Walking with God and Avoiding Obstacles to Progress - Purity 1408

Good morning. 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. Good morning. Today's photo of the silhouettes of a pair of trees at twilight time comes to us from yours truly as I captured this scene upon returning to my countryside home from an evening's walk. Back on April 20th of this year. Well, it is Tuesday, but for me it's as easy as Sunday morning because I am at my countryside home with my wife this morning. Due to my shifted work tour, I have the day off, uh, from my secular day job and was happy just to be in Tammy Lynn's presence even though it was, uh, for a school night. This morning I was pondering using my day off to go to the beach, but my weather app indicates that rain is in the offering, so I will probably make my way back to my place down by the river for a day of rest, prayer, and study. While that may sound like a mini monastic retreat, in truth that's just par for the course because Christian books, videos, and podcasts make up a good 80 to 90% of what I guess you could consider as my form of entertainment. And my prayer life is a semi-continuous state as I try to keep on walking and talking with God throughout my day, uh, by living in the context of my faith and by conversing with the Lord as I go about my business, usually asking for God's thoughts, guidance, revelation, and forgiveness depending on what I encounter. Walking in the Spirit is living by faith, and I have learned that life is best done in the company of the Lord. So I talk to him and seek his presence, comfort, love, and wisdom whenever I am conscious of the need for him, which is always. Uh, before Christ, I used to do a lot of self-talk. Now I talk to God, and the great thing is that in ways that are sometimes subtle or quite loud, He talks back. So I ask him for help, thank him for who he is, what he has done, and what he is doing in my life and in the world as part of our ongoing conversation of prayer. The other day, one of my life coaching clients came to the realization that he doesn't have to try to establish himself or please God through his performance. As far as the Lord is concerned, he is a child of God who is accepted, secure, and significant. And he's beginning to understand that about himself. And that God is more concerned with his character and becoming the person he created him to be than he is about him being somebody according to the world's standards of success. Through the material I provide him to draw from, my client is drawing closer to the Lord. And seeing how when his focus shifts from God to the world, his anxiety and worries increase and steal from, from him the rest that the Lord invites us into. He's realizing that because of his turning up to his phone or other technology for entertainment or news, and because his thoughts are turned toward the world or the uncertainties of the future, He's always distracted or worried and is discovering the peace that comes from unplugging and resting in the present moment with his thoughts turned to God and his goodness, grace, and presence. Through his examination of his experience, my client is learning how to walk in the spirit and is discovering how an effective life in the Lord's presence works. It's simple, but it's not necessarily easy. Because we have been trained to live according to the world's performance-based patterns. And unless we are intentional about seeking the Lord, um, the peace he has for us will be difficult to find. Uh, I hate to keep borrowing from other resources, but good teaching is good teaching. And frankly, I don't consider myself to be an expert by any means, and the whole of my ministry is sharing with others what I have learned. So today I'm, I am again sharing from Dr. Charles Stanley's In Touch Ministries for today, for, for today, because we not only have to know how to make progress in our walk of faith, we also need to know what to avoid, or what obstacles can prevent an effective life of faith or an effective life of prayer. So Dr. Charles Stanley today in his devotion writes about avoiding obstacles to effective prayer. And Charles Stanley writes, uh, some of David's prayers are recorded in the Book of Psalms. He praised the Lord, confessed sin, cried out about his troubles. To pursue a rich prayer life like David's, we must avoid certain hindrances such as wavering faith James 1:5-8. Uh, doubts about God's character or dependability diminish our trust in him. Therefore, we must not allow feelings to dictate what we believe. Wrong motives, James 4:3. We can't expect an affirmative answer when petitions are motivated by selfish desires. God wants us to pray for his will to be done, not ours. Conflict in relationships— being resentful or argumentative with others will affect communication with the Father. Lack of generosity— Proverbs 21:13. God is displeased when we ignore people's needs or give begrudgingly. Indifference— Proverbs 28:9, uh, 28:9. Apathy to the scriptures is