Here I Go Again - Purity 795

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 blazing sun man in the clear blue skies over a cracked asphalt road glimmering in its light comes to us from yours truly as I captured another view of the Road of the Cross while out walking my canine friend Harley on Waite Road in Easton, New York. Last Friday afternoon. Well, it's Thursday again, and as is my habit, I share another photo of a pathway of sorts to encourage my friends to be faithful, to keep walking and talking with God on the path of Christian discipleship. The photos I share usually tend to highlight the beauty of the setting of the pathway, and I guess today's does too. That is a pretty cool optical illusion of a stickman— figure man with the sun for a belly. In a clear blue sky. That— and that cross, uh, cross-like utility pole on the roadside is pretty epic. But I particularly like the way this photo displays the reflected light of the sun on the road surface, as well as the many cracks and imperfections in the blacktop, because it can serve as an analogy for the fact that we will never be perfect in our attempts to follow the Lord, and we may end up second-guessing the things we have said or done as we try to be faithful to follow the Lord and encourage others to do so too, but end up offending others or having relationships end because of our, of our faithful pursuit to share the gospel of Jesus Christ. That cracked-up asphalt roadway isn't the only thing that has been broken on this path of Christian discipleship. In my journey to leave the darkness of my sinful past behind and to follow the Lord's way for living, I have suffered the loss of many relationships with both friends, family, and some brothers and sisters in the body of Christ. Now, don't get me wrong, I am painting with a broad brush this morning as I think about those left behind, and I'm including people who I consider to still be in good standing with relationally, but who have I— who I have been separated from because of the trajectory of my walk. While I have been rejected, unfriended, and blocked by some because of my faith, and don't have any illusions about a relationship status. There are others— brothers and sisters in Christ— that I don't have any dealing with anymore because our lives have led us to go separate ways. With distance, some of those relationships were exposed for just how transitory, conditional, or shallow they were. And considering the many relationships that didn't necessarily end but just kind of faded away because of the course of my life's journey, I'm saddened over the fact that some people are no longer in my life on a regular basis, but I have to admit that in considering some of the more prickly pears, or difficult people, in my past, I'm not so disappointed by their absence in my life. In fact, at times I'm sorta glad that my course of life has led me away from certain people and their drama, including myself. Uh, let's face it, as we mature in life, we are not the people we used to be, And often the people we love the most have the most difficulty letting go of the person we once were, and constantly remind us, subtly or not subtly, of our humble beginnings. Some, perhaps out of their fear of losing control, or from their own lack of progress, go to great lengths to put us in our place. Can you see why I might be glad to have moved on to better things? But honestly, When I think of these transitional losses, I've got nothing but love for them, because I do love them, and if things had remained the same, I would still be in relationship with them on a regular basis, and would nurse any injuries to my pride when necessary, because these people are still my friends, family, or brothers and sisters in Christ, and I know that even if things weren't always perfect, there were undeniable bonds of love and faith that would would and will always keep us together. Just remember, as we walk away— well, as we walk with or away from difficult people in this life, if they are in Christ, we will never be separated from them, as, as we will all be joined together in eternity with the Lord. Of course, when that happens, all our rough edges will be glorified away, and they and ourselves will be much easier to deal with. No, in presenting the broken and cracked asphalt road of discipleship, I was not thinking of the difficult relationships that have faded away in frequency but remain through the faith that— the faith ties that bind us all to the Lord. I was thinking of the relationships that have taken a bad turn as a result of the specifics of the Christian faith and the implications that come from believing in Christ alone. As you walk on this road following Christ, you can get used to rejection. In this post-Christian society, the enemy has done a fantastic job of vilifying the Christian faith, and while our society speaks of diversity, coexistence, and tolerance, those terms seem to all fall short on the equal acceptance of biblical Christianity. Our society is a morass of relativism and individual subjectivity that denies any standard of absolute truth or morality, and has been infected by the questioning and rebellious spirit of Satan himself, who has developed an atmosphere that not only questions authority, but has led to relative confusion on a mass scale, to the point that even the realities of science are denied in the changing winds of our times that demand that we respect an individual's truth over objective reality. In this atmosphere, things have been classif— things that have been classified as sin by the word of God are socially acceptable. Individuals have the choice to assign their own gender and, and can craft and create their own god based on their preferences. And because of all these things, Christianity will increasingly be rejected, feared, and hated. The Bible is the Word of God, and by it we will all be judged. And people don't like that. Beyond the moral law, perhaps one of the most offensive things that the Bible presents is the exclusivity of Christ to save man from judgment in hell. The Apostle Peter, speaking about Jesus in Acts 4:12, says, nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven which given among men by which we must be saved. In a society that seeks to honor and validate everyone's life and spiritual choices, this doctrine simply cannot stand. And increasingly, Christians are being labeled as hateful extremists, and despite the glaring facts that our society is becoming increasingly immoral, uh, there is a concerted effort to stir the fears of secular society to dread the possibility of a theocracy. A dystopian Christian state. I enjoy a good science fiction story as much as the next person, but the signs of the times and the Word of God both agree that Christianity will not overwhelm society and change