Forgiveness and When Others Fail Us - Purity 1488
In this episode of the MT for Christ 24/7 podcast, host M.t. Clark delivers a devotional focused on forgiveness and the pursuit of freedom in Christ. He opens with a personal anecdote about a sunrise photo, then transitions to a report on recent "Freedom Appointments" tied to the online "Freedom in Christ" course, describing the course’s step‑by‑step process that mirrors 12‑step moral inventories. Clark emphasizes that honest confession, though painful, is essential for true freedom and warns that past disappointments can cause believers to settle for limited healing. He cites Dr. Charles Stanley’s teaching that, because God forgives us, we must also forgive those who have failed us, illustrating the biblical principle with Paul’s words in 2 Timothy 4:16 and Stephen’s prayer in Acts 7:60. Clark shares his own experience of bitterness, how forgiveness liberated him, and how he now ministers reconciliation through prayer. He then presents a Scripture meditation from Proverbs 27:9, explaining the value of godly counsel and friendship. The episode continues with a reading from Stephen F. Alford’s devotional on Revelation 9, where Alford reflects on scorpion‑like torment and prays for others to avoid such suffering. Clark weaves these teachings together, urging listeners to choose forgiveness repeatedly, set healthy boundaries in abusive relationships, and pursue a surrendered life to Christ. He promotes several ministry opportunities: a local support group at Starpoint Church, an online "Grace for the Holidays" series, upcoming Freedom in Christ courses (both online and in‑person), and various YouTube playlists. The episode concludes with a heartfelt prayer for freedom, mercy, and guidance for listeners.
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Welcome to the MT for Christ 24/7 podcast. I'm M.t. Clark, and this is today's photo. Whoa! Uh, 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 the sun going supernova over Waite Road comes to us from yours truly as I decided to turn around and take a quick pic of the morning light on the way back to my countryside home yesterday, just as the sun rose a little higher over the edge of the horizon. It was on the bitter side of chilly yesterday, and while I'm sure the phenomenon, uh, I captured was due to a perspective of the moment, I had a real sense that the Lord was shining his light on me all the same. Well, it's Monday, and, uh, and as we head into the last few days of October, I am rejoicing over how the Lord continues to dispel the darkness in people's lives when they turn to him in repentance for freedom and healing. Uh, Saturday I hosted the first of what I hope to be many Freedom Appointments in the near future, as the Freedom in Christ course, uh, that I facilitate online for Freedom in Christ Ministries on Tuesday evenings is now beyond the point in the course where the expectation is that those going through the course will have gone through the steps to freedom in Christ. Right now, except for Saturday's completed appointment and one scheduled for November 9th. You could say it's been all preparation and no H, as I am waiting to see if the remaining course participants will choose to go through the steps. Some of the guys have been through the steps before, and others may seem a little timid, so it's hard to say whether or not I will have all of the men, you know, whether or not Uh, all the men will take me up on the offer to lead them individually through the steps. For those familiar with Celebrate Recovery or 12-step recovery programs, the Steps to Freedom in Christ are similar to doing your, uh, moral inventory where you openly examine and confess your faults to yourself, to God, and to someone that you trust. Or as AA puts it, make a searching and fearless inventory of ourselves. Many people who begin recovery or who remain in recovery shy away from doing their moral inventory because the prospect of honestly looking at their past is too painful to consider. But the reason why we do it is because confession is good for the soul and because the best path to freedom in the future is to be free of your past. But even though that is the promise of the process, it doesn't mean that it is easy, and it may be too large of a leap of faith for some to really believe that their higher power can and will help them and will make good on his promise to heal them and set them free. Uh, most of us have been let down and disappointed by empty promises in the past, and fear, resentment, and bitterness may cause us to accept the limited healing and freedom we have received from day-to-day sobriety, rather than opening our hearts and minds to God to let him take the pain of the past away. Forgiving others who have failed us can play a huge role in finding our freedom. And this past Saturday's In Touch devotional— In Touch with Dr. Charles Stanley devotional— addressed the topic. So I'm resurrecting it and presenting it here on the blog today. To encourage us all to seek God's way to peace. Um, Dr. Charles Stanley writes, when others fail us, because God forgives us, we should forgive others. You're in a difficult situation, and one by one, friends have fallen away. Now the pain is worse because you're suffering alone. Why were you deserted? It's possible friends left because they felt inadequate or couldn't stand to watch you suffer. Or perhaps some have had their own best interest in mind and feared being associated with your situation and potentially failing or falling into a similar trouble. Uh, you might wonder how to respond to them. There is only one appropriate biblical response: forgiveness. As forgiven people, we never have the right to withhold pardon from others. Remember, however, that forgiving does not require you to remain in an abusive situation. The Apostle Paul is a good example for us to follow. After being alone during his Roman imprisonment, he wrote, "May it not be counted against them," in 2 Timothy 4:16. Perhaps Paul remembered that Stephen, while being stoned, cried out, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them," Acts 7:60. But it is probable that Paul had an even greater act of forgiveness in mind. Christ's death and his attitude toward the crucifiers. Jesus prayed, Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing. Because God unreservedly