Weep with Those Who Weep - Purity 948

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 somewhat dark and foreboding sunset over Port Noaralunga in South Australia comes to us from Dave Bond Photography, who shared this solemn scene on Saturday, stating, "An unplanned stop at Port Noaralunga was perhaps the last time I had to regret not having the camera with me." Since then, it is almost always with me wherever I go, just in case. My next visit there, I was happy to capture this moody sunset. We can only imagine the scene Dave wasn't able to capture at Port Norilunga on the day he didn't have his camera. But his and our loss has become our gain, as his regret caused him to be committed to having his camera on him virtually at all times so he could capture the beautiful moments of life as they happened, even when he didn't expect it. Well, it's Monday, and I chose Dave's rather dark sunset photo because I received a few reports of loss and brokenness over the weekend. Although I guess I could be in a dark mood because another weekend has expired and the first day of the work week has come with snow in my area. I am in a quiet place this morning because I learned of a sudden death in the family on Saturday and of the possible dissolution of a marriage on Sunday. As much as I could Monday morning quarterback these situations by offering my speculations and reflections, I'm choosing to remain silent and I'm deciding just to pray for the people who are at the heart of these tragedies. Knowing from experience that those who suffer a major trauma like a sudden death or a sudden break in relationship don't necessarily need our words as much as they need our prayers or presence. As I am not immediately involved in either of these situations, my presence isn't expected or required, and inserting myself into them would be unnatural and could be met with hostility. No matter how well-intentioned, people don't appreciate a badinski, especially in the wake of major losses like these. Peace. So instead of unnaturally inserting myself into someone else's pain, I am praying for both situations. I'm praying for God to help those mourning the death of their loved one and praying for God to help those who seem to be separating. Not too long ago, I was chastised by a person I respect because I— they felt I didn't take the feelings of others into consideration when I blogged about a mutual friend's untimely passing. So I am choosing to follow Paul's advice from Romans 12:15, where he advised the saints in Rome to weep with those who weep. So as Christians, let's remember to weep with those who weep and pray for them. Where appropriate, we can offer the, uh, the hurting our help and/or presence. But let's realize that although we may have the answers to life and death in Christ, We should be wise in how and when we should share that wisdom. Uh, anyway, in light of these tragedies, the end of the weekend and the inclement weather don't seem to be a big deal. Uh, and if we are mourning the loss of the weekend or our favorite sports team's defeat, uh, we should remember that others around us may be going through some life-changing traumas that don't— that won't just dissipate as the day today clears up and draws to an end. As always, I would encourage us to look to the Lord and count our blessings, and to be guided by him in all the things we do. So keep walking and talking with God, and try to love your neighbors as yourself. Today's Bible verse comes to us from the New Living Translation Bible, Promise Book for Men, This morning's meditation verse is Revelations 3:7, and it says, write this letter to the angel of the church in Philadelphia. This is the message from the one who is holy and true, the one who has the key of David. What he opens, no one can close. What he closes, no one can open. Today's verse reminds us that that what Christ opens no one can close, and what he closes no one can open. No matter— not sure— let's see— not sure where our resource, the New Living Translation Bible Promise Book for Men, was going when they chose a verse from Revelation to put under the general heading of success without explanation. But I suppose beyond the end times context of Revelation and Christ's general warnings to the seven churches of antiquity, and of antiquity, to repent, I suppose this verse does point to God's sovereign will behind all things. That he— if he doesn't open up an opportunity for you, it just won't open. And if he shut the door, no amount of trying on our part will change it. With this hard truth that sometimes there are no second chances, or that sometimes the answer is no, we could despair. But what it should do is cause us to draw close to God in prayer to help us to receive his guidance, to follow his will, where we can be ready to walk through the doors that he opens to us and to move along to the next thing when a door closes. Losses in life sometimes can't be regained. We have to accept that the door— that that door is closed, grieve the loss, and move on. However, even out of tragedy, God can move all things together for good to those who love him. So let's realize and respect God's sovereign will and walk with him and allow him to guide us to the new opportunities that he opens for us. As always, I encourage 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 and with their walk. Today we continue sharing from A.W. Pink's The Sovereignty of God, and we continue in chapter 4 today as we will be sharing the first section of the third section of that, uh, of that chapter entitled The Sovereignty of God: The Holy Spirit in Salvation. And so he does— begins the discussion of how the Holy Spirit is involved in salvation. And, uh, so if you want to read about that, that's on the blog today at mtforchrist.org. You'll see it at the end