the world through governmental or societal means. This road is a narrow road, and Christ told his disciples that they would be hated because the world hated him. So I'm not surprised when people in essence say, "Oh, you're a Christian?" Forget about you as a Christian. If you ever wonder what you believe in, just ask a non-believer and they will tell you, "Oh, you're a Christian? That means you're a blank," you know, insert unkind label or curse here, "and you believe in blank," insert a political belief, bizarre spiritual practice, or twisted idea of a Christian practice, or an out-of-context Bible reference here. And that you— and if you're a Christian— you hate— insert literally any and all things here, including socially acceptable but sinful behaviors and/or diverse people groups of different races or religions. Of course, you shouldn't believe what others tell you what a Christian is. You should believe what the Word of God indicates what a Christian is and believes and how one is to behave. Um, that is where I will point all my friends to— the Bible and to Jesus Christ. Faith in Christ as Lord is the only thing that can save us, and the Bible was written so we could know this and know how to live our lives. That's why— and that's why I started down this path today and every day. The lost relationships that hurt the most are the ones where our hopes are dashed when someone comes into our lives walks with us for a while, but then decides that they are done with us because we choose to live according to what God's Word says and have decided to not compromise when it comes to His truth. I can't tell you that it's okay to do that if the Word of God indicates you shouldn't. I can't tell you that you can believe in other gods, religions, or philosophies of life and be accepted by God when the Word of God tells us that Jesus is the only way. And those two things, amongst many others, can cause people to turn from Christianity and choose to join the world, who gives a multitude of options and choices that appear good to a man but just so happen to lead to death and separation from God. So what do you do when people reject us, walk away from the faith, or just walk away from us because of the Word of God that we try to share? I was reading Matthew 10 today. I would recommend it to anyone who has felt the pain of loss, of being rejected because of your faith, the faithful witness to proclaim God's truth. Among Christ's many instructions in Matthew 10 regarding sharing the gospel and living as a Christian, in that passage Christ says in Matthew 10:14-15, 'And whoever will not receive you nor hear your words When you depart from that house or city, shake off the dust from your feet. Assuredly I say to you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment for that city. Those who leave us and reject Christ are going the wrong way. No, nowhere in Scripture is Christ seen running after people pleading with them to believe in him. Quite the contrary. When we are rejected, we are to shake off the dust of the hurt and depart. We are instructed to keep going. So we keep going down that broken road. We let the feelings of rejection and hurt of loss fall behind us as we keep walking and talking with God and seek to tell others of the joy and peace that can be found in Christ alone. It reminds me of the Whitesnake song "Here I Go Again." Did you know it is sort of a prayer? The lyrics say, and I quote, "Though I keep searching for an answer, I never seem to find what I'm looking for. Oh Lord, I pray you give me strength to carry on, because I know what it means to walk along, along this, the lonely street of dreams. Here I go again on my own, going down the only road I've ever known." Like a drifter, I was born to walk alone, and I've made up my mind, I ain't wasting no more time. I'm sharing a video that highlights the lyrics if you want to rock out as you keep walking and talking with God as you try to tell the world about love's sweet charity that can only be known through faith in Christ alone. Hey, the good news is that the Lord— that with the Lord we have found the answers. We are looking for. And with Him and the body of Christ, we do not have to walk alone anymore. So do not worry about those that we have left behind, or the things you may have said to encourage their faith that only caused them harm, caused them to be offended and walk away. The truth is, not all will find their way into the Kingdom of God, and that is their choice, not ours. And as much as we may want to blame ourselves for someone walking away from God or from running off on their own, The simple truth is that nothing we say or do can separate God's people from Him. The Apostle Paul said in Romans 8:38-39, "For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." So nothing will separate others from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. If people are in Christ, nothing we say or do will keep them from him. So if someone walks away, they chose to go. But if they are the Lord's, they will find their way back to him and will have to have no one but themselves to blame for the negative consequence they may experience. Until they see him face to face. As always, uh, let's see, today— no, not as always, but today's Bible verse comes to us from the New Living Translation Bible Promise Book for Men. This morning's meditation verse is Philippians 2:12-13. They say, um, dear friends, you always followed my instructions when I was with you, and now that I am away, it is even more important Work hard to show the results of your salvation, obeying God with deep reverence and fear. For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him. Today's Bible verse, um, today's verses are the Apostle Paul's encouragements to the church of Philippi and us, to work hard to show the results of our salvation and to obey God with deep reverence and fear, with the assurance that God is working in us to give us the desire and the power to do what pleases him. So let's get rid of the idea that salvation through Christ alone is a one-off or a one-time experience. While one can make the theoretical case for someone coming to Christ and living a life that showed no outside signs of— signs of change or fruit, and still be saved because we are saved by grace and faith alone. The rest of Scripture indicates that we— that our faith will be evident to others through the way we live and the things we say and do. So if there is no desire in someone who claims to be a Christian to show the results of their salvation and to do what is pleasing to the Lord through obeying the Word of God, we really have to wonder if that person actually has saving faith. To claim a relationship with Christ but to deny what the Word of God says seems to be mutually exclusive. One doesn't go with the other, or at