The Sun Still Rises Purity 851

To see today's photo, go to mt4christ.org or follow me, M.t. Clark, on Facebook or Twitter. Good morning. Today's original artwork, which I am entitling The Sun Still Rises, is of the sun rising over the horizon, shining on a solitary tree on a hill, illuminating the sky and landscape with all the colors of the rainbow. It comes to us from across the pond, as this is the latest creation of the artist the poet, the poet and our friend in the UK, Philip Hand. Philip shared it with me just this morning along with a Bible verse to encourage and inspire me in my walk. Peter shared Philippians 4:8 from the New King James Version, which says, finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, Whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report, if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. Think on these things indeed. In this world that often points to the things that are wrong, our brother Philip is reminding us of what the Apostle Paul told us, the Church, to do through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. To think on the things that are true, honest, just, pure, lovely, and good. When we encounter negative interactions with others or disappointing circumstances in the world, the enemy would love for us to focus on the bad things in life and to forget about just how blessed we are. Even in the midst of a disastrous situation like Hurricane Ian that has now reportedly been responsible for the deaths of 23 persons in Florida, has landed in South Carolina yesterday as a post— a post-tropical cyclone Category 1 storm and will continue to affect the weather as it continues to move north today through North Carolina and into Virginia by midday today, and even may result in significant rainfalls in my neck of the woods, New York, today and tomorrow. So today we pray for the lives lost and those affected by the damages of this latest storm to rage up the East Coast of our country. and we will be wise to consider its course as it weakens in regards to our activities this weekend, but we will also continue to praise the Lord and think on the things that are true, honest, just, pure, lovely, and good. The spirit of loving our neighbors is being seen in the relief efforts that are rushing in to restore power and order to the devastated areas hit by Hurricane Ian. And in the concern that we have for our friends and loved ones that were in its path. As we receive— rejoice— as we rejoice over every new report from friends reporting that they are safe on social media, the love of God is being manifest in us when we see people love and care for one another in storms like Ian. I'm calling Philip's latest piece The Sun Also Rises because I'm reminded of Solomon's contemplations of the hard realities of life in the book of Ecclesiastes. And even though he expressed how much of life was vanity, or chasing after the wind, he came to the conclusion that while we were to fear God and obey his commandments because everything we will— we do will be judged by him, he also encouraged us to enjoy our lives, recognizing that we have it as a gift from the Lord, and that to follow the Lord's ways for living was to demonstrate an understanding of the highest wisdom. But Philip's piece also reminds me of Jeremiah's passages in Lamentations, another heavy book in the Bible that acknowledges the reality of sufferings and afflictions in life. After, after, after admitting to the suffering, Jeremiah speaks of the hope that comes from contemplating the Lord in our lives. Lamentations 3:21-24 says, This I recall to my mind, therefore I have hope. Through the Lord's mercies we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not; they are new every morning. Great is your faithfulness! The Lord is my portion, says my soul, therefore I hope in him. So that is the deal. When we think of these things that are listed in Philippians, if we we keep thinking about whatever, whatever is whatsoever is true, honest, just, pure, lovely, and good, the things our minds can come up with as we contemplate the things that our minds will come up with, we will discover that they all point to the ultimate true, honest, just, pure, lovely, and good one, the Lord God Almighty. And, and that our peace and our hope is found in him because his mercies are new every morning and great is his faithfulness. In his comments to me this morning, my friend Philip said that he feels peaceful when he is drawing, but when he sought to share the product of his peace, he also felt moved to share encouragement from the word of God by including Philippians 4:8 when he shared his artwork. I told Philip that his story, his artwork, his finding peace of mind from negative mind states through it and his faith in Jesus Christ, is an ongoing testimony of the goodness of God and how the gifts that we receive from him can be used to touch the hearts of others. So whatever you find yourself— wherever or whatever you find yourself in the world this weekend, uh, whether you're walking the— in victory or struggling to find peace in a storm, let me encourage you to think upon those those things that the Lord directed, directed us to think about, and to find your hope in him. When we walk and talk with the Lord, we will discover the peace in the storm, and we will praise him for his goodness, mercy, grace, faithfulness, and love. Today's Bible verse comes to us from the New Living Translation Bible Promise Book for Men. This morning's meditation verse, verse is Romans 7:4, and it says, uh, so my dear brothers and sisters, this is the point: you died to the power of the law when you died with Christ, and now you are united with the one who is— who was raised from the dead. As a result, we can produce a harvest of good deeds for God. Today's Bible verse encourages us that we can produce a harvest of good deeds for God because we have died to the power of the law of sin and death, and when we, when we died with and was raised to life anew with Christ. As I have shared previously in other blog posts, when we consider Bible verses like today's verse and Romans 8:2, which tells us For the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. We should understand the word law as authority instead of some lifeless legal code. We should understand the authority or power under which we once lived and how that has dramatically changed when we have put our faith in Jesus Christ and receive a new and eternal spiritual life. So by the authority of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus, the Lord now declares you to be free from the authority of sin and death. Death's authority would render us dead in our trespasses and sins and make us subject to God's wrath. But the authority of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus gives us peace with God and a new life in God's kingdom as his adopted children. The