In this devotional video, M.t. Clark shares a personal story about his upcoming Disney World vacation, using it as a springboard to discuss the importance of setting godly goals. He introduces Lauren Roskillie's "God's Will, Not Yours" teaching from Mindful of Christ, explaining the PAPA acronym (Prayer, Alignment, Peace, Attainable) and offering a free downloadable goal‑setting chart. Clark then moves to a biblical focus on truthfulness, citing Exodus 20:16 and emphasizing honesty as the first rule of Christian discipleship. He continues with an eschatological reflection, referencing Stephen F. Alford’s devotional on Matthew 24, 2 Peter 3:9, and the pre‑tribulation rapture/millennial kingdom supported by John MacArthur and Perry Stone, urging believers to hold to the hope of Christ’s return. Throughout, he interweaves scriptural references (Proverbs 19:21, Matthew 24, 1 Corinthians 7:29, Revelation), personal testimony of overcoming addiction, and multiple calls to action (visit mt4christ.org, follow on social media, download the goal‑setting material). The video concludes with a heartfelt prayer for listeners’ guidance, peace, and alignment with God’s purpose.
Chapters
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 blazing sun obscured by palms and other trees over a Florida forest pathway comes to us from yours truly as I reached back into the iPhone's photo archives to retrieve this scene from February 20, 2022, from my honeymoon trip to Tampa. Well, it's Friday and I am thinking about Florida this morning because 2 weeks, 2 weeks out from now, prayerfully, I'm getting on a plane to return to the Sunshine State for a mini blended family vacation to the Magic Kingdom. That's right, in 2 weeks I'm going to Disney World. So not only am I thanking God that it is Friday today, I'm also thankful for the ability to make plans and accomplish goals. I can't claim that Disney was a long-term goal because it wasn't, and it is only by the grace of God and His sovereignly moving earthly events that a Disney World vacation is possible. It costs a lot of money, uh, to go to Disney, but when the Lord blessed me with the sale of my old house, I got the inspiration to celebrate with a February Florida trip and to take my wife and two youngest stepkids to the Magic Kingdom. No sooner did I have the inkling of an idea that we could do this, uh, than I was booking the trip and making the dream come true. If you want something, you have to plan for it. And if you want to travel, you have to book it. But I want to encourage you today, uh, to be responsible with the plans you make. I walk in the Spirit, and frankly, a lot of the things I do come suddenly. But as my journey from my former life of addiction and brokenness to the light of freedom and victory can attest, sometimes our goals have to have an undetermined end date and will require walking and talking with God through deep, dark valleys of tribulation before we make it to the promised land. But even when you are walking on a trail of tears, you can have peace and joy with the Lord when you pray and follow what you believe to be God's plan for your life. So to encourage you in establishing godly goals, I'm sharing Mindful of Christ Lauren Roskillie's Word for Wednesday from this week, which is based on Proverbs 19:21, which says, there are many plans— let me There, um, you can make many plans, but the Lord's purpose will prevail. Sorry about that, it was the NLT and I was reading the wrong version. Um, Lauren's message is called God's Will, Not Yours, and she writes, how are you getting on with the goals or New Year's resolutions that you set at the beginning of the month, which was January? Um, did they align with God's plan for you? If they did, then you may be experiencing each day with God in his purpose, and one that is becoming more and more exciting. If that's where you are, we, we would love to hear what you're up to. Do comment or reply to Mindful in Christ and let Lauren know. On the other hand, if they aren't aligned with God's will and purpose, then you may experience one of two things. 1) You strive each and every day to hit those goals or resolutions, perhaps you are even feeling overwhelmed. 2) You are plowing through full steam ahead in your determination and enjoying the feelings of being independent and self-sufficient. Either way, if you are not planning your life year, month, or day according to God's purpose, then His purpose will catch up to you. With you in the end, whether he uses you or someone else. Surely it's better to align with him and his purpose. Then you will experience his love, peace, and abundance. More importantly, you'll be walking in the purpose of the creator of the world. Wow, um, that was from Lauren Ross Killey. And Lauren invites you to learn how to set godly goals by clicking on the link on the blog today, which is Mindful of christ.net, How to Set Godly Goals, where you can see her teaching on how to, how to be a piece of Papa's Art. Papa's Art is Lauren's acronym for a process of setting goals with God that involves prayer, aligning with God's will, having peace, and setting goals with God that are accessible, specific, attainable, relevant, and timely. As Lauren states, it's better to align with God and his purposes for our lives. And Mindful in Christ offers you a free download of Lauren's teaching that includes charts where you can be specific in writing out what you hope to accomplish, and even includes a calendar to track your progress. So go to mindfulofchrist.net How to Set Godly Goals to Get Yours. Today's Bible verse comes to us from the Quick Scripture Reference for Counseling by John G. Kruis. This morning's meditation verses— or verse, how do we say that? Um, comes to— comes from the section on communication, gossip, and lying. Today's verse is Exodus 20:16., from the New American Standard Bible, it says, "You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor." Today's verse is the first of two passages of scripture that fall under the seventh point of the, our Counseling Reference Guide's resource section on communication, gossip, and lying. And that seventh point is: God forbids us to lie. He wants us to speak the truth. Today's verse is one of the Ten Commandments, and it is what I paraphrase when I give the first rule of Christian discipleship. Which is stop lying. As Christians, we are to be obedient to God's law, and because we are trying to become more and more like Jesus and represent the truth, the way, and the life, we should be honest and forthcoming in speaking the truth, even if it is hard or isn't pretty. Not only is telling the truth the right thing to do, but it also just happens to give you an enormous sense of peace. When you stop lying, you don't have to cover your tracks anymore. You don't have to look over your shoulder and be burdened by remembering which lies you told to who. When you just tell it like it is, the truth will set you free. That's why it's, it's what I call this first rule of Christian discipleship. Walking in the Spirit is supposed to set you free, and when you speak the truth you walk out of the darkness and begin to experience the righteous, good, faithful, and holy life of peace and joy that the Lord wants you to know. So keep it real, tell the truth, and keep walking and talking with God. 