forgives us and all who turn to him of sin, we too should be willing to extend forgiveness. That was from Dr. Charles Stanley. As someone who has suffered loss and betrayal, I know what it's like. I, I know what it feels like to feel the bitterness of loneliness, regret, sorrow, and anger that comes when people do us wrong, betray, or abandon us. Thankfully, as a Christian, I also know the joy, peace, and love that God gives us when we place our faith in Jesus, are forgiven of all our sins, and receive a new life. As a prayer minister and someone who has forgiven those who have sinned against me, I know the freedom that comes when we release our bitterness, resentment, and pain to the Lord and choose to forgive those who have hurt us the most. I have not only experienced the joy of freedom from bondage, uh, from the bondage of bitterness in my own life, but the Lord has also blessed me with the ministry of reconciliation as I have walked besides and encouraged others in prayer to forgive those who have hurt them. In the process of leading others to God's throne of grace in prayer sessions to find freedom and healing, My heart has been burdened over the pain that I've heard others confess, um, but I also experience the joy when I see the Lord work to heal the brokenhearted through forgiveness and through their decision to leave the bitterness of the past behind and to choose to move forward in love. So let me encourage you today, my brothers and sisters in Christ, to choose to forgive those slights, betrayals, and offenses that others have done against you. Let me encourage you to forgive those who've walked away or have done you wrong. You may have forgiven in the past, but if there has been a new offense or the enemy is using the old ones to cause you pain or to harden your heart, go to the Lord and say, I choose to forgive them, Lord. Be sure to name names for what they did to me and how it made me feel. I choose to forgive them and release them to you. In Jesus' name. That will set you free from those who have said— who— those you've said goodbye to. As for the ones who— that are still in your life, that are— that continually cause you grief, say, I choose to forgive them today, and if they shall offend me again, Lord, I choose to forgive them tomorrow. Of course, the Lord doesn't want you to stay in an abusive relationship. So if that's the case and you're ready to make a break or set the boundaries to stop the abuse, pray, "Lord, I choose to forgive them, and I choose to say goodbye." Christ came to set us free, and forgiveness is a pathway to experiencing freedom and finding peace. So let's keep walking and talking with God and choose to forgive as God forgave us as we go. Today's Bible verse comes to us from the Quick Scripture Reference for Counseling by John J. Crewe. This morning's meditation verse comes from the section on friendships, and today's verse is Proverbs 27:9, uh, from the New American Standard Bible. The, uh, the word of God says, oil and perfume make the heart glad, so a man's counsel is sweet to his friend. Today's verse is the first of two passages that fall under the seventh point of our Counseling Reference Guide's resource section on friendship. And that 7th point is a godly friend can be of great help. Today's Bible verse, uh, likens a friend's counsel to sweet-smelling aroma that has the power to make our hearts glad. Let's face it, Jesus's second commandment to love our neighbors as ourselves indicates that we are not supposed to go through life on our own. And when we face the problems and trials of this life, we can understand why God wants us to lean on one another. We can help each other. One man's resources are limited to the things he has experienced or the things he possesses or has access to. So often we suffer for a lack of knowledge, and if we aren't privy to wisdom, we can suffer a lot. And that is why today's verse likens a friend's counsel with something that can make our hearts glad. Our friends can bless us with the wisdom they have learned through their experiences. Our friends may have suffered from situations that are similar to what we are going through and can advise us in how to endure or overcome them. So appreciate your friends and go make more, because the resources and knowledge that they have can help us to see things differently and can offer us solutions to the problems of this life. But our relationships together can give us something more than answers and solutions. Our relationships together can give us joy, and peace and teach us how to love one another. And that can make our and the Lord's hearts glad. 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 in Alford's devotional, he prompts us to, uh, read a chapter of scripture each day. And today's chapter is is, uh, Rome, uh, Revelation 9. And from that chapter, here's a portion of verse 3, which says, to them was given power. And Stephen Alford writes, in the light of this chapter, and particularly this verse, it is wonderful to see how God, in his matchless omnipotence, uses whomsoever and whatsoever he pleases to execute his purposes. If he can use a scorpion Why not me? Here he uses the scorpions of the earth. Power is given them to harm but not kill. They are not to touch or hurt anything or anyone except those who do not carry the seal of God on their foreheads. They are to torment for 5 months and then to cease tormenting. The torment is like the torment of a scorpion when it strikes a man. I myself have undergone undergone the torture of being struck by a scorpion for 24 hours. I experienced hell. Finally, through sheer exhaustion, I became unconscious until the worst pain was over. It is wonder— it is no wonder that the tormented in that day will seek death and will desire to die, but death will flee from them. And Stephen Alford ends by praying, 'Oh Lord, help me to convey the coming torment so that others may avoid it.' Amen. Amen. Wow. I've never been struck by a scorpion, but apparently Stephen Alford has, and he says it was hell. And the Bible talks about, you know, so when he reads the Bible, when our friend Stephen reads the Bible and he tells you about the torment of a scorpion, that's very real to him. And for us, it's sort of a, you know, I don't know what that means. You know, you don't know what it might— I know what it's like to be stung by a bee, um, but