Growing into Maturity through Faith - Purity 1139

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 pair of cascading waterfalls comes to us from Fred Dimmick, who captured this photo of the Upper Falls during his visit to Turtletown Creek near Farner, Tennessee on Sunday. Well, it's Two for Tuesday, I guess, and I thought that the two streams of Turtletown Creek's Upper Falls was a good way to visually represent not only our lives falling into the the possibly choppy waters of post-Labor Day life, but could also be used to represent the differences in capacities we can have and our emotional resilience, and, um, to point out how fostering a robust relationship with the Lord and actually practicing the disciplines and doctrines of the Christian faith can help us when trials come crashing down into what were quiet waters of the status quo. Yep, Labor Day has come and gone, and my prayers go out to all the teachers, faculty, staff, and students who will be going back to school today and tomorrow. We are entering into a new school year, and I pray that the Lord will protect and guide our nation's schools to equip our youth with the lessons they need to advance and mature. As a Christian and a student of life, I know that we are never too old to learn something new, and the and that one of the biggest mistakes we can make is to think that we have learned all there is to know. According to some sources online, knowledge doubles every 12 months, so if you haven't learned anything new in the last year, some would say you have been left behind. However, I think that what you learn is more important than how, how much you learn, that doubling knowledge undoubtedly includes lessons on the latest technology, and I can tell you that maybe— well, what may be compelling and state-of-the-art today can be obsolete in no time. So rather than trying to keep up with the Joneses' knowledge on technology or the latest trends in politics and enter— or entertainment, I believe that the most important things we can learn about are the things that will endure forever.— the things of the Kingdom of God and who God has made us to be. While God has made us all in His image when we are born, there is an expectation that we are to grow and mature in our physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual capabilities and capacities. The Bible's stages of development have been said to progress from infant, child, parent— or wait, adult, parent, and elder. But unfortunately, not everyone is progressing to the stage they are chronologically or situationally as God would intend. Disturbances to our emotional emotions or the suffering of trials often reveal how some of us have failed to fully, fully mature our resilience. Why can some people handle amazing levels of stress and others seem to break down or blow up over the smallest bump in the road? The answer is multifaceted and can take in the various factors of one's physical makeup, experience, intelligence, and upbringing, But ultimately, the way we respond to stress has a lot, a lot to do with our maturity and how that is reflected by our emotional resilience. Experience and education play a big part in how we respond. If we never learn to do something or have never experienced it, we may not respond too well when we— an unknown challenge or trial comes our way. But even if two people quote-unquote know the same things about something doesn't necessarily mean they meet that doesn't necessarily mean they will be equal in how they apply their knowledge. For example, as Christians, we should all— we should all know that we are to forgive our debtors as we have been forgiven. Just doing a quick update. Thank you. The Christian Disciples flowchart from when we experience offense or abuse from others naturally indicates we that we are to forgive. Christ is our example for living the Christian life, and if Christ could forgive the people who crucified him from the cross, we as his followers are to likewise forgive those who offend or abuse us. Christians all, quote unquote, know that intellectually, but the only ones who experience the peace that comes from forgiveness are the ones who actually practice it. Results may vary among Christians, of course, so how much more unlikely will it be for someone who doesn't have a relationship with God to utilize the remedy of forgiveness if they never learned it or seen it practiced? The world's view of injustice is to seek revenge or, or justice, to punish those who have offended us, not to forgive them. However, even though justice could be served and offenders even executed for their crimes, Justice does not always bring peace, because the bitterness of unforgiveness can wage war on our souls long after the courts of justice and public opinion have closed our case. So the world's ways may not bring us peace, but Jesus is the Prince of Peace, and his ways are perfect and not only resolve our issues here on earth but guarantee peace in his kingdom with him forevermore. But we have to know him, the lessons he taught us, and be willing to practice and apply them to our lives to experience the peace he has for us. As I indicated before, we are never too old to learn, and the most compelling things we can learn for our benefit is the Lord and his ways. Uh, God is alive, and we can know his presence and his peace when we engage him in prayer, study his word, and practice what he teaches. And we can increase our maturity and capacity to handle stress when we do so. So what do we do to grow in maturity and grow our capacity? We practice what the Bible says and renew our ways of thinking to align with God's wisdom rather than man's. And we develop our relationship with God. For this is not a recipe for righteousness and resilience. Our Christian lives are to be a robust relationship with God. Where we reflect his love and wisdom. I share the following scriptures to encourage us all in the ways of the Lord as taught by the Apostle Paul's epistles. Ephesians 4:25-32 tells us, therefore, putting away lying, let each one of you speak truth with his neighbor, for we are members of one another. Be angry and do not sin. Do not let the sun go down on your wrath, nor give place for the de— to the devil. Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give him who has need. Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good and necessary for edification, and that it may impart grace to the hearers. Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil, evil speaking be put away from you with all malice, and be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ forgave you. And then there's Philippians 4:8 that speaks on our thought life, which says, finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue, and if there is anything praiseworthy, meditate on these things. And there's Romans 12:1-2, which, uh, which instructs us to, uh, well, I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is the— that good and acceptable, perfect— and perfect will of God. And then finally, 1 Thessalonians 5:15-19 tells us, see that no one renders evil for evil to anyone, but always pursue what is good, both for yourselves and for all. Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks. For this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you: Do not quench the Spirit. Don't quench the Spirit, walk in the Spirit, and the fruit of the Spirit will grow in your life, giving you peace, joy, and love, as well as patience and self-control to deal with the trials that will surely come our way. The world can be a rough place after all, but Jesus has overcome the world, and when we follow him, we can endure and overcome it too. Today's Bible verses come to us from the Quick Scripture Reference for Counseling by John G. Crews. Uh, this morning's meditation verses come from the section on alcohol and drug abuse, and today's verses are 1 Corinthians 6:9-10. And the word of God says, or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who have sex with men, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor slanderers, nor swindlers will han— will inherit the kingdom of God. Today's verses fall under the 11th point of our Counseling Reference Guide's resource section on alcohol and drug— alcohol and drug abuse, which says, number 11, no drunkard shall enter heaven. Today's verse, uh, verses are the quintessential drunken verses of the Bible that caused me to rethink how I lived as a Christian and even, and eventually sent me into repentance and recovery. When I heard these verses and was living in a lifestyle of habitual drunkenness, it made me angry. I had heard the gospel of forgiveness through faith in Jesus Christ and had finally given my life to God, but my ignorance, I thought I could just carry on in my ways of darkness. When I heard this verse, the Holy Spirit convicted me that my drunken lifestyle reflected the kingdom of darkness more than the kingdom of light. These chilling words that told me that this sin of drunkenness may indicate that my relationship with the Lord was not real. I had to make a decision. Was I a drunk or was I a Christian? If I was more comfortable being a drunk than a Christian, it meant that I was probably deluding myself and was a false convert of the faith. Which did I love more, booze or Jesus? I knew the truth of the gospel, and I know how close I came to going to hell. And for me, when I got this conviction to give my life to— when I got this conviction to give my life completely to God, there was no other decision but to live as I should. To go into recovery and never come out again, to live a sober life. And so I trusted the Lord to help me, and he did. I know these verses are offensive to those caught in these particular sins, but they should offend you and cause you to repent and fully enter into your faith. Because you— because if you choose your sin over the Lord, you run the very real risk of being consigned to hell for all eternity. No sin is worth that. So turn to the Lord and live. He gives you the strength to overcome and put your— put you on a path that is good, pure, and holy. 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 A.W. Pink's The Holy Spirit, as we are sharing from chapter 23, The Spirit Witnessing, and today's section is called Objective and Subjective Witness. So if you want to learn about the objective and subjective witness of the Holy Spirit, go to mt4christ.org and you'll see that resource at the end of today's blog post. As always, we encourage a lifestyle of Christian discipleship Lately I've been more and more impressed that it is very important to have a relationship with the Lord because when trials come and if you're trusting in anything else other than God and who you are in Christ, those things are going to be exposed as, you know, not enduring. And the strategies of this world come up a lot shorter than the strategies that the Lord gives you for living. So we encourage a lifestyle of Christian discipleship with the basis of a spiritual, a daily spiritual practice that includes prayer and Bible study and just walking and talking with God and thinking about how you live and trying to apply God's wisdom to your life in a very real way. And, you know, and it's not just following rules, it's attaching to the Lord relationally. That, you know, seeking his presence and listening for his guidance. We don't just talk to the air. We actively listen and try to let the Lord's word guide us as we go. So we, we, we've experienced great suffering and trials in our lives, and I can tell you though, the ones that I experienced after I came to Christ were handled a lot better than the ones that I, I saw before I came to Christ. Um, and so we encourage you to, um, you know, follow the Lord, go to church, and invest yourself in the relationship that will let the relationship and the knowledge that will last forever. The things of this world will pass away, become obsolete, but the things of God endure until the very end of time. But if there is an end, you know, eternity with the Lord. My goodness. Anyway, today is the day after Labor Day, and that means we have to go labor. Um, so, um, I don't know what I'm gonna do, but I think it's gonna be some grueling work and a hot day. So, so, so I think I'm gonna pray and move along. My prayers go out to Phyllis Seguin, my mother-in-law, who was in the hospital last night, has angina. Um, so we pray for her healing. We pray for my wife Tammy Lynn, who was exhausted, um, because she was worried about her mother. And today is the first day of school, so we pray for Tammy Lynn to have the strength of the Lord, the joy of the Lord, and the love of the Lord to impart to her new students this— today. And, um, and well, let's pray for everyone else too. We pray for people who are listening or reading today's message. We appreciate everyone who tuned into the Bible study yesterday. We encourage, we encourage you to keep walking and talking with God. We pray for the Lord to, to bless you, to bless your prayer request and your walk of faith. Lord, we thank you for all that you do for us. And Lord, we ask that you go before us today, open our eyes to the things you want us to see. And move our steps in the way we should go. It's— Lord, all we want to do is represent you and your kingdom here on earth until Jesus comes back. And Lord, we thank you, we praise you, we love you, and we pray all these things in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.