Joy and Peace in the Great in Between - Purity 889

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 pair of trees under a blazing late afternoon sun on the shores of the Niagara River comes to us from yours truly as I made a point of stopping at Fort Schlosser, or the Upper Niagara Intake Observation Area, while departing Niagara Falls New York back on Thursday. Well, there are two trees in this photo, so I guess that makes it a natural selection to represent the second day of our work week. Two for Tuesday? Anyway, I've been to Niagara Falls on a few other occasions in the past but have never stopped at Fort Schlosser, and so I made a point to do so as the last stop— well, almost, it should have been the last stop— before going to my hostel accommodations in Buffalo. I can understand why I never stopped at Fort Schlossers before. After the grandeur of Niagara Falls, the Upper Niagara Intake Observation Area can be a little underwhelming, but in truth it is a beautiful site with wide open spaces to picnic and a long trail that runs parallel to the Niagara Scenic Parkway along the Niagara River that, if followed to the west, would lead you to the Falls about 3 miles away. And if followed to the east would lead you under, beneath the North Grand Island Bridge to LaSalle Riverfront Park, 2 miles away. So Fort Schlosser may not seem like much to look at when you're driving past it after visiting the Falls, but it could be the starting point for a great day of walking along the Niagara River. And I guess depending on where you are in your walk with the Lord, Fort Slaughter could represent where you find yourself— ourselves today, in the great in-between, between our past and the things waiting for us in the future that could be many miles or even years away. One destination in all our futures, uh, is Thanksgiving and— and Christmas and New Year's beyond. While we may be looking ahead at those times with joyful expectation, or with anxiety and dread, the important thing to remember about our walk through life, and specifically on the path of Christian discipleship, is to enjoy the present. Sure, Fort Schlosser may not be Niagara Falls, but it's pretty, it's pretty nice there all the same, and we shouldn't, we shouldn't not appreciate it because we either have left the falls behind or looking forward to the falls in our future. The enemy seeks to steal our peace by telling us two equal and opposite lies. One, things were better in the past. Two, things are better in the future. Like any good lie, there is always a grain of truth in them if the enemy is going to be successful in deceiving us. Sure, there were good things in our past, but there were— but there— but we shouldn't fall in the trap of living there because our A nostalgic vision that only, only highlights the positive or dwells on the pain paints a picture that is distorted one way or the other. While we could and should appreciate our past for the bad and the good, we should never let it disrupt the peace and joy that we can have today. Likewise, we might be in some real present struggles currently, or we may have some really good things that are beyond, beyond the horizon in our futures. But if we are focused on the future so much that we are hating the gift of our present, the enemy has won again. So as we enter into the second day of the week, submit to God and give him thanks for the day he has made today, and resist the devil who would like to convince you that peace and joy exist only in our past are far away in the distant future. Also, the enemy likes to point out things we supposedly lack. He can do this with a one-two punch. He can stir pleasant thoughts and desire for things that are good, tempting us with circumstantial happiness, with even positive desires for family gatherings or doing acts of service to the Lord or kindness to others. But then, after the enemy tempts you with the things that would be nice, he slams you with the facts of your current situation that may make things— those things difficult to obtain. Thus, we are drawn into depression after the thing we can't do— about the thing we can't do— and discontentment with the way things are. But the truth is, generally, that right now isn't so bad. In fact, things may actually be better than how they were before. But in, in pointing out nice desires that we may not be able to do right now, our present becomes some something we don't appreciate. The kicker is usually these desires the enemy presents also distract us from the problems we should be focused on resolving. So we end up fantasizing about what if rather than addressing the problems left on the back burner of our lives. Instead of focusing on the nice things we wish we had, we would be better served to develop a plan to address the things that we— that have been ignored, that if resolved would increase our freedom and peace. So obviously, as we walk through this life, we have to be aware of our current situations and appreciate where we are rather than fantasize and be