It’s not “Just Me & Jesus” - Self Deception Series 23 – Purity 1112

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 green foliage, foliage, foliage in the foreground of a magnificent sunset over the Atlantic comes to us from Fred Dimmick, who reshared this scene that he originally captured on August 1st, 2022. As Facebook put it, fresh in his memories the other day, causing Fred to reflect that he has been in North Carolina a year this month after spending 7 months in Vero Beach, Florida, and after 9 months in Kentucky. Moss sure hasn't grown fat on Fred in the last few years, in which, which is ironic considering he spent most of, if not all of, his life in areas in and around Hillsdale, New York. Which just goes to show us that life doesn't stop after retirement, and that the status quo that remains steady for years can really be set on its rear when we realize that we are free and decide to live like it. Well, it's Friday, and while I enjoyed a day of swimming in Lake Erie at Headlands Beach State Park in Mentor, Ohio yesterday, I was so caught up in the moment I didn't take any photos, although my wife Tammy Lynn shared some really great ones of your Truly on Facebook. Yikes. So I am sharing Fred's view from 2022 and am curiously thinking about the possibilities of my own retirement as I contemplate the inevitable day I will leave my day job to possibly pursue a career in full-time ministry somewhere, somehow. Part of my musings this morning, or is it a calling, have me Googling Hobart, Indiana on Google Maps because Deeper Walk International has recently announced the beginning of a new nonprofit venture called Joy Centers International, which will be headquartered there. They have a website up and everything, guys. You can check it out at joycentersinternational.com. Their stated mission is to bring Christ to the world through joy by teaching people the relational joy skills that are highlighted in Warner and Kirstie's books on joy. To quote the site, this training will be based on the work of Thrive Today, an organization that has been training brain-based joy skills over 20 years on the following books and the exercises found in them. And they list The Joy Switch, The Four Habits of Joy-Filled Marriages, The Four Habits of Raising Joy-Filled Kids, The Four Habits of Joy-Filled People, and Rare Leadership in the Workplace. So it is an exciting time of new beginnings for Deeper Walk International, and as a student of their School of Prayer Ministry, I really, I am really interested in seeing where this will develop, or how this will develop. Yeah, how this will develop in the months and years ahead, and wonder and hope I could be a part of it in some way. But that's a what's next question. And as excited as I am about the possibilities for this nonprofit and can imagine packing it all up and being a part of their mission, I have learned from experience that my walking in the prophetic hasn't been without its stumbles, as I have previously imagined ministries and relationships that never came to pass. So as much as I'm ready to pack up and go, I think I will wait. Pray and see what the Lord has in mind for me and will answer when called. As I talked about yesterday, one assumption can easily lead you astray and end up getting you lost. So I will keep walking and talking with God and follow where he leads because I don't want to believe in something that will prove not to be true, even if those things are good things based on a deep hope and desire of my heart. We have one life to live, and thus, while there are many possible paths for the future, we invariably will have to choose only one of them and will want to be sure that it's true. And that brings us to our current series on self-deception, where we have decided to investigate some of the ways we deceive ourselves by walking through step 2 Deception Versus Truth of the Steps to Freedom in Christ to see what ways we have been deceived by the world and ourselves and in what ways we have wrongly defended ourselves. So, uh, we present the 7th and last of the ways to deceive yourself from Step 2, uh, which is number 7: Thinking I can live successfully without the help of anyone else. The scripture reference for this point is 1 Corinthians 12:14-20. And the Word of God says, yes, the body has many different parts, not just one part. If the foot says, I am not a part of the body because I'm not a hand, that does not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear says, I'm not part of the body because I'm not an eye, would that make it any less a part of the body? If the whole body were an eye, how would you hear? Or if your whole body were an ear, how would you smell anything? But our bodies have many parts, and God has put each part just where he wants it. How strange a body would be if it had only one part! Yes, there are many parts, but only one body. These verses point out that we are a part of a body in Christ. It is one body with many parts that have many different functions. But they all have the body in common. Just how none of the parts of the human body can survive on their own without the rest of the body to sustain its life and purpose, individual believers in the body of Christ are to be a part of and function within the body of Christ. The life we have in Christ was never meant to be lived out as a lone wolf for Christ. As Jesus' second commandment is to love our neighbors as ourselves, and specific verses in Scripture tell us to not forsake the assembly of the saints. As Christians, we are called to be a part of and to serve a local church, a body of believers. While we have a highly individualized relationship with God, our life in God's kingdom was never intended to be just me and Jesus, as our purpose in Christ is, uh, necessitates sharing and showing the love of God to others, um, to serve and to be served. It is where we can go to grow in our faith and where we can worship the Lord in spirit and in truth. So don't believe the lie that you can live successfully without the help of anyone else. As Christians, our success lies in becoming the people God created us to be, to become more and more like Jesus. And part of his call on our lives was to go and make disciples of all nations and to teach them to observe everything that Jesus taught. Successfully answering that call from Jesus requires us to give and receive help to and from others. So don't stand in the truth Um, uh, so what? Don't stand in the truth? I think that's incorrect. Um, stand in the truth and stand with the, the body of Christ to be a success in, in this life and in God's kingdom forever. Sorry about that. There we go, we get it. Anyway, uh, we move on. Today's Bible verse has come to us from the Quick Scripture Reference For Counseling by John G. Cruis. This morning's meditation verses come from the section on Affliction, Discipline, Chastisement, and Trials. Today's verses are Exodus 15:22-27. And the word of God says from the NASB, then Moses led Israel from, from the Red Sea, and they went out into the wilderness of Shore. And they went 3 days into the wilderness and found no water. When they came to Marah, they could not drink the waters of Marah, for they were bitter. Therefore it was named Marah. So the people grumbled at Moses, saying, 'What shall we drink?' Then he cried out to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a