The 5 Year Shake Up and Living Above Our Circumstances – Purity 1817
Purity 1817 11/18/2025 Purity 1817 Audio Podcast
Purity 1817 on YouTube:
Good morning,
Today’s photo of a beautiful sunset over what an AI assisted Google search tells me is Lake Ammersee in Upper Bavaria, Germany comes to us from an unknown FB friend who shared this memory back on June 27th, 2023.
Well, It’s Tuesday and as I continue to prepare myself for life’s next chapter I am filled with gratitude for the new job I start on Friday even though I’m not sure if it will develop into a full time gig and I’m grateful for the opportunity to trust God with my future. I believe in God’s sovereignty, and I know that everything that comes to pass is part of God’s plan for my life.
As I was reflecting on my life in Christ since coming to faith in 2010, I recognized that my life seems to have pivotal moments of transition every 5 years or so, where things change dramatically and those changes don’t always come easily. The truth is that God has moved my life dramatically continuously during my 15 years as a follower of Jesus, but I just look at those 5-year marks I see the following:
2010 – Born Again – From Buddhism to Bible
2015 – Recovery & the Beginning of Recovery Ministry Service & MT4Christ.org Blog
2020 – (Divorce completed 2019) New Home, End of 16-hour working days, completed my master’s in Christian counseling, Began Certification for Freedom in Christ Ministries – End of Celebrate Freedom Hudson Recovery Ministry – Begin Freedom Ministry
2025 – 3rd Marriage Anniversary, 2nd year of Celebrate Freedom Starpoint Church, 3rd Year Online Course Facilitator for FICM, 1st year of Christian Life Coaching in the black, Work Injury & Loss of 28-year career. 1st year Renovare Book Club Online Group & a new job at UPS.
Those anniversaries for this year shows us that the Lord doesn’t necessarily wait every 5 years to make changes to your life, as I said, my life has begin in a continuous state of flux because when you decide to live as a disciple and serve the Lord in ministry, He constantly is renewing your mind and bringing new people and situations into your life. Although experiencing new things, perhaps in familiar contexts, all the time, can be daunting, but I am thankful for this life in the Spirit because it has prepared and equipped me for challenging situations, like suddenly losing your job.
Life in the Spirit teaches you to adapt to life’s transitions and to rely on the Lord to see you through. At last night’s Renovare Book Club discussion, I pointed out how Trevor Hudson’s In Search of God’s will defines discernment as “learning to recognize God’s active presence and to listen to God’s voice so that we may bring our lives into harmony with what God wants for us and play our part in keeping God’s big dream for the world alive.[1]” Discerning God’s will for our lives requires that we see Him working in all things – in our hearts and minds, in our relationships, in our jobs (or lack there off), and in our circumstances – to be able to find the meaning and purpose in our lives. When things get shaken up by changing circumstances, good or bad, we have to realize that God is fully aware of what is going on, and He is using those things to move you closer to Him.
Speaking of God using all things to move us to see His perspective, the In Touch with Dr. Charles Stanley devotion from yesterday spoke on this topic and I am sharing it on the blog today to remind us that there is no problem or situation that is too big for God. Dr. Charles Stanley writes:
“Living Above Our Circumstances
Problems can distort our perspective, but carrying challenges straight to God provides clarity.
Philippians 1:12-18
While under house arrest, Paul wrote his letter to the Philippians. Though he probably lived somewhere more comfortable than a prison, Paul was more than likely chained to a Roman soldier 24 hours a day. And that had been the case for two years. What’s more, the future was uncertain.
Under such circumstances, Paul might have thought to ask the Lord to release him. After all, God had called him to preach, to disciple believers, and to reach the Gentiles. But he was stuck in Rome, unable to plant new churches or visit those whom he was nurturing by letter. If anyone had a right to gripe, surely it was Paul. Yet His letter to the church at Philippi is filled with rejoicing (Philippians 4:8).
Problems can look so big and unwieldy that they distort our perspective, but carrying challenges straight to God provides clarity and keeps us anchored in truth. The Lord is bigger than any hardship. With His strength, we rise higher than the difficulty. God invites us to live above our circumstances by fastening our eyes on Him. The trials of this life shrink when compared to our loving, powerful Lord, who exercises His might in defense of His people.” – Charles Stanley
Amen. The Lord is bigger than any hardship that we will face in this life. And that is saying a lot!
In this life, we can face financial problems, work problems, relationship problems, health problems, and problems of our own making. But God invites us to go to Him to receive His help regardless of the calamities we face.
The suffering we face can easily overwhelm us as our problems may seem to be just too big to ever overcome. But God can open our eyes to new possibilities that will deliver us, or He can help us to accept the fact that things will never be same again, but He can also empower us to face a “new normal” with hope and peace.
God is all powerful and all-knowing and He just happens to love us. So whatever trial you may face, do the smart thing and go to God for help. His infinite knowledge and power are available to those who humble themselves and ask for help. His love and peace comforts those who draw close to Him. God can help us to face our challenges with grace so lean on Him to see you through.
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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 verse comes from the section on Persecution.
Psalm 119:61 (NASB) The cords of the wicked have encircled me, but I have not forgotten Your law.
Today’s verse is the second of three passages of scripture that fall under the fourteenth point of our counseling reference guide resource section on Persecution.
14. Believers can keep God’s Word when they are persecuted. David did.
Today’s Bible verses inspire us to never waiver from relying on God’s truth to help us even if we seem to be surrounded by problems on every side.
Here David encourages us to remember what really matters – God’s law – God’s instructions on how to live life. Despite being encircled by the cords of the wicked, David focuses on God’s truth to strengthen himself, giving us an example to follow.
When we encounter persecution or rejection from a secular society that has distorted the truth, we are to rely on and to stand upon the truth God’s word to guide and strengthen us.
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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 316
… this occasioned a good bit of dissension and debate … – Acts 15:2
What was going on? Not only was Paul having trouble on the mission field from Jews who sought to kill him, he was now being knifed in the back by Christian Jews from Jerusalem! These legalists demanded that Gentile converts be circumcised before being allowed to unite with the Church. Paul and Barnabas would not hear of such teaching, so they strongly debated them. There are those who think that it’s wrong to debate those who cause dissension in Christ’s church. They see it as unbecoming a minister. Think again, if you have such views. Error must not be permitted to destroy the church; it must be refuted. The apostles, therefore, took their case to Jerusalem itself, and a conference was held in which they prevailed. The entire Gentile mission was at stake; thank God they did not simply allow such dissension without confronting it![2]
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[1] Trevor Hudson, In Search of God’s Will: Discerning a Life of Faithfulness and Purpose (Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress, 2024), 26.
[2] Jay E. Adams, Day by Day along the Way (Cordova, TN: Institute for Nouthetic Studies, 2020), 324.
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