disappointed about the things we can't have now. We should instead find the joy and peace that is available to us right here and right now, and we should not ignore the things that surround us that we, that we could resolve. When we walk in the Spirit, the Holy Spirit will lead us into all truth, and the truth is there are good things in your life right now that you can appreciate and have peace and joy about. There is also work to be, uh, to do to resolve past problems that are still a part of your present and to prepare us for the future that is always one day closer. However, if we keep walking and talking with God, we will know that we are never alone as we walk from here to there, and we have him to help us and guide us in the way we should go. Today's Bible verse comes to us from the New Living Translation Bible, Promise Book for Men. This morning's meditation verse is Romans 10:9, and it says, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. Today's verse reminds us of all it is that we must do in order to be saved. We must confess that Jesus is Lord and believe that God raised him from the dead. That's it. But before, uh, before Well, well, but as simple as that may sound, my goodness, um, to just believe that, um, uh, the whole counsel of God would cause us to understand that confessing Jesus as our Lord and Savior means a lot. So as simple as that sounds, to just believe that, um, the whole counsel of God would cause us to understand that confessing Jesus as our our Lord and Savior means a lot more. Um, the implication of anyone being your lord is that you answer to them and you obey them. You follow their instructions and, and call on your life. And so the great news is that we are saved by faith alone. However, I would never seek to mislead anyone into putting their faith in Christ, uh, that putting your faith in Christ is just a matter of easy believism. Christ warned his disciples that the world would hate them and that they would be persecuted because of their faith in him. While salvation is a free gift of grace from, from God, there is a cost of discipleship—our very lives. God gives us eternal life through Christ, and thus we are said to die with Christ and are raised to new life with him in his resurrection. Our old self is dead, and our purpose is to discover and live our new life in Christ. We are saved from God's wrath and saved to be— saved to become a part of his kingdom and to represent him by the way we live. So rejoice over your salvation, but never take it lightly or lead people to believe that being a Christian is is simple— is as simple as the faith it takes to become one. 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 Dr. Dietrich Bonhoeffer's Discipleship, also known as The Cost of Discipleship. And today we continue into, uh, the section from Matthew 7, the community of disciples is set apart. And the beginning of this section basically is the disciples and the unbelievers, based on the exposition of 7:1-12. So if you want to see, read those verses and get some of the commentary that Bonhoeffer writes about them, go to m.tforchrist.org and you'll find that resource at the end of today's blog post. As always, we encourage people on the path of Christian discipleship because we discovered it just happens to be the way of truth and the way to pa— uh, peace and joy in our lives. Um, it doesn't mean everything's going to be a rose garden, but, uh, it, it leads us to understand who we are in Christ and that how we really don't lack anything when we have Jesus. Our future is bright, so bright we have to wear shades. And, you know, we shouldn't forget that even in the darkness of the days that we may face in the here and now. And like I said, generally, even in the darkest times of my life, there's been— because I walked with the Lord, there was moments of great peace and joy. If you're worshiping the Lord on a daily basis in song, there's always going to be that moment of your day where you can rejoice that you are His and He is yours, and you can rejoice over what He's brought you through, what He's bringing you through, and where He's taking you. You know, our walk is a great adventure, basically, that the Lord puts us on, and it's one that doesn't, you know, blink at the hard realities of life and understands that We're not perfect people, and it understands that, you know, we're not going to have everything that we might want in life. But it's a walk that gives us peace regardless of our circumstances. So we encourage that. In terms of the Bonhoeffer course, I just give you a heads up, basically as we enter into Matthew 7 and sharing on the blog today, that we will be continuing that on Thursday. We're struggling to get our PowerPoint presentation done before before time, but we've made great progress in the last couple of days towards that, despite the fact that we've been busy with freedom appointments and our Freedom in Christ course. The great news is that all our scheduled freedom appointments are now done. Hallelujah! That