Look Up – What to Do When Emotions Run Cold or Sin Comes In - Purity 1386
In this morning devotional, M.t. Clark opens with a personal photo of a gravel trail and a brief update on his day off, then moves into a teaching drawn from The Chosen’s season‑2 storyline of Mary Magdalene. Using the Get Used to Different student guide, he explains two common spiritual pitfalls—painful life events and self‑focus—that cause believers to lose enthusiasm for their new life in Christ. He emphasizes that Jesus seeks only the heart, not perfection, and urges listeners to “look up” to Him when doubt, fear, or sin arise, citing 1 John 1:9 and Hebrews 12:2‑3. Clark then highlights 1 Corinthians 4:15‑16 as a call to imitate Paul’s godly example, and shares Stephen F. Alford’s devotional on 1 Corinthians 12, which outlines the diversity of spiritual gifts and their purpose for edifying the church. The latter part of the message shifts to practical ministry: Clark describes his Christian life‑coaching business, its client‑vetting process, policies, and the spiritual warfare context in which he works, as well as his growing media library for client use. He repeatedly invites listeners to visit mt4christ.com for resources, coaching appointments, and further content. The devotional concludes with a prayer for guidance, productivity, and spiritual growth, reinforcing the central theme that God’s love and forgiveness are always available, regardless of our failures.
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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 gra— gravel walking trail bordered by rail fencing that stretches into the distance out of sight comes to us from yours truly as I captured this scene back on August 22nd, 2020, uh, during my visit to Stuyvesant Falls Park and I decided to explore the nearby Empire State Trail, aka the Albany Hudson Electric Trail, taking it to its first intersection, Sunnyside Road, before turning around and going back. The Empire State Trail will take you to Canada if you keep going north, but I didn't have the time or energy to do that. Well, it's Thursday, and while I will be able to conserve my energy a bit today because I have the day off from my day job, I will still be busy— I will still busy myself help by running some errands and attending to some office work for my Christian life coaching business. When you— when your heart is surrendered to serve God's kingdom in whatever way you can, but you still have a secular job to meet your financial needs, it can feel like you never get a moment's rest. Because if you are seeking to be edified and to serve God in some way, he will give you opportunities to do so. Although some may long for simpler times, the truth is that our modern technology gives us unprecedented access to Christian resources, and it gives us the capacity to fellowship and minister with people, uh, we ourselves never would have met or reached otherwise. Um, the M.t. for Christ 247 YouTube channel, for instance, now is up to 466 subscribers, and typically has over 50 views a day. While I don't care to examine the numbers too closely to determine the quality of those engagements with our content, I am encouraged all the same because it's more than zero. And as long as there is the potential that our messages are encouraging someone somewhere to follow the Lord and to seek the freedom and purpose, you know, their purpose in Christ, we will keep producing content. Besides, the blog and podcast are more or less my journal. It's a part of my daily spiritual practice, so unless the Lord moves me to stop, I'll keep sharing encouraging words, my testimony, and advice on how to walk in the Spirit the best I can. For today's offering, I'm going to share some great content from the Get Used to Different student guide from the team at The Chosen, which addresses the fact that sometimes our enthusiasm for our new life of faith will waver. And we will stumble in our walk. Today's edited message surrounds The Chosen season 2 storyline of Mary Magdalene and how she momentarily stepped off the path and fell back into the darkness of her former ways until Jesus restored her. Then The Chosen team writes, when you make the choice to follow Jesus, it's often accompanied by emotion and lots of it. It feels good to know our sins are forgiven. There's relief that comes from belonging to God and from knowing we're no longer alone. Most of us are excited to begin our apprenticeship, ready and willing to do whatever it takes to be more like Jesus. Inevitably though, excitement fades. Sooner or later, life throws curveballs and we wonder where our good feelings went. We may even question what we believed at the start of our walk with Jesus. If we're not careful, he becomes more like a guy in our rearview mirror instead of the one who never leaves us or forsakes us. Truth is, any number of things can throw us off the path, but they all tend to fall into one of two categories. Incidentally, both reveal once again the importance of living as Jesus's apprentice. Number one: Painful events. When bad things happen that are outside of our control, our tendency is to focus on rising waters. And those high waters, for example, stress, worry, fear, confusion, hurt, can cause us to doubt God and even pull away from him. Number 2, self-focus. We often choose to get back on that hamster wheel. We return to our old way of life. And all the self-centeredness that comes with it. Of course, as we have been discussing, self-focus and things we do to self-medicate are really just the sin which clings so closely, and none of it, none of it satisfies our soul. The authors then relate— so that was from The Chosen team— the authors then relate how Mary Magdalene fell into sin in season 2 of The Chosen and shares the dialogue of a restoration, uh, writing. Um, when she finally did return to Jesus, she said, I, I just can't live up to it. Well, that's true, he replied, but you don't have to. I just want your heart. The Father wants your heart. Give us that which you already have, and, and the rest will come in time. Did you really think you would never struggle or sin again. I'm just so sorry. Look up. I can't. You can. Look at me. I forgive you. It's over. The same can be true for you. Jesus just wants your heart. That's it. He invites you to be his apprentice, not to enforce a strict regimen of rules and regulations, but to live in the freedom that comes from following him. It's not about being perfect. None