Avoiding Those Post Holiday Blues – I Can Do All Things # 5 - Purity 1360

To see today's photo, go to mt4christ.com or follow me, M.t. Clark, on Facebook or Twitter. Good morning. Today's photo of water cascading down a rock accented with bright green vegetation and a triangle of blue sky comes to us from Fred Dimmick, who shared this upward view of Amakololola Falls yesterday on social media. Sharing that, Amicalola Falls, located in Dawsonville at 729 feet high, is the tallest waterfall in Georgia and the tallest cascading waterfall east of the Mississippi River. Its name is derived from the Cherokee language and means "tumbling waters." Well, it's the Tuesday after Memorial Day weekend. It is my prayer that my friends enjoyed the long weekend and that your mood won't go tumbling into a depression now that it's back to the drawing board of another work week. Any long weekend or vacation return to normal can be tough on our minds and emotions as we go from the rest and relaxation to work and responsibility. But with Memorial Day, you also have that weird mix of patriotism and grief added into the mix that can mess you up as past sacrifices are remembered Old wounds or existential questions of why can cause our celebrations to leave us feeling a little empty inside or even bitter. Our society doesn't grieve well in general, and wrapping it up in an American flag or celebrating it with a parade or a barbecue seems a little bizarre if you think about it. I myself was sequestered to a cabin in the woods for the weekend, and by the time I emerged and got back to my countryside home, I basically missed all the, all of the outward expressions of Memorial Day, but I still have to adjust from wilderness solitude, silence, and peace to a normal workday and could be subject to a mild depression. But luckily I've learned not to follow my feelings and allow them to drive my emotions and let them be subject to changing to the changing circumstances of life. As Christians, we are to be content in all things and be able to declare that in Christ we can do all things. And the key to being able to do that is being diligent and living by faith in the power of the Holy Spirit. That brings us to our miniseries, I Can Do All Things, where we are sharing from Dr. Neil Anderson's Who I Am in Christ, a devotional to instruct us on exactly how we do that. Uh, we pick up where we left off on Saturday from chapter 36, where Anderson advises us to believe the truth. And Anderson writes, the Christian, however, has a far greater potential in the power of believing the truth. Belief incorporates the mind, but it is not limited by it. A lot of biblical truth I believe, but I don't fully understand. Belief, or faith, actually transcends the limitations of the mind and incorporates the world that is unseen but not unreal. With the infinite God of the universe as the object of Christian faith, what can stop the Christian if God wants something done? Couple that with the fact that it doesn't take any more effort to believe that one can than to believe that one cannot. The issue is choosing truth and taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ instead of believing the enemy's lies. Because you are God's child, you can confront doubts and unbelief. And he continues with these long list of questions. Why should I say I can't when the Bible says I can do everything through him who gives me strength? Why should my needs not be met knowing that my God will meet all my— all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus? Philippians 4:19. Why should I fear when the Bible says God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind? 2 Timothy 1:7. Why should I lack the faith to serve God knowing that God has allotted to each a measure of faith? Romans 12:2. Why am I weak when the Bible says the Lord is the strength of my life and people who know their God will display strength? Psalm 27:1 and Dan— Daniel 11:32. And why should I allow Satan to have supreme supremacy over me? For the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. 1 John 4:4. Why should I accept defeat when the Bible says, "Thanks be to God who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ," 2 Corinthians 2:14? Why should I lack wisdom when I am, when I am in Christ Jesus who has become for us wisdom from God, 1 Corinthians 1:30? And if any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God who gives generously, James 1:5. Why should I be depressed when I can recall to my mind and therefore have hope? Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning. Great is your faithfulness. Lamentations 3:22-23. Why should I worry when I can cast all my anxiety on him, Christ, because he cares for me? 1 Peter 5:7. And why should I ever be in bondage? For where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 2 Corinthians 17. And it is for freedom that Christ has set me free. Galatians 5:1. Why should I feel condemned when the Bible says there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus? Romans 8:1. Why should I ever feel alone when Jesus said, I am always with, with you always to the end, very end of the age? Matthew 28:20. 