I’d RATHER DIE than Give You Control! Okay. - You Can Do All Things # 3 -Purity 1358

To see today's photo, go to mt4christ.com or follow me, M.t. Clark, on Facebook or Twitter. Good morning. Today's photo of a group of trumpeting daffodils displaying their simple beauty comes to us from yours truly as I captured this image of the flowers bordering my, the foundation of my house down by the river back on March 31st, 2021. Well, it's Friday, thank God, and I'm sharing this particular photo because it's nice, and quite frankly because the one I originally selected from an unknown Facebook friend from back in 2021 this morning was the work of a photographer I didn't know, and even though I could have given them photo credit for their work, I didn't want to presume that they would be comfortable being associated with my decidedly Christian message and didn't want to take the chance of misrepresenting them. Speaking of representing people, I'm happy to announce I met with two potential life coaching clients last evening, and I am excited at the possibility of working with them in the future to accomplish their personal and professional goals by offering everything I have to help them. While their specific goals will be discussed after they become, you know, they come under contract with me, as an initial offering, I provided them with a 21-day daily spiritual practice guideline action plan, as well as a suggested exercise program complete with videos and a food plan that I have personally benefited from, because I know that true change and transformation come from a holistic approach that addresses the mind, body, and spirit. I've been completely transformed from the person I used to be since coming to Christ. And my coaching, uh, will guide people, uh, to examine their lives in contrast to God's word and to make adjustments and to progress into a lifestyle that is in harmony with God's good and perfect will for their lives. Um, essentially, I'll point people to putting their faith and trust in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, and then make the daily decision to Live by faith in the power of the Holy Spirit. That plan, God's plan for all of us, a surrendered life of, of a disciple of Jesus Christ, has worked for me. And while each client will, will have unique concerns, situations, and goals that will be specifically addressed, I'll guide them to walk in the Spirit to overcome their obstacles, accomplish their goals, and have a deeper relationship to God in the process. Of course, I am only a coach. I can give advice and make suggestions of what they could do to make progress, but they will have to ultimately decide to actually do what I suggest. They will have to trust me to trust in the Lord and will have to surrender a measure of control over their lives to, to him to see if this walking by faith thing actually works. Of course, my advice will be based on the truth of scripture, which tells us that in Galatians 5:22-25, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against there is such no— against such there is no law. And those who are Christ's have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. So if my clients release control to God, crucify their flesh with its passions and desires, and choose to walk in the Spirit, I expect that God will be faithful to produce those fruits of the Spirit in their lives. But they must surrender some control and obey the Lord's will for their lives to receive it. It worked for me, and so I would say it will work for them. Because I have discovered that with God anything is possible. Which brings us to our current series on I Can Do All Things, where we are sharing some wisdom from Dr. Neil Anderson, who teaches on letting God be in control, and his Who I Am in Christ devotional. We pick up where we left off yesterday with what Neil Anderson wrote: Allow God to be the controller. And Anderson writes, the fruit of the Spirit is not spouse control or child control, nor does it assure us of the ability to control the circumstances of life. The fruit of the Spirit is self-control. When we turn control of our lives over to God, we will move significantly closer to doing all things through Christ. We will stop trying to control our spouse and start loving him or her. We will focus more on instructing our children instead of controlling them. As bosses and leaders, we will stop trying to manipulate our people and start caring for them. As employees and helpers, we will stop undermining authority and start serving with joy. Our unbelief is the only obstacle keeping us from first being and then doing everything that God wants us to be and do. We are assured that all things are possible for those who believe. However, we can't determine for ourselves what it is we want to believe. We must believe the truth, and that's found in God's word. And that wise advice is all from Dr. Neil Anderson, from his devotional Who I Am in Christ, uh, chapter 36. Um, anyway, uh, so, so read those words again. Stop trying to