Discerning God’s Will and Encountering Evil - Purity 1414

Welcome to the MT for Christ 247 podcast. I'm M.t. Clark, and this is today's photo. Today's photo of the sun rising over the fairway of a golf course as a maintenance worker digs in the shadows of a sand trap, uh, comes to us from MJ Clark, who shared the scene on social media Friday, July 26th. Well, it's Tuesday and day 2 of my injured reserve time off from my secular day job, as I work with my hands and suffered a laceration to my left index finger on Saturday, um, requiring stitches that prayerfully will be healed by the week's end. Even though I experienced these unplanned breaks, uh, in my normal routine from time to time that may seem to mean that I will have gaps of inactivity and resting, it seems that the the Lord uses these unplanned moments to speak to me in some way, or to have me do something I wouldn't normally be available to do. When you realize that God is sovereign and you understand that there are no accidents and that everything happens for a reason, um, however, you know, well, when you understand he's sovereign, you understand there's no accidents and everything happens for a reason. However, discerning the reason or ascribing meaning to the days of our lives accurately may be difficult. And could move us to places that we didn't intend to go, or, or move us to do things that we weren't intended to do. For instance, a few years ago, I received an unexpected financial windfall, and no sooner did I receive, receive it that I was asked to help someone financially, which was now possible because of my windfall. So I saw that as a sign that this was what I was supposed to do. So I agreed to loan the money to the person in need. And yes, that's how it was asked for, and that is how it was given, as a loan. In the moment, I felt it was a good Christian thing to do. But as I never received any payments for the loan, I, I felt less sure about how right it was to give the money. What that episode did teach me was to never give money to others with the expectation to receive it again. If I give money, it should be done with the expectation that I will not get it back or be blessed in some other way for having given. Uh, the relationship between me and the person I gave to became distant because I moved away physically and, uh, don't see them anymore. But if I'm honest, I'm emotionally a lot further away from this person than the miles between us because of the unpaid loan. I have forgiven them in my heart and released the debt to God. You know, release the debt to God. So I hold no ill will toward them. But the revelation of their character defects has caused me to not seek out further relationship with them. So did God intend for me to make this loan? Did he want me to suffer financial and relational loss to learn a lesson? Did he want to bless this other person? I'll say yes. Uh, why? Because it happened. If he didn't intend it or allow for it, it wouldn't have happened, right? Well, maybe not. You see, this is a dangerous game, trying to discern what God wanted to happen based on our experiences, because the world is broken by sin, mankind is depraved, our knowledge isn't perfect. And there are the spiritual forces of darkness at play, um, that would love to use our ignorance and the suffering that befalls us to misunderstand God's will for our lives.

What makes us question, you know, what we—

what God's will is. If we come away from our experiences thinking that God wants us to suffer or that he isn't good, our discerning of God's sovereign plan has been corrupted. Also, if we want to start, start to play pocket prophet, as I call it, by trying to guess what God's will for our lives is, we should be prepared to be disappointed because our knowledge is not perfect like his is, and we often superimpose our desires into the mix to lead ourselves astray. And how do we know that it wasn't God's will? Uh, it didn't happen.

Right?

Uh, right. But remember that we live in the stream of time, and today's disappointments and heartaches often prepare us for our next assignment. So what do we do? Well, well, we do the best we can and trust God to bring us to where he wants to go, uh, mistakes and all. So without trying to invest too much meaning into my injury and God's leading me, yesterday I took advantage of the time off work and decided to indulge the flesh with a trip to the movies to see the Nicolas Cage macabre thriller Long Legs. And I'm not going to share the movie's graphic, but I'll share that and a picture of Satan. And what I thought would be just a shameful guilty pleasure seemed to take on a larger meaning as the content of the film presented the stark reality of the presence of demonic evil in our world. Long Legs is certainly not for the family, but it is a suspenseful and well-produced, uh, film. But the story presented described individuals being directed by Satan to do acts of evil. And although those spiritually dead may find the references to the devil to be amusing, I have seen his presence in people's lives and was riveted to the seriousness of the drama and its possible dangers that were before me. Uh, here was a film that literally ends with the phrase "Hail Satan," and I shudder to think of the impressionable youth or debased adults who are disenfranchised from polite society or victims of spiritual abuse who would be influenced to take a look into the dark side. The usher at the theater I went to was a young woman with tattoos and multicolored highlights in her hair, and she commended me for my choice on the way into Longlegs. And while it was a well-produced film, I shudder to think how desensitized our society has become to so easily call good what—

that which is evil.

