Rest and Reflect. Are You Ready for a Reset – Purity 1053

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 roaring campfire in the foreground of a nighttime view of Indian Lake comes to us from Katie Fisher McVay, as she captured this scene from a perfect midweek reset on social media back on May 11th. Well, it is Friday, It really is, thank God, and I'm looking forward to the end of my shift at work today because I will be headed up, headed north tonight to be reunited with my wife at our countryside home before we embark on our own Wilderness Memorial Weekend reset. Apparently I was really looking forward to today because my wife informed me that I said it was Friday on the podcast yesterday. So I apologize to anyone I may have confused and fully realize now that yesterday was Thursday and today is Friday. And it is my prayer that all my friends who read or hear this message have a wonderful Memorial Day weekend. Uh, my wife and I are hiking to a cabin in the Merck Forest Farmland Center Grounds in Rupert, Vermont, where as of this writing, we believe it will will just be the two of us for a weekend retreat. Two nights of no electricity and just one another's company in a rust— in a rustic cabin's accommodations. I have never gone backpacking before, and my camping experience has been limited to overnights in the backyards of my homes or at RV campgrounds during my childhood and with my kids when they were growing up. So although it is only a 2.5-mile hike to the cabin, this will be a first for me in many ways. And while I am a little wary of the lack of electricity and indoor plumbing, I am looking forward to getting away from it all and the relative silence and solitude I hope to find in the woods near Nenorog Cabin. While I try to find moments of peace Um, all the time, every day during my times of prayer and Bible study, I feel I really can use this rest. The beginning of 2023 has been very eventful thus far as I have had to travel for work, was trained in a new job function at work, got a new foreman at work, and have adapted to what seems to be an ever-changing schedule as I have just surrendered to to the fact that I don't know what kind of work I'll be doing from one day to the next. And that's just work. 2023 will also be known as the year that I have begun and prayerfully will finish the process of becoming educated, trained, and certified in Deeper Walk Prayer Ministry. Thus far, the program I have found— thus far, I have found the program to be as advertised. As it was described as— let's see, it was described as an intensive, interactive, hands-on, heart-focused discipleship training program and practical ministry skills where you will gain the ministry tools needed to help hurting people experience freedom, understand their identity in Christ, walk in the Spirit, and live in heart-focused hesed community. Last night was the final meeting of our cohort until August as we finished the second module of four on spiritual warfare, and I can testify that the program is intensive as the expectations is to not only learn the material that is presented but to also put it into practice each, each week with our colleagues in breakout rooms. Although the course work keeps you busy, the material is so rich and rewarding that I feel my decision to get this education and certification was definitely meant to be, as I've already incorporated some of the things I've learned to me personally and to the recovery growth group Celebrate Freedom that I am now leading at my local church. Yep, 2023 has had even more in store. That was work and school, but let's not, let's not forget about ministry. As soon as I finished teaching— just doing a quick edit— as soon as I finished facilitating an 11-week online Freedom in Christ discipleship men's group for Freedom in Christ Ministries in early April, where I led 6 men through individual sessions of the Steps to Freedom in Christ, I was approached by my pastor with a request to begin a recovery growth group. And on May 10th, we dusted off our old Celebrate Freedom lessons, and the Lord blessed me with two dedicated and faithful volunteers to start the process of forming a community where Christians could come, could overcome their hurts, habits, and hang-ups. But even though I have done recovery ministry before, this Celebrate Freedom is a new Creation, um, as I am incorporating all that I have learned from my walk and my latest studies to put the emphasis on this group, of this group, on building joy, walking in the Spirit, and knowing who we are in Christ. And the results of my attempts seem well received, as one of the participants the other night thanked me thanked me this week for quote-unquote my vision. And, uh, and another shared on social media that this week's meeting was amazing. But before I go patting myself on the back, let me assure you, uh, that I know that I'm only sharing what others have taught me, and that the vision is