In this devotional monologue, M.t. Clark reflects on the meaning of true freedom in Christ, weaving together personal testimony, biblical teaching, and everyday experiences. He begins by describing a memorial tree at Henry Hudson Riverfront Park, planted by a friend to honor her father’s love of freedom and to show solidarity with Ukraine, illustrating how love for freedom extends beyond personal loss. Clark then shares his own journey from addiction, unhealthy relationships, and spiritual darkness to the liberating light of Jesus, emphasizing that freedom in Christ compels believers to share that joy with others. He announces his upcoming white‑water rafting trip with his wife Tammy Lynn as a concrete expression of embracing new, God‑given experiences while trusting in divine protection. The core of the message centers on a call to purity, anchored by 2 Timothy 2:21, and a critique of contemporary sexual immorality, supported by extensive scriptural references (John 8:36, 1 Corinthians 6:9‑10, Romans 6:2, John 8:11). Clark argues that genuine freedom includes forsaking sexual sin and living a holy, counter‑cultural life. He concludes with practical encouragement, a prayer for safety and spiritual growth, and directs listeners to online resources (mt4christ.org, mteamforchrist.org) and John Piper’s teaching on a “wartime lifestyle.” The overall purpose is to inspire listeners to pursue Christ‑centered freedom, purity, and active discipleship in daily life.
Chapters
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 memorial tree on the shores of the Hudson River at Henry Hudson Riverfront Park comes to us from a friend who honors the memory of her father, whose favorite saying was "one day at a time," by planting flowers around its base. It's been 9 years since my friend started doing this labor of love in remembrance of her departed father. The memorial was established at Riverfront Park because her father's— because of her— my friend's father loved the river and the lighthouse there. She includes American flags in the display because her father loved this country and the freedom we all enjoy. This year, my friend used the occasion of remembering and honoring her father to think of others and their desire for freedom by asking her friends on social media if anyone had miniature Ukrainian flags that she could add to her father's display to show her family's support for their struggle. It's amazing. On the occasion where her— my friend could have just been thinking of her loss or the love of her father, she thought about others and how they should be free. The true love of freedom goes beyond us. When you are set free, the joy you receive makes you want to share it by telling others about it and by hoping others experience it too. Like love, when you experience freedom, you want everyone to know it and to keep it. Well, it is Saturday, and Jesus said in John 8:36, "Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed." Jesus Christ was true to his words because he has set me free, and just like my friend desires all the people of the Ukraine to be able to enjoy their freedom, it is my sincerest wish that all my friends not only enjoy their personal freedom to enjoy this weekend and whatever ways that would give them the most peace, but it is my wish that they would experience the freedom indeed that comes from not only making Jesus Christ your Lord and Savior, but that is enjoyed all the more when we make the daily decision to live as one of his disciples by walking in the Spirit. My spirit walk with Christ has led me through the darkness of addictions, bad relationships, and negative mind states to a place where I I not only enjoy the light of freedom in Christ for myself, but feel utterly prepared to share the good news and continually bear witness of the power of the gospel of Jesus Christ to save, but to also transform the lives of all who come to him. Today, my love of life and freedom in Christ is leading me to try the new experience of whitewater rafting today, as my wife Tammy Lynn will be As my wife and I will be traveling to Warrensburg to navigate the 17-mile Hudson River Gorge with friends and a Wildwater Out— Outers— Wildwater Out— Outer Center certified guide. Anyway, we're going whitewater rafting. I signed us up when a friend offered me the opportunity months ago without fully realizing what I was signing up for. I imagined a somewhat leisurely usually trip down the Hudson, but I got a wake-up call the other night when the rafting company required my wife and I to sign liability waivers, as in so we do not, you know, we don't sue them if we should be injured or die on today's trip. Uh, and looking at what we signed ourselves up for, my wife informed me that life vests, wetsuits, and booties and helmets are provided. Helmets, life vests, wetsuits. Uh, okay, so apparently we are doing the real deal today. Uh, so to be honest, I am excited by the prospect of today's adventure, but I am also hoping our experienced certified whitewater rafting guide will bring us safely through without injury or death. Um, but as much as I may have, have some I have some trust in our guide today. I won't just trust in them to keep me safe. I pray every day for the Lord to lead me through whatever I face, and today will be no different. I know the Lord loves me and that he protects me and has protected me in the past, and I trust him to do so in the future. But even if some unforeseen mishap should befall me, I know that the Lord will be there to give me strength and peace, come what may. So keep walking and talking with God. It is the weekend, so let us enjoy our freedom to try something new, or to do the familiar activities we enjoy, or to just rest and relax. The Lord wants us to enjoy our lives, but He also wants us to be free indeed through His Son. And brother, I can tell you, as a Holy Spirit certified guide in walking the path of Christian discipleship, the going may not always be easy, and no two trips are the same, but the path is true. And the destinations along the way may not always be what you expect, but the journey is worth taking and somehow always leads to good. Today's Bible verse comes to us from the New Living Translation Bible Promise Book for Men. This morning's meditation verse is 2 Timothy 2:21, and it says, "If you keep yourself pure, you will be a special utensil for honorable use. Your life will be clean, and you will be ready for the Master to use you for every good work." Today's Bible verse encourages a life of purity. And it indicates that if our lives are clean, we will be prepared for the good works that the Lord would have us walk into. A life of purity is about as countercultural as you can get in the strange new world of our society, with fornication and living together as a normal option for heterosexuals, the legalization of homosexual marriage, and the popularization of every conceivable sexual bent and perversion out there for the offering. The idea of purity is a foreign concept to not only the world at large, but also within the professed body of Christ. I was born again when I was 38, so without going into detail, I have to admit that I sold my wild