Thankful that Thanksgiving is OVER – Gratitude for the Future - Purity 1517

Welcome to the MT for Christ 24/7 podcast. I am 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. Today, uh, good morning. Today's photo of the sun shining over a frozen puddle and the snow-covered farmlands off of Waite Road comes to us from yours truly as I captured this chilly moment while out walking with my canine pal Harley yesterday morning. Well, it's Saturday, and due to a shifted work tour, I'm dealing with a cognitive dissonance that simultaneously tells me that it's both the weekend and a workday. But because today's need to work has me back in my regular routine again, I am actually rejoicing this morning and have a secret to share. I am thankful that Thanksgiving is over. So although I have to work today, I am happy to get to go back to normal, even though I am in the midst of a paradox, because there is no way that I want working on Saturday to be my normal. While I would rather not work to work, I am actually thankful for this break in the long holiday weekend to recalibrate out of holiday mode, because as much as holidays can be used to find rest, relax, relaxation and peace, often the opposite can ha— can happen where we just get stressed out, physically, mentally, and emotionally exhausted and bothered. Whatever peace we have in the status quo, uh, regular routines of our lives are changed during the holidays. And while that could be a good thing, often it turns out not to be as the wise choices we normally make are compromised for the sake of celebration or to maintain our cool during the forced familial gatherings we are called to endure. I don't hang out with my family normally, so why do I have to spend so much time with them now? We may lament. I hear you, but seriously, uh, I love my family and I'm glad I was able to spend some, some time with some of them on Thanksgiving, but also recognize the joy that we can experience when we are set free from the obligatory family gatherings and have to return to relational dynamics that may no longer define who we are. Um, so even though the long holiday weekend isn't over yet, I'm— I am looking forward to our return to normal and the future that awaits us on Monday. Speaking of the future and forward thinking, the Turning Point, uh, with Dr. David Jeremiah, um, devotion for this weekend addresses the future, and I'm sharing it on the blog today to encourage us to be thankful for the days ahead, as the holidays often put too much of an emphasis On the Past and Present. David Jeremiah writes, the latitude and longitude of gratitude directly ahead. The eyes— I'm sorry, and he shares a portion of Psalm 139:16, which says, your eyes saw my substance yet being yet unformed, and in your book they all were written, the days fashioned for me when as yet there were none of them. And David Jeremiah writes, why do fake indulgences like horoscopes, fortune cookies, and fortune tellers attract people? Because they all deliver messages about the same subject: the future. The average person could have one question answered. It would likely be this: what does the future hold for me? That is a human question, one as old as time. The ancients were as curious about the futures as we are. For that reason, the psalmist assured Israel that though that we don't know what the future holds, we know who holds the future. In fact, he wrote that all of our days were written in God's book before even one of them came to pass. That means we can give thanks for the future today before the future arrived. Arrives. If God has our future in his hands, we know it will be for our good regardless of what it holds. The future entails the rest of today, not to mention tomorrow and the years to come. Starting today, let's give thanks for the future. And that was from David Jeremiah. And he also shared a quote from Corrie ten Boom that said, never be afraid to trust an unknown future. To a known God. And I say amen. Thank God for the future. Besides the future, do you know what I'm thankful for? I already told you. I'm thankful that Thanksgiving is over. While I am not thrilled that my shifted work tour has me going to work this morning, I am so glad to be back at my regular routine this morning and was able to avoid the enemy's Thanksgiving traps for the most part. Do you know the enemy's traps? As joyous as Thanksgiving is supposed to be, there are at least 3 traps the enemy sets to steal our joy and ruin our peace. Trap number 1: the Turkey Day trap of the flesh. Be it overeating or giving in to other sinful fleshly indulgences, the enemy lures us to make happy with earthly comforts that ultimately don't satisfy us, are unhealthy, and can bring feelings of guilt or shame. I overate on Thanksgiving, but today I'm committing myself to eating healthy eating again and will not beat myself up. I used to give in to a lot more than a few extra calories in the past, so I will count my eating compromise as a setback but will still declare my freedom and the unbelievable progress I have made as a win. Let's move forward and do what is right. Number 2, the second trap of the enemy, the noxious nemesis of nostalgia. The enemy loves to steal our joy in the present moment by tempting us to look at the past and to come to the false conclusion that things in the past were better and we will never be as happy like we were in the good old days. That's a lie, but it's one that is easy to believe as things aren't the same as they were in the past, an impossibility, and and we may have lost things along the way. The cloud of nostalgia is a lie because it only focuses on the good aspects of the past or circumstances we cannot have again to steal our peace in the present. This one is a tough one, and we may have suffered, you know, under it, but we can break its spell by declaring the truth of the good things