another stumbling block. God has given us the Bible so that we might know him and serve him wholeheartedly. Your prayers have not been answered. Consider which, if any, of the above issues may need correction. Then try personalizing the prayers that you read in the Psalms or elsewhere in God's word. That was from Dr. Charles Stanley. And I say amen. In our walk of faith, we have to examine what we are doing and make corrections as we go. So as the 20th century philosopher and rapper Ice Cube said, check yourself before you wreck yourself. And if you are checking boxes on any one of these obstacles to effective prayer, repent and get right with God in that area to see what progress you can make. You become more and more like the person he created you to be. Today's Bible verses come to us from A Quick Scripture Reference for Counseling by John G. Cruis, and this morning's meditation verses come from the section on false prophets and teachers. And, uh, today's verses are Revelations 2, uh, 2 and 3 from the New King James Version. The word of God says I know your works, your labor, your patience, and that you cannot bear those who are evil. And you have tested those who say they are apostles and are not, and have found them liars. And you have preserved— persevered and have patience and have labored for my namesake and have not become weary. Today's verses fall under the 12th point of our counseling Counseling Reference Guide's resource section on false prophets and teachers. And that 12th point is, uh, Jesus commends the church that tests what it hears and will not tolerate false teachers. Um, yeah, today's verses encourage us to test and examine those who would claim to be apostles and to be true to God's word, God's truth, by working for his purposes, knowing that our Heavenly Father sees and knows our labors. There are in certain faith circles those who claim the office of apostle, small a, stating that they are sent ones and generally have church planting on their resumes to substantiate their claims to that office. Whether or not the office and title of apostle, big A or small a, is still active or should only be reserved for the original disciples is a matter of debate. As far as I'm concerned, as long as we are working for God's kingdom purposes, I'm not particularly concerned with what we call ourselves. However, I do care about how you represent God's kingdom and how you use your title to work for the Lord. Jesus told us that whoever desires to be great would be a servant to all, and he rebuked the apostles for their debates of who was the greatest. So if someone is calling themselves an apostle to lord it over others, as someone to be highly exalted, I wonder if they know that they are, they are to be humble. So be wise and discerning regarding those who say they are apostles and examine their works to see if they have labored for the Lord's sake or for the sake of themselves. As always, we encourage you to go to mtforchrist.com, where we always share insights from prominent Christian theologians and counselors to assist you, my 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, uh, in Alford's devotional, he prompts us to read a chapter of scripture. Today's chapter is Galatians 5, and from Galatians 5, he shares a portion of 5:16, which says, 'Walk in the Spirit and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.' And Stephen Alford writes, 'Walking presupposes life. So the apostle says, if we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.' Galatians 5:15. There must be the initial life. Exercise and effort This exercise and effort must not be the energy of the flesh. It must be the appropriating of faith, the faith which appropriates the filling of the Spirit in obedience to the command, be filled with the Spirit, Ephesians 5:18. And Alfred goes on to write, progress. The man who walks makes progress. This walking is in contrast to standing still. Moreover, progress is the admission of failure. He who sees no failure in his life makes no progress. Progress in the spiritual sense is progress in the personal experience of the Holy Spirit. And when he overcomes failure in one's life, then there is no more fulfilling of the lust of the flesh. And Alfred ends by praying, May I walk, O Lord, daily by your side. Amen. Amen. And yeah, you know, the spiritual life of walking in the Spirit is going to be marked by progress. And it's— and I love the fact that Alfred points out it's going to be marked by an admission of failure. As we progress, we're gonna, we're gonna make mistakes. We're gonna fall off. We'll, we'll make, you know, one step forward, two steps back sometimes. But generally there is progress and there's humility in admitting that we're not perfect and we don't have it figured out. And when we think, you know, whenever we think we're strong, we discover how weak we are. That's what the Apostle Paul testified to. The Apostle, big A. Paul testified to, um, when he's weak, he's, you know, the Lord is strong. Um, that's