M.t. Clark takes a one-day retreat for solitude, silence, and prayer, encouraging listeners to schedule their own quiet time with God. He reads Matthew 6:6 on secret prayer and Revelation 20:10 on the devil's final judgment as a source of hope, affirming God's sovereignty despite present darkness.
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 the reflection of the forest shoreline in the waters of Cliffside Lake with the shadow of trees in the foreground comes to us from Fred Dimmick, who captured and shared this scene from Highlands, North Carolina on social media. On January 1st. Fred started off the new year right, and I look forward to sharing more of his views as the year progresses. Well, it's Tuesday, and for the vast majority of us, it's back to life, back to reality, but not for me. Uh, I didn't ask for this extra day off, but I'm glad to have it. My job requires us to work the occasional Saturday, and my occasion is this weekend. So while I won't be looking forward to the one-day weekend ahead of me, I will be using today to fully recharge my batteries by spending the day practicing solitude in a full-day retreat where I will use the hours I normally would be working, uh, in prayer, fasting, and study as I plan to review John Eldredge's Resilient, uh, to, as the subtitle says, restore my soul in these turbulent times. In Matthew 6:6, Jesus instructed us, but you, when you pray, go into your room. When you have shut the door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly. So after posting this message, I will be shutting the door and going to the secret place, and don't plan on re-emerging until the study is done. In our modern lives, we are often busy going from one thing to the next, charging ahead, charging ahead. But today the Lord has put it on my heart to unplug and rest in his presence in relative silence. Solitude and silence are practices that don't get a lot of headlines but are spiritual disciplines that should be regularly utilized in our walk. In this noisy, cramped world, we need to shut it off every once in a while and go solo into his presence and listen to the Lord, to what the Lord has to say. So although the vast majority of us might not be able to do this today, I encourage you to schedule some time for just you. Take a day trip with the Lord. Take time to get alone and get quiet. And see what he has to say to you. Spending time in solitude and silence may make it possible to hear what he has to say and to see what direction your path will take next. I'm keeping it short and sweet today, so until you get that time alone, keep walking and talking with God. Today's Bible verse, because I got the resource again, Uh, comes to us from the New Living Translation Bible Promise Book for Men. This morning's meditation verse is Revelations 20:10, and it tells us— well, I gotta pull up the, uh, NLT because that's the verse, right? Yeah, Revelations 20:10 in the NLT tells us that then the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the fire lake fiery lake of burning sulfur, joining the beast and the false prophet. There will be— there they will be tormented day and night forever and ever. Yikes. Uh, today's verse was under the heading, um, when the evil around you seems powerful. And so Revelation 20:10 tells us the, the final destination of the devil is the fiery lake, or the lake of fire, where he, along with the beast, the Antichrist, and the false prophet, who are yet to be revealed, will be tormented day and night forever and ever. Uh, hell is not Satan's kingdom, it is his prison. He is not the equal and opposite of God. He is a created being, a fallen rebellious angel who will be hell's most infamous inmate. While there is evil in this world and in the spiritual realm, those forces of darkness will not prevail and will be judged and punished for their wickedness. Those who put their faith in Christ alone will be forgiven and saved from God's wrath. And so, for the Christian, this verse will, while rather dark, is actually good news and is declaring God's supremacy and his reclaiming of his kingdom. So no matter how dark things may seem to be getting in our world— and scripture indicates that things get worse before they get better— ultimately justice and goodness will prevail as God's will will be done on earth as it is in heaven. So Christians should be filled with hope for that future fulfillment and be diligent in sharing the good news of the kingdom of God and the gospel of Jesus Christ. And endure through whatever trials we may face, face now knowing and trusting that God, that God will put all, put everything right in the end, that He is working all things together for the good of those who love Him and that are called according according to his purpose. So that's, that's the Bible verse of the day, uh, for today. Revelations 20:10. We win. Um, let's see. As always, I am— and we are also sharing from another resource. 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 of their walk. Today we continue sharing from A.W. Pink's The Sovereignty of God, and we're continuing in chapter 1, and he highlights how sovereignty characterizes God's existence and that he is sovereign in the delegation of his power to others and in the exercise of his mercy. So if you want to read about how God's sovereign in those areas according to A.W. Pink, go to m.tforchrist.org and go to the bottom of today's blog post and you'll see it posted there. Well, uh, as I stated, today's retreat day, so we're going to keep it super short today. Um, but I'm, I'm looking forward to the rest, relaxation, and, uh, whatever the Lord has to bring as part of this study, as part of this resting, as part of this prayer, and, you know, this fasting, as we will do today. So let's pray. Lord God, Heavenly Father, thank you for another day in your kingdom. Thank you for this day where we get to rest, Lord. But we're praying for those people who are, who are listening to this message that probably are not resting today. They're going out into the world and to work and, uh, you know, meet their responsibilities. And Lord, so we're praying for them today. Lord, we're praying for you to go before them, open their eyes to the things you need them to see, and lead them into the things they need to go. Um, and we also pray for their prayer requests, Lord, that you'd come alongside them, um, and whatever, whatever situations they're in. Um, Lord, we thank you, we praise you, and we love you. And we pray all these things in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.
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