The Enemy Rejoices unless the Bondage Breaker is Called On - Purity 1256

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 a snow-covered hill, a dense forest, snow-dotted mountains, and a majestic blue sky comes to us from yours truly as work brought me relatively way north and way east in upstate New York on Monday. And I paused for a moment to see and appreciate the view of what I believe to be the Taconic Mountains in Vermont beyond what Google Maps indicates is the Eldridge Swamp State Forest, as I was way out in Cambridge, uh, Monday. Well, it's a wild Wednesday this morning as I am scrambling to recover some lost time due to a technical glitch. My phone was plugged into a charger, but the charger wasn't plugged in. D'oh! And I thought this simple view of the mountains in the distance was an adequate, adequate way to visually represent our arrival at another hump day. Happy hump day! Anyway, I am going to share an email devotional message that I received from Freedom in Christ Ministries to instruct and encourage us, because I not only had to deviate a little bit from my normal routine this morning because of my phone, because my phone was dead I use it for music and my video exercise routine with VShred, and even though I had a backup, my iPad, which had those apps after a quick download, but its juice ran out just as I was— I started running along with Vince Sant for an optional cardio day workout. And instead of running ahead without my video companion, I decided to exercise my option to stop exercising and move along to my prayer and Bible study time. Which I did, but which, which was surrounded by anxiety concerning my son Brennan, who recently told me he was— he has missed work over the last few days because of the wintertime blues, I guess. I'm a disconnected dad. I expect my 20-something adult kids to be responsible, and they are, but Brennan only recently entered into the workforce, and I guess it's not as fun and as fulfilling as it is for him as as it is for the rest of us, right? Yeah, I get it, work sucks. I'd rather stay home and watch video games— watch video games— and be a YouTuber and be independently wealthy too. I mean, I really would, minus video games. Lord, do you hear me? Bless the M.t. Clark for Christ 24/7 podcast and the YouTube channel in Jesus' name. Amen. But seriously, in life, unless we are blessed by someone else's riches, we have to work. My son was doing it until a snow day— don't get me started— caused him to call out, and I guess he didn't go back in. Brennis is not exactly walking with the Lord. He has a history of depression and all kinds of generational curses in his family line, not in his own— well, whatever. And it is not surprising to me that the enemy has laid a trap for him and deceived him into believing that just sitting around Sitting home and feeling sorry for himself is an option. Entitled? Sure. Depressed? Perhaps. But I know from my own walk that the pathway to peace comes from walking with the Lord and doing what is right. After years of suffering, that's what I've learned. Uh, meeting your responsibilities and being content with what you have. Brennan is not doing that, and thus I worry about him. So that's all my personal sharing for today. Here's the message from Dr. Neil Anderson on The Bondage Breaker that speaks of the generation— the added dangers of the demonic to our mental health. And Anderson writes, The Bondage Breaker: If therefore the Son shall make you free, you shall be free indeed. John 8:36. And Anderson writes, the contrast between bondage and freedom in a believer's life is beautifully illustrated in the following letter from a successful professional man. This man wrote: Dear Neil, my emotional troubles were probably rooted in my childhood experiences with horror movies, Ouija boards. I clearly remember fearing a visit from devilish forces after I saw the movie titled The Blood of Dracula. My father had a pretty hot temper and was given to emotional outbursts. My survival response was to sulk and blame myself for upsetting him. Bottling my emotions inside became a way of life. As I grew into adulthood, I continued to blame myself for any and all personal shortcomings, shortcomings, and misfortunes. Then I accepted Christ as my personal Lord and Savior. I grew spiritually over the next several years, but I never enjoyed complete peace. There was always a lingering doubt about my relationship with God, who, whom I saw as distant and stern. I had difficulty praying, reading the Bible, and paying attention to the pastor's sermons. I seriously questioned the purpose of life. I experienced horrible nightmares that woke me up screaming. It was during my time of prayer with you that I finally found freedom in Christ. Now when I read God's Word, I understand it like never before. I have developed a more positive attitude. My entire relationship with the Lord has completely changed. Since our meeting, I haven't had one nightmare. I'm not saying that every spiritual problem is a result of direct demonic activity, but you may be in bondage because you have overlooked or denied the reality of demonic powers at work in the world. Your inheritance in Christ is the basis for your complete freedom promised in Scripture. And Anderson prays, help me not to be spiritually— be a spiritual ostrich today, but to be alert to my enemy's tactics and to your truth. That was all from Dr. Neil Anderson. And, uh, you know, there was a quick contrast there, and, uh, Neil points out, you know, he shares that letter And now, you know, this prayer session set, set this man free. Well, that prayer session is the Steps to Freedom in Christ. And why did he have all these condemning thoughts and these issues with his faith life? Neil says basically indicates that it was demonic activity. After the Steps to Freedom in Christ, he was set free. So thank you, Dr. Anderson. This letter tells us of the difference that can come to our lives when we repent by going through the steps to freedom in Christ. Check Neil's— check out Neil's book, The Bondage Breaker, to learn about the spiritual forces of darkness and how they operate and to go through the steps to freedom that can cast them out of your life. Today's Bible verses or verse comes to us from the Quick Scripture Reference for Counseling by John G. Cruis, and this morning's meditation verse comes from the section on Communication, Gossip, and Lying. Today's verse is Proverbs 15:1. The Word of God says, "A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger." Today's verse falls under the fourth point of our Counseling Reference Guide's resource section on Communication, Gossip, and Lying. And today's