The Burning Within – Sharing the Opportunity for Freedom through the Gospel - Purity 1533

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. Uh, good morning. Today's photo of a riverside wooden pathway leading to a canopy of lush green trees comes to us from Fred Dimmick. Who shared the scene on social media back on June 12th. Well, it's— it is Thursday, and as always, I share another pathway photo on Thursdays as a visual reminder or encouragement to get on or to stay on the path of Christian discipleship, where every step is filled with meaning and purpose and leads us ever deeper into the— into God's love peace and joy. The power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ has no rival, uh, when it comes to life transformation. But to experience our freedom and victory in Christ requires more than just raising your hand or nodding your head to put your faith in Jesus. Although saying yes to Jesus as Lord and Savior is an absolutely necessary first step of faith to begin your journey to a new life of peace and joy, A daily decision to surrender to God's will for your life and to keep following the Lord on a continual basis is the way that all of Jesus's disciples are called to discover. We receive the Holy Spirit when we put our faith in Jesus, but we can easily quench the Spirit in us by refusing to repent and by living in the flesh or after coming to faith. That's why we have stuck and defeated Christians in our churches, because although they heard the gospel message and received it with joy, they believe the lie that making a verbal profession of faith was all they needed to do, and they could continue to live like they used to before coming to Christ. The Word of God says something different. Jesus tells us to cut off our hands and pluck out our eyes rather than to continue to stay in our sins. He calls us to purity by raising the bar on adultery to include lustful thoughts. He calls us to pick up our crosses, to die to ourselves, and to follow him. Many people know this intellectually, but they pour cold water on the Holy Spirit's fire within them because they are deceived into believing that they will always struggle with this, or that freedom is meant for some but not for them, or that living a Christian life is just too hard. Who the Son sets free is free indeed. But just like our salvation, we have to believe it to receive it. If we don't believe God has changed us, we won't change. If we don't trust God and live according to his word, we will wallow in sin or meander in mediocrity. I know this to be true because I wallowed in my sin and was merely content to be a sinner saved by grace for the first few, few years after I was saved. But the Holy Spirit didn't leave me alone. His fire burned within me to repent and to surrender, and that has made all the difference. While not perfect and still a work in progress, I am free and live to share the message of the gospel and our freedom in Christ with anyone who will listen. Speaking of sharing the gospel, the In Touch with Dr. Charles Stanley devotional for today touches on this, that topic, so we are sharing it on the blog today to remind us all of our responsibility to share the good news with others. Dr. Charles Stanley writes, unashamed to share the gospel. We have a responsibility to share the gospel, but the outcome is in God's hands. The Apostle Paul understood that awesome responsibility of being entrusted with the gospel of Jesus Christ. He considered this calling a stewardship for which he would one day give an account to the Lord, and he was willing to do anything, even suffer, for Christ's sake. As believers, we have the same privilege to share the gospel with people, uh, with people God places in our life. Paul felt compelled to tell others about Christ. In fact, he said, "Woe is me if I do not." in 1 Corinthians 9:16. No matter how anyone treated him, he wasn't ashamed of the message of Christ. The prophet Jeremiah had a similar experience. He became a laughingstock and was persecuted for delivering God's message of the coming judgment. Yet he discovered that not speaking created a far worse feeling in his heart, like fire shut up in his bones. Yep, that's what, that's what he did. We are surrounded by people who are desperately hungry for something, and they don't even know what. We have the answer and the responsibility to share it. Never be ashamed of the best news ever offered to mankind. It's the only thing that can change someone's eternal destiny. That was from Dr. Charles Stanley, and I say amen. You know, my adult children are both struggling with feelings of depression, anxieties, and worries about the future. Oh, how it pains my heart to know that while they were exposed to years of sound biblical preaching and seemed to make decisions for Christ in their youth, as adults they have chosen not to follow the Lord. God gives us everything we need for life and godliness in Christ Jesus, but in order to experience the benefits of our new life in Christ, we must choose to have an active faith, one in which we follow the Lord with the way we live our