There’s a Cloud of Witnesses – Happy, If I Believe - Purity 1503

Welcome to the MT for Christ 24/7 podcast. I am M.t. Clark, and this is to, uh, today's photo. Uh, to see today's photo, go to mtforchrist.com or follow me, M.t. Clark, on Facebook or Twitter, or watch us on YouTube. Um, uh, good morning. Today's photo of a pair of footprints making a pathway through the sands of an unknown shore, uh, seashore As the sun shines its light through a massive cloud formation on the horizon comes to us from an unknown Facebook friend who shared this scene on social media back on April 14th, 2022. This memory is yours. Let us know and we'll photo credit you on the blog after the fact. Good morning. Let's see. Okay. Yeah. Well, it's Thursday and I share today's sandy pathway photo as a visual reminder and encouragement to get on or to stay on the path of Christian discipleship, because although the road less traveled may be a lonely one at times, it's the best pathway through life, and it is one that you will never have to walk alone. Last night at the Celebrate Freedom support group meeting at Starpoint Church in Clifton Park, we practiced one of our spiritual disciplines as a group, and I could just feel The rush of joy of the Lord flowed through me as we gathered as a group to sing along to John Reddick's Don't Fight Alone. The link to its lyric video is on the blog today if you want to experience it for yourself. Um, yeah, that's right, worship is a weapon, and one of the ways that we can experience the Lord's presence and encouragement in our lives is to boldly sing songs of praise that simultaneously give him glory and affirm our identity as his beloved children. The song is awesome because it speaks the truth from scripture, uh, in its lyrics and boldly confirms our trust in God alone. It declares, there's a cloud of witnesses, they cheer for me, pointing to the unseen realm and Hebrews 12:1, which says, therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Uh, you know, this reminds me also of Jesus's words in, um, Luke 15:10, where he said, likewise I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents. When we understand that God, the angels, and presumably the departed saints are for us and are rejoicing over our efforts to repent, that should fill us with joy, knowing that not only are we finally on the right track by attempting to walk in the Spirit, but we are not alone in it. The Lord is with us, and he and the angels are cheering us on. Obviously, to reap from this revelation, we need to have a relationship with God where we are blessed with his presence, strength, wisdom, and love. Far too often, we can fall into the trap of works-based righteousness and believe the lie that we are all alone in our battles and struggles through life. We can even be led astray by believing that we have to fix ourselves when the truth is that the only way that we can live the Christian life is the same way we, we came into it by God's grace and through faith in him. That means we have to believe what God says about us and fully receive his truth experientially by choosing to live according to his precious promises and draw strength from him by asking for it on a daily basis through prayer. Speaking of belief and prayer, The Turning Point Devotional by Dr. David Jeremiah for today touches on these themes, so I'm sharing it on the blog today to encourage us to avoid the trap of simple unbelief. Uh, Dr. David Jeremiah writes, Mountain Peaks of Pearl, and he shares Hebrews 10:23, which says, let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering For he who promised is faithful. And then David Jeremiah writes, in Streams in the Desert, James Smitham is quoted as saying, I suspect that the source of every bit of sorrow in my life can be traced to simple unbelief. If I truly believe the past is totally forgiven, the present is supplied with power, and the future is bright with hope, how could I be anything but completely happy. Could it really be as simple as that? Yes, but we must grow in faith. Jesus looked at some people and marveled at the weakness of their faith. Others impressed him with their great faith. As we spend time in his word connecting his promises to our problems, we grow in faith. As the trials of life drive us to his throne in prayer, we grow in faith. As we learn to look to him rather than just at our circumstances, we grow in faith. If you're in trouble, acknowledge God's reliability and admit fear. Then take your burdens to the Lord, knowing he is encamped around you. He will fortify you to rejoice in the past, the present, and the future. He is overseeing for your good. And that was from David Jeremiah. And then he shares another quote from James Smeetham, which says, God's faithfulness stands firm and is prominent as mountain peaks of pearl splitting the clouds of eternity. And I say amen. And yeah, Smeetham's quote says a mouthful. If we understand that our past is forgiven, our present is in God's hands, and that he gives us hope for the future, We should be happy. So why aren't