Encouraging Prodigals to Accept the Invitation to Purpose Purity 904

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 parking lot across from my place of work in Albany, New York, under the last light of day, which is sandwiched underneath the dark clouds reflecting the fact that evening was descending over the land, comes to us from yours truly as I decided to capture this moment from the first day of December of 2022 after an extended day of work. My last job was a physical challenge that kept me at work later than, than I would have hoped for, but there was something about the way the light of day was beneath the clouds of night and the contrast of the man-made lights here that made me pause to take a breath, to enjoy what I was seeing, and capture it before racing home to rest. Sometimes the workday or the workweek is long, but there is nothing quite like the satisfaction of knowing that you met the challenges that faced you successfully and got 'er done. That satisfaction can even make you appreciate the view of a parking lot. Well, it is Friday, thank you God, and I for one am looking forward to the end of today's workday because no matter what I face today, I will do my best And Lord willing, we'll be safely and joyously reunited with my beloved wife, Tammy Lynn, at our countryside home later this evening. And it is my prayer that all who read or hear this message rejoice over what they got done this week and will get done today, and will enjoy this evening and the weekend that lies ahead. For 3 days, my electronic personal assistant whose name begins with an A had been warning me about high wind, uh, a high wind advisory for my area, but it wasn't until late yesterday afternoon when I was working aloft on a ladder hanging a drop wire on a backyard telephone pole on South Manning Boulevard did that warning seem to be warranted. I was on the third pole of a four-pole drop hanging project, uh, throwing a ball of string through tree limbs to guide the drop to its final destination when suddenly the winds began to gust and caused me to suddenly remember Alexa's warning and causing me to immediately call on the Lord. Okay, Lord, you didn't send me up this pole and get me this far just to knock me down, right, Father? I mean, Abba? Okay, Daddy God? I know I'm not one to call you Daddy, but if you want to hear it, 'Come on, Daddy God, let's cool it with the winds, okay? We're almost home here. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.' Uh, that may not be a verbatim transcript of our conversation, but that basically included all of the elements of my prayer. It may sound silly, but I believe God was listening, because after I steadied myself, the gusting wind subsided. I know many would doubt that this lull in the wind was answered prayer, but I'll take it. You see, God is with us at all times, and when we talk to him and listen for his guidance, you will begin to see phenomenon that will make a compelling case for the existence of God with us. After getting home last night and fellowshipping with my wife via Facebook Messenger with a December Bible study where we are reading through the Gospel of John, one chapter a day, to prepare our hearts for the celebration of Christmas. I was ready to call it a night, but I was pleased to see my son Brennan and was even more pleased at our conversation. Uh, my son Brennan turns 21 on the 21st, and unfortunately, like most of us at his age, hasn't really had a vision for what he wants to do with his life. Graduating late in 2020, Brennan's attempt at college had been unfulfilling, and he was— he has been unmotivated to pursue work opportunities. And I have had the difficult task of being patient, loving, and encouraging while he has been doing not much with his life. My busy schedule and two-household existence results in seeing my adult children like ships passing in the night for the most part. So yes, if you'd like to pick up the theme from yesterday's blog, you can add you 'You are not a good father' to the devil's accusations of 'You are not a good Christian' and 'You are a hypocrite' that were recently thrown at my feet. But I'm not really hearing that or agreeing with that lie from the pit of hell. Since my divorce from their mother that began in 2018 and was final in 2019, I did everything in my power to assist my kids to transition from teenagers to adults by teaching them to drive, establishing a new home where they could live in peace, and encouraged them to go to college and follow whatever path they wanted to pursue in life, uh, with the emphasis on being independent and responsible. My daughter Haley, who to outsiders may seem shy and timid, took my advice and got an associate's degree and a job at Lowe's where she has become one of the more senior cashiers. But Brennan stagnated after COVID-19, taking a gap year sitting around my house. After that, he did go to school and seemed to thrive by becoming involved with the theater program at HVCC, but he encountered some not-so-wholesome elements in the student body there that led him into confusion, a bad relationship, and disillusionment, and academic ineptitude, resulting in his decision not to go back to school this fall, which frankly I was fine with because I felt his friends who were confused about their genders, sexuality, and interrec— and into recreational drugs, even though Brennan is straighter edge than I ever could have hoped for, were best left behind and separated from. But Brennan hasn't worked anywhere at all during all of this