of us can be. It's about following. And sometimes as we follow, we're going to trip or even fall flat on our face— faces. But be encouraged, because if we sin, if we confess our sins, Jesus is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9. When you experience doubt or fear, when you struggle with self-focus or even fall into sinful behavior, when you question where God is in the midst of hard things, there's only one thing to do: look up. Let's look— let us look up. Look to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. Hebrews 12:2-3. And then the chosen team prompts us to pray. Jesus, sometimes it's hard to follow you. Some days can be really discouraging, especially when I choose to sin. I know some of my habits are destructive. Please help me follow you into the life of freedom you want for me. And when I feel ashamed and broken and unworthy of your love, please remind me to look up. Amen. Amen. Is it any wonder that I love the show The Chosen and the material they produce? The producers of The Chosen really highlight the person of Jesus and the fact that we are called to follow him. With everything we do. Jesus is the most important thing about us. He gives us life, meaning, purpose, and hope. And he is so gracious to call us to him, even though he knows very well that we will be imperfect in our attempts to be more like him. But he doesn't focus on our performance. He just wants our hearts. And when we give them to him, we realize that our relationship with God is a love relationship. And that it's grounded in his love for us, not our performance. When we know that we can always come back home to Jesus, no matter where we may have been led astray to, uh, and that there is real peace and joy in his presence, we will learn not to wander away from our Good Shepherd. So whether you're walking good or stumbling or crawling along, remember that God loves you, that it's through our love for him that we find the freedom and new life of peace, joy, and purpose that he has for us. As, uh, let's see, today's Bible verse comes to us from the Quick Scripture Reference for Counseling by John G. Cruis. This morning's meditation verses come from the section on Example: Good or Bad, and today's verses are our portions of 1 Corinthians 4:15-16. And the word of God says, "In Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel. Therefore, I urge you to imitate me." Today's verse is the first of 3 passages of scripture that fall under the, the third point of our Counseling Reference Guide's resource section on example. And the third point is: The Apostle Paul set a godly example to teach others how a Christian ought to live. Today's verses encourage us to follow the example of faithful men and women of God. Discipleship is all about learning how to live as a Christian, and frankly, we need guides to show us how to apply the truth of who we are in Christ and the wisdom of the Bible to our lives. We learn how to follow Jesus by those who have been walking with him for some time. Seasoned saints' experience is valuable., and we should emulate those who show the fruit of the Spirit in their lives. So, follow the example of Christians who demonstrate their love for God and their skill in applying their faith to their lives. 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. Allford.. And in Alford's devotional, he prompts us to read a chapter of scripture from the New Testament. Today's chapter is 1 Corinthians chapter 12, and from that chapter he shares a portion of verse 1, which says, "Now concerning spiritual gifts." And Stephen Alford writes, "There are diversity of gifts." Verse 4, the Apostle Paul enumerates 7 of these gifts in verses 28 and 29. But there are many gifts. The believer's responsibility, however, is to desire earnestly the greater gifts. The Holy Spirit is the direct source. There are differences of ministries, verse 5, but just as the Holy Spirit is the direct source of these gifts, even so the Lord's service is the only sphere in which those gifts can be exercised as ministries. There are diversity of activities. Verse 6: In the first thought, the Spirit's work is preeminent. In the second thought, it is the Son. Here it is the Father. He is the great worker who works all in all. Verse 6: He binds together the work of the Spirit, Son, and himself into one purpose: the edifying of the church. Stephen Alford ends by praying, manifest your purpose in my life, O Lord. Amen. Amen. And yeah, there's a— yeah, a diversity of gifts. We have different gifts and talents and different ministries and different activities, and we do them. And when we do them all for the glory of God, we're blessed by it. And that's part of our, you know, part of our maturation process as a Christian when we first come, you know, is service. You know, when we first come into the kingdom, we need to receive, okay? We need, we need to receive love, we need to receive guidance, we need to receive the truth, we need to receive a, you know, a home, a community where we can come and worship and, and learn the truth and we can praise the Lord and we can rejoice over our salvation. You know, that's very important. You know, we need to receive first before we can give, before we can serve. Um, you know, when we do that, we can really, um, we can really grow. But we first have to receive, and after we've learned, we can grow in our confidence, and then we can serve. But sometimes, you know, don't get it twisted. I'm not saying don't do anything. You can serve in a small measure, but, you know, make sure you're in the Kingdom first. And part of the way you can confirm that is by serving. You want to, you know, if you're part of the, you know, if you're in the Kingdom, you want to serve your church that feeds you. You know, you want to be part of the part of the solution, not part of the problem. You want to help the kingdom of God. And, you know, when I first started, I, you know, was really in search of a church home. And when I found one, I went to the pastor and I said, you know, I want to serve. And they made me an usher, which, you know, somewhat humbling at times, but it's good to be a part of things. And then I, you know, transitioned to be part of the audiovisual team on showing the worship lyrics up on the, uh, the screen during worship time. And then, you know, and then I went into recovery and then eventually started serving in recovery. And through it all, you grow in your faith, you know, you become