A Home in Christ Purity 834

To see today's photo, go to mt4christ.org or follow me, M.t. Clark, on Facebook or Twitter. Good morning. Today's photo of a fisherman up to his knees in the surf with a rising or setting sun on his right, presumably near Mulligan's Beach House in Sebastian, Florida, comes to us from a friend who recently left the Sunshine State for a new home in North Carolina. He shared this scene back on social media back on, um, back on August 7th with the following poem as a type of fond farewell. He wrote: I'll soon leave the palm trees, the beach and the sea. The call of the mountains, it beckons me. Up in the mountains is where I will roam. Up in the mountains, a place I'll call home. And all of my travels So much I have learned. For a home in the mountains, I have always— I always have learned— yearned. A sparkling brook, a cool waterfall, the view from the summit, the colors of fall, the call of the mountains, it beckons to me. A home in the mountains, it sets the soul free. Since retirement, our friend has gone from upstate New York to Kentucky to Florida and now to the mountains of North Carolina. And has shared some amazing views along the way. And it is my prayer that he finds the peace that comes for searching for, finding, and finally going home. I know in my short travels from the shadow of the Berkshires in Crayville to my riverside accommodations in Stuyvesant, there was a contrast geographically, but it was the sense of finding a new home that made the scenic beauty of my place down by the river shine even brighter. And now, because of my marriage to Tammy Lynn, I have another sense of home when I go to our countryside home in Easton. But in all honesty, as much as I have come to love walking up and down Waite Road to enjoy scenic farmland and big sky views in the morning and afternoons, I could and would leave it all behind if she relocated. This is the second chance at marriage for both of us, and I believe it was the marriage we were both supposed to have all along, with God at the center. And now our sense of home doesn't really come from a geographic location as much as it comes from being in each other's presence. I was just commenting to Tammy Lynn last night that while our lives seem to have— oh, always have some elements of drama with the challenges of maintaining two households, dealing dealing with difficult exes and shifting— and the shifting landscapes of career and ministry, that I know that God brought us together, and that even though there has been difficulties to deal with, I know we are supposed to be together, because I simply can't imagine a life where Tammy Lynn isn't my wife. If I even try to imagine it, the contemplation results in imagining an existence that would be less than what I have now, like I would have missed something that God had for me. Yeah, don't get me wrong, I love Tammy Lynn dearly, but our coming together was a little more than me liking her. Men can be pretty foolish and we can like just about anybody, but with finding a wife in Tammy Lynn, God was the matchmaker. Because I try to live out my faith every day, the elements of faith and character were the most important attributes in finding a spouse. And when the Holy Spirit revealed to me that there was no other than Tammy Lynn, I knew I had found my wife for life. I knew I had found someone I would be at home with no matter what we would have to endure or where the Lord would have us go. So the Lord has blessed me with a home more than once. I have a home down by the river I have a home on a country road in Easton, and I have a home in my marriage with Tammy Lynn. However, I would not give the glory that God is due to suggest that these homes are anywhere I could find a long and sustaining peace separate from him. No, when I was a vagabond and a refugee in the great in-between of my former life and where I am now, I found a home, and I found myself when I found the Lord. I found a home in Christ. So if you don't have a house or a significant other that, that give you a sense of home or peace, let me assure you that no matter where you look, you will never find it without Christ. And speaking about himself and his disciples and about the world, Christ said in John 15:19, if you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. John 17:14-17, Christ said, I have given them your word, speaking to God, and, um, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not pray that you should take them out of the world, but you should keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them by your truth. Your word is truth. And finally, in John 18:36, Jesus, talking to Pilate, says, Jesus answered, my kingdom is not of this world. My kingdom were of this world, my servants would fight so that I should not be delivered to the Jews. But now my kingdom is not from here. So this world is not our home. But when we put our faith in Jesus, we have the promise of a place in God's eternal kingdom, and we'll find it when he either comes back to get us or shows us the way home in eternity. So no matter how you feel this Monday morning about your place in this world and what you base your sense of home on, keep walking and talking with God, because in Christ we can be at home in our own skins. We can have peace knowing that we are accepted, secure, and significant in him. And the home we have in Christ exists for all eternity, endures through all trials, tribulations, and changes, and goes wherever we go. In it we have peace regardless of circumstances, and because of it we can be content in all things, because wherever we go There we are, at home in Christ. Today's Bible verse comes to us from the New Living Translation Bible Promise Book for Men. This morning's meditation verse is Matthew 23:12, and it says, "And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted." Today's verses, uh, well, today's verse are the words of Jesus, and they remind us to not think too too highly of ourselves, because whoever exalts himself will be humbled. As we spoke about in Saturday's blog, as Christians we are to beware of our pride because it is the original root cause of Satan's sin, and it could lead us to our being humbled, or, or to our final, uh, or it could lead to our final, our ultimate destruction. If we are so busy exalting ourselves in this world that we never think to humble ourselves and make Jesus our Lord and Savior. In the context of today's verse, Christ was speaking to the Pharisees and was seeking to warn them of their spiritual pride that they fed by being considered highly exalted members of their community. Receiving preferential treatment at feasts and respectful greetings in the marketplace. While