Anticipation and The God Who Speaks – Purity 1531
Purity 1531 12/17/2024 Purity 1531 Audio Podcast
Purity 1531 on YouTube:
Good morning,
Today’s photo of a bench where you can really get your feet wet comes to us from Fred Dimmick who shared this lush green summer scene on social media back on June 12th, earlier this year.
Well, It’s Tuesday and I intentionally set out this morning to share a photo that didn’t display snow, frost, or landscapes on the colder side of harvest time. While we shouldn’t let the cold conditions of late Autumn and quickly approaching actual winter bring us down, there is nothing wrong with hoping for the greener pastures of spring and summer. Seasonal affective disorder is a thing and while I haven’t really been suffering from the wintertime blues, I wanted to add some contrast to the photos I have been serving up lately, which although beautiful to me, have been sharing leave stripped trees and barren landscapes of semi-frozen tundra – and we are only in mid-December.
Anyway, the practice of anticipation is one method of “returning to joy” that everyone who walks in the Spirit should be familiar with. Warner and Hinman in their book on developing emotional resilience, Building Bounce, explain that:
“Anticipation is appreciating what you are looking forward to in the future. Is there anything in the future that you are looking forward to? This doesn’t have to be life changing, just something enjoyable. Anticipating good things coming our way is half the fun! Taking a few minutes to think about something you are looking forward to is a good way to practice appreciation.”
So although I am looking forward to my Christmas and New Year’s vacation that begins at quitting time on Friday afternoon, I am also looking forward to the greener days of spring and summer beyond winter, and I’m looking forward to experiencing some greenery and sunshine during my mid midwinter vacation to Myrtle Beach that I have planned for February. All of these things are on the “big side” of things to appreciate, of course, so they must be planned – so there is great wisdom in looking ahead and planning experiences in the future where “joy time” is scheduled. If you don’t plan for the things you want to do, you’ll never do them – so anticipate your future and make some plans for some sthings you can find joy in.
On the smaller scale of anticipation, we can plan for smaller indulgences that give us joy – like planning get togethers with friends or family, or going to new or old familiar place that could give us joy.
In this time of year, stress and depression are barking at your door and are looking to steal away your joy, and so we encourage you to look forward to the good things that you are planning for or that will naturally arise (like spring time) that you can hope for and find joy in – and to share them with someone else.
Every week at Celebrate Freedom, I ask people to “check in” by telling us how they have been in the past week, and to share something they are looking forward to because I know that when you are trying to leave your hurts, habits, and hangups behind, you need to look forward to the good things that await you in the future. We have new life in Christ and we should not only enjoy the peace we have in the present moment, we should also anticipate the joy set before us when we make the conscious decision to “keep on walking and talking with God” and live as the new creation that God made us to be.
When we come to faith in Jesus, God is with us and He will speak into our lives guiding us to the new life He has for us but we have to listen for His voice to lead us in the way we should go.
The In Touch with Dr. Charles Stanley devotional for today talks about hearing God’s voice and I am sharing it on the blog today to remind us just how good it is to have a God who speaks to us. Dr. Charles Stanley writes:
‘The God Who Speaks
God offers us the invaluable privilege of personal communication with Him.
Throughout human history, God has spoken to mankind in various ways. His prophets and apostles were moved by the Holy Spirit to proclaim and write His words (2 Peter 1:21), but His ultimate expression came through the birth of His Son Jesus (Galatians 4:3-5). Through the Holy Spirit, the Lord still communicates to every Christian who listens with an open and receptive heart.
Think about the wonder of having a God who speaks—not a distant deity who gives orders from heaven, but one who actually wants to converse with you! Why would the Lord of all creation choose to come to earth, die on a cross, and provide the Holy Spirit in order to communicate with each of us? Consider that God …
- Loves you.
- Desires an intimate relationship with you.
- Longs for you to trust Him and for your faith to grow strong as you see the fulfillment of His words.
- Wants you to experience all He’s planned for your life—and will guide you to fulfill His purposes.
In the busyness of the Christmas season, it’s easy to take for granted this invaluable privilege of communication with the Lord. Take time this week away from distractions so you can listen to the God who wants to talk with you.” – Charles Stanley
Amen. What an excellent message for the week before Christmas! In the hustle and bustle of getting ready for Christmas and in the face of stress and possible depression over things lost, Stanley reminds us that when we are in Christ, we are never alone and that The God of All Creation still speaks to us today. But there is a condition that we must meet in order to hear the Lord – we have to be a “Christian who listens with an open and receptive heart”.
We have to seek the Lord to listen to Him and be receptive to what He has to say to us.
God wants us to experience all He has planned for our lives but we have to seek and listen to His guidance to find our way to it.
So open your heart and mind and ask the Lord to speak to you – in prayer, through Bible study, at church, or just in a quiet and still moment.
I know that God still speaks to us but I also know that we only hear Him if we are willing to follow where His voice calls us. So ask the Lord to speak and be receptive to receive and accept what He has to say to you.
He may call you to give something up, leave something behind, or to start something new and go to an unknown place or experience.
How can we know it is God’s voice and not just our own thoughts?
“God’s voice” will lead you to do something good and it will never contradict the truth of scripture. And when we decide to follow and do what the Lord is telling us to do it always leads to peace – because regardless of the results – we can rest and rejoice that we were obedient to His call.
So ask the Lord to speak and listen to what He says.
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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 Hope.
Hebrews 6:19–20 (ESV) We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.
Today’s verses fall under the fifth point of our counseling reference guide resource’s section on Hope.
5. Hope is an anchor for the soul.
Today’s Bible verses remind us that Jesus, our great high priest, is our sure hope and a steadfast anchor for our souls.
A lot can change when you decide to put your faith in Jesus and make the decision to surrender your life to Him as your Lord and Savior. When you go from living in the world to living in God’s kingdom a lot can be shaken up. God’s call on your life could lead to the loss of relationships that weren’t godly and it can lead to a whole new way of living where nothing seems stable.
But the wonderful thing about our faith is that we are never alone in the challenges of trying to live a Christian life. God is with us when we put our faith in Jesus and He is the one person that we can count of to never leave us or forsake us and is the source of our enduring hope and joy. Jesus, and the hope He gives us, is the anchor of our soul.
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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 30
If we live by the spirit, let us walk by the Spirit. – Galatians 5:25
You were dead in trespasses and sins; you could not believe and be saved. But the Spirit gave you life to enable you to place your faith in Christ. You were as helpless as the cripple who could not walk. Yet Christ commanded him to get up, pick up his mat, and go his way (see Luke 5:17–25). Do you think that he was able to do this on his own? Of course not! That’s why it was a miracle. It was also by a miracle that you—who were spiritually dead—were given life to believe. The power of the Holy Spirit, exercised on your behalf, enabled you to trust in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation. So too, Paul says, you are dependent upon Him for all the spiritual growth you enjoy. Your good works are “the fruit of the Spirit.” So, you must depend not on your own abilities to please God, but call upon Him to enable you by His Spirit to grow and live for Him. The Spirit will not work miraculously to help you grow; you already have the life that He gives. But you must nurture it for growth by using His Word. He will give you both the desire and the ability to please Christ (Philippians 2:13). Fruit grows by His power at work in you which further enables you to do those things that please Him.[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] Jay E. Adams, Day by Day along the Way (Cordova, TN: Institute for Nouthetic Studies, 2020), 38.
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