verse— well, that fourth point is avoid harsh words. Today's verse convicts me to try to be compassionate with my son and his struggles with purpose and depression. As much as I would love to lay into him with some loud words of "tough love," I know that my anger might get the best of me, so I tend to use a more subtle approach to encourage him to do what is right. I text and make it clear that I love him and will do everything I can to help him, but but the expectation is that he will work and support himself completely someday. The other day, after learning of his work absences, I stated that he was not going to find meaning or purpose up in his room, to which he angrily retorted that he wasn't going to find it working at Walmart either. Touché. I didn't mean to chastise, but was merely pointing out the real life necessity of work and the trap that idleness can be. And because of who I am and what I know to be true, I told Brennan that when he sulks and sits in his room, he suffers and the enemy rejoices. I don't think he took me seriously because as far as I could tell, he didn't go to work yesterday either. So I pray for the Lord to help us and to move Brennan in the way he should go. And sent another— and I, of course, sent another round of text to try to encourage him to do what's right, make a plan for his life. So watch what you say. Your words can and will be used against you. And unfortunately, even our encouragements may be seen as nagging or unwanted advice. But all we can do is keep on loving the difficult people in our lives and point them toward the peace that comes from knowing and following the Lord. And from doing what is right for themselves, if no one else. So speak softly. Amen. 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 According to Your Word: Morning and Evening Through the New Testament by Stephen F. Alford, which is a collection of devotional journals from 1940 41. This resource, Alford prompts people to read a chapter of Scripture. The chapter of Scripture for today's entry is Matthew 16, and from Matthew 16 he highlights Matthew 16:23, which says, "He turned and said to Peter, 'Get behind me, Satan, you are an offense to me.'" And Alford writes, not half a dozen verses previous to this, in reply to Peter's great statement concerning Christ, You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God. Verse 16: The Lord was saying to Peter, Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. Verse 17: But he who was, he who was the light is and ever will be the light, never covered wrong at the expense of his holiness. So when he detects the work of the devil in what, humanly speaking, was loving sympathy on the part of Peter. The Lord strictly rebukes him. And Alford ends his entry praying, "O Lord, make this consistent. Make me this consistent. Amen." And yeah, you know, talk about tough love, you know. Peter got some spiritual insight and saw, yeah, and, you know, called it as it was, because the Lord revealed to him that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the Living God. But when Jesus started talking about the Lord's plan, which would end in his death and resurrection, Peter was like, I don't think so, this doesn't sound right to me. And, you know, basically that's anti-Christ, you know, it's going against God's will. So, you know, Jesus can discern the spirits and certainly hear Satan's voice in that, to reject, you know, to try to thwart God's plan. So he rebuked Peter and said, get behind me, Satan, you know, you are an offense to me. So, you know, don't contradict what the Christ who you proclaim to be the Christ, the Son of the Living God Don't contradict what he says, you know. So there you go. And you don't do that. And that's why we, you know, we— it's difficult because we have to retrain our minds and renew our minds with the Word of God and to not choose the worldly way, but to choose the pathway of peace that, you know, leads through doing what is right according to God's Word. You know, it's general principles of doing what's right, but the standard for what is right is found in God's Word. Um, because the world will tell you what's right, but the Bible is the authoritative word of God that tells you what is actually sin and not sin. And even though our world would embrace certain activities as fine, the, the Bible would tell you that those things are sin and need to be repented of. And we shouldn't contradict God's word but walk in it. And when we fail to live by, live by faith and the power of the Holy Spirit, we're subject to demonic oppression and just huge disappointments from trying to be fulfilled in a world that wasn't crafted to, to give you that fulfillment. Your fulfillment's to be found in Christ. It makes sense because you're only going to be in this world for so long, and then you're going into eternity. So shouldn't you try to secure the meaning and purpose of your life by finding out what this life's all about from the one who made it, the author of life, God? Yes, yes it does. Otherwise we're living in denial, and that's really a big deception that the enemy says. We only got one life to live. Well, that's— if you say that, That's true, but guess what? That life goes into eternity, and you're either going to be with God or you're not. And he's not going to force you into his kingdom if you reject him all your life. So, you know, do what is right. Believe in Jesus. Put your faith in him. Follow him and live. And so That's today's message. Let's pray. Lord God, Heavenly Father, thank you for another day in your kingdom. Lord, we pray for our son Brennan and through all our friends who are going through so many hard times right now in terms of their broken relationships or death in the family. Um, and Lord, we pray for anyone who might be listening or reading this message, that they'd be encouraged and that you come alongside them and their their prayer requests and their walk of faith. We all need your help, Lord, and that includes me. I'm not a perfect person and I don't always do what's best. Sometimes I, you know, I, I speak harsh words, or, you know, my, my words are taken out of context to upset people. Um, I don't intend for that, Lord, so I need your help. And, uh, I just ask for you to go before me, open my eyes to the things you want me to see, and lead me in the way I should go. Because all I want to do is represent your kingdom and your love, uh, to the world that I'm in. And, um, Lord, I'm going to definitely need your help with that. So that's our prayer for today. Lord, we thank you, we praise you, we love you, and we pray all these things in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.