Today! – The Forward Direction of Our Faith – Purity 738

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 golden sunset sky shining through between two pine trees comes to us from a friend in Hudson, New York, who captured and shared this view on social media this past Saturday. They experienced and shared a similar view yesterday, also shared on the blog today, and noted that they only cropped it their photos to take out the power lines. That would have diminished the splendor of what God wanted us to see. Well, it's Monday, and my friend's efforts at editing his photos for maximum effect have— has me thinking about the wisdom of shifting our focus to the things that are good in the here and now and looking ahead, rather than getting bogged down by the frustrations that are present and the things that are in the past. The best example from scripture that I can think of that can— that could teach us to keep moving forward and not looking back is Lot's wife. In Genesis 19:26, it says, but his wife looked back behind him and she became a pillar of salt. Okay, well, that is unlikely to literally happen if we dwell on the things in our past. Jesus told us to remember Lot's wife and also recommended a forward-looking disposition as he called us to surrender ourselves to what the Lord would have us do. In talking about the future day of the Lord, Jesus said in Luke 17:31-33, in that day, he who is on the housetop and his goods are in the house, let him not come down to take them away. And likewise, the one who is in the field, let him not turn back. Remember Lot's wife. Whoever seeks to save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it. Here Jesus is putting the emphasis on our following where the Lord would lead us, rather than being concerned over material possessions or our personal desires over the Lord's will for our lives. Christ reiterated the focus of moving forward and following the Lord in Luke 9:62, where he said to one who hesitated in following him. No one, having put his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God. Similarly, the Apostle Paul encourages us— encourages the forward-looking disposition in Philippians 3:13-14, where he says, Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended, but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and keeping And reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. This forward thinking, forward looking, uh, is, is, is supposed to be the general disposition of the Christian's walk. We don't dwell on the things we have, have accomplished in the past, but look forward to what we can do today, or in the days ahead for the kingdom of God. We also don't dwell on the pain of the past. The enemy would encourage us to look to the past to either condemn us for our past sinful lifestyles or to remind us of the injustices and sufferings we had to suffer through, uh, to foster feelings of anger, bitterness, and unforgiveness. But the Christian should realize that the Lord was faithful to bring us through the past sufferings, uh, and that we are not who we used to be. We are new creations in Christ, and as Christians, we forgive from the heart and release the bitterness of the pains we have suffered, trusting that the Lord has forgiven us, healed us, and that he will deal with all the injustices of the world when Christ returns. And if we are going through some present sufferings, the Christian is to take care of what we can do for today, keep moving forward, and keep trusting that the Lord will help us to endure until we overcome and walk out of this present darkness. This forward-thinking disposition of the Christian should also be applied to avoid the tendency to be drawn into discontentment by falling into the error of dwelling on the mythic remembrance of the good old days. I just saw one of my contemporaries share a post on social media where the source for this post was lamenting of how kids today would never know the joys of the '70s and '80s where kids used to go everywhere unattended on bicycles. You may have seen these posts, some seen other posts like these where hanging out down by the creek or some other activity of baby boomers or Gen Xers was romanticized and lamented over. There are two problems with this, these types of posts. One, they are not true, and two, they're pointless. I grew up in the '70s and '80s, and I can tell you honestly that they weren't what they, they weren't all that good. They weren't what they are cracked up up to be. Frankly, they sucked. Uh, technology was terrible. Bullying was commonplace. What we called entertainment and fashion was shallow and embarrassing. Materialism, sexual harassment, and hateful discrimination practices were the soup du jour. Uh, the good old days of the '70s or '80s or any time period in the past is a myth. It's selective memory. It's a lie. And the lie of the nostalgia is propagated by the enemy and mankind to breed discontentment and division. When I moved into my new house, the previous owner had a Ronald Reagan campaign ad in the basement. I am sharing a photo of a similar Reagan ad on the blog if you want to see it. Do you know what it said? That's