Discerning God’s Will and Encountering Evil – Purity 1414
Purity 1414 07/30/2024 Purity 1414 Audio Podcast
Purity 1414 on YouTube:
Good morning,
Today’s photo of the sun rising over the fairway of a golf course, as a maintenance worker digs in the shadows of a sand trap, comes to us from MJ Clark, who shared this scene on social media Friday, July 26th.
Well, it is Tuesday and day of two of my “injured reserved” time off from my secular day job as I “work with my hands” and suffered a laceration to my left index finger on my Saturday, requiring stitches, that prayerfully will be healed by the week’s end. Even though I experience these unplanned breaks in my normal routine from time to time that may seem to mean that I will have gaps of inactivity and resting, it seems that the Lord uses these unplanned moments to speak to me in some way or to have me do something I wouldn’t normally be available to do.
When you realize that God is sovereign you understand that there are no accidents and that everything happens for a reason. However, discerning the reason or ascribing meaning to the days of our lives accurately may be difficult and could move us to places that we don’t intend to go or move us to do things we weren’t intended to do.
For instance, a few years ago I received an unexpected financial windfall, and no sooner did I receive it than I was asked to help someone financially, which was now possible because of my windfall. So I saw that as a “sign” that this was what I was supposed to do. So, I agreed to “loan” the money to the person in need. And yes, that’s how it was asked for and that is how it was given as a “loan”. In the moment, I felt this was a good Christian thing to do. But as I never received any payments for the loan, I felt less sure about how “right” it was to give the money.
What that episode did teach me was to never give money to others with the expectation to receive it. If I give money, it should be done with the expectation that I will not get it back or be blessed in some other way, for having given.
The relationship between me and the person I gave to became distant because I moved away physically and don’t see them anymore but if I am honest I am emotionally a lot farther away from this person than the miles between us because of the unpaid loan. I have forgiven them in my heart and released the debt to God so I hold no ill will toward them, but the revelation of their character defects has caused me to not seek out a further relationship with them.
So did God, intend for me to make this loan? Did he want me to suffer financial and relational loss to learn a lesson? Did he want to bless this other person?
I’ll say yes. Why? Because it happened. If He didn’t intend it or allow for it wouldn’t have happened. Right?
Maybe not. You see this is a dangerous game, trying to discern what God wanted to happen based on our experiences because the world is broken by sin, mankind is depraved, our knowledge isn’t perfect, and there are the spiritual forces of darkness at play and the enemy would love to use our ignorance and the suffering that befalls us to misunderstand God’s will for our lives.
If we come away from our experiences thinking that God wants us to suffer or that He isn’t good, our discerning of God’s sovereign plan has been corrupted. Also if we start to play “pocket prophet” by trying to guess “what God’s will for our lives” is we should be prepared to be disappointed because our knowledge is not perfect like His is, and we often superimpose our desires into the mix to lead ourselves astray – and how do we know that it wasn’t God’s will? It didn’t happen, right?
Right, but remember that we live in the stream of time and today’s disappointments and heartaches often prepare us for our “next assignment”.
So what do we do, we do the best we can and trust God to bring us where He wants to go, mistakes and all.
So without trying to invest too much meaning into my injury and God’s leading me, yesterday I took advantage of time off from work and decided to indulge the flesh with a trip to the movies to see the Nicholas Cage, macabre thriller, Longlegs, and what I thought would be just a shameful guilty pleasure seemed to take on a larger meaning as the content of the film presented the stark reality of the presence of demonic evil in our world. Longlegs is certainly not for the family but it is suspenseful and well-produced but the story presented described individuals being directed by Satan to do acts of evil, and although those spiritually dead may find the references to the devil to be amusing, I have seen his presence in people’s lives and was riveted to the seriousness of the drama and its possible dangerous that were before me. Here was a film that literally ends with the phrase “Hail Satan”, and I shudder to think of the impressionable youth or debased adults who are disenfranchised from polite society or victims of spiritual abuse would be influenced to take a look into the dark side.
The usher at the theatre I went to was a young woman with tattoos and multicolored highlights in her hair and she commended me for my choice on the way into Longlegs, and while it was a well-produced film, I shudder to think how desensitized our society has become to so easily call “good” that which is evil, And of course, my “research” and fleshly indulgence subsidized it!
I walked away somewhat shell-shocked by the trauma of the drama, but I also walked away with a grim feeling that I was intended to see that film to remind me of the darkness in our world and to double down on my determination to be a light for the gospel of Jesus Christ and to continue in my efforts to set the captives free from demonic oppression.
Of course, I have to be careful in how I discern the spirits and in what I ascribe as God’s will for my life, but when I walk into situations that remind me of His goodness and His call on my life to share His truth and to help others, I have to believe that I’m on the right path.
So live your life in the context of God, look for meaning, discern your purpose, and walk into every situation looking for God and the good work He wants you to do.
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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 come 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 Fear.
2 Timothy 1:7 (ESV)
7 for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.
Today’s verse is the second of two passages of scripture that fall under the first point of our counseling reference guide resource’s section on Fear.
1. Believers need not be slaves to fear.
Today’s verse reminds us of the basic orientation that the Lord infuses into our lives when we put our faith in Jesus. God has not given a spirit of fear. So if you are walking in fear, you are not walking with the Lord – you have walked away from the mirror of who you are in Christ and have forgotten God, what He has done for you, and who you are now.
When we understand that we are saved, forgiven, and blessed with eternal life, fear should disappear because we are going to live forever. When we know this we can walk in power, love, and self-control because God has given us power, love, and self-control. If we walk in the Spirit, we will not let fear keep us from doing God’s will for our lives or from enjoying the gift of a new life that God has given us.
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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: EPHESIANS 5
“Be imitators of God.” – Ephesians 5:1
But for the grace and enabling power of God, how utterly impossible to live such a verse! “Imitators of God” – God is life, light, and love. Moreover, even these intrinsic qualities are incomprehensible apart from the Lord Jesus Christ. “No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him” (John 1:18). Therefore, I can only imitate God as I see God revealed or declared in Christ.
God as Life. (Spirit) The whole of Christ’s life was lived and controlled in the power of the Eternal Spirit. O, to be filled with the Spirit.
God as Light. He says, “Be holy for I am holy” (1 Pet. 1:16). Christ was holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners.
God as Love. He “so loved … that He gave” (John 3:16). Christ so loved the Church that He gave. The essence of love is to give. All that I can give is myself.
O Lord, help me to imitate Your life,
Your light, and Your love. 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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