time either, so he has just been sitting around playing video games, streaming, and staying up late at night. So I have just been waiting for him to do something, anything else, as his inherited and save for college funds have depleted. So when I saw him last night, I reminded him that he turns 21 in 19 days this morning, and after that I am no longer financially responsible for him, and that I would just continue providing, uh, to his savings as I have been doing since he was a child. That my policy, uh, the policy of my home is that anyone living under my roof that isn't going to school will pay rent. I advised him that he could do whatever he would like to do with his life, but after a grace period of 1 month for January, if he wasn't in school, he would have to start paying rent in February, as his sister is already doing after she decided not to continue in her studies. Uh, this may be seem harsh to some, but it is my intention to teach my adult children to be accountable, responsible, and independent, and to face the realities of this world. So I gave him the news and we had a good conversation about his different options going forward. I'm not sure what he will decide, he— what he will decide, but one of the options, the one I'm asking for, uh, for prayers for, is that Brennan is— Brennan considered going to nursing school with the possible goal of becoming a doctor. I don't know what will happen, but I laid on the, uh, on the encouragement rather thickly this morning via text as I felt in my spirit that this may be what the Lord is calling my son to do. So prayers for my son choosing the path, whatever it is that God has for him, would be much appreciated, because I know that the one that can cause the winds to be still sometimes will blow wild ideas into our attention as invitations for our destinies. One minute you, you are confused and uncertain, and suddenly something that seems daring crazy and good will occur to you. At this point, the enemy will discourage you and say, "You can't do that." But at the same time, the invitation is there waiting to be accepted. The choice is ours to make, and I say, go for it. God calls us to step out on the waves, man. So go for it. Surf's up, dude. Be bold and courageous and see what is out there. Whether we fall on our face and crash, or if we are given a new direction of vitality and purpose, won't be known unless we step out and see what the Lord has for us. We have to take the step of faith into uncertainty. And ha— and I have discovered that the Lord does this repeatedly in our lives when we walk in the Spirit. But when we let go of fear and follow his call Oh brother, do good things happen. Sure, sometimes we struggle, sometimes it's scary, and sometimes we question what exactly it is we are doing. But when you honestly follow what you believe the Lord is calling you to, you— I discovered, uh, that no matter what the results are, there are no regrets. You did what you thought was best. By seeking the Lord and pursuing a righteous path. That's all we can do, so do it. Enjoy your weekend. Consider what the Lord is inviting you to pursue and keep walking and talking with him. And even if you don't know where you're going, going to next, at least you will have some good, loving, and power company along the way. Uh, today's Bible verse comes to us from the New Living Translation. New Living Translation Bible Promise Book for Men. This morning's meditation verses are 1 Peter 4:10-11, and they say, as each one has received a gift, minister it to one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. If anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God. If anyone ministers, let him do it as the ability which God supplies, that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong the glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. Um, I have to confess, that's the New King James Version of those verses, and, um, so that's a bonus for your podcast listeners, as I am going to correct that mistake as, as I do the podcast. And I'm going to provide the NLT translation to that on the blog, as I am promising in this podcast. And I'm going to read that to you right now. So the New Living Translation version of those verses of 1 Peter 4:10-11 say, God has given each of you a gift from his very— his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another. Do you have the gift of speaking? Then speak as though God himself were speaking through you. Do you have the gift of helping others? Do it with all the strength and energy that God supplies. Then everything you do will bring glory to God through Jesus Christ. All glory and power to him forever and ever. Amen. Okay, so whether it's New King James or the NLT, which is sometimes a little clearer um, and certainly easier to read. Um, that's today's Bible verse, and today's Bible verse just happened to fall in line with today's message to trust the Lord, um, by encouraging us to use our God-given abilities to discover our purpose and to give God glory. God has made us and given us all our talents and abilities. The problem we run into in life is when we don't acknowledge that and decide to use our talents and abilities for selfish gain or to satisfy our personal lust independent of God. The worst mistake we can make— and believe me, most of the world is making it every day— is to establish our identity in the things of this world and to live our lives as if God doesn't exist, when we are supposed to live with him and to be good steward— stewards of the things