A Miraculous Healing and the Faith to Press On - Purity 1499

Welcome to the MT for Christ 24/7 podcast. I'm M.t. Clark, and this is today's photo. To see today's photo, go to mtforchrist.com or follow me, M.t. Clark, on Facebook or Twitter. Good morning. Today's photo of morning burning golden on the mountains in the sky comes to us from Fred Dimmick, who shared the spectacular view on social media Thursday. Well, it's Saturday, and when you see views like this in God's creation, something inside you— inside us— is supposed to spring up and cause us to rejoice with the conviction that there is a God and he is good. The first evidence for God is his creative works, the miracle of existence itself. I remember reading an R.C. Sproul book in which he explained that for anything to exist, it logically necessitates a self-existent being, a being outside of time and space who has always existed, who put things into motion. The unmoved mover, the one true God who reveals himself with his created order, the law of good and evil written on our hearts and in those who bear witness of his miraculous works in life transformation. While it may be easy to explain away someone like me, someone who has been set free from addictions and negative mind states, as someone who finally wised up and started doing what was right and is using God as a crutch, a placebo, or some excuse to rely on for what really only amounts to making good choices, it's a lot harder to explain away those who experience medically verified physical miracles and are pointing to prayers to God as the sole catalyst to their healing. Yesterday, one of those miracles was reported to me as someone I know was faced with a diagnosis of cancer in the lungs and was prepared to go undergo surgery to remove what was called a malignant tumor. Malignant tumors have cells that grow uncontrollably and spread locally and/or to distant sites. Malignant tumors are cancerous. They invade other sites. They spread to distant sites via the bloodspring or the bloodstream or the lymphatic system. Malignant tumors can spread rapidly and require treatment to avoid spread. When you get a diagnosis of a malignant tumor, you want to act fast because it means that not only do you have cancer, but it means the cancer can spread locally or to other parts of the body, causing further damage and possibly death. The person who I know who received this diagnosis of a malignant tumor in their lungs knew this and wasn't slow in deciding to cut it out, uh, and initially, uh, was so gung-ho, uh, to get rid of the cancer that they were pressing for surgery immediately. However, the medical procedure required a biopsy to confirm what the scan told them. So yesterday, with a good deal of fear and trepidation, this person went to the hospital with their spouse and concerned family members accompanying them to undergo the biopsy procedure and to begin their battle with cancer. Um, but a funny thing happened before going in. This person and their family began praying for healing, and yesterday when they went to scan for the tumor that they were to do a biopsy of The doctor couldn't find anything. The tumor was gone. Our friend reported that the doctors were perplexed and ran them in and out of the scanner 4 or 5 times before they had to admit that what this person and what their family prayed for had been answered. The doctors confirmed that the tumor was gone and that this person's lungs were clear. They didn't perform the biopsy because there was nothing to do a biopsy on. Praise the Lord. Uh, you can dismiss, uh, this is a misdiagnosis, of course, but the people involved in the story are Christians, and I believe that this cancer scare was a legitimate diagnosis, a warning about the dangers of smoking and the brevity of this life, and a test of their faith. Would they repent and pray for the impossible? They did. Um, and for reasons we don't understand, In this instance, God was gracious and took away the disease that was threatening to destroy this person's health and end this person's life. This person is not perfect, but they are a Christian and serve their family and community with good works. I believe they were given this miracle out of God's mercy and received this scare to cause them to cherish their health and their life and to cause them to be a stronger witness of the power of God in their life. The hard truth of life is that we will all one day die, and how that comes to pass has a lot to do with the choices we make, the relationship we have with God, and the part we decide to play in his kingdom. When we face trials and the eventuality of our own mortality, those things still come into play. When the chips are down and it looks like this is the end, Will we still trust in the Lord? Will we have the pre— faith to press on? Well, although my friend's story is a good one to remind us of the goodness of God, the In Touch— In Touch with Dr. Charles Stanley devotion for today addresses this topic, and I'm sharing it on the blog today, today to further encourage us to press on. And Dr. Charles Stanley writes: The faith to press on, persevere, and honor God through hardship. Reward