Two Realizations and Our Source of Comfort - Purity 1448

Welcome to the MT for Christ 247 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 you can watch us on YouTube. Good morning. Today's photo of a pink and purple September morning sky over the darkened farmlands and hill country just off of Birch Hill Road in Prairieville, New York, comes to us from yours truly as I paused on the of September 23rd, 2016, to capture the moment and to remind myself that God is good and that he was with me. Well, it's Wednesday, and while I can't be sure exactly what I may have been thinking on the morning, on that morning nearly 10 years ago, at that point in the, in my timeline, I had a year of sobriety, and because I was living free from booze for the first time in my life, I was constantly reminding myself just how good our God is and knew through the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit that he was with me. God is still with me today, and I'm very happy to report that he has brought healing, uh, to me, uh, healing from the pneumonia I was suffering, to my life. And I will be returning to my secular day job once again. Not many people relish the thought of going back to work after a long absence, but I am so glad to be returning to work, uh, and the sense of normalcy and purpose it brings to my life. We have to support ourselves, right? So, and so it really is a blessing to have a job and to be physically able to perform work that can be compensated with the pay and benefits we need to live. So even though I have some of that returning to work again apprehension regarding what I will have to do today, I can rest relatively easy knowing that God is with me and that He will help me through whatever challenges the day may bring. That's our relationship with God, really, just understanding who he is, realizing that he is here with us, and trusting that he will see us through. Today is September 11th, and as we remember the events from 23 years ago, we know that unexpected calamities can happen quite suddenly and unexpectedly. So because we can't be certain that today will just be a normal day, it is important to start all our days in his presence, basking in the truth of those two realizations: that God is good and that he is with us. And expressing, you know, and we should spend time expressing our thanks to him for being our source of life, meaning, and purpose. Today's daily devotional, uh, from In Touch with Dr. Charles Stanley speaks about how God is always with us and gives us comfort comfort and strength as we make our, uh, way through this life. And so I'm sharing it today on the blog. And Dr. Charles Stanley writes, Our Source of Comfort. The world's definition of comfort is the alleviation of suffering or despair. However, God has a different view. It's a teaching tool because we mature spiritually when we exercise faith. Our Father doesn't remove our troubles but instead gives us the encouragement and strength to work through them. God sent his Spirit to dwell within everyone who believes, and in that way, our source of help is as close as our own beating heart. When we face affliction and feel as if we can't bear it, he whispers into our souls, "Yes, you can, because I am here." There is no healing balm like the voice of God's Spirit. In some circumstances, the Spirit directs our mind to a Bible passage. Reading God's word is a way to hear directly from him. A scripture's personal meaning and application may not be apparent immediately, but God will bring the verse to mind at the time it's most needed. When we receive Christ, we are sealed as God's child. The Lord's promise— the Lord promises us, I will never desert you, nor will I ever abandon you. Hebrews 13:5. He will walk beside us in every trial, and since he is omnipresent, he's always available to help and comfort us. That was from Dr. Charles Stanley. Uh, as we remember September 11th, we should find our comfort in God. Despite the sufferings and trials we face, our Heavenly Father has put his Spirit in us to tell us that we are not alone, that we can endure and overcome the things we face because he is with us. Come what may, he is with us, and because he is with us, we will live. So carry on, my brothers and sisters. Let God use the hard times to teach you how to live by faith and to cause you to seek your comfort only from him. Today's Bible verses come to us from the Quick Scripture Reference for Counseling by John G. Crews. This morning's meditation verses come from the section on the forgiveness of sins, and today's verses are John 21:15-16 from the NIV. Um, our resource tells us Jesus even entrusted Peter with his precious people for whom he died on the cross. And the— our resource only shares portions of these— those verses, and the portions it does share, the word of God says. Jesus said, feed my lamb, feed my lambs, take care of my sheep. Uh, today's verses fall under the 22nd point of our Counseling Reference Guide's resource section on the forgiveness of sin. And that 22nd point is Peter, who denied Jesus, was forgiven and reinstated in his office. Today's Bible verses show us that when we put our faith in Jesus, our failures can be forgiven, and that he still trusts us to represent his kingdom. When the tough got going, Peter denied Jesus 3 times, much to his shame. But when Jesus came back from the dead, he specifically called Peter to him to not only show that he was forgiven, but that he trusted Peter to represent God's kingdom by leading the early church. During his earthly ministry, Jesus taught that those who are forgiven much love much. And so this encounter with Peter in John 21 shows him restore Peter to his purpose with 3 consecutive declarations of love. We have all been forgiven much, so we should proclaim our love for God and express it by tending to his sheep with the same love he gave us. As always, we encourage everyone to go to mtforchrist.com, where we always share resources, um, from 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 in Alford's devotion, he prompts us to read a chapter of scripture, and today's chapter is Hebrews 3. From that chapter, he shares a portion of verse 13, which says, but exhort one another daily And Stephen Alford writes, the proverbial saying is familiarity breeds contempt, but this is not true in the spiritual realm. At least it is not true in the