Christmas Grace and Celebrate Freedom Online – The Highway to Holiness - Purity 1483

Welcome to the MT for Christ 24/7 podcast. I'm M.t. Clark, and this is today's photo. To see today's photo, go to mtforchrist.com or follow me, M.t. Clark, on Facebook or Twitter, or watch us on YouTube. Well, uh, good morning. Uh, today's photo of a nearly leafless tree at one of the bends of Waite Road in the— as the sun blazes The light of a new day over the plains comes to us from yours truly as I captured the scene on Sunday when I decided to take my morning walk just a little bit further. Well, it's Tuesday, and on this second day of the work week, my mind is being consumed by thoughts of the future and what I believe to be God's prompting for future ministry endeavors, or what's next. Um, tonight I'll be hosting the free online Freedom in Christ course that I facilitate as a volunteer for Freedom in Christ Ministry. And as we will be completing the last session of the Course before the participants are expected to go through the Steps to Freedom in Christ, I've been plagued by thoughts regarding how to bring the Course to a conclusion in the next few weeks and have been thinking about offering the Course participants a modified walkthrough of Freedom in Christ Ministries' old Grace Course geared towards the holiday season and the conclusion of the year. As I have been toying with the idea and dismissing it, it keeps coming back up, and it, it seems to be gaining traction as I contemplate offering it as a part of my M.t. Clark Christ Community Freedom Ministry and to, uh, to my current course participants and the people on my mailing list. I have to work, um, I have to work to figure it out, uh, whether or not Uh, this is what I will be doing and how and how, but the, uh, the more I think about it, the more I feel compelled to do it. I'm not sure if it is necessarily something that God is calling me to do, but it might be. Uh, no sooner did I start to think of, think of the possibilities of doing the Grace for the Holidays course, uh, then I got hit with another revelatory idea of doing a 25-week Celebrate Freedom course, you know, a Christian Recovery discipleship group like I do in person on Wednesday nights, but doing it online, uh, via Zoom in 2025. Um, as I walk in the Spirit, I try to answer the call of God on my life in whatever ways I believe he calls me to. And it's exciting when you get these good ideas about the possibilities of the future. I will continue to think and pray about these inspirations and see if it will be something that the Lord is calling me to do, and, and that I would be able to do, uh, my part in a way that would give God glory and give people a chance to and a place to grow and learn and to become closer to the Lord. They say the road to hell is paved with good intentions, and I would imagine the reason why that road leads there is because the good intentions are compromised or not completed. You know, the possibilities of the future are wide open when you follow the Lord, but at the end of the day, it is what we will do that matters. So I have to decide if I will do it. Speaking of the future, today's Turning Point with Dr. David Jeremiah devotional takes a look into the future, and I'm sharing it on the blog today to encourage us regarding God's future plans for us and to warn us of our clear and present danger of spiritual warfare until we get there. David Jeremiah writes, Highway of Holiness. And he shares, um, portions of Isaiah 35:8 and 10, where the word of God says, a highway shall be there and a road, and it shall be called the Highway of Holiness, and the ransomed of the Lord shall return and come to Jerusalem with singing. And David Jeremiah writes, Flip Wilson was the first African-American comedian to host his own successful television variety show. Many of his catchphrases became iconic in American culture, like, the devil made me do it. A day is coming when no one will be able to say, the devil made me do it. During Christ's millennial kingdom, the devil will be bound. And who will be dwelling on earth then? Old Testament saints who follow God, Christians who died before the Rapture, those taken to heaven at the Rapture, those who are martyred for their faith during the tribulation, and those who become believers during the tribulation but are not martyred and enter the Millennium. In other words, Earth will be populated by all believers in Christ at the beginning of the Millennium. The prophets foresaw a highway of holiness leading to Jerusalem, on which we— on which would walk all those who were holy unto the Lord. Let us purpose to live holy lives today, just as we will in the future. And David Jeremiah ends by sharing a quote from A.W. Pink, which says, everything in Scripture has in view the promotion of holiness. Amen. It is— it's good to see our