authority of sin would make us incapable of saying no to sin, and powerless to change our sinful habits, and lead us to despair and hopelessness. But the authority of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus sets us free from sin's authority by giving us a new identity in Christ, and giving us the power to say no to sin, not as an act of will, but as an act of faith, as we align our thoughts and behaviors with our new identity in Christ and draw upon the power of the Holy Spirit to overcome our worldly ways for a new life in the Spirit of Christ Jesus. Well, that's great. So what happens next, now that I have this freedom from the law since I have died and been resurrected with Christ? As today's verse tells us, we discover our new purpose as a child of God. We produce a harvest of good deeds for God. In Christ, we have been set free and given a new life. We have received power over the authority of sin and death, and we also receive our purpose to do good deeds for the glory of God because of who we are in Christ and because of our love for our Father. We receive everything in Christ: a new identity, power, freedom, victory, purpose here on earth and with God in his kingdom forever. And the first day— well, it is the first day of October in 2022, so let's go out there and reap a harvest of good deeds for the glory of God the Father, Christ the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Who have given us freedom, power, and life everlasting. 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 start sharing from chapter 5, uh, Discipleship and the Individual. And if you want to hear what Dietrich Bonhoeffer had to write about that topic, go to mt4christ.org and you'll find that resource at the end of today's blog post. And as always, we invite people to walk in the Spirit, to experience their power and their freedom over the authority of sin and death by getting on the path of Christian discipleship. Does that mean you follow me? No, that means you follow Christ and you're in the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Does that mean we listen to wisdom from M.t. Clark? Not necessarily. I would point to the wisdom of the Word of God far before— uh, no, no, not that my practical advice isn't, isn't good, because I direct you to seek the Lord and follow him, but the wisdom of The scriptures is what you want to model your life after. The Spirit of God will lead you if you seek him. You will find him when you, you know, seek him with all your heart, mind, and soul, and strength. You will understand who he's made you to be, and he'll lead you into those good deeds, and you can reap a harvest, and you'll receive a harvest of good deeds when you start to follow him. All those You know, all those positive changes in your life have positive consequences, and you reap the harvest. It's good to turn to God and live wisely. It just is in this world, and of course for our ultimate salvation, there isn't a better way to go. And so, yeah, my paradigm for the discipleship is that we follow the Holy Spirit. That doesn't mean we don't listen to, you know, mentors or other brothers and sisters in Christ, but it doesn't mean we blindly follow them either, and we consider the wisdom that they're giving out and whether or not that wisdom lines up with the Word of God. And everyone has their, you know, as to discipleship in the individual, well, if you read that passage from Dietrich Bonhoeffer's book, you'll understand that We are individually called, so we have individual purpose in the corporate body of Christ. Whoa! It's attested to in Scripture as every, you know, every part of the body has a different function. Thus, you know, we are to gather and worship the Lord together as a community of believers, but as a disciple, you're going to be called to represent God in all kinds of different areas of your life. So my suggestion is to do that and not just keep it in the, in the house of worship for one hour a week, but to let the Lord guide you in all the things that you do. These are all advice based on the Word of God, of course. We highly revere it, and that's why we encourage people to read the Bible every day. And to encourage that, we share a Bible study of our own Um, every week I and Arthur and Susanna Cinquatti and my wife Tammy Lynn meet, uh, to examine, uh, Arthur Cinquatti's latest Bible study and to talk about the implications, um, of— on the topic according to the word of God and wherever the Spirit leads us to discuss it. Um, and so we invite you to check that out. Um, we're also doing a teaching on Dietrich Bonhoeffer's Discipleship currently. Um, they're both on YouTube. And all our teachings from our previous lessons of Victory Over the Darkness, Freedom in Christ, and The Bondage Breaker, all from Dr. Neil Anderson's work, are on the podcast and the YouTube channel. So we encourage people to check those out. And more and more people are finding our, our page anyway. I don't know how much they're getting out of it, but I'm encouraged by, by the views on YouTube. And I want to thank everybody for listening or watching our content, and we hope it encourages you in your faith. Well, it's Saturday, so let's kick back, relax, and— wait, I gotta muddle on today. Yeah, well, do the work you have to do and enjoy the peace while you can. Let the Lord guide you in your day, and, you know, remember to pray and help pray for and help people where you can and enjoy your life too. Let's pray. Lord God, Heavenly Father, thank you for another day in your kingdom. Lord, we thank you so much for your goodness, your grace, your mercy and love, and how you've taken us out of the darkness and lead us, uh, into your glorious light of— and Lord, we just pray for the people listening today, that you would guide them and bless them with your divine favor as they go about their days. Lord, we pray for the people affected by the current tropical storm Ian. Lord, that you would come in and minister to the people who have lost loved ones and possessions to this latest devastation. And Lord, we just pray that the Holy Spirit would use this tragedy to bring people to consider the higher things, to consider you, and to discover their faith in Jesus Christ. Or we, we just want to do— we just want to reap the harvest of good works that you have put before us, Lord. So we just pray for you to go before us today and open our eyes to the beautiful things in this world and the good things that we already have, and to be content with those And Lord, we ask you to, you know, draw us into and lead us into those good deeds that you have prepared for us. The harvest is ripe for the picking, and Lord, we just ask that you direct us to do our part for your kingdom today and every day. Lord, we thank you, we praise you, we love you, and we pray all these things in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.