all the men who decided to schedule, schedule a freedom appointment have completed them, and in every case There's been great work of repentance and a full resolution at each, at each one, although admittedly some of them were more rocky than others. But hallelujah! And I just want to thank God because I'm truly blessed as I'll be meeting with the Freedom in Christ course tonight on Zoom, basically where we will discuss the last lesson, which is which is, "What's next?" And that's a question we should always ask. As much as we appreciate the current moment, we should be looking a little bit ahead to what's next so we can be intentional about the path we take in life. And the good news is, you know, there's more good news. I was recently accepted in the Deeper Walk International Prayer Ministry program. So in 2023, Instead of doing Bonhoeffer teachings on YouTube to a very small audience, I'll be studying to be certified in the Deeper Walks Prayer Ministry program. So I'll be looking forward— I am looking forward to that, that, and looking forward to the challenge. But I'll also be doing Freedom in Christ in January. So really, that You know, here we are in November of 2022, and the path before me for 2023 has really begun to materialize. As you know, my work has had me select vacations, and, and now I know, uh, what I'll be doing on Tuesday nights in January and February, um, and I think it carries over into March, um, and I know what I'll be doing in, you know, Thursday evenings for basically most of the year. I'll be being equipped and empowered by the teachings from Deeper Walk International. So, you know, we should look ahead, we should have things ahead, but that doesn't mean we can't enjoy right now. And we might not be able to have all the things we want right now, but we just keep walking towards them and take care of what we have to take care of now and try to resolve the things that might still be left undone in our present moment. So, you know, there's great hope when we walk in Christ. If you're walking in despair or getting upset about something, you've done one or two things. You, well, undoubtedly probably forgot who you are in Christ and the great gifting you have in your salvation, because that should be something you can tap into continuously. That I am no longer lost, I'm never going to die, I have overcome death, sin, and the grave because of grace. The grace of God, the God of all creation, has shown me the truth and led me into the way of life. And so if you don't forget that, how can you not have joy over your salvation? Yeah, I know I'm saved, but I'm like, no, You gotta stop right there. You know, don't take your salvation for granted. You know, somebody walked in darkness for most of their life. I'll never do it, and if I do, I'll chastise myself to remind me. That's why I do the daily practices of going through Who I Am in Christ to remind me of who I am. And so it's the importance of a daily spiritual practice to come before the Lord and His Word and remember who you are. The other things, obviously, if you're— if you've lost your peace, you're either looking in the past about the bad things that happened or how you've been limited by things in the past, or you're looking too far in the future for a distant happiness when contentment would give you peace right now. So I know how tough it can be, and so that's why I point these things out. You know, I'm preaching to the choir here. I might be part of that choir sometimes. So God is good even on a Tuesday. You know, we're not quite to, you know, we're not even midweek here. We, you know, I want to get to the weekend, but, you know, I can have peace today and, you know, find joy in all the things that I have to do, even if they're challenging today. So I hope that encourages anyone listening. And so let's pray for you. And me. Lord God, Heavenly Father, thank you for another day in your kingdom. Lord, we thank you so much for all it is that you've done for us, uh, that you've opened our eyes to, uh, the truth of who Jesus Christ is and the fact that you welcome us into your kingdom. Lord, we pray for anyone listening today that they would, uh, remember this and that they would know that you're with them. And, uh, Lord, we just pray for, for you to come alongside their prayer request and the prayer requests we've made already today for the people in our lives, uh, the people that you put on our hearts and minds. Um, Lord, we just pray for you to bless them and give them your grace. Lord, as always, we pray for you to go before us today, to, to guide our path and open our eyes to the things you would have us— need us to see, and to lead us in the way we should go. Lord, all we want to do is to be faithful to follow you, because you were faithful to us when we didn't deserve it. And, uh, well, we thank you for your love, your grace, your mercy, and your guidance. Lord, we thank you, we praise you, we love you, and we pray all these things in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.