Destruction or Abundance – A Mindful of Christ Encouragement - Purity 1201

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 the silhouettes of trees and a rustic barn in the foreground of a sky painted by the fading light of sunset comes to us from yours truly as I captured this scene at the end of the road last weekend in the farmlands just off of Waite Road in Easton, New York. Well, it's Saturday and I'm back at my countryside home with my wife Tammy Lynn for the weekend. And yes, we are reunited and it does feel so good as we will spend the day today, uh, on another hike somewhere in the Saratoga or Adirondack areas of the real Upstate New York, or as I call it, the Great White North, and possibly go see the new nativity-inspired Christmas story musical Journey to Bethlehem later today. I'm not sure exactly where the day will take us, but I hope to, um, continue to experience the fullness of joy that we continually find in our God-centered marriage. However, as happy as I am in my marriage to Tammy Lynn and look forward to celebrating Thanksgiving this week, I recognize that for many, uh, November of 2023 has brought some real challenges in the form of disappointments, failures, broken relationships, and death. I also recognize this transitioning time from autumn to winter and the movement into the holiday season can bring with it memories of previous losses or the ways things used to be but will be no more. Quite a few of my friends are suffering this year, and some are experiencing the anniversaries of losses or— and painful changes that are over or not quite a year old. For those of us who are content or happy right now, we should be grateful but also be aware and sensitive to those who are suffering by offering our presence, prayers, help, or understanding to those whose problems, pain, or losses make it difficult to be thankful. We have to walk the fine line between listening and being present with those whose pain is great and knowing when to offer an encouraging word that could help them to rise out of the depths of despair, we have to try to be aware of the time of the season and respond appropriately. Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 tells us that to every thing there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal; A time to break down and a time to build up. A time to weep and a time to laugh. A time to mourn and a time to dance. A time to cast away stones and a time to gather stones. A time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing. A time to gain and a time to lose. A time to keep and a time to throw away. A time to tear and a time to sew. A time to keep silence and a time to speak. A time to love and a time to hate. A time of war and a time of peace. So we have to try to be wise and discerning in terms of the help we give, because any one of these situations could be playing out in the lives of the people we encounter this week. When silence may be the appropriate response, uh, while I'm sorry, while silence may be the appropriate response to much of what you run into this week, I both exercise that option and not— and will not practice it by sharing an encouraging word from Lauren Ross Killey of mindfulofchrist.net, who shared this word for Wednesday that teaches us that the spiritual forces of darkness may play a part in your suffering, and that we are not helpless against our negative thoughts or emotions, and that we can choose by faith to respond rather than react to the enemy's attacks or the negative circumstances of our lives, to experience the life of peace that God wants us to live regardless of the times of the season. So Lauren writes, she shares from John 10:10 from the New Living Translation. It says, the thief's purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life. And Lauren writes, destruction or abundance. Whenever you come across any thought, situation, person, or experience that takes away, ruins, or eliminates your faith, peace, and joy, and takes you away from Christ and his plans for your life, then know that that thought, situation, person, or experience is from the devil and his minions. He is the one that wants to ruin you or and your relationship with the Triune God. God intends and promises you abundance in mind, spirit, and soul. You can know his peace. Note that God doesn't promise we won't have to deal with the devil's schemes. We will. But he does promise us his comfort and strength to deal with them, and that abundance includes the fruit of the spirit: peace, love, joy, patience, kindness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control. Notice how you respond and react to each thought, situation, person, or experience. You can choose destruction and lack, or you can choose to stand against the devil and choose the peaceful and abundant life that God has for you. When a thought, situation, person, or experience occurs, ask yourself, is this from God, or will it steal, kill, or destroy my faith or growth with Christ? What will you choose? That was from Lauren Ross Killey, Mindful of Christ, her word for Wednesday this past week. Uh, thank you, Lauren. Her words expose the enemy's