case of the spiritually minded, because spiritual truths are inexhaustible, spiritual blessings unlimited, and the thoughts of God too vast to fully comprehend. So there is a sense in which it is utterly impossible to become too familiar with spiritual things. There is always something new. This, however, is only true of the invisible and internal. On the other hand, to the carnal mind, spiritual things can become familiar. The obvious reason for this is that carnality in itself has brought the mind to a standstill, hence the stagnation. Thus the word says that to avoid stagnation and to frustrate hardness of heart through the deceitfulness of sin, exhort one another daily. And Stephen Alfred ends by praying, I pray, Lord, that I might encourage others just as you have sent others to exhort me. Amen. Amen. You know, last night I was leading the Freedom in Christ group, and when I began, you know, it was, uh, I forgot how many guys were there, um, 8, 9, 10, or something like that. Um, they all mattered very much. Um, I did, you know, take attendance. Uh, we had a couple of no-shows and an use, um, basically. So, um, we didn't have a full boat, but we had guys there. And, um, you know, I began the meeting by encouraging people, uh, encouraging the people, encouraging the men that, uh, we need each other in the body of Christ. And Alfred's message points to that. We need to exhort each other in our faith. We need to remind each other that God is, is good and God is with us and that he will see us through, you know, um, we can remind ourselves of that. But it's so much better to be encouraged in our faith by a brother or sister who's walking with us, you know, that we're, you know, where two walk, you know, one falls down, he can help the other one up. And so we should exhort one another daily to follow the Lord. And that's what we try to do through the podcast is exhort, you know, exhort you to follow the Lord and to test the limits of what's possible through your faith. Um, you know, the Lord doesn't put any limits on us, um, or he does, but we got to find out what those are, you know. Um, Jesus said that with God, you know, with man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible. So that's a lot of wiggle room to figure out what we can do. Um, if I listened to the lies of the enemy, I would have never gotten sober, I would have never gotten more physically fit, and, uh, I would have never gotten sexually pure. You know, those things the world would tell you were impossible to do. But God helps us when we walk with him. And so we ask the question, have you fully surrendered to God? Do you know who you are in Christ? And are you walking with the Lord? Do you love him? Did you proclaim 3 times that you love him? And did you agree to go and feed his sheep? You know, that passage is for us. You know, declare your love for the Lord, surrender to him, and do his will. Because it's important, you know, what we think about God is very important, as A.W. Tozer points out. But, um, I say that it's more important to, you know, what you do with God's word, um, and what, you know, it's his commands on us. So we should follow him. When we follow him, we'll find ourselves doing all kinds of things like ministry. Um, I myself have been blessed with the opportunity to lead the Celebrate Freedom support group at Starpoint Church, which meets tonight. So if you're in the Capital District of New York, we invite you to come for Christian recovery discipleship. Don't, you know, let the recovery stigma stop you because this is really, you know, for anybody, um, as we focus on our relationship with the Lord and how he can help us overcome our hurts, habits, and hangups no matter what they are. And we teach walking in the spirit, basically. So if you want to learn the ABCs of Celebrate Freedom, come tonight and we'll be, uh, introducing the group by letting you know what, what it is that we do here. Um, tonight. And, uh, if you're not available, uh, or in the Capital District, I understand, but, uh, we also offer, um, help in finding or increasing your freedom in Christ by joining one of our podcast classes on, uh, podcast classes on YouTube. Uh, we put, you know, a few different classes out there for Bondage Breaker, Victory Over the Darkness, Freedom in Christ, our own Celebrate Freedom discipleship course, and we invite you to check those out. Um, they're on, they're on in YouTube under playlists, so you can find each of them. Um, you can also go to mtforchrist.com and go to our page where we have all our YouTube playlists listed, um, if that makes it easier to find them. Um, so, you know, it's not just, um, the blog on the website. We, we, we put our, our YouTube stuff out there, and we also, uh, you know, put information about our life coaching services that we offer— mental health coaching, recovery coaching. We can lead you through the Steps to Freedom in Christ. We can do prayer ministry. With you to help you, you know, um, discover your freedom in Christ. And, you know, we, we end every, uh, we end every— and that's the whole thing about Empty for Christ. It's, are you empty for Christ too? You know, are you making space for the Holy Spirit to move in your life? Um, if so, that's great, keep walking and talking with God. If not, you know, pray to the Lord to help you, you know, follow him. Um, because he has a life for you, and he will, um, he will fill you with his Spirit when you ask him for it. So, um, let's pray. Lord God, Heavenly Father, thank you for another day in your kingdom. Lord, thank you for being good, and thank you for always being with us, and thank you for seeing us through. Lord, we, um, we desperately need you in our life. And, uh, we thank you for the truth that you bring to it. And, uh, Lord, we pray for you to come alongside anyone who's reading or, or listening to today's message, that you'd, um, bless them and their prayer request and guide them in the way they should go. Because we all need your help, Lord, and that's what we're asking for today. So please go before us today, open our eyes to the things you want us to see, and lead us in the way we should go. Because we all want to represent your kingdom, Lord. And we need your help for that. Well, we thank you, we praise you, and we love you. And we pray all these things in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.