A New Happy Place! Discovering and Rediscovering the Joy and Presence of the Lord - Purity 882

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 sunrise and the glory of the sun shining through the clouds from the vantage point of Panther Top Tower in the Nantahala National Forest near Murphy, North Carolina comes to us from a friend who reports that he has discovered a new happy place. —less than 10 miles from his home, commenting that the photos he shared can't do the natural beauty there justice, and that the remoteness of the location means that there are rarely others there when he visits, so it provides the additional serenity that comes from enjoying the splendor of God's creation all by himself. Of course, those of us who have had the truth revealed to us know that we are never really never ever really alone, as God is omnipresent, present everywhere. And that those of us who have put our faith in Jesus Christ know we take the Lord, we take God with us everywhere we go because the Holy Spirit indwells us. So we might enjoy the relative solitude of going places where there are no people, no other people, but no matter where we go, God is with us. And that is truly fantastic news. Well, it's Monday again, and whether or not you have the time to go to your happy place, or if your day requires you to go back to work, that fantastic news of God's omnipresence and the Holy Spirit being along for the ride in those of us who have surrendered to the Lordship of Jesus Christ is always something we can take joy in, even if our circumstances aren't necessarily happy. Unfortunately, in the turmoil and challenges of going through life, we can lose sight of this fantastic news, and we can really, we can really feel all alone and that nobody loves us or cares about us. That's a big lie. I've been listening to the audiobook of Dallas Willard's Divine Conspiracy, and while I initially thought that Willard was perhaps trying to be a bit too intellectual or sophisticated in his exposition of the Christian faith. Uh, the creator of The Chosen knows Jesus, and his book makes the case for kingdom living, actually living our lives as a disciple of Jesus Christ. And so I continued to listen and quickly saw that we had a mutual friend in Christ and basically spoke the same language. That's sought to encourage people to follow Jesus. As I listened, Willard wrote about some of the basic attributes of God, one being his omnipresence. At first, I have to admit that I thought I was in a part of the book that I would have to suffer through because I already knew all about that, quote unquote. But Willard's writing caused me to consider this basic fact about God, that is so amazing that it is difficult to fathom just how big God is, just how deep, how wide, and how everywhere at once God is. Wheeler's writing pointed to the vastness of space, our ever-expanding universe, and the discoveries from the Hubble telescope that captured images of galaxies that were so huge and magnificent that it, that that they are difficult to imagine. Well, that it was difficult to imagine that they actually existed in a galaxy far, far away. But the photos from the Hubble Telescope tell us they are there, and because of that technology, we can actually look at these things and enjoy their beauty. Pretty awesome. Right? But the thing is, Hubble is only a recent discovery. Willard's writing pointed out that long before men— man ever saw these things or could even adequately imagine their existence, God knew all about them and enjoyed their beauty all by himself. Today's photo and the contemplation of all the beautiful scenes out there just waiting to be discovered or enjoyed again reminded me of Psalm 19:1 that says, "The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament shows his handiwork." People in their struggles through life often ask to be shown a sign that God is real. Meanwhile, we have all of creation declaring his handiwork. The fact that there is anything shows that there must be a self-existent being that created it all. That's God. And if creation wasn't enough, God revealed himself to man, as documented in all the accounts of the Bible, and then personally through the advent of Jesus Christ to earth. And now, because of Christ, we can continuously enjoy the presence of God with us through the Holy Spirit. But we can forget about what we know about God. We can be so consumed with the drama of this world that we can even think that we are all alone in the world. Even I, who makes a point of encouraging others to keep walking and talking with God, forgot about the wonder of God's omnipresence. Somewhere along the path of Christian discipleship, I took it for granted that I knew, knew all about it, and thus sort of forgot, forgot about it. And it took another like-minded Christian's writings to reintroduce me to the awe and wonder of the one that I, I tell everyone to follow. God is infinite, so I realize that there will never be a point where I will know all about him. There is more to discover, and even the things we know about God need some periodic reboots to remind us just how wonderful and amazing it is that we have come into relationship with him. That he is literally always with us. So don't harden your hearts or your heads to the Lord by thinking you know all about him. Even the things we know become less known over