control. Turn over control to God, and we will move significantly closer to doing all things through Christ. And he also wrote, our unbelief is the only obstacle keeping us from the first— from first being and then doing everything that God wants us to be and do. So we have to believe first. We have to believe that God's word is true, and we have to decide to live according to it. That's our walking in the Spirit instructions from one of the most highly respected Christian counselors and authors of our day. But the reason we can follow Anderson's advice is that it's based on God's truth, and we can test it by releasing control of our life and doing what it says. We may have to die to ourselves a little bit here, but that's okay because Jesus Christ gives us a new life. When we trust in him. And if we follow his example, we will experience the truth of God's word, um, through the fruit of the Spirit growing in our lives. So thank God it's Friday, and decide to stop— and decide to stop trying to control things you can't control, and instead let God be the controller to reap the harvest that your new life in Christ was meant for. Today's Bible verses come to us from the Quick Scripture Reference for Counseling by John G. Cruis. This morning's meditation verses come, uh, from the section on decision-making, and today's verses are Hebrews 3:7-11. And the word of God says, therefore, as the Holy Spirit says, today if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion on the day of testing in the wilderness where your fathers put the test, and saw my works 40 years. Therefore I was provoked with that generation, and said, They always go astray in their heart; they have not known my ways. As I swore in my wrath, They shall not enter my rest. Today's verses fall under the fourth point of our Counseling Reference Guide's resource section on decision-making. That fourth point is: Today, 'And if you hear his voice, don't harden your hearts.' And it says in parentheses, 'A warning against unbelief and rebellion.' And it sure is. Today's verses encourage us to answer the call of God on our life, to believe and obey him, to not harden our hearts, because the consequences for unbelief and rebellion are being separated from God's love and being subject to his wrath. The author of Hebrews relates the story of the Israelites who distrusted and disobeyed the Lord even though they had been miraculously freed from bondage in Egypt, and how, and how nearly none of them were allowed to enter the Promised Land because of their rebellion. Whether or not the Israelites who died in the wilderness were lost for eternity or not will be up to their individual faith in the mercy and grace of God, but at the very least, their example is set forth to demonstrate that we can miss out on good things that God wants us to receive, and quite possibly be subject to eternal separation from God if our pride and rebellion proves to be the evidence of our, of an unbelieving heart. So don't harden your heart. Believe in Jesus as Lord and Savior and turn from any form of rebellion that would keep you from the life God wants you to enjoy with him forever. As always, I invite all to go to mtforchrist.com, 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 According to Your Word: Morning and Evening Through the New Testament by Stephen F. Alford. And, uh, in Alford's devotional, he prompts us to read a chapter of the New Testament, uh, morning and evening. And today's chapter is Romans 1. And from Romans 1, he shares a portion of verse 9, which says, without ceasing, I make mention of you. And Stephen Alford writes, Paul writes these words in the very presence of God. God is my witness, he says, verse 9. In other words, when he says that he makes mention of the saints at Rome with unceasing consistency, he does not exaggerate but tells the truth. How qualified he was then to write in another place, pray without ceasing. 1 Thessalonians 5:17. Paul knew the importance and power of persistent prayer. Like his master, he knew that men always ought to pray and not lose heart. Luke 18:1. Note the result and fruit of the unceasing prayer of Paul. He had heard that their faith was proclaimed throughout the whole world. Romans 1:18. 8. And Alfred ends his devotional sharing by praying, teach me the discipline of praying without ceasing, Lord. Amen. Amen. And as I've taught before, praying is merely our conversation with the, with the Lord. So we really, you know, that's why I say keep walking and talking with God. And so we are to pray, we are to pray to ask him for the things we, we need, the things we want, and for strength to overcome when we don't get the things we think we need or want, to trust in Him, to increase our faith, you know, to help my unbelief. We're to pray to the Lord and to receive His support, His love, and His grace and mercy at all times, and His guidance, quite frankly. The Holy Spirit, you know, if you put your faith in Jesus, the Holy Spirit lives in you and he speaks to your heart. He