Counterfeit Thanksgiving – Gathering Together for Idolatry and Blasphemy - Purity 1515

Welcome to the MT4Christ 24/7 podcast. I am M.t. Clark, and this is today's photo. To see today's photo, go to mt4christ.com or follow me, M.t. Clark, on Facebook or Twitter, or watch us on YouTube. Good morning. Today's photo of my canine pal Harley on a blacktop country road dividing the golden harvested farmland on either side under a blue sky filled with wispy ethereal clouds comes to us from yours truly as I pause to capture the moment as we took a mid-afternoon walk yesterday. Well, it's Thanksgiving Thursday. Happy Thanksgiving, everybody. It is my prayer for, uh, that all who hear this message will enjoy a good meal with family or friends and, and will take some time today to reflect on the blessings of life and to give thanks to God for all they have received. As I stated earlier this week, it's best to be specific when we give thanks and to not only know what we are thankful for, but to also realize that ultimately we should give thanks to God because he is the one who gives us life and is the one who is solely responsible for the good things we have received. God as creator, as the creator of all things, is the real deal. And when our thanks fall short of acknowledging him, we run the risk of falling into idolatry—worshipping created things rather than the Creator—or blasphemy—the act of insulting or showing contempt or lack of reverence for God. And I'm saddened to say that there will be a whole lot of that on display across our country today as America celebrates Thanksgiving. While there are no rules to how we choose to celebrate Thanksgiving, and there are many possible responses to the questions of "What are you thankful for?" or "What does Thanksgiving mean to you?" that will be shared around American dinner tables today. As someone who has found his purpose in following Jesus Christ, sharing the gospel, and helping others find their freedom in Christ, I lovingly have to shed some light on the spiritual implications of what people will say today and to try to expose the lies that people believe that could separate them from God. Some possible idolatrous responses to the question of what are you thankful for include, I'm thankful for my phone, my car, my house, beer, turkey, stuffing, pie, you know, the material things. We can also be idolatrous by saying I'm thankful for my family, my wife, my husband, my son, my kids, my daughter, my boyfriend, my girlfriend, my grandma. Suck up. Uh, you know, uh, the relationships we have, um, these are not necessarily idolatrous things, mind you, but they certainly could be. Idolatry depends on the extent we put our trust in things rather than God and whether we have a relationship with the one true triune God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Who was incarnate in the Virgin Mary and was made man in the person of Jesus Christ, and who indwells those who put their trust in Jesus as Lord and Savior in the person of the Holy Spirit. Unfortunately, today there will also be responses to the question of what are you thankful for that will go beyond idolatry and jump into the realm of blasphemy. Some possible blasphemous responses include, I'm thankful for my elected official, my sports team, you know, the things we put our faith in that cause us joy or pain if they fail or succeed. Or possibly I'm thankful for money, the stock market, my investments, my broker, you know, good old mammon. And then there's, um, you know, I'm thankful for the universe, kindness, forgiveness, love or peace, um, where creation itself is considered a god, or where the attributes of God are propped up as mystical forces in themselves without acknowledging the Lord. And then finally, the, the, you know, there's straight blasphemy, where people can say, I'm thankful for Satan, the Dalai Lama, Buddha, my guru, the Flying Spaghetti Monster, Muhammad, Allah, or Nietzsche, the leaders of false religion or philosophies that deny the Lord. I really wish that these were jokes, but I believe that people across America today will confirm their lack of faith in God by giving thanks for things or people with no thought to the Creator who made them, or who will actively deny the one true God by professing their faith in what the Bible would consider to be Antichrist. False gods, or what Colossians 2:8 calls philosophy and empty, empty deceit according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ. I have been to or seen Thanksgiving celebrations that are not only lukewarm or ice cold when it comes to the mention, uh, mentioning the name of Jesus Christ, but I know of quote-unquote Turkey Day Seriously, celebrations where sin will be celebrated, where drunkenness, gambling, drug abuse, and sexual immorality will, will also be on the menu for today's feast. And it shouldn't be that way. The mere idea of Thanksgiving should cause us to turn from the darkness of this world and to seek the truth of existence and to look for the one who has given us so much, to seek and find the one who has shown us that things like beauty, love, kindness, and forgiveness are good and are to be cherished, the one true God. As lost as the world may seem at times, because I was taken out of the darkness of sin, idolatry, and blasphemy myself, I know there is hope. Learning the truth and seeing the error of our ways is possible. it