Through the Forest to the Joy and Hope of Our Savior – Purity 1534
Purity 1534 12/20/2024 Purity 1534 Audio Podcast
Purity 1534 on YouTube:
Good morning,
Today’s photo of a view of a large body of water through the window of a golden harvest autumn forest comes to us from an unknown FB friend who shared this scene on social media back on October 24, 2023. If this photo memory is yours, let us know and we will photo credit you on the blog after the fact.
Well, it’s Friday – Thank God – and I share today’s photo because I have that feeling being on the verge of coming out of the forest and being able to see the paradise that lies on just the other side of the last stand of trees, and we need only go a little bit longer to get there – because I have just one more work day to get through before I get to rejoice – I say again rejoice! – and enjoy my Christmas to New Year’s vacation!
I love this time of year, and I will always try to take time off to enjoy it. Not only is it Christmas time but it is also the end of the year, and I feel that this season should be used to reflect on the goodness of God and to contemplate our life’s journey up to this point and to prepare our hearts for the new year ahead. Right now, I am positively on fire with joy because I am thankful for what the Lord has done in my life, and I am excited to see what He will do in the new year.
Last night, I met with a life coaching client, and I was overjoyed to see how the Lord has blessed his life since he decided to really seek the Lord about a year ago. Not that his life doesn’t have any problems or frustrations or that he has accomplished all his goals, but my client has been really blessed and his family is thriving. He shared some really amazing experiences he has had lately that showed how fortunate he is to be where he is now and reminded him of the wonder of the Christmas story. Things are going so well in his life and his immediate future seems to be filled with opportunities to experience more joy, so all I had to do to “coach” him was to enjoy Christmas and to appreciate the time and all that the Lord has done. A year ago, he was struggling with symptoms of grief, depression, and anxiety and now he is at peace. That’s what God does when we start walking with Him. He leads us out of the darkness of the forest and shows us the oasis before us and sometimes all that is needed to experience peace and joy in our lives is to bring God into it to show us what a wonderful life we already have. He saves us from ourselves and the world and all its problems.
Speaking of Savior, the Turning Point with Dr. David Jeremiah devotion for today is entitled that and I am sharing it on the blog to help us all to remember how good it is to have a friend in Jesus and a Savior of our souls. David Jeremiah writes:
“Savior
We know that this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world. – John 4:42
Jesus, Immanuel, Messiah, King of Righteousness, Prince of Peace, Son of David, Cornerstone, Lion of Judah, Morning Star, Redeemer, Lamb of God, Counselor, God, Lord, Word, Advocate, Shepherd, Master, Servant, Holy One, Rabbi, Carpenter!
You can find hundreds of names and titles for Jesus in the Bible. One was given by the angels: “For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior” (Luke 2:11). The Greek word soter means “someone who can make safe, deliver from a threat and bring safe and sound out of a difficult situation.”
Whenever you need a savior, you need one badly—to save you from drowning, from a fire, from a medical emergency. Jesus does all that and more. When we were sinking deep in sin, He saved us. When we were in danger of hell, He saved us. When we were dying inwardly and eternally, He rescued us. It takes all the names in the Bible to describe Him. But aren’t you glad Savior is among them! Ponder His saving power today and rejoice!” – David Jeremiah
I must have the Savior near me, for I dare not go alone. I must feel His presence near me, and His arms around me thrown. – Fanny Crosby
Amen. In my morning prayers and Bible study I was overcome by the goodness of Lord. As I was thanking God for who I am in Christ, I had a fresh realization of all that the Lord has saved me from and all the truly earth-shattering moments I have experienced of the Lord’s manifest presence in my life. As I declared “I am a citizen of heaven” from the Who I am in Christ list, I was struck by wonder as I was reminded that I had lots of experiential evidence that this is true. God didn’t just give me a sense that I was forgiven or was on the right path. God showed up in my life so many times and is continually with me as I walk by faith that I have NO Doubts about Him.
Often as we go through life, we focus on our problems and how we are falling short of who we want to be. But this morning, the Lord reminded me of all that has happened since coming to faith in Jesus and showed me how I was saved from the darkness of my past and given a new life of freedom, victory, and joy.
As I read John 20 for Bible study, I suddenly was overcome by strong emotions and moved to tears when reading about the resurrection and Jesus showing up in the midst of the Apostles declaring peace. I was basically crying and yet I was filled with joy over the fact that Jesus was alive and encouraging doubting Thomas – “Don’t be faithless any longer. Believe!” To which the skeptic declared “My Lord and my God!”
And that’s who Jesus is to me too! My Lord and my God! Like Thomas, the Lord has removed all doubts from my mind because He showed up in my life and He has never left me since the day I first believed.
But the world will cause us to look at what’s wrong, when the truth is that – in Christ – nothing is too bad to not be endured with the joy of knowing that “I have a Savior!” And “I am a citizen of heaven!”
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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 Hope.
1 Thessalonians 1:3 (NLT) As we pray to our God and Father about you, we think of your faithful work, your loving deeds, and the enduring hope you have because of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Today’s verse falls under the eighth point of our counseling reference guide resource’s section on Hope.
8. Hope produces endurance and perseverance.
Today’s Bible verse reminds us of the joy we can have when we contemplate the lives of our brothers and sisters in Christ and how their hope in the Lord Jesus pours out of them in their faithfulness and good works.
God put us in the body of Christ together to help one another. The gospel is counter cultural and so there is palpable resistance from the world, the flesh, and the devil to living in it. So, we need to encourage one another by the way we live to show one another of the hope that we have in Jesus. We are faithful to do what’s right according to God’s word because we know we have a Savior, and our futures are secure. We have hope and when we represent God’s kingdom through our witness, we show the world and our brothers and sisters in Christ that our hope is alive. ‘
So let me encourage you to be faithful because your example and enduring good works inspire me and remind me of the hope we have in Jesus.
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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 33
… buckling the belts of your minds for action, keeping level-headed, set your hope entirely on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. – 1 Peter 1:13
As you anticipate the grace that you expect at Christ’s glorious revelation, you will be ready to take on whatever trials you must face here. In biblical times, when one tucked up his garment into his belt, he thereby indicated his readiness to work or fight. Strenuous activity lay ahead, and he got himself ready for it. Along the road that you travel, as you anticipate what is to come, recognize that you will encounter obstacles. You must prepare yourself mentally to meet them. Thinking ahead to all that will be yours at His return, you will be able to. Your mental state will determine in large measure your ability to deal with satanic obstructions and barriers that you may find along the way. These hindrances should be expected and you need to readily meet them by keeping your thoughts fixed on the grace (help, mercy, and free goodness) that awaits you and, even now, is to some extent present. But in the day of His magnificent coming it will overflow and overwhelm.[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), 41.
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