Coaching Others to Walk in the “Supply of the Spirit” - Purity 1429

Welcome to the MT for Christ 247 podcast. I'm M.t. Clark and this is today's photo. Uh, to see today's photo, go to mtforchrist.com or follow me, M.t. Clark, on Facebook or Twitter, or you can watch us on YouTube. Good morning. Today's photo of our canine friend Harley walking along the left wheel rut of Freedom Road as God puts on a glorious display in the heavens above comes to us from yours truly as I captured this scene along with many others back on the evening of June 14th. Well, it's Friday, thank God, and I'm looking forward to the end of the work day today because I will be heading up north after work to join my beloved wife Tammy Lynn at a North Hudson campground to spend a couple of nights camping. So there will be no blog tomorrow and no Bible study with the Sincatis on Sunday because I will be officially on vacation and away from my minimum standards of technological needs over, over the weekend to keep the, uh, keep us from keeping the 24/7 thing going. Plus, I don't think the other campers would appreciate me, uh, up and broadcasting about my faith in the wee hours of the early morning. The thing about living in tents or trailers in the close quarters of a campground is that you really don't have any privacy. It's one of those paradoxes of getting away from it all and quote-unquote roughing it at a KOA or other campground. Sure, the campground is in a wooded area, but can you really say you're getting away from it all when you have people surrounding you, or when you have electricity, water, and possibly Wi-Fi provided for you. As someone who backpacked twice, uh, without those amenities, I feel I have the right to say I don't think so. But I understand who, who really wants to rough it, uh, who really wants to suffer? Nobody. So yeah, we create our own versions of getting away from it all and roughing it to suit our needs. Some people consider staying, staying in only at a 3-star hotel roughing So anyway, while we may arrange for our intentional roughing it to enjoy a relatively safe experience of going into the wilderness and thus consequently appreciating our home life— is that why we go camping? To appreciate our home life? When we are not intentionally making things difficult for ourselves, we may strive to stop having to rough it through our lives. And that's where I come in and offer my help as a Christian life coach. My clients have been stuck and roughing it in various areas of their lives and have come to me to seek encouragement, accountability, and advice on how they can form a deeper relationship with God, understand who they are in Christ, and to formulate a plan to make a change that will prayerfully decrease and possibly eliminate their roughing ways. Um, last evening I met with a potential client from Canada who became familiar with me via my teachings on YouTube, and although I and many others have advised him on what he should do with a toxic relationship where he is suffering with, he reached out to me, uh, to coach him through the Freedom in Christ course and the Steps to Freedom in Christ in hopes that he and God can make some internal changes that will give him the strength to change the course of his life. Uh, I explained that I coach my clients to walk in the Spirit and that with God anything is possible, but it requires a total commitment to follow Jesus and to surrender to the Lord's will for our lives. If we want the fruit of the Spirit, we have to live in the Spirit. And as it turns out, David Jeremiah's Turning Point daily devotional for today touches on a life in the Spirit, and so I'm sharing a portion of it on the blog today to, uh, encourage us to walk in the Spirit. And, uh, David Jeremiah writes, uh, his little devotion called The Supply of the Spirit. And I didn't share the first paragraph, but I did share the rest, which says, the Bible, um, the biggest pipeline in the entire universe is the one that transports the oil of the Holy Spirit into the hearts of believers. For Christians who are walking in the light of Jesus, there are no disruptions in the flow. Yes, sin can quench the Spirit and grieve the Spirit, but if we're close to the Lord, we have access to the fullness of the Holy Spirit every moment, and that empowers us for both living and serving. You might not think you're worthy to serve the Lord. None of us are, yet we are worthy in Christ. When we yield ourselves to him, he does his work, speaking his words and Lives his life through us by the Spirit. Today, pray for God to fill you with his Spirit. And then, uh, Jeremiah shared a, a quote from Billy Graham which said, I am convinced that to be filled with the Spirit is not an option but a necessity. It is indispensable for the abundant life and for fruitful service. Amen. And Jeremiah's devotional and Graham's quote you know, prompted me to look up the scriptures in Galatians about walking in the Spirit, then we're going to share them today. And, uh, the scriptures we're pulling up are Galatians 5:16-26, which say, I say then, walk in the Spirit and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh, and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousy, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envies, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like, of which I tell you beforehand, just as I told you in the in time past that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. And those who are Christ's have crucified the flesh with its passion and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another. And then I also looked up a portion, um, from Galatians 6 that says, uh, 6, 6 through 10, uh, which says, let him who is taught the word share in all good things with him who teaches. Do not be deceived, God is not mocked, for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life. And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household. Of faith. And, uh, I write, when we walk in the Spirit, God empowers us to overcome our problems and to experience peace. So let's do that today, tomorrow, and the next day, and see where the Lord leads us. God's supply of the Spirit never runs out, but we must choose to abide in him and follow him to receive all that he has for us. So let's live by what God has taught us and expect to reap a harvest of the fruit of the Spirit when we keep on walking and talking with God. Today's Bible verses come to us from the Quick Scripture Reference by, uh, for Counseling by John G. Crews. This morning's