Seeking the Lord and Receiving His Help - Purity 1385

To see today's photo, go to mt4christ.com or follow me, M.t. Clark, on Facebook or Twitter. Good morning. Today's photo of pleasant blue skies and lush green vegetation surrounding the waters and rock formations of Stuyvesant Falls comes to us from yours truly, as I originally captured this tranquil moment back on August 15, 2020. Well, it's Wednesday, and, and it, and, and, and an abnormal hump day for me as I have a shifted work tour that requires me to work Saturday and compensates for it by giving me the day off tomorrow. So happy hump day Friday for me, uh, before a one-day weekend of Thursday to me. Um, life can be pretty crazy at times if you think about it or have any preconceived concepts of normal. Our concepts of workdays or days to worship are all pretty subjective and are dependent on the circumstances of life or your ideas about what, quote unquote, must be. While we are free to choose to do whatever we wish, we can't necessarily impose our shoulds on someone else, and we would be foolish to think that we are somehow free of the consequences of the choices we do make. This year I have chosen to answer a perceived call on my life to be, uh, to begin a Christian life coaching and prayer ministry practice. And while I have made the decisions on how I will operate it, it doesn't mean I'll be free from the criticisms of others who disagree with my decisions and have suggestions for, quote unquote, a better way to do your ministry. This different path that I have chosen to try to uh, tread as a business rather than a 501 tax-exempt nonprofit organization is unfamiliar territory for myself and is easily misunderstood. So I will have to roll with the punches as I take flak from those who are looking for help free of charge. To be clear, I'm not unwilling to help. The blog, the podcast, the YouTube channel, the ministry work at my local church, and the online The stuff I do for FICM should demonstrate that, but this venture, my Christian life coaching business, takes away from what little remaining personal time I do have. And even though it is intended to give personal attention, help, guidance, encouragement, teaching, accountability, and assistance to those who ask, you have to pay me for my time. Um, please forgive me if you tuned in yesterday and already heard me defend myself about this. Believe, believe me, uh, this dialogue is tiresome. Uh, believe me when I say— me when I say that this dialogue is tiresome for me too. But I got another scathing email in regards to my requiring fees for my services, which was insulting of course, but it also caused me to think about faith, seeking the Lord, and applying his help to your life. And as it turns out, my morning devotions uh, led me to the following, uh, passages from David Jeremiah that I would like to share. The Turning Devotions, uh, uh, Turning Points devotion for June 26th shared Hebrews 11:6, which says, "And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him." And Jeremiah writes, Hebrews 11:6 says that faith is required to please God. Faith in His existence and His rewarding of faith. Seeking God diligently is not easy. Solomon compared it to digging for hidden treasures , and Jesus said it begins with our will: "If anyone will do His will, he shall know whether my teaching is from God, or whether I speak of my own authority" . Building faith begins with our desire to know God, which leads to seeking Him and results in trusting Him. God rewards the faith of those who seek him. Jesus's ministry of healing and compassion is evidence of that. Seek him today knowing your faith pleases him. That was from David Jeremiah. I shared this passage with a couple of my paying clients and this disgruntled emailer as an encouragement to seek the Lord themselves. I can encourage, but I can't do it for you, although I would If you hire me as a coach, I will try to make you accountable to do so. Um, because God's word is true, that's why I shared it. And this verse highlights a fundamental key to receiving your freedom and healing from the Lord. The angry emailer who is probably not going to pay a lot for this muffler and who definitely refuses to pay an initial consultation fee, uh, questioned my salvation and attempted to shame me. For refusing to help some who quote-unquote can't pay. I apologized and attempted to explain my policies previously, but in response to this, I just, you know, I got hit again. And so in response to this, I just sent a link for free resources from FICM that I believe could be of great help to someone who believes they are being tormented by demonic entities. I'm sharing it today on the blog for all you cheapskates. I'm just kidding. This is why my wife Tammy Lynn agrees with me that being a pastor is probably not my calling. I confront people with God's word and ask them to apply it to their lives like I did to be set free. If you don't do that, you will struggle with sin, you will be bitter, you will be depressed, you will be angry, you will be anxious, and yes, you could very well provide the permission that the demonic forces of darkness could utilize to torment you. So I gave this demonically oppressed angry emailer the link and, uh, recommendation that they download the free PDF book, Restored, at that link and challenged them to read it and to pray through the prayers in that book, stating that a link may not seem like much help, but there it is. The question is, will you receive it and seek the Lord through it. This is my point: I don't set you free, the Lord does. He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him. I only provide assistance to seek him. Unfortunately, my policy for my business is to require compensation. I understand the difficulties of those who suffer from demonic affliction, but there are other free deliverance ministries out there. There are local churches, there is Freedom in Christ Ministries, there are lots of nonprofit 501 deliverance