strategies to drive us into despair and destruction, and unfortunately, he doesn't take it easy on those who are already suffering loss, pain, or heartbreak. So whether you're just feeling low in general or have some very real and present problems and heartaches, remember to take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ. Just because you feel down doesn't mean we stop doing what is right. And choose to remember that the Lord is with you, and choose to spend time in his presence to receive the comfort, wisdom, or strength you need to help you to endure or to change your perspective by focusing on the good that is present in your life right now. And the God who will never leave you or forsake you in any time or season. When we keep walking and talking with God, we can overcome anything. And we— and, and we— and when we remember to submit to God and resist the devil, we can experience the peace that goes beyond all understanding, or beyond our current circumstances. Today's Bible verses come to us from the Quick Scripture Reference for Counseling by John G. Crews. This morning's meditation verses come from the section on church, or the communion of the saints, and today's verses are 1 Corinthians 12:1-11 from the English Standard Version. The Bible says, uh, the word of God says, now concerning spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be uninformed. You know that when you were pagans you were led astray to mute idols, however you were led. Therefore, I want you to understand that no one speaking in the Spirit of God ever says, "Jesus is accursed!" And no one can say, "Jesus is Lord!" except in the Holy Spirit. Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord. And there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all and every one. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit. The working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he will— wills. Today's verses are the second of two 2 passages of scripture that fall under the 5th point of our Counseling Reference Guide's resource section on the church, or communion of the saints. That 5th point again is gifts of the Spirit differ. Each member must use his or her gifts to serve others. Today's verses encourage us that we don't all have to be the same. There are different gifts that the Lord has, has for us, uh, that can be used for God's glory and for the good of the body of Christ. So you be you and I'll be me, and let's both consider the gifts that the Lord has given us and rejoice in the fact that he knows us and loves us for who we are and allows us to be ourselves in the way that we follow and serve his kingdom. That's all I got. I mean, there's a lot, there's a lot in that passage about our spiritual gifts, and we should examine what those gifts mean might be. But I'm not going to do a big teaching on the gifts. There's, there's stuff out there if you want to look it up. But, uh, the bottom line is we're all given different talents and gifts, and we're to use them for God's glory and the good of the body of Christ, and to be united in maintaining that communion of the saints in fellowship and peace. So I encourage that, and I encourage a life of Christian discipleship, and we encourage you to go to mtforchrist.org where we always share insights and insights and from prominent Christian theologians and counselors to assist our brothers and sisters in Christ with their walk. Today we continue sharing from A.W. Pink's The Arthur Pink Anthology, which is a collection of A.W. Pink's tracts brought together in one one book and dispersed here on the blog for your encouragement. And today we continue sharing from message number 6, which was Christian Fools. And today we share part 5 of that tract. It's a very long tract, and obviously there's going to be 8, 8 parts in total from that message. So if you want to check them all out, you have to go back and find them. You know, basically, and read each passage as they go. Or you can go out and buy the Arthur Pink Anthology book that you can find online. Um, and we just share these things because, uh, there is good Christian teaching out there, and we need to know it, and we need to practice it. As today's message sort of pointed out, you know, there is a time for every season, and that people will be suffering. And yes, We suffer loss and we suffer grief and we suffer heartache and we suffer broken relationships. But the relationship that doesn't break is the one we have with the Lord. That is the one that is, you know, there's nothing that can separate us from the love of God. He is with us. And when we focus on that relationship above all others, we can endure any loss, any heartache, any disappointment. Recently, I've had a disappointment myself, as I talked about in the blog previously, that my plans have been delayed, if not totally destroyed, by some bad news recently. And I'm still processing, as it's a fluid situation. We'll see how it goes, but surrendering it is where I'm at right now, just sort of taking it as it comes and knowing that I have a pathway before me that I have to walk out, and I might have to circle back to the things