In this episode of the MT for Christ 24/7 podcast, host M.t. Clark shares a personal testimony of conversion and recovery, reflects on the theme of being "wholly available" to God, and weaves together scripture, devotional excerpts, and practical counsel. He opens with a description of a winter sunset photo and thanks God for his upcoming reunion with his wife. Clark recounts his past life under a false religion, addictions, and sinful thoughts until a gospel radio message by David Jeremiah on March 19, 2020 led to his salvation. He cites Dr. Charles Stanley’s In Touch devotion on being fully available to God, urging listeners to trust God’s timing, shine their spiritual light, and pray continually for guidance. Clark then discusses how to discern God’s leading, test spiritual impressions against Scripture, and avoid false guidance. He reads John 10:27‑30 from a counseling reference, emphasizing humility, the Shepherd’s voice, and the purpose of salvation beyond heaven. The episode includes a Jay Adams devotional on guarding one’s spiritual diet, warning against unhealthy media consumption and encouraging a “spiritual diet” of God’s word. Clark promotes his ministry resources—mtforchrist.com, YouTube playlists, and the Celebrate Freedom support group at Starpoint Church—offering both in‑person meetings in Upstate New York and an online series. He concludes with a pastoral prayer asking for God’s eyes to be opened, for listeners’ faith, and for help with personal and communal needs.
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Welcome to the MT for Christ 24/7 podcast. I am M.t. Clark, and this is today's photo. To see today's photo, go to mtforchrist.com or follow me, M.t. Clark, on Facebook or Twitter, or, uh, watch us on YouTube. Good morning. Today's photo of a wintry wait road as the Lord set the horizon on fire with a spectacular sunset. Comes to us from yours truly as I capture this scene while out walking on December 17th, 2022. Well, it's Friday, thank God, and I am rejoicing as I will be reunited with my wife Tammy Lynn tonight. And I am just thankful for all that the Lord has done in my life since I made Jesus the Lord and Savior of my life. When I first got saved, I was a disciple of a false religion and enslaved to my flesh, addictions, and the wanderings of my wicked thoughts. I was only concerned with pleasing myself, and I didn't make good choices, and consequently was in a vicious cycle that always led to pain. But God changed all that back on March 19th, 2020, when he broke down the door to invade my life. Through a simple gospel radio message by David Jeremiah. Since then, I have been trying to be a real Christian, quote unquote, and, uh, the Lord has truly blessed me since surrendering my life to him and trusting him to guide me through the rest of my life on into eternity. Even the Dr. Seuss book Oh, the Places You'll Go couldn't have prepared me for the adventure I have been on since I told the Lord that I was available to do his will. Speaking of making ourselves available to the Lord, Dr. Charles Stanley's In Touch devotion for today addresses this topic, and I'm sharing it on the blog today to share the good doctor's sage advice. Uh, Dr. Charles Stanley writes, wholly available. God is ready to move in the lives of those who trust him, even when they don't understand his plan. Ask yourselves, what kind of light Am I? Is your glow a little dull, a flicker others can see only if they're really looking? Or do you brighten everything up when you walk into a room? As Christians, we should shine brightly no matter where we are. One thing that, that may dim our radiance is shortsightedness. Before agreeing to obey the Lord, we may think we have to see exactly what he plans to do. But we're called to be faithful ambassadors who trust his Spirit to work as he wants. It's as if God were saying, don't give me a schedule, trust me, watch me do things my way in my time and see what happens. You're deeply loved by the Lord, and as a member of God's family, you are indwelt by his Spirit. His light is the radiance within you. You have no idea what amazing things he can do in the workplace, at school, or with family, neighbors, or friends through your willingness to shine the light of his powerful love. If you'll get on your knees and pray, Lord, I'm available, do whatever you want with my life and show me what you desire, he'll reveal the next step. God is willing and ready to move in the life of anyone who chooses to be available for him. That was from Dr. Charles Stanley, and I say amen. I have to admit it, it can be confusing when you decide to follow the Lord. While praying, reading the Bible, and going to church are spiritual practices that are obviously things we should do as Christians, what about the rest of our lives? Do I just coast through life like I always did before I came to Christ? Or do I try to be a light for the gospel and attempt to represent God's kingdom everywhere I go? And if I do actually choose the latter, how do I do that? Well, Stanley gives us great advice here. We are to go to God in prayer— I would suggest continually— to tell the Lord that you are available to do his will on earth and, and to ask him what you should do. This is the