One Way and Completely Different - Purity 1363

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 the sun rising over Willard Mountain and pouring over the Waite Road cross comes to us from yours truly as I captured this heavenly scene back on Sunday, April 21st of this year. Well, it's Friday, thank God, and as the sun begins to rise on the last day of May, I am thinking about transitions from the old to the new, and how things can gradually or quite suddenly go from one way to being completely different. Uh, get used to different is one of the catchphrases, uh, that has emerged from the series The Chosen. It is an apt description of not only how Jesus shifted the paradigms of what it meant to truly worship and obey God, but it also should describe a fundamental change that happens in someone's life when they become his disciple. The Chosen Season 4 is finally being released for streaming this weekend, but before it makes its debuts on the Chosen app, YouTube, X, and Facebook this Sunday at, uh, 7 PM Eastern, my wife and I went to the theater to see it as soon as we could. To support the show in its efforts to share the gospel, I even purchased The Chosen's Get Used to Different student guide. Which is geared to young adults. Oh, I just lost my place. I'm not a young adult. Which is geared— er, er, er— which is geared— which is geared to young adults or those who have recently chosen Jesus as our Lord and Savior. Recently I decided to read through it devotionally as part of my daily spiritual practice, and as I've and I have been pleasantly surprised and blessed by its simple presentation of what it means to be a follower of Jesus Christ. This morning's reading addressed the transformation of Mary Magdalene and Nicodemus's discussion with Jesus, where the Son of God said in John 3:5-6, most assuredly I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Most assuredly I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. In season 1 of The Chosen, Mary Magdalene's explanation to Nicodemus described what being born again, or being born of the Spirit, is like. She said in the series, I was one way, and now I am completely different. And the thing that happened in between was him. The Get Used to Different Student Guide puts it clearly that after you put your faith in Jesus, things are supposed to be different, indicating that everyone who comes to Jesus has a quote-unquote "I was one way" story, that a new life comes with being born from trauma like Mary Magdalene, ignorance, or from some, uh, or from a result of our own ignorance and sinful or foolish choices, or a combination of all the above. But regardless of how different the content— contents of our individual narratives are, of our— of our 'I was one way' story are, the conclusions are similar to Mary and Niko's. Yes, the millennial-focused devotional calls Nicodemus Niko, and I love it. Although these two followers' lives were vastly different, um, Nico, uh, they could both say I was one way and now I am completely different, and the thing that happened in between was him. The Lord knows I was changed after I put my faith in Jesus in 2010. Some things changed pretty quickly. I had hope and I had joy over the forgiveness of my sins and sought to be a real Christian. I adopted the label of born-again Christian because that's what I was— born again. And I began reading the Bible to know God more and to try to change my life to reflect the light poured into me by the Holy Spirit. Many other changes came gradually over time as my life increasingly became completely different, as I progressively repented of my sins and adopted the lifestyle of a disciple of Jesus Christ. So what about you? Has your faith in Jesus Christ taken you from one way to completely different? Are you comfortable with the label "born-again Christian" being applied to you? And have you been transformed by your faith in Jesus? Can you see the fruit of the Spirit growing in your life? If the answer to those questions is no, it doesn't have to stay that way. The Get Used to Different student guide offers the following prayer to get your journey with Jesus started. And it says to pray this: Jesus, I know that I'm a sinner who needs a Savior, and I know that Savior is you. Please forgive me and come into my life and lead me. I want to be different in the way that only you can make me to be. Amen. Amen. If you want the fruit of the Spirit to grow in your life and to experience your own one-way story and a continuing dynamic adventure and vibrant life of faith, seek the Lord and His righteousness. Jesus! Read the Bible, join a Bible-believing church, and ask the Lord to help you to live by faith in the power of the Holy Spirit. And as always, keep on walking and talking with God. Today's Bible verses come to us from the Quick Scripture Reference for Counseling by John G. Crews. This morning's meditation verses are Psalm 32:3-4 from the New Living Translation. The Word of God says, when I refused to confess my sins, my body wasted away and I groaned all day long. Day and night your hand of discipline was heavy on me; my strength evaporated like water in the summer heat. Today's verses fall under the third point of our Counseling Reference Resource section on depression, and that third point was: David was very depressed when he confessed his sin of adultery. Today's verses describe the life of someone who has a heart for God but who is still living in the darkness of sin. Quite simply, even though Christians are forgiven of every sin they will ever commit, we are not supposed to use our forgiveness as a license to sin or to live contrary to the ways of the Lord. We are to be holy as He is holy, and although we will always fall short of the sinless perfection exemplified by Jesus, we are not to continue in blatant and unrepented sin. When we do, we, like David here, suffer the consequences, the consequences which can include a loss of energy and zeal for life. It can give us a sense of guilt, you know, and be an open door for the enemy's accusations, condemnation, and torment, and of course depression. So don't do that. Confess and repent of your sins to enjoy peace with God. And the joy that comes from knowing that you're living according to who you are in Christ and have been set free from sin and death. 