Vacations, The Path of True Life, and Being Released from the Burden of Sin – Purity 1797
Purity 1797 10/25/2025 Purity 1797 Audio Podcast
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Good morning,
Today’s photo of a sun shining over a side walk pathway leading to a quaint country church comes to us from yours truly as I captured this scene on my lengthy morning excursion yesterday that included this stop at the Easton United Methodist Church.
Well, it’s Saturday and since yesterday’s spontaneous 5-mile walk, my wife TammyLyn and I have headed north into the Adirondacks for a family weekend getaway where I find myself sharing this message from a cabin at the Spacious Skies campground on Blue Ridge Road in North Hudson.
The hectic pace of our day to day normal busy lives can leave us feeling the burden of the status quo and vacations or “weekend holidays” are one way that the travel industry suggests where you can literally leave your troubles behind. The idea is that a change of scenery, new places, and some fun activities will help you to leave your troubles behind, give you a way to relieve stress, and help you to focus on what really matters – the enjoyment of your individual life and the relationships that are closest to you.
Of course, there is no guarantee that a short trip will give you the peace you are looking for. After all the problems at home will be still there when you get back and trouble could find you on the road just as easily on the road, a point that was made clear yesterday as father-in-law and brother-in-law ran into some unexpected problems with their trailers and my mother-in-law tripped and fell over a camp fire ring in the early evening hours last night!
Beyond those life burdens that we can experience at home or away, there are other things that bring us down that no vacation can solve. If we want true lasting peace and the enjoyment of our lives, we need to do more than temporarily change our circumstances, we need to deal with the issues of meaning and purpose and find the path to true life – the path that sets us free from the burden of sin and death.
Speaking of the burden of sin, the In Touch with Dr. Charles Stanley devotion for today addresses that topic, so I am sharing it on the blog today, to remind or to show those who don’t know the way to being set free from life’s biggest burden. Dr. Charles Stanley writes:
“The Burden of Sin
Jesus loves you so much that He gave His life to have a relationship with you.
Romans 5:12-21
The burdens we carry come in all shapes and sizes. Many are weighty, but there’s one load that proves even heavier—and it can be traced back to the garden of Eden.
Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit (Genesis 3:6), and all people have suffered the consequences. The Bible says that every one of us has gone astray, like a sheep wandering from his shepherd (Isaiah 53:6). So on our own, we are unable to fellowship with God.
But our Creator loved us so much that He sent His own Son to live a perfect life on earth. Jesus deserved all glory, honor, and praise, yet He healed us from sin by dying on the cross in our place. And then He conquered death itself by rising to life again.
The Savior longs for us to accept that He willingly gave Himself to redeem us and relieve the burden of sin in our heart. Only then will we experience true life and freedom.
Have you received God’s free gift of salvation? Jesus loves you so much that He gave His life in order to have a relationship with you. When you believe in Him and accept His death as your undeserved atonement for sin, He forgives you for all unrighteousness and welcomes you onto the path of true life. – Charles Stanley
Amen. We have enough burdens in life without the burden of our sin. Although the world is a beautiful creation that contains everything we need to live and prosper, we are responsible for seeking those things out and procuring them for ourselves and our families. Life is a continual challenge of meeting our physical needs and being a good steward to what we have received. The burden of life is ours to bear until we enter eternity.
If that wasn’t enough to have to deal with, our hearts and the word of God tell us that there is a certain way to live our lives beyond just getting our physical needs met. Although it may not be easy to do, Gods reveals to us that there is a right way to live our lives and when we deviate from His standards of conduct, we “miss the mark”. Not only does the Bible inform us that we sin, it also tells us that the consequences of our sin is death!
This is our spiritual burden that makes life even more challenging. We can’t just do as we please and take what we want in life by any means necessary. Some actions are evil and God’s word makes it clear that our lives, which we work so hard to maintain, will be taken from us if we don’t reconcile ourselves to God.
However, God is gracious and made a way for our sins to be forgiven. God made a way to take away this spiritual burden through faith in Jesus Christ.
When we put our faith in Jesus, the weight of our sin is taken away, and we can enjoy life more abundantly because our fear of punishment and death are taken away. In Christ, we are free to experience peace and joy.
So, if you want one less burden in life and you need the guilt and shame of your sin to be taken away, put your faith in Jesus.
If you have done that already, thank the Lord for His forgiveness and love, and walk through life with the assurance that your burden of sin has been taken away and that God will move all things together for your good until you see Him in His eternal kingdom.
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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 Persecution.
2 Timothy 3:10–14 (ESV) You, however, have followed my teaching, my conduct, my aim in life, my faith, my patience, my love, my steadfastness, my persecutions and sufferings that happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, and at Lystra—which persecutions I endured; yet from them all the Lord rescued me. Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it.
Today’s verses are the second of three passages of scripture that falls under the first point of our counseling reference guide resource section on Persecution.
1. Why do people persecute Christians, even when they are doing good?
Today’s Bible verses deliver the hard truth that all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus, will be persecuted but it also assures us that those who do evil will go from bad to worse.
So, choose your path of suffering, for yourself. While we can’t always expect that God will rescue us from all of our afflictions here on earth when we suffer for our faith, we are assured that our faith in Jesus gives us peace with God and a place in His eternal kingdom waits for us when we go into eternity.
As for who are evil or separated from God, while they may prosper on this mortal coil the truth is that they are always going from “bad to worse” because they are slowly drawing closer to their eternal punishment and separation from God in hell.
Faith in Jesus Christ is the only path to true life and although we may suffer persecution, we can have peace knowing that our faith in Jesus will deliver us to a good place where we will know and experience the goodness of God.
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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 296
Now Saul was in complete agreement with killing him. – Acts 8:1
Paul was not converted at once. Instead, he raged against the church, becoming its foremost persecutor. Yet providentially, because of the persecution that he headed, he did much to spread the church even before his conversion! How? The church had been bottled up in Jerusalem for some time, not getting on with the program outlined in Acts 1:8. Earlier we saw how they jumped the gun appointing a successor to Judas; now, they lingered. The persecution drove them into Judea and Samaria, where, according to God’s schedule (Acts 1:8), they were to go next. When God’s people are slow to obey, He may use trouble—even persecution—to effect His will. It is better to do what He commands rather than to have Him drive us to do it. But one way or another, His plans will be carried out; of that you can be sure. Jonah discovered that the hard way! God is sovereign, and men cannot stay His hand! Is there something you’ve been neglecting to do for Him? He will have it done—one way or another; of that you can be certain.[1]
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[1] Jay E. Adams, Day by Day along the Way (Cordova, TN: Institute for Nouthetic Studies, 2020), 304.
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