Time to Man Up – The One Who Understands You - Purity 1468

Welcome to the MT for Christ 24/7 podcast. I'm M.t. Clark, and this is today's photo. To see today's photo, go to mtforchrist.com or follow me, M.t. Clark, on Facebook or Twitter, or watch us on YouTube. Good morning. Today's photo of the sun rising over the lily pad-covered waters of Brown Lake comes to us from Jamie Vasquez, who shared this peaceful scene along with several others on social media on October 2nd. Stating that whether he is going, uh, to work one way or another, he enjoys his ride to work at this time of year. And with views like this, we can understand why. Well, it's Friday, thank God, and as I prepare for another day of work, I'm ready. I'm already looking ahead to tonight's Man Up event, uh, Man Up Men's Ministry event at Star Point Church. Tonight's festivities for men only will include inflatable bull riding, free barbecue food and is featuring country western performing artist Granger Smith as the guest speaker. If you're in the capital, uh, if you are in the capital district of upstate New York, I'm personally inviting you to join us there for a night of fun and Christian men's fellowship. I'm sharing the link to the Facebook event, uh, on the blog today so you can get the details and register to man up tonight. So speaking of manning up, I know how the iron sharpening iron power of men supporting one another in their Christian walk firsthand works, as several brothers in Christ have had my back in the past and have taught and encouraged me along the path of Christian discipleship through, through the years. As much as movies and other media put put forth the trope of a solitary, a solitary lone wolf hero who walks alone, I know that in the Christian walk, those who walk alone are usually headed for trouble, as the world, the flesh, and the devil love to deceive, tempt, and destroy the single lamb, or that unruly black sheep that forsakes the company of the flock and chooses to do things his way. The truth is, we need each other in the body of Christ, and we benefit greatly when we walk alongside one another to encourage and support one another and to point out the things we may not be able to see in our blind spots. When we are deceived by the world, the flesh, and the devil, we are blind to our excuses, rationalization, and sin. A brother or sister in Christ can see past our self-deception and rationalizations and encourage us to correct the ways we've gone astray. Last night I met with a pair of my Christian life coaching clients, and I was delighted, uh, to see how they have progressed since we started working together earlier this year. They are no longer stuck in the same old lies or the reactive patterns of behavior that they were held in bondage to And although we are still working on their personal and spiritual goals, they are both thriving as they have come to approach the problems they are facing with the truth of who they are in Christ, have shifted their perspective, uh, to the Christian worldview, and are actively practicing walking in the Spirit. They had their different individual problems, but they both saw the need for God in their lives, and they manned up By humbling themselves and by seeking my assistance to coach them to live according to their faith in the power of the Holy Spirit, God has been faithful in building them up in their spirit and equipping them for a righteous life in Christ. These men have come to know the one who understands them better than anyone else and who can help them navigate through life with peace and joy. And I'm not talking about me. God is the one who understands us. And today's In Touch, uh, with Dr. Charles Stanley devotional addresses this fact. And so I'm sharing it on the blog to encourage us. And Dr. Charles Stanley writes, understood by Jesus, you are never alone in the hardships you face because Jesus truly understands and offers comfort. Whenever disaster happens in a friend's life, it is natural to try and offer comfort. But do you ever feel as if you said the wrong thing? Sometimes expressions of consolation create even more pain. For example, "I understand" can feel empty if you haven't actually experienced a comparable situation. Yet most of us long to feel understood, and it helps to know other people who have faced similar circumstances. Today's passage, which is in Hebrews, uh, assures us that Jesus truly understands, uh, since he experienced struggles like ours. In today's passage, the writer of Hebrews refers to Jesus as our high priest. The priest, the Jewish people's bridge to God, offered sacrifices for their sins. Christ not only took on this role, but he also became the sacrifice when he died on the cross. By doing so and dying in our place, Jesus endured great suffering on our behalf. Now he sits at the right hand of the Father in heaven and intercedes for us. What's more, Jesus truly understands our pain and weakness. Though fully God, he was also fully human and faced the very temptations, needs, and hurts we experience. If you feel alone in the