life. Stanley says we're surrounded by people who desperately need the gospel, and I can relate to the Apostle Paul and the prophet Jeremiah because I too feel a burning in my soul to tell others of the wonders of God's love and the joy that comes from surrendering to his will for our lives. We have been, we have been given a priceless gift And although we can't make others take it from us, we must offer it and live our lives in a way that shares it. So rejoice over your salvation. We have been rescued and set free. But don't be shy or afraid to tell others about the answer to all life's questions. Be bold to tell others about Jesus and the new life he has for them. Today's Bible verse. Yeah, sorry about that. Today's Bible verse is somewhere out there. Uh, yeah, there it is. Uh, this morning's meditation verses, uh, they come from the Quick Scripture Reference for Counseling by John G. Cruz, by the way. Uh, this morning's meditation verses come from the section on hope, and today's verses are Psalm 146:5-6 from the New American Standard Bible. The word of God says, how blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob. Whose hope is in the Lord his God, who made heaven and earth, the sea and all that is in them, who keeps faith forever. Today's verses fall under the seventh point of our Counseling Reference Guide's resource section on hope, and that seventh point is: Put your hope in a faithful and Almighty God. Yeah, uh, today's Bible verses remind us that those who hope in God and who rely on him for help are blessed. The God of all creation is available and willing to help us, and when we put our faith in Jesus, we receive his help. We are forgiven and given a new life in Jesus. And when we follow our confession of faith with obedience, we can experience God's continual presence, hope, and help in our lives. And we too, like the psalmist, can joyfully proclaim, we We are blessed. How blessed we are. Oh boy. Anyway, we, 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 from A Court— well, no, Day by Day Along the Way by J.E. Adams. It's a 365-day devotional, and we're on day 32 where he shares a portion of 1 Peter 3:11, which says, let him turn away from evil and let him do good. Let him seek peace and pursue it. And J.E. Adams writes, there are many ways that people walk. Their walks are often quite diverse. Some limp along, some walk at a sprightly gait, and others stroll. Turning from the pursuit of evil does not mean resting on your laurels. Rather, it should turn you into a hunter. As a result, your style of walking must change. The hunter walks purposefully. He is seeking something, indeed pursuing it. He is not satisfied until he finds his prey and takes it. Nor should the Christian, who is called to hunt down good. He must follow its tracks wherever they may take him. Hunting well involves effort, skill, patience, and determination. Hunters often spend hours in pursuit of the animal they seek. For a true hunter, there is an indefatigable spirit about him. He will not cease until he attains his goal. Do you seek to do good that way? If not, you must acquire the spirit of the hunter. Peter mentions one good that you may begin pursuing peace. How good it is for Christians to live in a state of shalom with one another. So go hunting. Amen. And I say happy hunting, everyone. Go and seek peace that the Lord will give you. And, you know, we come to peace in God when we put our faith in Jesus. You know, he reconciles us to the Father. And after that, he invites you to repent of your sin and to do good works, to discover the peace and joy that he has for you here on earth as it is in heaven when you decide to do his will. And we know, we know the benefits of following the Lord, and it may not always be an easy path, but the Lord puts you on the right path when he tells you to, you know, pick up your cross and follow him. And so we always ask the question, have you fully surrendered to God? Um, you know, have you decided to not just raise your hand and say, I believe in Jesus, but to be a living sacrifice, to, um, to give your life for him, uh, to share the gospel and to be a living example of someone who tries to walk in the Spirit? Um, we invite you to do that. Because we've, we've done it. We've discovered it makes all the difference, and, um, you know, it gives you a meaning and a purpose for your life. Part, part of my purpose is to, um, lead the Celebrate Freedom support group at Starpoint Church, and, uh, we had our last meeting last night for the, the year, as next week is Christmas and next week after that is New Year's Day. Um, but we'll be picking it up again on January— you know, we're going to pick up the meeting, pick up our cross, and, uh, hopefully someone will follow us to the meeting, uh, that'll begin on January 8th, uh, Wednesdays at 6:30 PM in Upstate New York at Clifton Park Starpoint Church in the K-3rd grade classroom. We invite you to go to Starpoint Church and register today so we'll know you're coming, uh, to the new year in repentance and faith. Um, you know, the Lord burns a fire within me to help people, and