Pointing to God and How God Reveals His Presence – Purity 1910
Purity 1910 03/13/2026 Purity 1910 Audio Podcast
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Good morning,
Today’s photo
Today’s photo of Pasquale Ruggiero’s (1851-1916) oil on canvas, Wine and Song (1884) comes to us from yours as I captured this work of art while visiting the George Walter Vincent Smith Art Museum in Springfield, Massachusetts back on December 9th, 2023.
Well, it’s Friday, Thank God, and I share today’s painting as, part of my Lenten journey to recognize beauty in the things of the past, and to encourage us all to eat, drink, and be merry, wholesomely and soberly, with the simple pleasures of life this weekend and to recognize the One who made all of the things in our wonderful lives possible.
While it has been a while since I have had a “rock n roll” weekend, this weekend may be the closest to it, as I will be attending “the lollapalooza of life coaching events” this weekend as I enter into day 2 of Tony Robbins’ Unleash the Power Within. As a group, the Robbin’s UTPW participants spent over 12 hours yesterday together on Zoom learning to raise their energy levels and awareness of their conditioned patterns as a means to break through the limitations that have been holding them back from realizing their potential and experiencing the lives they wish to live. Robbins teachings on focus, emotions, pattern recognition, utilization, and creation are insightful and inspiring and certainly worth considering for those seeking transformation.
Although Robbins’ teachings are presented for a predominantly secular and culturally diverse audience, the world-renowned American life coach, self-help author, and motivational speaker acknowledges the truth of a Creator, a higher purpose, and the need for faith and grace in our lives. While a professed Christian, Robbins serves a diverse, international audience, and although he doesn’t proselytize for Jesus, his seminars point to the fundamentals truths pertaining to God’s created order and human psychology that could bring healing and an increase of the quality of life to those how have enough faith to practice what he preaches. It could be easy to find fault with Robbins for some of his course language at times and his failure to evangelize, but when I see people move past the pains of their pasts to find the courage to try new things and to love and serve others more than themselves, I can help but to support his messages that support personal freedom and point non specifically in God’s direction.
Speaking of pointing in God’s direction, the In Touch with Dr. Charles Stanley devotion from yesterday does get specific about how the God of the Bible reveals Himself, and I am sharing it on the blog today to encourage those who have known the Lord’s presence to share the ways He reveals Himself in the world. Dr. Charles Stanley writes:
“How God Reveals His Presence
The Lord is active in the world today and wants to share His peace, courage, and joy with you.
Psalms 16:7-9
If you’ve never experienced the presence of God, you may wonder how He reveals Himself to believers. Our heavenly Father has many different ways of reaching out to His children:
- God speaks. We may not hear the Lord’s audible voice, but He still speaks clearly and forcefully to our heart. His communication can be so unmistakable that those who hear Him remember the message and the excitement they felt long after.
- God sends a message. Sometimes the Lord communicates to us through another person. King David received God’s correction through the prophet Nathan (2 Samuel 12:1-7). Today we may sense God guiding us in a sermon or in a conversation with a wise friend. It’s unwise to ignore such promptings—the message might be harder to receive outside of the Father’s perfect timing.
- God makes His presence known through His Word. The Lord speaks to us through the pages of Scripture. When we spend time meditating on His Word, God keeps giving us new truths and insights (Psalm 1:2; Psalm 119:99).
The Lord is real and present in this world. He wants to share Himself with us so we can draw contentment, courage, and joy from His presence. However, to know what He’s saying, we must be willing to slow down and listen. -Charles Stanley
Amen. It’s so important for us as believers to show others how God is alive and active in the world. The suffering that we can see everyday on the news or in real life has to be counterbalanced with the goodness of God and His abiding presence.
When we can describe how God has touched our lives and how he reveals Himself to us in our conscience, through His word and through other people, like us, our efforts could be the catalyst to a spiritual awakening that could lead to their salvation and the beginning of their relationship with God that can transform their lives and worldview forever.
Our duty to God’s kingdom is to usher others into the Lord’s presence and all we have to do is to make ourselves a signpost that points people int right direction. People need to know about the Lord and so be to point people to The Way every chance you get.
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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.
Genesis 45:1–14 (Joseph made himself known to his brothers.)
Genesis 45:4–8 (NASB) Then Joseph said to his brothers, “Please come closer to me.” And they came closer. And he said, “I am your brother Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt. Now do not be grieved or angry with yourselves, because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life. For the famine has been in the land these two years, and there are still five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvesting. God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant in the earth, and to keep you alive by a great deliverance. Now, therefore, it was not you who sent me here, but God; and He has made me a father to Pharaoh and lord of all his household and ruler over all the land of Egypt.
Today’s verses are the first of two passages of scripture that fall under the fourteenth point of our counseling reference guide resource section on the Providence of God.
14. Joseph acknowledged God’s providence in being sold into slavery.
Today’s Bible verses are a part of the “big reveal” of Joseph’s story. After upsetting his brothers, Joseph was unceremoniously sold into slavery and abandoned by the people who should have loved him best.
This tale could have easily been written as a revenge piece because of the wrong done to Joseph, but God had different plans. Joseph’s faithfulness to the Lord’s ways was rewarded, and God continually provided for him during all the twists and turns of his incredible life story. Although he was set up to suffer, Joseph prospered, and he was able to see that the blessings he received were part of a bigger plan.
Joseph saw that it wasn’t his brothers who had sent him to become “a father to Pharoh,” it was God. So let’s remember that although we may also be sold out and made to suffer in this world, God is in charge, and we can trust that He will help us when we are faithful to His commands and an ambassador to His kingdom.
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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 44 – Whether Vain – Read Ecclesiastes 1:1–2
“Meaningless! Meaningless!” says the Teacher. “Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless.” – Ecclesiastes 1:2
“Vanity of vanities,” lamented Solomon, “all is vanity!” Solomon liked that word vanity; he used it in some form thirty-eight times in Ecclesiastes as he wrote about everyday life. The word means “emptiness, futility, vapor, that which vanishes quickly and leaves nothing behind.”
From the human point of view (“under the sun,” Eccl. 1:3), life does appear futile, and it is easy for us to get pessimistic. The Jewish writer Sholom Aleichem once described life as “a blister on top of a tumor, and a boil on top of that.”
What a relief to turn from these pessimistic views and hear Jesus Christ say, “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full” (John 10:10). Or to read Paul’s majestic declaration, “Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain” (1 Cor. 15:58).
Life is not in vain if it is lived according to the will of God, and that is what Solomon teaches in this neglected and often misunderstood book.
Something to Ponder – How would you define your current philosophy of life? Finish this statement: “Life is ____________.”[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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