Speak Life - I Can Do All Things #2 - Purity 1357

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 the sun illuminating the fresh blacktop of Waite Road as my canine pal Harley looks off-road in the general direction of the Cross Lake utility pole comes to us from yours truly as I took this quick shot on our way back after a short walk. Yes, Yesterday afternoon. Well, it's Thursday, and I share today's blacktop pathway photo as a visual encouragement to either get on or to stay on the path of Christian discipleship, because I know the immense power and joy that comes into your life when you live by faith and walk in the Spirit. Sometimes in our Christian walk, or when we serve in ministry, we may not see great results or big signs that we're making a difference in the lives of the people who surround us. But yesterday I was reminded why we are, we are to keep being faithful in our efforts at being faithful, because you never know when God will put someone on your path to speak life into. It has been a somewhat dry season for Celebrate Freedom Recovery discipleship support group at Starpoint Church this year. While offering support is never about the number of people you serve, it can be a little disappointing when your numbers are low or dwindle to next to nothing. Our Wednesday night meetings are faithfully attended by our ministry team, but lately we have only been ministering to a couple of participants. And when yesterday's meeting was beginning, we wondered whether or not we were just going to be ministering to ourselves. Travel plans and work were keeping some of our regulars away, and I was given the opportunity to teach after our men's leader texted to tell us that he couldn't make it either. But I wasn't sure if there would be anyone other than my fellow leaders to teach. But no sooner did we begin to speculate over that possibility and were really ready to accept it as a fact, then a new person walked through the door to get support. It's funny how one person can make a difference. Suddenly our ministry wasn't just going through the motions of preaching to the choir. We had the opportunity to speak life into someone, and the Holy Spirit was faithful to inspire us to do just that. I was unprepared and hadn't taught in weeks, but I was amazed how I just flowed through the lesson outline and, um, and the Holy Spirit brought to remembrance scripture references and examples from my life that demonstrated how we receive power from God to to overcome our hurts, habits, and hangups. It was a great night and a great reminder of why we show up, because we never know when we will be called to give someone hope. And that brings us to our current series on being able to do all things in Christ who strengthens us. I'm sharing from Neil Anderson's Who I Am in Christ devotional to inspire us to keep our hope alive and to remember that with God, anything is possible. Picking up, uh, where we left off yesterday, Anderson writes, nothing can keep us from God's will. He writes, if we can do it, then what is the everything that we can do? Certainly there are some limitations. The key, as in all biblical interpretation, is found in the context. Paul says he has learned to be content in all of life's seasons. Our situations and our words. In other, in other words, the circumstances of life do not determine who we are, nor do they keep us from being what God wants us to be. No person and no circumstances can keep us from doing the will of God, which primarily is our sanctification. See 1 Thessalonians 4:3. It is Christ who strengthens us. We may not be able to arrange the external events of life, nor have we been called to, but we have the assurance that God is rearranging our internal world and using the external world to do it. We also, we also rejoice in our sufferings because we know that suffering produces perseverance, perseverance character, and character hope. Hope does not disappoint us because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit whom he, whom he has given us. That's Paul quoting Romans 5— well, that's Paul writing in Romans 5:3-5. And Anderson continues, our hope lies in proven character, not in favorable circumstances. And that is where Paul learned the secret of contentment. He stopped trying to change the world and allowed God to change him. If we all did that, the world would be radically changed. That's from Dr. Neil Anderson's Who I Am in Christ, a devotional, chapter 36. I'm sharing this teaching because it's grounded in reality. Anderson admits that we may not be able to rearrange the external events in life, but it also gives us great hope because it focuses on what we can change—our internal world—with God's help, and, and that even the negative circumstances we may face have a purpose—to give us perseverance, character, and hope. The hope lies in us. We allow God to change us and to teach us the secret of contentment, which is acceptance and a rich relationship with God. That's how we can be content. I am doing— I'm doling out this wisdom from Anderson in very small doses because I think people miss this, the path of discipleship, and treat God like a heavenly slot machine asking for blessings or treating God like a genie in the bottle to do their bidding. While God will bless us from, you know, with the miraculous from time to time, our relationship with God is meant to be be more than just asking him for things. Uh, our relationship is supposed to make us into his people, and he doesn't have to change the world to suit us as