Students Become the Teachers – Walk in Wisdom - Purity 1444

Welcome to the MT for Christ 247 podcast. I'm M.t. Clark, and this is today's photo. To see today's photo, go to mtforchrist.com or follow me, M.t. Clark, on Facebook or Twitter, or watch us on YouTube. Good morning. Today's photo of my canine pal Harley moving east as a magnificent sunset scene is on display in the west comes to us from yours truly as I turn to look back and capture the sun that was just pouring over my shoulders as we went out for a walk on Waite Road back on September 3rd, 2023. Well, it is Friday, thank God, and what a difference a year makes. On Monday, I mourned and suffered through my uncontested worst Labor Day ever as I was confined to my bed for most of the day as my body used the newly introduced antibiotics to fight off the pneumonia that I was diagnosed with the day before. However, as we move through to the beginning of the last day of the work week and the first Friday of September, we are hopeful that God will bring complete healing soon. So despite the missed holiday opportunities, we are thanking God for emergent care medicine the day the day he has made, for who he is, and for the man that he has made me to be. Even though my respiratory illness has prevented me from going to my day job and kept me in bed most of this week, I was still able to minister to my life coaching clients and was able to launch the Tuesday night Freedom in Christ course successfully. And even though I came to terms with and confess some self-deception and hypocrisy present in my walk yesterday, I am excited to begin walking and wisdom once again. Last night, I'm proud to say that my life coaching clients simultaneously made me proud and motivated me to turn from my self-deception and, and recent compromises and to enthusiastically pursue God's will for my life with diligence. My clients have different goals and situations that affect their lives, but each of them has grown during our relationship and has increased their capacity to recognize the pitfalls that the world, the flesh, and the devil try to put, put in their way. Last night, the students became the teachers in a sense, as their testimonies demonstrated the fact that they had learned a thing or two through our coaching sessions and were reaping the benefits of being diligent in walking and talking with God and taking on their life goals by utilizing God's help and power that he had put into them. Both of them reported significant achievements in their goals, which, which is resulting in my pride and joy. Oh, to be walking in the Spirit like these men. What they reported matter-of-factly, I celebrated loudly to impress upon them that they were doing it. While they knew they had made progress, I did my best to show them the big picture. That while they might not, uh, that while they might not see it, their recent achievements and their very lives were something to be proud of because vast multitudes of others couldn't do what they have done, don't know what they know, and quite frankly, don't have the lives that these men have. The things these men quote unquote suffer through as part of their status quo and that they might take for granted. Would be a dream life for other people. So I was insistent in pointing this out, that they, regardless of their trials or frustrations at times, are succeeding in life. They are able-bodied men who are meeting their responsibilities and now doing so with the intention to do God— to do it God's way, to be the men he created them to be. And they are recognizing the lies and traps that the world system, their flesh, and the spiritual forces of darkness have used in the past to keep them, you know, to keep them stuck. One client reported being in a— well, reported a best-in-six-years measure of success in one area of his life. And I made him reflect on how during that time, he would have earnestly loved to be where he is today. But the world, his own flesh, or the enemy had blinded his eyes, kept him in confusion, and prevented him from regressing. But now, because he had come into the light, in 3 months has already achieved a best-in-6-years achievement that he can enjoy, celebrate, and use as motivation to keep moving forward. That's progress. And that is what happens when you turn toward and start walking with God. As it turns out, the Turning Point with David— Dr. David Jeremiah daily devotional for today addresses our walk of faith. And I'm sharing it because it reflects the things that my clients are putting into practice and encourages me to get back on the path that leads to increasing freedom as well as peace. David Jeremiah writes, um, walk in wisdom. And he shares Ephesians 5:15-16, which says, see then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time because the days are evil. And then he writes, the first 9 chapters of the book, book of Proverbs, are recorded as the words, advice, teachings of a father to his son. On how to live a wise life. The Hebrew idea of wisdom is skill, avoiding spiritual and moral danger. Proverbs 2:1-6 describes the acquisition of wisdom as a process not unlike searching for hidden treasure. It takes time and diligence. Paul continues that idea in Ephesians 5:15-16, exhorting Christians to walk carefully and skillfully. Why is wisdom or skill so necessary? Because the days are evil. This is an idea not unlike the ideas in Proverbs 1 through 9, that the path through life is filled with traps and snares of all kinds. The person who strolls through life unaware of these dangers will be easily caught by them. Thus the need to walk circumspectly, carefully, making the most of the limited time and opportunities we have. As the example in James 4:13-17 points out, carefulness starts with consulting God on decisions and directions. Over time, our skill in discerning God's will grows as we benefit from his guidance. And then, uh, Jeremiah shares a quote from George Müller, which says, I pray as I walk about, when I lie down, and when I rise up, and the answers are always coming. Amen. When we are walking with God, the answers are always coming because we are seeking his wisdom, ways, and spirit to guide us. While it is good to look back at where we have been, to celebrate the good we have achieved, and to recognize where we have lied to ourselves or been lied to, and how it has kept us stuck. The Lord wants us to move forward with him. Walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, in order to find the freedom and victory that he has for us. So start fresh if you need to, or just keep doing what you're doing. But let's thank God it