of today's blog post. As always, we encourage a life of Christian discipleship by offering the teachings we did back in 2021 For Victor Over the Darkness, The Bondage Breaker, and Freedom in Christ. They're all available on our podcast, M.t. for Christ 247, and, uh, on our YouTube channel of the same name, M.t. for Christ 247. So if you wanted to learn about who you are in Christ, um, you know, learn about your freedom in Christ and possibly experience your freedom in Christ, we encourage you to check out those teachings which are based on the work of Dr. Neil Anderson. And the, and the Word of God, of course, our source of wisdom. We respect the Bible, and that's why we do a Bible study each week with our good friends, the Sintatis. And we pray for them today as they are faithful servants of God. And we encourage you to check out our previous studies. We did one yesterday um, on Doing Business with God, or Doing Business with God. And we have all our archives of the, uh, all our recordings, um, basically that date back to 2021, um, on the podcast and the YouTube channel for your listening or viewing enjoyment as we eventually transition to Zoom video. So you can watch that as well. Well, it's Monday. I got a heavy heart for the losses I heard about And, uh, you know, I'm contemplating, um, over the weekend, but life goes on and today's Monday. Um, I could walk around with a heavy heart, or I could, or I could thank the Lord for what I have and the fact that I'm not, you know, suffering those losses today. I've suffered losses like them in the past, and I'm sort of connected to some of them, um, in the present. But, you know, luckily I'm on the sidelines. I'm not in the midst, um, I'm not directly affected by the losses that I've heard about today, uh, or this weekend. So my heart's heavy. I pray for the people who are, you know, at ground zero in those tragedies, and, um, I'm praying for the Lord to comfort them and give them peace and to, uh, to guide the situations to healing. If that be his will. And that's, that's the hard thing about life. Everything's normal until it's not. Suddenly things can happen, or things can brew over a long time and things go south very quickly. But so those doors get closed, I guess, you know, that chapter ends. However, a life is a continuous journey, and When one door opens, another door, you know, another door— one door closes, another door opens. And in the midst of these things, I am looking forward to a new year and possibilities of a new future. Um, you know, I'm very content with my life now, and I'm very excited about the new year and seeing where the Lord will take us from here until the end of, uh, end of 2023. We're still in it. It's his will, right? So as much as the tragedies pain me, I can't help but continue to, you know, have hope, have peace, have joy, because the Lord saved me and he's transformed me. And these are the truths. This is the stuff that matters, especially in the heart of tragedy. And loss, that, you know, the, the spiritual things are the most important things. What God says about you is more important than someone's, someone's loss, um, as harsh as that might sound. Um, but yeah, the ultimate meaning matters the most. And, uh, so we encourage people to follow the Lord Jesus Christ, make him your Lord and Savior, and live according to the Word of God. Why? Because I tried it my way, and I tried everything, you know, to satisfy myself, my selfish ambitions and desires, and it was all for nothing. And, um, God was gracious to reveal himself to me and the truth of the Gospel. And even though it's been a hard road that has been paved with loss and heartache at times, um, it leads to the abundant life where the fruit of the Spirit can grow. And that fruit, of course, is peace, love, joy, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and patience and self-control. Um, this is the abundant life that Christ has for us and that can carry us through the darkest storm. So I encourage anyone listening today to press in and keep following the Lord. And don't forget to rejoice too. You know, we, we rejoice with those who rejoice. Well, we can be the one rejoicing. We have to be sensitive to those who are weeping and mourning and choose to pray and comfort them as best we can. But we should never lose our hope in Christ. We should never lose our joy because it's the joy and the peace that goes beyond all understanding because our life doesn't end. It's eternal in Christ our Lord. So I encourage everyone to, you know, keep walking and talking with God. And so let's pray. Lord God, Heavenly Father, thank you for another day in your kingdom. Lord, we pray for the people who are mourning today, who are weeping today, and whose tragedies just won't end today, that whose pain will, you know, go beyond this 24-hour period. It'll go beyond a bad cloudy day or, you know, suffering temporary losses or disappointments. Sometimes the tragedies are with us for quite a season. So we pray for those who are suffering right now. We pray for anyone who's listening today and the people in their lives. We pray for them to come along— we pray for you to come alongside them and their prayer requests, Lord, and to guide them in the way they should go. Because we know your way is the pathway to peace, even if it goes through a valley of darkness and pain. Lord, as always, we just want to represent you here on the earth and do your will and serve you the best we can. So whatever you're calling us to, Lord, we're willing to come. We say, "Send me." We'll go if you say come. So We'll see where the day takes us, Lord, and, uh, where the days ahead take us. We trust in you, and Lord, we thank you, we praise you, we love you, and we pray all these things in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.