right, Make America Great Again. So yesteryear wasn't so hot for what people— for the people back in the '80s. So our yesteryear— sorry, yeah. So our yesteryear wasn't so hot for the people back in the '80s. They wanted to turn back the clock. The point is we have to find happiness now, and looking back isn't the direction we are going in. We have to do things today that will affect our tomorrows. That brings up my second point: nostalgia is pointless because we can't turn back the clock to the good old days. Instead of lamenting about what we had and lost, we should be thankful for what we have now and rejoice and move into the days ahead by looking forward and not being turned salty by looking back. So if you are facing challenges today, look at them accurately for what they are today. And for how they will affect the future. And while we should learn from the pain and mistakes of our past, we shouldn't allow them to add to what is happening today to steal our present-day peace. Likewise, instead of dwelling on the good old days of the past, we should look to the— look to follow the Lord and thank him for the good things we have in the here and now. So keep moving forward. And keep walking and talking with God. Thank him for a new day in which to live and to rejoice that he has made you, has saved you, and has more in store for you. We might be burdened with a lot on our plates this Monday, but there is nothing we can't walk through when we are walking with the Lord. And the things of the past usually trips us up, so step beyond the past by stepping forward into today. And what lies ahead, where the Lord is leading us. Time only goes one way— forward. So no matter where you are going geographically today, know that time will advance, and the only thing we can be sure of regarding our futures is the fact that the Lord will be there. So walk with him today and every day to experience the peace of his presence and to benefit from the gifts of his wisdom and strength that we receive when we follow his lead. Today's Bible verse comes to us from the New Living Translation Bible Promise Book for Men. This morning's meditation verse is James 5:16, which says, Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results. Today's Bible verse reminds us to find healing through confession. And to always pray. We confess to one another not to be forgiven. When we put our faith in Christ, we are forgiven of all our sins, past, present, and future. So why confess our sins to one another? We confess to one another to receive support and assistance in our efforts to repent and stop sinning. This verse is describing an accountability relationship where someone attempts to turn from a sinful habit by bringing their struggle out in into the light in front of their brothers and sisters in Christ to receive their love and support until they achieve victory over their besetting sin. When we stop our besetting sins, we are healed of them, and that is where the power and wonderful results come from our prayers to be a righteous person. The wonderful results in this section of scripture is our sanctification. So, while these verses are often used by Christians who are seeking a miraculous healing, the context shows us that they are actually in reference to the miracle of sanctification that the Lord wants us to experience. We have been freed from sin and death, but to overcome our sinful habits of the past, we will need to pray, and we very well may need the support of our brothers and sisters in Christ. Our healing as Christians encompasses far more than our physical bodies. When we turn from our past to reflect the image of Christ in the way we live our lives, we show the truth of our healing, and as we demonstrate that we really have been made new creations in Christ. 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 Brothers and sisters in Christ with their walk. Today we continue sharing from John Piper's Don't Waste Your Life, and today John Piper's sections are Partnership of Ox and People and Stay in Your Job with God, where Piper gives the first bit of advice on how to— we can make much of God in our secular job through the fellowship that we enjoy with him through the day in our and all our work. So it's sort of keeping God at the forefront of our minds and experience as we go into, uh, into our job. So if you want to read what John Piper has to say about that, go to mtforchrist.org to check out that, uh, excerpt of that resource. Um, and, uh, as it's Monday, it would be rather appropriate. Um, as we go into today, we're going to have to remember, uh, who we are in Christ, because we just had the good old days of the weekend and now we're going into the bad old days of the work week. And that's a lie, you know. Um, one day is the same as another. So we just have to— we can find our peace continuously when we walk with the Lord, um, as the fruit of the Spirit of peace comes when we walk in the Spirit. So even though we have to work, even though we had great sunshine— sunshiny days over the weekend, um, You know, we can still have peace with work, um, you know, on our plate and other, other challenges that may, uh, that