I Still Remember… Purity 861

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 winter's highway that descends into the unseen realm of a cloud touching the earth comes to us from yours truly as I decided to play photo archive roulette and found this scene that I originally captured back on December 27th, 2019 while at work somewhere near Esperance, New York. Well, it's Thursday, and all I was looking for this morning was a picture of a pathway to share to encourage others to keep walking and talking with God on the path of Christian discipleship. And I didn't realize my quick spinning back into my phone would not only send me to a different month or a year, but it would If we think about what has transpired since the time that this photo was taken, my search has taken us to a different world. I apologize if I have shared this or a similar view of this Winter's Road before. It is very likely because I have had about— I had about 10 to 20 photos of the day that haven't seemed to touch earth, but mercilessly have deleted a lot of them because I had taken so many and there was little or no difference difference in many of them. Our direction on the path to— of Christian discipleship, uh, is always forward, um, but looking, uh, looking back on occasion. It's forward-looking, but on a camera— oh boy, yeah, anyway, my bad, um, but looking is always looking forward, but on occasion it is wise to take a look back on our journey to see how far we have come. That's what I actually wrote. And since, uh, 2 days after Christmas of 2019, we have, we have traveled into a new existence that we could have never imagined on that foggy day. I'm pretty sure I shared one of these photos back then, commenting on the uncertain future before me and all of us as we approached a new year in 2020. I had finally received my final divorce agreement from the courts on Christmas Eve. Merry Christmas. After having pushed and pulled and then was compelled to sign what some could describe as a raw deal, uh, to avoid going to trial. And although I was relieved finally to have the matter settled, I was still cohabitating with my ex and was at a point where I had only the vaguest hopes and plans of getting out and finding a place for my kids and I to live. Also, in the historical context, I recall scores of news reports and anecdotal complaints from my contemporaries lamenting, uh, how bad a year 2019 was and how everyone was looking forward to a clear vision in 2020. I don't recall why 2019 was considered a bad year, but in hindsight, I'm pretty sure that the vast majority of people would gladly go back to to know those times again, as the events since COVID-19, uh, the COVID-19 pandemic, has fundamentally changed oh so much of what we knew life to be. But you know what? This isn't a complaining post today. Far from it. Yesterday I saw this meme that a friend shared that said— that says, I still remember the day, uh, the days I prayed for the things I have now. And I am sharing it, uh, on the blog today. Um, I didn't think of it until after I decided to use this photo this morning, and I am reminded of how much God has done for me since the day I took it. I still remember the days I prayed for the things I have now, and when I do, I rejoice and am compelled to tell everyone to put their faith in Jesus, to follow the Lord, and to keep seeking his will for your life. Since 2019, the Lord has led me to a new home, a new ministry, a new church, and a new wife. And not to sound like a prosperity gospel preacher or a game show host, but I have a brand new car too. Uh, okay, certified pre-owned, but it's new to me. Um, but the one thing that hasn't changed in all the time since 2019 is the one who has watched over me and walked with me through the fires of adversity to bring me to this day. The Lord God Almighty, who I know through the Father, through the Son, and through the Holy Spirit. He never left me, and even though life is in this world broken by sin, will never be perfect, and my wife is suffering pain today, I will continue to trust in him. If you want all things to become new, you have to follow the one who can make you new. It starts with faith in Jesus as your Lord and Savior, and it continues with your decision to follow him with the way you live your life. When you surrender everything to follow him, you might lose a lot of what you had, but the— but that only makes it possible for the Lord to give you something new. God will open your eyes to the truth and tear your world apart, but he's the maker of the world, and he can show you that a new world of peace, joy, love, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, kindness, patience, and self-control are waiting to be discovered somewhere along the path before for you that lies somewhere ahead in the unseen realm of the future. So don't be afraid that you can't see the end from the beginning. He can. The Lord invites us all to come and see, and when we go there, we enter into a journey where we will be challenged and tested, but that somehow leads to good. So take a good look, uh, so take a look back and see what the Lord has moved has moved you through. Remember it, but keep moving forward and trust the Lord to bring you through the trials of today, just as he was faithful to you in the past. Today's Bible verse comes to us from the New Living Translation Bible Promise Book for Men. This morning's meditation verses are Colossians 1:21-22, and they say This includes you, uh, this includes you who were once far away from God. You were his enemies, separated from him by your evil thoughts and actions. Yet now he has reconciled you to himself through the death of Christ in his physical body. As a result, he has brought you into his own presence, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault. Today's Bible verse reminds us that we once were far away from God, but now, because of him, we are reconciled to him and find ourselves continually in his presence where we are holy and without fault. We once were lost, oh so lost, but now we are found, brothers and sisters. Through our faith in Christ, we are reconciled, redeemed, and given the power to overcome our evil thoughts and actions of the past when we stay in presence and live out the new life we have in Christ. We are new creations. And you are still walking— and if you are still walking around with that sinner saved by grace mentality that leaves you powerless to overcome your evil thoughts and actions, you have to check yourself and repent. You have to know who you are in Christ and believe it and live it. This 'I got a golden ticket to heaven but I'm still a no-good bum' narrative that you have going on is rejecting what God says about you. These negative thoughts are born from sin— the sin of disbelief, i.e., 'I wish I could believe it was true,' or 'I wish I had faith,' or blatant sin that you continue in that you haven't repented of, i.e., 'I can't change.' You're right, you can't change, but all things are possible with God. So let's get with God. Let's stop wishing for the power to believe or to be blessed with faith, and let's instead stop playing games and make the decision to believe the— and obey the Lord. Commit yourself to believing that the Bible is true, and commit yourself to turn from your old patterns of thinking and behaving and start living according to the Lord's wisdoms and ways. Faith is believing in the unseen. I believe the word of God is true. I believe that Christ saved me and gave me new life. I believe I can change because Christ has already changed me. I just have to believe it and live it. That's faith. And notice, it is all based on a decision to stop focusing on yourself and to start focusing on God and who he has made you to be. So rejoice, you have been reconciled, and enjoy access to the Lord's presence, love, and power. When we stay in communion with him and follow him, we come to discover the holy life that he has given us. So believe it, receive it, and live it. 