in our lives right now. So declare with me the truth. My life is good. I may not be perfect. Things may not be perfect, but there are many good things in my life right now. I may not be perfect, but I'm walking with the Lord now, and he will lead me in the way I should go and, and see me through. I believe that God, that God is working all things together for me. For my good. Good stuff. But it's only— this only leads the enemy to hit us with attack number 3, which is the poison of present circumstances. The enemy lives to steal, kill, and destroy our peace, so he will fight you tooth and nail to declare your present circumstances are a disaster. Yes, he will. Just as he uses nostalgia to point out how good the past was to bring us down, he points out all the bad and negative circumstances in the present to steal our joy and peace. Where I was, it snowed on Thanksgiving, and if that wasn't bad enough, I had to take to the roads when conditions were at their worst to go to my chosen Thanksgiving Day feast, where many of my loved ones would not be in attendance and where the food may or may not have met all my expectations. Besides the missing members of my family, some were suffering from illness, disease, circumstance, uh, bad —bad circumstances or negative states of mind. Their present wasn't the gift they would have liked it to be this year. This is why we walk with the Lord, because we can't just live in the peace of the present moment, because the enemy, the world, and our flesh will focus on the less-than-stellar circumstances that are there and tell us that things are bad. Peace is only possible with God, and we need to rely on him to know the truth that will set us free. There is good at all times, although we may be challenged to see it. But now that we are beyond Thanksgiving, we can let it all go. We can let go of the fact that we may have compromised the flesh. We can let go of the, our bittersweet feelings of nostalgia that may have depressed us. And we can let go, go of and forgive the negative circumstances that we faced in the present moment that didn't compare to our expectations. Whether we navigated the holiday with skill or not, the The Lord was, was with us, and he is here with us now to get us back on track and to lead us into his pathways of peace. You know, Christmas is coming, and the enemy is setting up traps to pull us down, to take away our joy. But if we walk with the Lord, he will help us to maintain our freedom and preserve our peace. So let's keep walking and talking. With God. Today's Bible verses come to us from the Quick Scripture Reference for Counseling by John G. Crews. This morning's meditation verse comes from the section on homosexuality, and today's verse is Leviticus 18:22 from the New International Version. The word of God says, don't— do not have sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman. That is detestable. Today's verse falls under the first, first point of our Counseling Reference Guide's resource section on homosexuality. That first point is: God unequivocally forbids homosexual activity. Today's Bible verse declares homosexual behavior as detestable. Other translations use the word abomination to bring home the fact that homosexuality is not only not God's plan for human sexuality, it is something deserving intense dislike, as it violates the natural order that God created for human relationships. Men and women are designed to go together for pleasure and procreation. Same-sex relations denies this basic truth of our biology and the truth revealed in Scripture. We should therefore have an intense dislike for this type of behavior and encourage anyone who practices sexual sin to repent. As always, we encourage everyone to go to mtforchrist.com, 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 Day by Day Along the Way by J.E. Adams, and it's a 365-day devotional, and we're on day 16, where Adams shares a portion of Ephesians 5:8, which says walk as children of light. And J.E. Adams writes, you once walked in darkness and were headed for the pit of hell. Jesus Christ, the light of the world, enlightened you to the truth of the gospel. You believed it and were saved. How then can you continue to walk in darkness? You are not to participate in the deeds of darkness. Instead, you are to exhibit the fruit of spiritual enlightenment, which is goodness, righteousness, and truth. In scripture, to A child of something is to be characterized by and devoted to it. Children of, of light are devoted to the light of the world. So, believer, are you devoted to the light, or are you stumbling along the way? If you are stumbling, it may be because you have turned from the light and are once again walking in darkness. That must change. Your witness and your future are at stake. Remember, the deeds of darkness are unfruitful in this life or for the life to come, so leave them at once. Recognize that the path you travel is no path for a child of the light. Be— by repentance, turn to the light and walk in the light as though you— as though who belong to the family of light. Amen. Amen. And, um, you know, J.E. Adams points out that, uh, just because you declare your faith in Jesus, you might be walking in the wrong way. Uh, the fruit of this, you know, this, the fruit of the flesh is, is abominations. There's a long list of the sins and various portions of scripture that tell you what's right and wrong according to God's word. And those things that go against God's word are considered darkness, whereas walking with the Lord is considered walking in the light and repenting of your sins. So we can't just believe. We're supposed to actually walk and follow the Lord as he calls all men to follow him. But only some will answer the call to do that and receive new everlasting life. Um, so we encourage everyone every day and ask the question: have you fully