Heart Help from the Lord – Faithful Through the Ages - Purity 1710

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 a breathtaking sunset or sunrise over the foamy shores of an unknown beach comes to us from an unknown Facebook friend who shared this photo on social media back on August 29th, 2023. Uh, Google-assisted AI search tells us that this photo was shared by Winna Morin and featured a— and featured by meteorologist James Spann and the beaches in Palm Harbor, Florida. But the photo is not the same. So nice try, AI. Don't believe the AI hype without looking twice. Anyway, it's Tuesday, and as much as I am amazed by what AI-assisted searches can reveal to us about the things we don't know, sometimes they don't get everything right. I am more amazed by the one God who can see into the depths, uh, the unseen depths of the heart, and can change those hearts for good when they are open to receive God's love. As much as we may try to put on a happy face and show the world our best side, the Lord sees us for what we are and offers us a chance to learn from him, to become the people we always wanted to be, the people that he created us to be. I have a friend who has recently gone through the divorce and has been busy rebuilding their life and, and may— and has made great strides in establishing a new home for themselves and putting the, the house of their body in order by getting sober and by eating right and working out. Their recovery work is exemplary, and by all appearances, they have done their best to make lemonade out of the sour lemons they were handed. However, in our conversations, it was revealed to me that my friend's heart work could use a lot of help, as they revealed some sexual sin and bitterness and resentment that's lying beneath the surface of their positive facade. Don't get me wrong, my friend is doing great by the world standards, but there is still a lot of pain there that I know would be best dealt with by surrendering more fully to God. While I can't see what anyone believes in their hearts, God can. And even though I am happy for my friend's progress, I'm pained by their fall into their sin and, uh, their lack of growth in the areas of forgiveness. But I didn't condemn my friend for their lack of perfection, but only encouraged them to continue to do what was right one day at a time and to lean on the Lord for help and guidance. Recovery is a process and a journey. Healing takes time. Maturity takes even longer. But I'll continue to pray for my friend and try to encourage them to keep God in focus, because I know when we put our eyes on him, he will be faithful to show us the way. Speaking of God's faithfulness, the In Touch with Dr. Charles Stanley devotion from yesterday addressed that topic, so I'm sharing it on the blog today to encourage all us, uh, to encourage, uh, to encourage us all to rely on him. And, uh, Dr. Charles Stanley writes, Faithfulness Through the Ages. We can read scripture with expectation because God never fails to deliver on his promises. Deuteronomy 7:8-9 is the scriptures he references. Um, but he writes, God is the only one who never disappoints. From the beginning of time, his word has remained true. Every prophecy is a promise that has been or will be fulfilled. Perhaps the greatest foretellings were those that told of the Messiah. In fact, many prophets spoke about the Anointed One, though no new messianic prophecies were recorded during the 4 centuries leading up to Christ's birth. Surely people questioned whether the Savior would ever come. After all, 400 years is a long time to wait. But when the time was right, Jesus came to reconcile mankind to the Father, and God never falls short on his promises. Knowing this, we can read scripture's assurances with expectation. For example, if we trust in Jesus as our Savior and choose to follow him, the Bible promises our salvation. We are forgiven and redeemed, and nothing can separate us from God's love. What's more, we can trust that he will provide everything we need to accomplish his purpose for us. Consider God's faithfulness throughout history and in your own life, and know in your heart that he will be steadfast in the future as well. By living obediently, you can learn to trust that he will do all he has promised. I say amen. You know, so much of this world will disappoint us. Things break and fall apart. Relationships end through distance, divorce, or death. And the impermanence of the world and the fragility of our relationships can really challenge our ability to have peace and to not fall into despair. But the good news is there is someone who overcomes the world and all its sources of pain and disappointment. That person is the one and only Triune God in the persons of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. It's a mystery, of course, but God has always existed. He is the one an only, all-supreme, self-existent being, the Creator who made and sustains everything and who shapes history through his will. He created us and has reached out to us through Jesus Christ to call us home from this world broken by sin and filled with disappointment. The fulfilled prophecies of the Bible and the testimony of countless transformed lives prove that God is faithful to help those who repent and follow him. So if you want something that you can count on, seek the Lord and discover just how faithful he can be. God provides everything we need to fulfill our purpose, and when we— you put your faith in Jesus and live by his ways, you will find the rest and peace that never disappoints. Today's Bible verses come to us from the Quick Scripture Reference for Counseling by John G. Crowes. This morning's meditation verses come from the section on overcoming evil, and today's verses are Exodus 23:4 4 and 5, which say, if you meet your enemy's ox or his donkey going astray, you shall bring it back to him. If you see the donkey of one who hates you lying down under its burden, you shall refrain from leaving him with it. You shall rescue it with him. Today's verses fall under the 13th point of our Counseling Reference Guide's resource section on overcoming evil, and that 13th point is: Moses gives a practical example of what to do after someone has wronged you. Oh yeah, well, I'll have to, uh, jump over here. Sorry, my God, my bad, I didn't paste this in there. Um, anyway, today's Bible verse encourages us to not delight— in fact, let's go back since we're not reading it. Uh, today's Bible verses encourage us not to delight in the hardship of others, but instead guides us to do good for those who least deserve it, to be kind to our enemies. These precepts from God's instruction shows us that God's heart has always been the same. And that Jesus's teaching to love our enemies was revealed to man long before the Sermon on the Mount. Here God directs us to take the high road and to take compassion on our enemies' beasts of burden by returning them when they go astray or by lifting them up when they have fallen. People love their animals, and the Lord knows that when we do kindness for someone else's animal, their appreciation for the deed could lead to peace. So do what's right, even if it will help your enemy. The more The more you do God's will for our lives by doing acts of kindness, the more likely our enemies will become friends. 