Man’s Best Friend - Purity 950

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 person and their canine companion sitting on a rock as the sun moves towards setting over Lake Ontario comes to us from Celestial Blue Photography, who shared this scene back on April 10th, 2021. I decided to go back into my phone's photo archives this morning, and I was pleasantly surprised to discover this photo. I was shocked that it didn't, that I didn't use it previously. I suppose the lighting in this shot isn't particularly bright, and I must have other, must have had other shots that I deemed more worthy at the time. But I'm glad I kept it, and although it isn't really a good visual representation of Hump Day, I feel that its simple beauty needs to be shared, and I can draw quite a bit of meaning from it to give the Lord glory on a not-so-typical Wednesday. It's not typical because for me, I, I have the day off from work. I work Saturday this weekend, so today is my Saturday. And while I initially didn't know what I would do with a Wednesday off in January, Events have come together in such a way that my day will be full all the same. A couple of weeks ago, my pastor expressed interest in hearing my story, so we will be meeting later this afternoon to talk and to get to know one another better. I'm looking forward to sharing my testimony and look forward to hear what Pastor Roscoe has to say about his journey through the years of his ministry that transitioned from a mobile church that met in schools and community centers to become a sizable church that requires 3 services on Sunday. But before that, I will be joining my mother and brothers to go to a memorial service for her cousin who died unexpectedly last week. While we didn't have a particularly close relationship, I always respected my first cousin once removed because of his strong presence as a former lineman for the power company, a dependable fan— family man, and for his volunteer works for the community. I was also quite friendly with his two eldest twin sons over the years as we occasionally saw one another out at the bars and wished each other well. My mother and her cousins were very close growing up, and even though we didn't spend much time with them, uh, and I don't grieve very well, I've decided to go today to show my respects to those who will dearly miss their departed loved one. And to offer an encouraging word. The one I would choose is Romans 8:38-39, which says, "For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." When you don't know what someone's relationship with the Lord was— is like, this verse can give us great hope. While I don't know the hearts of men, I know that the Lord grants forgiveness and eternal life for all those who put their faith in Jesus. My extended family has a liturgical Christian background, and so I will assume the best and believe that God's grace is amazing and that my first cousin once removed had faith in Jesus and will never be removed from the Lord's love. So you may see why I chose today's photo of a somewhat melancholy sunset that depicts someone sitting on a rock with man's best friend. I looked back in my photo archives because I know that the meeting with my pastor will undoubtedly have me looking back and remembering how the Lord brought me through some— some very troubling times. And just like today's photo was a little dim, it still shows that the sun is shining and life is beautiful. The Lord's presence is shown in his creation and in the love that we have for one another. But as much as we will be comforted by the presence of our loved ones from time to time, like the person with their dog in the photo, our best friend is Jesus. As he is faithful and true in all times and in all seasons and for all eternity. His love for us is shown on the cross as he died so he— he died so we could live. Our faith in him gives us peace with God and a place in his kingdom forever. But Jesus isn't just there to bring us into the glory— into glory at the end of our lives. Our Our faith in Him gives us the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit, God with us and in us, to go with us through all the trials and tribulations of our lives. So whether we are sitting down to tell a friend of the goodness of God with much rejoicing, or if we are simply sitting silently to show our support to those who weep, the Lord will be with us to work in and through us to encourage and comfort those He wants He wants us to speak to. So while we look forward to brighter days seasonally and circumstantially, let's remember that we can always draw strength from our best friend, Jesus, by remembering what he has done, who he has made us to be, and by abiding in his presence. So keep walking and talking with God. He will leave— he will never leave us or forsake us, and he can use us to give others hope and help in times of trouble, like the faithful friend that we have in Jesus. Today's Bible verse comes to us from the New Living Translation Bible Promise Book for Men. This morning's meditation verse is Joshua 1:8, which says, this book of the law shall not depart from your mouth. But you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your ways prosperous, and then you will have good success. Today's Bible verse reminds us of the importance of having a relationship with God's Word and promises success to those who walk, talk about, meditate upon, talk about it, meditate upon it, and and follow it. The success of walking in the Spirit does not come from simply knowing what the Bible says, but comes from a relationship with it, and where we constantly revisit it, talk about it, think about it, and increasingly apply its wisdom to the way we live our lives. So I encourage you to make Bible study a regular part of your daily spiritual practice. The Word of God will transform the way you see the world and will give you the wisdom so that you can be successful in God's eyes, the only eyes that matter. 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, uh, we're continuing this share from Chapter 4, Sovereignty of God and Salvation. Um, we're on that third section of the Sovereignty of God, the Holy Spirit and Salvation, and we're continuing there, uh, with, uh, another section from, uh, A.W. Pink's text. So if you want to get some good theological teaching on the sovereignty of God and salvation, go to mt4christ.org and look at that resource at the end of today's blog post. As always, we encourage a walk of faith because it's for good times and for bad. Whether you're rejoicing or you're mourning with those who are mourning, the Lord can carry you through, and he can use you to help someone else to know the truth and to find the hope and new life that's found in Christ alone. So I don't work today. I have to prepare for that memorial service and then my meeting with our pastor, and then we'll leave the door open for the late afternoon to see what he's got planned for us. I have an idea about something, but we'll see about that. I'll tell you about it later, maybe. Anyway, I encourage everyone— I know a lot of us have to work today, so let's So let's pray. Lord God, Heavenly Father, thank you for another day in your kingdom. Lord, we pray today that you be with us wherever we go and whatever we're doing. Lord, we, we just want to do your will and be used by you for good, to give people comfort and peace and hope, um, that's only found in you. And, uh, so we, we pray for you to go before us today, Lord. Open our eyes to the things you want us to see. And lead us into the things you want us to do, whether it's to speak boldly or to remain silent and pray. Show us the way we need to go today, Lord. Lord, we also— Alexa, stop that. That's the normal time I have to run out the door, so I'm running a little late this morning, but it's a good thing I have the day off anyway. Lord, we pray for the people who might be listening to this, who just had a chuckle, I'm sure. Um, we pray for them today, uh, that you would come alongside them in their prayer requests and help them in their walk. Lord, we thank you, we praise you, we love you, and we pray all these things in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.