Forgiving the Unforgivable, A Vow for Victory & The Christian Life – What Is It? – Purity 1772
Purity 1772 09/26/2025 Purity 1772 Audio Podcast
Purity 1772 on YouTube:
Good morning,
Today’s photo of the silhouette of dock or pier’s railing against the backdrop of a large body of water at “twilight time” comes to us from an unknown FB friend who shared this peaceful scene on social media back on May 30th, 2022. An AI assisted Google search suggests that this photo is of Lake Erie, likely taken from the pier at Miller Road Park in Avon Lake, Ohio. If this memory is yours, let me know if the AI is correct and I will photo-credit you on the blog after the fact.
Well, it’s Friday and I am back at my countryside home this morning because my wife, TammyLyn, is recovering from injuries she suffered at work, from the hands of one of her students. TammyLyn is a special education teacher to middle students whose mental and emotional capacities are at the early elementary level but whose bodies are developing into young adults. Impulse and emotional control are a continual problem for her student population and acts of disobedience and aggression are the daily fare in her classroom. On Tuesday, one of her autistic students assaulted her after going into a frenzy of seemingly unexplained rage. The student was suspended and TammyLynn was treated at urgent care for the blows to her head, shoulders, and a nasty cut to the tip of her ring finger, as she used her hands to fend off the attack. So, prayer for TammyLyn would be appreciated.
Besides praying for my wife’s healing this morning, I also said a prayer of forgiveness for the autistic student that hurt my wife. Ironically, this particular student is one of my wife’s favorite pupils. His usual childlike innocence makes this rare display of aggression that much more troubling, and his parent has relayed that he has been filled with remorse over what he has done. So I forgive him. While I was extremely angry about what happened to TammyLyn, I forgave this student because I have been forgiven for all my sins, and I can relate to regrettable actions done in the throws or anger or lust. I forgive because God forgave me when I put my faith and trust in Jesus and I hold no ill will toward this young man because God holds no ill will toward me.
I was sinner and rebel for most of my life, but God’s grace has changed the person that I am. This morning, I remembered how my change once instantaneous and how the regret over my sin caused me to repent and prayer a prayer that the Lord used to become a “vow of victory”.
In Matthew 26:29 (NASB) Jesus said, “But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it with you, new, in My Father’s kingdom.”
When I went into recovery, and relapsed after 2 weeks in, I was so angry with myself that I threw away 2 weeks of sobriety, that I prayed to the Lord and committed myself to never drink again.
I used Matthew 26:29 as my motivation and prayer – reflecting both on Jesus’ “vow” to not drink of the fruit of the vine, and on the fact that He shortly went to the cross for ME after this.
If Jesus could swear off drinking until He died, so can we. Through the power of His blood and the in-dwelling presence of the Holy Spirit, we can honor the Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross by praying and fulfilling the prayers that He prayed and fulfilled.
As unholy as it was, the last time I drank became my drinking sin’s “Last Supper”, because I was cut to the heart by my failure before the Lord, the One who died to save me.
When I relapsed after I went into recovery, I was so angry with the sin of drinking because it caused me to betray my best friend, it caused me to dishonor Jesus and the testimony of Christ’s power in me.
So, I prayed and committed myself to never drink again – that for me “it was finished”. And because of God’s amazing grace and power it has been.
My drunkenness separated me from the harmony of my relationship with the Lord and after that relapse I prayed that I would never let drunkenness get in the way of my relationship with God ever again. God has been faithful to help me and set me free of the lure of drunkenness ever since.
Forgiveness and repentance are what happens when we follow Jesus. Transformation is the result of living a Christian Life, or at least it should be.
Speaking of the Christian Life, the In Touch with Dr. Charles Stanley from yesterday, address the question “What is it?”, so I am sharing it on the blog today to share the good doctor’s wisdom and to encourage us all to continue doing this thing called the “Christian Life’ even when it is hard. Dr. Charles Stanely writes:
“The Christian Life—What Is It?
Believers can depend upon the Lord for everything needed to live according to His will.
The Christian life is just that—a life, not simply a set of rules. Sadly, some believers see our faith only as a list of dos and don’ts. They reduce it to a kind of cold mathematical formula: Jesus’ saving grace plus good deeds minus bad deeds equals righteousness.
But this runs counter to Scripture. Jesus not only condemned the Pharisees’ heavy-handed religion; He also offered liberty through grace (Matthew 23:1-4; John 8:36). Neither keeping God’s law by self-effort nor adhering to extra rules makes us free.
By accepting the saving grace of Jesus, a person receives a new life and is utterly changed. (See Romans 6:4.) The mind and heart are transformed, and Christ lives through the new believer. God’s Holy Spirit flows into him or her just as sap runs in a vine. Then strength fills places where weakness once prevailed.
It’s important to realize that only works done through the Holy Spirit have lasting spiritual value. So why rely on ourselves when He will supply the courage and power to accomplish kingdom goals? Besides, trying to do good in our own strength might be well-intentioned but can lead to extreme burnout. Instead of relying on yourself, surrender to the Lord. Jesus is your life. Depend upon Him to change you from the inside out, and trust that He will.” – Dr Charles Stanley.
Amen. I have experienced the transformation that Dr. Charles Stanley was talking about and I encourage all who hear this message to continually seek the Lord’s will for you life and to surrender to His wisdom and ways.
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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 Peacemakers – Peacekeepers.
1 Peter 3:8–11 (ESV) Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind. Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing. For “Whoever desires to love life and see good days, let him keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit; let him turn away from evil and do good; let him seek peace and pursue it.”
Today’s verses fall under the twelfth point of our counseling reference guide resource section on Peacemakers – Peacekeepers.
12. Peter gives other ways by which we can promote peace and harmony.
Today’s Bible verses give us a wealth of wisdom on how to do the Christian life and to be peacemakers. We don’t just pray for it. We find the Lord’s peace by living from the heart that God has for us – one of sympathy, humility, tenderness, and love. We are to show God’s love in us by sharing it with others and by turning away from evil by doing good.
When we pursue God’s peace, according to God’s ways, we will find it along with all of the other blessings that come from a life surrendered to Him
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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 271
… this Man delivered up by God’s predetermined plan … by lawless men … – Acts 2:23
God determined it; the cross was no random event. But lawless men crucified Jesus, something they clearly wanted to do. That sequence troubles many but, as a matter of fact, it ought to help solve their theological problems. Predestination is a biblical concept; the word, itself, occurs here and there in the New Testament. People are troubled by it because they don’t think of it in the way that Peter did. Note, God predestined that people would freely do what they wanted to do. The two concepts, God’s sovereign plan, and man’s free responsible action are, here, placed in close juxtaposition without comment or difficulty. Peter assumed both to be true—just as you should. Rather than set them over against one another, the proper thing to do is place them side by side. A critical element of predestination is God willing to fulfil His plans through man’s free choice. Thank God for His sovereignty upon which we can depend. Man is free to do, but not to thwart, His eternal purposes.[1]
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[1] Jay E. Adams, Day by Day along the Way (Cordova, TN: Institute for Nouthetic Studies, 2020), 279.
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