surrendered to God? Are you— did you put your faith in Jesus, and are you following him with the way you live your life? Have you turned from the darkness of your sin those ways of the flesh that aren't appropriate for children of God. We encourage you to do that. We suffered, you know, many sins of the flesh in the past, and while we're still struggling with that food addiction, we've gotten great victory over the other ways of the flesh, including addictions to drug, alcohol, and sexual immorality. So I understand the pull of the flesh, but I understand and know a God who gives you the power to overcome, and So we encourage you to do that. When you follow the Lord and lean on Him for your strength and guidance, He will set you free, and He'll give you a good, you know, freedom and purpose. And part of my purpose is to lead the Celebrate Recovery— well, Celebrate Recovery-based support group, Celebrate Freedom, at Starpoint Church. It's Christian recovery and discipleship. We meet Wednesday nights, and I'm happy to report that we had another registration this morning. So people must have walked into Thanksgiving weekend and ran into some, you know, some temptation of the flesh because I got 2 new registrations. And it is my prayer that these 2 new registrations will show up on Wednesday night to begin the journey of Christian Recovery and walking in the Spirit and getting set free from their hurts, habits, and hang-ups. There's great hope when you start walking with God. It is my hope that more more men and women will join these two new registrations and see us on Wednesday night. We'll be meeting again first Wednesday in December, which is the 4th, and we are looking forward to, you know, guiding people during the holiday season into sobriety and into freedom in Christ. We invite anyone from the Capital District of New York State who can get to Clifton Park on a Wednesday night to join us. We're there to— we're there to walk with you and to watch you get set free. Beyond that, if you're a man who needs some support and, uh, you have internet connection, you can join our support group that we're doing currently, uh, for men to get us through the holidays. It's called Grace for the Holidays, as we are studying the Grace Course from Freedom in Christ Ministries— the old one, not the new one. Um, and we're going through the 6 lessons of the Grace Course from now until the week of Christmas, um, to encourage men to, to walk in the light. And, uh, if you want to join our fellowship, uh, it's not too late. You can register. We're going to keep it open right until the last minute. Uh, don't know if I have any takers, but we're going to leave that open and, uh, keep promoting this right up until the week of Christmas because, um, um, we want people to join us. And, uh, the, the teachings are being recorded, so you'll never be late showing up. You can you know, basically watch the videos after the fact, um, of the lessons and of our gatherings. So we encourage any men interested to go to mtforchrist.com and go to our group events page to sign up for Grace for the Holidays. Anyway, beyond that, we're looking, you know, for— we're looking forward to Freedom in the New Year as well, as we are excited to announce that half the capacity of our group is already filled for the Freedom in Christ men's course online that'll start on January 7th at 6:30 PM Eastern time from Freedom in Christ Ministries. We encourage you to go to Freedom in Christ Ministries, it's ficm.org, and look up the courses that are available for men and women. And if you're a man and want to sign up for my course, look for the Freedom in Christ course at 6:30 PM Eastern time. And I sent out a blast to my mailing list this weekend to share that information that all these courses are available and that the fact that I'm sharing one. So I didn't check the numbers this morning, but who knows, more people may have signed up. There's limited spots in my class and in the other classes that are available, but we encourage you to sign up now because registration closes on December 10th. Anyway, we move along and If you don't make it in one of the classes, and, uh, we— there's still hope for you. We encourage you to find or increase your freedom in Christ by joining one of our podcast classes. You don't have to talk to anybody. You can just listen to the, listen to the, uh, the teachings and, uh, you know, talk to the Lord, um, to, to help you. Um, we share teachings from The Bondage Breaker, Victory Over the Darkness, Freedom in Christ, and our very own Celebrate Freedom discipleship course to encourage people to find their freedom in Christ. So those are available to you all the time on YouTube and on mtforchrist.com by going to our playlist page. Anyway, that is it. We ask the question, are you empty for Christ too? If so, we say keep on walking and talking with God. If not, we encourage that you pray, because we know that when you pray, uh, the Lord will reveal himself and You seek him, you'll find him, you know, and he will help you when you ask. And that's why we pray every day, like right now. Lord God, Heavenly Father, thank you for another day in your kingdom. Lord, we thank you so much for Thanksgiving, but we thank you, um, you know, more that, uh, it's not just holidays that you're with us, that you're with us all the time, Lord. And we need your help to walk in freedom and joy and peace. And so we're asking for you to go before us today, Lord. 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 and your kingdom, and we desperately need your help with that. Or we also pray for anyone watching or listening today's message, that you come alongside them and their prayer request, and that you'd help them too. Lord, we thank you, we praise you, we love you, and we pray all these things in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.