The Awe and Wonder of Living Free From Guilt - Purity 1512

Welcome to the MT for Christ 24/7 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 the evening sky transformed to a pink and purple wonder by the Northern Lights comes to us from Arthur Sincotti, who shared— who captured the scene from his backyard and shared it with me via text on October 10th. Well, it's— well, hailing— actually, hailing from Boston, Arthur had never experienced the beauty of the Northern Lights in his lifetime. And when he shared today's photo with me, he also testified how this uncommon atmospheric phenomenon gave him a sense of wonder like a child's. And a deep creation, uh, appreciation for the Creator. Well, it's Thanksgiving Monday, and as we prepare our hearts for America's feast day holiday on Thursday, we will be attempting to go a little deeper with our practice of gratitude this week and to draw into that sense of wonder that naturally arises when we reflect on the goodness of God and how his grace has set us free. The evidence of God is all around us, as creation and existence itself logically necessitates a self-existent higher power, and the beauty and order of nature's design indicates the presence of a grand designer. When we look at creation and our lives, our question of where did all this come from is adequately answered by God alone. That gets us here, alive in the universe. But in order to discern the meaning of our lives, we have to look at the history of man and look for supernatural occurrences that will tell us about his interactions with God, to tell us the meaning of ultimate reality. Pilate's question to Jesus of what is truth is only answered by the one who put this all together. And when he breaks through the veil of the unseen realm and comes to Earth in the form of a man like no other, who teaches wisdom and performs miraculous feats, we should stop asking questions and listen to what the one who called himself the truth, the way, and the life has to say. And when that man proves he is God by being resurrected from the dead, we should accept his free gift of forgiveness and a new life and drop everything to follow him. So this week we will try to name a few things about our relationship with God that we can be thank— be thankful for. Um, for this, our first installment, I have to think of the message that gave me hope in a future, the gospel radio message delivered by David Jeremiah that not only told the sweet story of a father's love for his daughter as he was releasing her to college for the first time, but that also told of the love of our Heavenly Father, whose love for us caused him to graciously make a way for man to be forgiven and free. So I'm thankful not only for that radio message from David Jeremiah, but for the forgiveness that I received and for being forever declared not guilty. When God revealed the truth of the gospel to me and moved to me— moved me to trust in Jesus as my Lord and Savior. Being declared innocent, accepted, secure, and significant as a member of God's family filled my heart with joy at the time of my salvation, and it continues to fill my heart with awe and wonder when I reflect upon God's mercy and grace today. Speaking of guilt and innocence, uh, yesterday's In Touch with Dr. Charles Stanley devotion spoke on the topic of guilt and repentance, and I'm sharing it on the blog today to encourage us all to be thankful for the freedom from guilt that is possible when we draw close to God. Charles Stanley writes, victory over guilt. And he writes, when we are willing to face our guilt, Jesus replaces our, our burden of shame with peace and joy. At times, people are bound by guilt longer than they should be. For some, it's because they're living in sin, but others suffer from false guilt because they harbor shame that doesn't belong to them. Whatever the root cause, however, the way to triumph over guilt is the same. Victory begins with understanding that the Savior took our shame to the cross. Without Jesus, the debt wouldn't have been settled because there's no way that we can pay for our own sin. But we do need to identify the source of our guilt and confess before God. That means we agree with his perspective on what we've done. In other words, we admit when we committed an offense. Repentance goes a step further. We turn away from wrong and choose to do right. Uh, confronting guilt in this way replaces our burden of shame with peace and joy. And an amazing side effect is that we have wisdom to share. Openness about our past mistakes can reveal the Lord to those in our sphere of influence. Through our witness, God may reach others who need their chains broken. The battle to overcome guilt is one that should not be delayed. Turn to the Lord and ask him to help you face the source of your guilt. It's time to start walking in the joy of God's blessings instead. That was from Dr. Charles Stanley, and I say amen. You know, tonight I'll be discussing guilt and innocence with the Grace for the Holidays men's group that I lead, and so this devotion from yesterday couldn't have come at a better time. I also spent last night leading a brother through the Steps to Freedom in Christ, and he walked away from the encounter with a renewed commitment to repent of his fleshly ways and to do what Stanley points to in this message. Repent. This man confessed his sins and