June 01-07, 2025 Weekly Log, Part 3
(But first…)
Bless the Lord, o my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name!
Bless the Lord, o my soul, and forget not all His benefits.
He teaches me, He reveals things to me. I call to Him, and He shows me things I do not yet know.
He is my very present Help in time of need. He gives me strength, He helps me, He rescues me. He upholds me – That is, He takes hold of me and protects me – with His righteous right hand.
And all the days of my life I shall dwell in His house; His goodness follows me, and so does His mercy – Yes, His mercy and His lovingkindness that is new with every morning!
Indeed, bless the Lord, o my soul! Bless His holy name, for all He has done!
And we praise Him all the more, for all that He has done, has been confirmed, and has been sealed for us – by no less than the Holy Spirit, poured out upon us.
Sure are we are saved the moment we believed in Jesus Christ, so we were marked by the Holy Spirit, who is the Guarantee of our Salvation!
Oh, praise the Lord, for we have all the more reason to bless His name – for not only does He teach us, but we are in possession of the Truth: Because we have the Spirit of Truth who leads us into all Truth, alive in us!
Praise the Lord, for not only do we have God to strengthen us, to help us and to uphold us – We have the Holy Spirit, who is NOT a spirit of fear, but a Spirit of power, love, and a sound mind!
Indeed, praise the Lord! For we are not only with Him forever, not only IN Him forever, but the Holy Spirit is also IN us: We are temples of the Holy Spirit!
Thank You for this revelation, Father!
Thank You, for it is of great relevance to me, here and now, considering all that I’m facing. Thank You for Your lovingkindness, thank You for being with us, Father! Thank You for Your Holy Spirit!
(Sorry, I’ve had to just let all of that out of my chest before I went any further here.)
I’d like to finally tick off a couple of items I’ve had on the backburner since last week, as part of last week’s log, actually:
A friend of mine recommended a book to me, seems like one she finds personally foundational. I’ve written about it in the past, it’s The Making of a Prince, by a certain Dr. Jonathan David. Oh, and it’s not really a book, I’m actually just going through a transcript of what was initially distributed as a collection of audio CDs.
Just for recall purposes… off the bat I’m remembering that Dr. David’s emphasis was on the life of Joseph in the Old Testament. In the first ‘chapter’, or maybe just the first CD transcript, what I took from it was that we’ve been born to be princes (and princesses, I suppose) and royalty, not to be in the streets. This obviously means that we weren’t born to have ‘street-ish’ conduct, but it also means that we weren’t born to be ON the streets – that is, we’re also to be aware of our location as much as our disposition… Or, we weren’t born to act like folks on the street, and we aren’t raised to STAY in the streets either. Dr. David reminds us that our place is in the car with the King – not looking at the King from the outside in, but WITH the King. I thought that was profound, and it had me appreciating Christ’s finished work all the more – truly, we haven’t just been made new creations, but we were also brought to a new location. We are WITH God, and God is WITH us.
The second CD was where my friend and I came to a bit of a disagreement, because she was adamant about our ‘role’ as believers of Christ to ‘die to self’, which didn’t sit well with me as someone who subscribes to and appreciates the words of Dr. Andrew Farley, particularly where he says that in Christ, ‘self’ is no longer a bad word. We ultimately came to an agreement that, sure, in our being made new creations, the old had to die… only I’m saying the old me, the old ‘self’ affixed and programmed to sin and the flesh has already died with Christ on the cross. So in our daily conduct this has us focusing on living according to the new creation, prioritized over our avoiding the old behaviors – because, as it says in the Word, they’ve already passed away.
It’s like what we say when we say perfect love casts out all fear. We’re not saying that we won’t fear, but fear ultimately fades against love that is not only perfect, but everlasting.
We’re not saying that we won’t sin, but sin and the flesh and the old ultimately fades against eternal life and absolute right-standing with God. It’s already dead.
In the third CD, we talked about how we’re able to receive dreams and visions, just as Joseph, Daniel, etc. did… and as of yesterday, I suppose we discovered how it’s not as mystic or complicated as some of us would have us think. There was a lot for us to discover, actually, and I’ll just go ahead and share them here, for the record:
We will always have more reasons to thank God than we will have reasons to complain.