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 According to Your Word: Morning and Evening Through the New Testament by Stephen F. Alford, which is a collection of devotional journals from 1940 and '41. And, uh, this Alford's, uh, devotional, um, prompts people to read a chapter of the Bible in the morning and the evening, and he's walking through the New Testament. So today's chapter would be Matthew 24. So if you need to read the Bible, there's, there's, there's a prompting, uh, Matthew 24. And from Matthew 24, Alford highlights, uh, verse 48. And the word of God says, my master is delaying his coming. And Stephen Alford writes, it is one of the devil's greatest achievements to perpetrate this falsehood, for falsehood it is. The scriptures declare the Lord is not slack concerning his promise of his coming, as some count slackness, but is long-suffering toward us, not willing that any should perish. That's from 2 Peter 3:9. The, the— and Alford continues to write: the apostle says the time is short, 1 Corinthians 7:29. The Lord Jesus says, behold, I am coming quickly, Revelation 2 Peter 3:11. Nevertheless, there are those who are controlled by their own lusts and by the devil, who say, "Where is the promise of his coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as from the beginning" . The apostle replies that these people are willingly ignorant of the word of God. Alford finishes his devotional by praying: O Lord, make your coming a living reality in my life, that the hope may purify my heart even as you are pure. That concludes our sharing from According to Your Word by Stephen F. Allford. And off— offered, you know, and, and that's the great hope of, of the gospel, uh, you know, the culmination of, of world history will be the return of Christ, a thousand-year reign, and then And then another rebellion, and then the final putting away of Satan, and a new Jerusalem, a new heaven and new earth. So, you know, I was thinking about this, you know, this morning, and I'm like, we're in the prequel. We're not even, we're not even there yet, you know. As long as we think human history has been, there's going to be another, you You know, according to the Word, Jesus is going to come back and rule for 1,000 years on the earth. You know, so if you have a spiritual view of Christianity as you die and go to heaven forever, ever, amen, that's a false view. That's a non-biblical view. That doesn't include the Revelation of Jesus Christ, which speaks of His coming kingdom here on the earth, and then, and then a new earth, you know. So it's, it's, you know, don't get it twisted, you know. There's a— there are good teachers about the end times. John— if John MacArthur and Perry Stone can agree on the pre-tribulation rapture and a millennial kingdom, and you know, that goes with, you know, most all of the church fathers that came before us. You know, that's what the Word says. You know, they look at the Word and they speak the Word. And they may have different approaches and different, you know, doctrinal beliefs here and there, but many people believe in a pre-tribulation rapture and all these things because it's in Scripture. So it should give us a great hope. And even though, you know, Jesus might not show up today, and we may go into heaven waiting for his coming. You know, when it's accomplished, you know, suddenly it'll all be done. If you've ever had to wait for something for a long time and then have it suddenly accomplished and it's a good thing, you know, you sort of forget about the waiting, you know, the suffering from day to day until that day is really, you know, you can remember it, you know, yeah, I had to wait a long time for that, but now it's done. And, you know, that'll be the way we feel when Jesus comes back, except for it'll be even more glorious because it'll be Jesus and we'll be in the presence of the Lord. It's something you can't— it'll be better than Disney World, much better. I'm sure, not for nothing. Happiest place on earth can just go and you'll see the children cry. What? Oh yeah, you'll see what selfishness looks like and gluttony and drunkenness. Yeah, sexual immorality. It's all at the Magic Kingdom. Oh boy, because people are there and yeah, they bring it with them. Anyway, so it is Friday. I am looking, I'm, to go to the Magic Kingdom of Easton after work, uh, to be with my beloved wife in our countryside home. So I'm looking forward to the day, um, flying through. So, uh, let's get to it by praying. Lord God, Heavenly Father, thank you for another day in your kingdom. Lord, thank you so much for the blessings you've given us, uh, the freedom alone from the darkness of my addiction, the freedom from bad relationships, and, uh, well, it's just bad relationships, you know. Throughout my life, um, and, and the blessings that have come, um, the way you move things, Lord, for the good of all those who love you and are called according to your purpose is just magnificent. And so let's pray for those. I pray for the people who might be listening or reading this message, that they would be encouraged that when they're walking and talking with God, they're on the right path. And, uh, Lord, we just pray for you to come alongside them and their prayer requests and their walk of faith and, um, and help them, uh, Lord, like you helped me. And, uh, I'll, I'll continue to take your help because I need it every day, um, for your guidance, your wisdom, your love, um, is, is amazing and I need it. Um, so I'm asking for it today, Lord. I pray for you to go before me, open my eyes to the things you want me to see, and lead me in the way I should go. Because all I want to do is, uh, represent you in your kingdom, Lord, and to do it in love and truth and peace. So we pray for you to go before us, Lord. We thank you, we praise you, we love you, and we pray all these things in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.