And of course, my quote-unquote research and fleshly indulgence subsidized it. I walked away somewhat shell-shocked by the trauma of the drama, but I also walked away with a grim feeling that I was intended to see that film. To remind me of the darkness in our world and to double down on my determination to be a light for the gospel of Jesus Christ and to continue in my efforts to set the captives free from demonic oppression. Of course, I have to be careful in how I discern the spirits and in what, in what ways I describe as God's will for my life. But when I walk into situations that remind me of his goodness and his call on my life to share his truth and to help others, I have to believe that I'm on the right path. So live your life in the context of God. Look for meaning, discern your purpose, and walk into every situation looking for God and the good work he wants you to do. Today's 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 fear, and today's Verse is 2 Timothy 1:7, and the word of God says, for God gave us a spirit not of fear, but of power and love and self-control. Today's verse is the second of two passages of scripture that fall under the first point of our Counseling Reference Guide's resource section on fear. That first point is believers need not be slaves to fear. Today's verse reminds us of the basic orientation that the Lord infuses into our lives when we put our faith in Jesus. God God has not given us, us a spirit of fear. So if you are walking in fear, you're not walking with the Lord. You have walked away from the mirror of who you are in Christ and have forgotten God, what he has done for you, and who you are now. When we understand that we are saved, forgiven, and blessed with eternal life, fear should disappear because we will live forever. When we know this, we can walk in power, love, and self-control because God has given us power love, and self-control. If we walk in the Spirit, we will not let fear keep us from God's— from doing God's will for our lives, or from enjoying the gift of a new life that God has given us. 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 today, um, Alford shares, um, and prompts us to read Ephesians 5. And from Ephesians 5, he shares a portion of verse 1, which says, be imitators of God. And Stephen Alford writes, but for the grace and enabling power of God, how utterly impossible to live such a verse. Imitators of God. God is life, light, and love. Moreover, even these intrinsic qualities are incomprehensible apart from the Lord Jesus Christ. No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son who is in the bosom of the Father, he has declared him. John 1:18. Therefore, I can only imitate God as I see God revealed or declared in Christ. God is life.

Spirit.

The whole of Christ's life was lived and controlled in the power of the Eternal Spirit.

Oh, to be filled with the Spirit!

God is light. He says, be holy, for I am holy. 1 Peter 1:16. Christ was holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners. God is love. He so loved that he gave. John 3:16. Christ so loved the Church that he gave. The essence of love is to give. All that I can give is myself. And Alfred ends by praying, O Lord, help me to imitate your life, your light, and your love.

Amen.

Amen. And that's what we're to do— imitate be imitators of God and the person of Jesus Christ, because God's unseen. And but, uh, we have a model, uh, for what godly living looks like, uh, in Jesus, you know. And so we are to, uh, be true disciples, students of our, of our Master Jesus Christ, and, uh, try to follow as, as he, as he, uh, walked. Um, you know, we're to emulate his life by living like Jesus. Jesus was someone who did spiritual practices. He, he went alone and prayed, and he studied scripture, and he did good works. So we should try to live a life like that. Um, we should be holy as he was holy.

Um, he was sinless, and so we should turn from our sins. And he was loving, he gave of himself, so we should love and we should give.

Even if, even if we give and we don't receive anything in return.

You know, Jesus didn't ask for paybacks for what he did for us. He just wanted to change us, change our hearts, uh, so we could be saved. And so that's the disciple path that we always point to.

Um, you know, have you fully surrendered to God? Well, when you make Jesus Christ your Lord and Savior, that's the, that's the first step. Then you, then you follow him, and that's the second step.

It's just a two-step process, and, uh, you do step two continually until you see, you know, see him again, um, when he returns to the earth, or when you see him and when he calls you into eternity. Um, well we'll see Jesus face to face. Um, you know, when we, when we think about God, we have to think about how he loves us and what he would do.

And so we should try to discern his will for our lives. What would you have me do, Lord?

Is our basic question. So when we walk in the Spirit, that's what we ask.

And, you know, why is this happening to me?

Is a good question. But as I stated, um, if we come up with God hates me as an answer, That's, that's the wrong answer. God doesn't hate us. God loves us, and he wants, wants for us to experience the fruit of the Spirit. And so he directs us to walk in the Spirit. He wants us to have peace, love, joy, but he calls us to a certain type of life, a different way that Jesus showed us.

And when we, when we walk in that way, we'll, we'll do, we'll do, we'll do other things. And among the things that I've been called to do is, well, the first thing is the Celebrate Freedom support group at Starpoint Church. We meet on Wednesdays at 6:30 PM in the Capital District of New York.

It's in Clifton Park, New York, and we welcome you to join us, uh, for Christian recovery and discipleship, where we don't just teach the 12 steps, we teach how to walk in the Spirit, and we encourage you to know who you are in Christ.

Um, so There's more to it than just recovery. Uh, it's walking in the spirit lessons, or at least that's what we try to encourage. Uh, and then the next thing on the agenda is the Freedom in Christ course. Um, there are online classes for those who can't get to our recovery ministry meetings, um, for anyone who wants to experience their freedom in Christ, uh, through ficm.org. There's a a whole list of different courses you can take this fall. So sign up now.

I think registration closes in August, late in August.

And, uh, you know, you can learn more about who you are in Christ and how to overcome your personal and spiritual conflicts through these courses.

And we highly recommend them. And I lead one for men on Tuesday nights at 6:30 starting on September 3rd. So there's that.

We always ask the question, are you empty for Christ too? Uh, have you surrendered fully to God? If so, keep on walking and talking with God. God calls you to, uh, to empty yourself so he can fill you with his Holy Spirit and the good things that he has for your life instead of all the things you're holding on to. So we encourage you to follow the Lord and, and find his will for your life.

It's, it's a good plan that he has for you. We just have to walk into it, and, uh, we have to pray too. So let's do that.

Lord God, Heavenly Father, thank you for another day in your kingdom. Lord, we thank you so much for what you've done for us.

Uh, let us not forget who we are in Christ and help us to be imitators of you. Um, you've shown us the way, a way to live, and we need your help to, uh, to walk into that, Lord. Uh, we're also praying for anyone who's listening, reading, or watching today's message, Lord, that you come alongside them and their prayer requests, and that you, um, and bless their walk of faith. Um, because we all need your help, Lord. And, um, we just pray for you to go before us today, open our eyes to things you want us to see, and lead us in the way we should go. Because all we want to do is represent your kingdom, Lord. We need your help, Lord. We thank you, we praise you, we love you, and we pray all these things in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.