King Me! Walking in the Spirit Purity 957

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 positively blazing sunset on the horizon over the waters of the Hudson River comes to us from yours truly, as I took this no-look shot while driving through Castleton, New York, on the way home from work yesterday. Although I obeyed the local traffic laws, I didn't keep both hands on the wheel. So don't try this at home, kids. Uh, well, it's Friday, thank the Lord God Almighty, and I share this awkward sideways view of the world as an encouragement to look for the beauty in life where you live it and to appreciate where God has put you in life right here and right now, regardless of the circumstances. I appreciate where God has put me so much that I'm sharing the February 1st sunset photo just outside my home that I was going to to share yesterday before I changed my mind and decided to share Dave Bond's better pathway photo from the land down under for Pathway Thursday. Beyond my normal gratitude and appreciation for my home and scenic commute, I am particularly thankful for them today because I don't expect to see them again for quite some time. My employer is sending me on the road to Syracuse, New York for training for the next 8 business days, and because I weekend with my wife in Easton, I won't see these views again until my return trek on February 15th. February is the shortest month of the year, and in many ways, even though we are only on its third day, the month is all but gone for me in one sense, as I am only scheduled to my normal work responsibilities for two days, the 16th and the 17th, before I take all the remaining days off for the for a midwinter recess vacation. Granted, I will be learning new skills at training for the next 8 business days, but it's training, presumably indoors, and even though February will usually make me shiver, it will only be able to do that in a work environment for 2 days. 2 days! I feel like a short-timer in jail or the service before retirement. I can do 2 days standing on my head. I am no big fan of working in winter's cold, and although I'm not thrilled with being forced to Syracuse for training, I can't help but feel blessed as things have worked out, Sovereign God, to where I will only be outside working in the elements for 2 days for the whole month of February. I feel like a checker, and the Lord has used me to do a triple jump to get me to the other side of February's board when the game is has just begun, and all I have to do is sit back and watch it happen. King me! Uh, not to mix metaphors, but with the Super Bowl coming up next weekend, it's like it's first down and March to go, and the Lord just lit up the scoreboard with a Hail Mary. Oh boy. Uh, sending me beyond February's goal line with little or no effort on my part. Talk about blessing and grace. When we are walking and talking with God, good things, amazing things come to pass. Doesn't happen all the time, but when it does happen, it's hard to deny that God's fingerprints are all over our lives. That's why we have to be God-conscious and rest in an attitude of gratitude. Not only should we always give thanks to the Lord for opening our eyes to the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, We should be thanking him continually for shaping the events of our personal lives. When we remember that God is always in control, we can see that he is guiding us and blessing us as we go. When we remember we are not alone in this walk through life and that God is setting things up for us, we will see his invitations into good works and blessings and will be able to rejoice as they happen, as we respond by walking into the things God has for us. Of course, we have to be careful. Sometimes when we walk in the spirit, we think we can almost call the next shot as we imagine where our current pathway is going, only to discover that our expectations and reality were not on the same timeline. So be positive, Be hopeful, but remember that our joy does not come from the convergence of circumstances. It comes from our peace with God. The blessings are a bonus, so don't get it twisted by trying to push God's hand to take you where you want to go because you run the risk of being disappointed and becoming dissatisfied with your current blessed condition. Don't take what you have for granted while looking for for better things. So even though I know my schedule indicates that I'm going to chill in February, in a good way, I'll be doing my best to stay grounded in contentment from moment to moment, from day to day, and enjoy the good aspects of some unasked for and unexpected changes in my normal routine. I hope you see the dynamics of what it means to walk in the Spirit here. Thanksgiving, gratitude, hope, trust, contentment, and joy. Rather than lamenting over the fact that I won't see the beloved views from my place down by the river and on my commute up 9J, I am deciding to embrace what God has arranged and be open to what's next. Even though it seems like I can see the end from the beginning, I know that God is the only one who can do that. That He will determine things regardless of what is forecasted or scheduled by man. So, my friends, let us rejoice over the day that the Lord has made, enjoy each moment as it passes today, and find joy in anticipating what the weekend will have in store for us, but to take that— the time as we go to appreciate where we are now. So keep walking and talking with God and have a great weekend. Today's Bible verse comes to us from the New Living Translation Bible Promise Book for Men. This morning's meditation verse is 1 Peter 5:10, and it says, in his kindness, God called you to share in his eternal glory by means of Christ Jesus. So after you have suffered a little while, he will restore, support, and strengthen you, and he will place you on a firm foundation. Today's Bible verse, uh, reminds us that out of his kindness, God has given us eternal life through our faith in Jesus Christ. And even though we may suffer here on earth, God's word indicates that God will restore, support, and strengthen us as we go, and will place us on a sure foundation. I am not a master builder, guys, but the sure foundation that we have is Jesus Christ. And because of him, we can always find a firm place to stand in life. Our identity in Christ— we are new creations in Christ. We are given eternal life. Wait for it. Uh, and so today's verse covers the here and now, the moment-to-moment steps through this life, and it covers our safety when we step into eternity. The power of our faith lies in our connection to God and our new identities in Christ, and