In this solo podcast episode, host M.t. Clark reflects on his personal journey from alcohol addiction to sobriety, recounting his 2015 decision to stop drinking, a relapse, and his ongoing battle with caffeine withdrawal in 2024‑2025. He frames these struggles as "growing pains" of spiritual change, citing 1 Corinthians 6:12 and describing the physical symptoms of withdrawal as evidence of past enslavement. Clark shares a devotional excerpt from Dr. Charles Stanley on hope in Christ, emphasizing that salvation, not good works, grants eternal life. He then presents a daily devotional reading from J.E. Adams (Day 46) on love, unity, and rejecting hatred among believers. The episode highlights the biblical promise of Matthew 6:33, urging listeners to seek God’s kingdom first. Clark promotes the Celebrate Freedom recovery group at Starpoint Church (Wednesday evenings, starting Jan 8, Clifton Park, NY), invites registration via the church website, and announces a forthcoming YouTube teaching series. He also mentions free past video series (Bondage Breaker, Victory Over the Darkness, etc.) and requests donations ($10 per session) to support the ministry. The episode concludes with a prayer for personal healing from caffeine addiction and blessings for listeners.
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Welcome to the MT for Christ 24/7 podcast. I am M.t. Clark, and this is today's photo. 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 blurry photo of a pink Florida sunrise comes to us from yours truly as I captured the scene back on February 26th, 2015 while vacationing chinning in Deerfield Beach. Well, it's Saturday, and I'm sharing this vacation paradise photo to welcome us to the weekend and to reflect on the distant past and how much it hurt to make the changes that were to come shortly after I took this photo. Uh, back in 2015, Pastor Bob Costello announced that he was beginning a recovery ministry at Rock Solid Church, and I heard the Lord's voice in my spirit that this is for you. Um, that Florida vacation was the last one where I would ever drink alcohol. But I'd be lying if I were to tell you that my walk into sobriety wasn't without its growing pains. Although I was surprised— although I surprised Pastor Bob when I showed up to my first meeting to the ministry that would soon be called Celebrate Freedom, he thought I was there to help, not to get help. I was even more surprised by the hope I had after it. I had always, I had always known recovery was a good idea, but I never thought I could do it or even wanted to do it. But the Lord changed all of that. And after I put my faith in Jesus, I really was a new creation and no longer— and the longer I followed Jesus, the more I knew my lifestyle of drunkenness had to go. And after that first meeting, I had real hope to change. But 2 weeks into recovery, I felt powerless over the circumstances that surrounded me at a "rock and roll" weekend in the Catskills and gave in to alcohol and drugs once again. Although I gave in to temptation, I didn't enjoy it, and I was angry that I had thrown away 2 weeks of sobriety for such a lame party. Come Sunday morning, I made the decision to go back to the recovery meeting the next week and to never drink or do drugs again. I decided to trust the Lord to help me, and although I suffered some real pains of withdrawal and from trying to change the way I live, uh, he was faithful to be with me and has helped me to stay free ever since. I remember all this, all of this, this morning to give me hope, because I am currently feeling some pains over some compromises of my food plan in 2024 and my decision to give up, quote unquote, give up lies in 2025. When you give up lies, you give up everything. Caffeine is part of my everything, and I have had headaches and fatigue that I believe to be pains, the pains of withdrawal since I stopped drinking caffeinated beverages on January 2nd. So I'm feeling the growing pains of trying to not indulge the flesh and to be enslaved to anything. 1 Corinthians 6:12 tells us that all things are lawful for me, but I am not to be enslaved by anything. And as socially acceptable and mild an addiction that caffeine may be, I realize that I, I may have been enslaved by it. My resultant headaches from stopping caffeine make it clear to me that I was enslaved by it. Withdrawal is the pain of giving up addictions, and so I realized that it was more than just a questionable habit. It was a problem. And although I'm feeling the pain and I'm tempted to relieve my pain, I'm remembering the pains and success of the past to give me hope for the future. I know from my past that with God's help, I can overcome. Now that, now that I'm suffering the pain of caffeine withdrawal, I'm a little angry and determined