received his forgiveness, but more importantly, he agreed with God's perspective. And walked away from the meeting, uh, determined to turn from his old ways and to go to the Lord each day to receive the strength, wisdom, and love from the Lord that he would need to live free one day at a time. God takes away our guilt, shame, and condemnation, but in order to live in God's peace, we have to start living according to his truth. While it might seem impossible in the long term, God only asks us to do it one day at a time. And when we submit to him and stay in his presence, he provides us with everything we need to be victorious each new day. So let go of your guilt and give it to the Lord and ask for his help to move forward with confidence into the new life he has for you. It's time to stop living in guilt and failure and to start as Stanley, as Stanley says, walking in the joy of God's blessings instead. Uh, today's Bible verse comes to us from the Quick Scripture Reference for Counseling by John G. Cruis. This morning's meditation verse comes from the section on giving, and today's verse is 1 Chronicles 29:6 from the New Living Translation. The word of God says, then the family leaders, the leaders of the tribe of tribes of Israel, the generals and the captains of the army, and the king's administrative officers, who all gave willingly. Today's verse is the second of three passages of scripture that fall under the 12th point of our Counseling Reference Guide's resource section on giving. And that 12th point states, we see a good example in giving as King David, the leaders of Israel, and others willingly gave and gave willingly and liberally for the building of the house of God. Yeah, today's Bible verse tells us how the leaders of Israel's families all freely gave to the building of God's temple. Since God moved his people out of the wilderness to give the Israelites a nation and a permanent residence, King David desired to make a permanent place of worship for his Lord. And while he was disappointed that the finished work would be performed through his son he enthusiastically gave freely from his resources so it would one day be built. Likewise, the leaders of Israel's families, tribes, and armies were moved to be an example for those they led and, and freely gave to the good works of the Lord. We have received much from God, and it is only right to give from the abundance he has provided us with. To do what is right, but to also encourage others to participate in God's work as well. Amen. And as always, we encourage everyone to, to go to mtforchrist.com, where we always share insights and from prominent Christian theologians and counselors to assist our brothers and sisters in Christ with their walk. Today we continue sharing from Day by Day Along the Way by J.E. Adams. It's a 365-day devotional, and we're on day 11. And Adams shares from Proverbs 3:6 to start us off, which says, 'In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will direct your paths.' And J.E. Adams writes, 'The reason why you go astray is because you forget God in your daily walk.' To acknowledge him is both to remember that your ways are before him and that his words are always available to guide you as you walk in his presence. You are not left to your own way, which, as we have seen, leads to the ways of death. He provides truth to enable you to walk in the ways of light and life. No wonder the longest psalm was written by a man who learned this truth. The 119th Psalm is the description of what it is like to acknowledge God and walk in his, his paths. It is the record of a man who lived righteously before God by following the directions of the Bible. Every verse mentions how the Bible impacted him in every circumstance of life. Biblical living is God-directed living. He who knows the future as he knows the past will guide you in all that lies ahead on your path. Now, this from J.E. Adams. Yeah, God knows the, the, the end from the beginning and the beginning from the end. He knows the past, he knows the future, and God's word directs us to, to live in a certain manner, uh, to live a righteous life. Free of sin. And we can trust that the Lord is good and that he won't lead us astray. And so we encourage you to follow him. And we always ask the question, have you fully surrendered to God? Well, A.W. Tozer says, what comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us. And I, I agree, but I also say, what do we— what we do with what God's word says about us is the most important thing about us. You know, what does he say about me? He says I'm a new creation, and if I put my faith in Jesus, I've been set free. If the Son sets free, is free indeed. So we should try to live free, and the only way we can do that is by following the Lord. So we encourage a full surrender in a life of discipleship. We know that when we come to faith in Jesus, we're filled with joy of our salvation, but our lives doesn't— our life doesn't end there. It moves us into a new plane of existence, the kingdom of God. And that should move us to repentance, to walk in God's ways and truth. And when we do that, things change. And one of the things that changed when I got set free is I was given a purpose. And one of my purposes was to lead recovery ministry. And as time progressed, it moved along to a different church, and now we're doing a