We will always have more reasons to praise God than we will have reasons to fear.
When we meditate on the goodness of God, it’s just natural that we will end up praising Him.
When we study the word of God, it’s just natural that we will eventually receive revelations.
When we read the Word, we will receive revelations, and it’s highly likely that these revelations will have us see the goodness of God from yet another perspective… and, yes, that will result in us worshipping Him. In the words of fitness YouTuber Rick Bhullar, ‘Isn’t it lovely?‘
Now we’re about to jump into the fourth CD, and, well, I’ve scanned through it and I’ve seen how it’s about purity – And, man, I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I’m certainly one to advocate for it, especially in today’s world absolutely bombarded with sex outside of marriage. Call me a prude, but I’ve experienced firsthand how it feels to be destroyed by it.
But I haven’t gone through the content just yet. Before actually reading the transcript I considered just going through the Word, through aspects of the life of Joseph that point towards said purity:
And after a time his master’s wife cast her eyes on Joseph and said, “Lie with me.” But he refused and said to his master’s wife, “Behold, because of me my master has no concern about anything in the house, and he has put everything that he has in my charge. He is not greater in this house than I am, nor has he kept back anything from me except you, because you are his wife. How then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?” And as she spoke to Joseph day after day, he would not listen to her, to lie beside her or to be with her.
Genesis 39:7-10
I’ve underlined Joseph’s response because I believe this ought to be what we as men should have in mind when we’re tempted. I mean – and this is graphic, but who cares – I could imagine Potiphar’s wife was literally bare and spread before Joseph, and all he had to do was to take her… but in the face of that great temptation, Joseph speaks with the following things in mind:
- He’s been consistent (Behold, because of me my master has no concern about anything in the house, and he has put everything that he has in my charge.)
- He knows his place – His responsibility, and the authority over him (He is not greater in this house than I am)
- He’s been blessed greatly… (nor has he kept back anything from me)
- But He knows what he isn’t blessed with (except you, because you are his wife.)
- And ultimately… Any offence to his master is offense against God (How then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?)
I don’t know, I just wanted to go ahead and dwell on this further by writing about it, again, before I jumped back into the transcript of the Fourth CD… It’s probably because, well, I’ve had this struggle with sex outside its function and purpose for the longest time.
I’ve always been saying, that we’ve been made new creations and therefore with new desires. This gives us cause to praise the Lord and to rethink what gives us pleasure, because what we used to do before Christ doesn’t cut it anymore.
Here in the second CD, we’ve also explored how we’ve not only been brought into the presence of the Lord (as in, brought ‘into the car’, if you would), but because of the nature of the Holy Spirit, the presence of the Lord has also been brought into us – So you can imagine, you do all you do in His presence. That’s a little more incentive for us to choose life and not what brings death, even in our choices for pleasure.
We’re seeing more here. There’s more reason for us to submit to God and resist the devil (James 4:7). From the words of Joseph, and from the perspective of Christ’s finished work and the power of the Holy Spirit, we can also say that we’re consistently present, acknowledging that He that is in me is greater than he that is in the world who tempts us with immorality (1 John 4:4, we ‘know our place’); We’ve certainly been blessed greatly, because not only are we blessed with every spiritual blessing for good works (and, I’m assuming, ‘not’ bad works, the other side of the coin), but we have the Helper, and I dare say the SOURCE of the blessings with us…
And with all this in mind, it’s with an attitude of gratitude and praise that we’ve responding to the greatest of sexual temptations. By the power of the Holy Spirit, we are decisive, and not reacting, knowing that we love others as we are loved, and we love ourselves as He loves us.
Yeah, I thought I’d go ahead and tackle this, especially now that the stakes are higher, and I am in more and more need of focus and peace and composure in my life.
I’ll get to Chapter/CD 4 soon.. Just wanted this out of the way.