time as we lose the appreciation of the things we know because of our supposed familiarity with them. Plus, more often than not, as we keep walking and talking with God, the, the Lord graciously reveals more of himself and His truth to us, and we discover that our understandings of Him, which we thought were so sophisticated, are revealed to have been remedial. And because of this aspect of our relationship with the Lord, I really have to emphasize the first piece of advice that I normally give to those who are curious about having a deeper walk with the Lord. That advice is to seek the Lord. While I thought of, uh, Jeremiah 29:13, that are the Lord's words of encouragement that say, And you will seek me and find me when you search for me with all your heart. I am also sharing a link to 100 verses from openbible.info that highlight scriptures that, uh, highlight scriptures about— that speak about seeking God, because we should not rest in our attempts to know the Lord and to seek him and his will for our lives. When we walk with God, we continually find new happy places because his joy fills us when we something new about him, or are reminded about something we thought we knew, and we gain a new appreciation or understanding of, of it anew. So keep walking and keep talking with God. Everywhere you go, he goes. And when you continue to seek his wisdom and presence, you discover a new happy place every time you discover a little more about him. And what he knows, and of what he knows. Today's Bible verses come to us from New Living Translation Bible Promise Book for Men. This morning's meditation verse is Matthew 25:29, and it says, for to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance. But from him who does not have, even that he— even what he has will be taken away. Today's verses are the words of Jesus which tell us that He has more in store for us, but warns that he who does not have a relationship with Him, even what he— what they have will be taken away. Like what? What will be taken away if you do not have a relationship with Christ as a good servant of the Lord? Well, in verse 30 Christ states, "And cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." and gnashing of teeth. Yeah, Christ basically says that we— you lose everything and, and will be cast into hell. Yikes! Anyone who pontificates about gentle Jesus hasn't read the New Testament, as our Savior repeatedly warned about hell and pointed to himself as the only way to the Father. So rejoice if you have put your faith in Jesus Christ, because to you who which— who— to you— which— who— to who— must— much has been given. Well, much has been given, more will be given. But we shouldn't miss the overall context of this section of scripture in which Jesus is telling a parable of servants being industrious with the resources that their master has given them. The parable teaches us to be good stewards and to utilize talents we have been given But if we show that we have no relationship, no trust to the Master, and do nothing with what He gave us, we are warned that we will be exposed as one who was unprofitable or useless and be judged. Christ came to redeem our lives and lead us to realize our purpose in His Kingdom. When we are not redeemed, covered by Christ's blood, and choose to live for ourselves rather than Him, We lose everything. But don't be afraid. If we trust in and obey the Master by making Jesus the Lord of our lives, we will lose— we will lose— we won't lose anything and instead will gain everything and know just how abundant a life with Christ can be. As always, I invite all to go to mtforchrist.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 can continue sharing from Dietrich Bonhoeffer's Discipleship, also known as The Cost of Discipleship. And today we continue with the section on the hiddenness of prayer. So if you, um, want to read some more about that, go to mt4christ.org and you'll see that resource at the end of today's blog post. And so there's that. Um, well, it is Monday. Uh, I'm happy to report basically there's— I've done several freedom appointments in the last week, and tonight, actually, we'll be able to rest. But, you know, there's no rest for the wicked or for the disciple of Christ, as I have to— I have a lot going on this week. I am going to Buffalo. I'm on a pilgrimage of sorts to see David Jeremiah on Friday night and volunteer at his event at the KeyBank Center in Buffalo, an evening with David Jeremiah. And so why am I doing this? Well, in 2010, in March, I believe it was March 19th, a Friday, I just happened to, you know, listen to a David Jeremiah radio message, and I just happened to get saved. And the rest, you know, from that day forward, um, has led to a life of Christian discipleship, victory, freedom over addiction, and, you know, all these things, all these wonderful things, all through Christ alone, of course. But the messenger was David Jeremiah. So I'm volunteering my time, uh, to his event on Friday. Friday the 11th, Veterans Day. And, uh, so, but, and, and I'm— so I've decided to make it a pilgrimage of sorts. On Wednesday evening, I'll be leaving and going to my alma mater city of Oswego, New York, uh, to look at the lake again through sober eyes and, uh, see what that's like. Um, and then Thursday, I'm going to bounce around until I get to Buffalo. And so who knows, Maybe I'll