Ask Me How I Know Two Lives One Hopeful, The Other Gone Purity 912

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 State Route 9J trees and utility poles covered with snow comes to us from yours truly as I slowly drove through the outskirts of Castleton on the Hudson, New York, on my way back to my home down by the river yesterday afternoon. Just as the town of Castleton decided to decorate the utility poles with holiday banners, with, with the one pictured proclaiming "Love, Joy, Peace, Season's Greetings," the Lord may have decided to set the stage for a white Christmas, as this week's weather forecast calls for high temperatures in the 30s and possibly more snow at the end of the week. I got quite the surprise on the way home yesterday as I was— I may have been going a bit too fast and a little off-center, uh, as I was driving down State Route 40 in Scaticoke when an oncoming Jeep surprised me and caused me to maneuver my steering wheel too quickly, causing me to slide. I've had— I had a full 10 seconds of panic as my Honda HR-V first slid towards the oncoming Jeep and then as I overcorrected to the right, seemed to be on a collision course for a guardrail on my right. But as I simultaneously cursed, slammed the brakes, turned the steering wheel to the left, said a prayer, and was bracing for impact, thankfully I regained control and got back in my lane and was headed straight again. As I decreased my speed significantly and relaxed a few minutes later, it was as if nothing had happened. But as I made my way back to River House, I saw several other drivers who had probably made similar mistakes in judgment but weren't as blessed as I was, as I saw signs of 3 or 4 other vehicles who had gone off-roading because of the slick conditions. Well, it's Monday again, and so, and so now it's time to deal with snow, a slow commute, and the uncertainty that comes from with the territory of having to drive and park in snow-covered conditions. So let's be careful out there. I had my scare yesterday, so I will keep— well, let's see— I will keep my distance. 6-second rule in full effect until I see dry black roads again. Beyond yesterday's scare on the road, this past week I happened to see two different outcomes with a couple of guys I knew from my Celebrate Freedom Recovery Ministry days. I already testified of having the pleasure of encouraging one of my former friends— well, current friends, I guess— to start following the Lord again after they reached out for counsel. While the jury is still out in regards to how things will play out in his life, the initial signs are encouraging as he has texted me repeatedly about reading the word and about feeling the the peace and joy that comes from reestablishing one's relationship with the Lord. Uh, and then yesterday, as I announced during the latest episode of Bible Study with the Cinkatis, I got word that another participant of our recovery ministry died of an overdose this past week sometime. So we had two guys who were in recovery and walking with the Lord in victory for a while. Both of them strayed from the path. Both made a mess and got in legal trouble. One reached out looking for help this week and the other one died this week. While I was wary of my friend's request for help and am tempering my expectations regarding his success, after hearing about the death of our other friend, I, I know that regardless of what someone's condition or likelihood of success may be, that being a positive voice of encouragement can possibly save somebody's life. This latest tragedy just confirms to me my purpose to encourage people to get right with God and to repent, to tell people about the truth of who they are in Christ and the necessity of living by faith. People need to know that a life of freedom and victory is possible through their relationship with God, but that it requires that you remain in his presence and live according to what his word says is right. These men's broken lives serve as a cautionary tale that tells us that doing things our way is a path that is fraught with danger and can literally kill us. These two men are very different from one another. However, uh, they both seem to suffer a similar weakness. Other than the poor choices to return to their addictive substances, they both had a desperate need to be accepted. Both also paradoxically shunned the communities that would— that could provide it when they couldn't do it on their own, do it on their own terms, or felt they were being treated by— with a lack of respect. Their pride and their need to be loved and revered caused them both to leave the church for bad company that led them both into trouble and led the latter to his death. The man who died had talked about the love of the streets and how although he had the love of his wife and children, the love of the streets made him feel accepted in a way that he didn't get at home. His behaviors undoubtedly put him in the doghouse, and because of them, he had to be on his best behavior and make amends continually. Inadvertently, I imagine he ended up not feeling appreciated or loved. I imagine he felt condemned, that he was bad, that he couldn't do anything right. And I imagine he ended up messing up again and again because everything in his past told him that he couldn't be good. And although he might have known the Bible verses that told him that he was a new creation, that he was free from sin, and that there was no condemnation for those in Christ. His behaviors and ultimate demise indicate that he had forgotten them or that he didn't believe them in his heart. Those truths about who we are in Christ didn't change his experience. He rejected the community of the saints and went his own way, and and now he is dead. I remember him as a friendly and funny guy, and I will always remember that he would often