Called to See, Believe, and Worship - Purity 1145

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 lush green tropical plants in the foreground of a stone pathway leading to a swimming pool oasis beyond comes to us from yours truly and, uh, a few years back on July 18, 2019, as I originally captured the scene at the Camino Real Hotel in Antigua after a leak week-long vacation mission trip to the mountain areas near Jocotán, Guatemala. Uh, we dug out the foundations and built a church in those mountains of Guatemala, and this scene represents the reward that awaited those who decided to surrender a week of their summers for service to the kingdom of God. I wasn't trying to earn anything on that trip, of course. I was a volunteer, but our leadership team made arrangements to give us a day of rest and reward before going back home for our faithfulness, and it was much appreciated. Looking back, I'm still amazed at the fact that I went to Guatemala to serve the body of Christ, but this morning I was also reminded that my personal life was somewhat in shambles at the time, as my marriage had fallen apart, but I was still cohabitating with the ex and was still waiting for the divorce agreement to be signed and finalized. I suppose one could surmise that I went on that mission trip to escape the harsh realities at home, but although I could I see why one would, could think that, I would have to tell you that you were wrong. I didn't go to Guatemala to escape reality, and I didn't go there for some reward. I went to Guatemala to worship and serve the Lord. My local church announced the mission trip and I felt called to go, so I went. You see, God had saved me back in 2010 and led me into freedom from my addiction to alcohol in 2015. And at the time, I was a few months away from being sexually pure for a year. So although I knew I could never pay the Lord back for all he has given me through my faith in Jesus, uh, Christ, I knew that it was good to serve him and worship him wherever he called me. This morning I was reading John 9, the passage where Jesus heals a man that was blind since birth, but when he declared that Jesus was a prophet, he was thrown out of the synagogue by the Pharisees. John 9:35-38 tells us that Jesus heard that they had cast him out. When He had found him, He said to him, "Do you believe in the Son of God?" He answered and said, "Who is He, Lord, that I may believe in Him?" And Jesus said to him, "You have both seen Him, and it is He who is talking with you." Then he said, "Lord, I believe!" And he worshiped Him. This man had received his, uh, his sight and didn't even know Jesus when he saw him. But when his eyes were opened to see the one who healed him, despite the opinions of the supposedly religious elite, he believed in him and worshiped him. This man's example is the appropriate response for meeting Jesus. Having received his healing from Jesus, he had to tell others about it. Even though it cost him. He was compelled to tell the truth about what had happened to him and what it must mean about his healer. When the Pharisees said they knew Jesus to be a sinner, this man said, "Whether he is a sinner or not, I do not know. One thing I know, that though I was blind, now I see." That was in John 9:25. Later, in response to the Pharisees in John 9:30-33, this man said, Why, this is a marvelous thing, that you do not know where he is from! Yet he has opened my eyes. Now we know that God does not hear sinners; but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does his will, he hears him. Since the world began it has been unheard that anyone opened the eyes of one who was born blind. If this man were not of God, not from God, he could do nothing. He defended Jesus' name and was cast out for it, and when he finally saw his healer face to face, he believed in him and worshiped him. My eyes were opened in 2010 through a David Jeremiah Gospel Radio message, and as I followed, I received my healing too. And so now I proclaim Jesus as the Lord and Savior and try to worship him in all I do. No matter what hardship comes my way, I will choose to worship Him because I can do nothing else. My eyes have been opened, so I worship and proclaim the truth of Jesus Christ. So don't lose your vision. Don't forget what the Lord has done in your life by revealing who Jesus is. He saved you, He forgave you, and He calls you to follow Him into a new life of meaning and purpose to serve His Kingdom. When we follow, we are healed and made brand new, and it is only appropriate to believe and worship Christ forever. Today's Bible verse comes to us from the Quick Scripture Reference for Counseling by John G. Kruis. This morning's meditation verse comes from the section on anger, and it is, uh, today's verse is Proverbs 14:29. From the New Living Translation, the word of God says, "People with understanding control their anger. A hot temper shows great foolishness." Today's verse falls under the second point of our Counseling Reference Guide's resource section on anger, um, and that second point is, "Be slow to become angry." Today's verse is another verse that our resource provides to encourage us to be slow in becoming angry. Our resource provides 3 passages to support this point. And rather than giving them all yesterday, I decided to take it slow by presenting them one at a time. In this verse emphasizes the wisdom that is demonstrated in controlling our anger. A hot temper shows great foolishness, but people with understanding control their anger. As we mentioned yesterday, one moment of unbridled anger can result in life-ending or life-altering consequences. There are crimes of passion where people are possessed by anger and release their frustrations in violence. And even though they were able to pour out their wrath, they are held responsible for the damage they have done. Although releasing anger in the moment may have felt good, the punishment and negative consequences can cause us to regret how we let our hot tempers lead us into regrettable actions. So be wise and don't let your anger burn hot. Remember to take a moment to think about what you say and do when you are angry. Forgive as we are called to forgive those who offend us. Take a moment, count to 10, walk away if you need to, because the far-reaching effects of, of regrets of an angry