Celebrating Life and Freedom! – Purity 767

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 a blazing sun over Waite Road comes to us from yours truly as I captured this moment while walking my canine friend Harley back to our countryside home back on June 3rd. Well, we made it to the weekend, and those who love life and freedom have a reason to celebrate today. It's my 50th birthday, and it's, it's the 2-year anniversary of my moving into River House. My birthday is the celebration of my life, and the move to my home down by the river is definitely a significant moment that marks the freedom from the darkness of my past. So today I have Nina Simone on my mind. I have Nina Simone's "Feeling Good" on my mind, and I can't— I would recite the lyrics, but it really doesn't do it justice. So we're gonna do this. This is copyright protected, so forgive me. Sun in the sky, you know how I feel. Breeze drifting on by, you know how I feel. It's a new dawn, it's a new day, it's a new life for me. Yeah, it's a new dawn, it's a new day, it's a new life for me. That's awesome. Um, I get a little emotional there while she's singing. Like, it just hits your soul, you know? Uh, it is a new dawn, it is a new day, and it is a new life for me. Yeah. Um, and I'm feeling good. Um, there is a link on the blog today to hear that song on YouTube, so enjoy. Um, oh man, it is so good. Uh, I gotta, I gotta mail it in today, guys. It's my birthday and I'm feeling good, so I'm going to share the truth of the spiritual reality that we can and should stand in by presenting the Who I Am in Christ list and the Overcomer's Covenant. I do these as a spiritual practice, reciting, praying, and meditating over them nearly every single day to remind myself of what the Lord has done. He has given me a new and eternal life where I am free from sin and death, and nothing and no one can stop me from being the person God created me to be—except me. I could exercise my freedom of choice to do all kinds of wrong things. And trust me, in the darkness of my past, I enthusiastically did whatever I wanted whenever I wanted, and sometimes had to face some very bad consequences for doing so. But not always. My getting away with things wasn't a good thing, as it caused me to think I could do whatever I wanted without consequence as long as I wasn't discovered. That "do whatever I want" form of freedom only makes me a slave. Made me a slave to my selfish and sinful desires that isolated me from everyone else and never led to lasting satisfaction. But the freedom God gave me through faith in Jesus Christ was the freedom to say no to those selfish desires that always led to pain. And instead, I began to understand that freedom really was best used in the pursuit of becoming the person God created me to be. A person who sought to do good instead of evil, a person who could receive and give love to others, a person who could know peace because I had peace with God. So pursue that peace that goes beyond all understanding by seeking the Lord and His will for your life, and feel good about it. Repeat after me out loud or silently agree with: Who I am in Christ: Who I am in Christ: I am accepted in Christ. I am God's child. I am Christ's friend. I have been justified. I am united with the Lord and one with him in spirit. I have been bought with a price. I belong to God. I am a member of Christ's body. I am a saint. I have been adopted as God's child. I have direct access to God through the Holy Spirit. I have been redeemed and forgiven of all my sins. I am complete in Christ. I am secure in Christ. I am free forever from condemnation. I am assured that all things work together for good. I am free from the condemning charges against me. I cannot be separated from the love of God. I have been established, anointed, and sealed by God. I am a citizen of heaven. I am hidden with Christ in God. I can find grace and mercy to help me in time of need. I am born of God and the evil one cannot touch me. I have not been given a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and a sound mind. I am confident that the good work God has begun in me will be perfected. I am significant in in Christ. I am the salt and light of the earth. I am a branch of the true vine, a channel to his life. I've been chosen and appointed to bear fruit. I am a personal witness of Christ. I am God's temple. I'm a minister of reconciliation. I am God's coworker. I am seated with Christ in the heavenly realms. I am God's workmanship. I may approach God with freedom and confidence. I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength. Overcoming the darkness of a selfish, addicted, sinful life comes from knowing who you are in Christ. So say it, pray it, mean it, and know it. And you can also pray the Overcomer's Covenant in Christ. I usually pray this, uh, starting with a with, Dear Heavenly Father, I place all my trust and confidence in the Lord. I put no confidence in the flesh, and I declare myself to be dependent upon you, God. I consciously and deliberately choose to submit to you, Lord, and resist the devil by denying myself, picking up my cross daily, and following Jesus. I choose to humble myself before the mighty hand of God in order that he may exalt me at the proper time. I declare the truth that I am dead to sin, freed from it, and alive to God in Christ Jesus, since I have died with Christ and was raised with him. I gladly embrace the truth that I am now a child of God who is unconditionally loved and accepted. I reject the lie that I have to perform to be accepted, and I reject my fallen and natural identity which was derived from the world. I declare that sin shall no longer be a master. Master over me, because I am not under the law but under grace, and there is no more guilt or condemnation because I am spiritually alive in Christ Jesus. I renounce every unrighteous use of my body, and I commit myself to no longer be conformed to this world but rather be transformed by the renewing of my mind. I choose to believe the truth and walk in it, regardless of my feelings or circumstances. I commit myself to take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ and and choose to think upon that which is