Watch What You Say - From Self Talk to God Talk - Purity 969

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 resembling a large light bulb shining over a well and the forest opposite the driveway of my countryside home comes to us from yours truly as I took a blind shot of the afternoon sunshine as I was being pulled along by an enthusiastic canine who was raring to get going on our walk down Waite Road in Easton, New York last Saturday. Uh, be it ever so humble, there's no place like home, right? Well, it's Friday again, and although I am looking forward to getting up to my countryside home at the end of the workday, I will be mindful to appreciate my stay there today and tomorrow, because come Sunday, my wife and our two youngest kiddos will be heading hitting the road to go to Williamsburg, Virginia for a couple of nights before we go to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina for a midwinter recess family vacation. So pray for us as we are asking the Lord to protect our travels and to guide us to places of peace and rest. If you aren't aware of it, we are in Whirlwind February as the shortest month of the year is just flying by for me as I just returned normal yesterday after being on the road for work for a week and a half, and after today won't be returning to work until March 1st. So hello and goodbye, February. We may only be 18 days into the month of Valentine's and President's Day, but when I look at my schedule, it's as if this month is already gone. Considering this, one might think that I would be taking a vacation from the blog and podcast next week, But, as of this morning, I have decided that even though I am not sure of the logistics of where and how I'll be checking in when I am on the road, I've decided to continue doing it because it has become such a normal part of my routine, and because it gives me peace and joy to share my experiences of life and to encourage others to keep walking and talking with God. So, you may be tuning in next week to hear a podcast produced live from my Honda HR-V, But regardless of the circumstances, I think I will stay true to my intention of trying to bring an encouraging word to the world 6 days a week. I have come to realize that taking a break from this part of my daily spiritual practice wouldn't give me rest, as the blog and podcast has been a good way to address the things I encounter as I continue to walk in the Spirit on the path of Christian discipleship. Even though my hours are a little strange, my life is full. Not busy. My life is full and rich with joy, peace, and love because I start each day by giving the Lord my thanks and presence, and I continue talking to him as I walk throughout my day. Just yesterday, I was thanking the Lord repeatedly for the good fortunes of a successful day at work and made continual inquiries of what he thought about the different things I encountered and thought about as I went through my day. It might not see— it might not be something you can do, do when you're in the presence of others, but if you spend a good time of— a good deal of time alone throughout your day, I highly recommend literally talking with God. Many people, I suspect most of us, talk to themselves, and that's okay. Psychologists will tell you that self-talk can slow the busyness of life down by allowing us to sort through our thoughts in a more conscious manner that can assist us in becoming more intentional. Self-talk can help us in the areas of memory and motivation, as it is easier to remember things when we say them, and we can spur on higher levels of performance with verbal encouragements, sometimes in the third person, as in, "You got this!" "You can do this!" So, it's okay to talk to yourself. It's normal and possibly helpful to do so. However, the normalcy and helpfulness of self-talk can depend on the content and character of what you say to yourself. Add to the fact that some thoughts and voices we encounter in our consciousness may be malevolent spiritual forces of darkness tempting, tormenting, and condemning us, we really have to pay attention to what we are saying to ourselves and the ways we are saying it. Psychology will warn you about negative self-talk leading to negative outcomes. My pre-Christ existence, I would, I, in quotes, would scheme or fantasize about meeting the desires of my flesh or perpetrating other actions that were outside the established rules of societal systems I was in. I would also entertain angry rants and hurl insults and judgments at my fellow man. In those days, it was a me-centered universe, and I, I generally viewed others as obstacles to the things I would— wanted to do. There was also a lot of foolishness and absurdity considered, as I could see the illusory nature of authority systems and the madness of much of normal life and the tendency of society to control us. There was also a lot of condemnation, as I realized I wasn't good enough in many areas of life and knew that my schemes and negative thoughts of others were not good. All these selfish and dark ponderings had me convinced that I was bad or different, if not just plain old evil. Psychology also warns about self-talk that involves repetitive numbers, phrases, or mantras, uh, that— or, or that is directed to— toward unseen others or spirit guides, as these of forms of self-talk are seen in, seen in schizophrenics. While there can be various causes for such behaviors, it is important to consider the possibility of demons entering into self-talk dialogues. Now, while I cannot state that I heard voices in my past, when I consider the content and character of my self-talk and thought life, and how I had such disdain for my fellow man and how I was continually scheming to do things that went against the wisdom of God's world, and when I consider the silence and peace since I have gone through the steps to freedom in Christ, I am convinced that I was at least influenced, if not oppressed, by the spiritual forces of darkness, either directly or through the demonically corrupted world system that encourages us to continually be self-sufficient and to dismiss the precepts of God's Word. So that's why I suggest first surrendering to the Lordship, surrendering to the Lord Jesus Christ by making him your Lord and Savior, and then going to the Lord continually to receive wisdom, guidance, and strength. So how do you shift from unhealthy forms of self-talk to God talk? Well, just like anyone else, you first have to get to know him. The good news is there is a, a book that is all about God. It's called the Bible. So to hear from God, to know what is important to him, and to know what he is like, we should read it and apply it to our lives. Uh, we should also go to him in prayer and ask for wisdom and advice about what we He would have us do. With the word and prayer, we can, we can receive wisdom from the Lord. And when we know that He is present and hears us, we will be encouraged to talk to Him continually. Instead of talking about meeting the desires of the flesh or holding others in bitterness, your conversations