Decorating with Darkness - Purity 1471

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. Good morning. Today's photo of green grass, freshly harvested crops, and a panoramic view of fall foliage and mountains in the distance comes to us from yours truly as I capture this idyllic fall scene on Hardin Road in Delanson, New York, back on October 14th, 2020. Well, it's Tuesday and it is the 8th day of October, and depending on where you are in the upstate New York, you may be worried about whether or not the leaves on the trees are pre-peak, peak, or post-peak for those autumn hues. And while I would never seek to encourage anyone to be anxious, I would recommend keeping your eyes open and to enjoy the splendor of the season now while it's still here, because if we get too focused on the business of our daily lives, we run the risk of missing out on the joy that is available in the present moment and those unique sights that come and go with the changing seasons. Speaking of seasons, being October, it is also a season of increasing darkness, as not Not only do the evenings come progressively quicker, but the celebration of Halloween causes our local landscapes to be decorated in dark things that knowingly or unknowingly worship Satan. While I used to be right there with everyone else in enjoying the spooky splendor of Halloween, since coming to the Lord, I've become increasingly convinced that the more one celebrates Halloween, the less likely they will be in that number when the saints come marching in. If your yard is decorated with 10-foot skeletons, looks like a graveyard, or has been transformed into a house of horrors, you may want to ask yourself, what do I believe in? What am I worshiping here? And do I really think God, Jesus, or the Holy Spirit would be pleased with what I've done here? Repent. Anyway, uh, when you do freedom prayer or are familiar with other forms of deliverance ministry like I am, you realize that Satan isn't just a symbol of the evil in the world. Satan and his demonic powers and principalities are real. They really deceive, tempt, accuse, condemn, oppress, and possess people, and they delight when people give them worship. And grant them permission to be part of their lives. Ephesians 4:26 and 27 warns us, be angry and do not sin. Do not let the sun go down on your wrath, nor give place to the devil. Our anger, an example of wrong attitudes, and sin, wrong actions, give a place, or as the NLT says, a foothold, to the demonic forces of darkness in our lives. We reap what we sow, and when we reap anger, bitterness, depression, anxiety, or fear, those things grow. When we sin one time, it becomes easier and easier to sin again. When we persist with wrong thoughts, attitudes, and actions, which may in fact have been assisted by demonic temptations, a habit or a stronghold can be formed that causes our bad attitudes, sinful actions, or physical addictions to have a spiritual component driving our vicious cycles, where unseen spiritual forces of darkness keep us bound by lies, temptation, and sin, and oppress us with accusation and condemnation that drive us to fall into sin over and over again. I know this to be the truth because I have not only received my own freedom through Repentance and Freedom Prayer Ministry, but have led several others through freedom prayer to be set free by leading others through the steps to freedom in Christ, having them renounce their occult involvement, sin, unforgiveness, and ancestral curses, and committing themselves to follow Christ alone, I have seen things that could only be demonic manifestations, and more importantly, have seen others come to experience their freedom in Christ. As for those Halloween decorations, they could be classified as objects of the occult, or simply, quite simply, as things that give glory to Satan and the kingdom of darkness rather than giving glory to God. We really don't want to be associated with darkness. You know, Jesus told us as much in John 3:18-21, where he said, there is no judgment against anyone who believes in him, Jesus, but anyone who does not believe in him has already been judged for not believing in God's one and only Son. And the judgment is based on this fact: God's light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light, and their actions were evil. All who do evil hate the light and refuse to go near it for fear their sins will be exposed. But those who do what is right come to the light so others can see that they are doing what God wants. Do you love the darkness more than the light? Do you love your sin more than God? Let me assure you that if you do, you've made the wrong choice. For as Jesus indicates here, one day your sins will be exposed and judged. And without a saving relationship with Jesus, you'll be eternally separated from God and consigned to what Jesus called the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. In Matthew 18:12. Um, so although you may think decorating with darkness for Halloween is just fun and games, beneath the surface, these displays worship Satan, knowingly or unknowingly. And that's evil, something that faithful Christians pray to be delivered from. So enjoy the fall foliage, go apple picking, or enjoy a pumpkin spice latte, But let's put those childish and dark things away, because as Christians, we should be walking in the light rather than dancing in the dark. Today's Bible verses come to us from— well, Bible verse comes to us from the Quick Scripture Reference for Counseling by John G. Cruis. This morning's meditation verse comes from the section on forgiving others, and today's verse is Mark 11:25. From the NIV, the word of God says, and when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them so that your Father in heaven may forgive your sins.

Uh, you, your sins.

Today's verse falls under the 8th point of our Counseling Reference Guide's resource section on forgiving others, and that 8th point says Jesus commands us to forgive others. Today's verse— today's Bible verse indicates that we should come to times of prayer unburdened from bitterness and warns us that an unforgiving heart could cause us to be separated from God. The Steps to Freedom in Christ includes a section on forgiving others because the bitterness of unforgiveness can not only cause division with our personal relationships and disharmony with our Heavenly Father, but it can also be used by the spiritual forces of darkness as legal grounds to oppress us. If we fully grasp the meaning of our redemption and the forgiveness of sins that we received when we put our faith in Jesus, we should be full of love for God and humbly obey his commands to forgive others as we have been forgiven.

