I Love You, Lord Purity 846

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 with a crown of clouds over the cornfields and woods off of Waite Road in Easton, New York comes to us from yours truly as I was blinded by the light of the last setting sun of September 2022 this weekend. I must have been in the right place at the right time because just before this I was impressed by those wispy clouds as I walked up Waite Road, but the sun was unremarkable and the landscape before me was shrouded mostly in the shadows of an otherwise chilly late September day. But as I turned back, turned to go back to my countryside home, the sun seemed to positively explode with light and heat as I seemed to be directly in its path. The light was so bright that I had to squint to take this photo, and it made me stop and wonder out loud, 'Is Jesus coming back today, Lord?' My question went unanswered, but I replied, 'If so, Lord, that's okay with me.' And then I thought that maybe this was one of those Paul on the road to Damascus moments where I would hear the audible voice of God with some direct instructions to follow. But I didn't hear any audible voice. But I still felt, uh, that absolutely wonderful— uh, I still felt absolutely wonderful in that light and thanked the Lord for the goodness of my life all the same. And I let him know that I loved him with a smile and a simple, 'I love you, Lord.' Hey, the people we love need to hear it. And although it may seem strange, I just I'm just following, uh, Jesus Christ's commandments when I tell my Heavenly Father I love him. In Matthew 22:37-40, in answering a question about which was the greatest commandment in the law, Jesus said, you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: you shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. So how exactly do you love the Lord? You tell him, I love you, Lord. So some, some Christians wonder why their hearts and minds of faith don't seem to be on the same page. Unfortunately, our experiences with our earthly fathers and our issues with authority in general can impact our view of God, but he is significantly different from any earthly father or any authority figure. When you ponder the greatness of God, you should think, what's not to love? Everything good we have ever experienced was the results of God's creation or provision. That blazing sun? God. The earth below, the sky above? God. My canine walking companion? God. My beloved wife waiting for me in my countryside home? God. The food she prepared for our dinner? God. Me, my mind, my body, the air that I breathe, and the long life's journey through darkness and confusion to come to this place where, where I appreciate all of this? God again. So yeah, I said it, I said it that Saturday afternoon, and I say it a lot in various times and places. I love you, Lord. You should try it sometime. And my love for the Lord, sometimes I can get downright upset with my neighbors for not knowing him and am tempted to chastise people to seek the Lord and stop breaking his heart by ignoring his voice, to come to him and to live according to his wisdom. You know, uh, then I remember how ignorant, rebellious, stubborn, and foolish I was once, and still am in some ways. When it comes to following, uh, the Lord's perfect will for my life. Uh, and then I ease back. I ease back and decide to just offer a friendly encouragement to keep walking and talking with God. What I have to say to others is far less important than what God has to say. And so this morning I'm deciding to share what I read in Ecclesiastes this morning because it's the word of God. And because I want to love my neighbors, uh, as myself, by sharing with you all what I know I needed the most: the wisdom that comes from on high, the word that comes from the Heavenly Father who loves you and seeks to help you. So without further ado, here's Ecclesiastes 5:1-20. It says, guard your steps as you go to the house of God and draw near to listen. Rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools, for they do not know they are doing evil. Do not be hasty in word or impulsive in thought to bring up a matter in the presence of God, for God is in heaven and you are on the earth. Therefore, let your words be few, for the dream comes through much effort and the voice of a fool through many words. When you make a vow to God, do not be be late in paying it, for He takes no delight in fools. Pay what you vow. It is better that you should not vow, than that you should vow and not pay. Do not let your speech cause you to sin, and do not say in the presence of the Messenger of God that it was a mistake. Why should God be angry on account of your voice, and destroy the work of your hands? For in many dreams and in many words there is emptiness. Rather, fear God. If you see oppression of the poor and denial of justice and righteousness in the province, do not be shocked at the sight. For one official watches over another official, and there are higher officials over them. After all, a king who cultivates the field is an advantage to the land. He who loves money will not be satisfied with money. Nor would— nor he who loves abundance with its income. This too is vanity. When good things increase, those who consume them increase. So what is the advantage of their owners except to look on? The sleep of the working man is pleasant, whether he eats little or much, but the full stomach of the rich man does not allow him to sleep. There is a grievous evil which I have seen under the sun, riches being hoarded by their owner to his hurt. When those riches were lost through a bad investment and he had fathered a son, then there was nothing to support him. As he had come naked from his mother's womb, so he will return as he came. He will take nothing from the fruit of his labor that he can carry in his hand. This also is a grievous evil. 2:23 Exactly as a man is born, thus he will die. So what is the advantage to him who toils for the wind? 2:24 Throughout his life he also eats in darkness, with great vexation, sickness, and anger. 