Our Favorite People - 28 Day Joy Challenge – Day 13 – Purity 1069

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 riverwalk pathway over what is presumably the Hiawassee River somewhere near Murphy, North Carolina comes to us from Fred Dimick, who shared this scene yesterday on social media reporting that water levels are up for the summer. The river is now a lake and accessible by boat. Well, it's Thursday, and I share Fred's photo as a visual reminder to get on or to stay on the path of Christian discipleship, as is my habit for the fourth day of the work week, because Thursdays were the night for Celebrate Freedom at my old church, and I would send out encouragements on social media for people to come give their hurts, habits, and hang-ups to God. But that was then, and this is now. I am happy to report that Pastor Bob Costello started up Celebrate Freedom at Rock Solid Church in Hudson, New York, earlier this year on Thursdays. The Lord moved me north of the Capital District where I lead a Celebrate Freedom growth group at Star Point Church in Clifton Park on Wednesday nights. So I share Fred's photo of a river that has become a lake also as evidence that there are different seasons in life and things change, and that's not always a bad thing. Not only did my leaving my old church eventually result in two Celebrate Freedom ministries to serve the body of Christ. My decision to leave the place I called my church home for over 10 years was done in the name of love, as I decided that rather than trying to split our time between two churches, I would make Tammy Lynn's church my church, and in effect make Starpoint Church's people my people, as a natural result of making Tammy Lynn's family my family when I married her on New Year's Day of 2022. Um, in my attempts to try to get to know my friend Tammy Lynn better, uh, back in 2021— 2021 was when that happened— um, I joined the divorce care group at Starpoint Church thinking I might see her there. But while she didn't go, I did receive much— some much-needed support and healing through the ministry and made quite a few friends at Starpoint. Starpoint. So when Tammy Lynn and I decided to marry, the decision to go to Starpoint was, was an easy one. I had streamed, um, the services on a couple of, of occasions and liked what I saw in Pastor Roscoe's messages. I had friends in the church through divorce care, and when I decided that I would make Starpoint Church my church, Tammy Lynn and I went through Starpoint Church's premarital counseling with Pastor Ernie Schenck and his wife Amy. Add to all this the fact that Tammy Lynn's brother Donald and his wife Megan went to Star Point Church with their children, and it was an easy decision to make Star Point my new home, my new church home. Just thinking about all the people I have met, the friends I have made at Star Point, fills me with joy. And that brings us to our current series where I am talking walking through the 28 Days to Joy Challenge because we are encouraging ourselves and others, you, to find peace in our lives by increasing our capacity for joy and by building our emotional resilience through simple practices of quieting and appreciation. The 28 Day Joy Challenge is based on Dr. Marcus Warner and Chris Corsi's latest book, The Four Habits of Joy-Filled People, and you can sign up to take it for free and purchase a variety of books from Warner and Kersey on the topic of joy by going to 4habits.org. And the link for that is on the blog. So let's jump into Day 13, which will direct us to remember our favorite people and how they give us joy. Day 13, the 28-day challenge said, Day 13, our favorite people. Welcome to Day 13 of the 28 Days to Joy Challenge. Today's encouragement: at any moment, you can turn your attention to special people and memories in your life to create joy. With continued practice, you will learn how to find a renewed sense of peace, calm, and joy, even if you are having a tough day or are going through a difficult season. Today's practice, Exercise 13: Today we will practice appreciating a person and putting those feelings into words. How this exercise will benefit you: Thinking about positive moments and people who light up to see us primes our brain to experience joy in the present. We can enjoy a special person and a joyful memory even in his or her absence. Exercise steps: Think of a person you look forward to interacting with and identify qualities you enjoy in this person. If you have a secure relationship where it would not feel too uncomfortable, share something you appreciate about this person and tell them why you are thankful for them. Have fun with this exercise. We pick up tomorrow with more joy practice. That's from our good friends at 4habits.org. As I sat down to do today's joy practice, I immediately thought of my wife, Tammy Lynn, as the person I look forward to interacting with. She is the love of my life, my best friend, and my wife after all. But part of me thought maybe I should think about somebody else that I look forward to interacting with to temper the M.t. Tammy Lynn, Tammy Lynn love fest at my blog's testimonies. Naturally, reports on. As I sat on my meditation cushion pondering that