Eucharistic Glory and the Presence of God - Purity 1591

Welcome to the MT for Christ 24/7 podcast. I am M.t. Clark, and this is today's photo. To see today's photo, go to mtforchrist.com or follow me, M.t. Clark, on Facebook or Twitter, or watch us on YouTube. Good morning. Today's photo of a white rocking chair in the side view from the front porch of my former home comes to us from yours truly as I captured the scene back on January 1st, 2015. Yeah, it was a long time ago. Anyway, um, well, it's Tuesday, and as I have shifted work toward this week, I will be enjoying a day off from work today. I will seek to use it to rest and reflect on where God has brought me and where he is guiding me. Spoiler alert: God's calling me into eternity. We are all going to die. But it's okay, uh, if you know Jesus as your Lord and Savior. In Christ, we are accepted, significant, and secure. I recently came across a Catholic devotional called 33 Days of Eucharistic Glory by Blue Sparrow Books in the free book section of a local library. And even though I am a former Catholic and have some issues with the Catholic Church's doctrines and practices in many areas, I felt called to go through it as part of my daily spiritual practice, as I have just complete— I had just completed the materials I've been reading through devotionally. Even though I have certain ideas and convictions about the doctrines of the Eucharist that I believe are contrary to the Catholic Church's stance, I can't with any degree of certainty proclaim that I'm 100% correct in my stance. And quite frankly, I'm trusting God to guide me to not be outside of his will on this. Honestly, I just want everyone in the church to get along, but the varying views of the Eucharist can't all be true. I don't have God's perfect knowledge, but because I can see how the Catholic view of the Eucharist has been abused as a means of control and looks a lot like idolatry, I trust the Lord to lead me, to not lead me astray or to condemn me to hell if I'm wrong about the Lord's Supper. I try to keep an open mind regarding communion, but I see that I really can't straddle the fence of the three main positions about the Lord's Supper. While I don't believe that the bread and wine literally become the body and blood of Jesus and are therefore worthy of elaborate adoration practices, I think that communion is more than just a remembrance of what Jesus did. I do think there is something holy happening in communion, so I tend to side with Martin Luther's middle ground of sacramental union, that Jesus is present in the Eucharist in some mysterious way that we can't understand, but that the bread and wine do not literally change in the body and blood of Christ. Anyway, I have decided to see what this devotional called Eucharistic Glory has to say about Christian discipleship. Worship. And I'm taking the verbiage for Eucharistic adoration as a general call to be in the presence of the Lord within us or without, within or without our practice, you know, within us, without our practice of the Lord's Supper. The things that stand out in the Catholic call to reverence the Eucharist to me is a call to be in the presence of Jesus. And the testimonies that they give about lives transformed by God's presence are not specific to the presence of communion elements. You know, life transformation through our faith in Jesus Christ and living in his presence is testified to across all Christian traditions and are not exclusive to the presence of communion elements or Eucharistic adoration practices. We don't need the bread, wine, or fruit juice to be God— to be in God's presence. We need God's Spirit and our hearts to be seeking his presence and his will for our lives. That's how we, we get there. So even though I'm taking this devotional, uh, with a grain of salt or a bone of contention, um, I'm already being blessed by what it says about our devotion to follow the Lord earnestly. You know, today's offering included verbiage about, um, about the four last things, um, which are death, judgment, heaven, and hell, and how these ultimate things are the subjects of study during Catholic retreats. Catholic pilgrims take breaks from the world and reflect on these things to bring them closer to the Lord. By contemplating our deaths, judgment, and final destination, we gain a godly perspective on life that tells us that our lives are valuable. And that being right with God is the only way to live because it is the only way to be with God, you know, um, and to have life, uh, after death. A fun fact that this devotional shared is that the average lifespan is about 4,000 weeks, which is 80 years, and impressed upon us, or me, to live like we are dying, uh, because we are. Rather than answering the world's call to a pursuit of fleshly delights, God calls us to to draw close to his presence and live out his mission for our lives. That is where— and that is where we will find peace, joy, meaning, and purpose. So don't waste a week of your life. Live like you are dying. Get right with the Lord through faith in Jesus Christ and follow where he leads. God is with us, and he wants you to know his presence. Regardless of the way you do the Lord's Supper or think about that sacrament, He wants to have communion with you all the days of your life, from here to eternity. 