Giving Credit Where Credit is Due – All the Glory to Him – Purity 763

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 sunset shining through the shadows of a tree on the shores of Lake Champlain comes to us from the aerial— or wait, from the Adirondack Aerial and Ground Imagery Showcase page on Facebook, who captured this vision, among others, at the Crown Point State Historic Site in Crown Point, New York, back on May 29th. I am sharing a link to their page to give credit where credit is due and to give you all the opportunity to follow them and see more of their spectacular work. Recently, a friend of my friend had shared a photo from my friend and presented it in a way that could lead their audience to believe they were the photographer, causing my friend, the original photographer, to wonder about their friend's character. And whether they should confront them about not only not giving them credit for the photo, but for being dishonest with their own friends by creating an image of themselves doing something they didn't do, or at least weren't present on that particular day and time to capture that identical moment that the original photographer captured. I am highly sensitive to this type of thing, as I have lost friends when I wasn't explicit naming names when presenting their photos or getting their Express permission. Yikes. In my defense, I never indicate that it was I who captured the photos that I didn't take and always state they came from another source, specifically naming the professional photographers whose work I share, but always, when I can recall it, save the photo files to my post with a description, a date, and the first initial and last name of the person from whom I borrowed the photo. I do this for two reasons: to simultaneously provide a photo credit if someone should choose to save the image from my blog, and at the same time to respect the fact that my friend may not share my religious beliefs or agree with the sentiments expressed in my messages. They're just, you know, they took a photo, they're not necessarily in agreement with what I say or believe. This issue of borrowing and not acknowledging the original source of the material we share is plagiarism. Whether it's a photo, a song, or a quote, we should always share where the material came from. If we don't, we could rightfully be accused of stealing or being dishonest. I have a friend who for a time was sharing pithy sayings each day, and I enjoyed their insights. But one day, one of their little sayings seemed awfully familiar, and so I Googled the phrase and discovered that it was a quote from a book. Shocked at the discovery, I googled more of my friend's pithy sayings and discovered every one of them had an unnamed source. I actually confronted my friend and told them that what they were doing was plagiarism. It was stealing and lying, and it was wrong. I'm not sure if they were ashamed, embarrassed, or just ignorant, but they dismissed me with "whatever" and continued sharing unnamed sources. Quotes. I think I shared a link to the original quote in the comments of one of their posts after that, but let it go. Whether from the storms of their tumultuous personal life or from conviction, they seemed to discontinue the practice. But I don't think my confrontation really did anything to change their disposition because, as Facebook never forgets, I discovered this friend was sharing their post, quote unquote, from a year ago which somehow made their plagiarism worse in my book. Not only were they repeating their plagiarism, but now their original post being repeated a year later could cause one to think that, that not only was the quote an original thought of this person, but it was somehow— but it was something that they came up with a year ago, lending a sense of legitimacy through historical documentation. As a teacher of Christian discipleship and recovery, the, the The first lesson I would teach to those pursuing a new life of authenticity and peace was to stop lying, to be honest in all things. When we start telling the truth, admit to what we have done, and seek to make amends for our offenses, we can have an enduring peace that doesn't go away. As Christians, we come to the Lord humbly, confessing our sins, seeking His forgiveness through faith in Jesus Christ, and seeking to turn to the Lord's way for the rest of our lives. We don't try to portray a false image anymore. We don't seek to impress our fellow man by embellishing the truth or by presenting someone else's work as our own. That includes the improvement that has come into our lives since we have come to God. Although we have done work to change our situations and solve problems in our lives, as Christian disciples, we should never let anyone believe that we are responsible for the positive changes in our lives. It is through God's grace alone that we were shown the truth of the gospel that, that saved us and that caused us to turn to the Lord, to be transformed. As the author of life itself, God has given us literally everything. So as His disciples, we should always seek to give Him the glory for any good that we may perform. Before coming to Christ, we think of ourselves as self-made men and women, but that's a lie. We didn't make ourselves. God did. Every good thing we have ever experienced comes as a result of his creative work and providence. Since coming to Christ, the changes in my life could be described as miraculous. Most of my life was lived in selfish and fleshly pursuits that led to disillusionment, bitterness, addiction, and heartache. I was trying to find meaning and purpose in the things of this world independent of God, and I felt the pain of the inadequacy of myself and of the things of this world to satisfy. The '90s band Extreme, their song "Wholehearted" describes this phenomenon in its lyrics. There's a hole in my heart that can only be filled by you, and this hole in my heart can't be filled with the things I I do. You know, the song of course was pointing to a love relationship, but the greatest love of all is that which comes from God the Father. And unless we have his love to complete us and give us an enduring peace that lasts forever, we will always be looking in vain for something to satisfy us. So when we find that love and that peace with God, we have to give credit where credit is due. And become people who represent the truth and the love of God in all the ways we live. We are to be open and honest with our lives and always point people to the Author of life and our Lord and Savior as the reason for our hope. So what do you do with someone who steals, quote-unquote steals from you? Well, Jesus provides guidelines in Matthew 18:15-20 to confront those who sinned against us. To convict them of their sin and to seek to restore them to God, utilizing the witness and assistance of others if the offender refuses your correction. But these are instructions for those who are in the church and seek to be obedient to God. Not everyone we encounter will agree with our assessment and may refuse correction because they simply don't see things our way. In that case, the general principles from the New Testament would guide us to forgive them. And everyone of their offense— and everyone— and everyone for their offenses against us, because in