The Chief Sinner says Vote JESUS – Purity 883

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 Easton Sunflowers of Summer comes to us from Tammy Lynn Clark, who shared this photo back on social media back in July. Well, I can testify that those sunflowers really flourished in the backyard of our countryside home. But are all but gone on this Tuesday in November. And as today is Election Day, I would encourage all my Christian friends to vote their Christian consciences in hopes that those who promote policies that are contrary to Christian principles of morality and basic common sense would no longer be allowed to flourish in the halls of our governmental institutions. It's harvest time, so why not take advantage of our right to vote in hopes that our voices would be heard? Anyway, I didn't mean to get political, but if you enjoy complaining about things—and most people do—I suggest you renew your legitimate right to complain by actually voting. That way, at least you can say you tried to change things. I have to admit that I don't have a lot of faith in the government or institutions in general to affect change, because I don't trust people to choose what's right over their personal preferences. And one of our personal preferences as people is to be loved rather than hated. And so we have a natural inclination to not cause offense and will hesitate to tell people that they— the way they are living is wrong according to the word— to God's word. Our silence indicates that we would rather— rather that others suffer, die, and go to hell rather than run the risk that we might be seen as unloving. I know I'm guilty of people pleasing, but in my defense, I have shared those unpopular verses in the Bible that call people out for their sin. I think my favorite is 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 that says, "Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor Sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. So shots fired, duck everybody, because I'm pretty sure the Apostle Paul got everyone with that one. Politically incorrect too, calling out homosexuals. My goodness. Uh, some may think that's messed up, but unfortunately, when it comes to what is right and wrong, We only express opinions. God, the Creator of all things, determines what is right and wrong, and His Word is clear on homosexuality and all the other sins, including all my former pet sins. Fornication and adultery is any sex acts outside of a marriage covenant, which biblically would be between one man and one woman. To that I say guilty. Theft? Guilty. Idolatry? Worshipping things other than God? I'm guilty in basic— in the basic principles of selfishness and materialism, and specifically to a false religious system for years of my life. Drunkenness? Oh, so guilty. Drunken verses like 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 caused me to repent and to go into recovery. When I decided to be a real Christian, to be authentic in my faith, um, to surrender to the Lordship of Jesus. Um, covetous, to want what other people have as if it would satisfy or fulfill me, a form of idolatry, guilty. Reviling, which is to abuse or to attack with evil words, guilty. Extortion, I had to look that one up. According to BibleStudiesTools.com, an extortioner is guilty of snatching away from another by strife, greed, and oppression that which does not lawfully belong to him. I wasn't sure about that one. It sounds like a sophisticated form of theft, and I was never too sophisticated in taking from others what didn't belong to me. But I am ashamed to admit that I did bully a couple of kids on a few occasions in my childhood, and I would say that I snatched away their peace via oppression, so guilty. Now, I have never been guilty of a homosexual encounter— sorry, fellas— but I was guilty of all the rest, and I know that without Christ, I was headed, uh, headed on the highway to hell. Although a lot of my former identity was caught up in all of my sins, when I surrendered to Christ, I realized that I would have to change The Word of God indicates that our former lives were darkness, and the Lord calls us to live in the light by turning from these things. Was it easy? No, I thought it would be impossible to give up living the way I used to. But with God, all things are possible, even giving up the sins of the flesh that we identified with for all of our lives. But when we understand that our way of living was wrong according to the One who gave us life, We should be ashamed and seek to follow Him and live according to the way He intended us— for us to live. While there may be— may have been some pleasure associated with the things listed in 1 Corinthians 6:9-10, none of those things, none of those sins were good things. And the Lord declares that if we live in them, we will be separated from Him, suffer for our rebellion, and the Word of God indicates that the suffering never ends. How can we be so blind and rebellious to ignore God's word and jeopardize our very existence? Trust me, I don't want to offend anybody, but I believe— but, but because I was so lost in darkness and have not only seen the light but now flourish in it, I will take the risk of offending all in hopes that it will encourage some to repent and pursue the peace that the Lord makes available through Jesus Christ. Hey, like Paul, I was chief sinner too, and if the Lord could save me and transform my life, there is no one he can't make brand new. So vote Jesus! Put your faith and trust in him. In him, you are forgiven of all of these sins, and through him and the power of the Holy Spirit in every born-again believer, you receive the power to turn from any and all of these, uh, ways of darkness and can experience the freedom, victory, peace, love, and joy that the Lord has for you. If we walk in the Spirit, we will not fulfill the lust of the flesh and instead can reap an experiential harvest of the fruit of the Spirit in our lives. Experience