Experiencing a Whole New Life & Finding Clear Guidance – Purity 1896
Purity 1896 02/25/2026 Purity 1896 Audio Podcast
Purity 1896 on YouTube:
Good morning,
Today’s photo of a “hump” of palm trees on the shores of Lake Eola Park comes to us from yours truly, as I captured this simple scene on beauty shortly before leaving for a flight back to New York from an Orlando, Florida family vacation back on February 22nd, 2024.
Well, it’s Wednesday and I share today’s hump of palms (definition: a palm grove or a small, thick group of palms) to visually represent our arrival to the thick of the work week – happy hump day- and to encourage us all to appreciate the beauty of God’s creation wherever we go in as we celebrate our new lives in Christ.
When I think about the darkness of my past before putting my faith in Jesus, I can’t help but be in awe over all the changes that the Lord has made to my body, my mind, and my spirit. After putting my faith in Jesus and making the decision to follow Him as His disciple, I am continuously experiencing a whole new life of a “born again Christian”. Jesus talked this in John 3:5-8, where he said:
5 … “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
When we put our faith in Jesus, we are born of the Spirit, and when we choose to follow the Lord we won’t necessarily know where we are coming or going, but we will increasingly know with the full assurance that only comes from grace that we are not only on the right path but we have discovered our purpose for living, the reason for which we were born physically, and spiritually – to know God and to follow His instructions for our lives, where our old lives fade away as we find our purpose and increasingly become the people that God created us to be. God saved us to set us free, and when we make our profession of faith, we are born into the life we were always meant to have, and all we have to do to experience the fullness of what God has for us is to follow His lead.
Speaking of following the Lord into our new lives, the In Touch with Dr. Charles Stanley devotion for today talks about finding God’s clear guidance, and I am sharing it on the blog to encourage us to seek the Lord and to find a new way of life with Him.
“Finding Clear Guidance
How does a believer hear God’s voice?
Psalm 25:12
How can you know you’re making the right decision? Sometimes it may feel as if God is keeping things from us when we’re trying to know His will, but that’s not how He operates. He wants to give us clear direction. So what must we do to hear His voice?
Clear the pathway. To receive the Lord’s guidance, we must repent of all known sin and make our desires secondary to His.
Exercise patience. Sometimes it takes great strength to stand still when everything within you is shouting, “Hurry! Time’s running out!” But if you rush ahead of God, you may miss His will.
Persist in prayer. The Bible instructs us to keep bringing our concerns to the Lord (Luke 18:1-8; 1 Thessalonians 5:17). As we continue to pray, He will gradually weed out anything confusing until we come to understand His thoughts about the matter.
Search the Scriptures. The Word of God provides wisdom for all of life’s challenges (Psalm 119:105), and the Holy Spirit points us in the right direction.
So often when we’re faced with a critical choice, all we want from the Lord is a quick answer. But He desires something so much greater—to deepen our relationship with Him. Don’t let the urgency of your need keep you from enjoying the intimacy of God’s presence as you seek His will.” – Charles Stanley
Amen. Stanley’s instructions on finding God’s clear guidance are an apt description of what it looks like to be a “disciple of Jesus” or to “walk in the Spirit”.
When we choose to commit our lives to seeking the Lord’s will, we continually fellowship with the Lord through these spiritual practices and listen to what the Lord tells us through them.
Repentance, developing patience, prayer, and Bible study not only feed and edify our spirit, but they are also used by God to express His guidance and to reveal our purpose in His kingdom.
How do you actually live as a Christian?
You do these things (every day) to draw close to the Lord, to benefit from His presenc,e and to receive His guidance to walk through life.
This is what a relationship with God looks like and where the fruit of the Spirit grows.
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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 the Providence of God.
Psalm 147
Psalm 147:5-6 (ESV) Great is our Lord, and abundant in power; his understanding is beyond measure. The LORD lifts up the humble; he casts the wicked to the ground.
Today’s verses are the third of three passages of scripture that fall under the fourth point of our counseling reference guide resource section on the Providence of God.
4. God controls all the forces of nature and provides for all his creatures, especially his children.
Today’s Bible verses assure us of God’s abundant power and wisdom that is beyond measure and warn of the two fates we can experience in His kingdom.
If we live selfish and sinful lives, we may prosper for a season and be a success in the world’s eyes, but if we don’t make peace with God through faith in Jesus, we will eventually experience a great fall. The consequences for sinful living will likely catch up to us and cause us to suffer in this life, but even if we somehow manage our circumstances to isolate us from pain or punishment, we will never escape God’s wrath at the hour of our deaths.
However, if we allow the Lord to humble us and if we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we can escape our just punishment, experience God’s mercy and grace, and be lifted up to the heights of joy that come from being forgiven and set free.
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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 “Pause for Power” By Warren Wiersbe.
As always, I share this information for educational purposes and encourage you all to purchase Wiersbe’s 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 30 – The Harvest -Read 2 Corinthians 9:1–15
Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. – 2 Corinthians 9:6
Farmers reap immediate physical benefits as they work in their fields, but they have to wait for the harvest. Christians who are motivated by grace reap the blessings of personal enrichment in their own lives and characters, and their enrichment benefits others. The final result is glory to God as others give thanks to Him. Paul was careful to point out that grace giving does not bring credit to us; it brings thanksgiving to God. We are but channels through whom God works to meet the needs of others.
God enriches us so that we may give even more bountifully (2 Cor. 9:8–11). One of the blessings of grace giving is the joy of giving more and more. Everything we have—not just our income—belongs to God, is given to God, and is used by God to accomplish His work. We are enriched in everything with Him and with others.
Grace giving means that we really believe that God is the great Giver, and we use our material and spiritual resources accordingly. We simply cannot outgive God!
Something to Ponder – When you give to the church, to what extent do you want to see definite (and perhaps immediate) results? What does this say about your motivation for giving?[1]
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[1] Warren W. Wiersbe, Pause for Power: A 365-Day Journey through the Scriptures, 2nd Ed., Year in the Word Series (Colorado Springs, CO: David C. Cook, 2010).
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