where his strength came from, from the Lord, not from himself. And as we walk in the Spirit, that's the, that's the orientation we're going to have, is to continually turn to and consider, um, what the Lord wants us to do. And it's not just a matter of checking a rule book, it's a matter of talking to him. And the We believe the Bible. We understand that God speaks to people through his word and, you know, through his spirit. And we have to be listening to hear him. And we also have to be obedient. As Charles Stanley pointed out, there's lots of obstacles that can get in the way of our faith. And some of those have to do with how we treat other people. So you can't just be super spiritual. You also have to be a living agent of God's goodness in the world and represent his kingdom through how you live. And how do we do that? Well, we fully surrender to God. You know, your will be done, not my will, Lord. Lead me in the way I should go. These are some of our things we want to do. You know, it's one thing to think about God. It's another thing to want to do what God would have us do. And that's the important thing about us, is doing something with what God's word tells us. One of the things I've learned to do is help other people as best I can through my encouragements, through teaching people what I've come to know. You know, the only reason I you know, I am inspired to teach or preach or, uh, coach other people is because of, um, the, the work God has done in me. Um, I wasn't always the person I am now. I was desperately wicked, uh, totally secular. And it's only because of the transformation that's happened in my life that I have— and, and this great amount of studying I've done Um, is the only reason I, um, have any confidence to, uh, preach, uh, because the Lord's led me to speak. And, uh, I'll keep speaking as long as I keep drawing breath. So that's up to the Lord. And one of the places I speak is at Celebrate Freedom, um, although I'm more of a leader there than a speaker. Um, but, uh, Celebrate Freedom is a support group that's available to Christians in the Capitol District of New York State, uh, at Clifton, uh, Clifton Park Starpoint Church. And we meet on Wednesdays. We begin tomorrow, uh, July 24th at 6:30 PM. And we're hoping for— we're hoping for people to come out and, uh, to deal with those hurts, habits, and hangups, to get set free from any substance abuse or emotional issues or pain from the past, um, and we're just— who want to learn how to live by faith. You know, it's, it's not, it's not— they don't teach you that in school. Um, so we teach it here at this support group, and we also teach it through our, uh, work with Freedom in Christ Ministries. As Freedom in Christ Ministries has discipleship courses that they're starting this fall And, um, so there's a bunch to sign up for to learn online. So if you're not in the capital district and wanna— of New York, you can, you can learn, um, through one of our— one of the instructors at, uh, Freedom in Christ Ministries. And I'm one of those instructors and one of those facilitators, and, uh, I'll be leading a men's group on Tuesday evenings at 6:30 PM. You can go to ficm.org to, uh, to register for that. Well, that's, uh, all the announcements we have today. We always ask the question, are you empty for Christ too? Um, if so, keep on walking and talking with God. If not, uh, well, start walking and talking with God. And, um, as you empty yourself for Christ, the Holy Spirit will come in to guide you and lead you. You put your faith in Jesus and you receive the Holy Spirit. So it's probably a good, good idea to walk in the Spirit. So that's what we try to encourage is a life of faith because it just happened to change and save my life and give me peace and joy on a daily basis. That might waver a little bit, but it's been so, so good in the Lord's presence and I'll keep preaching it. Until he calls me home. So I don't call myself an apostle. The only title I've given myself is Christian life coach, which is not exactly a highly exhaustive title. So yeah, so we try to keep it real, we try to keep it humble, and we do that by praying. Lord God, Heavenly Father, thank you for another day in your kingdom. We thank you so much for all that you've done for us, Lord. We thank you for the victory you've given us, uh, the freedom you've given us, and for the new life you've given us in Christ. Lord, we pray for anyone who's listening or reading today's message, that you come alongside them and their prayer requests and their walk of faith. Because Lord, we all need your help, and, um, we're asking for it today. So Lord, um, as we enter into today, we pray for you to open our eyes to the things you want us to see, lead us in the way we should go. This is all we want to do, represent you and your kingdom, Lord, and, uh, we need your help with that. Well, we thank you, we praise you, we love you, and we pray all these things in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.