Everyone’s a Child at Christmas – A Season of New Beginnings – Purity 1518
Purity 1518 12/02/2024 Purity 1518 Audio Podcast
Purity 1518 on YouTube:
Good morning,
Today’s photo of a winding wooden staircase descending to a magnificent beach scene comes to us from the Land Down Under and Dave Baun Photography (Dave Baun Photography). Dave shared today’s photo on social media yesterday to begin “December with a warm summer vibe” stating that he “wouldn’t mind kicking back and relaxing on the beach for a few hours!”
I hear you Dave, I hear you, brother!
Well, It’s Monday here in upstate NY and while today’s temperatures are forecasted to be only a couple of degrees above freezing, I am not going to allow the circumstances of the weather dictate my mood. While seasonal affective disorder is a real concern for the denizens of the northeast, our moods or emotions are mostly affected by the content of our thoughts. As we share at Celebrate Freedom each week, “When our thought life is out of control, our emotions are generally out of control as well. Learning how to dwell on life-giving thoughts and truth from scripture is a crucial skill for renewing the mind, experiencing peace, and maintaining freedom.”
So in spite of the chilling of weather or any disappointments with how November may have went, I am declaring a “Season of new beginnings on this first Monday of December and am going to focus on “the good” and do my best to direct my thoughts to dwell on the reason for the season, Jesus Christ, and enter into days and weeks leading up to Christmas with peace and joy.
When I was a kid I absolutely was a buzz with the holiday spirit as I anticipated the joy of opening my presents on Christmas morning and while I know the truth about the presents origins and the deception I was lead into in the name of fun now, it doesn’t mean I have to have any less joy at Christmas time now that I know the truth about Santa Claus. In fact now that I understand what Christmas is really about – the gift of Jesus Christ and the joy of our salvation when we put our faith in Him, I have even a better reason to rejoice! My relationship with God and the full assurance of my acceptance, security, and significance in Christ is the gift that keeps on giving and is far better than any of presents under a tree!
After we come to faith in Jesus and walk with the Lord awhile and suffer the ups and downs of life, it can be really difficult to maintain our joy. The things we suffer and the seeming lack of progress in our growth can make us forget how blessed we are. But to recapture our joy – over Christmas, over life, over our relationship with God – only requires our intention to dwell on the hope, peace, love, and joy that is ours every day when we are in Christ.
So I am entering a season of new beginnings and am going ignore the references to Santa but agree the sentiment’s in that old Gene Autry Christmas classic: “Everyone’s a child at Christmas”!
Understanding we are loved by our Heavenly Father and that we are children of God when we put our faith in Jesus can be an unending source of joy for our lives and so I will be wishing you a merry Christmas from now until the day we open up our presents under that old Christmas tree!
Speaking of the love of God and the joy it brings us. Today’s In Touch with Dr. Charles Stanley addresses the love of God and so I am sharing it on the blog today to encourage us to love the Lord and praise His name at this most wonderful time of the year! Dr. Charles writes:
Praise: An Expression of Love
Spend time today praising God for His abundant love and goodness.
Most of us know what it feels like to love someone. We think about him or her often; we share stories and describe attributes so others know how remarkable the person is. In a word, we praise the one we love.
In the book of Psalms, that’s exactly how David talked about God. His writings are filled with worship and sentiments such as “Because Your favor is better than life, my lips will praise You” (Psalm 63:3). He also danced with abandon, expressing his passion and devotion before the Lord—he didn’t care what others would think (2 Samuel 6:14).
Do we love God with the same enthusiasm David had? Some of us may be less prone to fervent, emotional displays than others are. But we should never allow embarrassment or timidity to stifle our praise.
The Lord is worthy of acclaim. He is our Friend, our Rock, and our Protector. What’s more, He saved us from death! If we let ourselves get caught up in others’ opinions, we could forget that God’s viewpoint is the only one that matters. Ever since creation, the Lord has deserved and received praise offerings. Don’t let fear or discomfort keep you from expressing your love and appreciation. How can you glorify Him today?” Charles Stanley
The idea of Loving the Lord could challenge us. How do you love God? Surely any efforts on our part to love the Lord would fall short of what He is worthy of.