emphasize the knowledge he had by saying, "Ask me how I know," with the implication being that he knew because he lived it. What he had to say was backed up by his real-life experience, his real-life suffering. I have borrowed that phrase often because a lot of my wisdom has come from the school of hard knocks, too. Although provided for by my parents, I made lots of poor choices regarding the company I kept and the individual choices that I made all by myself. So when I tell you that walking in the Spirit, that being a disciple of Jesus Christ, is the best way to live your life, I speak from experience. Ask me how I know. So as we go into another week of work, with snow on the ground no less, Let me encourage you to keep walking and talking with God and be bold to tell other people of the wonders of His love in this Christmas season. My one friend will prayerfully, uh, continue in following the Lord and very well could have one of the best Christmases ever because of his restored relationship with the Lord. My other friend who died doesn't get another Christmas. Although he was known to share Bible verses with others at recovery meetings even after he stopped going to our recovery ministry, the last few months of his life were literally lawless as he was arrested for armed robbery with a young female accomplice that wasn't his wife back in September. And now he dies— he died in the throes of his addiction. He doesn't get another chance to turn it around. And it will only be by the grace of God and a genuine faith in Jesus Christ that he will be allowed into— to live eternally in God's kingdom. I know God's grace is amazing and that Jesus is a friend of sinners, but in truth, I shudder by the cold chill caused by the— by— caused by other Bible verses that indicate that our sins, our bad fruit, show we— show who we follow, and that it is equally plausible that my friend could be considered a false convert and be told that Christ never knew him. I am not making that call. God knows my deceased friend's heart, and I trust that no matter what, God will do— no matter what, God will do what's right. But the unstable ways of my friend that caused his death and causes us to question his salvation show us that in order to have the peace and joy of the Lord in our lives, we need to be real Christians by repenting of our sins and making the daily decision to do what is right according to God's word and to represent his kingdom on earth in spirit and in truth. With the ways, ways we live our lives. So if you are unsure where you will sit when you— your life expires, give up your pride, seek the love of the Lord, and follow his wisdom and ways for your life. I'm no genius or super saint, but I know the difference the Lord makes in your life if you keep walking with him. Ask me how I know. Today's Bible verse comes to— verses come to us from the New Living Translation Bible Promise Book for Men. This morning's meditation verses are Romans 6:6 and 7, and they say, we know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin, for when we died with Christ We were set free from the power of sin. Today's verses tell us— tell the truth— sorry, tell the truth of our, of our death with Christ and our new life free from the power of sin. When we put our faith in Jesus, we are no longer slaves to sin. If we died with Christ, we are no longer under the power of sin, but we have to choose to be slaves of Christ and to follow the example of our kind master. Bob Dylan famously wrote in a song, Gotta Serve Somebody, that you might be a rock, rock and roll addict prancing on the stage. You might have drugs at your command, women in a cage. You may be a businessman or some high-degree thief. They may call you doctor, or they may call you chief, but you're gonna have to serve somebody. Yes indeed, you're gonna have to serve somebody. Well, it may be the devil or it may be the Lord, but you're going— gonna have to serve somebody. Not really a Dylan fan, but he reflects the truth of today's verses. If you— we are crucified with Christ, we are no longer slaves to sin, which indicates if we aren't in Christ, we are slaves to sin. Without Christ, we serve the devil's agenda with our selfish ways. By choosing to do other than God's will, we are in effect saying we reject him as our master. There is God's kingdom only, and those who rebel against His rule and reject Jesus as Lord and Savior will be judged by their works, found lacking, and be consigned to eternity in the lake of fire with Satan and his angels. Life or death, forgiveness or punishment, we serve the Lord or we serve the devil. When we choose life by making Jesus our Lord and Savior, Our old self must die. We must die to the old ways of doing things and experience our new life by believing and receiving the gifts that have been given to us by God. One of those gifts is the power over sin. If we say no, no to sin one time, we demonstrate our power over it, and our victory is confirmed by our daily decision to continually choose God's ways of living rather than going back to our old selfish ways. In Christ, we have the power over sin, but we have to believe it, receive it by living it. Uh, and so, and as our friend's death shows us, we must never waver, because the one decision to go another way than God's way could lead to to lead us to our deaths. The enemy comes to kill, steal, and destroy, and he will tempt us with everything he can to change our story from one of sustained victory and freedom into one of sadness and regret. So live by the power of your new life in Christ, agree with the Word of God, and experience the fruit of the Spirit and a life of increasing freedom and righteousness by choosing to walk with the Lord. As always, I invite to— 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 continue sharing from Dietrich