Suffering from a Dream - Purity 1254

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 the fading light of day on the horizon and reflected in the frozen waters of the Skodak Creek and Hudson River from the vantage point of the front porch of my home down by the river comes to us from yours truly as I ran out front to capture this silent moment of still beauty when I spied it out of my kitchen window yesterday. Sometimes you have to stop what you're doing and get a better look at things to realize that beauty is all around us. And despite the harsh conditions of life on Earth, it's there to rest in and to enjoy. Well, it's Monday, and even though I have to go back— I will be going back to work this morning, and the time of resting is behind us— I am keeping my thoughts grounded on the good things in my life. That my work affords me, and that the fact that there is much more good in life than bad, and that we can find peace and contentment in our lives if we are intentional in remembering and giving thanks to God for all that he provides us with. Although I have much to be thankful for and am enjoying the fruits of a life lived in the spirit and patiently following the Lord in the way I should go, I'm currently being reminded of how blessed I am as I am aware of others who are suffering heartbreaking losses and who don't have a deep daily relationship with the Lord that has taught them the wisdom regarding life on earth and the certainty of His presence and plan for life in time of need. While ignorance isn't a sin, the Word of God tells us that we, we do suffer for a lack of knowledge. And I know from experience that our suffering in life is compounded when we don't know God or decide that the secret of— to life and to happiness in life is a product of ourselves alone. Before coming to Christ, I thought I had life pretty much figured out and more or less prescribed to the fantasy of the American Dream to fulfill me. The American Dream promises that if you work hard, you can provide for yourself and your family, and that you will be happy. While the American Dream doesn't say you don't need God in your life, it more or less implies that, as the happiness in the equation comes from the money that you earn and the family that you please with it. The American Dream also implies that things give you happiness: a big house, a swimming pool, new cars, the best clothes, the best food. And the finest potent potables to inebriate you while you enjoy it all. The problem with the American dream is that it's a lie, it's a fantasy, because money can't buy you love, and all the material comfort and security that you can afford in life doesn't provide you with security or comfort in eternity. In yesterday's Bible study with the Sincatis, we, we touched on the parable of the rich fool, who concluded that he had He had all he needed in life because of his material wealth and reasoned with himself in Luke 12:19-21. 19 through 21. And I will say to my soul, soul, you have many goods laid up for many years to come, take your— years to come, take your ease, eat, drink, and be merry. But God said to him, you fool. This very night your soul is required of you, and now who will own what you have prepared? So is the man who stores up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God. That was the words of Jesus. And Jesus told this parable to impress upon us the fact that there is more to life than the things of this earth. And he advised his disciples to seek God's kingdom first first, and that we could find it by believing in him as Lord and Savior, to have peace with God and to be given a place in his, into his kingdom. When we seek to find our happiness in the world, it always comes up short because it does, it doesn't have, because it does not have the eternal answers that God provides. God's Word is given to us to teach us what's important. But this world system is under the rule of Satan, and it indoctrinates us to live independently of God. And lately I've seen people that I know suffer greatly because they failed to seek God's kingdom or live by His truth. And they are suffering all the more because they seem to have their— have put their hope in things other than God. Some have invested in relationships, material riches, or substances to give them pleasure, happiness, or fulfillment. And now those things have been shown to be of limited value as they have fallen apart, betrayed their trust, or turned on them to destroy them. They worship people, things, or ideals that may have had a measure of goodness but that were never intended to give lasting satisfaction, and now they are grieving over their loss. I'm saddened by their losses, but I'm also angry because I was similarly, similarly lied to by the world and believed some of the things that they did. I believed I could be happy all by myself without God, and I was wrong. And even though I know the truth now, I can't turn back the clock and teach these people what I have come to know before they suffered. But I can offer my prayers for them to find healing and to seek after God and for the Lord to reveal the truth to them. Beyond that, I can keep speaking the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ in hopes that some will hear it and it will be used by the Lord to bring them into his kingdom so they can learn of the goodness of his love and how fulfillment in life is found through living with God every day. I thank the Lord for the things he has delivered me from and how he shows me the beauty of this life and the wisdom of how to walk through it with him as my guide. My prayers go out to those who are hurting for their healing, for their healing, and that their eyes would be open to the truth of Jesus Christ and that they will surrender to his lordship and God's plan for their lives. In Jesus' name, amen. Today's Bible verse comes to us from the Quick Scripture Reference for Counseling by John G. Cruis. This morning's meditation verses— uh, verse comes from the section on communication, gossip, and lying. And today's verse is Ephesians 4:15, and the word of God says Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ. Today's verse is the first of two passages of scripture that fall under the third point of our Counseling Reference Guides resource section on communication, gossip, and lying. That third point is: Speak the truth in love, not harshly. Today's verse admonishes us to speak the truth in love and also encourages us to grow up by becoming more and more like Jesus. Knowing the truth and speaking it in