Pray and Never Give up - Christian Self-Care - Purity 1460

Welcome to the MT for Christ 24/7 podcast. I'm M.t. Clark, and this is today's photo. Today's photo of Arthur Parton's painting Sterling Castle, Scotland, on a mountain— of a mountain stronghold comes to us from yours truly as I captured this work of art while visiting the Springfield Museums in Springfield, Massachusetts back on December 9th, 2023. There was no date of when this was originally painted, but Parton was an American who lived between 1842 and 1914, making this painting, painting at least 110 years old. And the fact that Parton was from the US tells me that he boldly chose to cross the Atlantic for his craft. Well, it's Wednesday and Let's see. Oh, my bad. It's Wednesday and I'm sharing today's photo of Barton's painting, uh, which features a mountain stronghold as a visual reminder of our arrival at the midweek summit and happy hump day and to inspire us all to pursue the things that we love boldly and not to be timid when it comes to demolishing strong— the strongholds that keep us in chains of bondage or pattern responses. Tonight I'll be leading another Celebrate Freedom support group meeting at Start Point Church, where we encourage people to ask God to help them overcome their hurts, habits, and hangups, and to consider making a change for the better by deciding to live by faith in the power of the Holy Spirit by getting on the path of Christian discipleship. What does that mean exactly? Well, it means seeking a deeper relationship with the Lord and making the decision to learn and live by his ways, uh, for living according to the Bible. It generally means that you practice spiritual disciplines such as Bible study, prayer, fasting, and service, to name just a few. It means living in a different way with Jesus as our example and teacher to learn from and follow. It also means knowing who you are in Christ and being a good steward, uh, to your mind and body. That might seem a little vague, uh, and that may— and that's why we meet together as a group in a community of a small group, um, where we can be open and honest. We can talk about our experiences and struggles with trying to live in a new way, and we can encourage and learn from one another in a, in a way that we can't do all by ourselves. In a group, we can gain insights and advice from others that we would never be aware of otherwise. In fact, tonight I'm going to share a list of, uh, 99 self-care techniques for Christians that I found at church, uh, at churchandmentalhealth.com, authored by Jeremy Smith, uh, to give the group participants some very specific ways, uh, that where they can do something that will restore their souls and grow their spiritual, emotional, and mental resilience. Smith's list of self-care techniques are designed with Christians in mind and gives practical suggestions on how they can simultaneously receive the self-care they need and to do so in the context of their faith and relationship with God and others. Smith's list is broken down into categories of traditional prayer, scripture, discipleship, worship, acts of service, and good stewardship to give readers an abundance of options for self-care. While I have only briefly reviewed the list and haven't tested any of the suggestions, I feel that it could be helpful, and so I'm sharing with my small group of friends. If you're interested in this resource, you can go to chris— uh, churchandmentalhealth.com and support Smith's work, uh, by purchasing a PDF copy, uh, $3 only, uh, of his 99, uh, Christian self-care technique— techniques for yourself. Um, you know, it only costs $3 but could be priceless if it motivates you to develop a regular spiritual practice. That brings you closer to God and, and the peace that he has for your life. As a Christian who has found peace, meaning, and purpose through walking in the Spirit, I know how challenging it can be to change the way you live. But I also know that the Lord blesses our efforts when we try to live the life he has for us. The pathway to peace may require some practice and discipline, but when you are On it, you'll discover that your efforts in seeking the Lord's ways are richly rewarded. I was reading Luke 18 this morning, and the first verse in it tells us that one day Jesus told his disciples a story to show that they should always pray and never give up, or that they always ought to pray and never— and not lose heart, according to the New King James Version. The parable he shares is about the persistent widow who gets a favorable ruling from an unjust judge when she tenaciously requests justice. It's a good parable, but the point is made in the verse that precedes it. We should always pray and never give up. Don't lose heart and pray for God to help you. When we use our lives to follow the Lord in his, in his ways, and are persistent in asking for his help, we will receive it one way or another. He will bless us in the way we think he should or not, but the ultimate outcomes of our relationship with God are always good. So take care of yourself by seeking new ways to draw closer to him and the new life he has for you. Uh, today's Bible verses come to us from the Quick Scripture Reference for Counseling by Angie Cruz. This morning's, um, verses come from the section on the forgiveness of sins, and, um, they fall under the— well, today's ver— well, let's read the verses first, right? Uh, today's verses are Ephesians 2:8-9, and, uh, the word of God says, for by grace you have been saved through faith And this is not your own doing. It is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. Uh, today's verses fall under the 33rd point of our Counseling Reference Guide's resource section on the forgiveness of sins. And that 33rd point is: Salvation, the forgiveness of sins, is only by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. Today's Bible verses are filled with spiritual truth and power to break down the stronghold of the false belief that we need to earn our salvation. The text in Ephesians 2:8-9 is very clear. We are saved by grace and through faith. Our salvation is not our own doing. It is not the result of our works. Our salvation is God's gift of grace to us to receive, and knowing this should fill us with a deep relief and an abounding love for God. The world teaches us that we have to earn everything we want in life, but that is not the way it is when it comes to being welcome into God's kingdom. Jesus has done the redemptive work for us, and we need only believe and put our faith in him to receive the gift of grace. That's why the gospel is called good news. As always, we encourage everyone to go to mtforchrist.com, where we always share insights from prominent Christian theologians and counselors