is possible to find the Lord and to be set free. Almost as if the Lord was giving me a sign to confirm this, while I sat writing this message this morning, I received an email telling me that there was a new registration for the Celebrate Freedom Christian Recovery discipleship support group that I lead at Starpoint Church. True story. The night before Thanksgiving is one of the biggest party nights of the year. And it seems that someone may have woken up, uh, this morning in more— woken up in more than one way this morning and may be ready to ask the Lord to help them to leave the darkness of their hurts, habits, and hangups behind. We were never meant to worship the things of this world, and the Lord has revealed himself to man by sending Jesus to save us. So while I'll be thankful for a lot of things that could be considered idolatrous, because I do love the people and things that the Lord has provided as blessings in my life. I will never enter into the possibility of blasphemy because, well, quite frankly, I've been there and done that. Uh, and even though I rejected the Lord and walked far away from him as an atheist and follower of false religions in the past, God was merciful and never gave up on me. When I was utterly sinful, lost, and deceived, he used a gospel radio message to show me his truth and love. And now I will spend the rest of my days thanking him for who he is and for what he's done. And I will endeavor to share his love and truth with others. Now, don't worry, I won't talk politics at all or religion around the Thanksgiving dinner table today. I don't— I won't point out people's rank idolatry, sin, or blasphemy. That wouldn't be polite or kind. But if I'm asked what I'm thankful for, I will be specific in giving thanks, and the name of Jesus will be spoken, because it's only because of him that I have the life, truth, and way to live in peace. So if you know Jesus, Thank him today. Show the love of the Lord to others by being someone they can talk to about their lives and problems. The conversations we have today could save someone's life or give them a hope they never knew before. So shine a light of the love of Jesus for others to see, to see, and thank the Lord for all he has done for you. Yeah, I sort of missed that text. Anyway, um, today's Bible verses come to us from The Quick Scripture Reference for Counseling by John G. Prewis. This morning's meditation verses come from the section on giving, and today's verse is Acts 20:35. From the NIV, the word of God says, and everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said. It is more blessed to give than to receive. Today's verses, or verse, falls under the 14th point of our Counseling Reference Guide's resource section on giving. And that 14th point is, it is more blessed to give than to receive. Today's Bible verse confirms that Jesus is the one who said it's more blessed to give than to receive. You can quote Jesus there. And even if it is hard work to help the weak, we should follow the example of Christ who gave his very life to help the hopeless and give life to the spiritually dead. There was no way to pay back our sin debt. Our good works could never pay back God for our offenses. We had no hope to make up for our sins and to have peace with God by our own efforts. But God made a way. Jesus gave up his life for us, and so we should give to others to show them the love of God. And to give us an opportunity to represent our Lord and Savior. 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 Day by Day Along the Way by J.E. Adams. It's a 365-day devotional, and we're on day 14, uh, where Adam shares a portion of Ephesians 4:17, which says, no longer walk like the Gentiles do in their meaningless ways of thinking. And Jay Adams writes, there is so much meaningless activity among the Gentiles, or heathen, all those who do not know God. In a reflective mood, consider what men spend their time and efforts pursuing. You cannot consider the matter for long without coming to the same conclusion as the Apostle did. It is all so meaningless. As the writer of Ecclesiastes said, it is vanity, a word expressing the temporary nature of life under the sun, his favorite expression for life in a sinful world. Your present condition will not last. Everything around you will perish. Only those things that have eternal value are lasting and worthwhile. Consider your lifestyle. Is it to, is it to a large extent meaningless? Well, recognize that your life is guided by your thinking, and your thinking is meaningless if you fail to fill your mind with God's word. So begin to think God's thoughts after him. They, of course, are found in the scriptures. Determined to spend time studying, not merely reading it. And you will begin to think meaningful thoughts, thoughts that count. That was from Jay Adams, uh, Christian counselor. And, um, we thank Jay, um, posthumously, uh, because he's, you know, dead. Um, but his words go on to encourage us, um, that, um, anything that doesn't consider the big picture of God and his word and his truth is meaningless. And today, um, As I sort of pointed out, a lot of thanks will be given for things that are meaningless. And, um, hopefully, um, you know, the Lord will come into environments today to, to show that he's the one who stands behind the good things that people are going to be thankful for, or, or to convict people