thought, and also thought about what quality of Tammy Lynn's I would focus on if I decided to go with her for today's joy practice, my attention was drawn to the Box of Love, a box that Tammy Lynn gave me on our first anniversary that she filled with little cards throughout 2021 that told me she loved me. She didn't have a card for all— she doesn't— she didn't have a card for all 365 days of her first year of marriage. And so it had been, you know, so I don't have to check it every day. Um, and so it had been a couple days since I checked the box. I usually check it like once a day, but like I said, it's not a daily thing. She's not perfect. Anyway, um, so, but it's been— it's been a while, and apparently there was 3 envelopes I had to open from June 13th through the 15th. And as I was— and as I read what was in there, I was humbled by the sweet expressions of Tammy Lynn's love for me. And that made up my mind. My mind was made up. Tammy Lynn is my favorite person, and I could write volumes about how I love her. While several— and during— while she has several She has, she has several enduring qualities. I think that her loving nature is the easiest thing to point to this morning as one quality I appreciate about her. Think of it, during our first year of marriage, Tammy Lynn secretly was filling a box with little notes about the things that were happening to her in 2022 and how she loved me, uh, to give to me on our first anniversary and to remind me of how much I am loved. Throughout all of 2023. Um, who does that? Um, well, my love, my wife, my best friend, and the love of my life does that. Tammy Lynn does. Um, the phrase 'I am not worthy' comes to mind as I think about, uh, and deeply appreciate Tammy's loving nature. So it's no surprise that Tammy Lynn is my favorite person, and frankly, I don't care if if that fact, if the fact that I constantly write about her bothers anybody. The love we have for one another is a constant source of joy in my life, and I am not ashamed to tell the world. As Christians, we are to love one another, so why not love deeply? So what about you? Who's your favorite person? What quality about them do you appreciate? And do they know this? I encourage you to step out into today's joy practice and let your favorite person or people— the more the merrier, right?— know how much you appreciate them. Joy is contagious, so take the joy you have and spread it by telling the favorite people in your life just how much you love them and why. Today's Bible verses come to us from the New Living Translation Bible Promise Book for Men. This morning's meditation verses are Matthew 6:8 9 through 13. And the word of God says— the words of Jesus say— pray like this: Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy. May your kingdom come soon. May your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today the food we need, and forgive us our sins as we have forgiven those who sin against us. And don't let us yield to temptation, but rescue us from the evil one. Today's verses make up the Lord's Prayer, and they teach us to talk to our Heavenly Father. Although I have to admit, the NLT's— does change, you know, the NLT's translation makes it go, huh, is that the Lord's Prayer? Yes, it is. Anyway, okay guys, there are entire books written about the Lord's Prayer, so please forgive me for a short commentary on these verses. I cannot even touch on the depth of their meaning and all they indicate about God and our relationship with him. But I will share this: as a member of a liturgical Christian denomination in my youth, the Our Father was the first prayer that I was taught to pray. And even as a child, while I didn't have the understanding I have now about its meaning, I knew that it was holy, and I knew it was a way to talk to God. When the going got tough and we wanted to take our troubles to the Lord, the Our Father was the way to connect with him. They were the words of Jesus, after all, and he told us to pray, pray that way, so we did. The Lord's Prayer was dear to me then, and all these years later, it's dear to me now. To paraphrase a song, when I find myself in times of trouble, No, I don't go to Mother Mary and she doesn't come to me. I say the Our Father, who art in heaven. Uh, to this day, when I find myself in perilous situations at work and need to bolster up my courage, I will say the Lord's Prayer. It's powerful and it brings us right into the presence of God when said in faith. So if you don't know how to pray or what to pray for, Pray Matthew 6:9-13, the Lord's Prayer. Christ gave it to us, so let's show him our appreciation by using it. 