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 loving and serving others, and today's verse is 1 Peter 4:8, um, where the word of God says, above all, keep fervent in your love for one another because love covers a multitude of sins. Today's verse is the second of two passages of scripture that fall under the second point of our Counseling Reference Guide's resource section on loving and serving others. That second point is: Love one another deeply. Yeah, it is. Uh, today's verse encourages us to be fervent in our love for one another regardless of our disagreements and to let love cover the multitude of our sins. And just to be clear, it is the love expressed by Jesus on the cross that covers the multitude of our sins. Uh, we don't just love on people and excuse them or turn a blind eye to their sins because nobody's perfect. No, the, the love that we receive from God, which gives us forgiveness, is what is to drive us to fervently want to love one another. We can love others because God loves them. We can forgive others because God has forgiven us. While we should never severely judge anyone for their sins, we should lovingly encourage them to take their sins to Jesus for forgiveness and to repent of them. It's this love, born of God and sustained by God, that we are to share, to share, and be fervent in doing so. 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 Day by Day Along the Way by J.E. Adams. It's a 365-day devotional and we're on day 90 where Adams shares a portion of Proverbs 6:24 which says, to protect you from the evil woman and the alien woman's smooth tongue. And J.E. Adams writes, in this context, the protection is from the evil woman with her smooth tongue. But while God's commandments certainly do that, they also protect from every evil into which we might possibly fall. There is nothing in life that can hurt or harm a believer's spiritual life if he follows the commandments of Christ, which he summed up as loving God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength, and loving your neighbor as yourself. Think it through. If these two great commandments are followed by you, where can you go wrong? How could anyone really harm you if you fulfill them? They could kill you, of course, but if you die because you obey God, the ultimate issue of that would be a great eternal reward. So Do you find your protection from evil in God's commands, or are you seeking it elsewhere? There is no other safe place or person to whom you may turn. Follow him. He will protect and bless you. His protection alone is foolproof. Why try any other? You shouldn't. And I say amen. Um, yeah, it is in Christ alone that we are saved, and we're saved by faith. Through great, you know, by faith through grace, Ephesians 2:8-9. Um, basically it's not of our works that anyone should boast. And that's part of the issue I have with the Catholic Church. I grew up in the Catholic Church and I knew all about, quote unquote, knew all about Jesus and, um, sin. You know, I knew that Jesus died for our sins. It just didn't seem like it saved me, um, not in the Catholic Church. It just seemed like, yeah, he's good, I'm bad, and I'm a sinner and I'm no good, and I better do what's right otherwise I'm going Hell. And the thing that seemed to be missing, or at least, you know, for the time I grew up in the Catholic Church, was the grace of God. Um, that didn't really come through, that you are saved. Now, I get— I, I understand, um, that it's not just by our faith that we're saved. We have to actually live it. And, you know, that's expressed in how we live and— or the works of our lives. Um, but we're not saved by our works. And that was, that was the confusion I had underneath the Catholic Church, that that, um, yeah, Jesus was, you know, good and holy, and he's up on the cross, but, uh, he's not going to save you. You better be good, otherwise you're going to hell. Um, you know, I never got— never had any assurance of salvation. I was assured that I was a big sinner in the Catholic Church, and it drove me away from the Catholic Church. It drove me into sin. And, um, luckily the Lord didn't let go of me. And guided me through all the confusion of my life, um, safely. And then one day, you know, through a gospel message on a radio, after I'd cut off all avenues for the Lord to speak to me, um, he reached out and saved me through a radio message. And it told me all about that I was forgiven, um, when I put my faith in Jesus, and that after that he calls me to follow him. And, um, you know, it's salvation that comes first, then discipleship. It's not discipleship and then, you know, then you'll be saved. Uh, it's the other way around. You don't have to perform for God. He, the, the— he calls you, you answer the call, and, um, you know, he compels you to come into his kingdom. And when you agree with that, he'll save you. But you do have to say yes to Jesus and yes to the life he has for you. And that is why we always ask the question Have you fully surrendered to God? And, uh, we ask that because we know, you know, I've had so many experiences and I know the word of God, and I can tell you that, and I've tried everything else, um, I can tell you with as much personal assurance as I can give you is that Jesus is the, the truth, the way, and the life. And I point to the word of God there, um, because that's what's true. It's not what I say that matters, it's what God says that matters. And that's what's put down in his word. That's what Jesus said. And, um, I trust what he says, um, because God came into my life and he changed things dramatically. Um, he showed— he gave me a hope and a future, pulled me out of all my darkness, and continues to lead me to, to find his way for my life. And it's a good life. And when I am in God's presence, I have peace. And joy. And when I reflect on his truth, and, you know, it gives me hope for tomorrow, and