Fasting and Praying Off The Side Effects of Fear – Day 3 – 21 Day Prayer Challenge Purity 1421

Welcome to the MT for Christ 247 podcast. I'm 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 you can watch us on YouTube. Today's photo of a sunrise in the mountains comes to us from Fred Dimmick, who shared this view on social media yesterday, reporting that we are looking towards downtown Murphy, North Carolina. From Panther Top. Well, I share Fred's, um, sunrise in the mountains, uh, to visualize— visually represent our arrival at another midweek summit. So happy hump day! And to encourage us to boldly go where we will find inspiration and rest for our souls. Well, it's the third day of the 21-day prayer challenge that Pastor Vlad Savchuk is offering, to those who may need a mid-year spiritual reset. And I am happy to say that, um, that I boldly went into an online Zoom prayer session yesterday with people from all around the world, uh, who were with me in my intention to seek the Lord in prayer. Through seeking the Lord in prayer, I am finding inspiration and the rest for my soul. My short hiatus, um, from work due to injury, uh, recently filled me with things anxiety and caused me to let my fear drive some comfort eating food binges and, and secrecy, uh, that needed to be exposed and stopped. Uh, Pastor Vlad's prayer challenge came along, along just at the— at just the right time, uh, to get my head, heart, soul, and spirit straight. Uh, in addition to the prayer, I added a modified no foods, liquid only fast to my spiritual efforts yesterday. While I had to fight off the nonspecific temptation to eat something a couple of times throughout the day, I'm happy to report that I was successful and now walk into what will be day 3 of food plan success. Anyone familiar with keto knows that it takes 3 days to get the junk of sugar or carb-laden foods out of your body, and I'm looking forward to feeling and seeing the positive effects on body as I get clean— cleansed, uh, because my demonically influenced scale is reporting that I somehow gained 3 pounds since starting the fast. Uh, I, I cast you out in the name of Jesus. Go to the pit, I say to my, um, scale. Um, while I have learned to take what my scale says with a grain of salt, I still take its report seriously.

Okay.

And plan on taking, uh, the fast to Saturday evening. Because I know my binging did result in some weight gain, and because fasting strengthens our prayer. Thankfully, the Holy Spirit convicted me to see the error of my fleshly ways, and I'm being restored to sanity and spiritual harmony with God that fear had taken away. Today's In Touch with Dr. Charles Stanley's devotional exposes some of the side effects of fear, and I'm sharing it today on the blog to possibly help us self-diagnose ourselves As I discovered recently, fear manifests itself in ways that might not always be clear. And I found this information to be revelatory. Um, Dr. Charles Stanley writes, The Side Effects of Fear. We all experience fear at some point, but when it, when it's an ongoing struggle, there can be far-reaching effects. Here are some ways apprehension creates chaos in our life and impacts others. Fear stifles thoughts and actions, creates indecisiveness that results in stagnation. Lost opportunities cause erosion of confidence, and the downward spiral begins. Um, fear can be a roadblock to God's plan for us. If we yield to negative emotions and self-doubt, we cannot achieve the goals he has in mind for us. Fear can also lead to destructive habits. To numb the pain of overbearing distress and foreboding, some turn to destructive habits for temporary and artificial relief. Like myself, I found myself turning to— and my anxiety turning to food and, uh, movies.

Um, and they weren't Christian movies anyway.

They were destructive habits. Fear can also steal our peace and contentment. When we're regularly afraid, our life becomes centered on pessimism and gloom. Um, and fear also creates doubts. God promises a satisfying life, but if we live in fear, we most likely won't experience the abundance he offers. And Charles Stanley finishes by saying, our Heavenly Father feeds the birds of the air, and clothes the grass with the splendor of lilies. How much more then will he care for you and me, who are made in his image? Our only concern should be to obey God and leave all the consequences to him. Amen. Amen. Now remember, so remember, anxious thoughts, doubts, uncertainty, worry, seeking comfort from substances or entertainment, pessimism and gloom. Are all possible signs of fear. The antidote to fear is fine— is found in standing in our identity in Christ, knowing God is with us and for us. You know, spending time with him in prayer and living from the victory that he's already given us is how we find, you know, our antidote to fear. So stay in God's presence. You know, by thanking him, giving him worship and, and praise, your connection to him will lift the burdens of fear and give you peace.

It'll take away all those side effects.

Um, today's Bible verse comes to us from the Quick Scripture Reference for Counseling, um, by John G. Cruis. And this morning's meditation verse comes from the section on fear. As, uh, today's verse is 1 John 4:18, and the word of God says, there is no fear in love. But perfect love casts out fear, for fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. Today's verse falls under the seventh and last point of our Counseling Reference Guide's resource section on fear, and that seventh point is perfect love drives out fear. Today's verse reminds us that love casts out all fear. So to process our fears We should draw into the love that God has for us. God is love after all. And so when we reflect on our relationship with him, who he is and what he has done for us through our salvation, we can be filled with confidence knowing that we're never alone and nothing can separate us from his love. If nothing can separate us from God's love, we can always call on God to help us to cast away our fear. We stand in his love. We can be bold and courageous and conquer all our fears. 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 directs us to reach Colossians Colossians 2. And from Colossians 2, he shares a portion of verse 3, which says, in whom all— in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. And Stephen Alford writes, Christ is the one in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. He is the eternal lagas, or logos. Yeah, he is not only the thought of God but the expression of that thought as well. Indeed, he is the full expression of the depth of the riches both of wisdom and knowledge of God. Moreover, through his servant James, God has declared, if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach.

James 1:5.

And Offered ends in praying, 'Oh then, to be an inheritor of the treasures of wisdom and knowledge! Oh, to know the one in whom they are hid, he who said, I am the truth.' Yeah, all wisdom and knowledge through Christ. If you don't know Christ, you don't know much, because he happens to be the answer, uh, the answer. He's the answer to all our, all our needs, all our fears. The big answers of life and death lie in Jesus Christ.

