End Times Politics and Finding Peace of Mind – Purity 1387
Purity 1387 06/28/2024 Purity 1387 Podcast
Purity 1387 on YouTube:
Good morning,
Today’s photo of blue skies and the blue waters of the Hudson River with the Hudson Athens Lighthouse and the Catskill Mountains in the distance comes to us from Richard Carpentier who shared this scene on social media that he captured during a morning prayer session on the Hudson back on June 10th.
Well, it’s Friday again, Thank God, and while Richard’s recent photo can easily give you a peaceful easy feeling to walk into the weekend with the powers and principalities of this world would much rather drive you into a frenzied state of fear and anxiety about the horrible state of the world causing you to seek to control it by pushing for a particular political party or presidential candidate to either make America Great again, again, or to allow the current office holder to “finish the job”. Yikes. Last night’s presidential candidate debate would do little to alleviate your fears as it’s exchange of insults and rhetoric that highlighted the possibilities of various financial collapses, environmental doomsdays, societal strife, and, yup, World War III painted a picture of what I thought of as “End Times Politics”. The few minutes of what I watched of the war-like debate reminded me why I don’t watch the news and why I will begrudgingly cast my vote for the lesser of two evils and trust in God to lead my future regardless of the state of the world or our nation’s politics.
I have a friend who suffers from low-grade depression and anxiety that is stealing his peace and joy for life and in my efforts to encourage him to invest his thought life in the truths of who He is in Christ, he recently revealed that his mental narrative included unhealthy sentimental attachments to things of the past, worries about the financial markets and accumulating money, and concerns about politics. With the negative comparison of today with perceived better days of the past, and real concerns over the present and the future, some may say that he is completely justified in being depressed and anxious- that he might even have a “right” to be upset.
While I don’t ever suggest denying reality, I usually ask my friends or the clients that I work with who suffer from low moods or negative affect if they “want to feel this way”. The answer to that simple question is usually “No, I don’t want to feel this way!”
To which I ask, “How can we change it? Can we change the country? Can we, individually, change the financial markets? Can we go back to the past? Besides campaigning efforts and our one vote in November, can we change the world of politics?”
To which, perhaps after some arguing or debating of our own, they usually agree that these things that upset them are beyond their control.
So what do we, as Christians do, about it?
We pray? Yes, we pray but we can also act. We can do our best to address the problems in our lives. If getting more money or a better job is possible, we can put effort into that. If we are passionate about political or other causes, we can volunteer to help. We can do our best to make a change for the future, but we won’t be able to control the outcomes either. So we could win or we could lose, get a better position or be disappointed, but while we can still “play that game” of circumstantial happiness, I will remind them that their negative mind states of depression and anxiety are “within” not without, and that their mental efforts will be better spent in redirecting their thoughts away from the things that bring them low or fill them with fright. Instead of focusing on the uncertain things, what we lack, or that upset us, we would be better served on focusing on what we do have, what we can do, and who we are in Christ.
When we focus on God, we are reminded that as followers of Jesus Christ, we are accepted, secure, and significant in God’s kingdom. Come what may in the future here on earth, the Lord’s will shall be done on earth as it is in heaven eventually, and we can find peace and rest knowing we have eternal life and a God who is working everything together for good for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.
Rather than thinking that our faith is a small part of our lives that is given a few hours on a Sunday, I suggest that we live with and for God 24X7, by staying in His presence with prayer and action. Mentally we remind ourselves of who we are in Christ and shape our daily lives to reflect God’s wisdom and love. We walk away from the sins of the flesh, take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ, and we are responsible to be good stewards of all that the Lord has given us. We walk in the Spirit, reap the fruit of the Spirit, and share and show the love of God to others as we go. We lean on the Lord and His strength and understanding and rather than worrying about how things will go in the future, we trust God to be with us regardless of what transpires.
Of course this training and practice, but as we redirect our thoughts away from the things that upset or tempt us, we will become more and more skilled at becoming free from the bondage of depressive and anxious thought. When we practice gratitude and have a conversational relationship with the Lord, we see how blessed we are and realize that we are safe and never alone.
So, let’s keep walking and talking with God. It’s going to be a long summer and fall before the election in November. There is always “bad news” out there to grab our attention but instead of worrying about whether or not we are in the end of days, we can still find peace and joy right now by remembering that God is with us and He always will be as He determines how His will shall come and done.
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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 verse comes from the section on Example (Good or Bad).
1 Corinthians 11:1 (NIV2011)
1 Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.
Today’s verse is the second of three passages of scripture that fall under the third point of our counseling reference guide resource’s section on Example (Good or Bad).
3. The apostle Paul set a godly example to teach others how a Christian ought to live.
Today’s verse is the marching order for every Christian: follow the example of Jesus. We have the gospels to tell us how Jesus lived. We have church history to tell us how faithful men and women of God lived with and for God. And we have faithful men and women in our local churches, who can inspire us to be “real Bible-believing Christians”. God’s will for us is to be conformed to Christ’s image– sanctified – to be holy as He is holy, and we need guides to show us the way. Jesus is our teacher and His disciples (in history and those who are still with us) can show us how we do this thing called Christian living.
From the gospel accounts, Jesus prayed and knew the word of God. So we should do things too – pray and know God’s word. Jesus also did good deeds, commanded people to sin no more, and encouraged people to follow Him. So we should do good deeds, turn from our sin, and follow Him, and encourage others to do so too!
Christianity is following the leader. Jesus is the leader so let’s follow His example.
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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: 1 CORINTHIANS 13
“Love.” – 1 Corinthians 13:4
The apostle says, “Now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love” (v. 13). A little further up he gives the negative and positive definitions of love:
Negative (vv. 4-8): Love does not envy; Love does not parade itself; Love is not puffed up; Love does not behave rudely; Love does not seek its own; Love is not provoked; Love thinks no evil; Love does not rejoice in iniquity; and Love never fails.
Positive (vv. 4-7): Love suffers long; Love is kind; Love rejoices in the truth; Love bears all things; Love believes all things; Love hopes all things; and, Love endures all things.
O Lord, shed abroad the love of God in my heart,
for Christ’s sake. Amen.[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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