true, honorable, right, pure, and lovely. I commit myself to God's great goal for my life, to conform to His image. I know that I will face many trials, but God has given me the victory, and I am not a victim, but an overcomer in Christ. I choose to adopt the attitude of Christ, which is to do nothing from selfish or empty conceit, but with humility of mind I will regard others as more important than myself, and not merely look out for my own personal interest, but also the interest of others. I know that it is more blessed to give than to receive. Amen. I also pray this short prayer that encompasses a lot of the above as a concluding prayer before my Bible study. Dear Heavenly Father, I submit myself to You as Your child, and I declare myself to be totally dependent upon You. I yield my body to You as a living sacrifice, and I ask You to fill me with Your Holy Spirit. I renounce the lies of the evil one, and I choose to believe the truth as You have revealed it to us in Your Holy Word. Give me the grace and wisdom to resist the devil so that he will flee from me. I now commit myself to you, including my body, as an instrument of righteousness. In Jesus' precious name I pray. Amen. That's it. That's some of my daily spiritual practice, and I invite you to utilize any or all of it as a part of yours. Happy birthday to me! I pray, uh, on, on the day where I can celebrate my life and freedom, that all who listen to who are read this message will seek the Lord and the life and freedom he has for you in Christ. Today's Bible verse comes to us from the New Living Translation Bible Promise Book for Men. This morning's meditation verses are Romans 8:38-39, and they say, and I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God's love— neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today, nor our worries about tomorrow. Not even the powers of hell can separate us from God's love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation—will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord. Today's Bible verse tells us that nothing can separate us from God's love. He's God, guys. Uh, to quote Joe Cabot from Reservoir Dogs, it's my way or the highway. Anyway, uh, well, following Joe Cabot led to everyone's death in that film. Spoiler alert. Um, so I would say we should take the highway and decide to have peace and life everlasting with God through faith in Jesus Christ. God is sovereign. He is over and above all things. All must come before him, and, and the only way to peace with him is Jesus. But when you put your faith in Jesus Christ, we need not fear ever again, for though— for through Christ we can know the love of God. When we are forgiven of our sins, we know God's love through his mercy and grace. And because God is all-powerful and eternal We can know that nothing and no one can separate us from His love, even death. In Christ, we need never fear anything ever again, and instead can pursue the meaning and purpose that God has for us. We can continually know His love when we stay in harmony with Him by seeking His strength and guidance to help us walk in His way. As always, I invite all to go to mtforchrist.org to 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 Clinton E. Arnold's Powers of Darkness, and, um, uh, today's sections, uh, involve in Chapter 4 under Judaism situations involving evil spirits, also the serpent of old. So those— if those settings don't interest you a little bit you know, you're not interested, and well, maybe you shouldn't be interested in the powers of darkness, but I think we should be informed. So that's why we share them on the blog every day. So if you want to know about more about the powers of darkness and, you know, what the Christian response is, you know, checking out Clinton Arnold's book Powers of Darkness isn't a bad thing. As, and we We also have taught and recommend Neil Anderson's Bondage Breaker. So if you don't have time to read a book, you can listen to the classes where I taught that book on the podcast or our YouTube channel. They would be under the section for the Bondage Breaker, Lesson 1 through I think 12 or 13 of them. So if you want to get the Cliff's Notes version, you can hear me basically teach about them, um, as I did a class for them, Victory Over the Darkness and Freedom in Christ, all in 2021, and recorded them and now present them on podcast and YouTube for everyone's listening and educational, edification, you know, uh, enjoyment, um, because we need to know this stuff. Um, you know, I didn't write this down, but, you know, for anyone listening, you know, obviously there's a other issues with life and freedom with the overturning of Roe versus Wade. And there's gonna be a lot of division over that. As I see people literally saddened about the fact that this access to abortion has been, you know, is being threatened. It's certainly not threatened in New York. As they've already made steps to ensure people can have abortions no matter what the federal law states. So, so there's that. And, you know, evil will always find a way to do evil. Where there's a will, there's a way. I know because I did evil. And believe me, we— I'd come up with all kinds of plans to get around things to get whatever I wanted. And I didn't care if they were right or wrong. So just like, just like me, uh, people will do whatever they want. You know, we enacted gun laws, uh, apparently yesterday as well. Um, but those evil people want to kill people, they're going to find a way. Um, you know, there's— that's the, that's the, the thing about our existence is God has given us free will and, um We can choose to use our will to do good or evil, and what we need to do is come close to God to understand what good and evil is. Because some people think, you know, right to abortion is a good thing. That's killing some, you know, killing a baby. How about the, the right to personal responsibility? Um, instead of being irresponsible sexually, you know, abstain from it. Or be responsible with the life that, you know, was created through your mistake. You know, I saw one person comment on a friend's post celebrating Roe v. Wade like, "Oh, I hope people don't end up abandoning babies at fire stations or, you