Experiencing, experiencing our new life in Christ might take a while, but if we keep walking and talking with God, our lives will get a whole lot brighter as we progressively move from darkness to light. Today's Bible verse comes to us from the New Living Translation Bible Promise Book for Men. This morning's meditation verse is Luke 16:10, and it says, if you are faithful in little things, you will be faithful in large ones. But if you are dishonest in little things, you won't be honest with greater responsibilities. Today's verse is— or, well, today's verse are the words of Jesus, who encourages us to be faithful in the little things as a foundation of our faith, knowing that faith in little things will help us to be faithful with greater responsibilities. Uh, I will leave the Bible commentary on the parable of the shrewd manager for another time, which is the section of scripture that today's verse comes from. It is one of the more perplexing parables of Christ because it seems to praise someone who made some shrewd deals with someone else's resources to gain the favor of men. I suggest looking up John MacArthur's exposition of the text for a sound teaching. Um, because I'm out of time, I would just offer that the encouragement to be faithful in the little things is a great piece of advice for for the Christian disciple. In essence, Christ is saying to be faithful, to follow his example in all the things we do, that there is no area of our lives where we shouldn't consider what, what, what would Jesus do. And as Christ points out, that if we are faithful in those little things, our capacity for faithful living will increase and assist us when we are called to be faithful with greater responsibilities. When we practice faith in the little things, we learn to do, uh, we just learn to do what is right. So follow the Lord in the little things, and the big things won't be so big because we will become increasingly more skilled in living like Christ. As always, I invite all to go to mtforchrist.org, 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 Dietrich Bonhoeffer's Discipleship, also known as The Cost of Discipleship. And today we're continuing in Matthew 6, or Bonhoeffer is anyway, uh, on the section of the hiddenness of prayer. And so, um, today's section highlights, um, the Lord's Prayer and Bonhoeffer's commentary on the words of Jesus. So if you want to check out what Bonhoeffer Bonhoeffer— what Bonhoeffer has to say about, uh, the first section of the Lord's Prayer. Go to mt4christ.org and you'll be able to find that at the end of today's blog post. As always, I encourage a life of discipleship. I don't like to be considered a hateful person or anything, but the Lord calls us all to repent. So, um, didn't mean to call out any— anyone for their sin today. So instead, I called out everyone, um, you know, and that's not me. I'm reading the word of God, okay? Um, give me a break, you know. You can hate on me if you want, but I'm just trying to follow the Lord, and I encourage you to do the same. And if you don't know what that's like, we offer our discipleship classes, um, that we've done in the past from Freedom in Christ Ministries, so you can learn what it's like to, uh, be set free in in Christ, in your Christian faith. Um, so we have classes for Victory Over the Darkness— how about that— and The Bondage Breaker, and Freedom in Christ. So if you want to check those out, they're available on our podcast and our YouTube channel, which is called M.t. for Christ 247, as in 24/7, live it every day. Um, so that's what we're doing. I have a confession to make. Um, because of my union benefits, I don't have to work today. That's why our blog post and our, our, our, um, our, our, our blog post and our podcast a little late this morning. Um, yeah, so today I'll, I'll be exercising my right to vote and, um, probably doing some work on my Bonhoeffer teaching because I'm hitting the road to go serve the Lord as a volunteer at the, at the Evening with David Jeremiah, and with, uh, that's in Buffalo on on Friday. So a lot to do, but it's always for the Lord's glory. And, um, you know, I, I really did overcome a lot in my life through faith in Jesus Christ, and I know how dark things were back in the day when I was consumed with sin. I'm not perfect, never will be. Until Christ calls us home. Um, but things are so much better now that I follow the Lord. And so I honestly, you know, ask everyone to prayerfully consider, uh, putting your faith in Jesus Christ. And not only, you know, agreeing in principle, but to, uh, actually follow him with the way you live your life. And to, you know, boldly repent of the way you lived. And, um, you know, see what the Lord has for you, and you'll discover it's a brand new life in Christ. So let's pray. Lord God, Heavenly Father, thank you for bringing me out of the darkness, Lord, and thank you for being, uh, making me to be a voice for light in the truth of Jesus Christ. Uh, never thought that would ever happen, and it has. And it's truly miraculous. Lord, we pray for the people listening today that they would rejoice in the miracle that you're doing in their lives. Anyone listening to this, you know, I have to— I just have to guess that you're on the path of Christian discipleship. And we just pray for the Lord to bless your life and to give you his divine favor, his grace, in your prayer request and in your walk. Um, we got a real heart for people who follow the Lord, and, uh, may God be with you. So let's pray that prayer we always pray. Lord, we pray for you to go before us today, to open our eyes to the things you want us to see. And Lord, lead us into the things you would have us do, because our desire is to follow you and to do that faithfully. So help us to do it in the little things and in the big things today. Um, Lord, we thank you, we praise you, we love you, and we pray all these things in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.