much as he need— we need to be changed to be more like God, to know him, and to understand that he has already given us everything for life and God and godliness. Um, we get everything we need in Christ, and when we know it, we can be content in all circumstances. So hold on to the hope you have in Christ. Let God work in your life to mature you in your faith. And when the opportunity presents itself to speak life into, into the world that desperately needs it, um, by telling them all about what you received through Jesus— what you received through Jesus. There. And, uh, we move along to today's Bible, uh, verses, um, The Quick Scripture Reference for Counseling by John G. Cruis. This morning's meditation verses come from the section on decision-making, and today we're going through 1 Kings 18:16-39. And the Word of God says, so Obadiah went to meet Ahab and told him, and Ahab went to meet Elijah. When Ahab saw Elijah, Ahab said, is it you, you troubler of Israel? And he answered, I have not troubled Israel, but you have and your father's house, because you have abandoned the commandments of the Lord and followed the Baals. Now therefore send and gather all Israel to me at Mount Carmel, and the 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of Asherah who eat at Jezebel's table. So Ahab sent to all the people of Israel and gathered the prophets together at Mount Carmel. And Elijah came near to all the people and said, "How long will you go limping between two different opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him, but if Baal, then follow him." And the people did not answer him a word. Then Elijah said to the people, "I, even I only, am left a prophet of the Lord, but Baal's prophets are 450 men. Let 2 bulls be given to us, and let them choose 1 bull for themselves and cut it in pieces and lay it on the wood, but put no fire to it. And I will prepare the other bull and lay it on the wood and put no fire to it. And you call upon the name of your god, and I will call upon the name of the Lord. And the god who answers by fire He is God. And all the people answered, It is well spoken. Then Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, Choose for yourselves one bowl and prepare it first, for you are many, and call upon the name of your god, but put no fire to it. And they took the bowl that was given them, and they prepared it, and called upon the name of Baal from morning until noon, saying, O Baal, answer us! But there was no voice, and no one answered. And they limped around the altar that they had made. And at noon Elijah mocked them, saying, 'Cry aloud, for he is— for he is a god. Either he is— he is musing, or he is relieving himself, or he is on a journey, and perhaps he is asleep and must be awakened.' And they cried aloud and cut themselves after their custom with swords and lances until the blood gushed out out upon them. And as midday passed, they raved on until the time of the offering of the oblation, but there was no voice. No one answered, no one paid attention. Then Elijah said to the people, 'Come near to me.' And all the people came near to him, and he repaired the altar of the Lord that had been thrown down. Elijah took 12 stones according to the number of the tribes of the son of Jacob, to whom the word of the Lord came saying, Israel shall be your name. And with the stones he built an altar in the name of the Lord, and he made a trench about the altar as great as would contain 2 seahs of seed. And he put the wood in order and cut the bull in pieces and laid it on the wood. And he said, fill 4 jars with water and and pour it on the burnt offering and on the wood. And he said, do it a second time. And they did it a second time. And he said, do it a third time. And they did it a third time. And the water ran around the altar and filled the trench also with water. And at the time of the offering of the oblation, Elijah the prophet came near and said, O God, or O Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Let it be known this day that You are God in Israel, and that I am Your servant, and that I have done all these things at Your word. Answer me, O Lord, answer me, that this people may know that You, O Lord, are God, and that You have turned their hearts back. Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt offering and the wood and the stones and the dust and licked up the water that was in the trench. And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces and said, "The Lord, he is God! The Lord, he is God!" Today's verses fall under the third point of our Counseling Reference Guide's resource section on decision-making. That third point is Elijah called God's people to stop wavering. Today's verses tell the story of Elijah trusting in and proving who the real God is. This is a spiritual showdown between the one true God of the Bible, Yahweh, and the false god of Baal, who was rendered powerless when it really mattered. Elijah encouraged the nation of Israel to see the truth and to respond to it by following the one who is true and powerful. Based on the evidence of truth, Elijah called them to make a decision, just as we are called to decide if we will trust in and follow Jesus. There is an abundance of evidence that can support the truth that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and God the Son. And so let me encourage you to stop wavering and decide to pick up your cross and follow him. As always, we invite you to go to M.t. Clark.org, where we always share insights from prominent