that were lost later, you know. As far as I can tell, time keeps moving forward, so we got to keep going forward, and whether or not we accomplish what we hope to accomplish, you know, in a timely fashion. You know, we can't always— we can't, you know, life doesn't stop. And, you know, what are you going to do? You got to keep living, you got to keep moving, you got to keep going. And we can let things go, or we can stop and, you know, try to, try to save things or change things. But the time will march on, and, you know, you have to try to be faithful in doing what you already decided to do. But you can always make changes. You know, the one thing we can't do is go back. But what we can do is live from today and rejoice in today, that we're alive, we're well, we know Jesus Christ. And really, that's all we need. He'll provide us with eternal life. He provides us with the hope when we focus on him and stay in his presence, when we meditate on the truth of who he says we are, rather than our performance or the things we lose or, you know, what people say about us. There's the peace and the fullness of joy that comes from knowing I'm accepted, I'm significant, and I am secure in Christ. Nothing can change that, no matter what I lose or what people say about me or whatever, or, you know, the relationships that come or go. You know, the relationship that endures forever is, is Jesus, and that's, that's what we're supposed to put the fullness of our joy in. Everything else passes away, but the Lord stays forever. And when we're not focusing on that, we're sort of You know, we're forgetting, we're forgetting something about, about our lives that we shouldn't forget, that God endures forever. So, so it's the weekend. Um, wife's taking me for a hike. I'm excited and scared because you never know what we're gonna get. I'm sure we'll be fine, but, uh, yeah, whenever you go out in the wilderness, there's always that unknown. What am I going to have to— is it going to be uphill, downhill? Am I going to fall down? Is there a wild animal out there that's going to bother me? You know, but we'll stay together and walk safely and enjoy it. And I hope to see that movie. I don't know if we're going to go see that movie today or not. It's a musical and it's about Jesus, the birth of Jesus. So hey, you know, it's a good, good story when the Savior was born, you know. Anyway, I do pray for those people. I pray for a lot of people. I pray for the ones who lost someone in terms of, you know, eternity. They've died. I have a few people who are suffering grief for people who have died. I have other people who are struggling with financial issues, jobs. I have other people who are suffering relapses, so they're trying to make their way back on the road of recovery. I have other people who are on the verge of, if not are losing their marriages. Um, so I pray for them. I pray for the Lord to come into their lives. I pray for them to embrace their faith and to, um, stay in the presence of the Lord to find the peace and the answers and the wisdom and the strength that they'll need to make it through. Um, and I pray that they realize that that these problems are not their life, that there's a bigger life, the life in Christ that transcends it all and that can give them peace if they focus on that. So, you looking at your problems or you looking at Jesus? You know, you can do both. And, you know, yes, the problems will have to be solved and endured, but the one that will give you peace is the Lord. So look at him. Follow him and, uh, you'll have no regrets. Anyway, uh, let's pray. Lord God, Heavenly Father, thank you for another day in your kingdom. We thank you so much for all that you've done for us. We thank you for the enduring relationship that never ends and the peace that goes beyond all understanding when we realize that you chose us and you saved us and we'll be with you forever and we can endure all the changes in all the pain that suffer— and the suffering that we might have to go in this world, because we know that we will live with you forever and that you're with us right now to help us, Lord. So we just pray for anyone who's listening, that, that you'd come alongside them and their prayer requests and their walk of faith, remind them who they are in Christ and to give them the strength and hope, the peace they need., to endure, or to just rejoice over how good, uh, you've made their lives. Um, Lord, we thank you for what you've done in our life. We pray for you to go before us. We need you to protect us as we're going to be walking somewhere and going about this earth. Anything can happen in this world, so we just pray for you to protect us and guide us and keep us safe, or, you know, help us endure if if something should befall us. Um, Lord, because all we want to do is, uh, you know, follow you. So help us to see what you want us to see and move in the way you want us to move, because all we want to do is represent you on the earth and encourage people to put their faith in Jesus. Lord, we thank you, we praise you, we love you. We pray all these things in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.