Simple Things Mean the Most - Purity 1153

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 hazy, multicolored sunset sky over the green fields near Holmquist Farms comes to us from Dana Fille and Rich Tomlin, who shared this simply heavenly scene on social media yesterday, stating, "When you work hard and hurry home, and have a free night, we hop on the quad to the farm. It's the simple things that mean the most. Well, it's Friday, and I couldn't agree more with our friend's sentiment that the simple things do mean the most. And today I'm giving thanks for the simple things that I have that mean so much. In the forefront of my mind, I'm thankful for my wife, Tammy Lynn, and her simple beauty and faith. I was fully prepared to go full monk after my divorce, and I don't walk this world alone, but my prayers for a faithful Christian wife were answered through Tammy Lynn. Uh, Tammy Lynn just got out of some major dental surgery yesterday afternoon and has been in a lot of pain because of her condition. And my schedule, I haven't been able to speak to her, and I'm looking forward to the end of the workday today so I can head north to our countryside home to be in her presence and to comfort her in whatever way I can. Tami Lynn's condition has also reminded me of the simple thing that many of us can take for granted— being healthy and pain-free. My commitment to slay my food addiction since August 18th is me weighing in at 223.6 pounds this week, down from 238.9, and I'm feeling great not carrying the extra 15 pounds. While my body mass index is still in the obesity range, I'm really appreciating my relatively good health and have a renewed intention to keep moving in the right direction health-wise. In hindsight, it is somewhat frightening to realize how unaware and unaffected I was about how I was sabotaging my own efforts through mindless eating. And in light of Tammy Lynn's dental problems, I've been sure to brush my teeth and use my Waterpik, um, this week. Yeah, you shouldn't take the simple thing of— oh boy— of your health for granted and be diligent in being a good steward to your body. It is the temple of the Holy Spirit after all, and we are to make it a living sacrifice to the Lord. So let's make it a healthy one. Sorry about that, sort of lost my place. Anyway, we're back at it. Uh, and of course I'm thankful for the simple thing of my faith in Christ and all that the Lord has done in my life since the day I put my faith in Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. Uh, the interior, uh, peace and joy, uh, that I have from the Lord stay with me because I abide in him. Literally walking and talking with him as I go through my days on the earth. For those who don't know peace, uh, or the joy of the Lord, uh, seek him. Spend time getting to know him through the Bible and through prayer and following his lead for your life. When you walk in the Spirit, you will be blessed by the fruit of the Spirit. Uh, if that wasn't enough, I'm also thankful for all the people that God has put on my path as I have walked through this life. My family, my friends, and particularly my brothers and sisters in Christ that I've met along the way since 2010 have blessed me beyond measure. Uh, there are too many to name, but this morning in prayer I was reminded of my faithful partners in ministry, Debbie Deyo and Scott Salvador, who, who lead the, uh, Celebrate Freedom growth group with me, as I got an indication from the Lord to hand over the reins of leadership to each of them for the next 2 weeks. I don't know if I got this call because things have been pretty hectic in my life lately, or if the Lord wants to do something through them in the next 2 weeks, but I'm thankful for my friends' faithfulness and feel confident that they will rise to answer the call to lead. Right, guys? Right, Lord? I guess we'll find out, but unless I got my wires crossed, I'm pretty sure that the Lord is calling them into service, not that they weren't serving already. But that reminds me, you know, how blessed we are when we can be vulnerable to ask others for help and to be pretty confident that they will— we will receive it. The simple thing of being in community or in harmony with your friends to the point where you can be open, honest, and ask for help is a blessing that unfortunately few of us have. Often when I have led ministries and have met newcomers and heard their stories of how they were living a double life in the shadows of darkness, guilt and shame, and how lonely they were in their hurts, habits, and hang-ups, I'm reminded just how important it can be to have people— have people in your life that you can be honest with and can receive support from. The simple thing of not being alone is so huge, and we should watch ourselves and make sure we don't slip into isolation. If you are feeling down, get up and seek the Lord and the company of the saints. You don't have to do life alone anymore. Anyway, this has been a practice in gratitude, and I recommend it as a daily spiritual practice. We are always giving thanks for the things we have been blessed with. We will be anchored in the pathway of peace and abiding in the simple thing of joy. So keep walking and talking with God. Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, and his provision and mercy endure forever. God bless you and have a great weekend. Doing and enjoying the simple things that mean the most. 