'And never will I leave you, never will I forsake you' in Hebrews 13:5. Why should I feel accursed or the victim of bad luck when the Bible says Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith? Galatians 3:13-14. And why should I be discontented when I, like Paul, have learned to be content whatever, whatever the circumstances? Philippians 4:11. And then, why should I feel worthless when he made him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf that we might become the righteousness of God in him? 2 Corinthians 5:21. Why should I ever have a persecution complex when the Bible says, "If God is for us, who can be against us?" Romans 8:31. Why should I be confused since God is not the author of confusion but of peace? 1 Corinthians 4:33, or 14:33. Why should I feel like a failure when in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through him who loved us? Romans 8:37. And why should I let the world bother me when Jesus said, in the world you will have tribulation, but take courage, I have overcome the world? John 16:33. Yes, for those who didn't recognize it, this list of 20 questions has been reworded elsewhere Anderson's work as the 20 Cans to Success, and it's a wonderful biblical defense against a vast array of negative mind states. All we have to do to avoid going south emotionally is to remember who we are in Christ, know what God's Word says about us, and to apply it to our lives. A regular practice of meditating on the 20 Cans of Success or the Who I Am in Christ list can do wonders for you your emotional, mental, and spiritual life. But as Anderson points out, we have to believe that these things are true about us individually. It does us no good to believe that these things are true for some but not for me. These biblical truths are not magic words that will instantly change things, but if we believe them in our hearts and minds, we can receive the benefits that flow from living in harmony with God, His truth, and His Spirit. So if the post-holiday blues start to creep in this morning, remember that you can recall to your mind and therefore have hope. Because of the Lord's great love, we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning. Great is your faithfulness, O Lord. And you know, God's mercies are new every morning, so remember them. Count your blessings and give thanks to God, because life is still pretty good when we remember all that we have been given in Christ and through the way, uh, God has directed our lives. Focus on the positive, give thanks, and be kind. Today's Bible verses come to us from the Quick Scripture Reference for Counseling by John G. Cruis. This morning's meditation verses come from the section on decision-making. Today's verses are Romans 12:1-2 from the NIV. The Word of God says, therefore I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God's mercy to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God. This is your true and proper worship. And verse 2: Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing, and perfect will. Today's verses fall under the sixth and final point of our Counseling Reference Guides resource section on decision-making. And that sixth point is make a full commitment. Today's verses urge us to commit our bodies and minds to the Lord so we can offer true worship to God and be transformed in the process. Over the weekend, I took time to read through a short study by John MacArthur called Anxiety-Free Living, and it was positively wonderful in how it broke down how the A committed Christian has no reason to worry or fear because of the abundant promises that we inherit as co-heirs with Christ. But the catch to receiving such peace was that you had to know what God's word says and means, and that you had to surrender to the lordship of Jesus Christ. And to do that, we definitely need to follow Paul's advice in today's Bible verses. We have to give God our bodies, hearts, and minds as an act of love, trust, and worship. When we hold back parts of our lives from God, we will most likely suffer in those areas until we learn that God wants all of us and wants us to follow His ways for everything. When we surrender fully and live according to who we are in Christ, we experience the fruit of the Spirit. So let go and let God! Make a full commitment to him and experience the anxiety-free living that is meant for you to experience. 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 According to Your Word: Morning and Evening Through the New Testament by Stephen F. Allford.. And in Alford's devotional, he prompts us to read a chapter of scripture in the morning and the evening. Today's chapter is Romans 3, and from Romans 3, he shares a portion of Romans 3, verses 3 and 4, which says, for what if some did not believe? Will their unbelief make the faithfulness of God without effect? Certainly not! Indeed, let God be true, but every man a liar. And Stephen Alford writes, what a verse this is for the man who doubts the faithfulness of God. God is faithful. It is his intrinsic quality. God ceases to be God when he ceases to be faithful. Thus Paul says in his second letter to Timothy, if we are faithless, he remains faithful. He cannot deny himself. 