outburst can be avoided when we are slow to anger. As always, I invite all to go to mt4christ.org, where we always share insights from prominent Christian theologians and counselors to assist our brothers and sisters in Christ with their walk. And today we're continuing to share from A.W. Pink's The Holy Spirit as we finish up chapter 23 on the spirit witnessing with the final section, which is called Guidelines for Subjective Witness. And so if you want the guidelines for subjective witness, go to mt4christ.org and you'll see that passage at the end of today's blog post. Also at the end of today's blog post, you'll find an encouragement to join our, our discipleship series of classes that we have on the M.t. Clark Christ 247 podcast. Those classes are Victor Over the Darkness, The Bondage Breaker, and Freedom in Christ. Those teachings are all based on the Word of God and come to us from Dr. Neil Anderson of Freedom in Christ Ministries. And I became certified as a Community Freedom Ministry Associate back in 2020, 2021, yeah, 2021, and be, uh, you know, did those teachings in my local church had the presence of mind to, you know, record them and, and share them via the podcast. And I'm blessed to say that many people have clicked in and listened in and even asked for the materials on those classes. So if you wanted to engage those recordings as a, as a class, as a study, you can email me at mtforchrist247@gmail.com and I'll send you the handouts and materials that I handed out in class originally. They're just Word docs, and I would send them to you via email at no cost to encourage you in your faith. And because those teachings basically teach us all about who we are in Christ, they teach us about the spiritual realities of the kingdom of darkness and how they influence us, and they lead you to Take the Steps to Freedom in Christ, a prayerful repentance process that leads you to experience your freedom in Christ from all your personal and spiritual conflicts through prayer and repentance. And so we encourage those because they, they were transformative in my life. I'm not exactly sure when I first encountered the Bondage Breaker. It was definitely, well, before 2020. But after going through the Steps to Freedom in Christ, it was a big difference in my life spiritually, as I really felt that I had confessed and renounced everything that wasn't of God and, you know, basically committed myself to follow the Lord. And through that, I believe we broke permissions to the enemy and his torment, my mental life And then we really did cast out the devil, you know, basically, because there is peace, there is tranquility. I never really had a quiet mind prior to that, and that was the big difference. There was a lot of peace and stillness where there was nothing but condemnation before. And that's why Romans 8:1 is like my life verse. There's no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus. So we— and condemnation is just all those negative thoughts that you beat yourself up with. When you put your faith in Jesus, there is no condemnation. So all that stuff that, you know, you hear is no longer true about you. And when we walk in obedience and follow the Lord, you know, the enemy has nothing to accuse us with. So we go day by day, bit by bit, to be more and more like Jesus, to conform ourselves to his image and his ways, to represent him here on the earth. That's a disciple's life, and we learn from Jesus and apply his teachings to our lives. We listen to the Holy Spirit to guide us. As I said, I was called. No, I didn't receive a booming voice from heaven to tell me to go to Guatemala. But you get intuitions, you get a feeling, "This is a trip I should take. This is where I should go." I don't always get that, so it's not every mission trip that comes down the pike that I'm called to go on, but I was called to go to Guatemala in 2019, and before that I was called to go to Africa in 2016. And everything I've done since has been an answer to a call, including the Freedom in Christ Ministries and now the Deeper Walk Prayer Ministry School. I just, you know, I want to be equipped and worship the Lord and answer that call whenever I receive it. So part of the call is doing a podcast and the blog every day just to just to be a voice to confess that, you know, a life of Christian discipleship is something we can do on a daily basis. It doesn't have to be complicated, and the difference is significant in the way you experience peace and joy in your life. So that's why we do the message. That's why we encourage people on a daily basis to keep on walking and talking with God because he leads you and into the life that you always wanted but never thought you could have. The life that is filled with peace, joy, and love that comes from the Lord, that you experience regardless of your circumstances and hardships that you might face. When we walk with him, he lends us his strength and his wisdom. So that's what we do. But, you know, like I said, I'm no super saint. Or some ultra spiritual person, uh, because I, I still have a day job. Unfortunately, I haven't surrendered to full-time ministry yet, um, so we have to work for a living, and, um, that's okay. Um, you know, we're to be in the world too, so we're gonna have to go into the world soon. So let's, uh, let's pray. Lord God, Heavenly Father, thank you for another day in your kingdom. Lord, we thank you for all that you do for us We thank you for how you opened our eyes and made us see the truth and invited us to, to follow you into a life of meaning and purpose in Christ. Lord, we thank you for that. And Lord, we thank you for anyone who might be listening or reading today's message. We pray for you to come alongside them and their prayer requests and their walk of faith, Lord, because we all need your help and your guidance and strength. And Lord, as we go into today, we, we don't know what's going to happen, so we want you to open our eyes to the things— again, open our eyes to the things you want us to see and lead our steps in the way we should go. Because all we want to do is represent you in your kingdom, Lord, and to share the— share anjo— the love of Christ in this world. Lord, we thank you, we praise you, and we love you. And we pray all these things in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.