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 anger and hot temper. And today's passage is Genesis 4:3-8 from the NIV. The Word of God says, In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the Lord. And Abel also brought an offering, fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The Lord looked with favor on Abel and his offering, but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast. Then the Lord said to Cain, 'Why are you so— why are you angry? Why is your face downcast?' If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it. Now Cain said to his brother Abel, 'Let's go out to the field.' While they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him. Today's verses fall under the 5th point of our Counseling Reference Guide's resource section on anger. That fifth point being Cain's anger turned into hate and murder. Today's verses tell the story of the first homicide that was the product of jealousy, the failure to heed the Lord our God, and was committed in the heat of prideful anger. In this passage, verse 4 is highlighted because it sets the stage for Cain's motive. His brother Abel was looked on with favor. But Cain wasn't. While there is quite a bit of speculation as to why Abel's offering was favorable, maybe because it was a blood sacrifice and cost Abel the life of the firstborn of his flock, and Cain's wasn't, maybe because it was something the Lord had provided. In the end, it doesn't matter. Cain's jealousy and anger was not just— not a justifiable reason to kill Abel. And the Lord specifically tells Cain to just, just to, just do, just to turn that frown upside down and to just do what is right, warning Cain that if he doesn't, sin will have its way with him. Rather than being obedient to the Lord, Cain's anger led him to murder his brother and to not exactly cower with guilt and shame when confronted by the Lord about the whereabouts of his deceased sibling. Am I my brother's keeper? Seriously, Cain? Wow! Anyway, as tragic as Cain and Abel's story is, it provides us with the most basic principles of our faith: Do what is right according to the Lord, otherwise sin will rule over you. And it shows us the dangers of not listening to the Lord and letting our anger move us to regrettable actions. So do the right thing. Seek the Lord's help to let go of feelings of anger to pers— and to pursue his ways of peace. 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 A.W. Pink's The Holy Spirit as we begin chapter 26, uh, which is The Spirit Interceding. So if you want to hear what A.W. Pink has to say about the Holy Spirit interceding in your life, uh, go to mt4christ.org and you'll see that resource at the end of today's blog post. As always, we encourage a life of Christian discipleship, a life that's built on a basis of gratitude and knowing who you are in Christ and agreeing to be a disciple of Jesus Christ. To know his teachings and to live according to them. And the reason why we do that is because, as we don't do what's right, sin is crouching at the door, and the consequences of sin are great, um, not good. So, so we recommend that as we're just echoing the Lord, basically, that's how tell you what to do. It's not my wisdom, it's the Word of God that we try to, try to put forth out there. And, um, it, it does have great, uh, it does bear great fruit when we live according to it. So today I'm able to be thankful for, for so much because of what the Lord has done in my life. And so I encourage people to pursue the Lord and seek the Lord and to do his will for their lives, to seek out his presence and to be forever changed by it. So yeah, these aren't just principles and rules to live by. This is a living relationship with the living God who can and does speak to us. So we encourage you to seek him. Anyway, it is Friday and I'm looking forward to getting, uh, getting through my work day. And, um, so I want to pray and get us there. Lord God, Heavenly Father, thank you for another day in your kingdom. Lord, we thank you so much for all that you've done and for the love I've known through my wife and through my friends, my family, through the people I've walked through in faith through the years. Um, so grateful for what you do in our lives, Lord. And, um, I'm grateful to people— for people who are encouraged and listen and read the message, uh, that we provide, um, Lord. So we pray for you to bless them. We pray for you to come alongside them in their prayer requests and guide them in the way they should go through their faith walk. And Lord, while we're at it, we need your help too. So we're praying for you to, well, first and foremost, to increase my wife's healing and reduce the amount of pain she's suffering. As we've been praying that prayer continuously every few hours, um, Lord, as we, we want her to be well, we pray for your mercy in this. We pray for your healing, uh, to come to Tammy Lynn sooner rather than later. So we're begging at your throne of grace for her, for her today. And Lord, we pray for our friends. Like I said, their prayer requests, you know, we're all going through something, and we pray for you to help them too. Um, while we're at it, you can help me, help me get through this work day, open my eyes to the things I need see and know and do, and lead me in the way I should go today. As all I want to do is represent you in your kingdom, to do the best job I can, um, at pointing, you know, doing what— meeting my responsibilities and appointing people to, uh, to follow Jesus, uh, Lord. So we thank you, we praise you, we love you, and we pray all these things in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.