Unnamed Friends in Adversity Purity 1402

Good morning, welcome to the MT for Christ 247 podcast. I am M.t. Clark and this is today's photo. Good morning, today's photo of a red-hot sun rising over a stretch of southern highway comes to us from John Hakam, who shared this scene on social media yesterday warning his friends that it or he was coming in hot. But he also encouraged us to make it a great week, uh, simultaneously demonstrating that John understands that while we have no control over how hot things will come at us, um, but we do still have to play a part in determining what we will make of it, great or not. And we move it along. Okay, um, well, it's Tuesday, and while My electronic personal assistant is forecasting highs in the 90s with the possibility of thunderstorms in the capital districts. I will echo John's sentiments and encourage us all to have a great day. I apologize for leaving things unsaid yesterday, as my blog title indicated that some new friends, uh, would be mentioned, but they weren't. Um, that, that's That's what happens when you sit down thinking you're— that you're going to write about one thing only to veer off in another direction, or when you run out of space and time. Uh, the new friend I was going to write about, uh, yesterday is a friend of Bill's. For those not in recovery circles, that means that the person being referred to goes to AA, Alcoholics Anonymous. On Sunday afternoon, I was pleased to make John's Uh, not John Jacob, his acquaintance, as he was at the graduation party I attended accompanying a brother and a friend to provide support as the unnamed party's attendee— unnamed party attendee's sponsor. I won't go any further in naming names because even though they understand that we are only sick as our secrets, it's all very hush-hush in AA, and I don't want to embarrass anyone who may not be ready to openly share, the news that they are in recovery. But I will say that I am proud of the person that John is sponsoring and that John is proud of them too. Although we didn't discuss the finer points of his faith life, John is a believer in the 12 steps, if nothing else, as he shared that he is on the board of a recovery community organization and has sponsored several other men in the past. John went into recovery in 2015, just like me, and he refers to the day he decided to get sober as the greatest day in his life, even though he admits that he didn't quite feel that way when he did, when he did. But John made it through the fire and has been helping, uh, to show others the way to sobriety ever since. The person John sponsors is dear to me, and I was frankly surprised to see them bring an accountability partner to a social event. But it was a wise move because they are relatively new to recovery. And although they, John and myself, weren't drinking alcohol at this party, many others were. Friends and family can sometimes be your worst enemy when you want to change how you live, and bringing allies into the battle of temptation is a good strategy for success. To be free, we have to know it's possible to be free. And have others support us until we can walk free and live free on our own. Although if we rely on God, we really are never on our own. We shouldn't pretend we are. We need other people's help, uh, when we are going through trials, and we certainly need God because life is full of adversity. This morning, uh, Charles Stanley's ministry shared the following devotion, uh, that speaks about adversity, and I was moved to share it with my life coaching clients this morning, and I'm sharing it on the blog because it speaks the truth. The In Touch Ministries devotion for today was on seeing, seeing adversity from God's viewpoint. And Charles Stanley, or the people at In Touch Ministries, wrote, when adversity hits you like a ton of bricks, it could easily cause discouragement. However, God's purpose in the hardship is not to destroy you. His goal is to stimulate your spiritual growth. And his great wisdom— in his great wisdom, the Lord knows to take a situation and use it to transform you into the image of Christ. Every adversity that touches your life has been sifted through God's purpose of will. That doesn't mean the difficulty itself is his will, but he's allowed the trial so he can use it to achieve his good purposes for you. While some of the suffering we see and experience may seem senseless and awful, we have a very limited perspective. We can't always understand what God is doing. Our Heavenly Father sees every aspect of life, but our view is restricted to what is right before us. His plans include not only you, but also all of his creation, and they reach from the beginning to eternity. Uh, though we will never grasp the infinite mind of God, we can know his faithfulness and love. When you can't understand God's ways, focus on the truth, uh, that he has perfect knowledge, wisdom, and power. Remember, the entire picture is clear to the one who loves you more than you can imagine. This is a time to walk by faith, a perfect understanding, as perfect understanding will come only in heaven. That was from Charles Stanley. And, uh, the rest is from me. So God uses adversity to make us grow. And one of the things I've been reminded of recently is that our freedom or deliverance in some areas of our lives has to come by growth. Uh, while God set the Israelites free from Pharaoh's totalitarian regime in Egypt in a dramatic and miraculous fashion through Moses' various miracles and the parting of the Red Sea, the Israelites had to fight to possess the Promised Land. They were set free by God, but in order to have a home where they could live free for a time, they had to fight for it. Similarly, those who come to Jesus are free from sin and death. While we are saved the moment we put our faith in Jesus, we have to fight the good fight of faith to be free, or our simple way, uh, be free of our sinful ways and darkness of the past. So keep walking and talking with God and get, get some friends to help you walk into the freedom that he has for you, even if it means you will have to go through adversity and fight to possess it. Today's Bible verse comes to us from the Quick Scripture Reference for Counseling