speaks to your conscience. That's why you're not supposed to harden your heart when it says to repent. You know, wow, I should repent of this sin. I'm a Christian. I really shouldn't be living like this anymore. The Lord's calling me to repentance in my heart, and when it tells me that my sin is wrong, or I feel convicted that this isn't how I'm supposed to live, So we shouldn't harden our hearts, and, um, we should release control to the Lord and agree that his word is true and follow what it says. The promises of walking in the Spirit are the fruit of the Spirit. And that's the advice I'll give to the people I provide life coaching to, and that I give out for free here on the podcast and the blog. Why? Because I've experienced it, and it's not a fad diet, and it's not, you know, a philosophy of life. It's, um, it's, it's forming a relationship with the Creator of all things and listening to what he has to say about our lives, his created order, um, and coming to know him personally. And living in His love and His joy and receiving the peace that comes from obeying the Father. This is a spiritual reality. It's not a philosophy. It's not a religion. It's relationship. And if you want to experience it, you do it through prayer and following and agreeing with what God's Word says and testing it. And, you know, entering into the adventure of a life of faith. So last night I met with a couple guys, and I was greatly encouraged to offer it to— offer the coaching to them. We'll see whether or not I get signed contracts after they receive their 21-day spiritual guidelines action plan. And if not, they have a nice They have good advice and they have even a workout plan they could follow to help their bodies, to exercise their bodies as well as their spirits. Anyway, if you're interested in life coaching, you can contact me. I do have meetings on Thursdays available to discuss new clients. My time is limited, however, but I make space if I can for those who are willing to seek the Lord. And follow him and, uh, you know, take their life and surrender it to the Lord. And, you know, we could work out what that looks like, um, you know, what, what needs fixing and what needs changing, uh, what needs to be accomplished. Um, I don't know if we can do everything you dream of doing, but I know that, um, the Lord will guide you. To do what's right and to receive what he has for you. So we offer our life coaching. You can go to mtforchrist.com and go to the links about my life coaching page and— or prayer ministry page and make an appointment to talk to me. And as always, you can always email me. On every blog post it tells you that you can email me at M m.t. Clark at mt4christ.com to reach out and, you know, to give feedback or really any questions or comments, um, or to inquire about our Christian life coaching or prayer ministry services. Anyway, that's the commercial for today. Um, we are going— we're going offline. Saturday. So we're gonna, we're gonna, we're gonna give you a message tomorrow before we go into the wilderness ourselves. We're going backpacking with the wife in Vermont to an undisclosed location, basically, where there will be no electricity or inside plumbing, where I think there is cell service. There was last year. But where we're more or less going to unplug and spend time together. We're going to dive into some Christian teaching on marriage and enjoy each other's company and enjoy our Memorial Day weekend for a couple nights, hopefully under the stars and around a campfire and in a cabin. So no tents for me, not yet. Not that I'm opposed to it, but I'm sort of, I sort of am. I'd rather not tent if I can help it. But this is a big step. You know, we're doing it again. We did it last year and we're going into the wilderness again to enjoy each other's company and enjoy the Memorial Day weekend. So my prayer for everyone to enjoy their weekend. And, uh, to spend time with God and what— and the people they love, to encourage one another in your faith. So let's pray. Lord God, Heavenly Father, thank you for another day in your kingdom. Lord, we thank you so much for all that you've done for us. Lord, we thank you how you've led us to walk in the Spirit and to, you know, encourage other people to do so as well. Lord, we pray for, uh, anyone listening today's message or reading today's message, that they'd be encouraged by by your word. Lord, we pray for you to come alongside them and, um, guide them in the way they should go and to bless their prayer requests. Lord, we pray for you to do the same for us. We ask for you to go before us today and open our eyes to the things you want us to see and lead us the way we should go. It's all we want to do is, um, be, be representatives of your kingdom here on Earth. We need to Need all your help to do that. We need all your help through life. And so, Lord, we pray for you to be with us. Lord, we thank you, we praise you, and we love you. And we pray all these things in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.