Skillfully Dealing with “The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly” of Thanksgiving Purity 895

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 blazing cotton candy sunset sky over my favorite portion of I-787 South, highlighting the glass-domed peak of the building at 625 Broadway in downtown Albany, comes to us from yours truly as I tried my best to capture some of the beauty of this spectacular spectacular November sky from my securely mounted iPhone as I drove home from work yesterday. The beauty of God's creation is all around us at all times, and as much as we may enjoy the warmer temperatures of summer, yesterday's sunset reminded me that we don't get sunsets quite like this during those warmer months, even though they don't happen every day in late autumn or throughout the winter, the history of my blog will testify to the truth that some truly magical celestial moments happen during these colder days of the year. Well, it's Tuesday, and for nearly all of us, today is hump day because Thanksgiving is only 48 hours away, making this first part of the week a 3-day work week. As I write these words, I am excited at the prospect of all of us coming together with family and friends to reunite in a celebration of Thanksgiving. I myself will be celebrating Thanksgiving at my brother-in-law's place, uh, who I see quite regularly as, as we go to the same church, and I attend the growth group he leads for our church. So while I will, I will not be reuniting with people I haven't seen in a while, I am filled with joy at just contemplating all the people who will be. Over the next couple of days, people will be traveling from near and far to enjoy the company of their friends and family, and I just have great joy contemplating the way God has knit us all together in relationships of love. It makes me think of Peter's word— uh, words on the Mount of Transfiguration, uh, when, when Peter witnessed Christ in unveiled glory, miraculously joined by Moses and Elijah. He said to Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you wish, let us make here three tabernacles, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah. Peter certainly didn't understand what was happening, but he knew it was good to be together, and he wanted this magical moment to last. That's how I feel right now, just thinking about people coming together in the next 48 hours to talk, to to laugh, to hug one another, to be together, and to love one another in peace and thanksgiving. I know my visions may seem Pollyanna-ish and may be distorted Hallmark movie fantasies, but even though all our interactions over the next few days aren't guaranteed to be perfectly harmonious, the love that lies at the foundation of them will still be there, even if we won't be able to express it perfectly. Let's face it, people, even family people, can drive you nuts. But usually there is more good than bad in our family deal— familial dealings, otherwise we wouldn't get together, right? I hope that's the case anyway. Otherwise, maybe next year we should investigate establishing boundaries to limit or keep the dysfunction at bay. So as we gear up for the good, the bad, and oh my, help us Jesus, the ugly that we may encounter over the next few days, let's promise one another that we will try to be the light that God wants us to be. Let's agree that we will be the ones that try to establish peace whenever possible with our family and friends, where necessary, as ambassadors for God's kingdom. Remember some basics presented from the Word of God on how to deal skillfully with the good, the bad, and the ugly of Thanksgiving. Proverbs 15:1 tells us, "A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger." James 1:19 says, "Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters: You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry. James also says in 1:2-3, my brethren, count it all joy when you face various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. And 1 Thessalonians 5:14-18 in the NLT says, brothers and sisters, we urge you to warn those who are lazy, encourage those who are timid, take tender care of those who are weak, be patient with with everyone. See that no one pays back evil for evil, but always try to do good to each other and to all people. Always be joyful. Never stop— be— never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you who belong to Christ Jesus. And finally, from Luke 23:24, Jesus said, Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing. While I hope you have some mountaintop moments of joy over the next few days that will make you want the moments to last forever, we have to remember that those we encounter over the next few days may not know the peace that goes beyond all understanding and may be bitter, angry, or hurting. So let's do our best to minister to them, but also remember not to be dragged into contentions or squabbles. Let's walk that line with skill. And let's not forget that while Christ also commanded us to love our enemies, we are not Jesus. So know your limitations. Speak an encouraging word, but if necessary, don't forget to call on the Lord to show you the way of escape. If we remember who we are in Christ, we will be grounded in peace no matter what we face. But wisdom may demand we extract ourselves from difficult situations or endure them with patience. There are no pat answers on how to deal with difficult situations, but if we are diligent to forgive others and show love, we just may have something to be thankful for after this latest holiday passes. Keep walking and talking with