Being Thankful for the Bad Things that Haven’t Happened - Purity 1203

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 the setting sun on the horizon pouring out the last light of day over darkened grasslands, which while it illuminates the clouds above, comes to us from yours truly as I captured this country road sunset while out walking last Saturday. November 11th. Well, it seems like only yesterday that I was up at my countryside home in Easton, and as it turns out, I'll be returning there again today as circumstances have caused me to utilize a couple of my remaining personal days to make my shortened work week a single day. My unprecedented weight loss has given me the hope that I can stop using my CPAP machine for my sleep apnea, so I had scheduled an appointment to discuss that possibility, and when I tried to figure out how I would manage that at the beginning of my workday, I wondered about the possibility of just taking the day off. Hey, if we could take off Tuesday, why not Wednesday too? It turns out I have the time to use, and so I pulled the trigger and will now be enjoying an extended Thanksgiving staycation in Easton with Tammy Lynn. I was further motivated to make this decision as I was feeling a bit under the weather yesterday with what could be cold symptoms. So I took the time off and started aggressively fighting my possible illness with prayer, rest, zinc, and vitamin C, which has been known to be an effective combination in the past. So even though I was a bit sluggish, I infused my system with fluid a gallon of water and a gallon of orange juice and took some zinc tablets throughout the day. I managed to make it through work, but by the time I got home, all those fluids and some M.t. Chicken Soup— oh, you do not want the recipe— purged my system and made me, uh, made for a fitful night's sleep. But even though I was dragging this morning, I felt I may have turned the tide in terms of the cold symptoms. It's a fluid situation, but I feel my remedy is working as I didn't feel sick as much as I felt exhausted this morning. The occasional sneeze besides, I feel almost normal. Tried to be— tried to— tired but normal-ish. So I pushed myself, and I'm proud to say I did my morning exercise routine, prayers, and Bible study as I normally I would normally. Yep, even when you are sick, I can't encourage you more to do your spiritual daily practices. These practices are an expression of who we are in Christ, and when we do them even when we are tired and not feeling well, we show the Lord and ourselves how much our relationship with God means to us. Hey, I'm tired and a little woozy, and I don't know what I may accomplish today, maybe not much, But by God, I read God's word, prayed to him, and thanked him for what he has done in my life. This is who we are as followers of Jesus. This is what we do. It's Thanksgiving week, and even if our health isn't optimal, we should be thankful for the health we do have. I recently saw some friends who I hadn't seen in a while, and they were amazed at the amount of weight I lost. Uh, they were so amazed, I could tell by the look on their face that they were concerned. I assured them that I was healthy and I lost the weight through being accountable for staying on a food plan and by exercising regularly. "It's not cancer," I joked. But other people out there won't be able to make that joke, as there is nothing funny about getting that diagnosis. So even though I am fighting off the symptoms of a cold, I am thankful for my health. We can and should be thankful for the bad things that haven't happened to us yet. Likewise, I have several friends who have experienced the loss of a parent or a spouse recently or in the last year. And while I'm giving thanks this year, I will remember my mother, father, wife, children, brothers, and extended family that are all doing pretty well. My son Brennan has finally been forced into the work— working world and will be starting a job today. While my kids aren't perfect, neither one of them followed in their father's footsteps when it comes to drugs and alcohol. And even though Brennan was a little slow in getting out into— out in the world, he is on his way now. So, my family is good overall. Uh, despite some late-year transitions, they are alive and well, and there is hope that the problems they face will be adapted to in time. So, as much as we move into the big holiday come Thursday, remember that if you can't make a list of a bunch of good things that haven't happened to you this year, I'm sure you could make a list of the bad things that didn't happen or could have been somehow been worse. Of course, those life circumstances will always be a-changin', so don't forget to draw near to and give thanks for the one who never changes, the Lord. He'll never leave us or forsake us, and in him we can have peace and give thanks forever. Today's Bible verses come to us from the Quick Scripture Reference for Counseling by John G. Cruis. This morning's Bible verses come from, uh, the section on the church, the communion, and the communion of the saints. Today's verses are from Ephesians chapter 1, verses 20 through 23, and the NIV says, he exerted He exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be the head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him, who fills everything in every way. Today's verses are the first of two passages of Scripture that fall under the seventh point of our Counseling Reference Guide's resource section on the church, or communion of the saints. And that seventh point is: Christ is the head of the church, his body. Today's verses remind us that God has given Jesus all rule, authority, power, and dominion over the earth and the heavenlies. For all time and as the head of the church. Jesus declared the sentiment with the Great Commission in Matthew 18— or Matthew 28:18-20, where Jesus came and said to them, All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age. Jesus is not only the highest authority, He shares it with us, and we are to use it to bring others into His Kingdom. And we can be assured at all times because He is with us, always. This is our purpose and our destiny, to serve the Lord Jesus and to live with Him forever. So we do what He says. We try to live like he lived, and we spend time in his presence to experience the power of his love and rest in his peace. As always, I invite all to go to mteachforchrist.org, where I always share insights from prominent Christian theologians and counselors to assist my brothers and sisters in Christ with their walk. Uh, today we continue sharing from A.W. Pink's The Arthur Pink Anthology, where we're sharing that Bible track called Christian Fools, and today we'll be sharing part 7 of 8. So we'll be concluding that with either the next blog post or the one after that, depends on what we do. But you can find that resource at the end of today's blog post. And as always, you can also find at the end of today's blog post an encouragement to join our Victor Over the Darkness, the Bondage Breaker, or Freedom in Christ series of discipleship classes. Via the M.t. for Christ 24/7 podcast. They're also on the YouTube channel, and those are, you know, without a doubt the most popular programs that we have on the YouTube channel— the Bondage Breakers especially and Freedom in Christ. But all of them are good. And we also have a Bonhoeffer study on his discipleship, and we're beginning the Celebrate Freedom discipleship course. We have 2 lessons out on that, so We provide all that to encourage you to live a Christian life because we discover that that's where our peace is found. We turn away from the world and its sinful evil practices and discover the peace of just living in God's presence and doing what's right according to His Word. Through our faith, we can overcome anything, any challenge that we have. Draw close to God and do what He says, and He'll lead us in the way we should go. And so today we'll be heading up north, and I'm not sure what else. I know I have to go to the doctor's to try to get off this sleep apnea machine. We'll see about that. And, you know, beyond that, I probably will do some work on the Celebrate Freedom discipleship course, the third lesson on spiritual warfare or the enemy. Today to try to have it, you know, ready for next week or I don't know. We'll see. It's a fluid situation. And as for fluids, I'll be drinking lots of orange juice and water to try to flush out my system even more to remove all the cold symptoms. Whether or not that's a, you know, a thing or whatever, I've found it to be effective in the past, so we're going to keep on doing that. And of course, we're going to be praying for healing. We pray because we know the Lord listens and He blesses us. Just recently we didn't have our Bible study because Arthur Sincotti suffered a back injury and was in pain on Sunday. However, while he couldn't make the Bible study, his pastor Dan Knapp came over from the Strong Tower Church that they launched last week, and Dan followed the Word of God, anointed Arthur with oil, and prayed for him, and Arthur felt felt better and ended up going to their evening service. So we believe in prayer, uh, to help us be healed. So we'll take it. And speaking of prayer, let's pray. Lord God, Heavenly Father, thank you for another day in your kingdom. Lord, we thank you so much for all that you do for us. We have a lot to be thankful for when we remember that you saved us and made us new, and you lead us out of the darkness. And so, Lord, we just pray for you to lead us, uh, in the way we should go today. We pray for anyone who's listening or reading today's message, that you come alongside them and their prayer requests and their walk of faith, because we all need your help. And, uh, Lord, even on a day off, I need your help, uh, to protect and guide me. So open my eyes to the things you want me to see and move me in the way I should go today, because all I want to do is represent you the best I can. The way I live, and I need your help. And I'll, I'll take your healing. We pray for healing in Jesus' name. Um, and, uh, yeah, so, uh, Lord, we just thank you for the life you've given us and, uh, the peace that comes from following you. Uh, Lord, we, we thank you, we love you, we praise your name, and we pray all these things in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.