hit a library or two on the way there. I don't know. Or I might just take some, you know, take some photos of Lake Ontario on the way if I choose to drive along the coast. I'm not sure, I'm not sure, but this is, it's an exciting time for me because it's a road trip and it'll be, you know, me all by myself. But as I stated, I won't be by myself because this road trip apparently is for me and the Lord. As my good friend Arthur Sincadi had, you know, had planned to go with me, but Arthur fell sick and now has work responsibilities, and I'll be hitting the road on my own, which I sort of suspected would happen all along. This trip was for me and me alone, and so I'm gonna step out and and, you know, do a pilgrimage to see the man who spoke the message that brought me to faith in Jesus Christ. And to serve his ministry as a volunteer. So that's sort of exciting. And of course tomorrow night's the Freedom in Christ course, and somewhere in there I'm going to do a Bonhoeffer teaching and upload it. So I don't know if that'll be on the road or if I can get her done before that. So, but, um, so that's, that's what's going on in my life, uh, besides work and everything else. But, um, it's exciting, and that's why we seek the Lord. It's like, if you're bored in your faith, you're just not, you're just not following. Uh, no offense, um, you know, are you serving at your local church? Are you, you know, are you reading, uh, Christian books where other Christians can point out the goodness of God for you to rediscover or to learn anew? Are you living a disciple's life? You know, I mean, you should be meditating on the Word of God or reading something or praying, I mean, or serving. Um, the Lord has an abundant life for you. Are you, you know, tuned into television and things of this world? Um, what are you, what are you concerned with? The Lord has something for you, I'm sure of that. What it is, I'm not sure. It doesn't have to be as complicated as all that, but, you know, surely, you know, you should see what he has in store for you, what he has available to you, um, you know. And, you know, it's not all road trips and, uh, blessings. Um, my, my path was, uh laid in with a lot of repentance, and in that there was a lot of tribulation. And the good news is, after you get through it, you know, the abundant life is waiting for you. But it means you have to surrender your sin and, you know, turn from the worldly ways and discover God's ways. But I can tell you, this life of a Christian discipleship is possible and it is good. And it's the way you should go, you know, so you should go that way. I just love, love the Lord and what he's done for me. And, you know, just all the— I considered, you know, different aspects of what I could do, even all along the Christian spectrum of, you know, going to a liturgical church or a Spirit-filled church or a seeker-friendly church or serving missions, doing work in the community, studying, counseling people, all these different aspects. All these roads are available to all of us. Listen to the Spirit and follow the one that the Lord tells you to go on. It's your walk, it's your life, and your purpose in Christ. So seek it. Seek the Lord and find it. And, you know, seek your freedom if you don't have it. Freedom in Christ Ministries, you know, ficm.org is out there too to help you along that path. And that's what we're here to do, is encourage people. And if you don't know about that stuff, you can check out our teachings on m.t.4christ.org, or actually more, more accurately, our, our podcast M.t. for Christ 247, and our YouTube YouTube channel, Empty for Christ 24/7, where you can find teachings on Victory Over the Darkness, The Bondage Breaker, and Freedom in Christ. Basically go through those and see where it takes you. But really, you can, you can follow wherever the Lord leads you and discover these things. But you have to do it. You have to actually put one foot in the other and follow the Lord, seek the Lord. Change, turn. You know, that repentance is turning, is turning from what you did and turning towards the Lord and what he has for you. So we encourage that, and we're going to pray. Lord God, Heavenly Father, thank you for another day in your kingdom. Lord, we thank you so much for all that you've done, and we just can't wait to see where the— where you take us this week, Lord. Um, we're scheduled to be in Buffalo on Friday, and Man, I can't wait to hit the road on Wednesday evening after work. So, um, we're looking forward to that. And Lord, um, so thank you for that. But Lord, we're, we're thinking about the people who might be reading or listening to this message, and so we're going to pray for them. Lord God, we just pray that you bless these people, um, that have a heart, um, to follow you, um, you know, and to be real and to be an authentic Christian. Lord, we just pray for you to bless them. With your grace, come alongside them in their prayer requests and their walk. And as always, Lord, we pray for you to go before us, open our eyes to all the things you have to show us, and lead us in the way we should go today. We do pray for your protection and guidance. And, uh, Lord, we thank you for your goodness. And, uh, Lord, we thank— we, we love you, we, we praise you, and we thank you. And we pray all these things in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.