2:25 Here is what I have seen to be good and fitting: to eat, to drink, and enjoy oneself in all one's labor in which he toils under the sun during the few years of his life which God has given him. For this is his reward. Furthermore, as for every man to whom God has given riches and wealth, he has also empowered him to eat from them and to receive his reward and rejoice in his labor. This is the gift of God. And finally, verse 20: For he will not often consider the years of his life because God keeps him occupied with the gladness of his heart. So draw near to hear the Lord speak, and be occupied with the gladness of your heart that results from knowing that everything you have is a gift from God, and you should enjoy it fully as you keep on walking and talking with him. Today's Bible verse comes to us from the New Living Translation's Bible Promise Book for Men, and this morning's meditation verse The verse is Psalm 146:7, and it says, he gives justice to the oppressed and food to the hungry. The Lord frees the prisoners. Today's Bible verse assures us that the Lord provides justice to the oppressed, food to the hungry, and he sets the prisoners free. Um, God provides all the food on the earth, so if you are hungry Go to where the food is and be prepared to work for it. The nation of Israel had to gather the manna, the bread from heaven, in the wilderness. And the Apostle Paul told the Thessalonians in 2 Thessalonians 3:10, "Even while we were with you, we gave you this command: Those unwilling to work will not get to eat." So, for the hungry, the food is out there, but I would encourage you to also feed on the Word of God. As for the justice, this is a fallen world where people literally get away with murder, so some may be tempted to say that there is no justice. But that would be a short-sighted view that denies the existence of a just and holy God who will punish the evil deeds that were not forgiven by the blood of Jesus. And finally, in this cancel culture, even though I have been set free from my former bondages of personal darkness— thank you, Lord— If things continue to progress in the ways they are going, I could very well be imprisoned for my religious beliefs in some dystopian one-world order society. But even if I am muzzled and put in some gulag for Christians somewhere down the road, the bars and the chains that I am imprisoned with won't take away my freedom in Christ. God's kingdom is eternal, and he sets us free by giving us new life in the spirit. The word of God is true, and as big as the promises in this psalm may seem to be, each one of them is true and will be fulfilled one way or the other. As always, I invite all to go to mt4christ.org, where I always share insights from prominent Christian, uh, counselors and theologians to assist my brothers and sisters in Christ with their walk. Today we continue sharing from Dietrich Bonhoeffer's, where we're sharing the last bits of chapter 3 on simple obedience, or single-minded obedience as some versions call chapter 3. So if you want to check out the last few paragraphs of Bonhoeffer's Cost of Discipleship, or Discipleship, go to M.t. Clark.org and you'll see that resource at the bottom of today's today's blog post. As always, we encourage people to keep walking and talking with God on the path of Christian discipleship, to live a life walking in the Spirit. That's where we read the word of God, we pray, and we try to live according to what, uh, what the word of God tells us and how to live our lives. And, uh, why do we do that? Well, as today's Psalm indicates, it'll set the prisoners free. Um, and that's my living testimony, is, uh, I've been set free. Um, you know, not just from addiction and sexual immorality, but, uh, you know, things like fear and depression and anxiety. I have an enduring peace that comes from the Lord. The peace of knowing that I'll never die and that I'm a citizen of heaven. And also just the peace that no matter what I go through, I'll never lose my freedom in Christ, and I'll never lose the relationship I have with the Lord. And he'll always be with me, as the word tells us, he'll never leave us or forsake us. If you want to start living in the freedom, uh, that Christ has given you and you don't know how to do that and don't know, you know, aren't exactly getting that at the, uh, hour-long message on Sunday morning, uh, we invite you to go to MD4Christ, uh, the 24/7 podcast which you're listening to now, or the M.t. Clark 24/7 pod, uh, YouTube channel, and check out our teachings on Victory Over the Darkness, The Bondage Breaker, and Freedom in Christ. These are the works of Dr. Neil Anderson, and they're all based on the word of God that tells us who we are in Christ and how we can overcome not just the world and the flesh, but also the