Spiritual Warfare & Evangelism – Seeking and Knowing God’s Heart – Purity 1924 – 03302026
Purity 1924 03/30/2026
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Good morning,
Today’s photo
Today’s photo of Emma Lampert Cooper’s (1855–1920) oil on canvas, “On a French River” (1890’s) featuring broken sunlight filtering through trees, into framed wooded foreground opening to a river and distant light, with a small human figure in red near the center, comes to us from yours truly as I captured this work of are during my visit to the Springfield Museums on December 9th, 2023.
Well, It’s Monday, and I share Cooper’s work of art as part of my Lenten journey to recognize beauty in the things of the past and to encourage us all to seek the Lord’s presence as we begin the second day of holy week.
Yesterday, my pastor, Roscoe Lily, concluded the final message of a five-part series on spiritual warfare. My church is a non-denominational seeker-friendly church, but that doesn’t mean that my pastor just plays it safe. Not only did Roscoe’s message acknowledge the reality of the spiritual forces of darkness and the way they blind the minds and eyes of unbelievers, but he also presented this last installment on spiritual warfare on Palm Sunday! Instead of giving out palm fronds to satisfy liturgical church tradition, Roscoe delivered a plea to the church to fight the enemy through evangelism. Other than a slide in the multimedia presentation and a few comments in the message commemorating Palm Sunday’s place in Biblical history, Roscoe’s message focused on what God cares about most: people.
The best weapon that the church has against the spiritual forces of darkness is the good news – the truth about Jesus Christ – and Roscoe capped off the series on Spiritual warfare by directing his flock to invite non-believers to seek the Lord at an Easter Service at our church this week with the hope that it would bring new people into God’s kingdom and that it would cause church members to step deeper into their walk with God. The best way we represent God’s church is by being ambassadors of Christ, and I was proud that my church launched a series on spiritual warfare in the weeks leading up to Easter to motivate them to recognize the enemy’s role in the world and to combat his efforts through faith and evangelism. When we seek the Lord in our lives, we will find Him and seek to make others aware of His goodness and grace.
Speaking of seeking the Lord, the In Touch with Dr. Charles Stanley devotion for today speaks about seeking and knowing the Lord, and I am sharing it on the blog today to encourage us all to continue our journey into Holy Week with our eyes and hearts wide open to seek the Lord, His presence, and His ways. Dr. Charles Stanely writes:
“Knowing God’s Heart
Seek God with all your heart, and you will find Him.
Deuteronomy 4:29-30
People long to be understood. This is because we were created in God’s image—He is a relational being who desires for His children to know and understand Him.
Just as you don’t want to be known for only superficial details, it’s not enough to simply know about the Lord. He wants us to learn how He thinks and feels, what’s important to Him, and what His purposes are. Of course, it’s impossible for us to completely know the mind of the Creator. Isaiah 55:9tells us, “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.”
However, we can better understand God’s heart and character by seeking Him and learning daily from His Word. If we truly desire to walk in His ways, we must first genuinely know Him. We come to know our friends better by sharing more experiences together. Similarly, we will also understand God better the longer we walk with Him and meditate on His Word.
God wants you to seek Him with all your heart, and He promises that when you do, you will find Him (Jeremiah 29:13). So, the next time you’re feeling misunderstood, turn to the One who knows you perfectly. Even more importantly, ask the Lord to help you know Him better.” – Charles Stanley
Amen. This is Holy Week, and the best way to prepare our hearts for the celebration of Jesus’ Resurrection is to seek to relate to the Lord as a person that we really want to know more about.
When we contemplate the love that the Lord has shown us through Jesus’ sacrifice, the forgiveness of our sins, and the promise of eternal life, we should be drawn to know more about the One who loves us so much.
Although God’s ways are higher than our ways, He invites us to learn more about Him by providing us with His word and by challenging us to enter into His service through doing good deeds and evangelism.
He invites us to walk with Him into a new life according to His ways, and when we take Him up on it, amazing things begin to happen. We are challenged but receive courage. We are tested but find strength. We are perplexed but reap wisdom. We are shaken but find peace. We encounter opposition but walk in love.
When we walk with God, we find a new way where we understand that the love we have received at our salvation is just the beginning of all that the Lord has for us. So, seek to know Him more this week and ask about the purpose He has for 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 the Providence of God.
Proverbs 16:4 (NIV) The LORD works out everything to its proper end—even the wicked for a day of disaster.
Today’s verse is the first of five passages of scripture that fall under the twenty-fourth point of our counseling reference guide resource section on the Providence of God.
24. God sovereignly works out his plans, his perfect will. No one can hinder or stop him.
Today’s Bible verse is short, sweet, comforting, and disturbing all at the same time. Our Sovereign God is in control and is a just God. The wicked will be punished, and that is certainly comforting to those who have suffered at the hands of the wicked.
What’s disturbing is that we are afforded a measure of free will, which includes that we have the freedom to sin and be wicked ourselves. The day of disaster for the wicked could very well be speaking of our own personal day of disaster.
Without forgiveness of sins through faith in Jesus Christ, all of us are wicked, and all of us are worthy of judgment. So, praise the Lord for His sovereign power and justice, but don’t forget to secure His magnificent mercy and grace. For we all need it, and I pray that you will put your faith in Jesus to enjoy it.
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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 58 – Confident of Answers – Read 1 John 5:6–15
This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. – 1 John 5:14
What breathing is to a physical person, prayer is to a spiritual person. If our heart is fixed on Christ and we are trying to glorify Him, we are praying even when we are not conscious of it.
Charles Haddon Spurgeon, the famous preacher, was working hard on a message but was unable to complete it. It grew late, and his wife said, “Why don’t you go to bed. I’ll wake you up early, and you can finish your sermon in the morning.”
Spurgeon dozed off and in his sleep began to preach the sermon that was giving him so much trouble! His wife wrote down what he said, and the next morning gave her preacher-husband the notes.
“Why, that’s exactly what I wanted to say!” exclaimed the surprised preacher. The message had been in his heart; it had simply needed expression. So it is with prayer: If we are abiding in Christ, the very desires of our heart are heard by God whether we voice them or not.
Something to Ponder – What are some of the “desires of your heart” (Ps. 37:4) that you haven’t expressed to God in a while?[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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