Walk by Faith but Plan for Progress - Purity 1158

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 red rock wall and a winding red rock pathway with red rock outcroppings in the evergreen forest beyond comes to us from Nick Harang, who shared this scene on social media while he was at a strategic planning meeting for Deeper Walk International back on June 12th. Well, it's Thursday, and I share Nick's pathway photo because of its Colorado Rocky Mountain red rock beauty, and also as a visual encouragement to get on or to stay on the path of Christian discipleship. Since I put my faith in Jesus Christ in 2010 and was born again, I have learned that Christianity isn't just about what you believe, it's It also involves what you do with the wisdom and the word, uh, that the word of God and Jesus Christ taught us. Just as Nick and the board at Deeper Walk International set time aside to plan out their ministry's future steps, what they believe in and what they are— were planning to do really won't matter unless they put their plans into action. Similarly, in our personal walk of faith, we can believe, say we believe and even plan to start living a Christian life, but at the end of the day, we have to put our plans into action and start walking in the Spirit. Last night at the Celebrate Freedom growth group, our nightly check-in was filled with testimonies of people who have put their trust in the Lord to help them change their lives, and how although they are still a work in progress, uh, because they followed the path that the Lord put before them, progress is being made. Many people reported how their lives are moving in a positive direction since they have sought the Lord's help and received some biblical wisdom and the support of a Christian fellowship. Based on these positive testimonies, you may think that all you need to do is to go to our weekly meeting and the Lord will supernaturally bless your socks off and instantly change your mind and heart and give you the power to overcome. However, as they say on TV sometimes, results may vary. Our meeting is great, but the work that the Lord does in our lives doesn't all happen in 2 hours at a growth group meeting on Wednesday, or even during an hour-long church service on Sunday. When we put our faith in Christ, we make a decision for eternity. And so our new lives in Christ are supposed to be pursued as part of a lifelong process of seeking to know God more and to be transformed to be more and more like Christ. Uh, although there were positive reports during our check-in, uh, there were also some very honest reports of failures and no progress. While some are reporting victory over their hurts, habits, and hangups, others admitted that although they had a few days of victory, they fell into temptation since our last meeting. One participant could barely speak during the check-in because they were emotionally upset by their lack of progress. For them, hearing the positive reports from others filled them with shame and condemnation. We don't correct or try to fix one another in our group. We encourage and support one another and offer the members of our group the wisdom and tools that can lead to victory. But they have to choose to pick up the tools and put them to work. Our group is an incubator for growth. We provide the setting, conditions, and instructions that could lead to breakthroughs and victory, but in order to experience them, the individual is personally responsible for choosing and doing the work of repentance. We don't condemn people for their failures, but we encourage them to lean on the Lord and the support of the group to plan for and make a change. Last night, when this person could barely speak because of their shame over their lack of progress and was obviously condemning themselves, I had to speak and tell them that they were perpetuating a lie of the enemy by reminding them that they are not accepted because of their progress, that their value is not determined by their victory in a certain area of life. Because they didn't have victory over their area of struggle, they couldn't see anything positive about their life. So I encouraged them by naming some of their positive attributes and recommended they meditate on the truth of what— of who God says they are with the Who I Am in Christ list. The group also encouraged those who had fallen into relapse by pointing out even their unsuccessful efforts were progress in comparison to their unabashed behaviors in the past. Even if you're, you were giving into temptation less, relapsing less frequently, that's progress for them. And even the few days or hours they were successful in not giving in is a victory. Although we were steadfast in our support of those who had setbacks, I also made a concerted effort to offer counsel to each of, each of these people before the end of the night to encourage them to take corrective action by making a plan and enacting it so they could start walking in the right direction and have a goal they could work toward and achieve. I need to change is a great admission, but we need to establish short and long-term