The word—

the words in today's, uh, today's verse are Jesus's words, and if he is our Lord, we should obey him. To be sure we receive the Father's forgiveness and to be set free from the bitterness that unforgiveness brings. As always, we encourage everyone to go to mtforchrist.com, where we, um, share all kinds of insights and resources from prominent Christian theologians and counselors to assist our brothers and sisters in Christ with our walk. We also offer our life coaching services there, prayer ministry services there, and we have you know, our, our, you know, there's pages that can get you to our YouTube playlist, uh, on that website. So check it out. But, uh, today we continue sharing from According to Your Word, um, Morning and Evening Through the New Testament by Stephen F. Alford.

And in that devotional, um, Alford prompts us to read a chapter of scripture.

Today's chapter is 2 Peter 3, and from that chapter he shares a portion of verse 9, which says The Lord is not slack concerning his promise. And Alford shares the following: Jesus is coming, is coming again. Jesus is coming again. Shout the glad tidings over mountain and plain. Jesus is coming again.

And I believe that's like a hymn anyway.

And then he writes, here is a very stirring message. Peter had to stir his readers up in remembrance of the great fact that Jesus was coming again. With the elapse of time, many were getting weary and asking such questions as, where is the promise of his coming? Thus the apostle answers with these words: the Lord is not slack concerning his promise. And then Alfred ends in praying, Lord, keep me ever watching for your return, for your name's sake.

Amen.

Amen. And You know, right now David Jeremiah's latest book is, uh, um, uh, basically it, it points to the coming of the millennial kingdom and the return of Christ. I'm reading through the, um, you know, the Turning Point devotions every day, and every message is basically pointing towards that portion of scripture in Revelation that points to the millennial kingdom and the reign of, of Jesus, uh, to be coming.

Soon.

So, um, even though it's been 2,000-plus years since Jesus left the earth, we are to be faithful, um, and recognize what, what, you know, Peter says in that epistle somewhere, um, that, you know, a day is like a thousand years to the Lord. So it's only been a couple days since Jesus left.

Um, so we're just gonna have to hold on and see when he comes.

But in the meantime, we, we We are to walk faithful and trust that he will come.

He's been faithful in the past, and he'll be faithful today, and he'll be faithful tomorrow.

God's in control of all things and is leading history according to what— according to his calendar, not ours. And as much as throughout history people thought it was the end times during the Reformation and during times of World War, like World War II— I mean, you look at the current events during those times and you go, wow, this is the end, but it wasn't the end.

And right now we have, you know, the conflicts in the Middle East and the, uh, and, and the Ukraine, and might say, oh, this is— and the state of affairs in our, our own country of division and strife. And, uh, we might be thinking this is the end times too, and it, and it very well could be. Uh, Christ could return any day, but he might not. He might not return. We might go to see him before he comes to see us. And so we're to remain faithful, and we're to, you know, carry out the Great Commission, uh, to make disciples, um, and teach them everything that Jesus taught us, um, because his word is truth.

And we love the light rather than the darkness.

Uh, we're not children of darkness anymore, we're children of light, children of God, because of our faith in Jesus. And, um, we're to, we're to, you know, serve his kingdom by sharing the good news and encouraging other peoples to to follow him into the freedom that he has for them.

And when you do that— and well, that's why we always ask, are you fully surrendered to God? And when you do fully surrender to God and repent of your sins and renounce your associations with the occult and your ancestral curses, you get free in Christ. And, uh, he leads you into repentance in all kinds of areas of your life.

Um, you know, he wants you to turn from the dark—

those dark sins and those dark things that you're associated with in the past— to discover the new life he has for you in Jesus.

And, uh, it's a good life.

And when he guides you in it, all things will happen. All kinds of things can happen, like ministry. For myself, I've been blessed by, uh, my local church to, uh, lead the Celebrate Freedom, uh, Christian Recovery and Discipleship support group at Starpoint Church. They do that on Wednesday, Wednesday evenings at 6:30 PM. So if you'd like to come out, uh, and you're in the upstate New York, uh, area um, come on down to Clifton Park, find Starpoint Church, go to the K-3 classroom, and join us tomorrow night at 6:30. You can register for our group by going to Starpoint Church's website too. However, if you don't, you know, couldn't make it to our support group meeting, uh, we believe that you can find or increase your freedom in Christ by joining one of our podcast classes on YouTube.

You know, basically we can check—

you can go to mtforchrist.com, go to our playlist page and find these courses for The Bondage Breaker, Victory Over the Darkness, Freedom in Christ, or Celebrate Freedom Discipleship Course, um, to get good teaching, get encouragement, and, uh, you know, to trust in the Lord, uh, in a new way, um, to get set free from those things of the past and those dark associations.

Um, and that's why we ask the question: are you empty for Christ too?

Have you surrendered to God? Are you making yourself available for the infilling of the Holy Spirit? If so, keep on walking and talking with God. If not, everything begins with a prayer.

Ask God to reveal himself. Ask Jesus to be your Lord and Savior. And ask him for his help to make you change. And, uh, he'll be faithful to answer those prayers.

And that's why we pray every day.

We know he's faithful.

So let's pray. Lord God, Heavenly Father, thank you for another day in your kingdom. Thank you for everything you've done for us, Lord, the things you've done yesterday and the things you'll do today. Uh, Lord, we just pray for you to go before us today, open our eyes to the things you want us to see, lead us in the way we should go.

And, uh, we ask you to also bless anyone who's reading, watching, or listening to today's message, that you come alongside them and their prayer requests, as, uh, we need your help, Lord. And, uh, we know that you're faithful to help us when we ask, so we're asking. Lord, we thank you, we praise you, we love you, and we pray all these things in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.