how the Lord sees us, and the amazing things we are experiencing is only because we are drawing close to him. So, so we have been busy, but we have been blessed. And although it may be challenging to keep in step with the Spirit at times, I wouldn't have it any other way. But with that said, I am happy to have a break from school for a while, and that I get to kick it off with what I hope to be a peaceful weekend in the woods, and with a few days off this week, as I only have to work Wednesday. Because although I, I did have vacation this week, I have made plans to go to Deeper Walk International's 35th anniversary conference in Indiana in October and had to give up a day of what would have been a whole week off. Um, that's right, as we draw into the 6th month of the year next week, uh, we will rejoice this weekend over where the Lord has brought us thus far, remember the servicemen who have died to keep our country free, rest and reset for what should be an eventful second half of another year of walking in the Spirit. So as we go, as we gear up for the end of the first half of 2023 with June, uh, it is my prayer that you take some time this weekend to rest, reflect, and reset, uh, on the, uh, you know, reset, um, so I'll try to reset, um, reflect on the, on the freedom and the freedom in Christ we have and the freedom that we enjoy in this country because of the men and women in the armed services that paid the ultimate sacrifice for what they believe was worth protecting and that they were willing to die to uphold. So we say God bless you all. Let's see, today's Bible verse comes to us from the New Living Translation Bible, Promise Book for Men, as we're almost done with that resource. I'll have to draw from somewhere else. Anyway, this morning's meditation verses are Psalm 103:1-5, and the Word of God says, "Let all that I am praise the Lord. With my whole heart I will praise his holy name. Let all that I am praise the Lord. May I never forget the good things he does for me." He forgives all my sins and heals all my diseases. He redeems me from death and crowns me with love and tender mercies. He fills my life with good things. My youth is renewed like the eagle's. Today's verses, uh, shows us what a man with a heart set on God does. He praises the Lord continually, and he never forgets the good things that the Lord has done, has done for him, the Lord does for him. He remembers that the Lord has forgiven him of all his sins and has brought him through all the illnesses and trials he has suffered in life. He remembers how the Lord has blessed him with his presence, love, and all the tender mercies mercies he has received in life, recognizing that they all come through a sovereign God who is always in control. He looks at the good things in his life and he knows they come from God, and his spirit is renewed because he praises the Lord. So give thanks to God, sing his praises with all your heart, and do this every day. And you know, and you too will know what it's like to be continually renewed. As always, we invite you to go to mtforchrist.org where we always share insights from prominent Christian theologians and counselors to assist our brothers and sisters in Christ with our walk. Today we continue sharing from A.W. Pink's The Holy Spirit, and today we finish chapter 4, which is on the deities, the deities of the Holy Spirit. And the sections today are entitled Concurrence in the Trinity and Titles Used in Scripture. So if you want to know the titles of the Holy Spirit that are used in Scripture and know how, know how the Holy Spirit is in concurrence and as part of the Trinity, go to, go to mt4christ.org and you'll see that resource at the end of today's blog blog post. As always, we encourage a life in the Spirit, a life of Christian discipleship where we know who we are in Christ and we act accordingly. And most importantly, we give thanks and praise to the Lord continually, where we draw close to him and have a deep personal relationship with the Lord, that we really try to obey the command to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. Um, you know, if you haven't attached relationally to the Lord, you're missing something. Yeah, you know, um, I would start with the practice, simple practice, saying, I love you, God. I love you. I love you, Lord. Um, you know, start somewhere and, uh, seek the Lord because he is good. And if you reflect on everything he's done for you and all the good things you've ever experience came through the workings of a sovereign God, you, you will rejoice. And if you know you've been forgiven all your sins because of your faith in Jesus Christ, and that you have eternal life, that even if you're sick and, and depressed or whatever, that there's an end, there's a good, there's a good end. We'll be in his kingdom someday. And in the meantime, we shouldn't be looking towards the future of, you know, being in that altered state of what it will