will be grounded by His wisdom and will direct you to what is good. So if you don't do it already, I would encourage you to start talking to God about your life. He loves you and he cares about you, and he won't lead you astray. He will lead you to— he will lead you to do good, not evil. As we edit very quickly uh, to do good and not evil. He will build you up and not tear you down. He won't lead you into confusion because his way— his paths are clear. And he won't lead you into temptation or darkness because his ways are light, pure, and good. He will guide you in the everlasting way that will cultivate the fruit of the Spirit. So if you want a life defined by peace, joy, love, goodness, kindness, faithfulness, patience, gentleness, and self-control, Talk to the Lord. Today's Bible verse comes to us from the New Living Translation Bible Promise Book for Men. This morning's meditation verses are 1 Corinthians 10:12-13, and they say, if you think you are standing strong, be careful not to fall. The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience, and God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so you can endure. And, uh, today's Bible verse reminds us not to stand in our own strength, but to go to the Lord to— for help with temptation. The Lord has set us free from the power of sin, but we need to rely on the Lord for our strength. Uh, even though Jesus did not give in to sin, he was tempted in every way. So temptations will come, but if we want to be successful against its siren call, we need to follow Christ's example by staying in a continuous connection with God the Father through a lifestyle of prayer. We pray that the Lord, Lord, will lead us not into temptation because he can help us. So even if we, you have a measure of freedom and victory, always go to the Lord for strength to keep it. And just not for nothing, but that, that particular verse was used by Marcus Warner to discover life in the Spirit. You know, if you need a way of escape, if you're being tempted, you ask the Lord, Lord, what do I do? How do I get out of here? And then you listen. And, uh, you know, if, if the voice is— if, if the guidance you get is telling you to go ahead and sin, you know that's not the Lord. Because he will show you the way of escape. And in Marcus Warner's testimony, he actually talked to the Lord, you know, he had a situation where he's being tempted to say some angry words to someone, but he asked the Lord for help silently in his thoughts, and he was directed to certain Bible verses that told him to, you know, speak a kind word and to not speak wrath, you know, and He's convinced it was the Lord because it turned out to be a good outcome. You know, when you follow the word of the Lord, um, when you receive the way of escape, we should take it. So that's that. Um, 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 with your walk. Today we continue sharing from A.W. Pink's The Sovereignty of God as we have finishing up chapter 6, The Sovereignty of God in Operation— how God works. And we're, we're ending with the last point of God's method of dealing with the wicked. So if you want to see point 4 of how God deals with the wicked, go to mt4christ.org and you'll see that resource at the end of today's blog post. As always, we encourage you to walk and talk with God on the pathway of Christian discipleship. Where we consider his word and apply to our lives. But it's not just about following, uh, principles, it's about following the Lord. And we need to speak to him in prayer as well as just reading the Bible. And we need to take the wisdom of what we learn and apply to our lives. When we do that, when we walk in the Spirit, we discover the fruit of the Spirit grows in our lives. So that's why we do this. As I've I read it today. It encourages me in my walk and gives me peace to start my day, and I recommend it highly. The Life of Christian Discipleship. We do that by encouraging people with our, with our discipleship classes that we taught back in 2021 at our local church that are on the podcast and our YouTube channel. If you want to check those out, they're underneath the titles of Freedom in Christ, The Bondage Breaker, and Victory Over the Darkness. As I've stated previously, if you wanted to get the materials that I gave out in class, you just have to email it— email me at mtforchrist247@gmail.com, and I would send you the class materials basically free of charge via email. I'm not mailing them to you, sorry. But I share that because, as I stated, going through the Steps to Freedom in crisis of a serious game changer for the mental peace in my life is I get to enjoy the silence that filled the space when the Holy Spirit and I went to— came together in repentance and prayer to cancel all the ground that Satan had in my life, to repent of my sins, and to forgive and surrender to the Lord's ways for my life. It's amazing what, what, what goes away when, when you repent and give it all to God. So we recommend the Steps to Freedom in Crisis along with all those classes to find peace. And of course, we always recommend Bible study. So the one thing we are taking a vacation from is our Bible study this week. On Sunday, we would normally meet with Arthur and Suzanne Sincotti for Bible study, but We're leaving Sunday, and, uh, you know, when, you know, I'm, I'm very intentional about when we leave a place. Usually I leave early, so we're gonna, we're gonna take a vacation from the Bible study this week, but we encourage people to check out our previous studies, uh, all under the heading of Bible Study with the Cincatis, uh, on the blog and the podcast and, uh, the YouTube channel. So, um, we encourage you to check all that out and to keep walking and talking with God as always. So let's pray. Lord God, Heavenly Father, thank you for another day in your kingdom. Lord, we thank you so much for the life you've given us and how all that self-talk that was so, so, so bad, um, has gone away. As, uh, now we consider the things that you would have us do, and we talk to you to receive, um, you know, guidance, wisdom, and strength as we go about our day. And Lord, so we thank you for that. Lord, we thank you for anyone who might be listening or are reading this message. So we pray for you to bless them, pray for you to come alongside them in their prayer requests. Lord, we have some people on our heart that we're praying for healing for and difficult situations for. And so, Lord, we ask you to come alongside us in our prayer requests. You know what we've been encountering— well, what other people have been encountering in the last weeks. Or so, and, uh, months for that matter. So we just pray for our friends and family who need your help, Lord, and, uh, we pray for you to bring it. And Lord, as always, we pray for you to go before us today, open our eyes to everything you want us to see, and lead our paths in the things that you would want us to do. Lord, we thank you, we praise you, and we love you, and we pray all these things in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.