tree, and he threw it into the waters, and the waters became sweet. There he made for them a statute and regulation, and there he tested them. And he said, if you will give earnest heed to the voice of the Lord your God and do what is right in his sight and give ear to his commandments and keep all his statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have put on the Egyptians, for I the Lord am your healer. Then they came to Elim, where there were 12 springs of water, 70 date palms, and they camped there beside the waters. Today's verses fall under the 9th point of our Counseling Reference Guide's resource section on Affliction, Discipline, Chastisement, and Trials. That 9th point is: God tried his people at Marah, where he turned bitter water sweet, and soon gave a time of refreshment at Elim. Today's verses tell the story of the Lord's testing and provision for the nation of Israel in the desert wilderness days before they were allowed into the Promised Land. While these verses and this point in our counseling ref— uh, counseling resource tells a specific story from the history of God's people, the overall principle here is that even though God may test us and we may face some bitter times, we should trust that the— if the Lord turned things around for his people once, it is not unreasonable to hope that God will do it again for us. God gave us His word to tell us His story, the history of God and His interactions with man. But He also gave us His word to show us how He is faithful to help His people when they call on His name. So, if we are experiencing bitterness and are in need of refreshment, we should remember this episode in Marah and ask for the Lord to make this bitter thing sweet and to lead us into times of refreshment. As always, I, 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 The Holy Spirit by A.W. Pink, and we're continuing, uh, in chapter 18 The Spirit Indwelling, and the topic today is the Spirit and Christ Go Together. The Spirit of Christ is the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth, you know, uh, it's all wrapped up in one. However, if you want to hear what A.W. Pink has to say about that, go to mtforchrist.org and you'll see that resource at the end of today's blog post. As always, we encourage a lifestyle of Christian discipleship. Knowing what the Word says and trying to live according to it the best you can, and to find your purpose in the body of Christ, and to experience your freedom in Christ. And so if you don't know what that's like, we recommend our, our discipleship classes that we have on our podcast and our YouTube channel for Victory Over the Darkness, The Bondage Breaker, and Freedom in Christ. They're all based on the Word of God and the work of Dr. Neil Anderson, Freedom in Christ Ministries, and these teachings were very impactful in my life and were key to resolving some of the spiritual conflicts that I had. Um, a lot changed after going through the Steps to Freedom in Christ, and so I became certified to be a Freedom Ministry Associate for Freedom in Christ Ministries and taught these courses back in 2021. Um, and I recommend them. They teach you who you are in Christ, and they, they lead you to, you know, take the steps to freedom in Christ. So, um, it's all based on the word of God, and that's where we got to find our truth. We got to know what's right. I love today's verse, um, in Exodus. Um, back there are very simple principles stated in there. If you give— if you will give earnest heed to the voice of the Lord your God, and do what is right in his sight, and give ear to his commandments, and, and, you know, and keep all his statutes, he'll put none of those diseases that he put on the Egyptians, for the Lord is a healer. And, um, you know, while I can't, you know, promise you immunity, uh, the principle's there to give heed to the word of God and to do what is right in his sight, you know, are really a great principle there. The overall thing is that you will be healed, and when you put your faith in Jesus, you're healed with eternal life. And really, you know, there is no death, so, you know, technically you're healed of everything, um, there. Okay, anything you have is a temporary disease, even if it leads to death here on Earth. It will not kill you, as Christ is the resurrection, and he will, um, he will welcome you into his kingdom, uh, on the other side of eternity. So, you know, there should be no fear of death. These are the things we need to know, remind ourselves of, and grow in, um, to, to enjoy the, the life of freedom in Christ. You know, when we hold on to the truth of God's word, you know, it lifts us above the the hard facts of life sometimes. So we can have hope even when, you know, things are falling apart or things aren't great, or even if we're dying. God has come to give us peace and give us life eternal, and he did that through Jesus. So there's good, good things to be thankful for even in the worst of times. And so we recommend spiritual practice of gratitude and staying close to God's word on a daily basis, um, to remind yourself of these things and to empower yourself and others with God's truth. So we recommend Bible study. And on our, our podcast, we even do a Bible study of sorts. We have a topical discussion every week with Arthur and Susanna Sincotti, and we recommend recommend, if you don't have a Bible study, to, you know, possibly join ours just by listening in and looking at the outlines that we put out on our, our blog once a week. Well, it is Friday. It is the last full days of this portion of my vacation as I am in Erie, Pennsylvania. Um, I think we're taking a boat ride today And there's other things. So I'm looking forward to that. And just looking forward to what the Lord will do. Even on vacation, you can be tested. When a group of people get together as a blended family and go places, there can be stress and there can be happiness. So there's a balance there. And sometimes you get frustrated with one another, and it's, you know, in these groups of people is where we grow. And as a member of the body of Christ, we have to realize that it's all about relationships. So I'll be practicing patience, I'm sure, at one point or another today, but hopefully experiencing joy as well. So, um, so let's pray for that. Lord God, Heavenly Father, thank you for another day in your kingdom. We thank you so much for all that you do for us, um, and that you've done for us, Lord. You showed us the truth that set us free and gave us life everlasting. And from that day forward, we, we, we've decided to answer the call to follow you into whatever you have for us, Lord. Well, we pray for the future, um, of, of full-time ministry someday, perhaps Um, we, we pray for the present too. We just pray for you to go before us today and to open our eyes to the things you want us to see and lead our steps in the things you would have us do. And Lord, we pray for anyone who's listening or reading today's message, that you would come alongside them and their prayer request and, and their walk of faith, Lord, because we all need your help every day, and we need each other And, um, Lord, so, so help us to, to live together in peace and to, uh, to follow you always. Lord, we thank you, we praise you, we love you, and we pray all these things in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.