In this devotional video, M.t. Clark opens with a personal photograph of a New York field, inviting viewers to connect via his website and social media. He then shares a message from Lauren Roskillie of Mindful of Christ, which centers on James 1:2 and the importance of responding to trials by asking God "what" rather than "why," and renewing the mind through Romans 12:2. Clark reflects on the practical impact of this advice, emphasizing thought captivity and reliance on Scripture. He cites a counseling resource by John G. Crews, highlighting Psalm 55:22 as a comfort verse about casting burdens on the Lord, and shares his own testimony of enduring hardship by praying and trusting God’s sustaining power. The video then moves to a devotional excerpt from Stephen F. Allford’s 1940‑41 journal, focusing on purity of heart (Matthew 5:8) and related passages (Psalm 119:9, John 15:3, John 17:17, 1 Peter 1:16, 1 John 3:3), concluding with a prayer for sanctification. Clark encourages daily discipleship habits—quiet time, Bible study, prayer, service, and evangelism—while expressing gratitude for the weekend and ending with a heartfelt prayer for guidance, strength, and the workday to end swiftly. The overall message is one of hopeful perseverance, mind renewal, and reliance on God’s word amid trials.
Chapters
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 freshly harvested field and hay bales underneath a pleasant blue but cloud-filled sky comes to us from yours truly as I captured the scene while out working somewhere in Delancey, New York back on July 20th, 2020. And decided to set it free from my phone's photo archive by sharing it here. Looking at this photo gives me joy and hope for the summer days yet to come in 2024, but they say that the best joy is one you can share. So I hope you like it, as I understand just how much we need one another on the path of Christian discipleship. Well, it's Friday, thank God, and in my journey of faith, I have come to understand that without Christ we can do nothing. That we were never meant to go this walk of faith alone. Over time, I have come to recognize when I need to take a rest or when I need to get a little help from my friends. The week has been a busy one, and while I don't feel like I am necessarily going through a trial currently, I have decided to take a break this morning and am going to share a message from Mindful of Christ's Lauren Roskillie who sent this message about responding to trials out to her subscribers as this week's Word for Wednesday. If you like— if you would like to receive Lauren's messages in your inbox or would like to benefit from her teachings and encouragements, go to mindfulofchrist.net. Lauren references James 1:2 from the New Living Translation that says Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. And Lauren writes, Responding to Trials. What problems, difficulties, worries, or illnesses are you currently experiencing? The fact is, we will always experience trials and suffering. We will. In fact, we're destined for them all the time we're on this earth. We are anyway. There are many different reasons for suffering too. For instance, our own choices, whether good or bad, will lead to consequences. The destruction that Satan brings, spiritual warfare, the fall, and many others. It's how we respond to them that matters. We are to persevere and hold on to the hope and promises of the Lord. The main one is that Jesus died and overcame death to save you from it. And with that comes the promise of eternity in heaven with him. Though your focus of attention might sometimes get held up on those negative issues, perhaps they consume you, perhaps they bring you down, but you must catch or recognize these thoughts before they do. Ask yourself, does this thought bring me closer to the Lord or further away? We can ask ourselves, others, or God, "Why?" or "Why me?" But those questions bring our focus inwards, onto ourselves. Try asking the Lord, "What's the meaning of this? What's your plan? And what can I learn from this?" You can literally change your thoughts and mindset. Romans 12:2 tells us that you can be transformed by the renewing of your mind. The message says, fix your attention on God, you'll be changed from the inside out. God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you. Therefore, focusing on the Father, Jesus, and Holy Spirit can literally transform your mindset and how you respond to trials. So next time you face difficulties of any kind, Remember his promise and ask the Lord what and not why. Blessings from Lauren. Uh, thank you, Lauren. I love Lauren's practical advice to examine how we are responding to the things we face in life and to look at what we are thinking and how they are affecting us, um, how those thoughts are affecting us. Uh, her advice to focus on the Lord and to renew our mind by relying on him is the game changer. When we start taking every thought captive and reflect on what God's Word says about us and choose to live by it, the Lord will transform our lives and fill our hearts with an abiding sense of peace and joy regardless of the circumstances. So, keep on walking and talking with God and try to respond to trials in the way that Lauren suggests. She is pointing at the wisdom of God's Word. In a deep relationship with God. And that is good advice. Today's Bible verses come to us from the Quick Scripture Reference for Counseling by John G. Crews. This morning's meditation verse comes from the section on Comfort. And today's verse is Psalm 55:22 from the New American Standard Bible. The Word of God says, cast your burden upon the Lord and he will sustain you. He will never allow the righteous to be shaken. Today's verse falls under the 16th point of our Counseling Reference Guide's resource section on comfort, and that 16th point says, cast your concerns on the Lord, for he will support you. Today's verse encourages us to cast our burdens on the Lord and assures us that he will sustain us. It also states that God will never allow the righteous to be shaken. But in my experience, those who are a work in progress, like me, might get a little tussled about, mostly by our own emotions. But you know what? When you follow this advice from the Psalmist, you will discover that the Word of God is true, and that God is faithful to help us in times of need, and although I can't guarantee that we will always experience positive outcomes, in the ways we expect, I know that God will sustain us, and when we faithfully follow the example of righteous Jesus, we will marvel at the strength, perseverance, and