Does the Bible ACTUALLY Say That? - Convicted to Follow and Live for Christ - Purity 1241

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 blazing sunrise on the horizon and reflected on the hood of my Honda CR-V as the day emerges over the morning traffic on Watervliet Avenue Extension in Albany comes to us from yours truly, as I managed to capture the scene on the way to work yesterday morning. Keeping both hands on the steering wheel while driving and thinking, "Kids, don't try this at home." Well, it's Saturday, and although I managed to capture this shot, I understand it wasn't wise and that distracted driving can lead to some serious negative circumstances, up to and including death. So, I am not condoning driving photography, and part of the reason for this blog and podcast is to tell people to not do the things that I did mostly before I put my faith in Christ, or when I decided to trust God to take away my addictions to alcohol, drugs, sexual immorality, and food. So there are a lot of things I would tell you not to do that I have done before, but the main reason that I blog and podcast is to tell you to do the two things I was given the grace of God to do, which were: one, putting my faith in Jesus as Lord and Savior, and 2) surrendering to follow His will for my life, according to the Word of God and the Holy Spirit's leading. I share my testimony continuously to impress upon others that these two decisions encompass the meaning and purpose for which we were created. Without Christ as Lord and Savior, we are lost for all eternity, and so it follows that our seeking the Lord, Finding it in our hearts and minds possible to make these decisions, to give our lives over to the care and lordship of Christ, is the only thing that will make our lives meaningful. These decisions are found to be wise as they put you on the path to discover a life that is filled with the fruit of the Spirit: of love, peace, joy, goodness, kindness, faithfulness, gentleness, patience, and self-control. My history testifies to the truth that I have made some foolish and regrettable decisions in my life that I was blessed to not die in. But my post-salvation life demonstrates that when you trust in Jesus and follow him, you can have peace and joy as your life is transformed by God's wisdom, grace, love, and presence. And the whole point of me reporting on my life to you is to tell you You can do it too. I am not special. I am not gifted or especially intelligent. But when I had suffered enough and began to seek to understand what the purpose of life was, when I sought the truth, my haphazard searching eventually led to a moment where God revealed it to me, the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ that explained the course of human history and where the future and eternity will lead us. Which is all contained in the pages of the Bible.

And it also—

and it is also there where you can find what it means to do God's will for our lives. This week I was encouraging people to turn from their hurts, habits, and hang-ups and mentioned that the fact— and mentioned the fact that drunkards will not inherit the kingdom of God and how it was the reason why I went into recovery.

Part of the reason why anyway there's so many drunken verses.

Anyway, uh, I explained that I realized that my decision to be in bondage to alcohol showed disrespect for God's word and could have possibly caused the Lord to declare that he never knew me when I tried to enter his kingdom after I died. I explained that it wasn't my decision to quit drinking, it was conviction from the word of God and the Holy Spirit in me that brought me to repentance. As I told my story, I was questioned, "Does the Bible actually say that, that drunkards will not inherit the kingdom of God?" I was momentarily taken aback because it was an honest question. This person hadn't read that in the Bible or hadn't heard anyone ever say, say it to the point that it caused them to consider it seriously. So I did a quick Google search to pull up the reference in 1 Corinthians 6:9-10. That clearly tells us, "Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God." It is right in the Bible, drunkards will not inherit the kingdom. Now, I know God's grace is amazing and all our sins are forgiven, um, when we put our faith in Christ, but the whole counsel of Scripture directs us to turn from our sins, not live in them. So as a disciple of Jesus Christ, I realized that the way I live my life would demonstrate who I really put my faith in. In good times and bad, would I turn to booze or Jesus? Who do I spend my time with, booze or Jesus? Jesus' earthly ministry is filled with moments where he called people out for their hypocrisy and where he told people to turn from their sin. Knowing this about Jesus and the Word of God that points out clearly the instructions and principles by which we are to live our lives, I realized that the booze had to go. I didn't want to live under its lordship anymore, and so I chose— I choose— I chose and I choose to trust in the Lord to get— to give me the strength to live for him and not myself, or for the temporary pleasures that booze and fleshly, selfish living could give me. I didn't want to go to hell, and I wanted to stop suffering from the hell of my life, my addict— my life of addiction. And so I attempted to completely surrender to Jesus' Lordship and God's will for my life. But I remind myself and anyone listening, I didn't do this. The Lord did. He saved me and He guided me to follow in His righteous ways through the Word of God and the conviction of the Holy Spirit in me.

But I did choose and continue to choose to follow His ways.