he has provided us with for his purposes, which actually will personally benefit us too and give him glory. Yesterday while at work, I say I saw a person riding a motorcycle, and even though they were on a bike, they had a sound system to rival any car that goes boom. And so they were pumping out their soundtrack, the music they identified with and that told other people who they were. I don't know what was playing, but it wasn't praise music, okay? And considering this person, I had such sorrow over them because they had believed the world's lies about who they were. They were proclaiming a lot about themselves by their mode of transportation, their clothes, and their music, but none of it pointed to God or would really endure and prove to be meaningful in time. And times— in time, fashion changes. Music changes and our modes of transportation change. What is cool today is lame tomorrow. And these things that we build up our identity in doesn't age well. God bless them, but I think that people— the people who are locked into the music of their youth, whatever their age, are displaying a fundamental lack of maturity or growth. Their preference— their preference show they are frozen in time. And that's despite, despite, uh, despite their age and the changes the world— that the world goes through. They are declaring that their time, their music was best, but it is decaying and fading away. But the one thing that isn't decaying or fading away is the Lord. The, the Lord doesn't fade away, and the fundamental truth about us in Christ endures forever. So take today's verse as advice. To use what has— what you have as good stewards and to give God the glory. Amen. As always, I invite all to go to mtforchrist.org where I always share, uh, insights. Uh, insights. Yeah, I share insights from prominent Christian theologians and counselors to assist my brothers and sisters in Christ with their walk. Today we continue sharing from Diedrich Bonhoeffer's The Discipleship, also known as The Cost of Discipleship. And today we enter a new chapter, The Church of Jesus Christ and Discipleship, Chapter 8, Preliminary Questions. So if you want to see, um, what preliminary questions Bonhoeffer asks, go to m.t. for christ.org and you can see the beginning of that chapter in this blog post. So, and as always, we invite people to step on and stay on the path of Christian discipleship, where you don't follow a pastor or a priest necessarily exclusively, where you call— follow the Lord's call on your life individually and corporately to pursue what he has for you. You'll find your community in the church, but you'll most likely find your purpose somewhere else. We can serve the church But we are the church, and sometimes we're called out to use our gifts and abilities to give God glory in all the walks of our life. Um, we're supposed to be Christians in the world, not separated from it. We are supposed to be out there making disciples, not gathered in isolation, um, away from the world. Um, we're supposed to represent, just like that guy on the motorcycle representing whatever he was representing. We're supposed to represent the King, and this month, brother, we're going to celebrate the birth of the newborn King Jesus Christ. And so if that doesn't motivate you, um, it should. And as I stated earlier, that my wife and I are stepping into the Gospel of John. We stepped into chapter 1 last night, and we're stepping in this chapter 2 tonight. And it's just sort of something, something I've done and December's past. There's 21 chapters in the Gospel of John, so even if you started today, you would have plenty of time to get it done, get it done before Christmas. And it's just to set, you know, your heart on the Lord, and it's just to remind you of who this little baby, uh, that's celebrated at Christmas is— the man that is Jesus, the Son of God, God the Son. The one who gives us life everlasting, and the one who came to earth to proclaim, uh, the path of repentance that we're supposed to follow. So, you know, get excited about the Christmas season, not by hanging the holly or putting up a tree, but to, you know, know who you are in Christ and to celebrate your freedom in Christ and to celebrate the person of Christ and all that he did. And more than just laying in a manger. Um, you know, that's, that's it. You know, I, you know, there's a lot of stuff about baby Jesus out there, um, but baby Jesus is a very small part of the scriptures. Um, you know, it's about the man, uh, who was baptized and received the Holy Spirit and preached the word of God and, uh, healed people and raised the dead and, and died for our sins and was has risen again. So let's remember him. Um, wow, I'm, you know, short on time again and it's Friday, so let's roll. Lord God, Heavenly Father, thank you for another day in your kingdom. Lord, we pray for you to bless everyone who's listening or reading this message today, uh, to encourage them to celebrate you this Christmas and to do it every day and to call on your name and talk to you and follow your guidance wherever it'll lead them. Um, Lord, that's all we want to do is follow your purpose for our lives and change, you know, what we think is a good idea into what we know is a good idea in following you, Lord. So today we pray, as always, for you to open our eyes to the things you want us to see and lead us in the way we should go. Lord, we thank you, we praise you, and we love you. And we pray all of these things in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.