts and dreams.
No doubt, the disciples began to experience those differences, not by following Jesus for a day or two, but by choosing to follow him in everything for the rest of their lives. That said there’s nothing magical about the word disciple (even though when we consider the heroes of the Christian faith, we often give the word extra weight and clout). When people in the 1st century heard that title, they would picture a student or more accurately an apprentice.
The dictionary defines an apprentice as one who is learning a trade, art, or calling through practical experience under a skilled worker.
Jesus is the skilled worker, and He wants to teach you the art of living in the world. And if finding your identity in Jesus is the way off the hamster wheel of self-centeredness, living as His apprentice is the way to keep you from getting back on. It helps you walk, not in darkness, but alongside the light of life.
So how can you get your apprenticeship started?
Here are three simple things you can do:
Be patient with yourself, because Jesus is. It’s OK to ask him for help. You can’t be his apprentice in your own strength-that’s the whole point. It’s easy to get discouraged and let a mistake or outright failure knock you off course. So, be honest with Jesus in prayer when it happens. He’ll be right there to pick you up and help you get going again.
Practice. Think about your favorite pro athlete or band. Chances are they didn’t wake up one morning with the ability to throw a perfect curveball or play a killer riff. In our next devotion, we’ll start looking at some of the spiritual exercises that’ll help you train so you can live the kind of life Jesus lived. In other words you’re gonna need to practice.
Choose. Most of us want what’s best, at least in theory. But there’s a distinct difference between wanting and doing. In fact we actually waste a lot of time trying to avoid the kind of life we know is best. It takes conscious choices every day to follow Jesus and his way of life-which means living as his apprentice starts with choosing to do so.
Are you ready to choose?” (Get Used to Different Student Guide, The Chosen Team: Covington, Bennett, Hershberger, Claypool, Mallerna, Campbell, & Murdock, 2024).
I just love how the Chosen team make it very clear that being a Chrisitan goes beyond “just believing” and how we are meant to live in an entirely different way – a way that is taught to us through God’s word and through the example of Jesus Christ. So are you ready to choose to be Jesus’s apprentice? If so, the Chosen team offers the following prayer to get you started:
“Pray
Jesus, thank You for showing me how to live. Thank You for providing ways to stay on the path to God and away from sin. Thank You for choosing me as Your apprentice and for teaching me through Your words and Your life how to follow. Thank You for not only offering me an eternity spent with You, but also a life lived- here and now- with You.
Amen.
A life lived – here and now – with God and for God is the way to peace, joy, purpose. So follow Jesus and learn the best way to live from the Master Himself.
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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 Divorce.
Matthew 19:3-9 (ESV)
3 And Pharisees came up to him and tested him by asking, “Is it lawful to divorce one’s wife for any cause?”
4 He answered, “Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female,
5 and said, ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’?
6 So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.”
7 They said to him, “Why then did Moses command one to give a certificate of divorce and to send her away?”
8 He said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so.
9 And I say to you: whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery.”
Today’s verses are the second of two passages of scripture that fall under the fourth point of our counseling reference guide resource’s section on Divorce.
4. Jesus says: No divorce, except in the case of adultery.
Today’s verses document Jesus’ clear teaching on the definition of marriage – between one man and one woman – as from the beginning – and one of the few acceptable reasons for divorce – sexual immorality. These verses along with Matt 5:27-30 clearly teaches God’s standards for sex, marriage, and divorce. Sex is meant for marriage. Any sexual activity, or even lust in our minds, outside of marriage is considered adultery or sexual immorality and it is so serious that when an unfaithful spouse betrays their marriage covenant with adultery it is cause enough – according to Jesus – to divorce. God hates divorce but He permits it in certain instances, probably because of His mercy and wisdom, knowing how wicked an adulterous person can be. Rather than leaving us at the hands of an unrepentant adulterer and suffer further abuse, Jesus allows us to divorce.
This was a great comfort for me and many others who have felt the pain of betrayal and had to make the hard decision to divorce. God is merciful and allows from freedom from abuse and abandonment.
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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: 1 CORINTHIANS 2
“We have the mind of Christ.” – 1 Corinthians 2:16
What an assertion for Paul to make! And yet it was true. For further up in the chapter he says, “We have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God” (v. 12) – the same Holy Spirit which reveals all things. “The Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God” (v. 10).
In another place, Paul says, “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 2:5). The context then reveals that it is the mind of humility, which is the beauty of holiness, without which no man can see God. Peter says (looking back on the occasion which is recorded in John 13), “Gird up your minds with the towel of humility.” The words of Christ Himself were, “Learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart” (Matt. 11:29) – this is the mind of Christ.
O, to be filled and controlled by the Searching
Spirit. Only thus can I hope to know
the mind of God and Christ.[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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