to our 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 F. Alford. And in Alford's devotional, he prompts us to read a chapter of scripture, and today's chapter is James 2. And from that chapter, he shares a portion of verse 8, which says, fulfill the royal law. And Stephen Alford writes, the royal law is defined thus: you shall love your neighbor as yourself. And it is the command that the Lord Jesus pointed out as including all other commandments. Of course, this command implies love to God first and then love to man. James points out that the fulfilling of it is the hallmark of kingship or royalty, so that it— so that if I am a genuine king and priest to God, I am one who fulfills this command. He goes further to explain that he, he who shows partiality and who breaks this royal law commits sin. God shows no partiality, so why should we? Whether poor or rich, they should be loved, honored, and recognized without partiality. No wonder the Lord Jesus was the friend of sinners. And Alfred ends by praying, teach me to love others as you love me, Lord. Amen. Amen. And that's that, you know, the two greatest commandments: love God and love people. You know, do unto others as you would have them do unto you, the Golden Rule. Um, yeah, um, as Christians, we receive the love of God, right? Ephesians 2:8 says it's a gift of grace, and it's a love gift to us. That God saved us, forgave, you know, reveals the truth to us about life and forgives us of all our transgressions through the work of Jesus Christ. And as I stated in the commentary, that should fill us with love for God, and that love for God should pour out and be shared with the world. And so we should treat people with kindness and gentleness and goodness, which just happen to be fruit of the Spirit, as just a natural expression of who we are in Christ, you know, as a response to the gift of grace that we've received. And if we don't do that, you know, it shows that we're committing sin. And that is also found in James, you know, for us to not do what we know is right or is good is sin. So, um, so let's try to love one another. And it might be difficult because people are difficult to deal with. And that's why we remember our forgiveness, because, um, in order to love people, we'll probably have to be able— have to forgive them for not knowing what they don't know, or for being difficult. And, uh, and we have to realize that we were very difficult people ourselves before coming to Christ, and we may still be. We're all works in progress, but the Lord is working towards, uh, to make us more like Jesus. And we should, we should answer the call to follow him the best we can and seek to grow in our faith anyway. And when— and the best way to grow in our faith is to answer the question: have you fully surrendered to God And if you answer yes, that's— you're on the pathway to growth, because, uh, when you surrender to him, um, he shows you the way to live. And, uh, that's, that's what surrendering is about. It's just following Jesus and, uh, his example and his teachings to, to live this life out, uh, as an expression, uh, for the love that God's given to us. And when we surrender to him, he'll have things for us to do. Uh, we might have to clean up our own act, but he might also give us a ministry. And, uh, in my case, I was— I am blessed to be able to lead the Celebrate Freedom support group at Star Point Church, where we do Christian recovery and discipleship. And as I stated, we, you know, the remedy for your hurts, habits, and hangups just happens to be a Christian life. By knowing who you are in Christ and living in the peace, the joy, the goodness, the kindness, the faithfulness, the gentleness, the patience and self-control that comes from living in the Spirit. We give up the old way of life for God's way, and we find a wonderful adventure. Uh, quite frankly, might be challenging because we're still in the world, but God gives us the, uh, the strength and tools to, uh, to navigate through life skillfully, um, and, uh, to do it all for his glory. So, um, however, and, and we invite anyone in Upstate New York to come out to, uh, Clifton Park Starpoint Church tonight to join us, uh, at 6:30 PM. We're in the K-3 classroom, and we'll be there to, uh, to welcome you anyway. Uh, however, if you're not in Upstate New York, we, we, we're still going to welcome you, um, but we're going to welcome you to go to our YouTube channel M.t. Clark 247. And, um, you know, go to our playlist page and look for these playlists, uh, for The Bondage Breaker, Victory Over the Darkness, Freedom in Christ, and our very own Celebrate Freedom discipleship course, um, where you can— you know, we believe you can find or increase your freedom in Christ through studying these things, learning things, and, and coming alongside the Lord to agree with what the, the Bible says about you and to start living by faith. And, uh, you know, by going through the Steps to Freedom in Christ, you can resolve all your personal and spiritual conflicts and, you know, walk in the newness of life that God has for you. So we recommend you do that. And, um, then finally we ask the question, are you empty for Christ too? Yeah, the empty for Christ isn't just me empty for Christ. It is, uh, it's a, it's a way of life. Uh, we empty ourselves to be filled with the Holy Spirit and the good things that God has for us. And so when you're empty for Christ, you just, you live in the spirit basically. So are you empty for Christ? If so, keep on walking, talking with God. If not, it's a matter of just going to God in prayer and asking him for help, asking God, Jesus to be your Lord and Savior and asking him to show you the way to go. So, and we usually do that with a prayer. So let's, let's pray. Lord God, Heavenly Father, thank you for another day in your kingdom. Lord, thank you for, uh, bringing us the mid— midpoint of this work week. Uh, Lord, we just pray for, um, you to guide us, and we pray for anyone who's reading or watching or listening to today's message, uh, that you'd come alongside them and their prayer request, their walk of faith, because Lord, we all need help in, in trying to follow you and to be more like Jesus. And we understand that it might take some time to get us there, but Lord, we'll be faithful to follow you. And we really appreciate your help to show us the way. So we're asking for that today, Lord. Go before us to, uh, to prepare our day. Open our eyes to the things you want us to see and lead us in the way we should go, Lord, because all we want to do is represent you in your kingdom. And, uh, we all need help with that. Lord, we thank you, we praise you, we love you, and we pray all these things in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.