God Has Left Me – Lies of the Enemy #34– Purity 1046

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 waves crashing on the shores of Lake Ontario at sunset comes to us from Celestial Blue Photography as Rocco Seja captured this stunner of a sunset on Tuesday, May 16th and shared it on social media yesterday. I took the liberty of titling it as "Crashing Waves Ontario Sunset" for my files, but even that name fails to adequately express all that Seiya put on film, as the brilliant light of the sun made even the rocks on the shore glisten, and that large expansive cloud not only creates a frame for the sun but also is a heavenly specter to behold in its own right. Well, it's Thursday, and sometimes you just have to sit back and enjoy how some— sometimes God pulls everything together so brilliantly that even we can see his hand at work. We can, we can so often forget that not only has God got this, he's got everything all the time. Last night I stepped out of my comfort zone a little bit as I tried something a little different as I led the Celebrate Freedom Recovery slash discipleship growth group through Lesson 2 of the Celebrate Recovery course material, as I decided to respond to the feedback for our growth group to be more like a growth group. For those new to the term, uh, like me apparently, uh, a growth group, uh, at my local church is a small group that gets together to discuss the material from the pastor's sermon as an opportunity to come together for food, fellowship, and prayer. Last week, uh, I led the— our recovery group, like a Celebrate Recovery ministry, where I taught the lesson and led a worship sing-along before breaking into separate discussion groups for the men and women, uh, Celebrate Recovery style. All that— although that first night was somewhat of a success, I received feedback that some wanted the recovery growth group to be more of a discussion than a lecture, uh, like at a growth group. So I faced the seeming dilemma to present the material from the Celebrate Recovery material but to make the evening more relational. As an online discipleship course leader for Freedom in Christ Ministries, and as a growth group— as many a growth group leader would tell you I know that in order to have a discussion, the people gathered to discuss whatever topic, uh, whatever topic, have to have some knowledge of the material discussed. In my church's small, small group, uh, in my, in my church's small groups before, you know, I left something out, um, in my, in my church's small growth groups, um they hear the message before we meet. So, and, uh, so I had to think of a way to simultaneously present the material but somehow include, um, include the group, some of who admitted to having no exposure to the Celebrate Recovery material before. And I got the idea that, that, uh that me calling on people from the podium as I lecture would not suffice. Yeah, I left a couple sentences out there, man. I apologize, um, because basically I said, you know, before, before we meet for a discussion, uh, the people in our small groups hear the pastor's message. And on— and I even wrote something before it disappeared, uh, about how in my just, uh, online Freedom in Christ groups that the people watch the videos and you know, basically do the discussion questions before we meet to discuss it. And I have the dilemma of figuring, you know, how do we discuss something that no one has heard or they're not familiar with? So that was what I got. That was the challenge I faced last evening. And I got the idea that me calling on people from the podium as I lectured would not suffice. So there, um, what I didn't have right in the blog post, I had over-explained here in the, the podcast. So I came up with an idea that was a little unorthodox for this teacher that turned out to be a lot less work and a whole lot more relational. Faced with the paradox of having to present new material and make people who didn't know the material, uh, as part of the process, I decided to just give them the lesson, quite literally. Last night we put the chairs in a circle and I left the podium in the other room. I had borrowed, uh, borrowed it from the week before. So, and so to me it looked more like a group therapy than a class where the female lead— and then we had the female leader lead us in prayer before each person in the group was directed to introduce or reintroduce themselves and share one thing they they were thankful for. Our mission at Celebrate Freedom is to make our group a positive experience, and I know that one of the 4 habits of joy-filled people is appreciation. So everyone, even though some admitted to be struggling with fatigue, stress, anger, or depression to some degree, gave thanks for something. Some gave thanks for the group, um, in week 2, and for the opportunity, um, it created as a means of turning it around. And right on the heels of giving thanks, I directed everyone to get up and praise the Lord in song as we sang along with Shane and Shane's "You've Already Won" karaoke style. After that was the big test, as I advised the group that, that we would all be presenting the lesson together, as I literally took the lesson and cut it into parts and said that each each of us would do our part by reading our section of the lesson, and I gave everyone the liberty of expanding on what they presented with their thoughts or experiences from their testimony if they felt led. I know it's not a revolutionary idea, and I also know from experience in my school days that this method can be a real train wreck when, when even the most robust material can become boring as the disinterested read or fumble through their section with a bored or unaffected monotonous tone. I think we may have all had that experience where teacher made us read the lesson and how utterly painful it can be. But I let go and let God, and of course, as those who have done that before know, something unexpected happened. Although I had prepared the sections of the lessons and even numbered them before passing them out, somewhere between the copy machine and the distribution of the sections through the group 