hardships you're facing, Recall Jesus's trials and suffering. You'll find comfort in his understanding. That was from Dr. Charles Stanley. In life, we can often feel completely isolated from the world and feel convinced that no one understands the things we're suffering from or the trials that we've been through or currently facing. But when we are in Christ, we can take solace in the fact that there is one who understands us and has our best interest at heart. God. Jesus walked the earth and suffered the pain of being human and died for us on the cross to save us. He did it all knowing who he was suffering for— you and me. God knows everything about us, and despite our dark pasts, he made a way for us to be forgiven and free. We never walk alone when we are in Christ. God's presence in our life is a fact that we can experience and hold on to. To help us to endure trials and to be empowered to be the people God created us to be. Remember, there is one who knows you like no other and who will never leave you or forsake you. God understands you and will walk with you through life. So draw, draw close to him each day in prayer and thanksgiving to experience his love and understanding and to receive his joy. And strength. Today's Bible verses come from the Quick Scripture Reference for Counseling by John G. Crews. This morning's meditation verses come from the section on forgiving others, and today's verses are Ephesians 4:31-32, where the word of God says, let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you. Today's verses fall under the fifth point of our counseling reference— reference guide's resource section on forgiving others. And that fifth point is: put away bitterness and anger. Forgive as God forgives. Today's Bible verses instruct us to let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, slander, and malice be removed from our lives. As Christians, while we may have some righteous indignation toward the effects of sin in the world, we are not supposed to be angry Christians. The difficulty with realizing this Christian ideal is that the world and our daily lives can frustrate us. Sometimes knowing the peace of Christ can actually contribute to our anger when we become disappointed by the fact that other people don't love the Lord and live according to his righteousness. With so much wrong in the world, we may feel it is our right to be angry, or that we really want to let it go. I don't know how. Fortunately, the Lord instructs us on how we can remove these angry attitudes and actions from our lives. The following verse tells us the secret to being kind and tenderhearted rather than being angry, bitter, and wrathful. To cure anger, we are to forgive each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you. When we put our anger in perspective of the cross of Christ and the forgiveness we received, we can be tenderhearted and kind to those who sin against us because, like Jesus, we can realize that they know not what they do and are suffering like we did before we knew God's mercy, grace, and love. So put away anger— put anger away by forgiving others. As always, we encourage everyone to go to m.t. for christ.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 then Alford's devotional, he prompts us to read a chapter of scripture. Today's chapter is 1 Peter 5, and from that chapter he quotes from verses 8 and 9, which say, the devil walks about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. Resist him steadfast in the faith. And Stephen Olford writes, the Apostle John writes, this is the victory that has overcome the world, our faith. 1 John 5:4. A little before this, he explains the world is the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. 1 John 2:16. In other words, it is the internal foe, the external foe, and the infernal foe And the victory which overcomes this trinity of evil is the faith. Faith touches the invisible, calls those things which are not as though they are, laughs at impossibilities and cries, 'It shall be done.' Faith claims all the power of a risen Christ, commands the mountains of spiritual barriers to be removed, and they are removed, and conquers. Hebrews 11. This is the victory. Even your faith. And Stephen Alford ends by praying, Lord, teach me to rely on the power of faith for victory against evil. Amen. Amen. And I like, I like the way you put that— the internal foe, the external foe, and the infernal foe, referring to the devil. Um, and yeah, we overcome the world, the flesh, and the devil through our faith. We put our faith in Jesus. We rely on his truth to reveal those lies that, you know, pull us into sin and to give us the strength to say no and to live out the fact that we have been released and been freed from sin, even though it might not feel like it. You know, when we come alongside and agree with the truth, we can actually overcome stuff. Everybody can experience some victory by saying no. If you say no one time, Well, we can repeat that, uh, experience of victory continuously by relying on the Lord, you know, and following