The Paradox of “Figuring Out Life” - Purity 1362

To see today's photo, go to mt4christ.com or follow me, M.t. Clark, on Facebook or Twitter. Good morning! Today's photo of the uphill view of the unnamed dirt and gravel pathway that I have come to call Freedom Road comes to us from yours truly, as I thought to capture this simple scene of beauty back on April 27th of this year while out on a morning walk with my canine pal Harley. Who can be seen further up the road on the right. I've allowed Harley the privilege of going off leash on our walks because he seldom gets himself into too much trouble on his own, but I still call him close to me to keep him safe when I see possible danger or cars barreling down Waite Road. He has the freedom to go where he wants, but I'm responsible for his safety, and so I will admonish him to stay close and follow me. Well, it's Thursday, and I share today's pathway photo as a visual encouragement to, to you all to get on or stay on the path of Christian discipleship. Because unlike my relationship with Harley, the Lord is not going to yell at you to stay close to him and to follow him. And I'm not going to yell at you either, because while I have taught Harley to be somewhat obedient, I know that no amount of screaming and yelling can cause the heart of man to choose to follow the Lord with the way he lives his life. Our faith, Christianity, and one's understanding of and relationship with God is perhaps the biggest mysteries we will ever encounter. It's mysterious how so many people can claim to know the Lord and will call themselves Christian, and yet we will have, um, so many different expressions of how that is lived out. Beyond theological concepts, just quote-unquote figuring out life in general is a paradox that can make your head spin if you think about it. To explain how we can have come to live in the first place and to try to grasp the wisdom of how to live well before we go into the mysterious realm of eternity has borne countless explanations, philosophies, and religions. But even when we know much or have the truth revealed to us, there will still be much that remains a mystery. What am I here for? What do I need to do to live? What should I do? Where am I going? Are all questions that could have a variety of answers because there are so many options available to us because of the freedom that the Lord has given us to choose our way through life. Thankfully, the Light of the World, Jesus Christ, came to show us the way. But even those who personally knew him and taught about him had to admit to the mysterious nature of life and the secret that was revealed to us. The Apostle Paul said in Colossians 1:25-23, God has given me the responsibility of serving his church by proclaiming his entire message to you. This message was kept secret for centuries and generations past, but now it has been revealed to God's people. For God wanted them to know the riches and glory of Christ are for you Gentiles too. And this is the secret: Christ lives in you. This gives you assurance of sharing his glory. So we tell others about Christ, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all the wisdom God has given us. We want to present them to God perfect in their relationship to Christ. That's why I work and struggle so hard, depending on Christ's mighty power that works within me. I want you to know how much I have agonized for you and for the church at Laodicea and for many other believers who have never met me personally. I want them to be encouraged and knit together by strong ties of love. I want them to complete— to have complete confidence that they understand God's mysterious plan, which is Christ himself. In him lie hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Yeah, just all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge lie within Christ Jesus. That's all. Uh, have you gotten that yet? If you have, I'd appreciate you sharing it, because sometimes I feel my canine friend— feel like my canine friend Harley and am completely confident in walking with the Lord and then realize that I've run too far ahead or I've veered off course and I find myself too far from his presence or inexplicably chosen to do things independently of God that prove that I haven't really learned to walk in his ways. When I see my selfishness, impatience, or my seeking comfort by indulging my flesh, I'm disappointed with myself because if I I quote-unquote know better, but I am also reminded of the goodness of God and how it had to be by grace that we are saved. Our flesh is weak and we would have never been made righteous by our own efforts. But thanks be to God that the mystery has been revealed. Jesus Christ is Lord and we can now live with him forever. That doesn't mean the mystery has been solved. We are going to live with God forever, and we're not there yet. But we don't have to beat ourselves up. The Lord is a good master, and he will protect us, provide for us, and guide us to follow him, follow after him. He loves us, and he patiently waits for us to follow where he leads. So we should give thanks for Christ in us and just rest and rejoice knowing that he will never leave us or forsake us. Today is another day in the mystery. We don't have to fear because God is with us, and we don't have to earn his acceptance or love. We have it and can't lose it. Instead of doing wrong, we should do right. If we make a mistake, we admit it and seek forgiveness and try to make up for it. When we go off the path, we should stop and go back to God and ask Him to show us the way. In His presence there is peace, love, and joy, and all we have to do to experience it is to agree to follow after Him. So keep walking and talking with God and know the peace that goes beyond all understanding, and, and that can even rejoice in the mystery of not being able to figure everything out. If we know Jesus, that's enough. But there's so much more to know when we decide to stay close and learn from him. Today's Bible verses come to us from the Quick Scripture Reference for Counseling by John G. Crews. This morning's meditation verses come from the section on depression, and today's verses are Genesis 4:6-7 from the New Living Translation. The Word of God says, "Why are you so angry?" the Lord asked Cain. "Why do you look so dejected? You will be accepted if you do what is right. But if you refuse to do what is right, then watch out! Sin is crouching at the door, eager to control you. But you must subdue it and be its master." Today's verses fall under the second point of our Counseling Reference Guide's resource section on depression. That second point is: Cain's depression was due to guilt. Today's verses have become my go-to verses for demonstrating the simple principle of doing the right thing as a means to good mental health. Angry? Dejected? Depressed? Well, do what is right and you will be accepted. When we do what is right according to God's word, we become free of these negative mind states because we are in harmony with the Lord. Our sin is just denying the truth of what God says and living by our own ideas and desires that contradict what's best for us. Our guilt