What are You Trying to Prove? - More than Our Accomplishments - Purity 1197

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 pink sunrise sky on the horizon, nestled between two trees over red barns, comes to us from yours truly as I captured those early morning rays of sunrise during a walk down Waite Road yesterday. Well, it's Monday, and all I can say is, "What a difference a day makes!" And if one day can make a difference, two can really change things. On Saturday, I reported receiving the disappointing news that my certification as a Deeper Walk prayer minister was not going to be happening in the time frame I expected. Our cohort classes end in early December, but I, but I was told that I needed additional skills and training to make the grade, apparently, which was totally unexpected news and was quite a dramatic traumatic blow to my ego. On Saturday, I stated I would do whatever I had to do to get that certification, but due to my busy schedule in 2024, I don't really have time to pursue it with the white-hot passion and determination I felt when I first heard I was being denied. I have other obligations and responsibilities, and we'll wait and see what plan I have to follow to be certified, and we'll We'll see how it goes. As you may know, I am not in full-time ministry. I have a full-time job with a telecommunications company and do ministry as a recovery/discipleship growth group leader on Wednesday nights at my local church. I am also a Community Freedom Ministry associate and online discipleship course facilitator for Freedom in Christ Ministries. In 2024, I will be leading another Freedom in Christ course for men on Monday nights, nationwide. Uh, on top of that, I also enrolled in Freedom in Christ Ministries Advanced Encourager Training for CFMAs, which will start in January of 2024 on Thursday nights. Uh, I am also married with two households and spend my weekends in the real Upstate New York with— at my wife's place in Easton, and Sundays are spent with an early morning Bible study podcast in Sunday services at Starpoint Church. So 2024 will be pretty jam-packed as I will be doing ministry or ministry training 3 of, 3 of the 5 nights of the work week, and the weekends are spent with my wife. There is not a lot of extra time to pursue the additional training and relational skill building that I was told that I need to be certified. When I first pondered all the the devastating news and my busy schedule in 2024, I really felt at a complete loss as to what to do. But then my wife and I took a hike on Saturday after participating in a food drive for Operation Adopt a Soldier. Tammy Lynn and I took a short hike on the Spring Overlook Trailhead at Moreau State Lake— Moreau Lake State Park on Saturday. And somewhere between going up to the overlook and coming back to our car, I had a revelation that gave me great peace. In the quiet stillness and in the loving company of my wife, I felt that I didn't lack anything. I was complete. I am complete in Christ, and I have a loving wife to walk through life with. I know who I am in Christ and walk in the Spirit. So I have peace, joy, goodness, kindness, faithfulness, gentleness, patience, and self-control. And I realized that I didn't need the Deeper Walk certification. I didn't need man's approval. Whether I decide to seek to become certified as an official Deeper Walk prayer minister or not, I am still accepted, secure, and significant in Christ. And when I considered why I I couldn't doggedly pursue meeting the certification requirements, the fact that I will be fully involved with ministry, ministry training, and living a Christian life with God at the center of my marriage, I asked myself, what am I trying to prove? That I'm a Christian? That I can pray? That I can minister to someone? I've been doing that for years. What is this credential going to prove? Other than being listed on a PDF as one of many on a growing list of prayer ministers certified by Deeper Walk on Deeper Walk International's website, what exactly was I trying to accomplish? Yes, I wanted to receive training and education from Deeper Walk's material, and I have received it. What may be hard to believe, considering that I won't be certified when I graduate or when my cohort ends, is that I have not only completed all the assignments and practicums that we have been required required to do, but I passed them all with high marks. Quite frankly, a great deal of the work I have done has received full credit, as in 100% or A's. So my grades prove I learned something. I did earn those A's. I read the books, reviewed the video teachings, completed the projects, and received passing grades on all the assignments. Through this latest project, I also learned the skill to lead someone through prayer ministry and feel very confident that I would be able to adequately document client cases if I should one day become a Christian life coach. So I feel like I really did learn, grow, and gain new skills. So whether or not I receive the certification, I did accomplish something, and I'm proud of the work I did. And as much as I— as much as it is my deep desire to be recognized and certified Somewhere along, somewhere along that Saturday hike, I realized I didn't need it and would survive without it. Although I am not abandoning the possibility of pursuing certification, somewhere along that hike I let it go, and we'll see how the— see how that plays out or doesn't play out somewhere else down the trail. I got places to go, people to see, and the Lord to follow. I am never really sure where we are going to end up, but when I keep walking and talking with God, I find that I can overcome or walk through anything, and that I can do it with the peace and joy that comes from knowing, as Paul wrote in Romans 8:31, "What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?" Hmm. What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, Who can be against us? Well, it turns out the whole world can be against you. They can reject you and deny you the things that you think you deserve. The things you work hard for can be taken away in an instant. But ultimately, regardless of what you accomplish in life, everything goes, but God stays. And those who stand with him live regardless of what befalls them. Just like in the Farmer in the Dell, where the cheese stands alone, After all the ring around the rosie of this mayhem called life, the only one who stands will be those who stand with Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. So I say, hi ho the