Facing Limitations and Trusting the Lord to Overcome – Purity 1821
Purity 1821 11/22/2025 Purity 1821 Audio Podcast
Purity 1821 on YouTube:
Good morning,
Today’s photo of a calm, clear lake reflecting vibrant autumn foliage comes to us from an unknown FB fried who shared this peaceful scene on social media back on October 29th, 2022. If this memory is yours, give me a heads up and I will photo-credit you on the blog after the fact.
Well, it’s Saturday and I am happy to report that I am delivering this morning’s encouraging message from my countryside home in Easton because after starting my new job yesterday, I was anticipating having to work today, and as much as part of me would have liked the prospect of earning some more money to provide for my needs, I am accepting what the Lord brings and accepting what He doesn’t bring.
The bad news is that my hopes of hitting the ground running with the new job, with full time hours, was dashed yesterday but the good news is that I get the weekend off and I was blessed with a financial gift from my former co-workers, as my union took up a collection on my behalf after losing my job last week.
As much as I would like to earn my own way, I’m not too proud to accept the kindness of others to help me to meet my needs. The Lord uses people to help us in life, and I thank all the people who gave to support me. I pray that every one of my union brothers and sisters who gave will be blessed by the Lord for their generosity.
As for the new job as a package delivery driver, I was psyched to work again, really enjoyed the work, and the fact that I was capable of doing it, if the Lord should see fit to develop it into a full-time gig. However, the fact that I was hired as seasonal support staff was made clear to me as I only worked four hours and the demand for my service wasn’t so great that I had to work today, or Monday. I look forward to working again on Tuesday, but after seeing that I may not be able to work a full 40 hour week, I will be continuing to look for a full time job and will be applying for some jobs that I had been hesitant about. That persistent fear that says “I need money!” and the fact that my new job may not be able to meet my needs, as I had hoped for, demands that I further humble myself to consider lower paying positions that would help to make ends meet.
I am increasingly realizing the limitations I am faced with and am becoming increasingly open to new possibilities because I wasn’t as prepared for a shift of careers as I thought I was. While I have an abundance of education and experience in certain areas, I lack certain certifications that I could have pursued but didn’t and now I will have to be more comfortable with making less money because of it. While I assumed that my experience and education would count for something, I have already been shown that requirements of certain credentials are nonnegotiable. There are certifications in both the human services and information technology fields that I simply do not have and because I do not have them, I am prevented from being considered for some jobs that I think I could be suitable for. So, I am looking at the job search with a “let’s take what we can get” mentality now but with the understanding that the Lord can help me to overcome obstacles to be provided for and to find the place where He wants me to be.
Getting a job without credentialing may be a limitation that I am facing but I know that the Lord can help us to find a way when there seems to be no way and I also know that He can take our willingness to be humble and later exalt us. So, I will trust in the Lord to help me to overcome the limitations I face and do what I can in the meantime.
Speaking of overcoming limitations , the In Touch with Dr. Charles Stanley devotion from November 12th spoke that topic and I am sharing it on the blog to encourage us humbly follow God into situations where He can help us to do the impossible. Dr. Charles Stanley writes:
“Vision Without Boundaries
If we choose to trust God, we’ll be amazed at what He will accomplish through us.
John 20:29-31
What do you think goes through the mind of runners in a marathon? Naturally, they carefully consider the challenges of the course and strategize how best to meet each one. But if they dwelled only on how hard the race would be, they could easily fail. So runners typically also picture themselves crossing the finish line.
We would be wise to follow a similar thought pattern. God’s vision is for us to share His message of hope with the whole world (Luke 24:47). Like a marathon, that’s a huge task, and some Christians avoid the call because they feel “all the nations” is too big an assignment. Other believers stop because of a language barrier, or perhaps because they just don’t know how to start. But we can’t let fear or hesitation hold us back.
It’s important to identify limitations we have placed on ourselves and remember that the Lord has promised to be with us “to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20). We also need to rely on the Holy Spirit’s empowerment. Remember, Jesus said that what would be impossible with man is possible with God (Luke 18:27).
Once we realize we have nothing to fear, it becomes easier to embrace our mission and the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Then we’ll be amazed at what God will accomplish through us. – Charles Stanley
Amen. If we only think about how difficult it will be to live our new lives in Christ and never consider how wonderful it will be to live a holy and righteous life – totally free of the darkness of our pasts -, we may choose to just remain where we are, doing the same things we always have, hoping things will somehow get better.
But God doesn’t call us to life to leave us in the shadows of our old selves. The Lord calls us to faith in Jesus Christ to make us new creations.
Yes, we will face certain limitations as we seek to grow into the people that God calls us to be and it may take some time to accomplish what we hope to accomplish, but the Lord can help us to overcome those limitations and he will walk beside us no matter how long it takes to do the impossible.
The Lord calls us to a new life and He gives us everything we need to change. So imagine what it will be like to be free and to overcome the challenges you face. God is all powerful and all knowing. He can help you to do the “impossible”.
So believe in your new life in Christ – you have it – you just have to live it out. Every day that you choose to follow the Lord is one day closer to experiencing the life you always wanted – the life that God had in mind for you ever since He made you His own.
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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.
Acts 5:41–42 (NASB) So they went on their way from the presence of the Council, rejoicing that they had been considered worthy to suffer shame for His name. And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they kept right on teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ.
Today’s verses are the third of three passages of scripture that fall under the fifteenth point of our counseling reference guide resource section on Persecution.
15. If persecutors threaten , obey God rather than man, as did Peter and John.
Today’s Bible verses show us the counterintuitive stance that the Lord can reveal to us when we recognize that we are already living in God’s kingdom and that everything we do to give Him glory is a blessing.
The Apostles were able to see that their suffering persecution for their teaching about the name and person of Jesus Christ was a tremendous honor. They took their lumps knowing that they suffered because they were aligned with God’s will for their lives and were doing kingdom work.
In the past they undoubtedly suffered for their sins but now they were suffering for doing what was right and they knew that not only was the good works they were doing worth the cost of their present day sufferings, they also knew that God would reward them for it in heaven. In their sufferings, they saw the truth that they were becoming more like Jesus and as much as the world tried to shame them for their beliefs in Christ, they knew that to be maligned for their faith was to become closer to the One they loved.
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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 320
There arose such a sharp disagreement that they separated from one another. – Acts 15:39
This sad, providentially opportune moment shows how God works. There was a disagreement over whether to include Mark in future missions. Paul and Barnabas could not agree, and went separate ways. The conflict made it possible for Paul to become formally what he was informally anyway—the leader of the mission. In God’s providence, this altercation allowed the separation to take place, and the Gospel to go forth in a mighty way under the exclusive direction of Paul. Later, at the end of his career, Paul seems to have been reconciled to Mark, the deserter (2 Timothy 4:11). There are times when brothers must simply agree to disagree. They should not disagree over essential doctrine nor censurable offenses, but over matters of judgment as this was. Nothing more is heard of Barnabas. God can even use differences between His children to further His purposes. Not all conflict is wrong or unproductive of blessing.[1]
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[1] Jay E. Adams, Day by Day along the Way (Cordova, TN: Institute for Nouthetic Studies, 2020), 328.
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