goals that will make that change a reality. Meandering in shame and guilt because you haven't changed doesn't do any good. Knowing you have a problem is a big first step, but leaning on the Lord and enacting a plan to solve it is what the Lord is calling us to do. We don't stay in our darkness. We turn from it and walk away from it. And while we offer support and understanding for people when they fail, We encourage them to not do it again and to seek to do what is right. In my counsel, I try to validate people's emotions and comfort them by conveying that I understand how difficult it can be to, to go God's way. But I also try to assure them that it is the way that is right and will lead to peace and joy when it is pursued in earnest. Our lives in Christ are a relationship but we have to do our part in agreeing with what God says about us and by walking out our lives in a manner that would best represent His kingdom. When we do things our way or the world's way, we deny God's truth and separate ourselves from His love and power. So believe the truth about God and who you are in Christ, but also make a plan to start walking the walk and start moving towards the person God created you to be. Today's meditation verse, or today's Bible verse, comes to us from the Quick Scripture Reference for Counseling by John G. Cruis. This morning's meditation verse comes from the section on anger, comma, hot temper. And today's verse is Proverbs 29:22. The Word of God says, a man of wrath stirs up strife. One given to anger causes many transgressions. Today's verse falls under the 9th point of our Counseling Reference Guides resource section on anger, uh, and that 9th point is control yourselves. Uh, today's verse is the 2nd of 3 verses of scripture that our resource provides to encourage us, to encourage us to control ourselves. And rather than presenting them all at once, we are doing them one day at a time. One at a time, one day at a time. And today's verse points out the truth of the cause and effect relationship between our angry dispositions and the negative consequences that result. Wrath leads to strife. Anger leads to transgressions. And just so you know, strafe— strife— strife and transgressions are not good things. So the implication is that we should not be full of wrath or anger because they lead to problems, discord, and disharmony. So, practice forgiveness and patience and develop ways of responding to difficult situations that are not angry or wrathful because no matter how righteous our indignation can start out being, more often than not, our wrath and anger lead to transgressions or strife. As always, I invite all to go to mt4christ.org where I always share insights from prominent Christian theologians and counselors to assist my brothers and sisters in Christ for their walk. Today we continue sharing from A.W. Pink's The Holy Spirit, and today's section, um, is coming from chapter 27, The Spirit Transforming, and it's a little, uh, section called The Glass. So that's cryptic and mysterious. I invite you to discover what A.W. Pink is talking about with the glass by going to mtforchrist.org and seeing that resource at the end of today's blog post. Um, yeah, and also at the end of today's blog post, we recommend our— there's, there's an encouragement that says join our Victory Over the Darkness, the Bondage Breaker, and Freedom a free series of discipleship classes via the MT for Christ 247 podcast. They're available on the audio podcast, but they're probably easier to find, uh, on YouTube. There's playlists with all of those teachings. And if you wanted to take a quote-unquote deeper dive into the material, you can contact me at mtforchrist247@gmail.com and ask me for the class materials.. You can share your progress and be encouraged. Yeah, so the views, you know, I don't know how much of the teachings people are getting, but the most popular things on our YouTube channel are the Bondage Breaker and the Freedom in Christ series of classes. So if you're unfamiliar with the material that's based on Dr. Neil Anderson's work and the Word of God, I certainly encourage I encourage you to check it out because you need the truth that's contained in those. And, you know, basically they point to the Steps to Freedom in Christ. The truth is one thing. Going through the prayerful repentance process that is the Steps to Freedom in Christ is another thing. Basically, instead of meandering and wallowing in our personal and spiritual conflicts, you walk through the Steps to Freedom in Christ to resolve them. It's solving the problem. You know, problems that are caused by the occult, by pride, by our sin, by our unforgiveness, by our generational curses, by our spiritual soul bond— you know, sexual, spiritual, sexual, emotional soul ties. Are broken through the Steps to Freedom in Christ. So if you're not familiar with the material, you know, basically I invite you to check those out. They're for free, um, free lessons. And, um, and basically if you asked for it, I'd give you a free PDF of the Steps to Freedom in Christ. But usually I recommend that go purchase a copy, a