4 sections from the middle, from the middle, just magically disappeared. So when it— so when, when the sections got to the end of the group, there was nothing to pass along. I knew something was wrong because there were 15 pieces to this puzzle, and even though I didn't have a head count of the group at the time, I didn't think we had over 15 people in attendance. But I figured there must be 16 of us and carried on with the lesson by reading the first part. And, and, and the teaching moved to the next person. Thankfully, the group all could read, something you really shouldn't assume. What a disaster that would have been, as my exercise would have shamed the illiterate and sent them running for the door. But they all could read, and they read the material audibly and with enthusiasm, as everyone could relate to what was being, quote unquote, taught. Amen. And then we got to lucky number 7. And silence. I didn't— I didn't— I did a quick count and said, you know, "Axt 7?" To which everyone just shook their head and admitted that they weren't number 7. The closest person to 7 was 11. 7-Eleven? Hmm. Anyway, luckily I decided to keep a master copy of the lesson and picked up 7 and had the woman on my left, uh, read section 8. And she volunteered to read Section 9 too, which just so happened to speak to her current situation, and that caused her to share part of her story with the group. I saw the work of God's hand in this and said as much in the moment, pointing out that while I didn't know where those missing sections were, God knew, and he arranged for this section to fall to this woman because he knew that it would speak to her. And just so you know that God is good, it's— it so happened to be this woman's first night in the group. Um, you can't make this stuff up. Anyway, there was still one missing section to cover, so I volunteered to take it and said, I wonder what God has for me. Um, and. And so while it could have been something totally unrelated to my experience, it wasn't. Uh, the 10th section was on loneliness, and I confess that it was relevant, that before the Lord called me into his kingdom, I was a loner. I spent my time alone in a basement and never would have dreamed that I would be leading or teaching, uh, teaching or leading a group, a Christian or otherwise. And I testified a little bit of how the Lord changed my life and how it's not lonely anymore. So as, as ways of segues, this might be a record, but speaking of loneliness, the lesson last night also taught on separation, on how some people talk about finding God as if God could be lost. But in our struggles through this world, we even Christians can feel that God has left us. And that brings us to our current series, The Lies of the Enemy, which is an examination of some of the common lies, sometimes sneakily whispered into our minds as first-person statements, that the enemy tells us to cause us to doubt our faith, lose our peace, cause division, or influence us to not follow the Lord with the way we live our lives. So today's big lie is lie number 34. God has left me. This lie of the enemy is supported by every deist out there. Deists believe that there is a God somewhere out there, but he has no dealings with his creation or doesn't involve himself in the lives of men. For deists, God hasn't just left them, he's left everybody. But that is a lie. Christ came to the earth to dispel this lie. God gave us the Holy Spirit to testify to our spirit that we are not alone and that we are children of God. As for atheists, their insistence on the non-existence of God keeps them blind or willfully ignorant of the Lord's presence. For a true atheist, life is meaningless, as they reason they came out of nothing and will cease to exist when they go back into nothing, when they die. But Christ overcame the grave. He rose from the dead and and told all of us that there is an unseen, unseen kingdom beyond this world, and life, and a judgment to come after death. Every culture on the earth believes in an afterlife, and while there is much confusion on this topic, Jesus came to show us the truth and warn us of, of the one way to a good end. Jesus taught more about hell than heaven. He offered that faith in him was the one way to God the Father and warned that for those who didn't know him, there would be weeping and gnashing of teeth. So yikes for the non-believer. You wish that God would leave you because you will be accountable for what you did with your life and how you rejected and rebelled against the God who made you. For the believing who have suffered trauma, loss, or tragedy, or just feel that the Lord's presence is no longer with you, Don't believe the lie that God has left you. As our lesson last night taught, separation from God can feel real but is never permanent. Remember, he seeks his lost. When we can't find God, we have to ask ourselves who moved and come to the conclusion that it wasn't God. Whether from sin, suffering, or just busyness, We are the ones who forget that God will never leave us or forsake us. God is omnipresent, everywhere at once. We couldn't escape from him if we tried, but we can feel like he's not there when we fail to follow him. So if you feel that 'God has left me' is true about you, I'm here to tell you that it's not true. That's a lie. I'm here to tell you that God is with you and that you only need to seek him to find him. Go to his house, a church, he's there. Read his word, the Bible, he's there too. Look all around you, he made it all, he's there. Repent of your sin, ask him for his help, and see— speak and listen to him in prayer, and believe, and you will know the truth that he has never left you. And when you put your faith in Jesus, you You will never be separated from his love. Today's Bible verse comes to us from the New Living Translation Bible Promise Book for Men. This morning's meditation verse is Ephesians 5:28, and it says, in the same way, husbands ought to love their wives as they love their own bodies. For a man who loves his wife actually shows love for himself. Today's verse offers excellent marriage advice to husbands to love their wives as they're— as they love their own bodies. That a man who loves his wife shows love for himself, because the love he gives to his wife is often repaid in spades. When we give love, we receive love. This is most excellent advice, uh, that I know is true, as my wife appreciates and reciprocates the love that I give to her. I am truly blessed with the Christian wife that the Lord brought into my life, and I will obey his word and love her like I love my own body. Oh, and just to reiterate God being with us, the next verses tell us in Ephesians 5:29 and 30, no one hates his own body but feeds and cares for it, just as Christ cares for the church, and we are members of his body. We are members of Christ's body, and the love we receive from him should be spread to those around us. 