not to go back to it. And I know if I trust in the Lord to give me strength, I can be free. God gives us the hope to change. Speaking of hope, the In Touch with Dr. Charles Stanley devotion for today tells us about our source of hope, and I'm sharing it on the blog to remind us all where our hope comes from. Dr. Charles Stanley writes, our source of hope. Through faith in Jesus, we can live forever in the presence of God. People have different opinions about who goes to heaven. Some believe good behavior will bring automatic admittance. Others, while acknowledging that they have bad habits and tendencies, hope traits like generosity or helpfulness will gain them entry. However, Scripture tells us character and deeds not— and deeds do not determine our eternal state. Rather, it's our sinful nature that forms a barrier between us and a holy God. As Romans 5:12 teaches, Adam and Eve's sin caused all mankind to begin physical life dead in our sins. No amount of good works or moral behavior can change our unholy nature, nor do bad choices make our nature worse. Without direct help from God, we would be a people without hope. We'd find the entrance to heaven closed and would face everlasting separation from the Lord. But our loving Father sent his Son as our willing substitute. Jesus took our sins on himself and received the punishment we deserved. What we were helpless to do, he accomplished for us. Through faith in the Savior, we have assurance that we will live in the presence of God forever. Knowing we're heaven-bound gives hope and meaning to our life. Let, let's tell others about Jesus, the source of our hope. That was all from Dr. Charles Stanley, and I say amen. Without the hope of life after death in God's kingdom, there is no reason to change. But when we come to faith in Jesus Christ and realize that God's word is true, We are responsible to live according to its wisdom or to suffer the consequences. Change and deciding to live as a Christian may have its growing pains, but when we know the truth, we understand that any suffering we go through is worth it. God gives life, gives us life, and through our faith in Jesus Christ, we— he makes a way for us to not only be with him forever in eternity He also gives us the wisdom and power to be transformed here on earth. So trust in the Lord and follow him. He will lead you through the pains of this life to experience the peace and joy of a life transformed and the assurance of an eternal destiny with him. Today's Bible verse comes to us from the Quick Scripture Reference for Counseling by John G. Crews. This morning's meditation verse is verse comes from the section on humility or pride. Today's verse is Matthew 6:33, which says, but seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Today's verse falls under the sixth point of our Counseling Reference Guide's resource section on humility, and that sixth point is seek first the kingdom of God. And today's, today's Bible verse is one of the verses in the Bible that should spark a fire of discipleship in our hearts. In it, we are assured by Jesus if we seek God's kingdom and his righteousness, which is Jesus himself as well as right living, we will receive everything we could hope for. Seek the Lord is one of the things I encourage people to do because I have experienced the truth of this verse. Trust God and seek his kingdom and righteousness, and you will experience the truth of this verse too. 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— actually, sorry, Day by Day Along the Way by J.E. Adams. Um, and we're on day— well, this is a 365-day devotional, and we're on day 46, where Adams shares a portion of 1 John 2:11, which says, whoever hates his brother walks in darkness. And J.E. Adams writes, there is no place for hatred of other believers among those who are walking on the path of light. Indeed, the one who hates his brother has stepped off that path and onto the path of darkness. There are too many animosities in the church. These greatly weaken her testimony to the world. We must ever be zealous for the truth., but that zeal must never morph into hatred for those who believe differently from us but are still true Christians. Luther should have shaken Zwingli's hand. The firm belief is one thing. As we have said, as we have seen, it is commendable to walk in the truth, but attitudes are another thing. It is unconscionable for brothers and sisters to treat other members of the Father's family in a hateful manner. Ephesians 4:31 speaks of removing all bitterness, anger, wrath, clamor, and blasphemy—harsh speech—from among the members of the family of faith. Do any of these characterize your attitude towards some brother or sister in Christ? Remove it. Seek freedom from God and, if necessary, from any Christians