The Rocky Christian Way and Quieting Your Soul – Purity 1807
Purity 1807 11/06/2025 Purity 1807 Audio Podcast
Purity 1807 on YouTube:
Good morning,
Today’s photo of a rocky trail cutting through an autumn forest of pines and deciduous trees comes to us from yours truly as I captured this peaceful scene in the early going of a hike up the Lye Brook Falls Trail in Manchester Vermont back on November 4th, 2023.
Well, it’s Thursday and I share today’s pathway photo as a visual reminder and encouragement to get on or to stay on the path of Christian discipleship where the going may not always be easy but where we can find strength as we pause along the way.
As I can recall the Lye Brook Falls Trail in Vermont wasn’t too difficult but it definitely had its ups and downs, over rocks and roots, and it culminates in an up hill climb to see the falls. I would say that it is worth the trip if you have never been but you may want to bring along a bottle of water or two for the 4.5 mile round trip and take periodic rest breaks because the time estimate for its relatively short distance is 3 to 4 hours because of the 740-925 foot elevation gain.
Similarly, if you are trying to walk through life as a Christian, you may want to prepare yourself for trials and tribulations that come with living by faith and you want to continually refresh yourself with regular rest periods of prayer and ample amounts of the “water of the Word” of God. When we focus on the difficulties of life our natural tendency is to only see the negative aspects of what we are going through and we tend to think about them repeatedly, which would naturally lead us into anxiety, depression, or despair. But when we ground ourselves in the truth of God’s word, spend time in silent reflection, and practice gratitude and appreciation for who God is and for what He has given us, we can have our strength restored and we can see all the good that God has provided us with.
At Celebrate Freedom, we practice quieting and encourage our participants to have a quiet time with God because we have learned the immense benefits that come from “quieting our souls”. Speaking of quieting our souls, the In Touch with Dr. Charles Stanley devotion from Sunday spoke on this topic so we are sharing it on the blog today to encourage us to “do what Jesus did”. Charle Stanley writes:
“Quieting Your Soul
Have you spent time alone with the Lord today?
Psalms 131:1-2
Have you ever wanted to strengthen your prayer life? Let’s look at what Jesus modeled for us by spending time with His Father:
- Solitude. The Lord was constantly surrounded by people as He tended to their needs. But He also understood His own need for seclusion and would often retreat to pray in private.
- Time. No matter what else was going on, Jesus intentionally protected periods of time so He could rest in the Spirit, focus on His relationship with the Father, and build up His physical and emotional strength.
- Stillness. What does it means to “be still”? Psalm 46:10 calls us to stillness with these words: “Cease striving and know that I am God.” To learn this boundless inner peace, periodically stop everything you’re focused on doing and simply let your soul become aware of the Holy Spirit’s presence. In today’s reading, David describes this calm state as that of a “weaned child” who is at perfect rest and happy just to be in his mother’s arms.
Make these essentials a priority each day, and you’ll reap tremendous benefits in your walk of faith. Doing so may seem challenging at first, but when you quiet your heart before the Lord, you’ll discover how much you need the peace of His presence. It is truly a priceless gift. – Charles Stanley
Amen. The death and resurrection of Jesus shows us the way to eternal life but the life of Jesus shows us the way to live in God’s kingdom before we enter into eternity. Jesus’ life shows us how to live the spiritual life right now and when we look at His example we realize that His prayer life and His connection to God the Father seemed to be the source of His wisdom and power.
We get a clue about this from Jesus’ words in John 4:19-20 where he said “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner. “For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself is doing; and the Father will show Him greater works than these, so that you will marvel.
So where did Jesus get to see what the Father was “doing” (what God was preparing for Jesus to do)? I would speculate that Jesus received the will of the Father during His time spent alone in prayer. Whether God was giving Jesus divine visions of what to do or if He was just receiving intuitions of what God’s will was, isn’t revealed but according to Jesus’ own testimony in scripture we gather that what Jesus was teaching and doing what was given to Him from the Father.
The Apostles noticed this connection between Jesus and the Father and asked that He teach them to pray. The gospels of Luke and Matthew give us the Lord’s prayer as a way to draw close to God the Father but Jesus personal prayer habits also show us to take the time to go into solitude and silence (alone) to pray. Jesus’ life directs us to receive the Father’s help through quiet times of prayer, listening and talking to God.
So, follow Jesus’ example with your prayer life – set some time aside, get alone, and enjoy the stillness in the presence of God. Ask for His help and listen for His guidance. Ask for His strength and His receive His power.
The Christian life isn’t just difficult. It’s impossible! But with God guiding us, giving us strength and wisdom, we discover that living a simple and righteous life and becoming the people that God created us to be is possible, and that it just happens to be the pathway that leads to abounding peace, joy, and love.
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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 Corinthians 4:8–9 (NIV) We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.
Today’s verses are the first of two passages of scripture that fall under the seventh point of our counseling reference guide resource ection on Persecution.
7. One need not get depressed due to severe persecution. Paul testifies to that.
Today’s Bible verses give us the hope of perseverance.
Paul didn’t sugar coat things. He told it like it “T-I Tis”! Hard pressed on every side, perplexed, persecuted, and struck down doesn’t sound like a good day to me at all! But our man, Paul also boldly declares that he is not crushed, not in despair, not abandoned, and not destroyed. How can this be? Because Paul knew that the Lord was with him in his sufferings and that higher truth, transcended the very negative circumstances that he was experiencing to give him the strength and hope to carry on. Paul had seen Jesus and the power of God moving in and through him. Paul knew the secrets of life and death were answered in Christ Jesus and looked beyond the pain of what he was going through to see the glory of the Lord in all things. Paul suffered for a higher purpose and even though the going was tough, the Holy Spirit gave him the strength to keep going.
So recognize that you too have “seen Jesus” and that you know the same things that Paul knew. His words can inspire us to persevere and thrive through life because of God’s help and purpose for us. In Christ we are never defeated, so rise up in victory and keep going to where the Lord leads you regardless of the circumstances.
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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 306
While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell on all those who heard his message. – Acts 10:44
This event was the “Gentile Pentecost.” Just as at the Jewish Pentecost the Spirit was poured out on Jews, now, again, He was poured out upon this Gentile gathering as they heard with faith and were baptized (see 1 Corinthians 12:13). Water baptism, which symbolized spiritual baptism, followed the Spirit’s anointing. As a privilege for his confession of Jesus as Messiah, Peter had been given the keys (plural) to the church (Matthew 16:18). He was the first to unlock the door to the church for the Jews, and now the first to open it for the Gentiles. The church, which replaced national Israel, was a “new man,” as Paul put it, composed of Jew and Gentile alike. This fact so shocked some in the early church that even Peter continued to have problems with it (Galatians 2:11–16). You, too, must be careful to make no other distinction than that between the saved and lost.[1]
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[1] Jay E. Adams, Day by Day along the Way (Cordova, TN: Institute for Nouthetic Studies, 2020), 314.
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