is on the other side. When difficult times come into our life, what is your response? It may seem tempting to look for a way out of the discomfort, but that's not the attitude God desires from us. He wants his children to press on and trust him, even though that may not and the, the affliction. This comes as a shock to many new believers. They are often surprised when hardship appears. However, it's a misconception to expect an easy life once we trust God's Son as Lord. In fact, Jesus himself said that the world will give us great trouble. In James 1:2, we are instructed to consider our struggles as a source of pure joy. This makes sense only when we see our difficulties through God's eyes as opportunities for growth. When we face trials with wisdom and endure them with godly perseverance, we will find blessings we never thought possible. At the end of the struggle, we will see God and receive our reward, the crown of life. And this glorious end result is so much more than a mere object. It is eternal, perfect, and imperishable. Do you want the Lord's recognition of your spiritual victory? Then press on through the hardship and discover what lies just beyond the trial. Amen. When trials come, we should trust in the Lord and ask him for help. When the trial is over, in this life or in eternity, we will receive our reward. In heaven, we will receive the reward of the crown of life and the unending blessing of eternal life in the Lord's presence. And if we survive the trials we face on earth, we are given the reward of being able to be a witness to others of God's mercy, grace, power, and love. So keep on walking and talking with God. Enjoy the miracle of his creation, the work he has done in you and in others, and share the never-ending story. Of the one true living God who revealed himself in Jesus Christ, and how he is faithful and true to move all things together for good for those who love him and are called according to his purpose. Today's Bible verses come to us from the Quick Scripture Reference for Counseling by John G. Cruis. This morning's meditation verses come on, uh, from the section on giving, and today's verses come from the New International, version, the NIV. And today's verses are 1 Corinthians 16:1-2, where the word of God says, now about the collection of the Lord's people, do what I told the Galatian churches to do. On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with your income, saving it up so that when I come, no collections will have to be made. Today's verses fall under the fourth point of our Counseling Reference Guide resource section on giving, which says each Christian must give as the The Lord is blessed. Today's Bible verses clearly establish the early tradition of making regular offering— offerings to the cause of the church. The Apostle Paul instructs the early churches of the Christian faith to make generous giving a habit, to make it something you do every week. Our tithes and offerings should be something we do joyfully and dutifully. The good works of the church, missions, and other charitable institutions should be supported. And if we make the practice of giving a normal part of our lives, we can help to continue their ministries. So give weekly and give on special occasions to the people and institutions that do good works that reflect the glory, glory of God. Amen. Um, as always, we encourage everyone to go to mtforchrist.com, where we always share insights from prominent Christian theologians and counselors to assist our brothers and sisters in Christ with our walk Today we continue sharing from According to Your Word, Morning and Evening Through the New Testament, with Stephen F. Alford. And in Alford's devotional, he prompts us to read a chapter of the New Testament, and today's chapter is Revelation 20. And from that chapter, he shares a portion of verse 11, which says, I saw a great white throne. And Stephen Alford writes, what a vision for the Apostle John to see! What a vision it will be when both small and great will will one day have to stand before this great white throne to be judged according to their works. It will be such an awe-inspiring sight that earth and heaven will flee away from the face of the one who shall sit upon the throne. Great because of the person who will be enthroned upon this throne, he whom God has ordained to judge the world. White because the purity of the one who shall sit upon the throne. He is the Holy One. Throne because of the power of the one who shall occupy the throne. When— and Alfred ends by sharing Matthew 25:31— when the Son of Man comes in his glory and all the holy angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. Amen. Amen. Yeah, so it's a great white throne judgment because of the one who sits on the throne, Jesus Christ. He's great, um, he's pure, thus the white, and throne because he is our majesty, the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords. You know, that's Jesus. And, uh, yeah, so one day we will be judged. As, as for the, the believer, the believer is judged for the rewards he'll receive for his faithfulness and, uh, you know, serving God's kingdom, whereas