ability to not be shaken that we receive from the Lord. I have to be honest, as I made the decision to surrender to the Lord and to increasingly follow Him in the way that I live, I suffered some major league trials and significant losses where I had no idea what I was going to do in the future. But because I casted— I cast my burdens on the Lord in prayer during those dark days of transitioning to a whole new life, he sustained me, and I was able to walk through those days relatively unshaken because I was walking in righteousness. I was trying to do what was right for myself and my family, and I was trying to do it the Lord's way. With me doing what I could and leaving the rest up to God. And sure enough, little by little, bit by bit, progress was made. And then, almost suddenly, all at once, I was delivered. I was victorious. I was free like I never thought I could be. And I have continued to experience increasing levels of freedom and victory ever since. So cast your burdens on the Lord. He will sustain you. And when you walk according to His ways in righteousness, you will rejoice over how you can remain unshaken. 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 According to Your Word: Morning and Evening Through the New Testament by Stephen F. Allford. A collection of devotional journals from 1940 and '41. And today, the way this resource works is it, you know, introduces, you know, prompting to tell you to read the Bible. Today it tells you to read Matthew 5, and it offers a few short insights about Matthew 5:8. And Alford writes, references Matthew 5:8, which says, blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Matthew 5:8. And Alford writes, the word pure can mean clean, pure, or clear. Happy are the clean in heart, for they shall see God. Then he references Psalm 119:9, which says, how can a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed according to your word. Then the Lord Jesus said on one occasion to his disciples referencing John 15:3, "You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you." Then he references in that wonderful prayer of his, he says in John 17:17, "Sanctify them by your truth. Your word is truth." And then finally, he says that God demands holiness and references 1 Peter 1:16, "Be holy, for I am holy." And then he concludes his notes with the following prayer: Oh Lord, allow the cleansing blood, the cleansing word, and the cleansing hope by the operation of the Holy Spirit to make me pure just as he is pure. That's from 1 John 3:3. And so Alford shares scripture here to encourage us, us to, you know, seek that pure heart. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. So he's telling you to, you know, try to, try to be pure by relying on the Lord. And that, you know, Jesus, you know, when we come to put our faith in Jesus, he's already made us clean because of the word that he's spoken to us, just like he did to the apostles. And that we can be sanctified by God's word, for it is the truth. And that's how we can be sanctified. And as the Lord and the Holy Spirit work within us, we can be holy as he is holy, bit by bit, little by little, as we say. And we do that through the renewing of the mind. Now, it's not just changing the way we think. You know, the verse references that we're, you know, our minds renewed by by God's word. And so we want to, we want to be faithful to read his word. And that's why Alford suggests reading a chapter of the Bible a day and, you know, reflecting on its truth. Obviously he's referencing the Bible and Bible verses throughout his teaching there. So that's what we do. We, we get— we renew our mind with the word of God by staying in God's presence. So, and, and so we do that, uh, every day. We encourage that because, as I state my testimony, um, when I, when I came to faith in the Lord, things may have been shaken up as my whole life changed, um, but, uh, he led me in a good path. And when you're walking in the presence of God and trying to do what's right according to his word and do it his way you can find joy and peace even in the midst of trials. So we encourage a life of Christian discipleship to do that. And so, you know, what's that entail? Well, we recommend a daily quiet time for Bible study and prayer and just examining your life and talking to the Lord as you go throughout your day. And, you know, seeking out good works to do. By serving your local church, by being a part of your local church first and then serving in some manner, and then telling everyone you encounter about the goodness of God and how God is real, Jesus is the way, and it's a good path to be on. So it doesn't have to be complicated. It doesn't require too much. Just if you faithfully following the Lord and responding to what he would have you do. So, so that's that. Uh, today is Friday. I have to work, and I have to work tomorrow, so it's not really a Friday. Um, but I'm happy for those of you who have a full weekend. Uh, I'm not being bitter. I am genuinely happy. Um, for my wife, for one, she has a full weekend, and, uh, most, most people Um, not all people though. Most people have, uh, 2 days off on the weekend. So, um, so rejoice and thank the Lord for it. Um, let's pray. Lord God, Heavenly Father, thank you for another day in your kingdom. Uh, thank you for all that you've done for us. Thank you for setting us free and putting on us, uh, putting us on your path, uh, through life and towards eternity. Lord, we can't wait to see what you have in store next. And we just pray for you to be with us as we try to walk righteously through this world. Um, help us, we definitely need it. And Lord, we pray for you to bless anyone who's listening or reading today's message, that you come alongside them and their prayer requests and their walk of faith, help them on their way. And Lord, as always, we pray for you to go before us today Open our eyes to the things you want us to see and lead us in the way we should go, because we— all we want to do is represent you in your kingdom, and we definitely need help with that. So we, uh, we pray for you to help us and guide us as we go about this today, and to bring the work day as quickly as possible to an end. Uh, we love to relax and rest. Um, so, so if you can make the work day easier, Lord, we'd certainly appreciate it. Um, but we, we definitely would appreciate your guidance and strength to do the best job we can, one way or the other. Um, Lord, we thank you, we praise you, we love you, and we pray all these things in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.