devil and his spiritual forces of darkness that would lead us to, you know, live in condemnation and sin and temptation and fear and, and depression, you know. So we, we We seek to encourage people to renew their mind with the word of God and to be transformed by it, by to believe the truth of what God's word says, and to deny the flesh, the devil, and the world system that would tell you that there is no justice and that things are just hopeless. We know God that tells us the truth, and we encourage people to, to walk in that. Because it gives you newness of life. Um, so there's that. Um, that's really all I got to say today except for I have to work, you know. So, you know, in terms of, you know, oh, you gotta work to eat. Yeah, so I'm, you know, you know, I'm just saying, you know, I'm working. So that's the only reason I eat. Um, one of the gifts, you know, my My family wasn't super, you know, super Christian or religious. They didn't give me a lot of the word of God, but what they did give me is a good work ethic. They taught me the hard reality of life that we, you know, for most of us, which is generally almost all of us, most of us have to work in order to survive and provide for our families. And so there's It's good to work, you know, and we shouldn't go— even though it's Monday, we shouldn't go into work today with a negative attitude of, oh no, my freedom is gone, I have to work. No, working is a blessing. There's some people who can't work and have to rely on the system to support them, and that's no, you know, walk in the park. Ever been to social services? Not exactly a happy place. You know, so we seek to increase freedom, so we encourage people to educate themselves and empower themselves by going after the good things in life, but never to the exclusion of a relationship with the Lord. So, um, get your work done, get your money, get, get what you need for your family, but, um, let's give, give credit to where credit's due, to the Lord God Almighty who made it all possible. By, by giving us life and giving us the talents and intelligence that he's blessed us with, and that we worked for too. You know, we develop ourselves too. So there's two things there. There's God's gift to us and our responsibility to use it wisely. I've been blessed with a home, but unfortunately it has grass that grows, so if it doesn't rain this afternoon, I'll have to mow it as a good steward. And that's what we do with our lives, try to be good stewards to what God has given us. So let me encourage you in prayer. Lord God, Heavenly Father, thank you for another day in your kingdom. Thank you for all the gifts that you give us that we get to enjoy continuously in this life. Let us not take them for granted, Lord. Open our eyes to all the good things we already have and direct us to be good stewards to the things we have, to fix the things that are broken, to, you know, develop the things that are undeveloped. To seek out knowledge and wisdom that can, that can better our lives and, and, you know, guide people to your kingdom. Lord, help us to improve ourselves by, you know, crucifying the flesh and turning away from darkness and turning to your light, to, to forsake the worthless things of this world that they— people consider entertainment, and to pick up the, the things that are good true and pure, that won't defile us, that won't lead us astray, and that'll lead us closer to you. Lord, we thank you so much for the saints that have gone before us, the Christian authors that have, you know, drawn your wisdom out of your world and made it, you know, accessible to us, like Dietrich Bonhoeffer and various others that we have learned from. And, uh, but thank you for your Holy Spirit that guides us into all the things we should do, and, and he reveals to us truth. Um, he didn't just do it for the apostles to give us the word of God. He gives us the revelation of the gospel and, and the meaning of the word in our, in our lives today. So I know your Holy Spirit's alive and well, and he will lead us into all truth because he leads us to the word of God. And he reveals the meaning to it as he illuminates it, as we seek your wisdom and your ways. Uh, Lord, we just pray for the people listening today that they would be blessed. We pray for, um, friends in our hearts that are going through medical issues. I pray for my ex Michelle. I pray for Bill Hamm, who's still going through cancer treatments, um, you know, for a brain tumor. I pray for You know, I pray for my good friend Steve, who's sick with some autoimmune thing that they can't diagnose, and I just pray for him. And, um, well, I pray for the people I can't remember. I pray for my dad, who's in, you know, more or less constant pain, uh, and I pray for everyone listening today and, uh, the things they're going through. Whether it's work, illness, relationship problems, personal problems, addictions. Lord, I pray for you to go, uh, go before them and, you know, let them lean on you and receive from you your grace. Um, Lord, we just thank you so much for all that you do. And, uh, Lord, we pray for you to go before us to open our eyes to those good things. To lead our feet into the good things you would have us walk into, and to do the best job we can do to represent you here on the earth. And Lord, we thank you, we love you, and, uh, we praise you. And all these things we pray in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.