we may have to face today. Um, and but the best way to do that is not to hold on to the joy of the past or the pain of the past and to take things, um, as they are today and how they affect us today and how they'll affect us in the future. Um, we should remember and learn from the past but we shouldn't let it cloud today's experience. So we encourage you to walk forward and keep talking with God as we prepare ourselves for another work week. You know, I myself have the frustration of, of mowing a huge lawn in front of me, and now I could focus on that task and how it's going to be a drudgery, but that's not until the end of the day. I have a whole workday ahead before I have face that challenge. And, uh, who knows, maybe it won't be that much of a challenge. But even as I'm facing that challenge, I'll have to stay grounded in the peace of the Lord and remember, you know, that I am blessed to have this lawn that is overgrown and that I need to mow, that the Lord delivered me to this lovely house with this lawn. Um, that's something to hold on to because otherwise you get frustrated over the, the thing that you're dealing with You know, even the hard things are a blessing if we put it in the right perspective. Yeah, you might have a challenge today where you have to face something or someone that is unpleasant, but the good news is you won't have to face that tomorrow. So let's get through it today and then we can move forward. You know, that's, that's what we're saying is we got to remember the good things we have in our lives. Even when we have to face disappointing or unsatisfactory things today, we can be— have peace because of the good things we have, and we can know that tomorrow these things will be past us, you know. And we shouldn't worry too much about too far into the future, but we should be prepared for the days ahead by keeping a forward perspective. So we encourage that, uh, scripture encourages that. So we're speaking the truth, you know, of what God's word has taught us about moving forward. So I'm not making this stuff up. It's stuff I've learned through the experience, through experience, but it's also obviously, you know, very valuable because the word of God tries to teach us this. So that's what we do here is we point to Jesus to save us. We point to the word of God to direct us. In this ministry, and we seek to share the information with our brothers and sisters in Christ because it's been very helpful in our lives to experience peace and to live somewhat skillfully through, you know, the lens or through the path of Christian discipleship. You know, the world is— isn't perfect. There's a lot of problems out there, but in and of itself, our lives are pretty nice in the present moment. And the Lord, especially when the Lord's with, with us and is reminding us of who we are in Christ and what we have. So let's, let's move forward with that today, and we'll do that by praying. Lord God, Heavenly Father, thank you for another day in your kingdom. Thank you for, for the revelation of Jesus Christ in our lives that showed us that there are days ahead that we're going to have to face. And the first thing we're going to have to face is is the— our impending death and the possibility of what would happen if we didn't have Jesus as our Lord and Savior that caused us to repent of our sins, that caused us to make Jesus our Lord and Savior. And now what do we do? Well, now, Lord, help us to follow you, uh, help us to live according to your wisdom and your ways, uh, help us to avoid the negative mind states that the enemy wants to trap us in by remembering who we are in Christ and remembering how we should live here on the earth to represent your kingdom, Lord. So we pray today for all the people listening to remember who they are in Christ and to remember that they are loved and significant, secured and accepted, um, because of who they are in Christ. And nothing and no one can stop them from being the person you want them to be, Lord. Um, Lord, we pray for their blessings today. Uh, we pray for, you know, physical healing if you need it. Um, um, you know, this, this, this world falls apart, Lord, and people need healing. So we pray earnestly for that. We also pray for strength to endure through their healing, um, no matter how it comes, Lord. No matter what happens in our lives, we know that we need to focus on you and follow you. And so we pray for the people listening to receive healing and blessings that will help them in the days ahead. Um, but Lord, we, we also pray that they know, um, who they are and that they would follow you, uh, to experience the, the fruit of the Spirit growing in their lives regardless of the circumstances that surround them. Um, Lord, we thank you, we praise you, and we, we really pray for you to go before us today, Lord, to lead us into the good things, uh, that you would have us do and for the wonderful things you want us to see. Lord, we Uh, we pray for the anointing of the Holy Spirit on all our lives as we go forward, uh, into what you have planned for us. Uh, we thank you, we praise you, and we love you, Lord. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.