that, uh, they believe in a lie. Thus, um, we encourage people to seek the Lord and find his truth. And that is why we ask the question every day Have you fully surrendered to God? Um, basically, have you put your faith in Jesus? Are you trying to live, uh, according to the plan that God has for your life? Um, we encourage you to say yes, uh, to those things and to, to follow the Lord into the truth and peace and joy and love that he has for you. Um, and, um, we recommend it because it transformed our life. Like I said, I was a follower of false religion, an atheist, and a big sinner in my past. And, um, I tried to do things my way, and I didn't find peace. I didn't find joy. I didn't find love. I found confusion and chaos and pain. And, uh, it was only through the grace of God that he revealed himself to me. And when he did, I accepted his gifts of free life and forgiveness and, um, have walked in it ever since. And And, uh, I have to say it's made all the difference. It's, it's the way to life. It's ultimate reality, uh, the life with God that we encourage people to find. And we, we say that not only do you find, uh, repentance, uh, you usually find a purpose when the Lord calls you. Part of my purpose, as I said, it's leading the Celebrate Freedom support group at Starpoint Church. We had a new registrant this morning, somebody who signed up. You know, whether or not they'll show up, I'll be praying for, um, for Christian recovery and discipleship. And I also encourage anyone who's reading or listening to this message in Upstate New York who can get to Clifton Park on a Wednesday night to join our Christian support group, where we can, you know, encourage you to walk in the Spirit and not in the flesh, and to discover the new life of hope, peace, and joy that the Lord has for you, uh, when you walk away from those hurts, habits, and hangups. That keep you stuck in the world. Anyway, um, beyond that, if you're a man, even if you can't get to Clifton Park, you could show up for a support group that we do on Monday nights called Race of the Holidays. It's a limited edition, uh, we're only doing it for a few weeks, but we're going to leave the registration open, uh, you know, basically until the very end because I'm recording the sessions and because it's never too late to follow the Lord. And if you wanted to jump in midship, you can, um, by going to mt4grace.com, going to our group, uh, coaching events page, and registering. Um, we'll be happy to have you as we go through the grace course, teaching about God's grace and how to live in God's grace every day. Um, however, if you miss that boat, we are looking forward to the new year, and, uh, we're serving for Freedom in Christ Ministries by doing the Freedom in Christ course once again on Tuesday nights at 6:30 PM Eastern time. That group begins on January 7th. However, the registration closes on December 10th, so we encourage everyone to go to ficm.org and to register for one of the discipleship courses that are available there by December 10th. And finally, whether or not you want to sign up for those groups or not, We offer, um, an opportunity to find or increase your freedom in Christ by, uh, joining one of our podcast classes on YouTube. Uh, we have classes for Bondage Breaker, Victory Over Darkness, Freedom in Christ, and our very own Celebrate Freedom discipleship course, among many other resources, uh, on our playlist page on YouTube. So, um, we encourage you to check those out, or you can go to m.t. forchrist.com where we have a, a page dedicated to the playlist we have on YouTube. If you want to find them a little easier. Um, beyond that, it's Thanksgiving, so I got to relax. Um, I've been at my countryside home, and I don't know if it's a peaceful, easy feeling I get here or not, but I've been running late on the message the last two days. And, uh, so I'm gonna relax some more and, uh, see how tomorrow goes. But today I'm going to give thanks to the Lord for what he's done.. And, uh, we ask the question, are you empty for Christ too? Um, just a matter of following the Lord and allowing the Holy Spirit to come into your life to make changes. Um, if that's the case, we say keep on walking and talking with God. If not, we encourage you to seek the Lord. Uh, ask him, ask it in prayer to have him reveal himself to you and see what happens. Uh, because we believe that prayer changes things. Uh, we've seen it happen and, uh, That's why we pray every day, like right now. Lord God, Heavenly Father, thank you for another day in your, uh, in your kingdom. Thank you for all that you do for us on this Thanksgiving Day. Lord, we just pray that, uh, your name be lifted high, the name of Jesus be— would be shared, uh, with others to, to know who we should give thanks to. Um, Lord, we, um, we pray for you to go before us today, um, protect and guide us as we go to seek to represent your kingdom and to share the joy and peace and love wherever we go. Um, and we definitely need help with that, Lord, so, um, we're asking for it. We're also praying for you to bless anyone listening or reading today's message, that you'd come alongside them, their prayer requests, their walk of faith, and their Thanksgiving holiday. Um, we pray for you to bless them, Lord. Lord, we thank you, we praise you, we love you, and we pray all these things in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.