the unbeliever will be judged according to their sins. And, uh, unfortunately, um, without Jesus to cover their sins, the unbeliever will, uh, go on to what Jesus called outer darkness, where there'll be weeping and gnashing of teeth, a place that we know as hell. So, you know, definitely want to put your faith in Jesus and to more importantly, um, you know, interact with him and follow him and into doing his kingdom purpose for your life. Um, that's why we always ask the question, uh, have you fully surrendered to God? It's great to make Jesus your Savior, but he is to be your Lord, and you are to obey your Lord's commandments, to follow him and to lead a righteous life that reflects the glory of God. And so we encourage people to press in and to get on the path of Christian discipleship, to follow Jesus and to change your life, to you know, reflect that his teaching lives in you, um, and his Holy Spirit lives in you. And when you do that, you end up repenting of your sins, and your life has changed. And on occasion, well, he calls you to a purpose. And for me, my purpose, part of it, uh, is to lead the Celebrate Freedom support group at Starpoint Church on Wednesday evenings, um, on— at 6:30. Uh, we invite anybody in the Capital District area who can get to Clifton Park on Wednesday night to join us for Christian recovery and discipleship. Where we teach you how to walk in the Spirit and come into a community where you can be supported as you overcome your hurts, habits, and hang-ups by relying on and receiving the Lord's help. So we invite you to that. For the men, for the men out there, I'm happy to announce we're doing an online teaching, a group coaching and support group called Grace for the Holidays, where I'll be walking through the original Grace course from Freedom in Christ Ministries. Uh, 6 lessons, 6 weeks and, um, you know, 6 Zoom meetings. Um, so if you'd like to join us for this great walk through the holiday season from the week before Thanksgiving right up to the week of Christmas to keep Christ in Christmas and to keep your eyes on the prize of the glory of God, uh, we invite you to join us, uh, by going at mtforchrist.com and going to our group coaching events page. Um, so you can sign up by registering there, and we'll be in touch. For those people who aren't available for that, well, in the new year, there's a men's group that I'm doing for the Freedom in Christ course from FICM, Freedom in Christ Ministries. You can go to ficm.org and look up their courses, find the Freedom in Christ course that's offered on Tuesday evenings starting January 7th at 6:30 PM, and sign up, and I'll be there to facilitate that So, um, beyond that, um, we, we point people to our YouTube channel, um, basically M.t. Clark 247 on YouTube, and to our playlist page that includes our teachings that we've done in the past for the Bondage Breaker, Victory Over the Darkness, and yes, the Freedom in Christ course, as well as our own Celebrate Freedom discipleship course, among many other playlists that we've compiled that we believe can help you, um, with your walk. So we point people to that, um, our playlist page, because we believe that you can find or increase your freedom in Christ by joining one of those, you know, podcast classes. Anyway, um, beyond that, we ask the question, are you empty for Christ too? You know, and it's just a euphemism for, you know, surrendering to the Lord's will for your life. Um, we encourage people to follow the Lord, not just to believe but to live out your Christian faith every day. Um, so if that's you, we say keep on walking and talking with God. If not, we encourage you to pray for the Lord to reveal himself to you and to make that decision, make that— say that prayer to make Jesus your Lord and Savior. And we know prayer matters. We saw it with the physical healing of our friend who was diagnosed with cancer, um, and it was gone. Um, so praise the Lord. And, uh, that's why we pray, and we're going to pray right now. Lord God, Heavenly Father, thank you for another day in your kingdom. We thank you so much for all that you do. We thank you for the miraculous work we— you've done in our friend's life. Um, Lord, we thank you for your faithfulness. We pray for them to, you know, walk away from this, um, as a powerful witness of, uh, your goodness, mercy, and love. And Lord, for today, we just pray for you to go before us today. Lord, we ask for your support in the Freedom appointment I'll be doing this morning with one of our participants. Lord, we need your— you to guide that procedure, that process of prayerful repentance. Um, so be with us today and guide us in the way we should go with that. And Lord, we pray for anyone who's listening or reading today's message that you'd, uh, help them, um, you know, with their prayer requests and their walk of faith, because we all need your help, Lord. And we're asking for it today as we, we always ask for your help, and, um, we've received it time and time again, Lord. You're helping us today. So we thank you, we praise you, we love you, and we pray all these things in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.