there is nothing wrong in receiving honor for your service to God's kingdom, it can be a slippery slope to fall on if we begin to crave, uh, the honor of men for ourselves rather than remembering that the glory should go to God. The Pharisees were so proud that their spiritual eyes were blinded to the reality that the Messiah was in their midst. They were so concerned about their positions of power and respect that they failed to respect the Son of God when he came preaching the Kingdom of God and performed miraculous signs and wonders. Their plot to remove Jesus by having him killed may have seemed like a way to maintain their exalted position in Jerusalem, but they were undoubtedly humbled by his resurrection and certainly by the loss of their position and power when Christ's prophecies of the destruction of Jerusalem came to pass in 70 AD. So for the Christian disciple, we are to remember that it's not about us. Our lives have been saved by Christ, and all that we should do should be done not to exalt ourselves but to lift up the name of Jesus Christ and to represent the kingdom of God in humble obedience. As always, I invite all to go to mt4christ.org where I always share insights from prominent Christian theologians and counselors to assist my brothers and sisters in Christ with their walk. Today we begin sharing from— well, we continue sharing from Dietrich Bonhoeffer's Discipleship, also known as The Cost of Discipleship. And today we, um, we share from chapter part 1, chapter 1, uh, on Costly Grace. Um, and, and there is a difference between my printed page, uh, Cost of Discipleship, and the e-version of Bonhoeffer's quote-unquote Discipleship, um, his original work. So, you know, because my printed page, you know, the first chapter, I believe— let's see if I'm correct— as I turn the pages. Yeah, there is a foreword here, and there's so much more in the printed book because there's some introductory material. I don't know why I care, but yeah. No, it is costly, Grace, my bad. I thought, ah, you know, as much as you know something, sometimes you're surprised because I thought chapter 1 was on cheap grace. But no, that's the complaint, and the actual thing is Bonhoeffer doesn't want to, you know, push for cheap grace. He wants to tell us about costly grace. So yes, the, the, the today's section on, uh, from, uh, Bonhoeffer's Discipleship book, the chapter is entitled Costly Grace, but the first sentence immediately says cheap grace, um, and cheap grace is the mortal enemy of our church. Our struggle today is for costly grace, is what this says. So I'm a little embarrassed, basically, because I just did a study on it where I entitled Lesson 1, Cheap Grace. So whoops. When in actuality, Lesson 1 should have been Costly Grace. But oh well. I'm not trying to exalt myself. I'm being very humble. So there you go. And, you know, if we start walking on this path of Christian discipleship, believe me— believe you me— that you will be humbled. And, you know, nothing more humbling than Monday morning, than having to, you know, go back to our jobs or whatever, you know, challenges face us in a new week. We go from a time of rest and worship, um, to, you know, the daily grind. Um, so we're humbled. No matter how— however high or, you know, however exalted you might have been yesterday, uh, today we're right back at it, um, to Monday. So, but that's, that's okay. Um, that's a good thing. We're stewards to, um, what we have, and we should work or, you know, face the challenges of the day so we can represent God in the earth. So we shouldn't be depressed. We should be very secure in our identity in Christ and know that we will always have a home with Christ, as he'll never leave us or forsake us. And God has declared us righteous and precious because he's shown us the truth of who Christ is. And when we, when we walk in it, we get to discover the home that we always wanted to have in Christ. And in that, in that search, we also discover who we always were supposed to be and who we always wanted to be but never thought we could be. So, so we're looking forward to Monday. Maybe we're looking forward to the end of the workday, but either way, very happy with the way the Lord has brought us, you know, through all the trials and tribulations. I only— not only a home down by the river, I got one upstate, and I got a home in my marriage. And, you know, before all that, I had a sense of peace and before I got anything. And it's the only sense of peace I had was in the home that I had in my identity in Christ. And, you know, in the midst of great trials and tribulations, I had peace, you know, maybe too much peace, quite frankly, because it caused— my peace caused other people to not be at peace and to seek to destroy me. But you know, when you're content in the world, the world hates you, just like Christ said. Just because you have a sense of peace and you know, you know something that they don't, and they might not be able to agree with it or whatever, but they will be hostile towards you. So that's, that's what Christ warns us about as his disciples, that we're not of the world and the world will hate us, but doesn't mean we can't have peace in the midst of all of it. So that's why we hold on to Christ and remind ourselves who we are in Christ every day and study his word to be approved and to renew our minds. So let's pray. Lord God, Heavenly Father, thank you for another day in your kingdom. We thank you for the home you've given us in Jesus Christ. And while this earth is not our home, Lord, we know that one day we will find our home with you in all of eternity, and a place where you will be with us every day. Um, Lord, we just thank you so much for that, uh, that promise of an eternal home. And we thank you for opening our eyes to who Jesus is and, um, and how, how you love us, uh, because you showed us that truth, and that you have a meaning and a purpose for us here on the earth. Lord, we just— we also thank you, Lord, for the, the people who might be listening to this podcast, um, or who are. Um, we thank you for them, Lord. We pray for them. Um, we ask you to come alongside their prayer request today. Whatever challenges they're facing on Monday, we're praying that you pour out your grace, your divine favor, to help them and to, uh, lead them in the way they should go. Lord, we, we, as always, we pray for you to go before us today, to open our eyes to the things we need to see, and, uh, and to lead us into the things you would have us do to best represent you here on the earth. Lord, we thank you, we praise you, and we love you, and we pray all these things in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.