is Friday, and let's keep on walking and talking with him. Today's meditation, uh, yes, well, today's Bible verses come from the Quick Scripture Reference for Counseling by John G. Kruis. Today's, um, this morning's meditation verses come to us from the section on the forgiveness of sins. And today, uh, we share Proverbs 28:13-14, which say, he who covers his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy. Happy is the man who is always reverent, but he who hardens his heart will fall into calamity. Today's verses are the second of two passages of scripture that fall under the 18th point of our Counseling Reference Guide's resource section on the forgiveness of sins. And that 18th point is: God graciously forgives when we confess our sins before him. Today's verses encourage us to find God's mercy through honest confession and repentance. If we try to hide our sins or harden our hearts toward the Lord, I have discovered we often fall into calamity. When we live outside of God's will, we can harden our hearts and just do things our way for a while, but eventually we end up dissatisfied because our best efforts at self-care through the world's comforts will run dry. When we are not living right, we usually suffer negative consequences for our selfish choices. Whereas if we are reverent, showing deep, solemn respect for God, and deal with our transgressions honestly by confessing them to him and committing ourselves to follow God's ways, we will be blessed, happy, because we will receive God's mercy and reap the rewards of his grace. As always, we encourage everyone to go to mtforchrist.com where we share insights and resources from Christian theologians and counselors to assist our brothers and sisters in Christ with our walk. Today we continue sharing from According to Your Word: Morning and Evening Through the New Testament by Stephen F. Allford. And in Allford's devotional, he prompts us to read a chapter of scripture each day. Today's chapter is Titus 3. And from Titus 3, he shares a portion of verse 10, which says, reject a decisive— a divisive man after the first and second admonition. And Stephen Allford writes, one cannot drink poison even if it is in— even if in small diluted doses without being affected. This is true in the spiritual realm. A believer cannot read or talk about heresy without being in some measure affected. Thus the apostle exhorts Titus and Timothy as well— notice the first epistle— to shun foolish disputes, genealogies, strife, and fighting about the law because they are unprofitable and useless. The positive side is the better way, saturating, saturating oneself with pure truth. He warns the young man Titus to avoid a divisive or heretical man after the first and second admonition, for such a man is perverted, sinful, and worst of all, self-condemned. Then Alford ends by praying, help me, Lord, to recognize and avoid divisiveness and heresy when confronted with it. Amen. Amen. And that's some good advice from Stephen Alford. You know, to avoid those foolish disputes that really don't go anywhere and to not be divisive, you know, basically to, to, to look on the positive side, uh, saturating yourself with the truth of God's word and, and, and, you know, Christian teachings, uh, from, you know, the Bible or, or from Christian theologians that will, um, edify us and, um, motivate us to, to live for God. And not fight our fellow man, to try to bring people to the kingdom in alignment with his truth. That's excellent advice. And that's why we say, and we ask the question, have you fully surrendered to God? So we, we encourage you to do so when you come in line. You know, like, all of today's message is about coming in alignment with God's wisdom, walking in his ways, and, you know, confessing our faults and turning from them. And, you know, and shunning the things of this world that would lead us into division and confusion or heresy. So we recommend a lifestyle of Christian discipleship, and we encourage you to take your steps out there because things happen when you do. For me, the Lord's led me to lead the Celebrate Freedom support group at Star Point Church, which meets on Wednesdays at 6:30 PM. Churches in Clifton Park. For anybody in Upstate New York, uh, you're welcome to join us. You can even register for the group by going to Starpoint Church, looking up, uh, support groups and registering for Celebrate Freedom. For anybody who's not in the Capital District of Upstate New York, um, we encourage you to go to our YouTube channel, M.t. for Christ 247, and find or increase your freedom in Christ by joining one of our, uh, podcast classes on YouTube. You can find, um, a playlist for The Bondage Breaker, Victory Over the Darkness, Freedom in Christ, Freedom, uh, Celebrate Freedom Discipleship, and various, uh, series we had put on in the past that, uh, you know, touch on a particular topic or theme. Um, you know, so we offer these things to encourage you, um, because we all need it. Um, really, we need one another. We need to encourage one another as we keep on walking and talking with God. And that's why we ask the question: are you empty for Christ too? Are you doing this thing? Are you, you know, are you following the Lord? If so, keep on walking and talking with God. If not, you know, a new start, new beginning. Um, you know, the beginning of your breakthrough starts now with a simple prayer to, uh, you know, make Jesus your Lord and Savior, recommit your faith to him and the following in his ways and listening to God, turning to his word and following his Spirit into the life he has for you. And when you do that, you'll start to pray like we're going to do right now. Lord God, Heavenly Father, thank you for another day in your kingdom. Lord, we do pray for complete healing, uh, as we still have some stuff in our lungs, um, Lord. And, uh, we're being patient. We're thankful for the healing you brought so far, and we just pray for complete healing for me. Lord, we're praying for the people, uh, out there too. We pray for anyone who's listening or reading today's message or watching it on too. We pray for you to come alongside them and their prayer request, as we all have our struggles, Lord, and we all need your help. Um, Lord, so we're just praying today for you to go before us, open our eyes to the things you want us to see, and lead us in the way we should go, because all we want to do is represent you in your kingdom, Lord, and we desperately need your help with that. Lord, we thank you, we praise you, and we love you, and we pray all these things in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.