Trouble in Paradise – Pushing Back Against the Enemy & Meeting with God – Purity 1861
Purity 1861 01/14/2026 Purity 1861 Audio Podcast
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Good morning,
Today’s hazy photo of a thatched-roof hut on the white sand shores of one of the turquoise lagoons of Half Moon Cay, Bahamas, comes to us from yours truly as I captured this tropical paradise scene while on vacation back on January 2nd.
Well, it’s Wednesday, and I share this photo of the “hump” of a hut’s thatched roof as a visual reminder that we have reached another midweek summit, happy hump day, and to warn us all that there can be real trouble in paradise when we get pulled into the shadows of complacency by the world, the flesh and the devil.
As wonderful as my Christmas vacation was, I unfortunately took a vacation from my senses when it came to my physical health and ended up gaining fifteen pounds since December 11th, when I was actually making progress in the battle of the bulge. So, it’s time to push back away from the proverbial dinner table of indulgence and declare war on the world, the flesh, and the devil for good. The enemies of my soul took advantage of my decision to “take a break,” and now is the perfect time to fight and to regain the freedom and good health I used to enjoy.
Last night I launched another online Freedom in Christ course, and I was greatly encouraged to meet the new participants and to hear of their testimonies of the Lord’s faithfulness to help them in the past and of their desire to grow and to claim more of their freedom in Christ. The paradox of service to the Lord’s kingdom is that when we help others, we often receive help ourselves, and hearing of these men’s desire to seek the Lord and grow in their faith in freedom further reinforced my resolve to repent and to renew my desire to live more fully in the Spirit. As the men spoke, a lot of common ground was found, and there were several instances where I really felt that the Holy Spirit was moving through our group.
To confirm that He is with our group, and that I am back on track and walking in the Spirit again, the Lord gave me a disturbing dream last night that told me to take an aggressive stand against the enemy. In my dream, I was at some sort of playground where men, women, and children were playing on the various pieces of equipment, but the strange thing was that in the midst of what would be an otherwise normal scene was a bunch of apes – what I now recognize as bonobo, aka pigmy chimpanzee. The people were playing right in the midst of all these apes as if it were completely normal, but as the apes didn’t appreciate it, they became aggressive, frightening the people and causing them to flee at times, but, insanely, the people refused to leave the playground. The people kept going back to play, but the apes were increasingly becoming angry towards the people to the point where it seemed like the apes were going to attack.
In the dream, I was encouraging the people to get away from the apes and started directing them on how to escape from the apes’ reach, but this running away wasn’t working because the people inexplicably wouldn’t leave the playground! Eventually, I realized that the apes were the ones who didn’t belong in this scene, and as one of the apes reared up to attack, I grabbed a wooden chair and started pushing them back like some sort of lion tamer. While I was doing this, a zookeeper or some animal handler showed up, and at first I thought I was doing something wrong, like I was abusing the apes or something, so I asked this “park ranger” whether or not what I was doing was right. This unknown animal expert told me that my aggressive stance was exactly what I should have been doing, that I needed to push back and put the apes in their place, to drive them out of the playground and back to their unseen cages where they belong. The people weren’t leaving the playground because they belonged there. The apes were the intruders, and the people’s efforts to get along and “play nice” with the dangerous apes were misguided. Man had the authority over the playground, but it couldn’t be shared, and it had to be reclaimed with a show of authority and force.
Of course, this interpretation is all coming to me now because in the midst of the dream is absolute chaos, and the peace came when I was assured that “pushing back” was the right thing to do. As soon as I got that message from the “Animal Handler”, who I now believe was the dream’s embodiment of God in the “person” of the Holy Spirit, the dream came to an end, presumably because the message to “fight back” was delivered and received.
When we come to a place in our lives when we repent and start “walking in the Spirit”, God will let us know that we are on the right track. Sometimes God’s presence in our lives is revealed through interaction with the word of God, or through what other people say, and sometimes it comes in dreams. When we draw close to God, we shouldn’t be surprised when we “meet” Him, even in dreams.
Speaking of meeting with God, that just happens to be the title of today’s devotion from In Touch with Dr. Stanley, and I am sharing it on the blog today to encourage us all to take that first step that leads us closer to Him. Dr. Charles Stanley writes.
“Meeting With God
God wants to speak directly to you, so open His Word and listen.
