Spiritual Reset – 21 Day Prayer Challenge & Waiting in Faith – Purity 1419
Purity 1419 08/05/2024 Purity 1419 Audio Podcast
Purity 1419 on YouTube:
Good morning,
Today’s photo of a rainbow over an otherwise dreary urban view of cross-town traffic comes to us from Dave Baun Photography, as Dave shared this scene on social media back on July 26th, reporting that he happy to be riding shotgun so he could capture this spectacular rainbow as he was being driven into the city of Hobart on Island of Tasmania, South of Australia.
Well, It’s Monday and I am sharing Dave’s photo with the hope that it will brighten our day and will be a sign leading to a pot of gold of spiritual renewal as I have recently been driven by old familiar flesh patterns and anxious, condemning thoughts into a “Tasmanian devil” like tizzy that undoubtedly has a little of the real devil somewhere in the mix. When our confidence, peace and joy are shaken by negative circumstances we have to be careful of how we respond because if we fall into enemy’s trap of seeking comfort from food or entertainment from this world, we may get some pleasure or rest in the moment but by giving into “worldly ways” of coping we can easily repeat the same poor indulgent decisions to the point of diminishing returns where those things that “worked” a minute ago don’t satisfy anymore which may cause us to do more of the very thing that we know is not good for us.
The cycles of addictions operate in all types of activities and when you feel desperation, futility, guilt, shame, and depression – you know that you have left the path of Christian Discipleship for the world’s wide road of destruction” and rather than just rolling along, you may need to do something drastic to stop and get off the ride. If you are feeling condemned, guilty, and shamed by your fleshly behavior, there really is only one solution – STOP IT – stop doing what you are doing, go to the Lord, ask for forgiveness, and ask for His help in getting back to living with Him.
And that’s where I am today. My time off from work because of a minor injury has been accompanied by some listlessness and spiritual attacks that have kept me anxious, frustrated, and fearful and have resulted in me deviating into comfort eating and just not feeling right. My weekend with my wife was a great comfort because of her loving presence but even TammyLyn’s kindness couldn’t convince me that I was “okay”. I tend to relax at TammyLyn’s, and I felt the conviction that the last thing I needed to do to get out of this funk I was in was to relax. I needed to press into the disciplines that give me physical and spiritual health and even though I know, in theory, I could do them at TammyLyn’s, in practice, I know I had to abandon ship and go back to River house where my daily spiritual and physical disciplines were developed and where I would regain “home field advantage” as my place down by the River has the facilities I need and not for nothing, is not in the spiritual enemy territory of a Mormon’s rental – howdy neighbors!
So I am returning to repentance mode and am going to press in earnestly to my faith by accepting the invitation of charismatic deliverance Pastor Vladimir Savchuk as his ministry is hosting a 21-Day Prayer Challenge – (https://pastorvlad.org/prayer/).
I recently became familiar with Pastor Vlad’s ministry which focuses on evangelism, deliverance, and the ministry of the Holy Spirit. In reviewing his books (Get Free, Fight Back, Hosting the Holy Spirit, and others) and a viewing a few of his messages on YouTube, I have been impressed with his teaching and passion for helping the body of Christ to experience God’s power, presence, and freedom. I think that I found Vlad’s ministry at the right time not only because his messages echo my sentiments regarding faith and freedom in Christ, but because I could use a “spiritual reset”. So I will use the resources and fellowship that this 21 Day Challenge will provide to ask for the Lord to Refill me with the Holy Spirit and to light a fire that I can bring with me to Celebrate Freedom and the Freedom in Christ course that I will lead next month.
Our faith works but it only works through God’s power and when we go astray into the world or the flesh, we have to return to our heavenly Father to get back on track and that track is laid with prayer. So I am going to trust God, press in, and wait for His help to reset my orientation to His path.
Yesterday’s daily devotional from Dr Charles Stanley’s In Touch Ministries talked about patience, waiting, and receiving God’s help in with this renewed commitment to prayer and repentance, I wanted to share it on the blog today to encourage us.
“Waiting in Faith
…. Living in a fast-paced culture has programmed us to expect everything immediately, including answers to our prayers.
Have you ever been impatient or frustrated when God hasn’t operated according to your schedule? Delayed timing from our human perspective is perfect timing from His viewpoint. An omniscient God who created and rules over time can never be late.
Waiting on Him requires faith. Just because we can’t see what God is doing does not mean that He’s inactive. The Lord works outside of our visible realm, orchestrating events to fulfill His plan for our life. His work is like a seed planted deep in a garden—we cannot see the underground process. But just as a budding plant eventually appears, we can trust that in time, the Lord’s ordained outcome will come about.
Whatever problem you’re facing, the solution is in God’s hands. Cling to the truth of His love for you, His knowledge of all things, and His power over everything. Then you can confidently walk by faith rather than by sight, knowing that His good purposes will be fulfilled.”
Amen. Whatever problem we face, we need to know that God has the solution for us, and we need only reach out to Him in prayer to experience His presence and to re-establish our harmony with Him, by asking for and receiving His forgiveness for our mistakes and then listening to and obeying His guidance. He may call us to wait but when we wait in faith, we are not alone, and we can have peace and joy knowing He is with us and will be with us until His way of freedom and victory becomes clear.
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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 Fear.
Matthew 10:28 (NKJV)
28 And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
Today’s verse falls under the fifth point of our counseling reference guide resource’s section on Fear.
5. Do not fear those who can kill the body.
Today’s verse reminds us to not fear men, even though they can kill us, but to fear God only as He determines our ultimate destiny – with Him forever in His kingdom – or to hell for those who refuse to put their faith in Jesus as Lord and Savior.
These are the words of Jesus and as much as some love to share His “golden rule”, to do unto others as you would have them do unto you, we have to remember that Jesus was a “hell and brimstone” preacher as He, according to John Piper, (https://www.crossway.org/articles/jesus-said-more-about-hell-than-anyone-in-the-bible/) “said more about hell than anyone in the Bible”.
While statistical analysis could be used to support various cases when I read the Bible, I was shocked and, frankly, a little frightened by all of Jesus’s statements regarding hell, judgment, and why we need to believe in Him. Jesus doesn’t pull any punches in presenting Himself as the only “Way” to the Father and with that in mind, and with our salvation assured with faith in Jesus, we can adopt a different perspective to our lives (a biblical worldview) to see that the evil that man can do is has a limit. Man can kill us, but they can’t destroy us in hell, only we can do that to ourselves by not believing in Jesus.
So be brave, keep your faith in Jesus, and warn other men to do the same because the question of faith is life and death, and if people don’t have Jesus there will be hell to pay.
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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: PHILIPPIANS 4
“A sweet–smelling aroma, an acceptable sacrifice,
well pleasing to God.” – Philippians 4:18
Paul uses this beautiful word picture to describe the gift that he had received from the Church at Philippi. The picture, of course, is borrowed from the temple offerings. He sees their gift being accepted by God, as that sweet smelling incense which arose before the holy place to God in the temple. Gifts in the sight of God are:
Pleasant Fragrances. They rise into His presence as the incense in the temple arose to Him.
Acceptable Sacrifices. Whatever is true sacrifice is acceptable to God, for true sacrifice is the real expression of love.
Well-pleasing. Such gifts receive the Divine approval of God.
Lord, let all that I do be a sweet, pleasing,
and acceptable gift to You.[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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