our belief, our faith, in the reality of these things. The restoration, the support, the strength, and the strength, uh, that we receive from the Lord comes from our faith that he is good and will provide for us. I know it sounds trite, but if you believe it, you receive it. Turns out to be very true for the Christian. Because we are standing on the sure foundation of the One who has all authority in heaven and on earth. God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit are for us and will give good gifts to those who place their faith in Christ and believe it. The Gospels are full of situations where Jesus said things like, "Your faith has made you well." That plays out as true for us in terms of being restored, comforted, supported, and strengthened through God's power in our spirit when we surrender to His will and ways. John 8:36 says, "Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed." If you believe that Jesus has set you free, you will be restored, feel supported, feel strong in the Lord. If you believe Jesus has set you free, you will realize you are free, and you will start to live out your freedom, which will only confirm what you believe. So that's our faith here on earth, an interactive relationship with the living God in which he pours his power, his restorative power, his supporting power, and his strengthening power into those who believe and ask to be filled. Now, we don't perfectly know what God's plans are. We don't know when we will be called into eternity, which is when the ultimate restoration, support, and strengthening takes place. We know the realities of life. People tend to get old and die, so we need to draw close to the Lord to help us here on earth, but at the same time accept those times when we suffer, knowing that God has given us a sure foundation to stand on in all times and seasons until the day he calls us home. So thank the Lord for his kindness that saved you. And that will empower you to— empower you or give you the strength to endure until you see him face to face. 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 The Sovereignty of God by A.W. Pink, and we're, we're still in chapter 5, The Sovereignty of God and Reprobation. Where A.W. Pink's walking through Romans 9, and today he's going to cover verses 22 through 23 and 21 apparently. So if you want to see what he has to say about that section of Scripture, go to mt4christ.org and you'll see it at the end of today's blog post. As always, we, we encourage you to walk out your faith and here on earth in everything you say and do, um, by, you know, taking that Christian disciple's path, you know, to believe what the word of God says and to apply its truth to your life as much as you can. As we become more and more aware of our— what's going on in our lives and, and what needs to change and what we need to do and, and where the Lord is calling us, we discover that we have a dynamic relationship with the Lord that doesn't end, and that he wants more for us. He wants us to be filled with peace, joy, love, goodness, uh, faithfulness, kindness, gentleness, patience, and self-control. He wants to mature us in our faith as we go out into the world and make disciples. So not only are we to try to reap a harvest, we are supposed to reap a harvest in ourselves. To become the people God created us to be. Because when we do that, it's a good thing, you know. So we encourage you on that path. The way we do it here at mt4christ.org is we share the discipleship teachings that we, we did back at our local church in 2021. We taught 3 classes for Victory Over the Darkness, The Bondage Breaker, and Freedom in Christ, which are all based on the word of God and work of Dr. Neil Anderson. We've discovered them, these teachings, to be transformative, and they utilize prayer and repentance to help you realize, resolve spiritual and personal conflicts. I've seen it work in my life, and I've seen it work in other people's lives, and thus we share those teachings and encourage you to check those out and to apply them to your life. Um, as always, we also encourage people to study the word of God, um, directly through Bible study. And so we encourage Bible study by producing our own Bible study for your enjoyment. Um, our good friend Arthur and Susanna Sincotti, uh, joins us each week where Arthur presents a Bible study and we walk through his topical study by looking at the scriptures and discussing the things of this world and how they relate and how to, you know, try to live the Christian life. So if you want to check those out, we have a whole archive going all the way back to April of 2021 on the podcast and our YouTube channel of the same name, M.t. For Christ 247. So just search for Bible Study with the Zinkanis. Otherwise, you'll, you'll see these these purity, uh, purity encouragements that I do from time to time, usually 6 days a week but not always, and also a Bonhoeffer teaching that I put out there last year. So if you want to check those out, they're on the podcast and the YouTube channel, and we encourage you to be encouraged in your faith. It's Friday. I gotta make sure I have everything in the car for the next 10 days, 14 days, I don't know what it is. Um, so let's pray. Lord God, Heavenly Father, thank you for another day in your kingdom. Lord, we thank you, um, for all that you do for us. Thank you for opening our eyes to the truth of who Jesus Christ is. Thank you for the eternal life, the strength, the support you give us from moment to moment as we walk by faith in the power of the Holy Spirit. Lord, we pray for the people who might be reading or, or listening to this message today. We just thank you for them, um, Lord, and we just pray for you to bless them. We pray for you to come alongside them in their prayer request, and we pray for you to open their eyes to the things that you're doing in their lives so they know that they're not alone and that you're right there beside them. Um, and Lord, we just pray for you to go before all of us today. We know you're sovereign and you run things So we pray for you to lead us into good things today, Lord. Or we pray for you to open our eyes to the things you want us to see, and we pray for you to strengthen and help us to walk into the things you would have us do. Lord, our heart is for you. Um, we love you, Lord, and we want to do what you would have us do on earth. We want to represent your kingdom here um, to be— to do your will and to, and to draw close to you. So, Lord, we just, we just thank you, we praise you, we love you, and we pray all these things in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.