He is, according, you know, according to Jesus and the word of God, he is the way, the truth, and the life. So, you know, if we put our faith in him, we come to the Father, we discover the mysteries, the truth behind the mysteries of life and death. And, um, he leads us, um, to go.

And so we ask, have you fully surrendered to God? Are you seeking that wisdom from God, as James says we can get when we ask God for wisdom?

Oh, if you ask God for wisdom, uh, there's so many testimonies that, um, state the truth that when we ask God for wisdom, he reveals himself to us and he reveals the way for us And, you know, initially he'll reveal Jesus to us to show us that he really is, um, the Savior and we need him. So we, we, we encourage people to surrender to God's will for their life, to find their purpose, and to follow Jesus into that, to know who God is by studying his word and being in relationship with him. And doing something with that word to discover your purpose and the answers to all our problems.

Uh, perfect love casts out all fear. That's a big problem for people, and it can manifest in all kinds of ways, as Charles Stanley showed with the side effects of fear.

It's not just looking scared. Um, all kinds of behaviors can be drawn from that. And, you know, some people say it's You know, bad behavior can be driven by a lot of different things, but the, the thing, one thing that can lie behind it is a root of fear. And that's usually fear of not knowing who you are, fear of not knowing your purpose, not knowing what the meaning of life is. Um, you know, not the fear over what's going to happen, not having any confidence over things. But if we know the one who doesn't change and who stands above and beyond all eternity, we don't have to fear. So we step out in faith and we follow him.

And when we do that, we're called to do things.

And usually it's service, you know, to the kingdom. You know, we get the good news, we got to share it.

And one thing I've been called to do is to celebrate Freedom Support Group. That means tonight, Wednesday, Um, at 6:30 PM at Starpoint Church, I'll be there to lead the group, and, um, Scott Salvador is going to teach the lesson.

Um, we focus on Christian recovery and discipleship, um, and we invite anyone in the Capital District of New York State to come to Clifton Park, uh, Starpoint Church tonight, 6:30, to join us, um, to learn how to walk in the Spirit and to be built up in your faith. To experience the freedom, uh, that God has given us.

Beyond that, if you're outside of upstate New York, um, but in the continental US, or really anywhere in the world, um, Freedom in Christ Ministries offers online discipleship courses this fall, and I'm hosting one on Tuesday evenings for men, uh, that starts at 6:30 PM Eastern time. So if you want to sign up and go to ficm.org, and you can sign up for my class.

There's other Freedom in Christ Courses available for women available as well, and there are other courses available on ficm.org that you can check out to learn how to live this life in Christ.

Yeah, that's— well, that's the announcements for today.

I'm happy to report that I'm going to the doctor today to remove my stitches, and I should be able to return to work this week. Um, my schedule has me off to tomorrow, and I have to report and say I'll be back to work.

You know, not for nothing, I do have a little fear over the, the wound. It's over right over my knuckle, and you know, they, uh, they take the stitches out, you never know, it's gonna bust on open.

So the fear of that will be alleviated one way or the other today when they remove the stitches, or Hopefully they'll remove the stitches. That's what I'm anticipating. Um, and then we'll get back to normal. You know, sometimes you think getting time off for work would, would give you, you know, peace. For me, it just, you know, drove fear because, oh no, I made a mistake and now I'm out of work because of it.

And are they going to come after me for my job? Are they out to get me?

What are people thinking about me?. And, you know, oh, I have this time on my hand. Is somebody watching me? You know, all this stuff that, that fear can drive into your, into your mind and your emotions. And, you know, oh, I have time off, so I'm going to relax, kick back, and take it easy and not worry about working out or doing my health plan, you know, my food plan. And it was a big mess. And You know, for somebody with a history of, you know, personal recovery, um, you got to be careful not to give into those impulses to give into the flesh. Um, I had no, no fear I'd fall into, you know, the more explicit, uh, sins of the flesh, but it did result in, uh, the comfort eating, which is the Achilles heel that I have right now, uh, that we're trying to, you know, get healed of and walk past. And hopefully this, this episode will be a big step forward in, uh, staying in the freedom and sanity that my life in Christ gives me. And, uh, so that's what we do. And we ask the question always: are you empty for Christ too?

Have you surrendered to the good life that God has for you? If so, keep on walking and talking with God. Our spiritual disciplines form a foundation where they give us peace every day, and we can stand in God's love and our identity in Christ first thing in the morning with prayer, Bible study, you know, declaring who we are in Christ. And from that, we can walk forward in victory in our days.

And, uh, we make a regular practice of it. We can overcome things we never thought we could. We can accomplish things we thought we never could.

So that's what we do here at this ministry, is encourage you, um, that You too can live a Christian lifestyle.

You too can be set free, uh, fear and addictions and everything else. Um, all we have to do is pick up our cross and follow Jesus, and he'll give us the power to overcome, and the Holy Spirit will work through us, um, to give us joy and peace and to speak in other people's lives.

So that's a lot, and, uh, that's it for today. So let's pray. Lord God, Heavenly Father, thank you for another day in your kingdom. We thank you so much for all that you've done for us. We pray for anyone listening, watching, or reading today's message, that you bless them in their walk of faith, Lord. Help them, uh, help them to walk in confidence and to cast out all their fears as they trust in you, uh, Lord. And we're asking that for us today too.

Um, we just need you to, to help us, um, show us the things we need to see and, uh, Help us to, uh, walk forward in the confidence today, um, casting out all our fears as we, um, seek to stay with you.

Lord, we thank you, we praise you, we love you, and we pray all these things in the mighty name of Jesus.

Amen.