The Bible wasn't going to read itself. I had to choose to do that. Going into recovery was a prompting from the Word and the Spirit, but I had to agree with it and actually do it. I wasn't necessarily— it wasn't necessarily easy to do these things, read and live according to God's Word, and I'm still a work in progress, but I can tell you it's— it is worth it, and you can do it too. So start or keep on walking and talking with God. He will save you through Jesus, and he will make your life brand new when you choose to follow him with the way you live. Let's encourage one another to do what's right and follow Jesus all the days of our lives. Today's Bible verse comes to us from the Quick Scripture Reference for Counseling by John G. Crews. This morning's meditation verse comes from the section on Comfort. And it comes from 2 Corinthians chapter 9, verse 8. And the Word of God says, "And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work." Today's verse falls under the 11th point of our Counseling Reference Guide's resource section on Comfort. That 11th point is God's grace is sufficient for every need. Today's verse tells us that we can abound in every good work and that we live— and that when we live through the grace of God, we are enough, having all sufficiency in all things. That means that if there is something that God wants you to do, he will give you the grace and everything you need to accomplish it. Does that mean we can do absolutely everything we set our minds to? Well, no, that means that whatever it is that God has for you to do in life as part of his plan, you will be able to accomplish. In my life, I had two big goals in 2023 that I felt that the Lord would bless, that I wanted to accomplish. Number one, to be certified as a Deeper Walk prayer minister, and number 2, to lose enough weight to successfully be removed from the need for my CPAP sleep apnea machine. Despite my hard work and very best efforts, neither one of those goals were accomplished. The leadership at Deeper Walk School of Ministry, um, was concerned that I overwhelmed people and delayed my certification. Because I overshared about some of my past experiences, overwrote without asking for permission, tried to teach when I should have been quiet, I have to undergo additional prayer ministry and do more requirements to prove that I'm worthy of certification, causing me to question whether or not I was ever supposed to, supposed to pursue what I sought out in the first place. It also caused me to realize that I had possibly made idols out of the idea of an accomplishment, people, and an organization to fulfill me and to set my future course. I am convicted that whether or not I complete my certification with Deeper Walk, I may have been putting my faith in something other than God's plan for my life by running after someone else's approval and trying to be a part of their mission. God has his own plan for my life, and I no longer, and I no longer think that Deeper Walk is going to be a major part of that. But I have been wrong before, so I guess we will see where that goes and how the rest of my life plans out. Like right now, I had a cat run across me and knock over my microphone. I didn't plan for that, but it happened. So, you know, it's that God's sovereign will. Apparently that was part of the plan, uh, just to disrupt me, um, and humble me some more.

Which I'm, I'm continually humbled.

Similarly, despite losing weight and lowering my BMI, a recent sleep study indicates that I have positional sleep apnea, and no matter how much weight I lose, as long as I sleep on my back, I should use the CPAP machine when I sleep. So I guess I will just go back and gain all the weight back.

Not.

Hey, I tried my best, and frankly, I'm not done yet in terms of being a good steward to my body and getting in the best physical shape possible. But I accept my limitations, and if the tests say I need to use the CPAP machine, I surrender to their authority and will do so. So be encouraged by today's verse that tells us that we can abound in every good work, that when we live Through the grace of God, we are enough, having all sufficiency in all things. But understand that God is sovereign and that he calls the shots, and understand, uh, and he understands the plan that he has for your life. Your all things and God's all things are different. Only the things that God has for you to do, has for you to accomplish, will be impacted and overcome by the grace that he gives you. That means we have to do what we think we should do in terms of good works, but it also means that we are to trust and accept the good works that are revealed to be from him and the limitations on us that will prevent us from doing the quote-unquote good works that we are not meant—

are not meant for us to do. So we have to follow the Lord.

As always, I invite all to go through 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 can— we conclude our sharing from God Is in the Manger: Reflections on Advent and Christmas by Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Today is the day of the Epiphany, January 6th, and so this ends our Advent of Advent devotional and Christmas devotional. We'll be moving on to a new resource tomorrow, and, um, well, not tomorrow but Monday, and, uh, going on from there.

And, uh, so I just have to say before we share the last message, I just absolutely love Dietrich Bonhoeffer's writings and his witness for Christ, and, uh, I'm humbled to to, you know, and honored to share his work. So today, and it also reveals that things may have been a little different in Bonhoeffer's day as they are today, and sometimes we, you know, we don't fully understand the cultural context for everything that he might be sharing from, and today's message sort of goes there, as you will see, as it refers to things that we might not be familiar with unless we know them from church tradition.

But the, the message from Bonhoeffer is entitled The Feast of Epiphany, which I really honestly have to admit I don't know anything about.

No Feast of Epiphany. Um, so I understand it's about the wise men, right? Or maybe not. We'll have to do some research and see whether or not we want to teach more on that.

Um, anyway, Bonhoeffer writes the message "The Feast of the, uh, of Epiphany," and his words say, the curious uncertainty that surrounds the Feast of Epiphany is as old as the feast itself.

