Practicing Appreciation – Soaking in Joy – Purity 1586
Purity 1586 02/19/2025 Purity Audio Podcast 1586
Purity 1586 on YouTube:
Good morning,
Today’s photo of ethereal blue skies over the waters of House Creek from the vantage point of “Creek Dock” comes to us from yours truly as I decided to capture this peaceful scene while “practicing appreciation” at the Heritage Shores Nature Preserve in North Myrtle Beach yesterday afternoon.
Well, it’s Wednesday and as we approach the summit of another week, I am in that bizarre in-between state that sometimes happens when you go in vacation, where you have begun to get used to your “new life” as a vacationer but where you simultaneously realize the fallacy that “this is not my beautiful house” and “this is not your beautiful life”, and you may begin to miss things from back home and you may already begin grieving (or rejoicing over) the loss of our your vacation existence as each new morning marks one less day in paradise.
I lead men’s support or discipleship groups regularly and one of the things that I point out as an ice breaker or to build rapport with the men are the things that most men have in common. For instance, for most men, we are the providers for our families, and we have certain responsibilities that our solely ours. For somethings the buck stops with us and us alone, or at least we may feel that way.
One of those responsibilities that I point out that seems to be universal among the men t have led is taking care of our families while on vacation and the immense relief we feel when we arrive safely back at home. We are the “man of the family” after all and regardless of what role we play in planning our vacations or meeting individual or family needs while on vacation, we sense that ultimately we are responsible for our family’s safety and have to be diligent in protecting our loved ones from any and all threats to their wellbeing. This is a primal God given instinct to protect the ones we love and only when we are relatively assured that “everything is okay” can we relax, and for most men, that assurance isn’t felt completely until we arrive safely home to our own doorsteps. Have you ever noticed that some of the men you have vacationed with have difficulty in relaxing? This may be a small part of why that is.
Anyway, while I did miss not hosting the Freedom in Christ Course last night and won’t be leading the Celebrate Freedom Support Group at Starpoint Church tonight, because I am away, I don’t miss work or home too much and have been able to relax here in Myrtle Beach. While I did feel like a fish out of water at first, after I established my “new normal” and continued with my daily spiritual practices of physical exercise, blogging, Bible Study, and prayer I quickly acclimated to my new environment and feel “at home” at my luxury vacation accommodations. and thus, that strange “in-between state” feeling of unreality. I feel acclimated and fully adjusted to my “new vacation life” here in Myrtle Beach that will disintegrate and disappear in just over 48 hours! Talk about living in the “here and not yet” flux of Christian existence!
Just like I am living in God’s kingdom currently because I am in Christ, but am not there fully because Christ has yet to return and establish it fully, I am currently living in a temporary existence of “heavenly accommodations” but won’t really know the ultimate joy of my life until my wife and I are under one roof, or I “retire”, or until God’s kingdom comes.
There are many chapters to our lives after all, and this short vacation, is just another one that shows us how quickly we can be “here today” and gone tomorrow.
These changes in life can cause us to grieve or to be in distress, but when we walk in the Spirit, realize that God’s kingdom is our ultimate home, and know how to live in the context of who we are in Christ, we can have peace and “return to joy” continually.
Yesterday, my wife and I went on a couple of hikes, or short walks, at pair of local nature preserves where we got the chance to see some of the local flora and fauna and where I was able to do one of my spiritual practices that helps me to focus on the good things in life and to build my emotional resilience – I got to “practice appreciation”.
Practicing appreciation is one of the core habits or skill sets that I encourage people that I support or disciple to learn and practice to help them navigate through life and to give them the emotional resilience to do hard things or to “suffer well” when they experience trials. I learned about practicing appreciation during my training at Deeper Walk International School of Prayer Ministry, and through Hinman & Warner’s book, Building Bounce and share these skills because I recognized the need for Christians to understand that their faith in Christ has given them all they need for life and godliness and they could actually experience that truth if they understood how to direct their thoughts and attention to what God would point them too.