by John G. Cruis. This morning's meditation verses come from the section on false prophets, teachers, and, um, uh, today's verses are Acts 20:29-31. The word of God says I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. And from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things to draw away the disciples after them. Therefore be alert, remembering that for 3 years I did not cease night or day to admonish everyone with tears. Today's verses fall under the 6th point of our Counseling Reference Guide's resource section on false prophets and teachers. And the sixth point is Paul warns that savage wolves will come, and even from within the church, and will not spare the flock. Today's verses warn us about the possibility of being led astray after we have been saved. Strange fire or the quote-unquote doctrine of demons are just a couple of terms that are used to express the idea of aberrant teaching in seemingly Christian circles. Teachings that deny Jesus is God, don't believe in the Trinity, don't believe in hell, or claim salvation for everyone regardless of faith or action are just some examples of teachings that would lead us from the truth of the Bible and could cause us to sin or could keep us out of the kingdom. Uh, what we believe matters. It is by faith alone we are saved, so we must know what we believe and why we believe it. Be able to tell when someone is in foul territory or way off base. So study the Bible for yourself, get good teaching, and get an understanding of what biblical Christianity is and what it isn't. So when the wolves come howling, we can tell them they are barking up the wrong tree. Uh, and as always, we, um, encourage everyone to go to mtforchrist.com, where we always share insights from prominent Christian theologians and counselors to assist our brothers and sisters in Christ for their walk. Today we continue sharing from According to Your Word: Morning and Evening Through the New Testament with Stephen F. Alford. And in his devotion, he shares a morning reading. He tells us to read 2 Corinthians 12 today, and from that chapter, uh, he shares a portion of verse 9 that says, most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities that the power of Christ may rest or cover or spread a tabernacle over me, upon me. And Stephen Alford writes, while the truth contained in this verse is practical, it is not automatic. That is to say that while the believer is made strong in weakness, he does not merit the power of Christ on the grounds of his becoming weak. This power cannot be bought or merited. When Paul speaks of boasting here, he is not unmindful of the fact that he, that he, that he that glories must glory in the Lord. Um, and then Stephen Alford writes, so when Christ is glorified in the, in the empty dependent life of the believer, it is then that the power of Christ rests upon him. Christ has glorified— was glorified in his death that the power of God might be manifest. And Stephen Alford ends by praying, thank you, Lord, that your power is manifest in the midst of my weakness. Amen. Yes, um, you know, when, when we are weak, he is strong. And, um, it's by faith, with faith alone, we're saved. And when we think we can do something in our own strength, that's when we usually find out we're really wrong and off base. Um, we usually end up failing when we think we're walking really well in our walk. We'll do something, uh, in the flesh to prove that we're not a super saint, um, that we're still a work in progress. What we do with the word of God, uh, matters. So we have to know what it says, uh, because God gave us his word to lead us and guide us, uh, through life. They give us good, good knowledge, good wisdom for living. And, um, when we have to— one of the first things we should realize is God is all-powerful and we are weak, and it's through his power that we can overcome. Our faith in him gives us the power to grow, and sometimes that's through adversity. So anyway, um, we move along. Um, just with the announcements for today, basically our Celebrate Freedom support group at Starpoint Church begins next week, um, on July 24th. It's for recovery and discipleship and Christian fellowship, and all in the Capital District, uh, of New York State are invited to come. You can go to the Starpoint Church website and look under support groups to register for Celebrate Freedom today. And in the fall, we are hosting a Freedom in Christ online men's course. Uh, it'll be on Tuesday evenings at 6:30, 6:30 to 8:30, um, starting on September 3rd. You want to sign up for that, go to ficm.org and look for their courses. Look for the men's group on Tuesday nights for Freedom in Christ, the Freedom in Christ course. And you can sign up, and I'm happy to announce I already have 3 students in the class. So I don't know if they know who's teaching it, but I know, I know who they are, and I'll be reaching out to them soon to welcome them to the class as they're encouraging me to reach out to students to form a relational bond before we, before we go, I guess. Anyway, um, that's all the announcements we have for today, and, uh, so let's pray. 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, for, for giving us good friends to help us along the path of Christian discipleship and to help us in our recovery. Uh, Lord, we pray for anyone out there who needs help Uh, who doesn't need help? Lord, we all need your help because when we are weak, you are strong. Um, but we pray for anyone listening or reading today's message or watching it, that they'd be blessed by you, that you come alongside their prayer request, that you help them. Uh, Lord, we pray that the situations that are going on in our life that you're aware of— people need healing, they need peace, they need help. Putting those in our heart and mind right now, Lord, for you to see, um, so you can bless those too. And Lord, as always, we ask you to go before us, uh, show us the things you need us to see, and lead us in the way we should go. All we want to do is represent you in your kingdom, and we need all your help to do that. Lord, we thank you, we praise you, we love you, and we pray all these things in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.