foundation to a life lived in the Spirit. We ask God for guidance, listen, and then act on what we receive or think we receive from the Lord. We can't always be certain if we are on the right track until we step out in faith and obey what we are, are feeling is our call from the Lord. Also, we have to be actively seeking what the Lord may want us to do. He guides our steps, so, and so if we encounter opportunities to serve his kingdom or to do good works, we We need to consider that these things we run into may be where God is guiding us. When you run into opportunities that may be sent from God, ask him and listen. The Holy Spirit in you will confirm it. It's like intuition in your spirit. If it's a yes or no, uh, if it's a yes, say yes. If not, keep looking. Also, although the Lord may call us to think outside of the box and could challenge our limits, The work he sends us to do will be in accordance with his will revealed in Scripture. The Lord never calls us to sin for the greater good, so beware of false guidance from the enemy. Test the spirits by asking, "Is the thing I'm thinking in accordance with God's word?" And you can have some idea whether you are on the right track or not. And don't worry if you make mistakes— make a mistake and get it— or get it wrong. God will be there for you to help you to recalculate and get pointed in the right direction. So tell God you are available and be ready to go and represent his kingdom wherever you go. Today's Bible verse comes to us— verses come to us from the Quick Scripture Reference for Counseling by John G. Cruis. This morning's meditation verses come from the section on humility and pride, and And today's verses are John 10:27-30. And the word of God tells us, my sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. And I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of my— out of the Father's hand. I and the Father are one. Today's verses fall under the seventh point of our Counseling Reference Guides resource section on humility, and that seventh point is: if you have remained faithful to the Lord, it's by God's grace and power. Today's Bible verses, um, tell us that it was the Father who has given us to Jesus, and so we should be humbled and remind ourselves that it is only because of God that we could can hear our Good Shepherd's voice and come into the kingdom. We should know that once we hear God's voice to come into his kingdom, we should keep listening for it to guide us to do the good works that God has prepared for us. God didn't save us just so we can go to heaven. He saved us to be in his family and to represent the family business, and to do so in humility because we are adopted. We have to be— we have been given an amazing gift in Jesus and in our faith, and we should express our appreciation for it by joyfully serving God's kingdom purposes and by sharing this good news with others. As always, we encourage everyone to go to mtforchrist.com, where we always share insights from prominent Christian theologians and counselors to assist our brothers and sisters in Christ for their walk. Today we continue sharing from Day by Day Along the Way. Uh, it's a 360— by Jay Adams. It's a 365-day devotional, and we're on day 51, where Adams shares Proverbs 16:17b, uh, which says, he who guards himself takes heed to his way. And J.E. Adams writes, people guard themselves against physical dangers. They make a point to drive carefully, eat the right foods, see the doctor regularly, stay out of dangerous zones, and so on. Yet the persons who are most careful are sometimes the ones who are the most careless about spiritual harm. How much care do you take to be sure that your soul stays healthy? Healthy souls are fostered by what Paul calls healthy words . Such words are God's words and those of his children as they speak to one another about them. You must consume all such words. Are you careful about your spiritual diet? Well, if you aren't, it's time to consider it. Much of what you unguardedly consume from TV, movies, and the internet consists of unhealthy soul food. Are you feasting on poison, or is your soul growing stronger daily as you feed on the healthy words of God? It may be time for you to evaluate your daily diet and perhaps make significant changes to it. I'm sorry, well, that's, that's me. I added to it. In doing so, you may want to take an inventory of what you listen to in a week and then make some decisions in the light of what you discover. Amen. And that's some great advice from a, uh, prominent Christian counselor. He's no longer with us, but his, his wisdom is passed on through his books. And, uh, that's why I share his devotional. And, you know, this is all about the, the media we consume, you know, um, from TV, uh, movies, or the internet, or even secular books, you know. And so we should take a look at our spiritual health. What, what words are we feeding on? Are we feeding on the word of God, or are we feeding on the words of the world and the And, you know, the world system that is in control, uh, is controlled by Satan. Um, so we have to, you know, take a look. Um, I know Caleb has the— I think it's Caleb— has the 40-day challenge where they encourage you to listen to worship music for 40 days and