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— well, actually, we begin sharing from a new resource, um, and, uh, I decided to go with someone who's no longer with us and won't be upset if I use his work. So We are sharing from— we're beginning sharing from— um, The Holy Spirit by A.W. Pink. And if you want, I mean, basically I share these, uh, these resources for educational purposes. You can go out and pop, uh, purchase a book. Putting a link on the blog for the 99-cent version of this book that you can get on Amazon, or you can read it little by little, bit by bit, as we go through and share the entire book. On the blog because, you know, I figure if nothing else, you get to read something good basically each day by going to the bottom of the blog post and reading whatever I share from other Christian theologians or counselors. So I have to confess, I haven't read this book. I am very familiar with A.W. Pink's work and Sovereignty of God and Revelation, his book on Revelation, and various teachings that I've listened to via podcast. And I may have listened to The Holy Spirit, but his work— I always try to listen to the Holy Spirit, but I'm trusting that it's, that it's good teaching based on what I've, what I've read from A.W. Pink in the past. And I may join, anyone, everyone else who decides to read this, because I figure it's going to be good. And we really have to realize that's one way we can know God is with us, is when we listen to the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit gives us inspiration and guides us when we pray. You know, how do we get these ideas to do something good, to go to church, to repent of our sin, to believe in Christ? It's all through the power of the Holy Spirit, and he leads us and guides us into all truth and, you know, prepares us or moves us into, um, you know, he'll show us things to come. So it's a good idea to listen and seek, uh, for the baptism of the Holy Spirit. I'm not sure how A.W. Pink will touch on that topic as we start to share from this book, but I really— I haven't really seen As far as I'm concerned, I really haven't seen any work on the Holy Spirit, any book on the Holy Spirit that would lead you too far astray. I always tell you, you know, to test and approve that the word is true, you know, make sure it lines up with scripture, and don't go off half-cocked chasing after experiences. But, you know, other people have confessed about an experience like the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, where you have a real manifest presence of the Lord. And it really shows you that this isn't just— this isn't just a story, and this ain't just a book with rules. This is the real living God, and he is alive and well. And, uh, he just— he just stepped into my life to show me this. And when that happens, uh, what do we do? We follow, and we encourage other people to follow and experience it themselves. So we share we share all of this, the blog and everything else, to encourage you that God has not left you and that he never will leave you, and you'll always be with him when you put your faith in Christ. So we encourage you to seek your freedom in Christ, you know, to get the full, you know, the full blessings of your, of your relationship with God by following him and experiencing the fruit of the Spirit growing in your life when you decide to walk in the Spirit. So we invite you to check out our teachings that we've done on Victory Over the Darkness, The Bondage Breaker, and Freedom in Christ, because they really, you know, point you to who you are in Christ and warn you about the spiritual forces of darkness and how they mess with you, and how you can overcome all your spiritual and personal conflicts to experience the freedom that God wanted you to have, the abundant life that Christ told us about. So we offer those on the podcast and our YouTube channel. And we also offer a Bible study with Arthur and Susanna Sincotti once a week. So we invite you to check those out too if you want to join our topical Bible study. You'll find it on YouTube and our podcast under the headings of Bible Study with the Sincottis. Well, it's back to work for me. I have a 3-day work week as I have to work Saturday. So today's a— I might have a case of the Mondays, but after last night I'm I'm feeling great. And tonight we have a prayer ministry cohort with our friends from Deeper Walk International. And, uh, you know, so I got something good this morning. I have something good to look forward to, and, uh, we'll, we'll walk with God the rest of the way. So let's pray. Lord God, Heavenly Father, thank you for another day in your kingdom. Lord, we thank you so much for all that you do for us. Lord, we pray for anyone who's listening or reading this message Lord, that you would come alongside them in their prayer request and guide them in their walk. Um, Lord, we all need your help to live a Christian life, um, and to know that you haven't left us. So we ask for that today. Lord, please open our eyes to see the things you want us to see and to walk into the things you would have us do. So we need your help. And Lord, all we want to do is represent you and your kingdom on the earth. So help us in that regard. Lord, we thank you, we praise you, we love you. We pray all these things in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.