Healthy Habits and Finding Your Rescue Mission - Purity 1877

Welcome to the MT for Christ 24/7 podcast. I am M.t. Clark, and this is today's photo. Good morning. Today's photo of blue skies over the green grassland fields that lie at the junction of Waite and Freedom Road comes to us from yours truly as I pause to capture this simple scene of beauty back on May 1st, 2024. Well, it's Tuesday, and Well, and although I might feel like screaming, "Mayday, mayday!" because of the persistent cold temperatures in upstate New York, it's only February 3rd. And while the predictions of the community of famous groundhogs, you know, Punxsutawney Phil, Staten Island Chuck, General Beauregard Lee, Buckeye Chuck, and Dunkirk Dave, wasn't unanimous, the majority, 3 out of 5 groundhogs, Their opinion is that we will have 6 more weeks of winter. Not too surprising, really. Winter in February and, and February and March, you don't say. Anyway, as much as my seasonal affective disorder tendencies would love to drag me into a, into a midwinter seasonal depression, I am feeling great lately and I'm motivated to kick it into high gear and institute some new healthy habits to keep those winter blues away and to be more physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually fit when spring does finally arrived. Um, God— or good habits. Good habits help us to reach and maintain a good emotional and physical state that makes us more resilient and gives us a higher quality of life. So let me encourage you to look at the following areas of your life to determine whether or not some good habits could help. Sleep. It is recommended that adults 18 to 64 get 7 to 9 hours sleep at night.— with some individuals feeling best with only 6.5 hours sleep. Are you getting enough sleep? My schedule burns the midnight oil, and even though I feel I don't need as much sleep as the average and want to unwind in the later hours of the evening normally, I will try to be— to go to bed earlier to get, you know, closer to the recommended average. That's my goal. You know, my goal is to hit that minimum, maybe 7 hours. It's going to be a challenge. Anyway, the next area is exercise. It is recommended that adults should aim for at least 150 to 300 minutes of moderate intensity or 75 to 150 minutes of vigorous intensity, intensity aerobic activity per week, along with some muscle strengthening exercises at least 2 days a week. My 5-day morning workout routine, which incorporates both cardio and muscle strengthening exercises, gives me 225 minutes weekly. So I'm right in the middle. But due to my recent December/New Year's weight gain and the fact that I am now— have an office job, I'm going to be more intentional about adding even more minutes of cardio with stair climbing or going up or, or, you know, taking walks on my breaks to give me more minutes of cardio and to aggressively take back what I lost or get rid of what I've gained. The next area is, of course, diet and calories— diet/calories. While there are all kinds of different diets and suggestions of how much you should eat in the percentages of each area of macros, it is generally, generally accepted that most American adults need roughly 2,000 calories a day. I shoot for less than that, and as, as long as I track what I eat, I find that I can actually wield some self-control. For me, awareness is the key to maintaining a healthy diet, and I feel much better when I do. As, as of right now, I have developed a plan that works for me and is decreasing my weight, so I will continue with that. You know, getting a little more sleep, a little more exercise, and being more aware of what we consume might not seem like a lot,. But if we make these shifts now, they can lead us to be healthier when spring finally does come. So, but of course, I didn't mention spiritual matters. I recommend, if you didn't know, a daily spiritual practice of Bible study, prayer, meditation, which is thinking about living by faith and talking to God on a regular basis. There's always work to be done in our spiritual lives if we want to find peace and pursue our purpose, and we make, and we should make our, our spiritual needs a priority as much as our physical health. Yes, we should. Um, yes, speaking of our purpose though, our greater purpose, the In Touch with Dr. Charles Stanley devotion for today addresses that topic, so I'm sharing it on the blog today to encourage us all to serve the Lord more than we serve ourselves. Yeah, Dr. Charles Stanley writes, service is an acknowledgment. Each follower of Christ is called to serve, and he references Psalm 101:1-2. And then he continues to write, who is a servant of God? We are. Some people think that believers are separated into two groups: servants, individuals in full-time ministry, and laypeople. The Bible, however, makes no such distinctions. Instead, Paul, a tentmaker by trade, reminds the Ephesians that Believers are saved so that they might serve. If there were no other reason to serve God besides gratitude for