him, drawing from his strength, humbling ourselves, and living according to our faith. When we do that, we experience freedom and victory, and there's no reason it needs to end because Christ never goes away. You know, God is always with us. The Holy Spirit indwells us, so we'll never be alone., and we can always draw on his power, um, and, you know, to, to teach us and guide us in the way we should go into a righteous life. And so we ask the question always: have you fully surrendered to God? You know, um, A.W. Tozer says what comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us, but I say what we do with God's word says about us is the most important thing about us. And that's just a matter of living according to our faith. And, uh, so we have to know the truth, um, and we have to apply it to our lives. Um, you know, we have to surrender to God's will. And when we do that, amazing things happen. We get set free. You know, we have had those fruit of the Spirit grow in our lives— love, peace, joy, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, patience, and self-control. And, um, you know Not only that, but God will also give us things to do like ministry, good works for his glory. And I've been blessed to, uh, one of the things I've been blessed with is the Celebrate Freedom support group, uh, at Starpoint Church, which meets on Wednesday evenings at 6:30 PM. Somebody— so anyone in the upstate New York area, uh, of new— of Clifton Park who can get there on a Wednesday night is invited to sign up and join us. You can sign up by going to the Starpoint Church's website, looking under support groups for Celebrate Freedom. Our group is for Christian recovery and discipleship. So really, if you have any hurt, habit, and hang-up under the sun and want to bring it, bring it to God and, you know, have it removed from your life— maybe it's anger, I can show the anger iceberg, but basically you'd have to show up to see it. But we encourage you to do that, and you don't have to sign up, you can just show up. But, uh, it's nice to know when people are going to show up. So we hope to see you there. Um, as I stated earlier, tonight is Friday of the Man Up event. October 4th has come and we're ready, uh, to rock tonight at 6, or I don't know what country is not rocking. Um, whatever, rambling maybe. Uh, but 6 PM, I'll find out tonight. 6 PM, uh, at Starpoint Church. Be there. Um, sign up beforehand. It would be great, guys, um, by going to the Starpoint Church website and looking under events. Um, we invite you to come to experience, uh, you know, some fun and Christian fellowship at Man Up this evening. And for those who are not in the Capital District, and you don't have to be a man or in recovery, but, um, to check out these teachings that can increase or, you know, help you to find your freedom in Christ, um, our YouTube channel, uh, basically M.t. Clark 247. Go under playlist and you can find teachings for The Bondage Breaker, Victory Over the Darkness, Freedom in Christ, and Celebrate Freedom, along with other, you know, playlists from the past that we've done and from other Christian theologians. You know, like I said, we share those things, um, to encourage you in your faith, like R.C. Sproul and, uh, John MacArthur, uh, among other things that I've shared over the years. Um, they're all on the, uh, under our playlist, so check them out. Um, and, uh, now we're going to end, and we always end by asking the question, are you empty for Christ? Aha! See, the M.t. Clark is really a play on words. It's, you know, about making ourselves available for the Holy Spirit to fill us and empower us, uh, to live a Christian life and to do good works in God's name. So when you're empty, you know, you're ready. Um, so are you ready? If so, keep on walking and talking with God. If not, you can pray to get ready. You know, you can pray for the Lord to have him reveal himself to you, and you can pray to make Jesus your Lord and Savior. That'll fill you with the Holy Spirit and allow you to, you know, walk out a life of peace, joy, and love that you never thought was possible. Um, and that's why we pray, uh, because things happen. So let's do that. Lord God, Heavenly Father, thank you for another day in your kingdom, and thank you so much for the victory you've given us, Lord, this life, um, of abundant joy. Um, it's not free of its problems, but, uh, we've got the solution in you, Lord. So we thank you for that. And Lord, we pray for anyone who's listening or reading today's message, that they'd be encouraged to walk by faith in the power of the Holy Spirit, and that you come alongside them, their prayer requests, and help them, Lord. And we pray for your help too. Um, Lord, we need you to guide us, so open our eyes to the things you want us to see, lead us in the way we should go. Because all we want to do is represent you in your kingdom, Lord, and we definitely need help with that. So Lord, we, we thank you, we praise you, we love you, and we pray all these things in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.