more and more like Jesus because you learn more and more what he's like. And you have the good example of faithful men and women of God around you to teach you how to grow, and then you actually pray out loud and, um, you know, represent the church and, you know, the kingdom of God, you know. And that's it, you know, you give your whole life to it. It wasn't just a matter of this is what I do on Sunday. And that was the thing, um, you know, one of the, you know, several of the people, you know, indicated, um, as a Christian you're supposed to you know, what do you do as a Christian? Well, you pray and read the Bible every day. Like, what, every day? Yeah, every day. Um, and like, like I say, you develop a daily spiritual practice, and you do that. You come before God, you thank him for everything he's given you on a daily basis. You affirm yourself in Christ, and you, you know, build yourself up with the word of God. You pray for other people. And you grow. And it may sound simple, but that's what happens. But it's not rules and regulations though, because if you just say, "Oh, I have to do this," and there's no love in it, you know, if you don't have any love for the Lord and you, you know, aren't trying to draw closer to God, there's going to be a problem, and those good feelings will go away pretty quick. And because ours is a love relationship and we have to foster that and grow the love. And by literally saying, "Lord, I love you," throughout the day, that's a spiritual practice I can give you right there. A love of the Lord, you can practice that, you know, for throughout my day when I'm just reflecting, just going around, I'll just say, "You know what, Lord, I love you." because I do. He's given me a new life and I'm very grateful. So, well, today I have the day off and we'll see about how that goes. I have to do some legal filing for the business I established. The LLC requires a publication, filing a publication or something, and I have— I'm processing data for my clients whether or not they'll ever utilize it, but I'm building a media library basically of all the Christian material that I have, and I got a lot of it. And, you know, just the video alone is just insane, but I'm going to make my personal library available to my clients, and, you know, on a case-by-case basis. And, you know, it might overwhelm them to give them access to everything at once. Here you go. You know, here's about a year's worth of video you can watch, you know, and plus some of it's helpful, some of it's not so helpful. You know, I have to be wise and discerning and give people what they're ready for, what they need in their walk. And they sort of guide their own walk. They know their lives better than me. You know, I'm there to help with spiritual formation and address mental health issues or, you know, recovery or purity or or physical fitness or good health, you know, just by raising awareness and, you know, making people accountable, trying to help people walk in the Spirit and flourish in their lives and meet them where they're at. That's all I do as a Christian life coach. And I pray, of course, every day for my clients and during our sessions. So it's really rewarding, and I only have 2 clients currently, but it's It's really a blessing to me, and I've run into difficulties basically. People have found me and rejected me, you know, basically because of my policies, but that's okay. We're going to deal with that. I really want to help people. I don't want to waste my time, however, so you have to have a certain level of commitment to be my client. More or less begins with a commitment, the initial meetings fee, just to talk and see if we can work together. You know, I don't know who you are in cyberland, and I have to vet the people I take on as clients. And it's not impersonal, and I'm not trying to close the door to people who can't afford that, but I'm not your pastor. I'm a Christian life coach. And, um, you know, I have to be discerning in terms of what cases I take on because I deal with spiritual warfare and the enemy's coming against me, um, in the work I do. Um, so he would love for me to waste my time and, and spend, um, you know, spend time wasting on people who are demonically oppressed and being used by the enemy. Um, you know, and who, who won't be set free. You know, he knows who will repent and who won't, or he thinks he does, you know. But, um, but I'm going to open the door. And I— and by the way, it's not like I'm shutting the door here. I, I get, you know, the people I, I don't take on, I refer to someone else. I refer to Freedom in Christ Ministries, the free ministries out there that deal with freedom ministry or deliverance ministry. Ministry. You know, just me specifically, I only have so much time and I need to be discerning in how I spend it. If you'd like to become a client, you can go to mt4christ.com and click on the links for Christian life coaching and prayer ministry and find my appointments page. You'll see how limited my time is because it's currently one night a week. That's it. Only a few appointments available. Um, I don't have a lot of time and I don't want to waste it. And so, so that's that. Anyway, um, I gotta get about, you know, I gotta get busy with my day. So let's go, uh, let's pray. Lord God, Heavenly Father, thank you for another day in your kingdom. Thank you so much, Lord, for the life you've given us. We appreciate the day off. Um, let us use it to, uh to get things done and to enjoy our life and to, you know, rejoice over being in your kingdom. Lord, we pray for anybody listening or reading today's message, they'd be blessed in their walk of faith and their day, whether they're working or, or have the day off like me. Um, we pray for you to be with them and come alongside them with their prayer requests and their walk of faith. Um, And Lord, while we're at it, even though I have the day off, I'd still like you to come and lead me as well. Um, we all need your help, and, uh, I definitely need your help to stay on track. So, um, we pray for you to open our eyes to the things you want us to see and lead us in the way we should go, because all I want to do is represent you in your kingdom, Lord, and we definitely need your help with that. So that's what we're praying for. Lord, We're we thank you, we praise you, we love you, and we pray all these things in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.
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