we're going to do, you know, and I've gotten messages to take risks, so here we go. Um, we're beginning an online support group, Celebrate Freedom. We're going to do recovery online, we're going to do discipleship online. Um, we're going to do it for at least 25 weeks as we're going to go through the Celebrate Recovery program and teach from that along with everything I know from Deeper Walk International Freedom in Christ Ministries and my personal journey of recovery, and we're bringing it online. Um, so it'll be available. Uh, I'm gonna put up stuff today, uh, to, to register, um, for the group. Um, yeah, and so we're doing this. Um, you know, the Lord put it on my heart. I had a couple people said they're interested. We'll see if they're really interested because now we're going to do it. Um, it will not be free of charge. Um, basically I'm working out the fee for that, but it'll be a one-time fee when you register and you'll pay for the whole course load for 25 weeks of this year, um, in 2025. And, um, it'll be online Monday nights, 6:30 PM Eastern Time. It's going to be called Celebrate Freedom and is brought to you by mtforchrist.com and MT for Christ Christian Life Coaching LLC. Thus, we will be charging for it, and hopefully someone will, you know, realize it's worth paying for. To get support and good teaching, uh, from a Christian, um, to, to lead you into victory and freedom in 2025. Um, so we're stepping out in faith and we're going to do it, and we're going to do it one way or the other. The recordings will be— will be, uh, well, the, the class sessions or whatever will be recorded and they'll be available to anyone who registers. So you got to be, you know, got to be— you got to trust, um, basically that your confidentiality will be maintained. But, um, what you share and what you, what you reveal will be up to you. But, um, we're giving this opportunity to anybody, um, out there. Um, it's a, it's a whole new year and it's a whole new thing. And this, um, it's been on my heart to do, uh, to do this for a while. And now I think now is the time. So we're stepping out in faith to do that, and we, we pray that, you know, someone will— the Lord will use this to bless somebody. Um, It'll certainly bless me, uh, as we get this, you know, burning out of my heart. Okay, we did it. Um, win, lose, or draw, we'll see. Um, we'll leave it up to the Lord to bless it. So beyond that, if you're too, too shy, um, or you want to check me out, uh, basically, um, we invite you to check out our free, our, our free classes online, uh, basically that are available. You won't have to pay, you won't have to talk. But we believe you can find and increase your freedom in Christ by joining one of our podcast classes. We've done them on Bondage Breaker, Victory Over the Darkness, Freedom in Christ, and our very own Celebrate Freedom Discipleship Course, which sort of goes with recovery. They're all available on our playlist on YouTube and on M.t. Clark.com. Basically leads you to the YouTube playlist, but they're all there. That's all the plugs for today. So let's ask that final question. Are you empty for Christ too? Are you making yourself available for the Holy Spirit to fill you and lead you into the newness of life that Christ gives you? Are you? Well, if you are, we say thank God, and we say keep on walking and talking with God. If not, we invite you to pray to the Lord, ask him to reveal himself to you, and we pray that you'll you'll make Jesus your Lord and Savior and decide to be a real Christian and actually follow him. Um, yeah, and, um, we know you need help with that, but we know prayer works, so, um, we're going to pray right now. Lord God, Heavenly Father, thank you for another day in your kingdom. Lord, we thank you so much for the burning you put in my heart to step out in faith once again, to try something new in the new year. And, uh, Lord, we pray for you to bless it. Um, we pray for it to, to find people who need help and, uh, who need encouragement and want to take the next step to freedom and joy. And, um, Lord, we pray for you to bless our efforts and, um, let your Holy Spirit guide us in that, um, online community that we're going to establish or try to establish. Um, Lord, and as for today, we need your help for today. Uh, so we pray for you to go before us today, open our eyes to the things you want us to see, lead us in the way we should go. Because all we want to do is to your will and follow you into the freedom that you have for us. Um, Lord, we, we need your help with that. So we just pray for you to help us. And, uh, Lord, we, we also pray for anyone listening or reading today's message, that they'd be blessed by you, um, that you come alongside their prayer request and their walk of faith and show them the way they need to go. Lord, we know You're a good, good Father, and that, um, you give good gifts to those who ask. And so we're asking for you to help us, and, um, we trust that, that you are. So, Lord, we thank you, we praise you, we love you, and we pray all these things in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.