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. And today we continue sharing from Day by Day Along the Way by J.E. Adams. It's a 365-day devotional, and we're on day 209., and where Adams shares a portion of Luke 14:18, which says, but they all alike began to make excuses. And J.E. Adams writes, the dinner guests who refused the invitation were replaced not by other respectable parties, but by the outcasts of society. Paul said not many mighty, but many noble but those who are nothing would accept the invitation to eat at God's table. How true it is! How true it has been throughout history! How true it is today of intellectuals, the rich, the sophisticated, and the celebrities who are exalted by the world. You may not be counted for much by society. You may not be accorded fame or wealth, but Christian, you sit at God's table, and that's more than enough. What does the world's acclaim amount to anyway but a fleeting moment of happiness? But to sit at his table forever, that's something. Do you know some who— some whose excuses don't hold water? Tell them what they are missing by turning down Jesus' invitation to dinner. Not many will respond, perhaps, but some may. And when they turn you away with their excuses, go to the blind, the beggars, and the offcasts instead. They will listen and show up. Amen. Amen. And, you know, how true it is that some of the most highly respected people in the world, the rich, the famous, and the, you know, critically acclaimed, the intellectuals out there, don't believe in Jesus. They wouldn't show up to the Lord's table if he called them. And that shows you something. Um, but, um, you know, things that are valued by this world, um, won't hold water. They won't last for eternity. And, um, they've, they've decided to worship themselves or worship the things of this world instead of worshiping the one true God. And although we might not have a lot, I know I don't. I have a lot compared to the third world standards, of course, but not as much as somebody in Beverly Hills. Even though I don't have a lot, um, I— we all have a lot when we believe in Jesus, uh, because it's the power that gives us salvation and gives us eternal life and, and gives us the power to change our hearts and our minds to be in line with the things that God says, to give us the peace and joy that come from walking in the Spirit. And that is why we always ask the question: have you fully surrendered to God? Do you believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior? And are you living your life according to his and his example. The second part is very important in terms of understanding. Otherwise, you could be a double-minded person where you believe in God, but you live according to the world, and resultantly you have little peace except for when you come before the Lord, perhaps church once a week. But we encourage you to go a little bit further, to start to worship the Lord every day. By quiet time with prayer and Bible study, and by doing acts of kindness throughout the day, and reflecting and talking and walking with the Lord every day. When you enter into that phase of your life and get on that path of Christian discipleship, you usually find peace, joy, love, goodness, all the fruit of the Spirit, and you find your purpose too. And part of my purpose, besides encouraging people here on the blog and podcast, is one of them is to lead the Celebrate Freedom support group at Starpoint church on Wednesday evenings at 6:30 PM. That purpose is delayed this week. We have off because of Children's Vacation Bible School happening at the church. My wife Tammy Lynn is volunteering there, so if you want, you can run to VBS with your kids. But next week we'll be meeting again on July 23rd as Celebrate Freedom support group takes, uh, takes a step into the second half of the year as we start our teaching program all over again, to do it once again for a second time this year. So we invite anybody from Upstate New York to join us, and if you know anybody who needs recovery, Wednesday the 23rd is a great time to start as we'll begin again. Beyond that, if you need to be discipled, there's good news. Freedom in Christ Ministries is offering a whole bunch of different courses on Christian discipleship., and we recommend them highly. We are actually leading one of those. I am M.t. Clark. I'll be leading the men's group on Tuesday evening, 6:30 to 8:30. That happens between August 19th and the 28th of October. That's the Freedom in Christ course, and you can register for my course or any of the other offerings that FICM has by going to ficm.org/courses/level-1-get-started. So we encourage you to sign up. My class is half full, so if you want to join, you better join quick. Beyond that, we always encourage people to check out our playlist that we have on the podcast, our YouTube channel, and mtforgrace.com. We have playlists for discipleship, one that went over Bonhoeffer's Cost of Discipleship book, and the series that covers the teachings of Celebrate Freedom with Christian Recovery, Celebrate Freedom with M.t. Clark, and of course our weekly Bible study that we do with Arthur and Susanna Sincotti. So if you want to check those out, we encourage you to do so, and we believe that it'll encourage you in your faith and quite possibly help you to increase your freedom in Christ. So if you appreciate what we do here by encouraging people to live day by day in the Lord's, you know, with the Lord, we would appreciate your support. You can email us at m.t.clark247@gmail.com. Mtforchrist@gmail.com, or you can go to mtforchrist.com and give us, um, give us a donation. We prefer Venmo, but we'll take anything we can get, and we greatly appreciate it. It goes to cover our ministry costs and it supports Christian recovery and discipleship. Beyond that, we always end each message by asking the question, are you empty for Christ too? And, uh, you know, what does that even mean? Well, that just means, are you, are you walking and talking with God? Are you trying to live by faith in the power of the Holy Spirit? Are you trying to, um, change from your worldly ways to the ways of the Lord, to turn away from your sin, like, as much as you can, and to do what God would lead you to do with your life? Um, you know, if you're there, we say great, keep, keep up the good work, keep following the Lord. You know, let them work in your heart and guide you. And if not, we encourage you to pray. We know if you seek the Lord, you'll find him. And if you pray to make Jesus your Lord and Savior, you get a whole new life. So we encourage you to do that. Beyond that, we know that prayer works, and that's why we pray every day, like right now. Lord God, Heavenly Father, thank you for another day in your kingdom. We thank you for all that you do for us, Lord. Um, we need your help and guidance every day, and we're asking for it today. So go before us, open our eyes to the things you want us to see, lead us in the way we should go. And also, Lord, we pray for anyone reading, listening, or watching this message, that you come alongside them, their prayer request, and their walk of faith, and bless their life too. Lord, we thank you, we praise you, and we love you, and we pray all these things in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.