you have sinned against. Why not? Why do you want to walk in darkness when you can walk in the light? Amen. Yeah, we're not to have a bad attitude towards other Christians. And geez, if we're, you know, we have anger, bitterness, wrath, clamor, or blasphemy, you know, our speech against those members of the family of faith, um, we need to stop it. We need to repent and humble ourselves. Um, it's, it's difficult because there's different denominations in our, in our faith, and The thing is though, we don't, you know, if we're sure that ours is the only one true faith or denomination, um, might be mistaken. Um, and God called us to love one another and, uh, to accept our differences. You know, as long as they believe in Jesus as Lord and Savior and they're not a Christian cult, uh, you know, that um, they're our brothers in Christ, and, um, so we should make peace, um, and we should make peace with the Lord by following him, seeking his kingdom, of course. And that's why we always ask the question, have you fully surrendered to God? It's one thing to say yes to Jesus as your Savior to forgive your sins. It's another to pick up your cross and follow him. We suggest you do both, and, um, we have, and we may have suffered pains for it, and growing pains, and the pains of addiction, but Um, but we've, we've overcome, and we're walking with the Lord, and we're experiencing a life of freedom and peace where we, we just have to tell people about it. That's why we do the blog and podcast. Um, so we encourage you to do that because we know that when you follow the Lord, he gives you a purpose. Part of my purpose is to lead, uh, Celebrate Freedom, uh, the support group at Starpoint Church Wednesday nights, um, at 6:30. And we begin again on January 8th, which is this week. Um, so Um, we look forward to, uh, to encouraging people to get over the pains of their addiction and do, um, their hurts, habits, and hangups, as they say. And we invite anybody in the Capital District of New York to come to Clifton Park at Starpoint Church to join us. And you can go to Starpoint Church's website to, uh, to learn more and to register under the events page. So there's that. Beyond that, Um, we're also doing a Celebrate Freedom teaching series, or coaching series as we say, um, on YouTube, uh, and that's coming soon. Uh, we're sort of scheduled to start this week. Uh, we'll see how the pains of my caffeine withdrawal, uh, interfere with that, if, if at all. But, um, we'll be putting those on YouTube for free. But we are accepting donations for the support of the program we're doing at mtforchrist.com. Suggested donation is $10 per session. And, uh, you know, or more, um, to, to, to encourage, you know, people to live in freedom. That's what this ministry is all about. Um, anyway, beyond that, we also offer our, our playlist from the past for the Bondage Breaker, Victory Over the Darkness, Freedom in Christ, Celebrate Freedom, Discipleship Course. They're all available as, as, uh, videos on YouTube, and, uh, we believe they can find— help you find or increase your freedom in Christ when you listen to them and follow, uh, follow what they say. Um, so we encourage you to check those out. Um, beyond that, we always ask the question, are you empty for Christ too? And that's just another way of asking, have you fully surrendered to God? If so, keep on walking and talking with God. If not, uh, we suggest you pray and ask for the Lord to reveal himself to you and to, you know, cause you to make Jesus your Lord and Savior, to accept his gift of grace and forgiveness of sins and a new life. Um, you know, for us it made all the difference. But, um, as we stated, it's, it's not necessarily an easy path, but it's the best, and it's, it's the one that leads to everlasting life and freedom. So, um, but we need help, and that's why we pray every day, like now. Lord God, Heavenly Father, thank you for another day in your kingdom. Lord, we thank you for how you help us, how you help us to overcome, and how you give us eternal life through faith in your Son. Jesus Christ, Lord, we're suffering from overcoming an addiction to caffeine this morning, we believe, and we're asking for your healing. And we're sort of already receiving it as it's decreased since we started writing. So we appreciate your help and we're asking for more. And we ask for you to lead us today as well and to lead us, to help us to see what you want us to see and do the things you would have us do. And Lord, we are also praying for anyone who's reading or watching today's message, that you'd, um, bless them and their prayer request. They need your help too, Lord. Lord, we thank you, we praise you, and we love you. We pray all these things in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.