meditation verses come from the section on the forgiveness of sins, and today's, uh, verses are from Psalm 86, and the verses are 4 through 7. And the word of the God— the word of the Lord says, gladden the soul of your servant, for to you, O Lord, do I lift up my soul. For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving, abounding in steadfast love to all who call upon you. Give ear, O Lord, to my prayer. Listen to my plea for grace. In the day of my trouble, I call upon you, for you answer me. Today's verses fall under the 8th point of our Counseling Reference Guide's resource section on the forgiveness of sins, and that 8th point is: The Lord is kind and forgiving. Today's verses encourage us to call on the Lord for help. David's prayer encourages and models a conversational relationship with the Lord, and in this passage we see David ask for the Lord to, A or B, or gladness soul, listen to give ear to his prayer and listen to his plea for grace with the assurance that God will answer him. For you answer me, as he says. In David's relationship with God, he has learned that God hears him, cares about his emotional state, and can and will help him. This is a relationship with God that we can all enjoy. So pray to God, spend time in his presence, and discover that he will listen and answer you and will even gladden your soul. As always, we encourage everyone to go to mtforchrist.com, where we always share insights from prominent Christian theologians to help our sisters and brothers, uh, with their walk. Today we continue sharing from According to Your Word: Morning and Evening Through the New Testament by Stephen F. Alford, and then Alford's devotional. He prompts us to read a chapter of scripture every day, and that chapter for today is 2 Thessalonians 1. And from that chapter, he shares a portion of verse 3, which says, we are bound to thank God always for you. And Stephen Alford writes, the three principles of spiritual life— faith, hope, and love— were so powerful that the apostle, in writing to these Thessalonian believers, had to say, we are bound to thank God always for you. He spoke of their exceeding faith, abounding love, and patient hope. Hope, as far as the word is concerned, is not named, but the word patience is a word which Paul often used in connection with hope, such as in 1 Thessalonians 1:3, patience of hope. And he continues, right, even under stress and persecution, these three essentials were undimmed. If anything, they were further strengthened, for the apostle speaks of their amazing power of endurance. And Alfred ends by praying, enable me, O Lord, to live so that others will be bound to give thanks. Amen. Amen. Yeah, we want to, uh, we want to be people of faith, hope, and love, and when we live that way, people will thank us. Um, they will be bound to give thanks because we'll be a shining light in their life. And that's what we try to encourage, is a life of Christian discipleship, to do God's will on earth, to be changed, you know, individually, transforming our mind and our life by living according to God's will. And then, you know, letting the love of the Lord that we receive richly pour out of us into the lives of others through good works. And so we ask the question, have you fully surrendered to God's will for your life? Or, you know, well, that's the intention, right? You make Jesus your Lord and Savior, and then you follow him. You find out who you are in Christ, and then you do something with that. And, uh, what you usually do is repent, um, so you walk away from your sin and then you walk into, um, good works. Some of the good works that I've been led to do is Christian life coaching, uh, but I also lead a, a, a discipleship and recovery, uh, group at Star Church. It's the Celebrate Freedom support group. We meet on Wednesdays at 6:30, and if you want to learn how to walk in the spirit and, uh, get free of your hurts, habits, and hangups, we welcome you to join us. It's for anybody in the Capital District of New York State. Uh, all you have to do is get to Clifton Park, New York, where Starpoint Church is. Um, and if you'd like, you could register by going to Starpoint Church's website and looking up support groups. And, uh, we also, uh, as I stated, I'm leading this, uh, client of mine through the Freedom in Christ course on an individual Christian Life Coaching basis. Um, the rates for that are, you know, significant. Um, but the, the benefit is significant as well. But the good news is that, uh, Freedom in Christ Ministries offer these courses for a much more reasonable rate, uh, basically. And, um, we are, um, partnering with them. We, we represent them, um, but as an online Freedom in Christ men's course facilitator, and the men's course that we're, we're leading is, uh, going to happen on Tuesday starting on September 3rd. You still have time to register. My class is filling up, so if you want in, you should do it soon. Um, the good news for ladies is there's, there's courses for ladies as well. You would just have to go to ficm.org to find out which Freedom in Christ course is, is right for you. And, uh, so we invite you to check that out to discover who you are in Christ and to go through the Steps to Freedom in Christ to resolve your personal and spiritual conflicts. Well, um, we always ask the question, are you empty for Christ too? If so, keep on walking and talking with God. If not, we ask you to, you know, ask— just pray for the Lord to reveal himself to you and make Jesus your Lord and Savior and follow Follow, follow him. Uh, that's how you become empty for Christ. You, you surrender yourself to him and his will for your life, and it's a good plan. Um, but the plan for today is to go to work and then run upstate, so I really got to roll. Let's, let's pray. Lord God, Heavenly Father, thank you for another day in your kingdom. We, uh, we thank you so much for all that you've done for us. We pray for anyone listening or reading today's message, that you come alongside them and their prayer requests and their walk of faith, Lord. Um, and Lord, as always, we're asking you to go before us too today. We need you to open our eyes to the things we need to see and lead us in the way we should go. We'd love for you to set things up for us in a positive way, um, and we enjoy the journey that we'll see, uh, today. We ask for your protection and guidance as we go forth. Lord, we thank you, we praise you, we love you, and we pray all these things in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.