least they shouldn't. Uh, like today's verse, there are simply too many verses in the Bible that tell us to fear the Lord, to seek out our salvation, and to obey the Lord's commandments to allow me to believe in a checkbox Christianity where someone simply has to mentally assent to belief in Jesus Christ with no accompanying change in their behaviors. When I, when I was first in the faith, I wanted to desperately believe that you didn't have to do anything to be saved but believe in Jesus. And but as I studied the Word of God and felt convicted to repent of my sinful ways of living, I realized that the good news is that God gives us the desire and the power to do what pleases him. When we are in Christ and receive the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit, we are no longer alone and don't have to do anything in our own strength anymore. While we will have to work at showing the results of our, our salvation through intentionally changing the way we think and behave to align with God's word, the Lord will help us in that work. He gives us the desire to overcome. All we have to do is follow his lead and watch our lives change. It may only be one small step at a time, but when you are in Christ, we are never alone in that walk. 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 Clinton Arnold's Powers of Darkness, and we're in chapter 9, and today's section is about the direct and immediate influence of the powers of darkness with physical symptoms, and how the influence of the powers of darkness could be a tool from God for discipline. So if you, you know, have a problem with that or want to— or it catches your interest, go to M.t. Clark.org to read about how the powers of darkness can be good for you. You know, can affect us physically and how they can be used by the Lord to discipline us. So that's at the bottom of today's blog post. As always, we share those resources for free, but we always encourage people to, you know, get the entire book, support the work of these Christian authors who went to great pains to examine the Word of God and to extract its wisdom from for us to understand. So, and that's why we're, we're here. It's not to condemn anyone, but to encourage people to, to find peace with God through faith in Christ and to find the answers that the Lord has provided us in the, in the word of God. So we encourage that through our, through the disciple classes we teach, um, that we share on our, our podcast and our, uh, our YouTube channel. For Picture of the Darkness, The Bondage Breaker, and Freedom in Christ. The classes are all based on the work of Dr. Neil Anderson and the Word of God. And Dr. Anderson was a— is a Christian counselor whose life's work is to help Christians overcome the spiritual oppression of the powers of darkness and, you know, those personal conflicts and struggles that people have. So that's why we do it. The first step in the Steps to Freedom in Christ basically squarely puts you in, in the pocket of Christ by proclaiming your faith and rejecting any false system, belief, or occult practice. So I have no choice but to stand with Christ alone because it was Christ who saved me, Christ who changed my life. And because I've experienced that, I can't compromise on that message and have to stand with the Word of God and tell people to, you know, obey it. As much as we are forgiven of our sins, we're not supposed to stay in it. And so, you know, we're supposed to walk with the Lord, and when we do, we would obey His commandments. So that's what we encourage, and it's not because we want to control people or anything. This This is really up to you. This is your life. Discipleship isn't necessarily a person telling you what to do as much as we try to do what's pleasing to God irrespective of persons or authority figures standing over us. Now, I have spiritual mentors and friends in Christ who encourage my walk, but I don't have anybody telling me what to do but the Holy Spirit, and that's enough. The Word of God and the Holy Spirit is enough to direct my path. And, you know, I stay connected to a local church and other brothers and sisters in Christ to make sure that I'm in community so we can encourage one another, because it's lonely out there in this world. So that's why we share this podcast and everything that we do, to encourage people that this— you found the right answer. This is it, and you can, you can walk, you can believe what the Bible says because it's true. It's the Word of God, and when you apply it to your life, things change, and they change for good. Not always. I mean, you know, there might be times of struggle and whatnot, but God's always leading us through good things. Just might not be the good things we were hoping for, especially if it's like a mansion or something like that. But the peace that goes beyond understanding doesn't, you know, isn't based on worldly goods, and it's available through Christ alone. Well, this has been a long message. I really went off the rails today because I have the day off, and today I will be teaching or facilitating a meeting on the Grace Course via Zoom with some brothers in Christ, and I look forward to that. That's the only work I have today, and it's a labor of love because I will speak for almost 2 hours, sharing the time with the other men, talking about the truth of God. And tonight's topic is being courageous and overcoming fear. And how do we do that? Through our faith. And so if you're interested in the Grace Course, it's available out there. Written by Steve Goss. It's a book, it's a course, and there's videos too. So look it up if you're interested. But for today, we're going to let you go to work and get on with your life. Lord God, Heavenly Father, thank you for another day in your kingdom. We thank you for all you've done for us through the simple message of truth and your presence in our life, that Christ is Lord. And when we follow him We find a meaning in our purpose for our lives. And Lord, we find the fruit of the Spirit when we walk in the Spirit. So we thank you for all of that. We thank you for the people who might be listening today. We just pray for you to bless them, uh, Lord, in whatever way you can. Listen to their prayer request and direct their paths. Lord, we pray for you to go before us today, to open our eyes to what you want us to see, the beauty in the word, or the truth we didn't know. And we also ask you to go before us in directing our paths, keeping us safe, and leading us into the good works you would have us do. Lord, we thank you so much for the transformation that comes through your Son, the new life, eternal, that we're promised, that we know we have, because we know you're with us. And we love you, we thank you, we pray all these things in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.