Travel Days - Arrival, Revival, & Getting There – Purity 971

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 the sun wearing a crown of cumulus clouds while it shines over the bend in the road of Waite Road, where my canine pal Harley was allowed to run free while we were out for a morning stroll, comes to us from yours truly, as I had the presence of mind to bring my phone and capture this scene. This past Saturday. Well, it's Monday, and like many others with school-aged children, I am on vacation this week and coming to you live from the Embassy Suites in Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia. And after a long drive here, I have a couple of things to say about travel days and my previous pipe dream of rerouting my return trek home through the revival that was happening at Asbury University in Wilmore, Kentucky. I discovered this morning that Asbury President Kevin Brown released a schedule after my previous posting on Saturday that announced that the final public service for the event that will forever be known as the Asbury Revival of 2023 was scheduled for last evening at 7:30 PM. So it's over, Johnny, it's over. Brown released the schedule that ended the revival with the following statement: As we enter the third week of this Renewal Movement, our desire is to be faithful to our mission as a student-centric Christian university. Further, we believe that the continued flourishing of such a movement invites us to commission our Asbury community, visiting students, and other campus guests from across the world to neighbor-serving, God-honoring work. If I may paraphrase the good university president, alright, alright, y'all got Jesus, now why don't you take what you got here and go out into all the world and make disciples or do something good for the kingdom of God. After Sunday evening service, there's nothing to see here. Like a bartender at last call, Brown's statement ended the revival's party, essentially telling anyone who got blessed by the happenings at Asbury over the last few weeks Y'all have to go home. Y'all don't have to go home, but you can't stay here. So the revival, and, uh, the revival I and countless others had prayed for has come and is now over. So my toying with the idea of going to Asbury from Myrtle Beach, South Carolina on Friday is now kaput. And after yesterday's 9-hour drive to Williamsburg, Virginia, I'm okay with that. If the revival at Asbury had continued, and if the miracle of having both my wife and teenage stepkids agree to go, go had happened, and I felt called by the Lord to go, it would have been a 9-hour and 30-minute drive to get there. And after actually experiencing a 9-hour drive to Virginia yesterday, I'm glad I won't be called to make that decision to go to Asbury. Asbury University's president did the right thing. His job is to run a Christian university, and as awesome as it is to experience the outpouring of the Holy Spirit and have an influx of people praising and worshiping the Lord, we as the body of Christ are not called to just come together and continue with worship and adoration. We are called to go out and make disciples, the mission that Christ gave us and that the president's statement alluded to. The party has to end sometime and the work of the kingdom has to continue. So even though I am on vacation this week, I'm glad that the president announced announced a return to normal with the release of the schedule that ends the revival but invites the public back to regular— the regularly planned public worship chapel services that will resume on Wednesday at 2 PM. So let's get back to normal business of doing what we do on the path of Christian discipleship. For any Asbury converts or revivalists that don't know what that is, I invite you to check out the discipleship teachings I provided on the M.t. for Christ 24/7 podcast and the M.t. Clark Christ 24/7 YouTube channel for victory over the darkness, the bondage breaker, and freedom in Christ. Because although you have— you may have felt that you have arrived with your salvation or recommitment to your faith, let me first congratulate you, but let me also encourage you that there is much more that the Lord has planned for your life that will make the last 3 weeks in the glory cloud at Asbury seem like small potatoes. Or at least a beautiful beginning to what could be an amazing adventure of a life in Christ. Although you have surely arrived and found your place in the Kingdom of God through your faith in Christ, we still have more traveling to do on this path that, that the Lord has called us to walk on. Our journey is launched when we are born again in salvation and continues in progressive sanctification, where we actually live out our new lives of faith by learning God's ways and following Christ the example as outlined in the Bible. So although we have fully arrived in one sense, we are not there yet in another. To anyone new to the faith, welcome to your first Christian paradox. I am including a link to an article from SimplyBible.com that breaks down how we have been saved, are being saved, and will be saved on the blog today to give you an idea of how our faith can simultaneously be one reality in three tenses. This same, same yesterday, today, and tomorrow aspect of our faith works for our sanctification too, and can be demonstrated by how I was sanctified, made holy, by receiving Christ's righteousness on the day I put my faith in him, but then was further sanctified as I began to repent of the sin in my life. And I will progressively get there in terms of sanctification when I continue to align myself with the Lord with other areas of my life that he will call me to repent of. And of course, no matter what my progress is like here on earth, I will be ultimately sanctified when I enter into the Lord's kingdom, either at the hour of my death or when Christ returns to rule and reign on earth. So in terms of our salvation and sanctification, we can all honestly say that while I am not what I want to be, I am not what I used to be, and the Lord will help me continually and ultimately to be the person that he made me to be. Knowing that our faith in— faith is progressive can give us great hope because we can leave our darkness of our pre-Christ existence and move deeper into the freedom and victory that the Lord has for us. Well, let's keep it real. The fact that we are in process or in the midst of travel days can be frustrating and disappointed— disappointing. We could feel that we have been cheated by the good news because we haven't instantly become the kind, caring, and clean super saints that never say a harsh word or never make a mistake that we imagine we could be if we really were a Christian. Well, if that's you, if that is— that's— if that's where you find yourself condemning yourself for not being all that you could be, let me remind you of Romans 8:1. Romans 8:1 tells us that there is therefore no— now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. So if you are in Christ, if you put your faith in him as Lord and Savior, stop condemning yourself for not being perfect. There is no condemnation for you any longer, so stop it. Also, let's realize that