ministries out there. I'm not one of those. Google deliverance ministry near me and you will find lots of options. However, don't be surprised if some of them require donations for their help, and don't be surprised if they ask you to have faith and to play an active role in seeking your freedom. That's what I do. Sure, I require a fee for my time, but more importantly, I require my clients to be real in their commitment to seek the Lord's help. And if you're not willing to be able to participate in the efforts to set— to be set free, you should definitely contact the Roman Catholic Church for an exorcism or another deliverance ministry that claims a special anointing to cast out demons on demand. I know the difficulties of being set free from sin, negative mind states, and demonic interference, and unfortunately I don't have any quick fixes. And the path I would lead you on would require faith, prayer, action, and willing— and the willingness to surrender to and to seek the Lord with all your mind, heart, and strength. If you seek the Lord, he will reward your efforts. But there's no half-stepping in God's kingdom. If you want his help, healing, and freedom, he wants you to surrender to him and to give your life to him. And rather than coming up with excuses why you can't do that, he wants you to show him You're for real by humbling yourself and paying the cost. Sell everything to buy the pearl of great price, right? To receive what— to receive the transformed life that he has for you. Today's Bible verses come to us from the Quick Scripture Reference for Counseling by John G. Kruis. This morning's meditation verses come from the section on Example, and today's verses are from 1 Peter 5:2-4. And the word of God says, be shepherds of God's flock that is under your care, watching over them not because you must, but because you're, you are willing, as God wants you to be. Not pursuing dishonest gain, but eager to serve. Not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock. And when the chief shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away. Today's verses fall under the second point of our Counseling Reference Guide's resource section on example, good or bad. And that second point is: Pastors and elders are to be good examples for their flock. Today's verses encourage pastors and elders to be good examples to their flock. I'm not a pastor, so I won't comment too much on this one. I have seen some, uh, lord it— you know, some pastors lord it over their congregations. And we all know of scandals that involve dishonest gain. So tread lightly and be discerning about where you worship. Make sure your pastors and elders are genuine in their, in the example they set by checking out how they live outside the four walls of the church as well as inside. As always, I invite all to go to M.t. Clark.com where I always share insights from prominent Christian theologians and counselors to assist my brothers and sisters in Christ with their walk for free. Um, today we continue sharing from According to Your Word: Morning and Evening Through the New Testament by Stephen F. Allford. And today's devotion is based on 1 Corinthians 11, and from that chapter he shares a portion of verse 24 which says, do this in remembrance of me. And Stephen Allford writes, This remembrance feast is the portion and privilege of every company of God's people. For the twos and threes to the large churches of God, it is a unique remembrance feast of a united and, of a united and individual appropriation of the Lord, body and blood, annunciation of the Lord and his death, anticipation of the Lord and his coming. Appropriation of the body and blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. As often as you eat this bread and drink this cup. 1 Corinthians 11:26. Annunciation of the death of the Lord Jesus Christ. You proclaim the Lord's death. Verse 26. Anticipation of the coming of the Lord Jesus. Till he comes. Verse 26. And then he prays, enable me, O Lord, Sunday by Sunday to enter more into the meaning of this wonderful remembrance feast. So Alfred's pointing to the remembrance feast of Jesus Christ, that he died for us, and, uh, you know, we can live through, through him by partaking and remembering him through this ceremony. Basically, that represents his, his body and blood, and basically that way we become part of his kingdom through faith in him. So that's all I'm going to say about communion. There's lots of, uh, there's, well, there's at least 3 views on communion, um, several more, but, uh, I won't— I, I go with the representation because the rest is a little bit mystical and it's, uh, you know, hard to say. So I know it represents how, how much God's in the bread and wine. That's, it's up for you, uh, you and your church to decide. Um, but it's a good— it's a good ceremony, uh, whether you believe it's the actual blood, body and blood, or, or not. Um, it's good to remember Christ's sacrifice for us and pledge ourselves to live for him. I'm short on time, so I'm going to pray. Lord God, Heavenly Father, thank you for another day in your kingdom. Lord, we thank you so much for the freedom you've given us and the opportunity that we have to help people, um, through our encouraging words, through our free ministries, and through our Christian life coaching business. Lord, we pray for you to bless our efforts today as we seek to represent you and your kingdom only, and not to chase after dishonest gain, but to be a good example as someone who's trying to walk and talk with you all day long, to live like you would have us live. Well, we need help with that though, so we're praying for you to help us, and we're praying for you to help the people out there who might be listening or reading today's message, that you'd come alongside them their prayer request and their walk of faith too. Lord, we thank you, we praise you, and we love you, and we pray all these things in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.