we? Uh, probably because we're separated from the Lord in some way. Although we may believe in God, we are not spending time with him. Or if we are, we are blocking ourselves from what he has for us because we are still believing the lies of our former lives, such as I'm no good, I'll never be free, I'll always struggle with this. I'm different. God has left me, or God, God made me this way. The truth is that God has called you to live with him and has already given you all you need for life and godliness according to 2 Peter 1:3. But what you need to do to live in the new life he has for you is to affirm the truth of your new life in Christ. Start living according to your new identity in Christ and reject those lies that deny the truth and keep you stuck. As you, uh, and, and you need to ask God to help you, to change you, and to give you the strength to live as his child for today. Draw close to the Lord, receive from him, and pray that his will be done in your life. There's more on the power of prayer on the, uh, In Touch with Dr. Charles Stanley devotional for today, so I'm sharing a link for it on the blog today, uh, if you need more advice. But let's start really believing the truth of what God has done for us And let's start living out the true story of our new lives in Christ by walking and talking with him. Today's Bible verses come— well, Bible verse comes to us from the Quick Scripture Reference for Counseling by John G. Crews. This morning's meditation verse comes from the section on giving, and today's verse is Proverbs 14:21. And the word of God says, he who despises his neighbor sins, but he who has mercy on the poor happy is he. Today's verse is the first of 5 passages of scripture that fall under the 8th point of our Counseling Reference Guide resource section on giving. And that 8th point is God requires us to be merciful and give to the poor. Today's Bible verse encourages us to love our neighbor and to give to the poor to be happy. God gave us everything. Our life, our bodies, our circumstances, and most importantly, a revelation of Jesus Christ to forgive us and set us free. God's the big giver, and so the principle for those of us who wish to be more like him is to give to others from what we have received from him. We receive mercy, and so we should give mercy and assistance to the poor when we are able. While I, while I never want to espouse the idea that giving is getting, today's proverb does indicate that if you are obedient to the principle giving, it will be well with your soul, because when we act like our Heavenly Father, we receive the joy of the Lord. So be merciful and give when you can, because your tithes and offerings will not only bless someone financially but also bring a blessing to you spiritually. As always, we encourage everyone to go to mtforchrist.com, where we always share insights, uh, and, uh, from prominent Christian theologians and counselors to assist our brothers and sisters in Christ with their walk. Uh, today we continue sharing from According to Your Word— well, no, it's not According to Your Word anymore, it's Day by Day Along the Way by J.E. Adams, uh, the devotional. And today's devotional is day 2 of our 365, uh, journey through this book. And, um, he shares, uh, Adams shares Acts 24:14, or at least a portion of it, which says, according 'The Way, I worship our Father's God.' Then J.E. Adams writes, 'The Apostle Paul spoke these words at a hearing in Caesarea. At that time, The Way was considered nothing more than a sect of the Jews, but Paul said that it was the fulfillment of the promises made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. It was no mere sect. The Way was the continuation of the covenant people in its New Testament phase. It was not one way among many, but it was the way known by his— this name, the, the only name given to the church in Scripture. When you worship the Lord Jesus Christ, who himself is the way to God, you worship the same God believing— the same God believing Jews worshiped. Paul made clear that people of the way will share in the fulfillment of the promise of the resurrection of both the just and the unjust made to the Old Testament believers. Jesus Christ conquered death by rising bodily from the grave on the third day, a fact that assures us that someday all will likewise rise. But there will be two distinct destinies and two distinct paths leading to them, one for the just and one for the unjust. People justified by faith are on the way to glory. Which path are you on? Well, if you made Jesus your Lord and Savior, I have a spoiler alert: you're on the path the glory. Um, it's by faith alone that we're saved. So if you confess with your mouth and believe in your heart that Jesus Christ is Lord, you will be saved. And it's a good, you know, and if you're saved, it's a good idea to start following Jesus. Uh, follow him as Savior and Lord of your life. And, um, when you do that, you sort of make a surrender. And that's why we ask the question: have you fully surrendered to God? Um, Basically, we recommend