to see if it changes your life. Um, I would suggest it. And, you know, where you can make a switch from secular music to Christian music and You know, um, to look at the TV you're watching— is it honoring the Lord, or is it honoring the flesh, violence, sex, or the devil? Um, you know, when we look at these things, we'll be convicted. I shouldn't be watching this, and, um, it's not doing me any good. It makes me afraid, or it makes me lustful, makes me angry. Um, you know, that's a barometer of our souls telling us the stuff we're consuming media-wise may not be good for us. So I have to be wise and discerning in terms of what we, what we use. And, um, you know, we always ask the question, are you fully surrendered to God? And if you are, are you willing to surrender your TV, your music, and your internet to the Lord? Um, it's a big switch. And, you know, uh, our, our walk in faith is progressive. And as the Lord gives you victory in one area of your life, you go after another area. And you let the Lord into all the rooms of your house and let him get in there and help you clean them up. Um, and when you do, things get better. As I said, I was, uh, locked— I was enslaved to my flesh addictions and my wicked thoughts. And when I, when I started to feed on the word of God, my thoughts began to change and my life began to change. And the Lord delivered me from all my troubles, and now I live in joy and peace and gratefully, humbly serve him in whatever capacity I can. And that's why I share the, the, this podcast and my blog, um, just to tell people the good news and pray for the Lord to use my message to reach others. But another, you know, so God will give you a purpose, and another part of my purpose is to lead the Celebrate Freedom support group at Starpoint Church. We meet on Wednesdays, and, uh, we're, we're in, we're in season. So, uh, come on down to Clifton Park if you're in Upstate New York, and, um, or come on up, um, and join us on Wednesday nights for Christian Recovery and Discipleship. We teach walking in the Spirit, and we go through the Celebrate Recovery material to give you a pathway or framework to overcome your hurts, habits, and hang-ups.. But, you know, no pathway or framework's gonna be any good unless it's, uh, you know, guided by our Good Shepherd. And, uh, this is a Christian group, so we— it's infused with Christian, uh, principles and the word of God. And we invite anyone in Upstate New York to come out to see it. Uh, also, if, uh, so if you're not in Upstate New York, guess what? There's good news. Um, The Lord put on my heart to do the teachings, uh, for these things online. And, um, basically Celebrate Freedom is now available as a YouTube series. Uh, I just launched it last week, and, uh, there's episodes 1 and 2, uh, the ABCs to Celebrate Freedom, and the lesson 1, the— or lesson, you know, uh, Denial, uh, are the 2 episodes out. And we'll be, uh, prayerfully, uh, loading up the next episode, um, next week. So, so if you need help to overcome your hurts, habits, and hangups and can't get to a Christian recovery group, we offer this resource so you can grow. Move along. And we also offer other series to help you find or increase your freedom in Christ. We've done podcasts for The Victory Over the Darkness, The Bondage Breaker, Freedom in Christ, and our own Celebrate Freedom discipleship course. Those are all available on our YouTube channel or on mt4christ.com where we have a page dedicated to all our playlists. So if you want to find them easier than looking at our playlist page, you can go to mt4christ.com for that. And we, we do, um, well, yeah, well, let's move along. Uh, we do appreciate your views and your subscribing, uh, to the service is what I was trying to say anyway. Um, And we always end the podcast by saying, are you empty for Christ too? Uh, if so, keep on walking and talking with God. Um, if not, do what Stanley said and pray to the Lord and ask him to guide you and tell him you're available to come into his kingdom. Uh, if you know, ask him to reveal himself and ask him to help you make the decision to make Jesus your Lord and Savior. Uh, we believe God will answer that prayer. And, uh, we know when it— when he does, it'll be a great, wonderful thing for you. So we encourage you to put your faith in Jesus. We know that prayer works, and that's why we pray every day, like right now. Lord God, Heavenly Father, thank you for another day in your kingdom. And thank you for all that you've done for us, Lord, this adventure of faith that you put us on, a new life that you've given us, um, Lord. But, uh, We still make mistakes, we still mess it up sometimes, so we, we need your help today. Um, Lord, open our eyes to the things you want us to see and lead us in the way we should go as we go out today into the world. And, uh, Lord, we also ask for your help with our friends who may be listening or reading or watching this message today, that you come alongside them and their prayer requests, their walk of faith, and to to bless them, uh, answer their prayers, Lord. Help them to, uh, to follow you. And, uh, Lord, we, we thank you, we love you, we praise you, and we pray all these things in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.