it drives me to speak and let other people know that life is good, God is great, and, um, he has something great for you. It's called him, his presence, and his life. And, you know, like I said, it will give you peace and hope and a future and a purpose. And part of my purpose beyond the podcast is leading— one of my purposes is to the Celebrate Freedom support group at Starpoint Church, where we teach or encourage you to walk in the Spirit and, um, to surrender to the Lord's will for your life, to make Jesus your Lord and Savior. Um, why? Um, because you need his help, and he gives it to those who ask. And he helps you to overcome your hurts, habits, and hangups, whatever they may be. Um, and he can lead you into freedom. And, um, It's great. So we encourage anyone in Upstate New York who can get to Clifton Park on a Wednesday evening to join our meeting, to join our fellowship, and to join with the Lord to change your life. And so we invite you. You can go to register at Starpoint Church's website by going to events, clicking on one of our meetings, and hitting register. So you'll let us know you're coming, but you don't even have to do that. You just have to show up. To be welcomed. And, uh, for those who can't make it to Starpoint Church on a Wednesday night, uh, we want to give you our encouragements, uh, that we give out at Celebrate Freedom every week. Um, and we're doing a series right now called Christian Recovery Celebrate Freedom with M.t. Clark. That's the playlist name on YouTube, um, where we teach, um, and encourage you to, to follow the teachings that we give out at Celebrate Freedom each week. Uh, last night we just released a new episode on moral which is the 8th lesson of the Celebrate Recovery material. There are 9 lessons totally in our, in our series now, um, which includes our introduction, uh, and, uh, the 8 lessons we've been through so far. So we encourage you to check those out, share them, and, uh, you can, you can find those on our YouTube, uh, channel's playlist page, or you can go to mtforchrist.com where we have a whole page dedicated to all our teachings that we've done, uh, through the podcast, the series we've done um, through the years, or at least the, yeah, the series, not all the teachings because that'd be a lot. Um, but you can check out the Purity Podcast to get all of them, um, if you're so inclined. Um, beyond that, like I said, we've done other teachings, uh, like Bondage Breaker, The Victory Over the Darkness, Freedom in Christ, which are, you know, still popular today. Um, and we believe if you check those out, you can find or increase your freedom in Christ., and so we point you to that playlist page. Check out what we have to say about faith in life and finding your freedom in Christ. And if you appreciate that, let us know. You can send us an email at mtforchrist247@gmail.com with your comments and questions, and we do our best to encourage you. And if you are encouraged and if you do appreciate what we do here through the M.t. Clark Community Freedom Ministry, we encourage you to support us with donations. You can go to mtforchrist.com, our donations page, to give an offering, give a financial gift via the Cash App, Venmo, or PayPal. And we encourage you to do so. We'd appreciate it. Thank you. Beyond that, we always end by asking the same question in a different way: are you empty for Christ too? What does that mean? Well, I said I want to be empty for Christ in order to be filled by the Holy Spirit, or with the Holy Spirit. And that's what it's all about, being filled with God's presence and guidance and power to walk through life. And if you're there, if you surrender to God and you're doing that, we say great, keep on walking and talking with God. If you're not there yet and you want to know what this thing is all about, this walking in the Spirit thing, we encourage you to pray and ask the Lord to reveal these things to you. And to, uh, you know, lead you to put your faith in Jesus. Because when that happens, that's when the Holy Spirit comes in and he can guide you and encourage you to walk through your life with him, uh, with God, uh, the rest of your days. And so we encourage you to check it out and investigate these things, because God wants you to find him. And, uh, he's a good, good father. He won't, uh, he won't leave you or forsake you if you seek him. We know because we've received from the Lord again and again and again, and that's why we pray every day, like right now. Lord God, Heavenly Father, thank you for another day in your kingdom. Lord, we thank you so much for all that you've done for us. Thank you for this contemplation of our lives and how short they are here on earth, but with you, they're forevermore when we put our faith in Jesus. And Lord, we are encouraged not to waste any time and to press into our faith even more. To receive from you all that you have for us, Lord. Lord, so we're asking for you today to give to us again, lead us in the way we should go, open our eyes to what you want us to see and do today. And Lord, we also pray for anyone watching, listening, or reading today's message, that you come alongside them and bless them too, and help them to not get caught up in, you know, the differences between the different denominations, but to follow your true presence and the word of God, the Bible, to, uh, to lead them into truth. And Lord, we pray for you to bless them and their prayer requests, their walk of faith. And Lord, we thank you, we praise you, we love you, and we pray all these things in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.