Christian theologians and counselors to assist our 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. Alford. And today we share from Acts 28, from verse 15. Alford shares from Acts 28:15, when Paul saw them, he thanked God and took courage. And Stephen Alford writes, the journey for Paul had been long and tedious. Many times the prospect of ever arriving in Rome had looked bleak, but now he had landed. Certain brethren had heard of him and had come out to meet him, and when Paul saw them, he thanked God and took courage. Those brethren were a definite sign of encouragement. God sees fit very often to give his servants signs of blessing for their encouragement. Those brethren were also the earnest of the blessing that Paul was going to see during his time in Rome. Lastly, those brethren were a fellowship from which he could expect prayer and cooperation in his new work. And Stephen Alford ends by praying, Give me reason today, Lord, to see the sign, that I might thank you and take courage. Amen. Amen. And yeah, uh, you know, in our faith we don't always get fire from heaven, but you know, if it, if it should happen like it did in Elijah, we definitely should make a decision to follow the Lord. Um, in my life yesterday, you know, the after, you know, what we expected to be a slow night, and it, you know, admittedly was a slow night with our ministry work, God saw fit to send someone new to us. Someone who wanted support. And, you know, it fired us up, you know, to be able to speak life into somebody and to tell them how to walk by faith in the power of the Holy Spirit. And, you know, that's a sign, you know. So, you know, send somebody, Lord. And they send somebody who never had, you know, didn't go to our church, just happened to go online and see that our support group was available, and they they had experienced with Celebrate Recovery in the past, and so they decided to give our group a try. And, you know, they needed it. The person suffered from depression, and, you know, basically they wanted some hope spoken into their life. And we were faithful to deliver that message of hope, because we've received it, and so we allow God to change our lives and and have experienced the peace and joy of the Lord. And so we're going to speak it into other people's lives too. And, um, so we take it, you know, we keep walking and talking with God, and we try to, try to do our best to share his love by telling people the truth and encouraging them to follow as well. So that's what we're doing here, um, on the blog and the podcast. Just really telling people there's good reasons to believe, and, um, you know, there's good evidence for the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ. And to ask him, uh, ask him to lead you, um, talk to the Lord and, and see what happens. Um, he called me out of the darkness, but after that I've been talking to him ever since. And there's no regrets and great joy and peace from it. So, well, today we have to work. Um, we're moving along. We're actually going to try to speak life into a few people this afternoon as we have a couple appointments after, after our work as Christian life coach. I'm not sure if these will be, uh, our client, you know, these conversations will turn into clients or not, but, um, I'm more than willing to offer my My service is to speak hope in life and to support someone in pursuing their life goals or their spiritual goals or their mental health goals or their, you know, recovery goals, whatever they are. I've experienced, you know, victory and freedom in these areas, and I'm willing to, you know, walk alongside people to have them experience it too. So whether or not we'll be talking for just a conversation this afternoon, or we're going to establish a relationship that'll last, you know, for a short time or a long time, I'm open to the possibility because I know the Lord called me to speak life in the people. And so that's what we're going to do, and walk— and to not only just speak life, but walk alongside them, um, in a relationship where I'll coach them to walk in the Spirit and to, you know, have a biblical worldview of how they approach life. So I'm looking forward to that. And, um, you know, and I don't know what'll, what'll happen, but we're gonna, we're gonna try to represent God's kingdom in all we do. And so let's, uh, let's get off to work and let's pray. Lord God, Heavenly Father, thank you for another day in your kingdom. Lord, thank you for the great evidences you've shown that you are the one true God and that Jesus is the Messiah and God's Son, the Son of God, and God the Son, and that where he is there's life and there's freedom. And that you, you've opened my eyes to that and you're helping me continually to know You more and to grow in my faith, Lord. So we pray for anyone who might be listening to be encouraged, and to— we pray for You to help them, Lord, reveal Yourself to them and guide them in the way they should go, and come alongside them and their prayer requests and their walk of faith. We all need Your help, Lord, and I perhaps most of all. So I, I'm also praying for myself. That you would open my eyes to the things you want me to see today, give me words to speak when I need them, and show me the way to go, Lord, because all I want to do is represent you in your kingdom, and I desperately need your help for that, and I'm asking for it today. Lord, we thank you, we praise you, we love you, and we pray all these things in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.