Instant Liberation in Two Words “I Quit!” Purity 824

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 the hump of a rainbow in the hollers comes to us from a friend, uh, who called West Liberty, Kentucky home for a spell and shared this photo back on June 3rd, 2021. But moss doesn't grow on a rolling stone, and the holler's appeal didn't last long. And instead of staying put, our friend Jediston is home in the holler and took to the beaches of Florida for a spell and now has set his stakes in a new home in Southwest North Carolina. But that doesn't mean he is done traveling because I just saw him share scenes from somewhere in Georgia just the other day that may be featured in a future post. Well, it's hump day again, and as we seek to surmount the midpoint of another work week to move on into the Labor Day weekend, I think we should all rejoice over the freedom that the Lord gives us to change our situations and the fact that he gives us our self-worth that is not dependent on where we are or what we are doing. Our changing circumstances don't change who we are in Christ. In life, we make our best decisions with the information we have at the time. We may think a home in the hollers, a beach in Florida, or someplace somewhere else may satisfy us at the time, only to discover that we want to try something else. Moving can be an ordeal, but I know I, for one, can attest to the sheer joy that comes from leaving your past behind and finding peace in a new home. Likewise, professionally, we can decide to step out and try something new with the hopes of forging a prosperous future, only to discover that the deal that seemed too good to be true was too good to be true, and that the, that the offers and promises that were made before we committed ourselves quickly changes— changed almost as soon as we did. Uh, in, in a teaching on Jesus versus the Culture, Dr. Frank Turek asked if it was ethical for a business to change the conditions of someone's employment after they were hired, after they had committed themselves and turned down other offers. The people gathered for his class unanimously agreed that it was unethical to do that. But Frank, uh, but Frank Turek's question shows that things like this happen in the world of business. To allure people into filling a job, unscrupulous employers will make promises that they have no intention of keeping and will eventually change the rules of the game after they hire someone and figure they now own them. Unfortunately, many people face this type of treatment and feel that they have no recourse but to stay because they need the money or the benefits, or are told that the negative circumstances are only temporary. However, the Lord has given us free will, and if we walk with him, we can be assured that he will be with us whether we decide to endure in our raw deal, or we can when we choose to utter the two-word phrase that leads to instant liberation: I quit. I think we all know people who have suffered in negative work circumstances at some point in their work histories, and we listen to their complaints and laments with compassion but are puzzled at why they continue to stay. Don't they know they can quit? There is no shame in quitting. Regardless of reasons, but if we were lied to or if we are being abused or micromanaged, we have the right to set ourselves free. Unfortunately, this issue is close to home for me because my wife Tammy Lynn recently took a chance at a new career only to discover that her employers were dishonest about their expectations of her work hours and the level of authority she would have as the general manager of their general manager of their restaurant. They expected her to turn Hell's Kitchen into heaven but didn't give her the power to do it, as they almost immediately undermined her authority, arbitrarily changed policies, gave preferential treatment to certain employees, allowed a hostile work environment to fester, made insulting, abusive personal comments to employees, allowed rank insubordination to go without consequences, and tried to make her personally responsible for each and every aspect of the business, even when she wasn't there. My wife was the general manager for less than a month, and last night I fully supported her decision to resign immediately. I, of course, sought to support my wife in her new venture, uh, by being a— becoming a delivery driver for the restaurant. I, I figured it was— if she was there, that was where I wanted to be. But she isn't there anymore, so I quit too. Uh, no matter how bad things get in life, we have the option of quitting. We have the option of leaving. If we have been lied to or abused or disrespected and hurt, the Lord doesn't necessarily want us to stay in that. Christ came to give us life and life more abundantly. And if people are making our lives hell on earth, we can shake the dust off our feet and leave. Frank Turek's point in asking that question about a business changing the terms of a contract after someone was hired was to ask about the changes in personal relationships and marriages. That if someone's— someone pro— someone promises to love, honor, and obey someone for life and abuses the promises of the relationship, and the abuse continues or the commitment is betrayed We can try to work on the problems with counseling, but if the other party refuses to repent, we can leave. Ask me how I know. When we do— when we decide to follow the Lord with our lives, we make the decision to, to live in righteousness, and the world may not always like that. People will hate us for us— for that— hate us for that, or they may see our Christian character as something they can use for their own purposes. While we are to love our enemies and to endure through suffering at times, we are not expected to propagate or allow someone else's sin to continue unchecked or without consequence. If you lie to me or are sinning against me, I can forgive you, but it doesn't mean I have to stay in relationship with you. So that's— so if that's you, quit. Walk away. Forgive them, for they know not what they do. But shake the dust off your feet and surrender them to the Lord as you, as you are worthy of love, dignity, and respect, and the Lord will be with you wherever you go. So keep walking and talking with God. When we trust the wrong people or suffer abuse, he will help us to recover and to find a new place where we will be provided for and where we can find our purpose in him. Today's Bible verse comes to us from the New Living Translation Bible Promise Book for Men. This morning's meditation verse is Jeremiah 29:12-13, and they say, then you will call upon me and go and pray to me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek me and find me when you search for me with all your heart. Today's verse encourages us to call upon the Lord, to pray, and to seek the Lord with the assurance that he will hear us and we will find him. In life, we can learn from our mistakes. When things go south, we can really beat ourselves up for the mistakes we make. But the Lord is with us, and the book of Jeremiah is a rough portion of scripture in which the prophet delivers searing messages to the nation of Israel about impending judgment that will come because of their disobedience. But even in this book of the Bible where there is so much bad news, The Lord reminds the faithful that even in their struggles, that he is still with them. And, and, and the Lord, uh, he's still with them, and that his strength and guidance can still be found when they call upon him, pray to him, and seek him. So maybe things have gone wrong, things didn't work out the way we hoped. So what do we do now that our dreams have gone up in smoke? We do what we always do as followers of Christ. Just like Jesus, we go to the Father. We pray and gather strength and wisdom from him, knowing that he is the one who defines us and he is the one who determines our worth. No matter what we do or how we may fail or suffer, God has accepted us as his children because of our faith in Jesus. And he is with us. So call on the Lord, pray to him, and seek his will for your life. He hears you, and he will help you to find him when you search for him with all your heart. As always, I invite all to go to mt4christ.