Fear and Pride – Purity 1680
Purity 1680 06/10/2025 Purity 1680 Audio Podcast
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Good morning,
Today’s photo featuring the contrast of unmown and freshly cut and bale grasslands, a horizon of darker evergreen trees, underneath the contrast of white clouds and a blue sky comes to us from yours truly as I captured this scene on McGuire School Road, in Delanson NY back on July 20 2020.
Well, it’s Tuesday and as I think back to the year of the pandemic, I can’t help but remember that fear that seemed to permeate the atmosphere even on a nice summer day like this. My fears of Covid-19 were basically gone by July, because I had worked 16 hour days in the “danger zone”, had gotten sick (before tests were available), and survived. But I still remember that summer and how governmental state social distancing and mask policies were still in effect and how you could almost forget about the pandemic and the fears it caused until you came into contact with other people or situations that showed that fear was still very much on high alert for some. Incredibly, those fears still exist to this day as we can still, and I suppose we will always, see people “protecting their health” with masks. Do what you like, but I don’t think that God intended us to walk the earth in constant fear of losing the life that He has blessed us with.
Because I have put my trust in Jesus, I have confidence that when I die I will be with God in His kingdom – that belief was really put to the test in the uncertain early days of the pandemic – but I was strengthen when I put my fears aside and trusted that God would be with me in life or death and worked those two “essential” jobs to start a new life on the other side of a contentious divorce. My fear of death has been conquered by my faith in Jesus and God’s faithful interactions in my life. However, I understand that my assurance and lack of fear is not typical among my fellow man because that don’t have faith in Jesus and haven’t had the experiences in life or with God that I have. So, when I encounter fearful people I try to have compassion and empathy for them, even if the fear they suffer from is exacerbated by the way they live their lives.
Recently, I had an encounter with a member of the LBTGQ community whose simple home was equipped with video surveillance and security systems that seemed extremely out of proportion to the environment they were in. I understand that hate and the real threat of hate crimes against this sector of our community is a reality, so I don’t disparage anyone from putting measures in place to try to give them a sense of safety and peace but as I considered the ultimate questions of eternal security, my heart ached because this person’s “pride” could get in the way of them ever really knowing peace.
In my pre-Christ days, I know how prideful I was and how I abandoned my liturgical church upbringing because I didn’t want to be called a sinner or have to worry about having any restrictions on my sexual freedom and the way I wanted to live my life. Instead of listening to Christian messages or research how I should live my life according to God, I rejected Christianity in the name of freedom even though I was actually in bondage to pleasure seeking in all its forms – sex, food, drugs, alcohol, and doing whatever I wanted. I even supported friends in their LGTBQ lifestyles because I thought that the warnings against it was based on ignorance or grounded in hate. But now I know that all of God’s warnings about sin in the Bible are based on love and are given to bring us out of the darkness of our sinful depravity.
Instead of fearing the outside world and its possible dangers, we should all fear the inevitability of our deaths and our coming before a holy God to give an account for our lives (Romans 14:12).
Our vulnerabilities to the evil that men do or the possibility of getting a disease are legitimate fears of course, but they pale in comparisons of the possibility of being judged and consigned to hell because of our prideful refusal to acknowledge the truth of God ‘s word and take Jesus’ offer of salvation.
While I wasn’t in the position to share the gospel with this fearful member of the Pride community, I do pray that they will find the peace and security that God has for them. I know when I was lost in my sins, I wouldn’t have listened to any Christian message that highlighted my sin, so in instances like this, I say a pray and trust that the Lord will do what is right and will save those who let go of their fears and pride and humble themselves to the Lordship of Christ.
If you have a fear problem, instead of putting your trust in surveillance cameras and a security system, I suggest you put your faith in Jesus as Lord and Savior to alleviate all your fears. As a second step I would recommend Dr. Neil Anderson’s “Freedom From Fear” and the “Steps to Freedom in Christ” to help you to resolve your fears. God is the ultimate fear object in that He is all powerful and ever present, but when you make peace with Him through Jesus, all your fears go away in the riches of His love.
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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 verses come from the section on Obedience – Keeping the Commandments.
James 1:22-25 (ESV) 22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. 24 For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. 25 But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.
Today’s verses are the second of three passages of scripture that falls under the eighth point of our counseling reference guide resource section on Obedience – Keeping the Commandments.
8. Listen to God’s Word and do what it says.
Today’s Bible verses encourage us to live authentic Christian lives by becoming doers of the word. God’s word teaches us how to live the Christian life but the blessings of it don’t come from just knowing about it. They come from living it.
So, when the Bible describes behaviors that you are doing that are wrong, you have to humble yourself and choose to repent of them.
God wouldn’t lead us astray and when He commands us to turn from our sins, we need to agree with Him and trust Him by applying His wisdom to our lives.
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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 179
… and the last state of that man is worse than the first. – Luke 11:26
One thing is plain about this parable of the demon’s house swept clean—human self-reformation won’t cut it. True, lasting, God-honoring change is the product of regeneration and the granting of a new heart by God’s Spirit. Self-reformation leads to a state worse than before self-reformation occurred. John’s ministry, like Elijah’s, brought temporary, not lasting results. Briefly, the “house” of Israel had been swept clear. But then it reverted. Self-made men, for instance, will often let you know the fact, as the Pharisees amply demonstrated. They can become insufferable boors who can never talk enough about themselves. If proud, self-exalted men aren’t all that was meant by the “seven others more wicked,” then you will discover other traits equally as harmful. There is no doubt that those who are outside of Christ scatter, become all the more wicked, and do all the more damage to the flock.[1]
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[1] Jay E. Adams, Day by Day along the Way (Cordova, TN: Institute for Nouthetic Studies, 2020), 187.
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