10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. 14 Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. 16 In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; 17 and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, 18 praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints,
Ephesians 6:10-18
I have reason to believe that while we really shouldn’t be attacking each other with disrespect and ad hominems in church, we should be aware of behaviors and of mindsets that persist, even if we already know that we are new creations. I’m saying this because I really want to take a step back from hating people and personalities, God’s own creation and co-beneficiaries of the salvation that we have in and through Christ’s finished work…
…and I actually want to take a step forward into loving them, by way of fighting said mindsets, instead of fighting them. Because I’m sure it’s not just our church but everywhere else that the body of Christ is established, where we see the blessings more than the One who is the Source of the blessings in the first place… but, if I’m to be more specific, there remains a propensity for us to put our achievements and our works on the pedestal which ought to be for Christ’s finished work alone.
We like to puff up our own systems, share lessons with the underlying intention, not of teaching, but of projecting to the adoring crowd that we knew that lesson before they did, or whatever they know doesn’t hold a candle up to what they know and do.
And what’s worse – is it worse? – is that this behavior doesn’t seem to be limited to one individual, but it seems common to a group of folks. They all seem to go back to their glory days, over-revelling on the past, projecting their superiority in the present, and not being shy about taking a dopamine hit for their overambitious visions for the future (also implying that they HAVE a vision, and the rest of us don’t).
I ask again, is it worse? Worse in the sense that this ‘virus’ is spreading, but actually better in the sense that I’m reminded that it’s not people we’re fighting, but a virus. A virus that, really, finds its roots in insecurity, and is needlessly exerting effort in the more flashy (i.e. less necessary) places.
It’s a virus of insecurity that would have people (1) puffing their status and works up and (2) stepping on your status and your works.
And to this, we’re to respond – Well, Paul tells the Ephesians to put on the whole armor of God, but for us to simplify, we’re to put on Christ, our Righteousness. We put on Christ, who, regardless of our status in this existence, guaranteed that we have the Creator of the Universe as our Heavenly Father, not by what we’ve done, but by His birth, death, resurrection and ascension.
I don’t know, I guess I went ahead and raised this up only for me to emphasize that, yeah, we’re known as Christians, the body of Christ – and that’s what ought to bring us together. Anything that attempts to glorify itself above Jesus takes an immediate, inferior second place.
June 08-14, 2025 Weekly Log, Part 3
Bless the Lord, o my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name!
Bless the Lord, o my soul, and forget not all His benefits.
…and, well, here goes. While I’m at it, let’s go ahead and just throw in some thoughts today, i.e. within this week.
I just got off Messenger, asking my closest friends for prayers… because we finished onboarding and training last week at work – or, at least I’ve trained enough for me to go ahead and take calls almost first thing tomorrow morning, at my first shift.
I mean, I know the flow. Bear with me here. I open the call, I listen to the concern on the other line. I take the name of the client and use that name to pull up the associated account. Depending on the concern I act accordingly… but for the sake of what I’m writing here right now, well, let’s just say it’s a client calling to say that he’s ready to be picked up. If that’s the case then I confirm where he’s going to be picked up, and where he’s headed. Once confirmed I’ll keep him on the line while I make changes to the account to reflect the time he called, and then notify the appropriate dispatcher… before telling him that he’s good to go and someone should be there to pick him up shortly. Offer additional assistance, end the call.
Writing all this, I feel it’s that feeling of uncertainty, the unknown that’s causing the anxiety… but I do thank God because, again, according to His Word, I’m blessed with every spiritual blessing, and I have the Holy Spirit as my Helper. And this translates to elements in the job: I’m blessed with my tools, I have my training, and I have my team to back me up.
Sure, I’m psyching myself up right now but this is me speaking Truth into the situation, effectively acknowledging my Father into this endeavor, making sure to acknowledge Him, with less than 12 hours before that first call. As we’ve discussed here, we’ve been made new creations, and we will ALWAYS have the Lord with us, as we are ALWAYS with Him… even as I put that headset on, listen, talk, and act.
As in all things, may He be glorified to the maximum.
Bless the Lord, o my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name!
Bless the Lord, o my soul, and forget not all His benefits.
Until the next post, may the Lord continue to bless us greatly.
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