Responsibility and the Formula for Personal Growth – Purity 1722
Purity 1722 07/29/2025 Purity 1722 Audio Podcast
Purity 1722 on YouTube:
Good morning,
Today’s photo of a pleasant cloud-filled blue sky over a northeast pine-shore lake scene comes to us from an unknown FB friend who shared this pleasant summer scene on social media back on June 23, 2023. An AI-assisted search suggests that this is a photo of Lake St. Katherine, Vermont so if this photo is yours let us know if that is correct and we will photo-credit you on the blog after the fact.
Well, It’s Tuesday and it is going to be another hot one in the upstate NY today as the forecast calls for a high of 94 degrees, but with that said, I will have to take the heat advisory under advisement as the responsibilities of stewardship to my home and my busy schedule demands that I mow my lawn after work.
The gifts of home ownership come with the implicit responsibility to care for your property and as much as I was contemplating a quick after work trip to the beach at Grafton State Park, I realize that a responsible man has to do what a responsible man has to do and that the weather may not accommodate mowing on my next night off on Thursday. So, I will do my best to stay hydrated and get the lawn done regardless of the challenge that our local heat wave may bring. When God gives you something, you should take care of it.
Similarly, if you are born again, God has given you a new life in Christ Jesus and He has also given us His word to teach us about Him and how He expects us to represent His kingdom. You could say the Bible gives us a formula for personal growth and as it turns out that is the title of the In Touch with Dr. Charles Stanley devotion today, go figures. So, I am sharing it on the blog today to encourage us all to be responsible with the life that God has given us and to grow into the people He created us to be. Dr. Charles Stanley writes:
“Formula for Personal Growth
As you read the Bible today, ask God to show you how to live the truth He reveals.
James 1:22-25
Growing in Christ involves more than just attending church, tithing, and listening to sermons. There are two necessary elements: instruction and involvement.
Our Savior proved the importance of instruction by devoting much of His time to it. And the apostle Paul wrote many letters to educate Christians about godliness. For every believer, learning truth is vital to a healthy walk with God.
So how can we gain knowledge and understanding? One of the most effective ways is to read the Word of God. Scripture instructs us that just as newborns crave milk, we are to desire His Word so that we might grow.
Yet simply listening to the truth does not mean that we’ve acquired it. We have to apply the Word to our life. Even so, actual growth requires more than merely inputting information—it requires action. James 2:26 states, “For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.”
Are we listening intently and abiding in the truth? If we’re truly maturing, our life will be increasingly Christlike, and our desires will align more closely with God’s heart.” – Charles Stanley
Amen. After being born again by a radio message in 2010, the Holy Spirit really gave me a desire to read God’s word and as I grew in my faith, I realized that I wasn’t directed to the Bible to just learn what it said. God gave me a desire to read His word to change me into the person He created me to be.
But that doesn’t mean I understood that right away!
Early in my walk, I thought I could just stay the way I was – to continue in my sins – but now with God’s forgiveness- Praise Jesus!
I am embarrassed to admit that but it’s true. So when I read the Bible in the beginning, I thought I was doing it to learn about God and to sort of prove that I was actually a Christian. With my warped way of thinking -I guess I would say – “yeah, I may be a sinner… BUT I AM Saved – I even read the BIBLE! So there!”
Like I indicated, I had a lot of learning to do!
But a funny thing happened as I read the Bible – I got convicted by what it said about my drunkenness and I realized that what happened to me when I accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior was about more than just the forgiveness of my sins and going to heaven.
It was about becoming part of God’s family and representing His kingdom through the way I lived. It was about knowing, really knowing, the wisdom of living according to God’s word. It was receiving the revelation of God’s love and understanding that His instructions are given to benefit and bless me with the pathway to peace, love, and joy.
So get understanding by reading God’s word, but also understand that His word calls us to a new life, that may be challenging, but that is the means to becoming the person God made us to be and the way to ultimate peace and happiness – not born out of pleasant earthly circumstances but out of understanding our place in God’s kingdom and the circumstances of living in it right now.
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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 Overcoming Sin – Changing.
John 8:31–36
John 8:34–36 (ESV) Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin. The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. So, if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”
Today’s verses fall under the eighth point of our counseling reference guide resource section on Overcoming Sin – Changing.
8. By nature we are slaves to sin. Jesus came to set us free.
Today’s Bible verses are the words of Jesus, who directs us to be set free from our sins and to enjoy the benefits of sonship in God’s kingdom.
Jesus’ words here are a little scary as they could indicate that those who commit sin and remain in a lifeful lifestyle may not be true members of God’s kingdom as he states: “the slave does not remain in the house forever” but “the son remains forever”. Jesus ends this statement with the assurance that if He sets us free, we will be freed indeed indicating that sonship is accompanied by the fruit of a transformed life – that sin is turned from and left in the past of those who believe.
So don’t take your habitual or besetting sins lightly. Jesus came to set us free and if your heart is hard against the idea of abandoning our sinful ways you should be concerned whether or not you are in fact saved. God calls us to repentance and freedom and those are the blessing of sonship that we enjoy if we are freed indeed.
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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 221
As they went they were cleansed. – Luke 17:14
There are two factors concerning the healing of the ten lepers that are of note. First, it was in obedience to the command of Jesus that they were healed. He told them “Go show yourselves to the priest” (v. 13). But a leper was only to do so after he was cleansed of leprosy. It took no faith to obey following the healing but, here, the case was different—Jesus ordered them to go before they were cleansed. The healing came only after they obeyed. This is an interesting fact. Jesus often saves the blessing until after the faith is exhibited. James says that one is “made happy in the doing” (1:25). Faith without works is dead; but it is in the work that the faith is made evident (James 2:17–18). Are you hesitant to obey Jesus’ word in some respect? Are you waiting for Him to respond to your requests before you do what He commands? Rather, in faith, obey, and you too may discover that the blessing you seek comes in the doing.[1]
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[1] Jay E. Adams, Day by Day along the Way (Cordova, TN: Institute for Nouthetic Studies, 2020), 229.
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