future where we will dwell with the Lord and the enemy is bound. Blessed will, will be those days, especially in these days, you know, when the enemy is not bound. And I'm receiving reports of how he is actively tempting and condemning my brothers to feel depressed, anxious, alone or has been successful in causing them to fall into sin. But even if we falter, you know, that's a big lie. Through our faith, you know, well, let's see, yeah, we're gonna have to, we're gonna have to backtrack there because something got left out. Yeah, I can just tell that's a big jump there. My apologies as I fumble with my sources. Let's see. Yeah, so yeah, yeah, yeah, you know, he causes some to fall into sin. So stand fast, my brothers and sisters. The enemy is actively looking to steal, kill, and destroy everything you have gained in Christ and wants so badly to cause you to stumble and believe you are back on the highway to hell. But even if we falter, that's a big lie. Through our faith in Jesus Christ, we've been put on the highway to holiness, and all we have to do to experience the peace and joy of an abundant Christian life is to stay on the road that the Lord has put us on. As another popular one-hit wonder states, life is a highway, but we must choose which one we will drive on all night long. The devil wants you to doubt and think you are meant for his highway to hell, but the Lord has already made you accepted and given you a clear path on his highway to holiness. So don't worry about getting lost. Just follow Jesus, submit to God, and resist the devil, and your days will be blessed as you grow in God's peace, joy and righteousness. The enemy will be bound one day for good, but until then, we still have to fight the good fight of faith to claim our daily freedom and victory. So keep on walking and talking with God as he leads you on the highway to holiness. Today's Bible verses come to us from the Christian Scripture Reference for Counseling by John J. Cruis. This morning's meditation verses come from the section on friendships, and today's verse is Proverbs 28:23. From the NIV, the word of God tells us, whoever rebukes a person will in the end gain favor rather than one who has a faltering tongue. Today's verse falls under the third point of our Counseling Reference Guide's resource section on friendships, and that third point says, a true friend favors us by a kind rebuke when it is needed. Amen. Uh, well, let's see. Amen. Uh, today's Bible verse encourages us to tell it like it is to our friends, our family, that are going the wrong way, because in the end, all the kind words and affirmations they receive while doing the wrong things will prove to be the words of Satan spoken through the familiar faces of family or friends or family who have been deceived and used by the evil one to lead us to suffering and destruction. One of the hardest things to do as an advocate for freedom in Christ is to address the lies that have been believed and to point out that most of the lies that were given to us came from people we love. But Satan doesn't care. He wants us to believe the lies, and he loves when generations of a family keep passing on his demonic doctrines, or when friends affirm us in our rebellious attitudes and actions. Misery loves company, and Satan wants everyone to burn in hell with him, and he just assumes to take you and all your family and friends down together, as much as he would would run after and rejoice over the one who almost, uh, who was almost saved but rejected Christ. Um, so speak the truth in love and guide those who don't understand the consequences of their actions and attitudes to know that God has a way to save them. God sent Jesus so that they could be forgiven and they could learn to live as he lived. So rebuke those doing wrong. And guide them to see the one who died to set them free. As always, we encourage everyone to go to mtforchrist.com, where we always share insights from prominent Christian theologians and counselors to assist our brothers and sisters in Christ with their walk. Today we continue sharing from According to Your Word: Morning and Evening Through the New Testament by Stephen F. Alford. And in Alford's devotional, he prompts us to read a chapter of scripture. Today's chapter is Revelation 4. From that chapter, he shares a portion of verse 11, which says, 'You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they exist and were created.' And Stephen Alford writes, 'I have been created and am now living for the pleasure and by the will of God if these three characteristics are true of me.' He is worthy to receive glory. My life should have as its first characteristic the glorifying of God. The Lord says in John 15:8, by this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit, the fruit of character. And the second thing, uh, he is worthy to receive