be like to be in the kingdom of God, whether here on earth or as it is in heaven. But we should rejoice with the eternal life we've been given now and try to share this message of hope and peace and love with everyone else, and to reflect and rejoice in it daily. You know, there's no— you know, we focus on our problems and our pain our life will be, you know, problematic and painful. If we focus on the God that's above it all, we can overcome, you know, the things that, you know, the world would try to tear us down, you know, because our— we know our God is good and that he is— he's alive and well and he is with us when we have our faith in Christ and when we walk in the Spirit. You know, why don't I feel good? Well, you're not following the Lord, or you forgot who you are in Christ, or you forgot what he did for you. And yeah, there's a bad turn, but you know, as Job said, you know, um, you know, the Lord, the Lord has given me so much good, am I to complain now that things have gone south? You know, that's obviously a paraphrase, um, but no, you know, even in this midst of unbelievable suffering of losing everyone and, you know, everything, um, he still praised the Lord because he knew, um, the Lord is the Creator and, um, he calls the shots. And we don't know what we're going to experience in life, but when we have our faith in Jesus Christ, we are assured of our salvation and assured of our place in his kingdom. And when we walk in it, we, we see the fruit of the Spirit grow in our lives. That peace, love, joy, goodness, kindness, gentleness, faithfulness, patience, patience and self-control. So I encourage you, as we walk into the Memorial Day weekend, know that your life is precious and that you should do something with it. You should at the very least give thanks and praise the Lord, you know. Point your finger towards the cross and tell people about Jesus. Um, that's enough, you know. And, uh, and if the Lord leads you to do more, to seek him more, to know him more, to serve him in some way, say yes and follow him and go wherever he leads you. This life in Christ is an adventure, and, uh, when you answer the call, you'll never be bored. You might be busy, but you'll never be bored. And you might be tired, but you will feel renewed in your spirit on a continual basis when you, when you, you know, stay in his presence. So we encourage that. If you don't know what I'm talking about, we offer teaching to help you. Our Freedom in Christ course, the Bondage Breaker and Victory Over the Darkness that we taught on our pod— is now available on our podcast. And our YouTube channel of the same name, M.t. for Christ 247. And those works are based on the word of God and the work of Dr. Neil Anderson. I just basically presented what was there. Again, it's not my wisdom, it's, it's, it's somebody who read the word of God and put it in a very transferable, uh, uh, you know, impactful, uh, format and, uh, you know, shared it. And now I'm sharing it, and hopefully you'll receive it and live it. Anyway, we also, you know, like I said, it's all drawn on the Word of God, so we encourage Bible study. So you should read your Bible, and when you do that, make it an act of prayer. Pray to the Lord, reveal what you want me to see in this book and speak to me, and you'll hear his voice. So that's that. I have to run out the door and go to work. And then I have to try to repack because man, I got too much, too many clothes for 2 days. But I need it, or I don't know, we'll see. My wife will help me, she's great at packing. Me, I'm not so great. I bring too much and somehow I manage to forget things sometimes. So pray for me as I'll be going into the woods tomorrow and I won't come out until Monday morning. So we'll see. Anyway, uh, let's pray. Lord God, Heavenly Father, thank you for another day in your kingdom. Lord, we thank you for all that you do for us. Um, thank you for our salvation, the forgiveness of sins, and all the tender mercies we've received all the days of our lives. Lord, we just pray for anyone who's listening or reading this message, that they'd be blessed, that you come alongside them, show them the pathway to peace and joy that you have for them, and lead them in the way they should go. And bless them and keep them. And Lord, we pray the same for ourselves. Um, we want you to go before us. We need your protection this weekend, Lord, um, and your guidance and your, uh, strength. We'll take all the above, and we need it today to get through work. Um, so we need you, we need you, Lord. And we're not, we're not going anywhere, we're not going anywhere without you. Um, so we need your help. Uh, please open our eyes to let us see 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 and enjoy your presence throughout this life, and, uh, we need your help. So, Lord, we thank you, we praise you, we love you, and we pray all these things in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.