recovery ministry support group on Wednesday nights at Starpoint Church. Uh, we will not be meeting this week, the week of Thanksgiving, uh, but we are there every other week unless a holiday interferes with it, like it will with Christmas and New Year's this year. Um, but we're there. Um, otherwise, all the other weeks of the year Um, we have a vacation in the summer, but other than that, uh, we're there to support, uh, people in their walk with the Lord and, uh, for recovery and discipleship. And we meet Wednesdays. We invite anybody in Upstate New York who can get to Clifton Park on a Wednesday night to join us, uh, to learn how to walk in the Spirit and overcome those hurts, habits, and hangups that keep us stuck. Um, beyond that, if you're a man, uh, we have a men's support group um, which meets tonight, Monday, 6:30 PM. We'll be meeting now until the, the week of Christmas for a little series we're calling Grace for the Holidays, as we're going through this, uh, the Grace Course from Freedom in Christ Ministries. And, you know, encouraging the guys to, uh, to, you know, reflect on the year that's come, reflect on the holiday season, and to reflect on God's grace and to experience the grace of the Lord. Um, yeah, so if you're a man, you can still sign up. Uh, you go to mt4christ.com and our group, uh, coaching events page to register, and we'll get you hooked up with the Zoom link to join our discussion, and we'll hook you up with the videos for the first week that you missed. Um, it's never too late to experience God's grace, and so we're going to leave that registration open right up to the final week. Beyond that, let's see, we're moving into the new year, right? So what are we doing next year? Well, next year is coming pretty quick, but we've already committed ourselves to leading the Freedom in Christ course for men once again online Tuesday night, 6:30 PM, beginning on January 7th. There's a catch. You know, you might say, well, that's quite a ways away, but registration ends on December 10th. So you should register now. There's guys already signed up and there's only going to be so many spots. So we encourage you to go to ficm.org, sign up for my group or for another group there. There's several different courses available, but you won't know what they are unless you go to ficm.org and look for the courses for 2025. Beyond that, we encourage everyone to check out or find or increase your freedom in Christ by joining one of our podcast classes on YouTube. We have several different playlists that you can be encouraged by. The ones we've taught are Bondage Breaker, Victory Over the Darkness, Freedom in Christ, and our very own Celebrate Freedom discipleship course, among many others. You can go there by going to our playlist page on YouTube or by going to mtforchrist.com to our page that has all our playlists listed. So there's that. Um, beyond that, we're going to work today and we got to work tomorrow. And then, you know, this week's gonna be a great week of to rest and reflect and to be grateful. Um, not only is it Thanksgiving, but basically I can sort of have a mini vacation as I meet tonight with the guys, but then I, I really have the day off until Saturday morning when I have to go back to my secular job. For thanks work on Saturday. But beyond that, it's going to be a nice time to draw close to God and gather with my family to give thanks on Thursday. So looking forward to that. But before all that, we ask the question, are you empty for Christ too? What does that mean? Well, Empty for Christ is a play on words, my initials. With the word for Christ. But what it really means is, have you fully surrendered to the Lord? Are you making yourself available to be filled with the Holy Spirit's wisdom and guidance and love to lead you into a new life? Um, if so, we say great, keep on walking and talking with God. If not, we encourage you to pray to the Lord to have him reveal himself to you and for you to move to make Jesus your Lord and Savior. When we walk in the Spirit, we experience the fruit of the Spirit, and it only happens through, through the Holy Spirit. So, um, and that comes when you put your faith in Jesus, or he comes when you put your faith in Jesus. Anyway, um, we believe in the power of prayer. It's worked for us in the past, and we pray every day, like right now. Lord God, Heavenly Father, thank you for another day in your kingdom. We thank you so much for our salvation, Lord, and taking away the guilt of our sin and setting us free from it so we don't have to be locked in guilt and shame. That we know we have been forgiven of the things of the past and we forsake, you know, the sins that used to beset us to walk in the freedom you've given us. Lord, we pray for you to go before us today, open our eyes to the things you want us to see and lead us in the way we should go. Because all I want to do is represent you in your kingdom, Lord, and I definitely need help with that. Um, Lord, we also pray for anyone listening or reading today's message, that you come alongside them and their prayer request, their walk of faith. Holiday season can be a little rough sometimes, and so we're praying for our friends out there, um, that you'd help them too. Lord, we thank you, we praise you, and we love you, and we pray all these things in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.