honor. Here is the second characteristic, to give God honor is to give him his due. He is worthy of all, and he is worthy to receive power. Thirdly, power. Not only what he does in me and what I am, but also he is worthy to receive what I can do. And Stephen Alford ends by praying, may all that I am and all that I do bring you glory and honor and power. And you say amen. Uh, you know, basically we, we endeavor to, to give the Lord honor and glory and, um, you know, power, you know, through us. Um, so we— everything we do, you know, the way we change, you know, that gives him glory. Wow, he was once lost and he's found. Gives all the glory to God. Um, he's worthy. You know, so we give him praise, um, and, and the power, you know, basically is what we do for his kingdom. We might not be able to do the things that Jesus did, but we can in the same sense, you know. Um, we could possibly, you know, receive miraculous powers through the Lord, but we can do good works all the same. And some of that power is just rebuking someone who's doing wrong, giving them the, you know, uh a kind word to put them on the right path and show them that, you know, Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. So we might not have the power that we deem necessary, but God has given us power to change ourselves and to— well, we don't change ourselves, we allow God to change us. But we have the power of decision to follow the Lord. That's pretty powerful., and we have the power to act on someone else's behalf as well. Um, so we always ask the question, have you fully surrendered to God so you can give him glory, honor, and power? Um, you know, when we answer the call on God's life for us, uh, things change, and he makes us, uh, more and more like Jesus, uh, the more we decide to follow. And when, when he does that, he gives us other things to do. Uh, like I said, I'm inspired to do possible things online, uh, in the upcoming months and weeks ahead. But right now I'm still answering the call to lead the Celebrate Freedom support group at Starpoint Church on Wednesday evenings. That's tomorrow night if you're in upstate New York. You can join us for Christian recovery and discipleship teachings and support. Um, we'll be meeting at Starpoint Church, the K-3 classroom, basically at 6:30 PM tomorrow night. But just because you might not be able to get there, we also offer, um, we also offer our online courses and playlists on YouTube for the Bondage Breaker, Victory Over the Darkness, and Freedom in Christ, as well as our own Celebrate Freedom discipleship course. So we encourage people to check those out, to be inspired to, to follow the Lord with the way you live your life and to experience, you know, who you are in Christ and the freedom that's available to you in Christ. And finally, we always ask the question, are you empty for Christ too? And what that is, is just making yourself available for the Holy Spirit to come into you and guide your path. Like I said, you get these good ideas and You know, usually that's not good stuff that we come up with, um, to go pray for someone or do something for the God— for God's kingdom, go serve at church. These are good ideas that are probably from the Lord, and, uh, that's probably from the Holy Spirit coming in. So if you make yourself available to the Lord's guidance, he'll, he'll guide you in good ways, lead you into repentance and ministry, most likely. So we say, if that, if that's true of you, you are empty for Christ, we say great, keep on walking and talking with God. If not, you're not there yet. We, we encourage you to pray. Um, when you pray, things happen. So we, we would suggest praying that you ask the Lord to reveal himself to you. And, uh, and you know, if he does reveal himself to you, that you put your faith in Jesus as Lord and Savior. Because after you do that, you get a new life in Christ, and a lot of things change after that. Um, so that's why we pray every day. Like right now. Lord God, Heavenly Father, thank you for another day in your kingdom. Um, Lord, we thank you so much for all you've done for us, uh, through the years, and, um, that you did yesterday and that you'll continue to do today. Uh, we ask for you to go before us, open our eyes to the things you want us to see, lead us in the way we should go, because we need your help, Lord. Um, we also ask for any, uh, that for you to help anyone who's reading or listening to today's message, that to be encouraged in their faith, that you come alongside them and, uh, their prayer requests to help them, Lord, because, uh, we just want to be like you. We want to do what's right according to your will for our lives, and we need your help and guidance with that, Lord. Well, we thank you, we praise you, we love you, and we pray all these things in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.