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 E. Arnold's Powers of Darkness. And today, um, after examining the work of Walter Wink, um, he wants to reassert the Pauline emphasis about the principalities and powers. You know, some, some authors can have all kinds of theories about what the Bible means and try to demystify it, but in the end, um, we, we stand on scripture. And so Clinton Arnold re-emphasizes the Pauline emphasis on the powers of darkness and the influence of the powers on the world. So if you If you want to read what Clinton Arnold has to say about those things, go to mtforchrist.org and you'll find that resource at the bottom of today's blog post. As always, we encourage you to walk in faith because sometimes we trust the wrong people. Sometimes, you know, trying to improve our situations, we, we can be deceived. And there's no shame in being deceived or trusting the wrong people. But, um, you know, the Lord doesn't necessarily want us to stay there sometimes. And if things don't improve, it's time to go. Um, yeah, and that's it. And we're forgiven, you know, um, we're free. And the Lord wants us to walk in freedom, so, you know, and in righteousness. And unfortunately, some situations are not righteous. Um, people can be shady. People can claim faith and then, you know, show that they have shady practices and are personally not so Christian. So we have to be, you know, have to be wise in discerning. But if, you know, there's no shame in being deceived, but once we see the truth and know the truth, we should act on it. And sometimes that sends us out the door. And, you know, there's no shame in that. And the Lord is with us, and he will take us. And, you know, all these, all these— believe me, I made a few mistakes in my life, and every one of them turns out to be used for good because you learn from your mistakes. Unfortunately, I learned, I learned a whole lot from my trials and error through life, and the Lord was gracious to welcome me into his kingdom so I could see the truth. And still, you know, learn more and more every day about, you know, life and godliness and everything the Lord has for us. And, you know, as you go, you learn more and more. You never stop learning. And just because you suffered something bad doesn't mean, you know, you don't have the power to do what you were hoping to do. If my wife's listening, and I hope she is, just because this turn at management didn't work out doesn't mean you're not a capable manager. You know, you can manage. You can lead. You're a leader. Your character is without question. You're a righteous person, and, you know, people would benefit from you leading them. And I know that the restaurant would have benefited if they allowed you to lead, but they didn't, and now they will suffer for it because you're leaving them. So I love you, and that's maybe a little too personal for a podcast, but that's, that's it. I know she's listening, or she might listen today, so I share that message for her, um, and I I would like to share some more with others. There's someone out there, um, I was given a request to pray for someone who's starting a new career today who's had health issues, and their parent basically reached out to me to pray for them today, um, that they wouldn't have any issues with their health that would, that would mess up their new career opportunity. So we're praying for that person. We've already prayed for that person. But if that person should happen to listen to this, uh, podcast, I want them to know that I'm keeping them in prayer. Um, I do pray for people every day. Um, the list isn't stagnant, it changes. Um, so if you want, I can certainly, uh, offer my prayers for you. But I would encourage you to pray for the Lord. You know, it doesn't— you know, that scripture today says to, you know, call on the Lord. It doesn't say ask M.t. Clark to call on the Lord for you. But there is power in corporate prayer, so I will pray for you. But more importantly, I would encourage anyone who's— who thinks they need someone to pray for them that you are more than capable of praying and having a relationship with the Father, um, that can be blessed by his favor. Um, you know, you are blessed by his favor. So what we need to do is take personal responsibility for our relationship with the Lord and trust that just like today's verse told us, he does hear us. And if we seek with him seek him with all our hearts, we will find him. So, you know, uh, as much as I do pray, uh, for people who ask for prayer, I encourage them to pray for themselves. And that goes for healing or any other situation. You know, I'll gladly pray for you and expect good things, but I would also expect that you would seek the Lord for yourself and to grow closer to him and not allow anyone to be a mediator between you and the Father. Um, you know, no, you know, don't go praying to the saints or don't go looking for an anointed person that has, you know, a direct line to God. Um, if you put your faith in Christ, you have a direct line to God. So pray that, pray to him. And so we'll pray to him today, but I will pray for you as well. Lord God, Heavenly Father, thank you for another day in your kingdom. You know, every day with you is good. We start and we remember who we are in Christ, and you just, you know, that's the truth of who we are, and we just walk in it. Lord, we thank you so much for what you've done for us in our lives, all the things you've taught us through all the years and all the turmoil and all the changes, Lord, because we know you're with us. Um, you've revealed yourself to us in amazing ways, and you we continue to know your presence and your peace regardless of the circumstances we face. So Lord, we pray for my wife Tammy Lynn, we pray for the gentleman who's starting a new job today, and we pray for the other prayer requests that we've made this morning in terms of healing and, uh, and whatnot. Um, Lord, so we, we pray for the people listening, Lord, that you come alongside them and guide them and protect them and strengthen them in their faith and give them their— your favor as well. Lord, we pray for you to go before us, open our eyes to the things we need to see. Don't let us be deceived. Um, show us the things that we're deceiving ourselves about so we can grow closer to you. And go before us, Lord, to give us your favor in all the circumstances that we will face today. Uh, show us the things that we need to to do do and, um, and, and how to best represent you, um, as we go out in the world. Lord, we thank you so much for all that you do. We love you, we praise you, and we pray all these things in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.