2 Timothy 2:13. And then he writes, yes, he is the unchanging one. Jesus Christ, one with the Father, is the same yesterday and forever. He ends his devotion by praying, Lord, I claim your faithfulness as the basis of my prayer. Amen. Amen. And that's, uh, you know, a pretty significant truth there. You know, we're gonna, we're gonna we're going to fluctuate in our faith, you know, from the time we say yes to Jesus to the time we see Jesus. There's going to be a lot of time, or a short time, but there will be changes. And we'll either— and our faith might increase, it might decrease, it should mature, um, you know, we may have times of doubt, but the good thing is The Lord's faith, you know, the Lord is faithful, you know, we claim his faithfulness. He's good and faithful and true, and it's not about us. If it was, we'd never make it, and that's why we need to— that's why we put our faith in Jesus, because he was the sinless one. He was the one who was obedient, and he was the one who was God, and they made a way, you know, God the Father, the Holy Spirit, and Jesus made a way for us to be saved. And so we accept it and we can become part of the kingdom and do our best to follow and learn. And, uh, we try to increase our faith and obedience because we come to learn that to follow God's ways is really the best way for our lives. And although we have freedom of choice and could do what we choose, if we choose any way other than God's, we usually suffer for it. This morning I'm suffering a little bit because I chose foods that I know, you know, usually cause me pain. I had some ice cream last night and I don't feel good about it. I had some pork rinds too, like yikes, what a mix. Anyway, today I repent and I'll be back on track with my healthy food plan and try to learn from these continual mistakes. You know, in the festive season, you know, hey, it's time to celebrate. But oh boy, sometimes I think we're just better off, you know, saying no to things that appear good but, you know, really fail to satisfy us on a heart level, you know, or even on a body level. They may taste good, but the effects afterwards— I just don't— I'm not used to eating that stuff anymore in my when I eat it, it really, it's really exposing it. Maybe I shouldn't have indulged as much as I did, but we learn and we keep walking. But yeah, I had a wonderful, peaceful weekend in the woods with my wife at a cabin. We did hikes and had a campfire and just spent time together. We went through Gary Thomas's book Secret Marriage. And like I said, I read that study by John MacArthur, Anxiety-Free Living, which if you can track it down, I would certainly recommend it. I might end up sharing its contents on the blog in the future, but right now I just would point you in that direction to get that pamphlet. Wasn't very long, and I was able to get through the entire study pretty quickly. But it just reminded us, reminds us of, you know, what we receive when we are in Christ. So many good things. Um, but it can be difficult today going back to work, so my heart's with you. And so that's why you got to remember who you are in Christ. Be thankful for the job that you have that supports you. We can't live on vacation forever. Um, and quite frankly, we're supposed to have a purpose. And, you know, pleasing the— pleasing the flesh or indulging the flesh and just being lazy. Really isn't it? You know, Jesus said that to the guy who wanted to build bigger barns because he had a great increase. So I can just relax now and eat, drink, and be merry. Jesus called that guy a fool. So don't be a fool. Know that there's more to life, and we're all in this thing together, and we, we can serve one another in some way by serving each your job, you serve your customers, your community, and you help other people through what you do. All of us have a worthy— we're contributing, you know, so you should do that. But I would point you to, you know, finding your purpose in Christ, to share the gospel and to live according to Him. That's a greater purpose, and we get treasures in heaven according to the word for when we contribute to God's kingdom. So don't be so earthly-minded with what you have to do, because when you do that, it can depress you. We got to look higher. We look to God's ways and his kingdom, because that's where the hope lies, and it never runs out. So that's why we do the vlog and the podcast. We do have to move into work today, so we're gonna pray and get that, get that party started. I hope everyone's well, and, uh, let's pray. Lord God, Heavenly Father, thank you for another day in your kingdom. We thank you so much for all that you do. Well, we thank you for bringing us back, uh, safely from our weekend away, and, uh, for the job that you arranged for us to have as part of your sovereign will. And Lord, we just pray for you to guide us We pray for anyone who's listening or reading today's message, that you come alongside them and their prayer requests and their walk of faith, and, uh, help them, Lord. Um, and we— but we also pray for you to help us open our eyes to the things you want us to see and lead us the way we should go. It's all we want to do is represent you in your kingdom, Lord, and we need as much help with that as possible. Um, help us to do your will and your will only. Lord, we thank you, we praise you, and we love you. And we pray all these things in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.