paper copy, so you can, you know, walk through those steps. And, um, if you wanted to be walked through the Steps to Freedom in Christ by a trained encourager If you're a woman, I'd recommend Christy Edge's prayerful ministry that I get to provide a link for. Basically her— what does Christy call her thing? Edge? Life on the Edge Freedom Prayer Ministry from Christy Edge. And she's a Deeper Walk International trained prayer minister, and she has a website to help you walk through the steps of freedom in Christ and do other prayer ministry, healing prayer ministry. And if you're a guy, well, if you wanted to go through the Steps to Freedom in Christ and you were serious about a life going through the material in the Freedom in Christ course prior to going through the Steps, I would be willing to, if you submit the paperwork and I approve it and the Holy Spirit approves it, I would certainly, you know, work with you to go through the Steps. So we don't just offer encouragement, although, you know, we try to stay out of your business, but, you know, or you can contact ficm.org no matter where you are in the country, in the world. FICM, Freedom in Christ Ministries, would work with you to get an encourager to walk you through the steps, you know, so we recommend that. We We went through the steps and it was a major, major, major shift in our lives, basically. We had a measure of freedom over sin and addiction. And somewhere along that road, though, we encountered the Steps to Freedom in Christ and we got more free. So, and you can get more free and it's called a process of repentance. We look at the broken things in our lives and we start to fix them by taking them to the Lord, by coming into a Christian community and getting the support we need. Whether it's online or in person, there are Christians out there, and if we seek their fellowship and help, you know, more often than not we won't be disappointed. But I can't, you know, you know, we have to be personally responsible to pursue things and pursue the Lord more than anything else. Rather than a church or a person to, you know, put all your faith in. You put your faith in God and, you know, follow him. Anyway, that's a lot of ab-libbing today. Um, today is Thursday. I begin the new chapter of the Deeper Walk International, fourth quarter of training, um, the final chapter, um, tonight online with Nick Harang and my cohort comrades, and I'm looking forward to it. But I'm also, you know, challenged by the difficulties that we're going to face in, you know, actually, you know, offering prayer ministry to someone as a client with 4 sessions. So I have to figure that out, but I'll allow the Lord to lead me. I think he's already put somebody in my path to do that, and we'll confirm that and, you know, walk in that. And at the end of the day, at the end of the year, we should be a Deeper Walk Prayer International prayer minister certified, um, as long as the Lord wills it and I do the work. So that's a goal, and we're going to pursue it and accomplish it with the Lord's help. So as for today, we need the Lord's help. I don't know about you, so we should pray. Lord God, Heavenly Father, thank you for another day in your kingdom. Lord, first and foremost, I got to pray for my brother in Christ, Scott Salvador, who needs healing. Uh, his headaches and troubling issues of, you know, migraines and loss of vision is very disturbing. Lord, we need— we're coming alongside Scott for healing today. Uh, we're praying for you to make a breakthrough through, um, and his medical treatment or diagnosis. And, or if you just want to cast it out and heal him immediately, we'll take that too. But we're praying for Scott and we're praying for his wife Ashley, um, and during this difficult time, um, he was missed at our meeting last night. And, uh, he's my brother and I love him, so we're praying for him, Lord. And, uh, Lord, we're also praying for the other people might be listening, uh, or, or, or reading this message today, uh, we come alongside them and their prayer requests, Lord. And you know their situation better than I do, um, but we're praying for them too, that you'd come in and bless them and, uh, help them to walk out, uh, the walk they have to walk. And as for me and my house, I pray for Tammy Lynn's continued healing from her recent medical dental surgery. And we pray for her day as she goes into a special education classroom. Lord, we just pray you bless her with strength, resilience, and kindness, uh, to take on the challenges she has to face today. And, um, as for me though, we just do, do pray as always for your help and guidance, Lord, to lead us through today, to do the best job we can with the things before us. We pray for you to open our eyes to the things you want us to see and lead us in the way we should go. Because Lord, all we want to do is represent you in your kingdom and, uh, point other people to, to know the freedom, victory, and joy that is found in Christ alone. So Lord, we thank you, we praise you, we love you, and we pray all these things in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.