is alleviated when we repent and do things God's way. So ask the Lord to lead you into repentance and dedicate your mind and body to his service and his ways, and you will not be angry were dejected. Uh, peace comes from following the Lord and doing what is right. As always, we invite you 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 According to Your Word: Morning and Evening Through the New Testament by Stephen F. Alford. And in Alford's devotionals, he prompts us to read a chapter of scripture every day. And actually twice a day, morning and evening. And, um, today's chapter is Romans 5, and from Romans 5 he shares a portion from Romans 5:10 which says, saved by his life. And Stephen Alford writes, this is a glorious thought. Salvation or reconciliation has not only been made through his death but also by his life. That is to say that by dying with Him, I am also raised to live with Him, knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dies no more. As long as He lives, I live, for death has no more dominion over Him. The apostle really understood this truth when he wrote, I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me, and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God. In Galatians 2:20. No wonder his great ambition was to know Christ and the power of his resurrection. And Alford ends by praying, praise God, the power of the resurrection is the life over which death has no more dominion. Amen. Amen. Yeah, and that's how we live. Um, you know, that's from Romans and Galatians there. That we have been crucified with Christ and it's no longer us who live, but Christ lives in us. And that's a big, big mystery, but it's true. And, you know, when we live according to that truth is when we discover the harmony we can have with the Lord and the fruit of the Spirit will grow in our lives. The peace, the joy, the goodness, the kindness, the patience, the faithfulness, um, and even self-control. It all grows through us walking with the Lord and agreeing with him. And, you know, he's a good master, but he does give us the freedom of choice. And when we don't stay close to him, we'll make selfish decisions that go our own way. And, you know, that's, that's the big The big problem, living independently of God. We were never meant to, and that was the first sin of Adam and Eve. They decided to be like God instead of being with God, and, uh, that caused everything to fall and change. And the good news is that Jesus came to, to give us the Word bodily. You know, when we put our faith in Jesus, we receive the Holy Spirit, and he walks with us and he guides us. But we can shut, you know, we can quench the Spirit, right? We can choose not to follow, choose not to, to listen to what he has to say. And it's difficult because we're living with half, half the gospel. People are believing in the Lord Jesus for eternal life but not life here on Earth. They're buying their ticket to heaven, but they're not, they're not riding with Him now. They're not walking with Him now, or, you know, not closely anyway. And because I've experienced freedom and victory in so many areas of my life because I followed the Lord, it's, you know, I knew— I never knew, I never knew those things were possible. I always thought I'd be always struggle with this, right? You're always going to struggle with this. Well, the Lord said it's finished, and when we agree with that, we can really be finished with those problems in our life. And I've overcome too many of them to, to deny the truth that freedom is possible. And, um, yeah, I might struggle by, uh, eating foods that aren't the healthiest, but when you're free of drunkenness, drug addiction, and sex addiction, and those things are not even a blip on the radar screen anymore in your life, you have a little more grace about the food indulgence. I could beat myself up over the occasional candy bar, muffin, or whatever I eat, But that's condemnation, and it's not necessarily sin. The overindulgence, the fleshly living that, you know, gluttony covers up, that's the sin. You know, the fact that we're trying to comfort ourselves with food instead of receiving the comfort that's ours in Christ, that's the sin. You know, I don't mean to fat shame anyone, but you know, that's— it's not healthy, it's not good for you, it causes you pain, it causes you guilt, and that's not how the Lord wants you to live. He wants you to do what's right, to only eat enough food to, you know, give you enough energy to make it through the day. You know, this principle that was drawn out with the manna in the wilderness, he didn't allow you to the manna would go bad. If you gathered too much manna, it would go bad. If you tried to save it and have some for later, it would go bad. He gave you enough for the day, and that's living in, you know, total dependence on the Lord. And it's a principle that's sort of lost, that yeah, we can store up things, but it's not necessarily how we're supposed to We're supposed to have, you know, take what's needed for today and leave the rest up to God, and not to take more than we need. I'm still learning. Like I said, this thing called life and our faith is still a mystery in many ways. And as much as we know, there will still be more to know. But it's a wonderful mystery and it's a wonderful life when we stay close to the Lord. I'm not too upset when I'm staying close to God. It's only when I go away and do something wrong that I feel the pain. And so there's grace and there's forgiveness and there's great joy to be had when we follow the Lord. You know, we're not— there's no condemnation in Christ. It's so much better when you don't have to be condemned or be convicted that you're not doing the right thing, that you live in the peace of, you know, being untouchable. I haven't done anything wrong. I'm following the Lord the best I can. And, um, that's us. We're not going to be rejected. The Lord accepts us for who we are and encourages us, you know, to walk in his ways. And so we should choose that. Freely, because it's so much better when we do. All right, today is another day in the kingdom, another day at work, so we're going to pray and, uh, you know, do our best. Lord God, Heavenly Father, thank you for another day in your kingdom. We thank you so much for the joy you set before us and the life that we have now in this mystery with Jesus living in us. We pray for you to guide us today, Lord, All we want to do is represent you in your kingdom as we go about the earth and try to live and do what's right. Lord, we also pray for anyone who's listening or reading today's message, that you come alongside them and bless them in their prayer request and help them in their walk of faith, because we all need your help, and we're asking for that today, Lord. So show us the way, uh, open our eyes to the things you want us to see, and move us to do the things you would have us do. As, um, we just want to stay in your presence, and, uh, we're, we're going to try to stay close to you today, Lord, so help us. Lord, we thank you, we praise you, and we love you, and we pray all these things in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.