derry-o! No matter what setbacks, disappointments, rejections, heartbreaking losses, twists and turns I will go through in life, I will stand, and I will follow Jesus Christ and go wherever the Holy Spirit leads me. And come what may, if I have to, I will stand alone. But with Christ as your Lord and Savior, God as your Father, and the Holy Spirit as your Comforter, Companion, and Guide, we don't have to stand alone, and we can find peace and joy— oh yes, joy— when we keep on walking and talking with Him, the one true God, who exists eternally in three wonderful persons. This morning's meditation verses come from the section on church, or the communion of the saints. Um, actually, yeah, and that— and those verses will come from, uh, The Quick Scripture Reference for Counseling by John G. Cruis. And as I said, they're under the section of that book, uh, called the church or communion of the saints. And today's verses are Romans 12:4-8 from the New Living Translation. The word of God says: Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function, so it is with Christ's body. We are many parts of one body, and we all belong to each other. In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well. So if God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out with as much faith as God has given you. If your gift is serving others, serve them well. If you are a teacher, teach. If your gift is to encourage others, be encouraging. If it is giving, give generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly. Today's verses fall under the second point of our Counseling Reference Guide's resource section on the church, or the Communion of the Saints. And that second point is: the church is one body with many functions. Each member has a purpose. Today's verses remind us that we all have a part to play in the body of Christ and that we are each given specific gifts and purposes in the kingdom of God. Uh, I think Paul's text says it all here, guys. We belong to each other in the body of Christ, and we all have special gifts to use to give God glory. So seek the Lord and use the gifts you have received to give him glory. That's not much, much commentary on those verses, but they more or less speak for themselves. I've been called to teach on occasion. I've been called, and I, and, and I feel that I've been called to encourage other people to keep walking and talking with God. So ours is a ministry hobby, I guess, of of encouragement. You know, I never knew the thing— I never knew what it meant, you know, of who I am. I never knew my identity in Christ. I never knew you could live a Christian life. And when I discovered these things, and when I surrendered to the Lord and repented of my sins, I discovered a new life. And, you know, there has been great struggle and losses and heartache along the path of following you know, the Lord on the path of Christian discipleship. But it's a good path, and it's a good path with good company. I have my wife that walks with me, and I have all the wonderful people I've met through the body of Christ. Last night I went to a church event, which I'll probably blog about tomorrow maybe, so maybe I won't talk about it too much today. But I saw many people from my old friends from Rock Solid Church And, um, it reminded me that we're in a family of faith, and no matter where we go, when we're connected to Christ, we're connected together in that body of Christ. So, you know, it's what your function is in the body of Christ is for you to figure out with the Lord to lead you. And, um, the good thing is no matter what you accomplish or don't accomplish You're his, and your value does not— is not determined by the things you do. It's, it's determined by God. And when you put your faith in Jesus, you're, you're determined to be priceless, you know, very valuable. So we don't put ourselves and our self-esteem in, in the things we do. We put our— we know our self-worth because God has called us worthy. And, um, we can have peace in that. And so, you know, um, I, I have great peace now. I had it before. I, I got, I got thrown off the trail for a second there, a little disappointed. Um, but we're gonna, we're gonna walk through life and, uh, give glory to God and, you know, thank him for everything he's done for our lives. So, um, even though we have to work today, we're gonna We're gonna go give him glory again as much as we can. So let's pray. Lord God, Heavenly Father, thank you for another day in your kingdom. Um, oh, by the way, before we— yeah, there are— I am sharing on the blog, um, from Arthur Pink's Anthology, um, the 6th track called Christian Fools. I'm not sure if I'm highlighted in that or not because I started praying before telling you about that. Um, but there's— it's going to be one of 8 parts, um, so that'll be on the blog for the next 8 entries, um, basically. So if you want to know what A.W. Pink has to say about Christian fools, you'll have to tune in and check out the blog on a daily basis for 8 days. As always, we encourage a lifestyle of Christian discipleship, and you can check out our discipleship teachings on the podcast and our YouTube channel for Victory Over the Darkness. The Bondage Breaker and Freedom in Christ. Sorry about that, we were praying. Lord God, Heavenly Father, thank you for another day in your kingdom. Uh, we obviously make mistakes, and we know that even though we make mistakes, you still love us. And we need you to love us because we are not perfect people. We make mistakes and will not always be accepted by the people on this earth, even Christians. We can be denied and, and rejected from their company. Um, so Lord, we, we desperately need that deep personal relationship with you, and we thank you for giving it to us. And, uh, Lord, we just pray for anyone who's listening to this message, that they'd be blessed, um, that you come alongside them in their prayer request and their walk of faith, because we all desperately need to know who we are in Christ and need to follow you to experience the peace that you have for us, and we need as much help as possible to keep us on that path, to keep us, you know, following you and abiding in you. So Lord, we just pray for you to go before us today, open our eyes to the things you need us to see, and lead our paths in the way we should go, because all we want to do is represent you in your kingdom and follow you forever. So Lord, we thank you, we praise you, we love you, and we pray all these things in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.