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 Dietrich Bonhoeffer's Discipleship, or The Cost of Discipleship, and today we continue sharing from chapter 6 with his disposition on the Beatitudes. And so if you want to see what he has to say about the next one that's in the list, go to mt4christ.org and I swear when I post it, it'll be a new one that I haven't, uh, copied and pasted yet. Um, but it'll be there waiting for you. So go to mtforchrist.org and see what today's beatitude is and see what Dietrich Bonhoeffer had to say about that. Well, today is Thursday, but for me it's sort of a Friday as, uh, my company has me working on Saturday and I have off tomorrow. But by God's providence that just gives me the ability to go to my countryside home and spend the evening with my wife to comfort her in her time of need, as she is still suffering from mouth pain due to dental problems. And Friday she has a dental appointment, which by God's providence I'll be able to take her to because I don't have to work. Um, so I don't know if God plans all these things, but it certainly is convenient, um, for me. I don't have to take off time from work to be with my wife Um, God already arranged it beforehand. Um, wow. Yeah, so we'll take it, and, uh, we'll pray. We'll continue to pray for Tammy Lynn's healing and, uh, for the success of whatever procedure they do for tomorrow. Um, but I just want to be with her, um, to care for her, and, um, you know, not to talk, just to be in her presence and hope that is comforting to her. To meet her needs, whatever I can do. Um, you know, that's what we do for our loved ones when they're sick. Um, and I'm not the greatest caregiver, or at least I haven't been in the past. And so I'm trying to be the God— the person God made me to be by not running away from sick people and, uh, um, to, to, you know, just to be with them, be in their presence. And I think that's a, you know, a big lesson for all of us, you know. The Today's Bible verse, you know, mentioned the fact that we are in this pre— in the Lord's presence, uh, through our faith in Christ. And it's in that presence where we can overcome. I wasn't trying to whip anyone into shape as much as encouraging you to just be who you are in Christ and to be in the Lord's presence. When you're in his presence, you won't want to have evil thoughts, you won't want to do evil actions. Um, you know, stop. You know, there's no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus. So if you have some sort of negative view of yourself, of, you know, you're such a bad sinner or something like that, you're really going against the word of God. And, uh, the Lord doesn't want you thinking that way about yourself. That's why the, the word says there's no condemnation for us and we're in Christ Jesus. But that verse also tells us to walk in the spirit, not in the flesh. And throughout scripture, uh, you know, the word of God encourages us and commands us to repent and to, and to change from our evil ways. So if you're living in old habits that just aren't good for you— and I'm not just talking about blatant sin, but anything that you know is not good for you and you're doing it— that's sin. You know, to do what is good and not to do it is sin, according to James. I forget the chapter and verse. But, you know, the Lord forgives me for that. Um, and then I invite you to read all of James to find it. Uh, anyway, um, I'm just here to encourage because, you know, when we look back, we can see what the Lord has done. And frankly, it's, it's amazing. Um, you know, this is the person I always wanted to be. I was just commenting to the Lord yesterday, like, Lord, I really appreciate what you've done in my life. Of where you've brought me from and where you brought me to, and all the changes he's done to my mind and heart through his word and through following him and, you know, crucifying the flesh. Um, you know, I wouldn't have it any other way. And I don't know where the future is leading, but I'll know I'll be following the Lord and trusting in him and to see what he has for us all. And, uh, but So let's pray, I guess, is a good way to end. Uh, Lord God, Heavenly Father, thank you for another day in your kingdom. Lord, thank you so much for where you've taken me throughout my life, through all my trials and tribulations, all my doubts and, um, and everything. You've, you've brought me to know you and to know the wisdom of following you and to know the rewards and benefits of living a life of faith, where many people would tell you you don't have to do that. I would say we get to do that, Lord. And, uh, and when we live according to your ways, it's, uh, it leads to our good, just like your word says. So, Lord, we just pray for today, for anyone listening. We pray for our wife first and foremost, Tammy Lynn, that she— her pain would decrease and and, um, that she'd have peace in her spirit, if not in her body. Lord, we pray for anyone else who's listening today. We thank you for, you know, walking on this path with us. Um, you know, we're not alone. We all have the Lord. And unfortunately, sometimes in our Christian lives, we can find ourselves alone, but We, we produce this message basically to encourage people who are trying to genuinely follow the Lord with the way they live their lives, to overcome the struggles they've dealt with that the Lord says they should be healed of. So we, we come alongside you today, and we, we ask the Lord to, to bless you with his divine favor. And even if it's just a change in your perspective that you've already been made new and it's simply a matter of agreeing with the word of the Lord and to follow it. If that, that helps you, Lord, we pray for the Holy Spirit to bless that word and to, uh, to change the hearts of the people listening today. Um, Lord, we, uh, as always, we pray for you to go before us, Lord, set up the day according to your will, uh, open our eyes to show us the things that we need to see. And Lord, Lead us into the things you would have us to do, because all we want to do is, uh, follow you and do your will, uh, here on earth as it is in heaven. Lord, we thank you so much, uh, for all that you do. We praise you, we thank you, we love you, and we pray all these things in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.