We know that long before Christmas was celebrated, Epiphany was the highest holiday in the Eastern and Western churches.

Its origins are obscure, but it is certain that since Ancient times, this day has brought to mind 4 different events: the birth of Christ, the baptism of Christ, the wedding at Cana, and the arrival of the Magi from the East. But that as it may— be that as it may, since the 4th century, the Church has left the birth of Christ out of the Feast of Epiphany. The removal of the birth of Christ from this from his baptismal day has great significance. In Gnostic and heretical circles in the East, the idea arose that the baptism day was actually the day of Christ's birth as the Son of God. But therein lay the possibility of a dangerous error, namely a misunderstanding of God's incarnation. If God had not accepted Jesus as his Son until Jesus' baptism, we would remain unredeemed. But if Jesus is the Son of God, who from his conception and birth assumed our own flesh and blood, then and then alone is he true man and true God. Only then can he help us, for then the hour of salvation for us has really come in his birth. Then the birth of Christ is the salvation of of all people. And next we share from our resource shares, Thoughts on the Baptism of Diedrich Wilhelm Rüdiger Bethke from May 1944. And Bonhoeffer said, or wrote, today you will be baptized a Christian. All those great ancient words of the Christian proclamation will be spoken over you, and the command of Jesus Christ to baptize will be carried out on you without your knowing anything about it. But we are once again being driven right back to the beginnings of our understanding: reconciliation and redemption, regeneration in the Holy Spirit, love of your enemies, cross and resurrection, life in Christ, and Christian discipleship. Thoughts over Baptism of Dietrich Wilhelm Rüdiger Bethke, May 1944.

And finally, our resource finally shares Matthew 2:9-12, where the Word of God tells us, when they had heard of the king, they set out, and there ahead of them went, went the star that they had seen at its rising until it stopped over the place where the child was.

When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, And they knelt down and paid him homage. Then, opening their treasure chest, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another road.

That concludes our sharing from Dietrich Bonhoeffer's God Is in the Manger. And as I stated, you know, who knew?

I mean, some of you might know, but I didn't know that the Epiphany had anything to do with, um, the baptism of Jesus or the wedding at Cana. So you'll have to research that from church history, guys, because I don't know it.

When I think of the Epiphany, I think of the birth of Christ and then the Magi giving gifts. That's all I know about that.

So, um, you know, like I said, different things are different taught and Church tradition is not what the Word of God says. So that's why we go with, you know, disciples of Jesus Christ go by the teachings of Jesus Christ that are found in the Bible and the whole counsel of Scripture that's laid out. Because Jesus respected the Old Testament scriptures, and so that's why we rep— you know, we respect those. And his apostles, his disciples, shared everything that Jesus said and everything that they were given. By the Holy Spirit, uh, in the New Testament.

So we, we follow the Old and the New, realizing it is a progressive revelation of God's will for our lives. You know that things were different in Genesis than they are in Revelation, and now Jesus changes everything.

Um, so we, we try to follow our teacher, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and take everything under advisement and let the Holy Spirit guide us. God in us. So it's Saturday, it's a wonderful day. I'm here at my countryside home. I think I'm gonna go—

we're going to a nursing home today to sing carols to people.

It's the day of Epiphany, so we're gonna celebrate by singing Christmas songs, I guess, as a good work to some people.

And then we're going bowling.

Beyond that, there's some playoff football this evening. I'm not sure what, what I'll do. I'm a Colts fan, so I guess I'm rooting for them to win, but I don't know if I'll have the nerve to stay up and watch whether or not they do that. I have a confession to make that I invest myself way too much in the outcomes of my favorite sports team, and I've learned that sometimes it's best just to not watch, rather be consumed by the passion that overcomes me during those things where I yell and scream and root.

So we'll see, you know, we'll see how that goes.

Anyway, I'm not praying for any particular outcome there because the Lord's will will be done and I will accept it one way or the other. And that goes for, you know, the Colts, and that goes for all of us really.

Um, so let's move forward and, uh, enjoy the day. Lord God, Heavenly Father, thank you for another day in your, your kingdom.

We thank you so much for the salvation you've given us and the wisdom of your word and the calling you put on our lives to follow you. Um, Lord, you're a good, good Father, and you, uh, you saved us and, uh, you've given us a new life in Christ. And we just pray, uh, for anyone listening that they'd be encouraged in their faith to follow you and surrender to your will, uh, Lord, and that you come alongside them and bless them in their prayer requests, in their walk of faith, because, Lord, we all need your help. And I need it too, even on a Saturday. And so I ask you to go before me, to open my eyes to the things you want me to see and lead my steps in the things you would have me do. 'Cause all I wanna do is represent you in your kingdom since you've given me new life in Jesus. And, uh, Lord, we thank you, we praise you, we love you.

We pray all these things in the mighty name of Jesus.

Amen.