Christ we have been forgiven much. As much as it depends on us, we are to have peace with all men, but we may have to seek the Lord's guidance, strength, and wisdom to maintain our peace when others despitefully use or abuse us. This life of Christian discipleship isn't always easy, But our peace doesn't come from our interpersonal relationships here on earth or from creating just the right circumstances. Our peace comes from God, and when we keep walking and talking with him and continually give him credit through our thanks and praise, we can somehow find the peace that goes beyond all understanding, and somehow we can live in it. Today's Bible verse comes to us from the New Living Translation Bible Promise Book for Men. This morning's meditation verse is Psalm 103:8, and it says, the Lord is compassionate and merciful, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. Today's Bible verse reminds us of the Lord's unfailing love and how he is a God of compassion and mercy. One of the biggest obstacles that man has to come to overcome— and let's see, one of the biggest obstacles to man coming into a relationship with their Heavenly Father is the false image that is spread about his nature. Many see God as an— as angry and vengeful and just waiting to punish us if we step out of line. While God is just and holy and will one day punish all who refuse his offers of peace that comes through Jesus Christ, he is slow to anger and filled with unfailing love. God's moral law reveals to us just how wicked and deficient we are in our ability to be righteous. But God makes a way for us to have peace with him when there would be no other way. Through the gift of salvation that comes through faith in Jesus Christ, God shows his unfailing love, compassion, and mercy by giving us the means to not only avoid our just punishment but to receive a blessing we simply don't deserve. Through faith in Christ, we can receive all of God's unfailing love by being forgiven and by being adopted as His children. So don't fear God's anger. Find peace with Him through Jesus and maintain the harmony of your relationship with Him by following His word. When we are saved and walking with God, we need never know His anger but can abide in His mercy, compassion, and unfailing love forever and ever. As always, I invite 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 continue sharing from Clinton Arnold's Power of Darkness, and, uh, we're, we're sharing from chapter 3, um, that's, uh, basically under the general heading of astrology. And today's section is entitled "The Quest to Alter Fate," and it talks about the popular belief that astrology was closer, you know, to a religion than science, and how people, you know, basically look to the stars to figure out just how their lives would go. And so if you're interested in what Clinton Arnold has to say about that, go to M.t. Clark.org to check out that resource. And of course, all the previous excerpts from his book, uh, in the previous post, as we share resources, um, that we found valuable in our walk. And we share the information because, you know, when you're walking in this thing, you need, you need as much help as you can get. And we provide this— our website and our podcast and our YouTube channel— all with the intention of helping others to live a victorious life and to experience their freedom in Christ. So that's what we do here. And, um, and if you don't know what that's all about, we do provide our classes on Christian discipleship, um, on the podcast and the YouTube channel. The 3 classes we did back in 2021 that are available are Victory Over the Darkness, The Bondage Breaker, and Freedom in Christ. They're all available for your learning and your edification. So, you can check those out. We share your progress by reaching out to us at mtforchrist247@gmail.com if you wanted to contact us. It's just such a wonderful life that I've come to know because of of Jesus that all I can do is point to him and encourage other people to, you know, not follow me but follow Christ. And, you know, how do you do that? Well, generally you just, you know, read the Bible and obey it and pray and connect with God in the presence of God. That's a general instruction, but those classes will help you basically know who you are in Christ and and how to live as a disciple of Christ. We also revere the Word of God. That's where we get our wisdom from, and that's the standard for our lives, is based on the Word of God. And we encourage that through our Bible study that we share. We have a topical study with Arthur and Susanna Zaccotti that we share once a week. It's called Bible Study with the Zaccottis. All the outlines and messages are on the blog and the podcast and the YouTube channel. So if you'd like to check those out, go to there and check those things out. Well, today's Tuesday. I had the feeling that I would take the day off and just do nothing for a second there. You know, you ever get tempted just to take a day off? Well, I had that for a second, but I dismissed it, you know. Yeah, I don't know, I guess I was feeling a little tired or Or I didn't want to get off the, you know, the meditation cushion from prayer and just wanted to stay in my room with the Lord today. But I thought better of it now that— I don't know, I just, you know, I said, "No, no, not that," you know. And so we'll be seeking the Lord on the road, at work as usual, and not going to stay in our room today. But, you know, hey, if you need a day off, take a day off. But I discussed it with myself and we decided that no, we didn't need it off. Um, because life is good even when I work. So, um, let's pray. Lord God, Heavenly Father, thank you for another day in your kingdom. We thank you for the blessings of this life that have come through you. Everything we've ever experienced, good, bad, and different, started with the life you gave us. And, and, and how much better is it now that you've shown us the truth of the gospel, that Jesus Christ died for us and pays for our sins, and that we can have eternal life through him and peace with you when we say yes to Jesus as our Lord and Savior. Lord, we just thank you for the, the assurance of our salvation, the forgiveness of our sins, and the life that you have for us. And the purpose and the meaning that, that, that is rich when we know who you are and who we are in Christ. Lord, we just thank you, um, for all you've done in our life, and we pray for the people listening today. We encourage them to keep going and to keep walking and talking with you, Lord. Um, we pray for them, and we pray that you come alongside their prayer requests. Um, Lord, we, we We have made prayers today for healing and blessings and petitions basically for others today, and we pray that you grant those requests, and we pray for our friend's request as well. Um, Lord, we just pray that you go before all of us today to open our eyes to, to what we need to see and help us to walk into the things that you would have us do. Lord, we thank you so much for you being ever-present in our lives with your abundant mercy and grace and compassion and loving kindness. Lord, um, help us to represent you and share your love with those on the earth today. All these things we pray in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.