know, on doorsteps or in garbage dumpsters." You know, and I almost commented, you know, on that, saying something like, you know, oh yes, it's, it's much, you know, it's much better rather than giving them a hope for a life, you know, in a garbage dumpster or at a firehouse or wherever. Um, you know what, we can, um, we should just kill them, you know. That's, uh, but I didn't post that on social media. I'll only be condemned for the words I say in my podcast for the few people who who listen to it. Um, so yeah, as a Christian, guys, we're supposed to agree with, uh, the Ten Commandments says do not murder, do not kill. Um, abortion would come into that because we're all, you know, formed, uh, the moment of conception. Um, and if that process isn't stopped, um, it'll be a life, and, uh, it's a life the moment it starts. So, you know, Like I said, I would— I considered writing a book, you know, or doing a book saying God said it was wrong. And, you know, obviously there'd be a— there'd be a— there'd be a chapter on murder, right? Um, and, uh, abortion would fall under that subheading. Um, you know, and, and it just pains me that people are like lamenting that, oh, these poor women won't be able to do this to their— to their babies and to themselves. I know several women who've had abortions, and it's a sore subject in their lives because they know, you know, it was a final solution to a problem, but, you know, it wasn't a good thing. You know, they knew it, you know. And so it just, it saddens me, but at the same time, I'm happy that, you know, if there's restrictions that would save more lives. You know, really, this ruling is sort of like, you know, the abolition of slavery. And, you know, that's probably the most significant ruling in our country since the abolition of slavery for the protection of life, you know, and freedom, you know, quite frankly, the freedom for those babies to grow and live. Is being protected. So if you want to look at, you know, look at the freedom question, what about the freedom of the baby? You know, that's it. Okay, I know, I know, you know, maybe that's a little too preachy or whatever, but I believe in freedom above everything, you know, and so you're free to do whatever you want, but brother, you're gonna have to answer for it one way or the other. Believe me, there's no getting away with nothing. Because God is sovereign over everything, and we all have to answer to him someday. We can not believe in him or whatever, but, uh, you know, he establishes what's good and holy and right and wrong, and we have to be in agreement and have peace with him. And the only way he's established it is through faith in Christ. And so I pray for anyone out there who, you know, who doesn't know the truth, who's whose, you know, morals are compromised because they don't know, you know, they don't know God. I was like that, so I have great sympathy for both sides on this thing. And, you know, I pray for everyone to find peace with it and to be responsible with your life, you know. The abortion issue is really answered for the most part by being responsible personally, you know. They always bring extreme cases, of course, into that. If we had a standard policy to do what's right according to the Word of God, even the extreme circumstances would be answered. Um, we're following God's will, you know, and doing, doing what's right according to him. Um, it might be hard, might not be easy,, but we'll know we're on the right side of things. And so that's my prayer today on my birthday too, is that everyone would try to seek the truth and seek to do what's right according to the word of God. Yikes. Okay, that was a lot of unwritten commentary, so we're just gonna pray. Um, yeah, how are you going to celebrate your birthday, M.t.? Clark, well, I'm going to work now. I'm free to call in sick, right? Or to use a vacation day or something. But, uh, you know what, I'm thankful for my job, even if it takes away my freedom on my birthday, because it gave me the freedom to get this house and, you know, to do the things and raise my family and whatever. And, you know, life's hard sometimes and we got responsibilities, but we face them and we thank the Lord no matter what. Um, so let's do that. Lord God, Heavenly Father, thank you for another day in your kingdom. Thank you for the freedom and life you've given us. To do whatever we want, but, but to know you, you know. Thank you for revealing the truth to us, and we just pray for that truth to be revealed to more people, uh, today, Lord, that there is a God, there is a, there is a right and a wrong, there is good and evil, and we want to be on the good side of that. We want to be on your side, Lord. You know, there's the right, there's the left, and then there's your way, and I think I'm going to go your way. You know, I'm not following Joe Kabat-Zinn some, some diamond heist where I'm going to end up dead. I'm going to follow your way, your way, Lord, in your way only. Lord, thank you so much for all that you've done. We pray for the people listening today, Lord, that they'd be built up in their faith and assured of the right path that they're on when they're following you. No matter who says what against you, the Lord says you are good. And he defines who we are in Christ. And, um, thank you so much for the transformation that you've done in our lives with that one decision to follow Christ. Um, Lord, we pray for everyone listening today that they'd be, uh, blessed by you, uh, through healing or revelation or good circumstances. Um, whatever you got for us, Lord, we'll take. Um, we just thank you so much for this 50th you know, year of life that begins today. And, um, you know, we, we're not done, Lord. We want to give you glory. So if you want to call us home tomorrow or 5 minutes from now, that's, that's fine. Um, but I'd like to be on the earth a little longer to try to encourage more people to follow you and answer your Great Commission for us. Lord, we thank you, we praise you, and we just pray for you to go before us today, open our eyes to all the things you want us to see and direct our steps into all the things you want us to do. And all these things we pray in Jesus' name. Amen.