A Spiritual Retreat & the Promises of God – Purity 1806
Purity 1806 11/05/2025 Purity 1806 Audio Podcast
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Today’s photo of serene stillness of Lake Chatuge and the magnificence of the Appalachian Mountains beyond its shores comes to us from Fred Dimmick who shared this “mountain-view” on social media back on December 2nd, 2022.
Well, it’s Wednesday and I share Fred’s photo on the blog today to visually represent our arrival at November’s first mid-week summit, happy hump day, and to encourage us all to appreciate the many gifts that the Lord has given us, including His wonderful creation. For those in the northern part of the United States, heads up, it was 31 degrees outside the walls of my place down by the River this morning, meaning that it is literally freezing outside, so don’t call me an alarmist when I say, “Winter is coming!” This past Saturday I took my first full November walk down “Freedom Road” in Easton with the full realization that the days of enjoying that full trek over tire rutted farmlands are numbered. After the snow and ice comes, we don’t go over the river and through the woods as often as we do otherwise, so let me encourage you to make the most of the Autumn season while it lasts. Time flies whether your having fun or not, so why not have some fun enjoying the great outdoors while its still above freezing in the day time?
We often don’t appreciate the things we have until they are gone and as I reach the midpoint of my last week out of work on short term disability, I recognize that I have taken for granted and squandered a lot of the time that I had available to me in spiritually meaningless pursuits. In retrospect, I have fed on a lot of secular entertainment and although I won’t condemn myself for the relatively poor choices I have made, I realize that the time I wasted on lying in bed watching secular television could have been better spent.
So today, I will be spending the day in a mini-retreat of sorts as I will attempt to read through the remainder of Trevor Hudson’s In Search of God’s Will. Depending on the media source, you could say I have “read” through it already (I have read a few chapters directly from the book and have “listened” to entire audiobook) but I want to spend the day reading through the paper version of the book and reflecting on what it has to say about my life’s journey with God.
Responding to A.W. Tozer’s quote that said “What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us”, I have said “What we do with what God’s word says about us, is the most important thing about us.” So today I hope to “do something” with what scripture and Trevor Hudson’s book reveals about God’s will for us is. Despite my best intentions, I have been struggling with self-control as of and I am hoping that a day spent “in the Spirit” will bless me with some of the fruit of the Spirit. God’s promises are true but we need to walk in the Spirit if we want to experience the fruit.
Speaking of God’s promises, the In Touch with Dr. Charles Stanley devotion from November 1st spoke on that topic and I am sharing it on the blog to remind us all about the One in whom we put our trust. Charles Stanley writes:
“The Promises of God
God always keeps His promises.
2 Corinthians 1:20-22
The Christian life is wonderfully enriched by God’s promises, for both today and the future. We can trust everything that our heavenly Father has said to us, because His Word shows Him to be …
- Truthful. The Lord knows what is true and speaks honestly in all matters. He is also omniscient and understands everything (Hebrews 4:12-13). His promises are based on His infinite knowledge and accuracy.
- Faithful. Scripture compares the Lord to a shepherd who “gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart” (Isa. 40:11 NIV). What He has planned for us, He will bring to fruition (Philippians 1:6).
- Loving. God’s love for mankind was demonstrated at the cross. This is the ultimate proof of His devotion to us.
- All-powerful. Through divine power, the world was created and death was conquered. So we know God has the ability to carry out all His plans and will do exactly what He has said.
A promise is valuable only if the one making it is trustworthy. Our Father is truthful, faithful, loving, and all-powerful. Because we are secure in the knowledge that He will do just as He has said, we can base our entire life—every decision and action—on His promises.” – Charles Stanley
Amen. When we have a biblically based knowledge of who God is, we can rest.
Secular tropes of God as an angry judge or some distant uncaring or powerless deity don’t line up with the truth of what God’s word tells us about Him.
When we receive the gospel of Jesus Christ, God reveals to us the truth of His great love for us. The Bible also reassures us about God’s power, faithfulness, and truth.
When we understand that God doesn’t lie, is all powerful and is faithful and loving to those who have put their faith in Jesus, we can rest in the certainty of His care for us.
The old adage that “everything is going to be alright” is true for those who have put their faith in Jesus because we can trust that God will keep the promises that He makes to His children.
Rejoice that you have been saved and rest assured knowing that God’s plan for your life is good and His promises for you will be fulfilled.
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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 10:17–20 (ESV) Beware of men, for they will deliver you over to courts and flog you in their synagogues, and you will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness before them and the Gentiles. When they deliver you over, do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say, for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour. For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.
Today’s verses fall under the sixth point of our counseling reference guide resource section on Persecution.
6. If you are falsely accused, trust God to lead you.
Today’s Bible verses assure us that when we face persecution the Lord will not leave us and can speak through us in desperate times.
Mother Teresa once said that “God has not called me to be successful; He has called me to be faithful,” and it is a great quote because the truth is that our ministry may not get us the public accolades that we thought it would and it may not seem very significant in the face of the magnitude of the work that we could do. Likewise, it encourages us to face hard situations that may not be resolved as we hope they would.
In the face of persecution, all hopes of success may seem lost but today’s Bible verses assure us that God is with us when we suffer and He can use us even in the worst of situations to speak for Him. We don’t have to worry about the success of our efforts, we just have to be faithful and leave the rest up 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 305
God has shown me that I shouldn’t call any man common or unclean. – Acts 10:28
This was the larger import of Peter’s vision of the tarp. It meant that he should eat with Cornelius, even though as a Jew he had previously been forbidden to do so. Gentile food was ceremonially unclean, and those who ate it were also considered unclean. Gentiles are no longer unclean, but are now eligible to be part of God’s people. That Jews used to call Gentiles unclean is noted in 1 Corinthians 7:14 where the children of unbelieving Gentiles were called unclean. But if there was a believer and an unbeliever in a marriage, Paul taught that the child was considered “holy” because one partner was part of the covenant community which Peter also proclaimed on Pentecost (Acts 2:39). This whole issue is of interest and importance, but cannot but be mentioned in this place for lack of space. It would, however, be worth the time to study it, as it relates to the Christian family.[1]
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[1] Jay E. Adams, Day by Day along the Way (Cordova, TN: Institute for Nouthetic Studies, 2020), 313.
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