salvation, that would be cause enough. We are rescued and given eternal life along with the Holy Spirit's indwelling presence. Our service is an acknowledgment of all the Father did for us by sending his Son. Many people, believers included, serve the big I. In other words, they're continually thinking, what do I find satisfying and pleasing? What do I need to be happy and prosperous? Here's a harsh reality and a simple way to remind it or to remember it. If I is our master, we are committing idolatry. Anything given first place over God, including selfish desires, is an idol. Service isn't just a good idea. God calls us to be servants so we can each invest our life in an eternally valuable purpose: the salvation of others and their subsequent discipleship for his glory. Our job may seem small or our limitations great, but the truth is that we're all servants of Christ with a role in the kingdom. And I say amen. You know, I love this message. If it— if I is our master, we are committing idolatry. Stanley He also rightly points out that the Bible calls us, all of us, to serve God's kingdom, not just those called into full-time ministry. As much as it is important to have faithful men of God to lead churches, to minister, and to equip the body of Christ, Jesus' original ministry sent disciples out in pairs to serve God's kingdom. So let's go. Let's be those ambassadors to the kingdom that we are made to be and represent Jesus wherever we go. Wherever we, uh, wherever God has planted us, people should know that we are a Christian and understand that we have a faith that goes beyond church on Sunday. Our local churches need helping hands to do the work that flows through that gathering, so we should fill the roles that call to us. But we should also consider that the rest of the world needs Jesus too, so we should also consider looking beyond the four walls of our church building to find other ways to do good works that will benefit others and give us a to represent Jesus. When we give ourselves to the service of God's kingdom in whatever ways we can, we will experience the peace and joy that comes from living out our kingdom purpose. And we just might be used by God to save Christians from bondage, uh, to sin, or, or, or the unsaved from eternal damnation. Our simple call to service could turn into a rescue mission. Our decision to follow Jesus could save others, but it could also save us from a selfish life of idolatry and sin. Amen. And, uh, today's Bible verse coming to us from the Quick Scripture Reference for Counseling by John G. Cruis. This morning's meditation verse comes from the section on progressive sanctification, and, uh, today's verse is John 15:1, which says, I am the true vine. And my Father is the vinedresser. Today's verse is the first of three passages of scripture that fall under the 12th point of our Counseling Reference Guide's resource section on progressive sanctification. And that first, uh, 12th point is: Abide in Jesus, the vine, through whom alone you can bear much fruit to glorify God. Today's Bible verses are the words of Jesus, um, who informs us that he is the vine and that his Father God is the vinedresser. While this is somewhat cryptic at face value, when we understand that Jesus is telling us to spend time with him through presence, prayer, and study, we understand that he wasn't just giving us a list of recommended practices to follow. Jesus wants us. He wants our time and attention, and we should really consider, consider giving the Lord our the Lord of our lives, what he wants. That's it for me. As always, we encourage you 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. And today we continue sharing from Paul is for Power by W— Warren W. Wiersbe. It's a 365-day devotional And we're on day 11 entitled Get Out of Babylon, where Wiersbe, you know, tells us to read Isaiah 45 through 48, but only shares 48:10 for us to read today. So, um, not that you can't read those 3 chapters, go for it. But Isaiah 48:10 tells us, see, I have refined you, though not as silver. I have tested you in the furnace of affliction. And Warren Wiersbe writes, the Jews had become comfortable and complacent in their Babylonian captivity. They had followed the counsel of Jeremiah and had built houses, planted gardens, and raised families. And it would not be easy for them to pack up and go back to the Holy Land, but that was what— that was where they belonged. Had they obeyed the Lord in the first place, they would have experienced peace and not war. But it was not too late. He had put them into the furnace to refine them and prepare them for their future work. Leave Babylon was God's command. God promised that he would go before them and prepare the way, and they had nothing to fear. One would think that the Jews would have been eager to return to their land to see God do new and great things for them. But they had grown accustomed to the security of bondage and had forgotten the challenges of freedom. The church today can easily grow complacent