Burning Bushes on Halloween & Our Labor of Love – Purity 1802
Purity 1802 10/31/2025 Purity 1802 Audio Podcast
Purity 1802 on YouTube:
Good morning,
Today’s photo of burning bushes in all their autumnal glory in front of a rustic barn and beneath a prodigious pine tree and a magnificent cloud filled blue sky comes to us from yours truly as I captured this peaceful on Monday, October 27th, at the request of my siding contractor.
Well, It’s Halloween Friday, thank God, and I am navigating the tight rope of joy and sorrow this morning because although I look forward to my barn’s siding makeover, in order to get it done those magnificent red bushes and other trees next to the barn will have to be removed. Before this morning I didn’t even know what those bushes were called but a AI assisted google search told me that they are burning bushes, “scientifically known as Euonymus alatus, which is native to Asia and was once a popular ornamental shrub in landscaping due to its stunning color and low-maintenance nature.” Considering my Christian faith, burning bushes are exactly what I would want on my property, and they are low maintenance. I have been at my place down by the River for five years and I haven’t had to do anything with them, although maybe I should have because they are quite tall now, making their removal perhaps more difficult than it needed to be. Anyway, life goes on and believe me when I say that I wish that the only cost to my upcoming construction projects was the loss of some bushes, construction costs a lot!
Similarly, the Lord paid an incredible cost to set us free, so although I understand people’s love of Halloween and all things spooky, let’s redeem Halloween by reminding anyone that we come in contact with that a great light has come into the world the overcome the spiritual forces of darkness and the darkness of sin and the grave. The light of Christ Jesus has been revealed to men for over two thousand years and wherever it shines we find the peace and joy of transformed lives.
Speaking of transformed lives, the In Touch with Dr. Charles Stanley for today talks about our new lives in Christ, so I am sharing it on the blog on this Halloween to encourage Christians to put on the costume of a disciple of Jesus Christ, each and every day. Dr. Charles Stanley writes:
“Our Labor of Love
When God calls you, the Holy Spirit provides everything needed to accomplish His will.
1 Thessalonians 1:1-5
The moment we place our trust in Jesus as our Savior, we become a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17). This is an act of love by the heavenly Father—He gives us new life and adopts us into His family. He also has a plan for every believer, with specific work for each to accomplish.
Once we are saved, the rest of our days are to be spent fulfilling God’s purposes. We are called to be Jesus’ disciples—acting on His behalf and working zealously for God, as the Savior did. Although salvation is by grace—not grace-plus-works—deeds are God’s will for us (Ephesians 2:10). The Holy Spirit carries out Jesus’ agenda on earth through the works of His followers.
God has committed Himself to guiding and equipping believers. No matter what He calls us to do, His Holy Spirit will teach us all we need to know—such as effective ways of relating, pouring ourselves out on behalf of others, and sharing our faith. He expects us to make serving Him a priority, and to surrender our resources and abilities for His use.
While we are living on earth, our lifestyle is to be one of enthusiastic, committed service in the cause of Christ. Let your work for God be a true labor of love.” – Charles Stanley
Amen. You might want to read Stanley’s message twice because it answers the question: What do I do now that I put my faith in Jesus?
Often the only advice that new Christians receive after coming into the kingdom are things like: go to church, read the Bible, pray, & pay your tithe.
As much as these things will bless our new life in Christ, if we don’t do them from a heart that loves the Lord, we will dry up, lose our hope, and may even complain about “dead religion” and wonder why the Lord has left us. Have you ever seen someone red hot in their faith who slowly went cold or leaves the church all together?
This happens when we just add our faith to our old lives – where nothing else changes except that we go to church now and maybe do some spiritual disciplines occasionally – or “religiously” rather than relationally.
As Stanley said – once we are saved the rest of our days are to be spent fulfilling God’s purposes.
Now before you think “Great! Now I have to serve at every function at my church, or I have to quit my job and become a missionary!” Relax.
Although these are certainly possibilities for your new life in Christ, we have to remember that our work for the Lord is to be a labor of love.
So, we thank God for His love, which saved us and forgave us, every day – that’s a labor of love.
We show God’s love for ourselves by examining our lives and considering ways we can lean on the Lord to transform them. We lovingly turn away from our bad habits and seek the new righteous life of peace that is only possible with God’s help. And we are lovingly patient with ourselves and take things at the pace we can handle. God is patient and he will help us every step of the way. This is a labor of love.
We show God’s love to our spouses and families by turning from our selfish ways and live them with a kindness and appreciation that they may have never known before. We are patient with them as they may have been patient with us. And if they aren’t walking with the Lord, we share the love of God through our actions as well as our words. This is a labor of love.
And finally we share the Lord’s love with the rest of the world – be it at our jobs or in the community- everywhere we go we seek to represent God’s kingdom by doing what is right and by sharing the things we have come to know – about God or about life in general – we give of ourselves in whatever ways are helpful.
This is the all-encompassing kingdom focused mindset that we are to adopt as children of God. Our new identity in Christ has given us meaning and a purpose for living but we have to choose to live this way and to do these “good works” to fulfill and realize them.
So, choose to live for love. The love of God has saved you, so you don’t have to earn it. Living this new way – as a labor of love- is also God’s gift to us but we may never enjoy it unless we choose to live for Him and His 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.
Matthew 5:43–48
Matthew 5:43–45 (ESV) You have heard that it was said, “You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.” But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.
Today’s verses are the second of three passages of scripture that falls under the third point of our counseling reference guide resource section on Persecution.
3. Do good to and pray for those who persecute you. Love your enemies.
Today’s Bible verses give us God’s view of humanity. God makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. God is no respecter of persons because He loves them all. His heart for the all of us to come to faith in Jesus Christ and so we need to recognize that even the evil among us are loved by Him and as Jesus’ disciples we are to show God’s love for them by loving our enemies and to pray for those who persecute us.
We were all separated from God before having Christ revealed to us. For most of my life I was God’s enemy, but He opened my eyes and brought me into His kingdom while I was still a sinner. Christ died for me to save me and so, as best as I can, I will try to be a light for the gospel of Jesus Christ and make friends and family out of those who were lost and enemies to 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 301
Brother Saul,.… be filled with the Holy Spirit. Then he … was baptized. – Acts 9:17
There are those who claim that you must be baptized before you can be saved. But here is evidence of the falsehood of that claim. Ananias, who was acting in accordance with a vision, called Saul “brother” before he baptized him. Just try to get one of those who believe this heresy to call you “brother” before baptism into his church! It just won’t happen—proving the fallaciousness of their teaching. An additional point to remember is that, according to 1 Corinthians 1:17, baptizing is distinct from preaching the Gospel. Paul said, “Christ did not send me to baptize, but to announce the good news.” These false teachers believe in salvation by ceremonies, and call baptism a part of the Gospel. But Paul’s separation of the two is clear! Salvation requires the baptism of the Holy Spirit, who gives life to the believer (1 Corinthians 12:13). Water baptism is merely a symbol.[1]
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[1] Jay E. Adams, Day by Day along the Way (Cordova, TN: Institute for Nouthetic Studies, 2020), 309.
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