love is not enough. We have to grow into the truth by applying it to our lives, and thus we become more and more like Jesus. The truth is that we are born again, given new spiritual life, the moment we put our faith in Jesus. We are sealed with salvation forever when we make Jesus our Lord and Savior, But beyond eternal life and the forgiveness of sins, we are also given a new life where we are given the potential to be more and more like Jesus. We are given light, uh, the power over sin so that we can walk away from them and live a good and righteous life like Jesus. But it takes some growing up to do that. It takes a decision on our part to follow Jesus with the way we live our lives. So, I will speak the truth in love. Turn from your sins and follow after Jesus if you want to live forever and to know the peace that comes from living in harmony with the Lord. As always, I invite all to go to M.t. for Christ 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 According to Your Word. Morning and Evening Through the New Testament by Stephen F. Alford, a collection of devotional journals from 1940 and '41. And this devotional prompts us to read scripture— a novel idea. And this, this particular section is telling us for today to read Matthew 14, and Stephen Alford points out verse 16 from that text. Which says, 'They do not need to go away.' Matthew 14:16. The Descends, Alford writes, the disciples said, 'Send the multitudes away,' in verse 15, and Jesus said, 'They do not need to go away.' Herein is seen the very heart of my blessed Lord. The flesh in me would rather be unburdened by the responsibility of feeding the hungering, perishing multitude, even though the day of opportunity is drawing to a close. Notice that it was evening, but the Lord essentially said they do not need to go away. They can go if they wish to. They must go if you force them, but as far as I am concerned, they do not have to go away. In fact, they were fed. You give them something to eat, Jesus said in verse 16. They do not need to go away. The one who comes to me I will by no means cast out, as Jesus said in John 6:37. And offered praise, Lord, or give me this Spirit, Lord, to conclude his entry. And so it shows us that Jesus is a provider and he wants us to be with him and he'll provide for our needs. And while that's very difficult to understand in this material world where money can't buy you love and that you have to work to provide for yourself, Jesus provides us with, with the ability to work and the wisdom that we've been given in our minds and our experience. He's crafted our entire lives to make us the people who we are, and his word guides us to be the people we should be. So it's a relationship, not a religion. When we spend time in God's Word, when we seek the Lord's presence in prayer, he'll, he'll show us the way to go, and he'll reveal to us that the things we put our trust in and our faith in from the world won't— will not ultimately satisfy us. As good as family and friends and and material items and substances are providing us with our needs of love and comfort and satisfaction to some level, they're never intended to satisfy us completely. And that this life does run out, and we're supposed to demonstrate that we understand what life is all about by following the Lord and sharing the good news of Jesus Christ that, that will give us life in the future in his kingdom. You know, Jesus warned of the consequences of not believing— weeping and gnashing of teeth, the outer darkness of hell. We don't want that. And when we put our trust in other things to fulfill us and ignore the Lord will eventually suffer for it. And we'll suffer the loss of the things in this world that we put all our hope and love in and be left utterly devastated. And lately I've seen a lot of suffering, and I— well, I can't take the suffering away. I know it would be— could have possibly been managed a little better with with faith. And certainly some of the circumstances that were created because the people weren't following the Lord, including death and broken relationships, could have been avoided with God at the center of their lives. But hindsight's 20/20, and I can't turn back the clock to tell people what to do, but I can encourage them to move forward with the Lord. And that's what I, I've learned. I suffered greatly because of the things I thought were true that aren't like you can drink alcohol with no negative consequences, that you can be selfish, that you can ignore the Lord. They were all lies. We're not self-made men. God made us, and he made us for a purpose, to follow him and give him glory. When we're not meeting that purpose, we're bound to suffer. So I encourage anyone who's listening to this to follow him, to read his word, and to ask God to reveal himself to you so you'll know it's all true. And you'll see it in his word, you'll see it in creation, and he will undoubtedly speak to you in some way to let you know that he's with you. So I encourage you to follow on this Monday, but we're gonna follow ourselves into work today and, uh, you know, meet those material needs by working and getting money. And throughout it all, doesn't mean I can't be thankful for the ability to work and for the blessings of this life that money can't buy. So, so let's pray. Lord God, Heavenly Father, thank you for another day in your kingdom. Lord, we thank you so much for this life that we have right now that's so blessed because we decided to follow you. We no longer suffer in the darkness that we used to from addictions and bad relationships because we've learned your wisdom and put you first in our life, and you blessed us for that. And we thank you, and you continue to bless us. And we just hope to be a light of hope in people's lives to show them how good you are. And Lord, so we pray for the people who might be listening or reading this message today, that you come alongside them in their prayer their request and their, their life of faith. Or because we all need your help and guidance to see these things, you need to reveal it to us. And so we ask for you to go before us today, Lord, for today's needs, for today's wants. We need you to open our eyes to the things you want us to see and show us the things you need us to do. Because, Lord, all we want to do is represent you in your kingdom. We want to speak the truth and love and live according to your truth. So Lord, help us. Lord, we thank you, we praise you, we love you, and we pray all these things in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.