we need to walk in the Spirit. We aren't there yet. We are in the midst of our traveling days towards our new life in Christ. Okay, we already have it, but we are now walking further into it. Okay, and the verse never says anything about stopping. We are to walk in the Spirit, the end. Just like the three tenses of our salvation and sanctification, we have walked in the Spirit the day we said yes to Jesus. We are walking in the Spirit, although it could look like a stumble or crawl in the Spirit depending on how you are following him. And we will walk in the Spirit, as in 10 feet off a peel, literally, when we go far beyond walking in Memphis and go marching with Christ himself into his kingdom. So don't get frustrated or disappointed in your walk. Although it can be a grind, every day we are making progress. If nothing else, you are one step closer to eternity. Yikes. Anyway, believe me, just like yesterday's 9-hour drive to Virginia wasn't so great, and yesterday's travel day may seem like a complete waste of— a complete waste because all I did was spend the day driving and ended up exhausted, it was all for a purpose: to get there. I'm not sure what historical touristy delights I will experience today in Williamsburg, but I never would have gotten the opportunity if I had if I not only decided to go there but actually did the hard work of getting there. And whether or not I am thrilled or disappointed in what I see here in Williamsburg, I did the work to experience it. This is my life, and this, and this Williamsburg chapter is now forever a part of the narrative. No matter whether my experience is good, bad, or indifferent, I'll experience and learn something learn something from going that I would never have known if I decided to spend the week walking Harley up and down Waite Road. Already I got to experience a 9-hour drive, what a 9-hour drive is really like, although I have had similar long drives in the distant past, but it feels like I never did. And I have a better grasp on what it would be like to actually do it if another revival should spring up somewhere and I get the idea to go chase it. As I stated, stated on Saturday, I've experienced the Holy Spirit's manifest presence more than once, and now that I have a more recent experience with a long drive, I may not be so envious of revival revelers if the distance is too far. Enjoy the Holy Spirit's presence. He is awesome. I know him. Tell him I said hello and I love you. Uh, never mind, he's right here dwelling in me. No need to drive, uh, drive there after all. No need to chase the revival. Anyway, my points are that while we should enjoy the Holy Spirit's outpourings in corporate worship services, we also need to do the regular business of our faith: prayer, Bible study, evangelism, and service, good works to others. Also, we, we have arrived in God's kingdom. We are also there, are also not there yet. And while our travel days may be hard, we should remember that they are necessary because they get us closer to where we want to go. And we should rejoice because they— there are things we can learn, learn from. They are things that we can learn from and enjoy. Yeah, so keep walking and talking with God no matter what today brings you to, because every day we spent with him is worthwhile and it brings us ever closer to getting there. Today's Bible verse comes to us from the New Living Translation Bible Promise Book for Men. This morning's meditation verse is Amos 5:14, and it says, do what is good and run from evil so that you may live. Then the Lord God of Heaven's Armies will be your helper, just as you have claimed. Today's Bible verses— the verse encourages us when we, uh, encourages us when we choose to do what is good and run from evil, God will help us. Hey, I don't encourage people to follow the Lord because it will always lead to suffering. When we decide to turn from our evil ways of doing of things. And when we place our faith in Christ, God helps us in incalculable ways that go beyond giving us eternal life in his kingdom. Salvation is enough, uh, is enough reason to surrender to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. But God's word encourages us that if we seek the Lord with the way we live out— live our life by repenting, he will help us In this turning from evil, God helps us by giving us strength, wisdom, and guidance to accomplish success. When we ask for it, we can overcome. But God also helps us by giving us the life we would have known— we would have never known without him. I'm in Williamsburg, Virginia because of the events of my life that all fell into place when I decided to not only believe in Jesus when I decided to answer his call to follow him in repentance. Because of faith in Christ, I am living out the consequences of a life of repentance and seeking to do God's will. Among many other wonderful things, through my faith I met my wife and she suggested Williamsburg, so here we are. This is just one small example of how God, God will shape our lives when we we follow him. Would you call that help, uh, the trip to Williamsburg specifically? No, but I would call the string of events that happens when we decide to follow the Lord as his help. He helps us to understand who he is and what the best way to live our life is. Um, he gives us wisdom in his word, he gives us strength in our spirits, he gives us life in Christ, and he blesses us with good things and with endurance when things are not so good. God helps us. But as today's verse indicates, one of the keys of experiencing God's help is to run from evil and to do what is good, to get in harmony with God by living a righteous life that cancels the strongholds and footholds of the enemy. So run from evil and run to the Lord, and he will help you. As always, I invite all to go to mtforchrist.org, where I always share insights from prominent Christian theologians counselors to assist my brothers and sisters in Christ with their walk. Today we continue sharing from A.W. Pink's The Sovereignty of God, God's Sovereignty and the Human Will, which is chapter 7. So if you want to see the next, next installment from that resource, go to mtforchrist.org and you'll see it at the end of today's blog post. As I stated, I'm on the road, so let's say a quick prayer, get this over. Lord God, Heavenly Father, thank you for another day in your your kingdom. Lord, we thank you for safely bringing us here to Williamsburg. And Lord, we thank you for everything you've done in our lives that led up to this point, specifically saving us through your Son, our Savior Jesus Christ. Um, Lord, we just pray for anyone that's listening or might be reading this message, that they would be blessed and be encouraged to follow you in spirit and truth and with an attitude of repentance. Lord, we know you help us when turn we from evil and do what is good. And we just need your help to do that, Lord. So we just pray for your strength and your guidance today. Show us the things you want us to see, lead us in the things you would want us to do, and bless us, Lord. We thank you, we praise you, we love you. We pray all these things in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.