Dropping Everything to Follow Him – A Small Matter of Obedience – Purity 1543
Purity 1543 12/31/2024 Purity 1543 Audio Podcast
Purity 1543 on YouTube:
Good morning,
Today’s photo of a pine tree, set a glow by emerald colored Christmas tree lights, illuminating a quaint gravel walkway and the surrounding forest, comes to us from yours truly as I captured this last evening from my new year’s accommodations in the Adirondack wilderness.
Well, it is Tuesday, and it is the last day of the year 2024, and I am rejoicing because my wife TammyLyn, has gifted me with a return visit to a secluded cabin near Saranac Lake to celebrate the coming of 2025 and our third wedding anniversary.
I may not get everything right when I try to “walk in the Spirit” but I know I did the right thing when I listened to my spirit’s intuition that told me to make TammyLyn my wife and to do so as soon as possible back in late summer of 2021. I was fond of TammyLyn from the moment I met her but was hesitant to attempt to leave the “friend zone” for lots of reasons but when I got an indication in my spirit that told me “There is No Other” – I let go of all my fears and dropped everything to pursue her and to make her my wife. I was obedient to that call on my spirit back then and I have been blessed by it ever since.
Speaking of obedience, I shared yesterday’s In Touch with Dr. Charles Stanley devotional that spoke on the topic of obedience, and I am sharing Stanley’s devotional for today as well because it continues the theme – the message of obedience continues – and I believe that this is the “word” that I needed to hear, and may be the word you need to hear, to lead us into 2025 with confidence, hope, and the joy of expectation! Dr. Charles Stanley writes:
“A Small Matter of Obedience
God sees and rewards us every time we choose to obey Him—even when the decision seems insignificant.
Yesterday we learned that obeying God in small matters is essential to receiving His rewards. What He asks us to do is never insignificant—though we may not always recognize the importance of saying yes. Peter couldn’t have imagined the impact a simple boat trip would have in his life (Luke 5:1-11). But his obedience opened the door for God to bless him with a revolutionary ministry.
When we do what the Lord asks, He is pleased. But when we disobey, it costs us. God loves His children unconditionally and has a perfect plan for each one. Obeying Him ultimately will never prove disappointing, because when we do, our hearts open wide to let His power pour in.
As believers, we should ask what God wants us to do in daily situations (Matthew 6:11-12). We must learn to listen and be sensitive to His voice throughout the day. By keeping our mind attuned to Him, we’ll begin to understand the significance of some decisions we might otherwise barely notice. This awareness leads to a lifestyle of walking with the Lord and receiving His best for us.
Hindsight can help us recognize God’s blessings. Looking at the past year, can you see His wisdom in leading you to make right decisions? Make 2025 a year of obedience. Choose to trust Him, and receive the blessings He wants to give you.” – Charles Stanley
Amen. Luke 5:1-11 is the scripture reading for Stanley’s devotional and is especially meaningful to me. That passage of scripture is the passage that I selected for my first sermon in Bible college. Peter being struck by the realization that he was sitting in his boat with the Messiah caused him to declare himself to be a sinful man. In light of hearing the gospel message of grace that saved my soul, I too was cut to the heart by my sin and desperately through myself on the mercy of the Lord in tears, accepting Jesus as my Lord and Savior. Like Peter, in the presence of the Lord, I too proclaimed myself to be a sinner and was pleasantly surprised by and immediately accepted Jesus’ call to come into His kingdom.
As this year ends today, I have been receiving constant reminders through my experiences and through Christian messages that it is through Christ alone that we are given the power and the authority to overcome the devil and to become the people God created us to be and all we have to do to experience freedom and victory is to simply believe in Jesus and to obey the call He puts on our life. While I could be upset over my stumbling, Jesus doesn’t call us to look back at out mistakes. He calls us to abide with Him and to pick up our cross and to follow Him into the life He has for us.
Not obeying God’s word doesn’t hurt the Lord, but boy does it cost us. Not only does it cost us the negative consequences of sin and its resultant shame and guilt, but it also costs us the progress we could make and most importantly it costs us the peace and joy that we could know by walking in obedience with the Lord. Making progress feels good. Knowing that we are doing what is right according to God’s word feels good. And enjoying harmony in the presence of the Lord feels wonderful. ‘
God’s love is a constant but to experience the fullness of it sometimes we have to get out of our own way by recognizing when we are wandering away from God by comparing ourselves to the world’s standards and choosing its ways to satisfy our flesh and settling for less than what He has for us. Simple obedience and enjoying the Lord’s presence leads to blessings and I for one am choosing to follow the Lord into the new year by dropping the things I have been distracted by and picking up only God wants me to carry. Trust in the Lord by friends and follow Him.
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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 Humility (Pride).
Matthew 5:3 (ESV) Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Today’s verses are the second of two passages of scripture that fall under the second point of our counseling reference guide resource’s section on Humility (Pride).
2. Listen carefully to what Jesus says.
Today’s Bible verse is one that is used often at Celebrate Freedom, our Christian recovery/discipleship support group, and it often puzzles those who are new to hearing it. What does it mean to be “poor in spirit” and why in the world would those who are poor in spirit get the kingdom of heaven.
Wouldn’t the rich in spirit get the kingdom? What’s the deal, Jesus?
Well from what I have come to understand, the truth is that in and of ourselves there are none that are “rich in Spirit” and the word of God in Romans 3:11 tells us that none seek after God and we all fall short of the glory of God. In essence we are all spiritually bankrupt!
But many of us our deceived into believing that we are good enough for God’s kingdom. We wrongfully surmise that our good works will save us, and we then make the cardinal sin in trusting in ourselves rather than in trusting God for our salvation. Thinking we are rich we reject God’s offer of grace, and we go to hell. This may be why Jesus said it was so difficult for the rich to make it into God’s kingdom – they thought they could do it on their own, but they can’t.
Thus, the spiritually poor – those who know they are without any hope of saving themselves and those who see their need of Jesus as Lord and Savior – are the ones who will come into the kingdom of heaven. They will get the kingdom because they will see their own bankruptcy and choose to receive the riches of God’s grace that comes through faith in Christ alone.
So remember, and rejoice, that although we could be saddened by our poor spiritual state, the Lord has blessed us with the Truth, the Way, and the Life – Jesus – that can save us and lead us to live in the mansions that He has prepared for us in the kingdom of heaven!
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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 42
Watch yourselves, that you don’t lose that which you have worked for, but rather that you may receive a full reward. – 2 John 8
John wanted the elect lady to be sure that she didn’t lose the reward that she had worked for. It is possible to do, you know. Evidently, she had already accumulated a substantial share of heavenly treasures. But they were threatened. False teachers were in her community seeking a place to live while peddling their wares. To “greet” such persons, by offering hospitality, was to have a part in their “evil deeds” (v. 10). Cults today look for homes to use as a base of operations in the community. Christians may enable them to spread falsehood by opening their homes to them. The elect lady must have been a hospitable person, who unknowingly might have done so. In addition, she herself was also liable to accept their teaching and “go beyond” the truth taught by John (v. 9). Since many are looking for “something more,” this is an ever-present danger. But you can’t go “beyond” what God has said in His all-sufficient Word without leaving the way of truth. Like her, you too must avoid the temptation to do so.[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), 50.
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