a full surrender to the Lord's will for your life because it— when you walk in the Spirit, it leads to the fruit of the Spirit: joy, peace, goodness, kindness, faithfulness, gentleness, patience, and self-control, and love too. So we recommend that. Really, this path less traveled is really the best path through life, and we encourage people to walk in it. And when you decide to walk in it, God give you something to do. Um, one of the things he's led me to do is lead that support group at, uh, Starpoint Church called Celebrate Freedom. It's, uh, it's a, it's a Christian recovery and discipleship group. Um, we teach walking in the spirit and how to overcome those hurts, habits, and hangups. And we do that once a week, uh, Wednesdays at 6:30 PM. And, uh, we invite anybody and everyone, uh, from the Capital District of New York, uh, who can make it to Clifton Park on a Wednesday night to come out and join us. Uh, happy to report we had a few new people last night, and, uh, it was great to, uh, to share the, this, the message of Freedom in Christ with them. Uh, so we hope more people will come back and come next week. Um, let's see, and beyond that, uh, for the men out there, we are offering an online, uh, teaching and support group. So you don't have to be in Clifton Park, New York. You can be anywhere where they have, have an internet connection. Um, as we're doing something we are calling Grace for the Holidays, as we will be walking through, um, Freedom in Christ Ministries original Grace course is the content of our study where we're going to learn about God's grace and try to experience God's grace on a daily basis as we walk through the holiday season. Because we start next— next— this Monday, not next Monday, this Monday, um, November 18th, and we'll be walking all the way right up to the week of Christmas on December 23rd. So we encourage any men who are interested to go to mtforchrist.com and our group teaching or group coaching page and register today. Um, yeah, as we encourage that. And beyond that, if you can't make it for the holidays, there's always hope in the new year for freedom in Christ, um, as FICM, Freedom in Christ Ministries, will be doing a whole bunch of different courses, um, uh, offered in the new year. And one of them is going to be Freedom in Christ on Tuesday nights for men, and that'll be facilitated by myself. Um, so we encourage men to sign up today Happy to report, already got people registered, and, uh, we encourage more people to join them, uh, as we have to announce also that the registration ends on December 9th. So you want to, want to make your reservation, uh, you know, basically now, uh, so you can start walking in freedom in the new year. Beyond that, if you can't do, you know, if you're not a man or can't make it to Clifton Park we were, or you are, and you can't do any of the things I've mentioned, we encourage you to find or increase your freedom in Christ by joining one of our on, on, uh, one of our podcast classes on YouTube. Um, go to our, our, go to our playlist page on our YouTube channel and look for Bondage Breaker, Victory Over the Darkness, Freedom in Christ, and the Celebrate Freedom Discipleship, uh, to experience just a few. You can also go to our, our webpage, mtforchrist.com, and go to the page on YouTube playlists, and you'll see, you know, most of the playlists we have to offer, at least the ones we've produced. And, um, you know, there's many others that we share on our YouTube channel from other sources than myself that you can enjoy to help you in your walk. So we're here to support one another, not fix one another, but You know, we do ask the question, are you empty for Christ too? If so, keep on walking and talking with God. You're on the right path and you're in good company. You got a whole, you know, angels' armies cheering you on, and all the saints of old, um, are rejoicing over your repentance. So keep walking with God. If not, we encourage you to pray, pray for the Lord to reveal himself to you and to put your faith in Jesus as your Lord and Savior. And that'll make a difference, let me tell you. Um, and we believe in the power of prayer, so ask God for help and he will help you. And that's why we pray every day, like right now. Lord God, Heavenly Father, thank you for another day in your kingdom. Lord, we thank you so much for all that you do for us. Lord, we thank you for the joy that you've given us, um, as we experience this new life in Christ, uh, every day. But we need your help all the same, Lord. So we're praying for anyone who's listening or watching today's message, that you come alongside them, their prayer requests, their walk of faith. And we're praying that you go before us too, Lord. Open our eyes to the things you want us to see and lead us in the way we should go, because all we want to do is be like you and be with you, Lord. So we need your help with that. So we're asking for it today. Lord, we thank you, we praise you, we love you. And we pray all these things in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.