Jeremiah 24:7
Many of us have been blessed with close friends. Imagine if we never spent time with them but instead just thought and talked about how wonderful these special people are. Wouldn’t it be strange? Yet some Christians do just that. Though they accumulate knowledge about God, they miss out on rich fellowship with their heavenly Father, the best friend anyone could ever have.
It is possible to fill our life with spiritual information and activities—all of which are good—but fail to develop a close relationship with God. Scripture tells of many people whose personal encounter with Him was energizing and life-changing. Noah, Abraham, Moses, Gideon, the Samaritan woman, and Paul are a few who spoke with Him one-on-one (Genesis 7:4; Genesis 12:2; Exodus 3:2; Judges 6:12; John 4:1-42; Acts 9:3-6). We don’t expect dramatic “burning bush” experiences today, yet all believers should still have precious, intimate times with God. Whenever we open His Word and invite the Holy Spirit to teach us, we can hear directly from our Maker.
James 4:8 tells us, “Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you.” Walking closely with the Lord takes commitment and time, but it is essential if we want to grow in Christlikeness. – Charles Stanley
Amen. The “promise” of James 4:8 can only be fulfilled when we draw near to God first. Granted, the Lord broke into our lives to reveal the truth of Jesus Christ to save us, but now that we are in His kingdom, we have a personal responsibility to do our part to foster a relationship with Him.
Through our salvation, the Lord has invited us to a new eternal life that starts now but He has no desire to drag us kicking and screaming into our purpose in Christ.
Jesus invited the original disciples to “Come and See,” and those who took that step of faith in his direction and kept walking after Him were blessed to see the wisdom, power, and love of God manifest in the earth.
As followers of Jesus, we are also invited into the mystery of faith, and for every step of faith that we take, the Lord draws closer to us.
So, seek the Lord through spiritual practices and acts of faithful service, but never forget that our relationship is a love relationship that deserves intimacy.
So, speak to God throughout your day – thank Him for the life you have and the things you experience, share your burdens, and ask for His help. Listen for His voice in your spirit and follow where He leads. When you draw close to Him, He will draw close to you.
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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 Prayer – Waiting on the Lord.
Acts 12:1–17
Acts 12:12 (NKJV) So, when he had considered this [he realized that the angel had rescued him from prison], he came to the house of Mary, the mother of John whose surname was Mark, where many were gathered together praying.
Today’s verse is the second of two passages of scripture that fall under the twenty-second point of our counseling reference guide resource section on Prayer.
22. God answers intercessory prayer.
Today’s Bible verse encourages us to pray because it just might result in an angelic visitation and answered prayers that will seem like a dream.
I love this account of how God answered the prayers of His church and sent an angel to break the Apostle Peter out of jail. The events in this episode in the Apostle Peter’s life were so surreal (and it’s not like Peter didn’t see a lot of amazing things during his time with Jesus) that he thought it was a dream.
My one encounter with what I believe to be the unseen presence of an angel on Christmas Day 2019 was similarly dreamlike, so I think I can relate to Peter’s surprise. Considering Peter’s situation, I’m sure he prayed for God’s help, but I’m also sure that he might have been preparing himself to die from execution because the Apostle James had met that fate when he was imprisoned.
The answer to Peter’s prayer was so unexpected and miraculous that he thought it was a dream, and when Peter escaped and showed up at the household that had been praying for him, they thought he was a ghost!
This account reminds us that God does answer prayers and sometimes the answer we receive is really good, but not what we expected.
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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.
Toda,y 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 360
The Spirit’s fruit is … peace. – Galatians 5:22
The greatest battle is over, Christian. Now you are at peace with God (Romans 5:1). You were defeated; you surrendered and accepted His terms in the peace treaty. He accepted you in His beloved Son. Now, you have every reason to also experience the peace of God; a peace of mind and heart that trouble cannot disturb. His peace is beyond human ability to understand (Philippians 4:7), but it is real, and it is available. How may you obtain it? By casting all your cares upon your Savior. He loved you and gave Himself for you, and now from His heavenly throne He works all things together for your good since you love Him (Romans 8:28). He is providentially arranging and ordaining all of the affairs of your life to make you into the sort of person He wants you to be. His providential working may, at times, seem strange to you. But with assurance that He is fulfilling His promise, you can rest on the fact that He is doing good in your life. When you genuinely believe that and shape your thinking around it, you will have peace.[1]
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[1] Jay E. Adams, Day by Day along the Way (Cordova, TN: Institute for Nouthetic Studies, 2020), 368.
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