apparently a scorpion is a little different, um, you know. And, uh, what, you know, his prayer is to warn others, you know, of the torment that comes from it. And so if there's anything like a scorpion sting that's going to give us torment, we want to warn people away from it. You know, we can learn from one another. That's the thing. You know, basically is we forgive others and we learn from our, our lives and we try to help one another to get through life, uh, to ex— to, um, give people the best solutions. And the best solution we have is to give your heart to Jesus and to follow him. And, uh, that's the reason why we always ask the question, have you fully surrendered to God? Um, you know, what comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us, says A.W. Tozer. But I say what we do with what God's word says about us is the most important thing about us. Um, yeah, it's good to think— it's, you know, mental assent's one thing, knowing things is another thing, but, uh, the most important thing is acting upon that. You know, knowledge, applied knowledge, is called wisdom. And so we apply the knowledge that we've learned, um, to use God's wisdom in our life, you know. So that'll lead us away from the bad things we do and the negative consequences that come from the bad things we do, and it'll lead us to do good things and think about good things. And, um, you know, for me, one of the good things the Lord led me to do is lead a support group at Starpoint Church, um, for Christian recovery and discipleship. Um, if you need it, we're there Wednesday evenings in Upstate New York between 6:30 and 8:30 at the K-3 classroom. And we invite you to come out, um, for Christian fellowship. And, uh, we teach you how to walk in the spirit, basically, and to overcome those hurts, habits, and hangups that keep you locked in. Locked up in the sin and feeling less than. Um, so that's you, you're invited to come. Um, however, if you're not in Upstate New York, uh, and want to be encouraged, um, on Mondays online, 6:30 PM Eastern time, we're, we're doing it. We're, we're walking through the Grace Course and we're calling it Grace for the Holidays. And so we'll be doing, you know, 6, 6 sessions basically where we, we look at the original Grace course is 6 sessions, um, uh, basically to encourage you to experience God's grace in your life, to remind yourself of God's grace and to live in God's grace, and to do it in the context of the holidays. We're going to be walking through it, uh, the Monday before, um, you know, the week of Thanksgiving, and then the week of Thanksgiving, and all the weeks leading up to Christmas, even, you know, up to December 23rd. So with that, we'll give you access to the free, uh, the Grace Course the videos we have and PDFs of the participant's guide, and we'll lead you through it and we'll give you a chance to talk about it in our 2-hour sessions. So I'll be doing like a little synopsis of it, try to put a holiday spin on things and, um, you know, encourage each other through the holidays. So if you want to join our, you know, online teaching and support group, go to mtforchrist.com, look for the group events link and sign up, you know, register with your name and email and phone number, and I'll, uh, I'll bill you, and then we'll get together, um, to support one another. It's valuable information, and, uh, we're sharing it online. And, you know, beyond that, um, on the other side of the new year, for the men, um, there is the Freedom in Christ course. You know, we, we're not even done with the Freedom in Christ course we're doing, and we're already planning for the next one. Which is in, in January. So if you want to start off the new year, learn about who you are in Christ and get set free going through the Steps to Freedom in Christ, then anywhere in the continental US, or really anywhere as long as you can, you know, figure out the time difference and, you know, meet us at 6:30 PM on Eastern Time, um, you know, we're going to be there. So you can, you can go to the, you know, take a screenshot or go to ficm.org, look up their online courses, and you'll see the one men's class, uh, for evenings, Tuesday evenings, and that's the one I'll be hosting. Um, so if you want to sign up for that, we'll be rocking in the new year. Um, however, if none of those things apply to you, we, we encourage you to find or increase your freedom in Christ by joining one of our podcast classes on YouTube. We have playlists for The Bondage Breaker, Victory Over the Darkness, Freedom in Christ, and our own Celebrate Freedom discipleship course, along with a bunch of different playlists, uh, of ourselves and other, you know, Christian theologians, right, to encourage you to know the truth and to walk in the freedom that you have in Christ. And every day by asking, are you empty for Christ too? Have you surrendered fully to the Lord? Are you making yourself available for the Holy Spirit to move in your life? If you are, we say thank Thank God and keep on walking and talking with God. If not, we encourage you to pray. Ask the Lord to reveal himself to you. Ask for Jesus to be your Lord and Savior and pick up your cross and follow him. Uh, and that's why we pray, because we know he'll help us. Um, so let's, let's pray right now. Lord God, Heavenly Father, thank you for another day in your kingdom. Lord, we thank you so much for everything you do for us. Lord, we thank you for the freedom that we saw happen on Saturday. And we look forward to more Freedom Appointments going forward. Um, Lord, we thank you for the gift of your mercy, your grace, and love, and how that transforms us. Um, Lord, we pray for anyone listening or reading today's message or watching it on YouTube, that they be blessed, um, that you come alongside them and their prayer requests, their walk of faith, and guide them in the way they should go. While you're at it, Lord, it's Monday, so we really appreciate your help in structuring our day. Open our eyes to the things you want us to see and lead us in the way we should go, because we, we really want to represent you in your kingdom, Lord, and we desperately, desperately need your help with that. Lord, we thank you, we praise you, and we love you. And we pray all these things in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.
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