with its comfort and affluence. God may have to put us into the furnace to remind us that we are here to be servants and not consumers or spectators. Yikes. And, uh, Wiersbe gives us something to ponder by asking, when were some times you could have avoided a lot of trouble if you had obeyed God in the first So, oh boy, uh, just most of my life. Um, yeah, if I had, you know, followed the Lord in my early adulthood, oh my goodness, the amount of sin and degradation that could have been saved. Um, you know, they caused suffering to myself and others. Um, yeah, by simple obedience, um, you know, but I didn't know the Lord. And I mean, I knew who Jesus was intellectually, but I didn't know you could, you know, have a relationship with him. I didn't know you could follow him. Um, when God revealed himself to me later in life, I realized, wow, this isn't just the philosophy or a made-up story to people to keep people in bondage or keep people in control. This is a true story about God coming to the world to tell us that he loves us and that he has a better way for us. And, you know, that's why I always ask the question, have you fully surrendered to God? Have you discovered that God is a real person, that he really is the creator of all things, and he really did send Jesus to save us all? Um, when you come to that right realization, you just ask the next question, what should we do for God? And, um, that's, that's the question that draws me to do this every day, just to encourage myself and my faith and encourage anyone else who should happen to listen.. And that's what I'll be doing until Christ calls me home. But this isn't all I'll be doing. I'll also be serving wherever I can in our local community. One of those places is at my local church where I lead the Starpoint Church Celebrate Freedom support group, which is a Christian recovery and discipleship group. And we invite anybody in upstate New York who can make it to Clifton Park on a Wednesday night to join us, to be supported and to, you know, go ask God for help to overcome your hurts, habits, and hangups and to, you know, live a new life by faith in the power of the Holy Spirit. Anyway, speaking of Celebrate Freedom, did you know I wrote two books with Celebrate Freedom in the title? They're both available on amazon.com. You can buy them in paperback or Kindle, and they're all about discipleship. And when I looked at recovery, I saw that, wow, there really could be some key lessons of discipleship thrown into this Christian 12-step program of Celebrate Recovery, or even secular recovery., and those 7 lessons form the Discipleship Course that I created with the same name. So those are both available at Amazon today. However, if you don't like to read or you don't have time to, you know, or the money to buy my books, that's okay. We'll try to encourage you all the same through our podcast. In fact, we made playlists where you watch everything we've ever done, and we would encourage you to check them out. We've done studies on Christian recovery, discipleship, even— we even do a Bible study each week, and you're invited to enjoy those to be equipped and encouraged in your faith. If you are encouraged and you want to support our ministry, we'd love it. You can go to mtforchrist.com and give us a financial gift to support our ministry. And like I said, we love it, we greatly appreciate it. Thanks. Beyond that, we end every little message with the same question: Are you empty for Christ too? What does that mean? It just means, are you trying to follow the Lord with the way you live your life and find your purpose in his kingdom? We hope the answer to that one's yes, and if it is, we say great, keep on walking and talking with God. If not, we encourage you to pray because the Lord is real Jesus is the Son, and he's got a wonderful plan for your life if you put your faith in him. Um, of course, it doesn't mean it's going to be easy. It will be a lot better than the darkness you live in before you come to Christ. Ask me how I know. Um, I also know that prayer works. That's why I pray every day. So let's pray. Lord God, Heavenly Father, thank you for another day in your kingdom. Lord, we thank you for all that you do for us and how you provide for us and guide us. And encourage us. And Lord, we just pray for you to help us to be better stewards to our bodies and our minds, getting enough sleep, exercise, and eating the right things. And, um, I also pray, Lord, that you go before me at work, help me to do a good job and represent your kingdom wherever I go. And Lord, we also pray for anyone reading, listening, or watching this message, that you come alongside them and their prayer requests and their walk of faith. And you'd help them too. Uh, we all want to do what's right, Lord. We all want to walk with you, but we definitely need your help with that. So we're asking, Lord, we thank you, we praise you, and we love you. And we pray all these things in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.