Bonhoeffer's Discipleship, also known as The Cost of Discipleship, and today we were finishing, uh, the section, uh, The Church of Jesus Christ and Discipleship, um, 10 from Dietrich Bonhoeffer's work, Volume 4, Discipleship, uh, the, the Body of Christ. So that is just a few paragraphs basically of the last section of that chapter. But if you want to check out what, uh, the last things, uh, Bonhoeffer has to write about the Body of Christ from his work, go to m.tforchrist.org and you'll find them at the bottom of today's blog post. Also, we encourage you at the end of today's blog post, we encourage you to join our Victory Over the Darkness, The Bondage Breaker, Freedom in Christ series of discipleship classes via the M.t. for Christ 24/7 podcast on all audio podcasts out there, and also on our YouTube channel. It's youtube.com/mtforchrist247 is where you can find our, our channel, and you'll be able to see our discipleship classes, and you'll be able to see our Bible studies. Um, that our little Bible study program is called Bible Study with the Zinkatis, and we just put— uploaded a new one yesterday, uh, on the light of the world. So if you wanted to, you know, get in the Christmas spirit, you can see what we have to say about Jesus being the light of the world and how his light changes our lives., and, uh, we encourage you to check that out. Um, yeah, um, so it's Monday. I had to get up, uh, I had to disrupt my, my morning routine was disrupted because of the snow. Although I shoveled twice last night, uh, yesterday afternoon and early last evening, uh, there was still another 2 inches on the ground this morning that I had to clear. So got up and got her done at the wee hours of 2:30 in the morning. Um, got it done by 3:30, so, um, happy about that. But, uh, also having problems with my furnace as the red light's on, doesn't seem to want to reset, doesn't seem to be quite operating properly. And, you know, even Google can't help me, so I'm calling— I called Morabito for emergency service for them to come I don't believe my son will be awake to, uh, let them in. Um, so hopefully that happens. So we're asking for prayer for my furnace. Um, I'm sure it's fine, it just needs to be serviced. Who knows what's wrong? Um, the technician will know, but I don't have that skill set. So we ask for help. And so that's the, the thing today— ask for help. You know, yesterday my pastor did a series on Blue Christmas because You know, the holiday season can be depressing. So what do we do? We ask for help. And who do we ask for help? The guys in the streets? No. I mean, you could, um, but we, we should probably go with the people who are going to give us godly advice and go to a body of believers in a Bible-believing church. Ask for help. Or, you know, there are mental health facilities and resources out there. Whatever you feel comfortable, you should get some help from professionals that can help you. Um, you know, if it's addiction, you go into recovery, you know, a recovery program. If it's, if it's a medical issue, you go to a doctor. It's a mental issue, you go to a mental health specialist. If it's a spiritual issue, which could encompass all of these, you go to a church. And, um, you know, or seek a Christian counselor, you know. Um, but the bottom line is, after our friend's death, um, we're encouraging everyone to follow the Lord and to get the help when you need it and to reach out. And, you know, not, not to be so prideful. Like I said, part of the, the problem with these two men was their pride, you know. And unfortunately, when you're a quote-unquote recovery Christian, you are sort of treated like a second-class citizen. Um, but we're true— we're told in the word of God to be humble and to be submissive to the church authority and to, you know, accept what we get in life. Um, and but to be— remain faithful and follow the Lord. So not everyone's going to like you, but do you give up, you know, following the Lord because of what someone says? You shouldn't. You know, because we follow God, not men. Um, but we, we can, we can utilize our fellow man to get help. So, you know, and we have a balanced approach to life, but the balance always leads to following the Lord. That's where, that's where true harmony, balance, joy, peace, all the fruit of the Spirit grow, only through following him. So as much help as you get from secular means or whoever, make sure you get right with God and follow him. So time's sort of short. I'm gonna call it and pray, and that'll be it for Monday. And I pray for no more snow. Um, you know, I'd rather just— I know, I don't care as long as they don't fall in my driveway, Lord. You know, if you want to cause a miraculous thing to happen over my driveway, we're good. Um, otherwise, uh, hold off on the white stuff in Jesus' name. Anyway, let's really pray though. Lord God, Heavenly Father, thank you for another day in your kingdom. Lord, thank you for sustaining me, uh, for, for helping me, um, to, to, you know, lead me in a way that I didn't make the mistakes of my friends that follow bad company and to, you know, into my old stuff. Um, thank you, Lord, uh, for leading me in the victory and to, uh, be an encouraging voice for recovery and mental health, all according to your word and who we are in Christ. Lord, we pray for the people listening today or reading the blog, that they be blessed and that they would be encouraged to follow you, Lord. Lord, we pray for you to come alongside them in their prayer requests and to guide them in the way they should go. And as always, Lord, we pray for you to open our eyes to what you want us to see today and to lead us, um, and to lead us into your purposes for our lives. Lord, we thank you, we praise you, we— and we love you. And we pray all these things in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.