God, and he will show you— well, he will see you through. Uh, today's Bible verse comes to us from the New Living Translation Bible Promise Book for Men. This morning's meditation verse is Colossians 2:13, and it says, you were dead because of your sins and because your, your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ, for he forgave all our sins. Today's verse reminds us that before Christ we were dead, but because we put our faith in Jesus, God has made us alive with Christ and has forgiven all our sins. To be forgiven is a huge gift from the Lord, but our salvation is not just a pardon from the penalty that we would have rightly had to suffer. In Christian teachings, there are many illustrations about going to court and having Jesus show up to pay our fine so we could be set free. While that is a useful way to explain the atonement, that picture is somewhat incomplete in expressing the new life we have in Christ. Today's verse indicates that our, our sinful nature has been cut away and that God gives us new life with Christ. What we receive when we put our faith is more than just a pardon. It is a new existence with new capabilities that we didn't have before. But to experience the new existence, the new life in Christ, and to realize the power of our new capabilities We have to believe that this verse is true, that this verse and all the other ones about the new life in Christ is true about us. When we put our faith in Jesus, we receive the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit who makes us spiritually alive and powerful. After we become Christians, we are guaranteed eternal life with God forever, and we have the power to say no to sin for good, but we have to believe it and act on it. Sometimes transformation comes quickly, sometimes it takes— it comes in time, but it always comes from faith and the power of the Holy Spirit. So believe and receive what the Lord has done for you. Keep walking and talking with God and obey the call he puts on your life. We can trust the Lord because we are— we were once dead but he has made us alive and wants us to thrive. Go with God. As always, I invite all to go to mt4christ.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 Dietrich Bonhoeffer's Discipleship, also known as The Cost of Discipleship, and today we're sharing the last section from The Great Separation, which is a highlight of Matthew 7. So if you want to see what, uh, Bonhoeffer has to say about Matthew 7, verse 22 and beyond, um, go to mt4christ.org and you'll see that resource at the end of today's blog post. Well, um, it is Tuesday and we will be meeting, uh, for the last time with, uh, the, our group from, uh, the Freedom in Christ course. And I look forward to it as I'm going to present a small teaching, um, which I think I will actually share, uh, on YouTube for everyone, so it won't just be for those guys. But, um, I'm, I'm very happy to have made it to this point of another end of another Freedom in Christ course, and I'm inviting, uh, the previous graduates from our course as well, so, um, hopefully some of those guys will show up. Um, so, uh, looking forward to that, you know, getting together with friends and brothers and sisters in Christ and family should be a joyous occasion as we get to practice what we preach and be patient and not stir up anger or anything like that, and rejoice and testify of how good the Lord is. So I hope that we'll keep these things in mind over the next couple of days as we get together with family and friends for Thanksgiving. Um, God be with you. Anyway, uh, as always, we encourage people to check out our website, uh, mt4christ.org, and our blog, uh, well, our podcast M.t. for Christ 247, and our YouTube channel of the same name. There you'll find teachings for Victory Over the Darkness, The Bondage the Breaker, and Freedom in Christ, all based on the word of God and the teachings of Dr. Neil Anderson, and of who I serve as a part of the Freedom in Christ Ministries. And so we invite you to check those out. We also check it— we also produce a weekly Bible study, or participate in one anyway, called Bible Study with with the Sincatis. We didn't have one last week because our friend the Sincatis are on the road this week, so we pray they are well, and we pray that you'll check out the, the work that Arthur has done with our studies over the last couple of years. All of them are available on the podcast and our YouTube channel. So that's it. I think, you know, I, I started my V-Shred workout this week, and it's shorter than my normal workout, so I don't know how that's going to work out. It's a little more intense maybe, but it's shorter. So, um, but it's, it's good to, uh, get a workout in before Thanksgiving, you know what I'm saying? But it gave me a little more time today. So, um, although I'm not going to meander on because I have other things to do, uh, so let me just pray for us and wish us a good day, even though I have some extra time this morning. Lord God, Heavenly Father, thank you for another day in your kingdom. Thank you for all that you do for us. And Lord, we just thank you for the— anyone who might be listening to the podcast today, we pray for you to bless them with your grace and to empower them to do the things you need them to do today and over the next few days. Um, Lord, as always, we pray for you to go before us, to open our eyes to the things you want us to see and to lead us in the way we should go. Lord, we thank you, we praise you, we love you, and we pray all these things in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.