But if we think that way, we think amiss.
We love God because He first loves us.
We didn’t have to earn His love. We only had to accept it by putting our faith in Jesus and after we do that we should simply walk in the joy and peace of the love we already have.
On Sundays I usually do a Bible Study podcast with Arthur Cincotti, who prepares the study. This week Arthur was traveling so we took the week off.
In the past when this happened, I would sit down and prepare a study for myself and podcast that. But yesterday I was sluggish and didn’t have anything prepared and more or less decided to let it go and to take a day off from my 24×7 ministry of encouragement.
So, I spent time praying and reading God’s word just for me, enjoying the peace of His presence. In that session and from the Word I read, I understood again that I wasn’t accepted by God because of my performance – I have God’s love regardless of what I do.
Ironically, knowing I didn’t have to perform for the Lord, my love for Him drove me to do an impromptu study to podcast on Romans 3, the text I had read. It was completely unplanned and spontaneous but I hope that it expressed the simplicity of what Bible study is (reading and reacting to the word) and the simplicity of our relationship with God (the text highlighted we are made right with God by faith). We only need to accept God’s love through Jesus and live in it.
My love for God than sent me to church – where I sang His praises without fear or shame.
That’s a couple examples of how we love God – we seek His presence through His words and prayer, and we respond to it with peace and joy.
So, think about the love we have received and let His love work through you to give you peace. Tell the Lord, you love Him. He loves to hear it and it’s the most appropriate thing we can do as His beloved.
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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 Homosexuality.
Genesis 18:20–21 (NIV) Then the LORD said, “The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so grievous that I will go down and see if what they have done is as bad as the outcry that has reached me. If not, I will know.”
Today’s verse falls under the second point of our counseling reference guide resource’s section on Homosexuality.
2. God condemned Sodom and Gomorrah for their homosexuality. It is sin.
Today’s Bible verses remind us that our sin causes the Lord grief. Regardless of how much we may have been deceived and have come to identify ourselves by our sinful lifestyles, the truth of God’s word convicts us that somethings that may feel good and feel right aren’t right or good for us.
Today’s passage shows us that God not only is grieved by our sin but that He will come to us in the depths of us to see it for Himself. God knows what we do when we do wrong, and the story of Sodom and Gomorrah teaches us that His wrath will be poured out against us unless we repent.
So whatever your sin of the flesh is, go to God, confess it, repent of it, and walk with Him out of the darkness of your sin into His light and life of righteousness that is made possible through faith in Jesus Christ.
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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 “Day By Day Along the Way” By Jay E. Adams.
As always, I share this information for educational purposes and encourage you all to purchase Adams’ books for your own private study and to support the late author’s work. This resource is available online for less than $20 at many sites.
Day 17
See to it that you are careful about how you walk, not as unwise, but as wise. – Ephesians 5:15
Evidently, Paul thought it important to stress the thought and care that needs to be taken if one is to walk wisely. We have already seen that wisdom is the practical use of God’s truth in the affairs of life. But to take care, one must determine to see to it that he wisely conducts himself in all that he does. There are many who walk unwisely. “Seeing to it” means we take care to distinguish wisdom from foolhardiness. You must be able to properly compare and contrast wise and unwise behavior. The Bible is the Standard by which you must do so. That which is wise accords with it; that which does not is unwise. How wise are you determined to be—for Jesus’ sake? If you lack such wisdom, it is perhaps because you lack an adequate understanding of Scripture. Do you study the Bible daily? If not, you are not wise now and will fail to be so in the future[1]
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Encouragement for the Path of Christian Discipleship
[1] Jay E. Adams, Day by Day along the Way (Cordova, TN: Institute for Nouthetic Studies, 2020), 25.
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