Practicing appreciation is one way where we can meditate on the things that are “true, noble, just, pure, lovely, good, virtuous, or praiseworthy” what Philippians 4:8 points us to. To quote Warner & Hinman, “Appreciation is needed in order to train your brain to focus on what there is to enjoy in life.” and the way, we do this is by “staying in a state of appreciation for five minutes or longer two or more times each day” and “then sharing what you appreciate with someone else. Sharing appreciation with others takes it from simply being a task we perform to an experience of relational joy. Doing this twice a day as an ongoing habit will help you grow your capacity to bounce back from hard emotions. (Warner & Hinman, Building Bounce, Page 15, 2020).
So yesterday, as I was experiencing the joy of the serene quiet stillness and the scenic beauty of the view from the Creek Dock at the Heritage Shores Nature Preserve in North Myrtle Beach, I paused and just “soaked in the joy” of the moment for 5 minutes or so before moving along in our hike. And now I am telling you about it! It was beautiful, the way there was a cool breeze, and sunshine, and the way the waters of House Creek flowed and trickled by the dock, and how everything was peaceful and quiet, except for the birds singing and calling to one another. It’s moments like this, where we can have simple peace, that we need to connect with. They are so sweet and when we thank God for them, as I did, we realize just how good our lives are and how very good our God is.
So, check out Hinman and Warner’s book, or just follow the simple instructions I have shared here, and build your emotional resilience through the practice of appreciation. Life is good and God is good, but we need to make a regular practice of appreciating those facts, wherever we go, to allow them to help us to experience peace and joy and to become the “joy-filled” people that God created us to be.
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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. (The Quick Scripture Reference for Counseling By John G. Kruis on Amazon )
This morning’s meditation verse comes from the section on Imitating Jesus.
1 John 3:2–3 (NIV) Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.
Today’s verses fall under the tenth point of our counseling reference guide resource’s section on Imitating Jesus.
10. The hope (certainty) of one day seeing Jesus face-to-face and being perfectly conformed to his image should motivate us to seek to be pure, even as he is pure.
Today’s Bible verses remind us of our ultimate destiny – to be with Jesus Christ in His eternal kingdom – and encourage us to be like the One we will one day be with.
That concept of “now and not yet” comes through these verse that tell us “now we are children of God” and “what we will be has not yet been made known”. We haven’t “fully arrived yet” but these words tell us that we will be like Jesus, when He appears, and that because we will one day be like Him, we should purify ourselves because He is pure.
This means we are to forsake the things of the world and repent of our sinful ways of the past to live a life that will reflect the purity of Jesus. God doesn’t tell us to stop sinning and to purify ourselves to take away our fun. He calls us to purity because He is pure and when we are more like Him, we will know the peace, joy, and love that is common to His kingdom.
So, rejoice that you are a child of God and enter into the life that you have already been given by following Christ’s example of purity.
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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 85
Yahweh possessed me at the beginning of His ways, before His works of old; – Proverbs 8:22
Wisdom belongs to God—and to Him alone. From the foundation of the earth, God has exhibited wisdom in all His doings (vv. 22–29). In creation, wisdom was at God’s side (v. 30). No wonder wisdom is so prominent in Proverbs; she is intimately associated with God Himself. All that God does is wise. He would graciously have us closely associate with her. Indeed, since wisdom and God are virtually inseparable, to fail to pursue her friendship is to reject God Himself. That’s why wisdom goes on to explain, “So now, my sons, listen to me: they are happy who keep my ways” (v. 32). If you are willing to go through life foolishly rather than sensibly, reject wisdom. Wisdom is more than knowledge of truth; it is truth applied. And applied as God would have it applied! Wisdom doesn’t come to those who sit and stare; it is possessed only by those who earnestly seek her. Do you? If not, why not? How naïve can you be?[1]
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[1] Jay E. Adams, Day by Day along the Way (Cordova, TN: Institute for Nouthetic Studies, 2020), 93.
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