sexual oats outside of marriage. It was only well after I was saved and repented of my addictions to alcohol and drugs that I was given a revelation of the importance of a pure life. After I got clean and sober, I realized just how dirty I still was and how what I had always thought of as sexual liberation was actually bondage to the flesh and honestly sexual addiction. What I thought of as exercising my rights to meet my sexual needs in whatever way I could think of or negotiate was not only a habit that turned into addiction, it was also a sin. As I became increasingly free in Christ, my heart was convicted by the truth of God's Word that repeatedly commands us to forsake fornication, adultery, and sexual immorality. Those three terms basically cover all the outlets of sexual expression other than sex between a husband and wife in marriage. To be clear, that is one man and one woman in marriage with one another only. That is the only form of sexual expression or, or practice that is acceptable and blessed by the Lord. That's the principle that is drawn from the Bible, and it's the principle that Christians should live by. I know I used to think that because we were forgiven, we can do whatever we like. The blood of Jesus covers our sins, so he will just have to accept my sexual sin and welcome me into his kingdom, like it or not. But that's not what Scripture says. 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 tells us, don't you realize that those who do wrong will not inherit the kingdom of God? Don't fool yourselves. Those who indulge in sexual sin, or who worship idols, or commit adultery, or are male prostitutes, or practice homosexuality, or are thieves, or greedy people, or drunkards, or are abusive, or cheat people, None of these will inherit the kingdom of God. I know what you might be thinking, "Wait a minute, I thought I was forgiven of those sins, past, present, and future, right?" While we are forgiven of our sins, the call on us is to repent and turn from our sins. Christ told the woman caught in adultery in John 8:11, "Go and sin no more." In response to the question of whether as Christians we should just go on sinning, That grace may abound, the Apostle Paul emphatically says in Romans 6:2, "Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?" So we are supposed to change. Although we once sinned, we are not supposed to keep on living in our sin. In regards to that list of sins in 1 Corinthians 6:9-10, the Apostle Paul demonstrates that Christians forsake those sins by saying in 1 Corinthians 6:11, some of you were once like that, but you were cleansed, you were made holy, you were made right with God by, by calling on the name of the Lord Christ, Jesus Christ, and by the Spirit of our God. So right there it's pointing to purity through, you know, calling on the name of Jesus and the Holy Spirit. So today's verse that encourages us to live pure and of pure and clean life so that we can be ready for the good works God has for us to do is not an isolated incident— instance of the call on our lives to be pure. Who the Son sets free is free indeed, and that freedom includes the freedom to forsake sexual sin and lead a life of purity. It may seem impossible, but all things that God commands us to do are possible with His help. So think about your sex life. Is there any activity that falls outside the boundaries of heterosexual sex between one man and one woman in marriage going on? If so, that activity is not only sin, it is bondage to the flesh, and the Lord would have you to be free of it by turning from it to a pure life. It's not a popular message, I know, but A pure life that is clean is God's will for every man and woman. Sex is a beautiful gift that God wants us to enjoy in a committed marriage relationship where the emphasis is on love more than, more than satisfying needs or feeding selfish desires. So seek a pure life in Christ, not just in the area of sex, but in all the areas of our lives. God wants us to be holy as he is holy, and our efforts to live a pure life will be rewarded by him and prepare us to be used for his purposes. As always, I invite all to go to mteamforchrist.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 John Piper's Don't Waste Your Life. And today the sections he covers is why I use the phrase wartime lifestyle and what it looks like in wartime and why not speak of a simple lifestyle. Well, apparently Piper is covering a mindset, a way of living as a Christian and how we cannot, you know, how the call is not to waste our life. And to live with it in a certain manner. So if you wanted to see what John Piper's talking about, go to mtforchrist.org to read that resource at the end of today's blog post. Well, as I stated, I am going whitewater rafting today, and I pray that I will be safe, that me and my wife will be safe in our travels today, and that we'll make it through. Unharmed and better for having experienced the beauty of God's creation for 17 miles along the river and the experience of, you know, riding it out. You know, sometimes we have to stretch ourselves in our lives and do things that are new, and that's the great thing about our lives. We have freedom. We can choose to live a pure life, we can choose to do exciting things, and all of it's, you know, in relationship to God. He'll bless all of our efforts as long as they're pure. Nothing wrong with whitewater rafting. So we're gonna do that. And we pray for everyone listening today to have a great weekend. So let's make this official by praying us out and and moving forward. Lord God, Heavenly Father, thank you for another day in your kingdom. Lord, we thank you for the blessings of the weekend, uh, Lord, the time to rest, relax, or do what we enjoy, or to go out and try something new. Uh, Lord, we know that you love, you love us and you give us the freedom to do what we want and, and what we choose. And Lord, we just pray for myself and for everyone listening today that we would choose every day to follow you— and Lord, to enjoy your presence and to enjoy your wisdom that's in your word and to reach out to you in prayer, to enjoy our relationship with you, Lord, and to enjoy your creation by opening our eyes and seeing what's out there and sharing what we know and what we experience with our friends so they can come in and be friends with you. Lord, we pray for everyone listening today. We pray that they receive the healing and the blessings that they're looking for, um, Lord. But most importantly, we pray for the blessing of a deep relationship with you, um, so they can— no matter what circumstances they face in life, they can always find peace and joy and love by knowing that they have a relationship with you that will never end. Um, Lord, we pray for you to go before us today, open our eyes to everything it is you want us to see. to And we pray for you to prepare us for the things we need to do. And we pray for you to help us to make it through. And we hope— pray for safety along the way and for you to set everything up just as you would have it. Um, Lord, we thank you, we praise you, and we pray all these things in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.