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 Alford, um, which is, uh, a devotional. And, uh, in this devotional, um, Alford prompts us to read a chapter of scripture. Today's chapter would be Romans 6, and from Romans 6 he shares a portion of verse 22, which is Fruit to Holiness. And Stephen Alford writes, before a seed bears fruit, it must first die. Before a believer bears fruit, he must be made free from sin through dying with Christ. Reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, says the apostle in Romans 6:11. After death, the seed sprouts into new life. Similarly, if we become united to Christ in his death, we shall be united to him in his resurrection. The next essential for a fruit-bearing plant is its pruning. The plant, so to speak, must yield itself to the experienced gardener. In the same way, the believer must present himself as a live from the dead, and his members as instruments of righteousness unto God; so that just as that plant now becomes the servant of the gardener, even so the believer becomes the servant of God. Thus says the Apostle, you have your fruit to holiness, verse 22. This is the fruit of holiness, or character: love, joy, and peace. Alfred ends his devotion by praying, "Oh Lord, make me more fruitful for you. Amen." And yeah, this— today's message really touched on what happens when you become a disciple of Jesus Christ, that things become completely different. And when we continue in our sin, we'll be depressed. And when we surrender ourselves as Instruments of righteousness for the Lord, that we start living for him. Um, you know, we, we feel the fruit of joy and love and peace grow in our lives. Why? Because all the guilt and depression is gone, and we can live at peace knowing we're doing the thing, you know, we're living according to the will of God for our lives, which is our sanctification. So that's the difference, you know. Unfortunately, I know all too well how we can misunderstand the gospel to be, you know, a ticket to heaven or get out of jail free card, get out of hell free card, and continue in our sin. Because that's what I did when I first got saved. I was so happy over the message of the gospel that I, you know, didn't have to do anything to be a Christian except for Jesus, accept Jesus as Lord and Savior, that I didn't quite, I didn't quite get the whole idea of holiness or repentance. In fact, in my early days of Christianity, um, you know, basically I had a real problem with the word repentance. I thought it was a bum deal. I thought it was a bait and switch, you know, that, you know, I thought I was forgiven. I shouldn't have to do anything, just forgive me for my sin and let me be. But God calls you into his family, and he wants you to walk like his family. He wants you to be more like him, and it's not because he says so, it's because that's really what's best for you, and that's what you were created to be, uh, the person God created you to be. And not somebody who's full of sin and rebellion, but someone who does good, who's faithful and kind and patient and has self-control. And those just happen to be the fruit of the Spirit, and that's what happens when you Follow Christ. He changes your heart that you don't want to do those things anymore. And, you know, he opens your eyes to show you the truth that those things aren't good. Those things that may have felt good weren't really good. And there was, you know, whatever it is, the pleasures of this world— there's usually an approved way to enjoy the pleasures of this world according to God's truth. Sex is meant for marriage. Food is to be had in moderation, so is alcohol. Drugs are used to be for medicine and not for, you know, getting high. So, and with that, please, I don't want to hear like, "Yeah, it's medicinal." Hey, you know, if your intention is just to satisfy your flesh and you have no relationship with the Lord, You know, the gospel, the scriptures talk about suffering pains, and Paul had a thorn in the flesh. And while it's undetermined exactly what that meant, it sounds like physical pain. And he prayed to have it taken away, and it wasn't taken away. And Paul didn't say, oh, Well, but, you know, I decided to get high. There was alcohol and, you know, other medicinal remedies, and Paul doesn't tell us to just use that. You know, there are indications that, you know, there is a place for medicine, as he told Timothy to use alcohol for his stomach, but You know, that was a different time in a different era, and it wasn't, you know, to indulge drunkenness or, uh, you know, feelings of euphoria. Um, you know, it was to take care of a hurt. And, and scripture also indicates that we're, we're gonna sometimes just suffer, um, and ask the Lord to help us. So yikes. Yeah, this path of Christian discipleship is, it's not an easy path. That's why we're to read the word, to have an understanding of what it's like. And I usually point to books like Romans to tell you what it's like. We take every thought captive, that we renew our minds with the word of God and make our body, you know, sacrifice our bodies to the Lord's purposes. When we do that, we discover a peace that goes beyond understanding. When we walk in God's will. I know it's difficult, or it may sound difficult or darn near impossible, because that's the lie of the enemy. You can't live like that. Come on, this is the real world, you know. But the truth is, we can progress. We can make progress and be more and more like Jesus when we surrender to his will. And turn from our sin, and God will give you the power to do that. Ask me how I know. I was an alcoholic for most of my life, for like decades. So I wasn't always a born-again Christian. I was far from God in many ways, but when I understood his love for me and the forgiveness he gave me, my heart was changed. And I wanted to live for him instead of against him. And this is the story that I tell and will continue to tell until he calls me home. So that's what the blog and the podcast is all about—encouraging others to seek the Lord, make Jesus the Lord and Savior, and to walk in his ways and to spread the gospel and make other disciples. It's what we're supposed to do. It's the Great Commission. Anyway, uh, today is Friday, and what I'm supposed to do today is go into work, um, and then later today I go to my niece's play, um, in Albany. And so the day will be full, and so we should get to it. Lord God, Heavenly Father, thank you for another day in your kingdom. We thank you so much for all that you do for us, how you set us free, how you've forgiven us, and how you give us the power to live for you. Lord, we, uh, we pray for anyone who's listening or reading today's message, that they would put their faith in you and follow you and to receive the things you have for them. We pray for you to come alongside them and their prayer request and to guide them in the way they should go. While you're at it, Lord, we also pray for ourselves, that you would open our eyes to the things you want us to see today and lead us in the way we should go, because we need as much help as we want. Because all— as much help as you want to give us, as you can give us, because all we want to do is represent you in your kingdom here on Earth, on the Earth, until you come back. Lord, we thank you, we praise you, we love you, and we pray all these things in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.