Purity 1389 07/01/2024 Purity 1389 Podcast
Purity 1389 on YouTube:
Good morning,
Today’s photo of hazy misty sunrise on the shores of Lake Lucerne in Lucerne Switzerland comes to us from Michael Grace who is currently sharing lots of his views on social media of his European Vacation. Although Mike’s photos may fill me with wanderlust to boldly go overseas, I am reminded of my friend’s wisdom in doing so with an organized tour group because sometimes it’s best to exercise our freedom within certain boundaries and overseen by someone who knows the way.
Well, It’s Monday, July 1st, and as we Americans, near and far, are preparing for our country’s Independence Day on Thursday, I am similarly reminded of how good it is to live free in Christ but to be guided by the Lord’s word and the Holy Spirit’s ways. After surviving through my birthday month, I am ready to put to death any semblance of pride, because it’s a sin, and because sometimes the exercise of our supposed freedom really is our choice to be obedient to the bondage of the flesh. June’s periodic fleshly indulgences in the area of food caused by the “spirit of “My month’s long birthday” celebration have me feeling listless, guilty and ready to repent!
So it’s a new dawn, it’s a new day, it’s a new life, and a new month to renew our intention to walk in the Spirit rather than rolling around in the flesh! According to Ecclesiastes there is a season for everything under heaven and seeing as my flesh has abused the time “to gain”, I think it’s “time to lose” whatever extra weight I have undoubtedly picked up and to resume my commitment to my physical health with a time of fasting, of sorts.
I am no stranger to fasting and may go all out with a nothing-but-water fast if I feel the spirit move me but for today, I feel content with being true to my carb-macro sensible food plan that will turn the tide of indulgence and get me “back on track” in a few days.
During this current season of “resting” before recovery ministry season resumes in a few weeks, I feel the call to enjoy the time off but after June’s foolish choices, I know I have to be more self-aware and dependent on God. Ironically, when we want to be free we have to choose to be dependent on God. Trying to change or taking corrective action will have limited results when we do it in our own strength but when we rely on God’s strength, comfort, and guidance we can overcome and discover a whole new life. So I am going back to basics and am going to turn away from the flesh by pressing into the spirit.
Fasting is one of The best ways to combat the flesh and to be more dependent on God and as “fate” would have it, this morning’s devotional offering from The Chosen’s “Get Used to Different Student Guide” that I am reading through just happened to be on the topic of, you guessed it, fasting!
So let me share a little bit of the tail end of Chapter 26, Fasting, to invite us all into that fasting spirit. The Chosen team writes:
“Jesus clearly stated that the Father will reward you for fasting. Which means the exercise of fasting isn’t really about skipping a meal, but about getting a reward. Of course, we fast to remind our bodies who were truly dependent on. We fast to establish God at the center of our lives. We fast to find freedom from self-medication. We’ve asked to follow in the footsteps of Jesus.
But we also fast to get a reward.”
The Chosen team then suggests fasting from more than food by suggesting that our phones and technology can be fasted from.
“And so, intentionally unplugging from tech for a period of time might be exactly what your heart and mind need.
But we digress.
Regardless of what you choose to fast from, your urges can act as reminders to move toward Jesus. To pray. To praise. To read your Bible. To reach out to someone who might need a kind word. To rest. To lean into the Lord, declaring your dependency on Him and freedom from everything else.
By entrusting yourself to the Lord, even when it comes to something as important as food, you’re ensuring a reward: that the God who sees what you do in secret will draw near.
And there’s literally nothing more soul satisfying than that.
“Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded… humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.” James 4: 8, 10.”
Then the Chosen Team invites us to,
“Pray.
Father, you are so good. You hold the weight of the world in Your hands, yet You care deeply for me. You alone know what I need. I’ve become dependent on so many things that aren’t You. Help me know what I need to fast from, Father. Then give me the strength to do it, because I know I can’t do it on my own.”
(Get Used to Different Student Guide, The Chosen Team: Covington, Bennett, Hershberger, Claypool, Mallerna, Campbell, & Murdock, 2024).
Amen!
So on the first day of the month when millions of Americans will declare their freedom, I choose to repent of my selfish, foolish, and fleshly indulgences and choose to ask God to help me live in the Spirit instead. I independently choose to make myself dependent on God because I know He cares for me, and He will lead me in the way I should go.
You know, the word says that today is the day of salvation so we should never put off tomorrow our decision to turn toward God when hearts and mind recognize that we need help. So today, I surrender. I give up doing things my way. I give up the foolishness of living in ways that I know just don’t work and weigh heavy on my mind, body, soul, and spirit. I choose life and life more abundantly by choosing to follow Jesus and by fasting from the things that separate me from Him.
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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 Example (Good or Bad).
1 Thessalonians 1:5-7 (NASB)
5 for our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction; just as you know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake.
6 You also became imitators of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much tribulation with the joy of the Holy Spirit,
7 so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia.
Today’s verses fall under the fourth point of our counseling reference guide resource’s section on Example (Good or Bad).
4. Paul taught new Christians at Thessalonica by his godly example and so they soon became good examples for others.
Today’s verses speak of the power of living in the Spirit and how our being imitators of the Lord can not only impact our own lives – with the joy of the Spirit – but can be an example of believers everywhere.
The reason I blog, besides the discipline of journalling and the healing power of being transparent and confessing my weaknesses, is that I want to be an example of someone who is earnestly trying to follow the Lord, albeit imperfectly. While this battle with the flesh in the area of food addiction is an ongoing struggle, my experience of freedom and victory in other addictive areas demonstrates the possibility of freedom and that is the example that I want to impress upon everyone. Freedom through our faith in Jesus Christ is possible. You need only follow Him and His ways to find it.
And not for nothing, but even my failures can be an example to you – a bad one – not to be followed. Victory and freedom are established through diligence and leaning on the Lord, but maintaining your freedom requires consistency and continued diligence. So I just have to lean on the Lord and pray that the bumps in the road of 2024 will help me to learn how to stop the insanity and live free in the future.
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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 15
“I labored … yet not I, but the grace of God
which was with me.” – 1 Corinthians 15:10
How forcibly I am reminded of that other Scripture which reads like this one: “It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me” (Gal. 2:20).
In that Galatian Scripture, it is “Christ Supreme” in life. Here, it is “Christ Supreme” in service. Paul could say, “By the grace of God, I am what I am” (1 Cor. 15:10). Grace had changed him, grace had made him, and now grace was using him.
“I labored … yet not I, but the grace” (v. 10). “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich” (2 Cor. 8:9). This is grace – self-depreciation, self-abnegation, self-sacrifice – for the blessing of others.
“Grace, grace, God’s grace …”15 May such grace be at work
in and through my life and service.[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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