Do What You Can! Challenge Accepted Purity 826

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 a rocky sunset on Lake Ontario comes to us from Celestial Blue Photography and from the depths of my photo archive, my phone's photo archive, as they must have originally shared this scene on or around June 6, 2021. To the best of my knowledge, I never highlighted it on the blog since, and I'm glad that I have decided to look back to see what was left behind. Well, it's Friday again, so thank God. And as the sun sets on another work week, it is my prayer that we all enjoy this Labor Day weekend to enjoy the last days before the new back-to-school season begins. The extended weekend could also give us the opportunity to either take care of or to take a rest from unfinished business from the previous months. Seasonally, it's a good time to consider starting to pack up our summer accessories and to consider transitioning to autumn. Or we can use this weekend to make some summer memories that we were too busy to get to in the last few months. I shared yesterday how I have recently been convicted to confront the one thing that remains that keeps me chained to my past. My former home. Although our divorce agreement states that my ex and I agreed to sell it as soon as possible, she refuses to sell it and lives there still. I have— I had previously decided to just let things lie, but now that she is renting out a room to someone to help with cost, I see that my hopes that she would sell it eventually were naive. So I've made the hard decision to pursue legal action to compel my ex to honor our divorce agreement and to sell our house. Um, but I decided yesterday to reach out to her, uh, and ask her, uh, ask her about it instead of just having some attorney serve her papers without any warning. And as you may have guessed, uh, that conversation didn't go well, but it did assure me of the need to pursue legal action to try to resolve this final tie that binds me to my ex. My ex basically stated that she wasn't selling the house and maliciously invited me to get an attorney and to, quote unquote, do what you can. Uh, so here we go. And honestly, I don't even know what can be done with this situation, but I am going to find out and I will pursue whatever course I need to take to either sell the home or to get my name off of the mortgage. Uh, so Sometimes people jokingly refer to their spouse as the old ball and chain. And while I have severed the old ball and chain from my life, my, my name on the mortgage is sort of the manacle that is still attached to my ankle to remind me that I still have this one thing from our previous life that I need to get rid of to be completely free. Since 2019, I've run free and worked hard to get a new home for my children, and I have, and I have overcome massive debts and legal bills to, to get to enjoy my new life. I've ignored my anklet, and I guess I had hoped it would just fall off by itself someday, but now I know that to be free of it, I am going to have to get some help. There may be some suffering and pain involved in getting it off, and it may take some time before it finally is off. My ex seemed pretty confident that there is nothing I can do to make her sell. Do what you can. I don't know what I can do, but I know that I won't do nothing any longer. There is a quote that is attributed to Edmund Burke, but whose origins are disputed, that says the only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing. While I wouldn't call my ex evil, or myself good for that matter, I know this situation is wrong. It's not just and it's not fair. It's a breach of contract. It's contempt of court. And I know that allowing this thing to continue isn't right. James 4:17 says, whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin. Sin isn't just doing what is wrong, it is also not doing what is right. To know what you should do but failing to do it. Out of fear of confrontation, out of fear of the cost of time, money, and effort, and out of fear of possible negative opinion of others, I have allowed a situation that isn't right to continue. And according to the word of God and my spirit and heart's conviction, I know that it is sin. And I believe that the Lord has convicted my conscience to take this difficult road, to take that manacle off my ankle and to be completely free of the ties that bind me to my former life and to forsake this sin, to give my life completely to him. This isn't the first time the Lord has called me to take a difficult road, as he has encouraged me to follow him out of the darkness of addictions, negative mind states and attitudes and to sacrifice much for the freedom I have today. And as much as the idea of having to do this causes me pain, I know that it is necessary to pursue it until this matter is resolved. When my ex challenges me to do what you can, she doesn't know who I know. And I'm not talking about some attorney. You see, like the old— like in the story of Daniel, I have been cast into the fire before. And I was not alone then, and I am not alone now. As we walk through this life, we will have trouble, but when we walk with the Lord, we can have peace as we walk through them. In John 16:33, Christ said, "These things I have spoken to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world." Because I have peace with God through faith in Jesus Christ, I know something about overcoming adversity. I know something about walking into the desert without knowing if or when the journey will end. And even though some things can seem impossible for us, Christ said in Matthew 19:26, "With God all things are possible." And I know that that the word of God is true. And even though it may take time and effort, I know that it is the Lord's will that I not sin anymore by letting this wrong thing continue. So I will do what I can and pray for the Lord to do what he can, and I will continue until it is finished. I counsel people on this path of Christian discipleship all the time. And I hear horrible stories of difficult situations that people are in. But I share my stories of overcoming, and I advise them that in order to solve our problems, we have to do something. We have to be responsible for our own messes and take steps to get out of them. We can't go back to undo the mistakes of the past, but we can start today on the road to resolve them. When we have huge problems that have no end in sight, we have to do what we can each day to get closer to the solution. And because we are Christian, we know that God will work all things together for our good. We just don't know his timing. If we are faithful to follow the Lord, he will be faithful to help us. So we do our part and, and we pray for God to do his. And with the hope and assurance that one day our problems will be behind us, and we can look back and know that we walked through the fire with the Lord God Almighty himself to set us free. So keep walking and talking with God. Do what you can and leave the rest up to God. Today's Bible verse comes to us from the New Living Translation Bible Promise Book for Men. This morning's meditation verses are Philippians 4:6-7, and they say, don't worry about anything. Instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God's peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. Today's verses encourage us to not worry about anything but to keep praying about everything telling God what we need and thanking Him for all He has done with the assurance that if we do this, we will have peace. As we live in Christ Jesus, His peace will guard our hearts and minds. Enough said? I mean, wow, if you need a prescription for the path of Christian discipleship, here it is. This is walking in the Spirit. You want peace? Live in Christ Jesus. Pray about everything. Tell God what you need. Thank him for what he has done. What happens when you live your life this way? His peace will guard your heart and mind. This is walking and talking with God. This is life more abundantly. Live in Christ Jesus every day. As always, I invite all to go to mtforchrist.org, where I always share insights from prominent Christian theologians and counselors to assist my brothers and sisters in Christ with their walk. Today we continue sharing from Clinton Arnold's Powers of Darkness, and this morning, um, it's, it's the sections on Structural Evil: One First Century Case Example. So, um, if you want to see how the powers of darkness work in the governmental structures from the first century, uh, go to mt4christ.org and go to the end of today's blog post to, uh, see that resource. As always, we encourage people to buy the books in their entirety instead of reading them piecemeal on our blog, but we do share them because why not? You know, we found these resources to be helpful in our walk, so we share them with others. On the blog, if you go to the website page, there's topical labels that you can click on and it'll refer you to previous blog posts where I've shared other books. By other authors. So if we ever, if we ever get organized, we can compile them into a book list, I suppose. But that's on the horizon, perhaps for another, another day or another season. I don't know. But, you know, that's why, that's why we do this, try to help people and, and show the things that we've, we've learned as we walk through the fire. Um, in our, in our walk with Christ. And, uh, we came out, you know, not even smelling like smoke, as they say. Um, and we left the charred remnants of her wardrobe behind. And, uh, we're free. We're free. But, you know, with God, there's always— he's always calling us to, to, to godliness and righteousness and to stop sinning. And sometimes, you know, you know, sometimes our sinning is not doing what we should do. Yikes. You know, I thought it was just the bad things to avoid. No, apparently that includes those things that we should do that we leave undone. And I could make so many specific examples right now, and it would like, you know, point to some of my loved ones, but I'll just, uh, let them, uh, think about the things they've left undone, uh, and let the Holy Spirit do the convicting. Um, so many things left undone, guys, right? So, um, there's so many things, so many things. Uh, yeah, just, you know, cleaning out my closet and stuff like that. I mean, really, in terms of our homes, organize organizing our lives and, you know, career goals or whatever. There's work to be done in our lives because guess what? You know, when we leave things undone, it's sin. It's— we're missing the mark of all that God has for us. So he's not beating us with a stick, you know, to get things done, but, you know, we'll know his peace when we live according to his will. And his will for us is not to live in sin. So that's a tough one today. I mean, I didn't expect this to come out of this, uh, this, this, this post, but here we go. So aren't you glad you listened to the podcast? Now you're personally convicted to do what you're supposed to do. Great, thanks Lord. Um, but, um, you know, it's all for the good, and, um, it's usually good for not just you but others, you know. When you take care of your business, it actually, you know, makes you freer and more available for others, and, you know, and it offers them an example of, wow, that person got their act together, maybe I can get my act together. You know, that's our testimony. You know, oh, I don't have a testimony. Well, clean up your life and you'll have one, in whatever regard that is, you know. So there's lots to do on this path of Christian discipleship. But the thing is with these, you know, it's not a bunch of shoulds, it's a bunch of invitations to walk into the peace and freedom that the Lord has for you. Will you take the invitation to your freedom? Will you take the invitation to your victory? I encourage you to say yes and, you know, RSVP on the invitation to your freedom. And victory. It's worth it. Ask me how I know. So even though I've accomplished much and I could let bygones be bygones, the situation that I'm facing isn't right, and we're going to try to resolve it. And, um, you know, evil will prosper when good men decide to do nothing, so we're going to decide to do something. And, you know, whatever happens, happens. But doing nothing is no longer an option, um, in this situation. So let's go forward with that. And it's the, it's the last weekend of summer, and as for me, I gotta work today and tomorrow, so I get a partial extended weekend. Um, so, but, but, you know, not for nothing, enjoy your weekend. Um, find something that you enjoy doing and do it. Or take care of some business. I don't know, it's your life, live it. Um, so, so that's my advice. Take a rest, go to sleep, whatever you want to do, you know. That's the great thing about this life. The Lord's given us so many options of what to do, but we benefit when we choose what he would have us do, you know. So whatever that is for you, and do it. Seek it. Um, let's pray. Lord God, Heavenly Father, thank you for another day in your kingdom. Lord, we thank God, thank you so much that it's Friday, even though we have to work tomorrow. Well, we thank you because, you know, it's the end of the regular work week and many of our friends will be free at quitting time today and filled with joy. Um, Lord, so we just, we, we thank you for all the people in our lives, um, our friends, our family, and we thank you for the people listening in this podcast. Lord, we just pray for, for you to, to, to bless those who are listening and to come alongside them and give them your divine wisdom and divine favor for the situations they're, they're following. Give them the hope that they can overcome and to follow your path to the freedom and victory that you have for them. Lord, we just pray for you to go before us today. Open your eye— open our eyes to all that we need to see in terms of what we need to get done and in terms of like appreciating our lives and, and the things that you've done and the things that you've made. Um, you know, our lives are rich when we, uh, when we enjoy, um, every waking moment that you give us and that all the things that you provide for us. So help us stay there. And Lord, we do also pray for your guidance and the things we need to do today and the good works you would have us do. Help us to best represent you as we go about our day today. Lord, we thank you, we love you, we pray, we praise you, and we pray all these things in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.