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 A.W. Pink's The Holy Spirit, and today we conclude chapter 8. With a short— I'm going to read it, it's so short— a short expert excerpt basically on application. And A.W. Pink writes, and what is the bearing of all this upon us today? You know, all about the Holy Spirit, I guess. We will reply in a single sentence: the advent of the Spirit followed the exaltation of Christ. If then we desire to employ more of the Spirit's power and blessing We must give Christ the throne of our hearts and crown him the Lord of our lives. Having dwelt upon the doctrinal and dispensational aspects of our subject, next we hope to take the practical and experimental bearings of it. So yeah, um, you know, it's all about the Holy Spirit and what does that teach us, you know, after so many, so many different sections of this chapter. On all the different— at— on the Advent of the Holy Spirit, um, A.W. Pink boils it down that we must give Christ the throne of our hearts and crown him the Lord of our lives. So, you know, and we— if— because if we want to use— if we have a desire to employ more of the Spirit's power and blessing in our lives, that's what we got to do. And hey, there you go, you know what I mean? There's your application. If you want the Holy Spirit to move in your life, you have to, you know, you have to give Christ the throne of your heart and crown him the Lord of your life and do what he says, man. Um, follow where he leads. Be a follower of Jesus the King, you know. And so there you go. You want some Holy Spirit power and blessing? Surrender to the Lordship of Christ and follow where he leads you. And that's what this blog is all about. Thank you, A.W. Pink. I haven't read any of your book, you know, well, I've read a little bit before. I've read different books of A.W. Pink anyway. I don't have the time to share everything I share on the blog on the podcast, but that's why I share A.W. Pink's writing. It's good. It tells us, you know, in maybe older language because of when he wrote it, but it It points to what we're supposed to do with this thing called faith in Jesus, um, and that's making Jesus the Lord of our lives is, is the basic instruction, um, that leads to, uh, the fruit of the Spirit growing in our lives. And that's what this vlog is all about, to encourage you to actually live out your faith in Christ. And what does that look like? Well, in its most basic form, like I said, uh, what I'm selling is this daily spiritual practice where you wake up, you thank God for your life, you pray to him, you read his word, and then you spend the rest of your day trying to represent him and his kingdom throughout the earth. And if people need hope, you say the name of Jesus and you tell them about what the Lord has done in your life. That's it. And then you answer the call for wherever the Lord sends you in your life. You know, basically, if you get a feeling to go do something good, you you do it. Um, if you get a feeling to serve at the church, you serve it. If you feel the, the, the pull or the call to serve your community or serve in some other way, you answer the call. You do the good works that God has prepared for you. And it's what being a Christian is all about. It's not just being a believer. I just believe this, thanks, now I'll go about doing my business. Um, do you really believe it? You know, um, no, what do you do with that? That's the question we answer by being a disciple. We learn from the teacher, uh, and we do what the teacher taught us. We demonstrate our knowledge and our wisdom by showing that, hey, we really— we applied your wisdom to our life, teacher. Thank you. Um, our teacher is Jesus, you know, so the word of God is our textbook, and it's You know, it's filled with wisdom and anointed by the Holy Spirit to, to guide us into all truth. So read your Bible every day. If you need a Bible study to encourage you, we invite you to sit in on a Bible study with the Sincatis, which we share on our podcast and our YouTube channel. And if you want to know about more about who you are in Christ, we recommend our discipleship classes on our YouTube channel as well. Well, time is going very quickly before I have to run out the door, so let's pray. And I'm gonna pray not the Our Father, but I do recommend that if you, if you want to— you don't know how to start your prayer life, that's a great place to start. But for me, we've been praying for a while, so we're gonna do this, and it's more or less the same every day. Lord God, Heavenly Father, thank you for another day in your kingdom. We Thank you so much for all the things you're doing in the world, in our lives. We thank you for last night's meeting at Celebrate Freedom, as new people came in that we were able to encourage. We had someone step out in faith to serve as a leader who wasn't a leader before, filling the need that came in. And I'm just thrilled at seeing your Holy Spirit work in people's lives and and, uh, and work in my life to encourage people to live by faith. Um, Lord, so we pray for anyone who's listening, um, that you bless them in their walk and come alongside them and their prayer requests. So we're reading today's message, um, we just pray for them, uh, Lord, because I know they need you, and because I need you. And so we pray that you go before us today, lead us into the things you would have us do, and Open our eyes to the things you want us to see, because Lord, all we want to do is represent you in your kingdom. We want to share and show the love of the Lord that we've received, and, um, we need your help, and, um, we appreciate your presence in our life. So we thank you, we praise you, we love you. We pray all these things in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.